Red Sky At Dawn

Red Sky At Dawn.

Spinoff of Steadfast Sky.

Chapter 6: Weaponisation

Crisis

I was dragged down flights and flights of cobble stairs, moving deeper underground with every step. The corridors were dark, forbidding, and iced air filled them. The cold didn't effect my body, but it's presence on my sensors still made me shiver.

 We arrived at my new cell block, deep underground. A row of dank cells stretched along a corridor into the distance, and I was pushed into a vacant one by the guards.

I noticed my neighbouring occupants, a scarred pony and a young colt around my (mental) age, both of whom regarded me with suspicion.

Then I was left, the unspeaking guards moving off to attend other matters. At first, there was silence, but then a quiet, low level of talking began to build up throughout the cell block. I saw the ponies in the cells either side and opposite, eye me up wearily. Eventually, a female earth pony in the cell opposite spoke up.

"What are you in for?"

"Wearing stupid clothes?" came a mocking voice from another cell.

"What are you anyways?" the young colt next to me asked.

I was quiet for some time, noting the way that the other occupants eagerly awaited an answer. Finally, I gave them that. "What is this place? Prison?"

"No," came the sarcastic voice again, "This is nursery!"

"May as well be." I replied casually, "This place is a piece of cake, I can escape easily!"

The stallion on my right, scars, and a look of serious wisdom on his face queried my logic with a chuckle. "Oh really? And how do you aim to do that?"

I had no idea. If I was a level two, then the hardest part of escape would be choosing the coolest way to do it, but as a level one? Right now, my CPU was searching desperately for a way out, and there didn't seem to be any...

"Are you supposed to be a knight?" the kid asked. He was an orange pegasus with a green mane and I noted that he, like me, sounded headstrong and cocky.

"More like a sword..."

"A weapon."

I turned quickly to see the scarred stallion, yellow with a grey mane, looking at me with understanding.

"Yeah..." I replied hesitantly. "How did you...?"

I returned my mind to escape. "I need to know some stuff about this prison."

"Ask away!" said the mare opposite me, a bubbly red pony who smiled widely.

"What did you lot do?"

"We're rebels." the yellow stallion sighed. "And you'll find more where we came from both in and out of this prison."

"Rebels?" since when were there rebels? Rebels were bad... that was something built into my personality, being from an empire myself.

The yellow stallion sighed. "Before we get into the details of Equestria, I think it's only polite to exchange names."

The orange colt grinned at me through the shadows. "The name's Blaze! You?"

Damn.. the kid stole my sentence starter... "Crisis."

The colt's grin deepened. "Woah... nice..."

"My name is Stoke." the stallion stated, then he raised a hoof and pointed at the red pony. "That's Mulbry."

Mulbry waved happily. "Pleased to meet you Crisis!"

"Yeah, whatever. Who are those two?" I gestured to the unseen ponies either side if Mulbry.

"Those... common criminals. Murderers, thieves."

The sarcastic voice came again. "Don't forget mutineers Stokey!"

Stoke sighed. "That one's a mutineer."

"I had no idea..." I replied trying to make out who sat in the cell. He sounded like a griffin, but would they arrest one of their own?

Stoke got my attention. "So then, Crisis. Remind us how you plan to escape."

At the words escape, all those in earshot ceased talking, and the section of cells became silent. I thought for a second, before examining the bars again. They were too strong for a Biomech of my level...

Then I noticed the lock, a crude metal construction clinging to the door. A solution formed instantly.

I placed my palm over the door lock, concentrated my energy then fired a pulse into the crude metal. The lock vibrated rapidly with the intake of energy, and its inner workings were mangled by the vibrations. The door swung open with a squeak of metal. "Hell yeah." I said flatly.

There were gasps along the row of cells, as I stepped out from my prison  Blaze and Mulbry among them. Stoke, however, shook his head sadly. "That's step one Crisis. Now for step two, you have to ascend thirty four floors each filled with guards, leave the prison and escape without being noticed by griffin patrols, avoid the Draconequus night guards and leave the city."

