"Twilight!" Spike yelled as he awoke, which earned him a firm kick in the side from one of the creatures walking next to where he was being dragged. "What was that for?" Another kick, followed by a hissing sound. "Stop it already!"
The monster dragging him stopped, lifted him up by the rope and whipped it, slamming him onto the ground. It screeched something at him and resumed walking. Cringing in pain and taking a few steady breaths since the impact had knocked the wind out of him, Spike decided keeping quiet for the moment might be the best thing to do.
Trying to recall what landed him in this predicament, he remembered being surrounded by those red things with Twilight and some pegasus with crashing skills to rival Rainbow Dash's. The pegasus flew off, leaving them to fight off the things... then... then it's mostly a blur. They fought for a while, but there were just too many of them. He could remember getting on Twilight's back and them making a run for it. They were almost home free when something flew out of nowhere and smacked him in the face, sending him sprawling onto the ground. Those monsters swarmed him before he could recover and he saw Twilight running back to help him, only to have them jump her before she'd gotten anywhere near him.
If she hadn't tried, she'd probably have made it away safely. Because of that, Spike couldn't help blaming himself on some level, even though he knew that's just how Twilight was. She'd done the exact same thing when Ponyville was first attacked, after all. Rushing straight into danger just to rescue him.
Man, I'm supposed to be the daring hero, not the damsel in distress. He thought crossly, wishing he could get free of the ropes, pound the dumb monsters and do the rescuing for once. Looking around and seeing nothing but a number of ugly reddish feet in desperate need of washing, he raised his voice regardless of any kicking or body slamming he'd receive.
"Twilight, can you hear me?" As expected, another of the filthy feet struck him in the face. He winced from both the pain and the smell. "Dude... it's called soap. Find some and use it." He complained to the kicker, getting growled at in reply. It was the only reply of any sort he got. Either Twilight was still out cold, not around, or...
No, Spike. Don't even think like that. Twilight's all you have left. You're still in one piece, so she is too. She has to be. He told himself firmly, watching through the pacing feet on the off chance he could catch a glimpse of her.
"What have you brought today, Rakanishu?" A frigid but feminine voice asked suddenly.
Spike looked at the speaker, taken off guard by something he could understand. She was much taller than any of the other things he'd run into before, her body pale blue and sparse, tight-fitting cloth a darker shade covering her legs and body.
She looked at Spike and frowned. "Just this one? Hardly seems worth it."
"One? Where's Twilight?" Spike said before he could think better of it, but for once he wasn't hit for speaking.
"Twilight?" She wondered. The creature that had been dragging him made a few odd noises and the taller one nodded as if understanding the gibberish. "I see... Bishibosh always was one to take initiative instead of follow orders. Helpful at times, but this was not one of them. I should send out a squad of archers to kill the fool and put someone more able in charge."
"That won't be necessary, Coldcrow." A muffled, rather distorted voice said, getting her attention.
"Why not, Master Blood Raven?" Coldcrow questioned.
Spike strained to sit up, but couldn't raise himself up enough to get a look at this Blood Raven.
"Bishibosh is predictable. I sent Woodfist out to follow them in case he tried something, if anything unfortunate happens I trust it will be dealt with swiftly." Blood Raven stated.
Coldcrow nodded. "As you wish. Shall I pitch this one into the cells for now?"
She must have gotten a yes, because the next thing Spike knew he was being lifted off the ground by the bit of rope he had been dragged there with. Hanging upside-down and above the heads of his short abducters, he finally got a good look at where he was. It looked like it had been a town at one point, but many of the buildings were halfway to rubble. The only one that looked fairly intact was the one they were in front of, which appeared to be the old city hall.
Coldcrow walked inside, letting Spike swing in her hand like he was a sack of apples. The inside was dark, the only light coming from outside through the front door and cracks in the wall, but he could see enough to tell it was a wide, open foyer. In the shadow of one of the columns he spotted a figure near where Coldcrow had been looking and figured that must have been Blood Raven.
However, what he could see wasn't anything like he had been expecting. Three horns were protruding from its head and a flat white mask was covering its face. It was wearing a bizarre armor of white and red, with a number of spikes along the back. What really got to him though, was just the basic shape. Under all that armor... was a pony.
Spike's mind was reeling from that and everything else, not being able to think straight until a couple minutes later when Coldcrow tossed him carelessly into a cell, slammed the door shut behind him and stalked off without a word. Finally left alone, he blew fire onto the rope holding him and waited for it to burn through.
He couldn't understand it. A pony had actually turned on their own kind and joined up with those monsters. Was it for survival? Did they just find the idea of being evil fun? Could it be they were why those things had appeared in the first place? Ideas rushed though his head faster than he could count them, his imagination running wild.
The rope snapped and Spike wiggled his way free. As much as he wanted to know, he had higher priorities right now. He had to find Twilight and save her from that Bishibosh the other two had mentioned. Staring at the iron bars in front of him, he frowned. Scratch that, first I have to figure out a way to save myself, then Twilight.
A sound came from behind him and he froze. It was faint, but he heard breathing nearby, above his head. Slowly turning to look over his shoulder, he saw a pair of large blue eyes staring down at him.
