Sandpoint, 1 of Rova (Presumably 24 of September, 1000 SR), Late Afternoon
There are many thing that could be said about Fluttershy, aside from her shy, animal-loving nature that is. Kind, soft spoken, graceful, those were only a few things that described her. I would even go as far as to say that she was probably the only mare to come even remotely close to the perfection that was Rarity (what, I may have eyes only for Rarity, but I can still appreciate beauty when I see it). There was one thing however that most, me included, would never associate with Fluttershy, and that was speed.
The moment Fluttershy shot off in the direction the barking was coming from, she reached speeds unprecedented. I mean if even Rainbow Dash had a hard time keeping up with her than you know something was amiss here. I suspected it was her caring nature and unwillingness to let any animal suffer that spurred her on, but I digress. What I wanted to say was that in her worried state she was almost impossible to keep up with, especially for somedragon like me. Why that glowy thing couldn't change me into something with longer legs?
Fortunately for us, the dog in peril that caught Fluttershy's attention wasn't too far away, so we didn't lose sight of her. Barely passing the White Deer Inn, now slightly scorched and with one of the wooden deer beheaded by the goblin horde from earlier, 'Shy came to a stop, allowing us to catch up to her. That however didn't mean we were out of the woods yet, for we just stumbled on a scene that could go from bad to terrible in a manner of seconds.
The first thing we saw was the dog that led us here in the first place. The poor pet, a rather large yet lean breed of dog I never saw before was limping on three legs, its front left one curled under its barrel. Its off-white, dotted fur was stained with large splashes of red, and a visible gash on its side was a glaring injury that would put down any other animal. The canine however was putting up a fierce fight, baring its fangs in a snarl and barking with as much conviction as it could muster at its opponent, clearly unwilling to give up. However, it didn't seem like the dog was going to stand its ground any longer, not against what it was facing.
It didn't come as too much of a surprise to see a goblin of all thing fighting the dog. It was a given that there would be some stragglers left; after all, Rainbow's stunt may have scared most of them off, but not every single greenskin saw her epic attack at the fire wagon. This one however was different from the ones before, at least from what I could tell from my position at the back of our group.
The most obvious thing was that the goblin was riding one of those goblin dog-things from earlier. The mangled, rat-like creature was even more hideous than the rest of its kind, looking even sicklier than the rest yet moving with more fluidity and purpose than it normally should have. There was a strange bulge near its ribcage dangling like a grotesque cancerous growth with each of its movement, yet it didn't seem at all concerned about it, concentrating on one thing only, and that was on heeding its rider's every command. The goblin itself sat in a saddle, and not the fun kind either, and controlled the beast with its legs and one hand, in the other holding a spear-like weapon, its bloodied blade similar to the short knives other goblins were fond of using yet looking far more sturdy. Near his leg, attached to the saddle was a bow case with a bow, now discarded in favor of the melee weapon, and a quiver full of arrows. The picture was complete by a leather doublet, studded with small, dull metal spikes for extra protection the creature was wearing, along with a matching pair of pants. It didn't take a genius to figure out this was some sort of goblin bigwig.
The goblins was eyeing the wounded dog warily, as if it was barely controlling its own fear, yet it was obvious he wasn't going to back down. Closely observing the bleeding creature, the greenskin slowly urged its own dog forward, the ratty creature all too happy to oblige. The dog barked even louder than before, growing more desperate, but it too didn't seem to show any signs of retreating, as if it was defending something important. Maybe it had pups somewhere? Either way, the dog was holding its ground to the best of its ability, but it simply wasn't enough.
Spotting an opening, the goblin quickly utilized it. Forcing the creature carrying him forward, he brought his spear-like weapon down on the defenseless canine, sinking its blade deep into its nape. The dog let out one last, pathetic whine as it slumped to the ground, only to be met by an even more horrific end, one of sharp teeth that tore into its flesh and ground its bones. The goblin's mount was quick to start feasting on the fallen creature, bringing it a painful death.
All that happened in the span of a few seconds, too quick for any of us to react. We could do nothing but watch the grim spectacle unfurl like a grotesque play, frozen in place in shock. True, it was only a dog, an animal, but it was obviously someone's pet, and the sheer brutality of it all was as big of a shock as the first sight of what a pack of goblins could do to a human. As the sound of crunching bones filled the air, most of the girls seemed to snap out of their stupor and slowly started to inch away, not really in the mood to fight with that particular greenskin. The only exception: Fluttershy.
The moment she realized Fluttershy wasn't following us, Rainbow stopped in her tracks and looked at her friend with worry. 'Shy was standing in the same spot still, shaking slightly with her back turned to us. She was probably still staring at the dog, now slowly being devoured, and if I know her, she was on the verge of tears. Rainbow probably figured as much as well, because she started in her direction, probably wanting to pull her childhood friend from the gruesome sight before she was discovered by the goblin, but a multitude of voices made her stop in her tracks.
Loud, shrill cheers erupted from behind a number of barrels stacked against the nearby town wall, unmistakably belonging to more goblins. And lo and behold, a score of them emerged from their hiding spots, cheering their obvious leader and praising his victory over, and this is a direct translation, 'the Dreaded Barking Beast from Hell'. It was almost as if they were mortally afraid of dogs or something, and the way their leader acted during what little of the fight we actually saw made this all the more possible. In the end however this wasn't what made Rainbow Dash stop in her tracks. It was a different, more understandable voice that barely made it over the clamor the goblins were producing.
"Please, someone, help!" It was a male voice, weak and afraid, as if whoever was saying that both wanted to be heard and dreaded the goblins would notice him. It took less than a second to notice the source of the voice: a man of average height with short, black hair, wearing rather nicely-looking clothes was hiding behind a stack of crates next to the inn's stone wall, blocking him from the greenskin's view. He was obviously terrified out of his mind, staring at Rainbow with pleading eyes yet too scared to dare even move. Well of course something like this would've happened, it would be too easy for us to just run into a random group of monsters and have the option to back out without fighting. Eh… The universe really hates us, doesn't it?
Rainbow seemed to share my sentiment for once, sighing quietly in exasperation. Glancing over at the rest of the girls, she gestured them to come back and prepare for another round of goblin bashing. However before any of us had the time to even process her request, something completely unexpected happened, taking off guard not only us, but the greenskins as well.
It was Fluttershy. In all the commotion, with the sudden reemergence of the goblins none of us paid her any attention, which proved to be a mistake. What at first we took as silent sobs wracking her body was in fact something completely different. True, she was shaking, but it wasn't fright, nor was it sadness. It was something so out of place for the shy and kind pegasus that it was no small surprise for us to witness it.
