private Whisper: The City Of Darkness

[Chaton 3,765]

Traitor, the voice could be heard in everypony's head now, barring Zayoh, today I will have my revenge. The alicorn-demon that had once been Luna descended through the hole in the roof, staring down at Lavender with an expression of utter fury. I will burn your mind and destroy your body, I will destroy your world and everything you...

​Well, that is not creepy nor condescending in any way shape or form.

 

The grenade exploded, sending white-hot metal scything through the room. One of the shards punctured a tank and hit the crystal inside, and for a moment tendrils of raw magic started seeping out of the cracks and through the liquid.

I watched in horror as an explosion occurred, hitting the crystal. The moment I saw the raw magic exit, I knew it would begin interaction with the ambient immediately. "Well. Sh-"

 

A fraction of a second later, the crystal exploded.

"-it" I finished before the explosion hit me.

 

The blast sent Scarlett flying straight into the gauze-wrapped crystal, shielding it from most of the blast. Pain lanced through her side as a fragment of something whizzed past her, cutting through her side, and then the ceiling fell on her.

 

I flinches as something flew through my side, not making a sound. I looked up and the ceiling was falling. "Just my luck" I said as I attempted to dodge it, the ceiling landing on everything but my head. I could feel a searing pain all through my body, but soon realised it was not as heavy as it looked. I managed to wiggle out under it, and noticed the door had been blown down like myself. I turned and shouted as best I could "The doors open!"

[Once In A Blue Moon 895]

@@Ethan Sawyer,@@Orion Caelum, @@Unicorncob, @@Chip Circuit, @@ForthEorl.

 

 

The alicorn-demon smashed its way clear of the debris, its flesh crawling as the shrapnel wounds knitted themselves together - even a fragment of metal that was wedged several inches into its skull didn't seem to concern it. An expression of doubt crossed its face as it saw that all three pegasus mutants had been killed, and it looked up with growing alarm as cannon- and musket-fire echoed across Ponyville. Spreading its wings to full extent, it launched itself skywards, its braying-screeching call answered by other, more distant mutants. With one final look back at Lavender, its face showing both fear and hatred in equal measure, it flew off towards the sound of its remaining pegasus mutants.

 

Crawling out from beneath the collapsed roof fragments, blood running down his side from a small puncture wound on his back,  Bramble coughed a couple of times and then clambered unsteadily to his hooves. 

 

"That must be the Scion," he said, nodding towards the sound of cannon-fire, "Now would probably be a good time to leave. Before that thing comes back," he winced and inhaled sharply as he took a step, adding "I certainly don't feel like walking anywhere."

 

 

She turned her head just to see an unknown mutant flop onto the floor in front of the bookshelf. Terror struck her chest as she looked at the unmoving creature and bounded over to her. She frowned and lowered her head to the mutant's, getting right in its face. "You were too good for this world..."

 

Arclight stood by Lavender, bleeding from several wounds but apparently content to wait. Gala Apple, who had been more distant from the blast and remained mostly unharmed, seemed to be thinking about something. She reached back into her saddlebags, stopped for a moment as she seemed to lose her concentration, and finally pulled out what appeared to be a diary and stared at it, oblivious to the devastation around her.

 

 

 

and attempted to get to him by pulling the corpse aside with his good foreleg.

 

 

 

Wilhelm looked up at Sharp with the beatific smile of the mentally addled. "I sheem to be in shome difficulty heeeeree..." he said, and attempted to stand.

 

 

The pegasus mutant was large and heavy - easily twice the size of a pony, and probably weighing even more. It was only pinning down one of Wilhelm's hindlegs, but getting it off  would be a non-trivial matter given the state he was in.

 

 

 

I managed to wiggle out under it, and noticed the door had been blown down like myself. I turned and shouted as best I could "The doors open!"

 

"Better still, we still seem to be breathing," quipped Bramble, the half-grin dying away as he saw Lavender and her fallen friend. Looking around at everypony else, Bramble assessed the group.

 

@@Chip Circuit

 

"I don't suppose you have anything to hoof to help?" Bramble asked Zayoh, attempting a sweeping gesture to encompass the group's injuries with a hoof but cutting it short with another wince as he tweaked something sore.

[Unicorncob 5,679]

Arclight stood by Lavender, bleeding from several wounds but apparently content to wait. Gala Apple, who had been more distant from the blast and remained mostly unharmed, seemed to be thinking about something. She reached back into her saddlebags, stopped for a moment as she seemed to lose her concentration, and finally pulled out what appeared to be a diary and stared at it, oblivious to the devastation around her.

 

Lavender sighed and closed the eyes of the perished mutant, before standing up and giving it a salute. "Frolic in the next life with your real identity, what's-your-face."