Jaws snapped and the crunch of bone met Twilight's ears, followed promptly by the warm splatter of blood on her face. She flinched, eyes tightly closed and thinking it had just taken one of her legs since she still couldn't feel them very well in the first place. When nothing else happened for a few moments, she opened her eyes. Her limbs were all intact. Looking around, she saw the huge wolf sitting nearby, a dead monster hanging from its mouth.
Shakily getting to her feet as the wolf whipped its head and sent the corpse rolling across the ground, their eyes met again. "T-Thank you..." Twilight muttered.
Staring for a moment longer, the wolf turned away and gave a long, piercing howl before running off into a nearby group of trees, the others following in its wake.
With a brief glance around the battlefield, she was glad the wolves had been on her side. There were so many dismembered pieces of body strewn about she couldn't even guess how many of the things there had been to begin with. As feeling steadily came back to her legs, she tried to get her bearings. She'd been knocked out and dragged who knows where, so finding her way back to the camp would be next to impossible. Which left what she would have done even if returning to camp had been an option. Find where they had taken Spike and get him back.
Closing her eyes and trying to picture him being dragged off again, she tried to remember little details, like the lighting. When they met Virtuous, it had been about noon. Which meant they'd been separated when the sun would be in the western sky, so if her memory was right, they'd been taking him east and her north... a rough idea, but better than nothing. Gazing off at the horizon, she saw the last traces of the sun setting. Admiring it for a moment and thinking of Princess Celestia, she turned and walked in the opposite direction. The moon was already beginning to peek above the treetops, bringing to mind Princess Luna. Even in these chaotic times, she knew they both had to be alive somewhere. Even if she'd been unable to contact Princess Celestia as she usually did, she couldn't believe these abominations could be a match for the powers either of the Princesses held.
Walking in silence, Twilight continued following the rising moon. She didn't know how long she kept going, but as she did something Virtuous had mentioned came back to her. About how the monsters had set up a den in a ruined town northeast of the camp. That's probably where they had taken Spike, which meant if she found it she would also have a good idea of how to get back to the camp.
As she was passing through a large field, movement caught her eye. Glancing around for cover, she spotted an oversized boulder nearby and ran behind it. A group of red monsters like the ones that had captured her emerged from a patch of trees ahead, moving in her direction. If she was lucky, she could keep the boulder between them and her until they passed. The idea might have worked, if not for what she happened to notice. Following the main group was a monster of the same size, but darker skinned than the others. Even at this distance she could tell who it was.
"Rakanishu..." She muttered, quickly shifting her plan from evade to ambush. If she could defeat his followers, making him take her to where Spike was shouldn't be too difficult. The small ones were normally cowards when caught alone.
Waiting until they had gotten close, she took a deep breath and ran out from behind the boulder, unleashing countless arcs of electricity into the surprised group. Screams filled the once quiet field for a moment before most of the voices making them ceased. When the lightning faded, most of the creatures were on the ground smoking and the handful that hadn't been caught in her attack were scrambling away in terror. Firing a few more bolts at the ones retreating to be sure they got the point, she turned to Rakanishu, who hadn't moved from where he was since her first strike.
"Tell me where Spike is!" She demanded, horn still shining and ready to blast him with lightning if he tried anything.
Rakanishu growled something and pointed his knife at her, which she took as a no. Releasing another flurry of lightning, the streaks converged on the monster's knife like it was a lightning rod. Worried for a second she might have killed him before she could find anything out, she just stared as he lowered the raised the knife and swung it straight down. In a blinding flash, electricity crackled and the next thing Twilight knew she was spinning through the air, screaming in agony as she was introduced to the voltage of her own magic.
Landing on the ground with a heavy thud and feeling numb again, she heard Rakanishu making odd noises... it took her a moment to realize it was his way of laughing. Struggling to get her hooves back under her, she faced him again. Shooting a fireball as a test, Rakanishu sidestepped it, which meant the knife was probably only useful against lightning magic. Against just one opponent, she wouldn't need it anyway.
Twilight got ready to try and move as Rakanishu lifted his weapon again, wondering if he could do something like that twice. Instead of swinging it, he screeched loud enough to make her step back. It fell quiet again, until the trees in the distance started rustling. Winged ones came from beneath the leaves, silhouetted against the moon as they rose into the sky.
Taking another step back, Twilight began to think she was in trouble. With that knife, the little monster could probably absorb any lightning she threw at the flying ones if he was close enough. She began to consider fleeing, but a word she could understand from Rakanishu made her hesitate.
"Woodfist!" He shouted.
It made no sense to her, until the ground shook. Glancing back the way she came, Twilight saw the boulder she had used for cover rise off the ground. From the underside of it came two stumpy legs, arms and a face as it pushed itself up. The rocky behemoth began lumbering toward her, the ground trembling with each step it took.
Checking the other directions, she found them covered by the creatures that had survived and fled her first attack, most likely having been lured back at the same time Rakanishu called for the approaching winged ones. Any chance of escape was slim, since she was still shaky from the jolt she'd gotten, and the sneer on Rakanishu's ugly face made her think he wouldn't go for a surrender even if she tried.
Swallowing hard, her horn began to glow as she took the only option she had left, even though it offered as little chance of success as the others.