> Vampony Survival Guide Tales
>  by JakeAndDollars
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Back From The Front
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 1
Back From The Front



My name is Alex Rustwing. I've been fighting Changelings on the border of the Changeling Desert for the last decade in an unofficial "border conflict." I still remember The Day The Sun Set, it almost feels like the event has been burned into my mind. The Changelings were swarming, getting ready to attempt to overwhelm our position. They made half the sky black, the only sound we could hear were their buzzing wings and hissing voices. Suddenly the sun vanished, it didn't set, it fucking VANISHED. The Changelings must have known what happened before we did, damned hive mind... They turned tail and returned to the desert. They didn't attack for weeks, we could see them building walls. Those walls slowly formed a circle that grew into a solid dome. We haven't seen a single one of them since the completion of the dome. After not hearing from Canterlot for several months, our commander relieved almost all of us and we all dispersed. I heard a few of them were heading for a weapons/munitions factory. 

I decided to come back to civilization and the rumors I heard were disturbing. Celestia dead? Demons attacking ponies? Had I pledged my life to the sisters, to keep our lands safe, only to go to the wrong place? Had I failed them? I had a long conversation with a nervous-looking pony who's name escapes me, on the train on my way to Ponyville. He'd probably never seen a soldier like me before, covered in bladed armor I was armed to the teeth, I couldn't fly very far or fast with all of it on but I almost never took it off. You had to sleep in it on the front, you never knew when an attack could happen and you needed to be ready.

Over the course of the next hour the pony explained the three main types of Vamponies. "Pegasi turn into what we call 'Bats,' they can fly faster than any pegasus I've ever seen. They'll burn in the sunlight, but their wings can shield them from the sun's rays. If they bite you, they'll drain your blood and inject venom into you that will start the process of turning you into one. It takes more than one bite, but you go through stages of insanity I suppose is the proper word. They're also armed with very sharp claws, they'll shred you in moments if you're slow. The final thing I can tell you about Bats is that they can teleport into nearby shadows," he explained while occasionally glancing over his shoulder. I tried my best to pay attention to my surroundings as well as this pony, times were clearly different now.

He cleared his throat and continued, "Gargoyles are what we call Earth ponies when they turn. Their bones and muscles grow very rapidly when they turn to their demon forms, they're often fueled by rage when they transform. They can't use their teeth to drain blood or inject venom, however their saliva now contains the venom so their bites are still just as dangerous. Also Gargoyles will just eat you, since they can't drink blood. I can only tell you that their skin is thick like a living armor and they're frighteningly strong. They're not the most intelligent of creatures when they turn, they're also blind to nearly everything, they can see the blood inside your body however. Explosives seem to be the most effective weapons, especially if you can fool them into eating an explosive device. They don't burn in the sunlight, they turn to stone. The process can be very quick, or it can take several minutes so be careful around these things! Smashing their head after they petrify will kill them," he finished and drank from a flask beneath his cloak.

"And the third kind?" I asked, I needed to know as much as I could about these new enemies.

He capped the flask and returned it to his cloak. "Masters are unicorns that turned... It happened to my wife actually..." He paused and his gaze fell to the floor, searching for words. I had seen that look several times before, I still wasn't used to it. He took a deep breath and looked back up from the floor at me. "What's done is done, I did what I had to to survive. But these Masters, they have fangs on the top and bottom rows of teeth, they can drain blood and transfer poison very rapidly. The easiest way to identify them is the large bent horn, and the large ears. They don't seem to be able to use their telekinesis anymore but they can control shadows, blood, even minds. They also have large claws that can drain blood from you from a great distance as well. Their fingers can also transfer the venom to you, so don't let them touch you," he seemed distracted by a thought as the train entered a forest. The canopy extended well above the train, casting us into shadow. "Making eye contact with a Master is dangerous, it makes it easier for them to take control of your mind. They also take much longer to burn in sunlight, and they can teleport to the shadows if they're burning. Of course snapping their horn off will remove their ability to use their magic and loud noises seem to throw off their focus when using their magic. I don't have much else to tell you about them," he finished, leaning back a bit in his seat.

"You said there were three main types earlier, are there subspecies?" 

"Yes, ponies have found some animals and other strange monsters that seem to be affected by this," he gestured around. "Curse I suppose you could call it."

I nodded silently and went back to scanning the windows, watching the trees rush past.

Little did I know my first encounter with one of these demons would be on the train. I caught just a glimpse of it, a streak withing the other blurs that I knew were the trees, flying past the window. I turned and looked out the window for the creature, only to hear a sound I had hoped I'd never hear for the rest of my life. The glass of the window behind me shattered and the pony I'd been having a conversation with screamed as the demon latched onto him. I turned and almost couldn't believe what I was seeing, the creature looked up from the floor of the traincar at me, its irises glowed red. I felt fear again, adrenaline coursed through my veins as the blades in my gauntlets shot forth. There was something disarming in the demon's gaze, like it wanted me to relax... I wanted to relax too... Wait, there's another dying pony in it's grasp. I drew a breath and focused on hating that creature for what it had done to one of the sister's subjects. A pony I had sworn to protect... A pony I had failed to protect... I lunged forward with a yell and swung my blades at the creature and it vanished. My ear twitched and I could hear it behind me, in the shady corner. I spun as quickly as I could force myself to, the creature pounced at me, its claw-like fingers outstretched. I slammed both blades through it's midsection and pinned it to the wall. Instead of dying like I expected it to, the creature's grotesque mouth opened and it snapped at me like a starving dog. Another wave of adrenaline hit as I realized how close I was to dying, its claws gripped at my armored forearms, finding no soft flesh to tear. With another yell of rage I pulled a blade from it's stomach and stabbed it in the throat and tore its head from its shoulders.

The body fell to the floor with a dull thud and I stared at the head. My breath was ragged. I looked for any sign of other creatures but the other pony was the only other being in the traincar with me. I helped him up  and sat him in the bench. He groaned weakly as I tore a bandage for him and began to cover the bite on his neck.

"No! Don't cover the mark!" He bellowed and pushed my arm away. He then informed me that he needed to bleed or he'd become one of them. Thus, my knowledge of the situation solidified a bit more and my decision had been made. I would continue to serve the sisters and Equestria by killing these demons and protecting the ponies who couldn't protect themselves. I grabbed the severed head by its ears and studied it intently, the white of its eyes had turned black, the irises still seemed to glow red. The train stopped at Ponyville, it was desolate. The pony got off the train and thanked me for saving him. I can't even remember his name now. I debated spending time in Ponyville getting oriented versus going to Canterlot and decided I needed to rest here for a day.

Looking back at that moment I must have been quite the sight! I was wearing metal armor that most ponies had never seen, the crest of Celestia and Luna on my chestplate, covered in blood and still holding that damned head in my hand! The arrival of the train apparently warranted a lot of attention, considering I had believed the town to be abandoned completely at first glance. I was now seeing more and more ponies peeking out from concealment. I realized most of them were staring at me over the pony I had saved. I soon realized the majority of the houses were now connected by a quickly-constructed wall. It would serve as a barrier at the least but wouldn't hold up against a REAL siege.  A pair of armed guards came from a gate to check the ponies coming off the train, they were... Very invasive in their search for bite marks. I didn't realize how many ponies had been on the train, at least a dozen! How could they have not noticed the noise on my traincar? Had they chosen to ignore it and hide?

When the guards got to the pony I had saved they immediately looked at the bandages on his neck and forced him to his knees, screaming at him.

"You've been infected!" One drew his sword in spite of the pony's cries.

"Please don't! I've bled the venom out! I'm not infected!" One of the guards checked his eyes and the bite again.

"We'll keep him in a holding cell for the night, if none of the symptoms show then we can release him. If not we'll have to bleed him again," the guard said with a dismissive motion as the other with the drawn blade escorted the stranger away. The now lone guard turned to look at me and stopped, had he really not noticed me the entire time? He instinctively reached for his sword.

"You better be better than good with yours," I said as I dropped the demon's head and unsheathed the two blades on my forearms. I leaned forward a bit, exposing my wing blades to his sight as well. "Because I've been killing things with mine for the last decade." Now and then I had to take advantage of my size, while many pegasi were stereo typically smaller than the average pony, my Earth pony mother resulted in me being about a head taller than the average pegasus with the build of an Earth pony. I also couldn't fly worth shit.

He slowly released his sword and I relaxed my stance as well. After an obnoxious check for bites I was allowed to enter the town. I've never seen such a strange blend of modern and medieval times. I suppose I had little room to talk considering my armor and weapons choice. As I walked down the largely empty streets, I noticed there was nothing to stop a pegasus from simply flying in or out of the town. I noticed a few ponies with rifles scanning the air but all I could think when I saw it was that there were too many blind spots. I couldn't help but wonder what they were doing to keep the electricity running in some of these places.

I settled for an inn, reaching into one of my pockets. Shit, where did I keep my payments again? I was supposed to return from my tour of duty to something I could retire on... So much for that pension plan. I fumbled through my pockets and found some gems, I had found them in a Changeling hive a group of some soldiers and myself had blown up. I used a small sapphire to pay for a warm meal, a bed and some food for the road. The inn was strange, the owners had constructed a cage that they stayed inside of, when my food was ready I had to come to the counter to get it and I had to take the empty plate back to them as well. Times were strange.

I slept poorly that evening, so much had happened in the last few days. Countless questions rolled over in my head and every time I closed my eyes I saw that demon staring back at me. It also didn't help that I could hear whomever was in the room next to me. The couple sounded like they were having a wonderful evening. At least somepony around here was. Once I finally fell asleep, I was plagued by disturbing dreams of these "Vamponies." What had they done to my mind? Mere seconds of eye contact was all it took to nearly end my life. 


I awoke to that awful sound yet again, the sound of somepony screaming. I acted on instinct, jumping from my bed and running from my room. I charged down the hallway toward the screaming, my heavy metal boots created a sound like thunder charging down the hallway. I couldn't be the only one hearing it could I? I concluded that the inn was either empty or full of cowards as I reached the end of the hall and kicked the door open. Now and then I have to thank my mother's side of the family for that Earth pony strength and size.

The sight inside the room made my blood run hot with rage. A lone Earth pony female was in the room, she was naked and began to giggle at the sight of me. I looked around the room and saw nothing threatening whatsoever, just her discarded clothes. She looked at me with a smile, "Thank you for rushing in to save me," she walked forward. No, she seemed to glide across the floor, her footsteps made almost not sound at all. Something felt wrong, very wrong.

"What the hell was the screaming about?! Is this a game to you?!" I yelled, I could feel myself beginning to shake in anger, I'd always been told I had anger management issues. Those issues are probably the only thing that keep me alive these days. "Were you seriously just trying to lure me in for a fuck?! Get the hell away from me!" I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I shoved her back. She was getting too close, and she barely moved when I pushed her. It felt like pushing a stone, she also made a strange noise when I shoved her.

She looked at me, that lusty look replaced by hunger and anger as a growl rumbled from her. "Big mistake little pegasus." 

I began to realize why ponies hid from screams and trouble as her form changed before my eyes. Her skin thickened and tore and her coat ripped, her muscles bulged, I think I even heard her bones crack as she grew a few inches. Her irises lost their color along with her coat as she-no, it began snarling at me. I realized this might be my only chance to kill this beast, while it was changing. I leapt forward with a yell, my forearm blades surging forth as I struck at its throat. It didn't even try to block, to my horror, the blade didn't penetrate its thick hide, it got stuck. "FUCK!" I shouted as I yanked on the blade, trying to free it from the creature's hide. 

With a roar the creature grabbed my right arm (the one that was stuck) and swung at my head with the other. I instinctively blocked with my left, the claws clanged loudly and my arm smashed down against my helmet, causing a terrible racket. I could feel its saliva splattering all over me, it was like fighting a rabid dog, except I couldn't simply cut it up and kill it. After multiple failed attempt at clawing my head off, the creature roared in frustration and spun. It let go of my arm and threw me across the room. I smashed through the second story window and landed in the street with a pained groan. The creature stood in the hole in the wall and roared triumphantly.

I rose with a bit of amusement. "You honestly think me defeated?! You giant stupid oaf!" I hoped the noise would get the attention of the guards, hopefully the ones armed with rifles would be able to intervene.

The creature snarled and leapt down into the street, it launched itself at me, swinging its claws wildly. I dodged and countered when I could, but I realized there were no weak points in the creature's hide. It was like fighting a greater Changeling warrior witch chitin so thick, nothing could penetrate it. Then the realization hit me, right about the same time the creature did and sent me flying across the street. Blunt trauma. 

With a cry of rage I charged right at the creature and jumped, spinning my torso and then entire body around to deliver a powerful kick with my armored hoof. The blow landed with a powerful 'CRACK!' The creature stumbled sideways but grabbed my leg. "Shit!" I yelped as it spun and swung me by my leg at the ground. I felt like a ragdoll as this powerful beast swung me around and smashed me against the ground, beating me senseless. It threw me a few feet and I landed in a dazed heap. I could feel blood running from my nose and mouth, it had beaten the shit out of me. 

I rolled onto my back just in time to see those hateful, burning red irises. It grabbed my chestplate and pulled me up to my feet, it licked its lips, a wicked grin on its face. My heart hammered faster and faster in my chest as I realized it was about to kill me. Adrenaline surged through my body as time began to slow down, the whole world moved in slow motion. Where were those damned guards? It opened its mouth and roared in my face, I closed my eyes as spittle covered my face and the horrid breath assaulted my nostrils. I drew my arm back and punched the creature in the mouth, my forearm blade shooting through the soft tissue in the back of its mouth and punching through the back of its head. The creature froze, it looked confused. To my horror, it tried to chew on my armored hand and blade. I screamed and pulled my hand out, arcing sideways with the blade to chop part of the beast's head off. It didn't come completely off thanks to the other half of its head holding everything together. "By the sisters just DIE ALREADY!" I screamed as I swung my arm and struck at the partially detached portion of its head.

It dropped me and stumbled backwards, its head was deformed now, its eyes looking in different directions. Its mind seemed overwhelmed by the new sensation as it tried to attack me again and stumbled in the wrong direction. It began to flail wildly, swinging its arms in my general direction, sending spittle and blood flying everywhere. I scrambled up and staggered away from it, how the hell was it still alive?! I could see the sun starting to rise, as the rays of light hit the creature it began to hiss and turn to stone.

I heard a sound like thunder, the crack of a high-powered rifle. I felt the vortex of the round flying past me as the creature's head exploded. I stood and stared at the body as it slumped over awkwardly, parts of it still turning to stone. 

"Hands in the air! Did it fucking bite you?!" One of the guards yelled as he approached. I knew they had a half-decent sniper so i knelt with my hands up. My heart was still hammering like crazy. 

"No, it just used me as a fucking punching bag," I muttered as I spat some blood out. "I think I have a concussion," I looked at the guard as he grabbed my chin and inspected my face. I felt a rag wiping the mixed liquids from my face.

"Is he ok?" I heard another guard ask.

The one inspecting me looked closely at my eyes, they felt bloodshot. "Fuck," he muttered as he wiped my face some more. "Did it get in your eyes!?" He demanded, shaking me a bit more than he meant to.

I shook my head slowly. "No, I closed my eyes when it roared at me," I answered as honestly as I could.

"Why the fuck are your eyes so bloodshot then?" He demanded, understandably not wanting to take any chances with me. Another pair of guards had caught up with him and were hovering over me, their weapons ready.

"I didn't sleep well," I admitted with a weak shrug. The adrenaline rush was wearing off and I was starting to realize what a pinata felt like after a party full of hyperactive fillies and colts. A groan of pain escaped me.

"We're taking you to a quarantine cell just in case," he said as he tugged on my arm. "Come on, you're lucky to be alive right now. I've never seen somepony take that much of a beating from a gargoyle and live. Don't you know better than to fuck with those things?"

"I do now," I said with a groan. My neck was stiff and my back was killing me, my whole body was sore. "I'm kinda new to this shit going down," I admitted.

"Where the hell have you been this whole time?" He looked at me with bewilderment. "Is there a safe place out there?" I noticed a bit of hope in his eyes. We were walking into the place full of cells now.

"No, I've been in the Changeling Desert. Shit's bad out there in a different way," I looked around at the cells. There were a few other ponies down there, each in their own cell. I got locked in one of my own, it seemed pretty well reinforced. "How long will I be down here?" I asked before the guard had a chance to leave.

"Just a few hours, gargoyle poison is pretty weak shit but it's slow. If you really didn't get any in your system you'll be fine. Otherwise we may have to bleed you for awhile," he finished and turned to leave.

I took advantage of being locked in a cell to get some sleep, it was a hell of a lot better than the sleep I had gotten the previous evening. I was so battered and tired that my mind didn't even want to conjure up something to bother me with.

At least I learned that gargoyles don’t have armored hide inside their mouths and anger can be used to fight that creepy stare of theirs.

> Back From The Front pt.2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 2
Back From The Front Pt.2


I awoke to the sound of my cell door slamming shut. The sound caused me to jump up from the tattered bedroll on the floor and look around my cell. Nobody was inside with me, however there were a pair of eyes watching through a slot in the door. I let out a sigh and willed myself to calm down, I stretched and groaned slightly. My body was still sore as Tartarus after that Gargoyle encounter. My gaze wandered to the floor where I noticed the new occupant of the room, a tray with a pair of apples and a glass of water. I looked to the pair of eyes with an arched eyebrow.
“You’re feeding me now?” I asked as I grabbed an apple, realizing how hungry I had become in my sleep. I held the shiny red fruit up to my muzzle and sniffed it, it smelled sweet and fresh. I took a hesitant bite, still watching the eyes as they watched me. I analyzed the taste of the fruit for the usual sign of toxins, most were usually bitter. This apple tasted normal so I continued eating it as I inspected my cell, realizing the walls were stone, the door was metal and the floor was straw and wood. It was designed to burn the vamponies while containing them! “How long have I been in here? What time is it?” I questioned the eyes as I finished the apple and reached for the second one.
“It’s about three in the afternoon,” the voice was harsh and gravelly. What did this guy eat? Sand? His voice didn’t suit the soft eyes that stared at me, I thought. “If you can keep that food down for the next hour we can let you out. The vamps usually can’t keep anything that isn’t blood down for more than fifteen minutes or so,” the voice explained. “They usually spew the food out in a fantastic manner,” he chuckled. 
“I thought the first stage of the poison only lasted about two hours,” I contested whilst lifting the glass of water. “I’ve been in here since sunrise and it’s the afternoon,” I sipped the water, waiting for an explanation.
“When you didn’t wake up a few hours ago we thought you were dead until we noticed you breathing. I’m also just doing what I’ve been told. Caution has kept us alive so far, I’m not making an exception for you,” the eyes said with a sense of finality and the little slat slammed shut. That guy seemed to like slamming things.
One long, and quite uneventful hour later I was released from my cell. My belongings hadn’t been taken from me, they probably would have deemed it tainted and burned it all if I had been infected. On my way out of the prison they had made I stopped to ask a guard when the next train for Canterlot was going to leave. I didn’t like his answer.
“Never. Trains only go East, West or South from here. Princess Luna had all the railways into Canterlot destroyed. The city is a fortress, with the castle impossible to enter if you’re one of those monsters. The only way to get to the city is on foot or by wing for you Pegasi,” he explained. 
“Thank you,” I muttered as I left. I was going to need some more supplies for the journey. I knew it would be a relatively short flight for an average pegasus, but I didn’t plan on making the trip by flying. I spent the rest of the afternoon gathering a little more food, traded another gem for a small pack and some rope, and got a firestarter’s kit. I was on my way out of town when I was stopped by a shout.
“Hey! You’re that pegasus who got his ass beat by that Gargoyle earlier right?!” It was the guard from earlier that morning, he was running right toward me.
I turned to face him with a scowl, stopping him in his tracks a few feet from me. He was a short Pegasus, barely came up to my chest and his wings were probably still bigger than mine. He looked relatively young, younger than me at least. He was sporting the light leather armor many ponies seemed to favor for mobility and had a rifle slung on his back. “What do you want?” I asked through narrowed eyes, I had maybe an hour of sunlight left and he was wasting it.
“I uh, wanted to give you something… To thank you for finding that Gargoyle and helping us kill it. It’s been troubling us for awhile,” he looked down and away as he finished his sentence. Maybe he knew her before she turned. He inhaled and looked back at me, holding out three metal spheres that didn’t quite fit in his hand. “Grenades, they’ll explode pretty violently if you pull the pin. They’re for killing Gargoyles if you run into more of them,” he raised an eyebrow at me.
“Thanks,” I reached out and took them from him, they were heavier than I thought they would be. I dropped two into the pack and examined the third one, they were similar to the ones I had used in the desert but they were smaller. These weren’t perfectly smooth, the result of being made in substandard facilities with substandard materials. They were better than nothing though, and if this guy’s word was good, they’d do the job I’d need them to. “Best of luck to you,” I turned to leave and stopped after a few steps. I had forgotten so much over the past few days. I looked at him, he was still waiting and watching me. “Sister’s blessing upon you,” I bowed my head slightly at the words and left the now confused-looking Pegasus behind.
The reasons why I decided not to fly to Canterlot were fairly simple to anypony that knew me. There were predators watching the area who’d love an easy-to-spot flying meal to soar right over them and be snared by them. Another reason for staying on the ground was weight. Most pegasi prefer light armor that doesn’t cover the entire body, just the points most often hit. The armor leaves lots of room for flexibility and adds little weight to the bearer so they can continue to fly unhampered. I chose to wear a much heavier metal armor that covers my entire body. The joints are all protected and the only exposed skin is at where the helmet doesn’t cover part of my face. There’s also just enough space in my armor around my wings’ sockets to allow them a full range of motion.
Physiologically speaking, my wings are smaller than the average Pegasus’. The wings of the average pegasus while folded usually extend to or just beyond the calf muscles. Mine while folded just barely reach the top of my hamstrings. If I really needed to, I could sustain flight for about an hour, but I’m neither fast, nor agile in the air. Because of all of this, I made the decision to walk to Canterlot, it would take longer, but it would be safer.
I walked through the forest until the sun set, I hadn’t seen a cabin or anywhere that I could take shelter so I continued walking through the woods in the dark. I traveled for about two hours into the night and decided to stop for the night to make sure I wouldn’t get turned around or lost. I wasn’t tired after sleeping in until the afternoon, so I dug out a small pit next to a tree, uprooted a few bushes and planted them around the hole, and laid some thick foliage from the tree over the top of it. I could see out of my hiding place a bit, but to the outside eye it would hopefully just look like some shrubs next to a partially felled tree.
I stretched and worked my joints, my body was still sore and probably would be for another day or two. I knew that would slow me down. I ate a small amount of food, enough to keep me from hunger and sat in my shelter. As I leaned back to relax for the evening and conserve energy I realized I’d been forgetting to pray since learning of the new and troublesome events that had befallen the world.
I quickly got to one knee and bowed my head, whispering a prayer to the Sisters. I thanked Celestia for the glorious day she gave us and thanked Luna for bringing the relief of the night. I also offered an apology for my forgetfulness, it was unlike me to forget to pray to them in the morning and evening. I prayed for their safety in these troubled times. I couldn’t let the rumors get to me, Celestia is still alive and with her sister. That’s all they were right? Just rumors, the sun still rises after all. How could ponies witness that every day and truly believe in her demise?
After I had finished my prayers to the sisters I shook my head and cleared my mind of doubt. I focused on listening to the forest, learning the natural patterns of the leaves rustling in the gentle breeze. I spent the rest of the evening in a meditative state to conserve energy while listening for any unnatural sound. I’ll be damned if I was going to let one of those demons get the drop on me.

> The Fisherman's Hut
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 3
The Fisherman’s Hut


The silence of the night was broken by the tentative chirps of a lone bird. I opened my eyes to see a dim red light bleeding across the sky and into my camouflaged shelter. The bird quietly chirped again, it almost sounded scared. This time it was answered by another significantly louder chirp a few trees away. I heard the gentle flutter of wings as the first bird left its perch to meet the one who answered its call.

I turned to face the rising sun as it began its ceremonious ascent and moved to my knees. I bowed my head and thanked Luna for her restful night. I then thanked Celestia for bringing the warmth of the day. I prayed for strength to defeat those who would seek to harm the ponies I was sworn to protect. Finally I asked for safety and wellness for my family in these troubled times.

I stood and slowly emerged from the brush, my eyes scanning for any movement not caused by the gentle breeze. Every step I took was cautious, and the forest was unnaturally quiet. Aside from the gentle rustling of the leaves of the bushes and trees and the occasional snap of a twig or branch that came with the movement of the foliage, all was quiet. The forest felt abandoned. I couldn’t help but wonder if the lack of wildlife was due to the vamponies hunting the animals to extinction or if they had simply fled the area or hidden. The lack of drained bodies, bones or the scent of rot lead me to believe the animals had chosen one of the latter options.

I continued north, and as the hours passed the sun slowly warmed the forest. I absent-mindedly chewed on a tough hunk of bread as I picked my way along. I had hoped the warmth and light of day would cause more activity. Thankfully I was right, it wasn’t long before I could hear several different kinds of insects and a few more birds chirping at each other. The forest never did truly come back to life with noise, but it was better than the graveyard I was walking through earlier. I never saw any ground animals for the better part of the morning.

It was around noon when I stumbled into a fairly large clearing that bordered a lake. The particular edge of the clearing I had found was also full of stumps. If I had to guess, I’d say there were about 200 meters of open ground between the edge of the trees and the edge of the lake. The grass had grown wild here, it reached my knees in most places and came up to my hips at its tallest.

One part of the lake’s shore had a gentler slope to it and somepony had capitalized on the space. Someone had built a small cabin with a covered walkway that lead to a boat house. There was a dock extending from the side of the boat house as well. I had to look at the dock a second time as something caught my attention, there was a fishing rod set up on the end of it, and it didn’t look like it had been sitting out longer than a few hours.

I started forward through the grass again and it suddenly rustled by my hoof. I sprang back and flared my wings, my gauntlet blades sprang forth as well. Whatever was in the grass was fleeing from me, and wasn’t very large. It zipped away rapidly and in an odd zigzag pattern. It stopped about fifty feet away from me along with a loud mechanical snap, the screeching of a rabbit in pain filled the air. I stepped forward only to be startled once more as the door to the cabin swung open and slammed against the outside wall of the cabin. I hit the deck like someone was shooting at me and watched the cabin through a small gap in the grass.

“Ahhh! Finally!” The pony in the doorway called out as he ran out into the waist-deep grass. I couldn’t see him clearly, but I could hear him working on the trap, it squeaked open and he rose from the grass holding the rabbit by its ears. It was kicking wildly in an attempt to escape. He stood there for a moment staring at it with a grin on his face, allowing me to get a better look at him. He was a light blue pegasus and he was wearing denim trousers with suspenders that look like they had been made from more pieces of denim. Based on his clothing, he had lost a lot of weight.

He turned and ran back into the little cottage, slamming the door behind himself as he ran in. The door had been shut with so much force that it had rattled back open slightly, but he didn’t bother coming back to secure it. I couldn’t help but move forward and poke my head up out of the grass. The windows had been covered, and I hadn’t seen any source of light inside the cabin either. The rabbit’s squeals were muffled by the building, but they were no less frantic. Without thinking, I rose to my feet as the rabbit’s cries were silenced suddenly. Everything about this situation felt bad and honestly I probably should have stayed away from the little cottage.

I quickly closed the distance between myself and the nearly abandoned building. Stepping onto the porch with care, I could see dark sheets had been hung up in front of the windows, the only way to see inside was to peek through the door. I heard a strange noise coming from inside the structure, like bones breaking themselves and being rearranged. My damned curiosity got the better of me and I peeked around the slightly opened door just in time to see that skeleton of a pony bite into the rabbit. He had turned into his demonic form before feeding, his massive fangs nearly pierced clean through the little rabbit. My stomach turned slightly at the sound of the crunching ribcage and the smell coming from inside the cottage as he drained the blood from the creature.

I decided it would be foolish to allow this demon to live if I were to continue north. I knew I’d need areas to fall back to if something went wrong and the sooner I started clearing places, the better. I got very lucky, I should’ve scouted the area, I should’ve made sure he was the only one in there. If it had been a nest of them its likely I would have met my demise in there.

I threw the door open and charged in, the light of course fell just short of my distracted target and he flinched away before I could close to striking distance. With a disgusting slurp he drained the rest of the blood from the rabbit and tossed the husk aside, baring his blood-soaked fangs.

“How fucking dare you?!” He bellowed in a ragged voice as he regained his composure in the shade. Just in time for my armored fist to slam into his jaw and shatter the hinge.

He staggered sideways and let out a pained yell as his mouth flew open and began to hang at an awkward angle. I wasn’t going to give him a chance to recover and attack, I swung the same forearm backwards like a club to smash the other side of his face. The blow to his muzzle resulted in a loud crack and caused several of his teeth to fall out. Following the flow of motion I turned my body and slammed my other fist into his throat, eliciting a choked groan. He finally lost all balance and fell to the floor, or would have, had he not teleported through the shadows across the room.

He let out a barrage of coughs as he grabbed his throat and tried to catch his breath. He looked up from the floor at me and gasped, his expression now one of shock. One hand rested on a chair for support and his wings opened slightly. His eye darted around the room, always coming to rest on me again as I started across the room after him.

“You’re fuhing inshane!” He spat at me his jaw still hanging open awkwardly. He looked down as he realized how many of his teeth were now missing. He started to move around the room, trying to keep space between myself and him. “Whah mahesh you fink you can jush barh in here and attah me?!” He demanded as he stumbled through the poorly lit room, watching me rather than his surroundings.

“You are a monster, your death is necessary. Now be silent and accept it!” I shouted as I foolishly leapt over a chair he was standing behind. He took the moment to shadowstep across the room and place some distance between us. I grabbed the chair as I landed, spun in a circle as quickly as I could, and released the improvised projectile. The old chair shattered upon impact and caused him to recoil, bringing his arms up to shield his face.

“Dih you really jush!?” Was all he got out before I had closed the distance, this time drawing my blades and slashing at the left side of his body. I kept my left arm back to guard and used my right to slash his arm open, targeting his shoulder. The uppercut missed, but a slight twist and a drop was all I needed to shatter the left side of his collarbone and render his left arm useless.

He did what I expected him to, he let out a roar and swung wildly with his right arm. I caught his arm with my left and looped it around his, locking his elbow in place. He tried to take advantage of the proximity by biting with the few teeth he had left. I punched my right blade through his sternum and turned away, snapping his elbow and avoiding his sloppy bite.

He let out a loud cry of pain and his breathing became panicked, his left arm moved slightly and he let out another groan of pain as the limb refused to work. His right arm was still entrapped by my left, and his jaw could barely move now. I started walking him toward the large ray of sunlight in the open door and he began to panic even more. His feet kicked at me and his wings flapped, fighting the end I had chosen for him.

“Shtoh! No! I’m noh oinh to die!” He attempted another bite that I leaned away from and applied pressure to his broken elbow. He yelped and kicked even harder but his wings were the real problem, they could flap hard enough to pull us both back and I was losing my balance. “Why canh I shahohep?!” He screamed to the air.

“Enough!” I yelled as I forced my blade deeper into him, feeling the resistance of bone. The sudden shock caused him to recoil and stop flapping his wings. I turned to face him, planted my left hoof and swung my right past him. I pulled my right leg back as hard as I could while pushing forward with my right arm. The momentum slammed him to the ground and forced my blade through his spine, paralyzing him. I lifted his limp body and started toward the sunlight again, I could feel his heart beating weakly on my arm. I looked in his eye, he was terrified, he knew he was about to die. “Make your peace now demon, you’ll have a few seconds,” I growled just before reaching the light. 

I waited just a moment for him then stepped into the sunlight. He immediately began to scream and burn, but was unable to move. I had barely made it out to the tiny porch, he'd been exposed to the sun for maybe two seconds and then it was his turn to surprise me. He suddenly exploded, yep. Exploded. The force of the blast was enough to knock me over as I was already off-balance holding his weight up. I felt bits of charred bone hit my face as I was toppled over, it must have been loud too, because my ears rung for several seconds afterward.

I laid on the porch and groaned as I sat up slowly, bits of charred bone and ash strewn about. Within moments of catching my breath I noticed the smell of rotting flesh permeating the cabin. ‘How could he stand to live in such stench?’ I wondered as I searched through the shack for the source, intent on removing it from where I planned to spend my next night.

The cabin itself seemed to have four rooms; a kitchen/living room space that dominated the majority of the structure, a hallway lead to a pair of bedrooms, and a restroom. The smell was coming from the end of the hall, and as I approached I noticed another door. My face scrunched up at the smell, it was definitely coming from behind this door. I raised an arm in case I’d need to defend myself and yanked the door open.

If the smell was bad before, it was utterly unbearable now. Oh and a corpse was leaning against the door and tumbled into the hall. Already edgy, I hopped back and the yelp I was about to make caught in my throat as what little was in my stomach was rapidly attempting to vacate my body. I immediately grabbed my own muzzle and clamped my hand down hard on my nose and mouth. I couldn’t breathe but I really couldn’t give a shit about breathing at this particular moment.

As I backed down the hall to leave for a breath of fresh air, I noticed two more, much smaller corpses that had been stuffed into the closet behind the larger one. “Oh for fuck’s sake,” I grumbled as I found myself on the porch catching my breath for the second time. “Why do there have to be little ones?” My hands were resting on my shaking legs that were parted slightly, my head bowed down as my stomach did back flips. 


\	\	\	\	\	\	\	\	\	\	\	\	\
	

Running, no, sprinting through that forsaken shanty in the desert heat. Screams from all around, the buzzing of that swarm overhead. The body in my arms, that tiny life that hadn’t even lasted half as long as my own. The smell of charred flesh, screaming. Screaming at me to hurry, those pleading eyes and quickly waving hands from the shadows of a foxhole. The heat of magical discharge overhead. The roar of noise that drowned out the buzzing of the swarm. Light. Heat. Darkness…


\	\	\	\	\	\	\	\	\	\	\	\	\
	

I was sitting in the grass, face in my hands. My whole body was shaking, my brow was covered in cold sweat and I was completely out of breath. I don’t know how long I just sat there, but eventually I rose and headed to the boat shed. A strange numbness had overcome me and my body seemed to move on autopilot. A few minutes of searching through the various tools yielded exactly what I was searching for, a shovel. I stopped and took note of the nets and rope, I could probably use some of that later.

I took the shovel to the edge of the forest, I wanted to make sure the bodies would be far enough from the water to avoid contaminating it. After few hours of digging, shedding pieces of armor, taking a break to eat and drink, cursing at a little orange lizard that popped up and startled me, and finally finishing the holes in the ground, I was ready. 

I re-entered the cabin dressed in the the lightweight cloth I wore under my armor, the only pieces of armor still on my body were the gauntlets. I moved throughout the place and opened every window to let the smell escape. I entered one of the bedrooms, grabbed the sheets from the bed and laid them next to the first corpse. Most of the fur on her coat had fallen out and her skin had that eerie, wrinkled, mummified look her teeth were all exposed and her lips were missing. I cast the first sheet over the stiff body and rolled it  onto the other sheets, tugging it out to the graves. I repeated the process for the two smaller ones and stood in front of the row I had created.

I slowly bowed my head. “I did not know any of these ponies, nor do I know how long they've been waiting for a proper sendoff. But please, if they are still wandering or lost in the darkness, lead them to their places in the stars and help them find peace. If the soul possessed by the demon I destroyed earlier can be salvaged, please help him find his way as well. For to be lost in such a way is the greatest damnation.” I finished my prayer and looked up to the sky. I felt terrible for not being able to hold a proper ceremony for them, but I hoped my words could help in some way, any at all. I had to believe I did, what happened to them was unjust, and they deserved better, all of them did. After I finished burying them I was covered in filth, sweat, and I stunk.

A short amount of searching was rewarded with a wash basin and some mild soaps used for clothes. I disrobed and bathed myself first, making sure my hands and body would be clean before I tried to clean anything else. It felt strange to wash my clothes while naked, but I was certain nobody was around to see me. After hanging everything up to dry, I worked on cleaning my armor, scrubbing it with a rag from the cabin. I donned my armor without my clothes underneath, I’d rather deal with the chafing and discomfort and be ready fight than be comfortable and defenseless.

I searched through the kitchen and storeroom, I got lucky and found some flour. After mixing an eyeballed amount of ingredients together I had a quite-possibly-too-dry dough. I added a little more water to it and set off to find something I could put in the fireplace to cook it with. I never was that great at cooking, but I knew enough to make my favorite flatbread. I eventually found a suitable bread grill and started cooking. 

The numbness was starting to leave my mind as the sun sank in the sky. The flatbread was an excellent meal after such a taxing day and I had some leftover to take with me later. My clothes were just barely dry enough to put on under my armor, but the added comfort helped me relax. I took a moment to pray to the Sisters before sleeping then I laid on the couch in front of the dying fire and wondered about the lives of the family that had lived here. They seemed to be fisherponies, I'd heard of ponies making a living selling fish to Griffons, maybe they were involved in another trade here as well? I did my best to dismiss these questions from my mind and slowly slipped into an uneasy sleep.
> REDACTED
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 4
REDACTED


I awoke with a start and flopped off the couch, making an awful racket when my armored body impacted the wooden floor. Thinking back, I don’t really know what startled me. I wasn’t dreaming, nor had I heard anything, I just felt a sort of jolt in my body and fell off the couch. I quickly scrambled to my hooves and looked around the room, everything was as I left it the evening before.

I strode to the window and peered outside, leaning on the windowsill as I did so. The sky was reddening with the rising sun and the shadows of the trees stretched far across the clearing. The lake was beginning to shine with the sun’s light and it would have been beautiful had it not been for the atrocities that had occurred here. With a sigh, I pushed myself away from the window and stretched, feeling a satisfying string of pops run down my back.

I headed outside and knelt in the moist grass, the morning dew slicked across the metal plates on my knee and leg with a few soft squeaks. Had I moved my leg any farther forward I probably would have slipped and made a fool of myself. I waited for the light of the rising sun to touch my face and bowed my head in prayer, thanking Luna for the restful night and Celestia for bringing the sun once more. 

I knelt in silence longer than usual that morning… My prayer almost felt hollow… Something was wrong but I couldn’t place what it was, I felt like I was losing my connection to the Sisters and the stars. I would need to visit the Sanctuary soon to be purified and blessed. That would help. I hoped…

The numbness had returned… I vaguely remember chewing on some more of the flatbread as I searched through the house for anything I could make use of during my travels. I managed to find some rope and a net, I figured I’d need the rope eventually, and the net could be useful in a fight. They had an axe for chopping firewood, I ended up taking the shovel as well so I could make half-decent campsites. I hit a stroke of luck when searching the house a second time, I found a set of camping packs. One for each family member…

For reasons I can’t quite explain it was difficult to take one of the large ones from the quartet. I almost felt their energies on the packs, I imagined them hiking through the woods together, camping, laughing, being a happy family. Whatever caused this would pay, that much was certain.

The pack made it easier to carry everything I had taken from the house, I even managed to find a dull brown sleeping bag. It would blend nicely out in the wilderness. On the way out I couldn’t help but wonder how else they were living out here, there had to be another source of food somewhere nearby. I was right, there was an overgrown garden I hadn’t noticed the previous day, the only things that had survived were root vegetables. Everything else had either rotted away or been strangled out by the wild field grass.

I took a moment to gather a few carrots and potatoes, most of the beets had been eaten by pests but there were a few good turnips. After salvaging what I could I quickly departed the area. I gave the clearing one final look from the edge of the forest, part of me wanted to burn it all down in hopes of purging the awful memories, the sensible side of me willed my emotions away along with the idiotic notion. 

I wandered through the woods for a considerable amount of time with very little happening. I wanted to get to Canterlot but I noticed for every step north I took, I took another [REDACTED], like I was starting a massive circle. Part of me dreaded what I would find when I arrived, but I couldn’t delay. 

After a few hours of traveling [DATA EXPUNGED] I noticed a few shapes in the forest, I could see another clearing in the distance. I froze as a new feeling washed over me, that awful sixth sense… Someone was watching me… I lowered my stance slightly and flexed my arms, the blades sprung from my gauntlets and I grabbed the emergency release buckles on the straps of the pack. I took a few slow steps, cursing myself for not being more cautious. My eyes frantically scanned the woods for whatever was hunting me, I forced myself to breathe calmly and slowly. My heart unfortunately took no such orders from me, neither did my adrenaline glands. 

For a moment I considered running, but that was probably exactly what this thing watching me wanted… A chase… I stood there for what felt like hours, my ears turning and straining to hear anything over the buzzing of insects and the occasional chirping of birds. This particular part of the forest seemed more alive, and none of the other animals seemed concerned by the presence I could feel watching me. I wasn’t being watched by a demon, but a survivor. Hoping they could be reasoned with I took a chance.

“I’m not infected! Come out and I won’t fight you!” I called out to the forest. A cicada nearby began buzzing loudly and made me jump. “Fucking bug!” 

I heard and felt a whoosh of air behind me along with a flap of wings, they sounded massive. Had I found a griffon? I turned around to face empty forest and arched an eyebrow in confusion. “What?”

I then heard a pair of hooves land behind me, the direction I had originally been facing. Whoever this was, they were skilled at flying. 

“Hands up handsome,” a stallion’s voice said. It seemed oddly familiar… “Turn around nice and slow…”

Obeying the voice I slowly raised my hands and turned around. What I saw honestly surprised me.

In front of me was a vermilion Pegasus who would have stood nearly eye-to-eye with Celestia. He was wearing what looked like old cammies with some thick leather armor on the shoulders and forearms. In his hands was probably the biggest rifle I’ve ever seen a pony carry and a bayonet was affixed to the end. The blade protruded nearly two feet from the end of the muzzle and ran back along the underside of the barrel for at least another foot. It was thick like an axe and had a sharp edge all the way to the base. It was a bolt-action from what I could see, and it looked like it was magazine-fed. 

Looking up from the barrel of the rifle and taking in more of the Pegasus behind it, I saw what I could only describe as the biggest set of wings I had ever seen on a pony. He was wearing wingblades as well, they had to be custom-built to fit such a large frame. He had a very young looking face and large blue eyes that shimmered with amusement. His yellow mane was surprisingly well-kept for someone living in the woods. Then it hit me, the cammies, the face, the rifle and wingblades, I knew this Pegasus!

“...Patches?” I asked. His eyes lit up and a massive grin stretched across his face.

“Holy fucking shit Alex! It’s good to see you!” He immediately looped his arm through the sling on his rifle and moved it to his back. He threw his arms out and swept me up into a hug. “Fuck! I knew I’d see you again someday!” In spite of my squirming he didn’t let go.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Patchesletmego!” I bellowed as I pushed against him. For his lean build, he was as strong as a damned ox. 

He finally relented and dropped me, just beaming with that big dumb smile of his. “Shit, man how have you been?!” He rested a hand on my shoulder and yanked me along as he turned toward the clearing I noticed earlier. “Come! Let’s walk, talk and go get something to eat and drink! But seriously, how have you been?!”

“Uhm,” I stumbled over my words, not used to such friendly treatment during these times. “Well, the world is kind of neck-deep in shit and I’ve had a few run-ins with these demons that want to bite me and drink my blood… Seen some pretty fucked stuff in the last week or so… Why are you so trusting? You’re the first pony who hasn’t demanded to see me naked to look for bite marks.”

He chuckled a bit as we entered the clearing and the structures came into view. He had a decent sized house next to the river, a windmill maybe a hundred feet away and a water mill churning away in the river. “You see, I figure if there’s one group of ponies that can make it through this shitstorm, it’s the Rustwing family. Your family has been serving since Celestia and Luna were foals right? That’s like some giant old oak just sitting there getting the shit kicked out of it during a storm, sure it might lose a few branches, but the roots run so deep a tornado wouldn’t be able to uproot it...” He paused for a moment and got a strange grin on his face. “I still might take you up on that naked thing though…”

I yanked my shoulder back and punched his arm. “You fucking pervert!” I yelled with a laugh… “Holy shit I just laughed…”

Patches simply smiled and raised his eyebrows. “Hey, we might be in a rough patch of history but that doesn’t mean we can’t laugh now and then right? You remember the shit the weather team used to do back at the desert right?” He shrugged and turned out his palms. He was always really animated when he spoke, one of those ponies who wouldn’t be able to speak if you made him sit on his hands.

“You certainly have a very unique way of looking at the current state of Equestria Patches,” I said with a smile. He had a strange way of bringing comfort to everyone around him no matter the situation. “So am I getting the grand tour?” I asked whilst gesturing to the buildings.

“I thought you’d never ask,” he said with a smile. and a sweep of his arm at what had to be at least a two bedroom house. “I had this place built about two years ago, I planned on using it as a vacation home… I’ve kinda built on it since then,” he mentioned, pointing to the lightning rod sticking off the top of the house. 

“Patches are those?”

“Yes, Masters,” he said before I could finish asking my question. The playful tone in his voice was gone, his expression had gone cold as he looked up at the five charred forms impaled on spikes above his house.

“Suddenly I feel a lot less comfortable around you,” I muttered.

He chuckled and his expression brightened. “They work pretty well at scaring off other vamps! Masters are the tough ones! When they come here and see those five up there, and those over there,” he pointed to a neatly organized row of petrified Gargoyle heads on his porch. There had to be almost a dozen there. “They usually take the hint and leave my place alone,” he said with a wink.

“Alright I’m impressed, what is all this? Do you have power out here?” I asked as I looked at the windmill and watermill. 

“You bet your sweet ass I do!” He said with a prideful swing of his arm. I really wished he’d stop talking like that, but that was like asking the sun to stop shining… Poor choice of words I think… “Between the watermill, the windmill, and the lightning rod from storms I kick up, I’ve got enough energy to run damn near anything I want in my house!” 

We reached the porch and he opened the front door, sweeping an arm along. “After you,” that same smile still glued to his face. 

The smell of coffee greeted me as I crossed the threshold of the door and entered Patches’ house. I stepped into what looked like the living room, an overstuffed couch sat in the middle of the room, a pillow tossed to one end of the plush thing. In front of it was what I guessed to be a cherry wood coffee table, I noticed a still steaming cup of coffee on the table. The two pieces of furniture rested atop an old but thick rug that looked very soft. The couch faced a fireplace made of rounded grey stones, a pair of logs were waiting to be lit. To the right of the fireplace was a bookshelf that nearly touched the ceiling and it was nearly overflowing with books for every skillset or interest I could imagine. Next to the couch was a brown reclining armchair with a book placed where someone would sit, the chair was backed slightly off the large rug that dominated the center of the room.

There were a few pictures framed and mounted on the walls. I thought I had done a lot of traveling in my time, Patches seemed to have been damn-near everywhere in Equestria. Some of the photos were definitely taken outside the country as well. I spotted one of his weather team at the Changeling Desert, it was taken a week after they arrived. He even had a picture with the Sisters! The wall behind me had two windows that allowed us to see out onto the porch, hung up were a set of brown curtains with warm little red accents in them.

A half wall on the far end of the living room separated it from the kitchen. He had a sink, an oven and even an icebox! I walked over toward the kitchen, leaning over the half wall. “This is nice!” I declared as I looked at the black tile floor and the granite counter tops There were several cupboards that were the same dark red wood.

“What can I say? I wanted a nice place to come to and relax,” he said with a shrug.

“Is all of this wood cherry?”

“Mhmm, stained it a bit to make it darker as well.”

“You have food in all those?” I asked as I pointed to the cupboards with a raised eyebrow. “What the fuck Patches, did you KNOW this was going to happen?”

“Actually I figured it was going to be zombies,” he said completely deadpan. "I’ve been learning how to can food as well, once winter shows up I won’t be chowing down on MRE’s again, it’ll be canned veggies and fruits!” He smiled and rubbed his hands together. He then gestured to the back of the couch. “Drop your pack and I’ll show you the rest of the house.”

I slipped the pack off my back and carefully set it down against the back of the couch, it was a relief to drop the extra weight. I turned and faced directly away from the couch and could see the hallway that lead to the rest of the house. There were four doors, two on each side and there was also a trapdoor that lead up to the attic.

“The two doors closest to us are the guest rooms, the far door on the left is the bathroom, the far door on the right is the master bedroom. The guest room on the right is pretty much just used for storage,” he said as he cracked the door open to reveal a room full of boxes. It looked like he had labeled them all with sticky notes, I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at that.

“Guest rooms, they see much use?” I asked casually.

“Actually, I befriended a few deer a couple months ago and they stop by every two weeks or so for a visit,” he said with a smile.

“How do they stay safe during all this?” 

“They keep moving really, they have a couple of circuits that they travel, mixing it up all the time. The one consistent thing they do is visit here and trade with me,” he said with a shrug. “Well, that and you know,” he grinned and elbowed me.

I sighed and shook my head. “You haven’t changed a bit.” Gender and species never meant much to Patches, if you were an adult and you gave consent, you were fair game to him.

“Neither have you,” he taunted as he showed me the guest room that wasn’t being used as a storage closet. A full-sized bed sat against the wall to the left, it had a plaid bedspread and several puffy pillows. The wall opposite the door had a window that also could see out onto the porch, the curtains in here matched the ones in the living room. The right wall had a four-drawer nightstand with a little wind-up clock sitting on top of it.

“Pretty basic,” he said with a shrug. “Guess I kind of like leaving it open to a little personalization for whoever is staying.” He stepped away from the door and headed down the hall. “Restroom,” he said as he pushed the door open. Directly opposite from the door was the toilet. To the right of the toilet was a sink with a medicine cabinet over it. Along the right wall was a bathtub and shower combo. On the same wall as the doorway was a towel rack with a pair of white towels hanging from it.

“That is impressive,” I said with a nod. “You have running water everywhere…”

“I got hot water too!” He boasted.

“Bullshit,” I turned to him and saw that damned grin. “You’re so fucking full of it.”

“No on my honor there is hot water,” he said as he raised his right hand. “I got a dark tub up top that heats up during the day. It only holds a few gallons, but it is hot water!” 

“Alright lets see the master bedroom then,” I turned and pushed the other door open. My eyes widened slightly at the sight.

He had a four poster bed against the left wall made of that dark red cherry wood he seemed to fancy so much. The sheets were all the same reddish-orange color he was, and he must have had at least six pillows. Flanking the bed were a pair of matching nightstands made of the same dark wood. A lamp stood atop each nightstand and a windup clock was sitting on the one to the left. On the same wall as the door to the hallway was a closed door to the closet. Opposite the door was a desk and another collection of books. The wall to the right was obscured by a large set of dressers with a massive mirror that spanned most of the wall.

“Holy shit Patches,” was all I could really think to say.

“Vacation home,” was his simple response.

After a few moments of silence Patches spoke up. “So, late lunch?” He offered.

“Definitely.”

I have to say Patches is damn good at cooking, we had this vegetable soup and I got the idea to dip my flatbread in it. That was probably the best idea I’d had since I showed up in his neck of the woods. He offered me some coffee but I refused, never had it and I didn’t intend to start. That stuff is addictive.

“You gonna show me the watermill and windmill after this?” I asked between bites of soup-soaked flatbread.

“Not unless you really wanna see ‘em,” he responded with a shrug. “You’re not really missing much, just some turbines and gears and storage sheds… Coupla wires too,” he looked to the side and up as he thought. “Some batteries, and a water pump. So nothing really exciting,” he finished with another shrug and a half frown.

We chatted for about an hour or so and I got drowsy, so I layed on the couch for a nap. “Wake me up if some crazy stuff happens,” I said before drifting off. I hadn’t been this relaxed or comfortable in a long damn time.

“Will do buddy,” Patches said as he grabbed his rifle and stepped out the front door.
> REDACTED pt.2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 5
[REDACTED] Pt.2


The day after a swarm was stopped was always the quietest one, the Changelings were always busy regrouping and figuring out how many casualties they had. We were usually busy with the same thing, though we always had fewer bodies to recover. The Anti-Swarm Cannon always scared the shit out of me, the sheer amount of magic that it could unleash could blind and deafen anyone dumb or unfortunate enough to look directly at it. 

We were going to drop a bomb on them, not one of those little ones that one Pegasus could strap four or five of to his or her chest and drop. It was huge thing with five cables attached to it, the five Pegasi with the largest wingspans were going to fly it over the forward nest and kill one of the minor queens who had been coordinating the offensive actions against us. Her destruction would leave thousands of Changelings without direction and take the pressure off our front lines.

A unicorn lowered this creepy glowing blue crystal into the core of the bomb. It tapered to a blunt point at both ends and was almost as wide as a watermelon at the middle. It had to be at least half a meter long. The unicorn was wearing this strange helmet with a visor and had thick gloves, he reassured everyone that the magical radiation was only powerful enough to harm Unicorns who couldn't shield themselves. I think we should've had someone else handling this thing if that was the case.

After he lowered it into the body of the bomb and had it sealed, the five biggest Pegasi in the desert got themselves strapped into harnesses and hooked up to the bomb. Patches grinned from his position at the head of the formation, the cable was securely fastened to the harness and ran between his legs. I recognized two other Pegasi who were on Patches’ weather team, they were hooked up directly behind him on either side of the bomb. Behind them were two others I don’t remember seeing before that day. One of them worked in the supply department I think, he looked ready to shit himself.

“Think you can keep the bugs off us?” Patches teased as he flexed his wings. The flex slowly turned into a stretch and he ruffled his feathers. The other two weather Pegasi from his team both shared his confidence and were used to flying combat missions against the Changelings. The other two were definitely not used to it, but we needed wingspans.

“If they get too close, just hide behind that massive ego of yours. It should be enough to shield all five of you if you position it just right,” I said with a grin. 


“I’ll do what I can,” he replied with a shrug and a smile. He was pretty calm for a guy who would be at the front and center of the formation where the most enemy fire would be. It didn't seem like the usual acting tough or excited to keep morale up, he just seemed genuinely happy. The bombers were all wearing the lightest vests and helmets available, other than wingblades, they were unarmed.

I heard a whistle blow and the first group of twenty fighters took their positions. They were all moderately armored and armed, taking a good balance of speed, agility, and durability to whatever resistance would be waiting. The fighters took off and flew ahead to the front lines to secure the approach. 

A second shrill blast of the whistle signaled the next movement, a group of a dozen more heavily equipped fighters took a formation ahead of the bombers. I was in that group, as another dozen lightly armored and armed interceptors took up positions between my formation and the bombers I could feel apprehension clawing at the back of my mind. I liked my fights 20 meters above the ground or lower, this mission was going to be executed at an altitude of over two kilometers.

A blast of air from behind that staggered a few of the smaller Pegasi signaled the takeoff of the bombers. The response was automatic, my group took flight as well and maintained a slower pace to maintain a defensive formation ahead of the bombers. I could hear the straining of the cables as they were drawn taut and the bomb was lifted into the air. I chanced a glance back and the sight resembled what I think it would look like if a brick was tied to several balloons. The thing wobbled dangerously as the bombers worked to time their wingbeats and stabilize the bomb.

After a minute or two of adjustments, they managed to stabilize the bomb and started climbing. If there was one thing those guys could do very well in the air, it was climb. They actually outpaced us halfway up and we had to adjust our speed to compensate. Once we reached the 2 kilometer mark and stopped climbing, the cables actually went slack as the bomb continued climbing a meter or two.

“OH SHI-” The cables went slack then taut and let out a series of dull twangs as the bomb fell and yanked the five Pegasi down. Patches was laughing, that crazy fuck was laughing. 

A few of us dove to help them and ended up stopping after just a split second of flying back to them. They managed to stop their descent and climbed more slowly to the operational altitude. This time they managed to stop climbing without throwing the bomb and losing altitude. 

“Y’all alright?!” The team leader of the interceptor group called to them. The little purple Pegasus almost seemed out of place up here. He had a tiny frame, small wingspan, and lightweight armor. However there was little argument against him being the fastest and most agile of the interceptors.

“We’re good!” Patches shouted back as he flashed a thumbs-up. The team and bomb were stable and the groups were in position. 

The interceptor team leader flew above everyone else and struck his signal flint, the sparks were extremely bright and rained down at least two meters before disappearing. They were impossible to mistake as the glinting of sunlight on wingblades. At this altitude there was very little chance the enemy could see the signals being sent, thus buying us some time to advance unopposed.

I looked ahead to the first group of fighters, little black specks in the distance with gleaming outlines. One speck flew higher and the same shower of sparks could be seen as an exceptionally bright glint in the distance that fell before vanishing. 

At that signal, my group advanced until we could clearly see the first group. The bombers were managing a fairly quick pace considering their payload, I guess it helped that they weren't climbing anymore. We were over the front lines on the ground before the first group began to advance into enemy airspace. 

“You look a little nervous Rustwing!” I could hear Patches calling. “What’s the matter?! Don’t like it this high up?!”

“You got that right! I like falls that I can survive!” I called back as I looked down at the defensive lines we had carved through the sands. They just looked like little lines dug in the sand with toothpicks from this far away.

“Just think of it this way!” He called, I could see that big shit-eating grin on his face. “You’ll have a long time to wave goodbye if you fall!”

We were maybe a third of the way to the target when the first group was engaged by the Changelings. The sight was unsettling, there were maybe one or two hundred drones swarming up to attack the twenty fighters. Even after the swarm had been destroyed, they had countless defenders ready to throw themselves at us. The fighters had an altitude and armament advantage over the Changelings however, and they definitely took advantage of it.

As far away as we were, I could hear the cracks of rifles being fired and see puffs of smoke coming from the fighters holding their position. Specks fell from the black swarm climbing toward them as Changelings got picked off by the powerful rifles. 

Once the groups were about 20 meters away from each other, the fighters dove into the swarm. We were getting closer and I could make out groups of color mixing into the black and green as the maneuvers they executed allowed them to carve a swath through the swarm. Dozens more Changelings plummeted toward the sands below.

One of the fighters was caught in the swarm, he had a Changeling holding onto each limb with more grabbing at his wings. I felt my blood run cold as some of the fighters turned to help and got blocked by a wall of Changelings. There were several cracks and puffs of smoke as they fired at the wall blocking them. Several more Changelings fell, but not before they broke the wings of the fighter they had captured and dropped him. I could hear him screaming as several Changelings dove with him to block the fighters who tried to catch him. Thankfully they managed to fight through them to catch him and started to fly him back toward friendly territory, but the Changelings had just removed three fighters from the battle by injuring one.

The cracks of rifle fire were louder now, we were maybe two hundred meters away from the fight and Changelings were breaking off the swarm to attack our group. The interceptors fell back slightly toward the bombers while my own fighter formation loosened. Our advance did not slow, we did not falter, and several of us opened fire. Favoring blades and heavy traditional armor myself, I had no rifle to join in the chorus of fury that tore into the enemy. However when the Changelings finally closed to melee distance, I was more than ready for them.

My gauntlet blades were drawn before the first Changeling hit me. It was almost easy punching through it, we were both flying right at each other. I had reach, a sharper blade, and thicker armor, he had chitin. Their armor is weakest at the joints, the stomach, the neck, and the collarbone. I think I felt his collarbone snap as my blade passed through his torso and cut him open. I had just enough time to see his expression change in the corner of my eye before he fell from my view.