"Sounds like fun! See ya!" I started to leave, and heard a cacophony of protest from other the prisoners. "What's up with them?" I asked Stoke.

The stallion sighed knowingly. "You're leaving, and they're jealous."

"Too bad. Now bye!"

"Crisis. Please, do me one favour."

I turned back reluctantly. "What, what do you want!"

"At least help us rebels escape."

I shook my head. "Don't have time. Enjoy prison!" then I walked off down the corridor.

"They'll kill us Crisis."

That stopped me in my tracks. "Y'what?"

"They'll kill us."

I allowed my gaze to wonder down the massive corridor. Eventually I reached a decision. "I'll release you three."

Stoke looked up at me. "Us three?"

"You, Blaze and Mulbry."

Tears appeared in Stoke's eyes. "Thank you Crisis."

I sighed. "You can thank me when we escape."

And escape wasn't going to be easy.

Or was it?

Astral

We were all together! Away from the guards, the corruption and the misery of the city. As it turned out, the field was larger than expected, and days later we were still walking through the endless luscious grass. We had seen no sign of the pony who created the fire, and Crisis assured is that it wasn't him.

Crisis himself had changed, and for the better! He was less arrogant, and seemed much happier with us. He also slept at night, his metal body seeming more organic than it had before as the four of us snuggled together. I wonder what happened to him that made the Biomech so happy all of a sudden. Maybe he had finally found his place, and could finally accept happiness in a family.

Serenity still seemed saddened at the loss of her actual family, and there were times when she hung back behind us so that we wouldn't see her cry. That was unlike her, usually she was very open about her emotions... It must have been really hard for her, to lose everything in one go, and without explanation. What did her family do to annoy the Stallion? The same thing my father did? All I knew was that it wasn't fair.

Zee, however, seemed to be having the time of his life!  Him and Crisis would play together in the grass as we walked, rolling, jumping and hiding within the green landscape. The two had become inseparable as of late, yet another sign of Crisis' new personality.

And what about me? Life was good! I couldn't remember the last time I had felt this happy, and being with my friends made it all better. For some reason, the field didn't appear on my map, and I had lost track of where we were. The wasteland was on there, as was the forest, but a giant field? With nopony around? Stranger and stranger...

"Crisis, could you do that compass thing again?"

Crisis looked panicked for a second, before replying carefully. "Uh, I can't do that right now..."

"Really? Why?"

"Uh... I... I need to charge up my magic!"

Once again, I was confused. "Magic? But I thought you couldn't use magic..."

By now Serenity stood next to me, and we both examined the Biomech carefully.

"Yeah! I use some magic!" he exclaimed nervously.

This was starting to puzzle me, what was up with him? He never seemed nervous in conversation, and he'd never mentioned magic in his methods. I decided to let it go, and shrugged.

But I kept my eye on him. Something was up...

And Crisis was hiding it.

Decay

Agh! They were onto me! I could tell that they were suspicious, and that worried me more than anything. What if they asked me a question I couldn't answer? What would I do!?

I couldn't reveal myself this late, or I'd  lose all love... they'd hate me! I had to try and act more like him, and respond better in tricky situations like that one. From what I had seen of Crisis before he'd been captured, I had noticed that he was...

Selfish. But I couldn't be selfish! It wasn't in my nature, and besides...

I didn't want to be selfish. Not around my new friends!

Zee and I have been together all the time, rolling in the grass and playing childish games. Then there was Serenity, one of the kindest most selfless ponies I'd ever met. She always had something nice to say...

Astral just seemed to know everything! She had an encyclopaedic knowledge of Equestria, and taught me stuff I'd never known, or understood before. It was from her that I gleaned our mission, to seek out the elements of harmony.

And I was with them all the way! Unless...

Unless Crisis returned.... but that was impossible, after all nopony escaped capture by griffins!

