//------------------------------// // Chapter 16 // Story: Brotherhood of the Moon // by ZakTH //------------------------------// Brotherhood of the Moon Chapter 16 The inside of the League of Pegasai was even more stunning than the exterior. Firefly found herself looking around at all the ponies in the building, busily scurrying around every which way, rushing to get things done. The lobby had a high ceiling, domed at the top and decorated with fractal patterns. The second floor of the building was stretched along the side and back walls of the room in a "U" shaped balcony. Stone pillars held up the ponies running along those balconies, and extended past them to reach the ceiling. Stairs leading upward were located at the very back corners of the room, and sloped down a bit to drop off in front of a large open doorway leading outside. "Nice huh?" Surprise said in light of Firefly's marveled expression. Firefly didn't look away to respond. "Yeah, it's-" "Dear Celestia Surprise, who did you drag in here now?" Firefly took her eyes off the architecture of the building momentarily to find the source of the rather annoyed voice. A light beige stallion with deep brown spots approached the stop where the two pegasai stood. His ruffled brown mane and tail were cut quite short, and he wore a bright red bandana around his neck over his greyed blue leather armor. A curved silver sword hung by his side, free of any sheathe. "Oh, don't worry Pip, she's an assassin too!" Surprise said, pulling the two closer to distribute introductions. "This is Firefly, she's looking for something important in the city and needs some help." "Um, hi?" Firefly as she held out a hoof. The way Surprise unexpectedly pushed them together made her a bit nervous. The stallion shook her hoof lightly and gave a half-bow, the best he could do in the small space between them. "Charmed," he said. “The name's Pippin, but everypony usually calls me 'Pip' for short." "Or Pipsqueak!" Surprise added, releasing the two. Pippin rolled his eyes. "Maybe if I was still a little colt." he said blandly. "Anyway, you'll have to excuse my former rudeness: Surprise has a bad habit of meeting new 'friends' and bringing them all to our base. It's not exactly a security asset." He gave the white pegasus a disapproving look, only to receive a bright smile from the pony in return. "But, it you're and assassin," he said, returning his focus to Firefly. "Then you will always be welcome here. We mercenaries are very rooted in the Brotherhood's actions, and most of us are assassins ourselves." He emphasized by lifting his hoof and exposing his own proof of membership. "That's great to hear." Firefly replied. It seemed very likely that the League of Pegasai would be her temporary home in Trottingham. "Now that that’s out of the way, you really need to see the dining hall; it's just perfect for parties!" Surprise suddenly shouted in Firefly’s ear. "Yes, that's a good idea, how about a tour then Miss Firefly?" Pip offered, extending his hoof toward the League's deeper interior. "So, here we have the training grounds..." Pip announced as the trio entered the sunlight of the outside. The back area of the League was little more than a sunbaked dirt patch, lined with straw-ponies and wooden bulls-eyes. It reminded Firefly of the training area of Lunagrad, and it even had the same wood and straw dummies to practice attacking on. She could see a group of various earth ponies and pegasai lined up in front of a row of dummies, with one pony standing perpendicular to them all. On his command, the row of mercenaries ran forward and stabbed their weapons into the dummies necks simultaneously. "As you can see, the League of Pegasai's name is more traditional than anything. In the time of the group's founding, pegasai were the only type of pony living in the region, but nowadays we accept anypony and everypony who's willing to join.” Pip explained. The group moved back into the shade of the building. The room they were in now was a good bit quieter, and appeared to be a study. A bookcase took up the entirety of the left wall, overflowing with old books and writings. On the right wall, a humongous map was pinned, showing a yellowed sketch of Equestria, whose accuracy seemed questionable. A table was placed in the center of the room, upon which two ponies were currently discussing something written in a book, pointing to certain sentences on occasion and stroking their chins in deep thought. "Here we have our tactical center, where we plan out attacks and organize battle plans. Most of our older, less agile members assist the League by employing their knowledge here." Pip continued. "Under here we have our arsenal, stocked with piles and piles of weapons, arcane aids, and firearms, and upstairs are the official offices. Maybe, if you're lucky, later I can show you our postal system there. Quite amazing actually, we've trained a few baby dragons to send and receive scrolls through magical fire! Never seen anything like it, and I…." Firefly looked around at the scale of the building as Pip went on. It was truly amazing in its size, nowhere near the magnitude of the