- =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*

