Darkest Dungeons of Canterlot

Applebloom walked into the darkened tavern and returned the wave from the crusty yellow unicorn working the bar, her eyes caught on the orange pegasus sitting at the bar and her ears drooped. She forced her gaze away from the pegasus and the many empty mugs surrounding her limp form and searched for the tan form of her cousin among the scattered and rough looking crowd in the dingy tavern. She spotted Babs sitting alone at a table, glaring at the back of a very tall mare wearing an old tattered funeral garb who was drinking deeply from her mug.

"How's she doing?" Applebloom asked sitting down and letting out a small moan, glad to be off her sore hooves.

"Well she's not verbally abusing anything within shouting distance anymore, but she certainly isn't in any condition to be going on any forays today. Same goes for the others, they're calming down and no longer in critical condition, but you can see it in their eyes, they're scared and a hairs breath from snapping again." Babs paused, quietly murmuring, "What did they see in there?"

"We're certainly going to need more help then, the two of us just aren't enough to deal with the monsters infesting the area," Applebloom sighed and rested her head on the table, "And despite the fact ponies are regularly flowing into town I haven't been able to find anypony willing to join us." She glanced up as Babs, "Don't suppose you've had any better luck."

"As a mater of fact I did," Babs said smugly, "Two of them in fact, experienced fighters from what they say, and the way they carry themselves gives me reason to believe them." The smile fled Babs face, "We aren't really about to go back into that city are we, that thing Diamond and Silver summoned, what if it's still there?"

"We'd fight it and do our best to kill it," Applebloom said waving the question away with a gesture, "Besides we've got a different target this time."

"We do?" Babs asked, her smile returning.

"Yeah as soon as these two mystery ponies of yours show up we I'll go over today's plan," Applebloom sat up, "Where the hay are they anyways?"

"We were taking the time to relieve ourselves after the long trip," a heavy baritone said from unnervingly close. Applebloom whirled around and leapt clear over to the other side of the table when she found herself looking at an intimidating mix between a skullcap and executioner's hood. She landed on three hooves as her fourth vanished into her robes when she spotted the hooded figure carried a large blood stained ax and several rusty hooks over his scale mail. The figure tenses as well, one of his hooks sliding along a length of rope into one of his hooves. Applebloom prepaired to toss one of her concoctions at the stallion, only to be stopped as Babs jumped between the two.

"Whoa, calm down everypony! No need to start killing each other over a little surprise right Applebloom?"

"Right," Applebloom said still not taking her gaze off the hooded stallion as she slid the volatile potion back into her belt.

"That's a relief," a new voice said from behind Applebloom, "I'd have hated to shoot you in the ass after all this time Applebloom, how's my second favorite baby sitter doing these days?"

Applebloom whiled to spy an orange maned unicorn mare clad from the neck down in heavy platemail armor and levitating a rather heavy looking repeating crossbow in her blue aura. Applebloom opened and closed her mouth a couple times as she looked into the mare's smiling blue eyes. "Pumpkin?"

"How about a hug for old times sake?" Pumpkin Cake laughed, her toothy smile nearly splitting her face in two.

Applebloom launched herself at the younger mare, not caring about the heavy metal armor keeping them apart as they both embraced each other a bone crushing hug. "It's been so long since I last saw you, look how much you've grown!" Applebloom smiled at the hooded stallion, "Does this mean that's Pound Cake?"

Both the hooded figure and Pumpkin flinched at Applebloom's question, the smile vanishing from everypony's face as Pumpkin's hug became much more brittle, "No. Pound's dead."

"I'm. I'm so sorry," Applebloom said her face seeming unable to settle on horror or sorrow. She hugged the armored mare tightly, "I didn't know."

"I know," Pumpkin whispered, a deep shudder went through her rattling her armor as she pulled away and straightened herself out, "Applebloom, I'd like to introduce you to my teacher and partner in business-."

"She knows who I am," the hooded stallion said lifting his navy blue hood to reveal a cheery white face with a large splotch of brown fur around his right eye, "Though she might not recognize me now that I'm not quiet as small and cute as I use to be."

"Pipsqueak?" Applebloom screeched.

"The one and only," he let his hood fall back into place, though his brown eyes still sparkled in the dark, "How have you been Applebloom?"

