I wrote this for the December Writefriend.))
The road from BeakBreak City was cold and it was hard.
What started out as a twisting, winding path between tall, treacherous cliffs on one side and the unfathomable depths of the Everfree Forest on the other had flattened out into a wide, snow covered highway once it reached the wide open plains. Her ears were cold, her nose was cold, and yet she was sweating from exertion. Rally was trudging south now, the detour around Gor Zarya's humble peaks had taken her most of the day. Hidden behind a curtain of falling snow and ashen clouds, Celestia's sun was slowly falling down to touch the Earth and be lost to her embrace until morning. Rally wasn't worried though, she'd travelled this road before and she knew that the glimmering lights of Stalliongrad would be coming into sight soon enough.
The smoke was a sign as sure as any land mark. The gentle southerly breeze that prickled her face also pushed the exhaust from Stalliongrad's industry out to sea, but before it reached its final resting place, some of it managed to get itself mixed in with Cloudsdale's beautiful snow. Like long grey brushstrokes, it piled up into drifts along the side of the road, spread out across the open countryside and it formed a thin coat on Rally's head and her back, turning her normally vivid mane several shades of steel.
At some point during the afternoon, her humble little cart had picked up a timid squeak, an unfortunate reminder of her own weariness. Rally wanted to get it fixed up as soon as possible, but plowing her way through the freshly fallen snow was slow work. She'd considered switching out the wheels for skis, but the extra bits for performing a civic service had persuaded her otherwise. Between her eagerness to spot the city lights and her need to stay on the partially obscured path, she almost didn't see the tall dark unicorn stallion beside her.
"Rally, my fr~" In spite of his friendly tone, the sudden voice startled Rally and she cut him off with a shout.
She slid to an ungraceful halt, face down in the sooty snow, prompting a short sneezing fit as she tried to pull herself back up.
"Celestia's mane, Blink!" she gasped out the words, breathing heavily from exertion and the sudden burst of adrenaline, "Couldn't you find a way to hop around that doesn't involve startling the daylights out of me? Its usually considered good manners to call out from a distance when greeting someone on the open road."
Blink didn't seem to mind the reproach, instead he just made an impassive chuckle and continued on as if nothing had happened. He trotted beside the smaller mare as though he was on a stroll through the park, seemingly oblivious to her struggles to get moving again.
"Rally, my friend. You know how terribly dangerous it can be to teleport into unfamiliar places, why, its to both our good fortunes that I am so familiar with you. That I have to appear nearby is just a... trivial side effect really."
Rally sighed and rolled her eyes as hard as she possibly could. It was a conversation they'd had plenty of times before. "Maybe you don't know me quite so well as you think, I can be quite dangerous actually."
Blink chuckled again, only this time it was a laugh filled with genuine mirth. "Oh Rally, you truly are a good sport! Thats what I like about you though, always so dependable... and you always take me to the most interesting places."
"Maybe one of these days you'll blink in while I'm falling off a cliff, that'd be interesting wouldn't it?" She knew she was laying it on a bit thick, but there was no longer any harshness to her tone. Blink's high spirits were contagious.
"Gracious me, I should have hoped you'd be over that by now. Besides, I came to visit you with nothing but good will in my heart. The fact that I was concerned about the contents of your wagon is little more than a unpleasant formality, I'm sure you understand." If he was bothered by Rally's gloomy demeanor, he didn't show it.
"You know, now that you mention it, I think I heard something shift around back there when you knocked me over. Maybe you should go take a look and make sure everything's alright?" As much as she didn't want to admit it, she enjoyed the playful banter. It was like fencing with words.
Blink obliged her by teleporting into the back of her little cart, which in turn caused her to begin straining against the extra weight. "Just how... do you manage to... hop such long... distances when you... weigh so much... Blink?"
"Weight has nothing to do with it my dear, its magic. And I'll have you know that I keep my physique quite well maintained. Why, there are several mares back in Canterlot that are quite taken with my chiseled good looks."
He had to wait for Rally's riotous laughter to subside, blinking back off the wagon to let her get moving again.
"Scoff if you must my dear, but I assure you its true. And speaking of long distances, exactly where are we? This certainly doesn't look like Trottingham."
"Stalliongrad. It was on the way. I've got other customers too you know. Customers that don't have a knack for long distance teleportation even." She stuck her tongue out at him, and managed to get a taste of the whatever was smelting in the furnaces as a snowflake touched down on it.
"Tut tut my dear, a gentlecolt does not engage in such heavy labor." he stuck his nose up as he spoke, "And are you sure this is Stalliongrad? I seem to remember it being a bit more... populous."
Rally was busy sputtering, trying to get the taste out of her mouth, but she still managed to feign a disgusted groan. "Uhg! Obviously, I'm not in the city yet Blink. Its just a hop skip and a jump away though, and barring any further distractions, I might just arrive before nightfall."
"Oh? Jolly good! I know of a cozy little inn that you'll simply love. I'll pop on ahead and reserve a room for you, my treat. Look up the... I think its called the Tantsy Rassveta. Its a real gem."
Before she had a chance to say thanks, he was gone again in a little flash.
--- ---
It took her a couple of hours to reach the city proper, but she was fortunate that the merchant district was on the north side of town and she didn't have to walk through the entire city to reach her first stop. To her right, the foreboding walls for the fortress rose up towards the sky in a manner not unlike the forest of smoke stacks that had sprouted across the river. She kept her eyes on the ground.
Has Equestria really changed so much, or have I simply been on the road so long that I don't recognize it anymore?
