Year 6, Week 9, Thursday
Rangel felt his ears pop as the world spun back into existence in front of his eyes. He looked around to see the other four ponies swaying on their hooves, their faces green. “You guys okay?”
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to teleporting...” Emmet groaned.
“So why is the mutt not sick?” Desmond muttered irritably as he fought to keep his breakfast down.
Rangel was about to snap a reply when his nose twitched and he looked toward the door. A second later it swung open and a unicorn guard trotted in, his face stern even by guardpony standards. “You all the ‘special team’ we got orders about?” His voice was harsh, with a wheezy undertone to it.
Spade swallowed hard and took a step forward. “Yes sir. Master Sergeant Emmet Webb reporting for-”
“You don’t salute me, you’re not a Guard,” the unicorn said with a snort as he turned around, “so shut it. Orders say to take you to the north gate, not socialize. Now follow me, you got gear waiting for you.”
Glancing at each other, they followed the stallion down the hallways of the barracks, Rangel having to duck his head to make it through the doors. They came to a large room, with a counter and several rows of shelving behind it. They groaned with the weight of the equipment on them, everything from bedding to cloaks to what looked like field rations. With a pulse of his magic, the unicorn hefted five bags to them, one of them clearly modified for Rangel. Grabbing five cloaks, he piled them on the counter. “Now, I want to make it clear that right now, you’re taking supplies that we might need. Princesses’ orders or not, you understand and appreciate that little detail.” Trotting around the counter, he marched toward the door while they hurriedly put on the bags and cloaks.
Exiting onto the street, the first thing they were made aware of was the biting cold. The second, for all they’d expected to see of Equestrian towns, was that this town was anything but that. There were few ponies out on the street, and the ones that were shot disdainful glances at the four ponies. However, their faces twisted into outright hostility as they looked at Rangel.
“Friendly bunch.” Rangel said with a short huff as they descended the stairs into the snow. The cold briefly stabbed into his pads, but after a few seconds it settled into a mild chill.
“You’re new here, so lemme tell ya something, dog,” the unicorn said coldly as he led the group down the icy street. “Up here in the north, every day we have to worry about raids from either griffons or Diamond Dogs. Everypony here’s lost something to them. Family, friends, food,” he coughed harshly, “sometimes even more than that.”
“What’s your name, sir?” David asked quietly.
The guard looked at him for a long minute before tossing his head. “First Lieutenant White Melody.”
“Might... might I have a look at your neck? I’m a medic, I could maybe-” David said, lowering his head to get a better look at the three scars visible on the other unicorn’s neck.
White Melody jerked his head up, ears folded half back in annoyance. “First off, nopony but my doctor looks at the neck. You ain’t him. Second, even if you could do something, I wouldn’t let ya. I earned these scars, and thanks to that mongrel that stole my song, they’re what I got left. In the north, you take what you can and keep moving forward. Stop to cry like a foal and you die.”
David shied away, his ears folding. The rest of the ponies all looked at each other and decided that keeping to themselves was the best course of action. Rangel simply kept his eyes on everypony they passed, while admiring the architecture of the buildings. Each was built solidly, obviously intended to act as a defense from the elements and attackers first before anything else.
Eventually, they reached the edge of town, the unicorn gesturing forward with a hoof. “The border’s that way. Dunno what the Guard’s thinkin’ though, sending just five of ya into Scythion like this. We haven’t seen or heard much outta the country in over ten years, ‘cept the occasional griffon coming south on official business.”
Emmet nodded. “Well, we’re used to operating on our own. Thanks for the escort.”
The unicorn snorted. “Don’t think ya should be thankin’ me.” He turned around and trotted back into town. Turning his head, he shouted back, “Odds are the lot of you will be gettin’ your bones picked over by the timberwolves, two day’s hence.”
The wind was like a living thing, wheezing its breath through the stands of pine trees, snow billowing up in clouds and tornadoes of white, at times obscuring vision to only a few feet. There were faint signs of life’s passing, but as for the life itself, nothing. The very land itself seemed eager to stifle all signs that anything could actually live here.
And Rangel loved everything about it. The barren, hostile landscape almost seemed to resonate in him, like one predator acknowledging another. He’d already become accustomed to the cold nipping at his pads, to the point where he barely even registered it. “Damn, but this feels like winter back home when I was a kid. Always loved it.” He pushed the hood of the cloak back to let the wind blow across his fur, his ears twitching at every creak of the branches.
“Speak for yourself,” Desmond muttered, the pegasus shivering despite his coat and the cloak. “It figures, griffons can’t be nice and live somewhere like the beach. No, now our asses get to tromp around in the snow and freeze.”
“Something’s not right,” Moses rumbled, the earth pony digging a hoof at the ground. “Earth feels strange.”
“He’s right,” Emmet chimed in. “The ground... feels different than it did back at the border post. It feels more alive, more wild.”