 

She turned and saw just how injured Arclight had gotten from the blast, and yelped with fear. "You're not gonna die on me too, are you?! I like you guys!"

[Chip Circuit 1,842]

 

 

"I don't suppose you have anything to hoof to help?" Bramble asked Zayoh, attempting a sweeping gesture to encompass the group's injuries with a hoof but cutting it short with another wince as he tweaked something sore.

 

 

Zayoh coughed as he cleared the dust from his airway, everything had happened so fast he hardly had a chance to assist the group. He dusted himself and his gaze fixated on his pack which now held a potion that he could only assume was a potion with ties to necromancy.

 

His attention was then taken from his pack as he heard bramble address him, he turned to see a clearly injured pony after the encounter. "In fact I do, However I do not have enough for all of you." The zebra said looking across the group to access the injuries since he only had three being that he left one with the kind before they arrived. "My potions will have to be given to those who seem to be close to death's door, I really do wish I had made more. Everypony else will unfortunately have to deal with basic first aid, let's just try to relocate before the next raid."

 

Zayoh then begun looking over the group's injuries to see who would need health potions more.

[nolongerabout 403]

@@Once In A Blue Moon, @@Orion Caelum,

 

Sharp tried in vain to shift the dead weight. Quite literally dead, in this regard. Perhaps if he had the use of both his hooves he might be able to hold it long enough for Wilhelm to move, but that was out of the question. Instead, he braced himself and bit down on the largest splinter. He wrenched it out with a spray of blood, and felt as though he had been struck with a hot iron. The pain was near unbearable, but he forced himself to tear the right sleeve off his jacket, and bind it tight about the wound. A shame, he had purchased this uniform only two weeks ago. Unable to shift the carcass on his own, he looked for the others.

 

"Anypony dead? I shall need some help over here! Mister Wilhelm has decided to trap himself, you see?" He smiled at the poor jest. A thought occurred to him. If the Scion was fending off an assault, there was little chance the marines would be able to retrieve the party unmolested until the enemy were repulsed. Nonetheless, he pulled the signal flaregun out of his saddlebag and fired it out of the gaping hole in the ceiling. He watched the bright flame rise, hoping beyond hope that they could be rescued. Their situation was nothing if not desperate.

[Once In A Blue Moon 895]

@@Ethan Sawyer,@@Orion Caelum, @@Unicorncob, @@Chip Circuit, @@ForthEorl.

 

 

 

 

Zayoh then begun looking over the group's injuries to see who would need health potions more.

 

 

 

 

She turned and saw just how injured Arclight had gotten from the blast, and yelped with fear. "You're not gonna die on me too, are you?! I like you guys!"

 

 

 Arclight was bleeding from numerous wounds, some of them quite deep, and was already looking pale from blood-loss. Without medical attention, they probably wouldn't survive, although they probably wouldn't keel over in the next few minutes.

 

 

 

I shall need some help over here! Mister Wilhelm has decided to trap himself, you see?

 

"Hang on, let me try and lever it up," Bramble said, hobbling over. Sticking a length of wood under the corpse, he pulled a chair over to act as a pivot and tried to lever the body up. The wood broke, but a quick search found a metal strut that proved strong enough to support the weight. It was the work of moments to slip Wilhelm out from underneath the fleshy mass, and thankfully it seemed to have been soft enough to avoid causing any serious injury to his legs.

 

 

 

Nonetheless, he pulled the signal flaregun out of his saddlebag and fired it out of the gaping hole in the ceiling. He watched the bright flame rise, hoping beyond hope that they could be rescued.

"We should make for higher ground," Bramble said, gesturing to the top of a nearby building, "It'll make it easier to spot us. Then we'll just have to trust Cloud Chaser to reach us first."

 

Several miles away, Cloud Chaser stood on Scion's deck. There was a splatter of off-colour blood on her uniform, and a hard expression on her face.

 

"Hard left," she called out, and the new helmspony obliged, bringing the Scion around. The two remaining pegasus-mutants gave chase, closing rapidly. With just under half of the marines dead or badly wounded, she knew that they couldn't survive another head-on confrontation, and as they angled towards Ponyville's town centre three more mutants rose out from amongst the buildings, trying to encircle them. She grimaced, assessing her rapidly shrinking options, and was about to shout out new orders when a flare shot into the sky, bursting red behind the approaching mutants.  

 

"Drop all ballast! Now!" Cloud Chaser bellowed, and Scion shot upwards. The oncoming mutant tried to rise with it, but proved too slow as it crashed into the side of the airship's hull and plummeted to the ground, "Angle the engines for quick descent, and head for the flare. Marines, make ready for pickup," she roared, loading her blunderbuss and turning to fire at the pursuing mutants.