But then again, Crisis wasn't a pony...

Crisis

We were close to the top. Floor after dark floor had been left behind as the four of us ascended, and there was something that confused and worried me.

We hadn't seen one guard. Seriously, not one single guard. Surely they wouldn't just leave us down here without precautions? I guess I should be happy about the lack of guards, but it annoyed me. Where were they all? Was there some sort of procession going on, or a rebellion or what!?

We reached the top floor, and there were still no guards! The prison office was empty, and the great double doors stood open, showing the street ahead. There was darkness shrouding the cobbles, and nobody in sight. Suddenly, something passed the door, a horrific creature its body a mismatch of animals. Was it attacking the town? Was that where all the guards were? "What the hell is that..?" I asked Stoke.

"That," he replied sadly, "Is a Draconequus."

It answered my question, but not my confusion. "Where are all the guards? Do they just not care about security here?"

Stoke was just as puzzled as me. "I have no idea. Perhaps something is happening in the city."

"Good for us though!" exclaimed Blaze happily. "Means we can escape!" he looked quizzically at Stoke, "Right?"

The stallion sighed again. "We need to find a way out." he said eventually.

"The battlements!" Mulbry exclaimed, her mane bouncing in excitement. "We just climb them and..."

"Drop down?" finished Stoke.

"Well... maybe not..."

There was a loud screech from above us, and a flock of Draconequus flew overhead.

"Something big is going on..." said Blaze, and the orange colt hunched his shoulders, allowing his mane to fall over his face.

I walked through the door, and looked down at the street we were on. The Draconequus had vanished, and a thick purple smog filled the air. For the first time, I noticed that the air was cold, freezing in fact. My comrades joined me at the door, shivering, and looking wildly at the surroundings.

We hadn't picked the best time to escape. Oh hell no.

Granted all the guards were gone, but there was something big happening... which seemed worse. We were caught in the crossfire of some terrible event, and tension hung in the air alongside the purple smoke.

We walked slowly down thick obscured streets, feet clattering on the cobbles, and still found no one. The only signs of life that could be seen were the occasional Draconequus moving overhead with mismatched wings. The ground seemed to be flooded, shadows drifting at our feet, and distant roars only confirmed the danger we were in.

"There." said Stoke raising one hoof to point at a wall in the distance. "We need to reach that."

"Its too far..." muttered Blaze. "We'll never make it!"

"We haven't seen anypony yet, and hopefully that won't change. Now come on!"

"Guys..." Mulbry said carefully. "Look behind you..."

A Draconequus stood in the shadows staring greedily at us, huge claws and even bigger teeth.

Stoke, Blaze and Mulbry stepped back in horror, leaving me in front, frozen with either fear or confidence. The creature examined me carefully, saliva dribbling from his horrendous maw.

"So you're a Draconequus." I stated simply.

"What are you?" he hissed, edging closer.

"The guy who's gonna kick your hide unless you pick on someone your own size!" I raised my fists, moving into fighting stance. My friends moaned. Maybe insulting it wasn't the best idea...

The Draconequus snarled angrily. "I'll rip you limb from limb little one!" he retorted.

Okay, it was now or never. I raised a hand, conjuring a ball of electricity. By now, it was second nature and the ball formed perfectly.

"Little creature thinks he can scare me with poxy magic!" the mismatched monster laughed.

"Nope." I replied casually. "This ain't magic." I leaned in closer. "And it's gonna be more than just a scare."

My friends were paralysed with fear at this point, and were no doubt preparing for death. As the Draconequus got closer, I lowered my hand, taking aim at the beast's head.

In a flash, the Draconequus pounced, claws outstretched and a roar on his lips. I raised my hand to counter, and watched in wonder as, over the course of a second, the electricity spread down my arm, and turned the metal into a wonder-weapon. The Draconequus crashed into my shimmering arm, and was launched backwards as the lightning coursed through his body.

"Run!" I screamed at the others, and they obeyed disappearing down the shadowed street.