Another one was flying on a course right over me, I didn't have enough time to reach up and stop him. I did a quarter roll and stuck my wing up as far as I could reach. My wingblade sliced into the Changeling’s chitin and got stuck halfway through the chest, locking us together. The opposing momentum we both had yanked us into a spin and we immediately began losing altitude.

“GET. THE. FUCK. OFF. ME!” I shouted as I kicked at the creature. Ichor flowed freely from the wound as we plummeted toward the desert below. It felt like no amount of struggling could get me free from this weight stuck to my wing. Panic crept into my mind as I furiously kicked, stomped, and pulled on my wing. I flexed my wing toward myself as hard as I could, rotated and planted my hooves on his chest, then kicked away as hard as I could. A sickening squelch reached my ears as my wing was freed and flung ichor in a wide arc.

I quickly recovered from the spin, halted my descent, and began to fly back to the group. The Changeling’s corpse plummeted toward the sand, leaving a trail of ichor in its wake. As I approached the fray, I could see the interceptors zipping around the bombers. They knocked any Changeling who got too close right out of the sky. One changeling tried to attack the bombers from directly below, the turbulence caused by the air they displaced to stay aloft sent it spinning out of control toward the ground. 

When I rejoined the group, I met a new nasty surprise. A bright green bolt of energy surrounding several shards of clay impacted my chest. The shards of clay shattered into dust on impact with my armor and the energy bolt dispersed, thankfully the spell was only there to give the objects momentum. I was lucky I only got hit by a clay flak, they use all sorts of junk, some of the most dangerous stuff they throw at us is their own chitin or scraps of metal.

“Flak! They've got flak teams!” I shouted toward Patches’ group.

“ROGER THAT!” Patches bellowed back. A Changeling managed to evade the interceptors and charged right at him. Since he was only armed with wingblades, and his wings were busy keeping the bomb in the air, Patches used his giant hands to ruin that Changeling’s day. He grabbed the thing around the throat, caught its swing and disarmed it, then proceeded to break its arms one after the other.

“Quit struggling you little shit!” He screamed at it as he turned it around. I've never seen Patches so angry. “This is for Hail Bolt you scum!” He grabbed the Changeling’s right wing and ripped it off with a single yank. The Changeling was like a doll in the hands of an angry child, it was just getting torn apart. It was trying to cry out in pain, but every time sound started to escape its muzzle Patches squeezed its throat again.

“Let’s see how you like this when it happens to you!” Patches tore the Changeling’s other wing out and dropped it. The drone tumbled end over end, screeching as it plummeted toward the ground. Another Changeling dove to help it, and got shot by one of the fighters for making the effort.

Several more bolts of flak flew toward the bombers, they had no options but to take the attack and the armor they were wearing wouldn’t be able to protect them from chitin or metal projectiles. I didn't think, I just reacted. I flew in the way and took as many of the hits as I could block.

“Good job ego!” Patches called to me, it was an odd contrast to what he had just been doing.

“Learn to fly!” I called back at him as he laughed.

“How much farther do we need to go?!” One of the weather Pegasi called.

“Just to that pillar!” Patches shouted and pointed to a lone structure jutting from the ground. It had to be at least a kilometer away and the Changelings must have realized our plan because the Queen’s guard Enforcers had come out to fight. 

The Enforcers were terrifying creatures, they stood anywhere from eight to twelve feet tall. The queens make them by using mutation spells on their strongest soldiers, and they’re extremely effective. Their chitin was much thicker than a drone or soldier’s and their bodies were drastically different. While a regular Changeling has two legs, an Enforcer has four powerful legs. They also had an elongated torso with four arms. They have larger wings to compensate for their larger bodies as well. 

A group of four Enforcers was flying through the battle, each armed with a different weapon. The beasts acted as if nothing was  happening around them, they were heading straight toward the bomb. They must have thought they couldn't be harmed by the fighters because they didn't even bother to stop and help Changelings who were losing fights. 

One of them got attacked by three different fighters when they realized he was ignoring them. Their rifles didn't seem to be able to pierce his armor, but the impacts would still be painful to the tissues beneath the chitin. His advance stopped as he swung his axe wildly at a small white Pegasus who flew between the him and the sun. Every chance he got, the Pegasus would kick the Enforcer’s face then zip away before getting hit. 

The other three Enforcers ignored this completely and continued toward the bombers. The flak stopped firing as well, they didn't want to risk hitting their elite soldiers. A bright yellow Pegasus with white spots on his coat who I knew as Megawatt flew up beside me.

“Rustwing! Let’s hit and disarm that one!” He pointed to the nearest Enforcer armed with a massive spear. His rifle was slung onto his back and in his right hand was a short sword.

“Alright, top speed!” I yelled and we dove toward him. I flapped my wings to propel myself down toward him as fast as I could manage. The wind whipped at my face as I closed the distance, I could just barely see Megawatt’s obnoxiously bright coat out of the corner of my eye keeping pace with me. We slammed into the spear, grabbing it as we did. We twisted into a barrel roll to the left and yanked the weapon right out of the Enforcer’s hands.

If he had been ignoring us before, he definitely wasn't anymore. He turned and roared at us as we spun away with his weapon, his hands flailing after us as he tried in vain to retake his weapon. The damn thing was heavy! I had enough on my plate keeping myself aloft! I let the damned thing go, after losing a meter or so of altitude, Megawatt let go as well. Dropping the spear seemed to piss the Enforcer off even more as he abandoned his mission to chase Megawatt and I.

As we flew away, I noticed the group of fighters fighting the first Enforcer. Two had landed on his back and were trying to chop his wings off. The chitin frames on his wings were too thick for them to cut through, thankfully that little white Pegasus was still distracting him. One of the Pegasi on his back finally gave up on hacking and stuck the blade on his rifle through the membrane of the wing and used the buzzing flap of the Enforcer to strip the wing from the frame. It was very effective and the other Pegasus followed his example, causing the beast to fall from the sky.

The Enforcer chasing us caught up, Megawatt drew his sword and I prepared my gauntlet blades. Even the joints of an Enforcer were tough spots to damage, but the two of us would be able to out maneuver him and hit a weak spot somewhere. At least that’s what I hoped.

I managed to dodge his hands when he made a grab for me and left him open for an attack. Megawatt swung his sword at the Enforcer’s neck but only managed to hit the beast’s shoulder as it had seen the attack coming and had blocked. It then swung out with two arms and backhanded Megawatt, he must have been knocked out by the impact because he flipped end over end and didn't recover.

I dove after him but was stopped very suddenly by something wrapping around my leg. I was then face-to-face with a very pissed off bug. He opened its mouth and let loose a deafening roar. I probably could have fit my entire head in his mouth, then I realized he was going to try just that. I jammed one of my gauntlet blade into his mouth and leaned back to avoid his bite. He immediately withdrew his face and roared again, this time splattering ichor all over me. I would have taken comfort in the knowledge that I wounded my enemy were I not firmly in his grip.

His grip also got decidedly worse as his bottom hands grabbed my arms to hold me in place in front of him. The hand holding my leg released me and he proceeded to punch me in the head and chest. The impacts to my chest knocked the wind out of me even with the armor I was wearing, the punches to my head made my vision blur slightly. I seriously thought this thing was going to kill me.

“Hey bitch, thought you got rid of me?” Megawatt said as he floated up next to the Enforcer, his rifle pointing right at its eye. The Enforcer had just enough time to look away from me before his face disappeared in a cloud of carbon and fire. I didn't see any exit trail of ichor or debris so I assumed the round got stuck in the chitin on his skull. I felt his grip vanish as his arms slackened, he must have been stunned by the force of the impact. I took advantage of the opportunity and kicked and flapped my wings to get loose.

It was good that I got free when I did, because his wings stopped flapping and he dropped like a rock.

“Holy shit, I thought you missed his eye when he turned his head!” I gasped and forced my lungs to fill back up with air. Flying was getting really difficult.

“Nah I adjusted just a bit. You gonna make it? You took quite the beating!” He asked me as he reloaded his rifle.

“I’ll make it, what about the other two?” I asked as we turned toward the bombers.

One of the Enforcers was bogged down swatting at the interceptors and the other had made it to Patches. He was doing what he could to block the giant hammer it was swinging at him, but he was taking a lot of hits.

“Going slack!” Patches yelled to the other bombers. They all started working a lot harder to keep the bomb afloat as Patches tucked his wings in close to his body. He ducked and his left wing snapped out faster than I thought possible at the Enforcer’s head, it managed to move two of its four hands up to block the attack and I could hear the dull thwack of the impact over the din of the fight. The Enforcer’s head snapped back like it had been shot by a cannonball and shards of chitin flew from its face and hands.

Surprisingly it stayed airborne and drew the hammer back for another swing. Patches was losing altitude though and the Enforcer wasn't going to be able to hit him. He grabbed one of its legs and swung himself around behind it. He took a moment to punch it in the back of the head to distract it before circling it again. When he finished his maneuver his cable was wrapped around the Enforcer’s waist.

“DROP!” He yelled to the rest of the team as he flew until the cable was taut. 

The rest of his team obeyed and dropped, the weight of the bomb pulling down forced the cable back into a straight line. The Enforcer was sliced cleanly in half. Patches was flapping his wings as hard as he could and yelling trying to keep the bomb afloat. Thankfully the rest of the team took flight again before they lost too much altitude.

“Holy shit that was brutal!” Megawatt called out as the interceptors managed to bring down the last Enforcer. They were all over the thing carving into it with their blades where they could find a weak spot. A group of them managed to strip its wings right around the time another one managed to put a spear through its neck.

There was a moment of calm around the bombers and interceptors at the fall of the final Enforcer. Then the flak started flying their direction again. The Changelings must have set up extra flak teams while the Enforcers made their attempt at stopping us. Megawatt and I knew the grim reality of the situation and flew to intercept as many of the projectiles as we could. It was up to the forward group of fighters to stop the flak teams and they were bogged down by the swarm. 

Unfortunately we couldn't block everything they were throwing at us, nor could we handle everything we were getting hit by. Megawatt took some metal shards to the arms and face and had to bug out, I couldn't understand what he was saying but he headed in an odd direction. A particularly large projectile flew past my head, the shiny surface hinted that it was chitin but it looked like a single, large projectile, not shards. 

That projectile hit the back-left Pegasus in the bomber formation and exploded. Chitin shrapnel from the blast hit the back-right Pegasus and the front-left one. The one who got hit directly went completely limp, he fell in an arc as the cable and harness kept him attached to the bomb. He ended up swinging limply underneath the bomb. The back-right Pegasus took the majority of the shrapnel and wasn't doing too well after taking the hit either. He was struggling just to keep himself aloft and the cable was slackening. 

Several interceptors flew up to help them, a trio disconnected the unconscious bomber from his harness and started flying him back to our airspace. Another two were helping the severely injured Pegasus with his harness. The front-left weather team Pegasus who had been hit by shrapnel refused to relinquish his harness and continued flying as his injuries were minor and his wings were largely untouched. After evacuating the bombers, two interceptors hooked themselves into the harnesses but couldn't produce half of the lift that had been lost. They were all struggling to keep the bomb in the air. I couldn't let them get hit by another one of those, even if it meant taking the impact myself. The mission couldn't fail, not when we were this close to the nest.

Then I saw it, another of those shiny black projectiles. One solid mass surrounded by an acceleration spell. I swung my arm in an attempt to deflect it, my blade just barely managed to hit it and push it off course. The damned thing must have been pressure sensitive because it blew up right in my face. The roar of the battle was replaced by a shrill ringing and all I could see was a black and green cloud. As soon as I cleared the cloud of shrapnel and energy I realized something was terribly wrong.

The world was spinning… No, I was. I couldn't feel my left wing… I turned my head to look at it and saw a chunk of chitin sticking out of it just below my wingblade. I reached out and grabbed my wing, forcing it to stabilize. After recovering from my spin I started gliding back toward the front line, I would only be a liability in a fight in this shape. 

My hearing slowly came back as I drifted toward slightly less dangerous airspace. I guess this was the one good thing about being that high up, I had a long time to drift back to the ground and would probably make it back to the front lines or farther. 

I had almost made it back when a pair of Pegasi flew up to greet me. Medics. Thank the Sisters. I was getting light headed, probably blood loss after drifting so far. I don’t remember what they said but they helped me fly back to a medical tent they had set up.

I looked back at our objective once we landed. The swarm was a little black smudge in the distance. That very smudge suddenly vanished in a blinding flash of light that was followed by a column of sand and dust. The pressure of the shock wave made it all the way back to us, but was relatively weak by the time it did. The explosion was pretty damn loud though. I’d had enough of explosions and loud noises for one day.

“This will help with the pain,” one of the medics said as he stuck a needle in my wing. I wasn't in pain, I didn't feel anything. They got me on an IV and started a blood transfusion. I heard muttering about blood loss. The groaning of the wounded. The screams of the dying and living alike. I wanted it all to stop. Was I screaming? I was laying in a cot, almost unconscious when I heard another voice. 

“MEDIC! WE NEED A FUCKING MEDIC NOW!” It was Patches. In his arms was one of his weather team, they were both soaked in blood. The other Pegasus gurgled and coughed. Who was screaming so much?

Tap tap tap.

The medics swarmed Patches and his friend. The screams of the dying. The cries of the damned.

Tap tap tap.


////////////////////


“You sure are a noisy sleeper Alex,” Patches was leaning over me and tapping on my helmet. “How did you ever manage to fall asleep in this stuff?”

“A healthy dose of paranoia helps,” I said as I stretched and yawned. “How long was I out?” I asked as I looked around, the sun was out but it didn't feel like morning.

“Two or three hours,” Patches replied with a shrug. He took a few steps away and squatted in front of the couch to talk to me. “Sunset’s in an hour or two, dinner will be around then too. I’m guessing its been awhile since you've had a good meal. You were out like a light,” he said with a soft smile.

“Yeah, just like old times huh?” I more said than asked as I sat up and let my hooves touch the floor. We used to take naps after pretty much every meal or at every opportunity when we were stuck out in that desert. “So is there anything interesting going on besides the impending meal or were you just tired of me talking?”

“A bit of both,” Patches’ voice actually cracked a little. He must have heard enough to know what I was dreaming about and had his own experience. Judging by the look in his eyes he was still reliving parts of it. “Also, we might have some visitors,” he said calmly.

“Ah shit really?!” I jumped up off the couch.

“Nonononono! Not hostiles, visitors,” Patches rose and gestured to the door. “Thought I saw one of my deer friends about a half an hour ago. I used that wing trick and could hear two of them in the woods. They’re cautious but they should show up soon,” he finished with a smile.

After twenty minutes or so there was a knock at the door. It was [DATA EXPUNGED] and by the time I realized it the [REDACTED] had ended. Patches walked up to the door and opened it to reveal a pair of white-tailed deer, a buck and a doe. They quickly stepped inside and Patches closed the door.

Unlike the greeting I received, Patches actually inspected the two of them for bites. It was a pretty quick check and after he was satisfied he swept them up in a hug.

“I’m glad the two of you are staying safe out there!” He said cheerfully. “Hope the two of you brought an appetite!” He set them both down and stepped over to me. “This is Alex, long time friend of mine,” he held his hands out as if he were presenting me to someone.

“Hello Alex,” they both said. The doe a little more enthusiastically than the buck.

Patches made the same gesture at the two of them. “Alex I would like to introduce you to Daisy and Bryon, just a few of the deer I've met out here,” he glanced at the window.

“Hello you two,” I waved a little, the situation felt a little awkward but it was good to see more friendly faces.

Patches ended up doing another brief patrol of the area while I got acquainted with his friends. After he was done he came back inside to cook some dinner for everyone. The deer asked strange and prying questions, I’m not sure if it was just them or a cultural difference but they seemed to want to know everything about me...

> REDACTED pt.3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 6
[REDACTED] Pt.3


“Have you ever killed a pony?” Daisy asked while sitting on the edge of her seat, eyes wide.

“Yes,” I barely managed before the next question.

“What about a Changeling?” Bryon butted in.

“Too many to count,” I said as I shook my head.

“What about a Griffon?!” Daisy belted out, continuing the barrage that started nearly an hour ago.

“A few of them too,” I sighed as I shuffled uneasily.

“You’re not giving us numbers. So you never counted them?” Bryon asked incredulously.

“I did at first, but then I just stopped after awhile,” I admitted.

“How long have you served in the military?” Daisy asked for what I believed to be the third time.

“Seventeen years, you gonna remember this time?” I asked.

“What’s your favorite drink?” Bryon demanded for the second time.

“Water. I told you already,” I huffed.

“That’s such a boring answer and I didn’t believe you the first time,” he responded, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, one hand grasping the other in front of his muzzle. “How big is your dick?” I honestly lost count of how many times they asked that one.

“Why the fuck do you keep switching topics and asking me THAT?!” I cried out in distress. Patches knew they’d do this and I’d make sure to give him hell for it.

“Why have you refused to answer that question every time we keep asking?” Daisy asked, her tone rising as well.

“Why do you think?!” I demanded, turning my hands out.

“Do you hear that ringing too?!” Bryon yelled.

“What?” I asked as silence fell over the room.

Riiiiiing… Riiiiiiing…

I slowly turned my head toward the kitchen where Patches was making the finishing touches on dinner, on the counter he had what I could only describe as a brick with a little metal bowl on top of it. It was the source of the shrill ringing and the center of everyone’s attention.

Patches grabbed the phone and held it up to inspect the front of it. 

“Tillook?” He pressed a button on it, causing the ringing to stop. “I’ll call him back later and let him listen to the answer recording I made for him,” he said with a shrug.

“Who’s Tillook?” Bryon asked, quickly turning to Patches. “You’ve never mentioned them before,” he commented before receiving an answer.

“Just some weird guy I met,” Patches paused, his brow furrowed and his mouth open as he searched for the right words. “A long time ago… Wasn’t aware he had a phone though,” he commented as he started dishing out servings of vegetables.

The deer thankfully stopped their barrage of questions and moved to the table with myself in tow. All I really recall about the food on the plate were the green beans, carrots and corn. I’m not sure how he managed it, but Patches had gotten his hands on a pineapple as well and sliced it up for dessert. It was probably the sweetest thing I had ever tasted.

After dinner I helped Patches clear the table then he decided to distract his friends with another one of his tall tales. I couldn’t really enjoy it though, I had this strange feeling clawing at the back of my mind. As time went on it felt more and more like someone was watching me. Every time I glanced out a window I caught no sign of movement, but the feeling would get worse. Maybe it was my paranoia getting to me again.

“And the best part about that particular visit was when I got to make out with Celestia and Luna!” Patches finished his story with some hearty laughter from the deer and a stern look from me. He smirked and winked at me, knowing my disapproval of the ending.

“Hmmm, almost eight,” Patches said as he looked at me. “You mind taking first watch? I’ll take over at midnight and let you sleep as much as you want,” he offered.

I flashed a thumbs-up. “That’ll work,” I said flatly as I glanced at the deer. “You two heading to bed as well?” I asked, not really caring for an answer at this point.

They both nodded and rose from their seats. “It was nice to meet you,” Bryon said as he started toward the guest room.

“Yeah you t-” I was cut off by the feeling of a hand running along my cheek and jaw, stopping at my chin. It was Daisy.

“We’ll save some room for you if you wanna sneak in later,” she said with a wink. She finally let go and sauntered off to the room.

“Heheheh, they like you,” Patches practically sang. He tapped my shoulder as he left as well, heading to the front door. “I’m gonna kick up the evening storm, keeps a few of the undesirable elements away. Plus the rain and thunder help me sleep,” he said as he stepped out onto the porch and took flight.

I followed him out to the porch and watched him swoop down over the river, dragging his wings over the water’s surface to scoop up moisture. He rose into the air with what looked like bubbles of water on his wings, trailing bits of cloud and drops of water. Once he had centered himself over his house and climbed at least a thousand feet I felt the pressure drop and a massive cloud began to form overhead. It rumbled softly as it grew at an insane speed, Patches knew what he was doing when it came to weather.

I could definitely feel eyes on me as I watched Patches work, and they weren’t his. I scanned the close treeline but couldn’t see anything moving. I still felt the direction of the gaze and focused more on that area of the forest. I slowly scanned from right to left, remembering to slow my eyes as I scanned every shape between the trees. Nothing.

Patches landed in the yard with a forceful flap of his wings, displacing enough air to halt himself momentarily before touching down. He walked over to me with a smile. “Storm should stay up until my turn to watch starts,” he said. He paused, his eyes flicking over my body then glancing out the direction I was looking. “See something you don’t like?”

“Not yet,” I admitted. “But I can feel eyes on me, do you think they lead something to us?” I asked, pointing my thumb over my shoulder to indicate the deer.

“Nah, my house doesn’t move, the storm doesn’t move, the bodies I hang up as a warning don’t move. The vamps know where I live and some are still foolish enough to come knocking,” he smiled out at the trees. “And if they want to come try again, they’re welcome to,” his smile took a wicked turn as he issued his challenge to the forest. The storm brewing overhead rumbled dangerously as some small in-cloud lightning lit the sky.

“You see anything?” I asked as I looked back out to the trees. “Or hear anything with that weird wing trick you do?”

Right after I finished my second question I heard the snap of his wings and his feathers ruffled. He closed his eyes and “listened” with his wings. “There’s definitely something out there, two bodies about two hundred meters out,” he opened his eyes as he finished. “Don’t know if its a hunting pair or a scouting party. I kind of pissed off a nest about two weeks ago when I killed one of the masters in charge of it. So if these two are part of the nest we might be seeing more of them later,” he finished as he went back inside.

“Shit,” I muttered as I followed him back in. “You have a firearm that won’t break my shoulder if I use it?” I asked, knowing better than to ask him for his rifle. 

He opened a dresser and pulled out a large handgun. “Forty four, long barrel, six cylinder, hollow-points. Accurate at range and will tear the head clean off of just about anything,” he finished with a smirk. “Smart of you to take the ranged weapon, you never know what’s out there,” he trailed off as he looked out the window, the soft patter of rain started on the roof. He handed me the pistol as well as a speed loader for the revolver and set a box of rounds on the coffee table with a wink.

“Rain’s gonna play hell with visibility. Anywhere I should be to watch for em?” I asked as I looked out onto the porch, then back to Patches.

“You can sit in here if you want, just don’t fall asleep. I’ll keep my wings alert tonight and should hear anything walking through the rain toward us,” he explained as he headed down the hall.

“Alright, see you in a few hours then,” I called down the hall as he entered his room.

“Seeya,” he returned as he closed the door.

I toyed with the revolver for a few minutes, checking the sights and feeling the balance. I unloaded it and took a firm shooting stance, I allowed my joints to find supported positions and minimized my body’s sway. I slowly squeezed the trigger and dry-fired the weapon a few dozen times  to get a feel for how much pressure was needed to fire it. I practiced using the speed loader while looking out the window. That part didn’t go so well. I ended up missing the cylinder entirely and sent rounds rolling across the floor.

“Shit,” I hissed as I knelt and quickly plucked up the fallen rounds. I quickly placed them in the speedloader and practiced just using the damned thing while looking at it. It took a few tries to get it right and I figured I wouldn’t be able to do it properly under duress anyways.

“Swords are better anyways, adrenaline just makes them hit harder, not harder to use,” I grumbled as I set the speed loader aside. I had prepped it with additional rounds from the box anyways.



The next two hours were very uneventful, with the only disturbance being what sounded like sex coming from the guest room. I remember getting a chuckle out of the sounds, it eased the tension of the night a little. A little after ten things started to get pretty bad.

I could feel more eyes on me outside, every scan of the treeline revealed nothing new. I could hear whispers coming from the corners of the room, everywhere was well-lit so I didn’t have to worry about a sudden shadow step intrusion. However I couldn’t find the source of the whispers, it seemed like they were moving around the room. Anywhere I wasn’t looking, they would whisper from.

It was maddening, it went on for at least an hour. A hiss, a click, a scratch, a buzz of papery wings, could I smell chitin? I trembled slightly as I tried to clear my head, peeking out the window again to search for any potential intruders. The slight haze caused by the rain made the treeline more difficult to see than it had been before. I think some clouds were blocking the moon as well because it looked even darker out than it had been before. I could feel countless hungry eyes on me.

A flash of lightning lit the small clearing, revealing dozens, maybe even a hundred Changelings. All of them snarling, fighting to get past each other, posturing for a fight, challenging me.

I staggered back and tumbled away from the window with a gasp. I quickly righted myself and looked back out to see the clearing was once again empty. I shook my head with a groan, something out there was fucking with me. A second bolt of lightning hit just a few feet from the house, causing me to jump back. I could see the glint of light off a pair of eyes in the tree right before the flash blinded me momentarily. When I could see again, well…

I was standing in a tunnel, it was hardened sand that had been turned into concrete by that weird stuff the Changelings used. Scraggly pillars reached from the floor to the ceiling, worn carvings completely covered them. Many had holes that closely resembled those in the limbs of starving Changelings.

“We gotta get that bomb into the egg chamber,” I felt myself say as I nodded to Matchstick and pointed farther down the tunnel. “Torch anything that isn’t us!” I barked.

The pyromancer obliged eagerly, sending a massive wave of flames down the tunnel eliciting several high-pitched shrieks. Several of the Changelings ‘popped’ when water under their chitin expanded into gas and popped the armor off them. 

“Woohoo! I love that smell!” The unicorn cheered as the flames died down.

“You are strange pony,” Blizzard Wind said to him, his thick accent and heavy voice echoing almost as loudly as Matchstick’s shouts.

“Move up,” I ordered as I stepped forward into the scorched tunnel. I pushed a charred Changeling out of my way who had somehow died and gotten stuck standing. The ceiling of the tunnel had cracked and grains of sand were sprinkling themselves on top of my helmet. In spite of the intensity of the flames that had just torn through the tunnel, I felt oddly cold…

“My goodness, you’ve been through quite a bit…” A silky smooth voice drifted through the back of my skull. “I’ll be certain to help you let go of all of it,” the voice cooed as I continued onward toward the Queen’s chamber.

A deafening roar and a rush of air past my head pulled me from whatever foul hex had ensnared my mind. 

I was standing in front of Patches’ house, the sand on my helmet had in fact been rain. I was soaked, and my ears were ringing from whatever had made that awful noise. I was close enough to the treeline to make out what was left of what I would later discover to be a Master Vampony. Patches had heard me, grabbed his rifle, rushed outside, and put a round from that cannon of a rifle through the vampony that had grabbed hold of my mind.

Her remains were spattered several feet in every direction, even halfway up the trunk of the tree she had been under. As my eyes further adjusted to the dark I made out several more shapes in the dark. Vamponies, all of them seemed just as startled as I was that the Master’s torso had just exploded.

I felt a very large arm wrap around my torso and lift me from the ground. I started to struggle, disoriented by my deafness and sudden vertigo. Upon realizing the massive arm belonged to Patches I latched onto the limb, my legs feeling like unresponsive putty.

Within moments we were back inside, Patches unceremoniously dumped me on the floor, slammed the door, and worked the bolt of his rifle, chambering a new round. The ringing was slowly clearing from my ears and I could almost hear the casing hit the floor. 

Patches was looking at me and saying something. I tried my best to read his lips, and it looked like he was asking if I was ok. I nodded and gave him a thumbs-up as I looked toward the hallway. There was no way the deer had slept through that deafening sound.

Sure enough, Bryon came scurrying out into the hall closely followed by Daisy. Their cloven hooves scratched dully against the floor as they ran to Patches, I couldn’t understand any of the shouting but Patches pointed and they both ran into the storage room.

The ringing in my ears finally faded and I could feel my equilibrium returning. As I rose to a pair of shaky hooves Patches nodded at me and smiled.

“Glad you’re still in one piece! Can you hear again?”

“Yeah, thanks for the save. I owe you one,” I responded as I rubbed my forehead. “feels like someone took a hammer to my head,” I groaned.

“Yeah they’ll fuck your head up pretty bad with that mind control thing, plus the shock of standing in front of this thing when it fires probably didn’t help either!” He said with a laugh. “Two masters down, pretty sure there was just one more in that nest and maybe a dozen total of the rest. I seriously doubt the whole nest packed up to come attack us,” Patches mused. “They would have left a few behind to tend to whoever they have prisoner,” he stated.

“They keep prisoners?” I asked uncertainly as I checked the revolver Patches had handed me earlier. It was thankfully still loaded, at the same time the idea of holding a loaded gun under the control of one of those things was not comforting. 

“More like livestock,” he muttered. “They keep them to feed off of them, apparently they have sex with the ones who behave really well too. They make sure to only bite once so they can keep their prisoners from turning.”

Daisy and Bryon came running back into the living room, both of the deer had armed themselves. It was nice to know Patches was well-prepared for this kind of thing. Daisy had found herself a shotgun along with a bandolier full of extra shells. I almost let out a groan at Bryon who had armed himself with a .22 LR.

“Bryon what the shit?! That’s a training rifle!” Patches shouted.

“You know how I feel about these things!” He complained in return, holding the rifle away from himself like it could go off at any moment.

The little argument came to an abrupt end at the sound of multiple loud snarls, I recognized the sound as gargoyles transforming. Three of them were shambling out of the trees into the clearing as they underwent the apparently painful transformation. I could hear their skin ripping as they changed, their eyes glinting in the dark as they reflected the light coming from Patches’ house.

“Aww fuck that noise!” Patches yelled as he ran out the door TOWARD the gargoyles.

“Patches what the fuck they’re gonna rip you apart!” I called as I ran out after him, aiming the revolver at the gargoyle farthest to the left.

“If they get too close to my house they’ll fuck it up and I am NOT going to spend a fucking fortnight on repairs AGAIN!” He shouted angrily as he brought the rifle to bear on the beast to the right, it hadn’t finished the transformation yet. The rifle let out a massive roar of noise, the muzzle flash lit up half of the clearing, and the cloud of smoke from the rifle extended several feet. 

The result was instant, the round hit the beast where the collarbones meet and removed the creature’s head. The one on the left had just finished its transformation while I was distracted by Patches’ rifle. It wasted no time and lunged at me, arms outstretched and mouth open in a twisted snarl.

Thankfully the rest of my body was still in its original stance, the revolver still aimed at the beast. I squeezed the trigger, knowing exactly how much pressure it would take to drop the hammer onto the round. The kickback from the hand cannon was far greater than I had anticipated however and when I flexed to stop the revolver both of my forearm blades deployed. 

The round caught the beast in the mouth and punched a hole clean through the vertebrae in its neck. This did not stop it from flying forward and crashing into me. The impact knocked me off my hooves and I felt myself fly almost a meter, the impact with the ground knocked the wind out of me.

I could hear Patches chambering the next round in his rifle just as the last gargoyle pounced on him. He cursed loudly and managed to block it with his rifle, shoving the creature away then delivering a powerful kick to its chest which staggered it further.

I was struggling to get out from under the body lying on me when the gargoyle spotted me, the other food source pinned to the ground. It must have seen an easier kill because it immediately barreled toward me.

I worked my pinned arm out from under the dead gargoyle, my heartbeat in my throat as I aimed the revolver at the charging beast. 

A blur of red struck the creature’s legs and knocked it to the ground. 

“I’m over here you dumb fuck! You don’t get to change who you’re fighting just because he’s an easier target!” Patches bellowed angrily. That red blur had been his wing, and it had used the momentum of the strike to coil around the gargoyle’s leg. He dragged it across the ground toward himself then spun around rapidly, snapping his wing in a wide arc out and up. He released the beast and sent it flipping end over end straight up into the air.

He was looking straight up, his right wing cocked back like a snake getting ready to strike. I was tugging my leg out from under the gargoyle’s corpse when the one he had hurled into the air began its tumbling descent. It flipped end over end like a coin, like an angry, howling, slobbering coin. His wing turned into a blur as it snapped up and caught the gargoyle across the small of its back.

The creature folded cleanly in half around the edge of Patches’ massive wing, its spine let out a sickening snapping sound. I was amazed that its skin had stopped his wingblade, but the force of the impact was more than enough to do the damage it needed to.

He dumped the paralyzed creature onto the ground as it gasped for air, it was strange to see a gargoyle moving so slowly. It was disoriented by the sudden loss of the use of its legs but it rapidly regained its breath. Its arms swung aggressively as it tried to move and resume its attack.

“Oh for the Ancient’s sakes,” Patches groaned as he turned and aimed his rifle. “Just roll over and die already.” The roar of the rifle silenced the creature once and for all.

“There were more than just these three out there,” I said to Patches as silence fell over the clearing once more. The only sound left was the patter of rain and the occasional rumble of thunder. “Where are the rest?” I asked as I looked back out into the trees.

“Probably just a few bats,” Patches said as he snapped his wings and closed his eyes, ruffling his feathers to listen for them. “Four of them… No five, a quintet of cowards,” he said with a chuckle.

He chambered a new round into his rifle and stared out into the forest with a grin. “Isn’t that right?!” He bellowed, his voice echoing off the trees. “Y’all are a bunch of cowards aren’t ya?! Hiding behind these big dumbshits who don’t know an elbow from a hole in the ground! Go on home and tell your Master he’s a cowardly little shit with a bunch of cowards under his command! He MIGHT forgive you for yet another failure to kill me!” His taunting continued for several minutes before he finally hit a nerve.

A bat shadowstepped  into my shadow, immediately grabbing my wrist to point the revolver away from himself. He lunged forward and tried to bite my neck, wrapping his arm around me as he did so. I tucked my head down and slammed my helmet into his muzzle as hard as I could. 

He let out a yelp as blood from his nose and mouth smeared across my helmet. I caught a glimpse of one of his fangs falling from his muzzle as he staggered back. My revolver momentarily forgotten with an enemy this close, I flexed and my left forearm blade sprang forth as I swung for the creature’s neck. My blade met no resistance as it cut through the air and nothing else, the bat had shadowstepped away.

Patches meanwhile had skewered one of the bats on his bayonet and was laughing at it. The blade was just below the bat’s heart, leaving about a foot of space between the barrel of the rifle and the bat’s heart.

“I got you! Any last words?!” He laughed as the bat clawed at the barrel of the rifle, trying to get off the blade so he could shadowstep. A panicked expression on his face as he looked up at Patches. “Oh wait, that’s right! I don’t want to hear any from you!” 

When he squeezed the trigger and fired, the blast blew the top left of the creature’s torso apart. A blank look of shock mixed with fear was all that remained on its face as it fell over backwards, its arm spiraling away through the air with a trail of blood in its wake.

I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and turned a little too late, a bat lunged and kicked out with his leg and swept me off my hooves. He swung his wing down at my face, I caught the glint of light bouncing off metal. A wingblade. I had just enough time to move my forearms in front of my face and use my armor to block the blade. The force of the blow caused me to hit myself in the face. Better than a blade chopping it open.

I felt the pressure disappear as the bat raised its wing and swung it at me again. It just kept hitting me so I couldn’t move from my defensive position, judging by Patches’ cursing, he was dealing with one or two more of them. My arms weren’t strong enough to hold the wing back, so I decided to use my wings.

I  brought my wingblades up and blocked the next strike, the bat stared angrily at me and growled. It was at this pause that I realized my revolver had gone missing. I dropped it when I was tripped. I put up as much resistance as I could, struggling to hold back the powerful appendage. He grinned and let out another growl, realizing he had outmatched me in strength.

Then his right eye exploded.

He let out a wail of pain and stumbled away from me, falling over on the ground as he did so.

“I DID IT! I HIT SOMETHING!” I heard Bryon yell as I scrambled onto my hooves and prepared my blades.

The bat rolled over onto his back just in time to watch my blade sink through his neck. He grabbed my forearm and pushed weakly, gagging and choking as I severed his trachea. Blood bubbled out of his throat, mouth and nose. It foamed as the air he tried to breathe mixed with it.

“They say the only way to kill you creatures is to cut your head off or destroy your heart. It would seem that oxygen is still pretty damned important to you too,” I growled coldly as I forced the blade through the vertebrae in his neck. With a snap his resistance ended and his muscles slackened, his fingers slowly relaxed and let go of my arm.

I removed my blade from him and took a moment to call back to the house. “Damn good shot!” I called with a wave.

I turned back to Patches just in time to see him swing his wingblade at a bat that was flying over him. His blade caught the bat in the left shoulder and sliced through its torso, exiting just above the right side of its pelvis. His wing extended straight up toward the sky.

“YEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” He bellowed as he was showered in the thing’s entrails. “FUCKING NASTY!” The last two bats took advantage of the distraction and latched onto him. They were both about to bite him.

There was a blinding flash of light and an ear-splitting crack as lightning struck the wing that was pointing toward the sky. I’m not sure how the fuck he did it, but Patches redirected the shock into the two bats that had grabbed him.

Both bats fell off him, stunned by the shock that had just coursed through them. He then proceeded to beat them with the butt of his rifle, but he restrained himself and didn’t kill them. He dragged them to the edge of the clearing and pushed them into sitting positions against a tree. Then he waited. I found my revolver and walked over to him, keeping it trained on them.

It took a few minutes but they eventually came to, Patches made sure they wouldn’t go anywhere by sticking his wingblades into their legs. This elicited cries of pain from the two.

“Bite me and you die!” He yelled, aiming his rifle at the bat I wasn’t aiming at. They both raised their hands slowly. I could hear ice creeping into his voice as he continued. “I want you to go back to that stupid little nest of yours and tell your master everything that happened here. If you come back again I will crucify both of you, then I’ll skin you and leave you outside until the sun comes up. Understand?” The shine in his eyes was gone, he wasn’t lying.

They both nodded slowly.

“Good, I’m gonna let you go. Don’t try anything stupid.” He said, punctuating the final word with the removal of his wingblades. They both yelped in pain again and slowly rose, keeping their hands up.

Patches motioned with his rifle and let both of them leave, they slowly limped off into the woods.

“I’m surprised you let both of them go after everything that just happened,” I commented as a new idea came into my mind. I’m pretty sure Patches was thinking the same thing too. “How many vamps does it take to send a message?” I asked as I looked back at the shrinking pair.

“One,” Patches said as he took aim with his rifle.

> REDACTED pt.4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 7
[REDACTED] Pt.4


After an ending like that I really wasn’t sure where to start this next entry. The deer and I were all concerned Patches had gotten some of the venom in his system after cutting that vamp in half and literally showering in its entrails. He wanted to get away with a bath in the river downstream and call it good, he really didn’t want us to bleed him.

It took some doing, but we cut him a deal. He’d sit in a chair and let us tie him in if we checked his temperature to see if he had a fever before just cutting him open. Daisy and Bryon let me go to sleep for the rest of the night while they monitored Patches. I knocked out on the couch after giving a prayer to the Sisters. I had a mercifully dreamless sleep, my mind too tired to conjure anything good or bad.

I did not expect to wake up to… Well it’s pretty awkward to write about or try to describe so I’ll just do what I can.

I woke up to some pretty damn loud moaning, panting, and rhythmic slapping  so I didn’t have to guess what was going on. It was the kind of sex everyone in the neighborhood hears… 

I guess that whole morbid curiosity thing got the better of me because before I knew it I was creeping into the hallway to peek into the guest room. It was quite the scene.

The room seemed very bright thanks to the massive vermilion wings that had unfurled themselves and were scraping across the ceiling. Patches had Daisy on all fours at the foot of the bed and had somehow managed to get himself balls deep into her and he was just going to town on her. The way he had to lean over her to get his tall frame to line up with hers was almost comical and probably would have been were it not for how well the position seemed to be working.

I could barely make her out underneath him, her hips were just little handfuls in his massive palms. Every part of her I could see that wasn’t held onto by Patches was writhing around and she gasped and occasionally squeaked with every movement of Patches’ hips.

Patches’ head was partially obscured by Bryon’s legs, which were draped over his shoulders. It was pretty clear what was going on there too, his head was bobbing back and forth pretty quickly in time with his hips. Bryon was actually panting and moaning more than Daisy was and judging by the way he was tensing up… Not really a thought I needed to finish.

I was only really in the doorway for a moment, just long enough to see that before I bolted out of the house. I’m certain they heard me running down the hall, if they didn’t then I’m certain they heard me slamming into the door to knock it open. I staggered out into the front yard and just started laughing. I laughed so hard I ended up nearly doubled over with my hands on my knees. I hadn’t laughed that hard in a long time, it felt grand. The laughter was short-lived as I took in the aftermath of the previous night’s battle.

The three dead Gargoyles had turned to stone in the light of the recently risen sun. Their blood had stained the grass red. The Bats that had been killed nearby burned up when the sun rose as well, their previous positions marked by scorched ground and blood. The small clearing in front of Patches’ house had been turned into a scorched and bloody wasteland… Sort of like...

For just a moment I saw the scorched desert, bodies of a different sort strewn about. Black shining chitin, ichor, dozens of bodies strewn across the sand and rocks as the sun scorched everything not covered by shade. I looked down at my own hands, covered in the sticky substance.

I shook my head and pulled myself from the memory, looking to the trees at what was left of the Master Patches had shot. Her blood was indeed everywhere, clear up the side of the tree she had been under. It looked like the round hit between her heart and her spine, but left a hole large enough to completely destroy both. Her expression was neutral, like she died before she had even had the time to realize she had been shot.

Her hair was surprisingly well-kept and she smelled of perfume behind the iron scent of blood that filled the air. It looked like the rain had dripped down onto some of the makeup she had been wearing as well, causing it to streak across her face. Her clothing was not stained or soiled like so many survivors and vamps I had seen before, if anything it was nicer than anything most mares I’ve met had ever worn, the Masters seemed to live quite well. She would have been beautiful in life.

I turned away, feeling a sigh escape me. I was used to killing, had been doing so for a long time, just not other ponies. This outbreak was turning good beings into monsters, I found myself wondering how many more of the Sister’s loyal subjects would have to die to save the innocent. 

I bowed my head to pray to the Sisters, but nothing came to mind. I wanted to ask that they guide these ponies’ souls to a better place away from all this, but part of me was starting to doubt the possibility… Prayer that used to be a comforting and fulfilling part of my daily routine was beginning to take on a hollow ring. I used to feel them listening, feel a sort of comforting warmth. Now it felt like I was whispering in a frozen void…

I spent the next hour or so wandering around outside, scouting and assessing the damage done to the forest, several trees had been shot and scratched. Most of them would likely die from the damage, but plants had always surprised me with their durability. Sometimes a tree snapped in half by the wind would have a new sapling growing from its trunk within a year. 

I spotted the remains of the unlucky Bat Patches had shot, one of the two we let go. Just like the others, there was a large scorched patch of grass and blood. I could see a several foot long trail of blood left in the wake of the round, it was easily twice as long as I was tall. The Bats never seemed to leave much behind when they died.

By the time I got back to Patches’ house the trio had wrapped up their morning ‘exercise’ and Patches was making breakfast. Bryon and Daisy were seated at the table that was made for creatures the size of Patches. I felt like a little colt sitting at an adult’s table when I took a chair.

Patches passed an apple from the counter to Daisy who proceeded to toss it to me. “Morning Alex! Didja sleep well?” She asked with a smile.

I must have had an incredulous look on my face, based on her concerned expression. The three of them had moved on from the previous night’s events already, like it was commonplace. Yet I still felt somewhat shaken by them. 

Back in the desert I was used to risking my life on a daily basis, but the monsters I faced there were different, alien. The ones here were far too relatable for my taste. Every time I saw one I couldn’t help but see one of my own, a twisted victim of a cruel turn of fate. I couldn’t help but hope that the bitterness I felt toward Changelings would take over for the way I felt toward the Vamps. That hope scared me a little.

“Paging Dr. Alex, you there buddy?” Daisy asked, waving a hand at me.

I quickly shook my head and banished the thoughts from my mind, I’d have a philosophical dilemma later. “I slept alright,” I said cautiously eyeing the two deer. “Were this morning’s events the results of the fever?” My left hand under the table gripped the revolver, not sure if I’d have to shoot my way out of my friend’s house.

Daisy smiled and shook her head. “Of course not, we waited almost three hours and Patches never started a fever!” She looked to Patches. “What did you call it this morning?” 

“Morning wood,” Patches answered with a chuckle.

I felt a dumb smile on my face as a chuckle escaped me. Patches could always dissolve a tense situation with a few words. I took a bite of the apple, keeping the revolver close just in case they were telling a practiced lie. Once breakfast was served and Patches had sat down I began my interrogation. 

“Alright, mind explaining that whole seeing them in the dark with your wings trick?” I asked, leaning forward over my meal.

“That’s right, I forgot you never use your wings for anything other than slicing something up,” Patches teased as he pointed his fork at me and snickered. “I manipulate the air pressure and send out a wave, when it bounces off of objects and comes back I can ‘hear’ their locations,” he explained, making the quotations gesture with his fingers at the word “hear.” 

“So it’s basically echolocation, got it. What about that bullshit with the lightning? How the fuck did you not get fried?” I practically demanded.

“Easy, members of your own family have been known to do it,” he started with an arched eyebrow. “Take a few too many blows to the head while I was gone?” He teased again. “I turned the water in between my feathers into clouds, ionized some trails through them to make a path for the lightning, and let the big cloud up top do the rest!” He said with a smile, crossing his arms.

“So the actual strike from the large cloud in the sky was just lucky timing?” I asked, feeling my eyes widen.

“Pretty much, yeah.” He said with a shrug. “Although, I could feel the energy building and knew a strike would be soon, I was just making sure the path of least resistance to discharge said energy was through me,” he said with a smile that crinkled the edges of his eyes a little.

“Alright, last question,” I said as Patches scooped a large mouthful of peppers and flatbread from his plate. “How did you manage to avoid getting that crap in your system when you literally showered in that vamp’s entrails?”

“Jeez, just cause I was yelling doesn’t mean I was staring up unto the flow of guts with open eyes and an open mouth!” Patches responded with a hearty laugh. “All I had to do was close my eyes and mouth and look down, the rain washed most of it off my face pretty quickly, and I think the lightning may have vaporized some of it.” 

“Alright, you’ve convinced me,” I said as I took another bite of my meal. “Wait… You mentioned knowing this group of vamps and their Master, I’m guessing there’s a story behind that as well?”

Patches nodded slowly as he finished another mouthful of food. “Yeah, ran into a nest while I was scavenging an abandoned factory for scrap metal, they had dug into the tunnels beneath it and made quite the little home for themselves. They tried to fool me into thinking they were a group of survivors hiding underground, minimal light and sound getting out you know? Less to attract a vamp, I almost bought their story too,” he trailed off while staring at the wall.

“What happened?” Daisy asked, leaning forward, the two deer had barely touched their food, enraptured by our discussion and Patches’ storytelling. I made a note that they didn’t know this story, meaning Patches had either witheld it from them, or it was a very recent event.

“One of their prisoners down the hall and around the corner heard them talking to me and started screaming at me, just begging me to run away.” Patches said with a little sigh. “But as you could probably guess by last night’s attack, I didn’t just flee.”

“How many of them did you take out?” Bryon whispered, as if he were afraid he’d disrupt the mood of the story.

“Well the one who had come out to greet me was a Master and started transforming right after the voice finished screaming at me. He knew I was gonna bail before I did, I think. So I did the smart thing and blasted him,” he motioned to his rifle. “The two Gargoyles with him were pretty shocked by the firepower, and probably stunned and deafened by the noise,” he said with a chuckle.

“I can vouch for that,” I mumbled, remembering how the blast from the rifle had demolished my equilibrium for a few moments. 

“After taking out the Gargoyles I moved into the tunnels, I couldn’t just leave those prisoners in there you know? I saw some pretty fucked up stuff down there…” He trailed off again, looking down at his nearly empty plate.

Daisy was shifting in her seat, I could tell she wanted to ask what happened next, but he didn’t seem to want to talk about it. She opted to lean closer to Patches, as if she could stare the rest of the story out of him.

“I took out two more guards on my way to their cells, another Master was down there paying the one who had yelled a ‘visit,’” he grimaced slightly at the images he was recalling. “I wasn’t sure what he wanted to do more, beat her or rape her. One clawed hand was tearing at her, he was biting her and draining a lot of her blood. She was bleeding like crazy, scratches and cuts all over her. Her fur was matted and stained, and whatever clothes she had when they caught her were long gone by the time I arrived. The other two Bats who were supposed to be guarding him were watching and practically drooling. I don’t know which possibility bothers me more, the thought of them wanting to bleed her dry or wanting to join in on the cruelty… I crashed that party of theirs pretty fucking hard. Got a twofer on the Bats and had chambered another round before I even opened the cell. When I got in and got a good look at what he was doing though…” His eyes traced across the table as he searched for words.

“I was so MAD at that Master for what he did, I didn’t even bother shooting him, I felt like he didn’t deserve to die that quickly,” he was looking past us as he told the story, that chill had crept into his voice again, the shine had left his eyes. 

“I came into the cell with him and swung my rifle at him like a club. I remember the indignant expression on his face, like he was mad that someone had the gall to interrupt him. You could say I literally wiped the expression off his face with the butt of my rifle,” Patches said with a cold chuckle. 

“I didn’t even wait for him to hit the floor before I brought the buttstock down on his head, the impact snapped his horn off. I grabbed him, dropped my rifle and just started breaking him with my hands… It was like pulling a little doll apart… I left him there in a puddle of his own blood, alive and in pain. I got the mare out of her cell and had to leave before I could help the rest of the prisoners. We were getting swarmed and I only got off one more shot through the hallway to get out. Got a two-for-one on the bullet though,” he mused with a little smile.

“I hope you remembered to stomp on his dick while you were at it,” I murmured.

“And the mare you rescued?” Daisy asked.

“I spent over a week nursing her back to health,” he said with a little sigh. “They had gotten her addicted to that venom they use to turn people to vamps and she was going through the most horrible withdrawals. I thought she was going to die, she barely ate, she was running a constant fever and was very dehydrated, she shook like a leaf in a strong breeze all hours of the day and night. I could tell her entire body was in pain, then one day she coughed up this vile looking liquid and began to stabilize. Then one morning she just got up and left, I wanted her to stay and make sure she had recovered but she insisted that I had already done too much for her. I did convince her to take enough supplies to last until she made it to the next town,” he finished with a shrug and half a smile.

“When did all of this happen?!” Daisy asked incredulously. “We were here three weeks ago!”

“She left about five days ago,” Patches replied calmly.

Not much else was said that morning as we finished our meals. I offered to help Patches clean up the mess outside before I left to continue my mission, he was pretty happy to have the help. We ended up burning the parts left that could be burnt and Patches smashed the stone Gargoyles with a hammer, leaving the stone dust and rocks along the river, mixed with the rocks already there.

“They fit in quite nicely here don’t they?” Patches asked, I could tell he didn’t expect an answer, it was more of an invitation to just rest a moment and take in the scenery, so I did just that. 

I sat by the river and watched the water flow by, there was a gentle breeze blowing through the forest as well and it carried the smell of blood away. For just a small moment I was able to relax and just forget about all the shit that had happened. It was a beautiful little moment of peace. Patches leaned on the handle of his hammer and looked to the sky, his eyes following a little puff of cloud. 

I rose with a little sigh and looked at Patches. “I have to leave, I need to report back to the Sisters for orders,” his brow furrowed a little at my words.

“Damn it Alex, the Sisters aren’t ‘the Sisters’ anymore,” he said with a huff of irritation. “Celestia is DEAD ok? I know you don’t want to believe it but she got turned into one of those monsters and Luna cut her head off! They keep her ashes in the fucking throne room,” he finished, quickly looking away. 

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” I replied as calmly as I could. I could feel the icy chill of adrenaline charging through my body, grief, anger, a little panic. I wanted to beat the shit out of Patches, to tell him he was wrong, or lying but I just didn’t hear that subtle tone in his voice I always did when he lied.

“Alex I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that,” he said quietly. “I just don’t want you fooling yourself any longer. The sooner you embrace the truth of the situation the better,” he finished softly, like a parent consoling an upset child.

The tone pissed me off even more, but if he was right then I had no reason to be mad at him, just upset at the entire situation. I took a deep breath and sighed. “Alright Patches, that doesn’t change the fact that I swore an oath to serve both of the Sisters. If Luna indeed rules alone, I must report to her.”

“She doesn’t want to have anything to do with anypony that isn’t one of her night guard, you know, those Batponies?” He mentioned with a little sigh. “There’s a good chance there’s nothing there for you.”

“In the same breath I also swore to protect Equestria and her citizens, all of the Sisters’ loyal subjects.” I reminded him. “If she will not have anything to do with me, I can still dedicate myself to the protection of the innocent,” I finished.

“Loyal to a fault, every last one of you Rustwings,” Patches said with a chuckle. “If your heart really is set on protecting the innocent why don’t you help me clear out that nest? In return I’ll cover your ass the rest of the way to Canterlot. Because let’s face it, you’d be dead without me to watch your back,” he said with a wink and a smile.

Damn it Patches. “I suppose that could work, when will you be ready to leave?” I asked, having very little to carry with me in the first place.

“Give me an hour, you can go ahead and take off,” he said as he pointed in the direction of the nest. “I’ll catch up with you. I’ll also pack some stuff for you, you’re traveling way too light and if you get stuck out in a place with no food or water too long I don’t think its the vamps that’ll get you,” he said as he started toward his house.

“I’ll see you on the trail then!” I called as I journeyed out of the clearing and into the woods.

“I really am sorry for upsetting you!” He called from the distance as I moved deeper into the woods.

“I forgive you, my friend.”

> Raiding Party
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 8
Raiding Party


Patches' estimate was pretty far off, I wish I could say I was surprised. It took him at least two hours to wrap up whatever he needed to get done and pack, then catch up with me. I remember hearing that it was a bad idea for a Pegasus to take to the skies so Patches either didn't know about that little bit of information, or he had truly exhausted every last fuck he had to give. Considering what I saw that morning the latter was quite possible...

"INCOMIIIIIIIIIIINNNG!!!" Patches bellowed as he descended, crashing through the treetops and snapping several branches unfortunate enough to exist in his path. With a powerful beat of his wings he landed quite softly next to me, that giant shit-eating grin plastered on his face. 

"Well, if they didn't know we were here before, they definitely do now," I grumbled at him. “You also got a little something in your teeth,” I mocked, pointing at the leaves that had been wedged in between his teeth by the force of him slamming through the branches. There were also several twigs stuck in his mane, but he didn’t seem to mind any of it.

"Aww I hoped having a vamp or two around to beat senseless could help lift your spirits!" His smile only widened as he threw his arms out. 

Patches looked pretty different from this morning. He had donned a set of armor that seemed to be mostly made out of leather, but if there was anything I had learned about Patches was that he was all about deception. His shoulders and forearms had metal plates on them, but I fully expected the rest of his leather armor was a facade for something far sturdier. He had a bandolier full of those frighteningly large rounds for his rifle slung across his body, along with an ammunition box at his left hip. He had a bad habit of making everything normal-sized look small.

He was also wearing a sort of utility belt and I could make out the handles of several different tools in their sheaths. Attached to his right hip and his belt was a crowbar, right behind it was a sledgehammer. I think it was the same hammer he had used on the Gargoyles that morning. A bit of what looked like dust from a stone was still stuck to one end.

On his back was a very large pack full of what I could only guess to be food and more survival gear. I noticed the pack's straps were tightened, it could expand to accommodate more objects. Attached to the bottom of Patches' giant backpack was a much smaller one, one sized for a regular pony.

He reached behind himself and pulled the second pack from the bottom of his first and handed it to me. It was the one I had left at his house.

"There you go, some water, food, and a few other tools and supplies in case we get separated," he said with a smile.

"What took you so long by the way?" I couldn't help but ask. I put my pack on and tightened the straps as much as I could, keeping the weight high and close.

"I remember this armor fitting better," he said as he quickly looked away and started walking in the direction of the nest.

I heard that tone in his voice that made me think he was lying, but it also sounded a fair bit like embarrassment. Maybe he was faking it?

"Is Patches getting faaaat?~" I asked in a singsong tone, feeling a massive grin spreading across my face. Having seen him stark naked that morning I knew he was far from fat but I figured some teasing might get the truth out of him.

He looked over his shoulder making a mock pouting face. "No..." His eyes quickly shifted side-to-side. "You... You be quiet and stop saying things like that... I'm flawless," he said as he turned his nose up and away from me and let out a snort like some kind of Canterlot elite snob.

"I dunno, I didn't want to say anything but I'm starting to notice some jiggle in your step," I continued my assault, chuckling a fair bit.

"Ok you saw me naked, I'm better-looking than you!" He had stopped walking and turned to point at me.

"Oh so now we're gonna make this a contest about looks when you can't even be on time?!" My voice rose unintentionally as victory drew near.

"Aaaahaaauuuaaah! See?! I knew this was some convoluted mindgame of yours to try to get me to spill the beans about why I'm-fuck..." He drooped, knowing he'd been caught.

"So what's the real reason for your tardiness?" I asked, leaning forward with a triumphant grin.

He huffed and let out a sigh, looking at me with that 'I'm so fucking fed-up with you already' look. "You're really not gonna drop it are you?"

I slowly shook my head, never letting my smile falter nor my eyes off his face.

"Fine, Daisy and Bryon caught me undressing so I got one last good fuck in before I hit the road. There you happy? You know about my sex life and how much better than yours it is," he crossed his arms over his chest as he finished his little taunt. He was clearly trying to twist his loss into a win, maybe a tie.

"Yes I'm glad I can trust you to be honest with me after I grill you a little," I said with a chuckle as I brushed past him to continue through the woods.

We continued along through the woods for over an hour, mostly going uphill and winding around various obstacles. Patches had this odd compulsion to pull on damn near every fern we passed, yanking one of the branches from it, playing with it a little, and dropping it. Was he leaving a trail on purpose or was he just that starved for stimulation? I settled on the latter option when he started eating one of the fern branches and ignored the next few dozen of the plants. Patches you great, big, absent-minded thing.

"By the way, how fucking far away is this place?" I asked as we rounded the hill's edge only to be greeted with the sight of a small shallow valley and several more sloping hills beyond it. Each mound of earth was heavily wooded and I couldn't make out a building anywhere. The thick forest was definitely going to slow us down if we were going to continue on the ground to avoid detection.

"About a day's walk ohhhhhh," he trailed off, continuing to make that noise as he pointed his arm like a compass' needle. "That way," he said as he froze.

"So we'll be showing up around nightfall? When they're most dangerous?" I asked as we resumed. I decided to let Patches blaze a trail as he seemed set on walking in a straight line to our objective.

"Eh, we can stop and snugg-I mean make camp and rest on the other side of the last hill before the little factory town. That way we can recon in the morning and make our move at about high noon. If shit gets too crazy we can just fall back into the sunlight and fry any of them stupid enough to chase us that far," he said without looking back at me. He was a little preoccupied with swatting at the plants in his way.

I’ll skip the rest of the uneventful journey through the hills and trees, not much happened. Patches and I threw a couple pinecones at each other, he chased a frog and I had to catch him, Patches handed me an old-looking destroyed bird’s nest and before I could ask why he gave it to me I got attacked by an angry crow… Yeah, a grand old time with this one.

We crested the final hill maybe an hour before sunset, looking down into another shallow valley I could see the small factory town. None of the buildings had the tall smokestacks I often thought of when people mentioned factories, no wonder I never spotted anything during our trip. There were four large buildings surrounded by fencing on the outskirts of the town that had to be the factories, there was a significant amount of logging equipment near them.

“Lumber mills, makes sense,” I murmured as my eyes scanned the rest of the town. 