[Dust and Memories 557]

"Wait!" Wilhelm cried as he stood again, his vertigo gone, and his muddled thoughts made clear by purpose. "I can't leave!" Frantically, he dashed to the next room over, heedless of his leg. His unnatural gait caused his other hind leg to be lacerated by a sharp fragment of door, but Wilhelm couldn't care less.

 

As the warm blood flowed down his leg, Wilhelm tore through the archives' index files, his academic etiquette forgotten as his consciousness threatened to fall back into the abyss with every pulse of pain. "I can't, I..." Limping more fiercely now, he staggered to the Forbidden Section, through a miasma of falling dust, smoldering books, and fallen shelves.

 

Seeing that the door was buckled but not open, he screamed at the top of his lungs in fury, and seizing the nearest fallen spar of metal from the roof, slammed it into the door. Once, twice, three times, four times, until the spar bent, his hoof bled, and the door fell in. Leaping over the threshold, he snatched as many books as he could carry that he found remotely relevant.

 

On Daemons. The Denizens of Tartarus. The Differentiality Between Applied Black Magic of Daemonic Races and Ponykind. Destructive Spells, Fifth-Order Alliterative. Crystal Empire Lithomancy. Voyage through Tartarus -- Our Year of Celestia 0671 Unabridged Treatise. And more besides, ones Wilhelm couldn't identify when his vision began to blur and swim.

 

Each one went into Wilhelm's saddlebags, until the flap was stained with blood and the bags bulged with the weight of knowledge. Slowly, steadily, Wilhelm began to stagger towards the group, teeth bared, eyes gleaming with near-maniacal determination. As he drew close, he shouted, in a voice broken and cut, "Scientiam ex meam sanguine, victoriam ex meam scientiam!" With that last, defiant yell, he fell to the floor just a few pony-lengths away from the group, insensate and grievously wounded, but with the precious cargo the group had originally come all this way for.

 

Wilhelm's sacrifice could save Canterlot. Could.

 

The real question was how much he had sacrificed for Twilight Sparkle's forbidden daemonological knowledge.

 

...And how much benefit that sacrifice would bring.

[Unicorncob 5,679]

 Arclight was bleeding from numerous wounds, some of them quite deep, and was already looking pale from blood-loss. Without medical attention, they probably wouldn't survive, although they probably wouldn't keel over in the next few minutes.

 

"Oh no, that's not good," Lavender whimpered, getting a look at Arclight's deep wounds, "That's meant to stay in, not gush out any which way!"

 

She looked in her bag for health potions, and brought her hoof out to slap it on her forehead. Of all the potions, she forgot to make healing ones! "Curse you, hindsight! Curse you and your little fluffy dog!"

 

She turned her head to Zayoh, seeing the zebra brandishing exactly what she needed in his hoof.

"Stripy friend!" She waved to him, "My mutant friend here needs a drink, and I'm all out!"

[Once In A Blue Moon 895]

@@Ethan Sawyer,@@Orion Caelum, @@Unicorncob, @@Chip Circuit, @@ForthEorl.

 

 

 

 

Each one went into Wilhelm's saddlebags, until the flap was stained with blood and the bags bulged with the weight of knowledge. Slowly, steadily, Wilhelm began to stagger towards the group, teeth bared, eyes gleaming with near-maniacal determination. As he drew close, he shouted, in a voice broken and cut, "Scientiam ex meam sanguine, victoriam ex meam scientiam!" With that last, defiant yell, he fell to the floor just a few pony-lengths away from the group, insensate and grievously wounded, but with the precious cargo the group had originally come all this way for.

 

 

Sharp and Bramble dashed over to help him, picking up several books that had fallen out of his saddlebags. A slip of paper fell out of one of them, which Bramble picked up as Sharp looked over Wilhelm.

 

"Any historians here?" Bramble asked, holding the piece of paper up for the others to see, "This ... it's a timeline, although it goes back further than it should."

 

 

 

She turned her head to Zayoh, seeing the zebra brandishing exactly what she needed in his hoof. "Stripy friend!" She waved to him, "My mutant friend here needs a drink, and I'm all out!"

@@Chip Circuit.

 

Moments later, the Scion flew past. It was still some distance away, but from its heading it seemed to be trying to search the area at speed whilst avoiding its pursuers - four pegasus mutants stark against the now setting sun. The characters might appreciate the first sunset in over a month, or they might be too busy.

[Unicorncob 5,679]

Sharp and Bramble dashed over to help him, picking up several books that had fallen out of his saddlebags. A slip of paper fell out of one of them, which Bramble picked up as Sharp looked over Wilhelm.

 

"Any historians here?" Bramble asked, holding the piece of paper up for the others to see, "This ... it's a timeline, although it goes back further than it should."

 

Lavender, confident that Zayoh would see to Arclight, turned her attention to Bramble and his paper. She trotted over for a closer look. It looked like what her attempt at drawing a straight line would be - getting bored near the middle and doodling around it.

