Chapter 10

--- Bloodwing Caverns ---

“Well, this certainly looks inviting,” I said, looking at the entrance to the cave.

Ratchet had taken me to Bloodwing Caverns after we left Hydra Junction, just as he promised. The journey took about an hour, with the sun high in the sky, it cast a shadow into the cavern, making it look darker than normal. If these creatures were really a mutated form of bat, then they would be sleeping in the cave until nightfall.

“So… what’s the plan Shadow? You’re the expert here,” Ratchet said, a nervous look on his face as we faced the entrance of the cave.

“Expert? I’ve never seen one of these things,” I said, raising an eyebrow at him.

“No, but you told us that it’s what you were trained for. Whatever y’all did in your stable, you said it’s your duty to help,” Ratchet said, growing a smirk while also moving between me and the entrance.

I gave him a flat look over my shoulder. Part of me wanted to retaliate, but I decided against it. I knew he was scared, whatever these things were, they had the entire town scared. Ratchet was basically forced into coming with me.

I sighed and turned to him, “look Ratchet, I know you’re scared. If you want, you can stay out here. You were told to help me get here, not to fight these creatures. I’ll vouch for you when we get back. No need to put yourself in danger.”

His eyes grew immediately after I finished, surprise evident on his face. He looked down at his hooves for a few minutes, probably debating in his head. After about a minute or two, he brought his head back up with a determined look on his face.

“I am scared, I’m not afraid to admit that. But I’m not about to let you go into that monster den all by yourself. I’m going in with ya, and we can blow these Celestia-damned abominations straight to Tartarus,” Ratchet said, moving to stand right next to me.

I smiled and put a hoof on his shoulder, “fear is not something to be ashamed of. Fear is a natural part of life, what matters is that you learn how to use it to your advantage.”

He smiled back at me, nodding in agreement. We then turned our attention back to the cave, ready to face what was waiting inside. We entered the cave, the air temperature immediately feeling different than outside. The moisture in the air was a refreshing change from the dry, dusty air of the desert.

“A bit chilly in here ain’t it?” Ratchet said, obviously not use to the sudden temperature change.

“The moisture here is causing the air to cool. It’d be quite a refreshing stopping point for travelers if it weren’t for the monsters in here,” I said, examining the cave’s interior.

That got a chuckle out of my companion, but only a short one. We ventured further into the cave, and we saw no sign of the creatures we were hunting. They were probably hiding further into the cave to avoid the sunlight. But I thought that we would see something, like guano or something.

“Ratchet? Any idea how many of these things are in here? Or just a rough estimate?” I asked, looking for any sign of the creatures.

“Can’t say, usually when they attack there’s only four or five. But I bet there are a lot more in these caves,” Ratchet said, looking around nervously. His railway rifle at the ready.

I looked into the next tunnel, “We’re gonna lose the daylight as we get deeper. You ok with being in the dark?”

Ratchet suddenly turned to me with a smirk, “no need to worry about me. These goggles of mine have a night vision option, my own design.”

I nodded and used my magic to open my saddlebags. I brought out my potion case and opened it up. Bottles of concoctions were set inside in a neat order. I grabbed one with my magic and pulled it out. It was transparent, with a bit of a glow to it.

Ratchet saw me taking them out and come over to look, “whatcha got there Shadow?”

I pulled out a black potion as well, the contents looking like oil, and put it away in a pocket on my barding keeping the white potion in front of me in my magic. I looked into the glowing bottle, knowing the effects of the concoction. Mom did a perfect job, as always. She and Master Ivy spent hours drilling their teachings into my skull almost every day. I owed my skill in alchemy all to them.

“This will help me see in this darkness, my tribe calls it Night Eye. It will alter my vision to better adjust to low light, similar to how a cat sees in the dark,” I said, showing him the potion.

“Well now that’s handy, if I didn’t have my goggles, I could use some of that,” Ratchet said, seeming impressed with my concoction.

I floated the bottle away from him a bit, “I wouldn’t recommend it, most of my potions are designed for my metabolism. A normal pony wouldn’t be able to handle it, their bodies most likely suffering permanent damage.”

Ratchet immediately backed away from me, eyes wide in shock, “ok… I’ll just stick with my goggles then, partner.”