“There’s something similar for the magic around us.” David concentrated, a dim red glow forming around his horn. “It’s not only wilder... but there’s... less of it. It’s strange.”
“I think you’re all just crazy,” Desmond grumbled.
“For once I agree with you.” Rangel looked around for a second, just letting the smells soak into his nose. “So, where to go from here?”
Emmet trotted a few feet ahead, eyes half closed as he concentrated. “There’s a road here, going that way.” He pointed with a hoof toward the northwest. “What do you think, Moses?”
“We should follow it, see where it leads,” Moses said simply, already starting to trot forward ponderously.
Emmet nodded. “Alright, then that’s the plan for now.” He turned to face the four. “And from here on, we leave our human names behind. Most of us know the score, Rangel, but given that it’s your first time out with us, my name’s Spade, Moses is Club, David is Heart, and Desmond is Diamond.” He glanced at his flank, the cutie mark clearly visible. “Suppose the names make even more sense now. And don’t worry, we got your name already picked.” He grinned. “You’ll be going by Joker while we’re here.”
Rangel stared at Emmet in disbelief. “You’re kidding, right?”
Desmond snorted. “Nah, that’s your job, Fido.”
Rangel could only sputter as the assembled ponies just laughed. “Oh, I’m going to get you back for this.” The ponies only laughed harder as they turned toward the road ahead.
Following the road, or rather, following Spade and Club as they checked the boundaries of the road, took the better part of two hours. The driving snow had at least abated, allowing them to see the landscape ahead of them. Towering mountains pierced the sky like daggers, their slopes dark with stands of pine trees. The sky for the most part was a brilliant shade of blue, though another snowstorm looked to be blowing in from the northeast.
“Alright, that’s it, I’m tired of walking. Gonna pop up and take a look around,” Diamond said with a snort. Spreading his wings, he leapt into the sky, spiraling higher until he was a red speck against the blue. Though after a few seconds of hovering, he flipped over and dove toward them. “Got a village about two miles ahead, didn’t see any sign of life.”
“Alright, let’s go take a look then.” Spade started trotting off in the direction Diamond had indicated, Club following along.
Rangel caught Heart as the unicorn trotted past. “Are we even going to scout the place out?”
Heart shook his head. “If Desmond says it looks clear, it usually is.”
True to form, the town was deserted, many of the buildings collapsed into piles of rubble obscured by ice and snow. The team moved slowly down what appeared to be the main street, ears flat in the case of the ponies and hackles raised in Rangel’s.
“I am seriously getting a bad feeling from this place,” Rangel muttered as they drew even with the first mostly intact building, a house from the look of it. “What do you think?”
“Let’s check it out. Standard entry,” Spade said quietly, the other Cards forming up on the door. “Rangel, you come in after we say it’s clear-”
“It is, I can smell it,” Rangel interrupted as he kicked the door in, a cloud of dust and snow billowing up. Taking a few steps in, he looked around and sneezed. “See? All clear.”
Spade snorted, but followed him in. “You were right this time. But next time, we stick to a plan and move like a team. What we don’t need is someone like you going in like he’s John Wayne. You got me, Joker?”
Rangel felt his upper lip starting to curl, and after an agonizing split second he forced it down. “Sir, yes sir.”
Spade nodded sharply while the other Cards entered the house. “Alright. Fan out and see what’s here. You find anything, call it out. Move quick.”
Rangel was already moving, ducking his head to enter the kitchen. It was similar to a lot of kitchens he’d seen, the dining table, or what was left of it, in the middle. There were a couple plates frozen to the remaining wood, and stains which he guessed were from food still visible on them. The chairs were knocked over, though the ice was rapidly working on turning them into featureless lumps. “Whatever happened here, happened fast. Given the lack of bodies, I’m thinking either snatch and grab or some kind of alert. What do you think boss?”
Spade entered from the living room. “Looks like it. Okay, let’s keep going.”
Every house they checked showed the same thing, the previous occupants leaving some daily task in a hurry. Given the number of dinner tables upset, they decided that it had to have happened during a meal. Finally, they stood before the largest building in town, the hospital.
“So, what’s the plan?” Rangel asked.
“We go in, sweep a floor, then go up to the next floor. Wash, rinse, repeat,” Spade said calmly as they approached the door. Rangel took one side with Spade, while Club and Heart took the other side. Diamond took back to the air, circling low to the ground to allow him to see into the windows. As soon as the unit was in position, Spade gestured with a hoof. “Go.”
Rangel and Club swept in first, eyes glancing over the room for any waiting threats. As expected, there were none, but this room held something the other buildings had not. “We got bodies,” Club said as he relaxed a hair. Several skeletons lay scattered on the floor in varying positions, but all appeared to have died in pain.
Rangel padded forward, crouching down to get a better look at one of the skeletons, sniffing a little at the mangled ribs and spine. “Sir, I’m no medic, but it looks like they were... shot.”
