19

Gone

"I'll see you later."

Those were the last words Rainbow heard from Soarin'. That was over an hour ago, some five miles back. The two were been charged with scouting out Trottingham. Thunderhead received a few reports saying the griffons had left the isles entirely after they had lost the cannons, and the two had been sent to see if they were just empty rumors.

The forest was dense, and the fog didn't help matters. Pines towered high above her, vanishing, making her feel nearly insignificant. She had seen nothing of note since she and Soarin' split, aside for an odd looking tree and a peculiar rock formation. There didn't seem to be any life at all in it, not even mice or squirrels or birds. She thought she smelled something funny, but only caught whiffs of it once in a while.

She kept walking. Her hooves felt heavy, her ankles ached with each step. She wanted to fly, but she had promised to keep a low profile in case griffons still lurked around. The pine needles crackled underneath her. Other than that odd odor, the forest smelled nice, peaceful even. She always liked the smell of pine. It helped calm her somewhat, a small bit of reassurance in the otherwise unwelcoming atmosphere. Trottingham might not have been so bad a place to live before the war, she thought to herself.

Her hoof brushed up against something cold, and a loud metal crack echoed next to her. She jumped, feeling the object hit her hoof as she went. She hovered a small ways away, looking at the disturbed needles. A rusted semicircle arced over the foliage. She took a closer look at it and recognized it as a bear trap, chained up to a nearby tree. She shook her head. She guessed they didn't want anypony coming in or out. She decided to fly to Trottingham, just very low to the ground. She liked her legs.

Some time passed, Rainbow guessed about five minutes, and she saw more evidence of traps laying in wait for somepony. The griffons were thorough, to say the least. And skilled. There must have been dozens of traps hidden, but none held anything. She had a knack for paying attention to minute details, and she didn't see that last trap until she had nearly stepped onto it. Anypony else wouldn't be able to get through.

She saw a mound some fifty yards ahead. She first guessed it was a pile of leaves, but the trees here were pine, not oak or birch. She flew a little faster, curiosity getting the better of her. As she approached, the smell hit her, more powerful this time. She shuddered, knowing what the smell was now. It was rot—death.

Rainbow, getting close enough to see, realized the mound was a dead mare. She landed close to the body and saw it was in a trap. Rainbow took a small gasp. The dead mare was a pegasus but no longer with her wings. Stubs, scarred but grown over with her coat, took their place, and Rainbow tensed her own wings. The mare had her throat slit open. She didn't look that old, as if she had died maybe a day or two ago. What a way to go, Rainbow thought to herself.

She slowly moved on, flying in the same general direction she had been going. She didn't see anypony else in traps, and she was glad she didn't have to look at any more dead ponies. The frequency of the traps increased as she drew nearer to Trottingham, and Rainbow couldn't help but feel both impressed by and sad for the mare. She had gotten so far.

Then, something shining caught her eye. She squinted and thought it could be a chainlink fence. She slowly hovered over towards it. There were no longer any trees to provide her cover near the fence, so she took her time at the forest's edge. She scanned the air, but could see nothing. She looked past the fence. Still nothing. There weren't any traps anymore. She slowly walked towards the fence. She craned her neck, looking around. She could see some buildings, but little else. Seeing no signs of ponies or griffons, she hopped up and flew over the fence.

The first thing she noticed was the smell again, though fainter this time. It was still sweet, sickeningly sweet, and sour. It made her nose burn and run and her eyes water. At her very core, it made her uneasy. She looked around, utterly bewildered. She thought, with the smell perfuming the air, there would be a source somewhere, but there still wasn't a pony or griffon to be seen.

The small buildings that defined the little town had been burned. The quaint homes and humble cottages were nothing more than black skeletons now. It reminded Rainbow of Manehattan and Canterlot, with its empty streets and buildings, and she shuddered. Another smell hit her. It was familiar somehow. She tried to separate it from the smell of rot, and after a few moments, she remembered vividly where she had smelled it last. It was oil and some other substance, and it was exactly what had burned Canterlot.

The atmosphere was oppressive, lonely, as if she did not belong there. She thought she should leave, maybe go find Soarin' and go together, but she didn't know where he was. They had only gone over where they'd meet: the town hall. She didn't expect to fell so disquieted and unsettled about the town. Shaking her head, realizing she hadn't actually taken a step into the town, she began walking.