I pulled the cork from the bottle and quickly chugged down the potion, which tasted horrible I might add. The mixture took effect after a few seconds, my eyes burning for a moment. After the pain subsided, I could see clearly through the darkness of the caves. With my enhanced vision, I could see the walls of the cave and the moisture on them. Still no sign of the creatures we were hunting.

“Let’s continue further into the cave. Keep quiet and stick together, we don’t want to get separated in here,” I said, pointing down the pathway.

Ratchet nodded, and we both started down the path, moving deeper into the cave. The air temperature continued to plummet as we got deeper. After about fifteen minutes of walking, a smell met my nose, one I recognized all too well.

I gestured Ratchet to stop, “I smell blood, be careful where you step.”

He nodded and looked around at the ground before we continued. As we rounded a corner, the source of the smell came into view. A camp, or at least what remained of one, spread out in the next cavern. Tents were set up along the wall of the cavern, the cloth torn and ragged, but still standing. I saw three bodies, all bloody and torn to pieces around the campfire, which was long put out. Scraps of barding covered the floor around the bodies, the creatures having ripped right through it with little effort it seemed. The blood had dried, and but the state of decay seemed only a few days old at most.

“Any idea who they were Ratchet?” I asked, looking over my shoulder, only to find that Ratchet was not behind me. I quickly turned my head back around to find him scavenging the camp.

“Can’t say for sure, the barding is too torn up to tell. I’m guessing traders that came from the north, thinking it would be safe to camp in here. Boy, were they wrong,” Ratchet said, digging through the saddlebags by the destroyed tents. He pulled out what looked like bottle caps and stuffed them in his saddlebags.

“Hey, what were those things?” I asked as he moved to the next set of bags.

He stopped and looked at me for a second before he realized that I had no clue what he found.

“Oh right, stable pony, or zony in your case I guess,” He said, pulling the items in question back out of his saddlebag. They were indeed bottle caps, sparkle cola ones if I remembered correctly from our history books.

“Caps is what we use for money out here in the wastes, pre-war bits are worth something, but most ponies will want caps. Here, you take half of these, get ya started out,” Ratchet said, passing me twenty caps. I took them and placed them in my saddlebags for my pipbuck to sort out.

“Thanks, now back to the matter at hoof. These ponies were torn apart, even with barding. So these Bloodwings are pretty fierce. And judging by the lack of spent ammunition, I’m guessing they caught them sleeping or off guard,” I said, examining the area one more time.

“Sounds about right, Bloodwings are smart, normally they wait in ambush or attack in a swarm,” Ratchet said, pulling out a few bobby pins from the last set of saddlebags.

“Hmm, so they use numbers to their advantage. Curious as we haven’t seen any sign of them since we entered the cave,” I said, rubbing my chin in thought.

“Anyway, we best continue onwards. If ponies made it this far in the cave, there might be more camps. Let’s keep our eyes open, maybe they left some valuables behind,” Ratchet said, smirking a little.

I was a little shocked that he was so casual about looting the dead, but I remembered that in the wasteland, supplies would be harder to come by. I guess that makes me pretty spoiled coming from a stable.

“You’re right, let’s keep going. But keep the talking to a minimum, we never know if these things are just waiting for us,” I said, heading in the direction of the next corridor.

We continued down the corridor and saw blood stains on the floor of the cave, the bloodwings must have dragged some of the bodies to their nest. Perhaps to feed children or wounded members of the colony. Whichever was the case, the blood trail would most likely lead us to the nest.

We came to an open chamber, rocks and stalagmites lined the floor, making it awkward to traverse the room. The floor was wet with the condensation from the ceiling, making Ratchet slip a few times. Looking around the chamber, I saw several openings, making it clear that the chamber must have been a crossroad of traffic in the cave. The bloodwings might have used it frequently, possibly even as a source of water.

“So, which way are you thinking Shadow?” Ratchet asked, walking up behind me.

I thought about it for a minute, each corridor led to a different part of the cave, but all connected to this room, if my hypothesis about the chamber was correct. Looking at the tunnels individually, none seemed to stand out from the others. So I simply picked one out of random and headed towards it. Ratchet following behind me, looking unsure. As we went into the tunnel, I got a sense that something wasn’t right, a strange feeling that we shouldn’t be in here.