Fluttershy was angry, and she wasn't about to let it slide.
At some point of time, I'm not even sure when, Fluttershy picked a number of pebbles from the ground, and it was obvious what she was about to do with them. Normally I, and anypony else for that matter, would consider her "plan" as the worst possible thing to do in a situation like this, but something prevented me from doing that. It probably had to do with the fact that said pebbles seemed to eerily glow, a soft, blue sheen emanating from them. Remembering Fluttershy's recently uncovered magical talent (still can't fathom how that's possible) I came to the immediate conclusion that whatever she was planning, it was going to hurt. And what do you know: I was actually right.
"You find this fun?" Fluttershy asked softly, too softly for the greenskins to hear her, yet in a tone of voice that was nothing like her usual kind self, but a menacing half-growl sending chills down my spine. "You find hurting defenseless little animals fun?! What is wrong with you?! You're… You're evil! You're evil, sick, twisted monsters!!! I… am going… to make you PAY!!!"
The last bit was actually shouted, louder than I thought possible from Fluttershy. Her voice echoed in the street, cutting off the goblin discussions and bringing their startled attention to her. But that didn't matter to her, not now, not in the state of mind she was in. No, all that Fluttershy wanted right now was to make them pay for what they did, and she wasn't going to be intimidated by them.
Without so much as a thought out plan, Fluttershy hurled the first of her glowing pebbles at the goblin leader, letting out an animalistic cry. The bluish rock sailed straight for the rider and was about to strike him in his face if it wasn't for his lightning-fast reflexes and a dose of surprising luck. He managed to somehow knock the pebble off course with his spear-like weapon, though it groaned in protest once it connected with the magically infused projectile. The pebble instead sailed at a nearby goblin mook and landed on his head. The moment it connected with the bald scalp of the greenskin the pebble let out a loud bang, and the unlucky goblin went cross-eyed, landing on his rear, out cold.
Before Fluttershy was able to throw her second projectile, the goblin chief came to the startling conclusion that she was in fact dangerous. Thinking quickly, he decided to put as much distance between her and himself as he could, and forced his dog to carry him in the opposite direction she was in, meanwhile switching from his spear to the bow. While he was passing them, he barked out a few short orders to his subordinates, who in a rush grabbed at their weapons and prepared to fight. Especially one of them seemed to be dangerous; a goblin wearing a goat skull on his head like a hat, with a whip in his hand and a sick grin plastered on his face. I feel we'll have to keep an eye on that one.
As startling as Fluttershy's outburst was, the girls didn't lose any time in forming a defensive perimeter around the normally shy pegasus. Rainbow within moments was standing in front of her, ready to take on any goblin that came near, and Applejack joined her not too long afterwards, brandishing a charred piece of wood that she replaced her given sword with. The rest, including me, joined soon after, some of us less enthusiastic than the others. Especially Rarity seemed to dread what was about to happen, not that I blame her, and Twilight along with Trixie also looked a fair bit worried, though the letter was partially distracted by the glowing stones in Flutter's hands. And then there was Pinkie.
From the moment she finally understood that ponies, or rather people were dying here her hair was unnervingly straight, and her behavior strangely subdued. Fortunately that didn't seem to affect her willingness to protect her friends, and as such she was at the ready, holding that thrice-damned spoon of hers. Seriously, Trixie somehow got us crossbows, she could do some damage from afar, and yet she sticks to the spoon? Ugh… I'll never understand Pinkie.
"Anypony else feels like this is a bad idea?" From my left came Rarity's voice, slightly trembling. The goblins were eyeing us evilly, and that skull-wearing one was doing something strange that made the spines hair on my neck stand on end. "Because I most certainly would prefer to go back to the cathedral and wait all this out there."
"No. We're staying until that green, dumb meanie gets what he deserves." Surprisingly (or not) it was Fluttershy who answered her, an earlier unseen edge to her voice. I admit, at that moment I wasn't sure what I was afraid of more: death from the hands of goblins, or Fluttershy.
"Sugarcube… are ya alright?" Applejack asked uncertainly, conflicted between keeping an eye on the greenskins and looking at Fluttershy in concern. "Ah never seen ya this riled up before. Ya sure ya wanna…"
"Now is not the time." She was interrupted by Trixie, which earned the magician a glare from the farmpony. Instead of snarking at AJ however, she pointed at in the direction of the goblins. "You might want to concentrate on that."
Curious, I looked at where she was pointing, and quickly noticed what was amiss. The skull-wearing goblin was making some weird gestures with his clawed hands, singing, or rather screeching something that could be called a somewhat-jaunty tune. Not a second later he threw something that looked suspiciously like feathers in the air, only for them to burst into several colorful flames that disappeared as quickly as they appeared, leaving nothing in their place. In that moment the goblin made use of his whip, whipping it in our general direction for reasons I don't understand, and waited.
At first we didn't know what the hay was that all about. For all we knew, nothing had happened, and the spell, or at least I assumed it was one, seemed to be nothing but a dud. Even Pinkie was starting to crack up at his feeble display, snorting and chuckling. Seriously, what was that supposed to… wait a moment.
I slowly turned my head to Pinkie, expecting to see her smiling and chortling like she always does, back to normal thanks to some kind of cosmic intervention. My eyes however were met by a rather disturbing image. True, Pinkie was smiling, giggling, laughing, and chortling, you know, the whole package, but it was off in a blood-curdling way. She was desperately looking around, as if trying to find help, her eyes pleading and most certainly not smiling. But the worst part was her hair. Her still unnervingly straight hair.
"…ha-ha… g-girls… ha-ha… he-he-help me-hi-hi…" She managed to choke out between laughing fits. It almost sounded… painful, as if speaking or even breathing was an incredible effort for her, as if the laughter that suddenly overcame her was forcing her to do nothing more than chortle. My eyes widened and cold dread washed over me.
"What kind of sick curse is that?" I breathed out silently. A curse that forces you to laugh and makes it painful to even attempt to do anything else? What kind of evil, sick, twisted mind could come up with that? And Pinkie… I never imagined seeing her laugh would be so terrifying.
The girls also seemed to notice Pinkie's plight, but unfortunately for her, none of them could help her. It was then that an arrow whizzed past Rarity's ear, startling her. Jumping back and looking in the direction it came from, she was met by the sight of the goblin leader, still sitting on the back of his gnarly dog, reaching for another arrow. As if that wasn't enough, the greenskin mooks seemed to take it as a signal to attack, and as if spurred on by an invisible lash they charged at us, screaming bloody murder and waving their crude weapons. We didn't have much choice but prepare to fight.