"What? But, how, when? When did you get so big?" Applebloom ask a small tinge of red coloring her cheeks.

"I started to fill out about a year after you left for Appleloosa," Pip chuckled behind his hood, "And my career choice has helped with the whole process."

"So what exactly do you two do?" Applebloom asked frowning at the weapons the two carried.

"They're bounty hunters Applebloom," Babs said looking down at the table before her, "If the list of names they told me is accurate, damned good ones."

Applebloom paused before she cast a hurt and confused look back at Pumpkin. Pumkin looked away. "We have our reasons."

"Indeed, and if what your friend here was telling us before is true you need somepony with skills in fighting monsters." Pipsqueak sat himself down in Applebloom's vacated seat, "So how about you quit pouting and please explain to us what we will be doing?"

Applebloom's gaze lingered on Pumpkin before she took a seat next to Scootaloo. Pumpkin sat opposite her, but kept her eyes firmly locked on the rainbow maned mare loudly weeping into her mug. Applebloom shook herself and said, "While Canterlot is our main goal, we are going to need a lot of supplies to crack that nut, supplies that we are having a lot of trouble getting due to the woodlands surrounding the city's walls. I'm sure you all remember how fraught with peril your trip here was," the other three ponies at the table nodded and Babs shuddered as Applebloom continued, "To help break this strangle hold on both ourselves and this town, we are going to go into the woods near the trade route and see if we can't make travel between this ramshackle collection of huts,"

"Forelorn Hope," a mountain of yellow pony flesh said as he slid four drinks onto the table.

"What?" Applebloom blinked, broken from her train of thought.

"This ramshackle collection of huts is called Forelorn Hope," the bartender said flashing a gap tooth smile, "Enjoy your drinks ladies, might even toss you some discounts if you really do clear that road."

Pipsqueak watched as the stallion returned to his place behind the counter and snorted, "Applebloom, could you please continue?"

"Right," Applebloom tossed the stallion behind the bar a look, she could have sworn he had been back there until the instant he'd appeared at their table, "Like I was saying, if we can clear the road out even a little, it will increase the amount of supplies at our disposal and drastically reduce the cost of everything in this town."

"Shouldn't we wait and ask Scootaloo to come along with us when she's better?" Babs asked, "She seemed really knowledgeable on those woods on the way here."

All eyes briefly turned to the mare in question. The orange pegasus seemed unaware of the gazes upon her, her head resting against the bar as she hugged one of her mugs. "No real guarantee that she'll ever get better," Applebloom said softly giving her full mug a squeeze, "Even if she does, we really can't wait. Despite the small hoard of treasure we've managed to rake in, the prices of everything in this town means we'll be broke within a week. That's also a lot of the reason I'm proposing this mission, we need to do something to lower prices here and this seems like a good start."

"Sounds like as good an idea as any I've heard," Pipsqueak said lifting his hood and tossing back his drink before setting down an empty mug, "You girls go on ahead I'll settle things with the barkeep and catch up."

Babs and Applebloom rose quickly, walking towards the exit. Pumpkin Cake lingered raising an eyebrow, Pipsqueak shook his head, Pumpkin nodded and followed the other two mares. Pipsqueak stood and approached the bar, pausing to whisper into the ear of the orange mare at the bar, "I know what you've done Scootaloo."

In an instant, Scootaloo was on her hooves, alert and blades drawn as she glared at the towering stallion before her. The stallion gazed down at her impassively reaching for something in the folds of his armor, the barkeep still reached for something behind the bar. "Know that I am watching," he said tossing a small bag that jingled with coin onto the bar, "It be a true shame if your friends had to lose something else."

Scootaloo didn't move as she watched the stallion turn away and walk out the door. The pegasus slowly returned to her seat, ordering something strong as she quietly massaged an old scar.

~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~

Among the forest that dotted the land of Equestria, the Everfree had always been unopposed for its title of the most dangerous and terrifying forest known to exist. That began to change ten years ago when Canterlot fell. The Canterhorn Woods rapidly underwent a metamorphosis from a well maintained woodland to a nightmarish hellscape seeking to claim all that dared trespass into its canopy of leaves. Even on the rare day the sun managed to peer down through the ever present haze, light never reached the forest floor, the plants and fungus seeming to thrive and feed off the malevolent dark and spilled blood that existed beneath the twisted thorny branches and thick serpentine vines that seemed to twitch and move even on the stillest of days.