There were maybe twenty houses off the main road and one larger building that had to be a market. There were a few other buildings dotting the area but without closer inspection there was no way to tell what they were. My eyes slowly scanned back to the factories.

“Which one is the nest in?” I whispered.

“That one,” he said quietly as he pointed toward the building closest to the hill, the back end had collapsed partway. Rubble had spilled into the forest and knocked a tree over. For just a moment I saw a bit of movement among the rubble and ducked.

“You do that during your escape?” I asked as we turned and started back down the opposite end of the hill. We went a few hundred feet down the back of the hill and stopped to make camp.

“I might have knocked something over, but I don’t think I made that big of a hole in the wall,” Patches said as he dropped his pack and sat on a fern, he seemed to be targeting the poor plants.

I set my own pack down and let out a sigh, realizing how draining the hike had been. A drink of water and a snack helped. Patches offered part of the fern he was mangling, I decided if he favored the things so much they had to be at least half-decent. It was not the tastiest thing.

“I thought you were used to eating crummy tasting things,” Patches teased at my grimace, a half-eaten fern branch in his hand.

“How can you stomach this stuff?” I asked as I tossed my piece away, resting my head on my pack. As close as we were to the nest a fire was definitely a bad idea. 

He chuckled and smiled, twisting a fern’s branch in his hand. “You know, I’m not really sure. At some point along the line I just started liking them,” he looked off at the sky. The sun was nearly gone, painting the clouds red and orange.

“Think it’s gonna rain?” I asked, gesturing toward the clouds that seemed to be building and slowly stretching farther across the sky.

“Nah, sun’s going down. They’re gonna weaken and dissipate as it cools off tonight. If they don’t dissipate, they won’t have enough energy to rain, as long as they don’t hit a particularly steep hill that is, then the orographic lift could be enough to cause a light shower but most of these clouds are pretty thin,” he answered with far more information than I needed.

“So fifty-fifty?” I asked, mocking my forecaster.

“Oh hush. You should get some rest, I’ll take first watch tonight,” he said as he rose and stretched his wings.

“Alright, wake me in a few hours, you need rest too,” I said as I looked at my pack with a sigh. I didn’t feel like unpacking anything from my bag so I just layed down and used the sleeping bag rolled up on the bottom of it as a pillow.

My body may have been tired, but my mind definitely wasn’t. It was almost like it was waiting for me to lay down to rest so it could haunt me with new and old images. I was back in that damned desert again, the team of specialists sent into the tunnels to hunt a Queen down and put her to the sword. 

It was more like a whole squad, there were twelve of us down there. Two demolition specialists to collapse any tunnel or chamber necessary to cover our advance or escape, two navigational specialists to keep us from getting lost in the literal maze of tunnels, and eight combat specialists to keep the other four safe. 

We walked in a staggered column, two combat specialists in the front, a navigation specialist behind them, the two demolition specialists were in the middle of the formation with four combat specialists guarding them and the packages they carried, the second navigation specialist behind them, and two combat specialists guarding the rear of the formation. The columns were at least twenty meters long, I was the front left guard of the demolitions group.

Our progress through the tunnels seemed to get slower and slower the further we advanced. Every time we stopped at a new chamber there were more tunnels leading out of it than the previous one. Some of the tunnels went straight down, since every Changeling could fly, it wasn’t a hazard to them. To the three Earth Ponies in our group however, a fall was a death sentence if a Pegasus couldn’t catch them in time. 

We stopped in the center of another deserted chamber, the front Nav Spec lit his horn up and scanned the tunnels. His expression rapidly changed to one of fear as he stopped his scanning spell, instead using his magic to draw his telekinetic blade. A double-ended weapon without a handle, a weapon only a Unicorn could handle properly. “They’re coming,” was all he said, his voice barely above a whisper as the echoes of wings and the clatter of chitin against stone seemed to come from every tunnel pouring into the chamber. Even the tunnel behind us was flooded with the noise.

It wasn’t long before the faint echoes were overwhelmingly loud, sets of glowing green eyes filled the dark tunnels as dozens, no hundreds of Changelings poured into the chamber like water.

Our column rapidly collapsed and condensed into a circle, the eight combat specialists surrounding the other four. The Nav Specs were both armed with telekinetic blades and sent them dancing through the tides of advancing Changelings, carving effortlessly through them. Both of the Demo Specs were lobbing destructive spells into the mass, setting dozens of Changelings on fire at once. Their chitin hissed and popped as the water in their skin boiled.

Violet Rustwing was on this mission as well, and I was glad to have an archer as skilled as her on the mission. Her arrows were directed at airborne Changelings charging their magic up for offensive spells. Any she missed had their spells blocked or deflected by Sugar Burst. I always thought he had an odd name, but he was damn good at his job and a respectable unicorn in my book.

Any of the Changelings that made it into melee range were quickly dispatched as well, and a worrying number made it past the onslaught of destruction magic and telekinetic blades.

“We gotta charge up!” One of the Unicorns shouted as the fireballs stopped raining on the Changelings, allowing several more of them to reach us. Claws and fangs found my armor as I worked my blades relentlessly into the swarm of angry Changelings. No matter how many we felled, more continued over their fallen comrades. If they were being this persistent we must have been getting close to the Queen’s chamber.

“Hit the deck!” I didn’t hesitate, I dove forward onto the ground as a massive wave of destruction magic tore through the room. The intense heat melted everything in its path, it scorched the walls and crept up the spherical chamber to the ceiling. It burned so hot the Changelings in the tunnels beyond the chamber burst into flame, their screams echoed throughout the structure.

The only thing keeping us safe from the massive wall of flame was a small bubble, a shield spell. I had never been so happy to see one in my entire life. The flames continued to roll around the chamber as if they were alive and searching for something else to consume. They eventually poured into the tunnels to cleanse them of life as well, eventually leaving nothing behind but an eerie fiery glow. 

The shield spell flickered and died, exposing us to the toxic air and recently burned stone. The floor was almost unbearably hot after the flames had torn through the chamber, the air was so thin we nearly suffocated before more spells were cast to filter the air and make it breathable again.

“What the fuck kind of spell was that?!” I demanded between coughs as the air quality slowly improved. “If it weren’t for the shield we would have been consumed by that fire as well and the mission would have been a failure!” 

“We had it under control,” the shorter demolitionist answered. “Would you rather have died trying to hold them all off and had the mission fail anyway?”

“He’s right Alex, they were a mistake or a small opening in our defenses away from tearing our circle to pieces,” Violet said. “Is anyone hurt?” She asked as she turned back to the group.

“Just a few scratches and cuts, nothing major got through, thankfully,” said one of the navigation specialists after looking the last fighter over.

“Then form back up and get a move on!” I barked. “If they’re trying that hard to stop us we have to be close, the Queen will only be vulnerable for another hour or so!”

After a loud confirmation from the team, the column reformed itself and we pressed onward, deeper into the labyrinth. Little did we know, the Changelings were just getting started with their resistance.

We were marching down one of the larger tunnels that lead to a chamber that had a tunnel that lead to the egg chamber where the Queen was supposed to be. According to our Nav Specs. It’s not that I didn’t believe them, but the Changelings were damn good at fooling us into thinking the upper hand right before they took the floor out from under us. Which is exactly what they did.

Wake Trosselhoof the Fifth, an Earth pony, the youngest in our group at a strapping 21 years. He was the son of some rich farmer and next in line to inherit the family’s estate. He could have done anything with his life, with the kind of money his family had. His dad supported every decision he made, except when he decided to join the military. 

“If’n I’m gonna spend mah entire laif sittin’ on m’ ass doin’ diddly-squat laike m’ paw, I’monna earn it!” He said with the thickest accent when we all questioned his decision to join instead of taking the easy road through life that had already been paved for him.

Truth be told I really hated ponies who had their entire life handed to them on a platter. Spoiled, soft, weak. He was none of that, he rejected that entire lifestyle, knew what it would do to him. He wanted to be more than his father, wanted to be better, and I had nothing but respect for him for choosing the difficult path when nobody expected him to. Even when his own family tried to stop him from taking that path, he still took it.

It’s a path that comes naturally to a Rustwing, a path we’re expected to take, a path that can often lead to an early death. Many of us take it without a second thought, marching dutifully into Death’s maw to kick its teeth out. We’re so used to it that the pride of walking said path is ingrained in our family. In spite of making it to a position as an elite fighter, something to be truly proud of, Wake was one of the most humble ponies I had ever met.

He didn’t deserve to die. I felt that way about everyone I served with, but on that day his death hit me harder than most. Maybe it was the suddenness of it all. Maybe it was the way the ground just crumbled beneath the middle of the column without so much as a rumble or errant scratch beneath us as a warning. Maybe it was the expression on his face as I grabbed the demolition specialist instead of him. His arms outstretched, his palms open, the panic in his eyes, the way his scream faded as he fell into the darkness… Into the waiting jaws of the Changeling masses below. His eyes fading into the sea of glowing green. I think it’s a combination of everything that happened in that very moment that make it haunt me to this day.

He knew what he signed up for as an escort, to be willing to die for one of the navigational or demolition specialists. Maybe he thought by being with such an elite group of fighters and being as skilled as he was he’d make it through this mission. Maybe he thought it would be better for him to die than one of his fellow soldiers. Maybe he knew he was going to die, just not how. The fact that I’ll never know why he chose to go on the suicide mission bothers me more than I can describe. 

I dropped the Demo specialist a few feet from the chasm and dove back in for Wake. Only to crash into a writhing mass of Changelings. They were blocking the way, trying to divide the group and make us easier to kill.

An exceptionally large soldier pounced on me, grabbed my arms and pinned me to the ground, easily overwhelming my strength. “Alex, wake the fuck up,” it hissed. I continued struggling as it shook me and repeated its orders.

A slap across my face pulled me back into the dark forest in the middle of the night. I was panting, my heart hammering in my chest as I looked around for the threat.

Patches was holding my shoulders, even in my large shoulder pauldrons, they only just filled his palms. He was looking at me with a worried expression that I could just barely make out in the nearly starless night. The clouds had definitely overrun most of the sky, so a few hours had passed.

“Hey, not to interrupt your pleasant dreams that you were sharing with the entire forest but,” he leaned in closer, still whispering. “I spotted two vamps, I think they noticed us spying on them earlier, and your shouting didn’t help us hide,” he hissed.

“Shit…”


> Raiding Party pt.2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 9
Raiding Party Pt.2



I scrambled up off my back and moved into the thick bushes with Patches, abandoning the little circle of trampled foliage and my pack. Hopefully the sight of the abandoned camp would distract the vamps that I could hear approaching.

“I’m telling you, there was this little glint of light that vanished into the shrubs at the top of the hill. I could FEEL eyes on me,” the first voice said. Judging by the amount of noise they were making, they were not worried about running into anyone out here. Their mistake.

“You don’t have to keep telling me, I believe you. It’s just that we’ve traveled pretty far and not found any signifi-” he stopped abruptly. “I can smell them,” he whispered, a slight tremble in his voice.

“Waiyeeewhoah, can you hear them?” The first one sounded almost panicked, maybe he was new to their group.

“Fuck’s sake, grow a pair would you? If you want to prove you deserve to be bitten a fourth time you at least gotta be able to walk through the woods without pissing yourself,” the second voice hissed. “Now shut it,” he ordered. 

During their dialogue, my hand had found the revolver Patches gave me and drawn it. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Patches’ rifle leveled in the direction of the vamps’ voices.

Two shapes pushed through some low-hanging branches, I could make out wings on both bodies but couldn’t tell which was the greater vamp and which was the lesser. 

“Look! They left their gear! They must be close by!” The first one exclaimed right before he was struck upside the head by the second.

“You fucking imbecile,” he hissed, barely above a whisper. “Are you TRYING to let them know exactly where we are?” I could hear his teeth gritting together.

“Actually I heard you two walking up the other side of the hill,” Patches said right before his rifle lit the entire area up with its brilliant muzzle flash.

The vamp I later identified as the lesser one crumpled as the round punched clean through his torso, leaving a hole big enough to fit my leg through. I wasted no time adjusting my aim and firing a single round at the second vamp scout. The round tore through his throat, both of his hands flew up to the fist-sized hole punched through his neck. He let out a single choked cry and shadowstepped away.

“Well that one was significantly more durable than I expected,” I muttered as I lowered the revolver.

“He’s not gonna be alive much longer, probably just going to die as soon as he lands from that shadowstep, which he probably just did… So our cover is definitely blown now and we can either run through the forest with a pack of angry vamps on our tails to hunt us down where they have an advantage. OR we can do the unexpected and charge their nest, where they have the home field advantage. But we won’t give a shit about that advantage and we’ll kill them all. Plus we get to be heroes and save their prisoners!” Patches exclaimed.

I felt a grin on my face as I trotted over to my pack and picked it up. “Oh come on Patches, anyone who knows us would totally expect us to charge in and wipe them out,” I said as I slipped the straps over my arms and started up the hill. I could almost see his grin in the dark.

“Good thing they don’t know us! So it’s a party!” He called out as he scooped up his pack and started running up the hill. “Race you!” He yelled as he passed me, laughing as he chambered another round in his rifle, his wing snagging the spent casing out of the air.

“Last one there is vamp bait!” I yelled as I started running as well, my strides maybe half the size of Patches’ gigantic steps. Thankfully the thickly layered trees and bushes prevented him from taking advantage of his impressive stride and he got tangled momentarily by several low-hanging branches. I laughed at him as I charged past. “Look at the bait hanging in the tree!” I taunted, a small part of me wondered if I had finally lost my mind, or if this was just how Patches always felt, just not giving a shit anymore. Just having fun, no matter the situation.

I heard a loud bellow from Patches, followed by more snapping branches than I could count as he charged through the trees, leaving a trail of destroyed branches and trampled shrubs in his wake. “I’m the juggernaut bitch!” He called as he passed me again. Then he tripped over a rock. I cackled as I passed him, the top of the hill was nearly in reach, I was about to beat him to the top! 

Some-fucking-how he managed to launch himself off the rock and land right next to me. He lost all momentum on the landing but quickly regained speed, using his stride to his advantage again. The two of us reached the peak of the hill at the same time, panting and chuckling. 

“So does this make both of us bait?” I asked, looking down at the factory town. Sure enough, the one they were using as a nest was lit up, I could make out what looked to be a sentry standing watch by the fence gate with a rifle. The post was well-lit and elevated, they really were committed to the survivor encampment facade. The sentry was bent over another figure on the ground, the vamp I shot in the throat.

“Five bits says I can hit him,” I said as I held my hand out for Patches’ rifle. 

He started laughing at me. “No, I’m not going to go into this fight with you only having one working arm. This thing will either break or dislocate your shoulder,” I could hear the smile on his face.

“Then I’ll hold it with my wings,” I said with an air of finality.

“Well if you fuck one of those up it won’t matter as much I guess,” he said as he handed the massive cannon to me. “Not like you ever use them for anything,” he teased as my fingers closed around the rifle.

It was really fucking heavy, like drop it on your cat by accident and kill it heavy. I quickly dropped into the prone and propped the buttstock of the rifle against the large plate that covers the shoulder-like muscle on the top of the wing. It was an awkward way to aim a rifle, I felt like I was aiming an artillery piece. My wings took the positions normally reserved for one’s hands when holding a rifle.

“No wind, target is approximately 800 meters away,” I talked myself through the shot as the sentry turned around and shouted into the building, waving for someone to come out. I tipped the barrel up slightly to compensate for the drop the large round would undoubtedly suffer traveling such a distance.

“Wait, you do have five bits, right? Beca-” Patches asked as my feather squeezed the trigger, the resulting blast from his rifle drowned out whatever else he was going to say.

I think the round hit the sentry in the collarbone, it doesn’t really matter though. His torso literally flew apart as the round entered its top and exited at about his hip. Ribbons of his skin and flesh flew several feet in every direction, whoever was about to come outside had apparently stopped their advance.

“Well shit, I owe you five bits,” Patches said, a bit of disbelief edging into his voice. “That was fucking AWESOME, high five dude,” he said as he raised a hand. I gladly obliged then handed his rifle back to him.

“So that kickback,” I said as we started down the hill.

“Real bitch isn’t it?” He asked.

“I’m not flying for a little while I think…” I reached up and rubbed at the sore muscle. “I think I fractured something…”

“Hah! I knew it.”

“So how do you want to do this little raid? Try to pick them off or just charge in and tear the place apart?” I asked as we picked up the pace and jogged down the hill.

“I thought we just finished the part where we pick them off!” Patches said with a laugh. “I mean we did take three of them down before even setting hoof in the nest,” he added.

“Alright, let’s get to work then!” I called as we reached the light of the fires that were illuminating the sentry’s post. It was a real mess up close, the Bat I had shot in the neck collapsed right next to the sentry into a pool of his own blood. I doubt he was even able to say anything or warn him. Shit, it’s a wonder he was even able to shadowstep at all after I put that round through him. A quick glance confirmed that I missed his vertebrae, keeping his brain and heart connected. I thought they couldn’t bleed out... So how did he die then? 

I squatted in front of him for a moment and inspected him further. He didn’t seem to be breathing at all so I started my first test. I waved my hand in front of his eyes, no reaction. Time for test number two.

“Hey Patches you got a stick?” I asked, looking up from the body.

“Umm, no… Why?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Never mind,” I waved a hand dismissively as I rose and turned toward the sentry’s last position.

The sentry was mostly paste from the hips up… I spotted his head a few feet away. He had been dressed in, well something… Was hard to tell by looking at what little was left after that round tore through him and coated all his clothes in blood and pulverised entrails.

“Eugh, don’t slip,” Patches joked as we continued past the mess.

The Bat I thought dead rose as I showed my back to him and grabbed my leg, yanking me into the muck. His vocal cords had been shredded by the gunshot and all that came from him were the angriest sounding gurgles I’d ever heard. Every time he inhaled air got sucked directly through the hole in his throat, making a stomach-lurching gasp.

“Oh fuck! He’s still alive!” Was all I thought to shout as I tugged against his surprisingly strong grip. I kicked at his face with my hoof, trying to stun him and free myself. The Bat raked his claws across the metal plates on my legs, the surfaces screeching loudly in the night as they were forced across each other.

“I got it!” Patches called as he literally brought the hammer down on the Bat clawing at my armor. His favorite sledgehammer effortlessly passed through the creature’s skull, crushing it like a melon as it made contact with the ground with a wet smack. The contents of his skull painted my armor red and pink. I’m so fucking glad I closed my eyes right as he did it.

“Patches I fucking hate you,” I spat, making sure none of the skull’s fragments or its contents were in my mouth.

“Ooooh yeah… That was kinda messy,” Patches said as he looked down at his arms and legs, he was covered in the stuff as well. He slowly grimaced and shook his hands. “Eeeewww,” he scrunched his nose up and helped me back to my hooves.

“Lets go scare the shit out of some vamps,” I chuckled. “We’re pretty much wearing their scout and guard now,” I said as we started toward the factory.

“Yeah, it’s gonna take some serious scrubbing to get all this out,” Patches said, stomping a little on the ground.

I could see at least two other vamps inside the factory. One of them turned and ran back into the building yelling something, the other looked to be a fairly young colt. The younger one was just frozen on the spot, watching us advance. Seeing something other than savage rage or hunger in their eyes was a sobering reminder of what they used to be. He was slowly raising his hands in front of his body, starting to overcome some of the shock but was still trapped in fear’s merciless grasp.

“You takin’ this one?” Patches asked, his rifle at the alert, but not yet raised enough to fire. “Doesn’t look like it’ll take a big round to bring this one down,” he observed.

“Yeah,” I said as I raised the revolver, aiming at the T-box, the space where the eyes and muzzle meet. He didn’t say anything, didn’t move as I slowly squeezed the trigger. It was like shooting at a living doll, he just flopped over as the round punched through the part of the brain responsible for controlling the heart and lungs. The link between his brain and body was broken almost instantly, it thankfully had the same effect as beheading them.

I felt that rush of endorphins from the back of my mind, washing over my body. The most basic instinct, survival. Something died and it wasn’t me, and a part of my brain was happy to see it and flooded my body with the reward chemical that some became addicted to. 

The feeling was short-lived as the Bat that had been with him came rushing back out, screaming with rage and brandishing some kind of homemade blade. It appeared to be made out of two thin metal pipes holding a free-spinning sawblade from one of the smaller machines.

“You bastards! I’ll fucking kill you!” He screamed as he charged straight toward us. I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between the Bat charging us, and the one I just shot. They chilled me a little...

As soon as I took aim with my revolver he shadowstepped a few feet to the left. As soon as I had adjusted my aim he shadowstepped right. He was closing in fast, and every time I took aim he’d jump through the night’s shadows. Judging by Patches’ quiet cursing he was having the same issue. 

Another shadowstep, the dark shape filling my peripheral vision. I spun to the right as quickly as I could, raising my gauntlet to shield my face. That sawblade crashed into my forearm with incredible force, but it wasn’t made for cutting metal.

As soon as the blow had landed the pressure was gone, and another wild swing was aimed at my head. There was no form to this assault, it was just blind thrashing. I caught an opening during his backswing when the weapon was raised over his head and brought my left forearm blade up, slamming it through his bent elbow and completely breaking the joint. The blade continued through his forearm, splitting the limb in half as it pushed the Radius and Ulna apart. The only thing keeping his arm connected at the elbow were a few tendons, while my blade held his arm in position over his head.

His face twisted in pain as he dropped the blade, his working arm grabbing my forearm in an attempt to stop my advance. He let out a grunt of effort, but couldn’t get a decent grip on my blood-slicked gauntlet. I twisted my arm and fractured the bones, eliciting a scream of agony from my opponent as his forearm was shredded. I quickly pressed my revolver into his mouth and squeezed the trigger. I closed my eyes before the hammer snapped home, feeling warm blood spray on my right cheek and eyelid as the hand cannon roared. I did my best to dismiss the rush of endorphins as I pushed the body off myself and turned to Patches.

“Patches what the fu-” The rest of my complaint was cut off by the roar of his rifle, during my tangle with the Bat I hadn’t noticed the Gargoyle charging at us. The beast crashed to the ground minus its head.

“Face it Alex,” Patches said with a grin as he chambered another round, my ears ringing slightly. “You’d be toast if I wasn’t around to watch your tight ass.” 

“I’m gonna ignore that extra adjective, think any more of them are gonna be dumb enough to come running out at us?” I asked, looking back into the factory, the lights had all been cut, leaving us in the dark. The clouds had completely overrun the sky at this point, not a single star was visible, nor was there any illumination from the moon. I worked my jaw a little, trying to pop my ears.

“We’ve picked off six of them already, so no. They’d have to be really fucking stupid to just keep coming out and getting picked off like this. I think we’re gonna have to go in there to get the rest of them,” Patches said as he started toward the building again.

We reached the large cargo doors hanging open without meeting any further resistance. We left our packs behind the open doors, hiding them from view.

“Ambush?” I asked, noting the large number of places to hide just beyond the doors.

“Definitely,” Patches whispered, his wings snapping once so he could ‘listen’ for them. His head scanned slowly as I watched for any movement inside. “Two, no three? Shit, they’re pressed up on the backside of some of the equipment,” he hissed.

“Distance?” I asked.

“Closest one, ten meters, left. Next is to the right, a little farther. Last one on the ceiling,” he reported quietly.

“Let’s not keep them waiting then,” I said, my heartbeat quickening as we advanced. My pistol was raised, I could barely see the end of my barrel in the darkness. Fighting blind was far from my strong suit. We slowly advanced through the darkness, a deathly, almost artificial silence creeping over the room. I thought Patches was aiming left, so I turned right a little.

“My my my, looks like you two really do want to tempt fate. Just walking straight into this nest, and a second time for the big one,” a raspy voice spoke from somewhere above us. My heart skipped a beat at the sudden break in the silence, I had so much adrenaline in my system that I could feel my heartbeat in my neck and arms. I took a slow breath and tried to calm myself.

“So you remember me? I’m flattered,” Patches taunted. I felt him brush against my left wing as he turned slightly.

“How could we not forget the big red menace who tore through our nest and murdered so many?” I could hear anger, that familiar lust for violence edging into the voice.

“I’m vermillion, you uncultured swine,” Patches replied. How the fuck was he so calm right now? Was it just a facade? My eyes frantically scanned the dark room, identifying outlines of large machines, desperately looking for movement of any kind. Was it getting darker?

“Mmmm, I’m glad at least one of you is taking this situation seriously. I can hear your heart just hammering away, and all that blood rushing through your veins,” the voice said, a mixture of lust and hunger replacing the anger. “Stay scared, the adrenaline makes your blood taste so much sweeter,” the voice echoed slightly off the walls and equipment in the room.

Almost as if on queue I felt another rush of adrenaline in my veins, my fingers went completely numb. My right wing stopped hurting, and I started hearing the stillness of the air. It was getting harder to control my breathing as my eyes flicked around.

“Before we kill you both I’d like to know just one thing,” the voice said calmly. “How are you staying so calm big red?” It taunted.

“Because this whole time you’ve been running your mouth I’ve been aiming,” Patches answered. 

The brilliant muzzle flash lit the room for a split second, he had fired almost straight up at the vamp on the ceiling. That little moment seemed to last forever as I took in the room. The machinery, the sawblades, the toppled conveyor belt that had knocked the wall down, the face of the Gargoyle within a meter of myself… Fuck.

I didn’t even have enough time to raise my revolver at the new threat before I felt it slam into me and hurl me across the giant room. I’m not sure how far through the room I flew, or what I slammed into, maybe it was a shelf. After I hit the concrete floor I was buried under several cut boards of wood. I inhaled a bunch of sawdust and started coughing. Yeah it was probably a shelf of some sort. I could hear Patches yelling in the distance and a dull impact of something being struck by his rifle. There was a loud yelp and a snarl, the Gargoyle was after him now.

I managed to extricate myself from the rubble and started toward the commotion when something swept my legs out from under me. I felt hands grab my right arm and roll me over, trying to pin me on my back.

“You’re not going any-fucking-where,” a voice growled. I could smell blood on his breath. His face had to be within a foot of mine and I couldn’t see it. Shit, I couldn’t even see the end of my own muzzle, what was wrong with my eyes?

I didn’t wait for my enemy to make a move, I swung my arm at him like a club and made contact with something. Judging by the grunt he made during contact and the hollow ‘thwack’ that echoed from his mouth, I hit his head. That sound was all the encouragement I needed to continue my assault. I swung my left arm at him repeatedly, angling my fist inward to punch him properly. I barely noticed his claws raking over my armor.

After the fourth strike to his face I felt him roll off me and heard him hit the floor. I wasted no time getting to my knees, and grabbing what felt like a shoulder as I punched again. I missed. There was a very loud ‘crack’ as my armored fist slammed into the concrete floor. The shock flew up my arm and rattled my joints but I drew my arm back and swung again, this time connecting with his muzzle. I lost control, I let go of the shoulder and just hammered away with both of my fists, my revolver forgotten. I lost count of my swings, the cries of pain slowly getting quieter as I beat the consciousness from my attacker, fracturing his skull.

I finally came to my senses once I noticed the softness of his skull and the lack of struggling on his part. I reached out and felt for his throat, he let out the softest groan when I squeezed it. I held him still with my left hand while I readied my right blade and pressed it to his throat. I began sawing back and forth quickly, pressing the blade through him.

The pain brought him back to consciousness. He let out a choking gasp and both of his hands grabbed my arm, trying to stop me. The gasp took on a more desperate tone as the breathing became a gargled struggle for air, I could hear him inhaling his own blood as he started to drown in it. I could tell when I severed the major arteries because blood started spraying all over the damned place, his arms were starting to weaken. I finally felt them, the vertebrae connecting his head to his body. With one final push of effort, I snapped them and chopped his head off. 

I pushed myself away from the body, feeling another endorphin rush as I tried to catch my breath in the absolute darkness. Something was definitely wrong, these shadows weren’t natural. Suddenly I felt a tightness in my stomach and I rolled over onto my hands and knees. With a single heave I felt what little water was in my stomach come charging up out of my body and splatter on the floor. The fight or flight system can be a real fucking douche sometimes…

My wing touched something cold and metal, my revolver! As I grabbed it I could still hear Patches fighting the Gargoyle, from the sound of things he was trying to beat it to death with something. Had he dropped his rifle? The more I listened the more it sounded like he was using his sledgehammer on the thing, he must have been missing its head because it wasn’t going down.

“JUST.” THWACK! “FUCKING.” THWACK! “DIE ALREADY!” THWACK!

Several loud snarls responded to Patches’ demand.

I shakily rose to my hooves and started toward the commotion. I wasn’t sure what I could do to help in this situation, but I knew I wasn’t just going to leave Patches there alone to fight one of those bastards. I managed a half a dozen steps before I tripped over something. I just barely managed to stop myself from slamming face first into the ground, instead landing on my hands and knees again. Whatever I tripped over was warm, and the iron smell of blood assaulted my nose. Was it the first vamp Patches shot earlier? At this rate I was never going to get there in time to help Patches.

I got up again and tried to ‘listen’ for objects nearby with my wings like Patches did. It was nowhere near as easy as he made it look. I could feel something in front of me though, when I reached out with my hand it felt like some kind of support beam. I carefully moved around it, still listening with my wings. I could feel two large objects moving very quickly in front of me. I could hear the Gargoyle’s claws scrabbling across the concrete a few feet away from me. A little farther away I could hear Patches’ hooves on the floor and another loud ‘thwack’ as he struck it again.

“Hey fuckface!” I yelled, hearing a loud snarl as the claws stopped moving across the concrete. I could smell and feel the Gargoyle’s breath, it had definitely turned to face me now and was growling at me. “Ahshit.”

“HAH!” Patches bellowed as he swung again, this time hitting the beast’s still skull. I heard it slam into the ground, letting out a yelp. I could hear it starting to move again, but felt a rush of air accompanied by a loud bellow from Patches. The hammer punched clean through the beast’s skull and clanged noisily as it hit the concrete. I wasn’t sure if it was chips of concrete or chips of skull that bounced off me, and at this point I really didn’t care.

“Are you ok?” I asked, still catching my breath.

“Me?” He said, panting hard. “You’re the poor bastard who got thrown across the fucking room,” he said with a tired sounding chuckle. “You blind too?” He added.

I actually felt some relief at those words. “Yeah, can’t even see my own muzzle,” I admitted.

“Might be a Master,” Patches said. I could hear him moving around and looking for something. “They can control shadows, so one either made them unnaturally thick over this entire area, or is holding them over our eyes,” he said, still moving around.

“What are you looking for?” I asked, sliding my hoof across the floor to feel around for objects.

“Dropped my rifle after I hit that Gargoyle, bastard smacked it right out of my hands,” he grumbled. I could hear his wings dragging across the floor as he broadened his search area. 

“Shit, I think they could still see us just fine,” I said as I started searching too. I felt foolish, a blind person scraping across the floor looking for a firearm he couldn’t use properly.

“Aha! I found it!” Patches called out as I heard the scrape of his rifle dragging across the floor a little.

“So I still can’t see,” I said as I stood back to my full height and spread my wings, trying to listen with them.

“Yeah, we gotta deal with that Master first,” Patches said with a sigh.

“Think they’re down in the tunnels of the nest?” I asked.

“Yep,” Patches answered as he started searching for the doorway to the rest of the nest.

“Well fuck…”

> Raiding Party pt.3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 10
Raiding Party Pt.3



There was a terrible crash and the sound of screeching metal as Patches knocked a SOMETHING over. For just a moment I could see again, then the darkness enveloped my eyes once more.

“Well shit, not quite loud enough to get to the Master downstairs,” Patches huffed.

“Is that what that was about? Here I thought you were just being destructive for the sake of it,” I said with a sigh.

“I noticed you had a couple of crummy-looking grenades when I was packing some gear for you. Would you go get a pair of them for me?” Patches asked.

“Yeah, gimme a few to figure out where the hell I left my pack,” I grumbled as I made my way out of the factory. I noticed the spell’s hold over my eyes lessening as I moved closer to the edge of the building.

I could see again by the time I was out of the building, so getting to my pack was simple. I grabbed two of the grenades from it and took the time to reload my revolver before heading back into the factory. With every step toward Patches I took, my eyesight slowly faded until I was completely blind again. It was unsettling and my body urged against me to continue, to just do the smart thing and get the fuck out of there. I eventually bumbled through the darkness until I felt the soft feathers of Patches’ wing.

“Two subpar grenades, as requested,” I said as I held them up, not sure if Patches’ ‘seeing trick’ would allow him to make them out in my hand or not. 

“Alright good, I found the door that leads down into the nest, I’m gonna open it up and I want you to throw one down the stairs,” he instructed.

“What about the ponies they’re keeping prisoner?” I asked. “Won’t these hurt them?”

“Their cells are down the hall and around the corner. I’m actually gonna shoot anything dumb enough to be in the doorway, then you can toss one of those grenades in,” he explained. “Before you ask, the reason I want an explosion in there is because of the noise it’ll make. Masters have very sensitive hearing and the blast should disrupt his concentration enough to allow us to see again,” he finished.

“Won’t the blast collapse the tunnels?” I asked.

“Nope, stuff’s all reinforced pretty damn good, plus it’s underneath the concrete frame of the factory, there’s hardly any dirt down there. It’ll also help the blast echo to the Master’s chamber,” I could hear that grin on his face again. His confidence helped ease my nerves a little.

“Alright, sounds good,” I said as I clipped one of the grenades to the top edge of my chestplate and worked the pin out of the other. I managed to yank the pin out and held the fuse in with my fingers. He guided me to the door, the thing felt like it was made of metal. “Ready,” I whispered as I grabbed the door’s handle with my left hand.

“Open it!” Patches shouted. I yanked the heavy door open, hearing his wings snap as I did. I heard a shout from down inside the tunnels.

“Oh shit! Get the-!” Was all I heard before the roar of Patches’ rifle silenced the voice forever. The darkness over my eyes faltered slightly as the report of the rifle echoed through the tunnels.

“FIRE IN THE HOLE!” I bellowed as I threw the grenade through the doorway, hearing it bounce once before I slammed the metal door shut. Patches threw himself against the door as well, making sure nothing could open it.

I wanted to just hear a dull thump, but truth be told it was a very fucking loud bang. The metal door vibrated and rang from the force of the explosion. It was loud enough to hurt my ears and make my teeth rattle, I still couldn’t see. Then I realized I had closed my eyes when I braced for the explosion.

I was relieved to be able to see again, but neither Patches nor myself knew how long the spell would be disrupted.

“Let’s get the fuck in there!” I yelled as I yanked the door back open. Patches was only too eager to help and damn near yanked the door off its hinges. 

Patches was the first one in. “Watch your step!” He called back as he ducked to fit in the confines of  the tunnel and plodded past the remains of whatever vamp had been unlucky enough to be behind the door when it was opened. The floor and walls were scorched and bits of metal shrapnel were stuck in the walls and ceiling, but there was very little structural damage. I was glad Patches was right. 

I ran in after him, thankful the tunnels were about seven feet tall so I didn’t have to watch my own head when I descended. When I reached the end of the tunnel Patches was waiting for me, it was a T-shaped intersection and he was looking both ways as quickly as he could. There was one really old light flickering in the ceiling, it cast a dull yellowish light a few feet down either hall.

“Prisoners and Master’s chamber are right, don’t know what’s to the left. Didn’t go that way when I came here the first time,” Patches said as he turned to me. “Gimme that other grenade, I have an idea,” he said with a little grin.

I did so, wondering what he had planned. He pulled a tin can from a pouch on the back of his utility belt, noticing my inquiring expression he quickly said. “I got hungry earlier and had some of my canned tomatoes,” with a sheepish grin he pulled the pin on the grenade. He stuck the pin in his pouch and put the grenade in the tin can. The grenade fit, but there wasn’t enough room for the handle containing the fuse to pop off. He placed the tin upside down on the floor in the hallway to the right and ran some fishing line from one wall to the other. The line was wrapped around the top of the can and ran about six inches off the ground. He secured the line with nails and looked up at me with a grin from where he crouched. The thing was damn near invisible in the poorly-lit hallway.

“If they try to bugger out on us while we check the other side of the nest they’ll trip this up and pop!” He made a little exploding gesture with his hand and smirked.

“Fucking genius,” I said with a chuckle as I turned to head down the other hall. “Let’s go see what they’re hiding over here!” 

Looking down the hall to the left I could see another T-intersection lit by an old bulb. This one was in better condition than the last and when we reached it we could clearly see the end of either hallway connected to this intersection.

“Two doors in either hall, left or right first?” I asked.

“We went left last time, let’s go right,” Patches said simply as he turned and went to the right. I followed, keeping an eye on our backs just in case.

There were two doors at the end of the hall on either side, Patches kicked the door on the right open with his hoof, his rifle at the ready as he lunged into the room with surprising speed as cramped in here as he was. I peeked into the small room, four bunks attached to the walls and four footlockers for personal belongings. 

“Depressing little room,” I muttered as I moved to check the door on the other side of the hall. It matched the first. “Eight bunks in two rooms. They had plenty of space to sleep over here,” I observed as we made our way back to the T-intersection. We had just reached the light when we heard a high-pitched scream from the end of the hall.

We both rushed forward, like the other short hall, this one had two doors at the end. The scream had come from the door to the left. Patches moved in front of me and kicked the door open, what I saw inside shocked me.

Strapped to a table was a very young-looking Pegasus. Couldn’t have been more than ten years old, naked, bloody, and shaking. Tears stained the filly’s bruised face and much of her fur was missing. The swollen redness of the skin atop her head lead me to believe her mane had been torn from her head. A little ‘V’ had been carved out of her left ear. Cuts covered most of her body, shallow ones meant to hurt, nothing more. Standing next to her was a Bat wearing a white plastic apron coated in blood over his clothes, he was looking at Patches and his eyes were the size of dinner plates.

I felt a rush of air as Patches took two steps to cross the room, his right hand cocking back across his body. He backhanded the Bat so hard he flew across the room into the corner, I could have sworn I heard his neck snap from the force of the impact. I immediately moved to the filly’s side and started unfastening the straps keeping her pinned to the table, I noticed that she didn’t have a single bite mark on her. I wasn’t sure if that was a relief or not.

“What the actual fuck is wrong with you?!” I heard Patches screaming at the Bat. I looked over my shoulder to see him choking the vamp, his form flickered slightly like he was trying to shadowstep but couldn’t. I thought impaling them was the only way to stop them from jumping, then I noticed Patches was squeezing his throat so hard his fingers were sinking into the flesh and drawing blood. His eyes bulged out slightly as Patches slowly crushed him.

The quiet sobs of the abused filly caught my attention as I looked back to her. The table she was strapped to was designed to catch the blood and pour it into a bucket. They were harvesting blood from their prisoners in here! This way they didn’t have to bite them to do it either…

I noticed a little cabinet in the corner of the room behind the table, it was full of gauze and disinfectant. Her clothes were on top of it, neatly folded into a pile. The orderly neatness of this corner was a disturbing contrast to the rest of the bloody room. I grabbed the gauze and began tending to the little filly. She winced away from my touch, her eyes shut tightly.

“Please don’t. No more,” she cried.

“I’m not here to hurt you,” I said as calmly as I could. I gently dabbed the disinfectant on her injuries as she curled into a ball, bringing her wings around herself to hide from me. Her feathers were mangled and many of them were missing, there were several scars on her back as well. 

“Hey, I’m here to help. I promise,” I said, feeling my voice shake a little. “If you curl up and hide I can’t treat your injuries. I can’t help you,” I spoke softly, trying to keep myself between her and the violence in the opposite corner. Her face peeked up over the edge of her wing, her bruised and bloodshot eyes looking at me.

“Did you kill the monster?” She asked, her voice soft and meek.

“Working on it!” Patches called over. There was a loud ‘SNAP’ as the vamp’s neck was bent to an extreme angle. “There we go, monster’s dead!” Patches said in a nearly singsong voice.

“Good,” she whispered before looking back to me. “Did you get the rest of them?”

“We will soon enough, but we have to help you first,” I said insistently as I held up the medical supplies.

“Ok,” she mumbled quietly as she slowly unfurled her wing and stuck her arm out, the freshest cut. It was bleeding pretty harshly.

“Yo Alex, I’m gonna go clear the other room then wait for you by the trap, just to make su-” He was cut off by another loud boom. “Well shit gotta go!” He grabbed his rifle and took off down the hall, I could hear some distant screaming that was quickly silenced by the report of Patches’ rifle.

“Yeah you better run, shithead!” I heard Patches call down the hall.

“What was that?!” The filly cried as she curled up.

“That was a trap for the vamps Patches made,” I said as reassuringly as possible. “The second loud bang was his rifle, it’s pretty darn good at killing those monsters,” I said with a little smile as she stuck her arm out again for me to resume treating.

“You look like one of the Royal Guard,” she said as she bit her lip, her brow furrowed in thought. “But you look different from them,” she finished.

“How so?” I asked as I started wrapping a bandage around a gauze pad I had pressed against her arm. “It’s not too tight is it?”

She shook her head. “The Guard ponies all had this shiny gold armor and spoke really fancy. You don’t talk fancy like they do, and your armor looks heavy, and kinda beat-up. I thought knights were supposed to have shiny armor,” she said.

A little smile came over my face as a particular quote came to my mind. “My father always told me that ‘a knight in shining armor hasn’t had his mettle truly tested yet.’ I guess I speak a little differently because I’ve spent a long time away from Canterlot,” I said as I finished wrapping her arm up.

We were quiet for a few minutes while I treated more of her less serious injuries. Once I started applying more bandages to her she continued pointing out how different I was as I patched her up. “Your eyes are different from every Guard pony I ever saw too,” she said, much of the shakiness and fear was gone from her voice now. “They don’t shine as much. Why are they like that?”

I could feel a little lump in my throat, I knew exactly why that question bothered me so much. “Sometimes a pony sees something they really shouldn’t have. Sometimes it changes them and hurts them in ways others can’t see, but it shows in their eyes,” I sighed a little as I fastened the last bandage.

“You don’t look easy to hurt,” she commented as I retrieved her clothes and gave them to her.

“Neither do you,” I said as she dressed herself. She was a strong-willed filly to endure what had been done to her and still talk to a complete stranger. If I had been through that at her age I probably would have been silent for months.

“By the way, what’s your name?” She asked. “My name’s Zephyr, if you tell me yours you won’t be a stranger anymore,” she held out her hand like she meant to shake mine.

“I’m Alex Rustwing, it’s nice to meet you,” I said as I gently shook her hand.

She hopped off the table and looked into the corner, grabbing my hand as she did so. “Are you sure it’s dead?” She asked, shrinking away from the vamp in the corner and hiding behind me.

“Cover your ears,” I instructed. After she did so, I fired my revolver at it. The round took a chunk out of the vamp’s head, causing it to flop back a little.

“That’s loud!” She called up at me.

“Yeah but he’s definitely dead right?” I asked, moving my hand a little as I looked down at her.

“Yeah, but I still don’t like that noisy thing…” She grumbled as I lead her out of the room. Her hand never let go of mine. 

I lead her to the T-intersection, not the trapped one where Patches was waiting, but the one closer to the bunk rooms and knelt down to her level. “Zephyr I’m going to have to ask you to wait here ok? We’ve cleared out this area of vamps but not the rest of it. If some of them escape from us they’re going to try to leave by turning and going up the stairs over there,” I pointed to the intersection with the flickering light where Patches waited. “If you see anything coming around the corner over there that doesn’t look like me or my big friend over there I want you to hide around this corner, if they start coming over here you should head to one of those bunk rooms ok?” I asked.

She nodded. “Be careful, and if you see my mom please help her,” she said softly as I stood back up.

“Don’t worry, I will,” I said with a little smile. I then turned and hurried over to Patches.

“How’s she doing?” Patches asked as we started down the hall toward the cells and the Master’s chambers.

“Way better than I would have at her age,” I said as I carefully stepped over the remains of a half-transformed Gargoyle missing both of her legs. A massive hole had been punched through her chest right about where her heart used to be.

“Glad to hear it,” Patches said with a little smile. “I’m glad we got there in time to help,” he added.

“Yeah, let’s just hope we’re not too late for everyone else down here,” I said as we reached the next T-intersection. To our right was a hall lined with cells, to our left was a short hallway that dipped a few feet lower with a short staircase.

Various cries for help lit up the right hallway with noise, Patches and I did the best we could to calm the prisoners and reassure them that we would be back.

“Screw that, I’d rather get out of here now and not hinge my escape on a shitty chance of you two not making it back!” One stallion called back.

That lone comment caused another loud outcry among the prisoners. Everything from desperate pleas to angry curses were thrown my way. Turning my back on so many begging for help was difficult, but oddly enough not the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I’d be back, they could wait a few more minutes.

Patches and I descended toward the chambers, what else could this place throw at us? How many vamps were left? We reached a very short stretch of hallway with a door on each side and another short staircase leading down.

“Left first,” I said as I walked up to the door with my revolver raised. I grasped the handle with my left hand, my right hand aiming the pistol across my body where it would be more out of reach of anyone waiting to ambush me. I quickly shoved the door open and stepped inside, the lights were off and my eyes took a moment to adjust.

It looked like some kind of office for small meetings. On one end of the room was a desk with a large chair behind it, on the other end were four smaller, considerably less comfortable-looking chairs. I caught movement behind the desk and raised my revolver, feeling for the light switch on the wall.

I found it.

Click.

Nothing.

“Fuck,” I muttered as I moved toward the desk. 

The vamp hiding behind it quickly rose to his hooves, his hands raised above his head. “I surrender!” He yelped.

“What…” I heard myself say more as a reaction than a question.

“Hey, its the one who ran!” Patches exclaimed gleefully.

“Please just don’t kill me! I give up, I don’t want to fight!” He cried out at me.

“You fucking hypocrite,” I heard Patches call from behind me. “You have to LET another vamp bite you a fourth time to finish turning! You CHOSE to be that way!” He yelled.

“You don’t understand I-”

“I’ll be honest!” I said, raising my voice to cut the vamp off. “I didn’t wanna hear another sob story about why you got turned but you’re still noble for some obscure reason anyway,” I said as I raised my revolver and fired.

I took a deep breath and sighed as he crumpled to the floor, dismissing the rush of adrenaline as best I could as I left the little office.

“Let’s check the other room,” I said, gesturing to the door.

Patches kicked the door open and stepped inside, leveling his rifle as he swept the room.

“Clear,” he called out to me. “Another one of those bunk rooms, nothing interesting in here,” he concluded. Once he extricated himself from the room we both turned and faced the final set of stairs.

We moved together, almost in-step as we descended to the double doors waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs. We stopped, looked at each other, and nodded. We pushed the doors open at the same time, aiming our weapons as we moved through to double doors. There was no attack waiting for us, was it some mind-fuck magic? It looked like we had entered a large room that had been divided into three smaller rooms with a small hallway connecting all three. The walls of the hallway didn’t completely reach the ceiling, making it easy to see how it had once been a single room, Patches was able to stand at his full height in here as well. At the end of the makeshift hall were four doors, one on each side of the hall and a set of double doors at the end. We started forward and stopped suddenly as a voice broke the silence.

“Before the two of you barge in here to murder me I want you to take the time to check the other two rooms. I want you to see the lives you ruined,” it spat, the voice dripping with anger and hate.

I looked at Patches and offered a shrug, which he returned. I opened the door on the left and peered inside, nothing living was in the room, but whoever had lived down in this room had done so in the lap of luxury. There was a large four poster bed centered over the wall opposite the door. Much of the room was decorated in a matching maroon set of upholstery, it reminded me of the kind of stuff the wealthy in Canterlot owned. Opposite the bed was a vanity with a large mirror with a view barely obscured by the chair in front of it. There were various makeups and perfumes on it, I lifted one of the bottles and took a light whiff.

My mind immediately charged back to the Master outside Patches’ house, her well-kept hair, her soft, gentle features, the massive hole in her chest his rifle had punched through her, her blood spattered several feet up the tree she had been hiding under… I remembered her voice, how I heard it in my head when she held control over my mind. It was an oddly comforting voice...

“Quartz Starfall,” the voice suddenly resumed as I explored the room, nearly causing me to drop the perfume. “She treated every vampony in this nest like family. She was just as much a mother to them as she was a Master. She managed schedules, comforted the wayward coping with the transformation, and she chose the best candidates for the transformation. This family loved her, and you took her from us,” it finished as I looked into her wardrobe. There was a surprisingly large amount on lingerie in there.

“Something tells me I don’t need to guess how she comforted the wayward,” Patches chuckled at my discovery.

“Think what you will you animals,” the voice insulted as we exited.

“Hey we aren’t the ones so madly blood-hungry that we start killing our own friends and family,” I responded as I kicked the second door open. I was already tired of this stupid game.

This room was similar to the first, albeit more like the den of a wealthy sports fan. Most of the furniture was a warm brown and the room was filled with old replica trophies from sporting events conducted when I was just a little colt. 

“Comet Dust, he was a good friend to most in the nest. As Patches probably remembers, he was the greeter for our nest. Disguising this place as a survivor’s hideout was his idea and he ran the charade. He also came up with our system for extracting blood. While it is nowhere near as satisfying as drinking right from the source, he did manage to keep everyone’s urges in check while keeping our stock healthy. He was going to get the radio working as well, to help expand our reach, then you murdered him Patches,” the voice spat.

“How the fuck does he know your name?” I asked, ignoring the rest of the room as I turned to my companion.

He hesitated, inhaling a little. “I’d rather show you. Come on,” he said as he turned and left the room.

I followed him cautiously, ‘show me.’ The words repeated in the back of my mind as I gripped the handle on the left door, Patches at the right. He nodded and we pushed the doors open.

In what was definitely the larger of the three rooms that looked more like a chamber for meetings than a personal living space sat a lone Master. He was in a wheelchair, his figure looked lopsided as he leaned heavily on his left arm. Both of his legs were missing, as well as his right arm, his horn had been snapped off and his face was deformed slightly, like the bones holding his jaw and brow together had been smashed. The left side of his face had a massive scar running from below his chin to his forehead. His left hand was tightly gripping a little pink crystal.

“Patches,” he said coldly.

“Cinder,” he responded. “You look like you’re doing well, considering the state I left you in,” a small grin spread across his face. I immediately realized who this Master was, the one he said he nearly beat to death, the one he pulled apart like a doll. From the look in his eyes, I thought Patches wanted to do it again. 

“Here I am,” he gave a mirthless smile as he shook his head. Patches started forward but I held out a hand to stop him.

“Wait, your horn is broken, how were you casting that spell on us earlier? How did you blind us?” I demanded.

“Simmer down, child,” he huffed at me as he adjusted himself in the chair to hold up the crystal. “There have always been ways for the less magically inclined to focus what they have,” he gave the crystal a little wave. “This method allows for very precise control of one’s magic, but once the crystal loses its charge it’s completely useless,” he said as he dropped the thing carelessly. “I was relying on Miss Starfall’s return to recharge it, imagine my surprise when a simple mission to retrieve one Pegasus turned into a massacre!” He snarled at Patches as he leaned forward in his chair.

“Patches how the fuck do you know this asshole?” I asked.

“You keep the most charming company, beast,” the Master known as Cinder grumbled. 

“Hey fuckface, can you not end a sentence without tacking an insult onto it? It’s pretty rude,” Patches said.

“RUDE?! You have no room to speak about manners you.. you.. ANIMAL! You destroyed my entire family! You broke my body and left me for dead! FUCK YOU!” He swung his arm in rage, tipping the wheelchair and falling out of it. He hit the ground with a grunt, staring angrily up at us. “You ruined EVERYTHING!” 

Patches looked at me and sighed. “I knew Cinder before he turned. He was a good guy, kept his muzzle clean, donated to charity, kept his lawn trimmed, the usual. After the outbreak he started a shelter that he and his wife ran to help ponies who lost their families or their homes. One day I came by to visit, I was dropping off more supplies to help them run their shelter and I saw this worthless fuck behind the building talking to somepony. He was selling the entire shelter out, and getting himself turned. He killed his own wife when she tried to stop him, don’t listen to any more of his bullshit about having a family here. He had one and he threw it away for a dark and dirty little harem underground, living like a fucking rat in the dirt,” Patches spat at him, his wings ruffling up as he lost his temper.

“You are scum! You made every wrong choice possible and NOTHING will ever justify what you did!” Patches bellowed as he strode forward and kicked the Master in the head. There was an extremely loud snap as the back of his head made contact with his back. Patches wasn’t satisfied and took a step back to aim his rifle at him. He fired a single round at the Master’s head and blew it off completely.

We stood in silence for a few moments, it was over. The nest had been cleared.

“Come on Patches, we have ponies to save,” I said as I tugged on his arm a little and started back down the hall. “If any of them are addicted to the venom like that mare you saved we’re gonna have a lot of work to do,” I said as I reached the stairs.

“Yeah,” he said with a little sigh as he ducked into the tunnel after me.

> Detox
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 11
Detox



Approximately seven hours after the raid...

Of the six cells in the nest, five were in use. Two of the prisoners had been addicted to the venom, one mare and one stallion. The other captive was a Pegasus stallion who took his leave of us as soon as we freed him, not wanting to risk any vamps returning to the nest and trapping us inside. Zephyr and her mother who I later learned was Cloud Feather decided to stay for a few days while their injuries healed. I’ll never forget the comical, yet calloused way Patches addressed the junkies.

“So you two are addicted right?” Patches asked, looking into the two cells. Both of which shared a wall so he could easily manage the feat.

“Yes, please don’t burn their bodies! I need it!” The stallion cried as he lunged at the bars, his arms reaching out at Patches and his fingers curling at the air.

The mare simply nodded quietly, as she had curled up into a shivering ball. Her horn sparked a little like she was trying to cast a spell.

“Congratulations!” Patches exclaimed, trying to raise his arms and failing miserably in the cramped quarters. “You’ve both just quit!” I had to give him credit for trying to put a positive spin on a terrible situation, one that could likely end the lives of the ponies he was talking to.

The stallion wailed, making a dramatic show of sliding to the ground. “Nooooooo!!! You don’t understand! I need it or my skin will fall off!” The Earth pony started rolling around on the floor and babbling. 

“Shit, you weren't kidding about those withdrawals,” I muttered as I looked into the cell at the pathetic creature. “Hey, loud one, how long since you were last bitten?”

“Three dah-ha-ha-haaaayyysss!!!” He bawled as he grabbed the bars once again. “I was scheduled to be bitten again today and then YOU had to show up and kill them all!” Spittle flew from his shuddering face, as he slung his accusation at me.

“Look at the bright side!” Patches cheered. “Tomorrow will be the worst of it all! then you should get better!” His cheery demeanor was lost on the pony who now seemed to be hallucinating and talking to imaginary people.

I gave Patches that ‘what the fuck is wrong with you?’ look then moved on to the mare’s cell. “And you? How long since you were last bitten?” I asked.

She just shuddered quietly, not answering me. Her breaths were quick and shallow but with her back turned to me I had no read on her expression.

“Well turdknuckles, that looks like the day four kinda shit. She must have pissed someone off for them to do that to her,” Patches mumbled grimly. “The withdrawals on the fourth day can kill ponies of lesser willpower,” he whispered.

“They’d risk losing a source of food punishing them like this?” I asked.

“Well like I said, she must have really pissed someone off. Plus it makes an example of her for the rest of the prisoners, resist and they do this to you. Break your body, your mind, you die in pain. A pretty powerful tool for instilling obedience,” he said grimly as he turned to leave.

“Can’t argue with convulsions like that,” I said as she started to shake a little more violently. “Is there anything we can do to help her?” I asked as I started to follow him.

“Not much, we can give them sips of water every hour or so. Too much more and it’ll just come back up, and trust me you don’t even want to try to feed them when they’re that far gone. You’ll just end up with another mess to mop up,” he grumbled, speaking from experience. 

We rounded the corner at the intersection connecting the cells to the rest of the nest and I could see Zephyr standing a few feet from the corner. I guess she had been eavesdropping on us.

“Are you going to help them get better?” She asked quietly.

I knelt to talk to her. “I’m not going to lie to you, we’re going to do everything we can for them. It’s just not very much right now,” I said whilst looking her over. A night’s rest had done her some good but the swelling on her bruises looked a little worse, hopefully they had reached their absolute worst and would start improving.

“Are they sick because of what the monsters did to them?” She asked, shuffling a little to try to look past me at the babbling stallion crawling across the floor.

“Yes, they are,” I said as I looked back at the stallion who had begun rolling across the floor whilst muttering something. What a drama queen.

“Am… Am I gonna get sick too?” She asked, edging away from the noisy hallway.

“You didn't get bitten by them, so no. You won’t get sick like they are, but we have to make sure all of your injuries stay clean. If they get infected you could get a different kind of sick you understand?” I asked, pulling my chin down a little.

She nodded and smiled a little.

“Did your mother check your bandages yet?” I asked as I stood back up.

She shook her head, her smile fading a little.

“Go ask her to do that for you, I’ll go get the extras from the room,” I said as I turned to Patches. “You good to start cleanup?” I asked as I headed down the hall toward the torture room where all the medical supplies were, Zephyr close behind me.

“Go on,” Patches said with a dismissive wave. “I’ll be halfway done dragging them topside by the time you have the bandages in hand,” he finished his challenge with a smirk.

“I’d say save a few for me, but honestly dragging a corpse around only for it to suddenly immolate or turn to stone doesn't really sound like my idea of fun!” I said with a chuckle as I rounded the corner toward the torture room.

But then again… Going back into that shitty little room was far from my idea of fun as well…

I stepped around the bloodstained table as quickly as I could, knocking the bucket over in the process. Halfway congealed blood spilled across the floor and the stench assaulted my nose.

“Agh fuck!” I shouted as I slipped on the blood-slicked floor. My arm shot out and I managed to grab the table, keeping my torso off the ground as I landed on my rear. I took a slow breath and huffed, gripping the table more tightly. I grimaced as I carefully rose and inspected my backside. Yep, pretty fucking nasty…

I opened the cabinet with a little sigh as I squatted to peek into it. There were more bandages and bottles of antiseptic than Zephyr would ever need for her injuries, a little stroke of luck. I made sure to wipe myself off a little with the towel hanging off the side of the cabinet before gathering the supplies for Zephyr. I carefully grabbed a bottle, several pads of gauze, and a few rolls of elastic bandaging. With luck, I wouldn’t have to come back in here to get supplies for her.

Making sure to avoid the fresh puddle of not-so-fresh blood on my way out, I carried the supplies down the hall toward the bunk room Zephyr and her mother were sharing.

I made sure to knock rather than just go barging in, the way Cloud Feather cracked the door open to greet me made me think I made the right choice. She looked abused as well, not nearly as bad as her daughter did, but she still had several bruises and cuts on her arms and face. Her expression softened slightly when she saw the medical supplies I was holding, I offered a small smile and a shrug.

“Figured you’d need some of these. You two have more reason to want to stay out of that room than I do so I went and got these for you,” I said as I moved my hands forward.

She offered a quiet thanks as she took the bandages.

“How are you two holding up?” I asked, hearing little hoofsteps as Zephyr walked across the room and peeked around the door as well. She smiled a little when she saw me but was quickly shooed back into the room by her mother.

“We've been through a lot lately, thanks for everything but please, we just need space right now,” she said as she withdrew from the doorway.

“Alright we-” she cut me off with the door. I sighed and shrugged, leaving to help Patches with the cleanup. 