All the sudden, a pebble fell on my nose from the ceiling, quickly looking up I saw that the roof had a series of cracks in it, and more cracks were forming. I realized what was about to happen and quickly pushed Ratchet back out of the tunnel, into the open room we were in before. As soon as I did, the roof of the cave began to crumble, I barely got out of the way before rocks starting blocking the tunnel.

The rocks stopped falling after a minute or two, creating a wall of rubble, blocking me from Ratchet on the other side.

“Shadow! Shadow, you alright partner!?” I heard him yell from the other side of the rubble.

“I’m fine Ratchet, that was close. Are you hurt?” I asked.

“I’m alright, a little scrape from that push but it’s better than the alternative. I don’t think I can get through though, and ain’t no way am I using explosives after that cave in,” Ratchet said, sounding closer, making me think he was right on the other side of the wall.

“Yeah, no explosives. You’ll bring the whole cave down on our heads. That chamber must connect to other parts of the cave, I’ll find my way back to you. Be careful, that noise will most likely have woken the beasts up. Stay quiet and hide, I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I said, not wanting to leave him alone, but I knew I had no choice.

“I don’t like the idea of splitting up, but don’t look like we got much choice. I’ll keep outta sight, but you be careful too. Chili Pepper would never let me hear the end of it if I got the town hero killed,” Ratchet said, chuckling as he finished.

I flinched at the word hero, not expecting it. I wasn’t a hero, nor did I want to be. All I wanted was to help these ponies and continue on my mission. We Guardians are not heroes, only servants of our goddess.

“I’ll be there soon, stay safe,” I said before moving turning to walk down the passageway. My potion was still working, and would not wear off for another hour or so.

The cavern was still wet, the moisture continuing to increase. Perhaps there was an underwater spring deeper in the cave. I continued down the path hoping to find an alternate route back to Ratchet. That cave-in must have given away our position to the swarm, and I didn’t want to leave Ratchet to fight alone. Strange, in the short time I’ve known him, he really grew on me. Loyal, kind, a bit odd with a good sense of humor. I would almost say a friend if I were anypony else. But I’m not a pony, not really.

I knew that I would have to be on my own, no more distractions from my mission. But Ratchet was here because of me, I needed to make sure he survived this ordeal.

With my determination reignited, I moved down the passage careful but swiftly. Even with my enhanced vision, it was difficult to make stuff out, especially with all the large boulders that were spread out across the floor.

Suddenly, the hairs on my neck stood on end, my nerves immediately on edge. The feeling of being watched fell upon me like a large blanket. Something was in this tunnel with me. I started looking around frantically, looking for any sign of movement or anything out of place. Nothing, no movement, no signs of life. But my instincts told me that something was here, and it was watching my every move.

I slowly started moving again, my nerves still on edge, sweat running down my brow. My eyes were checking for any sign of movement, even the slightest difference in my surroundings.

Suddenly, I heard a noise, what sounded like the flutter of wings. I turned quickly to the source but found nothing in the dark. Only the sight of a large boulder greeted me, and I grew more nervous as time went on. What was stalking me? A bloodwing? Was there more than one?

I decided it would be best to continue and wait for it to make its move, or a mistake. I hoped that it would attack before we reached another corridor, where it would have more room to move and fly. This tight space served my fighting style well, allowing me to quickly maneuver on the walls to match its flight.

As I moved down the tunnel, more noises followed. It was strange, they almost sounded like hoofsteps at times. Perhaps they developed a way to mimic noises they hear. Evolution from radiation, and this type of environment could lead to many different changes in their behavior. I looked over my shoulder periodically but still saw nothing other than the rocks and boulders along the path.

Among the hoofsteps, I could also hear those same wing flaps, and they didn’t sound like a pegasus or griffin. I personally have never seen a pegasus, as Stable 100 didn’t house any. Something I was curious about for the longest time. Auntie told me that according to historical records, all the pegasi that were assigned to Stable 100 did not show up when the door was closed. Nopony knew where they had gone, but life went on. Despite my lack of experience with pegasi, I could tell that this creature had no feathers on their wings. The distinct ruffling noise was absent.

