*Author's Note: Just as a warning to people who may not like it, the next few chapters are going to be very centered around OC's more than actual MLP canon characters. I doubt anyone's going to have a real problem with this, but just as a head's up.*
"Ooooh, man, I can feel it…" Blanc said ominously.
"THE BOREDOM. IT'S SETTING IN. IT HAS BEGUN!" he cried at the top of his lungs.
Dreamcatcher opened her mouth to speak, but the ERA's Head Captain immediately shut up when she received a glare from Applejack.
"Ah thought you were the one who had been gettin' all angry at us all for complainin' 'bout nothing to do earlier," she said to Blanc, saying what Dreamcatcher was about to, but in a way that wouldn't end up becoming another childish back-and-forth argument.
Blanc sighed heavily as he drooped his head, looking forward out into the forest, a seemingly never-ending span of trees in the mountain valley. "The fresh air has been nice and all, but I'd REALLY like to do something other than walking for the next decade."
For once, the other ponies had to agree; since that morning, when the CMC had dropped in unexpectantly, all that the group of nine had done was walk in a never-ending straight line—Derpy's body was always leading the way, whether she herself was conscious or not. Very little conversation had happened the entire day, and Rarity and Applejack were still furious about their little sisters deciding to follow them on their mission, so the little fillies still had no clue what was going on, and were too afraid to ask.
It was mid-afternoon by now, and the now-sky-high mountain peaks were blocking the sun's direct glow, the narrow valley-forest being cast in a dark shadow. The forest itself had a peculiar sense about it—it was nothing like the dark, creepy presence of Everfree Forest, but something still felt…out of place. There was little to no activity from the wildlife in the forest. Actually, there didn't even seem to be any wildlife; every once in a while, you may see a bird fly overhead, or a nut or leaf fall off a tree branch onto the road, preceded by a small snap of a twig, but none of the ponies had seen or heard a single animal the entire time they had been in the forest. It was unsettling, to say the least. Perhaps the best explanation for the forest's "peculiar sense" was how it looked completely normal—green leaves, light brown bark, long grass and short shrubs lining the dirt road—but the fact that nothing seemed to want to call this place 'home' gave the entire forest a malevolent feel, as if there was something the animals knew about this place that the ponies didn't.
Dreamcatcher and Blanc were the only ones who didn't take much notice of this. They had ridden this road a couple dozen times, Dreamcatcher more in particular, but they too had thought strange of the absence of life when they had first ventured through.
Another snap of a twig was heard as the ponies noticed a dead leaf fall a few yards ahead of them. "Yeesh," Pinkie said, "this whole forest gives me the heebie jeebies!"
"Meh," Dreamcatcher said, "you get used to it with time. The place really does have a creepy feel, but it's probably just that you guys aren't used to such silence. The first time you walk through here, it really feels as though something is hiding in the bushes, ready to strike you when you have your guard down, doesn't it?" she said, more thinking aloud than she was advising the others. Unfortunately, the rest of the group didn't take it that way, and they all shuffled nervously at the thought.
"Uh, no, it doesn't really feel like that." Derpy replied, looking back to the unicorn. "At least, it didn't feel like that…" she whispered to herself, glancing around the dark spots of the trees with her head lowered down.
Dreamcatcher noticed Sweetie Belle and Applebloom cowering in the wagon Scootaloo was pulling after she said that. Realizing what she had implied, she quickly tried to correct herself, "Er, no! I didn't mean that there is something watching us, waiting to hunt us at just the right moment!" She saw Applejack and Rarity look at each other in terror. "No, uh, that's not right! Please, don't get any ideas about some murderous entity watching our every move, it is simply preposterous!" Each word she spoke drove more fear into the ponies' hearts. "Blanc, you've gone through here before, help me out here!"
Blanc cracked a smile at her. "It's like you're slipping down on the same patch of ice each time you try to get back up," he said to her, trying to hold back a laugh. Dreamcatcher huffed at him, but swiftly turned away to avoid causing another argument. Then again, somebody should probably start up a different topic to avoid having the group die from a collective heart attack.
"Oh, don't worry now, everypony," Blanc said, actually trying to help out Dreamcatcher, but more than anything else, trying to calm the three hysterical fillies tagging along, "even if there WAS a monster hiding in the shadows, Dreamer and I would bash their asses into next Tuesday!"
Derpy replied to his statement, but not about the part the others had expected her to, "But tomorrow is Tuesday, so you'd just be bashing them into the next day, which I don't think is really all that far, as far as a metaphor is supposed to go…"
Ignoring her, Applejack and Rarity both turned back and gave Blanc a very cold stare. He realized his mistake of swearing in front of children, "Uh, girls? Never say 'ass', it's a bad bad word." The two older sisters, and Dreamcatcher, all gave him an 'Are you kidding me?' look. He stuttered a bit more, realizing that he didn't give a good example, again. "…Uh, also, you shouldn't say that because you are only little girls. I'm allowed to say it because I'm an adult." The three fillies slowly nodded in understanding; Dreamcatcher smacked him in the back of the head, causing the golden helmet around his head to start resonating in his ears. "OW," he yelled in Dreamcatcher's ear, after the ringing had subsided.