 

"A bit too straight for my liking," she admitted, not exactly seeing the main point, "But I do like the colours!"

 

She blinked as she looked up toward her horn again. She was concentrating on... something. Again.

 

"Where do you think we'd find her?" She asked softly, "I heard she lives in Ponyville?"

[Once In A Blue Moon 895]

@@Ethan Sawyer,@@Orion Caelum, @@Unicorncob, @@Chip Circuit, @@ForthEorl.

 

"Down there!" A voice called out, and a trio of pegasus ponies spiraled down to meet the group. Their uniforms matched those of the Scion, if somewhat the worse for wear since the group last saw them, "Sgt Lightwing," the lead pegasus introduced themselves, "We're here to lift you back to the Scion. She's currently trying to shake her pursuers, but the next pass will bring her close enough for us to  lift you back up to her."

 

"Are there only three of you?" Bramble asked, incredulously, "None of us can fly, so we're all going to need lifting."

"Just us three," answered Lightwing, "but the Scion will be making as slow an arc round us as possible, so we should be able to make enough trips."

Edited May 30, 2016 by Once In A Blue Moon

[Unicorncob 5,679]

Lavender kept looking up at her forehead, as if she were paying attention to something. Though, whatever that something was was anypony's guess.

 

"...bingo!" She suddenly chirped, hitting her lower leg on her hoof in a 'Eureka!' gesture. "Then we should go there next!"

 

 

"Down there!" A voice called out, and a trio of pegasus ponies spiraled down to meet the group. Their uniforms matched those of the Scion, if somewhat the worse for wear since the group last saw them, "Sgt Lightwing," the lead pegasus introduced themselves, "We're here to lift you back to the Scion. She's currently trying to shake her pursuers, but the next pass will bring her close enough for us to  lift you back up to her."

 

She looked up and saw the uniformed pegasi, with a scowl starting to form. When was Cloud Chaser going to give her a fancy uniform already?

 

 

"Are there only three of you?" Bramble asked, incredulously, "None of us can fly, so we're all going to need lifting."

"Just us three," answered Lightwing, "but the Scion will be making as slow an arc round us as possible, so we should be able to make two trips."

 

Almost on cue, twitch emerged in her eye as she jerked, almost as if she were struck by sudden indigestion. She shuddered as her mismatched wings returned to her back, and her head cocked to the side as she felt something growing there as well.

 

A touch to the side of her forehead revealed a small lump, as well as on the other side. A second and third horn were starting to grow! One resembling an antler, the other curling into a horn one might find on an ibex.

 

When it finally ended, she lifted her hoof to touch both new horns, one after the other. "Okay, nopony freak out, but I might have just gotten an impulse horn job."

 

She blinked, and realised something. "Something tells me that should've hurt a lot more. As in, 'flailing on the ground and screaming in agony' kinda hurt."

[Dust and Memories 557]

Wilhelm slept. And the stars turned. The stars turned and whirled, and the moon danced. His sister's face appeared across his vision, her mouth set in an enigmatic smile, and her hair in an elegant updo, and Wilhelm wept without weeping.

 

Time flitted by like ten thousand years in the Correspondence Symbols of Tartarus, and Wilhelm withered without withering, was Seeking without seeking. He laughed without laughing, and in the world -- or was it the world, but yet a dream? -- his eyes flitted about beneath his eyelids as if delirious.

 

The burning scripts of Tartarus coiled around his blade as Wilhelm smote a demon with his sword, its blood dissolving into dust which floated away on a wind which smelled of gunpowder and his mother's favorite perfume. Wilhelm drove an arrow through a demon's eye at point-blank range, as its teeth clacked together an inch from his jugular like a filly's porcelain doll smashing itself to pieces on a tile floor.

 

And Wilhelm killed without killing. And Wilhelm screamed without screaming.

 

Tartarus returned. The opulent sky-palaces. The High Demons with their gleaming fangs and amber eyes, their words glowing like burning hydrogen. The bones of ponies cracking under Wilhelm's hooves, roads in the frozen ice of Judecca lined with the chalky white bones of his predecessors. Eclipse's last scream, the Lord of the Pit's final cry frozen by his last involuntary use of magic forever within the ice.

 

And the stars turned. And the stars looked at Wilhelm.

 

And Wilhelm murmured "Astra."

 

And the constellation -- Astra the Alicorn -- looked at him. And it nodded.

 

And it spoke. It -- she -- spoke of a war that never will be and always was. Always will be. Present infinitive past tense future perfect. And Wilhelm remembered chaos. And chaos it was. Chaos malformed history, twisted it. Discord, the Butcher of Truth. Discord, the Destroyer of Sanity. Discord, He Who Would Rend Time. Discord, Who Could Not Break the Tarot.