Then it was just me and the monster, his face red and inflamed by the electricity. "Truce?" I asked hopefully.

He responded by pouncing, and attacking like a dog on a ragdoll. I was tossed to the floor time and time again. My energy levels were low after that attack, and I had no power left to resist. Instead, I did the only thing possible....

I blacked out.

Decay

We had trekked on and on through the field, and here we were. The edge. There was a brief hill, and then below that..

"Hock." Astral read from her map. "The element of loyalty, it's here!"

There were cheers all round, and I felt my energy rise as I was congratulated. Then we descended towards the town, heading for the most obvious building, the chapel. Its wide body was visible, even from the outskirts, and I reflected on its strange shape.

"Okay Crisis, you'd better cloak yourself."

"W.. what?"

Astral looked blankly at me. "You know! Cloak yourself!"

"Uh.. I.. Um.."

"Crisis.. are you okay?" Serenity was looking worriedly at me as well. Even Zee was puzzled. This was it, my chance was up.

I had to leave. Unless...

"I don't want to go in there! Cloaking really takes it out of me..." I stood up proud, all hesitation leaving my voice. "I'll wait here for you."

"Uh.. Okay." Astral replied, still looking confused. "But Crisis, if there was anything wrong, you'd tell me right?"

"Yeah! Of course!" I replied.

Relieved, the others left and headed into Hock. Now would be the logical time to leave, I was near a town now! It was filled with people that I could mix with. But I couldn't leave. The time I had spent with the group was the best of my life, and I couldn't just walk away from that.

Changeling. That was my species, and I only knew that from insults that had been shouted at me. I was born alone, separated from others of my kind, without anypony to love me.

My earliest memory was as a foal, stealing scraps of food in an attempt to cure my hunger.

But I wasn't hungry for food. Love, I needed love. It wasn't long before I discovered my acting skills, and my shape shifting abilities. I could be an orphan, a long lost brother, anything! I gorged myself on love, was found out, and left for a new town only to repeat the cycle over and over. Then as the Shadow Stallion's influence began to grow more and more powerful, . Suddenly, love was hard to find, and hatred replaced it. I grew hungrier and hungrier, unable to join families over suspicion and xenophobia.

Hated.

Hated, Hated.

"Oi!"

I looked round in horror, to see a griffin guard behind me. He shouted loudly, "I found one!!"

Three more griffins appeared at the top of the hill and, upon noticing me, they rushed down.

"Yeah, this is definitely one of em!" exclaimed a griffin in a gravelly voice as he examined me.

"Wait, din't they a'ready catch this one?" cawed another.

"What I'm more concerned about is where the others are!" muttered the first one, glaring at me.

"You, me'al fing! Where your friends?" the second one said in his reedy voice.

"The town below!" I panicked.

"In that case they've already been captured!" chuckled the first one. "Alright, bring im in!"

I watched in horror as the guards approached, then I transformed disappearing from view. The guards were left in wonder as I hopped away, my newly formed cricket body moving freely in the grass. A transformation of this caliber would be impossible under most circumstances, a cricket was too small...

But the love I gained from my friends fuelled new strength, and I moved hurriedly towards town to help the others.

My friends...

I hoped they were okay.

Serenity

We walked through a couple of busy streets, ponies of all classes and colours passing us. Turning onto a wide high street filled with market stalls and carts, we saw it.

The chapel of loyalty. It was a wide circular building made from black cobblestone, and there were a steady stream of ponies moving inside. I took a deep breath, and followed Astral, Zee clutching my hoof. There were guards surrounding the chapel, griffins not ponies.

What business did the Shadow Stallion have here? Surely he hadn't heard of the elements of harmony too... We blended in with the crowd to avoid detection. There were greeters at the door, who welcomed us into the chapel, and then we were inside. I was amazed by the beauty of the chapel, and at the money which must have gone into this. Astral, however, was more interested in something at the far end of the chapel.