My nerves had finally had enough, and I turned around suddenly. As soon as I turned, a squeak came from my left as well as some quick shuffling of rocks on the floor. That was its last mistake. I quickly ran in the direction of the squeak, which was behind a large boulder on the side of the path. I drew my sword as I leapt into the air, vaulting over the boulder to catch the creature off guard. Another squeak came as I could not see what I was attacking.

I collided with something but with my nerves as wound up as they were, I could not focus on what I was tackling. I quickly moved my sword to what I believed to be its neck and was ready to kill the beast. But as my sword met flesh, another noise came to my ears. Crying.

I was stunned, and immediately focused on what I was standing over. And as our eyes met, my heart froze.

A pony, a mare judging by the eyes and the build. Her eyes shined in the darkness, her pupils, slitted like a cat. They were full of tears, running down her face as she looked up at me with fear. I noticed movement at her sides, and saw something unexpected. Batwings, she was a thestral. I had read about them in the stable, a race that was as dedicated to Princess Luna as we were.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by even more crying, growing in volume. She looked like she was going to have a heart attack and I noticed a small trickle of blood falling from where my sword was still pressed against her neck. I immediately pulled it away and got off of her. She did not move, seeming to be too stunned.

I dropped my sword in shock as I realized what I had just done. I attacked an innocent, nearly cut her head off. I violated a sacred rule amongst the Guardians, never raise your blade against an innocent.

As I gathered the courage to look at her, I saw that she had recovered enough to move to her side and lift her head to look at me. As our eyes met again, she buried her head in her hooves and cried again. She was terrified, of me, and I couldn’t blame her. I tried to move closer to help her, but as I got closer, her cries and whimpers became louder.

I stopped, “Please, don’t be afraid. I’m not going to hurt you. I want to help.”

She either couldn’t hear me over her whimpers, or she didn’t believe me. Given what I had read about thestrals hearing, I would bet on the latter.

“Words cannot describe how sorry I am for attacking you. I thought you were one of the creatures that roam these caves. Please let me help you, you’ll lose too much blood if we don’t treat that neck wound,” I said, moving slowly closer to the terrified mare.

She looked up at me with one eye, and immediately tried to drag herself away from me. I knew that if she tried to run, she could make her wound even worse. I lowered my head and stopped my advance. She wouldn’t trust me to help her, not after what I had done.

I used my magic to levitate two healing potions out of my saddlebags. While most of the potions I made were only meant for beings like me, healing potions were safe for normal ponies. I gently placed them in between us and stepped away from them.

“I understand why you don’t trust me. If I were in your position, I would react the same. I am so sorry for scaring you, please take these potions for your wound, and get out of here. I have a friend in the chamber down this passageway. The other way is blocked, and I’m trying to make my way back to him. His name is Ratchet, you can find him, and he can keep you safe. I must find the nest of these bloodwings, so my friend and I can destroy them,” I said, giving the mare more space.

She looked between me and the potions, again and again, not seeming to believe that I was trying to help her. It hurt, but I could understand why. She didn’t trust me, nor would she ever if the frightened look in her eye was anything to go by.

I picked up my sword, and turned away, “May the Goddess Luna guide you to safety. I only wish I could make it up to you. Farewell.”

I started back on the path, leaving the mare to tend to her wounds and find her own way out. The shock of the encounter was slowly fading away, but the sense of dread and guilt remained. I was disgusted with myself, letting my nerves and fear of the unknown get the best of me. I should have noticed her before I tackled her, but my vision was clouded by fear. Shame and guilt were all I could feel.

After a few minutes of walking, I came across another open chamber. This one more clear and spacious compared to jagged rock filled one that I left Ratchet in. Looking around I saw a small pool of water, created from the moisture dripping from the ceiling no doubt. My theory of an underground spring was becoming more likely with every new observation of my surroundings.

Across the room, I could see what looked like another camp. As I got closer, the smell of blood filled the air once again, only this time, it was fresher than before. Bodies lay on the floor of the cavern, but not ripped apart. The bodies looked like drained husks of what used to be ponies, as if they were drained of life. Bite marks visible on several parts of the body, making it obvious how these creatures fed. They were bloodsuckers, most likely mutated from vampire fruit bats, only hungry for blood instead of apple juice.

