Batmare Begins - Chapter 10: Crossroads, Part 1

No.

The whole world was in slow motion.

No.

In a flash, everything had slowed to a snail’s pace.  Copper Crust slumped forward, his body seemingly floating in midair as it crashed to the ground.  There was no resistance, no fighting, he simply dropped like a rock.

This isn’t happening.

The light had already left his eyes and he lay there on the ground staring off into space at eternity.  For a few seconds more his throat emitted a nauseating gurgling noise, his body involuntarily twitching where it lay, but soon these last few traces of life ceased altogether.

This can’t be happening.

Then there was just nothing.  Nothing at all.  There was Derpy, and there was Dämons, but Copper was simply nothing now.  Something that could never be reproduced again had just been viciously snuffed out right before her very eyes, and nothingness had taken its place.  Derpy knew all too well about that nothingness, but she’d never actually seen it supplant life right in front of her.  It was… it was…

This just happened.  This really just happened.

A crimson pool was already spreading from the lifeless form before her, staining the ground beneath her hooves.  Queasiness began overcoming her senses, but out of the corner of her eye the lightheaded Derpy suddenly became very aware that she herself was presently in grave danger.  The fatal dagger still hung in the air, dirtied with Copper’s lifeblood, but now it was conspicuously pointed in her direction.

The reaction was almost instinctual.  In fact, it’d only been a few seconds since Dämons had done the unthinkable.  But in that short span Derpy did the only thing she could do, what she’d been taught to do in any situation like this: assess the situation, determine her course of action, and execute.  Right now, she needed to do all that in the blink of an eye; what Dämons wasn’t expecting, however, was that she could.

Quick as a flash, Derpy lunged towards Dämons and slammed a hoof into the first thing she could think of: his horn.  It was every unicorn’s weakest spot in close combat, and evidently Dämons had overlooked just how close they really were.  Before he could conjure up a shield or raise a hoof to defend himself, Derpy was already on top of him.

Shrieking in pain, he staggered backwards, dropping the dagger from his magical grip as his magic temporarily dissipated.  Derpy didn’t give him a chance to gain his bearings and started raining blows upon him.  Despite the intensity of her attack, not to mention the pain he was in, Dämons’s experience still showed as he managed to parry most of her initial strikes, and for some time the two remained locked in combat.

After a short while, though, Dämons’s age also began to show as it caught up to him; he didn’t have the speed nor the stamina that he once had, and he was already in a great deal of pain from Derpy’s first blow.  If they’d been outside, she would’ve been quite literally flying circles around him already, but as it was even the enclosed tunnel they were in was playing to Derpy’s advantage.  The strike to his horn had left Dämons terribly dazed, and in the blackness of the Dark Mile, it was difficult for him to follow her rapid movements.

Dämons blocked another incoming blow to his horn, but this time that was exactly what Derpy wanted, and in one fluid movement, she followed up her feint with a round kick from her hind leg.  With most of his body below his forehead now exposed, Dämons was helpless to block the devastating attack, and the kick caught him square on the jaw, knocking him sideways straight into a rock wall.

Derpy leapt upon him, intent on pummeling him some more, but stopped herself when she realized he was out cold.  It took a moment or two for that to sink in.

What the – no way.  Fight had barely begun, and he’s down for the count already?

It took a moment more for her to realize what she’d just done.

Oh buck.

With a start, Derpy recoiled away from Dämons’s motionless form as though it were diseased.  Her whole body was trembling, and only now did she realize that tears had wet her cheeks.

No, no, no no no no no no no –

Derpy’s eyes darted back and forth between the unconscious Dämons and Copper Crust’s still warm corpse.  She was still trying to convince herself that this was all real.

How did this happen?  Why did this happen?  What just happened?  What?!

At that moment, it all hit her like a crashing wave; the ugly realization that in five short minutes everything she’d worked for had come crumbling down like a house of cards.  Somehow she’d failed, and she still wasn’t even sure what she’d done wrong to begin with.  But now someone was dead.

Oh no.  He’s dead.  He’s really dead.  I… it’s my fault.  I could’ve saved him, but I – what did I do wrong?  Why did he kill him?  Why did I fail?  We’re the – they’re the good guys, right?  They’ve been so good to me, to so many others.  So why, why, why did he kill him?  Good guys don’t kill the defenseless.  Good guys don’t kill petty bullies.  They’re just, and fair, and – this was just cold-blooded murder.

I gotta get out of here.  Have to find someone and – no, no that’s no good.  I just attacked Dämons Hengst for crying out loud!  How exactly am I supposed to explain that?

A more bone-chilling thought suddenly occurred to her as well.

This was my test.  My final test.  The final test.  The leader of the Ordo Extraordinarii gave this to me.  They had to have known about this.  Aucune, Lightning, the others; if they knew about this, and didn’t say anything… did they all have to do something like this?  Do they approve?  Why would they be okay with this?  Why?

Her head was spinning, the whole world seemed upside down, and for the first time in a long time, she had no idea what to do.  A cloud of desperation hung over her mind, darkening her every thought, but eventually, a single, solitary impulse did manage to break through it.