A mighty Alicorn statue stood  on a stone plinth, extreme detail etched into the stone. It was the most obvious part of the chapel, and stood out a mile. This was what we had come for, and this was where we would find the element.

Astral turned to me, smiling. "This is it! Step one!"

I returned her smile. "Okay! How do we get the element?"

The white unicorn started down the aisle. "Wait and see! I need to get in closer..."

Zee and I began to follow her, but were stopped. A hoof held me still, and I whipped round to see a griffin guard leering at me. I cried out in horror, and struggled to pull free. Zee darted towards Astral, evading his captor, and two more guards pushed through the crowds into the front of the chapel.

"Astral!" I cried out, my voice muffled by the crowd. The guard shook me, and pushed me to the ground.

"Shut it!" he roared. I saw Astral continue to walk away, ignorant of the danger she was in.

"Run Astral!" I screamed again, and this time she heard.

My friend looked behind her, and saw me. She also saw the guards edging closer.

"Run!!!"

Astral hesitated for a second, then bolted away, her size allowing for better movement between the crowds. Zee ducked into a row of seats, vanishing from sight and I felt a blow to the back of my head.

I was dragged from the chapel by rough hooves. "We found em!" the griffin holding me announced to a commander outside the entrance. He leered at me. "The others'r still inside!"

"Good." the commander announced in a stuck up voice. "Now then lads, find the other two."

"What do you want with us!?" I cried.

The commander looked at me with contempt before replying. "You are under arrest for resisting capture in Stringhalt, and for harbouring a known criminal."

"How did you know we'd be here!?"

He hesitated. "We've been tracking your movements for a while now. Take her to the cart."

He waved a hoof, and I was bundled rudely into a cart. I looked longingly back at the chapel. "Where are you taking me!?"

There was no answer.

I sat panting in the back, contemplating what would happen. Where would I be taken?

After what seemed like an age, the commander and two guards entered the cart. The commander scowled at me with enough hatred to crack a mirror, and I felt relief course through my body.

They had escaped! Zee and Astral had escaped!

"Go..." the commander muttered, and I felt the cart begin to move before taking to the sky.

We were moving...

But to where?

Astral

From my hiding place behind the Alicorn statue, I saw both Zee hide, and Serenity's capture. It took every ounce of my sense not to run after her, but I resisted the urge.

What use would I be if I was captured? I noticed the guards leave, and prepared myself to exit the chapel, only to stop in my tracks. The audience had grown quiet.

The sermon was beggining. Organ music seemed to blast from nowhere, and then a stallion burst onto a stage. From where I sat, I couldn't make out what he looked like, but I could certainly hear his voice.

"Loyalty!" he announced. "Pure loyalty!"

"Loyalty!!!" the crowd echoed, all keenly fixated on the extravagant speaker.

I lay listening to the exchange, and felt confused. What was this? I coughed lightly, and froze.

As did the speaker. He peered around the statue and, upon seeing me, gasped loudly. The audience followed his lead, gasping as I was bought out. Head held low, I braced myself for capture, only to notice a lack of guards in the audience. They were all gone!

"And who might you be?" queried the speaker, all attention on him.

"Um... I'm Astral..."

"And what business do you have hiding behind this divine statue?!"

I lowered my head even more, speaking in barely a whisper. "Nothing sir..."

"So you have wasted the time of all those here then! With your childish games!"

"Yes... sir..."

"No she hasn't!"

Oh no! Zee was standing in the aisle, a look of anger and defiance on his face. "We're here for the element of loyalty!"

"Zee no!" I called out.

"Crysus an Serenity 've been captured coming here, an we ain't leaving wifout the element!"

The speaker stood, shocked, before striding from the room angrily.

I collapsed to the floor, brutally aware of the audience watching me. Zee hurried over and lay next to me on the plinth. "Did... did I do something bad Astral?"

"No Zee..." I sighed. Then, we sat awaiting our fate. The speaker had no doubt gone to find some guards, and soon we'd be imprisoned by the griffins...