As should be expected, Rainbow and AJ stood their ground, meeting the charging goblins head-on. Applejack was skillfully blocking incoming attacks with that charred piece of wood she picked up, knocking the greenskin's blades aside and trying her best to bash their heads in. Dash in turn was dodging their swipes deftly, delivering counterattacks of her own, even though she fought without any weapon. Then again, her height advantage did play a large role in this.
Surprisingly enough, Fluttershy too stood where she did, not in the slightest intimidated by the greenskins' charge. Heck, she even actively took part of the fight for the first time I could remember. Making use of those glowing stones of hers, she chucked one at one of the charging goblins and managed to score a hit straight into his kneecap, the pebble once again bursting with magical power. The effects were, hmm… let's just say he wouldn't be joining the ballet anytime soon. Or ever.
The rest of the girls, far less athletic or driven than the trio did the smart thing and bound for cover, although Pinkie needed some help. She was still overcome with uncontrolled, painful laughter and couldn't move on her own. Fortunately Rarity was nearby, and not wanting to let anything happen to a friend took her in her arms (still sounds weird) and carried her behind the already occupied pile of crates. I was about to do the same and try to be useful by providing fire support when I heard a voice from beside me.
"Spike! Come on, it's too dangerous out in the open!" I didn't need to look to know it was Twilight, I would recognize her voice anywhere. She was mentioning me to follow her to the same place Rarity and Pinkie took refuge. I was about to comply, maybe throw in a sarcastic jab about this being my idea all along, but I was prevented from doing that by something that made my heart almost stop.
One of the goblins managed to sneak past the Rainbow-Applejack-Fluttershy line and decided to try his luck with the less combat-ready part of our group. Noticing Twilight and the fact she had her back turned to him his choice fell on her. He was already running at her, his weapon raised over his head for a vicious stab, and I doubted Twi would be able to react quickly enough to avoid getting shivved.
"Behind you!" I managed to force myself to scream, my legs already carrying me to her. Twilight seemed surprised by my outburst, but her curiosity forced her to turn around, only to be met by the same site I already saw, freezing her in the spot. Seeing this I forced myself to run faster, in the same time reaching my claw hand out and desperately trying to recreate that forcefield thing from earlier today. I just hoped I would be quick enough.
The goblin jumped, bringing his crude knife down in an wide, overhead ark, expecting an easy kill. A terrified shriek escaped Twilight's lips as she watched helplessly as the blade neared her, but it died down soon after. Her eyes suddenly widened, her gigantic pupils now encompassing her whole eyes. She fully expected to die here, but she didn't. The goblin just bounced off of something… see-through, like a bubble or dish of some sort. To her, it just came out of nowhere, colliding with the greenskin and knocking it off course. Shakily, she looked around for its source, until her eyes rested me, little ol' Spike, stretching out both of my hands in the direction of the transparent shield, keeping it in place. Even though horrified and having just experienced a near-death encounter, her brilliant mind quickly added everything up and came with a surprising conclusion.
"S-Spike? Did you just…?"
"Not now!" I grunted, trying my best to hold the shield up. I don't have the slightest idea how I managed to make it appear again, but I did, though this time it wasn't as smooth as the first. I felt drained after creating it, my muscles aching, and I was feeling the telltale signs of a headache building up at the back of my head, but I ignored it all in favor of making sure Twi was alright.
"But how?!" Oh for crying out…
"Twilight, focus! One thing at a time!" I snapped at her as the goblin I rammed into managed to pick himself from the ground and was now furiously hacking at the invisible force. I could already tell this one was far weaker than the earlier, and I was feeling each of the greenskin's hits reverberating along my arms.
The urgency in my voice was enough to snap Twilight out of her daze, at least temporarily. Fidgeting slightly, she clumsily managed to reload the crossbow she was still holding on to and aimed at the goblin. Nodding at her, I prepared a little surprise for the nasty bugger.
As the greenskin was preparing for another swing I directed the shield to the side, letting the little monster stumble forward. Losing its balance, the goblin was unable to do anything as Twilight, figuring out my plan, let her bolt loose. The short, sturdy projectile hit its target within less than half a second, and although the shot itself wasn't the best in the world, it still did its job. With one foot pinned to the ground by a wooden bolt, the goblin let out a bloodcurdling shriek, followed by a thud and a stream of vile curses.
"Phew, that was a close one." I commented, slightly winded. Expecting an endless stream of questions from Twilight, I mentally prepared myself for the onslaught, but instead I was greeted by an urgent scream from my lifelong companion.
"Spike, look out!" Confused I looked around in search of danger, instinctively bringing my shield-controlling claw hand around. And good thing I did. I didn't even notice the arrow flying straight at me until it would be too late, but thanks to blind luck I managed to block it. The deadly projectile ricocheted from my forcefield, its energy enough to make it collapse, and by a weird twist of luck it embedded itself in the eye of our erstwhile opponent, silencing him for good.
"How about we move this somewhere safer?" Twi suggested weakly, to which I only nodded, a sudden headache starting to pulse in my brain.
Unfortunately, we didn't have the chance to move far before the situation complicated itself even more. The skull-wearing goblin again started to chant some sort of song, and once he was through with that whipped his whip in the general direction of Rainbow Dash. The mare in question, by now running circles around those unfortunate enough to pick her as their opponent seemed unaffected by whatever curse he cast at her, but that quickly changed.
Rainbow stumbled, losing her balance inexplicably. She barely managed to stay on her hooves feet, and she seemed to have trouble even with standing straight, as if she had one too many mugs of hard cider. But she was okay seconds ago, how could she… the goblin. It must've been some sort of weird spell he cast on her. He already forced Pinkie under one, who's to say he couldn't get into the heads of more of us? That line of thought could wait for later however, because right now Rainbow Dash found herself on the receiving end of a vicious goblin comeback and needed our help.
The greenskins that just moments ago were at the mercy of Rainbow Dash quickly caught up with the situation. Noticing that the tables have turned they didn't lose any time and pressed their advantage. One of them was already slashing at RD, the mare awkwardly trying to dodge his admittedly sloppy swipe and managing only to do it partially. Dash let out a pained scream as the goblin's rusty knife sliced through her forearm, leaving a nasty gash in its wake. Unfortunately for her however, she stumbled right into range of the second greenskin, this one determined to jump her and at least try to stab her in the back.