 

Chaos reified.

But imperfect.

 

And Astra told Wilhelm things. Things he would not remember, of purest crystal dragons and beings who spoke in tongues of twisting flame and the time before stars and after stars and all around the Whisper.

 

The stars will aid in Her escape.

 

Astra did not regret her decision.

 

Astra freed Nightmare Moon, and she did not care.

 

And then Astra left, and she took the Light and the Whisper.

 

Wilhelm's nightmares began again. And he wept, for that lost. And for that which could never be.

Edited May 30, 2016 by Orion Caelum

[Chip Circuit 1,842]

@@Orion Caelum,@@Unicorncob,  

 

After looking over the group Zayoh determined that only two ponies has injuries severe enough to warrant a health potion, one being one of lavender's followers which he had his own concerns about treating a mutant however it had been assisting Lavender and the group. The next was Wilhelm who had passed out through blood loss after pushing his body too far. 

 

The zebra walked up to the unconscious Wilhelm and knelt down in front of him, he then held his head in his hoof to angle upward so with the other he could begin pouring the potion down his throat making sure to massage his throat gently to assist him with swallowing in between pours.

 

Soon the first bottle was emptied so Zayoh stood back up setting the glassware back is his saddle bag. His attention then turned to Arclight who seemed to be struggling with the pain but managed to stay conscious. He approached her with a new health potion and held it out to her.

[Once In A Blue Moon 895]

@@Ethan Sawyer,@@Orion Caelum, @@Unicorncob, @@Chip Circuit, @@ForthEorl.

 

Soon the first bottle was emptied so Zayoh stood back up setting the glassware back is his saddle bag. His attention then turned to Arclight who seemed to be struggling with the pain but managed to stay conscious. He approached her with a new health potion and held it out to her.

 

Arclight took it with a grateful, if somewhat misshapen, smile. He drank the potion in two gulps before sitting down and handing the flask back to Zayoh as it started to take effect. His wounds stopped bleeding as the alchemical coagulants sped up the clotting process and boosted his immune system. His head also started nodding as the opioids took effect, dulling both the pain and his senses.

 

 

 

She blinked, and realised something. "Something tells me that should've hurt a lot more. As in, 'flailing on the ground and screaming in agony' kinda hurt."

 

"You're... Lavender... aren't you?" Lightwing said, a wary hesitance vying with and losing to morbid curiosity in his voice, "Capt'n said we would know you by sight... she told me to had this over to you," so saying, Lightwing produced a tricorn hat, heavy with silver thread and the Royal Air Fleet insignia in shades of coppery blue.

 

 

 

Wilhelm's nightmares began again.

 

Battle raged around him... the same old battle sprung to blood-soaked life as old timelines met new; destructive and constructive interference distorting past, present and future as they spiraled inwards to the null point of history. Ponies from ancient history overlapped with his friends of today; one moment a pegasus with withered wings walked through the battle, the enemy falling around him with a mere gesture of the spindly remains of his wings, then it was Zayoh, looking up calmly into a bolt of magical energy that evaporated in front of his face.

 

Lavender and Discord danced through the carnage, each indistinguishable from the other as reality buckled around them.

 

A bloodied earth pony raised a spear with a tattered flag at its head only to shift into Sharp bellowing defiance as he reared onto his hindlegs, sabre in one hoof and standard in the other as his position was swarmed by ever-shifting enemies, his shouts echoed by the crack the carbine floating by his side.

 

A jet-black pegasus flew over the battlefield, drinking in the death and destruction below, Scarlett looking down with a mix of horror and hunger from the deck of an airship.

 

A unicorn blinked around the battlefield, always on the move, Bramble darting too and fro, carrying messages for the generals and a knife for his foes.

 

And in the middle of it all, the ascendant alicorn fought a titanic beast of destruction, each shifting through history as the same battle was fought over and over. Then, in a blaze of light on the horizon, everything was consumed in fire, and darkness fell. As it had before. And as it would be again, the night was cold and dark, the unchanging stars looking down on the world. And as it always shall, the sun rose again. The battle was a distant memory, and a single pony, crystal spark, sat watching the rays of gold spill over the crest of a hill. She looked up at Wilhelm, smiling. Looking back up at the sky, the stars were fading from view, but the great constellation of Astra was still visible in the dawn sky. Crystal Spark's horn glowed, and reality seemed to split in two. In one, Crystal Spark seemed to shimmer, becoming almost ethereal. Ascending, she took her place by Astra, and the constellations welcomed her as their own. In the other Astra was torn from the sky, drawn into Crystal's horn, followed by the entire night sky. The eternal stars became nothing but a glint in Crystal's eyes - eyes that looked straight at Wilhelm. 

 

 

 

And he wept, for that lost. And for that which could never be.