She kicked her way through a little drift of snow that had lost its luster.
I wonder if they even make snow by hoof these days... Ponies used to take pride in their work.
At that moment, she wanted little more than to turn around and head back west, back through the forests, mountains and wide open spaces that had become familiar to her. But as the scattered cottages grew closer together and the rooftops blocked out the distant sights, those sights were replaced by a scene far friendlier. Even though her nose was clogged with soot, she managed to catch the smell of baking apples and spiced potato soup. Ponies filled the streets with merry chatter and laughter. There were cozy fires and bright colors everywhere. She hadn't been expecting a festival, but all around her, there were ponies playing and ponies dancing.
Many of the ponies wore stylish masks that had been made to look like ferocious beasts. Beasts made all the more ironic by the joviality in the air. It seemed a silly sight, and Rally couldn't help but smile.
After carefully navigating her way through the crowd, she arrived at her first stop of the evening, a little antique shop tucked into the corner of a quaint little plaza. The proprietor of the shop had set up a little booth outside for the festival, but it looked as though he was getting ready to pack up for the night.
"Oho! If it isn't the Blue Axle. Welcome! I was hoping you would arrive today, you have my package, yes?" The rotund unicorn had a deep belly laugh and seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.
"Yes sir, a genuine mysterious ancient thingamajig straight from Talonopolis."
Bits and packages exchanged hooves in a flurry of unicorn magic, and when the dust was settled, Rally's cart was a little bit lighter and her pockets a few bits heavier.
"I trust you are keeping warm, yes? There's snow in the weather schedule you know."
Rally looked up towards the sky and watched a snowflake slowly tumbled down to the ground before giving the proprietor a confused look.
"I mean, more snow. Very heavy, very cold. You have a place to stay? Very bad night to be out and about."
She was an experienced outdoors pony, but she appreciated his concern none the less. Even if it might have been a little misplaced, it was sincere.
"Oh, I'll be just fine. A friend of mine got a room for me at the... uh, Teensie Rossvettuh." She knew she was butchering the name, but she hoped somepony would be able to understand her enough to give her right directions. The proprietor just shrugged his shoulders.
With a few heartfelt goodbyes Rally turned to leave, but before she got more than a few paces away, she caught the proprietor's attention for one last question.
"One more thing... What is this festival about?"
"You haven't heard? Very surprising. This is the Full Moon Festival, once a year everypony dresses up in scary costumes to ward off bad spirits and all that kind of thing. Its lots of fun, but even better business! aha!"
Rally simply shook her head with a smile and pulled back out into the lane.
--- ---
Rally stretched herself out and adjusted the purse and scabbard on her back. She had just dropped her little cart off at the wainwright to get the wheel fixed, but she still needed to carry a few things with her. She'd need a few bits for food and leaving a blade laying around would simply be irresponsible, even one that was normally used for clearing away underbrush. Plowing her way through the snow had taken more out of her than she realized, and now that she was out of her harness, she was looking forward to a good night's sleep.
The crowds from the festival were starting to disperse now, with everypony going their separate ways, back home to huddle up nice and warm no doubt. Even the weather teams seemed to be packing it in. Apparently, they had assembled the scheduled snow storm the day before out over the ocean and set it slowly rolling so they could enjoy the festival themselves.
She asked around to see if anyone knew where the Tandy Rasspeda was, but she wasn't having any luck. Before she got truly frustrated though, she'd bumped into a group of revelers who insisted that she join them for a few drinks. Apparently it was also a tradition for taverns to stay open all night after the Full Moon Festival, and they were planning to take full advantage of it.
"So, what's the deal with the masks and costumes?" Rally was throwing a bone to the poor, awkward pegasus stallion who was trying to strike up a conversation with her. Maybe they'd all had a few drinks already, but his friends had been none too subtle when they made sure he got the seat at the bar right next to her. "They all look pretty intricate."
"O-oh, this is s-supposed to be a wolf a-and Frosty over there, s-she's supposed to be a b-badger." Rally thankfully managed to avoid rolling her eyes, but she looked over at Frosty for a moment just in case she let her expression slip.
Why is it always the cute ones?
Rally nodded her head and took a swig of her drink. She had no idea what it was, but it had a bit of a kick to it at least.
"It all reminds me a bit of Nightmare Night, I'm just a bit sore that I missed out on the rest of the festival... but mostly just sore from all the walking." she had enough social grace to avoid laughing at her own joke, but she smiled broadly just in case nopony else picked up on it. Thankfully, everyone was in such good spirits that she could have unleashed one of her worst puns and it would have been cause for more laughter.
"You must be pretty used to it though, right? I mean... er, I mean you said you'd been through the Badlands before, that has to be farther than... where did you say you were from again?"
At least he looked like he was trying his best. Rally had to respect that. Maybe a little humor will break the ice?
She looked him straight in the eye and said as matter-of-factly as possible, "Oh, I'm from Cloudsdale of course."
It brought some laughs from the peanut gallery at least, and one of his friends interjected with a boisterous "She's pullin' your leg Dayflight!" as if it wasn't painfully obvious already. Unfortunately it was followed by a moment of awkward silence.
"What I meant was that its all very interesting. For instance, there were some delicious smelling pastries that I was really hoping to get a chance to try, but the booth was closed by the time I finished my deliveries." If a conversation with Blink was fencing with words, this was hammering stone.
