Mask

Dragons.

Spike remembered some saying Twilight had told him once. When they reached the edge of the map, the explorers would remark, "There Be Dragons". A strange adage to Spike, to be perfectly honest, as he was a dragon blooded lad and was not really in any sort of unexplored areas. Perhaps it meant unseen dangers or warning of his kind?

Spikes mind snapped back to reality as they walked through the snow, looking back through the blinding snow, his pupils turning into slits as he heard something shift in the snow. He turned a bit and looked around, eyes scanning between the buildings and streets, the wind battering against him as he searched.

Big Mac tapped his shoulder, the young lad jumping a bit and looking at the larger man. "Come on, Spike. We gotta get all this stuff down to tha Caverns." Spike nodded, before looking back, his eyes scanning the area behind them for a quick moment. He returned to the group, peering around, sniffing the air through his mask.

A loud beeping shocked them out of their thoughts, Silver bringing his bracer up to his arm and giving the timer a once over. "Okay, gotta find a secure building, clean the filters, then move back to the Caverns." He walked towards a building, only for the little instrument to start screaming at him, clicking loudly when get got close. He took a few steps back, the machine only clicking every so often now, and grunted, "Well, so much for this building, let's try another."

He walked towards another, slowly walking forward, no clicking going off this time. He nodded to them and slowly opened the door, peering in. Silver panned his weapon around, slowly walking in, flashlight on and lighting up the room. Storm silently followed, aiming all around, checking the corners as she entered another room, her device screeching as her as she walked into another room, adjacent to the first. She backed up and stared into the room, seeing strange, glowing mushrooms sprouting out of the furniture and walls. The walls seemed damp, and the bones in the middle of the room offered no comfort to her, seeing the them huddled around something against their chest.

She hoped it wasn't what she thought it was.

Big Mac slowly opened another door and peered inside. No clicking, no bones, nice and dry...well, relatively dry. He turned to Silver, Storm and Spike, waving them in, the three huddling inside with Big Mac. He closed the door behind him, before checking his counter. No clicking.

He pulled the mask off and smiled at the others, "So far, so good."

Spike groaned and looked Big Mac and shook his head, loudly scolding, "Have you ever met Twilight? Whenever she says that, everything gets worse. Every time."

"He's right. Something is up." Silver finally spoke, cleaning his filter out, Spike pressing his ear against the wall, adjusting his mask a bit. "Nothing has chased us since we saw that bat thing. I think it's stalking us." He said, smacking his filter against his knee, before putting it back into place on his mask.

"Sir, if I may, this seems to be a walk in the park so far." Storm finally spoke, aiming at the door whilst the other two clean their filters. "I mean, that bat thing can't find us, and it has unintentionally chased away the Mutts."

"That is the issue. The Mutts are so scared of that thing, which makes it far more dangerous than the Mutts." Silver said, before adjusting his crossbow a bit. He slid his mask on, then nodded to the others, who did the same. "We should keep moving and regroup with the others."

Spike slowly opened the door and slid out, the other adjusting their masks a bit and lining up behind him. He looked around, his pupils constricting into slits as he looked around in the darkness. He nodded, before backing up a bit, letting the three slide out of the door and aim around. They walked back outside, Spikes mind silently turning to the Caverns.

The Caverns.

He couldn't stay there forever, no matter how much Mayor Mare wanted him to. He had to head out some day and try to find Celestia and the girls. He loved Ponyville, but Twilight was his family, he had to find her.

And as much as it breaks his heart, he knew Mayor Mare wouldn't be safe if they made that journey together. He'd need to go alone, or with someone who was experienced in that sort of thing.

The hairs on the back of Spikes neck pricked up, making him stop in the middle of the street, and a cold chill ran up his back, making his shiver.

Suddenly, his vision turned black, a screech echoing in his ears as he fell unconscious.

Meteor stood at the entrance to the Caverns, watching the cave system with a critical eye, eyes scanning the snow blasted wasteland in front of them. She sat there, Bulk silently standing by the door, Thunderlane peering inside the entrance to the Caverns. He tapped his foot impatiently, before he suddenly knelt down and groaned.

"It's taking too long. They should be back by now." Thunderlane finally spoke, looking back at Meteor. "We can't leave this thing open for much longer."

"I hate to agree, but we do need to get these medical supplies to the hospital."

Meteor said nothing, staring at the snow. She stood up when she saw something moving within the blizzard, relaxing a bit as she adjusted the crossbow on her shoulder. "They're coming."