 

 

Wilhelm awoke with a start. He was on the Scion, along with the rest of the group. There was a massive scorch mark on the deck that hadn't been there previously, the engines were making very unhealthy noises and the crew seemed badly depleted, but everyone had made it aboard.

Edited May 31, 2016 by Once In A Blue Moon

[Unicorncob 5,679]

"You're... Lavender... aren't you?"

 

Lavender blinked and turned her head to face Lightwing. "Last I checked. I could very well be somepony completely different right now."

 

 

"Capt'n said we would know you by sight... she told me to had this over to you," so saying, Lightwing produced a tricorn hat, heavy with silver thread and the Royal Air Fleet insignia in shades of coppery blue.

 

The mare's jaw dropped at the sight of the silver threaded tricorn hat. It looked so cool!

 

She grinned ear to ear and pattered all her hooves on the floor, squealing with joy. "YES! I knew she wouldn't forget!"

 

She took the hat in her magic and plopped it on her head, humming to herself. All she needed was a longcoat and she could procure a sailboat and travel the ocean.

 

Captain Lavender Gleam, Scourge of the South Luna Sea. She liked the sound of that.

 

But, for now, she had matters to attend to. Like with mutants and her coming close to looking like one.

[nolongerabout 403]

@@Once In A Blue Moon,

 

Sharp sighed as his hooves clattered down on the airship's deck. "never have I been so glad to get on a bloody airship," He said to himself. But this was no time to stand around. They were surrounded by the enemy, battered and bloodied, and though he rarely fled in the face of danger, Sharp decided that a tactical retreat was their best option. Beyond that, running with their tails between their legs didn't seem too bad either. he paced about the deck, looking for the captain, ignoring the dull throb coming from his foreleg. He stopped a sailor.

 

"Where's the captain, lad? We'd best be gone before those buggers reform, and charge again."

[Once In A Blue Moon 895]

@@Ethan Sawyer,@@Orion Caelum, @@Unicorncob, @@Chip Circuit, @@ForthEorl.

 

 

 

"Where's the captain, lad? We'd best be gone before those buggers reform, and charge again."

 

 

"Capt'n's below deck," the sailor answered, the fear evident in his voice, "The last mutant we met whopped her one. Doc says she'll be alright, or what's left of her will at any rate, but she hasn't come round yet."

 

"We can't wait for her," Bramble said, "We need to make for the Everfree at best possible speed," he held up Twilight's journal, which he had been leafing through, "Everything we've heard or found suggests that's where she will have gone. I don't know where, but she has a lab or archive of some kind built there."

 

"Those two remaining flying mutants are between us and the Everfree," the sailor said, "Unless you want to go through them, which we are in no condition for, we'll need to lose them first,"

 

"Well, what do we do?" Bramble asked, addressing the group, "We still have several days in hand, as long as the demon army does as expected, but sooner is definitely better. Although better late than a flaming wreck," he added, looking up at one of the engines, which had been dealt a glancing blow by a mutant and was looking decidedly the worse for wear.

 

@@Chip Circuit.

A wisp of light danced around Zayoh, swiftly joined by several others, and the wind gusted in greeting.

[nolongerabout 403]

@@Once In A Blue Moon,

 

Sharp considered their options. The return to Canterlot would no doubt also be fraught with danger, but the immediate threat of two giant hostile pegasi made him think. There was no way to get past them, unless...

 

He hated himself for even thinking of it. But it might work. Gods be damned, he hated it. But what choice did they have? Lose perhaps their one chance to fix this all for good?

 

"Sergeant," he spoke to Lightwing, "I need your two fastest fliers. And open the magazine, give everypony at least one firelock. Two, if you have them spare. Everypony, then issue a dozen rounds each. If they can fire a gun, they're to be given one. If there aren't enough guns, issue boarding pikes, cutlasses. When we have to make a stand, I'd prefer everypony have a chance of defending themselves." He paused, realizing he was unarmed. "And bring me a sword, if you'd be so kind. I'd prefer a straight blade with a bit of weight to it, if you have such a thing. Thank you."

[Unicorncob 5,679]

"Capt'n's below deck," the sailor answered, the fear evident in his voice, "The last mutant we met whopped her one. Doc says she'll be alright, or what's left of her will at any rate, but she hasn't come round yet."

 

Lavender let out a gasp of terror from hearing Cloud Chaser had been hurt. "She's gonna be okay, right? I didn't get to thank her for my new hat!" She frowned and gently tapped the tricorn on her head.

 

 

"We can't wait for her," Bramble said, "We need to make for the Everfree at best possible speed," he held up Twilight's journal, which he had been leafing through, "Everything we've heard or found suggests that's where she will have gone. I don't know where, but she has a lab or archive of some kind built there."

