darkSpyro

Hellena drew away, eyes widened in horror. "You- you-!"

---

"Hellena, what..." the pale orange stallion groaned, eyes screwed shut against the onslaught of the headache. "What did you- you do?" The pyromaniac was staring at the river, appearing to be even paler than she usually was. "Hellena?"
"I- I did what was right," she whispered finally, turning to face the unicorn stallion. Her eyes were bloodshot, pupils tiny pinpricks. "I couldn't- I... Dell... You're all here, but, they're- they're gone."
The stallion moved to her side, his brilliant blue eyes now watching the nervous wreck of a pony.
"...Everything will be ok, in the end." he murmured. "We can go find the others. And Loony... Is he alright?"
"He-e's fine. But he- he won't give you the answers you want, Dell."

---

Loony yelled out with pain and surprise, recoiling against the door.

"Were you not expecting that?" The tall zebra asked, head cocked to one side in amused confusion and a grin plastered across his black and white face. The static remained barely within perception.

It didn't take long for sicolus to reach ponyville. He wasn't paying attention to anything around, his patience was so thin he didn't care. 'All I want to do is make it the forger's place and get some decent weapons. Now that I think about it besides this hoof-blade I have never used a proper weapon. Heck the most refined thing I ever held was a scalpel'. Sicolus looked back to check if steel was still behind him "you still back there? I haven't lost you now have I?"

Hellena shrank back, mouth moving though no words were coming out.
Nonononono
"I-I..."
NONONONONO

"Yeah, I'm still here." Steel said, around ten feet behind his unicorn companion. "Who are these guys anyway?"

The zebra inched closer. "You...what?" He asked eagerly. His eyes and smile were warm and inviting. "Talk to me, Hellena."

I look back and see Slendermane with another pony. I glare but am still hurt from my last fight.

"We must hurry and find that page, before he gets all the power he needs to get out," I say cringing in pain.

"I don't know." Hellena finally forced out. "I really don't know what to think. There's someone waiting for me out there, but..." She yelped as pain bloomed in her chest.

Sicolus laughed "I don't really know actually, but I recognized the pattern on the sword" he said then he grew quieter "its givin me more scares than anything else." Sicolus finally reached the house he believed belonged to the pony he was looking for. He knocked "we have fillyscout cookies."

A small surge of static followed an unnoticeable arousal of jealousy. It was instantly forgotten when Hellena yelped. "What happened? Are you alright, Hellena?" His fiery orange eyes were full of concern.

Pepperwing offered her wing for support as she squinted down the street. The zebrasus could only make out the silhouette of a freakishly tall pony next to a unicorn. "Move quietly and quickly."

"That's not how you-wait..." Steel noticed a pink unicorn stallion on the ground. "Hey, Sicolus, help me,out with this." He propped the round stallion up.

OOC: LOL, fillyscout cookies.

"Thank you Pepperwing. I cringe again. I'm still wounded from my last fight with Slendermane. Carefully lifting my cloak I reveal the red stripes all across my back. This is his doing," I say as I lean against her for support. Then I recover myself with my cloak. Around my neck is my collections of charms, amulet and amulets.

OOC: 1) the door was locked, Loony couldn't just push it open.
2) your going to pay for the repairs
3) wasn't loony outside my door since it was locked anyway? Meaning Steel and Sicolus should have seen him since he is now a tangible being.

OOC: i dunno lol just ignore that maybe idk

"Just... nothing." the unicorn groaned, drawing further back. "It's been happening a lot recently. I kind of expected as much, to be honest. Better sooner than later, I guess."

OOC: Edited. Still gunna buck your door if you don't answer.

"Why must you be secretive with me? And why must you reject compassion?" Slendermane asked. "I've been your guard for months now."

"Jewelry maker?" Pepperwing acknowledged. "I can almost feel the magic." She continued to support Zendral. "I can only do simple illusions."