I stood by their deformed corpses and said a prayer, “May the Goddess Luna embrace you in her light and guide you to paradise.”

I then moved to the tents to see if they had anything of value, having learned the importance of scavenging from Ratchet. Caps, empty whiskey bottles, and some canned food were abundant in this camp. But while I was searching some saddlebags, something fell out of one of them. A clank rang out in the cavern as the object bounced off the floor and landed a few feet away from me.

Looking to see what it was, I was shocked to see what I found. A double barrel sawed-off shotgun, in some lousy repair but still functional. I found a good number of shotgun shells in one of the saddlebags as well. Shotguns were one of the only firearms I excelled at in the stable. I preferred to keep my enemies close, so blasting them at close range sounded like a good plan if they get past my sword.

I put the gun away in the holster that Lemon and her family added to my barding, and looked for any more stuff I could scavenge. Some bobby pins, pre-war bits, and other junk were all I could find. Not much, but perhaps the bits could get me some caps back in town. I needed to pay for supplies for my journey.

Suddenly, a noise made me jump, a pebble fell from behind me. Turning myself around slowly, I scanned the area, looking for any kind of movement. At first, I thought it was the mare again, but I could hear breathing nearby, too loud for anypony. I picked up an empty whiskey bottle with my hoof, saving my magic. Silence rang out in the cavern, shattered by my next move.

Following the sound of the breathing, I threw the bottle at the creature hanging from the roof of the cave. The bottle struck home as it hit the monster right in the face, the glass shards digging into its face and causing it to shriek. The beast dove at me, but I dodged easily.

As it landed and turned to face me, I got my first look at this thing. It was a large bat creature with bright red eyes and long fangs. Its large leathery wings spanned a good distance, making it look larger than it really was. It was a good head taller than I was, and it seemed pretty pissed off.

I drew Venta and Umbra from my back and stood ready for its next attack. But it simply stood there, on its hind legs, wings expanded. Was it trying to intimidate me?

Suddenly I felt something collide with me from behind, knocking my weapons out of my magical grasp. I flipped over onto my back to find another bloodwing trying to bite me. I drew my hind legs back and bucked it off of me. It landed near the other one. How did I not hear the other one coming?

I quickly found my weapons and waited for them to attack. The first one leaped at me, fangs aiming for my neck. I sidestepped and drew my dagger to stab at its neck, only to be knocked away again by the other one. I recovered and threw Umbra at the second one’s head, piercing through its eye socket, making it give out a blood-curdling screech.

It fell to the floor in a heap, just in time for its partner to jump at me. It latched its hind claws to my shoulders and tried to bite at my neck. I stopped it by placing my sword between myself and its fangs. It pushed against my sword, its fangs trying to eat through it, but the metal was too strong for it. Thank you, Uncle Forge.

As we struggled, I heard a feminine shriek from the entrance I came out of. My head snapped to the direction of the scream, seeing the mare from before cornered by another bloodwing. A sense of panic grew in me, and I put more strength into pushing off the bloodwing on top of me. I managed to get it off balance and twisted my sword, making it fall sideways. I quickly jumped on top of it and drove my sword through its skull. It thrashed wildly, its claws scratching me repeatedly, before it stopped moving entirely.

I quickly pulled my sword out and ran towards the mare, seeing that the bloodwing was trying to pin her. She wasn’t flying, which seemed odd to me. I yelled to get the creature’s attention, and luck was on my side, because it turned away from the mare to face me. It screeched with a pitch that hurt my ears, but I pushed through and telekinetically threw a rock at it. It was stunned, and stopped its screech, giving me the opening I needed. I jumped and drove my sword downwards, but I was too late to realize my mistake.

It flew into the air and grabbed me by the shoulders with its hind legs. I grunted in pain as it pushed me against the wall. It lowered its head and growled in my face. My sword had fallen from my telekinetic grip, I was helpless against this thing. It was too heavy to push off, I could do nothing as it lowered its head to bite into my neck. I closed my eyes and accepted my fate. It was over, I was gonna die…

But to my surprise, the bloodwing’s grip gave out, and it let go. It howled in pain and stood at its full height, a large gash on its side. It stood there crying in pain. Then, remembered the shotgun I found, pulling it out from its holster. I prayed to Luna that it was loaded.