Thankfully vamps were easy to clean up, Masters set themselves on fire in the sun, Gargoyles turned to stone that we could smash, and Bats exploded into ash and cinders. All we really had to do was drag them out of the factory and toss them into the sunlight. The blood on our armor even turned to ash and floated off when the sunlight hit us. The worst we really had to deal with were the chunks left behind by the vamps we blew up with the grenades. The one by the entrance had been shot, then hit by the grenade. The legless Gargoyle had tripped Patches’ trap and painted the intersection red. 

Oddly enough, the vamps had plenty of cleaning supplies in the storage room across the hall from their blood harvesting room. It took nearly an hour of scrubbing the entryway stains and the intersection stains to get rid of them, but we managed it. If we were going to stay here a few days, especially with a filly, the area needed to be at least a little bit clean.

During the cleanup, we met with a stroke of luck as well. We found a garden where the vamps had been growing vegetables to feed their prisoners. There was enough to keep everyone fed without touching our own supplies! 

Patches and I prepared very small meals for the two addicts and brought them to their cells. Patches went into the stallion’s cell while I stayed in the doorway in case he tried to escape. 

“I don’t want food! I want the venom!” He shouted as he tried and failed to smack the plate out of Patches’ hand.

“Hey, these withdrawals are gonna get worse tomorrow, you need to eat and keep your strength or you could die,” Patches said with an odd calmness about him. Earlier he was joking with this guy and being calloused, now he was being gentle, I didn't get it.

“Look at yourself, you were too weak to even knock a plate out of my hand, you need to eat if you want to survive, you do want to survive right?” Patches asked as he squatted next to the trembling pony.

“Nothing left to live for anyway,” he grumbled, his teeth chattering. “Just let me die,” he whispered.

“Dammit I am not going to let you just give up! You are going to eat if I have to put a damned funnel in your mouth!” Patches yelled as he rose and hit his head on the ceiling. “Gghh-fuck,” he recoiled slightly from the impact and pointed at the now cowering stallion. “I've tried being nice to you but if orders from someone in charge are the only things that are going to get through to you. Then by the Ancients I’m going to give you orders! Now EAT!” He punctuated his order by slamming the plate down on the table so hard the table shook, his knuckles hit the table instead of the plate, keeping it intact as he released it.

The stallion sat up, quivering as he regarded the giant Pegasus. “O-ok… I’ll eat,” he said as he leaned over the plate and started nibbling on a carrot. Patches grabbed the glass of water and set it on the table as well before leaving the cell and locking it up.

We moved on to the mare’s cell with significantly less food and water for her, she was curled up on the bunk in the corner and shivering. Patches knelt next to her and shook her shoulder gently. “Hey, we brought you some food and water. You should try to eat or drink whatever your body can handle,” he said as his hand moved up to her forehead. He held it there a moment and looked back at me.

“Alex she’s freaking freezing, go to the Master’s chambers and get some of their nicer blankets for her would ya?” He asked as I set the plate and glass on her table. 

I nodded and headed off to look for something to keep her warm. It wasn't difficult to find an acceptable blanket, the Masters had a lot of nice things for people, no, things living underground. I shook the thoughts out of my head and returned to Patches with the folded blanket, the mare was sitting up now, arms crossed over her body as she shook.

“Good, give it here please,” Patches said as he held out a hand for the blanket. 

After I handed it to him he wrapped her up and grabbed the glass of water. She was only able to manage a tiny sip before she grimaced and shook her head.

“No more,” her voice rattled as she laid on her side and curled up, pulling the blanket as close to her body as possible.

“You’re doing good,” Patches said softly as he placed the glass back on the table. “Just hang in there ok? You’re almost through this,” he said reassuringly. “Just… Uh, crud. You can’t yell for help if you need us, I’ll go look for a bell or whistle,” he said as he left the cell.

I followed him the the Master’s chambers where we’d most likely find a noise-making object, intent on figuring out the reasons behind his constantly shifting demeanor. 

“Patches what the fuck is up with the shuffling deck of emotions? First you joke like some asshole who doesn't care about them, then you’re nice, then you’re yelling, then you’re nice again. You’re confusing the crap outta me. Care to explain?” I asked as we dug through the sports fan’s stuff.

“Gauging reactions, every person responds to different stimulus. Some people appreciate humor in a shitty situation, some people need a gentle hand, others need to be yelled at to stop laying in the muck. I was figuring that out by testing different personalities on them,” he said as he looked up from a desk at me. “That stallion is ready to give up on life and will if we let him, we have to be harsh on him if we wanna see him make it out of here. We already worked out the mare pissed someone off for them to do that to her, which means she’s definitely a fighter and wants to make it out of this alive. All we can do for her is help her maintain a decent body temperature and give her encouragement and she should make it through the day,” he explained as he resumed digging through the desk’s drawers. 

I was poking through the trophies, maybe this guy had coached a team? If so, there’d be a whistle hanging off one of these, I hoped. “Alright, I don’t like it, but if it helps them survive I guess I can get behind it,” I grumbled as my eyes scanned the shining objects. 

“Aha!” Patches called out, getting my attention immediately. He held up a whistle with a little string attached to it. “This’ll do!”

We returned to the mare’s cell and Patches presented the whistle to her. “If you need us, use this to call for us ok?” He said as he helped her put it on, letting it hang around her neck. She managed a weak smile as she held out a hand. Patches took it and smiled back, holding it a moment before he rose and left.

“As much as I hate to admit it, that Pegasus who bolted as soon as we sprang him was right. We don’t know if the nest had a patrol out there or a group of vamps hunting for more victims. There were a lot of them here and only a few non-infected ponies to bleed, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they were actively searching for more during our attack,” Patches explained as he looked up the stairs at the entrance.

“Are you suggesting we post a sentry at the entrance until we’re ready to leave or we spot a returning party of vamps?” I asked, looking at the entrance as well.

“That’s exactly what I’m proposing, you want the day or night watch?” He asked, looking at me now. 

“I’ll take the night watch,” I volunteered. 

He chuckled a little and shook his head. “I figured you would. Go ahead and get some sleep then, I don’t want you nodding off in the middle of the night,” he patted my shoulder. “And don’t worry about tending to the addicts, I’ll help them if they blow the whistle or call out for help.” 

“And leave us unguarded? No, I’ll get up and help them,” I insisted. “Don’t you argue with me either, it’s the most sensible thing we can do,” I said as I headed down the hall to the unused cell. 

"Have it your way!" He called after me. "I'll get Zephyr and her mom some food at least! Try not to handle everything yourself ok?"

I took a seat on the cot hanging off the wall of the cell, testing it. It seemed sturdy enough. I slowly reclined until I was looking at the ceiling and closed my eyes. Hopefully it would be a quiet day… I was so foolish for harboring such hopes...

> Detox Pt.2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 12
Detox Pt.2


I had been asleep for maybe two hours before the cries of the stallion woke me up. If taking care of him was anything like having a foal, I don’t think I’d ever want to have a child of my own. At least he seemed to have an appetite now, I made sure to give the mare water as well. Like before, she only managed a small sip before she couldn’t handle anymore and had to lay down. I took off one of my gauntlets to check her temperature and found that she was still freezing. 

I retrieved a second blanket from the Master’s chambers and returned to drape it over the mare. “If it gets too hot just let me know. Are you able to use the whistle?” I asked as I knelt, not sure if she even had the strength to move her arms anymore. 

To my relief, she nodded slowly and grabbed the whistle to show me she could. I offered a small smile as I put my hand back into my gauntlet. “You’re doing well. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure you’re capable of moving around on your own before we take off,” I stood up and she managed a weak smile.

“Thanks,” she whispered, her voice was still ragged and weak but at least she was able to use it. She’d definitely survive if she continued being this strong.

I laid down on the cot in my cell and closed my eyes.

Fifty Goddesses-forsaken minutes later…

The shrill tweeting of the whistle woke me up. I nearly jumped out of my skin when the sound broke the silence and ended up toppling off the cot. I hit the ground with a pretty loud crash and the tweeting of the whistle stopped immediately afterward.

I rose with a groan and headed over to the mare’s cell, she needed water again and was running a terrible fever now. She was cold as death an hour ago… Maybe this was how the withdrawals killed ponies. They get cold and wrap themselves up, then burn up and overheat. I’d have to keep an eye on her, if she got cold again and didn’t get wrapped up in the blankets she could freeze… 

I got up and headed over to the stallion’s cell. He managed another sip of water and was finally quieting down, not sure if it was a good or bad thing. He was getting lethargic and grumbled more than anything else. If this was his day three, then I shuddered to think of how bad his day four would be.

The day stretched on like that, napping for around fifty minutes then waking up to care for the addicts. I took a break around noon to feed myself, but for the most part it was an uninteresting pattern of short naps and care. I was almost relieved when Patches woke me instead of the whistle.

“Hey buddy,” he said softly as his hand shook my shoulder. “Sun’s gone down, ready to take over?”

“Yeah, you ready to take care of those two?” I responded as I sat up and stretched. The last nap felt like the longest one, the other two must have finally fallen asleep. 

“As long as they don’t have nightmares it should be an easy night,” he said with a wink. He held out a little bell, it jingled softly in his grip. “Take this, any trouble stirs up, drop it down the stairs. Make it look like an accident if you’re caught by surprise with some visitors, I’m sure you can come up with a decent lie,” he said with a smirk.

“That nightmare comment a jab at me?” I asked as I rose, took the bell, and stepped out of the cell. Sure enough, the mare and stallion were both asleep.

“Nah, the withdrawals can cause some nasty shit. Leftover magic from the vamps that bit them I think,” Patches said as he tested the cot. It groaned dangerously under his weight and he let out a little sigh as he yanked the mattress off it and laid it on the floor.

“Have a good night friend,” I called as I walked around the corner. I felt a little pity as I ascended the stairs and took my post outside the door.

The inside of the factory building was poorly lit, but it was better than the absolute darkness we faced on the way in. We had cleaned the majority of the mess up, but there was still a large bloodstain on the ceiling next to the massive hole Patches’ rifle had punched through it. We had scrubbed most of the stains from the floor as well. Aside from the fallen machines and the mess they had created, there were little signs of an attack. 

Patches had apparently taken the time to light the fires of the outpost farther away, it would make it easier to spot approaching individuals from afar. There were a few scorch marks outside, Patches and I tried to toss all the bodies onto the same spot to hide how many vamps we had actually killed. There was a pretty big pile of stone behind the factory where we tossed the gargoyles as well. 

Patches had found a chunk of rock and pulled it over to the door, presumably to sit on. When I did so my legs didn’t reach the ground, but it would give them a rest if I ever needed one. The discomfort of sitting on the rock could keep me awake through the night too.

I decided to patrol the inside of the factory building every thirty minutes or so to keep myself awake and aware. It was a fairly uneventful night, I didn’t see any nocturnal animals, nor did I spot any travelers or hear any strange noises during my regular patrols. It wasn’t until around midnight when I was eating that something happened.

“Hey, where’s the sentry?!” I heard a distant voice call out. I immediately stashed the food I had been snacking on behind the rock and stepped in front of the door. 

Looking out at the sentry’s post I could see a group of ponies, maybe a dozen, none of them looked like transformed vamps, but their declaration of the missing sentry highlighted them as members of this nest. Just how many had been living here?

“Over here!” I called and waved. “Nest got attacked! We’re still sorting shit out!” Time to put my acting skills to the test…

“Who the fuck is that?!” I heard one of them call.

“New guy! They put me on night watch for now! One of the Masters got hurt pretty bad!” I hoped they’d buy my story, hopefully the scorch marks and bloodstains would help sell it.

“Holy crap… How many did we lose?!” One of them shouted as he jogged over, the Pegasus looked quite agitated.

“Most of the nest,” I said as he drew closer to me, the group trailing slightly.

“The fuck attacked us? A whole platoon of Royal Guardsmen or something?!” He threw his arms out in exasperation. He paused a moment and looked at me, I could hear him sniffing. “You smell… Normal…”

“Uh, they didn’t do the fourth bite thing to me yet… I heard lessers can sometimes still seem like normal ponies,” I wasn’t sure if he was buying it, and the rest of the group was catching up. I had to distract him somehow.

“Have you even fed yet?” He tilted his head, narrowing his eyes in the dim light. 

“No, they’re punishing me for attacking this place,” I answered hesitantly, leaning away a bit. 

He threw his head back and laughed. “Serves you right, fucker!” He managed between his laughs. I guess I could have considered him distracted at that point.

“Anyway y-”

“No no no no, before we head in I gotta ask. How fucking many of you attacked the nest, and what made you think you’d win?!” He sniffled a bit, finally done laughing now that his posse had caught up. They had what looked like four prisoners, two deer and two ponies, all four had bags over their heads. There were a total of six vamps, bringing the group to just under a dozen.

“Uh… You’re not gonna believe this, but there were two of us-”

“Damn right I don’t believe that! You’re full of shit! The only way it could have been two of you is if… If Big Red was here…” I could see the realization cross his face. “Holy fuck, Big Red was the pony you came here with wasn’t he?”

I nodded, “Cinder had him thrown in the cells, wants him tortured,” I figured dropping Cinder’s name would help my credibility with this guy. “Speaking of Cinder, he wanted to see you,” I said as I gripped the door’s handle.

“Whoa Cinder wanted to see me?” He looked surprised, then angry. “Why the fuck didn’t you say so in the first place whelp?!” He had raised his arm like he wanted to strike me to assert his dominance over a lesser vamp, but I could tell he wasn’t sure where to hit my armored body.

“Well I would have if you hadn’t interrupted me with your little interrogation,” I grunted as I yanked the door open. I let the bell fall out of my hand as I did so, it was aimed perfectly. It bounced off my knee and fell down the stairs, clinking the whole way down.

“What’s with the bell?” He asked as it settled at the bottom.

“Quartz’s idea, she said it could be a subtle way to signal to the nest. Ring it twice to tell them we had visitors, followed by a single ring per visitor. Or ring it a crapload if there’s intruders or attackers,” I explained as he started down the stairs.

"And dropping it down the stairs signals what?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at me.

"It signals my clumsy hands?" I offered, trying my best to play the incompetent minion card.

He snorted a bit at my excuse. “Quartz always did like complicated crap like that,” he grumbled. “I’d give it a week before she gives up on trying to teach it to all of us,” he chuckled.

I waited for the last of the group to pass through the door before entering the nest myself and closing the door. I twisted the heavy latch, unfortunately gaining the attention of the two Gargoyles in the back of the group. They were both in their Earth pony forms and would need a few seconds to transform, seconds they wouldn’t be getting.

I quickly deployed my blades and swung them, decapitating both of them.

“Oh shit! It’s a fucking trap!” One of the Bats yelled as he ran down the hall to escape, right into Patches.

I used the momentum of my attack to carry me down the stairs. I passed the prisoners and slammed into the closest Bat, tumbling down the stairs. We knocked another vamp over on the way down and tumbled in a cluster. I managed to stop myself on the bottom stair, flinging the two vamps onto the landing at the base.

I wasted no time as Patches rounded the corner, I jumped on the vamps on the ground and managed to force one of my blades through his throat. The second one rolled away and ran down the hall toward the bunk rooms. 

“Duck!” Patches shouted.

I did so, covering my ears as I realized his intent. The hallway shook as his rifle blasted a concussive wave over me. I looked up just in time to see the vamp topple over, a large chunk blown out of his chest. 

The last vamp was between Patches and myself, he was looking back and forth between us. “Ah shit ah shit,” he panicked as Patches took a step and swung his rifle like a club. The buttstock caught him in the side of the head and crushed his skull when it hit the wall. 

“And six! There we go!” Patches laughed as he shook his rifle, trying to get the bits of skull and blood off. “Next time we really ought to put a tarp down…”

“Good job Patches,” I said as I turned and headed up to the prisoners. I took the bags off their heads, I recognized the Pegasus who had left this morning to avoid a returning patrol. I grinned at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah yeah, stuff it,” he said with a dismissive wave. “But seriously, thanks again,” he said as he turned to leave once more.

“Be more careful this time!” I called back to him as I freed the others, the pony was a Unicorn I had never seen before. The deer were none other than Bryon and Daisy.

…

“Really?” I asked. “I thought the two of you were good at avoiding them,” I said with a little sigh.

“Well, you see,” Daisy started. 

“We kindaaaa… Well…” Bryon wrung his hands nervously as he avoided eye contact.

“Went into one of our hideouts without checking it, there was some kinda net trap set up in there. We both got caught in it and they bagged us…” Daisy finished, looking down in shame.

“Did either of you get bitten?” I asked. “Be honest, Patches and I can’t risk anything,” I was starting to think I was going to have to foalsit them.

They both shook their heads. “They said they were going to take us back and bleed us differently so they could harvest from us more often,” Daisy said with a shudder.

Patches walked past me and scooped both of them up into what looked like an uncomfortable hug. “Please be more careful!” He cried as he squeezed both of them. 

They both squirmed in his grip. “We’ll be more careful we promise!” Bryon gasped. “Please put us down!” 

“Oh! Sorry!” Patches said as he quickly set the two of them down.

Daisy sighed a little and looked from Patches to myself. “Thanks uh… For saving us,” she said bashfully. 

“Yeah, thanks,” the Unicorn said from behind the deer. I had almost forgotten about the quiet mare. “Is it safe here? For now at least?” She asked, her eyes glancing around nervously.

“It should be!” Patches proclaimed as he grabbed one of the bodies and started dragging it upstairs. “From the sound of things, these were the last vamps of this nest. Grumpy over there and I are gonna keep this place protected until we get those addicts healthy again. So until we leave yes, it is safe here,” he finished with a smile.

“That’s good, can I stay here awhile then?” The mare sounded hopeful, after hearing a claim of safety I suppose many would. She looked pretty ragged, not dirty like Daisy and Bryon. She looked like she hadn’t eaten much or had much water, maybe she was the first the group had captured?

“Yeah, Alex would you be so kind as to show them around just a bit and send them to the bunks?” Patches asked from the top of the stairs as he unlocked the door and pushed it open.

“Can do,” I said as I motioned for the trio to follow me. 

I spent a few minutes showing them the simple layout of the underground structure. Zephyr and her mother had come to investigate the noise so I got the pleasure of going through another round of introductions. I caught the Unicorn’s name “Bonnie Nutmeg,” it was turning into quite the group down there. 

Bonnie ended up taking the bunk room across the hall from Zephyr and her mother. I then showed Daisy and Bryon to the bunk room down the hall from the cells which they gladly took. I didn’t have to imagine how those two horny deer were going to spend their night, I could hear them kissing before I even had the door closed. 

I returned to help Patches with the cleanup, we dragged the bodies into a pile outside the factory building and Patches used his impressive wing strength to chop a fucking tree down… I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it. He just planted his hooves in the ground, leaned forward and snapped his wings forward. His wingblades smashed clean through the tree’s trunk and knocked it over.

“Damn Patches! You could have had a promising career as a lumberjack doing that,” I stated as he hacked  several of the branches off and began hauling them over to the pile of bodies.

“Pfft, come on. A well-trained Unicorn can do it faster and with less effort,” he grunted as he tossed a large pile of wood next to the bodies. “You just gonna watch me work out or are you gonna get in on this action?” He taunted as he flexed.

I joined him with a little chuckle. “Save the showing off for a pony who’ll appreciate it,” I joked as I scooped up as many branches as I could and took them to the pile.

“Oh you know me Alex. I’ll show off for my own reflection!” He said as he hefted the log over his shoulder and carried it over. “One day that sexy Pegasus will come out and we’ll have a grand old time!” He said as he started chopping the log into fuel.

“I hate to burst your bubble but mirrors don’t work that way Patches,” I chuckled as I started building a base to lay the bodies on.

“As far as you know,” he sang softly as he split the log in two. He then began shredding the log with his wingblades into pieces that would catch fire more easily.

After I had finished the base, Patches tossed the bodies onto it one at a time while I layered the shredded logs between them. It wasn’t long before we finished.

Patches retrieved a branch and lit it using one of the already lit sentry fires. He walked back over with the massive makeshift torch with the most gleeful smile I had seen on his face all day. He danced around a little with the ridiculous thing as the flame grew on it, within moments there were six foot flames rolling off it.

All I could do was chuckle and shake my head at him, he was so easily entertained and his mood was infectious. “Try not to set yourself on fire while you’re at it you maniac!” I called to the dancing Pegasus as he made his way to the pile. 

“If you don’t get a new burn scar,” he said as he touched the roaring branch to the pile, quickly spreading the fire. “You weren’t playing hard enough!” He bellowed as he threw the branch into the air, and cocked his wing back.

“Patches what the fu-”

He snapped his wing out and slammed the burning branch into the pile sending sparks drifting into the sky in every direction, cackling like mad all the while. I’d have to keep him away from fire in the future… 

“Gahfuck! It got me!” Patches recoiled and shook his wing, fanning the flames on the pile. He dove to the ground and rolled twice before standing again. “YEAH! HAHAHAHA!”

“I… I feel like I should say I told you so, but I don’t think you’d give a shit,” I said with a chuckle as I regarded my pyromaniac friend.

“You’re right! I don’t give a dead moose’s last shit!” He yelled at the fire more than he did at me.

“Well I’m gonna go back to my post, you should get some sleep so I don’t have to worry about you dozing off during your watch,” I said as I bowed my head and closed my eyes, clasping my hands gently in front of myself. I tried not to inhale the rancid stench of burning fur and flesh.

I offered a prayer for the inhabitants of the nest, monsters or not, they were still victims of a cruel fate. Hopefully their souls could be guided to a better place by Luna, if Celestia was indeed unable to do so. I prayed for strength for the recovering addicts, I asked for protection for Zephyr and Cloud Feather. I asked for continued health and happiness for Patches, safety for the deer, and the strength I’d need to continue my work in the Sister’s names.

I kept my head bowed and my hands tightly clenched long after I finished my prayer, waiting for something… Anything… 

Even past the roar of the growing fire I could hear Patches sigh a little, I could feel his eyes on me. I would not be shaken, I would not falter, I would not lose faith.

“Alex, you-” he started.

I bristled at his words, feeling the feathers on my wings ruffle at his words. It was all the warning he needed to know to shut his trap.

I felt it. A sliver of energy, but there was a vastness to it, like a drop of water that had escaped from an ocean. It was cold, but different from the emptiness of the void. Like getting a tiny sip of water after treading miles through a desert. It was invigorating, I felt hope for the first time in days. I could feel moisture in my eyes as a smile spread across my face. A small sigh escaped my mouth as relief washed over me. I felt her. I knew she heard me, and she acknowledged me...

I looked up and allowed myself to relax, the fire was burning higher and hotter. I turned from the fire and headed back to the door. I wanted to get away from the stench of burning fur and flesh as well, I’m not sure how Patches could stand being anywhere near it.

Patches remained to watch the bodies burn for another ten minutes or so before returning to the tunnels to tend to the addicts and sleep. He said nothing to me as he passed by, merely nodding in acknowledgement. Had he felt it too? I’d have to pray again with the rising of the sun, there was hope again and it was a great comfort. 

The rest of the night was mercifully uneventful, I hated to admit it but I was getting a bit tired of fighting. Back at the front there were lulls that could last days or even weeks, here it had been a fight for survival every day.

I felt another smile on my face when the sky began to change color and brighten. First it hit that off-blue and slowly brightened. Soon the orange sunrise bled across the sky and I took a knee, clasping my hands gently.

Thank you for the beautiful night Luna, and thank you for raising the sun. If either of you are there, please give me a sign…

Nothing… I could feel the void again, could feel myself sinking into it. It was overwhelming, suffocating.

I bowed my head lower, squeezing my hands again, waiting for something. 

Please…

I felt the warmth of the sunrise, but something more… A warmth on my chin, it was subtle.

It felt like a hand, soft and warm. It could feel the individual fingers, and the thumb on my jaw. It was warm and comforting. I felt it pull up slightly, lifting my face up toward the light of the sun.

"Celestia?" I whispered, afraid to break the silence.

I opened my eyes and watched the sun rise. The hand slowly slid from my chin and my hands dropped to my sides.

Words cannot describe how it felt. She was still there…

The whole world seemed different after that, everything seemed brighter and more welcoming. I would reach Canterlot, I would see the Sisters again, I would help cleanse the country of this plague, and peace would be restored once more. Everything was going to be alright.

I decided not to share the morning’s events with Patches when he came to take over the post. 

The mare was starting to do better, and the stallion was starting the fourth day of his withdrawals. He’d need more care than she did, but I felt he still had a decent chance of survival. 


/	/	/	/	/	/	/	/	/	/	/	/	/
	

Several days had passed, both of the addicts thankfully survived and there were no more attacks on us. The mare recovered much more quickly than the stallion had, she was very thankful for the help and teased Patches quite a bit. He seemed to flirt with just about everything that could give consent to him but she “wasn’t interested in his equipment.” 

I had a pretty good laugh at his expense and it wasn’t long before the mare left to journey alone. she thought traveling in a large group would leave us too vulnerable. 

When the stallion finished his recovery he was quite ashamed of his behavior and wanted to travel with us. Just until we reached another town where he could stop and get situated. Hazel Clay was his name, he was an… Eccentric fellow… I decided not to ask him too many questions about what he did before the outbreak.

Daisy and Bryon wanted to travel with us just for another few days, but told us they weren’t going to leave the forest with us. They still took every opportunity they could to make a pass at me as well, it was mostly Daisy doing it but every now and then Bryon would try his luck as well. I put it as gently as I could to the two of them that I really wasn’t interested but they seemed convinced my mind was suddenly going to change one of these days.

Bonnie had vanished the third day at sunrise. She was there when I went up for watch, but when I went downstairs to wake Patches so I could get some rest she must have snuck out. Neither of us saw her leave, but when we were preparing to depart she was nowhere to be found. 

Zephyr and her mother had recovered from their injuries but Cloud Feather insisted that they not travel with us. She never seemed to trust Patches or myself, she insisted on getting her own food and food for Zephyr, she hid from us often and barely spoke to us. She also refused to tell us where they were going and how they were going to get there.

“Well, two Pegasi come swooping in out of nowhere to save her and her daughter. Maybe she just felt it was too good to be true and we’d eventually turn on her or something,” Patches said after they left.

I was still sad to see Zephyr go, she was a sweet child and very strong. I just hoped her mother would be able to keep her safe…

Once Patches and I had packed our gear and gathered as much food from the little garden we could carry, we set off. Daisy, Bryon, and Clay in tow. Daisy and Bryon claimed to know of a settlement about two day’s travel north, it was a place they frequented during their circuit around the forest. The path wouldn’t lead us straight to Canterlot, but we’d still be a little closer to the city and could drop Clay off. 

I hate to admit it but I wanted to be rid of him as quickly as possible, he made me uneasy. He was paranoid by my standards, accident prone, easily distracted, and he seemed to throw common sense out the window at every opportunity.

> Confidence
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 13
Confidence


The trip through the forest went about as poorly as could be expected. It seemed like nothing ever went right after I left the front. I wondered how they were doing in all this madness. How many of them found their families? How many died or got turned? How many of them were darting through the forest like I was? I shook my head and dismissed the troubling thoughts, there were more important things at hand.

Like the snake Clay was playing with…

The snake was obviously very upset, but that didn’t seem to stop Clay from poking it with a stick. If anything it’s angry hissing and the way it thrashed and recoiled with every touch was only encouraging him to poke it and he giggled like a maniac every time it bit the stick.

Patches was just watching with his arms crossed and muttered something about “Darwinism.” Whatever that was. The deer of course were just avoiding the snake and shouting at Clay to get away from it. 

Me?

I was looking for a stick as well.

I found one, thick, heavy. Had a big knot on the end. Perfect.

I walked up to Clay and hefted it. “Poke that snake again and I’m going to poke your head with this as hard as I can and see how you like it,” I growled. 

The threat got through to him and he dropped his little stick of torment, right onto the angry serpent. It lashed out at the offending object and immediately slithered away into the bushes.

“I swear by the Sisters Clay, another delay like that and I will personally PUSH you onto whatever it is that you’re prodding. Understand?!” I snarled as I released my own club.

He gulped and nodded silently, his arms drawn in close to his chest as he shrank away from me.

“Good! Now let’s get going. AGAIN,” I said as I motioned the group forward. We had been traveling for maybe six hours and that was the eighth fucking time Clay had stopped us for something. He had to be the neediest pony I had ever met and my patience was already at it’s end. At the rate we were going it would be three days or longer before we reached the town.

First we had to stop so he could find his glasses in his pack, he ended up dumping the damned thing all over the ground in an effort to find them. He did. They had been on top of his pack and were buried and broken by the cascade of his pack’s contents. Thankfully Patches had some twine and tied them back together, then he was bug-eyed and had twine on his face. He blamed a rock for the incident, I’m serious. A rock.

The second delay came about two hours into our hike when Clay realized he had forgotten something and demanded we go back. I was having none of it but he broke down claiming it was an important family heirloom and he couldn’t leave it behind. So we doubled back and got his necklace, I could appreciate something that important. What escaped me though was how something that important could be left behind in the first place.

The third delay occurred when Clay wanted to stop and rest because he was tired. I’m not kidding, he sat down and refused to move. Thankfully it was a very short rest, good thing Bryon can make a deceptively accurate bear’s roar.

The fourth delay was breakfast, while I insisted on eating on the move, which Patches and the deer approved of. Clay wouldn’t budge, yet again. He claimed it was improper to eat while doing anything other than sitting. All his life he had never eaten on the move, laying down, or standing. I did not believe him. I’m certain he just wanted to rest his legs. What a lazy pony he was.

The fifth time we stopped was because Clay had tripped over an anthill that we had all seen and easily avoided. After we chased the stripping Earth pony through the woods and he jumped into a nearby river to get the agitated insects off his body, he claimed he couldn’t see through his glasses properly and it was making it harder to notice objects on the ground. I bought that one, they did sit on his face awkwardly with that twine wrapped around the bridge. They had the potential to block some of his lower peripherals so we agreed to point floor hazards out to him in the future.

The sixth stop I guess I couldn’t really hold against him, but he did start it. The call of nature. Turns out everyone had to go. I didn’t really notice the need, but I took the opportunity to make sure a stop solely for me wouldn’t be needed later.

The seventh stop came about when Clay started screaming and dragging his rear across the ground. He had used poison ivy… Why couldn’t it have been poison joke? I could have used a laugh at his expense by that point. He ended up retreating to the river we had encountered previously and much to his dismay, the water did little to comfort his burning ass. Losing that much progress in a day? Make it four or five days to reach that damned town.

The eighth stop was of course for the snake, it was thankfully one of the shorter stops but I was about to pull my mane out by this point. 

“Hey Clay,” Patches said, that shit-eating grin stretching across his muzzle as he spoke. “How’s your ass?”

“It hurts…” He moped as he reached back and rubbed it.

Patches raised a hand to his muzzle in an attempt to stop himself from laughing. What came out was a rather loud snort and he stomped on the ground in an attempt to stop himself. He lost that battle quickly. He doubled over, leaning on his rifle as he let loose with a laugh that shook the forest.

I sighed and looked on at the deer who were both suppressing fits of laughter and faring far better. Daisy’s expression showed pity for Clay, but she really did find the joke hilarious. Bryon’s face was contorted so badly I couldn’t really tell what he was feeling. The hand on his face didn’t help either.

Clay just moped and continued onward, either oblivious to the joke or not caring about the humor at his expense. It was strange, an hour ago I was wishing for a chance to laugh at him and when one presented itself I didn’t take it.

I settled for giving Patches “the look.” It worked, after about a minute of him huffing and trying to get his laughter under control.

“Sorry Clay, that was a dick move of me,” Patches apologized. I really wasn’t expecting an apology out of the Pegasus who normally didn’t seem to give a shit about the feelings of strangers. But it felt like he was trying to make another dick joke at the same time.

Clay just shrugged and made some noncommittal noise before moving on again. 

The next hour of travel was mercifully silent, I think some people would call it awkward. I never understood the term awkward silence, I quite enjoyed it. It made it easier to listen for incoming threats. I know Patches was usually doing his sonar thing, but I couldn’t rely on him alone, and assuming he was always listening was about as dangerous as poking that beehive with a stick… What…

“Clay, I am NOT going to help you when those bees come out and attack you!” I warned as loudly as I could. Patches actually took a few steps back this time, Daisy and Bryon had both tensed up and looked ready to bolt away.

“Nah I think it’s empty,” Clay said, giving it a solid smack. If anything, this could count as the ninth delay.

…

“Nothing! See? Totally devoid of flying stinging insects!” He turned around with a smile. “Let’s see if there’s anything inside!” He whirled back around and smacked the stem connecting the hive to the branch with considerable force. It didn’t budge.

“Looks like it’s stuck on that branch pretty good!” Patches noted as he walked over, pulling a knife from his belt. He sawed the hive off the branch and set it on the ground. “Eh, we might get lucky,” he muttered as he chopped the hive open. The inside was completely bare, just a few strands of the material the bees used to make the hive. 

“Damn,” Clay muttered. “No such luck,” he said as he pushed his glasses up his muzzle slightly. They had nearly fallen off when he looked down.

“Whelp, that’s that I guess,” Patches said as he rose and resumed blazing a trail through the forest. It seemed like even Patches was growing tired of the delays, he was cracking fewer jokes about them. 

I grabbed Clay and pulled him aside for a moment. “Clay, I want you to please listen to me for just a moment and do your best to fully understand and do what I am about to say, alright?” I asked quietly.

He gulped and nodded, his entire body had tensed when I grabbed him.

“Please, just focus on getting to the town. If we keep stopping like this it’s gonna take three, four, or maybe even five days to get to that town instead of two. Do you understand what I’m asking you to do?” I asked him, my voice barely above a whisper.

He nodded.

“I don’t want a nod Clay. I want to know you understand what I’m asking,” I hissed.

“I-I understand,” he stammered, seeming to get more and more nervous by the second.

I felt myself sigh. “No… Argh... I’m asking you to do something, what am I asking of you?” I clarified. “I need to know you are listening and you understand.”

He nodded again. “Yeah you want me to not stop a bunch right?”

“Exactly, now let’s go catch up with them,” I said as I released his arm and quickened my pace to catch up with the rest of the group. Hopefully that got through to him.

It seemed like it, well that is until we decided to have lunch. I was just snacking on the move, Patches was too… At least I think he was… Do pinecones count as snacks? He ate five or six of them. That oddity aside, when Clay decided he was ready to stop and eat, he did. There was no moving him again. 

“Can we just carry him or something?” Patches asked.

“No Patches,” I responded.

“I got some rope! We can just bind him an-”

“NO Patches!”

He let out a huff and sat, producing a few carrots from the garden we raided. “Friggin’ sittin’ ‘n eatin’ ‘n not movin’ ‘n shit,” he grumbled as he devoured the vegetables.

Clay just seemed to be slipping into that oblivious place again, as he ate he just stared off into space. He didn’t seem to be looking at anything in particular, his expression was just vacant. I did my best to ignore him as I had another snack of my own, just enough to keep myself full a short while.

As we got moving again I found myself wondering if Clay had only pretended to understand what I meant and just parroted me, or if he simply didn’t care. I’m not sure which possibility scared me more, could he really be that dense? Or was he some kind of sociopath? Maybe he just thought I had no authority over him? I was starting to think he couldn’t get any worse, then his paranoia struck again…

“There it is! I told you! SEE?!” He hopped up and down like he was standing on burning coals. His lunch was discarded and forgotten. The object of offense happened to be a rock. It had a few distinctive lumps but was otherwise fairly smooth, like it had spent some time in a river but not enough time to round out completely. With a flick of my ears I noticed the sound of a river nearby, maybe two hundred meters or so through the trees so this rock hadn’t come far. It had an odd reddish hue that many of the rocks here lacked but I didn’t think it was something to get this worked up over.

I remember him mentioning a rock of Tartarus that was red and lumpy after we encountered the first one while he was searching for his glasses. He mentioned something about it being part of a curse of bad luck, considering everything that had happened today I was at least partially convinced. 

“It’s the second rock of Tartarus! If we encounter the third rock of Death one of us will die!” He screeched as he dropped to his knees and threw his hands into the air. “CURSE YOU ROCKS!!!” His voice echoed through the forest for several seconds.

“Ok, I’m gonna squish him now,” Patches said as he walked up to the keeling pony and raised a hoof.

“Damn it Patches don’t!” I shouted as I strode over with a hand raised.

“Alex he just rang the dinner bell for any vamp within ten square miles!” We won’t need a damned rock of Death to lose someone as long as this asshole is around!” He thankfully planted his hoof back on the ground and pointed a hand at Clay.

“We have to wait until tomorrow to travel again or one of us will die!” Clay exclaimed as he rose.

“Bullshit!” Patches spat as he turned to stare the Earth pony down. It didn’t work this time.

“That’s part of the curse! If you see the first rock of Tartarus it curses you with bad luck! If you see the second one things will get even worse! If we don’t make camp and put the rock in our campfire to heat it as an offering, the third rock of Death will appear and take one of us for failing to make a proper offering!” He exclaimed, refusing to back down with the giant Pegasus looming over him.

“That’s gotta be a bigger load of shit than an overused minotaur outhouse!” Patches bellowed, throwing his arms out.

“Clay, what happens if we do see the third rock of Death? How many of us die?” I asked.

“You don’t seriously believe him do you?!” Patches exclaimed. 

“Considering the strange things we’ve both encountered I’m actually surprised you DON’T believe him,” I responded.

“Look Alex, I’ve traveled the world. I’ve seen weird witchcraft, hexes, curses, omens, and weird pieces of paper that make it impossible to move. I’ve seen demons, mutants, monsters, ghosts, skinwalkers and all other sorts of fucked up stuff. I’ve fucked damn near every sentient race on this planet and learned a great many things from damn near every culture on this planet. BUT ROCKS?! NO! I draw the line at cursed rocks!” He shook his head and sighed.

Clay looked at me and pushed his glasses up again. “The rock of Death will claim just one of us. If we split our group up it will claim one person from each group,” he explained.

I spotted Patches about to interrupt him again and held up a hand. “So it’s GOING to happen if we keep traveling? There’s no chance of avoiding the rock of Death?” I clarified.

“Correct, it’s possible to encounter the first rock of Tartarus and not encounter the third rock of Death, but since we’ve encountered the second rock of Tartarus we WILL encounter the third rock of Death,” he said.

“Can we split into a group of four and one? If you are seriously buying into this you can all stay back here and toss that damned thing into the fire and I’ll scout ahead and try to blaze a trail to speed us up tomorrow to make up for all this lost time,” Patches said as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I feel like there’s some serious citation needed on this so-called curse. Besides, if we were cursed, there’d be some residual magic in the atmosphere and I can’t feel any of it,” he said as his wings twitched and ruffled up.

Clay spun and looked up at Patches. “If we split up and you leave you’ll die! I know you’re kind of a jerk but I don’t want you to die!”

I suppressed a snicker at the jerk comment.

“I’ll take my chances, if that rock comes after me I’ll just fly away or something,” Patches said with a shrug.

“You can’t escape from it!” Clay exclaimed, getting more worked up by the second. “If you see it you’ll be marked for death! It might not happen right away but it WILL happen!”

“Eh we all die eventually,”  Patches said with a shrug. “Besides, I can’t die yet, I have a mission to accomplish!” He puffed his chest out with pride. “I have to get that guy to Canterlot!” He said as he pointed at me.

Clay let out a concerned grumble. “I’m not sure but I think we can start a fire to dispel the curse before you leave and it might reduce the chance of encountering the rock,” he trailed off as he thought. “I wish I had the book with the rest of the details… But I wouldn’t chance it if I were you!” He pointed at Patches, his finger mere inches from his nose. “You would really risk your life over one day’s time?!”

“Yes,” Patches replied simply as he turned and strode away into the forest. “Better start that fire fellas! That rock might get angry!” He wasn’t kidding about blazing a trail, he started knocking trees over and uprooting plants in his way, leaving nothing but churned dirt in his wake. He could be a veritable engine of destruction when he put his mind to it.

Clay scrambled to gather some sticks and stack them into a small pile. “Hurry! We have to get a fire started before he gets too far away or he’ll die!”

“Clay, this is NOT what I meant when I said we needed to minimize delays. You do realize how fast Patches is gonna push us tomorrow right?” I asked as I helped him gather wood and searched for my firestarters in my pack. “Even if we do make up for lost time and progress it’s going to take at least three days to get there now.”

“I know, I’m sorry but we can’t keep traveling or one of us will die! You remember seeing the first rock this morning right? It’s been nothing but bad luck since then!” He claimed as we got the fire started.

“Yes I saw it, but I wouldn’t call all of our delays just bad luck,” I said as I strode over to the rock and squatted. “What exactly did you do before the outbreak?” I asked as I picked up the cursed rock. I felt strange while holding it, chills crept up my spine and an unprompted sense of dread filled me as I held it. Maybe there was something to this curse after all…

“Oh, I studied obscure curses, geology, and history. I wanted to teach a combination of them in Canterlot’s Magic University!” He said as he rose from the slowly growing fire.

I set the rock down quickly, I wanted to get away from it. Why the fuck was I afraid of a stupid little rock? “It isn’t easy to become an instructor there, you really think you had a shot? How would you teach a combination of everything?”

“I was actually one thesis, 46 lab hours, and a final certification away from meeting minimum requirements. The book I was working on publishing would have put me beyond their qualifications. Based on my interviews I was maybe two or three months away from being accepted,” he said with some pride as he puffed his chest out. “It isn’t that hard to teach all of it, most obscure curses have important events in history around them. So history comes with the territory of curses, you know, the curse’s origin, who came up with it, how it was use. Or if it’s a natural curse, who discovered it. Geology has many applications in the field of magic as well, magically charged crystals for example can be used to allow ponies who can’t use certain magic or spells to actually do them!”

“Well, that’s pretty impressive,” I said with a nod as I watched the fire. 

“Thanks! I just hope we were quick enough with the fire to save your friend,” he said worriedly as he sat by the fire and watched the rock. “Were you some kind of soldier before this all happened? Your armor doesn’t look like the Royal Guard stuff and your accent doesn’t sound Canterlotian,” He commented. “Plus you walk around like someone replaced your spine with a steel rod.”

“You’d be right, I wasn’t a Royal Guard. I was part of the Elite Fighting Pegasi. You’re also right about me spending time away from Canterlot, didn’t realize it changed my accent that much,” I admitted as I sat down as well. Daisy and Bryon were setting up a small rain shelter, ever since the collapse of society weather was much more unpredictable and it paid to be prepared. “My posture is a result of where I grew up, everyone was expected to be presentable and proper all the time.”

“Your special talent have something to do with fighting or did you just choose that life?” He asked, leaning a bit closer to me. His magnified eyes looking more and more alien. 

I held my ground when I responded. “Yes, something along the lines of fighting. But I chose the life before I knew what it was,” I narrowed my eyes at him. “There something on my face or do you normally just do that?”

He leaned back a bit. “Oh sorry, I didn’t notice I was doing that,” he paused and looked at the fire. “You just seem familiar is all,” he muttered.

“I did a fair bit of traveling before I got sent to the border of the Changeling Dessert,” I commented. “I met a lot of people who I don’t remember so you might have seen me before.”

“Hmm, maybe,” he said with a nod. His brow furrowing as he seemed lost in thought. He stared almost angrily at the rock, like it was hiding answers from him. “I feel like I’m forgetting something extremely important about the curse of these rocks but it just… Agh,” he shook his head in frustration. “It keeps eluding me, and it’s extremely important!” 

“Hey calm down Clay, if it really is important you’ll remember it,” I tried to console him, wasn’t sure if it worked though.

Daisy sat next to me and smiled, then got a strange look on her face. “Oh, dear,” she scooted away a little and chuckled. “You need to wash yourself Alex,” she said with another giggle as she shook her head.

After a little thought I realized it had been awhile since I had bathed. I was sleeping in my armor every time I laid down to rest and the clothes beneath the plates were probably getting pretty nasty. I let out a groan as the realization came to me. I had been so caught up in the day-to-day of avoiding vamps and taking care of the addicts I had forgotten bathing completely. Plus the smell in the nest really didn’t help anyone realize how bad they smelled.

“Yeah, I’m gonna head to the river nearby… That’s not gonna be too far away is it?” I asked looking back at Clay. 

He shook his head. “Nope! As long as you’re within oh… Say a mile of us and at least one of us is watching the rock burn we should be ok. But we do have to spend the night near it and it has to be on fire until the sun rises tomorrow. I do remember that much about breaking the curse,” he said with a nod. 

“Alright then, I’m gonna go wash this stuff off,” I said with a sigh. I rose and retrieved the soap I found at the old fishing hut, the rag I used to scrub my armor with, a towel, and a spare set of clothes from my pack, then headed off to the river nearby. 

I stopped a few feet from the riverside and removed my helmet with a little sigh as I heard a soft hoofstep behind me. I looked over my shoulder and caught the slightest bit of movement as someone hid behind a tree from me.

“Daisy?” I asked, fairly certain she had followed me.

“Yeah?” I heard her call back.

I groaned softly and looked at the ground, shaking my head a little. She was persistent, I’d give her that. I set my helmet down and continued taking pieces of my armor off. I’d been naked in front of several ponies before, the facilities we had back at the front left a lot to be desired. I wasn’t about to put a show on for her, but I wasn’t going to stand there and get nothing done either. By the time I got the last piece of armor off I definitely noticed the smell, Daisy wasn’t just trying to get me out here naked.

“Oh, okay you weren’t kidding,” I turned back toward the trees to see Daisy was much closer now, working her own dirty shirt off. “Whoa I didn’t invite you!” I said as I took a step back.

She threw her head back and laughed at my reaction. “Wow Alex! I didn’t realize I needed your permission to use the river! Have you claimed the whole thing as yours?” She teased with a giggle as she tossed her shirt aside. “You aren’t the only one who needs a wash,” she said with a wink.

She was right, by then everyone could have honestly used a good scrubbing. I looked away from her, feeling a little smile on my face. I worked my own clothes off before a thought came to mind. I turned to tell Daisy. “Hey-” Thwack!

She threw her pants at my face. I heard her run past me while my face was covered and by the time I had removed the obstruction and turned around she was already in the water.

“I beat you!” She said with a laugh and a triumphant pump of her fist. How were they in such good spirits all the time? Daisy, Bryon, and Patches were all just having the time of their lives while the world burned around them.

“I supposed you did,” I said as I scooped up as many pieces of my armor as I could carry and strode over to the side of the river. After I found a suitable rock to sit on I dropped the pieces off and went back for the rest. First things first, my armor needed to be cleaned and taken care of. Then I could take care of my clothes, finally I could clean myself. Gear first, the way it always had been.

I hummed an old post-battle tune passed down my family as I worked to clean my armor. It was designed to calm the mind after the stress of battle, and I was glad I had remembered it. It reminded me of home, I’d have to stop at Sanctuary at some point in time as well. It was a fortress, my family was definitely alright.

Daisy strode over through the waist-deep water and leaned on her side on one of the rocks to watch me. I looked up from my helmet for a moment at her and stopped humming, she was smiling at me and I noticed it falter a bit.

“Didja have to stop? I liked that little tune of yours, it was really pleasant,” she said as she settled a bit more on the rock. I unintentionally took in more of her physique. I didn’t mean to look, but she was trying pretty hard to get me to look at her. She had a runner’s physique, her muscles were toned and her body was lean. Then I saw a glint in her eyes, she saw me looking.

“Like what you see?” She asked as her short tail flicked.

I exhaled sharply and crossed one leg over the other, looking away from her and back at my helmet. Focus Alex. I could feel myself blushing as I scrubbed at a stain, thank the Sisters for fur. In my peripherals I could see her leaning over to try to see past my legs. Her eyes widened slightly and she smiled as she spotted my stiffening member. 

“You know I never figured you for the bashful type,” she commented. “Glad to see you do have some drive,” she teased. “But seriously, you stomp around and put monsters to the sword on a daily basis! Why are you so against sex?” She paused for a moment and before I could respond she spoke again. “You’re not a virgin are you? Because if you’re saving yourself for someone I understand.”

It was my turn to chuckle a bit. “No, I’m not a virgin,” I admitted. “Nor am I saving myself for anyone,” I said as I set my cleaned helmet aside and looked at her. “I don’t have anything against sex either, it’s just,” I shrugged a little.

Her arms were crossed and her head was tilted slightly, her brow was drawn down slightly as she thought. “The only other reason I can think of that would cause that much of a lack of confidence is…” She put a hand to her chin and tapped her cheekbone as she looked at me, her smile widening further as her eyes narrowed. “You haven’t had sex in like a month or something crazy like that… Am I right?” She asked as she grinned.

“Uhhh, been a bit longer than that,” I admitted, trying to stay calm. I could feel myself getting more nervous under her scrutinizing gaze.

“Don’t tell me it’s been a year or something crazy like that,” she straightened up, giving me a slightly worried look.

“Try three,” I said with a nervous chuckle.

Her jaw dropped open. “No way, you’re serious aren’t you?”

I nodded slowly, wanting to just get back to my work.

“No wonder you’re in such a bad mood all the time!” She exclaimed, an incredulous look on her face. “You need to work that stress off or you’re just gonna snap Alex!”

“Can I just get back to this?” I asked, holding up the next piece of armor. I really wanted her off the subject.

“Worried you won’t be able to perform?” She teased. “Seriously, you’re not getting that confidence back without some practice. And you could really do without a bunch of that tension,” she said, putting that teasing tone away.

“You’re not going to let this go are you?” I asked, looking down at the shoulder pauldron as I started scrubbing it.

“Definitely not now that I know how long it’s been for you!” I heard her moving a little closer. “Plus the way you keep dancing around the subject and trying to keep up that tough appearance.”

“Doesn’t it bother you that I’m practically a stranger? I mean you know Patches and Bryon, but you’ve only heard so much from me and known me for like two weeks,” I commented as I looked at her, I could feel my own expression hardening slightly.

She stopped her advance and tucked her chin in a little. “Really, Alex? You’re gonna throw that one out to try to stop me? You wouldn’t be the first stranger I slept with. Plus I feel like I know you pretty well! You told us your stories, answered dozens of questions about yourself, you even saved us from the vamps! I’d consider you a good friend!” She said with a smile that softened my own expression.

“Every time I come up with some reason not to-”

“I counter it?” She asked with a smirk. “It’s because you honestly don’t have a good reason not to. It’s feels good, it’s fun, it gets rid of the massive amounts of stress we’re subjected to every single day, that release of stress will help you keep your head too, and best of all it can kill time when you’d normally be sitting on your ass twiddling your thumbs,” she said leaning in closer to me.

“What if you got-”

“Pregnant? Don’t worry about that Alex,” she said with a dismissive wave. “I can’t have fawns, found out awhile back, dealt with it. In hindsight it’s a bit of a blessing, I’d have a three year old to look out for right now if I could,” she said turning slightly, still smiling at me. I was running out of excuses… “Any more last-ditch efforts or reasons you can’t do the deed?”

“Actually, yes,” I said with a genuine smile as an extremely important reason came to mind.

“Well, let’s hear it so I can shoot it down too,” she challenged, her smirk only growing.

I held up the piece of armor and wiggled it. “Gear and chores first, fun second,” I said triumphantly.

“Is that a yes?” She asked.

“It’s a gear first fun second,” I repeated.

“Are you really gonna make me sit here and watch you clean your armor and wash your clothes?!” She asked with a laugh.

“I’m not going to make you do anything,” I said as I looked up in thought. “But it’ll get done faster if you help,” I said with a smile, looking back at her.

She quickly grabbed a rag and climbed onto the rock to sit next to me. “Scooch over,” she said whilst snapping the rag at my face.

“Aaaah,” I mock screamed as I moved to make space for her. “Tactical withdrawal!” I said with a chuckle as she sat.

She picked up the other shoulder pauldron and hefted it. “Ooof, how do you move in this stuff?”

“Just got used to it I guess,” I answered.

“Kind of like the way you got used to not having sex?” She teased as she elbowed my ribs. “Dang, feels like I’m poking another rock, you really are tense!” She reached over and poked my side again, then felt my wing. “Ok that’s nice and soft,” she said as she ran her hand along the inside.

My wings flared out at the touch, that felt really good… 

Daisy leaned back and laughed. “Not used to people touching your wings?! You fight with em all the time! Then I give them a little stroke and poof?! Just like that?!” She rocked back and forth and snickered at me.

I just chuckled and shook my head as I resumed cleaning.

After Daisy caught her breath and got back to scrubbing the pauldron we sat in silence for a few moments, just listening to the river as we scrubbed.

“Hey Alex?” She stopped as she asked her question.

“Yes?” I responded.

“Can you hum that tune again?”

“Certainly.”

> Confidence Pt.2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 14
Confidence Pt.2



I was on my back in a patch of particularly soft grass, Daisy was laying on top of me. One of her hands on my shoulder, the other one in my mane. Her fingers were playing with the short tufts of fur. My arms were wrapped around her waist, holding her against me. She leaned down and kissed me again, her soft lips brushed against mine.

“Feel better?” She asked with a smile.

“Ok, you were right,” I admitted with a chuckle. “I feel much better,” I said with a smile of my own. I’m pretty sure I hadn’t been that relaxed in years, I felt like I could just fall asleep right there with her. I knew better, but it was definitely tempting.

“I figured you just needed to work some stress out,” she said with a soft giggle as she pushed up off me. I reluctantly let her go so she could rise and sat up myself. “I also didn’t think you’d be that much of a cuddler,” she added as she checked our clothes that we had hung from a tree branch in the sunlight.

“They dry enough?” I asked as I got up, feeling myself flush a bit at her comment.

“Part of me wants to say no to see how well you handle being naked around me now,” she commented with a smirk as she felt them. “Still fairly damp, might have to use the spare sets until they finish drying.”

In all the… Excitement, yes excitement is a good word to use. I had forgotten about the spare set of clothes I had brought to the river in the first place. Apparently Daisy had done the same and I hadn’t noticed the clothes she brought. 

It took a moment of searching to find the spare clothes I had brought earlier, I had left my armor next to the damp clothes but left my dry clothes several trees away. I glanced over my shoulder as I got dressed, Daisy was watching with a thoughtful look. I raised an eyebrow at her, not really minding her watching, but wondering what she was thinking.

“You got a lot of scars on you for how thick that armor is,” she commented upon seeing my own inquisitive look. “Why don’t you tell me about one or two of them? Like that one on your side,” she commented as she pointed to a scar above my left hip.

“Well,” I started as I pulled  the loose cloth around my body, fastening the belt that held most of it together. “I made a lot of mistakes learning how to handle some weapons,” I admitted with a chuckle. I thought of the time I was training with a spear with an instructor at Sanctuary.

“I had made a terrible lunge, lost my balance, and stumbled. The instructor didn’t expect me to lose my balance. Any farther to the left on his part and I would have lost a kidney,” I said as I set my hand on my side and felt the scar under my clothes.

“Well that’s one, what about the rest?” Daisy asked, her head tilted slightly. “You don’t seem like the kind of person who makes a lot of mistakes,” she observed.

“I make plenty of them, most people just don’t notice. I also had a lot of time to make mistakes and learn from them the hard way,” I admitted with a little grin. “I’ll tell you about the others another time, we should go check on the others and make sure Clay hasn’t decided to sacrifice Bryon to the rock or something,” I said as I pulled my armor on with practiced speed.

“Now that would definitely ruin the mood,” Daisy muttered as she rolled her eyes and passed me, already on her way back to camp. Her wet clothes were draped over a stick so she could take them back with her. She glanced over her shoulder at me and smirked.

After getting a stick of my own for my damp clothes I followed her back to our camp. Clay and Bryon were sitting by the fire and talking.

“Finally you’re back!” Bryon called as he rose and took off toward the river. “My turn! good luck with the rock!” He called back as he disappeared into the brush. 

The way he said that made me wonder if he was talking about Clay or the actual rock in the fire. I looked at the fire and the chopped logs Clay had prepared to keep it burning all day and night and felt myself sigh. I felt so stupid for buying into this curse and letting this delay happen. I strode over to the fire and jammed the stick into the ground, letting the clothes hang a few feet away to expedite the drying process.

My thoughts were interrupted by the distant sound of Patches’ rifle being fired. The distant report echoed through the forest, he had to be at least five miles away by now if not farther. I started in that direction only for Clay to jump up and block me. 

“Don’t! He’s too far away! If you head out there the Rock of Death will claim you too!” His arms were raised as if he thought he could actually stop me.

“Clay, I’m not going to leave him out there alone when something’s attacking him!” I responded as I pushed him out of my way.

“For all you know the rock is claiming his life right now and if you go out there you’ll die too! I know what I’m talking about!” He shouted as he grabbed my right wing and gave it a yank to stop me. It definitely hadn’t healed yet…

“M-m-motherfuck!” I spat as I halted. A bolt of pain shot up from the base of my wing to the very tip and arced across my back. I clenched my hands as my entire body tensed up, both of my forearm blades deployed and I felt Clay immediately release my wing. I rounded on him with a look that could have killed.

“Ah! I’m sorry! What was that!?” He asked as he backed away, shrinking as he did. 

“I hurt my wing, it hasn’t healed yet. Do that again and I’ll stop thinking of you as a citizen to protect,” I growled as I retracted my blades and turned out toward the forest again. I turned just in time to watch a large old growth tree fall over and land with a crash that could be felt on the ground.

“That was where Patches’ rifle was just fired…” Daisy said quietly, her voice shaking with disbelief or fear, maybe both. She was moving closer to the edge of the trees now as well.

“This is why I didn’t want anyone to leave, it just killed him,” Clay whimpered as he backed away toward the fire. “It’ll kill us all if we leave,” he finished as he squatted by the fire and stared at the rock.

I looked back out at the forest again. Was Clay right? Did Patches really just get crushed by that tree? There’s no way a fucking cursed rock just killed one of the most capable fighters I knew. I didn’t know what to do, if I took off and this really was a curse I’d die, if I stayed here and the curse was just some convincing bullshit Clay had whipped up then I was leaving Patches out there alone with who-knows-what.

“Please don’t leave Alex, we need to stick together if we want a chance of getting out of here alive,” Clay begged, as if he knew I was about to take off again.

“Didn’t you say splitting the group would damn one person in each group?” I asked as I turned to Clay. “If that’s true then one of us is already going to die because of what happened to Patches. We didn’t get the fire going fast enough and now one of us is going to die. Isn’t that right?” I leaned over the squatting pony. “Or are you still fuzzy on all the details?”

Clay’s eyes darted around as if searching for an answer, his mouth hung open slightly as he thought. He looked at everything but me.

“Uh, the um... Shit… I did say that didn’t I?” He said as he looked at me, not seeming to expect an answer. “One of us is going to die whether we stay or not…” He trailed off as he looked at the rock in the fire and scowled at it. 

“Well screw you!” He shouted and spat into the fire, right onto the rock of Tartarus. “If you want me dead you’re gonna have to work for it!” He shouted as he inhaled, seemingly for another loogie. There was a hiss and a sizzle, Clay seemed to look past the fire at something and his eyes widened. Then one of the rocks lining the fire pit exploded. The blast sent little pieces of shrapnel in every direction, dust and cinders hit my face along with one of the sharp shards of rock.

Like every typical case of a nearby explosion I recoiled after the fact, cringing as I brought my arms up to shield myself from the blast that had already hit me. I shut my eyes and staggered away, I felt a sharp pain in my left cheekbone and something warm and wet was sliding down my face.