 

"Those two remaining flying mutants are between us and the Everfree," the sailor said, "Unless you want to go through them, which we are in no condition for, we'll need to lose them first,"

 

"Well, what do we do?" Bramble asked, addressing the group, "We still have several days in hand, as long as the demon army does as expected, but sooner is definitely better. Although better late than a flaming wreck," he added, looking up at one of the engines, which had been dealt a glancing blow by a mutant and was looking decidedly the worse for wear.

 

Even a pony as loony as Lavender understood the group was in quite a pickle. The mutants outside would make travelling to the Everfree Forest difficult, to say the least.

 

Her eyes widened as she recalled something that had popped into her head a while ago.

 

They seem to like chaos magic... I'm chock-full of it. I've got it!

 

"Ooh, ooh! Pick me! I have an idea!" She squeaked, hopping in place and waving a hoof in the air, grinning ear to ear at Bramble. "Those beasties out there seem to like what I've got going on, so if I get them to play someplace else, you guys can get to the Castle of the Two Sisters no problem, and I can catch up later!"

 

She beamed, nothing but proud of her plan.

[Dust and Memories 557]

"Or I could shoot them out of the sky," Wilhelm said grimly. He had stood, carefully making sure not to put too much weight on his injured leg. "Lavender, are you absolutely sure you can control them? The daemons may possess greater affinity, and we don't know whether this..." He rolled the word around in his mouth, like a fine vintage of wine. "This... bishop... is still in the area. Furthermore, even if you're trying to just distract them and buy us time, how do we know you'll survive? I don't want to risk a single one of my students."

 

His expression softened, almost appearing tender for a fraction of a second. One of Wilhelm's glasses' lenses was slightly cracked, and he frowned as he realized it. "Then again, my aim may be impaired. I'm asking you, Lavender... do you feel confident enough in your own abilities?"

[Once In A Blue Moon 895]

@@Ethan Sawyer,@@Orion Caelum, @@Unicorncob, @@Chip Circuit, @@ForthEorl.

 

 

 

 

"Sergeant," he spoke to Lightwing, "I need your two fastest fliers. And open the magazine, give everypony at least one firelock. Two, if you have them spare. Everypony, then issue a dozen rounds each. If they can fire a gun, they're to be given one. If there aren't enough guns, issue boarding pikes, cutlasses. When we have to make a stand, I'd prefer everypony have a chance of defending themselves." He paused, realizing he was unarmed. "And bring me a sword, if you'd be so kind. I'd prefer a straight blade with a bit of weight to it, if you have such a thing. Thank you."

 

"Aye sir," Lightwing said, his expression grim as he relayed the orders to the remaining sailors and marines, "Bolter, Windy, got a job for you," he finished before remarking to Sharp, "Fast and reliable sir, whatever you need they'll get it done. For a blade, this is the best we've got - it's a cutlass, but sized for an earth pony, so it's got quite some umph behind it," he handed the almost-straight cutlass over. It only a couple of inches longer than the one Lightwing carried, but it weighed over a pound more and from the look of it had been used to hack through innumerable ropes, and possibly a door or two.

 

'Bolter' and 'Windy' saluted, apparently content to be referred to by their nicknames. Bolter was a blue pegasus with a short-cut pale-blue mane just visible beneath his tricorn, which was physically tied to his head with a length of string, whilst Windy, a light brown pegasus with a black mane, had forgone her tricorn entirely in favour of an against-regulation flying cap.

 

 

 

They seem to like chaos magic... I'm chock-full of it. I've got it!

 

Nopony needed a magic sense to see that Lavender was almost crackling with energy now - at some point one of her eyes had changed colour as well, and was now a dark shade of orange, whilst he wings and horns / antlers, seemed to be growing. The slightest flicker of her wings seemed to produce a whirring noise of increasing pitch, and there was a mischievous glint in her eye that seemed to move almost independently of the pupil.

 

 

 

I'm asking you, Lavender... do you feel confident enough in your own abilities?"

@@Unicorncob. 

Edited June 5, 2016 by Once In A Blue Moon

[Unicorncob 5,679]

Lavender glanced back up at her horn - her unicorn one - and smirked.

 

 

"Lavender, are you absolutely sure you can control them? The daemons may possess greater affinity, and we don't know whether this..." He rolled the word around in his mouth, like a fine vintage of wine. "This... bishop... is still in the area. Furthermore, even if you're trying to just distract them and buy us time, how do we know you'll survive? I don't want to risk a single one of my students."

His expression softened, almost appearing tender for a fraction of a second. One of Wilhelm's glasses' lenses was slightly cracked, and he frowned as he realized it. "Then again, my aim may be impaired. I'm asking you, Lavender... do you feel confident enough in your own abilities?"

 

"I know I'll survive," She beamed at her teacher, waggling her tail under her cloak, "I'll checkmate this bishop and be back in time for dessert."