"My secrets are all I have here." Hellena sighed. "Things that I'd rather remain forgotten. Things that I regret with every fiber of my being. The Brother is gone. And I will carry on."

"Yeah I make jewelry for a living but my sister and I are magic prodigies. Though I fear my power, for it was I that created the Fire, that claimed so many lives. I'm so sorry Pepperwing. I will understand if you hate and fear me," I say bowing my head.

(Ooc:I said that he 'believed' it was their house. Believe it or not sicolus is not perfect, he can make a mistake. So shut up and eat your fillyscout cookies) sicolus assisted steel while mumbling something about how sada's isn't going to let him live it down. "What happened" sicolus said flatly.

OOC: Please do not talk to me like I am child... I can't help that the things I read have to make sense in some way, "I am who I am, there's not much more that I could do." though they could very in technical difficulties or misunderstandings that are easily resolved. So... Sicolus and Steel are at the wrong house, and Loony is just looking inside the shop though the door window... We good with this?

OOC: :o I guess.

OOC: that's one of three answers I need to not offend someone.

Ooc: what's the fun in making sense, sometimes its just nice to confuse someone.

OOC: I'm good with it.

OOC: So what now?

(Ooc:we continue, I presume the pink unicorn was loony so) sicolus beat on the door. "Alright they are not listening to me. I guess its your turn sarge". Sicolus stepped back to allow steel to get to the door.

OOC: Okay, wrong house and Loony isn't there. Places everypony!

"Lieutenant, not sergeant." Steel said before bucking the door off its hinges. "THIS IS P.O.N.I.E.S. LIEUTENANT PTERYX! STAND DOWN AND PRESENT YOURSELVES!" The home had an air of neglect, and the scent of decomposition. A unicorn body was splayed out on the floor. Steel examined it quickly. "Dead. No bodily fluids."

Pepperwing cuffed Zendral quite hard with her hoof. She did nothing more but continue to support him, though. "The past can't be changed, but the future can."

"I merely wish to escape this town." Slendermane said, realizing that his attempts at conveying his feelings were failing. "And I am so close to doing so. Two unicorns and a zebra." The static was beginning to intensify.

"I meant knock on the door and tell them you had federal authority, but if you get off by abusing houses I won't judge you for it" sicolus said as he walked into the house. "Well I think this is the wrong place." He noticed the bodies "we can forge some decent weapons from their bones. What do you think happened?"

OOC: Pepperwing was born after the fire right? Though she would have heard stories from her mother of the zebra that risked everything, even his own life to rescue the few zebras he could.

I take the blow without even retaliating or crying out in pain.

"Yeah I guess your right its just so hard to forget all the screams and the death," I say turning away.

His eyes glint and the slashes over his eyes become visible reminding Pepperwing of the story that her mother tells of a zebra with remarkable courage. She tells her that if she saw a zebra with slashes over both of his eyes he is the hero of the story. She tells him the hero blames himself for the fire feeling nothing but pain and grief. He remembers nothing of his selfless and heroic act of courage that saved their kind. The mother gave her a metal that the rescued zebra including herself made for the hero and had held onto all these years waiting for him to return. She says that metal made from the survivors of the fire would make him whole again and she would meet the true hero of their kind.

"Mm." Hellena agreed, standing back up straight while keeping her distance. "I was expected in Canterlot two weeks ago. And back at the base-" She paused to count. "-Yesteday."

Steel flipped the closest body over, revealing a ragged hole in the back of the neck. "Something round was inserted into the spine. There's no spinal fluid, so it had to have been drained." He placed a hoof on the crusty carpet. "The victim then bled out." He looked around. There were a dozen other bodies. "They all bled out..."

Pepperwing traced a hoof over Zendral's scars. "The zebra that vanquished the Spirit of Fear... The savior of the Great Fire..." She pulled a small piece of metal from her jumpsuit. It was fashioned into a medallion, and had the zebra word for Wind engraved into it. "My mother was a Priestess of Wind. She was rescued by the Hero..."

