Black and Mechanical

by Ashley Hale

Chapter 4

In the skies above Manehattan, three pegasus ponies hover above the city streets. Zoomed in, they are Rainbow Dash, Derpy Hooves and Fluttershy. The three stare down at the many homes each will have to swoop down to. This is a big moment for Derpy because for her, it is time to implement her new mail delivery system. Derpy looks on at each residential home. Today, she feels confident that her new system will be a success. Just when Derpy is about to begin her descent, Fluttershy interrupts with a question.

"Um... excuse me Derpy, but what is it that we have to do?" she asked with uncertainty.

"Ugh..." responded Rainbow Dash. "Do I have to go over that for the eleventh time?"

"Yes..." Fluttershy smiled softly with a squeal.

"Fine!" Rainbow Dash said reluctantly. Derpy simply looked on while the conversation ensued. "First of all, we each take a different section of the city. Second, we each swoop down street by street with a predetermined list of mails already sorted by street adress by a group of unicorns. Third, we each drop each mail to their designated houses on a systematic basis. And that's about it," she finally concluded.

"Oh okay," said Fluttershy with confidence. The three ponies prepared each sorted pile of mail. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy readied themselves into position.

"Readee?" shouted Derpy in excited, goofy voice.

"Ready whenever you are!" responded Rainbow Dash.

"Aend, Gyao!" Derpy commanded. The three pegasus ponies darted off in separate directions. They zipped past each street, filling each mailbox with piles of scrolls and envelopes. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy did their duties, the former covering the northern section with the latter doing the southwestern section. That left Derpy with the southeastern section, the last third of the city. Unlike the last two, she did not fare as well. Swerving left and right, Derpy, with her tongue sticking out, threw everything from the windows to the sidewalks and even the pedestrians now pelted by paper. Derpy became blinded with excitement that she swooped street by street until she unknowingly went beyond city limits. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy returned to their original spot before the big delivery, but Derpy did not appear.

"Finished..." panted Fluttershy.

"How did you fare?" asked Rainbow Dash. All Fluttershy did was show her the empty mailbag.

"Good job," Rainbow Dash approved. She showed Fluttershy her empty mailbag. "I did 26 streets in under a minute. Oh man did it feel great!" she continued. She looks around for the last pegasus. "Where did she go now?"

The two pegasi look around Manehattan's perimeter. This is critical because Derpy's delivery system is already in deep jeopardy due to Derpy's tardiness and clumsiness. Fluttershy hovers over the eastern section and Rainbow Dash soaring the western section. Just then, Rainbow Dash spots a messy trail of paper. She immidiately suspects that Derpy did this because she has seen her mess up before, even on the most important task like ensuring that her new delivery system works.

"Derpy..." Rainbow Dash spoke in an accusing wisper. She followed the trail of paper until she reached the city limits where Derpy was hovering. Filled with dissappointment, Rainbow Dash approached Derpy. However, she didn't seem like her usual self this time.

"There you are! You know, this was supposed to be a big day for you!" Rainbow Dash scolded. "You've spent months developing this system, and now you blew it!" she continued berating Derpy, but Derpy simply looked on with no response. Irritated that Derpy kept ignoring her, Rainbow Dash darted in front of her and continued scolding. "We backed you up this time! And now what happened?! You ruined it, YOUR system!" Rainbow Dash yelled with redness on her face. Just then, Derpy snapped back from her trance. She listened to every word yelled at her face.

"I dyon't know what I did wrong. All I did was zyoom all arounnd the streeets like I tyold myself," Derpy apologized with her tounge still out.

"Oh yeah?! Well-" Rainbow Dash suddenly stopped. Her frustration turned to anxiety in an instant.

"Rainbowe Dyash?" Derpy asked.

Rainbow Dash's body shivered uncontrollably. Fluttershy appears from the distance and zooms in on the conversation.

"There you are Derpy," said Fluttershy in a worried voice. "Are you alright?" Fluttershy asked. Fluttershy takes notice of Rainbow Dash's unusual behavior. Then, she notices a black feather on one of Rainbow Dash's wings.

"Rainbow, where did that feather come from," asked Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash checked her wings, and there, appeared a black feather. Rainbow Dash brushed it off ond held it on her hoof.