The cobblestone streets were empty. The corpses of buildings were long abandoned. Her footsteps didn't echo; the sounds she made seemed to be swallowed up in the fog. She looked around, a prickling sensation going throughout her body. She started to breathe a little more quickly. There was nothing. Some lampposts still had burning stubs of candles in them. Someone was here, she thought. She looked into alleys and more intact buildings, still too afraid to speak up or call out for anypony.

She reached a lonely intersection. Looking at each road, she saw more of the same. More burned down buildings. More empty streets. More lack of life. More nothing. She started breathing faster, her visor getting fogged up. Shaking, she threw off her helmet, and it clattered on the cobblestone. She whirled around, looking at each road. She couldn't remember where she had come from. Everything was nothing. Desperation sank it. She took a deep breath.

"Hello?! Anypony?! Can anypony hear me?!"

"Thou shouldst not be here."

Rainbow stopped, eyes widening. A voice had whispered in the back of her head, making it prickle, and a cold, dark feeling entered her heart. She stood still, listening. She didn't know why she had that thought, or if she did, or who spoke it. She couldn't describe the feeling it made her feel. She could almost swear it was somepony she knew, but at the same time, she didn't recognize it from anywhere. Her breathing became shallow. Was somepony talking to her? Or did she think those words? How could it be her, though, if she didn't actually think it? If it was somepony, who was in her mind? Why? How?

She stood in silence for what felt like hours, waiting for something, anything. Hearing nothing, she slowly picked up her helmet and put it back on. Peering down one street, she thought she could make out the fence she had hopped over. Looking at the one behind her, she turned and kept walking.

The smell became stronger, but she couldn't see bodies yet. The constant reminder of death but lack of evidence thereof made Rainbow want to scream again. Where could they be? The smell was everywhere, yet there was nothing. She looked at the buildings towering over her now. Judging by their height, she guessed this was the center of town. These buildings were burned too. She spied a brick clock tower which had stopped at a little over half past eleven. She wondered how it had stopped when her hoof hit against something again.

She jumped, flying upwards a bit. Looking down, she saw it was a pony. Then the smell hit her, much greater this time now that she disturbed it. She hovered down, coughing a bit. It was a stallion. His neck had been sliced open too. Looking more closely, she noticed the blood still seemed relatively fresh. She looked around, now seeing more dead. They were scattered here and there along the street. Earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, mares, stallions, colts, fillies. She wasn't sure this was better than empty roads.

"What the hell happened here?"

"Leave."

It came back again. It made the back of her head throb. It was still a whisper, but it was more forced, angry. She held her head, now terrified of her own thoughts. Who was this? Why were they here? How were they in her head? She wanted them out. It was her mind, not theirs. She took off her helmet and sat on the road, ignoring the bodies.

She rubbed her temples, trying to calm herself down. They only seemed to talk when she did. So, if she kept quiet, so would they. Hopefully. She regained herself somewhat and felt around for her helmet. She touched the dead stallion's head and reeled away. Shaking, she found her helmet, slammed it on her head, and ran down the street.

The smell had changed. Now it smelled burnt. She looked at the buildings more thoroughly now, checking every room. Bodies were becoming more common on the streets, more varied in their deaths. Some, she saw, were stabbed. Others looked as though they were beaten to death. A pony couple looked hacked to pieces. She thought perhaps one or two were just dropped, as they spread on the cobblestone.

The street she was on turned to a modest town square, and she finally saw the town hall. Flanking each side of the square were gallows, still idly swinging their last victims. Rainbow almost wanted to run to the town hall, but she noticed the smell of burnt rot became almost unbearable as she got closer. The building reminded her of the one in Ponyville. It had some of the same features, but it was smaller overall, much like the town. Now taking her breaths in gasps, holding them for as long as she could, she ventured closer to the building.

She started looking for Soarin'. She flew around the crumbling structure, but couldn't find him. She dared not call out to him, fearing the voice would return. She flew up and waited on the top spire of the building. She could wait. She told herself to stay put. The smell alone coming from the building was all she needed to know what happened. But morbid curiosity started to get ahold of her mind. How many were in there? Who was in there? Was it the rest of the town? Were griffons inside?