“Holy shit are you ok?!” I heard Daisy shout from behind me, her hoofsteps rapidly approaching.

I opened my eyes and pulled my hands from my face, I was bleeding, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I could see the piece of stone sticking out of my cheekbone in my lower peripheral vision. I gave it an experimental tap with a finger and felt a vibration accompanied with a fresh wave of pain travel through my skull. It had definitely fractured something, I could taste blood. I could feel the edge of the rock cutting into my gums.

I felt Daisy pull my shoulder and I turned with her efforts. “Dammit Alex answer m-” She stopped and gasped when she saw my face and the shrapnel sticking out of it.

“Are my teeth ok?” I asked as I opened my mouth. Talking hurt, opening my mouth hurt a lot, I could feel the rock slicing my skin a bit as it stretched across my face.

She definitely didn’t expect that question from me. “Ah… Alex your teeth are fine!” She said with an exasperated sigh. “A rock just blew up! Shouldn’t you be taking this more seriously?!”

“Making sure my teeth are still going to work is serious!” I protested. “Last thing I need is one of them falling out whi-” I was cut off by a sound that made my blood run cold.

It was the sound of Clay drowning in his own blood.

A large shard of the rock was jutting from his throat, blood wept from the wound and was foaming out of his mouth as his efforts to breathe mixed air into it. His legs pushed weakly against the ground as his trembling hands gripped at the blood-slicked rock.

“Clay don’t!” I shouted as I ran over to him. I dove to the ground to try to stop him, but he finally managed to get a grip on the offending object and he yanked it from his throat. The rock was the only thing stopping him from bleeding out on the spot.

Blood spurted from the hole in his neck with each beat of his heart. I grabbed his neck and pressed, trying to stop the bleeding. His eyes were watering up as bubbles of blood blew from his mouth and nose. The gurgles grew weaker by the second along with his struggling.

Moments later he wasn’t moving, his eyes staring blankly at the sky. I slowly released him, my hands and arms were covered in his blood.

The sand was stained red, soft, wet, and soaked with blood. It was so wet with the substance it had nearly turned to quicksand. Ginger Ember Rustwing stared up at me from the pool of bloody sand, half-buried in the murky sludge along with several other ponies. Their bodies had been mangled by the ambush. Ginger reached up weakly, one of her arms was missing just above the elbow, gashes covered her body and several arrows had penetrated what armor hadn’t been peeled off by the Enforcer’s blade.

“Alex,” she barely managed a whisper. Her voice soft and weak.

I stooped and extracted her from the mess, my own hooves sinking deeper into the wet, bloody sand. It took more effort than I thought it would to lift her from the sand, it had started to envelop her body and was conforming to it. The strain of pulling her out of the suction caused her to cry out weakly as the opposing forces pulled on her wounds. 

The bloody sand was everywhere. A dark, stinky mess. It coated my arms and the front of my body, my stomach was doing backflips and I would have thrown up had it not been for the emptiness of my stomach.

“Alex.”

We didn’t make it far before I had to set her down, the pain of being carried was nearly too much for her to bear. Her essence had coated my entire front during the trip away from the ambush zone. She was getting cold and was visibly weakening. She grimaced and looked up at me, she wouldn’t make it back to our forward position. All I could see in her eyes was pain, she was begging me without speaking... She wanted it to end.

“Go to the stars, rest your weary mind and body, go from conflict, and find peace…” Her eyes closed at my words and let out a shuddering final breath. I slowly raised my hands, they were covered in dark, coagulated blood and sand.

“Alex!”

I felt Daisy tugging on my shoulder. My hands and arms were covered in a much brighter blood now, the sand was gone.

I inhaled sharply and turned to face Daisy, taking a step back from her.

“Are you ok? You just kind of checked out just now,” she said with a concerned look.

I nodded before looking back at Clay. I still couldn’t believe what had just happened. Blood was forming a deep pool around his body and running into the fire pit where it sizzled loudly. 

“Did you see his face right before it happened?” I asked, looking back at Daisy. “He looked like he saw his own killer coming right before that rock exploded,” I finished.

“I didn’t see much from behind you, are you sure you’re ok? There’s kind of a piece of rock still stuck in your face,” she said with a cringe.

“I’m aware of it, but it’s lower on the priority list right now,” I murmured as I ignored the pain and followed Clay’s gaze. He had been looking at the treeline when his eyes widened. I spotted a black rock about the size of a head, it was perfectly round and smooth and had imperfect zig-zag purple streaks across it that resembled those on a watermelon.

I felt an unnatural chill run down my spine as I looked at it, it was the same way I felt when I was holding the rock of Tartarus. I felt that basic instinct telling me to run away, like I was being eyed by some kind of predator.

“Daisy we need to take care of Clay’s body,” I said suddenly as I started grabbing the chopped up blocks of wood and laying them around Clay. “If we bury him there’s a chance he’ll get dug up and eaten, let’s just burn him and get out of here.”

“Yeah,” she responded absently.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see her standing perfectly still, staring at the rock.

“Daisy, go get Bryon and pack all your stuff up. We’re getting out of here as soon as we can!” I called to the stunned Deer.

She was still for another moment then shook off whatever hold the stone had over her and ran off toward the river.

I dealt with Clay’s body as quickly as I could before cleaning the blood off my arms and face. I pulled a gauze pad out of my pack and yanked the shard out of my face, quickly pressing the gauze to the open wound. 

“Rrrrghfuck!” I grumbled and fastened the gauze to my head with a strip of cloth and began gathering everyone’s gear. I distributed Clay’s pack as evenly as I could amongst our own and loaded myself down with the extra.

“Ounces equal pounds,” I muttered to myself as I stuffed my pack as tightly as i could. “Pounds equal pain,” I finished as I cinched the straps down as tightly as I could, making the pack smooth. Neat, tidy, orderly. At least something was… I noticed the straps were different lengths and gave the shorter one a tug to even them out. It snapped just short of the fastening clip, now it would never be able to hold more than what was packed into it.

“Can’t we just catch an honest break?!” I yelled as I threw the useless strap in frustration and  took a few steps away from the pack. I wanted to kick the damned thing but I figured that would cause something else to break with the way our luck had been running lately.

“Something else happen?” I heard Bryon ask as he and Daisy approached. “Daisy told me everything that happened, are you alright Alex?”

“Just broke a strap is all, I’m fine,” I said as I knelt and retrieved the strip of tightly woven material. It was long enough to be used to fasten a splint or bandage so there was some sense in keeping it for now.

“I heard you sort of… Had a moment there,” he said with a noticeable amount of uncertainty in his voice. “Are you sure you’re ok?” He asked as he picked his pack up.

“Your concern is noted Bryon, but I’m fine. Now lets get moving, we need to catch up with Patches,” I said as Daisy put her pack on as well. I could hear Bryon sigh a little at my dismissal of his concern but decided to ignore it.

“You saw that tree fall didn’t you Alex? It was right where we heard Patches’ ri-” Daisy started.

“No, I refuse to believe a falling tree killed Patches. Of all the ways to go there is no way he’d let a damn tree do him in,” I asserted as I started along the trail Patches had blazed for us. “Now come on! We have a lot of lost ground to cover!”


/		/		/		/		/		/		/		/		/		/		/		/
	

It took nearly two hours to make it to the felled tree’s position, it was late afternoon by then. At first all we could see was the trunk of the large tree that had toppled over the trail Patches was making. The trunk was nearly as wide as I was tall. Looking to the left I could see the massive root system that had torn the earth up with it, forming a large natural wall. When I looked right I could see part of the trunk, the rest of the tree was obscured by the rest of the brush and smaller trees it had crashed through on the way down.

I gave the log an experimental tap, then a push. It didn’t budge one bit. Good, stable. I jumped up onto the log and looked down the length of the trunk toward the canopy of the tree. I could see a considerable bloodstain on the left side of the trunk. The side we couldn’t have seen before crossing.

“Oh fuck…” A wave of panic washed over my mind as I leapt down and ran over toward the massive bloodstain. The closer I got the more I could make out of the scene, there were entrails and feathers scattered around the area of impact. “Nonononono! PATCHES!”

“WHAT?!”

I immediately froze, then turned away from the bloodstain. Patches’ face was poking out of a bush, he looked like he had just woken up.

I looked back at the stain on the trunk and the mess around it, then back at Patches.

“But… Uh… What?!” I pointed at the stain while looking at Patches. “If that’s not you then what the fuck is it?!”

“Vamp was following me, I shot it in the leg, tree tagged in for the pin,” he said with a little smile. “I WAS enjoying a little nap before you so rudely ran over and woke me up,” he added with a little pout.

“The red feathers?” I asked, pointing at them for emphasis, they were enormous feathers so they had to be his.

“I was preening afterwards?” Patches said with a shrug. “What do you want from me, a freaking play-by-play? Why are you here anyways? I thought you were in the whole camp out and appease the rock party,” he added.

Daisy and Bryon had caught up with me and we brought Patches up to speed with the situation back at the camp.

“Shit, Clay was an annoying guy but he didn’t deserve to go like that. Also pretty creepy to consider that cursed rock thing wasn't a load of crap,” Patches said with a sigh as he rose from the bushes he had been sleeping in. “We gonna keep going till sunset?” He asked, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb in the direction we had been traveling.

“That’s the plan,” I responded as I set off through the forest. The trio followed close behind.

“You’re not gonna fall apart on us are you? I might have some glue but I’m no miracle worker. I mean, you’re gonna be ugly regardless,” Patches teased as he gestured at the bandage on my face. “It kinda reminds me of this guy I met awhile back, it was the other side of his face that got fucked up though, and he always wore this blue face paint so you pretty much couldn’t tell his face was falling apart,” he added.

“I appreciate your strange brand of concern. I’ll be fine until we can find someone in town to stitch it back together properly,” I responded.

“Uh, I can stitch it back together properly,” Patches said with a little wave. “How deep does that cut go?” He asked, leaning down.

“Almost fucked my teeth up, the piece of rock cut into my cheekbone,” I explained. “Feels like shit.”

“Well it’s gonna get worse, but I can at least get some work done. Put your face back together, keep it from getting infected,” he said as he set his pack down, intent on stopping us long enough to treat me.

“Since when did you become a medic?” I asked.

“Since I started living alone in a remote area and needed to know how to treat various injuries. Not like I lived close to a hospital out in the forest ya know? I had a lot of time to read up on a lot of topics and get some practice done,” he said with a smirk and an arched eyebrow. 

One medical treatment later…

The overall completeness of Patches’ medkit caught me by surprise, he was prepared to treat just about any kind of injury. After seeing his hideout though, I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised by his preparedness. 

Patches actually did a decent job of stitching the skin back together and applied a topical painkiller on the gash in my gums. Those stitches fucking sucked. He gave me some of the more mild painkillers we had, I didn’t want them but he told me he wanted me to be able to sleep and the pain in my mouth would keep me up if I didn’t use them.

He was right. When we finally stopped and made camp that night I couldn’t get comfortable enough to fall asleep. Patches noticed and scolded me for not using the painkillers and told me he’d force them down if he had to. 

I must say painkillers make damn good sleep aids.

> The Town On The Edge Of The Forest
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 15
The Town On The Edge Of The Forest


The rest of the trip through the forest took two days. Two mercifully uneventful days. Well, for the most part. There were plenty of shenanigans Patches thought up to pass the time while we traveled and Daisy was all too happy to help me pass the time while we rested in the evenings. Those nights were the most restful ones I’d had in years, normally I never sleep that well.

I was actually a little disappointed when we reached the town where the forest met the rolling plains and foothills before Canterlot Mountain. This was where Patches and I parted from Daisy and Bryon, the two were going to stay in the forest where it was safer. They had routes and plans and with the elimination of one of the larger nests, travel would be safer. 

“Stay safe out there ok? I got the feeling this is going to get a lot worse in the coming months,” Daisy said with a half smile. 

“Don’t worry about it!” Patches said with a wave and a smile. “I’ll keep an eye on your new boyfriend for ya!”

I gave Patches a quick jab in the side, my fist impacting the armor with a dull thwack.

“What? You two were at it enough to convince just about anyone otherwise!” He said with a shrug as his grin only grew.

“Look us up when you’re done with your mission ok?” Daisy asked as she turned away slightly, still looking back at Patches and myself. She took a few steps back into the forest, pausing just a moment for Bryon.

“Go save the world, or whatever it is you’re gonna do Alex. And you just keep kicking ass Patches,” Bryon said with a wave as he turned and started walking away. Daisy stepped along next to him.

“Keep yourselves out of trouble,” I said with a smile. “And don’t bother telling us to do the same! You know we can’t help ourselves!” I called to the departing deer.

I felt myself letting out a sigh as two of my companions departed, Daisy was right. They had become my friends pretty quickly and watching them leave just sucked. I want to say it in an elegant way but it really just sucked, I wanted them to come with us. They weren’t just an extra set of eyes to look out for danger, I genuinely enjoyed their company.

I stood there and watched to forest for a few minutes after they were out of sight, the foliage swayed gently in the breeze but there were no signs of the two deer otherwise.

“Come on Alex, lets go check out this weird walled town,” Patches said as he nudged me and started walking away from the forest.

The town was indeed surrounded by a wall that looked like it was hastily constructed. There were several hundred feet of clearing dotted with the stumps of the trees the townspeople had cut down. The gate was clear and easy enough to spot as it was a break in the vertical lines that made up the log wall. It was also flanked by a pair of watchtowers that looked equally new but had ponies currently working on them.

I could see a pair of Pegasi atop the left tower hammering panels onto the slanted roof. The right tower was having a walkway installed by a Pegasus and a Unicorn, it was suspended in a large magical field while the Pegasus drove large nails into the bottom of it. He was standing on a small cloud so he didn’t have to flap his wings. Smart.

A small door built into the gate opened and an Earth pony stepped out, he held up a pair of binoculars to his face then waved at us.

“Approach!” Came the distant cry as I realized he was waving us toward the town.

Patches and I both closed the distance at a brisk walk, well it was a brisk walk for Patches. More of a jog for me. The construction didn’t stop as we approached and the workers barely paid us any notice. They were either complacent or they had a lot of faith in the lone guard we were approaching. 

“Or they have hidden troops watching us,” a voice in the back of my head nagged as I began scanning the wall. There were a few gaps large enough to slip the barrel of a rifle through. Then I caught a slight movement on the other side of the wall through one of the gaps. Had someone seen me looking and relocated? I scanned over to the next gap just in time to see the figure pass into the gap. I felt eyes on me when it stopped. When they caught me looking they moved again.

“Patches are you seeing?” I started to ask, continuing my jog.

“The shit in the cracks? Yep,” he responded as we neared the guard.

The guard suddenly held up his hand with his palm out. “That’s close enough!” He commanded, his right hand rested on the handle of a pistol at his hip. His fingers were curled slightly around the grip, ready to draw it. His eyes flicked between myself and Patches several times. His armor was crudely put together, it looked to be mostly made of scavenged metal and only covered his chest, shoulders, and forearms. He was a little over six feet tall and had watery green eyes that blinked frequently, his coat was brown and his mane was black.

“Names, infection status, business in Timberfold, and how long you’re staying,” he spoke clearly. He’d done this a few times before.

“Alex Rustwing, not a vamp, resting and trade, a day tops,” I replied, then glanced at Patches.

“Patches, also not a vamp, same plans and duration,” he said with a smile.

“Alright, we’ll have to verify your status then check all your weapons. You’ll sign in on our list and you’ll be free to conduct your business as long as you don’t stir up any trouble with the residents,” he explained as he motioned us over and opened the door for us.

We followed him into the checkpoint he had set up where a second guard was waiting for us. A female Unicorn was standing behind a desk with a set of papers before her, a quill in her hand ready to write.

“We got two travelers Lucky!” The Earth pony called to the Unicorn behind the desk, gaining a startled jump from her.

“Fuck’s sake, Cale! We’re indoors! You don’t need to yell!” She snapped.

“Then why are you?” He asked with a chuckle as he left, leaving us with the now irritated Unicorn.

She was significantly shorter than the first guard, maybe a little over five feet tall and she wore similar armor of a scavenged quality. Her ears were pressed flat against her head and she was wearing aviator sunglasses, her lips were pressed into a thin line and her brow was pulled down. She grumbled softly when we walked up. Sensitive to light and noise, a scowl on her face… Was she hungover?

“Names, and in case you don’t know the bite verification drill… Strip,” she grumbled in a flat voice. “Yes, I’ll be inspecting you and yours won’t be the first naked bodies I’ve seen, so none of that hesitation shit or I’ll have you thrown out of the town for failing entry procedures.” 

Yeah, definitely grumpy enough to be hungover...

We gave her our names and began to remove our armor and undergarments. She turned away and began searching through the desk for something with a little groan.

“Long night?” Patches asked the grumpy Unicorn.

“Aren’t they always?” She sighed as she found a clipboard and attached two pieces of paper to it. She stopped a moment when she looked at us. “Shit, we got some giant freakish superstar athlete… Maybe pornstar,” she added as she looked at Patches’ crotch. 

“I accept any credit that is due,” Patches said as he put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest. He looked up in what would probably be some sort of triumphant pose were it not for his nakedness. But that didn’t seem to be bothering him. 

The Unicorn huffed and shook her head. Judging by the twitching at the corner of her mouth she was trying not to smile. “A comedian too,” she growled as she looked at me, then let out a very obvious sigh that devolved into a groan.

“I’m gonna need a verifier for you,” she said with another little sigh. “What, did you get rubbed against a freaking cheese grater? It’s gonna be a pain in the ass checking all those scars,” she grumbled as she waved Cale back into the room. She looked a little flushed for someone used to seeing nude bodies.

“Checking my scars?” I asked, wondering why she’d need to check all of them.

“Vamps have been known to hide bite marks by biting existing scars, it’s not perfect but it can make it much more difficult to spot the bite scars. They can be spotted under a decent amount of scrutiny but are easy to miss if you don’t know what to look for,” she explained as she walked over to Patches and began inspecting him.

“Holy shit you’ve been through the ringer haven’t you?” The brown Earth pony asked as he started from my face and began checking each scar. “This one on your face is really fresh, what happened?”

“River rock exploded, little piece of it got stuck in my face,” I muttered with a small sigh of embarrassment.

“Damn, looks like it hurt,” he winced a little as he moved on to the next and questioned its origin as well.

The procedure continued until Lucky had finished inspecting Patches and joined her partner in inspecting my body.

“Let’s try to wrap this up quickly, hmm?” She said as she leaned over to check the scar by my left kidney. Her sunglasses dropped a little and I saw her eyes. They were bright red.

My heart skipped a beat. Was a vamp working here? I felt my heartbeat quicken slightly and her ear twitched. Was it in response to my heartbeat? 

She glanced up at my face and made eye contact. Definitely red, she knew I noticed. 

I started to take a step back only for her to hold up a hand.

“Easy there scarface, I’m not gonna bite you. I work here remember? Do you have any idea how bad for business it would be if a vamp bit people trying to get into town? Nobody would want through,” she glanced at my weapons set aside on the table. “You’re not gonna need those here, try to calm down ok? Your blood is loud as fuck.”

“You mean vamps-”

“Are treated like normal citizens and have jobs here? Yes that’s how we do things here. We keep track of everyone who is and isn’t infected and make sure there are no incidents. I’m guessing you’ve already had one or two bad run-ins with my kind since your heart is trying to beat its way out of your chest but I assure you, all the vamps in this town are residents and we won’t tolerate you attacking any of them. You’ll treat them with respect like every other citizen and if all goes well you won’t even know you’re talking to one.”

“That must be a shitload of paperwork, keeping track of an entire town’s population like that,” Patches commented as he tugged his pants back on. “How do you work out the whole feeding thing?” He asked as the two guards returned to my inspection.

“Donations mostly,” the mare replied as she pushed the glasses back up the bridge of her muzzle. “A lot of families are mixed and some travelers are willing to part with a pint for a meal at a restaurant. Some vendors take blood as payment and I think one of the innkeepers has started doing it as well. His daughter got turned so he takes any extra he can get to make sure she stays fed and her urges are in check,” she slapped a scar on my knee. “Story.”

The hammer fell and crushed Violet from the waist down. Blood sprayed several feet from her mouth and she let out a single gasp, her eyes bulging from their sockets. The Changeling warrior took advantage of my shock and swung his axe at my knee, hitting with enough force to knock my leg out from under me and get the blade stuck in my armor. The edge cutting into my knee.

“Axe wound,” I said as I shook my head and dismissed the memory.

Her arched eyebrow was all the signal I needed, she had noticed my little episode and hesitation. Thankfully she just moved on without questioning me further and they finished their inspection without incident. Though I noticed her gaze lingering on me as she tended to her paperwork. 

“We’ve documented your weapons and sign in time. When did you say you’d be leaving?” She asked, looking up from her clipboard.

I looked at Patches and we exchanged a shrug. 

“Before noon,” I said as I finished donning my armor.

“Alright, make sure you sign out when you leave. Last Pegasus that forgot to do it got his wing shot off when he tried to fly over the wall to leave,” she warned.

“Thanks for the warning,” Patches said with a grimace as he turned to leave.

“See you two around,” she said with a little grin as she lowered her shades and winked at me.

I felt my wings bristle slightly at the gesture. Was a vamp seriously into me? I hurried off after Patches, my mind full of other uncertainties. A town where vamps coexisted with non-infected and they didn’t have any incidents? Did they really blend in that well? Was it really safe to stay the night here? Could anyone here be trusted? I looked up at Patches as I caught up and walked alongside him.

If Patches had the same thoughts they didn’t show. He looked calm and relaxed and was taking in the sights around the town. He shuffled his pack a little and its contents shifted noisily, gaining a little smile from him.

“I managed to scoop a fair bit of scrap from that factory, should be able to trade some of it off for gunpowder and anything else we might need,” he paused a moment and lowered his voice. “Try not to look so freaked out, you look like you’re about to go on a fucking murder spree or something,” he said as he glanced around.

I took inventory of my facial expression, it was the usual stern look I wore. Patches must have seen some other sign. “My wings gave me away didn’t they?”

Patches offered a small nod before he continued. “They might do stuff differently here but the system they have works so don’t rock the boat,” he advised as he straightened up and continued onward.

I scanned the area as we walked down the main road of the town, there were quite a few people out and about that morning. Judging by the noise ahead, we were moving toward the market Patches was so eager to explore. 

“So that guard,” Patches said with a grin.

“What about her?” I grumbled, pretty sure where he was going with this.

“She was totally into you man,” he said as his grin widened, his pitch raising slightly in excitement.

“I’m not going to go back there and flirt with her,” I said flatly.

“Flirt? She was eye humping the crap outta you! If you so much as went back there to ask when her shift ended you’d be getting laid for it,” he said with a chuckle, uncaring of the other people in the street who could easily hear him. “I know she inspected both of us, but she’s the size of one of my legs, it’s not happening for me. Plus she never touched me during that inspection, her hands were all over you, she wanted to touch each and every last one of your scars.”

“Patches I’m not going to go have sex with a vampire. Drop it,” I warned.

“Ooookaaaayyyy, but when you’re bored later this afternoon don’t forget about her,” he sang. “She looked like fun!”

“You really do have a one-track-mind Patches,” I said as I shook my head.

“Nah! I just know what I  like!” He said as he leaned over and elbowed me.

I offered a halfhearted swat at Patches’ offending limb as the marketplace came into view. There were a few dozen stalls and over a hundred people milling around inspecting the wares.

“Holy shit this town is bigger than I thought,” Patches said as he looked around.

“Yeah, what do you want to get done first?” I asked.

“Well we need to secure a place to sleep, getting lunch would be nice too, and shopping around for extra materials couldn’t hurt,” Patches said. “Since we’re here we might as well poke around and see what this metal is worth,” he offered with a shrug.

The next two hours were fairly entertaining as we discovered the town used both bits and a bartering system. It basically came down to the individual we were dealing with and what they valued. We found a stall selling various types of ammunition and Patches traded away over ten pounds of metal for a good amount of ammo that wouldn’t work in his rifle.

“I’m going to reuse the brass casings from my fired rounds and just make new rounds out of the ones I bought,” he explained when he saw me about to ask.

We stopped at a stall and got vegetable kebabs, Patches ended up taking several more of them than I did to fill up and we spent several bits there. We also managed to catch a street performance while we ate at one of the tables near the stall. I was able to sit in one of the chairs but Patches felt more comfortable trusting the ground with his weight and thus sat on it.

“It’s weird,” I mumbled between bites of food.

“Hmm?” Came Patches’ response.

“Everyone around here is just going about their daily lives like the country isn’t falling apart. You wouldn’t guess people were fighting for their lives less than twenty miles away,” I said as I set down the bare stick and picked up another kebab.

“They just adapted to the times I guess, it would be nice if this could happen everywhere. This whole apocalypse mess is a lot less appealing than coexistence,” Patches said with a shrug before devouring an entire kebab.

“There would still be the danger of the vamps infecting everyone, there is a balance here but it’s a delicate one. It feels like an uneasy truce. Self-preservation of both sides is the only thing keeping it together,” I reasoned as I leaned back in the chair a little.

“I think that uneasiness will pass with time as they learn to trust and live with each other,” Patches said with a soft smile. “And even if this is some kind of ploy by the vamps to infect every last person here it would bite them in the ass later. They wouldn’t have anything to feed off of and their whole population would starve. It happens in nature all the time, something overeats its food source or reproduces too quickly and then there’s a massive drop in population usually due to starvation. If they’ve already drawn that conclusion then they have no reason to betray the people they’re living with,” he finished with a satisfied smile as he ate his last kebab. 

“Alright, you win this one,” I admitted as I finished mine. “Let’s just enjoy the music and this show,” I said as I dropped the bare stick onto the table we were sitting at. 

We spent a good half an hour just watching the show. A dozen or so individuals had formed a group and took turns performing various acts to make an entire show. At the end of it all one of them came around with a hat that viewers tossed bits into. I made sure to flick a coin into it before moving on.

“How much of that scrap metal you got left?” I asked my vermilion companion. 

“A little over ten pounds? I should be able to get us a room at an inn and some dinner, maybe get a few bits on top of it,” he paused and chuckled a little. “Maybe I could be a personal escort for someone,” he raised and lowered his eyebrows a few times.

“Ok Patches, times aren’t so rough that we need to resort to whoring ourselves out for money, we’re actually doing pretty well. So you don’t need to go throwing suggestions like that out,” I said as I shook my head and chuckled.

“Oh I know we’re doing well! I’m just talking about making a little extra and having some fun while I’m at it. May as well get paid to do something I’m good at and have fun doing it at the same time am I right?” He asked as he elbowed me again. “Besides you never know when we’ll have another opportunity to make money and get extra supplies for the road, unless you know of another abandoned factory between here and Canterlot?” He asked pointedly as he leaned closer to me.

“No I don’t know where any extra salvage exists between here and our destination, and now that you mention it making extra money and stocking up on supplies is a good idea. This might be the last chance we get before we have to climb Canterlot Mountain,” I admitted as we rose and cleaned up after ourselves.

“For that matter, you have any idea how you could make some extra money while we’re here? I mean do you have any marketable skills?” He asked as he looked at me, waiting for an answer.

I hesitated before answering him, I hadn’t taken the time to strip the factory of useful materials. I was only going to be here a day so taking the time to train individuals to fight was out of the question. I looked around the plaza as I thought, allowing my mind to wander a bit. My eyes eventually came to rest on the stage that the group had been performing on earlier, it was made of very solid and well-maintained wood.

“The locals do seem to like a good show,” I said as a pair of Pegasi stepped up onto the stage to start another performance. One took flight while the other began juggling large hoops. The airborne Pegasus started flying through the airborne hoops and tossed a few tricks in with his maneuvers.

“YOU want to go up on stage and put on a show?” Patches snorted and put a hand to his muzzle, struggling to hold his laughter back. “I’m sorry but what are you gonna do up there? Dance? Can you sing? Is Alex a songbird at heart? Is that what your special talent actually is?” His fits of laughter returned as he continued to imagine what I planned on doing. “Is, is, is it gonna be a stand-up comedy act? Are you going to go up there and tell everyone war stories?”

“Actually I’m just going to go put on a little performance, I’ll need your help too,” I said before he could continue.

The offer for attention definitely gained his interest. “Ooh! What do I have to do?”

“Just catch a coin, and stand there and look pretty while you’re at it,” I teased as I walked over toward the stage.

“Catch a coin? How is that going to be entertaining? I mean I know the whole looking pretty thing is second nature to me but I don’t think it’s going to make us money by itself,” he asked and commented as we took our place at the edge of the stage. The Pegasi wrapped their performance up and collected a respectable amount of currency and stopped in the crowd to see what we had planned. One had his arms crossed over his chest and a cocky expression on his face as he viewed his new competition.

“Fillies and colts, mares and stallions! I come before you today to share the amazing marksmanship abilities of a one Alex Rustwing!” I shouted with as much theatrical flair as I could muster. It wasn’t so different from adopting a tune for marches. 

I produced a bit and held it up in my left hand for everyone to see. “Today I will be shooting this coin not once, but twice! As you can see there are no holes in it, this is not an illusion! It is a demonstration that I hope will prove to be quite entertaining! If you’re sensitive to noise I’d advise covering your ears!” I added with a grin.

I looked at Patches. “Ready?”

“I still don’t know what I’m do-”

“Good you’re ready!” I shouted as I flicked the coin into the air above and slightly to the left of my head and drew my revolver with my right hand. I leaned forward slightly and folded my wings as close to my body as possible. I quickly brought my arm around behind my back and pointed the pistol up. One squeeze of the trigger later and the bit sang as the round passed clean through it and sent it on a new trajectory. 

It flew right at Patches who jumped with a start and caught it. He looked down at the bit in his hand and held it up for the audience to see, a large hole punched clean through it and warping its edge. There were several gasps and some applause as I put the revolver back in its holster.

“You only shot it once!” Called one of the Pegasi. He was the one who was holding the rings.

“Now I must ask my assistant to walk to the left edge of the stage and hold his arm straight out! Bit in your fingertips!” I said loudly with a smile at the now nervous-looking Pegasus.

Patches looked at me like I was insane. “Are you serious?”

“Yes! I am! Now hurry I don’t want you to make a liar of me!”

He did as I said and took his place at the edge of the stage, holding the bit in his fingertips with his arm fully extended.

I leaned over to inspect his position. He was a bit off. “Two more inches to the left please!” I announced.

Patches nervously shuffled to the left and slowly cringed, keeping his arm extended. If anything this was a display of how much he trusted me.

Moments later there was a high-pitched zipping sound followed by a loud ping! The bit was knocked from Patches’ hand, causing him to yelp and the crowd to gasp and cheer. Patches picked the bit up and held it up for the crowd to see, the bullet hadn’t managed to penetrate it a second time but had hit it hard enough to warp the bit around itself.

“And that’s two!” I called as the viewers clapped. I bowed and Patches stepped down to collect some money. There were more performers waiting next to the stage, admittedly farther away from it after the display I put on.

We made off into the square and managed to put some distance between ourselves and the noisy crowd. Patches was still chuckling a little. “Fucking brilliant, scared the shit outta me though. Never thought you’d be that good at shooting,” he said with a shake of his head.

“We all have our gifts right?” I said with a smirk. “Speaking of gifts how did we do?” I asked, looking at the bits filling Patches’ hands.

“Enough that…” He trailed off while counting them and frowned. He looked up from the bits at me, with a little frown. “Can I still go get laid?”

I held up the pouch I was keeping my bits in. “Go ahead, just don’t get yourself killed or anything,” I said as he poured them into the pouch. “Don’t go asking for money for it though, just enjoy yourself,” I said with a dismissive wave.

“Alright,” Patches said as he turned to leave. “We gonna meet back up in that inn over there?” He asked, pointing toward a building with a sign hanging off it labeling it as the Lazy Griffon’s Inn.

“Sure thing! I’ll get us a room with two beds,” I said as I headed toward the building.

“Good idea! It’ll be cheaper than getting two rooms!” He called back as he headed down a street.

I entered the inn and was pleased to find the door opened into a lobby and dining area. One end of the dining area gave way to a lounge with several large chairs and a couch in front of a fireplace. I headed over to the desk where a Unicorn stood, he smiled at me when I walked up.

“Looking for a room or a bite to eat traveler?” He asked, taking in my appearance and the large pack on my back.

“A room with two beds, and probably dinner if you whatever you serve around here tastes as good as it smells,” I commented with a small smile of my own. 

“How you wanna pay? We take bits and blood here,” he leaned on the desk. “I don’t drink the stuff but my daughter does so I get it when I can to care for her. If you donate a pint I’ll throw in dinner to go with that room,” he straightened up a little as he made his offer.

“Sure, I’ll donate a pint.”

> The Town On The Edge Of The Forest Pt.2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 16
The Town On The Edge Of The Forest Pt.2



I let out a little sigh as I watched the pint-sized jar fill, gently squeezing a cloth that had been wadded up into a ball occasionally to keep my blood flowing more quickly. It was strange to be in a situation where I was trying to coax blood out of my body faster rather than trying to keep it inside. The jar was over half-full when I started noticing the effects of blood loss. I noticed a tingling feeling in my lips and nose and reached up to rub them with my free hand.

“You feeling alright?” The Unicorn who I then knew as Ray asked. 

“Just tingly,” I said as I rubbed my nose a bit in an attempt to banish the feeling.

“It’s pretty normal from what I hear from donors, you might get chills or light headed after you fill that jar up but it’ll pass after you get some food in you and rest awhile,” he said with a warm smile.

“Glad to hear,” I said as I let my hand drop back into my lap.

“So you served out in the Changeling Desert?” He asked, resuming our previous conversation.

“Yes, I was stationed there for ten years. Then, well you know what happened here better than I do,” I admitted, taking another glance at the jar. I felt naked outside my armor, wearing clothes and nothing but them just felt wrong but Ray insisted I was making him and the customers nervous.

“Yes, they say Celestia tried to kill the demons by burning them under the sun’s light and they possessed her body. She became the first vampire and was easily the most powerful. All the vamps have to bite you three times to turn you, she could take you straight to greater vamp status with a single bite. Luna started a massive inquisition trying to root out the source of the evil and when she found out it was Celestia she cut her head off, had her cremated, and put in an urn in the throne room,” he lamented as he checked the jar as well.

“No matter how many times I hear that story it still just sounds too horrible to be true. Like some kind of nightmare I’m still waiting to wake up from,” I said as Ray grabbed a piece of cotton and a strip of cloth.

Ray didn’t say anything as he removed the needle and placed the cotton onto the vein, pressing it against my arm firmly to help stop the bleeding. He then wrapped the strip of cloth around my arm to hold the cotton in place and clicked his tongue.

“Good to go,” he said with a little smile as he let the rest of the blood drain from the tube and placed a lid on the jar, screwing the cap on tightly. “Thanks again for this, don’t try to move too much just yet. I’ll get you some water and a little snack to help with your energy,” he said as he rose and took the jar back into the kitchen.

It wasn’t long before he returned with a glass of water and an apple for me. It wasn’t until I started drinking that I realized just how dehydrated I felt and before I knew it the glass was empty.

Ray chuckled a little at the display. “I have a question for you Alex,” he said as his expression took on a more worried tone. “When you were out in the desert, did you happen to meet a young stallion named Bright Crescent? Unicorn, about five-ten, had-”

“Your yellow coat? Blue eyes, white mane?” I added.

“So you did see him there, do you have any idea what happened to him? The last I heard from him was about a month before the day the sun set,” his hands were clasped together and he was leaning forward. 

“He was given permission to leave when I was, but I don’t think he left as soon as I did. I’ve been travelling almost nonstop to get here so who knows? He could be a day or two behind me,” I offered.

He let out a sigh, of relief or exasperation I’m not sure. “I just hope you’re right, I miss him,” he said as he looked down for a few moments. “It’s going to be time for dinner soon, I better go get the kitchen fired up,” he said as he rose. “It was good talking to you Alex. Remember not to do anything too strenuous for a few hours, you should be feeling normal by morning,” he advised as he rounded the corner into the kitchen.

I decided to spend some time in the lounge watching the fire burn, my pack was waiting up in a room with my armor for me and I hadn’t seen Patches yet. I hoped he’d show up before I decided to bed down myself. Who was I kidding? He’d probably found someone to spend the night with already. 

There were a few other patrons at the inn but I had the lounge mostly to myself. I enjoyed the silence and spent almost an hour just relaxing on the couch with my thoughts and the fire.

I noticed a fair amount of noise coming from the dining area to see at least a dozen ponies sitting at some of the tables talking and some of them were eating. Fantastic, there was food.

I didn’t even have to think twice about getting up and heading to one of the tables, making sure to give Ray a wave so he knew I was present. I picked one of the tables along the edge of the room by habit, it allowed me to watch the room and the various patrons. I counted fifteen ponies seated around the tables, most of them didn’t look like travelers coming through the area. The food here must be good if non-travelers stop by to eat.

Of the patrons I picked out two vamps, they were the only ones without food in front of them, each had a glass of blood instead. Both were sitting at different tables and socializing with non-vampiric ponies, they were talking and one of them was laughing and sharing a joke. It was strange, but if this was possible then maybe there was hope for the future of Equestria. 

Suddenly I was face-to-tits with the waitress who seemed to come out of nowhere with a plate of food and a bowl of soup. The apron she was wearing said “I don’t bite.”

I immediately leaned back and looked up at her face to thank her for bringing my dinner over and my words got lost on their way to my muzzle as it sort of hung open.

“I heard you were the fellow nice enough to donate a pint of blood for the innkeeper’s daughter, I can’t thank you enough,” Lucky said with a smirk. She wasn’t wearing her sunglasses inside the more dimly lit inn and her ears weren’t flat against her head with the absence of the construction. “I snuck a few sips of it before I started helping my dad around the kitchen. I gotta say, you taste as good as you look,” she said as she licked her lips.

“Uhhh, thanks for the food?” Was all I could really think to say in the situation, and it was what I intended to say in the first place.

“Same to you Scarface,” she said with a wink. Then turned and left to tend to the other tables.

I shook my head as she left and started eating my meal. For a moment I thought she was following me, but it just seemed like an odd coincidence now.

I was halfway through my dinner when Lucky took a seat across the table from me, she had a glass of what I assume was my own blood.

“What are the odds you’d happen to come to the inn my dad and I run?” She mused as she swirled the glass and its contents around slowly. She took a sip, never letting her eyes off me. It was unnerving.

“What are the odds of you happening to work two jobs both in places I’d go?” I replied as I skewered a piece of potato with my fork. “I mean being a guard must keep you busy for most of the day, then you come home and work some more around the inn?” I just had to relax, they’re still ponies. Ponies who drink blood, but still ponies.

“I only work the guard job once every three days, usually I’m working here with my dad,” she responded, finally looking away at the rest of the patrons. “It’s nice isn’t it? Seeing everyone just getting along and accepting the vampires? Every time I talk to a traveler they have nothing but horror stories about the outside world and vampires,” she muttered and narrowed her eyes. 

“What is it? The light again?” I asked, trying to make conversation before taking another bite of my food.

She turned her head and gave me a scrutinizing gaze. “Don’t bullshit me, is it really that bad out there? Are vampires really the monsters everyone says they are?”

I thought back to the first time I saw one, and it attacked me without warning. Then there was the Gargoyle that tried to trick me and I nearly got killed for that one. The third encounter was even more stomach turning when I found the vamp who had been so consumed by his hunger that he turned on his own family. The assault at Patches’ house. The raid on the nest and that torture room…

“It’s a simple question Scarface, a yes or no would do,” she said, leaning back a little and relaxing her expression.

“This is the first time I’ve not been attacked by a vamp. Plus this city is walled off for a reason isn’t it? All of the railways into Canterlot have been destroyed and the entire Crystal Empire is sealed off,” I said as I looked back up from my nearly empty plate at her. “I’ve seen some pretty cruel things that vamps have done. I’ve had to kill a good number of them too, but I’ve been to a lot of terrible places and seen a lot of cruel things that people I thought were good have done,” I felt myself trailing off as I looked back down at my plate and bowl.

“Done a few cruel things yourself? Dad said you’re a vet from the Changeling Desert,” she looked at me expectantly as she took another drink.

“Yeah, you could say that,” I said bluntly as I worked on finishing my food.

She let out a little sigh as she finished off her glass of blood. “You really do taste amazing, think I could get you to stay longer than just one night Scarface? It’s not hard to update your paperwork,” she offered, her eyes crawling all over me but always coming back to mine.

It was my turn to let out a little sigh as I finished my food. “I’m not sure what you see in me Lucky, but I can’t stay anywhere yet. I have to get to Canterlot,” I said with a shrug as I placed the bowl on the plate.

“You’re gonna go to ground zero, one of the most dangerous places in the country? There better be something really important back there,” she almost looked mad that I’d even consider going to the Capital.

“Yes, there is something important for me to do there,” I insisted.

“Well,” Lucky said as she rose. “It’s been great talking to ya Scarface, thanks for treating me to dinner. I’d appreciate it if you stuck around so I could get to know you a little better,” she said with a little smile, a playful tone creeping into her voice as she quickly bussed the table. “Try not to wander too far off! I should be done working soon enough,” she called over her shoulder at me.

What was I to do? If I stayed I’d have to deal with her advances and if I just took off it would be rude. Plus she knew where I was going to be sleeping as well.

I figured the lounge wasn’t too far off, and the couch was still completely empty. I tossed a new log onto the fire and took a seat, letting out a little sigh as I forced myself to relax. The lounge was significantly darker than the dining area, the only sources of light being the fireplace and whatever light bled over from the dining area. The lounge was empty again, the visitors in the dining area were leaving and heading home.

After spending nearly half an hour in silence by the warmth of the fire I felt myself drifting off. It was only once I heard someone walking up behind me that I sat up, immediately awake as I checked over my shoulder.

“My my, jumpy tonight Scarface?” Lucky teased as she rounded the couch and sat herself down right next to me. She was wearing a much more loose-fitting shirt now along with some far-too-tight looking shorts.

“I’m not overly fond of people walking around behind me,” I admitted as I scooted to the side a little.

Lucky grinned in the dark and closed the distance. “Get off your pedestal Scarface, you really expect me to believe you’re not interested at least a little bit?” 

“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you but no. I’m not interested,” I said flatly.

Her grin only widened at my denial and she leaned even closer to me, her eyes practically burning in the dark. “If that were true,” she whispered as she placed a hand on my thigh. “You wouldn’t be sitting here with me right now,” she finished, exhaling against my neck.

I hesitated. Was I really interested? No, I wasn’t going to have sex with a vampire, they’re monsters. 

She allowed herself a giggle. “So much hesitation! I’m right! You really are into me aren’t you?” She asked with a confident smirk as she pulled herself into my lap to look directly at me.

I felt myself lean back slightly, both of my hands raised slightly so I wasn’t touching her.

“Well you’re not pushing me away or off of you,” she purred as she looked me over, her eyes locking with mine. “What’s the matter Scarface? Scared of the monster?” She teased. “If so, let me share a little secret with you that should put your worries to rest,” she whispered as she leaned in closer. “I may need to drink blood. But unlike you, I’ve never hurt anyone,” she paused and looked at my lips, then back up to my eyes. “I don’t plan on starting anytime soon either. If anything I should be scared of you, vamp killer. But something in me just says fuck that and fuck him,” she finished with a little grin as she draped her arms over my shoulders.

“Are you like this with all your customers?” I teased as she shuffled about on my lap.

“Hah, I’ve never been one to beat around the bush, and you? You really just do it for me,” she said with a chuckle and a more genuine smile. “I got a thing for scars, and, drinking your blood really sealed the deal that you’re grade A stuff,” she trailed off, chuckling a little more. “You’re just well-made ok? I got a good look at you at the checkpoint and I’m really hoping its not the only one I get,” she shuffled a bit again, looking down and biting her lip. I wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not, but her shuffling was causing her to grind against my crotch. Yeah, it probably was.

Her eyes narrowed as her grin returned. “I can feel some sort of a response from you Scarface,” she teased as she ground her rear against me. “So am I gonna get a yes outta you anytime soon o-” 

“You talk too much,” I interrupted as I leaned forward. The next thing I knew I was kissing her, one of my hands on the back of her head and my other arm wrapped around her waist.

Her eyes widened in surprise then the edges crinkled slightly with delight as she smiled and giggled a bit. Her arms wrapped around my neck and she returned the kiss eagerly. She started grinding her hips more insistently against me as we made out.

I spun to the left and leaned forward, letting her flop back onto the couch as I leaned over her for another kiss. My hands found her waist as our lips met and made their way beneath her shirt, it was my turn to explore her. One of my hands caressed her soft belly while the other slid up her side to her breast. I cupped it and gave it a gentle squeeze, running my fingers over her stiffening nipple. My thumb drew a little circle around her areola and she broke the kiss, looking up as she let out a soft moan. I kissed my way down her neck as my left hand found its way into her shorts to give her soft rear a squeeze.

Suddenly her hand grabbed my shoulder and pushed me away as she let out a giggle between her pants of excitement.

“Having second thoughts all the sudden?” I asked.

“No, heh. But if we keep going at it we’re gonna end up having sex on the couch and my dad will kill me if we stain it and make it smell,” she said with another giggle as she leaned up to kiss me. “Let’s go use that room you rented Scarface, then we can do whatever we want,” she whispered huskily.

My right hand released her breast and worked its way around beneath her shirt to her back where I used my forearm to support her body. My left hand  pushed a bit deeper to help me get a better grip on her bottom as I grinned. “Up you go,” I whispered and I hoisted her up and pressed her body against mine.

The move earned a soft laugh from Lucky and she wrapped her legs around my waist, squeezing me tightly. Her arms gripped my shoulders and neck, easily supporting herself as she planted another kiss on my lips. She broke the kiss and smiled. “I knew you’d be fun,” she purred. 

I took a moment to steady myself with the new center of gravity, chuckling a bit as well as I started walking with Lucky wrapped around me. We made it out of the lounge without incident, Ray wasn’t at the Lobby desk which allowed us to reach the stairs uncontested. The stairs were definitely the most difficult part of the journey to the room, every step shifted my center of gravity and we nearly toppled over about halfway up the stairs. In spite of our close brush with the floor I refused to set her down and carried her the rest of the way to the room.

It was times like that I was thankful I had wings, I didn’t have as fine of motor skills with them as some Pegasi did, but I was able to manage a rough grip on the doorknob and twist it open. Closing the door was as simple as delivering a careless kick. I made my way to the foot of one of the beds and let her slip from my arms.

She threw her arms out and bounced when she hit the bed, laughing a little as she did. I immediately dove onto the bed after her, landing with my knees between her legs and my hands at her sides.

Lucky raised a hand for me to stop. “Before we get started just make sure you finish outside ok? I don’t know if a vampire can get knocked up by a non-vamp but I’m not gonna jump up and be the one to find out. Especially with you planning to run off on me. You got any rules for me?” She asked playfully.

“Ground rules understood,” I replied with a grin. “Just one thing, please don’t bite me,” I said with a chuckle as I renewed my grip on her, my wings spreading at the feel of her body.

“Alriiight, no biting,” she said with a tone of mock complaint. “I hafta admit Scarface,” she started. “For a moment back there I was starting to think I wasn’t going to get you up here all to myself,” she said with a more genuine smile as she reached up and grabbed the back of my head. I could feel her starting to pull me down to her but resisted for a moment.

“You know what they say about the hardest-fought battles,” I said as I quickly leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Their victories are always the sweetest,” I whispered as my hands found their way under her shirt again and my lips found hers. My hands crept their way up her body to caress the underside of her breasts, earning another soft gasp from her.

“Your hands are freaking magic,” she moaned softly as her hands fumbled with my clothes. “What the fuck are you wearing Scarface? I can’t find an edge to peel away,” she asked as she sat up a little.

I straightened up and grabbed the cloth belt around my waist, untying the knot quickly. I worked my shoulders out of the top of the robes and slid them off my body. A swift kick of my legs saw them discarded on the floor.

She looked toward my crotch with a smile. “Glad to see you still have enough blood in you to fill that thing up,” she teased.

I chuckled at her comment and immediately saw to her loose-fitting shirt. It was easy enough to work off but her skin-tight shorts were a different story entirely. “How did you even get these on?” I asked.

“Jumping helps,” she purred as she set her hooves on my shoulders. “Grab the bottom and this’ll be much easier,” she said with a smirk. “Just give them a tug when I say so.”

I did as she asked and gripped the bottom edge of her shorts, feeling her legs tense a bit against me as I understood her intent.

“Alright, tug!” She called. I yanked down on her shorts as she pushed off my shoulders with her hooves. Her shorts slid right off. I raised an eyebrow at her lack of undergarments.

“What? It’s late so I was dressing to relax,” she said as she crossed her arms.

“Dressing to relax but you took the effort to squeeze into these?” I asked, shaking her shorts for emphasis.

“Ok I worked those on for you,” she admitted.

“They’re… Wet,” I evaluated as I tossed them to the side.

“Yeah I wonder why,” she grumbled as she rolled her eyes. “You gonna keep pointing out the obvious or are you gonna fuck me?” 

I leaned over her for another kiss as my left hand found her breast, my right moving to her crotch. I slipped two fingers into her while my thumb saw to her clit, gently rubbing the sensitive little button. My fingers were immediately soaked by the excited Unicorn. My other hand gently massaged her breast, my thumb tending to the stiff nipple.

The attention earned a soft moan from Lucky as she broke the kiss again. Her hand found my shoulder and she pushed away. “Not that I don’t like what you’re doing Scarface, but I asked if you were going to fuck me,” she asked as she pulled herself closer, pressing her lips against my tip.

“You’re leaking like a faucet,” I commented as I slowly applied pressure. Her arousal made entry much less of a hassle and I worked my way into her warm body.

“Still -ah!” She let out a cute little gasp and bit her lower lip, her arms wrapping around my neck and her legs squeezing my waist as she did so. “Still pointing out the obvious, but at least you’re IN now,” she let out a shuddering gasp as I slid deeper in. Her body quaked with her breath as she gripped at me. “Nnnnhh fuck, those hands of yours got me close already,” she groaned as she bucked her hips against mine.

At her words I realized my thumb was still rubbing her clit as I pushed in. “Well in that case,” I said as I upped the tempo on the rubbing and pushed my shaft in to the hilt.

“Fffffuck! Yes!” She screamed as her body shuddered, her orgasm splashing against my thighs and dripping onto the bed. She panted quickly and moaned, her arms tensing up around my neck and pulling my head down to her neck.

“There was quite a lot of that,” I said with a chuckle.

“Did I give you permission to stop?!” She bellowed past my ear as she pushed her trembling body against mine. “Keep going! Fuck me damnit!” She ordered between gasps.

“You’re going to wake half the neighborhood,” I commented as I rocked my hips back and forth quickly, obeying her.

“I don’t give a-ahhhh! FUCK! LET THEM HEAR! AAAAHHH! YES!” She continued screaming and moaning as I sawed my body against hers. 

“Alright then, you want it then you’ll get it,” My ears flattened against my head to protect themselves from her powerful vocalizations and my hands gripped her hips. The way she was pulling my head down past her neck made it easier to arch my back and thrust my hips faster.

I really didn’t think it was possible for her to scream any louder, and if it weren’t for the moans and the constant cheers of glee and cries for more someone would probably suspect a murder was taking place in the inn. Maybe her shrieks of joy were a regular thing for the neighborhood?

It wasn’t long before I pushed her through a second and even a third screaming orgasm. A certain throb in my own member alerted me to my own impending climax. It got her attention too, as the screams stopped immediately.

“Whoa, you’re about to pop aren’t you? Get it out!” She called as she pushed a bit with her legs.

I could feel my tip flaring as I dragged myself out of her, barely managing to hold myself back as I did. My flare freed itself from her with a soft pop and a few strokes from my hand were all it took to push me over the edge. I pushed my face into the pillow to muffle my own moan as I felt my orgasm paint her stomach. My forearms got weak and I dropped to my elbows, barely suspending myself over her.

“Holy shit Scarface, you’re making a mess!” She said with a giggle as she kissed my cheek.

“You- haahhh,” I took a moment to catch my breath as my own orgasm finally came to an end. “Have no room to talk after what you did,” I managed with a chuckle of my own.

“We’re gonna need a towel or two,” Lucky said as she ruffled my mane. “A bath sounds great too. Come on, let’s go get ourselves cleaned up,” she said as she pushed against me.

“Oh if you insist,” I said with a chuckle as I helped her up. Her normally yellow coat was white from the bottom of her breasts to her belly button.

“Man I am glad I told you to pull out,” she said as she looked down at herself and shook her head. She then looked up at me with a smirk, gaining a raised eyebrow from me. 

She lunged forward and pulled me down into a kiss, taking the opportunity to rub herself against me and use me as a towel. She pulled out of the kiss as quickly as she had initiated it and hopped over toward the washroom.

“Clever mare,” I said with a chuckle of my own as I followed her.

The washroom was as small as could be expected, but the fact that the room had one in the first place meant that this was either a really nice inn or we had rented one of the nicer rooms. The tub took up a little less than half the room and Lucky immediately turned the water on.

“I’m so freaking glad we have running water,” she said as she hopped into the tub to let it fill.

“Running, but is it warm?” I asked as I stepped in, feeling the icy cold water on my hoof. I immediately recoiled, then forced myself back into the water. “That answers that question!” I said with a chuckle as I lowered myself in with her.

“We’re not miracle workers,” she chuckled at my discomfort. “Don’t worry Scarface, we’ll keep it quick,” she said as she rubbed my cheek.

The quick bath drew no complaints from me! It took a bit of work to scrub everything out of our coats but after a good fifteen minutes we finally managed to clean ourselves off and retreated from the washroom.

“That was a lot of fun Scarface, I guess I’ll see you in the morning before you leave?” Lucky said as she picked up her clothes, giving me a hopeful look while holding the bundle of clothing.

“Fuck yes you’ll see me in the morning,” I said as I swatted the clothes out of her hands. Her face contorted into a confused scowl at my actions but before she could complain I grabbed her hand and tugged her into the clean bed with me. “C’mere you,” I whispered as I pulled her body against mine.

“Oh, you’re a cuddlebug are ya?” She teased as she wiggled up against me, pressing her body as close to mine as she could.

I wrapped my arms around her and closed my eyes. “Yeah yeah,” I said dismissively.

“I’m glad you are, means I get to spend a little more time with you,” she commented

“Good.”

> The Town On The Edge Of The Forest Pt.3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 17
The Town On The Edge Of The Forest Pt.3



When I opened my eyes I was gifted with the sight of Lucky still lying in bed with me in the same position we fell asleep in. We were still in each other’s arms, her soft body pressed against mine. Her muzzle was mere inches from mine and all my self-control couldn’t stop me from planting a soft kiss on her lips.

Much to my delight, her eyes shot open and her arms squeezed my body as she returned the kiss. She let out a happy sigh as her eyes closed, still pressing herself against me.

I squeezed her in return and slowly broke the kiss. “Sleep well?” I asked, feeling a big, dumb, Patches smile on my face.

“Oh yeah, you really helped me work the last few weeks’ worth of stress out,” she said as she stretched. “What about you, Scarface? You look like you just won the lottery or something,” she teased as she pinched my nose.

“Best sleep I’ve gotten in a long time,” I said as I gently swatted her teasing hand away. “Ready to go tackle the day?” I proposed, my eyes glancing out the window. The sun hadn’t come up yet but the sky had taken on the pale, pre-sunrise blue.

“Uh, the sun isn’t up yet Scarface,” she said flatly. “The only reason I’m awake is your dumb face,” she teased as she kissed me again. 

“If that is the case, would you just lie with me then?”  I asked after her soft kiss.

“Sure,” she said with a smile. She nuzzled into my neck and tucked her chin down.

I’m not sure how long we lied there, but it wasn’t nearly long enough.

Once I saw the sun beginning to rise, I rose myself. Lucky let out a soft groan of discontent and settled back into the bed, pouting at my departure. I knelt by the window and bowed my head to deliver my usual morning prayer.

I heard Lucky walking up behind me. She didn’t say anything at first, probably trying to figure out why I was kneeling by the window.

“Are you… Praying?” She asked softly. “You’re all kinds of weird Scarface,” she said. I could hear the smile on her face.

“Yes,” I responded quietly.

“What for?” She asked as she squatted behind me and hugged me. I could feel her cheek against the back of my head.

“Forgiveness for my mistakes, the strength to continue on and do whatever is deemed necessary, safety and health for my friends and family,” I slowly dropped my hands as I looked back at her, gently holding her hand. “Another chance to come back here,” I added with a smile.

“That last part is definitely something worth wishing for,” she said as she squeezed me gently. 

After finishing my prayer I rose, Lucky still hugging me. “You’re practically glued to me,” I said with a small chuckle as I turned to face her. She loosened her grip enough to allow me and I returned her embrace.

“You sure you have to go?” She whispered, burying her face in my chest.

“Yeah, I am,” I spoke equally softly as I ran a hand through her mane. I looked around the room for a few moments, my eyes settling on our discarded clothes.

“Come on. Let’s get dressed and find Patches,” I offered a smile. “We can still spend the rest of the day and have fun looking for that big doofus.”

She smiled at my proposal and nodded. “Sounds good Scarface, but don’t forget breakfast. I dunno about you but last night really helped me work up an appetite,” she said as she retrieved her shirt and put it on. She picked up her shorts and made a face. “I’m gonna go to my room and get some fresh clothes, meet me downstairs in five?”

“Sure thing,” I responded as I picked up my clothes and started pulling them on.

Lucky headed out the door and downstairs, leaving me to ready myself. I got my clothes on quickly and started donning my armor. Five minutes would be plenty of time. After I put my helmet on I lifted my pack and headed downstairs, a carrot from my pack in hand. 

The lobby was empty at first glance, then I saw Ray standing behind the desk with his arms crossed. He opened his mouth to say something but stopped when he heard Lucky.

“Damn, looks like you beat me Scarface,” Lucky called as she hurried down the stairs. She was wearing a different shirt and a pair of shorts that left a little more to the imagination than the pair she was wearing last night. They actually made it to her knees too.

“You two sleep well?” Ray asked, I couldn’t read his tone but Lucky seemed unfazed. She just walked past him into the kitchen.

“Yep!” She called from around the corner. I could hear the clinking of a glass and shortly afterward she came walking around the corner with a small glass of blood. “Just a minute Scarface, lemme knock this back real quick,” she said with a smirk.

“I hope you know you’re washing the sheets today Lucky,” Ray said, turning to face his daughter who was emptying the glass.

“Mmhmm,” was all she really managed as she flashed him a thumbs-up. 

“I can’t embarrass you no matter how hard I try can I?” Ray asked as he looked away and shook his head.

Lucky lowered the empty glass with a smile. “Nope, keep trying pops. You might just get it right one day,” she taunted as she headed back into the kitchen to drop the glass off. Just as quickly as she had entered the kitchen she was back out and heading to the door. “Come on Scarface, the morning’s wasting!”

“I hope you enjoyed your stay at the Lazy Griffon Inn. Please come again,” Ray said almost sarcastically to me.

“I plan on it!” I said with a smile and a little wave to Ray as I left.

“One more thing before you two go!” I heard him call from inside. “Don’t you dare leave me hanging when the lunch rush starts Lucky!”