These cursed and corrupted woods stirred, its beast and residents drawn by the light and sound of those foolish few who dare walk their home's darkened pathways.

"No," Babs growled biting down on Applebloom's ruby tail as she dug in her hooves attempting to drag the yellow mare.

"Babs, please understand! Just give me a minute," Applebloom planted her hooves fighting her cousin.

"No."

"But think of all the good that could come from it, I just need a little time to,"

"No."

"It will take but a moment," Applebloom protested.

"No," Babs managed to yank the smaller mare off her hooves, "You can examine those mushrooms on the way out."

"But I want to examine them now," Applebloom whined as she tried to drag herself back towards the large patch of mushrooms that had recently attacked her, "They might expire after emitting their toxic spores. They might be the only patch of their species in existence and will die without me ever getting to examine them."

"We can only hope to be so lucky," Babs grunted as she dragged Applebloom over to where Pipsqueak and Pumpkin were standing, Pumpkin visibly attempting to hold back laughter. "Now will you walk on your own or do I have to drag you through the rest of today's venture?"

"I can walk on my own," Applebloom's pout easily piercing her mask as Babs spat out her tail. "When did you get so mean?"

"When did you get so stupid?"

The two mares blew raspberries at each other and Pumpkin began to shake from contained laughter as Pipsqueak sighed, "Are you two done or do you wish to continue acting like immature foals in the middle of a woodland full of monsters?"

"Hey we haven't seen any proof of monsters existing out here," Babs pointed out, "just a bunch of feral animals and bandits."

"Then what do you call those?" Pipsqueak asked pointing behind the two mares.

They both whirled and saw a cluster of corpses covered in mushrooms start to rise. It looked like they had been a small family once, a mare and a stallion, their coats now a faded patchwork of grey against their yellow flesh. Their heads were almost lost behind the twisting and bulbous mushrooms that appeared to be growing out of the two corpses' eyes, mouths, ears, and in places where they seemed to burst through the victims very skull. Two little foals rose behind the adults their guts having bust out into a vile bloom of spongy red mushrooms with such violent force that the foals' jaws appeared have been violent separated from the rest of the skull. One of the foals still had a single eye which twitched rapidly about dripping a viscous green ooze, it almost looked like it was crying as it shambled behind one of its parents.

"Faust have mercy," Babs muttered slamming her visor down and drawing her blade.

Applebloom gazed in horror at the dead family, her yellow coat going grey as blood fled her features. Pipsqueak stepped in front of her drawing his ax and lazily twirling a hook around his tail. The tingle of magic sounded behind her and Applebloom heard Pumpkin whisper, "Do I need to protect you now old friend?"

"I'd be a pretty sorry excuse for a foal sitter if you had to protect me," Applebloom said with a shaky laugh.

Pipsqueak and Babs both charged forward their blades biting into the blighted Stallion eliciting a gurgling moan and a wild swing from the corpse, the two fighters easily evaded the blow. One of the foals hissed and the mushroom spilling from its guts fired a vile green fungus from within its spongy mass. The mold struck Babs and quickly sank roots into her armor and flesh. The mother jerked as if struck and lunged at Babs her jagged hooves finding purchase in the knight's hindquarters and ripping deep gashes into the mare's flank.

Babs' cry was answered by a foal screaming in pain. One of the blighted foals had large crossbow bolt buried to the fetching lodged in its body causing the abomination to stagger to the side before slowly regaining its footing. The second foal answered its sister's cry, its eye locking onto Pumpkin as it spat a thick cloud of spores that quickly washed over Applebloom and Pumpkin. Pumpkin hacked and coughed on the spores and found a glass vial shoved halfway down her throat, she reflexively swallowed its content.

"I'd strongly advise against breathing that stuff," Applebloom said drawing a long thin knife, "Think you'll be okay while I gather a sample?" Pumpkin nodded.