She scanned the murky skies and streets one last time for Soarin', and, after not seeing him, took a deep breath and went to the front doors. Upon landing, she saw they had been barricaded shut. The windows she saw had furniture piled up in front of them. Her heart sank and grew colder. She had to take another breath but didn't want to for the smell. She back off the porch and started to fly up, but couldn't hold her breath.

The stench was unimaginable. She started coughing heavily in her helmet. It burned her throat and lungs. She shut her eyes tightly, trying to stave off the flow of tears. She finally reached up high enough to escape the brunt of the smell and got air. She had to get used to it to see what was inside. In an effort to acclimatize herself, she lowered her altitude inch by inch, not holding her breath anymore. When she landed, the smell was still pungent but just tolerable enough.

Rainbow walked back to where she was before. She looked at the barricades and shuddered. She didn't need to ask herself why the griffons did that. She circled the building, finding all of it had been sealed off. She couldn't find an entrance anywhere—she would have to make one.

She walked back to the main doors, which looked easiest to pry open. She grabbed ahold of a burnt board and pulled hard. It didn't budge. She looked around for some tool to help her. Seeing nothing of use, she went back to pulling. It felt as though there was some give to it now. She pulled with all her might, and felt a nail pop loose. Strangely excited now, she put her hooves on the wall and pushed against it, pulling on the board.

Suddenly, the rest of the nails gave at once, the burnt board splintering. She flew backwards, the board soaring over her head. She heard chilling sounds as the doors opened. Crackling. Mushing. Popping. She slowly looked at the opening and saw dozens of charred bodies piled up at the door. They were so thoroughly burned that she couldn't tell mares from stallions. The smell had reached its absolute now. Hovering over the bodies, she braced herself for what she would find inside and flew in.

Despite having the door wide open, the fog outside made the interior completely dark. Remembering she had a flashlight, she fumbled about in her saddlebags looking for it. She got ahold of it, turned it on, but dropped it. It spun as it fell, casting lights onto the skeletal interior of the building. It landed on an empty patch of the floor, shining into the eye sockets of a dead pony. Rainbow shuddered, landing to retrieve her flashlight. As she picked it up, she saw the body was not alone. It was in an embrace with another. They were holding each other, and a little one lay in-between them.

She took the flashlight and slowly scanned the room. The majority of the bodies were gathered up against the windows and doors. They were all piled up on each other, all looking identical in death. She walked around, taking care not to step on anypony. She started counting them. Some looked as though they began breaking down some of the weaker parts of the wall in order to escape. Some were alone. Nearly all of them curled up into balls, trying to stave off the flames.

She was surprised to see some griffons inside the building. Claw marks were etched into the walls nearest them. Her flashlight revealed giant piles of charcoal in some spots, small piles of what she assumed were hay bales in others. After looking around the room again, she gave up counting. There had to have been hundreds packed into this one room.

She was in a dreadful awe. The griffons knew what they were doing, she thought. They got rid of most of the town in one go. How efficient. Effective. Easy. It probably took one torch to kill all of these ponies. How did they feel, being corralled into here? Did they know what was going on? She looked back at the family of three.

She imagined she was that little one, following her mother and father into the town hall. She asked them what was going to happen. She could see her mother's face, telling her not to worry. They walked into the dark building, voices chattering about it being cramped. Rainbow lost sight of her father, and she called out for him. Suddenly, the doors slammed shut, and the windows were blocked off. Her mother kept her close, telling her not to run. She watched as other ponies began beating on the doors and breaking the windows, yelling at the griffons to let them out. She watched as some were jabbed away by spears. Everything was in commotion.

Rainbow tore free of her mother and looked for her father, calling out for him. She could hear her mother's frantic cries, but she didn't listen. She couldn't find him anywhere. Then she saw it. A lone orange ball flew from nowhere and set the hay in the center on fire. Ponies ran to it, trying to put it out. Rainbow was pulled back by her mother. She saw her father run to the fire, stamping on it. Somepony yelled it was pointless, and soon the other bales of hay and the building itself caught on fire. Her mother called to her father, and he ran to them. They hugged, covering Rainbow with their bodies. She heard screams all around her, flames licking her hooves, smoke filling her lungs...