 

She giggled into her hoof. "After all, you can't kill chaos~"

 

Nopony needed a magic sense to see that Lavender was almost crackling with energy now - at some point one of her eyes had changed colour as well, and was now a dark shade of orange, whilst he wings and horns / antlers, seemed to be growing. The slightest flicker of her wings seemed to produce a whirring noise of increasing pitch, and there was a mischievous glint in her eye that seemed to move almost independently of the pupil.

 

As power grew within Lavender, a determination and excitement grew with it. She snickered to herself as the mischievous glint in her darkened eye bounced around her pupil.

 

"I dunno what you're doing to me," she muttered to herself, "but I like it~"

 

Making a sound almost identical to a high-speed aircraft, she shot up through the hole caused by the mutants earlier, and took a look around to get her bearings.

 

"Now, where are our new friends...?"

[nolongerabout 403]

@@Once In A Blue Moon,

 

Sharp buckled the sword to his belt, nodded in thanks to the sergeant, and turned to the two sailors. He pointed at one of the mutants blocking their path. "Reckon you can fly faster than one of those? Because if Miss Lavender doesn't get rid of them, we'll need a distraction to get past them. You lead them on a little dance, then loop back and meet up with us over the Everfree." He paused, appalled at what he was about to say. "I won't order you to go. You have to volunteer. And I'll be honest- It'll be damned bloody bad. You won't be able to take anything that will slow you down. When you make it back, and you will, the drinks'll be on me."

 

He walked to the rail, and looked out over the dark horizon towards the capital. How would his guards fare without him, should their efforts fail? Would they get out of the city, or fight to the last to defend their homes? Sharp hoped he would see them again, before all this was done.

 

"If you can't find the ship, head to Canterlot. They'll need all the help they can get. Look for the Canterlot Royal Musketeers, tell 'em Captain Sharp sent you. They'll make you welcome."

 

he turned his gaze back to Lavender, watching her progress.

[Once In A Blue Moon 895]

@@Ethan Sawyer,@@Orion Caelum, @@Unicorncob, @@Chip Circuit, @@ForthEorl.

 

 

 

"I won't order you to go. You have to volunteer. And I'll be honest- It'll be damned bloody bad. You won't be able to take anything that will slow you down. When you make it back, and you will, the drinks'll be on me."

 

 

"You can count on us sir," Bolter said, his expression serious. Windy, a devil-may-care grin on her face, just nodded. 

 

 

Making a sound almost identical to a high-speed aircraft, she shot up through the hole caused by the mutants earlier, and took a look around to get her bearings.

 

 

 

he turned his gaze back to Lavender, watching her progress.

 

 

 

"I am here, Ab'ahn," Lavender called out in a deep voice that was not her own. One of her forelegs seemed to be trying to grow scales and talons, but eventually seemed to settle for a faint dappled pattern. Her wings, however, grew in size again, the phoenix wing burning with a lavender tint at the edges. Arclight and Gala, each with similar if less impressive wings flew out to join her as well. The two mutants backed off, remaining between the airship and the Everfree but letting them advance. 

 

Then let us have a reckoning, traitor.

 

The Luna alicorn-demon rose from amongst the buildings, flanked by half a dozen pegasus mutants. 

 

Celestia is dead, her court is shattered and her beloved little ponies cannot stand against us. Tonight I shall end you, and the legacy of Astra's rebellion will finally be extinguished. 

 

The now eight-strong pegaus mutants moved to surround the airship, apparently still wary of its firepower and lacking the will to charge in with their master's attention elsewhere. Bolter and Windy flew at them, harassing them and trying to draw their attention, but they were simply batted away when they got too close and were otherwise ignored. It was at this point that reality itself seemed to buckle and split. Half the airship seemed to be going in a different direction, the Everfree overlapped with Canterlot, hundreds of mirrored pegasus mutants charged the airship in unison and the cannons roared in response.

 

Fragments of metal and wood flew threw the air as some of the shot hit the airship, sending splinters of wood flying through crew and the oncoming mutants alike. Even time seemed to be affected, as a crewpony shot twice, reloaded twice, turned to see a mirror of themselves and accidentally shot each other in shock. As the warped contours of reality sent everything askew, only the deck around Zayoh seemed to remain unaffected, an island of calms in the middle of a tempest.

 

'Lavender' and 'Luna', if either could truly be called by their original names any more, faced each other down. 'Luna' drew a sword from nowhere, and as it cut through the air to point a 'Lavender' it seemed to cut a hole in the world - barely visible through the almost two-dimensional line lay a realm of biting cold snow and steel-grey rock, a desolate wasteland that seemed to stretch on forever.

 

To Tartarus with you, Discord.

 

With that, 'Luna' charged at 'Lavender'.