"Oh, you mean lunar pies? Almost everyone makes those around this time of year. In fact, I think this tavern makes them. They come in all sorts of different flavors, plum and wild rose are the most popular, but I like the cream filled ones myself. I-if you'd like, I could buy you one."
As glad as Rally was that Dayflight was starting to relax, she hadn't signed up to start accepting gifts from strangers. She didn't want to hurt his feelings though.
"How about I cut you a deal, you buy your favorite, and I'll buy the plum. We'll split em in half and that way we can try two for the price one." It seemed like a reasonable enough idea, but it brought with it another round of laughs and cheers.
Frosty piped up from a couple seats down with her own advice. "Go for it Dayflight, you've got this one!"
The whole setup was utterly ridiculous, but thankfully Rally was still enjoying herself. It had been a while since she'd had the pleasure of friendly company and she instinctively returned the jest with a lightning riposte.
"Maybe you'd like to join in on the deal Frosty? You buy the wild rose and we'll split things three ways." Dayflight blushed.
After that, it was quite some time before Rally got a word in edgewise. The sound of laughter and merriment filled the tavern, slowly rising in volume as everypony tried a little bit harder to talk over the pony next to them, and it spread out to the other ponies sitting at the bar or at tables, and before long it had blended into one seamless din of revelry. By the time Rally's ears had adjusted to all the noise, the miniature pies had already been served and devoured. She'd been ravenously hungry.
But it was getting late, and it was time to get moving. With any luck, she'd find this Tanky Roseveggie before the storm rolled in. She said some simple goodbyes that got lost in the commotion, but when she started walking for the door, the tavern suddenly got very quiet. She paused at the doorway to see what was happening when one of the patrons that had been sitting next to the entrance spoke up.
"Whoa there! You're not thinking of going outside are you?"
"Umm... yeah, actually. I've got to get a move on before it gets too late." She didn't look at the pony who had just spoken to her. She was looking around the room. Everypony was looking at her.
"You must not go outside on the Full Moon!" It was the doorway pony again, a cranky old mare with a frizzy grey mane and wild look in her eyes, "Wicked monsters are ahoof. Inside it is safe, that is where you should stay!"
"Okaaay, we've officially left Stalliongrad and gone right down to Creepy Town." Rally was looking at everypony in the room for some hint that this was all a joke, but not one of them was anything but serious. "You're kidding. You're kidding right?"
"No, to go outside in the dead of night is to face certain doom." The way the old mare emphasized the word "dead," sent a chill down Rally's spine, even though she was doing her best to disregard the crazy pony.
"That's just a bunch of hooey. There's no way the Princesses or the Royal Guard would let monsters run loose like that."
"Foal! It was Luna who unleashed them on us. A thousand years ago, Nightmare Moon placed a terrible curse on one brave pony who stood against her, turning the would be hero into a were-wolf pony!"
This wasn't the first time Rally had heard some strange or frightening tale from some old crone. Don't go into The Valley of Shadows, its filled with fearful monsters. Beware the Jabberwock my friend, the jaws that bite the claws that catch. Listen to my words and take heed, avoid the lake of the Spirit of Greed. It was the same thing almost ever time, usually. Most of the time anyway. Maybe half the time, it was all a bunch of nonsense that occasionally ended with some crooked character yelling "I would have gotten away with it too!"
But not always.
"Nightmare Moon is gone though, and there's no such thing as curses." Rally wasn't totally certain anymore, but she wasn't afraid. Standing firm was her special talent after all, so with a faint smile she tapped the hilt of her blade and put one hoof on the doorknob. "Besides, I think I can take care of myself."
"Then go with Celestia my friend, and may Luna watch your hoofsteps."
Rally just shrugged, opened the door and stepped outside. She couldn't tell if they were just being melodramatic or superstitious, but the one thing she knew for sure was that she'd already missed her chance to get to her inn before the storm arrived. It was already there.
--- ---
Winter storm didn't really do the weather justice. If that crazy old pony had told her how cold it was going to be, maybe she'd have had a better time convincing her to stay indoors. The wind howled across the rooftops and managed to dip down into the streets here and there to pick up the occasional whirlwind of powder. It bit at her extremities and every so often she stopped to shake some warmth back into her ears. There was so much snow, it didn't even have a chance to turn entirely grey before it reached the ground.
Rally was lost. It wasn't that hard to do considering that she could only see about two buildings in front of her before everything was obscured by the falling snow.
"Fetlocks... If the weather team made this storm to 'scare off evil beasts,' I am going to have some harsh words with somepony."
Over the howling wind, she almost didn't hear another kind of howl, but she caught the edge of it and it managed to chill her in ways the bitter cold couldn't. Up ahead, several figures appeared out of the whirling snow, and a barely perceptible crunching sound behind her let her know that she was being surrounded. They looked like they were wearing festival masks and costumes, dressed up as frightening wolves.
Maybe they're the ones scaring everypony in town? Chances are good that the Royal Guard won't be out and about in this weather, so maybe they were taking advantage of the situation? I wonder what their game is... They look absolutely ridiculous!
It was absurd. Rally felt a guffaw building in her chest and it burst out uncontrollably.
"My stars!" she was practically shouting to be heard over the wind "You should see yourselves, are you trying to be thugs or something? Please... I've seen better acts in the inbox for the Canterlot Ministry of Magic's policy department."
They didn't say anything in response, but they didn't seem to know what to make of her. Laughter was clearly not the reaction they'd been expecting. A couple of them backed up uncertainly, but the one who'd been standing in front held its ground.