"Sorry to keep you. I planned on just 'visiting' Zecora for my other page, but things became...complicated..." The static was starting to get blurred. "The ponies here fear so much."

The firebug's ears flickered again, as she looked back down the street. Silently, her horn flared up again, a fiery corona.
"I still don't like this..."

---
"Hurry up!" the pale amber filly called back impatiently, pausing by the edge of the derelict building. "We don't have all day, alright?"
"You really need to slow down," a white pegasus complained. "Can't you? It would make everyones' life a lot easier."
"I don't have time to wait for ponies who aren't quick enough to catch up, Azura." the amber unicorn shot back.
"You really should, Hellena." a dark grey colt muttered.
"Don't you start, Storm."

"Do you think they would be able to feel it if their spinal fluid was drained? The spine is what sends signals to the brain.if that's the case then that must have been a somewhat peaceful way to go" sicolus said scanning the room "then again if they felt it... well that would suck. Do you believe the maskies would be responsible, I wouldn't put it past the". He continued to search the house looking for anything that could be used as a weapon. Sicolus picked up a spoon and made like he was stabbing somepony, he then shook his head and continued looking.

OOC: Are we saying that her mother is dead? Or could we have her and the survivors see the true face of their hero?

I gaze at the amulet. I can tell that it was made as a group effort. Then the memories come back to me. I brave the Great Fire pulling as many zebras I can to safety. The heat of the Great Fire makes me sweat and the smoke makes it hard for me to breathe, but I still continue. The image that will be at the end of the story of the Fire forms in my mind. A zebra upon a boulder with the Fire burning behind him and the the rescued zebra's yelling out their thanks to the mysterious hero that had saved them.

I bow my head and let Pepperwing place the medallion around my neck before smiling. I then stand before her as I did that day, ignoring my pain. No longer am I broken. The Great Fire may have been caused by me, but my courage and selfless act of risking my own life to save my kind from its hungry flames will always be remembered by all zebra's even half-zebra's. I proudly stand and speak in the voice I did when I spoke to the survivors and the voice that Pepperwing's mother does when she tells the story.

"I am Zendral, the Zebra, who vanquished the Spirit of Fear and the Savior of the Great Fire," I say proudly. Tears begin to fall down my face as after all these years I finally have recognition from my kind.

"Maybe the initial pierce of the tool, but the nerves would have been inoperable. This is the most violent humane euthanasia I've ever witnessed." Steel lay the body back down. "No child did this."

The static faded, and Slendermane was once again...Slendermane. Its tentacles swayed gently about. "This troublesome group of ponies think they can defeat me, destroy me. They can't, for I am Fear itself."

Pepperwing bowed to Zendral. "Mighty Zendral, We must find this page. We can find our brothers and sisters, and finally rebuild."

OOC: Her mother's alive.

"Right. And I'm remaining neutral. Neutral evil, but I don't care either way." Hellena said, her raspy voice taking up an almost sinister tone. "I have my own intentions. Leave, and burn this bloody town down for delaying me."

I smile and nod, wiping away my tears with a hoof.

"Yes, you are right. We must hurry and find the page. Only with it can we free this land from Slendermane."

(Ooc: am I the only one who gets so into character they can't sleep? And speaking of which you can check out an AU bio of Sicolus on my profile. not like anyone really cares but if your bored check it out.) "Somepony stronger? Perhaps one of the towns ponies. I hear they have been going crazy since that thing appeared. Of course we can't overlook the idea of slendermane using spinal fluid for something, perhaps a spell". Sicolus continued to pick around the house looking through drawers and such. "When I first entered the factory I was friendly to the 'guests' there. I would make friends and in that dark place we found hope and joy. But every friend I made was tooken away. Until one day the only life I held onto was my own. Then they came for me. I killed the first out of fear, by accident really. Then a voice entered my head and said 'what is the point of living in fear, that is not a full life and is even worse than death'. I killed the assistant slowly, and I enjoyed every second. I was 8."