Applebloom lunged at the injured stallion, her blade slicing through several of the mushrooms growing out of its head. The fungus stumps oozed a thick black fluid as the stallion staggered drunkenly about before falling over with a final gurgling wail. The mother answered the call turning away from Babs to roar at Applebloom, Pisqueak and Babs instantly took advantage of the distraction to roughly decapitate the dead mare. Her body remained standing for a moment before it collapsed like a puppet with cut strings. The foals both hissed, but with a mechanical click, one of them collapsed, its eye pierced and exploded as another bolt dug deep into its body. The foal collapsed with a pained whine its sibling spewing another cloud of spores which its targets easily evaded. Three blades and a crossbow quickly disabled the last fungal abomination.

"What the actual hell were," Babs started only to get cut off.

"Burn the bodies," Applebloom said, her hoof wrapping around the fungus and tearing it off Babs with painful ease, "I don't want those things spreading. Pumpkin, can either you or Pip help me bandage Babs?"

"Yes," Pumpkin flinched a bit at Applebloom's cold tone

"Good," Applebloom snatched the torch from Pumpkin's aura, "Then go patch up Babs."

Pumpkin nodded quietly as she slunk over to Babs and began to clean the larger mare's wounds as Applebloom applied the crackling flames to the long dead ponies so recently slain. The bodies caught like oil and quickly became a roaring bonefire as they weakly flailed and screeched as the fires consuming them. They burned quickly and brightly, being reduced to nothing but bones and ash in less than a minute, Applebloom watched them burn, the fires reflected in her goggles. Pipsqueak approached, his face equally unreadable behind his hood and asked, "Are you okay?" Applebloom gave him only a simple nod, her eyes still locked on the smoldering embers among the bones. "Then shall we get moving again? We accomplish nothing by staying here."

"Of course," Applebloom said in a painfully neutral tone.

"Are you sure you're alright Applebloom?" Babs asked rising to her hooves.

Applebloom looked Babs in the eyes, her goggles making her golden orange eyes shine oddly in the dim torch light, "I am fine Babs." Her tone remained as neutral and hollow as before, seeming almost like something spoken by a machine as her crow mask muffled and distorted the words as they slithered free.

"If you're sure," Babs wilted under that odd empty gaze.

"I am fine Babs. Let's go."

The four continued on into the forest, now far more tense than they were before. Every hoofstep now echoed with worry and fear, three sets of eyes now scanned the woods and lingered on one form, the last set of eyes were lost in the shadows and glare of dancing flames reflected off glass. Countless conversations were attempted, only to die within their first moments, unable to survive in the heavy atmosphere of concern that threatened to crush them. It was almost a relief when Babs walked into a tree showering her with thick maggots the size of terriers.

Babs shrieked and swung wildly as the massive larva landed on her and began to tear bit sized holes in her flesh and armor. A quick snap shot succeeded in dislodging one of the grubs before it could bit off Babs' ear, and Pipsqueak swiftly knocked off two more with a well aimed buck. Applebloom simply tossed a small vial at the back of Bab's head, the vial shattered off her helm and exploded in a burst of light. The maggots shrieked, falling off Babs and writhing like snakes set aflame. Applebloom swiftly stepped forward and sliced off on of the vermin's heads as her allies looked at her in shock.

"Finish them off you fools," Applebloom said irritation seeping into her voice as she flicked the blood from her blade and effortlessly dodged a maggot lunging for her throat.

Pumpkin nodded and fired another bolt which bit deep into one of the monstrous vermin, it screamed in a terribly equine manner as it thrash throwing its grey blood everywhere as it struggled fruitlessly against death. Pipsqueak followed suit his ax cleanly bisecting one of the bugs, it growled up at its executioner and began to rise, only to vomit a truly surprising amount of blood and collapse. Babs swung blindly, stunned and disoriented, narrowly avoiding decapitating Applebloom as she tumbled down onto her face. The remaining maggots, sensing weakness leapt onto Babs and began to tear at her with vigor, Babs screamed out in terror and pain as the vile vermin tore chunks from her.

Another vial broke against her and the maggots screamed again, pausing in their feeding frenzy to thrash and bite at the empty air. Pumpkin grabbed the monsters in her aura and tossed them into the air where a quick flurry of her crossbow and Pipsqueak's rope blades quickly reduced them to a pile of corpses that rained down around the quivering and bleeding form of their fallen knight.