Dreamcatcher glanced at Blanc and cracked a smile at him. "It's like you're trying to dig your way out of a hole. Through a pit of clay. With a kitchen spoon."
Before Blanc could object, it was Derpy who rebutted her statement. "Actually, you can easily dig your way out of a hole by digging stairs out the side of it."
"What are you, a trivia game-show?" Rarity snapped back at the pegasus. Derpy looked behind her to Rarity, a shocked look on her face. Seeing this, Rarity cringed and frowned, "I'm sorry, Derpy dear, I suppose I'm getting towards the end of my wits."
The rest of the group, sans the three who tagged along just this morning, all nodded in silent agreement. The monotony and flat-out enigmatic nature of this entire mission was fraying every last nerve of the already weary ponies. The entire past few days had seemed like an eternity:
Saturday morning was when it had started. It had been a normal day for all the ponies, until Pinkie had discovered the location of the 'one-way-in portal spark' at Ponyville with Twilight Sparkle. About an hour later, Twilight was reported missing along with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. The two hours following that incident was extremely frantic, Princess Celestia herself in full-alert mode and putting all of Ponyville into evac/lockdown. Every resident had been questioned about what they knew or had witnessed, and any witnesses that had seen anything was immediately escorted without question to Canterlot Castle, where each one had been questioned, and the information of each pony's testimony pieced together to by Blanc to try and understand exactly what happened. Afternoon of the same day, Princesses Celestia and Luna went over all the information, and proceeded to brainstorm in their private room, leaving the secondary, mandatory Ponyville evac in the hands of Blanc and the Pegasus Division. They had then sent a letter to Twilight through the portal in Ponyville, only hoping that it would reach her on the other side. By evening, after Celestia's 'eureka' moment, Luna traveled to Everfree with Blanc and Dreamcatcher. That night, Rarity and Derpy caused the 'disturbance' in the library, along with the contact with the 'hivemind spark', which had sent this entire performance into its second act—finding the alicorn Omega. The six that were going to embark on finding him were vaguely briefed on his history, and Luna said that she was going to travel through the portal alone, to the place Twilight and the others had gone. Sunday morning, after receiving some much-needed sleep, everypony had gathered their things and traveled back to Canterlot to begin the trek. After the briefing with Celestia, they began for the north, where Derpy's unconsciousness was leading them, the Cutie Mark Crusaders following their footsteps about a third of a mile behind. The following day and a half had been very uneventful; they made their way into the forest, and late Sunday night they stopped to rest at the hidden safehouse. They were woken up early Monday morning by the three fillies, the unnerving darkness of the forest making them giving up on stealth and want to continue on safely with the group they had been following. From Monday morning to now, late Monday afternoon (perhaps Monday evening—it was hard to tell from the mountains blocking the sun), the group of what was now nine ponies had kept walking without a word, unsure of what, if any, events had gone on while they were gone. Mainly, their worry was for Princess Luna, who they hadn't heard from since she had entered the portal…
…and those were the events of the eon that was the past three days (Author's note: sorry if that seemed really lengthy, but I felt a wrap-up of what has happened and when it happened was kinda necessary at this point ¯\(°_o)/¯ ).
"How far do you think we are from the northern shore, now?"
Though the sun couldn't be seen, it was obvious that it had passed the horizon by this point. The sky was beginning to reveal the twinkling stars above that hid during the day. To the west, a faint shade of reddish-pink hovered over the looming towers of earth that were the vast mountains. It really was a miracle that the valley road was so straight, concerning the amount of unleveled terrain to each side, the bases of which were perhaps only a mile or two away.
"The northern shore?" Dreamcatcher spoke up, "If I were to guess…let's see…over the past twenty-three times I've went there from Canterlot on foot…the mean average of which, excluding rest times and assuming my velocity while actually walking was exactly one meter per every two seconds—our current speed, mind you—I would say that the distance from Canterlot to the northern shore is approximately…" Blanc gave a look of amusement as she did the math in her head, "…thirty-five kilometers," she said finally, giving a confident nod in confirmation.
"Oh, please." Blanc started, and Dreamcatcher gave her own look of amusement towards Blanc, "How can you claim to be so accurate about something like that?"