Run.

It wasn’t the answer she was looking for.

Run.

It wasn’t what she wanted.

Run.

But it was the only choice she had.

Run.

So she ran.  Not back to the castle, to the Order, but away from it all.  Away from her friends and mentors, the first place she’d really felt she belonged in years.  It hurt, it hurt so much running from all that, but this changed everything.  If they were alright with this, she didn’t want any part of it.  She wouldn’t have any part of it.  Not one bit.

She’d set out to become a better pony when this had all begun.  That didn’t just mean on the outside; normal eyes or being able to fly straight, every skill she’d picked up over the past year, it’d all mean nothing if she used it for ill.  Gifts and skills like that, they were meant for good, not evil.

I didn’t come here to become a bully… or something even worse.  I came here so I could learn how to help others.  How could something so ugly and hateful ever help anypony?

Galloping at a breakneck pace, as though she were being chased by the hordes of Tartarus itself, she drew closer and closer to the other end of the Dark Mile.  She hadn’t quite figured out what she’d do when she reached the end, but she couldn’t go back.  Not now.  After the way Dämons had reacted, Derpy had a bad feeling the Order wouldn’t take too kindly to her disobeying their leader’s command and then proceeding to knock him out cold.

What if they come after me?  Where can I – no.  Can’t worry about that now.  Just gotta take things one step at a time.  Right now, all that matters is getting as far away from here as possible.

Soon she came out the other side and brought herself to a grinding halt, standing on the same small outcrop she’d wanted to lay down on so many times during that long day with Aucune a year ago.  At that moment, she’d have given anything to live that day a thousand times over and more rather than another second of this nightmare.  Catching her breath, Derpy stared out into space.  On all sides she was boxed in by mountains, and below, nothing but a dark abyss lay before her, its depths obscured by a misty haze.

Can’t fly over the mountains.  Too high, and the weather around them is a nightmare to navigate.  That just leaves… oh horsefeathers.

She peered over the edge of the outcrop, trying her hardest to ascertain what lay at the bottom of the void.  Try as she might, she couldn’t see a thing, not through all the mist.  The already desperate situation was somehow now even more hopeless.

OK… can’t fly up, can’t fly around, and I have absolutely no idea what’s at the bottom of this chasm.  Could be a way out, could be some nasty monster’s den.  Hay, for all I know it’s bottomless.  Guess anything’s possible at this point.

Maybe she could just go back.  Try to explain herself to the Order, seek Dämons’s forgiveness.  Maybe this had all just been a terrible misunderstanding.  Maybe –

No.  I’m not going back.  Not after that.  That’s just not an option anymore.  But I’m not just waiting here to get caught either.  I’m not giving up.

I came here because I was tired of giving up, because I wanted to make a difference.  I’m still going to make that difference.  I’ve gone through too much not to, and I’m not going to let some little cliff keep me from my destiny.  Mom didn’t let the storm of the century keep her from saving others; why can’t I do the same?  She’d like that now, wouldn’t she? Yeah, she’d like that.

I took a leap of faith coming here.  I’ve done more after that one leap of faith than I ever did in my whole life before when all I did was play it safe.  Well…

Checking to make sure her armor was securely fastened to her body, Derpy backed away from the edge, flapping her wings a few times to get them loose.

…I guess it’s time to take another leap of faith.

With a mad dash, Derpy charged toward the edge and jumped into space, flying down towards whatever future fate had in store for her.

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In the blackness of the Dark Mile, Bitter Sweet’s motionless form stirred.  Groaning groggily as he raised himself up from the tunnel floor, his gaze swept his surroundings.  Finding nothing but the carcass of that stallion he’d knifed, he growled.

“Damn… wretched bitch,” he muttered to himself, running a hoof delicately over his sore horn.  “Who knows where she’s got off to?  If she talks to anyone, the game is up.”

Bitter surveyed the ground around him, looking for clues as to where Derpy could’ve possibly gone, until he spotted something most interesting.

“Hmmm, fresh tracks leading towards the other end of the tunnel.  So… she’s running.”

He considered this state of affairs a moment longer before cracking a wicked grin.

“Yes, that’ll do nicely.  It’s not ideal, but I can still work with it.  Now to dispose of this thing.”

Working quickly, Bitter lifted the corpse beside him with his magic along with the dagger he’d brought along and set about looking for a suitable site to dump them both.  The blood would be easy enough to conceal; this wasn’t the first time in his career he’d had to clean up a scene.  All told, things were coming together quite nicely indeed.

Unbeknownst to the smug Bitter, however, the seeds of his own ruin were already being sown.  Concealed in the shadows of the Dark Mile, another unicorn watched in silence.

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“You’re sure of what you saw?”

“Positive.”

“Do we have a body?”

“Charming led Fiery and I to the crevice where Bitter dumped it.  By good grace we found it on an outcropping and brought it up, but we couldn’t find the weapon.  Figure it must’ve fallen further down, but we weren’t sure how far it went.”