"Now, if you don't mind, I have to get to the Tangy... whatever its called, so if you'd be so kind as to move along, we can all enjoy the rest of our evening without any unpleasantness."
She trotted up to it, the one that was standing in front. As confident as she was, she didn't quite feel comfortable turning her back on that one. There was something in its eyes that spoke ill intent and she could tell that whoever it was, wasn't a friendly pony as she stared it down.
In fact, as she got closer, it really didn't look like a pony at all. "Well thats just fantastic. The old mare was right."
Just as she was finishing her thought, the beast lunged for her. Its very real jaws filled with very real sharp teeth. Rally was able to lift her hoof bracer up to meet it in time, but it bit down hard and tossed her about like a little puppet. Its teeth slid back and fourth on metal plate but didn't pierce it, just nicked her foreleg a bit near the edge.
After several wild swings, Rally managed to twist around and get enough leverage to buck the monster square in the face. It dropped her like a hot potato and staggered back, but by then, the rest of the pack was already charging forward.
She imagined that she must have felt an awful lot like one of those snowflakes as she danced around their snapping jaws. Ducking and twirling just out of reach, searching for an opening before diving between one's legs and darting into an alleyway as fast as her hooves could carry her. Standing her ground might have been her special talent, but if that old mare was right, these were really just ponies under some kind of a spell. She didn't want to hurt them.
Of course, they were all following right behind her, and she found herself galloping headlong down unfamiliar streets. Running away was much less of a special talent for her, but after years of experience, she knew enough to realize she was at a serious disadvantage. They were undoubtedly familiar with the terrain and they outnumbered her. She had no way of knowing just where they might be herding her. If for no other reason, she wanted to stop so she could scratch the itchy little nick on her leg.
"Rally, my fri~aaAAAH!"
For an instant, she saw Blink appear in the street. Popping into existence about one length ahead of her before disappearing again as she bolted past him a heartbeat later. He was wearing what must have passed for a practical winter hat in Canterlot and clearly wasn't expecting to find himself staring down the maw of ravening were-wolf pony.
"Forgive the interruption..." *poof* "...you're not busy... are you?" Blink was galloping alongside her now, or at least he was trying to. He couldn't keep up with his legs, so he found himself blinking ahead of her every few seconds.
"...its just that you didn't... show up at the inn... so I was a little worried... You might have gotten... lost or something."
"Oh, you know me." She gasped out between breaths, "I'm getting along just peachie keen and dandy. I won't ask you for a lift, but you don't suppose you could be a pal and hop into one of these here buildings and open a door for me, could you? I'd bust down one of the doors myself, but I'd like to be able to lock it behind me afterwards."
If she'd been in the mood for introspection, which she wasn't, she might have appreciated that this was the happiest she'd ever been to be randomly interrupted by Blink.
"... But I've never... been in any of these... buildings before... I'm not familiar... with any of them..."
"Oh, thats ok. No worries. I'll just stay out here and deal with these hungry hungry were-wolf ponies, you should go back to bed, I wouldn't want you to risk doing any heavy lifting."
Still not in an introspective mood, she might have otherwise thought that what she just said could have been considered terribly unkind, but there was no anger in her voice and Blink didn't seem offended.
"...Terribly sorry miss... I won't be able to oblige... such a generous offer... how about I pop up... ahead instead and see if... I can find a building... that I can see through... the window or something..." He was getting out of breath even from the brief exertion, and it was making his words even harder to understand.
"... Just don't turn onto... a side road, okay?" *Blink* This time, he didn't reappear instantly.
Galloping straight ahead would have been easy, up until a pair of were-wolf ponies appeared in the road ahead of her and tried herd her off course. Rally couldn't help but be a little bit annoyed by their timing.
You just had to say it Blink, just had to say 'don't turn.' Of course they're going to try to make the opposite happen. Why is it that never works when someone says 'let the horrible monsters gobble you up?'
She tried to dance around them, but all the snow on the ground had other plans. One of her hooves slipped while a different hoof stuck and she went tumbling to the ground. Right into one of the were-wolf pony's legs. The two of them rolled down hill for about half a block. The ware-wolf pony was just as shaken up as Rally was by the turn of events and she didn't have to worry about it snapping at her face until they had just about rolled to a stop. Its claws scratched at her sides as she tried to untangle herself from the wreck, but it wasn't about to let go. At least she managed to avoid its powerful jaws though.
"Rally, my fri~ HIYAAA!" Blink pelted the ware-wolf pony with a telekinetic barrage of snowballs.
It managed to stun the beast long enough for Rally to get back to her hooves, in spite of the fact that Blink's terrible aim sent a barrage of snowballs at her as well.
"I found a room just up ahead, on your left!" Blink disappeared as the second of the two blocking were-wolf ponies leaped out of the shadows, followed by his voice shouting from somewhere up ahead. "I mean, the room is on your right, just watch out for the horrible beast on your left!"
Rally's world exploded in a kaleidoscope of stars and colors as she tried galloping on her sprained ankle, but somehow she managed to reach the right building in time. It wasn't until Blink slammed the door behind her and she collapsed to the floor that her vision stopped swimming and she was able to take stock of the situation.
It looked like they had managed to find refuge in a small cafe or something like one. Several of the tables were overturned while chairs and silverware were scattered about ever which direction. Through the cracks in the storm shutters, they could see the were-wolf ponies lurking around outside. They were pacing back and fourth, but making no efforts to get inside for whatever reason.
"Do you... really think we're safe... in here?" Blink spoke in-between gasps for air. He was drenched in sweat from the exertion.
