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=Fracture 9=
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>You grip the roof tight as the smoke bellows into your face, the train screaming down the side of the mountain.
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>The cars behind you were shredded and blown out after the recent events.
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>Before you now on the roof of the train stands a battered and bloody griffin clenching her sides, just like that pegusi so long ago.
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>It had been a busy three days.
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"LAST STOP, STORMWING! LAST CHANCE TO THROW ALL OF THIS BEHIND US!"
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>Please don't.
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>She glances around at her situation, clearly taking your words under consideration.
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>But, as is the case with her kind, that griffin bravado and honor takes root and thrives.
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>"Not way. Not after what you pulled. We end this now!"
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>Thank The Maker.
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>The hen charges you, using the wind at her back to close the distance between you both as fast as she can.
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>*Idiot*
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>+Knee+
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>You shoot your knee up into her jaw as she gets close before you grab the feathers on the side of her head.
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>You spin yourself around with her still in your grip and hurl her from the train.
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>She spins and twists in the wind as you speed ahead, but her wounds do too much to slow her down and she vanishes beneath the trees.
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"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
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>Riding on a burning train down a mountain at blinding speeds and throwing some dumb bitch off with your bare hands, this was the time of your life.
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>You step to the edge of the train and spot the lake you were currently running over.
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>:No time like the present!:
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>You leap from the train, your velocity causing you to painfully skip over the water's surface.
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>FUCK,
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>:SHIT:
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>+DAMN+
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>*ASS*
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>You break through the water's surface near the shore and haul yourself out and onto the shore.
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>Your knives and gear can all be felt on your body, save for one important thing.
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>DAMMIT.
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>:SHIT:
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>*WHERE IS IT?*
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>You get to your feet and slow through the wet sand.
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"WHERE IS IT!?"
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>Traveling light was a necessity for you, you usually only ever carried your gear on you and some bits.
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>Save this.
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>This went everywhere with you.
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>You spot a simple rucksack at the edge of the beach and all but run towards it.
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>Inside you can feel water sloshing around as you madly grasp for the object inside.
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>Once your hand finds purchase, you pull the little stuffed friend out and sigh a deep sigh of relief.
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"Hello, Smarty Pants..."
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>The doll didn't respond, but it being there was enough for you.
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>Mac had loved this thing...it had been the only thing you had grabbed from Ponyville before you left...
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>You sigh and shove the doll back into its sack before throwing it over your back and tightening it to ensure it wouldn't be thrown off again.
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>By your reckoning, you were a few miles from the Trottingham suburbs, only a short walk away.
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>You set out and walk through the woods, putting your body on autopilot as you take in the gentle sights and sounds of the forest.
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>Before long, you see the small houses of the suburb, the residents of it milling about.
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>Nothing LOOKED out of the ordinary...
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>Shining, you're a moron.
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>You moved closer to the town, now being able to make out some of it.
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>It was a lot like Ponyville with a northern flavor. The roofs were the same just made of brick, the streets were paved and the citizen-
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>...
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>Okay, maybe Shining wasn't a moron.
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>Everyone in the town was muted, grey.
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>They all wear blank expressions and simply shuffle their hooves along the ground as they walk seemingly without direction or purpose.
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>You stride through the town, giving the ponies a wide berth as you do.
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>As you walk, you inspect them.
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>+Small pupils, mouths agape, droll spilling out and hooves dragging along the ground+
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>:Euch...:
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>*They're like meat puppets...*
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>None of them seem to notice us...
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>It's a little insulting.
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>You huff a bit and walk down the road towards an official looking building.
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>Rounded structure, pillars along the outside keeping the roof up, crows next at the top.
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>A lot like Town Hall in Ponyville.
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>You step up to the front door and knock your knuckles against it twice.
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"Hello?"
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>You hear the sound of hooves on hardwood from behind the door.
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>:Huh?:
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"Anyone in there?"
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>+Break down the door+
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>What?
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>*Do it*
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>That's ins-
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>You find your foot moving up to the doorknob.
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>Ohgoddamnit!
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>Your foot bounces off the door three times before the sound of cracking wood and a hail of tiny splinters harkens your entry into town hall.
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>Immediately before an arrow imbeds itself in the wall.
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"GAH FUCK."
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>"Dammit all!"
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>You spot a unicorn in the back of the room wielding a small crossbow, struggling as he tries to reload it.
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>You burst from the doorway and bound over the makeshift barricades, tackling the stallion to the ground.
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"You greet everyone like this, kid!?"
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>"Please don't take me!"
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>Huh?
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>+Gather information+
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"Explain."
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>He removes his hooves from his face and looks up at you. "You mean...you don't know?"
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>You shake your head.
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>"Oh thank Celestia! You may be able to help!"
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>He wriggles his way out from underneath you and hops to his feet.
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>"It all started about two weeks ago. Some ponies said they saw the old necromancer Grogar in the nearby ruins of Tambelon. A few days later, there were reports of walking DEAD circulating around town!"
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>*...Animated corpses?*
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>"A few magisters looked into it, they think that Grogar has to siphon life energy from living beings and then spread it out over the dead to raise them."
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>The stallion reloads his crossbow.
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>"I'm the only one left. The ones outside get...controlled by him! Turned into his little obedient slaves!"
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>*Slaves...*
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>The stallion peers out the window.
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>"I think we can make a break for it if we-"
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>You weren't listening, you were heading to the door.
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>You throw open the doors and bang your fist against one as loud as you can, attracting the attention of all the ponies outside.
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>You glance over your shoulder at the stallion.
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"Stay inside."
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>Your back arches and your pupils constrict as the townspeople stumble ever closer to you.
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>*This...*
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>*This ends.*
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>You run into the crowd of cultists and start swinging your knives, aiming for necks, faces, and chests.
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>This...this was sick.
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>*An affront to all life*
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>And like all affronts.
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>*It had to be ended.*
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>There was no one to save from this, no need to.
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>They were gone, the life was stolen from them and they were forced to hobble around afterwards.
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>This wasn't murder, it was an act of mercy.
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>You whirled around the town, killing every shambling form you found.
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>It turned out that the unicorn in the town hall wasn't the only survivor. You found a few families in homes, a few people trying to get food, a child hiding under a porch. You directed each of them to the town hall to take shelter.
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>The sun sets as you clear out more of the town of more of the cultists.
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>Eventually you spot only one cultists remaining, shuffling towards the woods at the edge of town.
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>Knives in hand, you close the distance between the two of you.
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>You tackle the cultist to the ground and slam your knuckles and the blade straight into his neck.
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>His eyes lose what's left of their light as the crimson blood seeps from the wound.
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>Around his bleeding neck, you spot a single blue amulet.
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>+Curious+
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>You grab the amulet and hold it up to your eye.
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>The single sapphire catches the rising moonlight as you survey the landscape.
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>Once you point it in one direction, it takes on a low bloody red hue.
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>You remove the sapphire and stare off into the distance, the dull light of a million electric lamps thrumming in the distance.
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>+Trottingham+
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>The amulet is pointing there.
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>:Whoever made it will probably be there:
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>You rise from your feet and start walking.
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>*Then that's where we're going*
by Mandroid
by Mandroid
by Mandroid
by Mandroid
by Mandroid