"Mh… let's see…" muttered the medic, taking off the bandage around High Wind's wing and pointing a medical light at it. The room at the top of the hospital where he had led them was rather different from the rest of the hospital: this room was clean and organized, a couple of drawers filled with medical supplies. There were a couple of medical beds, even if one was ruffled and unmade: probably the one the doctor used it as his own bed. Along one of the walls, there was a long table, filled with bottles, syringes, research plates and other such things. Silver Streak let her eyes wander around without much interest. She had already seen the room a couple of times. She preferred to concentrate on Camo Fall. The stallion was walking in circles, a vein on his neck pulsing evidently. "Oh… look at this…" called the amazed voice of the medic, drawing her attention.
"What is it?" asked High Winds, turning her head to look at her unbandaged wing, before letting out a terrified scream: on her wings, starting from the point were her joint had dislodged, her feathers had mostly fallen out, leaving her flesh bare. Her skin itself was become black and rotten, covered in little, bulging blisters. It looked as if somepony had placed a little patch of motor oil on her wing.
"Mh… quite peculiar… I never saw an infection like this…" stated the pony in the medical suit, moving the wing of the pegasus slowly, staring at the infected patch of skin. "Lucky for me that I keep up my suit." He added, as Camo stared with disgust at the wing of the mare, like Silver Streak was doing. "Don't worry, I have the cure exactly right for your condition." He stated softly, before darting towards a little door in the room, that led to a sideroom where they had the quick sight of a set of medical instruments and boxes and boxes of medication.
"Hope for you he's right." said calmly Silver Streak, adjusting her mane. "Must be horrible, not being able to fly."
"Yes…yes it is…" stated High Winds, looking fearfully at her wing, torn between touching or not the patch of skin. Then she raised her eyes to Camo Fall, who had returned to his nervous circling. "Camo listen… I'm sorry… I was just trying to look after Dahlia, I didn't think to…"
"Look after her? Sending her alone into a place full of things that neither you nor I can understand, and you call it looking after her?!" snapped the stallion, glaring at the mare, who shrank slightly on the medical bed. "If that's how you look after others, I don't want to have anything to do with you!" he nearly shouted, before turning and storming out of the door, slamming it behind him.
"Kinda nervous, eh?" asked Silver Streak, glaring at the door. The other mare didn't answer, looking at the floor, until the medic returned, looking around, as if he had heard something.
"There weren't three of you?" he asked, continuing to look around.
"He left." Answered Silver Streak. "I'm still trying to understand if he's courageous or an idiot."
"He's just a brother… he…he's worried for his little sister." Said sadly the second pegasus.
"Mh…Ok…" muttered the doctor, before turning to the pegasus mare. "Here I have you medicine!" he stated happily, showing a long and sharp saw. "Amputation makes everything better!"
-oOo-
Liquid, all around her. Cold, heavy liquid. Thick as honey. The mare knew she was sinking, but her legs were unable to move, her lungs starting to beg for air. She was going to drown.
Suddenly, a strong foreleg grasped her around her hip, dragging her up. Her head emerged from the liquid, and she took a raspy breath, filling her lungs with air. She opened her eyes and past the wet mane in front of her muzzle, she saw a dark blue pegasus with a black and yellow mane flapping his wings, trying to yank himself out of the water.
Panting, the stallion swam towards the shore, where he stumbled clumsily, leaving the body of the mare on the mud. She rolled belly-up, breathing heavily, as the cold air filled her system with life. She had the quick vision of the pegasus jumping again into the water, swimming towards another pony splashing into the water, screaming like crazy.
Fire Flower sat up on the muddy shore, coughing and moving away the wet mane from before her eyes: she was at the edge of an immense lake, sitting on a muddy shore covered in places by thin pale bushes, while a little behind her, high trees were half drowned in the fog.
She returned her eyes to the pegasus, who was emerging again from the water, dragging a unicorn stallion to safety.
"Crow?" blurted the mare, standing on wobbly legs and walking towards them. That was indeed the stallion who had just been dragged onto the mud, as he rolled his head and started to throw up dirty water on the ground.
"Well… at least I saved somepony… Not who I wanted… but this is feeling good…" panted the pegasus, flapping his wing, in an attempt to dry them. The mare eyed him, while shaking her head.