"I don't know why, but yeah. I think we're safe from them, but what about this place?" She pointed at the gigantic mess, not bothering to pick herself back up from the floor "It looks like a whole herd of those beasts came trampling through here."
"I beg your pardon Miss Rally Primrose Song. I am terribly sorry about the uncivilized rescue, but as you are well aware, it can be terribly dangerous to teleport into unfamiliar places. We were lucky I could get a good visualization at all given how dreadfully dark it is in here."
"You did all this?" Rally was a bit shocked.
"No no dear, as much as I would like to take credit for what is apparently a masterpiece of the brutish arts -if your reaction is any indication- I am afraid that gravity did most of the work here."
Before Rally had a chance to reply, a deep silky voice from behind the counter caught her attention. "Gravity you say? Sounds like unicorn trickery to me." A small black cat jumped up onto the empty display case and gave one of its paws a non-chalant lick before continuing, "And not very clever trickery either."
"Oh great," Rally's eyes went wide at the sight, "I must have been hit harder than I thought. I'm hallucinating now. Talking cats, what's next, were-wolf ponies? Oh wait! That one already happened. Blink, you wouldn't happen to know of a good hospital around here, I think I might need to change my itinerary for the evening. Maybe you could hop by the Taunting Rassbitter and..."
"Tantsy Rassveta."
"...Whatever. Hop by and let them..."
"And you're not hallucinating."
The hamster wheel inside Rally's brain sputtered to a halt. "I, buh-what? Are Lunar Pies enchanted with a talk to animals spell or something?"
"Pull yourself together girl! And don't make any sudden moves. Its not an animal, its a house spirit. A powerful one."
Magic is a relatively complex field of study, perhaps the most complicated field of study, right next to pony relationships at least. Rally's travels had given her a better than average understanding of the topic, but that was barely a drop in the bucket next to a unicorn like Blink who had devoted years of his life to its study. His tone of voice indicated that he was completely serious.
"Ah yes, the pony has some brains," the cat dropped down to the floor in front of them with an unnaturally fluid grace, "but usually ponies that know about us have enough brains to show some respect!"
The little cat grew about two sizes less little and its voice took on a menacing tone.
"Oh, come on! Can't I catch a break just once?" Rally still hadn't been able to pull herself off the floor.
"No, but you can barge in uninvited, and smash my furniture it seems. Even the beasts have more sense than that."
"So you're saying you keep the were-wolf ponies outside, all by yourself?" Rally was fencing with a foam mallet.
"Hmm... not much going on upstairs for this one." the house spirit was understandably unimpressed, "One spirit per house, thats how it goes, and yes. We always come out of hiding for holidays, who would pass up a chance for all that delicious food?"
"So wait. Lunar pies give cats the ability to talk to ponies then? Is that how this works?"
"Forget about the lunar pies Rally!" Blink was starting to get worried as the house spirit sauntered up to Rally.
"Yes, listen to your friend's good advice. You have more important things to worry..." The spirit froze mid-sentence and the hairs on its back stood straight up. "...You carry their mark on your leg!"
Blink was across the room in an instant, standing over Rally's barely moving form. "Wait! Good spirit, don't pass judgement on us yet." Blink's voice was firm but polite, "We'll clean up this mess, just allow my friend a moment to recover and we'll have the room looking good as new in no time at all."
"Oh very well... but you had better hurry. I'm not sure how much time she has."
--- ---
It had taken Rally almost fifteen minutes before she was able to stand up again, and even longer to clean up the mess in the little cafe, but eventually, ever table, chair, spoon and napkin was back in its rightful place. Blink, of course, spent the entire time pacing back and fourth, deep in thought. On the plus side, the were-wolf ponies seemed to have moved on.
"I was wrong about you pony," the house spirit's voice was no longer menacing, "you do have a generous heart, and you've endeared yourself to me. Why, I think I can see my reflection in this display case."
"Um... Thanks, I guess." It was a difficult complement for Rally to take, "Its not really something I'm good at."
"Well you've got a marvelous job! And your friend didn't so much as lift a hoof to help. I can't say I care for him very much, but if he's a friend of yours I am sure he's a good pony too."
"Its, um, something that he's even less good at I guess. But we've all got our merits and flaws."
Talking to a cat was still something that seemed a bit unusual to Rally, and that in turn made the whole situation feel unusual. She'd talked to a bird or two on occasion, but even if cats could normally understand pony speak, they never seemed to care enough to respond. The fact that she was starting to feel a bit light-headed might have also played some part in it.
"I'll tell you what, Miss Rally. Since you've been so kind, I will return the favor and tell you where you can find a cure."
"You know the cure?!" Blink was suddenly standing right next to the house spirit, his ears perked straight up.
"A cure? A cure for what? What are you talking about?"
"Oh, I didn't mention it?" Blink was genuinely surprised at himself, "I must have forgotten in all the commotion, but according to my research, were-wolf pony syndrome -scientifically, wereviridae ponivirus- is transmitted by bite. I've been trying to remember if there was a cure, as a matter of fact. I suppose it would have been prudent to ask, no?"
It made some sense. Her whole leg was mildly tingling, though for some reason she didn't notice it anymore unless she was paying attention to it.
"Prudent, yes. But I don't know the cure myself. I only know the one who does."
"Ugh, I know where this is going," Rally couldn't help but facehoof at the thought, "Let me guess, I must climb the tallest tree in the forest and retrieve a magic berry for the lady of the lake or something?"