BOOM!

The shot was loud as it reverberated on the walls of the cavern. With the distance being only about a pony length or two away from each other, the shot hit square into the chest of the large bat. Chunks of flesh flew off, and blood sprayed from the wound. It screamed in pain once more and fell to the floor in a heap. As I sat there slumped against the wall, a hoofstep caught my attention, and I found out how that gash came to be.

I looked to my right to see my savior. The thestral mare from before was staring at me like she was having a panic attack. She had my sword in her mouth, gripping the handle with her teeth. Both of us were silent, seeming to be too shocked to move. As I regained my composure, I started to get back to my hooves. My motion seemed to spook her out of her stupor, and she ran behind a large stalagmite, dropping my sword in the process. I should have seen that coming, one doesn’t forgive somepony trying to kill you.

As I got to my hooves, I looked in her direction, “thank you for that. I would be dead if it wasn’t for you.”

Her head poked out, showing one of her blue eyes. She seemed to calm down a little, but hid herself again as soon as I took a step. Ugh, mares.

“I would suggest you vacate the area, as more of those creatures could have heard that shot,” I said, bowing in respect to the mare, only for her to stare at me with one eye from her hiding spot.

I picked up Venta, placing it back in its sheath, and then moved to retrieve Umbra from the other bloodwing. With both weapons recovered, I looked to see that the mare was gone again. Hopefully, she followed my advice and left the area.

Looking at the different tunnels leading out of the chamber, I found one that seemed to have the signs of a lot of traffic. Claw marks and guano were more present than in other tunnels, so I’m guessing that this tunnel would lead me back to Ratchet.

After what felt like an hour of walking, I still hadn’t found my way back to Ratchet. The tunnels were difficult to navigate as everything looked the same. Master Zala taught me to get a feel for my surroundings and study every detail. With this training, I eventually found a path that seemed used frequently by the bloodwings, from the guano and claw marks everywhere.

Still, I had not encountered more bloodwings, meaning that the ones that attacked me earlier must have been sentries. Thank goodness the entire swarm didn’t attack after all the noise we made. Which again was odd to me, all that noise from the fight and no others came. Perhaps the rest of the swarm was sleeping or too far into the cave. Likely the former, bats had excellent hearing, so they would have heard if they were awake.

And then there was the thestral mare I met. I couldn’t get her out of my head, and I had a good hunch way. Guilt, I had attacked her with the intent to kill. A Guardian must never raise their blade against the innocent, the Goddess Luna punishes those who violate this rule. Perhaps it was her divine judgment that nearly cost me my life. Ironic that the mare I had threatened was the one who saved me. But why did she save me? She was clearly afraid of me, so why risk her life for me?

“AAAAHHHHH!” A stallion’s voice came from down the tunnel. An all too familiar stallion.

“Ratchet!” I yelled, going into a full sprint, using all my enhanced speed to clear the tunnel and enter the cavern that I left him in.

A bloodwing was circling him from above, dodging the spikes from his railway rifle. His shots were panicked and unfocused, making them miss the monster and ping against the cavern ceiling.

I ran to help him, pulling out Venta in preparation. The creature heard my approach and turned its attention to me. It lunged, fangs ready to pierce my neck. But I learned from my last encounter, waiting for my chance. Seconds before it reached me I sidestepped and slashed at its face, leaving a gash going downwards from its eye to its chin. It screamed and landed on the floor in a heap.

As it fought to regain its balance, I heard what sounded like a train whistle, and the next thing I see is its head impaled into the ground. I looked to see that Ratchet’s rifle was smoking. Damn, I’d hate to get hit by that thing.

I walked over to him, “Ratchet, you ok?”

He was short of breath, and a little shaken, “Let me get my heart to stop trying to jump out of my chest and I’ll be able to tell ya.”

“Sorry I took so long. These things sure love their ambushes,” I said, hoofing him over some water from my canteen.

He accepted it with a smile, and it seemed to help him calm down, “thanks Shadow, and I know it’s not really fair to say, but I told you so.”