"You are… Lightning Nova, right?" she asked, remembering the pegasus they had met while heading towards the city, right after the hot table. The one that had indicated to them the subway. The stallion nodded.
"Yeah, that's me." He said proudly, puffing his chest.
"And this… is the swamp?" asked the mare, remembering where the had been heading the first time they had met.
"Well, no. The swamp is further from for the lake. But I heard splashing, and thought that maybe somepony from the crash had ended up in the lake… didn't expect to be you two, actually…" muttered the stallion.
"What are you talking about?"
"Nothing, nothing…" muttered the pegasus, still shaking his body to dry himself. The unicorn mare shrugged, as a cold breeze started to blow around them, freezing her due to the water still on her body.
"Say, is there a shelter nearby? I'm freezing." She lamented, as she saw Crow's body tremble with the cold as well. The pegasus looked around, as if torn by an interior conflict, giving quick glances towards the swamp, before finally looking at the mare.
"Yes, there is… follow me." He stated, before walking away, his hooves making a sucking sound on the muddy ground at every step. Fire Flower turned to the still coughing body of Lord Crow, and stepped up beside him.
"Hey… are you ok…?" she asked softly, trying to move away the wet mane from the stallion's eyes. He flinched and jumped back, looking with terror for a second at the mare, before his eyes refocused and he regained his composure.
"What happened…?" he asked, looking around. The mare shrugged. She had no idea, she was quite confused herself. She couldn't even remember clearly what was happened to her before the lake. She remembered the wagon, the floating skull, but after that, there was just confusion…
"Are you two coming or not?!" called the impatient voice of Lightning Nova. The mare jumped slightly before starting to follow the pegasus, gesturing to the other unicorn to follow them. Crow standed up on his wobbly legs, before following the other two.
"Down the shore, there is a ship." Explained the pegasus, while moving between the low vegetation, moving away branches and bushes, opening the path for the pair of unicorns. "It's been stood on the shores for years, since the incident that led it there. It's a wreck, but at least should protect us from the wind, 'til we are all dried off."
"Whatever…" grunted Crow in a low tone, jumping slightly as a cawing came out from the nearby trees. "Can we just move?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly. Fire Flower turned, raising an eyebrow: the stallion seemed to be quite nervous, constantly looking around himself and jumping at the smallest noises.
"We are almost there." Assured the pegasus, as his hooves hit again the muddy ground of the shore. The silhouette of a flat ship with two chimneys emerged from the fog. It was an old riverboat, the rusty chimneys rising towards the sky. The part of the hull laying on the shore was scratched and half covered in mold, at least, where the rotten wooden boards hadn't fallen down.
From the trees behind the group came the sound of something big rustling and stomping between the trees. Lightning Nova seemed to ignore quite happily the noise, trotting calmly towards the boat. Fire Flower followed him nervously, darting her eyes around, as Crow followed, practically attached to the mare's back, looking around with terror.
Helped by the pegasus, they climbed over the boards of the ship, and followed him into the wooden belly of the ship. A high pitched cawing emerged from the woods, as the pegasus closed the door, surrounding all of them in darkness.
-oOo-
The creature tilted its head, sniffing, as the empty sockets that were supposed to hold its eyes scanned the tent, stopping on the devilish clown ponies that had surrounded the poor unicorn mare on the ground. Winter Lily tried to scream, but her throat was dry. She just emitted a short squeal. At least the creatures around her had stopping beating her up.
Their ferine and cruel faces were contorted and distorted, their mouths open, showing their yellowish and pointy teeth at the creature, apparently forgetting about the mare. The creature let out a whimper and started to walk slowly towards the little group, the long, spiky chains wired around his backside emitting a screeching sound as they were dragged over the ground.
"Begone. You don't belong here!" hissed one of the clowns, his purple tongue sticking out of his mouth. He was the one with the metallic whips emerging from his foreleg. The creature didn't react, as it continued to move towards the group. Numerous clownish ponies hissed, baring their teeth.
Winter tried to crawl away, but the chain was still locked around her foreleg was still blocked around it, binding her to the wooden frame of the seat. One of the creatures swiftly kicked her with a bony leg, leaving another bruise on the mare's skin.