"Err... no, but you're not far off." the house spirit managed to look embarrassed, "You need to find a creature who goes by the name of Gamayun. She's a bird with the head of a mare and she lives on the magic isle."
"The magic isle... really? Thats what its called?"
"Oh come on, there's only one island in this whole town." the spirit jumped back up onto the countertop, "Give me a break! Its not like I get out very much."
Rally would have face hoofed again, if she hadn't already been holding her hoof to her forehead from the last one.
"If I'm not mistaken, I believe the island that the spirit is referring to Ostrov, the island district." Blink offered helpfully.
"Great! The island district: the densest, most heavily populated, sky-scrapingest place in Equestria next to Manehatten, and we've got to find a single, specific person, who nopony else seems to have ever heard of, and do so while avoiding roaming packs of hungry were-wolf ponies in a blinding snow storm? It'll be easy as finding some hay in a needle stack, what could possibly go wrong?" Going to bed and worrying about it in the morning was beginning to seem very tempting to Rally.
"Oh, I forgot to mention one thing." the spirit had jumped back behind the counter and out of sight, "You should probably try to find Gamayun before sun-rise, after that, the effects may be irreversible."
"Yeah. That one was my fault, I had to say it." Rally was still face hoofing, but her foreleg was getting rather tired. "I guess we better get a move on."
"Actually, I do believe my time might be better spent elsewhere. You wouldn't mind going to the island district by yourself would you?" Blink was staring at his hooves as he spoke.
Rally sighed and rolled her eyes as hard as she possibly could, again. "Fine, go off and do... whatever it is you do when you're not pestering me."
"Great spirit," Blink addressed the cat respectfully, "do I have your permission to leave your house?"
"Yes, you may leave."
Blink was gone before the spirit had finished saying 'yes.'
"Well spirit, I guess this is goodbye. Maybe someday I'll be able to come visit, when the cafe is open anyway." Rally was already looking at the doorway as though it might spring from its hinges and bite her.
"Oh, I'll probably be asleep by then, don't worry about it." the spirit popped up from behind the counter with an orange wrapped up in its tail, "before you go, take this and squeeze it over yourself. Wolves hate the smell, so as long as you stay out of sight, you should be okay."
"Thank you!" Rally had to stretch to reach the top of the counter, but as soon as grabbed the orange, she made a polite bow.
"That will be three bits please."
"Oh, you've got to be... fine."
--- ----
Each time she crouched down, her hurt leg started itching fiercely, and every step she took shot pins and needles up her leg. Her ears and nose were numb, but at least she wasn't covered in soot anymore. The enormous volume of snow seemed to have pulled a lot of the ash out of the air with it, and now the snow actually looked like it might pass for white.
The storm was still intensifying, and yet the full moon still found a way to peek its radiant visage through the clouds every now and again, lighting everything up in a sparkling silver glow for a few moments at a time before being swallowed back up. Rally found herself having to halt and take cover each time. Her chocolate colored pelt stood out much too prominently in the moonlight.
Jumping from rooftop to rooftop worked for a little while, and Rally had felt terribly clever for the idea too. She just hoped that nopony inside was being unnerved by the click-click-click sound her steps were making, but if some little foal was scared that she might come sliding down the chimney, it was just something she'd have to live with.
However, the closer she got to the island district, the taller and more widely spaced the buildings became. After a few near misses on landing, none of which did her sprained ankle any good, she was forced to climb back down to the streets. After that, she found herself slinking down alleyways, hiding behind empty booths, benches, fir trees or any cover she could find. At one point, she even dove into a snow drift as a pair of were-wolf ponies passed by, but true to the house spirit's word, they didn't catch her scent.
That plan worked well enough until she got to the bridge connecting the island to the mainland. It was an enormous span, well over a hoofball field in length with no cover at all.
I'm just going to have to make a break for it. At least it doesn't look like there are any were-wolf ponies on the bridge, so I should be ok until I reach the other side. I'll just wait until the moon peeks out and goes away, then I'll make a dash for it. Its just like playing red light, green light back in the day, only not so much a game and more honest danger. Ok, so its not really game like at all.
She waited a few minutes for the moon to peek out again, nothing else to do but listen to the roaring wind and feel her leg and shoulder burning while everything else was freezing, but as soon as her moment came, she broke cover and galloped for the bridge as fast as her ankle would allow.
She managed to get halfway across the bridge when the moon lit up the world again. From the wide open vantage point on the bridge, she could see the towering skyscrapers ahead of her, even through the falling snow; and she could see the river frozen over beneath her. Perhaps if she hadn't been so focused on her destination, she might have realized that she could have crossed the river anywhere she wanted instead of pinning her on a narrow bottleneck with only two exits. Perhaps she would have stopped to facehoof too, but the moonlight also revealed a were-wolf pegasus that was swooping down to meet her.
"I... but, you! That doesn't!"
Rally was mad. She wasn't quite sure if there was anything in particular, she wasn't really thinking about that at all. She was simply furious, at anything and everything. Angry at the were-wolf ponies, angry at Luna and her terrible moon for exposing her, angry at that stupid Gamayun for not being more helpful. She didn't notice the burning sensation in her leg and shoulder spread up her neck.
The blade of her sword unsheathed silently.
She stood her ground.
The were-wolf pegasus was quick, it closed the distance in barely the blink of an eye, but Rally only had to move a foot. Just as the were-wolf pony spread its wings to pull up, Rally started to take a step to the side. The diving monster whiffled to match Rally's step, but as soon as it turned to its side, she stepped back to her original spot and let the were-wolf pegasus swoosh by beside her. A swipe of her sword cut half of its flight feathers right down the middle, while its flailing claws caught only a few strands from her mane.