“That you did. So that would probably be the last of their sentries. The swarm can’t be too much farther,” I said, only slightly annoyed by his smartass comment.

“Yeah, it came from that tunnel over there, maybe we can find the nest,” Ratchet said, pointing over to another tunnel that we hadn’t gone down before.

I nodded, and he passed my canteen back. We then made our way to the tunnel and indeed, the signs were there. So into the tunnel we went, off to face a whole swarm of these things. Luna have mercy on us.

We moved down the tunnel for what seemed like an hour, keeping quiet as to not alert the swarm of our presence. The smell of guano was getting worse, making us cringe. As we continued down the corridor, that mare once again invaded my thoughts. I had forgotten to ask Ratchet if he had seen her. I prayed to Luna she got out of the cave safely.

Finally, the end of the tunnel came into view, and as we moved silently into the cavern, my jaw dropped. Covering the ceiling of the cave were hundreds of bloodwings, all sleeping. Some were even bigger than the ones I fought. This was concerning, if they attacked, a swarm this big could drain us in seconds.

I looked to Ratchet and whispered, “please tell me you have enough explosives.”

He was as freaked out as I was, but tried to put on a smile, “yeah, no problem. Just need to set up without waking any of them.”

I nodded and let him get to work. He crept around the chamber, placing what looked like plastic explosives on support pillars and even asked me to help him put some on the roofs, away from the swarm of course. His knowledge of explosives was certainly impressive, setting the charges in strategic places to make sure that the swarm was buried in the cave.

After he set all the charges, he wired them to a detonator. As we moved back towards the entrance, I sensed that something was wrong. Like a bad omen of things to come.

Suddenly, a scream came from the path that we had come from, causing us to quickly turn towards it. Once again, the thestral mare appeared, followed this time by the largest bloodwing we had seen yet. Nearly twice as large as the ones that attacked me, covered in scars. It was chasing the mare, meaning it was heading right towards us.

The mare saw us and skidded to a halt, looking between me and the bloodwing behind her. Ratchet looked to her with confusion, and then saw the monster flying right for us, aiming his rifle at it, and biting down on the trigger bit. The spike flew through the air, but the creature saw this and reacted with impressive reflexes. It rolled in the air, dodging the spike and making it clang against the cave wall. How could it maneuver in such an enclosed space?

I leaped into action, jumping in front of the mare and Ratchet, “Ratchet, get her through the tunnel, I’ll hold this thing off. Once you get through to the room, blow the charges.”

Ratchet spoke up immediately, “No way Shadow, you can’t take that thing by yourself, and there’s a whole swarm behind us, probably already waking up from the noise.”

I turned to look at him over my shoulder, “Which is why we have no time to argue, get going!”

He had a torn expression, like he wanted to argue but knew I was right. In the end, he obeyed and gestured for the mare to stay close to him. She was hesitant at first, but oddly enough looked to me. She didn’t have that same fearful expression like before; instead, she looked worried, whether about her situation or me was unclear. I could still see a shimmer of fear in her eyes, but she followed Ratchet anyway.

I charged at the beast, grabbing its attention away from the others. It shrieked and flew directly at me, its fangs dripping. I waited until the last second, and dove under it, slashing upwards with Venta. It anticipated my attack and flew upwards to avoid my blade, and tried to scratch at me with its claws. I ducked under its claws, but one got me right on the cheek, drawing blood. The blood got into my eye, forcing me to close it.

I rolled onto my hooves, my eye still closed due to the blood. I dare not try to wipe it away, giving the beast a perfect opportunity to attack. I could hear Master Cross yelling at me about not being a foal and focus on the enemy.

The bloodwing stood there in the tunnel with me, wings folded at its sides, sizing me up like a true predator. It knew I was a threat, so it was keeping its distance. This one was experienced, the scars indicating that it was old, having been in many fights. It was probably the leader of the swarm.

Speaking of the swarm, I could hear them starting to stir, wings flapping as they landed on the floor of the cave. Ratchet needed to blow the charges quickly, before we got overrun.

I stood there, Venta and Umbra at the ready. The bloodwing finally had enough of waiting and charged at me, but to my surprise, it flew over me and went in the direction Ratchet had gone. I panicked and turned to face it, leaping into the air to catch up to it. And that is what it wanted.