The creature let out a wail from its sewed-shut mouth, continuing to approach. The creatures around Winter Lily gave out another series of hisses.
"She does not belong to you! She is ours!" screeched a mare with a poofy orange mare, her face painted with white and red paint, the fake nose on her muzzle bobbing as she bared her rotten teeth. Then she dashed suddenly towards the creature, screeching, and raising a foreleg where the bones had severed through the skin, emerging in a series of menacing spikes.
The creature didn't move, apart from continuing on its path. As soon as the devilish mare was in front of it, the coatless, tall pony swung a foreleg out swiftly: the mare fell to the ground, her skull smashed, dripping brains, blood and black ichor on the dirty ground.
The other creatures hissed as well, and suddenly charged, swarming the creature. Winter Lily returned her attention to her foreleg. The saw had disappeared, probably moved away during the ruckus. She stared at the metal ring holding her leg, thinking fast, while around her screams and roars filled the air.
She wasn't going to chew her leg off, that was for sure. Maybe use her horn as a lockpick…? No, too big. She looked around again, and her eyes fell on a little piece of bone. She crawled towards it, and with disgust, picked it up with her mouth and started to wiggle it inside the lock, as she gave a quick glance at the creatures: the tall pony was still moving, its chains dragging slowly along the ground, while a great number of clownish ponies were laying motionless around him, most of them with their skulls smashed open. One of them also had its nose crashed, revealing a fleshy interior inside the scarlet ball. As soon as another creature jumped at him, the tall pony just swung a foreleg, smashing the attacker's body. It probably was unable to even lift its hindlegs, judging from the number of chains, but apparently it didn't need to.
While another creature let out a gurgling scream, the mare lowered her head again and continued her effort to free herself. A couple of times the bone stuck itself inside the lock, but with no results. She was going to panic. She knew that.
Suddenly, her ear flickered, as she didn't hear any screaming. No roars, hisses or sounds. She slowly raised her head, and her eyes encountered the two voids that were on the tall pony's face. The creature was right beside her, behind it a long line of broken bodies.
Winter Lily's mouth opened, dropping the piece of bone, as the mare felt a scream making his way up her windpipe. The creature let out a whimper, and raised a foreleg.
The mare immediately screamed, placing her head on the ground and covering it with her forelegs, while a new flow of tears started to stream down her cheeks.
"I don't want to die!" she screamed.
The foreleg slammed down.
The mare let out another couple of sobs, before opening an eye cautiously: the creature was still beside her, the foreleg planted on the ground, where it had smashed the chain holding her leg. The mare blinked, cleaning the tears from her eyes, before rapidly shoving herself away from the coatless creature.
She tried to stand up, but her legs weren't able to sustain her, as she stumbled again to the ground. She raised her eyes: the creature seemed uninterested in getting close. She looked at the creature, as her breathing evened out: the skin of the creature was pale and plagued, covered in crusts and bruises. Its face was of course the most disturbing feature, with its empty eye sockets were rather disturbing. The sewed-shut mouth was also a horrible sight, leaking ichor from the point where the black thread passed through its lips. The suture around the neck wasn't any better.
"Who are you?" she murmured. The creature's ear flickered, and he took a step towards the mare. Immediately Winter Lily tried to stand up, but again, she wasn't able to sustain herself. She fell again to the ground, as the creature approached. "Stop! Don't come any closer!" she screamed, again starting to panic. The creature stopped, still "looking" at her with its empty eyes.
She stared at the creature, motionless. She noted a small stump on the creature's head.
"There was a horn there!" she thought. The creature tilted its head a little. Winter Lily was starting to feel less scared now. Just… uneasy. Even if… "Fire…" she remembered. The muffled sound of her sister's body hitting the pool. The screams.
The mare's nerves couldn't take anymore. Her eyes watered again, as she started to cry. She cried, she screamed, she pulled her mane, howling her pain. She didn't care anymore if the creature was still in front of her. It could have killed her, she didn't care. At least, it would have ended her suffering.
She didn't notice that the creature had approached until the immense shadow of the pony blocked the light coming from one of the projectors. She opened her watering eyes, just to see the freak in front of her.