The three stood, looking down at the once proud earth pony, her chainmail hanging loose and full of holes, her hide so full of holes it looked like she'd been shot repeatedly with buckshot. Her countless wounds oozed weakly, her own red vital fluid mixing in with the maggot's grey to yield a sickly hue. Only her helm seemed to have weathered the vermin's assault and protected the mare's head as she lay on her side, her breathing a disturbing metallic rasp behind her visor. "I'm not dead you know," she hacked, "Some help would be appreciated though."

"Hold her still."

"Here drink this."

"Think you can keep her alive?"

"Come on everypony," Babs chuckled, "You're acting like I'm dying."

Applebloom ripped off Babs' helmet and tossed it to the side as Pipsqueak and Pumpkin worked furiously to clean and bind the injured mare's wounds. Applebloom's breath caught as she saw her cousin's eyes looked like they had a grey film forming over them and she was wearing a resigned smiled. She forced one of the potions on her belt into Babs mouth and halfway down the mare's throat causing the mare to gag as she nearly inhaled the thick paste. Before she even had chance to complain Applebloom was forcing another vial down Bab's abused gullet.

Babs coughed and retched violently, her face twisting into a fiery glare, "What actual buck Applebloom? Are you trying to kill me?"

Applebloom wrapped her hooves tightly around Bab's head and forced her cousin's face into her chest. Babs instinctively tried to pull her head away, but found it trapped in the yellow mare's vice grip and further paralyzed by the soft sobs echoing out from behind the white beak of the expressionless mask. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry Babs. I let myself get distracted. I was so busy thinking about those poor ponies behind us that I almost, I almost," Babs gently pressed her least injured hoof to the sobbing yellow doctor.

"Hush Applebloom, none of this is your fault," Babs smiled color returning slowly to her eyes, "Besides it's mostly aesthetic damage, no real harm done. Right you two?"

"Fuck no!" Pipsqueak snorted angrily, his boots painted red as he compressed the flesh that Pumpkin was furiously bandaging.

"I've never seen a living mare so torn up before," Pumpkin growled, twisting her head to try and get the bandages already stained red tighter.

"See, I'll be fine in a couple minutes," Applebloom released Bab's from her chest and instead brought her head to glare through her goggles at Babs' toothy smile, "I've had worse."

"Babs this is no time for you to play Scootaloo," Applebloom growled, "We need to get you back to town and see if that hospital can't fix you up."

"No," Babs yanked herself free of Applebloom's hooves and staggered to her own hooves ignoring the protest of her companions, "I think I can fix this." She wobbled ominously, balancing on three hooves, reaching into her saddlebags and drawing out a series of sticks which she assembled with at a slow, almost meditative pace. In just over a minute she had assembled a towering cross which she set down next to herself, reach once more into her bags, drawing out a roll of cloth. Her companions watched with worry and anticipation as the blood soaked mummy of a mare carefully hooked the roll of white fabric to the cross. Babs gave a small smile and with more energy than any of her captive audience would have credited her with she raised the cross high into the air, letting the fabric unroll into a banner of the holy Faust and roaring, "Holy mother Faust, the Writer of All Things, I ask that you lay your blessings upon me so that I may continue your great works and banish the darkness from the pages of your great book."

The banner's bright white cloth seemed to burn almost like a small sun in the dark of the forest causing the ponies watching, and several unseen beast, to scream in shock and cover their eyes. By the time the spots had cleared from their vision, Babs had lowered the banner stand to the ground and had a happy smile on her face. She uttered a giggle that quickly grew into a boisterous barking laugh as several of the holes in her hide dissipated like a hole being filled with rainwater.

"Babs?" Applebloom asked, worry in her voice as she slowly approached the laughing knight, "Are, are you okay?"

"Okay? I'm ecstatic!" Babs laughed, "I've never actually gotten that prayer to work before and it's great to finally get it right."

"Shame it's going the only thing ya got right," a voice greasy enough to cause a heart attack chuckled from nearby.