Twilight saw this, and was trying her best to reload her crossbow as quickly as she could, but I knew she wouldn't manage to do it in time. Desperate to somehow help, I remembered something from earlier. For a split second my mind's eye showed me the image of Rynshinn, the deadly seamstress creating a blue ball of magical energy that she used to attack the goblins. A crazy idea sprouted in my mind. Maybe I could try and replicate that power? I could form a forcefield, who's to say I couldn't do anything else? So, with that in mind I tried my darnest to recreate the effects Rynshinn produced.
I was working blindly, having no idea what I was doing. All I did know was that I had to somehow form whatever power coursed through me over my palm in the form of a sphere. I also remembered that Rynshinn was able to form them quicker and more effectively when she was angry. Figuring that it must've had something to do with it I concentrated all my pent up anger at the whole situation into something I hoped would be productive. Closing my eyes and feeling my headache reach migraine levels I grunted in effort, hoping with what I had that this would work.
I was rewarded by a surprised gasp from Twilight.
Snapping my eyes open again I looked to my right hand. I was greeted by a sight that made me breathe a silent 'wow' in wonder. There, just inches over my palm, hovering in the air was a small ball of magic, no bigger than a tennis ball. It hovered there silently, shining brightly with an emerald hue I found most appealing. But it wasn't exactly like the one Rynshinn produced, and I'm not talking about the different coloration. The magical ball seemed to be covered in equally emerald flames. I knew they weren't real, I couldn't feel any warmth radiating from them, but they were there, and I couldn't help but feel they were right.
A sharp jab of pain coursing through my brain snapped me out of my revere. The migraine that seemed to follow each time I used magic (still can't believe that) had worsened, but fortunately for me, and for Dash for that matter, it reminded me of what I was to do with it. I focused my eyes on the goblin preparing to jump Rainbow, by now shifting on his feet in preparation. Still concentrating, I feigned hurling something at the greenskin with my emerald-orb-wielding hand, hoping that this would work. To my great relief, the magical sphere obediently sailed through the air, going in a wide yet quick ark and colliding with the greenskin just as it bound for Rainbow.
The force of the impact surprised me. The green sphere of energy, once it collided with the side of the greenskin's head burst into a shower of emerald shards, yet not before it conveyed its energy to its target, changing its course midair. Instead of leaping at Rainbow's exposed back, the goblin made an impressive cartwheel in the air, landing in a boneless heap on the ground, either out cold or possibly even dead. But we didn't have time to celebrate just yet.
Concentrating all my attention on the one goblin that was attempting to jump on Rainbow I completely overlooked another one. This greenskin seemed adamant on just doing as much damage to the prismatic mare as he could, nothing fancy, even though the little idiot was holding his weapon the wrong way. By the time I spotted him, he was already charging Rainbow, blade poised for a strike. What’s worse, I felt completely spent; just standing there felt like an uphill battle, and coupled with the migraine that threatened to split my skull in two I was sure I wouldn't be able to produce any more of that magic-thingamajig. Not that I would be fast enough. And to make matters even worse, Twilight was still struggling with reloading that damned crossbow of hers. Things were not looking up for Rainbow.
Then, just as the goblin was about to deliver the first in what I assumed would be a series of vicious hits to our friend the green-skinned menace collapsed to his knees, sliding for a second before hitting the ground with its face. Surprised and confused, I looked at it dumbly, and only thanks to that did I notice a bolt sticking from between his shoulder blades. With even more questions sprouting in my mind I looked around in search of who might've done it.
Twilight was obviously out of the question. Still attempting to reload her weapon, she didn't even notice the goblin was already dealt with. A glance to Rarity's hiding spot revealed that she too didn't have anything to do with it, despite aiming her weapon in that general direction. Her crossbow was still loaded, and the angle wasn't right. Just as I was starting to consider the possibility of an invisible sharpshooter looking after Rainbow Dash I finally noticed who she really owed her life to. And let me say: Rainbow's not gonna like this one bit.
A couple meters from me and Twilight, crouching behind a lone barrel was none other than Trixie. She had her crossbow in her hands, aimed exactly where the fight was going on, and her weapon had obviously just been fired. A smirk was playing on the magician's lips, one that I instantly realized meant she's going to use her deed and rub it into Rainbow's face once she gets a chance. Seriously, she did good and all, I'll give her that, but if she thinks RD's gonna just let her brag about how she saved her flank she's really gonna have a bad time. I'm giving Rainbow five seconds tops before she wipes that smirk off her face. Or maybe now; Trixie's smirk disappeared from her face as soon as it appeared once the goblin raider shot an arrow at her, the projectile hitting her barrel.
Before I had the chance to think more about this I felt Twilight grab me by the collar and led me to cover. Dragging my feet like a zombie I followed her, and soon enough found myself next to the laughing form of Pinkie Pie.
"This is utterly ridiculous." I heard Rarity complain from her position, keeping her eyes on the battlefield. "I am a lady, an upcoming fashionista, a fashion designer that will someday be renown across Equestria, not some sort of uncivilized brute that takes pleasure in fighting with repulsive monstrosities."
"Rarity, we don't exactly have a choice in the matter right now." Twilight informed her, finally managing to cock back the crossbow. She was rewarded with a quick glance from Rarity, who seemed to slightly shrug in response.
"Oh, I am well aware of that dear. Desperate times do require desperate measures I suppose. I'm just repeating this for my own sake. Between Pinkie Pie being completely immobilized by uncontrolled laughter and Fluttershy's weird behavior, I do have to look out for my own mental health."
"Fluttershy?" Twi asked confused.
"Why yes. You can't possibly say that the way she's acting right now is even remotely… normal for her." She stressed the last bit and moments afterwards winced as if seeing something she rather not. Curiosity getting the better of me, I tiredly managed to pull myself up a nearby crate and take a look at what was going on.
I didn't have to look long for what Rarity saw. A storm of pink hair, clearly belonging to Fluttershy was hovering right above a downed goblin, right next to Dash. It appeared that at some point 'Shy tackled the greenskin to the ground, and judging by the startled expression on Rainbow's face it may have come as a surprise even to her. That wasn't the most surprising thing however. By this point Fluttershy was acting as if her actions were fueled only by pure rage. Having at some point discarded or used the last of her glowing pebbles, she picked up a rock from the ground, large enough to barely fit in her hand, and proceeded to brain the pinned goblin with it in blind abandon, letting out unintelligible, animalistic cries.
I had to agree with Rarity on this one; something was seriously off with Flutters'.