The head of the creature lowered, as it started to sniff the mare. Only at that point the mare noted that the eye sockets were watering. The creature was crying, and his mouth was a frown of sadness. The mare didn't move, as the nose of the pony explored her face, her shoulders and her legs, stopping on the slash on her foreleg.
It let out a muffled sob, then retracted its head. Winter Lily studied the creature, while cleaning her eyes.
"Who are you?" she asked. The creature tilted its head. Then suddenly turned, its ear raised: from the other end of the tent, another group of clown-dressed ponies started to enter, hissing and baring their fangs. The creature moved its head around, before pointing at one of the pole, while looking at the mare.
"What…?" started the marebefore the pony grasped her, pulling her up and pushing her towards the pole, as he let out another sob. The mare looked with confusion at the pole, then the coatless creature, wich had started to move towards the clownish ponies. She could have left through the entrance, why did it…
She yelped, as her hooves suddenly felt a stinging pain. She looked down, and shivered as from the ground, a yellow liquid had started to flow out. Acid. The mare gulped and grabbed the pole, starting to climb up, placing her wounded hooves on a series of wooden steps placed along the cheerfully colored pole. She gave a glance down, seeing that the level of the liquid was slowly rising, as if the liquid was coming out from some sort of underground stream or something.
She noted also that now, the entrance of the tent had been closed by a giant zipper, which sealed the only way out. Below, with the liquid already at their knees, the creature and the hissing clowns stood. She shivered again and continued her climb, her hooves pulsing with pain. She continued her climb for almost five minutes, until eventually, the steps ended.
She gave a quick glance down, and immediately looked away: the level of the acid was rising quickly (since strangely, it wasn't burning the fabric of the tent, nor the pole). She darted her eyes around: the tent was a heavy and solid cape, with no rips or missing patches. But as experience told her, on top of the pole, the tent was likely held by a series of short ropes, leaving enough space for a pony to carefully crawl through.
Or at least, she hoped so. She tried to climb further up the smooth pole. She managed to climb a couple of inches, before starting to slide back.
"Oh no, no no no no…" she cried out, trying to push herself up, to no effect. The acid bubbled under her. "Oh dear Celestia no…" she begged, grasping the pole even tighter. She suddenly felt something pushing against her tush. As soon as she lowered her sight, she saw the scarred head of the creature pushing her up, as it raised only on its forelegs, using all its height to push the mare up the pole.
Winter Lily grasped the edge of the tent, finally pulling herself up and ending up laying above the tent. She glanced inside, where the creature was staring at her with its empty eyes. The creature wailed, before turning its head towards the sea of acid, quickly rising. It turned again its head, and the mare saw the lips slowly tearing open, as the creature's mouth opened slightly, pulling loose the thread.
"IiiIi'm SsssSSso…sOoOOoo SssoRrrrRRrRy." He gurgled out in a clear male voice. "GggGgOooO!"
The mare turned, horrified, and started to move away. She tried to be careful, but she tripped and fell on her belly, the wobbly fabric dancing under her hooves. Not that you can pretend to be stable on top of a circus tent.
She didn't move anymore. She curled up, hiding her face beneath her tail, and covered her ears.
Her nerves had had enough.
-oOo-
He walked slowly through the forest, surrounded by slim oaks. The rays of the afternoon sun passed through the leaves. He looked down, as the ground turned to red dirt. Light red dirt. He looked up, and he saw it: a little wooden shed was in front of him, contrasted by more oaks. A little window was beside a cute white door, showing only darkness inside. He knew that what he was searching for was inside there. He took a couple of steps towards the house.
Then he felt a deep, visceral, sense of fear clutch his heart. Inexplicable, wild fear. He turned, starting to pant. He had to get away! He had to run! He had to hide! He had to…
He opened his eyes, terrified. He panted heavily, as coat wet with sweat. His eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room he was in. He panted again, then relaxed back on the wall behind him. He saw the little body of the little filly, Dahlia, sleeping calmly on his belly. Apparently he didn't wake her up. He calmed himself, closing again his eyes. Everything was going to be fine.
Oo-oOFun Fact: the dream sequence is based on a dream I really had a few days ago.
And yeah… I like to try to surprise my audience. Did I succeed with this cap? I hope so.