It tumbled gracelessly to the ground, but its fall was cushioned by the snow and it was picking itself back up as soon as it stopped sliding. Rally could have turned and fled. She might have even made it to cover, but instead she advanced on the now struggling creature. It lashed out wildly, but Rally parried its swipe with the flat side of the blade.
"Is that the best you can do!?"
Rally was yelling as best as she could with the grip of a sword in her mouth, but it turned out much more ferocious than she expected. Her voice didn't sound like something a pony would make, it was a gravelly roar that cowed the beast in front of her and she startled herself.
The moon ducked back behind the clouds, and Rally's fury was extinguished along with its light.
What was that? Why was I so angry? This can't be happening!
The beast flapped its damaged wing pitifully, it growled pathetically. Rally was not afraid of it. When she turned to bolt away, she was fleeing from herself, and it wasn't until she slipped her sword back in its scabbard that she noticed the burning sensation had reached her jaw.
She wasn't trying to be stealthy anymore, she was just galloping for everything she was worth. The clippity clip of her hooves against the ground competing with the howling wind for the attention of anyone who was listening. The other were-wolf pegasi that were perched on the skyscraper rooftops spotted her easily, but as they were diving in for the prize, she reached the other end of the bridge. Hooking her horseshoe under the lip of a sewer grate, she pulled it up from the ground in one motion and tumbled into the pitch black tunnel.
She couldn't tell if her pursuers were following her or not, she just ran until she hit a wall and crouched down in a corner. Only after a few minutes of silence did she allow herself to relax.
"Rally, my fri~oh no!" Blink was back, somewhere in the darkness nearby.
"No no! This is all my fault! She was counting on me and I let her down, now she's passed into the great beyond. Oh cruel, poetic justice, that I should follow her into oblivion with a simple spell. Cut down in my prime with still so much to live for! Oh Celestia, please give me a second chance! I'm sorry! I'm sorry I stole Rosy Rivit's peanut butter and jelly sandwich in second grade, I'm sorry I knocked the priceless paleo-pony vase off the shelf and blamed it on Mr. Fuzzikins, I'm sorry I..."
"Blink! We're not dead. We're in a sewer, there's a difference."
"Rally?! By jove it is you! Um... you don't suppose you could maybe... not tell anypony about what you just heard me say, could you?"
"Blink, if I get out of this in one piece, you can consider it a deal."
Blink's grin was practically audible and Rally found that she was feeling better already. This wasn't the kind of thing that anypony should have to face alone, and she figured that now was as good a time as any to break the bad news.
"There's a bit of a problem though, Blink. I think we might be running out of time. I can feel this, whatever this is spreading, its... its getting harder to think straight."
"Tut tut, my dear Rally, take heart. For I, Blink the Magnificent, hold the answer to your woes." It didn't take Blink long to bounce back to his usual self, "What is that, you might ask? What could he possibly have discovered that will save the day, or night as the case may be? No, nothing so mundane as a cure spell, for Blink the Magnificent is much too crafty to trip into such a base pitfall. Deep in the cavernous halls underneath Canterlot, I poured through tome after tome of ancient tax ledgers and deed transactions, until finally I discovered the address of someone named Gamayun, living right here in the island district of Stalliongrad."
"No way, thats super!" for the first time since she stepped out of the tavern door, Rally though things were starting to look up, "What's the address?"
"1234 Magic Isle Lane, suite number 5."
"Of course it is."
--- ---
After several long minutes of crawling through sewers and then crawling through even tinier sewers, the pair of ponies managed to navigate their way roughly to the correct address. Rally cleared the snow away from sewer grate number 82 and saw the humble, five story tower with the numbers 1234 embossed on the front door.
"I think this is the right place, you think you can Blink inside and open the door?"
In the dim light filtering into the sewer, Rally could just barely catch the look of grim determination on his face. "I... I'll give it my best shot. Its pretty dark in there, but I think I've got a feel for it." he let out a sigh before trying to downplay his fear of teleporting into an unknown spot. "I just hope I can convince the authorities of these highly extenuating circumstances. Breaking and entering twice in one night... You do realize I'm sticking my neck out quite a long ways on your behalf, Miss. I swore a solemn oath never to use my special talent for larceny you know."
"This is an emergency Blink, I'm sure they'll understand. And if they don't I'll make 'em understand." Rally wasn't going to let her good vibe slip away that easily.
"My dear, knowing your methods of persuasion, that isn't terribly reassuring."
"I could tell them I threatened you, forced you to do it."
Rally certainly felt that that was a check-mate sort of argument, but Blink was not nearly as impressed with her logic.
"I'm afraid you've just proved my point, dear friend. Seeing as how I could simply teleport to safety, I don't think that ruse is going to fool anypony."
"Just blink in there and open the door or I swear I'll bite you!"
Blink held up his hooves in mock fright. "Okay, okay, you made your point. I'm going."
A few tense moments after he disappeared, the front door of building 1234 opened ever so slightly and the tip of Blink's hoof timidly waved her forward. She braced herself against the bottom of the sewer and gave the ponyhole cover the strongest kick she could muster. The disk was still flipping through the air like a coin when Rally leapt from the tunnel and galloped across the street. A familiar howling sound echoed from above, but by the time the were-wolf pegasi even knew what they were seeing, she was already sliding onto home plate.