surrounding buildings of course, after all it seemed like the building was converted from a small villa, but still quite expansive for an assassin's budget. "Quite the place you got here," Firefly voiced her thoughts. "How can the city even allow this here?" "Well, like most assassin headquarters, we're not openly supported by the Brotherhood, and if anyone were to ask an official, the League of Pegasai serves as Trottingham's militia force, protecting the city from our neighboring regions should anything attack." Pip responded. "What kind of attacks?" "Griffons mostly. Some of their rogue fighting forces tend to get hungry for territory, and we're the closest city to their southern border." Pip said in a factual manner, unexcited by the thought of the no doubt normal occurrence. "Still, we have to be prepared for anything else, this city needs somepony to protect it, and Celestia knows the unicorns won’t do it." Pip led the group through one last doorway and back into the lobby where they'd started. He stopped and turned to face Firefly and Surprise once more. "Well, that's that then! Hoped you enjoyed the tour Firefly. Remember that we'll always be here if you need help in Trottingham." "Thanks." Firefly said, nodding in gratuity. "There's really just one more thing I'd like to ask before I can go." she said. "Ask away, I'll try my best to help you out." Pip responded. "I've been looking for something really important here in Trottingham, I’m not sure where it might be, or where to find out." Realizing the sensitivity of her topic matter, Firefly quickly looked over her shoulder for any eavesdroppers. She motioned with her hoof and pulled the group a bit closer, lowering her voice to just above a whisper. "Have either of you ever heard of something called 'The Globe of Elation'?" Firefly breathed. Pip gave a moment of thought, then shook his head. "Can't say I've ever heard the term, no. You Surprise?" he said, turning his head to the white pegasus. "Nope! What is it? Some sort of candy?" she said obliviously. "I'm still not sure what it is, I just know all the Templars entering the city are looking for it. It's got to be really important." Firefly said, trying to sound a serious as possible without sounding too grim or alerting. "Well, if I were you, I'd try the east gates, there's supposed to be a Templar official arriving there today." Pip commented. Firefly mentally shrugged. The lead wasn't the best she had wanted, but at least now she knew somewhere to look. It was better than nothing after all, and on the plus side, she now had a great amount of allies in this new city. “Okay then, I guess I’ll be going.” Firefly stepped toward the door, further indicating her departure. Her two new friends said their goodbyes and the pink pegasus exited the building. No sooner had she left the League did she take off into a sprint, pushing herself up the side of an adjacent building and rushing off toward the city gates. With a bit of luck, her journey's destination would become clearer there. "Move aside!" The shout was impossible to attribute to a specific guard in the frenzy that encompassed the street, but it was repeated often enough that in theory, every guard had said it at some point. The golden clad unicorns and earth ponies that populated most of the city guard's ranks pushed and shoved aggressively, shoving pedestrians to the sides to make way for a carriage that was pulling through Trottingham's gates. Another, much smaller carriage also trudged along the road, toward the approaching vehicle and through the poor ponies being moved out of the way. The smaller vessel stopped a few meters away from the now cleared area where presumably the larger one was to park. All the while, the streets grew more and more congested as plebeians were forced out of sight. Firefly watched the scene unfold from above, all four of her hooves perching her weight upon a thin stone battlement. Her hood cloaked the upper half of her face in a shroud of darkness, and her white garments gave her the appearance of some sort of vengeful angel, preparing to strike justice into the ponies below. She had no doubts that this was the Templar arrival that Pip had mentioned. Only a unicorn noble could afford to travel being pulled by other ponies. Not only that, but the stallions pulling the cart bore the sapphire encrusted insignia of Canterlot, the Templar capital of Equestria. Whoever this pony was, he was very important. A light blue, and quite overweight, unicorn carefully lowered himself down from the smaller carriage, and began to slowly but surely trudge his way over to the arriving party. The fat pony was an obvious glutton; his chubby cheeks exposing his love for foods while his posh clothing exposing his love for material possessions as well. He didn't seem too diabolical, but he didn't exactly appear kindly either. If Firefly had to describe him in one word, he looked...tired…all the time. As he approached the now halted carriage, his guest opened the door and stepped out to meet him in the cleared street. He was an elderly unicorn, chocolate colored coat and greying brown mane with numerous wrinkles and bags