"Finally." Thunderlane sighed out, before standing up, looking inside the cave.

Bulk squinted against the snow, before suddenly taking a knee and aiming his crossbow. "That isn't Silver."

A deep howl echoed out, the three taking positions, Bulk watching the shape in the snow. It rushed forward and snarled, Bulk reacting a bit too late as it lunged for him. Luckily, an arrow found its mark and slammed into the beasts skull, killing it instantly. Its body collided with Bulk, knocking him down, though the man threw the body off of him.

He was covered in blood, wiping his helmet off as he took aim again. "Contacts!" Meteor yelled out, the three backing up as more shapes moved in the snow. "We gotta close the door!"

Thunderlane looked at her incredulously, "If we close this door, we sentence the others to death!"

"And if we don't close it, they flood into the Caverns and slaughter everyone." Bulk argue, tugging the arrow out of the body and walking back. "We gotta do it, then we can mount a rescue mission after these things leave."

"Into the tunnel. Now!" Meteor barked out, Bulk complied immediately, though Thunderlane glared at the back of her head for a moment. However, another howl made him grit his teeth, before relenting and scampering back into the tunnel. Meteor slowly backed into the tunnel, aiming at the shapes coming forward. "Close the door!"

It started to slowly grind as it started to close, Meteor kept walking in. She ducked down as a beast screeched overhead and scampered down the tunnel. Bulk made to chase after it, only to hear chittering and a yelp follow. Thunderlane slowly turned around and stared into the darkness, hearing chittering, then turned on his light, flashing it down the tunnel.

He saw a bloody trail lead into a hole in the wall, giving it a wide berth as the sound of grinding continued. Bulk turned back to the door, hearing snarling and howling, shooting an arrow into a creature that slipped through. Meteor shot another arrow into the beast, causing it to stop moving.

The door started to close, two more slipping in. Another tried, only to get caught in the door. It screamed in agony, before it was snapped in half, hanging limp in the doorway. Meteor and Bulk were knocked down by one of the beasts, the other being shot by Thunderlane. It screamed at him but continued on, running down the tunnel.

"One got though!"

The beast jumped off of the two and scrambled towards Thunderlane. He grabbed his knife out and slammed it into the poor Mutts skull. It screamed and claws at his relatively less armored sides, making him yelp in pain, before slamming his knife down again and again, spraying him with blood. He sat there for a moment, catching his breath, before jumping into the air and flying down the tunnel.

Meteor and Bulk sat there, catching their breaths, Bulk standing up and offering her a hand. She accepted it, letting him help her up, before the both stared at the dead Mutt on the floor. They turned to the door, hearing soft bangs come from it, though none broke through.

"Hopefully we didn't just lock them out there to die."

The shouts of Steel Wing and Thunderlane caught them by surprise, before the dying sounds of a Mutt echoed out. Meteor sighed a bit, before waving her hand, "Come on, big guy, let's make sure we don't have to bandage those idiots."

Silver turned in time to see the bat thing descend on them, swiping Spike into the snow. He opened his mouth to yell, but was stopped by the creature screeching and swiping at him. He, luckily, had time to dodge, firing his crossbow into the beast. It roared at the trio, walking over Spike and towards the three.

"Why isn't it grabbing him?" Storm asked, taking cover behind a stall, reloading the crossbow. "Shouldn't it have picked him up?"

"Dragons are tough! Way too tough! Might be a hassle to try and eat him!" Silver yelled back, through fired at the beast. Big Mac started to run for Spike, the bat beast tugging some bolts out of its face with its one fingered hands, before locking onto him. "Big Mac! Down!"

"Spike's down! Someone has to help 'im!" Big Mac argued, before ducking under a swipe. The bat beast roared at him, before an arrow shot into its face. It screamed and backed away, trying to wipe the arrow off, Big Mac running towards Spike again, his eyes locked onto his fallen form. "No no no no, Twilight and Applejack'll kill me if you're down Spike. I can't...I can't lose ya too, Spike."

He slowly moved Spike over, the young lad not giving a noise as he moved. Big Mac saw the long scratch along his chest. It hadn't even penetrated the skin enough to cause him to bleed, but the long red mark would certainly leave a reminder, if the boy was still alive.

He wasn't breathing. Big Mac couldn't see any steam coming from the boys mouth, his heart sinking. "Don't do this to me Spike, don't ya dare leave me too!" Big Mac felt his eyes burn, shaking the boy, before slowly lowering his head, repeating, "Ah...can't lose ya too..." He sat there in silence, the sounds of the battle becoming muffled.