"Okay… That's disturbing." I muttered to myself, shaking my head and wincing as a new wave of pain pierced my skull. Note to self: using excessive amounts of magic in a short time hurts like Tartarus.
Just as I was about to sink back behind cover I noticed something that could pose a threat. It was the goblin rider. Up until now keeping to the back of the fight and taking pot shots at us, he had a clearer view of the battlefield than his green compatriots. Slightly more intelligent than the rest of the goblins, he must've noticed they were doing poorly and determined the biggest threat to his squad. Problem is, said biggest threat winded up being none other than Fluttershy. And it seemed he had a plan on how to deal with her.
Spurring his sickly dog on, he made for the skull-wearing spell-slinging goblin. Once in range, he barked out a series of short orders that only thanks to the inexplicable familiarity with their language that I seemed to possess did I understand, and rode off to shoot at us again. The term 'take care of the crazy longshank' however made alarm bells go off in my head. And the added 'her head will make a nice trophy' made that alarm bell morph into a full-blown air raid siren.
"Aw man… shoot at the skull-wearing one! He's gonna do something nasty to Fluttershy!" I yelled urgently, almost falling from my spot on the crate.
Twilight looked at me perplexed. "How do you know that?"
"I just do, okay!? Don't question it and shoot him!" I… was starting to think that the overabundance of information fried the part of Twilight's brain responsible for prioritizing. No matter, as long as she shoots I'm not gonna complain.
Although she still spared me an odd look, Twilight did as I asked and aimed at the goblin magic user, Rarity joining soon after. Taking careful aim, both unicorns let their bolts loose in quick succession, getting to reloading their weapons right away. I was left as a lookout, about to witness the damage that the two of them managed to deal, hopefully enough to stop him from completing whatever weird spell he was casting (or rather chanting) now. Let's… let's just say it wasn't as significant as I hoped it would be.
As both Rarity and Twilight had next to no experience with crossbows, I wasn't expecting incredible feats of accuracy from them. Still, Twi's bolt sailed several hoofs to the goblin's left, ricocheting from the stone wall further away in a shower of sparks. Rarity's shot on the other hoof did meet its mark, even if only scoring a glancing hit. The bolt, if it sailed an inch or two to the left would've scored a perfect headshot. As it was however, it barely grazed the side of the goblin's head and shattered the side of the goat skull it was wearing. The shot did however manage to break the greenskin's concentration, rendering whatever spell he was about to cast useless. Thank goodness for small miracles I guess.
The goblin spellcaster, now devoid of his iconic goat-skull hat glared in our direction while touching the side of his head checking how badly he was hurt. Grunting in annoyance once it found its clawed fingers bloody, he spat on the ground and cleared his throat. Next thing we know, the green guy was shrieking a short jumble of barely rhyming words that translated to something along the lines of 'I won't be pulling any shots; your aim sucks'. And of course, as if the universe just had to make this all the more complicated on us, that short "song" enabled his healing powers that he of course had to have. As his hand glowed with off-white light I let out a groan of annoyance and… why is it suddenly so silent?
"Never thought I would be saying this but I sure am glad I'm not laughing anymore." I looked down behind cover and sure enough, I was met by the site of Pinkie Pie slowly getting on her hooves feet, her laughing fit all but forgotten. Maybe the goblin's shattered concentration was enough to break whatever hex he placed on Pinkie? "My ribs hurt from all that laughing. Is it normal that other ponies feel like this after laughing so hard Spike? I can't tell, I'm usually immune to detrimental effects of anything fun-related, but not anymore it seems." I blinked. Yes, Pinkie was getting okay. Even her hair curled up a bit, so that's good news, right?
"Duck!" Rarity's shout snapped me out of my revere. She and Twilight did just that, and trusting their judgment I dropped to the ground as well, but Pinkie, well…
"Duck? Where?!" She of course did the exact opposite, scrambling on the crates and looking around. Just as she made her way on top of the nearest one an arrow whizzed past her head, snapping once it hit the stone wall behind our backs. This of course didn't make Pinkie even flinch, though she made a sound of disappointment. "Aw… The ducky must've flown off."
Is it so bad that I think I preferred her paralyzed by giggles?
"Holy Sarenrae, I beg you, I don't want to die here. I don't want to die like this…" In the silence that followed Pinkie's nonsense I was finally able to make out what the guy who hid here in the first place was mumbling. Taking a better look at him I noticed he had curled into a ball and was swinging back and forth in a traumatized manner, looking quite… pathetic? Sorry, I just can't find a better word to describe it. I mean when you have Fluttershy actively clobbering whatever's hunting you the idea of someone curling into a ball in fright goes right over your head.
"Don't 'cha worry mister, everything's gonna be A-okay." It appears I wasn't the only one that heard him, though if for better or for worse was up to debate. Pinkie glanced at the man with a grin slowly spreading on her lips, giving him a thumbs up (seriously, how does she even knows what that means). "Your auntie Pinkie Pie is on the case, and she's gonna make sure neither you nor Fluttershy will get hurt."
"Pinkie? What are you planning?" Rarity dared to ask with worry. The smile Pinkie sent her in reply did nothing to calm her, and the reemergence of the Mighty Spoon™ didn't help any.
"You'll see~♪" She sang, turning to face the battlefield. She then took a deep breath and on the top of her lungs shouted: "Charge! For cupcakes and bacon!" Aaaand she's off. Why am I not surprised?
"Pinkie, stop!" Both Twilight and Rarity tried to stop her, Rarity going as far as to try and grab her, but the party pony was just too fast for them. She sped through the battlefield like a mare possessed, swinging the spoon over her head and hollering all the way, making a beeline for the green magic user. In the overall confusion, many had stopped what they were doing and stared at Pinkie at a complete loss. Guess being random does have some advantages after all.
"This is bad, this is really, really bad!" I heard Rarity panic, looking with worry at the running form of Pinkie Pie and her chosen target, who was preparing to intercept her. Twilight in the meantime was franticly reloading her crossbow in hopes of providing fire support. I desperately wanted to help somehow, but the moment I tried to force any more magic out of my system I felt like if somepony had stuck my head in a vice and started to squeeze. Grunting in pain and helplessness, I was left hoping that the girls would be able to figure something out.
The moment I thought that, Rarity seemed to came to a sudden realization. Her face, until now set in a worried expression, seemed to momentarily get serious, a glint I've never seen in Rarity's beautiful eyes shining in them. Seconds later she scrunched up her face in concentration, reaching out her free hoof hand in the direction Pinkie was going. At first I was confused as to what she was trying to do, but that quickly changed once I remembered what happened earlier today. She probably was trying to summon that snake from earlier again to help Pinkie. But would she be able to pull it off in time?