surrounding his eyes. He wore a more modest form of apparel, but still appeared richer than the average pony. He also moved with a slow pace out of his seat, but more out of age than weight. In fact, if one paid enough attention, they could see that the old stallion moved faster than his thicker companion. The two greeted eachother and began to converse below. Their mumble was inaudible from Firefly's distance, so she began to scan the street for somewhere closer to hide. Luckily, a conveniently placed stack of barrels was positioned at the mouth of the alleyway adjacent to her. Firefly jumped across into the gap, rolling forward upon landing to reduce any damage caused by the un-cushioned decent. She lowered her body the ground as she slowly pushed against the barrels, allowing a little bit of her head to be exposed as she eavesdropped. "...a pleasure to have you here." The blue noble said with an enthusiastic hoof shake. "It's always nice to have a Canterlot pony such as yourself visit our humble city." The elder pony did not seem very delighted by the gesture, but to his credit, the obese pony's "warm welcome" was almost scalding. He opened his mouth to speak, but broke into a dry, rasping choke. It wasn't anything serious by the way he shrugged it off, but the other pony suddenly looked like he was ready to summon every last doctor in the streets of Trottingham. "Yes, thank you for your generous hospitality." The older pony replied, clearing his throat to expel the last of his cough. "It's been a long journey here, and it's nice to finally get out of that little old carriage." He shot a look of contempt at the transport, as if to persuade it to do its job better. "But, I digress," he said turning back. "How are the search efforts coming along?" Firefly's ear shot up in response to the trigger topic. The Trottingham native looked around feverishly, as if suddenly afraid of some unseen entity. "Tell you here? But…what if somepony were to hear...." Firefly barely caught sound of the paranoid unicorn's whisper. "Oh, who in Celestia's name is around to hear us?" The Canterlot pony shook his head in disapproval. "…Y-Yes, of course, silly me." The blue pony said, averting his eyes in shame. Still, his fear of the subject’s sensitivity showed through as he lifted a hoof to his face and wiped beads of sweat from his brow. "Well, um, the investigation is not fruitful I'm afraid. We've been searching all the rumored places vigorously and running full sweeps of the city nightly, but we have yet to find anything significant." Firefly's thoughts went back to Trottingham tower and the guards she saw "searching vigorously" there. Some investigation that was. The elder sighed. "Well...nothing we can do I suppose. The good news is I have some new information for you that might help your search. The scroll is inside, wait here." The brown stallion turned to the carriage behind him and shouted. "Dear, when you climb out of the carriage, could you bring the scroll we received from Mr. Gold?" A mare's voice called back from inside to confirm. Not long after, a smaller pony came down from the vehicle, a bound scroll being held in front of her by her magical grasp. A more modest brown cloak and hood protected her from the winter cold as opposed to her master's and his associate's lavish dressings. "You've yet to meet my assistant, correct?" The noble asked as the mare came to his side. "Another Templar?" Firefly thought to herself, eyes locked on the new target. From what it sounded like, these two had received direct orders from Gilded Sword himself. Not only that, but they had information on the location of the Globe. Firefly began to formulate schemes in her head, listing off different ways she could take the scroll. She could pickpocket the assistant while passing by, but the guards were unlikely to let the group travel unprotected or allow her to get that close. She could try to follow them to their staying and take the scroll when they leave it, but considering that her past attempt at infiltration had resulted in a street riot, she wasn’t too eager to try that plan again. She could always take the brute force method: run up now when they were un aware, dispatch all three as quick as she could, and try her best to outrun the guards afterwards, but the idea of suddenly becoming Trottingham's most wanted did not appeal to her, among other issues with that particular proposed course of action. There had to be a way to obtain that scroll, but Firefly just couldn't see what.... "I don't believe I've had the pleasure, no." the chubby pony responded, taking a deep bow in the direction of the newcomer. “Chancellor Jolly Puddinghead III.” He stated his name with a thick regal tone, trying as hard as he could to make a name like “Puddinghead” sound dignified. “And you are madam?” he asked. The assistant bowed her head, giving a curtsey in return for the introduction. “Twinkle.” She said simply. As the mare lifted her head back up, her hood slipped off of her head and fell onto her back, revealing her pastel pink coat and royal violet, silver stripped mane. “Twilight Twinkle.” A loud noise suddenly directed all