Rainbow snapped out of her imagination, a tear rolling down her cheek. She stood, still staring at that same family her flashlight first landed upon. The cold, dark feeling spread throughout her body, as if it came from her bones. Her lips began to tremble. How could the griffons have done this? How could they have killed so many innocents? None of them deserved being burned alive. Nopony did. She thought about the mare she found in the trap. Did she know what was going to happen? Is this why she ran? Did she tell anypony?

Rainbow decided she had enough of this infernal place. She couldn't stand being here, one living amongst so many dead. She flew up and began hovering again. She flew outside and was relieved at the change in air and scenery. Putting her flashlight away, she looked around for Soarin', but still could not find him. She decided to sit back atop the spire and wait a little longer. This was the rendezvous point, after all.

After another half hour, Rainbow thought she saw somepony flying towards her through the fog. Still afraid to speak up, she flew towards it, hopeful. As she got closer, she knew it was Soarin'. They met, but he didn't say anything. They waved to each other, but neither spoke. Rainbow pointed at Soarin' and then to the back of her head. He nodded slowly. He motioned her to him, and she followed. She could barely see the streets from above, but could see clearly were ponies lay, their dark shapes stark against the hazy grey. They passed another section of the fence and landed on the ground.

They looked at each other. Rainbow flipped open her visor and cleared her throat. The cold, dark feeling slowly left her. She hesitated for a moment. "Y-you heard it too?" She waited. He waited. She didn't hear anything. Sighing in relief, she said, "I don't hear it anymore."

He flipped his visor. "T-that's not right. This place isn't right."

"I know." So many questions buzzed around in her head. "So you heard it too? A voice in the back of your head?"

He nodded. "It told me that I shouldn't be here. I don't think I've ever been more afraid."

"Did..." The question seemed creepy, but so was the whole thing. "D-did it sound like anypony to you?"

"It... felt familiar, but no, not anypony I knew. Couldn't tell you if it was a mare or a stallion."

She sighed. "And now it stopped. All on its own."

"Good. I hope to Celestia I never hear it again."

She wanted to drop the subject, but curiosity took over her thoughts. "What did you find?"

Soarin' sat. "It was so... eerie. For the longest time, I couldn't find anything. Then I found bodies, dozens, just lining the streets. The pegasi were wingless, a-and the unicorns were hornless." Rainbow nodded. He sighed. "And then I found this building, and..." He stared at the ground. "There was blood everywhere, all over the floor and half up the walls. The smell was unbearable. There were more bodies, but they were..." He shook his head. "They were hung up. Skinned. Cut into pieces." He took a shaky breath. "I think the griffons were eating them."

Rainbow's stomach felt funny. "That's so... That's... how could they... eat ponies? Eat another sentient being? Tch. Why am I even asking myself that?" She walked over to Soarin' and sat in front of him.

"What? What did you find?"

"Pretty much the same thing. Couldn't find anypony for a while, then too many to count. I got to the town hall, but, since you took a while to get here, I decided to look inside. There's just... bodies... in there. So many charred, black bodies. Must've been hundreds, like most of the town was in there. There were some griffons, too. They were trapped in there, burned alive."

Soarin' shuddered. "I'm so sick of this. Sick of this all."

Her front knees shook slightly. "What makes me feel the worst is I felt like we were too late."

Soarin' sighed and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Dash—"

"Like we could've stopped all this from happening. A lot of the bodies I saw lining the streets looked like they'd been killed in the last day or so, and if only we—"

"Stop, Dash. Please."

She sighed. "S-sorry, Soarin'. I just feel... awful."

"Me too," he said quietly, putting his hoof down.

She pawed the dirt. "I guess we should fly back over to Thunderhead then."

He nodded. "Mhmm."

Rainbow stared into Soarin's glistening eyes. He looked utterly exhausted, but he smiled at her. A tear ran down his cheek. To her surprise, he hugged her, wrapping his wings around her, and he started to cry quietly on her shoulder. She hugged him back and teared up as well, a small sense of peace and warmth filling her heart.