The crack of a gun, buckshot flew through the air, tearing at flesh like a dozen angry ants, pinging off armor like hailstones, and causing all four of the Crusaders to draw back in pain. A pea soup green pegasus dropped from the trees, screaming like a feral beast, his knives flashing in the dim light, slashing through air as both Pumpkin and Pipsqueak leapt back away from his murderous attack. Another crack and foul scent of old powder filled the air as another swarm of buckshot tore through the clearing, scattering the adventurers as they dove for cover.

"Got ya," a sky blue earth pony chuckled leaping from the trees, his thick dagger plunging through Pipsqueak's armor and sliding through his ribs. Pipsqueak coughed, a thick glob of liquid staining his hood. He weakly raised one hoof to the stallion's withers. "What ya want to give me a kiss before ya die dumb ass?"

Pipsqueak's leg, tightened around the raider, pinning him against his own body. Pipsqueak raised his ax high and slammed it down into the raider's abdomen. Pipsqueak grunted, ripping his ax messily free of the raider, spilling blood and deep purple intestines across the muddy ground, and kicked the injured raider away from him. The raider's smile vanished under a look of mortal terror as he staggered and slipped on his own guts, his mouth wide in an airy squeak that slowly faded into a whimpering silence.

"Ya damn bastards!" the green raider screamed starting forward only to have a tan armor clad figure slam into his side. He grunted and turned to face the knight with a snarl, he blinked in confusion at the fresh red on the mare's longsword and looked down in confusion at the wide gash in his side. "How," He found it suddenly very hard to speak, as is normal when one suddenly finds a crossbow bolt lodged in the back of one's throat.

"Bullseye," Pumpkin chuckled around a wide cruel smile as she reloaded her crossbow.

Another vial flew from Applebloom's hooves, this one exploding in the shrubs just off the narrow trail and silhouetting two dark equine forms. They both screamed and there was another crack of gunfire as one of the nearby trees began to shower splinters of wood among the shrubs. "Make it count," Applebloom shouted, "Running low on those."

Into the dark danced a vicious hooked blade affixed to a sturdy rope, the rope jerk taunt and Pipsqueak gave it a yank as if he were simply reeling in a large fish. His catch was jerked free of its shadowed protection by the hooked buried deep in her, tumbling into the dim mocking light of the torches. Her tear stained eyes looked up pleadingly as she fumbled with her blunderbuss, but she found no mercy from the behind the purple hood or the steel helm of the towering crusader, raising her sword high for the finishing blow. The bandit mare died with the sound of a heavy blade cutting effortlessly through meat.

"Just one left," Pumpkin hummed, she aimed her crossbow at the darkness, and for once the darkness blinked first. A brief flash of light, a loud crack, and a terrified mare who's last desperate shot had left her perfectly exposed. A crossbow bolt tore through the mare's head, and Pumpkin's armor laughed off the mare's last attack. "Anypony injured?"

"What do you think?" Pipsqueak grunted tossing his head at the knife still buried in his own back, "Do you mind?"

"What you mean do my job?" Pumpkin laughed trotting over to the stallion, "Now lay down and I don't want to hear any bellyaching from you this time you overgrown baby." Pipsqueak obeyed with a grumble and Pumpkin ripped the knife out and began to bandage the stallion, "Serious how did you ever manage before you picked me up?"

"I was careful," Pipsqueak snorted, watching as Applebloom and Babs talked quietly as they looked down at the corpse of the mare he'd dragged out onto the trail, "Now that I have you to patch me up I can afford to be a bit reckless."

Pumpkin opened her mouth and froze, as did everypony else on the trail. They all quickly jumped to their hooves and formed an outwards facing circle, weapons drawn as Pumpkin lit up a new torch. Their eyes danced through the darkness, their ears constantly swerving, and the grip on their weapons tightening as a far too long the silence reigned supreme in the woods. Then a single sound slithered into their ears, seeming to come from everywhere at once, surrounding them like the ever tightening coils of a snake. The slithering grew louder as the group pressed together tighter and tighter as the slithering transformed into a hissing rattle, ready to strike.