"I don't grow black feathers!" yelled Rainbow Dash. Right as she finished, there was a loud yet low-pitched roar. Just beyond the pegasi, erupted a vortex of black feathers. All three pegasi can only gaze at the shape emerging from the black whirl. Black rags that it takes for wings the size of trees sprouted from the blackness, followed by arms sleeved in torn rags of black veil. Each claw that protrudes from the rag is a crooked beige, putrid to the eyes of all. Each claw zig-zagged and curved to an end. Out came the legs, looking somewhat like the arms, except they're more bulkier, and each talon is thicker. Fluttershy squealed in fear and flew behind Rainbow Dash. Derpy, unwavered, rushed forward to the blackness.

"What are you doing?!" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Ay caime to chyek it out!" Derpy replied. Derpy flew to the cyclone of black feathers. There, she heard the deep roar coming from within the cyclone. Finally, it revealed its face, or rather, a black veil covering the face. The vortex dissipated, revealing the rest of its body, all covered in black rags. It held its head high and roared some more. The only part visible behind the floating veil are its menacing, red, reptilian eyes that pierced the blackness around it. Her ditzy eyes meet the reptilian eyes of the black creature. Derpy hovers around trying to get a good look at the creature. She lands on its veil and bounces with jubilation. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy move in to stop Derpy's antics.

"That's it! We are outta here!" shouted Rainbow Dash as she grabbed Derpy away from the monster. Just then, Derpy's mailbag tore right open, and a plethora of objects rained down on the creature. These include: a ship anchor, a piano, a safe, and a lot of unsent mail. Fluttershy noted each object and wondered how Derpy was able to fit all of that into her mailbag.

"How did she do that?" she inquired. Each object landed on the creature's covered head. The creature started to shake, furious that it was attacked. It locks on to Derpy and Rainbow Dash and spreads its black wings wide open. A black swirl of feathers appeared from each wing. The creature positioned itself to launch its attack. Fluttershy, following behind Rainbow Dash, looked back at the creature, now launching its attack. A burst of gale spouted from one wing and another one from the other. Each gale went straight for Derpy.

Fluttershy immidiately took action. She closed in on Rainbow Dash who is still carrying Derpy, looking at each stream of wind creeping closer and closer to the two pegasi. Derpy observes everything that is happening around her and alerts Rainbow Dash of the incoming gust.

"Lyook Ouwt!" shouted Derpy. Rainbow Dash looked back at the homing gale, which is now behind her.

"Woah!" Rainbow Dash shouted as the gale begins to engulf her. As a valiant act, she tosses Derpy so only herself will take the hit. Fluttershy catches the thrown Derpy and watches in horror as Rainbow Dash is thrashed violently around inside the gust.

"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy cried as she struggled to even look for her in the midst of black feathers. She lets go of Derpy, who floats her way back up, and looks at the monster, trying to gather all her confidence to confront it. But before she can even face the creature, it soars past her with its giant wings flapping effortlessly. The gale begins to weaken and weaken until the feathers slowly drift to the ground. A battered Rainbow Dash begins to fall to the ground, but Fluttershy catches her.

"I got you Rainbow! You'll be alright," Fluttershy reassured the unconscious pegasus. Just then, Fluttershy and Derpy heard scream and shrieks from the cityfolk. The black monster landed on the main plaza of Manehattan. The terrified citizens ran at the sight of the black thing standing there. It spreaded its wings again, and two gales formed at each span, just like last time. It positioned itself again and fired both simultaneously. At an instant, parts of the buildings that lined the streets flew right off, sometimes with whole buildings ripped right off the foundation. The ponies caught in the attack were flung around like Rainbow Dash; some flew right out of the city; while others crashed on the ruined buildings. The black beast roared at the sight of destruction. It now raised its right claw, purple energy clustered around it. With a very low-pitched roar, it swung it down with a mighty swoosh. The terrified ponies were confused that nothing had happened. All of a sudden, a purple stream of energy appeared right above a building and tore right through it, reducing it to mere debris. The confused ponies reverted to their frightened state and ran some more.

Fluttershy and Derpy were speechless at the disaster that was unfolding right in front of them. But that was the least of it. Now, the black moster opened its arms wide open along with its wings. Black energy was focused on every standing building and every terrified pony in front of it. With a roar, it released the black energy, blasting everypony and everything into oblivion. Fluttershy, horrified at the site, simply could not muster herself to face the monster. With the still unconscious Rainbow Dash held on her hooves, Fluttershy darted towards her house, not screaming as she usually would as the monster would hear her and attack without hesitation. Derpy followed her, also not making a sound. The Black Destroyer continued its rampage on the city.