three official ponies’ attention to the alleyway a little bit away from them. A barrel had fallen from its stack with no clear impulse, and was now lazily rolling to the side wall before stopping in place. Dismissing the disturbance as the work of some sort of rodent or perhaps a draught, the three unicorns continued with their introductions. Meanwhile, Firefly scrambled back into a sitting position behind the barrels, franticly but carefully peeking once again at the nobles conversing in the street. Luckily, the sound she’d accidently made did not seem to have blown her cover, but that was no consolation to Firefly’s speeding heart. The truth was, the sight of Twilight had most likely shocked her much more than her barrel slip-up had shocked them. Of all the ponies in equestria, of all the different assistants to Canterlot big-wigs, of all the book-crazy, studious, erudite unicorn mares that would have the pleasure to accompany their Templar masters to a faraway city in search of some ancient artifact being hunted by a dangerous assassin pegasus with a vengeance, the one that had to have come to Trottingham was Twilight Twinkle. Luna above, if karma had preferences, then she must have hated Firefly with enough malice to make a mare explode…twice. “Yes, well…” the Chancellor said reluctantly. “You really must excuse me, but I would be so much more comfortable discussing this issue further in a less open area. How does my estate sound? Would you like to discuss these matters further over dinner?” The very mention of food only made the chancellor seem more anxious, though likely for a different reason. The elder rolled his eyes, but gave a sigh of submission. “Fine, fine. If it means you won’t have to look over your shoulder every few seconds, we can surely continue this conversation elsewhere.” “Oh, splendid! Yes, I’ll take the scroll and have it read completely by the time you arrive.” The ethereal glow enveloping the mysterious scroll changed from Twilights deep purple to a pale blue color as Chancellor Puddinghead took over control of the script and floated it into his pocket. “Now, let’s not stand around here all day, Trottingham awaits! Shall we?” The Chancellor began to trudge along the street with the older pony following close behind. “Come along now Twilight.” He said simply as he fell in step with his guide. “Um, right, coming!” She said simply, but lingered around for a moment before she went. Her eyes were drawn back to the alleyway and the barrel stack that stood there. Something struck her about it, as if part of her was having trouble believing the disturbance had been a result of gravity alone. Firefly stared back at her through the wooden cover, her body as still as a statue. Completely unknown to Twilight, the two ponies stared at each other for what seemed like hours. Eventually the mare came back to reality and hurried along to follow her master down the road. Firefly didn’t wait for her to look back again and be discovered this time, she ran. After a short amount of free running atop the cityscape of Trottingham, something alerting made Firefly slow her movement almost to a stop. Even from several yards away, she could tell something wasn't right at the League of Pegasai. As she approached the building from the city rooftops, she could see an abnormal about of pegasai flying in and out of its windows and doors, likely double the amount she'd seen before, and all moving at triple the speed. Her pace suddenly quickened at the sight of the panic, could this have somehow been her fault? Could the Templars have followed her from Canterlot and attacked the now revealed Assassin base? She dreaded the thought of having brought despair to the ponies who had given her such a generous and friendly welcome. Her hooves couldn't strike the ground level fast enough to calm her aching concern. "Hi Firefly! Bye Firefly!" A familiar sounding white and yellow burst of wind whizzed past her, almost knocking her off the rooftop. She looked up to see, as she suspected, Surprise flying away with the same quickness as the other winged assassins had. She directed her gaze downward to see Pip and a few other flightless fighters running through the streets in the same direction as their avian brothers. "Hey! Pip!" Firefly shouted. The earth pony only had time to look up before the white hooded pony landed on the ground next to him, already running in full gallop alongside him. "Firefly? Where did-" "What's going on?" she cut him off. "Big ambush on the northern front, a rather large group of griffons apparently. Must be our broke luck too, that happens to be our weakest point right now. They called for massive amounts of reinforcements, almost every able bodied mercenary in the League is headed that way." Pips words were spaced abnormally as he multi-tasked between explaining the situation to Firefly, and making sure he wasn’t running into anything. "I can help!" she offered enthusiastically, eager to repay her gratuity in more than just mere thanks. "Sure, we could always use an extra pair of hooves." Pip confirmed. "I'll have to warn you though; this is a battle, not an assassination. It'll be