Dreamcatcher raised her chin up at him, giving her complicated explanation, all the other ponies looking back to her with interest, "Sure, I do have to make certain assumptions in order to do the calculation, but consider this: since yesterday morning, the times we spent walking was about eleven-hundred hours at Canterlot to nineteen-hundred hours when we took a break in the safehouse. We were then disturbed by three young fillies," the Cutie Mark Crusaders hung their heads low, "in the waking hours of the morning, about zero six-hundred hours. We took four fifteen-minute breaks from then until now, which I can only assume is approximately nineteen-hundred hours. Subtracting the differences between the starts and finishes, and subtracting an hour for the breaks, we end up with a total of twenty hours. Keeping with me so far?"
"Yes," Blanc growled, "I'm not a moron, I can do complicated math; also, I thought you were telling us how you know the distance to the northern shore, not how far we've gone."
"If you actually could, I wouldn't the need to explain it to you…" Dreamcatcher muttered under her breath, but saying it just loud enough for Blanc to hear. "Anyway, what I'm doing right now is extending on what I said earlier, Blanc; have some patience. I had counted specifically how long it had taken to reach the Triembassy each time I had went there; now, I have been told multiple times by the ambassador and the guards that the time it takes to get from the gates of the Triembassy to the bridge at the northern shore is six and a half hours by walking. The average speed of a fully-grown pony is half a meter per second, and the total time it took me to get to the Triembassy from Canterlot is forty-six hours. Subtract the six and a half, and you end up with thirty-nine and a half hours to reach the northern shore. Thirty-nine and a half hours, in seconds, is exactly one-hundred forty-two thousand and two-hundred seconds. Multiply that by one half of a meter per second, which in essence is dividing by two seconds per meter, and you end up with seventy-one thousand and one-hundred meters. That's seventy-one kilometers. We've walked for twenty hours, which is exactly seventy-two thousand meters, or seventy-two kilometers. Divide that by two seconds per meter, and we get thirty-six kilometers, pretty much exactly half of the distance to the northern shore." Dreamcatcher puffed her chest out in pride, but to her it really was simple math. Even Derpy, her body still mainly controlled by her unconscious, had stopped in its tracks halfway through the speech to look at Dreamcatcher.
"Ferget Big Macintosh—THAT'S some fancy mathematics." Applejack said in awe.
"Wait, so that means to reach the northern shore…" Sweetie Belle was struggling to do the same math in her head, "…it would take…about another twenty hours?"
"But that's another two days of walking!" Scootaloo added, "One day, if we skip out on sleeping…"
"As Princess Celestia had said," Derpy started, her body beginning to return to its unknown walk towards its destination, "we can only hope Omega isn't in the Blue Sea, or another country, for that matter."
"Omega?" the CMC all questioned in unison.
"Please don't ask," Applejack sighed, exasperated, "we har'ly know anything about 'im ourselves."
Pausing, they looked over to each other, and then decided to keep going onwards without any further questions.
Another crack of a twig sounded faintly in the distance, but none of the ponies had heard it.
Except for Dreamcatcher and Blanc, who stopped dead in place. Another twig snapped, followed by a few moments of complete silence. The others hadn't noticed the two's alertness, and continued going forward. Dreamcatcher and Blanc looked to each other through the corner of their eyes, and carefully began walking again.
The sound of hooves started up, but it wasn't from anyone they knew—it was coming from several yards away on both sides of the road, coming closer to them within the bushes; quietly, but not silently. Then they heard arms being raised up, lifting something to eye-level.
"EVERYPONY GET DOWN!-" Blanc barely had time to get his sentence out before pin-tipped blow-darts shot out at the group from both sides of the dark pathway. Dreamcatcher formed a small barrier around herself, enveloping Blanc as well, the darts sticking into the magic shield, but not penetrating it. The same couldn't be said for the rest of the group. The two head captains watched in horror as a single dart hit square in the neck of each pony, even the little fillies that had come along earlier that morning. As Pinkie had once stated, the first reaction to 'look out' or 'get down' wasn't to do said action, but rather look to see the pony that was yelling in the first place.
It took only seconds as each one fell to the ground, unconscious. Derpy was still walking, her body not caring that she was out cold. A few more darts could be seen shot out at her, until her body too gave up the fight and collapsed to the ground. More darts were being shot at the barrier Dreamcatcher had up.
"Who are they? They got some sorta shield up!" a voice whispered loudly in the bushes.
"Hmph. We may as well come on out, there's no reason to hide our presence anymore," spoke a gray unicorn in a dark, slimy voice, as he came out from the bushes. At least, his snout was gray—the rest of his body was covered in a black cloth suit that bound snugly against his body. He cracked a smile as he glared at the two with black eyes, "I do not know who you two are, but I commemorate your attempt to protect yourself from us. Unfortunately," he began to pace back and forth in front of the two, the barrier still around them, "you cannot win this battle against us." More ponies came out from the bushes, each one wearing the same concealing cloth, each one only discernable from the color of their snouts and eyes; Dreamcatcher counted a total of eleven of them; additionally, she noted that they were all earth ponies. The unicorn continued, "We are an elite team of bandits, and I must say," he stopped pacing and eyed the two, "it appears we've stepped upon Equestrian royalty."
