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Fracture 9: Suburbia.

By Mandroid
Created: 2020-12-19 13:22:59
Expiry: Never

  1. =Fracture 9=
  2.  
  3.  
  4. >You grip the roof tight as the smoke bellows into your face, the train screaming down the side of the mountain.
  5. >The cars behind you were shredded and blown out after the recent events.
  6. >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.
  7. >It had been a busy three days.
  8. "LAST STOP, STORMWING! LAST CHANCE TO THROW ALL OF THIS BEHIND US!"
  9. >Please don't.
  10. >She glances around at her situation, clearly taking your words under consideration.
  11. >But, as is the case with her kind, that griffin bravado and honor takes root and thrives.
  12. >"Not way. Not after what you pulled. We end this now!"
  13. >Thank The Maker.
  14. >The hen charges you, using the wind at her back to close the distance between you both as fast as she can.
  15. >*Idiot*
  16. >+Knee+
  17. >You shoot your knee up into her jaw as she gets close before you grab the feathers on the side of her head.
  18. >You spin yourself around with her still in your grip and hurl her from the train.
  19. >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.
  20. "HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
  21. >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.
  22. >You step to the edge of the train and spot the lake you were currently running over.
  23. >:No time like the present!:
  24. >You leap from the train, your velocity causing you to painfully skip over the water's surface.
  25. >FUCK,
  26. >:SHIT:
  27. >+DAMN+
  28. >*ASS*
  29.  
  30. >You break through the water's surface near the shore and haul yourself out and onto the shore.
  31. >Your knives and gear can all be felt on your body, save for one important thing.
  32. >DAMMIT.
  33. >:SHIT:
  34. >*WHERE IS IT?*
  35. >You get to your feet and slow through the wet sand.
  36. "WHERE IS IT!?"
  37. >Traveling light was a necessity for you, you usually only ever carried your gear on you and some bits.
  38. >Save this.
  39. >This went everywhere with you.
  40. >You spot a simple rucksack at the edge of the beach and all but run towards it.
  41. >Inside you can feel water sloshing around as you madly grasp for the object inside.
  42. >Once your hand finds purchase, you pull the little stuffed friend out and sigh a deep sigh of relief.
  43. "Hello, Smarty Pants..."
  44. >The doll didn't respond, but it being there was enough for you.
  45. >Mac had loved this thing...it had been the only thing you had grabbed from Ponyville before you left...
  46. >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.
  47. >By your reckoning, you were a few miles from the Trottingham suburbs, only a short walk away.
  48. >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.
  49. >Before long, you see the small houses of the suburb, the residents of it milling about.
  50. >Nothing LOOKED out of the ordinary...
  51. >Shining, you're a moron.
  52. >You moved closer to the town, now being able to make out some of it.
  53. >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-
  54. >...
  55. >Okay, maybe Shining wasn't a moron.
  56.  
  57. >Everyone in the town was muted, grey.
  58. >They all wear blank expressions and simply shuffle their hooves along the ground as they walk seemingly without direction or purpose.
  59. >You stride through the town, giving the ponies a wide berth as you do.
  60. >As you walk, you inspect them.
  61. >+Small pupils, mouths agape, droll spilling out and hooves dragging along the ground+
  62. >:Euch...:
  63. >*They're like meat puppets...*
  64. >None of them seem to notice us...
  65. >It's a little insulting.
  66. >You huff a bit and walk down the road towards an official looking building.
  67. >Rounded structure, pillars along the outside keeping the roof up, crows next at the top.
  68. >A lot like Town Hall in Ponyville.
  69. >You step up to the front door and knock your knuckles against it twice.
  70. "Hello?"
  71. >You hear the sound of hooves on hardwood from behind the door.
  72. >:Huh?:
  73. "Anyone in there?"
  74. >+Break down the door+
  75. >What?
  76. >*Do it*
  77. >That's ins-
  78. >You find your foot moving up to the doorknob.
  79. >Ohgoddamnit!
  80. >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.
  81. >Immediately before an arrow imbeds itself in the wall.
  82. "GAH FUCK."
  83. >"Dammit all!"
  84. >You spot a unicorn in the back of the room wielding a small crossbow, struggling as he tries to reload it.
  85. >You burst from the doorway and bound over the makeshift barricades, tackling the stallion to the ground.
  86. "You greet everyone like this, kid!?"
  87. >"Please don't take me!"
  88. >Huh?
  89.  
  90. >+Gather information+
  91. "Explain."
  92. >He removes his hooves from his face and looks up at you. "You mean...you don't know?"
  93. >You shake your head.
  94. >"Oh thank Celestia! You may be able to help!"
  95. >He wriggles his way out from underneath you and hops to his feet.
  96. >"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!"
  97. >*...Animated corpses?*
  98. >"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."
  99. >The stallion reloads his crossbow.
  100. >"I'm the only one left. The ones outside get...controlled by him! Turned into his little obedient slaves!"
  101. >*Slaves...*
  102. >The stallion peers out the window.
  103. >"I think we can make a break for it if we-"
  104. >You weren't listening, you were heading to the door.
  105. >You throw open the doors and bang your fist against one as loud as you can, attracting the attention of all the ponies outside.
  106. >You glance over your shoulder at the stallion.
  107. "Stay inside."
  108.  
  109. >Your back arches and your pupils constrict as the townspeople stumble ever closer to you.
  110. >*This...*
  111. >*This ends.*
  112. >You run into the crowd of cultists and start swinging your knives, aiming for necks, faces, and chests.
  113. >This...this was sick.
  114. >*An affront to all life*
  115. >And like all affronts.
  116. >*It had to be ended.*
  117. >There was no one to save from this, no need to.
  118. >They were gone, the life was stolen from them and they were forced to hobble around afterwards.
  119. >This wasn't murder, it was an act of mercy.
  120. >You whirled around the town, killing every shambling form you found.
  121. >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.
  122. >The sun sets as you clear out more of the town of more of the cultists.
  123. >Eventually you spot only one cultists remaining, shuffling towards the woods at the edge of town.
  124.  
  125. >Knives in hand, you close the distance between the two of you.
  126. >You tackle the cultist to the ground and slam your knuckles and the blade straight into his neck.
  127. >His eyes lose what's left of their light as the crimson blood seeps from the wound.
  128. >Around his bleeding neck, you spot a single blue amulet.
  129. >+Curious+
  130. >You grab the amulet and hold it up to your eye.
  131. >The single sapphire catches the rising moonlight as you survey the landscape.
  132. >Once you point it in one direction, it takes on a low bloody red hue.
  133. >You remove the sapphire and stare off into the distance, the dull light of a million electric lamps thrumming in the distance.
  134. >+Trottingham+
  135. >The amulet is pointing there.
  136. >:Whoever made it will probably be there:
  137. >You rise from your feet and start walking.
  138. >*Then that's where we're going*

BiE 1: Introductions

by Mandroid

BiE 2: Train, pains, and narcissism.

by Mandroid

BiE 3: Exposition and espionage.

by Mandroid

BiE 3.5: More trains, soon to be back pains.

by Mandroid

BiE 4: Home Improvement.

by Mandroid