your sword against the enemy's, you won't have many chances to use that hidden blade of yours." "Wanna bet?" Firefly retorted playfully. After all, she used the small knife for everything, even her sword fighting style was heavily dependent on using her hoof blade and brace to deflect, manipulate, and subdue enemy weaponry. Pip returned the smirk with confidence. "Well then Miss Firefly, welcome aboard the League of Pegasai." Trottingham was a faraway town, which would explain its heavily trade influenced economy. It laid among an open, treeless field not far from the feet of the Rumian Mountain range that marked the natural border between the Divine Kingdom of Equestria, and the Imperial Region of Gryphus. Ever since their first encounter, the two neighboring nations have been at an uneasy coexistence. The griffon legions were ever so eager to attack the seemingly weak bodied ponies had it not been for their advanced magical advantages and divine leadership, and the ponies have always seen the griffons as brutish infidels who fail to properly worship their celestial goddesses. From disputes on religion, to territory, to natural superiority, their rivalry had never succumbed to a full forced war, but local military forces had clashed on more than one occasion. Firefly could actually see the tips of the icy Rumian Mountains lurking in the hazy distance. The battlefront was far enough away from Trottingham to provide adequate buffer, but she could still see the city walls on the horizon behind her. Trottingham was astoundingly closer to the border than she'd previously thought. All around her, the war camp bustled; what had been another plain and rolling field of wintery grass was now a fully operational pony establishment. Different types of tents were set up everywhere; large strategic centers, commanding offices, and medical stations, both of the magical and technical variety alike. Rows and rows of smaller housings for sleep and rest extended far over to her right, and a long line of carts and ponies rushed from the city to the camp to her left, with loads of weaponry, medicine, and other supplies streaming in as couriers flew to and fro as quick as any pegasus could fly. "...Damn it all, this doesn't look good." Pip said as he surveyed the encampment. Wounded ponies were constantly being carried in and out of the medical tents, and shouts of despair and anger radiated from the tactical tents every so often. It was clear to any onlooker that the League of Pegasai was losing whatever battle was being fought. A younger pony scuttled up to the new arrivals, a scroll rolled up in his mouth. He spit it out on the ground in front of Pip. "A report sir!" the little one said, a hoof rising up to his forehead in salute. Pip nodded a thanks at the small messenger and he scrambled away again. With an air of dread, Pip unrolled the scroll and skimmed his eyes over its contents. His frown grew larger as he continued down the page. "Ugh, bloody hell. The griffons are coming in from all sides. We have no idea what they're doing. Any scout we've sent out hasn't reported back, and a good many ground units have gone missing as well. Those damned bird-beasts have us stumbling around in the dark like a new-born foal with his eyes still shut." He rolled up the parchment, gave a heavy sigh, and tossed it over his shoulder. Firefly looked for a way to lighten the mood. The situation looked bleak, and she desperately wanted to aid her allies in their time of need as they had to her. With every cry of pain that came from the medical tent, every shout of frustration she heard the leaders cry, her sympathy for her assassin kin grew stronger. Suddenly, an idea formed in her mind. "I know how I can help." She declared. Pip gave her a stressed look. "Oh? And how?" he said. Firefly took a deep breath before continuing. What she was about to suggest was incredibly stupid, risky, and all around a bad idea, but she trusted herself enough to take the chance anyway. "I can go in for you," she said plainly. "Or better yet, go under. I'll sneak my way over to the griffons' camp, find out what they're planning, free all their prisoners, and attack them from inside while you guys come in from the front." Pip stared at Firefly in response, though not out of awe or amazement, but more out of confusion, as if she'd just suggested they walk over to the enemy wearing streamers and balloons and try to win them over with a party. "That's...insane." Pip said frankly. "There's no way I'll let you do that, if the griffons find you out, they'll slaughter you and every one of our ponies they may have captive, and they won’t make it quick either." "Just trust me, I can do this." Firefly persisted. She knew her life and the lives of others were at stake, but she believed her skills were honed enough to succeed. "No, that's just not going to happen." Pip repeated. "I'm sorry Firefly, but I can't put lives at risk that easily. You'll have to help some other way." "But if we just wait here, they'll kill us all anyway!" Firefly reasoned. "Lives are already at risk! And a lot more of them than in my plan!" "My answer is no. End of discussion." Pip