Spike suddenly gasped and coughed loudly, making Big Mac jump up, blinking away the tears and staring at the boy. Spike kept coughing for a moment, before blinking a few times and looking up at Big Mac. "That...really freakin hurt..."

"Celestia damn it, boy, ya tryin ta give me a heart attack?!" Big Mac said, hugging the young boy in his arms. Big Mac stood up and offered the boy a hand, smiling underneath his gasmask. "Come on, we gotta r-"

A screech echoed out, Big Mac being slashed by the beasts claw, smashing his mask open, steam and air spilling out, Big Macs shirt being torn and blood spilling out. He smashed into the wall of a building, the bat creature hissing as it smelled blood. Spikes eyes went wide, pupils barely slits as he watched Big Macs limp form, almost mirroring Big Macs look when he was struck not even minute ago. His mind suddenly went blank, rage filling his body, his hands clenching into fists, watching the beast walk over to Big Mac, mouth dripping saliva as it got ready for its next meal.

Silver Spear got out, grabbing his knife, trying to rush the beast, before he was smashed away by its wing. Storm shot into its back with crossbow bolts, but the creature ignored her and was upon Big Mac.

Spike, however, did something the others will never forget.

He ran from his position, licked off the ground, released a roar from his throat that belonged to a much larger dragon, then stabbed into the beasts back with his machete. It screamed as it stood on its hind legs, Spikes gloves ripped open, hands now shifted into claws, stabbing them into the beasts shoulder. He used his draconic strength and tugged the beast back, pulling the machete out and slashing into the beasts back again and again.

Silver got up, staring as the beast tried, in vain, to get Spike off, the young dragon blooded man, smashing his claws into the beasts back, blood spraying out with each strike. He tugged the machete out and stabbed it into another spot, causing it to scream in anger.

The bat shook, slinging Spike across its shoulder. It reached its single clawed finger up, ready to strike, but Spike was faster. He slashed across the beasts face, claws digging through its brow, eye, then finally cheek. The beast gave an unholy shriek and finally threw Spike off, blood dripping off of it, before taking off into the air, a trail of blood dripping under it.

Spike roared and threw a rock after it, before giving out hot, steam filled breaths. His hands, still claws, were covered in blood, and blood stained his face and chest, before he turned to Storm and Silver who froze in their tracks.

Silver, although seeing many a fight himself, felt his veins turn to ice and his chest squeeze with terror, barely stopping himself from shaking. All the old legends of dragonbloods flashed into his mind in that moment, though Storm only had one thought herself seeing Spikes eyes.

Predator.

Their instincts told them to run, until he turned his gaze to Big Mac, his claws slowly shifting back into hands, his eyes turning soft as he ran over to the fallen form of his friend. A loud coughing rang out from Big Mac, Spike wincing a bit at the sound.

"He's still alive! We need to tape up his helmet and take him back!" Spike yelled out, snapping the guards out of their trance. Spike grabbed his bag off the ground and ripped it open, pulling out duct rape and taping the break in Big Macs helmet closed, allowing the man to breathe the filtered air. Spike looked over his chest, giving a wince, "This wound looks pretty bad."

Silver gave Spike a wary glance, before looking up at the raging storm clouds above them, grimacing, saying, "This weather is getting worse, I don't think we have enough time to get him back to the Caverns."

"Not the way we came, at least. He'll bleed out before we get there." Storm said, staring at the place where the bat left, nothing but bloody arrows and the machete on the ground, drenched in blood. The handle was crushed by Spikes clawed hands, making Storm flash an uneasy gaze towards Spike.

Spike thought for a moment, before looking around, recognizing where they were. "Come on." Spike grabbed Big Mac, trying to help the man up. Silver grabbed Big Mac and slung him over his shoulders, adjusting his weapon in his hands. "I know another way in the Caverns." Spike said, before walking through the snow, his tail brushing away some snow as he walked.

Silver made to follow, only for Storm to grab his armed, stopping him. "Sir, you just saw what happened...are you sure we can trust this kid?"

Silver stopped, before sparing a glance towards Spike, Big Mac giving a soft groan on his shoulders. "Mayor Mare trusts him, that means I should too. Come on." Silver started walking, Storm waiting for a minute, before following, looking back at the spot Spike had fought the beast, blood upon the snow. She finally followed, ignoring the wails of the injured beast.