My eyes widened as it turned in mid-air, almost seeming to smile at me. I could do nothing as it knocked me out of the air, causing me to land on my side, hard. Before I could even register what had happened, the beast was on me. It lifted its head, ready to sink its fangs into me. I saw no way out of this, and only hoped that Ratchet would blow the charges before it drained me dry.

But then, a voice screamed in my head, “What are you doing? Do you truly wish to die here?”

My eyes widened again, as the fangs of the bloodwing sank into my shoulder. The pain was excruciating, like two spikes driving deep into flesh. My mind flew into a panic, my thoughts unfocused as the pain only increased. Suddenly, in my panic, something in my mind clicked, and time slowed to a still.

I was so confused, how did this happen? I was terrible at magic, so there was no way I caused this. Then a memory came to the mind, a lesson in firearms training when Master Gutshot showed us how pipbucks are more than just maps and inventory management. S.A.T.S., Stable-Tec Assisted Targeting System. I must have triggered it by accident in my panicked state.

This was exactly what I needed, time to think up a plan. I looked around and saw my sword sitting a few feet away. I could grab it with magic, but when thinking about how to free myself, I was stumped. Most animals won’t let go when they have a hold like this, and getting them to let go while not losing your limb in the process is hard. My only chance was to stab it in the head, but SATS wasn’t a guaranteed hit.

I picked up my sword in my magic and targeted the creatures head, showing a 55% chance of success. Well, it was either that, or die. Luna, please guide my blade.

I initiated the attack, and time resumed, the pain returning but Venta flew towards the monster. The beast had no time to react, as my sword pierced between its eyes and into its brain. It shrieked at such a high pitch it hurt my ears, and finally, its fangs let go of my shoulder. I yelled in pain as I landed back on my side. The beast stood for a bit longer, continuing to howl in pain and then suddenly stopped. It fell over with a thud, blood seeping from its mouth and head.

I retrieved both my weapons and tried to get up, but soon learned that my legs could no longer support me. I had lost too much blood, and my body was failing. I needed to get a healing potion, but as soon as I tried to reach into my saddlebags, several screeches came from behind me. I turned to see more bloodwings coming towards me, and I knew that I could not outrun them.

I turned forward and yelled at the top of my lungs, “Ratchet! Blow the charges, do it now!”

A few seconds later, explosions went off in the nest chamber. The explosions caught the attention of the bloodwings in the tunnel. Some of them tried to fly back to the nest, and some were too stunned to move. I took this chance to try and drag myself to the exit. It was such a long way, and I could barely walk. My legs felt so heavy, and my vision was so blurry the walls of the tunnel seemed to warp and move.

It was like walking through deep mud, my legs refused to speed up. The sound of rubble collapsing and the little pebbles falling on my head indicated that the tunnel was unstable after that explosion. I needed to move, but my body refused to run like I wanted. I had no time to dig out a potion, especially not with the tunnel getting ready to collapse. If I could just get a healing potion and some rest, my metabolism would help me recover faster, but fate was not kind today.

I saw a light, leading to the room where Ratchet and the mare had gone. But as I got closer, my legs gave out, and I collapsed to the floor. I could not push myself up, lightheadedness adding to the problem. I could hear the tunnel starting to collapse behind me, and knew that this time, I could not escape it. Death had come for me.

“I’m sorry Mom, Keira, Auntie, Silver, I failed you all. I guess they were right, I’m wasn’t ready. Forgive me Luna, for I have failed you as a Guardian,” I said to myself as the tunnel continued to collapse around me.

The last thing I heard before passing out was the familiar sound of leathery wing flaps. Then darkness.

Footnote: Level Up

New Perk added: Hunter.

You have experienced your first real hunt in the wasteland. You now do 75% more critical damage in combat to animals and mutated animals.

Author's Note

Hey guys, Hades here. Sorry for the long wait, but I really wanted this chapter to be good.

Shadow has had a real taste of the Wasteland. And has met a new pony. Who is this thestral mare? And will she forgive him for what he did?

I know not many read this fic, but I do appreciate those who have enjoyed it. See you guys in the next chapter.