“Don’t worry dad I won’t!” She called back in reassuringly.

“Alright, since Patches never told me where he was going I guess we ought to just ask around and see who saw the giant red Pegasus last,” I said as Lucky strode over to me.

“Sounds good,” she sniffed and smirked. “Or we could just follow my nose,” she said as she took the lead down the street I had last seen Patches walk down.

“Ok that is handy,” I admitted as I followed her. “You can tell people apart by their scents?” I asked as I scanned the buildings we passed.

“Yeah, he’s got a real particular one too,” she said with a half-smile. “Like a mix between my favorite food before I got turned,” she paused a moment and thought. “Mixed with sex appeal,” she said with a chuckle.

“Wha?” Was all I could really manage.

“It’s a smell that you want to eat and screw at the same time Scarface, probably how he’s got such good game if he gets laid half as much as his ego makes it seem. Pheromones are pretty influential to people who can pick them up,” she explained as we stopped by a three story building that had several large wagons parked in front of it.

The wagons all looked like the kind caravaners carted around and the presence of goods in most of the wagons confirmed my suspicions. Except these were much larger.

“I can’t smell him past here over that other smell,” Lucky said as she scrunched her nose up. “Ugh, it’s so overpowering,” she closed her eyes and looked away.

I started to notice the smell too, the only thing I could think of that smelled that strongly were…

I spotted one of the caravan guards as he walked around the wagon and I realized why the wagons were so much larger than usual. The hulking figure had to be at least ten feet tall and built like a brick shithouse. A fucking Minotaur. He paused just a moment to look at us and narrowed his eyes, giving a snort.

“What’s your business here? Come to trade?” He asked as he eyeballed my pack.

“Actually I’m looking for a friend, maybe you’ve seen him? He’s a Pegasus, about nine feet tall, vermil-er, red, goofy smile?”

The Minotaur nodded and held up a hand for me to stop. “He’s inside with Gertrude, go bother them, I don’t care. I think they’re on the third floor,” he said with a bored sigh as he leaned against one of the wagons and watched the street.

“Alright, thanks,” I said as I walked past him, Lucky in tow.

“By the way,” the Minotaur called over his shoulder. “I know what vermilion is, he screeched it at us so much not even a rock could make the mistake,” he grumbled.

A rock? Weird analogy.

I stopped and shuddered a moment. Rocks… I did NOT want to think about sentient rocks.

“You alright Scarface?” Lucky asked with an arched eyebrow. “That was one heck of a dance you just performed,” she commented.

“Yeah I’m fine. I just remembered something disturbing is all,” I said with a dismissive wave as we made our way past a couch that sagged beneath the weight of a snoring Minotaur. The room was a mess, there were empty tankards that reeked of alcoholic cider, plates covered in scraps of food and clothes randomly strewn about.

Once we navigated the messy room we reached a hallway that was split down the middle, on the left it continued through the building and on the right it was a staircase that lead up to the next floor. To our immediate left was a kitchen that was even messier than the previous room. A lone Minotaur sat at the table groaning softly and rubbing his forehead, a tankard of fresh coffee in his hand.

We decided to tread lightly through the rest of the building until we reached the second floor where it sounded like the party hadn’t finished yet! It was dead silent on the first floor but up there it was so noisy the walls were vibrating. Someone had put one potent charm on this building! That or it was some object these merchants were using. I didn’t stay to find out.

“This is really fucking loud! Let’s get Patches and get the fuck outta here!” Lucky called over the din, her ears flat against her head.

We headed up to the third floor and the sounds and smells changed drastically again. The sounds of music, dancing and cheering had been replaced by the sounds of sex. A lot of it. 

“What the fuck Patches…” I said with a sigh as we started forward.

There were several doors dotting the hallway, he could have been in any of these rooms!

SMACK! 

“Aaaaahhaahahaha!” 

“That was Patches’ voice!” I called as I started toward the door from which I heard his voice. Lucky reluctantly following me.

THWACK!

“Haaaaah! Is that all you got?!” I heard him yell from behind the door. Yep. Definitely this one.

I reached out, grabbed the doorknob, and gave an experimental twist. It was unlocked! I pushed the door open and what I saw shocked me. I must have stood silent in the doorway for at least a minute.

Patches had propped himself against the wall with his forearms and was completely naked. The Minotaur he was sharing the room with had her back to the doorway so neither of them took notice of us.

“You have been such a naughty pony! You must be punished!” The female Minotaur shouted before spanking Patches’ bare ass with a smack that echoed off the wall.

“Aaah! You got two hits left! Make em’ count!” Patches called over his shoulder, that cocky tone in his voice told me he was grinning.

“Such a very,” THWACK! “Naughty!” SMACK! “PONY!” SMACK!

Every strike caused Patches’ body to tense up and he visibly grit his teeth at the last strike. He opened his watery eyes after her assault ended, chuckling loudly. “Heheheheh, so we want to go past our allowed number of spankings do we?” He growled as he slowly turned around.

She backed away slowly, turning so I could see part of her face. I could see a look of mock-fear as she continued her act. “Oh no, I’ve made such a terrible mistake!” She looked away, the back of her hand against her forehead. “Are you… Going to punish me?”

“Definitely!” Patches shouted as he pounced with enough force to lift her from the floor and land on the bed a few feet away. They were using it as a crash-landing pad!

Patches pinned the Minotaur down, his wings flared up to the point where they were scraping the ceiling. His eye flicked for just a moment toward us and he stopped. Looking over at Lucky and I with a smile.

“Ohi Alex!”

“What the fuck Patches?!”

“Yeah I was about to do that,” he said calmly, like he was just having a normal conversation.

“Were you just letting a Minotaur spank you?!” I asked incredulously.

“Yeah, she’s kinda into that, and I’m the only pony tough enough to take a spanking from her, so she says anyways,” he punctuated the end with a shrug. “Plus do you not see this boner?” He asked, letting go of one of her arms to point down.

“I was trying very hard not to!” I yelled, looking up a little.

Lucky meanwhile leaned over sideways a little to get a better look. “Holy fuck. I figured after seeing him at the checkpoint that it was big but… Damn!” She said with a little laugh. 

“Ease up Lucky, you’re gonna inflate his ego even more,” I warned.

“Are these friends of yours Patches?” The Minotaur asked as she sat up a little to look at the doorway. “They’re so small!” She called out, a massive smile on her face.

“I know right? It’s weird!” Patches said whilst looking back at his… New friend?

“Hey, Patches. You do know we’re due out the gate before noon right?” I asked the partially distracted Pegasus. How he was maintaining an erection in this situation was far beyond me.

“Yeah can you give me like two or three more hours? We won’t be late for our checkout time I promise! I just promised Gertrude here another round!” He looked at me pleadingly.

“Alright alright! I’ll meet you at the checkpoint no later than eleven! Don’t be late!” I ordered as I turned to leave. “Come on Lucky let’s get out of here.

“Right behind ya,” she exhaled through grit teeth.

We raced down the stairs, through the trashed front room, and out the front door of the building as quickly as we could. We paused for just a moment to look back and shared a collective laugh before navigating the carts. We bumped into that bored Minotaur again and he looked at us with an arched eyebrow.

“Find yer friend?” He asked, still leaning against the cart.

“Yeah, he was. Uh… Busy,” I responded.

“Hahahah! I could’ve told you that!” He straightened up as he laughed. “Ohhhh, but I didn’t! It was so worth it! The looks on your faces?! Priceless!” He continued his laughter for a few more moments as Lucky and I took our leave.

“Well we have a few hours Lucky, want to show me around your town?” I asked as we walked at a leisurely pace down the street.

“You want to spend a few hours just walking around?” She asked incredulously. “You’re leaving soon and neither of us have any idea when or if you’re coming back and you wanna spend the next few hours just walking around?!”

“Whoa whoa whoa,” I said as I held my hands up and stopped. “Cut the IF crap. There is no if. When. When I come back. I’m not gonna ditch you,” I offered a little smile. “I’d like to know the places around here that I like to visit for future reference! Then the next time I visit we’ll have fun things to do together and I’ll be able to spend more time here,” I said as reassuringly as I could.

“Alright,” she said with a little shrug. “But you owe me another good bang for this,” she pointed a finger up at me and smirked as she turned and started down the street.

“I’ll keep a tally,” I joked with a little chuckle. “If these are our last few hours together for the foreseeable future, we should try to enjoy them. No matter what activities we choose,” I added.

“Alright I get it Scarface,” she looked back with a playful smile. “Follow me around, you’ll see it’s a pretty average town. The only things that really stand out are the wall and the people who live here.”

“You almost sound bored with life here,” I suggested as I caught up with her.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love it here. I have a great dad who looks out for me and helps me stay fed, the community is really careful about the vampire population, we’re all documented and so are our feedings. My dad and I both have to sign off on a little sheet of paper every time I have a glass of blood and get the time stamped to verify my urges are kept in check,” she sort of spat the word.

“So no surprises?” I asked.

“That’s just it though! There’s never anything surprising or exciting! We’re so busy carefully maintaining order amongst the population that we barely have time for common celebrations and festivals. The last time we had a fireworks display we actually managed to NOT set a house on fire! I just wish it would get a little more exciting around here,” she said with a loud sigh.

We were passing out of the commercial district and into the residential one, there were a few rows of houses with little lawns. A few streets over I spied what looked like a playground, it was empty this early in the morning but a few people were beginning to mill about.

“Well if you wanted a change of scenery-”

“No Scarface, as much as I would love to just run off with you on some crazy adventure I just can’t,” she looked down and gave a frustrated huff. “The system we have here works, it’ll keep me fed and stop me from having some kind of incident. What if we went out there and you couldn’t keep me fed? I’m pretty sure there aren’t donors lining up outside the town to feed hungry vamps and you’d get sick and weak trying to keep me fed enough to kill my urges. What if I lost control and attacked someone? Or even you? I couldn’t risk something like that,” she said whilst shaking her head.

“Alright I understand, bad idea,” I said as I grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

She squeezed back and looked my gauntlet over. “Your armor looks so wicked. I feel like hugging you would get me cut up,” she said with a little chuckle.

“I needed it to be this way to keep me safe. So far it’s done well outside the desert too. Sorry I can’t give you a proper hug,” I tilted my head and softened my expression.

“Yeah yeah, come on let’s get on with the tour,” Lucky said as she tugged on my hand.

We continued along until we reached what was called the Entertainment District. There were theatres, concert halls, art galleries, and a museum! There were also a few small decorative floral gardens and plazas that were exceptionally well-maintained.

“You complain about there being nothing to do when all of this is around?” I asked incredulously. “There’s music and performances and art to look at!” I turned out my hands and looked at her, expecting some kind of explanation.

She offered a shrug. “Eh, not a whole lot of new content pops up since the outbreak. The groundskeepers love the place though, so they work every day trying to keep the plazas and streets clean,” she said as she scanned the area. “The street performers are where it’s at. I heard you caused quite a stir yourself yesterday when you shot a bit twice,” she said with a smirk. “You almost caused a lockdown too, the guards were grabbing their weapons and taking to the streets before they realized it was a street performance,” she shook her head and chuckled.

“Yeah, I can’t help but stir up a little trouble every now and then,” I admitted. “Of course, when I’m not causing it, it’s following me on its own,” I said with a chuckle.

“Yeah you are pretty fun, and I guess we can spend some time around here watching plays and staring at paintings and sculptures if that’ll really turn your crank,” she stuck her tongue out. “Boring.”

We continued through the Entertainment District until we reached an area full of high-density farmland. There were little square plots each growing a different kind of crop. Suspended from several hanging pots of soil were tomato plants, growing with gravity rather than up a cage. There were a few Earth ponies tending to the crops.

“All these miniature farms keep everyone fed?” I asked as we walked along the edge of the farmland. We were keeping out of the way of the workers by not entering the spaces between the little plots of land.

“Mhmm, pretty much. We’re still able to trade a bit with travelers for things we can’t grow here or don’t grow because of space.

“Wait you said all the vampires are kept fed through donations, so how do you keep Gargoyles fed? I thought they had to actually eat meat and couldn’t get by on blood alone,” I said, stopping to look at Lucky.

“See those little huts on the edge of the farmland?” She asked whilst pointing toward a few small house-like structures. “They breed rabbits there, feed em to the Gargoyles. Thankfully we don’t have many to feed,” she said as she resumed the walk. 

As we continued we came upon a much more relaxing looking garden with a few benches and a pair of willow trees providing shade. The edges of the garden were lined with small shrubs and there was even a bird bath tucked away into a corner.

Seated in the middle of the garden were a pair of Earth ponies. Each had a bright orange piece of cloth wrapped around their right arm, it was the kind of orange one would see on a hazard sign next to a construction zone.

“Are they?” I started to ask.

“Yeah,” she responded quietly. “Gargoyles practicing meditation and breathing techniques. If they get too pissed off they start transforming and it is always downhill from there,” she murmured quietly as she passed.

“So they’re basically monks now?” I asked as we left the area.

“Pretty much,” she said as we started back into a busier area of the town. More people were out and about after the sun had risen and we stopped in front of what had to be the tallest building in the town. It was maybe four stories tall.

“Town hall?” I asked, not looking away from the building.

“Yeah, new mayor is being elected in a week or two. We hold most of the festivals in this square and I guess town hall could be a pretty important place for you in the future,” she trailed off a little and smiled as she looked down.

“Important?” I asked, looking down from the building at her.

“If you ever… You know, need to apply for citizenship,” she said as she looked up. Was that a hopeful glint in her eye?

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said with a little smile of my own.

There wasn’t much of the town to see after her tour and before long we were waiting at the checkpoint for Patches. The clock on the wall read 10:30 and Lucky gave out a little sigh.

“As much as I want to be here to see you and your big, dumb, friend off I gotta go. Dad’s gonna need my help getting ready for the lunch rush,” she looked down a little and grabbed my hand.

“I’m going to come back Lucky,” I said as I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “I promise.”

“Don’t go making a promise if you don’t know for a fact you can keep it Scarface,” she said looking up at me.

“You worry too much,” I said as I pulled her close and gave her a kiss.

“Oh take it somewhere else,” the checkpoint guard said with a groan.

“Hey! You don’t like it just blink for thirty seconds or something… Ya prick,” I heard Patches say from the doorway.

Lucky slowly peeled herself off me and let go of my hand. “Stay safe you crazy punk,” she smiled as she spoke but her eyes betrayed her sadness.

“I’ll do what I can,” I said with a reassuring wave as Lucky left the checkpoint.

Patches and I signed out on the roster and the guard time stamped it.

“Hey you two,” the guard said as we opened the door to leave. “Come back here sometime, you seem like good people. Plus I wouldn’t want to disappoint Lucky if I were you,” he said as he pointed at me.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I responded as Patches and I left the room. 

We walked around the town’s wall, waving to the occasional guard in a tower or guard atop the wall. We continued along until  we reached the rolling hills at the base of Canterlot Mountain.

“Well Patches, looks like we got a day or so of plains ahead of us,” I said as I surveyed the landscape. We’d be able to spot anyone approaching from miles away, but the same would be true of us.

“Yeah, you ready for this?” He asked as he started walking.

“You know it,” I said as I followed him.

> The Plains
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 18
The Plains



The thing I remember the most about the first part of the day traveling through the plains was the paranoia I felt. It was like being back in the Desert, no cover for miles except the hills themselves. The feeling of exposure was overwhelming, if we encountered anything out here there would be no avoiding it. The wicked fast winds tore across the landscape with no major features around to hamper their movements.

At some point I noticed an eerie echo on the winds, like some distant whistling. Patches heard it too but couldn’t quite pinpoint the source even with his wing listening trick. Since we left Timberfold a little after 1030 I guessed we found the source of the noise around 1500.

Patches and I spotted the culprit at the same time, a speck against the sky. A Pegasus maybe two miles away was soaring through the air, whistling the entire way. No, they weren’t whistling. They were wearing whistling wingblades!

“That’s one crazy motherfucker,” Patches said as he squinted. His wings were straining to ‘hear’ every detail of the distant Pegasus. “You’d figure a lower profile would be preferred in a place like this, he’s miles away and I can hear that shit,” he observed.

“Isn’t it also a bad idea to be flying? It’d make it easier for hostiles to spot them from afar,” I commented as the Pegasus flew in a lazy circle then stopped abruptly. The whistling became very shrill for a brief moment.

“Uh oh,” Patches murmured.

The Pegasus must have spotted us because they dropped into a dive immediately. Right toward us, the whistling of their wingblades intensifying greatly. They had a grand wingspan as well, it explained the speed they managed to achieve so quickly. It also explained the massive swirling wall of air that slammed into us when the Pegasus halted some twenty feet away.

“Hands up!” The stallion ordered as he slowly drew closer, his wings whistling threateningly with every motion to keep him afloat. He had one of the old service rifles I remember seeing out in the desert. It was trained on us as he descended.

“Fat chance!” Patches called as he raised his own cannon of a rifle. 

I drew my revolver and took aim as the blue Pegasus landed, keeping his wings and rifle raised as he did so. I couldn’t help but notice how his knees trembled when he touched down. He only dropped two or three feet, had it hurt that much? If it did hurt his face did not betray him, it was set in stone.

In spite of us outnumbering him, he did not back down. He was my height, maybe an inch or two shorter, but he had a wingspan that would have looked at home on Patches! He was wearing a mixture of the service armor I had seen many ponies wearing in the desert along with other scavenged parts to cover the rest of his body. Then it hit me, his wings. He was using them to signal his position to a much larger group!

“Patches, this guy isn’t alone,” I said, never taking my eyes of the Pegasus. His expression changed as he looked at Patches, giving him a more scrutinizing look.

“Well I’ll be,” he muttered as a smile crept onto his face. He looked at me and his brow furrowed in thought a moment. “I know both of you!” He exclaimed, lowering his service rifle.

Patches slowly lowered his rifle. “Sticks? Is it seriously you?”

“Sticks?” I asked, looking at Patches as I lowered my revolver.

“This guy was on my weather team back in the desert Alex!” Patches said with a massive grin, stepping toward the beaming Pegasus.

“Hahaha! How’ve you been?!” Sticks replied as he closed the distance to give Patches a handshake.

“We’ve been surviving!” Patches replied noisily as he vigorously shook the smaller Pegasus’ hand. Once he released, the two of them spread their wings to slap them in a sort of wing handshake that displaced enough air to stagger me.

“There they are!” Came a distant cry from the hilltop Sticks had flown over on his way to us. Atop the hill were nearly a dozen other ponies all armed and aiming their respective weapons at us.

“IT’S ALRIGHT! THEY’RE GOOD!” Sticks bellowed back at them, his voice echoing off the landscape. He had a set of pipes on him!

“Shit! Still loud as ever!” Patches said with a laugh. “Anyone else from the team with you?”

“You bet! Morning Dew and Gale both came with me! We started traveling and gathering survivors and we’ve been thriving ever since!” He beamed, looking from Patches to myself. His smile faded as he looked me over once more. His finger raised up as he thought aloud. “A-something… Ah… Rustwing. I remember Rustwing. You’re a Rustwing right?” His face was very animated throughout his train of thought up until he posed his question, ending with what looked like an exaggerated arched eyebrow.

“Alex Rustwing,” I said, holding out a hand of my own.

He took my hand and shook it politely. “Nice to make your re-acquaintance Alex” he said with a smile. His eyes shimmered with honest happiness but I could feel them boring through my own eyes and into my soul. “Nice to meet the Queen Killer in person,” he said as he released my hand.

“Here I thought I’d escaped that name,” I said with a little shake of my head.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to bring up that shit,” he said as he turned and started toward the group of approaching ponies. “Come on you two, care to come see what I’ve been up to?”

“Sure thing!” Patches said as he followed Sticks.

“Patches we gotta get to Canterlot!” I called as I followed the pair of Pegasi.

“We’re still headed Northeast!” Patches called over his shoulder. “It’s sort of the direction we need to go!”

“You two are going to Canterlot? You’re fuckin’ insane!” Sticks said with a laugh. “Man, I gotta say a part of me wants to go there just to see how fucked up it’s gotten though,” he trailed off, looking up the Mountain as he walked. His strides were impressive and he moved with a bit of a bounce, he kept up with Patches without jogging like I tended to when he started walking fast.

The Pegasus looked a little lopsided with such large wings, they didn’t fold up against his back properly which left them flared open slightly. The awkward flare of his wings didn’t seem to bother him at all though. They ridged at least two feet above his head and the tips of his wings dragged across the ground everywhere he went. It must have been a chore keeping them clean. 

As he walked I noticed something in his gait was off, in spite of his rapid and large strides his legs trembled occasionally. If he was injured he was doing a good job of hiding it. The more I looked at it the more it looked like the walk of someone who had been injured a long time and gotten used to it.

Once we closed the distance with the group I was faced with the largest group of survivors I had ever seen outside a population center. Of the ten ponies before me, eight of them were Pegasi and two were Unicorns. Every single one of them looked fast.

“Meet the scouting party!” Sticks said enthusiastically. He then dove into a barrage of energetic introductions that I have a difficult time remembering. He was like a small blue version of Patches that could talk twice as fast. He certainly had the positive attitude…

During the introductions I caught a few names and faces. Elemental Point, a Unicorn from Manehattan, and his marefriend Elemental Wing, a Pegasus from one of the cloud forts to the far Northeast. Morning Dew was also part of the scouting group and greeted Patches with a similar wing handshake.

“Where’s Gale? I thought you said he was with you?” Patches asked, looking at Sticks.

“Oh he is with us!” Sticks said with a smile.

“I don’t see him,” Patches said as he scanned the group.

“Oh that’s because we ate him!” Sticks said with a grin.

I slowly drew my revolver and was about to raise it when Elemental Point spoke out.

“What the actual fuck Sticks?! Are you trying to get us shot?!” He yelled as he chased after the cackling Pegasus.

I exhaled quickly and holstered my revolver, watching the two ponies running downhill. 

“It was just a joke! Calm down will ya?!” Sticks called back at the agitated Unicorn. “Come on we gotta introduce them to everyone else!” He said as he ran in a wide arc around the Unicorn and back up the hill. When he passed me he wasn’t even breathing hard, all signs I had seen earlier of his injuries seemed to be missing.

The group moved on to follow the energetic Pegasus who had taken to hovering above the ground with gentle flaps of his wings. In spite of the gentle nature of the motions his wingblades still whistled with every motion.

“You’re such a jerk making him run like that,” I heard Elemental Wing whispering to Point.

“He almost got us shot, he deserved it,” he murmured in response. “Besides, he chose to run away rather than fly,” he added quietly.

Our journey took us over a few hills throughout the afternoon. We finally crested one of the taller hills where we encountered the rest of their group, and what a group it was! They had at least two dozen wagons of varying sizes and dozens of people around them waiting for the scout’s return. 

“Holy shit Sticks! How many people have you rounded up?!” Patches blurted out at the sight of the massive caravan of survivors.

“After the last raid we pulled off? Eighty seven!” He looked down at the massive group and waved his arm in a large circle. He spread his wings and began whistling with his wingblades as he flew over them.

“What’s he doing?” I asked Elemental Point.

“He’s directing everyone to make a circle. We use the wagons to make a wall and post guards on top of them in shifts for the night,” he explained as he glanced at the sun. It was about to touch the horizon.

I couldn’t help but let out a little sigh, at this rate we’d be at the base of Canterlot Mountain by noon the next day. Which would mean camping out at the base of the mountain all fucking day or climbing it and spending the night on the windy and cold as fuck mountainside.

Morning Dew and a few other Pegasi took flight and joined Sticks up in the air as they condensed the moisture in the air into dense clouds. Instead of one large cloud, they formed a cloud ring that was slightly wider than the wagon ring. The Pegasi then flew straight up, the tops of the clouds trailing behind them and rumbling.

“A ring of storms to protect the wagon circle?” I asked as a few bolts of lightning arced from one cloud to another. The Pegasi had begun their descent already, the cloud tops gaining altitude on their own.

“Yeah, works really well,” Elemental Point started. “The tops of the clouds go so high most Bats don’t bother trying to fly over them and there’s so much lightning waiting to discharge into the funnel that flying into it is suicide. Then we just watch the ground from all directions, it’s worked so far!”

“What about Masters hiding out in the distance doing their mind control tricks?” I asked.

“We watch in pairs, if your buddy starts spazzing out you just raise the alarm and the next thing you know the vamps are running scared.” He explained.

“You speak like this has happened before,” I observed as we entered the wagon circle. 

“Yeah we’ve made a bit of a name for ourselves out here in the plains. Only the stupid or the desperate ever seem to attack us anymore, and most of the time we get away with minimal injuries. It’s been almost a month since anyone’s actually died from a vamp attack,” he said with a shrug.

I couldn’t deny that they looked well-prepared. Most of the caravan actually looked like it was made up of families. It explained the numbers! I spotted Sticks speaking with a family, the Unicorn mare shared his eye and hair color. I couldn’t make out their conversation but when the brown Earth pony stallion who had been with him waved him over I caught a “sure thing dad,” over the noise of the caravan preparing their defenses.

“Just wait here for now, I got some stuff to take care of,” Elemental Point instructed as he trotted off.

I felt like a third wheel just standing there while everyone ran off to see to their own assigned duty. Patches seemed to be in an equally, if not more so awkward position than myself. The poor giant couldn’t seem to stay out of someone’s way every time he moved.

“Are you all just walking toward me on purpose or did I step into an intersection?!” Patches griped as he stumbled away from an Earth pony with a large plank over his shoulder.

“You actually just stopped too close to the wagon,” he called over his shoulder. “Everyone standing behind you was grabbing supplies out of it and you were just kinda in the way,” he said with a chuckle as he laid the plank atop the wagon. He slid it over until it had formed a bridge between the wagon he stood atop and the next one. 

I found myself turning to inspect the entire wagon circle, they were building a catwalk that allowed people to patrol from atop the wagons. I walked over to a wagon and peeked inside, the frame had been reinforced to allow someone to walk on top of it. The added weight must have made it a pain to haul them around but it gave them extra uses. People who were on top of the wagons started unfolding panels that attached to the outer edge of the frame and formed a short wall atop the wagons.

“Interesting,” I mused as one of the guards was handed a large rifle with a bipod. They deployed the bipod and attached the feet to the edge of the panel that folded up, giving them something to rest the rifle on and steady it. 

A few ponies were digging fire pits while others were preparing evening meals. The ponies preparing the food were actually getting it from hanging gardens in the wagons that allowed them to grow food on the move.

“Having fun learning?” Sticks said from behind me all the sudden. I jumped more than I’d like to admit and nearly fell off the back of the wagon I was peering into.

After steadying myself on the ground I turned to face the Pegasus. “There’s quite a lot going on here, just trying to keep up with it all I suppose,” I said as another board clunked noisily into place. 

“Well come on over to the fire and we can chat a bit, have some chow, that sort of thing,” he said with a smile as he motioned me over. He trotted over to Patches, who was being used as a jack for one of the wagons so they could change a cracked wheel.

“THIS IS REALLY HEAVY HURRY UP!!!” He bellowed from beneath the wagon.

“Hey, your bet not mine,” the kneeling Pegasus next to the wagon replied as he attached the new wheel and began tightening the bolt.

Patches took a deep breath, his arms beginning to tremble. “You’re just going slow on purpose now,” he grumbled through grit teeth.

“There, done,” The Pegasus said as he released the bolt. “Now set it down GENTLY or you’ll break the wheel and lose the bet,” he said with a grin.

Patches slowly exhaled and lowered the wagon, it gently creaked when it touched the ground. “Whooo! That wasn’t so bad!” Patches said as he wiggled out from under the wagon and stood.

“Considering how loud you were yelling I think you came close to losing that bet!” I taunted.

“Theatrics my dear friend,” Patches said as he leaned over to whisper. “It wouldn’t have been as dramatic of a victory if I didn’t at least pretend to struggle,” he hissed with a quiet snicker.

“So you’re saying the bet was rigged?” I asked quietly.

“Not rigged, the odds were just in my favor and Gale made the mistake of betting against me. He should have known better,” he continued with a quiet chuckle.

“What are we whispering about?” Sticks hissed in Patches’ ear.

“None of your business you nosy thing,” Patches said as he straightened up and turned to Gale. “Now pay up,” he held out his hand to the teal Pegasus. His wing was in one of those odd slings I’ve seen Pegasi wear after dislocations or bad breaks.

“Ffffffiiine,” Gale huffed as he reached into a pocket and withdrew a small candy. He held it up a moment to inspect it, I think he whispered a quiet goodbye to it and dropped it into Patches’ waiting palm.

“You did that for a piece of candy?” I asked flatly as my companion turned to follow Sticks to one of the fire pits. “ONE piece of candy?”

“Well duh!” Patches replied as if I had asked if ponies really needed to breathe air. “Come on, when was the last time you saw a piece of candy?” He asked. “The whole time we were in Timberfold I never saw a single piece!” He finished.

“What kind of candy is it?” I asked, hoping he at least got something decent for his mock trouble.

“Hard candy, individually wrapped,” he inspected the label closely. “Imported…” He continued slowly, to build suspense I presume. “Pineapple,” he exhaled the word slowly, then pressed the little candy to his chest. “Ooooooh, I love pineapple!” He sang.

I barely suppressed a laugh as we reached the fire pit and sat by the slowly growing flame. “You keep life interesting Patches,” I admitted with a smile on my face.

“Hey someone’s gotta get you to smile every now and then,” he said as he pocketed his coveted candy. “Otherwise there’d just be this angry scarred-up Pegasus walking around being a stick in the mud and that’s just boring!” He declared as he took a seat next to me. 

I felt the scar on my face absentmindedly. “It’s not that bad is it?” I asked, looking up at my companion.

“Well, you were always ugly Alex, just get some face paint or something and nobody will ever be able to tell!” He threw his arms out and laughed.

I gave him a friendly punch and shook my head, trying to hide my smile from him. “Fucker,” was all I could manage whilst trying not to laugh.

Sticks walked over and offered Patches and I some food. Baked potatoes, my favorite. There were also slices of sun-dried tomatoes and I even spied a bit of butter on my potato! There were two chive stalks on my plate as well. Two strawberries rested on the edge of the plate along with a carrot.

“Holy crap, Sticks I don’t know if I can accept such a meal,” I said with a little laugh. “Are you sure you can spare all this?” I asked, looking to the blue Pegasus.

“Oh sure we can, we have a bit of a surplus that we gotta eat right now anyways. We’ve handed a bit out to strays like yourselves before. We’re almost growing too much for our group thanks to some of that magic we’ve been working on our crops. They get all the sun and water they need, combined with gravity growth and a pinch of magic fertilizer and you’ve got almost too much food,” he said with a chuckle.

“What about the butter?” I asked, pointing the fork he handed me at the little melting pad.

“Trade! People love getting food and will trade luxuries for necessities,” He explained as he began mashing his baked potato into mush on his plate and tore his chives up onto the pile.

“Why are you mutilating your potato?” I asked as he laid the dried tomato slices on the mess.

“It is scientifically proven that mashing potatoes makes them 500% tastier,” Sticks said as Elemental Point and Elemental wing took seats next to him.

“I’d like to see the official documents behind that study,” I murmured quietly as I set about eating my meal. It was fantastic.

“Damn, I hate to admit it Sticks, but you live pretty freaking good out here,” Patches said between mouthfuls of potato. Sticks had given him an extra and he was nearly finished with his meal already.

“Did you even taste any of it?” Sticks asked as he leaned forward to get a better look at Patches’ plate. His face was contorted into an exaggerated expression again, was it just normal for him to do that?

“Oh don’t get on my case, you always eat like a starved dog Sticks,” Patches said before scarfing down his last potato.

Sticks narrowed his eyes and started eating with what looked like a deliberate slowness.

“Uh oh, someone challenged Stick’s conduct again,” Elemental Point said with a chuckle. He looked over at another pony and waved. “Hey Sand Stone! We’re over here,” he called to an Earth pony who’s coat resembled the desert sand I saw so much of. 

He strode over with a little colt in tow and took a set. “How’s it goin’ lovelies?” He asked as the little colt whom I presumed to be his son sat next to him. “See anything crazy when you were scouting today Sticks?”

“Just these two,” Sticks motioned to Patches and myself. I noticed he was starting to eat faster now that he was distracted. His eyes shifted around almost constantly now that I took another look at him. The constant visual monitoring of his surroundings looked passive though, not like the active scanning caused by fear or paranoia.

I was beginning to fear the introductions were never going to end! It was a large group and many of the people here were close-knit friends and family. Almost everyone wanted to get a look at the new temporary additions to the group.

I was introduced to a strange zebra who’d taken the time to dye all of his black stripes green and called himself “Doctor Derp.” I wish I was kidding about that one. Sticks mentioned that a lot of people had taken on new monikers to hide their old identities. 

There was a strange Unicorn with a black coat and mane named Diamond. He spoke strangely and seemed to avoid me after the introduction, muttering something about authorities. Not that I minded, it was getting difficult to keep track of so many new faces!

There was a grumpy Earth pony who went by the name Oak Door. When his family called out to him from across the campsite they were loud enough to echo off the landscape. When questioned why they were yelling at him in that strange language he simply stated that they weren’t yelling at him.

I was introduced to a very polite Unicorn who happened to be mute. I cannot for the life of me remember what her name was.

I met an Earth pony named Bolt Catch, he was easily six and a half feet tall. Maybe taller, grey coat and the creepiest outward stare of the group. He’d apparently been a blank flank up until the outbreak and the demand for firearms shot through the roof. He excelled in maintaining and manufacturing firearms of all types.

“I’m gonna share a secret with you but you better not tell anyone or I’ll find you,” he said whilst leaning forward. “When I find you I’ll eat all your food and I won’t even leave an I-O-U,” he said with a snicker.

“Bolt, no,” Sticks said. “Don’t share the secret project with them, it’s not ready,” he explained.

“Awww, fine,” he looked at me and grinned. “I’ll bet the secret is just eating away at you now!”

“Not rea-” I was cut off suddenly by Patches.

“Yes! I have a mighty need to know!” Patches exclaimed.

“Well too bad! You’ll never know! Muahahahaha!” He threw his arms into the air as he laughed. 

“Nooooooo!” Patches cried out. Sticks and I shared a sigh as our idiots had their moment.

Their interaction gained mercifully few stares. Bolt Catch’s shenanigans must have been a regular thing to this group. It still didn’t stop me from getting caught in the shock wave of embarrassment Patches sent my way.

“So, where is this group headed? Timberfold?” I asked, trying to steer the conversation back into the mundane.

“Yeah, actually. I’m guessing you just came from there since we bumped into you,” Sticks observed. “Was it your first time there or have you been there before?” He asked, his plate now clean.

“First time there,” I admitted. “Why do you ask?”

“Just wondering,” he said with a little smile as he motioned for me to give him my own empty plate. “What do you think of the whole vamps living with uninfected thing they got going on there?” He asked as I handed him my plate.

“I suppose it is a system that works and could hopefully be used as a model for the rest of Equestria,” I said as Sticks gathered everyone’s plates. “Minus some of the extra paperwork,” I added with a chuckle.

“Hah! I agree with you on that one!” Sticks called over his shoulder as he departed to one of the wagons where a wash basin had been set up.

Not wanting to continue a conversation at a distance with the polite Pegasus who’d so kindly taken our plates for us, I turned back to Patches and Bolt Catch.

“I’ll… I’ll give you this candy if you tell me the secret!” Patches exclaimed, holding out the little pineapple candy.

“Ooooh! Really?!” Bolt asked, his hands coming together into a little temple.

“No,” Patches said as he quickly withdrew his hands and pocketed the candy. “Pineapple is my favorite, I would never dream of giving it away,” he said with a huff as he upturned his nose.

“Damn youuuuuuuuuu,” Bolt said as he held out his hands in a mock strangling gesture over the fire.

“Isn’t that hot?” I asked.

Bolt looked down at the fire in thought a moment then looked back at me, his arms still over the fire. “Yes,” he said with a little nod.

“Are you just going to leave your arms there until your fur catches fire?” I asked, feeling a little concerned for this pony’s mental faculties.

“Hmmmmm,” he looked up in thought, furrowing his brow and drawing his lips in. He leaned over to inspect the underside of his arms for a moment then looked back at me. He then looked at Patches, still the target of his strangling gesture. Back to his hands, the underside of his arms, me. “Nah,” he said as he allowed his arms to fall to his sides.

Sticks walked back over after a few moments of merciful silence. “Hope I didn’t miss anythi- what’s that smell?” He asked as he sat. “Smells like burned fur,” he slowly looked at Bolt. “It’s you isn’t it?”

Bolt slowly nodded, earning a sigh from Sticks.

“Where were we? Oh yeah Timberfold. So you really do think the rest of Equestria could pull that off?” Sticks asked with a little smile.

“Think? I hope, to be honest. Part of me is worried it’s not going to happen anywhere else,” I said, feeling myself trail off as I looked down. 

“You’re not worried about yourself,” Sticks observed. That was fucking creepy, did he read my mind or something? I looked back at him and a grin spread across his face. “I was right! You’re worried about someone else in all this!” 

“You seem pretty worried about everyone here, do you feel responsible for them?” I asked, trying to turn his prying around on him.

“Sort of, yeah,” he admitted. “I’m not officially the leader or anything, but this whole caravan thing was kind of my idea. A way to stay mobile and safe, away from known population centers where the vamps like to hunt,” he looked over his shoulder at his family, then slowly scanned the wheel at everyone else. “We only ever have to stop at towns for things we can’t make on our own, like medicine. Some of us are old and have chronic conditions that can’t simply be ignored,” he said with a little sigh as he gave his own family another worried look. 

“It’s good that you worry about them,” I said whilst giving him a reassuring pat. “It means you’re a good person.”

His eyes shined and he smiled at me. “Same to you Alex.”

“So you’re going to Timberfold for medicine then?” I asked.

“That and warmer clothes, we need to be more prepared for winter. We also need to be ready for new additions to the group. To be honest, food and building materials are the only things we really have a surplus on. We could do with a little more lantern oil and maybe some more soaps for clothes and dishes,” he let out a little sigh, the stress showing for the first time on his face.

Suddenly his leg tensed up and twitched a little, he inhaled sharply and gripped it. “Fuck,” he whispered. “Mmmfine, I’m fine,” he said as he rose, wobbling a bit as he did so. He started hobbling away. “I’ll grab some sleeping bags, you need some?” He asked over his shoulder.

“I picked one up awhile back,” I responded. “Are you alright?” I asked.

“I already said I’m fine,” he muttered as he forced himself to straighten up and walk normally.

I noticed worried looks from Elemental Wing, Elemental Point, Bolt Catch, and Patches. I was the only one at the fire pit who didn’t know what just happened.

“Someone care to fill me in?” I asked.

“I will,” Patches said before the other three could talk. “I was there when it happened,” he said, looking down slowly as he let out a little sigh. “You weren’t always around when my weather team and I were conducting operations, especially once you started all that underground shit. In fact, we started most of the distractions that allowed you to go underground in the first place, remember?” He asked, looking at me.

I nodded, prompting him to continue.

“We were brewing up a supercell thunderstorm, the kind that make nasty tornadoes. Since we were doing it proper, the way nature does it, we weren’t flying in a circle to force one into existence. We had to set the whole engine up to make it work, I won’t bore you with all the jargon but part of making a tornado exist is having another air mass hit the engine just right to make it all work. I had Sticks fly out ahead to build up the air mass and sling it over. The Changelings were waiting for him to try, they had a few flak teams waiting in the sand and they fired on him as soon as he flew overhead,” Patches paused a moment to read the expressions of the others. By the look of it they hadn’t been told quite the same story.

“Was this operation 43-96? The fourth queen we made a move against?” I asked, derailing Patches’ story for a moment.

“Yeah,” he responded.

“So this was the cause of the delay? They just told me the weather team was having trouble starting the storm,” I said quietly.

“Well that’s technically true,” Patches admitted with a little chuckle. “They clipped him pretty bad and he went down, thing is he really liked landing on his hooves. Even when it was in his best interest to land and roll or try to glide or slide or anything else, he’d just come crashing down on his hooves. He broke both his legs when he landed,” Patches said with another sigh. 

“Damn,” I muttered, looking at Patches as a small grin crept across his face.

“Stubborn bastard still killed half the flak crews and scared the other half away so we could start the storm,” he shook his head and chuckled. “He never did know when to give up.”

“Fucking Mary Sue,” Elemental Point muttered as he sipped some water.

“I told you to stop calling me that,” Sticks said as he returned and tossed his sleeping bag onto the ground.

“I know,” Point replied as he caught the bag Sticks tossed to him. “But you keep doing Mary Sue things and I have to point it out,” he said with a chuckle.

“No you don’t,” Sticks halfheartedly argued as he unzipped his jeans and yanked them off. His legs were covered in compression sleeves. Thin ones on the straight parts, extra thick ones supported his joints.

“Oooh!” Patches teased.

“Oh shut up Patches,” Sticks said with a little laugh. “I’m not taking my boxers off,” he said as he started working all the compression sleeves off. I counted over a half a dozen surgical scars on his legs before he crawled into his sleeping bag and let out a little sigh.

“Is that a challenge?” Patches asked as Sticks crawled into his sleeping bag.

“Don’t go starting something you can’t finish,” Sticks said with a grin.

“That sounds an awful lot like a challenge,” Patches insisted.

“Try again later Patches,” Sticks said as he rested his head.

“We should get some sleep,” Elemental Point said to Elemental Wing. “I have second watch tonight and you have third,” he reminded.

“I know mr calendar, you don’t have to remind me every night,” she responded.

“But there was that one time-”

“One time! Shut it!” She snarled.

“Ok!” He responded as he retreated into the bag like a cocoon.

I laid down on top of my own sleeping bag, using it to separate myself from the cold ground and nothing more. While staring straight up at the ring of storm clouds they seemed to form a massive eye that stared back at me. I resolved to sleep on my side that night.

Judging by Patches’ expression he was thinking the same thing.

“That big circle bugging you too Patches?” I asked.

“Mhmm, it just doesn’t look natural,” he said as he rolled onto his side to look at me.

“It feels comforting to me,” Sticks said, I could hear his smile, then a yawn.

“That’s nice dear,” Patches teased.

I closed my eyes to pray to the Sisters, somewhere along the line I fell asleep.

> The Plains Pt.2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 19
The Plains Pt.2



Lucky was sitting in my lap, straddling me and planting kiss after wonderful kiss on my lips. One of her hands gripped my shoulder and the other had found my mane, her fingers toying with it as our lips brushed together. My hands were at her hips and slowly making their way to the small of her back, pulling her body closer to mine as I wrapped her in an embrace. She giggled softly and sighed happily as my arms squeezed her.

By the Sisters she was soft. She felt lovely, she smelled wonderful, her voice sounded like music. She withdrew from the kiss and smiled at me, her burning red eyes had an eerie charm to them. 

Then the world around me dissolved into sand. I wasn’t sitting anymore, I was standing in knee-deep Changeling corpses. Most of them were hatchlings. Their bodies had been burned to a crisp by the magical explosive charge I had set. Past this pile of bodies was a small mountain, the queen and all her eggs. The Changelings that never had a chance to live. I killed all of them.

“You did all of this?” Lucky asked angrily from the edge of the hole I was in. “You call them the monsters? They weren’t even born yet and you killed them!” 

More bodies fell into the pit with me. They were piling up, the stench of burned flesh was overwhelming. I couldn’t move. I was being buried alive.

“Fuck,” I mumbled as I was startled awake. I slowly sat up and looked around, it was dark. Still the middle of the night, no light on the horizon anywhere. I wasn’t the only one awake though. 

In the dim light of the embers from the fire pit I could see Sticks sitting on top of his sleeping bag stretching his legs. He braced his left leg and slowly twisted his knee until it let out a soft pop. He let out a sigh of relief and repeated the process with his right. He paused for a moment, he wasn’t facing me, but somehow he noticed me watching.

“Can’t sleep either?” He asked softly so as to not wake the others.

“For a different reason, but yeah,” I admitted.

“Pain is pain,” he responded without looking at me. “Yours might not be physical like mine is, but it’s pain that’s keeping you awake right?”

“How could you tell?” I asked.

“I could tell the moment I shook your hand that you were carrying some heavy baggage. It’s in your walk, your speech, your eyes. You’ve seen and done some shit and you walk like you’re carrying the fucking world on your shoulders,” he explained, keeping his voice low. “Plus you mumbled quite a bit about corpses and were begging someone not to bury you. That kinda stuff just reeks of guilty conscience,” he said with a little huff.

“You’re just as stressed,” he turned to face me at those words. “You feel responsible for everyone here and it shows at times. Not always, but a bit shows through.”

“I guess it’s easier to hide the heavy walk when you hobble a little,” he said with a soft chuckle. “I never did hear who you’re so worried about, feel like sharing with another sleepless Pegasus?” He whispered.

“I,” I hesitated, why was I opening up to this stranger so freely? I know he was a friend of Patches but I didn’t know him. He did seem genuinely good-natured. “I met a mare in Timberfold, and it was more than just a one night stand that you forget about and move on from. Something in the way we talked, the way we held each other, the way she felt,” I trailed off.

“Leaving that town was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do since I got back from the front,” I admitted. “I always thought people who talked about love at first sight were idiots, I never thought much of anyone who bought into the idea. I thought it wasn’t possible,” I paused a moment, looking up at the ‘eye’ of the storm above us. “But now I can’t stop thinking about her, I wonder if she’s comfortable, safe, happy… If,” I cringed a little at the thought. “If she’s with someone else already.”

“Sounds like you really miss her, you care about her. That’s good, means you won’t abandon her,” his voice picked up a little. “If she even feels remotely the same about you I’m certain she’s not going to seek comfort in someone else’s arms. I wouldn’t make her wait too long if I were you though. Don’t want her to think you’re dead or something,” he said playfully. “Did you leave her there to keep her safe?” He asked softly again.

“I guess that’s the most sensible reason,” I murmured.

“Huh, well I hope that choice is the right one,” he whispered as he shuffled back into his sleeping bag.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked as I settled back down myself.

“I just have a bad feeling about that place, like it’s just not somewhere I should stay,” he trailed off and let out a yawn. “Maybe it's because of how close Canterlot is. I don’t want to spend any more time in the plains out here than I have to,” he added during his yawn.

“Don’t want to be that close to ground zero?” I asked, a hint of amusement in my voice.

“I keep having this nightmare about the place, overflowing with vamps and their victims. Then it’s just burning, not like the city was sacked,” he trailed off, his voice barely above a whisper. “It’s like the sun itself set down on Canterlot Mountain and set it on fire. Almost as if to cleanse it all, but it feels angry. This immeasurable wrath comes from this bright burning figure that strides into the city and burns it to ashes,” he finished, his voice shuddering a little.

“You keep having the dream about Canterlot burning? Have you had any other dreams like this?” I asked.

“A few others,” he started. “These very fields stained with blood, like the aftermath of some kind of battle. Sometimes I dream about a massive explosion over yonder,” he pointed and I could just make out his hand. He was pointing at Sanctuary! “But mostly I just dream of Canterlot burning and the country going to shit,” he sighed. “You’re the first person I told all that to,” he let out a soft chuckle. “Not sure why, but it felt good to finally tell someone.”

“Did you have dreams like that before? Any that came true?” Maybe this Pegasus was catching glimpses of the future?

“Nah, none that I can think of,” he punctuated the end of his statement with a yawn and a stretch of his body. I could hear his knees popping again. He let out what sounded like a very happy sigh and his head dropped immediately. “Night,” he mumbled.

“Goodnight,” I said as I pressed my head against the ground. Canterlot burning? That explosion? Could it really mean the activation of Sanctuary’s fail-safe? Just how bad were things going to get?


/		/		/		/		/		/		/		/		/		/		/		/		/	


The door to my home swung open without warning. A large, imposing figure stood in the doorway, the occupant’s features obscured by the afternoon sun’s light pouring in from behind them. Judging by their outline it was clear they were wearing one of the traditional sets of Rustwing family armor.

“Daddy!” Came the chorus of cries from his children as they charged toward him. I was in the middle of the pack, trying to elbow my way to the front and failing miserably. My older brother and sister easily held me back and I didn’t want to knock my little sister over.

He knelt in the doorway and threw his arms out to hold the four of us in an embrace. “Kids! How are my little rascals?!”  I felt his hand tousle my mane as he greeted us. 

He was wearing the lighter armor Pegasi favored for maneuverability and his dark grey coat showed through the places it didn’t cover. His eyes were the same green as mine.

“Where did you go this time dad?!” I exclaimed as I bounced with excitement.

“I went to the Griffon kingdom son,” he said as he rose to greet mother and my younger brother. He hugged and kissed the brown mare that towered over him. “I missed you May, I trust things have been well?” He asked as he then gave a gentle greeting to the one year old in mother’s arms. 

“Yes Ferrous, all is well on the home front,” she joked with a soft laugh. “Charon has had a healthy appetite and is inquisitive as ever,” she smiled as the little foal grabbed at the air in front of my father’s face.

“Did you bring anything back like you promised?!” My older sister demanded as she joined my excited bouncing.

“Yes yes, you’ll get your souvenirs tomorrow,” he said with a little sigh. “Daddy’s been travelling all day to get home and needs some rest,” he gave a little dismissive wave to us and whispered something to mother before carefully stepping past us toward their room.

Our father’s departure was met with a wave of exaggerated disappointment and mixed complaints. 

“Don’t worry kids, he’s just going to lie down for a short while and take a nap,” mother said reassuringly. “He will be back in time for dinner and you can hear all about his adventures,” she said with a smile that crinkled the edges of her dark brown eyes.

The news caused an eruption of cheers from myself and my siblings. We were quickly hushed by mother.

“Now now, father needs some quiet if he is to rest,” she said with a soft laugh. “Abel, would you kindly take your brother and sisters to the park so that I may get dinner ready?”

“Yes mother,” my older brother said with a nod and a smile as he reflexively took my hand. I joined my left hand with my little sister who in turn grabbed my older sister’s hand. the four of us formed a chain of held hands with the eldest siblings protecting the younger ones.

“Return by sundown at the latest!” She called as we hurried down the path toward the nearest park. 

“We will mother!” Abel called back.

“You better be! You do NOT want me to come out there looking for you!” She threatened in a caring way only she could.

The park was a rapid blur, chasing my siblings as we flew through the air and hopped on the low clouds in the playground. Little did I realize they were there to help young Pegasi learn to use their magic, I just liked playing with them. My favorite thing to do was to punch the clouds and try to make lightning come out of them.

Of course the destruction I often wrought got me into trouble when another colt or filly failing to pay attention to the clouds wandered underneath whatever cloud I happened to be pummeling.

This was thankfully not one of those days, Abel was paying attention and noticed a pair of colts running under the clouds and stopped me. I felt his hand on my arm, holding it back.

“You’re going to hurt someone again Alex!” He scolded.

“They shouldn’t be running around under the clouds in the first place!” I complained, finding the situation fairly obvious.

“They’re foolish for running around down there. But you need to be better, remember what mother always told us?” He reminded me.

“Yes, I remember,” I mumbled softly.

“Don’t mumble either, dad will be upset if you don’t speak properly,” he continued.

“I know,” I gave an irritated huff as I hopped off the cloud and looked at my sisters playing in the sandbox. Janus, my older sister was building a sand castle while Aurora tromped around and kicked little clumps of sand into the air.

Aurora started growling and roaring, pretending to be a giant monster as she kicked over one of the walls Janus had so lovingly sculpted. 

“Hey! Stoppit Aurora!” Janus cried out as my little sister let out as fearsome of a roar that a three year old filly could muster and dove onto the sand castle, completely demolishing it.

“Auroraaaaaaa!” Janus whined as she rose and pulled my little sister out of the sand. “You’re a mess!” She exclaimed as she began dusting the growling and rawring filly off, her mane was full of sand.

“Oh perfect,” my brother groaned. “Let’s go home and get her cleaned up for dinner,” he said with a resigned sigh.

After my little sister had gotten a thorough patting down and brushing off, the four of us joined hands and headed back home.

We arrived at least a half an hour before sunset, much to mother’s delight. Father was up and around again, opting to wear a black tunic for comfort’s sake. 

After a round of baths for my siblings and myself we were herded into the dining room for dinner. Unfortunately for father, we were more interested in stories about the Griffon kingdom than dinner. 

“I must apologize children, but I am not allowed to discuss the details of my mission,” father said patiently. “Sensitive information was involved and I am forbidden from discussing it with anyone.”

“Did the order come from Sisters themselves?” I asked, wonder in my eyes.

A little smile spread across his face and he let out a soft chuckle. “Yes, in fact it did.”

“Wow,” I said as I slowly sank back down into my chair and returned my attention to dinner. I was mulling the most important decision of my life over in my head.

We ate in relative silence for the next few minutes, just enjoying a meal as a whole family again.

“Father?” I asked, breaking the silence as I looked up from my plate at him.

“Yes Alex?” He responded, giving me his undivided attention. A small smile rested on his muzzle.

“I want to be a warrior like you,” I spoke with absolute certainty, not a doubt in my mind. 

My older siblings exchanged confused looks and my mother’s eyes widened as she dropped her utensils onto her plate, her mouth hanging open in a silent gasp. Father’s expression was the one I was most concerned with, his eyebrows raised slightly and his smile faded.

“Are you certain that is what you want Alex? It is not an easy path,” he warned.

“I am certain,” I responded.

Mother’s eyes shone brightly as tears welled up in her eyes. She rose from her seat and walked over to me, scooped me from my chair, and nearly squeezed the life out of me.

“Very well then, Alex,” my father said over my mother’s quiet sobs. “Tomorrow we begin your preparations, for the road ahead is a long and difficult one,” he sighed a little as he rose as well, leaving the dining room. “One you might not survive.”

That was the last time my father ever smiled at me. Over the next three years he was not my father, he was my mentor, my instructor, my trainer, my enemy. He taught me to fight, he taught me to deal with exhaustion, hunger, thirst, pain. Everything he put me through was to prepare me for the Rustwing warrior training, the Crucible spanned an entire decade, from eight to eighteen. It killed the weak and prepared the strong for the unforgiving world the warrior lived in. I was not weak, but some of my siblings were.

The world was shaking and rolling around.

“Nooooo…” I groaned lazily.

The shaking continued.

“Wake up you lazy thing, this is so unlike you,” Patches commented as he rattled me.

I sat up and swatted at his arm. “Alright I’m up! Fuckn’ quit it already,” I grumbled as I looked around with half-open eyes. The sky had turned that off-blue it always took on before sunrise.

“Sleep well?” Patches teased as he walked away from me to roll his enormous sleeping bag up.

“For once,” I said before yawning and stretching. A series of pops  ran down my back and I gave my wings an experimental flex. The right one ached slightly with the motion but was almost back to normal. I took a moment to preen the feathers that needed it and rolled my sleeping bag up. I knelt and made my morning prayer, Patches decided to just stand next to me and watch the sun rise. 

“You ready to go?” He asked as he lifted his pack and put it on.

“Yeah, lets head out,” I replied as I looped my arms through my own pack.

“Don’t forget to say goodbye you assholes,” Sticks said as he sat up, I could tell he was grinning based on his tone. His entire body was still inside the sleeping bag after he sat up. He looked like some kind of giant brown worm, but something looked off. “Oh fuck, I’m stuck in here sideways again…”

“How’d you manage that?” Patches asked as he squatted next to the sleeping bag that was stretched at an odd angle.

“I think I curled up into a ball while I was asleep, I must’ve rolled over once or twice in my sleep and now I’m jammed in here,” he said with a little groan as he shuffled around. “Where’s the fucking way out?!” The whole bag flopped around and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hehehehaahahaha! Hahahang on, lemme hehehehelp you,” Patches struggled to speak through his own laughter as he grabbed one end of the sleeping bag and lifted it.

Sticks immediately sunk to the bottom of the bag, his backside poking out of the hole one would normally use to enter or leave the sleeping bag. Since he was falling out sideways his massive wingspan got stuck in the entrance.

“Fuck! Agh!” The whole bag writhed in Patches’ grip, reinforcing the giant worm appearance and earning a new wave of laughter from Patches and myself. Sticks was starting to laugh a little from the inside of the sleeping bag as well. “This looks fucking ridiculous doesn’t it?” The tips of his wings were poking out of the mouth of the sleeping bag and he was continuing his struggle to right himself.

“I’m not really sure what else I can do to help in this situation,” Patches said with a giggle. “Maybe shake it like a schoolyard bully looking for lunch money?” He asked as he started doing just that.

“Gah! No! Stop!” Sticks said as one of his legs popped out of the hole and he began sliding out.

“It’s working! Keep it up!” I cheered, uncaring if anyone got to witness the spectacle.

“Ow! Ow! Ow! Stop! You guys are assholes!” Sticks said as he slipped farther out of the shaking bag, then I realized his positioning within the bag was forcing him to do the splits. He slipped the rest of the way out of the bag and flopped onto the ground with a thud and a groan.

“Yay! I helped!” Patches said as he unceremoniously dropped the sleeping bag on top of the Pegasus on the ground.

Sticks let out an annoyed huff. “I would’ve gotten out fine on my own,” he grumbled from beneath the sleeping bag.

“So you wanted to say goodbye to us?” Patches asked innocently.

“Yeah, see you guys around I guess, good luck out there,” he droned from the ground, still not moving.

“You going to be ok?” I asked.

“Mhmm, just need a moment or two,” he responded dully.

Patches and I waited for him, after a minute or so of silence he piped up again.

“Are you two still here? What are you waiting for, a hug and a kiss? I already said goodbye, now shoo,” he grumbled as he waved a hand at us dismissively.

“Awww, I really want those now that you mention it,” Patches pouted, flattening his ears and giving his biggest puppy eyes to the bag on the ground.

There was another groan as Sticks rose from the tangled mess of sleeping bag like some strange variant of phoenix. “Fiiiiiine,” he droned as he held out his arms for a hug.

Patches scooped Sticks up in a hug and squeezed him. “I’ll miss ya buddy,” he said with a chuckle as Sticks let out a wheeze.

“Ooookay you can put me down now,” he strained in the giant’s crushing grip.

“Sorry,” Patches said with a chuckle as he set the now smiling Pegasus on the ground and began to stand back up to his full height.

Sticks reached up and grabbed Patches’ ear, tugging him back down. 

“Ow ow ow, stop that,” Patches grimaced and complained at the sudden assault. I noticed his feathers ruffling slightly as he was tugged back down to Sticks.

“You were about to take off after just a hug, I saw you straightening up!” Sticks said with a grin as he leaned in closer to Patches. Sticks then planted a kiss on Patches’ lips, his grip on the vermilion ear not relenting during the affectionate gesture. Yeah, definitely affectionate judging by the wings, aaaand the little twist and extra kiss.

Sticks slowly drew away from the kiss and grinned before releasing Patches’ ear. “There, now you can go,” his grin melted into a more honest smile. “See you around buddy,” he said as Patches straightened up and cleared his throat, looking away and up a little. His wings had flared out a significant amount.

Was he embarrassed? Patches could actually experience that emotion? I checked the sun to make sure it wasn’t exploding.

“Heheh, see you around Sticks,” Patches said, his voice cracking a little as he started walking away. Holy fucking shit, he was embarrassed! 