Dreamcatcher looked back at the unconscious bodies lying on the ground a few yards away, and then stared at the unicorn with icy daggers in her eyes. "What do you want with us! We carry only means of shelter and sustenance—anything you seek we certainly do not hold with us!"
The unicorn rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and then smiled at her. "Actually, we're 'elite bandits' for a reason; we don't rob ponies of petty items or large riches. I mean sure, if they are carrying with them a massive jewel or such, we will not hesitate to relinquish them of it, but that's not what we're after." There was a pause.
Blanc sneered at him, "So I guess you want to have a little time for a guessing game? Fine, I'll bite! What is it that you 'elite assholes' are after?"
The unicorn wasn't pleased with his last statement. "You wound me. I hadn't even requested anything of you, I'm simply co-mingling. Can I at least have that without you handing out such harsh words?"
Blanc spoke through gritted teeth, "Not when you make a move to render all of us unconscious. I command you, tell us your plans!"
The unicorn smiled slyly and cocked an eyebrow, "I only want what's best for you all. We can go over negotiations once you lower that barrier—unless you'd prefer I do it myself?" He lifted his head, and a pitch-black aura surrounded his horn. A second later, a black bowl-shaped dome, similar to the light shield surrounding Blanc and Dreamcatcher, formed just above the light one the two Head Captains were taking refuge in.
"BLANC!" Dreamcatcher screamed as she used her magic to become invisible, an instant later grabbing Blanc by the tail as she began to run. The black bowl dropped onto the light one, and both vanished into thin air with a shower of light and sparks when they came into contact with each other. By the time the shields had obliterated each other, an invisible Dreamcatcher had ran several feet away, now using her magic to also turn a discombobulated Blanc invisible whilst still being dragged away on the dirt road, away from the other ponies that lay on the ground.
Seeing that they were escaping, something snapped in the unicorn bandit's head, and his calm disposition completely disappeared as his hostility grew. "NO! DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY!" Apparently, the unicorn hadn't expected this, and was becoming panicky when he saw Dreamcatcher make her escape. The henchmen began to give chase, following the trail of dirt that was kicked up by Dreamcatcher's hooves and Blanc's body. Half the ponies were running towards them, while the other half shot more blow-darts at them. They all missed as Dreamcatcher kept running, and when she felt she was at a safe distance, teleported from the scene.
"NO! NO NO NO! DAMNIT! FIND THEM, FIND THEM NOW! I DON'T CARE IF THIS WHOLE FOREST IS BURNED DOWN, FIND THEM BEFORE SOMEPONY ELSE DOES!" The unicorn was infuriated. He'd made the biggest mistake anyone in his business could—underestimating his opponent. He had been toying with them, showing off what he could do. He had figured that the pegasus with the golden armor was just wearing it for show—heh, 'figured', he thought. Yes, yes…that was indeed the biggest mistake he could make, and he had just made it. All their hard work could be compromised here and now. The whole reason they'd never been found out was because they left no witnesses. And now?...
Half a mile from the site of the ambush, a flash of light appeared in the middle of the dense foliage, and Dreamcatcher undisguised herself and Blanc, giving her magic a rest. Now that she could see Blanc, she could also see the small pins that had been shot into his body.
"Ow," Blanc stated plainly, as he began to feel his consciousness fading.
Dreamcatcher put a hoof over her mouth. "Oh dear Celestia…Blanc, I'm so sor-"
"Hey now, don't get all sappy on me," Blanc was fighting off the tempting thoughts of sleep, "your top priority now is to help the others that are still stuck in that shithole. Just shove me off into a secret ditch or something, I don't mind where as long as they won't find me, which I'm sure…they're already doing right…now…" His eyes were getting droopy. The darts hadn't reached his neck, so he had several extra seconds of consciousness, but those seconds had already ticked by. "FIND THEM. I have no idea what that unicorn has in mind for them…but the fact that he doesn't seem to take prisoners has me worried…"
"Blanc…"
"Find…them…save…th…" His body went limp, and his head drooped onto the ground. She could still hear his breathing, but that didn't stop the surge of sadness that overtook her body. She was fighting back tears as she realized all the others have faced the same fate as Blanc—only worse. That unicorn was taking them somewhere as she was just sitting there.
'Save them.'
Dreamcatcher teleported into the mountains nearby, placing Blanc into a snug cavern. Then, she returned as silently as she could to the dirt road, watching as the unicorn threw the lifeless ponies onto a cart a wheeled them away. Her tears had dried on her face by now, and all that was left on that face was pure, unadulterated rage.
She was pissed.