reiterated. In a substantially more stressed out state, he turned to walk away without a word. A loud pop suddenly penetrated the air in the camp. Everypony who wasn't deaf or crying in pain stopped what they were doing instantly. Pip himself stood with one hoof held in the air, caught mid trot by the alerting noise. "Enemies spotted!" A pegasai cried from his sky patrol above. "Griffon squadron 2 leagues away! Moving south toward current encampment!" "All ponies to defensive positions!" Pip shouted without missing a beat. "Everypony move your flank to the north wall! Griffons are coming, let's get ready!" Instantly, the base reacted. Patrol pegasai dropped to the ground, officers ran out of their tents like it was on fire, and sleeping soldier ponies woke up in a shock before grabbing a weapon and rushing to their call. The sounds of shifting metal filled the air as every able bodies being in the area prepared for war. "Follow me." Pip told Firefly, somehow still calm and focused in the panic he had created with his orders. In less than a minute, the base had been converted into a defensive stronghold. Lines of infantry stretched all around the front perimeter, braced to rush into the field of battle on command. Groups of pegasai crouched with their wings extended behind them, ready jump in air and soar into the sky above. Unicorns stood atop high towers with bows and arrows held in their magic grasp, ready to fire at whatever approached them. Firefly herself stood with Pip and a few other leaders, behind a good many infantry ponies but still very close to the front lines. Everypony was watching the northern horizon, anticipating the coming barrage of chimera-esque birds. The dead silence that surrounded the assassin army was like a border, waiting to be broken the moment the griffons entered their domain. A spark in the distance finally broke the anticipation. Everypony watched as a barely visible dot in the horizon soared into the air and arched downward toward the field. Upon its landing, it could be identified as an arrow, embedded in the soft grass of the battlefield. However, as its glowing aura grew, it became obvious that the arrow was also tipped with a cloth sphere attached right below the tip, and was consumed by a small fire, growing larger in the presence of the flammable grass. Over the horizon, a wave of these arrows broke maximum altitude and headed to join their predecessor, threatening to consume the entire field in flame. Not a moment too soon, a pegasai leader gave the command for take-off as the arrows fell. The front five pegasai units exploded into the air at deafening speeds, racing toward the oncoming arrows. Once high enough, the soldiers reached for a small paper charm from their equipment, tied it to an arrow of their own, and fired off into the cloud of enemy archery. Once in position, the pre-echanted pieces of paper on the arrows exploded in a ring of cyan and white light. From down below, Firefly felt a rush of cold air hit her face as the weakened blast reached her from the skies above. As she watched the other arrows combust in frozen explosion, she saw the griffons' now extinguished arrows embed themselves uselessly into the ground. With the opening attack successfully countered, the griffon battle force finally arose over the horizon, charging toward the pony base like a coming armageadon. With a loud battle cry and command to advance, the League of Pegasai took off at full gallop to meet the attackers halfway. Firefly observed the enemy's shadowy outlines far off in the distance as she ran alongside her pony kin. The creatures’ forms were too far away to make out properly, but their amorphous and menacing silhouette was enough to convince the pegasus that these monsters meant business. "Something's wrong." Pip suddenly uttered. Firefly jerked her head to face him. His alerted undertone blazoned itself clearly through his expression. "They should be taking to the air by now," he continued. "Griffons are creatures of the air; they aren't nearly as deadly on land as they are in the sky." Ironically, a few dark shadows did rise into the air as soon as Pip finished the remark, but Firefly could still see some base to Pip's suspicion; those few that did take off did so at random intervals, not organized in groups or reacting to a collective command, they just started flying at what Firefly could assume was their own willing. All the while, the distant figures of the Griffon front lines grew ever closer and clearer. "Okay, they're within range." a pony with a telescope informed from behind her. "Right," an officer replied, then turned his head to shout at the forces behind him in the towers. "OPEN FIRE" Firefly sensed the lighting behind her dim a bit as dozens of unicorns all dissipated their magic a once, unleashing a tidal wave of arrows over her head and into the front. As the command resonated through other officers to the rest of the field, more and more arrows joined in the thick cloud of death plummeting toward the enemy. The unicorns had not only arced their shots more carefully toward their target than the griffons had previously, but they'd