“The body and Charming’s testimony should be enough.  Any sign of Miss Hooves?”

“None besides tracks.”

“We sent out a few pegasi we managed to round up to scout the area in the direction she fled, but unfortunately we could only get so many without arousing Bitter’s suspicions.  He’s gathered most of the Order together in the great hall, for what reason, we aren’t sure.  All he’d say was that it was on account of a ‘matter of treason’.”

The true Dämons Hengst snorted derisively at that, though his demeanor was exuding more than mere mockery at the moment.  There was a dangerous edge to his entire disposition, from his deliberate, fast-paced gait to the way his ears kept flicking every time Bitter’s name was mentioned.

Lightning Flicker and Charming Masquerade kept exchanging nervous glances with each other, but stayed close to Dämons.  Despite a shared dread that something truly awful to behold was about to burst forth, they still trusted their leader, even in all his wrath, to get them through whatever was going on.  These were the moments their trust was built up for, the times when everything seemed out of control even to the Order’s top officers.  The pieces were moving every which way, manipulated in a manner they had not foreseen, and it was up to a maestro like Dämons to restore order and get the game back on track.  The Order’s future depended on it.

“Matter of treason indeed.  Fabricating treachery as a pretense to justify his own?  Oh, that’s rich, but clever too.  Very clever indeed.  Where’s the body now?”

“We hid it in a shack in the outer ward.  Fiery’s guarding it,” Lightning replied.

“Bitter’s not aware you have it?”

“He’s not even aware we know about it.  Charming was very discrete when he followed him, and we went to the Dark Mile on the pretext that we were looking for signs of where Derpy went.  Luckily most everypony was already gathered in the great hall when we returned.”

The gears continued turning in Dämons’s head, every impending step and maneuver coming together into a beautiful symmetry whose execution he could practically envision already.  Few were born with the capacity for such vision, and only a hoofful of those who were developed it to a point where they could not only dream up the vision itself, but make it a reality.

Normally Dämons preferred playing the long game with his designs, especially the more ambitious ones, but he wouldn’t be much of a leader if he couldn’t plan on the fly.  Perhaps it’d been so long since he’d had to that Bitter thought he might catch him off guard.

The poor fool, I almost pity him.

“All right, Lightning, I’ll need you and Fiery to fetch the body and bring it in on my command.  Charming, you stay with me, I’ll need your testimony.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Where are Storm and Brawny?” Dämons asked.

“In the great hall.  Charming filled them in on what happened, and they’re monitoring the situation, making sure things don’t get out of control.”

“Excellent.  You’ve done good work, all of you.  I’m proud of how you’ve conducted yourselves so far, but we’re not out of this yet, so stay vigilant and on your guard,” Dämons enjoined.

“Yes sir!” both deputies said in tandem.

While he was mostly trying to keep them focused, Dämons was truthfully very pleased with how his subordinates had handled things in his absence.  They’d been effective and discrete in a crisis situation, doing what they could to uncover Bitter’s betrayal and hinder whatever he was up to.  Charming and Lightning had even left Die Schmiede and the vale in the hopes of finding Dämons and bringing him back from Manehattan, unaware that he was already halfway up the mountain at that point, which they discovered (much to their surprise and relief) when they ran into him during their descent.

Even so, that small silver lining couldn’t stymie the ever-growing fury that threatened to engulf Dämons’s entire being more and more as they drew closer to Die Schmiede.  Closer to Bitter.  Closer to the traitor.

“Sir, if I may,” Lightning piped up, “what exactly is going on?”

“Something that’s been a long time coming, unfortunately,” Dämons answered soberly.  “He’s never really accepted the legitimacy of my leadership.  Couldn’t stand the fact that I was his junior, a youth with less years and experience granted authority over him and the entire Order.  I don’t know what I did to push him over the edge, though.  Maybe it’s a combination of egotism, jealousy, and delusion driving him now, I don’t know.

“What I do know is this; he’s more trouble than he’s worth, at this point.  We’ve had our disputes, butted heads plenty of times, sure, but nothing he ever did in the past jeopardized the Order itself.  I even appreciated his often healthy skepticism of my plans and actions; it’s what made him a valuable number two, having someone who wasn’t afraid to share his reservations.  But this?  This reeks of, at best, senility, at worst, rampant narcissism, but either way it’s treachery of the highest order and putting everything we’ve worked for at risk.  That I will not tolerate, not for a minute.”

The sun was just dipping below the surrounding peaks as they crossed the bridge and approached the outer gate.  As they neared the castle, Lightning quietly digested Dämons’s words.  She’d seen him mad before, plenty of times, but this was different.  This had cut him to the quick like few things could, and a distinct sense of grief tinged the intense furor that now resonated from him.  In all the years she’d known him, Lightning could only recall one other occasion where she’d seen Dämons like this; that incident had almost torn the Order asunder.  She shuddered, pushing such unhappy memories to the back of her mind and focusing on their present troubles.

“Sir… are you going to kill him?” she asked, fearing the answer, but also needing to know.

“No, Lightning.  I’m going to destroy him.”