I was nervously looking from Pinkie to Rarity. The party pony was already within ten hoofs of the chanter, who decided to make good use of his whip and swung it at her. Pinkie seemed unprepared for something like that and ended up with the whip wrapped around her torso, all to the greenskin's delight. He already chose to take advantage of this and made sure to squeeze it tightly around her, effectively forcing the air out of her. This was already looking bad, and there still was no cloud of smoke appearing near them.
"C'mon Rarity, you can do it!" I tried to somehow encourage my lady, but whatever else I had planned on saying died in my throat once I took a better look at her. With her eyes tightly shut and outstretched arm shaking in effort, Rarity looked like she was already giving it her best. Beads of sweat were rolling down her gorgeous face and small, ladylike grunts of effort were escaping her lips, and I couldn't help but stare at her, a mix of worry and awe painted on my face. That's probably the only reason I saw it.
It happened in the blink of an eye. Rarity, still trying her best to bring the golden snake from wherever she brought it again suddenly opened her eyes, startling me. But what was more startle-worthy was that something… strange appeared on her forehead. In the place where her horn should be, for but a split second a strange, spiral symbol appeared, glowing a sapphire blue, just like her magic. It was gone before I could take a better look at it, winking out of existence, but not before something happened; something, that Rarity did not meant for to happen.
An extremely loud *bang* and an equally bright flash of light filled the battlefield, momentarily stunning and blinding everyone. It was like the mother of all teleportation flashes, like if something massive had just appeared. Yet once the bright light subsided and I could look again there was nothing to see. Nothing… except for a ring of scorch-marks where Pinkie and the goblin chanter were.
"Oh my goodness…" I heard Rarity breathe out aghast. Her eyes were locked on the same spot I was looking not a moment ago, terrified realization dawning on her. "Did… did I just…? Please no…"
"There, look!" Twilight suddenly shouted, pointing at something further back. Taking a closer look, I noticed a strikingly familiar shape sitting at the foot of the town wall. It was the goblin chanter, the greenskin sitting there with his eyes wide open, tongue lolling out of his slack jaw, and neck bent at an odd angle.
"Is it… dead?" I asked, trying to figure out what the hay just happened.
"Seems that way." Twilight nodded. Then her eyes narrowed. "But if he's there, then where's Pinkie?"
I shrugged in response, not fully comprehending what happened. The goblin looked like if something had thrown him at the wall with enough force to break his neck. But what could've…
"The flash!" I breathed out, my eyes going wide. "It was the flash, it threw him at the wall, like an explosion!"
Twilight looked at me for a second and then nodded. "You're right Spike. But then where's Pinkie? She was far enough from him not to be blow in the same direction, so…" She trailed off as a strange, creaking sound came from above us, easily detectable in the silence that followed the magical *bang*.
The three of us looked up in unison, end I think our eyes went wide at the exact same time we saw what was up there. The blast of magic that Rarity involuntarily produced was stronger than we thought, for there, suspended from a beam and hanging from the whip that managed to embrangle itself into a sort of safety harness was Pinkie Pie. She was obviously out cold, her eyes shut and no signs of her cheerfulness detectable. For a second there I even feared she might've not made it, but that fear was quickly dispelled by the rhythmic rising and falling of her chest.
"Any idea how're we supposed to get her down from there?" I asked, breaking the silence. Twilight and Rarity shook their heads and looked at me.
"I guess our best bet would be to reach for her from the window?" Twilight suggested, pointing to said opening not too far from Pinkie.
"I suppose that could work." Rarity nodded, looking back at Pinkie and adopting an ashamed expression. "I did not intend for this to happen, I don't even know what happened, but that does not mean that I am not about to take full responsibility for this. Rest assured, I will endeavor to make it up to the poor dear or my name isn't Rarity."
Twi seemed to want to reassure Rarity that we didn't blame her, a notion that I wanted to back with all my heart, but of course, this moment of friendly reassurance had to be ruined by the goblins. An arrow whizzed right past Twilight's pointy ear, making her jump in surprise and turn around. As suspected, there was the greenskinned rider, pointing his bow at us and muttering obscenities, directing them both at us in general, at Rarity in particular, and even at his dead comrade, calling him a 'worthless piece of dog…' You know what, I'm not gonna finish that. I have to have some standards.
The leader's attack seemed to snap the rest of his forces into focus. Beginning to fight anew, now more out of fear of their superior than their own bloodlust they renewed their efforts to try and kill or maim us, forcing the girls to take up arms once again. And although their numbers were slowly but surely dwindling, that didn't make it any easier for the gang.
Rainbow, despite her injured arm was doing her best to take the fight to the greenskins, opting to use kicks more instead of punches. AJ was doing well too, clobbering those of the goblins that dared to try and attack her, but she seemed a speck distracted. She was keeping an eye on Fluttershy, who by now had slightly calmed down from her earlier rage, or at least ran out of steam, and was concentrating more on avoiding being attacked than attacking herself. Not that she didn't retaliate whenever she had a chance; she was indisputably still angry, and any greenskin stupid (or brave, seeing as they all were giving her a wide berth) enough to target her was swiftly met with a surprisingly brutal counter. I truly was beginning to feel uneasy looking at Fluttershy acting like that. It was as if she was a completely different pony. What happened to her?
I shook my head and tried my best to decide what could I do to help. In all the commotion I lost my crossbow, magic or whatever it was I could use was at the moment out of the question, and I really didn't feel like sticking my neck out of cover. With the goblin leader circling the battlefield and taking pot shots at anypony foolish enough to turn their back to him, it was way too dangerous to try anything. Resigning to the thought of once again being completely useless I slid behind cover, allowing Twilight and Rarity to provide whatever support they could to our friends.
"Move aside lizard brain!" I heard the last voice I wanted to deal with right now. Looking to my side, I noticed the running form of none other than Trixie, who seemed to try and make herself as small a target as possible and was making a beeline for our crate fort. Wisely, I made as much place for her as I could, letting her slide to cover, just as an arrow hit the wall where her heart was moments ago.
"That was too close for Trixie's comfort." She muttered to herself, ducking behind a crate right next to me. In the meantime Rarity spared her a glance and huffed slightly, as if annoyed by her, but didn't comment. Twilight on the other hoof…
"You okay Trixie?" She asked also ducking while she reloaded her crossbow, one of the few ponies genuinely concerned for her. Twi was rewarded by a second huff however, this time originating from the magician.