I trotted off after Patches, waving at Sticks as I left. I waited until we cleared the wagon circle and were halfway up the next hill to begin my taunting. Patches had not said a word, nor had his expression changed.

“So what was that about?” I started. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen YOU embarrassed before! I didn’t think it was physically possible for you to experience that emotion!” I said with a gleeful smile. “I thought the fabric of reality was going to tear apart at any moment!”

“Are you quite done yet?” He asked, the slight tremble in his voice confirmed my suspicions, he was embarrassed.

“There was some real significance to that wasn’t there? It wasn’t just some weird, goofy, I’m-going-to-play-along-with-this-joke gesture. You really do like him don’t you?” I teased, using Patches’ own obnoxious elbowing gesture against him. “I mean, ruffled feathers, spreading wings, and flicking tails do not lie!”

“Contrary to what you may believe, Alex. I do care for the people I lay with, I just didn’t expect him to yank on my ear in front of you like that,” he looked away and his face flushed slightly.

“Wait you’re embarrassed about the ear pulling? Not the kiss or anything else?” I asked incredulously. “You freaking deserved to have your ear yanked on after shaking him around in the bag like that,” I said with a laugh.

“Hey, you egged me on too, you could have stopped me but chose to encourage the bag shaking,” he said with a chuckle before his face flushed even more. “However, the ear pulling is kinda his thing,” he trailed off as he bit his lower lip.

“Ok you were nowhere near this embarrassed when I walked in on you getting your ass pummeled by a giant Minotaur but when some Pegasus comes along and tugs on your ear to kiss you and you’re suddenly full of shame?” Patches was making less and less sense the more he spoke.

“Well with the Minotaur I was with another large creature! Plus I was the only pony she knew tough enough to do it so there was a little pride in doing it ya know?” He said with a cocky grin that slowly faded as he continued. “But then a Pegasus two and a half feet shorter than me comes along and tugs my ear to bring me down to him and just does what he pleases and it’s just embarrassing,” he said with a nervous laugh.

“Wait, it turned you on didn’t it?!” I shouted and started laughing again. “Oh holy shit it makes sense now! I thought the kiss was turning you on but it was that little tug on your ear wasn’t it?! You found a Pegasus smaller than you who just takes charge and you like it! You like that he isn’t intimidated by your size and just takes you by the ears!” I was having a hard time keeping up with Patches now. He was speeding up and I was slowing down, laughing my ass off.

“Yeah yeah, laugh it up,” he grumbled and shook his head as he pressed onward.

“Oh man, so how long has that been a thing? The two of you I mean?” I asked as I secured the majority of my laughter and jogged to catch up with him.

“I don’t think it’s any of your business,” Patches said with a smirk.

I checked to see if the sun was exploding again. “Patches not talking about his sex life? What fresh hell is this?!” I exclaimed in genuine surprise. 

“Jeez Alex, you know you haven’t even heard of like half of my sexual exploits right?” He asked as we crested the hill and began our descent, the wagon circle falling out of view.

“You do seem to talk about them an awful lot though,” I pointed out.

He let out a huff. “Quit fishing already, I’m not discussing my relationship with Sticks,” he said with an air of finality. I begrudgingly dropped the topic.

We continued onward in silence for a few hours over the landscape, our heads on the swivel. Patches continued to use his listening trick with his wings in case there were other threats we couldn’t immediately see. We reached the base of Canterlot Mountain around noon and stopped to eat lunch.

“I guess we’re just camping down here for the rest of the day,” grumbled as I bit into the last of my bread. A good thing I was out too, it was nearly stale.

“What, you don’t want to camp out halfway up the mountain overnight?” Patches teased.

“Fuck no I don’t,” I gestured toward the clouds already building up on parts of the mountain. “There aren’t weather teams micromanaging the weather and keeping it decent up there, it’s gonna be cold as fuck and it’ll probably snow or hail on us up there. When we climb that mountain we are going to get to Canterlot the same day, fuck spending the night in a cave where a vamp can find us,” I stated.

“You’re worried about freezing and being easy food for a vamp in a cave when you’re about to head into Canterlot,” Patches gave me a look. “There are more vamps there than anywhere else!” He exclaimed.

“Yeah but the weather over Canterlot is either being managed by a team or some other sort of magic!” I gestured toward the city which had a clear view of the sky in spite of a large portion of the mountain being covered by clouds.

“Alriiight,” he said with a little shake of his head. He then took a fistful of grass and added it to his meal. “So how do you plan on killing the other half of this day?” He asked.

“Could you help me figure out that wing listening trick?” I requested.

“Sure!”

> Canterlot Mountain
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 20
Canterlot Mountain



I woke up in the middle of the night to some muted cursing. I cracked an eye open to scan the little outcropping of rocks Patches and I had chosen to hide in and quickly located the source of the noise. Patches was pawing through a small satchel that had an eerie magenta-ish glow emanating from it. Mixed into the light was a reddish glow that was slowly flashing and it was accompanied with a dull humming.

“Fuck, which one is it?” He hissed as he shuffled the satchel’s contents. I was about to sit up and reveal that I was awake and ask him what he was looking for when he pulled a small crystal out of the bag. I recognized it as one of those spell crystals, it was slowly turning red, shining, humming, then turning back to normal. “Answer,” he whispered and the humming stopped.

The crystal faded to a soft blue and a mare’s voice played through the crystal.

“Gabriel? Gabriel are you there?” It asked.

Gabriel?

“I’m here Marigold,” he replied softly, his voice significantly deeper than usual. It had to be at least an octave lower and had taken on a rumble his voice usually lacked.

“Gabe, oh thank the Sisters you answered. There are these THINGS,” the distressed voice stopped. “They’re tearing the town apart and kidnapping ponies! I think I saw one eating someone,” she trailed off a moment. I could hear distant screams and the crack of rifles being fired in the background.

“Marigold? Are you still there?” By the Sisters hearing his voice that deep bothered me.

“The local military is trying to evacuate everyone but they keep getting attacked by these monsters! What do I do Gabe?” Her voice was getting frantic.

“You still living in that two story house with the basement?” Patches asked, or was it Gabriel now? I’d have to ask him later.

“Yeah, you want me to go down there?” She asked, I could hear the sound of drawers being opened.

“Yes, but first you need to smash open all of your perfume bottles. Throw them at the walls, the doors, everywhere. Do it until you can’t stand the smell then try to cover yourself in dirt to hide your own scent. After all of that take a few day’s worth of food and water down to the basement,” he instructed as he produced a map and pencil from his pack.

“Alright I’ll do all that,” she responded over the sound of shattering glass. I heard several grunts of effort followed by the shattering of what I guessed were bottles of her perfume. It wasn’t long before she was coughing.

During this little outburst of shattering glass and coughing Patches was drawing on his map, his brow furrowed in thought. “Alright that’s probably enough Mary, they won’t be able to smell you over all that. Get your supplies and hide,” he whispered, he must not have noticed me yet. I kept still just in case.

“Gabe how long will it take you to get here?” She asked over the scuffling of more drawers being opened and what sounded like cans being put into a container. 

“Shouldn’t take more than three days, but pack for a week in case I run into trouble on the way there,” he huffed a little and erased something on his map, tracing the pencil in another direction.

There weren’t any towns three days away if he was going to travel on the ground, was he seriously considering flying?

“Alright, I’ve got enough food stashed away, I guess I’ll try not to get caught,” she said as I heard a door opening and the periodic clunking of someone going downstairs. 

“Good luck Mary, keep quiet and I’ll be there before you know it,” he said in the most reassuring tone he could manage with such a deep voice.

“Thanks Gabe, I’ll cut the spell and try to save magic in case a more urgent situation arises,” she said as another door shut.

“Smart thinking, I’ll see you in a few days,” he said as he folded the map up.

“Bye Gabe,” she sounded like she didn’t want to cut the spell. I understood, he was her only company in this time of disaster.

“Kisses,” he replied, then cut the spell himself. He dropped the crystal into the satchel and let out a stress-laden sigh.

Fuck, what was I going to do? Should I sit up and let him know I just listened in on his conversation? Should I go back to sleep? Was this another one of my freakishly real dreams?

Patches stowed the satchel in his pack and cinched it shut. He rose and walked back over to the rock he had claimed earlier when he relieved me from my watch. He sat on it and set his rifle down, leaning against the barrel as he stared off in a particular direction. He probably didn’t even notice me waking up.

No point in tiring myself out by not sleeping I suppose, I’d ask him about it in the morning if he didn’t run off on me.


/	/	/	/	/	/	/	/	/	/	/	/	/	


“Alex, Mars? Are the two of you prepared for your duel?” Castion, our trainer asked. He was eighty six years old after the decade he spent training us. The only thing on him that betrayed his age was the bit of salt and pepper on his muzzle. He carried himself perfectly, his armor was worn from years of use but his dress uniform was flawless whenever he wore it. He taught us how to fight, how to speak properly, how to be presentable, how to maintain and wear our uniforms.

“I am ready,” I said, giving a quick bow to Castion, Mars did the same. We were both bruised and tired from the day of fighting other Rustwings in our training group.

“Very well then, remember the winner of this duel will be fighting Kathana for first place,” he reminded us with a grin. “Now step forth, challenge each other, and don’t forget your manners!” He barked as he backed out of the circle.

Mars and I were not using weapons of our choice, everyone was using a sword and shield for this tournament. The shields were diamond-shaped, but the edges had been covered by rounded metal caps to prevent impalements. The only real armor we wore were helmets, our bodies were covered by heavily padded clothes that would still allow some nasty bruises. We would be fighting with weapons of our choosing at a later date. We both strode forward until we were three paces apart and raised our blunt training swords to challenge each other.

Mars was around 5’8” and had a brownish orange coat. His eyes were a bright orange and his mane was cropped short like every other warrior in training present. In spite of his smaller size, his wings were larger and stronger than mine.

“Are you ready to meet your better?” He asked, a small smirk on his face.

“Quite, I’ve heard she’s an unparalleled fighter,” I responded, immediately dispelling his smile.

“Manners, children,” Castion spat.

We both lowered our swords and bowed to each other at his words.

“That’s better! You may begin!” He barked, a grin on his face.

I dashed forward and to the right, trying to get my shield into a better position to hammer Mars with. He had apparently been paying attention to my earlier fights and moved farther to my left, keeping my shield out of reach. The crowd of young Rustwings watching yelled and cheered for either myself or Mars.

“You’re not going to catch me with that one!” He shouted over our crowd as he continued circling me.

That’s right, run in circles you little idiot. Tire yourself out. I continued turning to face him, turning ahead of his path slightly as he picked up the pace.

He slammed a leg down and sprang in the opposite direction, making a lunge at my right side. I thrust my hips forward to dodge the blade and was promptly bashed by the front of Mars’ shield.

I caught the edge of his shield with my sword hand and swung the edge of my own shield around his, jamming the blunted edge into his ribcage. I was rewarded with a loud wheeze as I knocked the wind out of him. I immediately released his shield and swung my sword, striking his helmet with satisfying force and an equally satisfying cheer from the crowd.

The force of the blow caused him to stagger away, which he was free to do after I had released my grip on him. His wings flared out to steady himself as he regained his composure.

“Non-lethal blow, continue!” Castion yelled, his grin widening. Mars and I had been competing with each other for months and had just been pissing each other off. We had both been looking forward to this fight.

“Yeah kick his ass!” Someone in the crowd cheered, seemingly to both of us. I think half of them really just wanted to watch both of us get our asses beaten.

“You and that damned shield,” Mars started as he stepped toward me to attack again. “Are really starting to piss me off!” He yelled as he tried to dodge around my shield only for me to turn and face him.

“I’m surprised you have breath to spare for wailing at me like that,” I taunted as I maintained my defensive stance. “Do you intend to become a banshee so you might scream me into submission?” I asked with a smirk.

“This coming from the pony afraid of attacking me,” he snarled as he swung his blade. He was far enough away that only the tip of his sword was near me and it was an easy block.

“I’ve landed every blow I’ve sent your way so far. Can you make the same claim cousin?” My grin only widened when I saw him tense and get ready to try to shield bash me. He kicked off the ground and threw himself at me, perfect.

I leaned forward, all my weight on my left leg as our shields collided. I pushed against him as hard as I could, pushing up and forward with my leg as well. His helmet slammed into the back of his shield and the smaller Pegasus was lifted from the ground. I continued the explosive sweeping motion, pushing out as hard as I could to throw Mars. It worked. 

If the crowd cheered at my much more successful shield bash, then they completely fucking lost it at what happened next.

Mars landed on his wings. His fucking wings! They had extended to the ground and caught him, keeping him in a prone position about a meter off the ground. I swung my sword at him and he blocked it with the bottom of his hooves, the steel clanging loudly against his horseshoes.

“Too slow,” he sneered, then twisted to the side to deflect my blow down and to the left. His wing curled up and struck my helmet with incredible force, nearly knocking me over as I staggered to the side.

“Non-lethal blow! Continue!” Castion bellowed over the now louder crowd. His voice was getting ragged after screaming all day long.

Mars had taken the opportunity to get back onto his hooves, a fresh grin on his face. “Brute strength isn’t everything in a fight,” he taunted, mimicking my defensive stance. “Too bad you lack a true Pegasus’ instinct, you’d probably stand a chance of beating me if you actually knew how to use your wings!”

“True that brute strength isn’t everything, but you’d need a considerable amount of it to attempt a stance like that against me!” I yelled as I charged him with my shield raised. I saw his wing tense as he prepared a powerful counterattack, perfect. He knew the only chance he had of standing against me was to use his superior wingpower, but in a grounded fight…

I dropped to my knees right as his wing snapped out at my head, sliding under his guard. I brought my sword out in a lunge, thrusting the blunted blade into his stomach, then turning it and swinging it up into his chin. I pulled it sideways as I struck, forcing him into a spin as he lost his footing.

I didn’t give him a chance to recover as the crowd screamed at us from the edge of the circle. I sprang up from the ground and slammed my shield into his back, pushing him face first into the dirt. I then began a relentless assault against the back of his head, I struck his helmet five times with the blunted edge of my sword before I was stopped by Castion’s hand grabbing my arm.

“Fuck’s sake Alex! I told you to stop! I’d hate to have one of you die this close to graduation!” He screamed as he released his grip on me. When did he tell me to stop? The crowd of onlookers was dead silent after my display.

Mars let out a soft groan and shuffled on the ground, the helmet had been dented by the force of my strikes. He started to push himself up off the ground and fell forward again. 

“Mars, are you going be able to haul yourself out of the circle or am I going to have to drag you?” Castion asked, his hands on his hips as he looked down and the disoriented Pegasus.

“I cn gehrt pup m’self!” He babbled as he struggled to rise and toppled over again, his eyes opening and closing rapidly. He let out another groan and closed his eyes.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Castion grumbled as he knelt and grabbed Mars’ hooves. He rose and dragged my unconscious cousin from the circle. “There’s always ONE crazy motherfucker,” he muttered as he unceremoniously dropped Mars next to Deimos.

Deimos was another one of our instructors, easily the youngest at only thirty years of age after the decade spent training us. He was a Unicorn with a pale green coat that had white spots all over his face, arms and legs. He saw to all our injuries when he wasn’t instructing one of our classes or teaching spells to the Unicorns. He was almost never without work to do.

My attention was drawn to the mare striding into the circle. Kathana stood an inch or two shorter than Mars and had a white coat. Her mane was black and she had grey eyes that had an eerie shimmer to them. Similar to Mars, she had a larger wingspan than I did.

“Kathana? Alex? Are the two of you ready to fight?” Castion asked. “The winner of this duel will be champion of today’s tournament, and that’s something you carry to graduation,” he said with a smirk.

“I am ready,” Kathana replied, giving a quick bow, I followed suit.

“Good, step forth and challenge each other,” he said with a nod as he backed out of the circle.

Kathana and I stepped up to each other and raised our swords, presenting them to challenge each other. The crowd was starting to get noisy again. Kathana had proven several times that she was unrivaled in skill, but a large part of this fight was endurace. I had plenty of that.

“Don’t think your compliment from earlier means I’m going to take it easy on you,” she said with a confident smirk.

“Good, it wouldn’t be a fair fight if either of us held back,” I said with a smirk of my own. We bowed to each other before Castion could berate us further and waited for his command.

He was silent for longer than usual, he was testing our discipline. The crowd even grew silent as Castion watched us holding our bow, never taking our eyes off each other. The air itself seemed to go still, thick with tension.

“Begin!” He barked.

Kathana immediately lunged forward with a quick thrust that put me on the defense. I knocked her sword to the right with my shield and attempted a strike at her side. A quick flick of her sword deflected my own attack behind her and exposed my back to her, she’d still need to raise her sword to strike my unprotected side.

Rather than back off and give her the ground she most likely sought, I spun with her parry and brought my shield around. Her sword struck my shield with a loud clang and a cheer from our audience. I attempted a quick thrust at the opening my move had created and she quickly jumped back to avoid my attack. I had to keep up this momentum.

I stepped forward with my shield up and attempted to bash her out of the circle with it, only for her to dive to the side and roll around me. Shit!

I spun and knelt just in time to block the strike that would have sent me stumbling out of the circle. I took a low and purposely slow swing at her hooves that she jumped over. I then easily reversed the swing to sweep her legs out from under her. Her hooves tucked farther up and planted themselves against my shield. Fuck.

She kicked off with enough force that I would have fallen out of the circle had I been standing. If the crowd was loud when I was fighting Mars, they were trying to raise the dead after that stunt. She managed a backflip and stuck the landing, but her air time gave me the chance to retake some lost ground and go on the offensive again.

I dashed forward and struck at her with my sword, she easily parried the attack but I continued delivering rapid, powerful strikes to keep her from making an offensive move. Any opening I ever left for her was open for too little as all her effort was concentrated on blocking my strikes. She was losing ground and heading toward the edge of the circle again.

She darted around my right side and struck at my side, I turned with her and added my momentum to the strike to leave her side exposed. I swung the edge of my shield around, aiming for her ribcage. Her wing snapped forward and deflected my blow into her upper arm. The impact definitely hurt but she wasn’t giving up.

She kicked the ground and launched herself away from me so she could recover her defensive posture. She rolled her shoulder and her brow drew down slightly as it popped a little. If it hurt her shoulder that badly then her entire tricep was going to be bruised the next day.

“It was a non-lethal blow, if the two of you were waiting for me to say so. You may continue,” Castion’s voice had changed slightly. He was no longer barking at us and his grin was replaced by a much more pensive stare. The rest of the group paid him no mind, the cheers were mixed as well. One moment I’d hear encouragement for myself, the next it would be for Kathana.

She had taken quite the pause to see to her shoulder and arm, if I kept the pressure up on it I could disarm her and create an opening. I started forward and began delivering strikes toward her right side, ones she would have to block or dodge. Unfortunately for me she was an expert at the latter.

The duel turned into a flurry of attacks and dodges that skirted the edge of the circle. Then I noticed it, I was slowing down. I was breathing harder. She was wearing me out to create an opening. Not if I could help it.

I swung at her right arm again, this time arcing it over her to attack her shield arm. She had nearly forgotten that side of her body during my constant assault. I pressed my blade against her shield to prevent her from dodging right and slammed my shield into her. She had no choice but to block with her sword arm.

I yanked my sword back over her shield, narrowly missing her face. Our swords collided and the steel sang as the sword was wrenched from her weakened grip. As soon as I had knocked her sword down I swung right again. This time my sword met with her unprotected arm, impacting the bottom of her shoulder which let out a loud pop.

She let out a cry of pain and spun, bringing her shield up to bear as she lashed out with a wing. I didn’t have enough time to avoid the strike, it was more than that however. I felt her wing wrapping around my head and it was too late to stop her. She spun, yanking me by the head as she did so. When she released me I stumbled forward and only just managed to stop myself at the edge of our circle.

“Non-lethal blow, but that one looked like it did some real damage. If you can continue to wield your sword I will allow you to continue fighting Kathana,” Castion called over the din of our viewers. Nearly every last one was yelling encouragement to her, even the ones who had been cheering for me moments ago.

I took this moment to catch my own breath, if Kathana was indeed going to continue fighting I’d need to be careful with what little energy I had left. The lull in the fighting made me painfully aware of how sore my body was from all the impacts it had endured. Add hunger, thirst, muscle soreness from constant exercise, and exhaustion from sleep deprivation and constant fighting and I was nowhere near pristine fighting condition. At least everyone else was in the same boat as me.

Kathana bent over to retrieve her sword, her arm was trembling and unresponsive. Her fingers were barely able to grasp the sword and she dropped it before she was able to straighten back up. The crowd fell silent as her sword clattered into the dirt.

“Kathana I’m-” Castion began.

“NO! I can do it!” She barked at Castion before stooping to retrieve her weapon again. This time she managed to hold onto it and stand back up, but it just hung limply at her side.

“Can you raise it to fight him?” Castion asked, gesturing to me.

Her arm turned slightly but she failed to raise it at all. The blade was beginning to slip from her weakening fingers again. 

“Damnit, no you don’t!” She snarled as she wrapped her wing around her arm to give it support. She went as far as to wrap it around her hand as well, forcing herself to grip the weapon with renewed vigor. She gave me a determined glare before looking to Castion for his approval.

“I’ll allow it,” he stated simply. “However,” he said as he raised a hand. “If you drop it again I’m declaring the fight over,” he warned. “You may continue.”

“Kathana, I do not wish to cause you further harm-” I started.

“I wish I could say the same to you!” She snarled before she launched herself at me, her wing-assisted strikes landing with unmatched ferocity. Even when I blocked her onslaught with my shield her blows landed with enough force to knock my shield back against my helmet.

I was losing ground quickly and every time I would sidestep and turn to avoid the edge of the circle she would lay into me with her powerful strikes. I could hear her shoulder popping in its socket as her wing roughly handled the injured limb, but she was far too enraged to care.

I ended up dropping my own sword to brace both arms against my shield. I couldn’t focus with it banging against my head. Some of the viewers pointed at my discarded weapon and yelled at Castion.

“I said if Kathana drops hers! Alex’s arm still works and he can retrieve it!” He snarled at the jeering audience.

I had to come up with something! Kathana was still trying to smash her way through my shield!

Crack!

Oh fuck.

My fucking shield was cracking, I could only imagine what was happening to that abused shoulder joint. It was still popping with every motion but it looked like it wasn’t dislocated. 

That’s a terrible idea. 

I unbuckled my shield and dropped it, immediately reaching up and grabbing the flailing limb. I spun away and to the right, yanking the smaller Pegasus in a circle around me. I stuck my left leg out as I continued to trace my right one back, tripping her and sending her down into the dirt.

“I’m sorry Kathana,” I said as I pinned her arm behind her back and tucked her fist up between her shoulderblades. Her shoulder popped loudly and she let out an ear-splitting scream immediately releasing the sword. The cheering of the crowd immediately halted. There was no victory cheer. No tapering off. It ended, punctuated by her pained scream.

“It’s over! Let her go Alex!” Castion yelled as he and Deimos ran over.

I immediately obeyed and backed up to give our instructors space. I could hear a bunch of murmurs around me as Deimos worked Kathana into a sitting position and set about resetting her shoulder.

“Ow! Fuck!” She shouted as the joint was put back in its proper place. Deimos gave her a sling to use for the next few days and a reassuring pat on her newly set shoulder. He made her go through the range of motions to make sure it still worked and she winced with every movement.

Castion walked up to me as I rose and set a hand on my shoulder. “Good job Alex, you’re the tournament champion,” he said, looking past me. His hand slid off my shoulder as he turned to the rest of the young warriors. “Alright, tournament’s over! You have your champion until the final tourney two months from now! I hope this experience helped you realize what you need to work on!” He yelled to our group, even Kathana was paying attention.

“Now all of you go eat dinner and go to sleep! Tomorrow we’re starting before dawn!” He ordered, earning a chorus of “yes sir” from the group before they departed. I was about to leave as well but was stopped by Kathana of all people.

“Alex,” she said whilst looking down. “I forgive you, you did what you had to do. I was out of control,” she trailed off and turned away with a huff. “Let’s go eat,” she said as she worked her arm into the sling and started off toward the camp.

“You’re an unparalleled fighter Kathana, it was a hard day of fighting. That last battle could have gone either way,” I said, trying to offer my cousin some comfort as we left the fighting circle.

“I’ve proven that I am the best of our group time and time again, but today your endurance bested me. I wasn’t supposed to fail!” She yelled with a frustrated groan.

“We all feel that way Kathana, every last one of us is here to succeed. Now imagine how our brothers and sisters who lost first round feel, we’re all in this together Kathana. Perhaps two months from now you’ll be the champion,” I offered.

“Perhaps?” She asked with an amused smile.


/	/	/	/	/	/	/	/	/	/	/	/	/	


I sat up abruptly with a loud snort and looked around the campsite. Patches was still sitting on his rock, he looked over his shoulder with an arched eyebrow at my sudden outburst. Beyond his visage I could see the sky turning its usual pre-sunrise blue and I could even hear the sound of a bird chirping.

“Sleep well?” Patches asked, his voice had returned to its normal tone.

“Yeah, well enough,” I said as I rose and checked the camp over. Nothing out of order, no sign of the mess Patches made last night during his call. “Anything out of the ordinary?” I asked as I knelt to deliver my morning prayer.

“Nothing crazy, want to eat breakfast on the go?” He asked, I could hear him getting off his rock.

“Yes, it will save time,” I replied as I finished my prayer and rose once more. I walked up to my friend and debated asking him exactly what happened last night. I decided against it and started following the train tracks up the side of the mountain before I’d been standing still too long. If he noticed my hesitation around him, he didn’t say anything.

He did mention his past traveling the world, it explained him knowing random ponies all over the place. But why would he need a different alias? Had he committed crimes in the past? Was he trying to escape someone or something he’d done? Actually, considering his promiscuous nature he probably changed his name to escape a crazy ex… Or two.

Since the railroad was an established path up the entire mountain Patches and I decided to follow it. Of course this also carried a higher risk of encountering someone less than friendly. I noticed Patches glancing off in a certain direction fairly often and decided to ask him. hopefully he’d be honest with me.

“Something bothering you Patches? You keep looking out to the horizon,” I said as casually as I could.

He stopped and let out a little sigh. “Yeah, I got a call from a friend last night and she’s in trouble,” he quickly raised his hand before I could talk. “Don’t worry though! I’m still going to get you to Canterlot, but I’m afraid that’s where we part ways,” he said with a small frown.

“How’d you talk to her?” I asked, tilting my head a little.

“I used a communication spell on one of those crystals. I was going to give you one for when we had to separate,” he explained as he reached into his pack and produced a little pink crystal. He held it out for me, a little smile on his face.

“Thanks Patches,” I felt a smile of my own as I took the little crystal. “How do I use it?”

“Just focus on me, think about me and my sexy body,” he said with a little chuckle as I rolled my eyes. “If you focus enough on the idea of talking to me, the crystal will call mine and we can talk. Just make sure you save it for emergencies, it can only cast the spell two or three times depending on how long you use it per call,” he explained as I pocketed the crystal.

“I’ll keep that in mind, let’s get up there so you can go help your friend!” I motioned him forward as I headed up, thankful he had been at least partially honest with me. He didn’t bring up the identity thing, but I suppose I could let it slide.

“Have any idea how long you’ll be gone?” I asked as we rounded a corner and entered one of the many tunnels the railroad track took to get up the mountain.

“Aww! I’m touched that you want me to come back to you right away!” Patches sang as we plunged into the darkness.

“What can I say? You’re a fun guy to be around Patches,” I said with a little chuckle. Note to self, get a fucking lantern. I tried that wing sonar trick and could roughly make out the locations of the railroad ties, I used that knowledge to my advantage and stepped on them.

“I can hear you using that trick, how’s it working for ya?” He asked.

“It’s weird doing it in a tunnel, the walls echo back a lot but I can see the railroad ties now. How do you keep from seeing like three hundred walls to the left and right?” I asked as I popped the air again and focused as intently as I could on the railroad ties.

“Just be gentle with it, you’re displacing too much air. If you do it more gently like this,” he then demonstrated with a light pressure wave that I barely felt even when I was a few feet away from him. “You shouldn’t see more than a few walls on either side,” he finished, I could hear his smile.

“Alright I’ll give it a try,” I displaced a much smaller field of air pressure and promptly tripped over the next railroad tie. “Fuck!”

“Hahahahaha! That was a little too gentle!” Patches’ laughter echoed through the tunnel as we advanced.

After a little more walking I noticed some strange lumps on the ground and stopped. “Patches, can you tell what these are? All I can see are rough outlines,” I muttered as I tried again. Nope, just lumps.

“I think this is someone’s abandoned campsite,” Patches mused as he bent over and picked one of the lumps up. I heard the sliding of fabric and ‘watched’ the lump deform. “I think this was a blanket being used as a tent,” he observed. “Check that one over there,” he pointed to the one farther away.

I carefully walked over and knelt next to the lump. I grabbed onto it and immediately dropped it. “Whatever it is it’s wet,” I said, fearing the worst. I sniffed a bit but didn’t smell blood.

“Yeah, all this stuff is too. There must be more rain than usual on the mountainside now and someone got washed out of here,” he guessed as he resumed walking through the tunnel.

“Doesn’t explain why they left it all behind,” I pointed out as I resumed walking as well. 

“Maybe they ran into trouble? Not like we’re gonna figure it out just standing around in the dark,” he said dismissively.

He had a point, no use wasting time. I had to remember he was in a hurry too, his friend was in trouble. I needed to hurry as well, I needed to report in to Luna and I didn’t want to get stuck outside of Canterlot at night.

It wasn’t terribly long before we made it to the end of the tunnel and two ponies jumped out from behind some rocks. They were both armed and leveled their rifles at us. “Hands up!” One of them barked.

“How about no?” Patches replied as he raised his cannon of a rifle at one of them, I made sure to aim my revolver at the other pony.

“Uh, shit you guys were supposed to get scared and give us your money and stuff,” one of them said as he looked to his partner in crime and they exchanged a shrug.

“Can I throw them off the cliff?” Patches asked with a little more excitement than I thought was necessary. 

“Only if I get to skin that one,” I replied and pointed at the Pegasus who looked like he was shitting himself.

“To quote your friend there, how about no?!” He yelled as he turned and jumped off the cliff. He spread his wings and took flight, abandoning the Earth pony that had helped him hold us up.

“Hey don’t fucking leave me you ass!” He called to his once-partner. He then looked at myself and Patches as we slowly closed the distance, our weapons trained on him. “Hey hey hey hey! We don’t need to do anything drastic do we?!” He cowered and dropped his weapon. “Please don’t hurt me!”

I leaned down with a scowl. “Listen up and listen well, because I’m NOT going to repeat myself. I’m in a hurry, my friend here is in a hurry. So we’re going to let you go, but only if you walk into that tunnel and go all the way through it. WITHOUT your weapon, if you do that you’ll be free to come back and get it. If you pop up around here and hold us up again I WILL let him throw you off the cliff,” I growled as I grabbed his chin and made him look at me. “Do we have an understanding?” I asked as calmly as I could, releasing his chin as I did so.

He nodded slowly and rose, then sprinted like he was being chased by Death herself into the tunnel.

Patches held up his hand for a high five, I had to jump and flap my wings to get high enough to hit his hand. “Nice job on that intimidation thing, I thought we were actually going to have to kill them for a minute there,” he said with a chuckle as we resumed our trek.

“I guess we can still catch a lucky break every now and then,” I said with a little smile. Then the words hit me and I let out a little sigh.

“Shit that made you think of her didn’t it?” Patches asked, reading me like a freaking book.

“Yeah, guess I’m going to have to stop using the term,” I grumbled.

The rest of the journey up the mountain was relatively uneventful, we ran into a mountain goat that was somehow just standing on the cliff face. No big fuckin’ deal apparently. It just stared at us and chewed absent-mindedly as we passed by. The only other noteworthy things we spotted were places where the railroad had been torn up to make it unusable. After a few hours we finally reached the gates of Canterlot.

“Well, I guess this is where we part ways,” I said as I turned to Patches, feeling quite downtrodden.

“Just for now,” he said with a little smirk. “It’s not like I’m not coming back,” he chuckled a little.

I unbuckled the holster for the revolver he had given me and held it up for him. “Thanks for letting me borrow this, but it is yours,” I said as I started digging for the ammo box.

“Fuck that noise!” Patches said with a dismissive wave. “I fucking gave that thing to you! You’ll need some kind of ranged weapon that they can’t dodge! Keep it you turd!” He said with a smile as he pushed the revolver back to me.

“Alright alright, I’ll keep it,” I said as I put the holster back on. I then held out my hand for Patches to shake.

He grabbed my hand then yanked me into a hug. “Ahhhh, I’ll miss ya buddy,” he sniffled a bit as he squeezed me.

“I’ll miss you too,” I groaned.

He set me down and waved as he spread his wings. “Until next time, buddy!” He took off, displacing enough air to force me to take a step back.

“Until next time!” I called back.

“Don’t get eaten or anything crazy like that!” He called as he flew off.

I turned and looked at Canterlot with a sigh, the world felt just a little less bright without Patches at my side. I knew it would come to this eventually, I guess I just hoped he’d be able to stick around a little longer. I started toward the gates that hung slightly ajar, I didn’t even see any guards.

“Well shit.”

> Canterlot
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 21
Canterlot



I cautiously moved through the open gates, noting the recently made cuts from blades and claws colliding with the wood. Once through I busied myself by scanning for any sign of life. The streets were empty and the majority of the two story houses looked abandoned. Their yards were unkempt and the doors of some homes hung open like slack jaws, gaping at the state of the city around them. Most of the first story windows had been shattered and several of the higher panes of glass had suffered the same fate. Occasionally I spotted the aftermath of a violent struggle, where blood had stained the sidewalk or the wall of someone’s home.

My eyes eventually came to rest upon a figure sitting in an alleyway between two houses that were a bit too close together. The Unicorn looked ragged and tired, his clothes were dirty and his mane was a tangled mess. I couldn’t tell what the original color of his clothing or coat were due to the layer of dirt caked onto everything. He looked at me with intense blue eyes that sharply contrasted the dull brown coating his body.

“Welcome to the jungle,” he rasped. He stared at me for a few moments then lowered his gaze to the ground again. I couldn’t tell if he was infected or not, why was some random pony just sitting in the streets with all these empty houses around?

I slowly approached the pony, stopping far enough away that I’d have time to react if he tried to attack me. If he was a citizen in need I had an obligation to help him, but these were strange times.

“Why are you sitting out here in the streets? Are you alright?” I asked, my wings listening for movement around anywhere else in case this was some kind of trap.

“It’s not safe in the houses, a few of the homeowners are still around,” he said, slowly scanning the street. “Vamps don’t want my dirty blood and usually just leave me alone out here, last time I went into one of the houses I got attacked. Broke my arm,” he pulled one of the rags from his body to reveal his crudely bandaged arm. 

The bandages were dirty like the rest of the cloth on his body and stained red by dried blood. His hand and forearm were swollen and he managed to weakly flex his fingers.

“Let me help you then,” I said as I took a step forward, only for him to shuffle away. His eyes were the size of dinner plates.

“No! Stay away from me! You look like the kind they’d want! I can’t let you be associated with me or they might start to think I’m worth taking away too!” The distressed Unicorn cried out as he scrambled to his hooves and ran down the street. Judging by the way he moved, he wasn’t struggling to find food or water, he was just really dirty from living outside.

I shrugged and continued down the street, heading toward the castle district. I’d have to pass through the rest of the residential area and move through one of Canterlot’s commercial districts. Then there’d be the wealthier residential and entertainment districts before I’d reach the actual castle grounds. There were plenty of places for this trip to go wrong.

As I continued through the residential district I came upon a most curious street. All of the homes looked inhabited at the start of this block, their yards and hedges were trimmed. None of the buildings looked abandoned, no smashed windows, no doors hanging open. I even smelled something cooking, was that apple pie?

I spotted an Earth pony trimming his hedges and he smiled at me blankly. His eyes were wide and unfocused, his smile seemed to stretch his face. He looked like he was wearing some kind of creepy mask, I actually thought he was until I saw him blink and his eyes focused on me proper.

“Well hey there stranger! I haven’t seen you before! What brings you to our lovely neighborhood?” That creepy fucking face-stretching smile just stayed plastered to his face the whole time he spoke.

“I’m just passing through,” I said uncertainly as I caught motion off to my left. A quick glance confirmed someone was stepping out onto their front porch with a newspaper, the stallion had a cup of coffee in his hand and took a seat on his porch swing to read the paper. He had a similar smile seemingly welded to his face.

“Oh really?!” He asked, lowering his hedge trimmers as he sidestepped to tend to the next section of shrubbery. “Where are you heading?” He asked, never taking his glazed-over eyes off me.

“To the castle,” more movement. I spotted more and more neighbors exiting their houses to watch me and this stranger talk. I could feel their eyes boring into me, it was like walking in front of a shelf covered by dolls and noticing all of them staring at you.

A Pegasus flew over before he could ask his next question, a small cloud in tow. “Brought your water number six!” She said cheerily as she coaxed the cloud into raining on his lawn.

“Number six?” I asked, immediately gaining the attention of the stallion who had been trimming his hedges.

“Yes, mistress numbered us to make it easier for her to keep track of us. She couldn’t be bothered with learning all our names! It would have taken too long!” He said with a laugh and a dismissive wave as he returned to perfecting the hedgerow.

Oh, a mistress, fan-fucking-tastic. Were they all currently under her thrall? Or had she simply pacified them? Could a Master control more than one pony at a time?

“Well I really do need to get to the castle,” I said as I started to take a step away. “I have some important business to take care of and it’s mid-afternoon so I should get going,” I continued as I moved away from the street of smiling faces and staring eyes.

“You should stay for dinner! The mistress would love to meet you!” 

Fuck.

“I really shouldn’t keep Princess Luna waiting,” I said as I continued backing away. “I’d love to stop by for something later though, rain check?” I asked as I tensed slightly, preparing to bolt away if I had to.

“You really should stay!” He insisted as he began to slowly round the bush. “Our mistress won’t keep you long! Who knows? You might just like it here enough to come back and stay after your business with the Princess!” The other residents of the street had taken notice of my slow movements and were beginning their slow pursuit as well. They were dropping their newspapers and gardening equipment, halting all their work for me.

Not wanting to let them be the first ones to run and close the gap, and knowing there was no shame at all in running from this situation, I ran. I ran like Death itself was chasing me, it probably was given the situation. I took off toward the commercial district and darted into alleyways and took random turns that carried me away from the noise of my many pursuers, my armor crashed noisily as I rapidly navigated the cramped quarters between buildings. I ran until their voices had faded into the distance and then some. It was not until long after the sounds of their pursuit had ended that I allowed myself to stop and catch my breath.

My hands found my knees as I forced myself to control my breathing again. Deep, slow, controlled breaths. I took a moment to still my trembling hands, damned adrenaline. In no time at all I regained my composure and straightened up to take in my surroundings. I was in an alleyway in the commercial district, a few knocked over trash cans were behind me and a few boxes stood in front of me, the final obstacle before the street.

“For someone loaded down with all that stuff you sure can haul ass,” a smug voice announced from the trash cans I had toppled.

I whirled about, searching for the owner of the voice but I couldn’t see anyone. Was it a Master using that invisibility trick? The alley was shaded from the sun’s light so they wouldn’t be burning if they had taken on their demonic form. But I never felt a body when I crashed through those trash cans and none of them hit anything when they toppled over. The lids had been knocked off as well so I could see inside them and they were empty.

“Who’s there?” I asked, taking a small step back.

“I must say I am impressed, I haven’t seen someone move that fast in heavy armor in a long time!” A little orange lizard, no, salamander… Newt? Crawled up onto one of the trash cans and stood on his hind legs like a little person and smiled up at me, revealing far too many pointed teeth. Maybe he was a tiny dragon? “How long have you been wearing that stuff? You move like you’re wearing something much lighter,” he commented as he crossed his little arms. “Or maybe even nothing at all,” he added with a little chuckle.

I shook my head a bit and looked around, was this little guy really talking to me or was I hallucinating again? Had I passed a Master during my mad sprint and made eye contact by mistake?

No, it couldn’t have been. The last time I hallucinated I didn’t stop to question it, I didn’t stop to question why I had jumped several years into the past into one of my memories. I really had encountered an orange newt capable of speech. I suppose stranger things existed in Equestria and even stranger things existed beyond her borders. This little creature looked oddly familiar, like I had seen him somewhere before.

“I can see the wheels turning in there, you realize it yet?” He leaned forward, his grin widening as his eyes narrowed. “This is perfectly real, I’m no hallucination,” he rolled his eyes and gave a dismissive wave as he began pacing atop the trash can. “So shall we get down to business then?” He asked as he clasped his hands together, slowing his pace but continuing it nonetheless.

“Business? What are you even talking about? I don’t even know who you are,” I said as I checked over my shoulder. My pursuers had indeed given up their chase.

“Oh, that’s right!” He exclaimed with a clap of his tiny hands. “You don’t know me yet! Hah! My mistake, sorry for the confusion Alex. My name is Tillook,” he said with a grin as he held out a hand. He then looked up at my hand before lowering his own. “Right, I’d be shaking your finger if we did this all formal-like,” he said with a little chuckle.

I crossed my arms and sighed. “I really don’t have a lot of time to waste, I need to get to-”

“Canterlot Castle?” Tillook said with a smirk. “I can get you there in a blink of an eye if you agree to do me a favor first,” he said as he resumed his pacing. “Are you interested?”

“Fine, explain what you want but be quick about it, I haven’t the time to spare,” I growled. The last thing I needed was a little amphibian jerking me around while I was this close to Canterlot Castle.

He raised his hands in a defensive gesture. “Hey roid rage, drop the hostile tone! I’m just asking for some help! Some vamps decided to move into my place and kicked me out. They took one of my amulets from me and if you can get it back from them I can teleport you to the castle!” He offered another smile that exposed far too many sharp teeth. “Sound like a decent deal to you?” Maybe he was part shark?

“How many vamps are there?” I asked with a little sigh.

“Eight total, two Masters, two Gargoyles, and four Bats,” he responded.

“I’m guessing they’re not even remotely friendly?” I mused.

“Yeah, I would have dealt with them myself but having all my blood drained out of my body didn’t seem like a fun time,” he crossed his arms as he looked up at me. “So will you help me?”

Technically I was obligated to help him even if he didn’t have means of repaying me, and he was offering to repay me for helping him. I wasn’t sure if he’d actually be able to teleport me anywhere, let alone to the Castle. I had run into non-Unicorn magic users before though and they were usually strange creatures like this one. “I’ll clear them out for you, which way to your house?” I asked as I uncrossed my arms and peered back out into the street.

“Down that street, take the second right and it’ll be the third building on the left,” he suddenly answered from my shoulder. I nearly jumped out of my skin after his sudden relocation, so he really was capable of teleportation. That or he climbed all the way up to my shoulder in the time it took me to turn away from him and look out into the street.

“You live in the commercial district?” I asked as I started down the street, keeping to the sidewalk on the right side. I glanced into the restaurant as I passed by, the stench of rotting food flooding from the open doorway nearly knocked me over. I could see several rotten cabbages just inside the front door, their leaves wilted and brown with rot. Just behind them was an undisturbed barricade of tables knocked onto their sides with sharpened table and chair legs laid over the top.

“Ugh! That’s foul! Get away from there!” Tillook cried out as I dashed forward, his tiny hands gripping the edge of my helmet. Once we stopped and caught some fresh air he tended to my question. “I run a little bar and live on the second floor, it's a great way to save money on taxes when you only have one piece of property. Do you have any idea what the property taxes are like here? They’re highway robbery!” He cried out in indignation, shaking a tiny fist as we continued down the block.

We had crossed the street, passing the first block and I was about to comment on the business he owned when I noticed a new strong scent washing over the street. The smell of coffee. Farther along on the left side of the street I could see a cafe and as we drew closer to the building the scent of freshly brewed coffee grew stronger.

A cardboard-brown Pegasus wearing a tank top and boxer shorts came shuffling out of the cafe with a pot of coffee and a mug. He paid us no mind as he sat at one of the tables in front of the cafe and poured himself a mug of coffee. His eyes were squinting and his mane was disheveled giving him the air of someone who had recently woken up. He took a sip of his beverage and grimaced, shaking his head as his face scrunched into a scowl.

“WHEW! That’s some strong stuff!” He announced to the nearly empty street. His eyes eventually found myself and the little newt on my shoulder and he waved at us. “Mornin!” He called, raising his mug to take another drink.

“Afternoon,” I replied with a little wave of my own.

“Is it?” He asked as he looked to the sky, then shrugged. “Eh, it’s morning to me!” He announced as he resumed sipping his steaming coffee. He didn’t seem to need my help, if anything he was quite content to just sit outside in his pajamas sipping coffee.

“If you don’t need anything I’ll be going then. Have a pleasant day,” I said as I resumed walking down the street.

“Mmmmh!” Was his reply as he waved dismissively, the steaming mug raised to his lips once again. He was staring down the street in the direction we had just come from, life slowly returning to his eyes.

“Funny how some are coping with the situation,” Tillook mused from my shoulder as we turned right and started down the next street. “Some people are panicking and seeking shelter, others are organizing and fighting, trying to scrape bits of society back together, others are looting and losing their minds, and even more still are just bowing their heads and submitting to the vamps,” I could see him shaking his head at that last part in my peripheral vision. “Then there’s those guys, the ones who just don’t give a flying feather and do whatever they want because fuck it, society is collapsing,” he pointed over his shoulder at the corner we had just rounded.

During his little rant I had reached the third building and stopped across the street from it. Three stories tall with a sign hanging between the first and second floor that read “Hookah Up!”

“It’s a hookah bar?” I asked, glancing at the diminutive creature on my shoulder. “Is the name a play on hooking up with other people or something?” I looked back at the building, a bit worried about what I was going to find inside. I dropped my pack and stashed it in the alleyway, knowing I’d need better maneuverability in a fight.

“Uhhh, a bit? The place is all about atmosphere, you know? Smoke a little, eat some overpriced snacks, drink imported wines, socialize…” He trailed off and looked away. “Hooking up just kinda happens in the atmosphere of the place, thus the name. I actually ran the place for a few months before deciding on a name, I didn’t even pick it to be honest. Some of the patrons started calling it ‘Hookah Up’ and it just stuck so I accepted the nature of the place and got the sign made for it. Plus I was getting tired of the lady running the dry cleaning service next door coming over and yelling at me for my customers asking where my bar went,” he scratched the back of his head and chuckled.

“I swear if the vamps are getting high and having an orgy in there I’m going to set the building on fire and walk the rest of the way to the castle,” I grumbled as I started across the street toward the oddly quiet building. “If you don’t want to risk your hide just point somewhere and I’ll set you down,” I warned as I paused on the sidewalk.

“Okay, two things mister perma-scowl. Firstly, I’LL burn the place down if they’re having an orgy in there. I may have set up an atmosphere for socializing but I did not run a brothel! Secondly, why would I give up a front row seat to view the destruction of my newest enemies?!” He declared as he crawled up onto my helmet and gripped the front edge of it.

“Perma-scowl?” I asked as I started up the steps to the front door.

“Yeah, you’ve had a scowl on your face pretty much this whole time,” he droned as if he were pointing out the obvious. I could hear muffled voices from the other side of the door as we drew nearer.

“I’m not scowling,” I replied indignantly as I yanked the door open. I could see four of the vamps sitting around a particularly tall hookah smoking, both Masters, a Bat and a Gargoyle. The other Gargoyle was busy at the bar downing a bottle of particularly expensive looking wine and he swayed like a boat on rough seas with every gulp. Two of the Bats were in a corner booth by a smaller hookah with their faces locked together and they were preoccupied pulling each other’s clothes off. The last Bat had apparently been on her way to open the door to investigate the sound of our voices. Her hand was still outstretched and was mere inches from where the door handle would have been before I opened the door.

The response was immediate and would have been comical if not for the nature of the creatures I had walked in on. The little Bat before me let out a yelp and stumbled back, falling onto her rear as she looked up at me. The quartet smoking had various reactions, two blew massive clouds of smoke and sputtered loudly, one started choking and the last jumped so violently that he knocked the hookah tower over, spilling the water all over the short table they were sitting at. The Gargoyle at the bar tipped over backwards after emptying the bottle and let out a loud, rumbling belch as he fell behind the bar. The two Bats kissing and disrobing in the corner ignored the noise until I started yelling.

“Alright listen up because this is your one and only warning! Get the fuck out of this guy’s bar and return anything of his you stole!” I bellowed with as much authority as I could muster.

The Master who wasn’t coughing was busy patting the back of the one who had started choking, the Bat scrambled to pick the hookah tower back up and the Gargoyle started laughing at me. The Bat on the floor in front of me scooted back and whimpered a bit. One of the Bats in the corner let out a soft moan as the other kissed her neck.

My hand instinctively reached for the nearest object, an empty bottle of wine on the table next to the door. I had almost grabbed the toothpick dispenser but I decided I might want one later and grabbed the bottle instead. In one fluid motion my arm swung up and I lobbed the bottle across the room into the corner and nailed the Bat in the back of his head while he was kissing the other Bat’s neck.

He recoiled and let out a yelp. “OW! What the fuck is your problem?!” He complained as he turned to look at me, a hand clamping the back of his head. The rest of the rooms occupants were beginning to pay attention after that outburst. The four in the middle of the room rose and glowered at me.

“What are you gonna do about it if we don’t leave?” The female Master taunted, a smug grin on her face.

“I’ll force you to leave, in pieces if need be,” I punctuated the word ‘pieces’ with a stomp of my hoof on the Bat’s tail to prevent her from crawling away.

The white-coated Bat let out a yelp when I pinned her teal tail to the ground, her entire body trembling. “Please don’t,” she squeaked.

“Oh for fuck’s sake Ghost, grow a spine!” The female Master snarled at the cowering Bat as she tensed to begin her transformation.

“Ah ah ah!” Tillook suddenly called out from atop my head. “I wouldn’t go transforming if I were any of you!” He taunted loudly enough to be heard anywhere in the room. “It’s gonna get bright in here!” He clapped his hands twice, then every single shutter covering the windows flew open with a thunderous clatter, flooding the room with sunlight. It seemed he was capable of quite a bit of magic.

I tensed my forearms and deployed my two blades, glaring at the Master in charge. “So are you going to comply or am I going to have to start carving Ghost up into little pieces?” I growled as I gestured to the whimpering mass on the floor… I suddenly noticed the smell of urine after that threat… “Did you just?” I started as I looked down, reflexively taking a step back as I took in Ghost’s prone form.

With the release of her tail she curled up into a ball and began sobbing quietly, a small puddle forming under her. By the Sisters why did I always have to run into the ones that made ME the monster?

“DID YOU JUST PISS YOURSELF?!” The Master screamed as she strode forward. “Oh that is it Ghost I am sick of you being a spineless little whelp! After we break this damned Pegasus down I am going to make you kill him!” She seethed as she looked back to me. “I am going to enjoy torturing you,” she growled coldly, her voice shaking with anger.

“Big talk for a vamp without her powers, I do hope you can deliver,” I said as I stepped over the crying Bat on the floor and lunged for the unarmed Master.

She apparently wasn’t used to ponies fighting back, or charging her. She raised her arms in an attempt to block my swinging left arm. The blade carried enough force to chop clean through her right arm and embed itself in her torso. Before she could even begin to cry out I plunged my right blade through her throat and severed the vertebrae with a wet snap. Her face was set in shock as I withdrew my now bloodsoaked blades and let her fall to the floor. A few pumps of blood spurted from the hole in her neck, a futile effort on her heart’s behalf. One down, plus a rush of endorphins.

“Holy shit that was brutal!” The newt called from my helmet amongst the cries of the other vamps. 

The Bat who had been sitting at the hookah was actually armed and armored and drew a mace with his left hand as he charged me. He had armored his torso to protect his heart and throat but left his limbs mostly unprotected. He raised his six-pointed mace, perfect for cracking heavy armor. I fucking hate blunt weapons. He brought the mace down in a powerful vertical swing aimed at my head, I dodged right and narrowly avoided the blow. I saw the twist in his shoulder and the rest of his arm before he could use the momentum to swing sideways and moved forward myself.

I tucked my left arm around his wrist and locked the back of his forearm against my body. I swiftly grabbed his upper arm with my right hand to brace it and spun left. His elbow was immediately locked out and forced beyond its normal range of motion. The joint stretched and let out a sickening series of snaps as the tendons holding the joint together snapped and cartilage was forced into unnatural positions. The mace clanged to the floor as his grip slackened and he emptied his lungs in an ear-splitting shriek.

Before I could make another move I was struck in the back by a chair. I knew it was a chair because its legs broke apart and flew past me in a cloud of splinters along with Tillook. Time seemed to slow down for a moment as he reached out toward me and waved his arms in a dramatic display. His trajectory had him on track to land on one of the pillows patrons could sit on while enjoying hookah so I wasn’t terribly worried about him. Time seemed to return to normal as the force of the impact staggered me and caused my wings to instinctively flare out as I sought balance. My right wing ached after the impact and the sudden motion. This also created the opening the Bat needed to get away from my grip.

I stopped my forward motion with a powerful stomp and turned just in time to see what was left of the chair being swung at me again. I raised my arms, guarding with my right as I punched with my left, striking the chair and deflecting it as it broke apart. The Gargoyle swinging the improvised weapon hadn’t expected the deflection and stumbled forward and to my left. I caught a glimpse of his terrified expression as I rapidly twisted and plunged my right blade through his exposed neck. He dropped to the floor with a fresh smattering of blood. Two down, another rush of endorphins.

“YOU FUCKING MONSTER!” The Master screamed as he swung the burning coal tray from the hookah tower at me. The hot ashes hit my face and got in my eyes, blinding me. I recoiled and stumbled back. Fuck. 

“Goddesses damn it all! Ashes?! You fuck! I’m going to skin you!” I screamed as the bits of hot coal singed my face. I shook my head, trying to stop the infernal bits of coal from burning their way into my skin. I kept my guard up in spite of my blindness.

I felt another impact with serious weight behind it, someone had tackled me and took me to the ground. This wasn’t my first time fighting blind but I was far from comfortable fighting this way. I snapped my wings to listen and ‘saw’ the Master’s face less than a foot from mine. I instinctively grabbed his horn and pushed up and away, forcing him to look skyward and cracking his neck. I stabbed his neck with my right arm and felt the splash of his blood on my face and neck, it thankfully put the embers out. Goddesses I stabbed at him like a wild animal. I was terrified out of my wits and didn’t stop slashing until his head had been completely removed from his body. The bits of cartilage holding what was left of his neck together were the last things to go, they crunched and snapped as I pulled his head off.

In the back of my mind I counted a third kill as my stomach tossed itself, the stench of blood filled the air and made me sick. I rolled the body off myself and rose from the blood-slicked floor. I could hear someone rushing toward me but my eyes refused to open with the offending material still lodged beneath my eyelids. My left hand was still gripping the horn of the severed head and instinct took over. I threw the severed head at my charging opponent and heard a shriek followed by a dull thump of the macabre projectile hitting its mark.

“Hahahaha! Nasty!” I heard Tillook calling from the floor somewhere to my left and behind me. “You got incoming!”

A quick snap of my wings gave me a snapshot of my situation, the two Bats from the corner were closing on me after having discarded the severed head. The injured Bat was backed up against the bar and gripping his useless limb, the Gargoyle was still passed out behind the bar, and Ghost the last Bat was still curled up, covering her ears. 

Snap.

The Bat on the left had armed himself with the mace dropped by the armored Bat, the one on the right had drawn a sword and they were both about to swing. My heart was hammering in my chest, I could feel more adrenaline rushing through me.

I raised my arms and lowered my head to guard against the attacks. The strikes impacted nearly simultaneously and both attackers had thrown their body weight into the attacks and I barely managed to hold my guard up. I purposely dropped my guard farther on the left side, letting the mace scrape against the side of my helmet and drop onto my shoulder pauldron. I leaned forward slightly, lining my left wingblade up for the strike.

SNAP!

The adrenaline-fueled strike chopped through his skull, cleaving it horizontally in two and liberating the top half of it from the rest of his body. My left wing was coated in blood and bits of brain, the feeling sent a shudder down my spine. Four.

“Jetla-” I cut off the rest of the female Bat’s cry as I spun and aimed my left blade for her heart. I slammed it through her torso, but missed my mark. I could feel her heartbeat traveling in rhythmic vibrations through my blade into my arm. It was an odd and almost intimate connection, to feel another being’s heart beating so raw and pure.

“You bastard,” she spat weakly, her voice trembling.

“I’m sorry, I don’t usually miss,” I whispered. My own voice was trembling in equal measure as I withdrew my blade slightly, turned the point toward the source of the beating and plunged it into the life-giving organ. Five.

Snap. 

The injured Bat was behind the bar trying to wake the Gargoyle from his alcohol-induced sleep, his broken elbow still hanging uselessly at his side while he kicked the unconscious vamp.

I took the opportunity to blink several times in an effort to clear the debris from my eyes, my hands were coated in vamp blood so I had to make a conscious effort to not rub my eyes with them. With no small amount of effort I was able to open my eyes slightly to view the bar, my vision was terribly blurred but I could make out rough shapes.

I made my way toward the bar, the Bat abandoning his companion as I drew near. I ignored the Bat and hopped over the bar, best to eliminate the Gargoyle before he could become a threat again.

“Can’t wake him up? Guess he’s gonna stay asleep then,” I growled as I knelt and grabbed his hair. I yanked his head back and quickly sawed through his throat. He struggled only for a moment but his effort was too little too late. Six.

“You snooze you lose!” Tillook called from his pillow.

I rose and pursued the retreating Bat. I was still squinting to see him and I just barely made out his right arm moving but couldn’t tell what he was doing. I saw a dark object rapidly approaching and instinctively tucked my chin down toward my chest and closed my eyes. I felt an impact against my helmet and heard the shattering of glass. The scent of wine mixed with blood as the fluid washed over my face. I decided to keep my eyes closed for the time being.

Snap. 

He was backed against a table and reaching for the hookah on it. Another projectile to delay my advance.

“Quit breaking my stuff!” Tillook bellowed from the far side of the bar.

I charged the last Bat, not wanting another object thrown at me. I felt the impact of the hookah and heard the glass shattering but didn’t slow down. I slammed into him with enough force to put both blades clean through his torso. He let out a gasp and struggled for just a moment. I was glad my eyes were closed, I didn’t want to look into another set of dying eyes. Seven. I pushed the corpse from my blades and turned to face the rest of the room. One left… 

I walked over to the Bat still curled up and cowering in front of the door. Before I could speak I felt something wet slap my face and slide around. I stumbled back and started to struggle when I realized it was a towel. 

“Hang on, let me get that gunk off your face,” Tillook said from across the room.

When the towel pulled itself from my face I could see clearly again. The towel was indeed floating through the air, soaked in blood and wine. Tillook snapped his fingers and the towel vanished with a twist. I shook my head after the strange display of magic and moved toward the Bat on the floor again. 

As I regarded the little white Bat curled up on the floor I felt myself let out a sigh. I was covered in blood, my hands were trembling, I hadn’t caught my breath yet, my stomach was doing backflips, and adrenaline was still rushing through my veins.

“Please,” she whispered from the floor. “Just don’t make it hurt.”

“Get up,” I said, my voice still trembling as I struggled to control my breathing.