"So, what are we even doing, Hellena?" Azura asked, looking around the abandoned building. "There was a market today we could've gone to. I don't think my mum would like me here."
"I don't have a mum, so I wouldn't know what she wanted me to do." Hellena replied, prodding a burnt table. "Or a dad."
"Yeah yeah, you're an orphan and nopony wants you." Storm said, glancing at Azura skeptically.
"Is it because I set everything on fire?" Hellena's horn lit up, illuminating her blue and orange mane. "Because I like that. Oh! And that reminds me!"
"What?" the two other foals asked simultaneously.
"I've been working on a new spell!" the unicorn beamed. "Want me to demonstrate?"

---

Loony groaned, beating his head against the door. The one pony who created him just had to be the one who embodied the essence of one evil entity, didn't she? Of course the connection pained him. He was born to protect Hellena from further danger, but he felt such pain from the thing inside her. And when was it going to unleash itself? Neither of them could restrain it forever. And with the pink unicorn's connection wearing thin? It isn't going to last much longer.
"This is getting harder and harder." he muttered, hardly noticing the warp of his own voice.

The shop door clicked as it became unlocked. The door steadily opened slowly. It stops just far enough to see into the first room. Clayton was out of sight though, behind the door. He stood silently with the sword in his teeth, ready to attack who ever it was at the door, but for now he waited for the pony to enter his shop.(don't worry, he's not going to attack him)
--
Raptor came all the way to the bridge that was just before the old structure, "Ok, so I've come this far and no fillies have come out." she turned away from the bridge to look back into the trees, "Hello! Children of the slender!?" she looked about the trees awaiting a response.

Loony shot back in surprise, before slowly making his way into the shop. His horn was glowing a gentle white, illuminating his bright eyes.

Clayton had his eyes closed as he took deep breaths, letting his target get into the open. Opening his eyes, and before he could identify the pony, he put a hoof around Loony's stomach, and the other over the back of his neck as the sword had swing around to meat the front, "Why are you here?" Clayton asked through the handle of the blade. It was specially made for speech through its handle, just as Colton did for his own.

Loony froze up, first glancing at the sword before looking up at the pony wielding it.
"I- My name is Loony, and I come from the imagination. A pony named Hellena's imagination, to be e-exact." he stuttered out, not quite sure if the Pegasus could hear him or not. "I need to find her as soon as I can, and a pony that looked like-like you was with her when I left."

"Imagination? How do I know you aren't one of the children following the tall white pony they call Slendy," he pulled up on Loony's stomach, "Here to find one who opposes the monster?"

"Ow!" he squaked indignantly. "I don't have time for this! Have you seen the burnt district? It was her. And I fear for something worse."

"Not the answer I was looking for," he pulled the blade to the side a few centi-meters, causing fire to fall and the breaking of skin, "Why is Hellena a major part in your words? You are suppose to be her imaginary friend, but I am touching you. Explain why this sword should not remove your head."

"I-" Loony paused, horn sparking slightly. "She's a mercenary, a killer. A dangerous one, with everything to lose and nothing to gain. Kill me, face her wrath. Your choice. I'm terrified at the idea of becoming real.

"You do not make sense child." the blade loosened, but his grip still firm, "Now, why do you seek my brother?"

"Because he was the last one with her!" Loony snapped impatiently.

(ooc:nyght where you at? Please don't leave me hear alone with Reshiram. She has matches and I just built this log cabin. When you get back please bring a water bucket)

OOC: my minecraft reference: "I always carry a bucket of water, incase I step in lava I can put myself out." true story bro.

"Does that make him a target?!" Clayton retorted to Loony's raised voice.

"Did he piss her off?" Loony shot back. "Firebugs tend to enjoy the hunt."

ooc: I can't sleep because of this website EVERY NIGHT.