Pumpkin's sharp intake of breath caused all to see the horrors she was witnessing. The freshly killed bodies of the bandits were beginning to twitch and convulse like somepony suffering a violent stroke, they twisted and flailed, their mouths twisting in unheard screams as they struggled in death. Their flesh began to bubble. blister, and run like tar on a particularly hot day, slowly flowing off their white bones stained red y their own blood. A thick black aura that moved like sentient molasses began to claw its way around the bones as they slowly rose to their hooves on unsteady legs, not unlike new born foals. As the thick aura began to force its way into the bones' eyesockets and the last few traces of flesh and organs plopped to the ground like unwanted chunks of mud, it all vanished. The bones clattered to the ground and the rattling hiss was replaced by the baying of hounds.

The sounds of approaching dogs reigned supreme until Pumpkin dared challenge it with her own timid voice, "Do you think somepony is coming to help us?"

As if called by that one timid whisper, four feral dogs leapt from the darkness and surrounded the four scared horses. Though perhaps calling them dogs was something of a misnomer, their sparse coat, skin hanging loose off their bones, and eyes so sunken as to appear as nothing more than yellow specks gave them a monstrous otherworldly quality. Their lips seemed to have been pulled back into a permanent snarl, or perhaps hunger had caused them to eat their own lips, as they circled their sunken yellow orbs shining with their own intense light as the circled. Their heavy ragged breath poured from them, generating a foul yellow mist that was quickly lost in the heavy gloom of the woods. As one they charged the crusaders from all sides.

The first tore at Pumpkin's face, the second tearing a chunk out of Babs' face. Pipsqueak managed to sink his ax into the second hound as it tried to retreat out of range, but the mutt turned monster shook off the wound as third hound nearly sunk its teeth into Pipsqueaks leg. The fourth hound sank its teeth into Applebloom's throat and ripped most of it free causing the mare to stagger down to her knees as blood flowed out of her body like rats fleeing a sinking ship. Time seemed to freeze as three other ponies looked down at Applebloom and the massive pool of blood under her in terror and the snarls of the circling hounds seemed to become taunting jeers. Darkness seemed to close once more as all seemed to hold a breath.

Applebloom, resolutely roared back to her hooves and threw back a potion, her bleeding stopped and her mortal wound roughly knit itself together as she drew her knife and roared, "It that the best you can do? I grew up with dogs scarier than you!" The darkness seemed to pull back and the hounds hesitate before this cry. A smile danced across the lips of every Crusader present and with a roar they charged the hounds like a tide of steel and blood. Pumpkin's crossbow fired wildly, peppering three of the hounds with a flurry of bolts, Pipsqueak danced between the bolts, his rope blades slicing deep gashes into the hounds, Babs raised her holy symbol in the air filling the area with golden power. Two of the hounds withered to dust and the third injured mutt rushed towards Applebloom perhaps seeking to down injured prey or perhaps extinguish the hope she'd conjured. Applebloom stepped into the beast's attack, her knife finding its heart with practiced ease, "Another corpse for the pile."

The final dog hesitated, seeming suddenly cowed before the four ponies full of confidence and blood-lust. It snarled and barked a challenge, the Crusaders answered by striding forward calmly, weapons drawn. The hound seemed to consider fleeing before it leapt forward with a roar. The poor fool of a beast was dead before it had hit the ground.

A brief silence filled the woods as the four victorious ponies awaited the next challenger the woods could offer them. This time the forest seemed to have nothing to offer them but the distant bird calls and a weak wind rustling the dense canopy overhead. Confident in their victory the Crusaders let out a breath, and Applebloom once more fell to her knees weakly downing another potion and hacking a large red glob. The other three ponies looked at each other and nodded.

Babs approached Applebloom and nudged the mare, "Hey Applebloom, I think we've done enough for today, let's head back for now."

"I'm fine," Applebloom snorted rising painfully to her hooves.

"I didn't say you weren't," Babs said with a soft smile, "I'm feeling a bit under the weather. Probably lost a bit too much blood. Come on, lets go check on Sweetie Belle, she's probably worried sick about us."

"Fine, but I'm going to walk next to you and support you if I think you're going to collapse."

"I wouldn't have it any other way cuz'," Babs smiled warmly down at the mare leaning heavily against her, "Us Apples have to stick together."

Babs slowly lead her smaller cousin forward back towards their run down old mansion in the middle of a broken village. Pipsqueak walk in front of them like a proud guard escorting princesses back when everything was good and Pumpkin covered the rear a small sad smile staining her face.

"They look happy don't they Pound?" she whispered.