also fire them in much greater number, accounting for any loss in accuracy they might have had. Anything standing under the shots when they landed would soon become little more than a pin cushion. Firefly almost felt the need to avert her eyes as she followed the projectiles' trajectory across the plain. And then, it happened. Before any arrows could strike, before any being on the enemy side had fallen dead, an alien force stopped their flight midair. A wide, circular, and slightly concave blue shield materialized in front of the enemy troops and took the full abuse of the arrow's landing, dropping them uselessly to the ground. A second, violet shield spread across another part of the advance, as did a green one on the opposite side. The outline of the griffon's siege suddenly became a multi-chromatic wall of impenetrable energy. "What in Celestia's name...." Pip's voice failed to sustain itself in his shock. "... 'the hell was that?" he finished after gulping down air as if the event had sucked the air from his lungs. Firefly herself was quite dumbfounded, as were a good amount of the soldiers on the field. So dumbfounded in fact, that they didn't notice the aerial attacks until the first few had stricken. Feathers flew as the stray flyers of the enemy charge dive-bombed into pegasai troops, plunging bodies to the ground like meteors as the invaders drew ever closer. Franticly the warriors looked around to see the attackers, to target the beasts that were attacking so savagely and so suddenly, but they were nowhere to be found surprisingly enough. Everywhere she looked all Firefly could see was ponies falling to the sky and running on the ground, she couldn't see the enemy flyers anywhere. And then it hit her, with more force of shock than the color filled force field had. The ponies were the attackers. The avian who were recklessly throwing themselves at the pegasus soldiers were pegasai themselves, originating from the opposite side of the battle front, the griffons' side. She now realized that the line of bloodthirsty raiders that had been rendering their onslaught of arrows useless was composed of mostly equines, unicorns casting the bright shields to protect the earth ponies behind them. Still struggling to comprehend the situation at hand, a lot of the League infantry tripped over themselves mid gallop or lost hold of their weapons. Firefly could see a few soldiers call out to their equine kin, only to be met with a brutal takedown as their former ally reached them and attacked without hesitation. The unicorns dropped their bows, the pegasai slowed to a midflight hover. Their minds to broken to continue firing frost arrows, the small flames began once again reaching the grassy plain, and fire broke out all over the battlefield. The hellish light of the flames only served to intensify the confusion; all around ponies were slaughtering their own kind, and all with no clear motivation. The assassin could stand to watch it no longer. Her fiery temper welled itself up once again and provided itself as a fuel to her actions, propelling her forward with as much energy as she could muster. Firefly aggressively broke out of the group she'd been running with, veering to the side toward the fronts. A shout behind her called her back, most likely Pip, but she ignored it and pressed on. She was too focused on the battle to pay him any attention. Too focused to notice the darkening in the sky as well. Above her head, she didn't see the flying blurs of stone hurdling towards her. The griffons had a third attack ready to fire it seemed: Bombs. And not little smoke bombs either, these were fully sized cannon-shot bombs, designed to take out multiple fighters at once and crumble fortress walls on impact. And it was headed right for her. Perhaps it was the Animus' exalted sense of perception, or perhaps it was Firefly's honed skills finally working in unison with Dash's, but for whatever cause grace flashed a sliver of mercy on the pegasus in the moment. Just before the shell landed, Firefly heard it's decent. She was completely unaware of what was making the noise, just that something was coming her way. She did her best to dodge to the side just as the bomb impacted and managed to avoid being struck by the actual projectile by mere inches. However, she couldn’t' out maneuver the explosion that followed, and her body was thrown a good distance away like a ragdoll. Her ears rung, her eyes stung, all her senses cried out in pain. She felt as if every bone in her body was now broken, but with the feeling came an intense will to rest that made her not care. Through the slits of her near closed eyelids she could see more ponies rushing to the battle field, seemingly ignoring her and all other injured. Her hood fell into her line of sight, blocking most of her vision and giving her a sense of closure, as if she was being tucked into a bed. She subtly thought about her situation in the back of her mind. Would she just bleed to death here? Would anyone care? Did anypony even notice she had fallen? She didn't care to speculate any further than that. She was much too tired. Instead, she simply blacked out.