"Todays sermon is over!" called a voice, and I saw the speaker re-enter the room, accompanied by two ponies wearing similar cloaks. The audience gradually exited, leaving Zee and I alone with the three preachers.

"Please don't tell on us..." I whispered in fear. Zee hugged in close to me whimpering. The preacher hesitated, and spoke to us.

"Come children, we have much to discuss."

I looked up, hearing the kindness in his voice, and saw a fourth pony in the background a much older faded blue pony.

He nodded to the speaker, before talking. "We must discuss... the elements."

We were led away by the cloaked ponies, Zee sticking to my side. What was happening? More importantly...

Were we safe?

Crisis

"Incredible." said the griffin, staring intently into my visual receptor. Hype simply smiled, a hoof on my shoulder.

"I told you sir, this one is different!"

The griffin looked at Hype with a look of annoyance. "That is to be decided."

We were standing in the office of a griffin military leader, and Hype was trying to reason with him. I had been bought here after my fight with the Draconequus, and was surprised at the attention I was getting.

"Decided how?" Hype queried angrily. "This thing is the best warrior I've seen! He survived a mauling by a Draconequus!"

"But he may not be trustworthy." the captain replied, looking Hype squarely in the eye. "He's already affiliated himself with rebels."

"What... what happened to the others?" I asked.

The captain seemed shocked at my ability to talk, and hesitated before replying. "They are still missing. Rest assured, we'll find and execute them."

"No!" I sat up, causing a number of guards in the room to stand on edge. "Let them go!"

The captain ignored me, instead talking to Hype. "As you can see, it is disobedient."

Hype shrugged. "What he lacks in obedience, he makes up for in battle. So what's the verdict?"

The captain rustled some papers behind his desk distractedly, "I will decide that... in time." He looked disgustedly at me. "What species is this thing? I've never seen anything like it."

"I'm a Biomech." I replied.

"And it can talk."

"'It' has a name." I raised my head, "The name's Crisis."

"Hmm... well 'Crisis', I think I have an idea for you." the captain smiled an all too familiar smile, and I shivered. "I'm sure that while escaping last night, you couldn't help but notice... a commotion."

I nodded, and the smile grew.

"There was an attempt on the Shadow Stallion's life last night. Three assassins, attacked him."

The other griffins, who had no doubt been just as confused as me about the nights events, muttered amongst themselves until they were silenced. The captain returned his attention to me. "Two unicorns and a Draconequus. In fact, two fillies and a colt."

I looked blankly at him, prompting an explanation.

"Children Crisis. The assassins were children. And now our mighty leader wants them dead." He walked around his desk, and stood in front of me, contempt in his eyes. "Your test, is to find them and kill them."

"Kill... them?"

"You must kill them. It will decide your value to us."

I stood up defiantly, "and what if I refuse?!"

The captain sighed, and returned to his desk. "Then we will kill your friend."

"My..."

"We captured a silver earth pony in Hock. If you disobey us, we will kill her. So, what is your decision? Your choice?"

I sat down, defeated. There was no choice.

"I'll do it."

The captain smiled. "Good. It'l be a nice surprise for our leader to hear of their deaths. Also... they have stolen certain... artefacts from the Stallion. We need those too."

"How will I find them? You haven't exactly specified..."

"They will almost certainly be traveling together, and we have a rough idea of where they are. If you are the warrior commander Hype, here claims you are then you should be able to track them. A white, and a purple unicorn."

"And a Draconequus?"

"A young Draconequus. Find them, capture the artefacts, and return. Then we will trust you."

I nodded, and bowed my head sadly. "Yes."

The captain's smile grew once more. "Yes sir." he corrected.

"Yes... sir..."

"Good. The Shadow Stallion shall be most pleased..." the captain turned to look through one of the office windows. "He has always liked new... weapons."

"Weapons?"

Weapon. That's all I was.

A weapon.