"Trixie is fine, no thanks to you Sparkle." She replied haughtily, which went in obvious opposition to how she looked. Between the cuts on her face and the bruising on her arm, she looked worse than Twilight at the moment, and although she was making an effort to hide it with a mask of cold arrogance, her shifty eyes betrayed her nervousness. "While you were sitting here in safety, Trixie was off contributing to this pointless fight."
"By doing absolutely nothing and keeping a low profile this whole time." I couldn't help but snark. So maybe she helped out Rainbow in a jam, big deal. She was still getting on my nerves, especially after calling me a 'lizard brain' again.
I was rewarded by an icy glare from the mare, tough I managed to pick up something more in it. I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I think it might've been jealousy. Seems like she noticed me using magic.
"If you weren't so preoccupied with hiding like a coward this whole time you would've noticed how the Great and Powerful Trixie was contributing to this endeavor, lizard. And if you weren't as blind as a mole you would notice that Trixie spent all of her crossbow bolts before she even searched for cover, which of course cannot be told about you, seeing your quiver almost full."
"Yeah, well I wouldn't have that much of them if I didn't lost my crossbow somewhere!" I defended, returning her glare with one of my own. Her eyes narrowed.
"Which only proves how useless you are, seeing as you can't even hold on to your own weapon, butterhooves." Was her nasty reply. Gritting my teeth, I was about to point out I didn't need a weapon to contribute, just to see the annoyed look on her face, when I saw movement from the corner of my eye. Ignoring the triumphant huff from Trixie, I turned my gaze from her and looked up at where Pinkie was hanging.
I nearly had a heart attack when I did.
The place where Pinkie was hanging not moments ago was empty, no trace left to indicate the fate of the pink party pony. Or rather, no obvious trace. I could barely see it from my position, but I could tell without a shadow of a doubt that something was on the roof of the inn. Something, that we were already all too familiar with; a soft, white light shone from the edge of the rooftop, casting a shadow over our position. I was almost positive that it was the same thing that brought us here, and that the evil light was doing something horrible to Pinkie up there. I was almost positive… but I couldn't force myself to do anything about it. I felt like if my body was paralyzed, my heart racing as an animalistic fear gripped it. I was well aware that whatever was there, whatever the light was, it could end me and anypony else if it so much as wanted to. I couldn't possibly try and help Pinkie without risking death, and as much as it pains me to admit it, I was too cowardly to risk my life for her. Deep down I felt that it was wrong of me and that I was going to regret it in the future, but I did nothing and just stared at it in silence.
"…ike! Spike!" Like from the bottom of a well I heard Twilight's voice calling my name. Slowly, very slowly, I blinked my eyes and tore my gaze from the roof, looking in her direction. Twi was at my side, in the place where not too long ago Trixie was, and was looking me over with concern written on her face. "Spike, answer me!"
"Wha… What's going on?" I asked in confusion. My inquiry however seemed to be enough to calm Twi down; she let out a sigh and looked at me with relief in her large, dark eyes.
"Oh Spike, you had me worried there! You just… zoned out and stared into space vacantly, and I couldn't get a response out of you." She explained, wrapping me in a quick hug. Her words confused me however, so once she pulled away I looked at her weirdly.
"I was doing what now? Staring into space?" I asked, to which she nodded. I furrowed my brows. "You mean to tell me you didn't notice?"
"Notice what?" This time it was Rarity who asked, ducking behind a crate and looking at me with equally relieved eyes. I felt my cheeks burning from her attention, but ignored it and pointed at where Pinkie should've been.
"That Pinkie's gone and the light from before is now on the roof, and…"
"What are you talking about? Pinkie's right there." Twilight interrupted me. Even more confused, I looked up there, and to my ever growing consternation I noticed right away that Pinkie was still hanging there, as if nothing happened, and with no trace of the being of light anywhere in sight. "Are you sure you're alright? Maybe you hurt your head or something?"
"I… eh… it must've been the light playing tricks on me… yeah… just a trick of the light…" I mumbled, still dumbfounded about what just happened. Something was definitely fishy about this, I know what I saw. But did I really, or was it just a hallucination of sorts? Was my mind so tired I made something like that up?
I didn't have the chance to ponder this much longer. Trixie's voice came from behind Twilight's back, a note of urgency audible in it.
"If you're quite done there with all that lizard's nonsense you may want to come back to your post. Trixie believes that the pink raging one may require as much assistance as she can get in a few moment." Twilight, though begrudgingly left my side and took her post behind the impromptu fortification, only to gasp in shock and quickly scramble to load a bolt in her crossbow, Rarity's reaction much the same. Realizing however that Trixie was mentioning the 'pink, raging one' I quickly concluded she was referring to Fluttershy, and that was enough to not only snap me into attention, but also make me forget about the strange experience I just had.
As I clambered on the crate I was greeted by a sight that made my heart fall into the pit of my stomach. The goblin commander, tired with his kinsmen's ineptitude, as well as his own futile attempts at scoring a hit on the girls with his bow switched to his melee weapon. With the spear-like weapon in hand, he urged his dog onwards, directing it into the very center of the carnage with but one target in sight. Forcing the beast to do what I assume no normal animal would ever even consider, the greenskin charged at Fluttershy, his weapon poised to strike. The shy yet still enraged pegasus had barely a second to spare before she would end up skewered by the little monster.
Fluttershy managed to avoid the goblins blade, the weapon barely nicking her shoulder, but she wasn't able to avoid the goblin dog. The sickly-looking canine, reaching all the way up to 'Shy's ribs slammed into her with enough force to knock her off her feet. Urged along by its rider, the creature approached the fallen form of Fluttershy, and after taking a quick glance at her, with salvia dripping off its teeth it tried to bite at her. The pegasus, letting her instincts guide her crossed her forearms in front of her and blocked the advancing goblin dog from reaching her throat.
The beast did not relent that easily, desperately trying to get to Fluttershy's exposed neck. Strands of ropy drool fell from its maw as it time and again attempted to get closer to her, the crazed creature snapping blindly at the pegasus and covering her with slaver, its sharp claws digging into her skin as it pinned her to the ground. Whenever the beast touched her skin and wherever its drool fell on her, Fluttershy's skin was becoming redder and redder, a nasty-looking rash sprouting within seconds from contact, as if in an instant allergic reaction. The creature, despite its seemingly starved state seemed to be enough to overpower our friend, and it would without a shadow of a doubt rip her to pieces if its small, bleary eyes didn't lock with Fluttershy's.