Once again, Blink made certain to close and lock the door behind her.
"Oh great house spirit, you're not mad that we're barging in uninvited are you?" Even though she was sincere, Rally just couldn't pull off the formal tone and ended up sounding like a ham. There was, however, no reply to her question. "I'm going to assume that's a no then."
On any other day, five flights of stairs would have been a triviality for Rally, but today was not an ordinary day. Fifty miles of plowing, followed by galloping for her life, jumping from rooftops, fighting, spraining her ankle, crawling through sewers, half turning into a monster; after all of that, five flights of stairs might well have been fifty. By the time they reached suite number five, Rally was gasping for breath.
Blink took the initiative to knock on the door while Rally flopped down against the hallway wall, but on the second tap of his hoof, the door swung open. She was a bird that was bigger even than an average pony, with dark iridescent feathers of black and midnight blue, and a mane of bright orange down. For several tense seconds, she stared into Blink's eyes, and it was Rally that broke the ice.
"Good evening... Hope you don't mind us barging in at odd hours, but a friend of mine said you might be able to help and there's kinda not a whole lot of time." As far as awkward things to say go, it was near the top of the list for Rally, but eventually Gamayun managed a tired smile. She looked very sleepy in general.
"Come in my dear little ponies, I apologize, but you took me by surprise." Her voice was deep, but it had an airy rasp to it and in spite of the youthful look of a young mare on her face, she sounded ancient. "Very peculiar threads indeed. If it hadn't been for all those stairs, I might not have heard you coming at all."
She had a dry chuckle that made Rally's skin crawl, even more so than it already was. The decor of her suite had a simple elegance to it that reminded Rally of something she'd seen in a painting once. She thought about plopping down on one of the cushions that were strategically placed around what must have been a living room, but playing in sewers and bathing in orange juice are two activities that make sitting on a strangers furniture an exceptionally rude thing to do.
"You just sit tight now while I fix something up that'll make you feel right as rain." She walked into her kitchen with a funny hopping motion that one might expect from a bird.
Rally was all too happy to oblige. It was getting hard just to stay awake anymore, and that faint burning sensation had nearly spread throughout her entire body. Eventually, Blink managed to shake himself out from whatever mood that first meeting had put him in and after briefly checking to make sure Rally was still alive, he trotted over to the kitchen.
"Miss... I hope I'm not troubling you by asking a few questions, but do you know Princess Luna? Is she really responsible for all of this?"
She didn't seem troubled at all, if the flicker of warmth in her voice was any indication "Oh that nice old mare? She stopped by here earlier asking for my help, a generous heart she has, no doubt about that!" she chuckled to herself and it might have sounded awkward if the sentiment hadn't been so kind, "I'm afraid its a little bit trickier for the others though, but since your friend's trauma is still fresh, this little brew ought to work nicely. Oh, would you be a dear and grab the pepper for me?"
Blink bowed his head and lifted the jar of pepper off a quaint little spice rack hanging over the sink. He couldn't bring himself to face her gaze again, but his curiosity pushed him onward.
"Do you think there's any way to help the... the others?"
"Oh don't worry your little head over it. It sure took her a while to get around to it, but now that she's working on the problem, I'm sure your Princess will have it sorted out in no time. Ahh, there we go, its ready."
She poured a thick wheat colored liquid into a teacup and slid it across the countertop to Blink. It swirled around and bubbled a bit before slowly calming down.
"Here, why don't you help her drink that while I clean up this little mess." There was a hint of humor in her voice.
When Blink returned to the living room, Rally had carefully folded her legs up underneath her and was starting to nod off. Her head wobbled unsteadily back and fourth with every breath in and out.
"Hold on Rally," He levitated the cup over to her, "here, drink up."
Rally managed to stomach a single gulp of the brew before she spat the rest of it out right into Blink's face.
"S-s-spicy!"
Another dry chuckle echoed out from the kitchen, "Oh~ho ho! That means its working!"
"Right, excellent. Jolly good then." Blink was not particularly thrilled, but seeing that Rally was now quite animated rather than slowly fading, he didn't let it bother him too much. "I think I'll just go home for a bit and wash up, you don't mind, do you?"
"Wait..." Rally stirred a bit as if she was thinking about standing up but then thought better of it, "Before you go, I just wanted to say thanks for helping. I-I didn't really mean what I said earlier. I don't hope you blink in while I'm falling off a cliff or anything."
"Nonsense my good friend, after tonight, I shall consider teleporting off of a cliff with you to be a genuine improvement." he paused a moment and nodded politely, "Good evening Rally, Ma'am. Until we meet again." And with that, he was gone once more.
There was a moment of silence after Blink had gone, and Rally was starting to get the feeling that she'd outstayed her welcome. "Well, I guess I should be..." but she didn't get a chance to finish her sentence before Gamayun cut her off.
"Hush now, quiet now. You just lay your sleepy head down until morning, then you can run along to the Tantsy Rassveta where I am certain a warm bath and a comfy bed are waiting for you. Its just three blocks north, on your left. You can't miss it." Rally was too tired to question how the old bird knew where she was going, but after drinking that awful brew, she couldn't fall asleep either.
Instead, she just sat in a total stranger's living room and watched the sunrise through breaking storm clouds.
The snow tapered off into a light dusting and while the smoke from the furnaces pushed its way back up into the sky, the the streets below flickered to life as all kinds of different ponies ventured out their doors once more.
This might not be quite like the Equestria I remember, but as long as there are good ponies out there who are willing to help... I think it'll be alright.
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