“Let me take a look.” Heart crouched down next to him, peering closely at the body. “Well, I’d agree with you, though I can’t tell what kind of bullet he was shot with... hold on.” His horn lit as he gently swept his magic through the skeleton. “Now that’s weird, I can’t find the bullet. Whoever shot them must have dug it out. But looking at the damage to the ribcage, whatever hit them was a large caliber weapon.”
Spade nodded as he looked toward the doors leading into the hospital’s back halls. “Let’s keep moving. Got a lot of hospital to clear.” The rest of the team nodded as they spread out, each of them taking a hallway.
Outside, Diamond continued his slow, lazy circuit of the hospital. “Figures. Once again, I’m stuck with keeping an eye on the outside.” The pegasus dropped a little lower to drag a hoof through the snow. “Nothin’ going on out here but snow, snow, and more snow.”
Overhead, far above the town, a pair of dark green eyes watched the pegasus floating along, while their owner licked its lips in anticipation. Circling around so the sun was in front of it, it angled into a stooping dive, glancing down to make sure its shadow wouldn’t give away its presence before there was no way for the prey to escape. As it closed in, it snapped its wings out, curving its tail in preparation to make the telling first strike.
Diamond had next to no warning. If he’d been paying attention, he’d have seen it coming. As it was, he heard the snap of the wings from directly above and behind him, and was in the middle of powering sideways when something struck him hard along the shoulder, burning a trail of fire and knocking him head over hooves into a snowdrift. Gritting his teeth, he managed to get his head above the snow to see what had hit him, only to feel a surge of real fear grip him.
The creature stood nearly ten feet tall, its hide a light blue patterned with white. It almost looked vaguely draconic, but instead of four legs it only had two hindlegs, the wings forming the upper pair. It’s head was almost birdlike, but the naked ferocity in it’s eyes was unnerving. With a chirping screech it started to hop towards him, drool starting to form in the corners of its mouth.
And then Club crashed through the wall.
Chunks of half-rotted wood went flying in all directions, several of them bombarding the beast, forcing it to hop away from Diamond and protect it’s eyes with a wing. Interposing himself between Diamond and the creature, Club tossed his head angrily and reared, bellowing a deep-throated whinny that Diamond swore lifted snow off the ground. He tried to get to his hooves to scoot further away, but suddenly sagged, his muscles refusing to respond.
“Don’t try to move. I think it might have poisoned you,” Heart said as he skidded into the snowdrift beside Diamond. “Just give me a little bit, I should be able to at least prevent the worst of the effects.”
“Figures, I get the easy job and then end up having the bad shit happen to me.” Diamond mumbled as he felt Heart’s magic sweep over him. He dimly heard other thuds and looked up to see Spade and Rangel joining Club in fighting the creature. “Good luck guys, it’s six on three in our favor!”
Rangel ducked the stinger as it struck at his face, feeling the wind from it’s passage as it whipped back. Club, meanwhile, had to keep backpedaling to avoid getting bitten by the thing’s beak. However, this left an opening for Spade, who charged in and reared, striking a double blow on its side, below where he thought it’s ribs ended. He was rewarded by a screech from the monster, and a wing to the side as it whirled about. He tumbled sideways, winding up upside down in the snow, trying not to vomit from the nausea.
The creature turned about, stabbing at Club with it’s tail while advancing on Spade. Which left Rangel an opening as wide as he could have asked for. Extending his claws, he ran toward it and jumped, looking to land on its back. “It ain’t stone, but I think these ought to hurt some!” he shouted as he dug three of his feet into it’s hide for purchase, while the fourth paw went for its spine, the claws parting the tough scales like butter. The beast shrieked even louder and forgot about Club and Spade, snapping its wings out roughly and taking off. Rangel kept the effort going for a few more seconds, but seeing the height they were gaining, released his hindpaw’s grip and slid down it’s side, tearing six deep gouges in the hide. For good measure, he slapped a paw across a wing as he fell free, ripping the thin membrane to shreds. Tumbling over and over, he landed flat on his back. Hard. Wheezing as the air was driven from his lungs, he managed to force himself upright to see the creature flapping awkwardly away, fat drops of blood oozing from its wounds. It cast a look back at the prey it had been cheated of and squawked indignantly before flapping higher and away.
“Not too bad, Joker,” Spade remarked as he trotted over to help him to his feet. “Though next time, leave the flying to Diamond, okay?”
“No argument from me there. So is he alright?” Rangel shook his head to try and make the ringing go away.
“Yeah, David’s patching him up now. I’ll say this, magic sure beats having to use antivenoms and wait in a hospital. If only we could use it on humans in combat situations...” Spade trailed off as he thought of the possibilities.
“So what the hell was that thing?” Rangel wondered as he pushed himself painfully to his feet.
“That thing, was a wyvern,” a new voice said as a figure fluttered in for a landing. “You all did a great job driving that thing off for a bunch of southerners.” The griffon tilted its head curiously. “Might you be willing to do a little town a huge favor?”