Age of the Creatures

Chapter 4

I didn't remember falling asleep, the darkness comforted me and my sore muscled begged me to let sleep take over, and so I must have given in. This time though, no nightmares haunted me.

I was woken by my door opening. Something had to be wrong I thought. It couldn't have been a week.

I stepped out into the bright lights, squinting in the glare. There was no mistaking the lush land that stretched out. I must have been asleep for a while.

I began walking toward the trees that I had met the others in last week. My shoulders were still stiff so the trip was slower this time. I didn't mind though, now that I knew nothing would eat me I began to take in the beauty I had missed.

There were rivers, forests and whole mountains. I was hard to imagine we weren't outside, but the harsh glare of the lights kept reminding me I was just in a prettier cage. 

When I reached the clearing I heard gasps.

"Y-you're alive?" Sapphire whispered starring at me.

"Why wouldn't I be," I asked surprised.

"Titanus heard some men talking about the four unicorns they had taken for testing, when you weren't here we feared the worst," Solstice explained.

"Are the others alive?" Sigil asked, sounding as she was trying not to get her hopes up.

I tried to say no but their screams echoed in my head and I was forced to shake my head as I felt tears running down my face. Around me I heard mummers and whispers. 

"Celestia, do you think you could tell us how they were killed?" Solstice asked gently. "Few ever make it out alive and none have told us what happens."

"T-the scientists h-had shots and they p-put them into our necks. T-then Iris b-burned from the i-inside and t-then a p-plant stabbed B-Bain in the same p-place." I said between sobs, only after I had spoken did I realize how unclear I had been.

"It's okay," Unity said trying to comfort me. 

"T-tell Sapphire I-I really do love her, and I-I'm sorry," Baine''s last words came back to me.

"Sapphire, B-Baine told me to tell you he was sorry and t-that he really did love you." I told her my tears slowing to a stop as I spoke, I felt better having delivered his message to her.

I looked down and saw a tear drop into the grass at her hooves. I brought my head up to see silver tears slowly tracing lines down her face.

"I c-can't believe I ever t-thought he was in love with h-h-her," The last ward sounded as though it was a struggle to get out. She turned away from us and ran off towards the moutains. We could hear her sobs long after she had disappeared.

Wynn glared at me, and if looks could kill I'd be dead. I stared at the ground not daring to meet her gaze. 

"It's not her fault," Zain said speaking up in my defense. "As Solstice said creatures rarely come out alive." A few of the others nodded their heads in agreement.

"Celestia, i-is Willow still alive?" I heard Arryn's quiet voice ask.

"I don't know," I told her my voice a whisper. "She was alive when I last saw her, she probably still is." I tried to sound hopeful but my voice was filled with empty promises.

The others ignored my response bowing their heads and gathered around Solstice. 

"Today we stand here to honor those who have fallen at the hands of the humans," He began his head bowed. "Iris and Baine, they were loved and will never be forgotten." With that he reared up and whinnied. The others followed his example. 

Once the last unicorn had finished, Solstice galloped towards the mountains with the rest of them behind him. I followed as quickly as I could, but it was clear I couldn't keep up. Halfway there I fell back into a trot and they quickly galloped out of sight.

It was far and long, my muscles screamed in pain the whole way. They begged me to stop but I kept running through the pain. Maybe it was because I felt responsible for their lives or maybe it was because I knew if I had stopped I would have never kept going. Whatever the reason I forced myself into a slow canter.

When I finally arrived I saw hundreds of creatures inside of a cave, some even spilling outside. I began squeezing through the crowd. It was slow going, as everyone was packed so tightly together. Finally I reached the back of the cave where all of the unicorns were gathered around a tunnel that led back further into the mountainside.

I hard growls and then a roar so loud the creatures with hands covered their ears and everyone stepped backwards. There was the sound of something walking accompanied by a faint slithering sound and two forms emerged. As they stepped into the light I gasped in surprise. One of them was the griffin I had met the first time I had entered this strange world. The creature that came up beside it though, was one I had never seen. 

She had five heads that all connected to one long tail that ended in a dark red spike. Each of heads had one eye and their sharp teeth glinted in the faint light. Her body was scaly and she smelled like fish. I wrinkled my muzzle.

"Justice, Vigilante," Solstice addressed them. "Four more have been taken by the humans to be experimented on, only Celestia has returned." I heard the crowd around me begin to whisper about me. Some had looks of hope, while others looks had pure hatred on their faces.

"Celessstia ssstep forward," One of Justice's heads hissed.

I took a small step forward towards her, every instinct in my body told me to run for she was surely a predator I didn't want to become her next meal. Instead I stood there shaking as she looked me over.

"Come young unicorn we have much to dissscusss," One of her heads motioned for me to follow her, Vigilante, and Solstice down into the pitch black tunnel.

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