=Fracture 9= -Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QB2SaEzSduM- >You grip the roof tight as the smoke bellows into your face, the train screaming down the side of the mountain. >The cars behind you were shredded and blown out after the recent events. >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. >It had been a busy three days. "LAST STOP, STORMWING! LAST CHANCE TO THROW ALL OF THIS BEHIND US!" >Please don't. >She glances around at her situation, clearly taking your words under consideration. >But, as is the case with her kind, that griffin bravado and honor takes root and thrives. >"Not way. Not after what you pulled. We end this now!" >Thank The Maker. >The hen charges you, using the wind at her back to close the distance between you both as fast as she can. >*Idiot* >+Knee+ >You shoot your knee up into her jaw as she gets close before you grab the feathers on the side of her head. >You spin yourself around with her still in your grip and hurl her from the train. >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. "HAHAHAHAHAHA!" >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. >You step to the edge of the train and spot the lake you were currently running over. >:No time like the present!: >You leap from the train, your velocity causing you to painfully skip over the water's surface. >FUCK, >:SHIT: >+DAMN+ >*ASS* >You break through the water's surface near the shore and haul yourself out and onto the shore. >Your knives and gear can all be felt on your body, save for one important thing. >DAMMIT. >:SHIT: >*WHERE IS IT?* >You get to your feet and slow through the wet sand. "WHERE IS IT!?" >Traveling light was a necessity for you, you usually only ever carried your gear on you and some bits. >Save this. >This went everywhere with you. >You spot a simple rucksack at the edge of the beach and all but run towards it. >Inside you can feel water sloshing around as you madly grasp for the object inside. >Once your hand finds purchase, you pull the little stuffed friend out and sigh a deep sigh of relief. "Hello, Smarty Pants..." >The doll didn't respond, but it being there was enough for you. >Mac had loved this thing...it had been the only thing you had grabbed from Ponyville before you left... >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. >By your reckoning, you were a few miles from the Trottingham suburbs, only a short walk away. >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. >Before long, you see the small houses of the suburb, the residents of it milling about. >Nothing LOOKED out of the ordinary... >Shining, you're a moron. >You moved closer to the town, now being able to make out some of it. >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- >... >Okay, maybe Shining wasn't a moron. >Everyone in the town was muted, grey. >They all wear blank expressions and simply shuffle their hooves along the ground as they walk seemingly without direction or purpose. >You stride through the town, giving the ponies a wide berth as you do. >As you walk, you inspect them. >+Small pupils, mouths agape, droll spilling out and hooves dragging along the ground+ >:Euch...: >*They're like meat puppets...* >None of them seem to notice us... >It's a little insulting. >You huff a bit and walk down the road towards an official looking building. >Rounded structure, pillars along the outside keeping the roof up, crows next at the top. >A lot like Town Hall in Ponyville. >You step up to the front door and knock your knuckles against it twice. "Hello?" >You hear the sound of hooves on hardwood from behind the door. >:Huh?: "Anyone in there?" >+Break down the door+ >What? >*Do it* >That's ins- >You find your foot moving up to the doorknob. >Ohgoddamnit! >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. >Immediately before an arrow imbeds itself in the wall. "GAH FUCK." >"Dammit all!" >You spot a unicorn in the back of the room wielding a small crossbow, struggling as he tries to reload it. >You burst from the doorway and bound over the makeshift barricades, tackling the stallion to the ground. "You greet everyone like this, kid!?" >"Please don't take me!" >Huh? >+Gather information+ "Explain." >He removes his hooves from his face and looks up at you. "You mean...you don't know?" >You shake your head. >"Oh thank Celestia! You may be able to help!" >He wriggles his way out from underneath you and hops to his feet. >"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!" >*...Animated corpses?* >"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." >The stallion reloads his crossbow. >"I'm the only one left. The ones outside get...controlled by him! Turned into his little obedient slaves!" >*Slaves...* >The stallion peers out the window. >"I think we can make a break for it if we-" >You weren't listening, you were heading to the door. >You throw open the doors and bang your fist against one as loud as you can, attracting the attention of all the ponies outside. >You glance over your shoulder at the stallion. "Stay inside." -Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dvIjjzO2aU- >Your back arches and your pupils constrict as the townspeople stumble ever closer to you. >*This...* >*This ends.* >You run into the crowd of cultists and start swinging your knives, aiming for necks, faces, and chests. >This...this was sick. >*An affront to all life* >And like all affronts. >*It had to be ended.* >There was no one to save from this, no need to. >They were gone, the life was stolen from them and they were forced to hobble around afterwards. >This wasn't murder, it was an act of mercy. >You whirled around the town, killing every shambling form you found. >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. >The sun sets as you clear out more of the town of more of the cultists. >Eventually you spot only one cultists remaining, shuffling towards the woods at the edge of town. >Knives in hand, you close the distance between the two of you. >You tackle the cultist to the ground and slam your knuckles and the blade straight into his neck. >His eyes lose what's left of their light as the crimson blood seeps from the wound. >Around his bleeding neck, you spot a single blue amulet. >+Curious+ >You grab the amulet and hold it up to your eye. >The single sapphire catches the rising moonlight as you survey the landscape. >Once you point it in one direction, it takes on a low bloody red hue. >You remove the sapphire and stare off into the distance, the dull light of a million electric lamps thrumming in the distance. >+Trottingham+ >The amulet is pointing there. >:Whoever made it will probably be there: >You rise from your feet and start walking. >*Then that's where we're going*