“What?” She peeked from her arms at me, her eye widened with terror at the sight of me.

“Get. Up. Please,” I spoke slowly and deliberately, trying to calm myself down.

She did as I said, trembling like a leaf in a strong breeze. She couldn’t  have been more than five and a half feet tall. “What are you going to…?” She trailed off and looked down, terrified by her own imagination.

I raised a hand. “Calm down, I’m not going to do anything to you… Yet. How’d you end up in this situation? You seem out of place among the rest of them,” I figured I’d at least hear what happened to her before making a decision.

“That Unic-Master,” she pointed to the female Master. “Was my friend before all this started, her name was Lotus Bloom and when she got turned she said my only choices were to turn or be one of their blood slaves,” she trailed off. “I just got scared and didn’t want to be one of their slaves! I-I-I just, and now… I never wanted anyone to get hurt,” she looked around the room, running a hand through her hair as she took a shuddering breath. A fresh wave of tears filled her eyes as she took in the carnage. She looked back to me, still trembling. “Are you going to kill me? I-If you are, please just do it fast,” she squeezed her eyes shut and tucked her chin down, her ears flat against her head.

Why do I always get the ones with the sob stories?

I took a deep breath and mulled her story over. It was believable, it could happen and probably has to other vamps I had already killed. If I did kill her there wouldn’t be any vamps left seeking revenge for her, but I’d have to live with it. If I let her live and left her out here she’d probably succumb to her urges eventually and need to be put down. The only other option would be to send her to Timberfold. She could probably find a place there and live a fulfilling life, but if she was lying and turned out to be malicious when she got there. Anyone she hurt or killed would be my responsibility…

“Do you know where Timberfold is? It’s a little town about two days south of here if you travel on the ground. You could make it there in a day if you flew across the plains south of Canterlot and walked when you got within a few miles of the town,” I explained.

She slowly looked up at me while I explained how to get there. “Why would I want to go there?” She asked meekly.

“It’s a place where vampires are managing to coexist with the non-infected and you could probably find a place there and a job and actually live a decent life there. They make it work,” I said with a bit of a smile, trying to seem a bit less intimidating.

“I,” she looked down and away for a moment, then back up at me. “I don’t know if I can make it, I haven’t fed recently and I appreciate the second chance you’re offering me but-” I raised a hand and cut her off, feeling myself sigh.

“Three things,” I said as I unfastened the buckles on my blood-soaked gauntlet and slid it off, revealing the clean cloth that covered my arm. Good, my armor had kept it clean. “One,” I resumed as I carefully removed the cloth to expose my wrist. “Don’t you dare bite me,” I said as I picked up a piece of glass from a broken wine bottle and inspected it for blood. It was clean so I used it to make a small cut on my wrist. Shit, glass cuts burn, I forgot about that.

Ghost had a confused expression on her face. “I’m not going to bi-”

“Two,” I resumed as I held my wrist out in front of her muzzle. “Don’t tell anyone I fed you, last thing I need is for vamps to think I’m running some kind of soup kitchen for them, drink what you need but don’t you dare bite,” I warned.

I could feel her breathing quicken as she took in the scent of fresh blood that wasn’t filled with vamp venom. She looked like she didn’t want to drink it but she succumbed to her need and her muzzle found my arm. After the first taste her inhibitions seemed to melt away and she grabbed my hand and forearm, I could feel her teeth grate against my arm as she held back against the urge to bite me. Her breathing intensified greatly as she fed, sighing between gulps.

“I swear if you bite me-” I started to warn.

“You’ll be pissed for a grand total of about ten seconds then you’ll get ridiculously horny and probably screw her right here in the middle of this bloodbath,” Tillook said from the edge of a puddle of blood that he was trying to mop up with a tiny mop sized for his own body. “I’ve seen it happen before man, reason and rational thought go right out the window,” he said with a little chuckle as he mopped up the blood pool an ounce of blood at a time. “Next thing you know you’re doing the horizontal mambo with someone you don’t even know!”

She released me with a gasp and a sigh, wiping the blood from her mouth and shooting my wrist a hungry look. I could tell she wanted more of it, her wings had flared out slightly in excitement and she was still breathing fairly heavy. “I’ll be good until I get to Timberfold,” she said with a sigh as she forced herself to look away. Her wings were still unfurling slowly as well. Had feeding aroused her that much?

“Alright,” I said as I started wrapping my arm back up and shoved my gauntlet back on. “The third thing I want you to do is,” I turned to my right wing since it had significantly less blood on it and plucked a feather from it. I had chosen one that was about a foot and a half long and handed it to Ghost. “Take this feather to Timberfold as proof I sent you, ask for Lucky and give it to her,” I instructed.

She slowly took the feather and examined it, then looked back to me. “Any other instructions?” She asked, a little louder than she had been before. Feeding seemed to make her a little braver as well.

“Actually yes,” I said, solidifying my face and finding that military bearing. “Bathe and wash your clothes before you approach that gate,” I finished.

She blushed and looked away. “That’s your fault for threatening me the way you did. Asshole,” she started as she walked toward the door. She paused a moment in the doorway and looked back at me. “You should follow your own advice by the way, I may smell like piss but you look like you hopped into a bathtub full of blood and wine,” a small grin found its way onto her face. “But thank you for giving me a chance,” she said with a nod.

“Don’t make me regret it,” I warned with a smile.

“Yessir,” she said with a little wave before stepping outside and taking flight.

“Well that was just so sweet I think I got diabetes… AGAIN,” Tillook groaned from his position atop the female Master’s corpse. “It’s refreshing to see you still have a heart after all this time and can show a little mercy. I’m also glad you didn’t actually start boning her as well, she definitely wanted more than just your blood,” he teased as he tugged at the necklace the Master was wearing. “Can you help me with this? My amulet is attached to the gaudy piece of shit she’s wearing,” he groaned as he stopped tugging.

I reached down and yanked the necklace from the corpse and popped the largest gem out of its casing. “There you go,” I said as I set it down next to him.

“Nonononono!” He said as he shook his head and hand. “The little gem on the right, the green one? Can you just pop that one out?” He asked.

“Sure thing,” I said as I pinched the edges of the frame and bent it, popping the little gem out. “Ohshit!” I dropped the necklace and reached out, trying to catch the gem.

“Don’t lose it! It’s too important to lose!” Tillook cried.

My hand closed around the tiny gem and halted its descent. “Got it,” I sighed with relief.

“Good, give it here!” He said, holding his hands out.

I dropped the gem into his outstretched palms and he grinned, rubbing his fingers over it. “Ohhhh, it’s so good to hold it again,” he purred. “You have no idea how important to me this is. I would be DEVASTATED if I lost it!” He then tossed it over his shoulder and popped his knuckles.

“Wha-” I started.

“Now let’s get you cleaned up and off to Canterlot Castle!” He announced.

There was a blinding flash of light, a loud pop, and I nearly tipped over when I suddenly found myself standing in front of the gates to the castle with the weight of my pack suddenly pulling me backwards. I checked my armor to see that the blood was gone along with the smell. I looked up from the ground to see a pair of equally bewildered Night Guard Bat ponies staring at me.

“Uhhhh, I can’t believe it worked?”

> Canterlot Castle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 22
Canterlot Castle



“How did you just do that?!” One of the Bat pony guards demanded, leveling his spear at me. The second had his hand on the hilt of his sword, clearly uncertain whether or not he should draw it. I noted movement on the arches flanking the gate, a guard on each side leveling a rifle. From their elevated positions they would be able to hit me on any route I chose if I decided to run.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I responded as calmly as I could to the guard with the spear. I could feel my body stiffening as my military bearing took over. I couldn’t see any ranking insignia on the guard before me so I didn’t know if I outranked him or not and given the oddity of the situation I doubt he would care if I did.

“I just watched a Pegasus teleport, that’s pretty suspicious however you spin it,” he said as he narrowed his eyes. “Either you’re a Bat who found out how to shadowstep without transforming or you’re practicing magic,” he accused as he stepped left. I noticed the guard with the sword stepping to the right as well, he was making to surround me!

“If I was a Bat, which I am not. Teleporting here would be one of the most foolhardy decisions I could make. I’d have no reason to randomly shadowstep in front of the gates to the castle. I had a magically talented acquaintance of mine assist me and send me here,” I explained as the Night Guard continued to slide around me. 

“Suppose I actually bought that story for a moment, what business would you have here?” He inquired, pausing a moment as his eyes shifted to the guard who had worked his way behind me. I heard the subtle grind of a blade against its sheath as the guard behind me drew his sword.

“You four needn’t be so worried about me,” I said whilst raising my hands slightly, never taking my eyes from the guard with the spear. “I seek an audience with Princess Luna. I need to report in from my last assignment,” I stated.

“Nameless Pegasi aren’t granted audiences with the Princess, especially in these troubled times. As far as I know we don’t have anyone out on assignment either,” he growled.

“Well that is because you know very little and remember depressingly less sergeant,” an impossibly smooth female voice called from the other side of the wall. 

That voice.

One of the massive doors cracked itself open just enough for another trio of Bat pony guards to exit. Relief washed over me at the sight of the leader of the group.

“It’s good to see you again Alex, even if you do look a little worse for wear,” Velvet said in a tone that many would mistake for sultry with a smile as she crossed her arms. She was protected by the same dark armor as the other Night Guards but wore a small Scarlet Service pin on the cloth adorning the collar of the armor.

“It’s good to see you too,” I said with a nod, ignoring her comment most likely directed at my newest scar. 

“That’s all I get?” She asked as she held her arms out, her voice barely rising from its low tone. “I haven’t seen you for nearly eleven years and all you can manage is ‘it’s good to see you too’?” She crossed her arms again as she resumed her approach. “I’m a little offended Alex,” her smirk never faltered as she proclaimed her mock emotions.

“Well I’d hug you but I’m a bit preoccupied,” I said as I waved a hand at the guards surrounding me. “Is it safe to assume you’re here to help or am I going to have to start swinging?”

Her smile only deepened as she stopped next to the guard who still had his spear leveled at me. “As amusing as it would be to see you try,” she trailed off as she turned her head slightly and lifted her chin. She had to look up to speak to the guard, most likely would have to do so to speak to any of them.

“Sergeant, you may lower your weapon,” her tone was somewhat provocative and I could tell the angle she had chosen allowed her to exhale on his neck while she spoke. The emphasis she placed on weapon felt loaded with a second meaning as well, I couldn’t help but wonder if she was doing it only for the sake of making him uncomfortable.

He followed her instructions with a soft groan and a scowl. “Is it truly necessary for you to constantly use that bedroom voice?” His shoulders sagged slightly and he turned to face her, leaning back to place a small amount of distance between his neck and her muzzle. She really did not care about the concept of personal space.

Her eyebrows raised slightly and her voice took on a slightly amused tone. “Just because you have the sex appeal of a rotting cactus.”

A snort escaped the guard behind me as he sheathed his sword and one of the riflemen atop the arches started laughing. He nearly fell off the arch when he doubled over and had to take a moment to steady himself.

At that point I realized I had been holding my breath and did my best to not make it obvious when I exhaled. Velvet’s expression told me she heard the muted sigh. Damned Bat pony ears. “Thank you Velvet,” I said with a curt nod.

“You owe me one,” she said with a wink, allowing her teeth to be exposed for just a moment. She brushed a stray lock of her dark blue-green hair back and waved me over. 

“I don’t think so,” I replied as a smirk of my own as I started toward her. Her entourage had begun moving back toward the gate with me in tow. “If I had beaten these four into submission you would have to take extra shifts on watch covering for them while they recovered. If anything you were looking out for yourself when you came and ordered them down,” I teased as we crossed the threshold of the gate. I noticed a few worried looks from some of the Night Guards after my comment.

My response brought a wave of laughter from Velvet and soon after her guards joined in, relieved that Velvet saw my words as a joke. “I’m glad to see your sense of humor is still intact! You wouldn’t have lasted more than fifty seconds against them!” She taunted, her voice echoing around the well-maintained courtyard.

We were walking along a paved path, the stones smooth from countless years of wear. The path was flanked by waist-high hedges that had been neatly trimmed within the last day or so and the path itself was clear of any branches or leaves. When I looked at the various statues that filled the yard I noticed they were all clean and appeared just as well-maintained as the path and hedges.

“I’m almost offended!” I replied loudly, my grin only growing as I looked back to Velvet. “I thought you were supposed to be in charge of intelligence, not morale!” I called as we reached a fork in the path that split evenly around a large fountain in the center of the courtyard, atop which was a statue of a pony holding a flag. If I had to guess I’d say the water had been turned off earlier that day, the stone had dried but the pools were full of water that showed no signs of stagnation.

“While you were out playing in the world’s largest sandbox I was busy moving up in the world. Sometimes managing morale just comes with the extra responsibilities” she shot back. “No matter what you say, you still owe me one for getting you through the gate. You wouldn’t have gotten in without me vouching for you,” she said as she shook her head.

“Alright alright I owe you one,” I conceded. “Can we work it out after I see Princess Luna?” I asked.

She was looking up at me with the deepest smirk possible and about to respond when one of her entourage cut her off. “Would you two just quit flirting and shack up already? How long did you two date before he left? It’s like listening to an old couple,” he groaned as he looked at me to continue his barrage. “You have no idea how often she got laid while you were gone do y-”

He was cut off by a quick smack to the back of his helmet by Velvet’s wing. “He’s my cousin you ignorant shit,” she droned, her voice dripping with disdain. “This nameless Pegasus is a Rustwing.”

“Sharing a last name hasn’t stopped some of you from what I’ve heard,” he muttered then flinched when Velvet glared at him. He then attempted to steer the conversation toward a more relevant topic. “I thought Princess Luna dismissed all of the Rustwings anyway,” he responded, looking away from the glare Velvet was giving him for his earlier comment.

“She dismissed most of them, she kept me remember?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “There were also several members of my family across borders or away on long-term or covert operations, We’ll probably see them coming back for a few more months before Luna dismisses all of them.”

“So the rumors were true then? Is she really only keeping Bat ponies from her Night Guard?” I asked, I could feel the chill of panic creeping up from my core. My pulse was already starting to hammer in my neck at the thought of being dismissed, discarded by Luna. I had spent my entire life training to serve the Sisters and utilizing my training in service to them, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

“I’m afraid so, with a few rare exceptions. She’s only trusted her Night Guard since the loss of her sister. She kept a few outside the guard for various tasks,” she said with a little sigh. “Escorting supply caravans, scouting, relaying messages to cities, suicide runs on nests…” An uncomfortable stillness came over the air as we stopped at the castle doors and Velvet made her final comment.

“Taeron is a Night Guard isn’t he? Is he inside?” I asked as Velvet raised a hand to knock on the door and paused. Her expression fell and I knew I wasn’t going to like her answer.

“Taeron is with the stars now,” she said quietly, turning slightly to look back at me as her hand fell. “Before you ask how, all any of us are allowed to say is that it was an incident involving the infected. He didn’t suffer,” her voice had dropped to barely above a whisper.

“I’ve seen the way they kill, it’s almost never instant,” I commented as the Night Guards took the initiative and opened the doors for Velvet and myself while we spoke, eliminating her need to knock. She offered a silent thanks to the guards as we passed.

“Almost, this was one of those exceptions,” she said with a little sigh as we made our way through the halls. The castle hadn’t changed a bit since I had last been there, massive pillars reached to the vaulted ceilings and the floor was still spotless and polished. The whole place felt empty with the absence of the usual number of guards lining the halls.

“It’s very clean in here, but I haven’t seen any of the usual staff. How have you kept it so clean in here?” I asked as I scanned the halls, spotting an occasional patrolling guard but no custodial staff.

“Magic, mostly,” she said with a small shrug as we rounded a corner and stopped in front of a large set of double doors. “There aren’t many of the old servants left after the initial outbreak,” she explained as she looked away from me to the two guards flanking the doors to the conference room where Princess Luna was located at the time.

She nodded to the guards at the double doors and they proceeded to grip the handles and pull them open. We stepped into the large conference room, leaving Velvet’s entourage behind. In the center of the room was a long table where Princess Luna was leaning over a map of Canterlot and discussing something with the Captain of the Night Guards. 

They both looked up from the maps as we approached and I immediately knelt when Luna’s eyes met mine. My right hand formed a fist and found its way before my heart as my knee clacked against the marble floor. I heard Velvet kneel next to me but I dared not look up from my position, I would not speak out of turn. My heart was hammering in my chest, was she going to dismiss me like she had the rest of my family? What would I do if she did?

“Velvet, you may rise,” there was a pause as Velvet did so but I did not move. “Speak newcomer,” Luna said, her voice echoing off the walls. It was amplified by the emptiness and silence that had filled the room, just that one simple command hit like the blast from a cannon.

“Staff Sergeant Alex Rustwing of your Elite Fighting Pegasi, returning from operations in the Changeling Desert. I await your command your highness,” I said with practiced precision, feeling my body stiffen slightly as I did so.

“Ah, now I recall your file, is the border along the desert secure?” She asked, her tone unnervingly level. I had only ever spoken to Princess Celestia before, I still remember when word reached us in the desert that Nightmare Moon had been vanquished and Princess Luna reunited with her sister. It certainly was a day to be celebrated, I had been looking forward to my chance to meet the Princess of the Night since then.

“Yes your highness, the Changelings have retreated into a dome-like fortification and have made no attempts on the border for over four months,” I reported as quickly and clearly as I could. Breathe Alex, take a breath and calm yourself.

“Very well then, you are hereby dismissed Alex Rustwing. I have no further use for you, you may go,” her tone carried no emotion, no malice or mirth. She was simply detached. Her words felt like a death sentence.

I felt a wave of panic wash over me, I didn’t get up, I didn’t even LOOK up. I had to do something, I couldn’t just walk away from my entire life. “Your highness-” I started.

“That will be all, Rustwing. You may take your leave of this place, return to Sanctuary, wander off to live in another town, I don’t care what you do. You aren’t one of my Bat ponies, you aren’t one of my Night Guard. You just blew in from one of the far corners of the country, I can’t trust you,” she said with a rush of cold air. 

“Your highness please, I beg of you,” I said as my fist clenched tighter, my head bowing as low as possible. I couldn’t do this, I couldn’t be cast aside. I couldn’t live without purpose.

“You dare defy my dismissal?” She asked as ice filled her voice, I could hear the sound of her hooves approaching. Her armor rattled softly as she quickly strode over, closing the distance with her giant steps in a few seconds.

“I only ask that you give me a chance to prove my loyalty your highness, I cannot begin to fathom a life beyond service to the throne. It is what I was born to do, what I’ve been trained to do, I pledged my life in service to you and your sister. Please allow me to continue that service,” I begged, feeling the panic seeping into my voice as I tried my damndest to keep my tone level.

She stopped at the mention of her sister, just a few feet from me. “Rise,” she commanded.

I obeyed, feeling myself coming to attention as I did, bracing myself for whatever punishment she deemed worthy. My heart hammered in my chest like it was trying to escape from my body. Nothing she could do to me would be worse than dismissal, to lose my purpose would be to lose myself. I couldn’t let it go. I looked up at the mare towering over me, her dark blue eyes peering into mine. It felt like she was reading my very soul, I hoped that if she was she approved of what she saw.

She was truly a sight to behold, just as her sister had been when I stood in this castle a decade ago. She was clad in a dark blue armor with an iridescent tint that shone purple whenever she moved. Each blue plate was framed by a brilliant silver frame that looked recently polished. She was not wearing a helmet at the time, allowing her mane to flow on a nonexistent breeze. Several constellations flowed through the ethereal mass that was her mane, they would start at the base of her mane and slowly flow down to the end of it where they would fall off and fade from existence. Her coat was an indescribably beautiful blue and her intense eyes matched it. Her stance and appearance commanded respect and she seemed to radiate with power, I truly was in the presence of a goddess.

“Come,” she said with a small wave of her hand. She then pivoted and walked back to the table. I followed at a brisk pace and caught Velvet’s worried expression out of the corner of my eye. Similarly to the times I traveled with Patches, I found myself jogging to keep up with Luna’s impressive strides. The Captain’s gaze shifted back and forth from the Princess to myself, a mixture of intrigue and worry on his face. We stopped at the table and Princess Luna pulled a map of one of the commercial sections toward the edge for me to see. Several buildings on one block were circled in bright red. I recognized the area on the map, it was about a quarter mile away from the bar I had cleared out for Tillook.

“We were going to locate and assault a nest tonight, one we know of in this area. We haven’t yet narrowed it down to an exact building because they appear to be using more than one to make use of various facilities as well as space for living,” she looked from the map to me. “Your insistence to continue serving me has earned you the honor of traveling to the nest in my team’s stead. I have nine targets for you to eliminate and should you return with proof of each kill I will deem you worthy of my trust and allow you to continue serving me. Should you fail and they escape I will have you banished from Canterlot, should you not only fail but find yourself infected as well, I’ll have you purged. Do you understand?”

“Yes your highness,” I said with a nod. I believed every word she said, now was not the time to take chances. “What are my targets?” I asked, my eyes scanning the block as I began puzzling out which building was most likely to be the one they were using. I guessed that they were using four buildings closest together on one of the corners facing the mountain. It would give them the most shade from the sun throughout the day.

“They have broken up command of their nest based on type and seniority. Most nests have one or more of the Masters in charge, this one has three of each type in charge. A lead Bat, Gargoyle, and Master. Each leader has two lieutenants that must be eliminated as well to help destabilize the nest and prevent them from reorganizing,” she said as she levitated a file over with her magic. She allowed the file to hit the table and slid a stack of photos out. “These are your targets in their everyday forms, feel free to keep the pictures. We have plenty more, Velvet is quite adept at her job,” she commented as I took a copy of each of my targets. “You will bring back their heads as proof of the kills, so try not to mangle them too badly when you’re removing them,” she said with a mirthless chuckle.

I took a moment to study each photo before folding them and tucking them away. “Difficult, to be sure. But it shall be done,” I said as purpose once more flowed through me, I was beginning to feel invincible again. I was an instrument of the Sisters’ will once more, and as such I would not be stopped. “Have you any further instructions for me your highness?” I asked as I returned my gaze to her then the map, an incredible calmness was overtaking me.

“You shall have six hours after sunset to return with proof of the kills. If you have not returned by then we shall assume mission failure and proceed with our hunt as originally planned. If you are simply late in returning and have succeeded I suppose I could find it in my heart to forgive you for it. However if we arrive and you are still locked in combat with them I will most likely decide against keeping you if too many of them are still alive. So the more of them you kill the better, understand?” She looked at me, her gaze piercing me and scanning for the slightest hint of weakness or doubt.

I stared back into those beautiful blue eyes with confidence, I felt no doubt, no fear, no uncertainty. I would accomplish the task before me, I would not be stopped. “I understand your highness,” I said as I bowed.

“Good, then you may go. Time is of the essence after all,” a hint of amusement had crept into her tone and she allowed herself a small smile. “You may return to your preparations as well Velvet,” she said with a dismissive wave. “Do not disappoint me Alex, I have seen too many failures from your family in recent months,” she said as she returned her gaze to the table.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, I’ll set the record right for my family your highness,” I said with another bow. I then immediately took my leave and made for the exit as swiftly as I could. I hadn’t even made it out of the room when I heard Velvet following me, her entourage close behind her. She was mere feet away from me through the entire castle however she did not speak until we were out on the castle grounds once more.

“Alex this is a suicide mission, Princess Luna is sending you there to die,” she said as she closed the distance to walk beside me. Her bright green eyes full of worry in spite of her stern expression. Her hand was raised as if she wanted to grab me and stop me but she was either too scared to do it or knew it would be a futile gesture.

“Then I am afraid I will have to disappoint the Princess,” I responded without looking at her. We made our way around the fountain and back toward the gates out of the courtyard, during which time her hand fell and her brow furrowed with frustration.

“Can you really just waltz into a nest without question? With no regard for your own life?” She asked almost breathlessly. “If Luna told you to jump off the tallest tower without spreading your wings would you do that too?” 

“Faith is purest when it is unquestioning cousin. I will be fine, I have the Sisters’ blessings. With Celestia and Luna watching over me I cannot fail,” I answered, irritation edging its way into my voice. 

“I have done my best to respect your religious views but that is just stupid! How can you serve your goddesses if you’re dead?! What will going out there and dying accomplish?! Do you honestly think that Celestia can help you? She’s dead! She can’t help any of us now!” She had lost all her prior reservation, her smooth voice had taken on a desperate tone. We had just crossed the threshold of the gate, leaving the courtyard behind us. Our conversation could easily be heard by the six other Night Guards at the gate and they had most likely heard most of it during our approach as well.

“I can’t serve them if I die, which is why I won’t. Celestia may no longer be with us in body, but she is still here in spirit. I have felt her presence, and I know I have her blessing. This mission is the will of the Sisters and I will see it through for them,” I said through grit teeth as Velvet’s pace quickened.

Velvet stepped in front of me, a scowl plain on her face, the other six Bat Ponies behind me watching. “You will not be fine! There are at least two dozen of them in that nest! Some of them used to be Royal Guards, they kept their weapons, armor, and training. Against that many skilled opponents you won’t survive!” She threw her arms out, hoping her display would convince me. “We were going to assault that nest with a team of a dozen skilled hunters! What hope can you possibly have?!” Her eyes shimmered in the setting sun’s light, moisture filling the dark green orbs.

“I don’t need hope, I already know I will succeed. I am the Sisters’ will made manifest! They will not allow me to be stopped! I cannot fail them!” My face burned with anger, how could she not understand? I had always relied on the Sisters’ blessings for strength before, they always answered my prayers and kept me safe and strong.

“Please just accept her dismissal and leave Canterlot Alex. I’ve seen far too many of our family members fall trying to meet her demands. I don’t want to see you dead or worse too. I just know if you recklessly charge out there like you have so many times before you won’t come back,” her voice trembled as she delivered her final warning.

I leaned in, feeling my own face tighten. “I accept the challenge,” I whispered, then pushed past her. “I will not be toppled by them! If anything the most difficult part of this mission will be finding a bag big enough for all their heads!” I called back to my immobilized cousin as I started down the stairs toward the city. “I’m not as reckless as you say! I just think, plan, act, and react at the same time because it saves time!”

> Musings of a Mad Newt
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 23
Musings of a Mad Newt



“Personal journal entry number, uh… Ah, fuck it, nobody’s ever going to read this anyway,” I muttered as I gingerly squeezed the bloody water from my mop, taking a brief moment to gaze around the ruined remains of the bar, a veritable lake of blood and viscera stared back. “Bastards.”    

Soaking the mop head in fresh water I continued with my monotonous task, scrubbing at the congealing mess with my usual dogged determination. “On the off chance I’m wrong though, and any of you ponies actually survive to find these notes I have but one nibblet of useful information for you; find Diamond Tiara, kill her, it’s all her fault... Seriously”

The pink flamingo feather faithfully scribing down my every muse took pause at these words, the little black book below it lowering slightly. “What? Oh, come on someone needs to take the blame.”

Good help is always so hard to find…

Whilst slinging the mop over my shoulder I grabbed the bucket of sludgy water and headed for the kitchen, the need to replenish the necessary cleaning supplies only serving to darken my already deteriorating mood. Hookah Up would never be the same. 

I took pause as I passed the booths near the back, the slaughtered Masters right where Alex had left them. “That son of a bitch actually did it, thought for sure I’d rounded up enough. Crap, I owe Patches five bits…”

As much as I hate to admit it, Patches was right. After seeing him fight here it has become obvious that I stopped observing Alex much too early, he’s far stronger a pony than I gave him credit. Perhaps, mine will prove useful someday as well…

After entering the kitchen I headed for the sink in the back, trying but eventually failing to suppress a smile as I took in the sight of the gleaming space. This room had been spared the worst of the fighting, it was the damn vamps, they had trashed the place during their brief stay and I had spared no effort in its restoration, just as I would with the rest of the place.

Vamps are NOT housebroken…

I let out a sigh of satisfaction as I dumped my bucket of grisly grime down the drain before turning the faucet to hot and waited as the steaming liquid filled the container. “Alex Rustwing, I suppose that’s a name we will all be hearing a lot in the future, either in the great halls of the legendary, or echoing faintly through the dark voids, lost and forgotten amongst the souls of a dead world. Either way, he has my attention. And you would be remiss to look away now.”

After shutting off the tap of the me-sized sink I turned to once again inspect my handiwork, nodding in approval as I stared at the gleaming appliances and stacks of cookware. Indeed, Alex had turned out better than I’d hoped. Obsidian might have a few surprises coming his way in the near future if this keeps up.

A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth as the clouds of steam from the sink wafted forward, obscuring me from the view of the eyes watching from above, always there and ever vigilant, lest I get out of hand. 

“Well, perhaps it’s time we took things up a notch…”

> Raiding The Nightclub
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 24
Raiding The Nightclub



I took a moment to orient myself toward the mountain and I pictured the map, while counting the city blocks with a finger. Canterlot was glowing a soft red-orange in the setting sun’s light, almost making it look ablaze. After locating my target block I started down the stairs once more, my target’s location memorized. Were it not for the attention I would have drawn to myself, I would have taken flight to save time.

The trip back down into one of Canterlot’s commercial districts was over far more quickly than I anticipated, which was good. With the setting of the sun I had fewer than six hours to locate the nest and obliterate it. Taking down the nine leaders was my primary objective but it was also the minimum requirement to succeed and I did not plan on skating by on the first assignment Princess Luna had trusted me with. 

I followed one of the roads in a straight line toward my objective, ignoring the majority of the stares I got from those I passed. Canterlot was still quite populated even after the outbreak, most of the residents had just taken to hiding and leading quiet lives. Occasionally I would pass through blocks of the commercial district still bustling with activity, it was an odd contrast to the completely deserted blocks right next to them.

I occasionally spotted completely walled off portions of the city as well. Buildings had walls built to connect them and gates that closed over the streets. Most of these structures appeared to be for keeping vamps out, but one gate I passed had guards around the outside of the perimeter. I figured they could easily fly out of their cage, but when I looked up I saw what looked like a net of razor wire over the walls and buildings. From what I heard, Bats trying to shadowstep through it could get sliced clean in half.

After banishing the image from my head I pressed onward toward my objective into a much less populated section of the city. The rest of my journey to the infested block was suspiciously uneventful, an unnatural stillness seemed to hang over the air like a thick blanket. I could feel eyes watching me from the shadows, hungry, angry, scared, confused.

The tunnel stretched on forever, I could hear them whispering from crevices all around me. The chittering of their high-pitched voices, the dry skittering of their wings as they nervously shuffled in their ambush positions. Undisciplined things. They weren’t going to stop me from getting to that chamber, that queen was as good as dead.

Oddly enough, I made it all the way to the egg-laying chamber and they never sprang their ambush. The chamber was just like the ones I had seen before, a truly massive room with a great, domed ceiling. There was but one occupant in the room, a Changeling queen desperately trying to squeeze her eggs out and make her escape. 

A powerful beat of my wings launched me across the room and I was upon her. One hand found her throat, while the other pressed my revolver to her cheek…

Wait, revolver?

A choked cry escaped the stallion’s muzzle, his burning red eyes moist with fear. The sand behind the Changeling queen’s head had been replaced by the paving stones of Canterlot’s streets and her head was his?

The now Master vampony beneath me struggled to pry my hand from his throat as he managed a weak gasp.

“Please don’t shoot me,” the demon squeaked out as reality came crashing back in waves. The walls of the chamber crumbled and gave way to the buildings of the commercial district, the tunnel gave way to the long street I had been traveling, and the ceiling faded back into Canterlot’s evening sky.

“What the fuck did you do to me?!” I bellowed as I pressed the barrel of the massive handcannon into his eye, eliciting a fresh squeak of fear and pain from him. My hand around his throat moved to the bottom of his jaw where I could easily manipulate his head away if he tried to bite.

“You were just walking down the middle of the street without a single care in the world, prime target, I guarantee I wasn’t the only one thinking about jumping you,” his voice wavered and his breathing was fast and irregular. “Look, please just let me go. Vamp’s gotta eat you know? And I didn’t actually get to bite you, you just tranced out and went batshit crazy after I tried to mind-control you,” he explained as his body joined his voice in his trembles. 

I pressed the barrel of the pistol deeper into his eye socket, causing him to let out a fresh wail of fear and pain. Any more pressure and the flesh was liable to give way. “You tried to fucking mind-control me?!” I snarled through grit teeth. I took a moment to take in his appearance, he wasn’t one of my targets, but a little extra credit could go a long way if I wanted to keep myself  in Luna’s good books.

“Please just let me go!” He begged as tears began to leak from his eyes. “I didn’t actually do anything to you! Can we just call this a no-harm no-foul encounter and move on with our lives?” His demonic eye pleaded with me, it was surreal to see something so dangerous so afraid of me. “Please, don’t shoot me,” he whispered.

I slowly withdrew the pistol from his eye, my left hand still firmly gripping his jaw as I holstered my weapon. I could see a glimmer of hope returning to his eyes as the other opened. I had moved just a little too slowly it seemed, I didn’t want to give him that chance to feel hope. I just wanted to save some ammo.

I pushed up against the bottom of his jaw, forcing him to look away and expose his neck to me. He barely had time to utter a groan of surprise or protest, it doesn’t really matter which it was I suppose. The soft flesh of his neck parted almost effortlessly for my blade, his groan quickly turned to a choked gasp then a gut-wrenching gurgle as blood flowed into his windpipe. His efforts to breathe only worsened his situation as he began to drown in his own blood, weakening his body for its struggles against my efforts.

There’s an odd intimacy to taking someone’s life with a blade, be they a demon or no. The final moments of one’s life, feeling it fading away in my very hands. The struggles against my blades that grow weaker with each passing moment as they progress through the form before me, feeling his fingers grasping at my wrists even as my blade grinds through his vertebrae. Maybe I’m just reading too much into killing someone, maybe I just got really high off the rush of endorphins from ending a life and mistook that rush for a deeper emotion. Maybe I’m just losing my mind. One.

I rose and took in my surroundings, realizing I had traveled at least two blocks into the abandoned section of the city while under the influence of that damned creature. I could hear the subtle scraping of someone dragging their hooves in an alley to my left, I also caught movement from a darkened window when I glanced right. I could feel eyes from all around watching me in the moon’s light, I may as well have been standing alone on a stage with all spotlights shining on myself.

My instincts screamed at me to run, to flee from the predators waiting for a chance to pounce. If they wanted a chase they were going to be disappointed, for I had no intention of giving them the satisfaction. I knew what I needed to do in this time of doubt and fear, something I had done time and time again that always kept me going. I bowed my head and clasped my hands as I took the first of many fresh steps into enemy territory, the scent of fresh blood on my gauntlets rushing into my nostrils and nearly overwhelming me.

“Oh Sisters I beseech thee, I have found myself doubting and afraid, surrounded by mine enemy and without a friend at mine side. Give me thine courage, so I need not fear those who would use it against me. Give me thine assurances, so I shall not doubt myself nor my abilities. Give me thine endurance, so I might weather the coming storm of my foes. Though you are not with me in body, be with me in spirit. Watch over and protect me, so I needn’t an ally to overcome my tribulations. In return for these blessings I offer what I have already given, my life. Help me preserve it and it will be yours to use as you see fit, now and forever,” I felt a comforting warmth flow through my body as I finished my hushed prayer and looked back up to the blocks ahead. 

My objective was a half a block away and I didn’t even have to guess which building they were using. I immediately recognized one of the lieutenants I was supposed to kill standing outside the building with two others helping him guard the entrance to a large nightclub. The lieutenant and one of his entourage were wearing Royal Guard armor, the entire trio consisted of Gargoyles. From my position I could hear the muted thumping of the bass of whatever music they were listening to. I thought back to Lucky flattening her ears because of the construction that was going on nearby, any Masters inside that building had to be absolutely miserable… Or wearing earplugs...

I was still hatching a plan to deal with them when the door opened and a trio of Bats came out to relieve them of their shift, I recognized one of the other lieutenants in his Royal Guard armor leading the second group. One of the Bats pointed at me but I couldn’t hear what they said, couldn’t have been good. I immediately darted into the alley to my right, maybe I’d get two or three of them to chase me and deal with more manageable groups.

“Hey you, come back here!” I heard one of the voices call out to me. With a flick of my wings and ears, I could hear what had to be six sets of hooves running down the street toward the alley I had chosen to flee through. I wasn’t going to escape them if they decided to transform and chase after me more efficiently. I had to think fast.

I charged through the alley and across the next street, checking over my shoulder to see the entire group still pursuing me. I entered the next alley, hoping the distance I had covered would prevent the noise of what I was about to do from reaching the nightclub.

I rounded a corner and peeked back around it to watch the entrance to the street, dropping my pack as I did so. I reached into it and pulled out one of the grenades Patches had given me, its surface was almost perfectly smooth and it had a bright yellow stripe painted on it. I quickly swatted the safety clip from the spoon of the grenade and grasped the pin. I could hear the group nearing the entrance of the alleyway as I yanked on the pin and twisted one direction, then the other. The pin popped free and I threw the grenade around the corner as the vamps piled into the alleyway. The spoon flew free and the two objects clattered noisily toward my pursuers.

“What the fuck?! Did he throw rocks at us?!” I heard one of them call as I hopped over my pack and laid on my belly behind it, my arms over my head covering my ears. “Shit! That’s a-” the remainder of the exclamation was drowned out by the deafening roar of the grenade’s detonation.

I rose from my position behind my pack and was immediately enshrouded by a mixture of smoke and dust. I could hear the patter of rocks and other debris landing and waited for it to stop before rounding the corner. With a kill radius of five meters and a casualty radius of fifteen that grenade should have taken them all down. However the detonation only seemed to have killed four of them, two of them whom had been in the back of the group were on the ground groaning in pain. Two, three, four, five.

I drew my revolver and stepped through the messy crater to finish the two survivors off, making sure to aim for their hearts. Six and seven.

“Fuck,” I muttered as I took in the mess of severed limbs and shattered stonework. In spite of their proximity to the blast, their bodies looked mostly intact. Aside from a few severed limbs and bits of shrapnel, two of the corpses looked untouched. I fired rounds into them to make sure and discovered that the concussion from the blast had reduced their organs to paste. Luckily enough, the helmets the lieutenants had been wearing preserved their faces well enough to keep them easily identifiable.

I ran out of the second alleyway, across the street and into the first alley. I moved to the edge of it to watch the entrance to the nightclub, my revolver and its two remaining shots at the ready. I could still hear the music thundering away inside the building, it was probably wishful thinking that I had been far enough away to cover the noise of that explosion. I had heard it echoing off buildings much farther away than the nightclub, so why the fuck weren’t any of them coming out?

I was fairly certain explosions weren’t a daily occurrence in Canterlot but when nobody came out to investigate I returned to my pack and grabbed two extra grenades and some ammo for my revolver. I took the time to reload it and cut the heads off the vamps in the alley before crossing the streets and returning to the nightclub.

I pressed myself against the wall mere inches from the door, the very building vibrated with the thumping of the bass. I braced myself for whatever could be on the other side, they had likely taken up defensive positions inside the building and the fight through it would most certainly be difficult. 

“Give me thine courage,” I whispered as I pushed the door open and strode into the narrow entry hallway, revolver at the ready. The music was deafening inside this first room and I couldn’t even see any speakers in here pumping it out. The narrow hall stretched out at least thirty feet before me with a set of double doors at the end. Another set of double doors sat halfway down the right side of the hall and a lone door was on the end of the left side.

I slowly moved up to the double doors on the right, encountering no resistance in the hallway that could have easily been used as a funnel to overlap fields of fire and kill me. Maybe they really hadn’t heard the blast? Over the din of the music I could hear a voice right on the other side of the door.

“I don’t care if you think it’s nothing! I’m still gonna go check it out!” I heard a mare’s voice call out. She didn’t sound particularly agitated, it just sounded like she was trying to be heard over the noise. I prepared my left blade and moved past the double doors, with luck this vamp would head straight for the exit and not even notice me. “Besides, Bornite wants someone to go check it out!”

I love it when I’m right. The female Master clad in Royal Guard armor strode out and looked at the exit. She wasted no time striding down the hall toward the double doors and I moved along behind her as silently as I could. I was almost close enough to reach her when she threw the doors open and stepped out onto the sidewalk.

“Where the fuck did they go?” She asked with an annoyed groan as she looked for any sign of the guards that were missing from their post. She froze and looked at the ground, slowly following the trail of blood I had left from the alleyway.

I quickly stood and tapped her left shoulder with the barrel of my revolver, the metal clanging against her pauldron. She was still turning to look at me when I plunged my left blade through her neck, aiming for the vertebrae in her neck. They immediately snapped and her neck folded over at a grotesque angle, the soft tissues tearing open as the side of her helmet clanged against my forearm. A quick swipe down and to the left took her head the rest of the way off as her body collapsed. Eight.

A quick check over my shoulder confirmed that nobody had followed or noticed us and I darted back into the hallway to continue my mission. I paused a moment, realizing I had only taken down two of my nine targets and had topped my kill count from the hookah bar already. This was going to be a rough evening if it continued at this rate. I closed the distance to the double doors and pushed one open to peer inside.

Behind the doors was a dimly-lit bar, at the actual bar I could see a pair of the Gargoyles harassing the bartender. Upon closer inspection I noticed a collar around his neck keeping him chained to the bar. The nervous expression on his face only deepened when one of the mares grabbed the collar and yanked him toward her with a laugh. I caught a glimpse of the side of her face, the second lieutenant of the Gargoyles. Her helmet was sitting on the bar next to several empty glasses. I scanned as much of the room as possible before entering, there were a few empty booths and an unlit pool table but I didn’t see any other occupants.

I pushed the door open farther and strode over to the bar, the two Gargoyles didn’t even look back to see who was coming. They were too busy toying with the poor bartender they had enslaved. Of course it was also possible they hadn’t even heard the door opening and closing over that damned music. Who’s idea was it to make it this loud in the first place? They didn’t look back when I stopped behind them, they probably didn’t notice the smell of blood over the alcohol they had spilled all over the bar. 

“You’re not much of a stallion but there should be enough of you to tend to both of us if we share!” She called to him over the music. Her hand caressed his cheek but her touch seemed to do nothing to ease his nerves.

I holstered my pistol to more easily use both blades and carefully lined the two up. It wasn’t until the bartender looked up at me instead of the Gargoyles that they seemed to notice anything was amiss. They were both turning to look back at me when I broke my own silence.

“You made this too easy,” I said to the mare as she looked up at me from her seat. I snapped my arms out with as much speed as I could muster, beheading both of the Gargoyles. Nine and ten. 

The bartender fell away from the limp bodies with a cry as he covered his face. “Please don’t!” The corpses fell off their stools with a pair of dull thumps masked by the bass of the music.

“Shut up!” I hissed over the bar at him. “I’m going to get you out of here understand? But you have to help me,” I said, raising my voice enough for him to hear. “Where are the ones in charge?”

He shakily rose to the bar and looked at the mess, then at me. “The one in charge of the Gargoyles is across the hall in the lounge,” he said as he pointed to the approximate location of the single door I had seen earlier. “She took her pet or whatever it is she calls him, inside with her, should be alone otherwise,” he said as he cleared his throat and poured himself a shot of liquor. 

He was about to drink it when I stopped him, my bloodstained gauntlet painting his forearm red. “Names and locations first, then you can have your damned poison,” I growled as I squeezed his forearm. He looked almost as scared as he did when the Gargoyles were harassing him.

“The alpha Bat is probably somewhere out by the dance floor if he’s not in the kitchen eating something he’s gonna puke up. The alpha Master is probably in the back office or the changing room, they’re both on the back left side of the dance floor. If any of them are missing they’re probably upstairs sleeping something off,” he explained.

“They can sleep with all this fucking noise?” I asked, forgetting the obvious.

“Soundproofing enchantments, you could drop a damned bomb on the building across the street and someone above the first floor won’t hear it,” he explained as he glanced back at the doors behind me. “Did you come alone?”

“Ahead of another team yes, but they’ll be here soon. So don’t you worry we’ll get you out of here,” I said as I moved away from the bar. “Just keep your head down and if any of them show up and want to know where I am, send them my way,” I instructed as I pushed one of the doors open and headed for the lounge. 

I drew my revolver before opening the door, just in case they were too far away to dispatch quickly. I pushed the door open to reveal a rectangular room with several L-shaped lounging sofas and a pair of dancing poles. Sitting in one of the sofas with their backs to the door were what I assumed to be the alpha Gargoyle and her mate. She was still half-clad in her Sun Guard armor, she had been one of Celestia’s elite guards before the outbreak.

“Did you find out what that noise was?” She asked as she glanced over her shoulder, an expression of near-boredom that turned to surprise when it wasn’t one of her minions.

“Oh it was me,” I said as I took aim with my revolver at her head but she raised her armored arm to defend herself. I quickly corrected my aim and shot the Gargoyle who was still rising from his seat. The side of his head flew apart as the round tore through him, staining the sofa and pissing off the alpha. Eleven.

I returned my aim to the Gargoyle but found her obscured by the couch flying across the room toward me. I dove forward and to the left, narrowly avoiding the flying piece of furniture as it crashed through the wall. That much noise inside the building would definitely get someone’s attention…

I decided to take aim from the floor and found that I was too late, the Gargoyle had already hardened her skin and transformed. I scrambled to my hooves as I noted how much faster than usual she had managed to assume her alternate form. By the time I was standing she was charging and I found myself diving out of the way as she made a charging leap for me.

Much like the couch before her, she flew over me and smashed clean through the wall as my face met the floor for a second time. I used a beat of my wings to help myself up more quickly, ignoring the jolt of pain in my right wing as I propelled myself several feet through the air. I holstered my revolver when I landed and gripped one of my grenades.

The Gargoyle let out a deafening roar and charged across the room again as I backpedaled away. I managed to swat the safety clip off the spoon and looked up from my task just in time to see the snarling face of the Gargoyle hurtling toward me. I instinctively tightened my grip on my weapon and kicked off the ground with another powerful beat of my wings, trying to dodge her again. I had moved too little too late.

Her arms wrapped around my waist and her shoulder slammed into my midsection, the impact nearly knocked the wind out of me through my armor. We sailed through the air and slammed into the wall, which immediately buckled and crumbled under the force of the impact. I then felt yet another impact as we flew out into the street and slammed into the ground. Looking at the sky I could see stars, actual ones thankfully, not figurative ones. My wing ached fiercely as well, I grit my teeth in preparation for the struggle that had only just begun.

Her arms moved up from my waist to my torso, keeping my own arms pinned between us. I closed my eyes as her maw opened in a deafening roar, splattering my face with her venom-laced saliva. I struggled to work my legs up between us and free my arms from her grasp as she began squeezing in an attempt to crush me. I could feel my armor beginning to buckle under the force the Gargoyle was exerting on it, my wings were pinned and it was getting harder to breathe. The shoulder of my right wing felt like it was going to snap under the pressure she was exerting.

With a desperate yank I managed to free my left arm and jabbed my thumb into her right eye socket. She snarled loudly and continued to squeeze as I squirmed and worked my legs into position. I pushed harder, feeling a wet pop as her eyeball popped open and my thumb sank deeper into her eye socket. She recoiled and I wedged my hooves into place, shrimping my way out of her grip. 

I used the momentum to roll backwards until I was on my hooves again, my right hand gripping the grenade so tightly my knuckles ached. The Gargoyle was flailing around on her back and snarling, clawing at her own face. I took the opportunity to work the pin out of the grenade, yanking and twisting on that stubborn little piece of metal until it popped free.

By the time I had the pin out she had already scrambled up onto all fours and was charging me again. I barely had enough time to dive out of the way and by the time I had recovered and was standing again she was charging once more. I had no choice, if I kept dodging her on the ground she would just wear me out until I made a mistake and would tear me to pieces, or the others would arrive and help her.

I spread my wings and jumped, adding several feet to the distance I covered with a powerful beat of the feathered appendages. A massive jolt of pain surged down the right side of my back as I forced my injured wing to do its job. She charged under me and I corrected my trajectory to land on her shoulders with my hooves. Direct hit.

I dug my left hand into her left eye to keep a grip on her as she bucked about and clawed at my legs. I forced my fingers deeper into her eye socket and she threw her head back in a loud howl of pain. My opportunity. Time seemed to slow as I released the spoon of the grenade, activating the fuse within it and forced my right hand down her gaping maw and into her throat. I felt the contraction of her muscles as she gagged on the sudden intrusion of half of my arm and released the grenade.

I wrenched my arm free and kicked off the enraged creature with all my might, beating my wings to gain as much distance as possible. The pain in my wing suddenly felt extremely dull with all the adrenaline coursing through my veins. The Gargoyle looked up at me and let out a final angry snarl before the grenade detonated and sent chunks of her in every direction. Twelve.

The dull pain suddenly became sharp and a wet popping sound came from my wing, my breath escaped in a harsh scream as my limb became significantly less responsive. I didn’t have enough time to grab my wing and straighten myself out and ended up falling several feet before slamming into the street. The impact dazed me but wasn’t enough to distract me from the hot knife in my wing. I could feel the rushing of fluids to the injured joint and reached back to touch it. My fingers felt like hammers hitting the surface of my wing and I immediately regretted touching it. Had I really exerted myself that hard? Had my adrenaline-fueled use of my wing pushed my fracture to the breaking point?

I pushed myself up off the street and stood, surveying the mess. The alpha was definitely dead and the occupants of the nightclub no doubt knew something was terribly wrong by now. I looked back at my right wing to see it hanging limply from my back. I flexed it to try to pull it back to its usual folded position against my back and was rewarded with a massive jolt of pain as it twitched weakly.

“Fuck!” I called out as my wing drooped back to its limp position. I looked back at the nightclub and walked back into the lounge through the hole in the wall. My hands found each other as I bowed my head. “Give me thine endurance, so I might forget my pain. Give me thine endurance, so I might fight again. Give me thine will, so I shall not be broken,” as I continued my prayer I could feel the pain subsiding once more.

“Oh isn’t that sweet, praying to Luna to save your precious little soul?” A voice from the other side of the lounge mocked.

“That’s Princess Luna, cur,” I snarled as I opened my eyes and looked up from my clasped hands. On the other side of the room stood three Bats, one I immediately recognized as the second lieutenant clad in Sun Guard armor. His entourage consisted of a pair of Bats in Royal Guard armor, I felt my blood run cold with rage at the sight of them after hearing their words. 

“Did the poor little Pegasus get himself hurt by the big bad Gargoyle?” The Bat in charge asked as he leaned forward with a grin, gesturing at my limp wing. His armor was still very well cared for and his weapon of choice appeared to be a longsword and shield pair but I also spotted a pistol at his hip. The other guards had pistols as well but one was armed with a spear and the other a hammer.

“She bit off a bit more than she could chew I’m afraid, and even in this state I should be more than capable of continuing my mission,” my voice was cold as the trio moved across the room. Before I knew what I was doing, I had removed my gun belt and held it out at arm’s length. “How about we settle this the honorable way?” I proposed, my face set in stone. The other two looked back at their leader for instruction.

“Do it,” he said with a grin as he removed his gun belt. His entourage following suit. “I’m not gonna lie, I’m impressed you took Bornite down,” he looked to each of his followers with a grin. “But the three of us are going to tear you to pieces!” He shouted as he kicked off the ground and drew his sword.

I deployed my blades and turned slightly, keeping my injured wing away from the rapidly closing trio. I would have to time my blocks, dodges, and counters perfectly if I wanted to survive this fight. The mare with the spear was moving the fastest and the Sun Guard would likely launch the second attack, closing me in and removing my maneuvering options to deal with the one wielding the hammer. 

Just as I predicted, the mare reached me first and delivered a thrust with her spear that I easily dodged. I kept myself on the inside of her attacks, moving to the right to keep her between myself and the other two. She continued jabbing at me with her spear and I continued avoiding the deadly tip, monitoring the other two as they changed positions in the rear to try to corner me.

The mare with the spear whom was clearly frustrated by my evasiveness swung the spear in a low arc and I jumped over it. She immediately changed grips to continue delivering thrusting attacks and started herding me left toward the one with the hammer. The Sun Guard had positioned himself to the side of the mare with the spear to prevent me from rushing her, leaving me with no choice but to continue dodging my way toward the stallion with the hammer.

I had to find a way to turn this strategy against them! The Sun Guard was rushing me with his shield raised and took a horizontal swing while the mare delivered another jab with her spear. I raised my left blade to block the longsword while dodging the spear and that’s when the hammer came down.

> Better Late than Never Again
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Well, this is depressing…”

A few scattered lanterns provided the only source of light as I scanned over what remained of my bar, their flickering brilliance casting long shadows over the toppled furniture and questionable stains. Depressing may not have been a strong enough word really; if this place had belonged to someone who actually relied upon it for their livelihood they might have been thoroughly screwed. Myself? I was mostly pissed off for other reasons but, it was still my bar dammit…

The building itself was really none the worse for wear but the furnishings and décor were a total write off. Anything that hadn’t been smashed or thrashed during the scuffle had long since been trashed by the Vamps as they amused themselves in various ways. You should see them going at it. Messy, vocal, incredibly energetic and never quite satiated. Seriously, like a catfight on a tin roof but one’s way too ambitious and the other is actually an opossum...

You would think that after a time they would come up with other forms of amusement but after observing their behavior for a few days the only real noteworthy observation I have to offer is that there is certainly something to say for inexhaustible stamina. That and all the hooch they can put away, lords beard, I’d have been set for a good while if any of them had actually paid for all this…

But no. thousands of bits worth of imported bottles, barrels, kegs and yes even boxes of varying liquors and wines lay dashed across my floors. I swear there was as much waste as there was consumption…

“Damn Vamps!” I grumbled tetchily as I scraped up another pile of shattered glass, the jagged little pieces reeking of alcohol and various Vampiric fluids. “Damn, stupid, wager!”

I shoved the colored remains of the decorative bottles into a garbage bag and tossed the now full container onto a growing pile. “Round them all up, tie em to a poll, find a nice big Hydra…!” With a snap of my fingers the pile burst into hellish red flames and was incinerated in seconds. “Keep cutting off heads till you have nothing but a writhing ball of death! Then just sit back and watch!!”

Clenching my tiny fists I stomped a foot with a toddler like howl of outrage, crushing the stone floor under my heel and shaking the surrounding walls in sheer indignation. My outburst rattled the windows and brought dust down from the ceiling, the tremors causing several other nearby bottles to fall from their shelves and shatter over my nearly cleaned floor. It was a pure display of vanity certainly, but dam did it feel good.

Narcissism can be so unbecoming. 

I slumped my tiny shoulders, breathing in so deeply that my body inflated and I floated up off the floor. This was childish; my outbursts were completely unnecessary and overly dramatic. Yes my bar was pretty much in shambles, but it was basically just a cheap façade behind which to test patches little friend, so why should I be so upset? The waste of effort notwithstanding. 

Exhaling gently through my nostrils I took another look around as I slowly descended back to the floor, the faint scent of fresh booze tickling my nose as I watched the amber liquid spread out. Obviously I knew why I should be upset; I had lost a bet after all. Actually, it was more to whom I had lost the bet that had my hide steaming. No, I was quite literally steaming, clouds of the stuff just wafting into existence around my body. Does wonders for carpets…

Speaking of…

My nose reminded me once again as I landed about the unsightly puddle near the front door. How so much fluid came from such a small bat I will never know but the foul memoir she left behind still reeked of fear.

Fear was always a welcome scent and mixed as it was with the blood and alcohols that filled the air it had become a rather pungent aroma. I could even learn to like it.

Still though, I just could not help feeling a little miffed. This place had grown on me in the few weeks I had spent setting it up and to see it like this just, well, it got under my skin a bit I suppose. There was not much out there these days that I could truly claim as my own and something somewhere inside me just felt at home here. Heh, listen to me, sounding all melancholy over yet another doomed little world. Oh well…

Most of the blood had cleaned up nicely; club soda is nearly the miracle worker I am, but there was still glass about and don’t even get me started on the furniture. Though that did remind me; I had a few cans of varnish around here somewhere, the dungeon perhaps…?

Where was I? Oh right.

“Fucking motherless Vamponies!” I snarled as I balled my boney hand into a fist, ensnaring yet another of the dumb bastards that hadn’t gotten the memo yet within my will as it tried to slink past my door.

With another snap of my spindly fingers I could hear the creeping cretin scream as its limbs were all violently pulled in separate directions, joints and ligaments popping and tearing audibly before being twisted off, leaving the piece of shit to scream his sorrows to Luna’s moon.

At first the sound had been cathartic, relaxing even. Now it was just starting to feel like work. This whole endeavor was starting to feel like work and had yet to bear me any fruit. It was growing difficult to justify remaining here; Patches stayed because he genuinely cared, but me? 

I did not have time for this little game anymore, I could only manifest within this realm for so long and I was getting tired of waiting for the next act. If this trip was destined to be a total loss at the end I might as well get some enjoyment out of it. 

Besides, the wager was still on and I very much doubted that I would ever set foot in this place again...

Reaching out I summoned my fancy walking cane from a shelf by the bar, catching it in my outstretched hand and headed for the door. This had been a delightful respite from my own ambitions but, I felt it was high time we all moved on. 

As I passed through the exit I held out my other hand, catching my amulet as it raced to my side as well. The little gem Alex had been so kind as to, ‘retrieve’ for me was pressed firmly back into the center of its rune covered face.

Not even bothering to shut the door behind me I headed off down the street, the sweet sounds of screaming fading away behind me as I whistled a merry tune. Something about giggling at the ghosts or something, I think. I headed down several different side avenues until reaching the main boulevard through this part of town, the traffic thankfully light for this time of night…

Rolling my eyes at the unintended rhyme I took a look at the castle nestled further up the mountain, the old marble structure looking surprisingly serene all things considered. I held up a pocket watch, the half dozen arms it held twirling this way and that. Dammed chaos...

Noting the present time, as well as the time relative to when it was supposed to be currently from back then, but now. I smiled, knowing that the peaceful façade was about to be shattered.

At nearly the exact moment I had been expecting it an explosion broke the silence, a flash of light from a few blocks further along the street told me right where to go. I just love grenades! Such simple, wonderful, destructive little things. Not unlike myself…

Walking closer I could hear more things you might typically associate with a fight, shouting, clanging metal, spraying blood. Some poor sap was screaming, ‘my leg’!

All this and more went by, mostly ignored, by me for a few minutes. I was really only here to catch myself up, and because I really had no interest in being around for the boring bits with Luna. Seriously, if you think what happened to Celestia was bad; Luna is the one who’s one conniption fit away from brining down her own moon.

Hopping into the building via a rather conveniently placed hole I turned a corner and took a tepid glance at what there was to see. There, cornered and outnumbered as usual, was Alex fuckin Rustwing. The dumb sod was busted up pretty good from the looks of things, though; judging by the smear outside he was faring better than most of this lot.

With another snap of my fingers the entire scene before me froze, burning away a few more of the precious moments that I had left. Twirling my cane I sauntered forwards, taking stock of Alexs’ situation. The sword and spear were not of any immediate threat, but that hammer…

Oh that hammer…

I waited there, holding back the reins of this moment for what felt like years as I watched the hammer, its swing nearly perfect. My blood boiled, or at least it would have if I had any, but damn it all if I was going to owe Patches any more cash. 

“Fucking Vamps…”