The creature momentarily stopped its assault, staring in transfixed wonder into the pegasus' eyes. Its sudden halt confused its jokey, the greenskin urging the beast with his stirrup, but to no avail. It just looked at Fluttershy, as if it only just saw her, and seemed to completely lose its will to fight. It stared at her, and seemed to shrink on itself.
I wasn't a fool, I knew what was going on. Fluttershy, despite the position she was in and the goblin dog's foul temper managed to lock it into one of her mythical Stares about which I heard from Rarity. She was doing the same exact thing that she did to the boar last night, only this time she didn't have to say anything. Just her eyes, her big, blue, disapproving eyeballs were enough to stop the beast's advances. It didn't work on the goblin however, but that wasn't going to be a problem.
The greenskin, tired of its dog's unresponsiveness was about to get the job done himself. Getting a better hold of its 'spear' he directed its tip at Fluttershy, intending to end her himself. Unfortunately for him however, that's when everypony capable of helping 'Shy decided to act. Three crossbow bolts sailed towards him, two embedding themselves firmly in the goblin dog's body and one nicking the goblin's spear-bearing shoulder. Twi, Rarity, and even Trixie allowed themselves a small cheer as the goblin dog reared, howling in pain and almost unseating its rider, backing away from Fluttershy. Seconds later, Rainbow and Applejack were in front of her, blocking the path to her, ready to defend her if need be. The greenskinned commander cursed seeing this, smacking the rat-like dog in annoyance, and turned tail, but not before he screeched out an order to his remaining forces.
The few goblins left alive circled the three mares, nervously looking from one to the other. It was clear they weren't in the best fighting spirits and would rather run away if presented with the opportunity. None of them however wanted to risk the ire of their commander, who seemed to instigate even greater fear in them. So they gritted their teeth and did their best to look intimidating, failing miserably while they were at it. They were so unthreatening right now, that Rainbow took the time to check up on Fluttershy and help her to fer hooves feet. This however changed quite drastically, all thanks to a single arrow and a vengeful little greenskin.
The moment the goblin commander was far enough from the girls to feel safe he clambered down from the dog's back, taking his bow and a single arrow with him. Next he smacked the creature hard in the snout, eliciting a whine-yip of pain from it, and forced it to face the girls. With a nasty scowl that promised pain on his ugly face, he ordered the dog to sic them, smacking it again for good measure. The goblin dog, sore all over but still as ill-tempered as ever didn't need much more encouragement and charged into the fray in wild abandon. And that's when the goblin drew his bow with his only remaining arrow.
The green commander took careful aim at its target, better than he ever could on the back of the ratlike dog. Holding his breath, the goblin aimed its deadly projectile at the girls, or rather at the mongrel-like creature that was charging at them. After a second or so of taking account of the wind and properly adjusting its aim, the greenskin released its arrow, discarding his bow soon after and fleeing as fast as he could towards the town's gate. It all might've been dangerous for one of the girls, if not for one thing: the goblin dog was more than we initially thought.
It were literally seconds. The arrow flew through the air in an almost perfect line, effortless reaching its target. The arrowhead pierced the dog's sickly skin the moment it reached Applejack. It struck the gnarly animal straight in the strange, tumor-like growth on its side, only it wasn't in fact a tumor at all.
The moment the arrow sunk deeper and the dog let out a whine of pain, all Tartarus broke loose. The animal, like a nightmarish piñata burst open, only it wasn't filled with sweets, nor was it the macabre sight of its innards that greeted us. In a flash of yellow and red, flames burst forth from it, within milliseconds consuming the goblin dog and spreading in an explosion none of us saw coming. The storm of fire spread violently, quickly reaching the girls and the remaining goblins alike, licking at them and hitting them with the pressure wave it produced. The explosion ripped the dog apart, chunks of its body flying everywhere like fleshy shrapnel, forcing me and the girls to duck behind cover and wait.
Seconds drag on like hour as the singed parts of the dog's body rained upon us. The stench of burnt flesh and fur filled the air, making me gag, but I held strong, too worried to trouble myself with something like that. After a moment or so, when the rain of gore finally subsided did we dare peek from our hiding spot. Twilight was the first to look upon the blast area, and her reaction served to inform me how bad the situation was.
"Girls!!!" Twi shrieked, a terrified tinge to her voice. Without waiting she jumped over the crate and sped off towards Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Applejack. Rarity followed her soon after, white as a sheet and with wide, terrified eyes, covering her gaping mouth with her hand. Even Trixie seemed disturbed by what she saw as she slowly moved towards the carnage. Preparing for the worst, I too hazarded a look at the trio caught in the blast radius.
The first thing I noticed was the sheer destruction the explosion caused. Where the detonation took place there was a small crater, three or four hoofs wide, its edges blackened by the flames. Bits and pieces of the goblin dog lie strewed around the place, some of them smoldering, others staining the ground red. The goblins caught in the blast radius lie in various places, knocked back by the force of the explosion and either dead or unconscious, with broken limbs and blackened skin. But then my eyes fell on the more familiar shapes, and I realized why the girls reacted how they did.
To one side of the crater lie Rainbow Dash. She was moving and moaning in pain, so it was obvious she was at least alive, but she didn't look good. Parts of her clothes were blackened, in a place or two catching on fire. Her prismatic hair seemed singed and smoked a bit, as if preparing to burst into flames. But the worst were her legs. Even from afar I could see a piece of bone sticking from it, skewering her thigh. It couldn't be her own bone, that was fortunately for certain. It was curved, like a rib, and I would guess it belonged to the exploding dog, but it still was sticking out from her like a morbid reminder of what just happened.
I couldn't see Fluttershy anywhere, at least not at first. For a second I feared that the blast could've done something to her to such an extent, that I just couldn't recognize her in all this destruction. Fortunately, this wasn't the case. When Dash tried lifting herself from the ground, letting out a gasp of pain in the process, I managed to spot a speck of pink lying underneath her. I quickly realized what happened; Rainbow, in a show of bravery and loyalty shielded her longtime friend from the explosion with her own body. Seeing as Fluttershy was trying to get herself from underneath her childhood companion and having one less thing to worry about, I looked for Applejack.
I felt week to my knees when I saw her.
Applejack, being the closest one to the dog when it detonated took the brunt of the explosion, the force of it knocking her several hoofs from the where she initially was. There, lying motionless with her iconic stetson several paces from her she was, her clothes blackened and charred, sticking to her burnt and broken body. Her face was seriously messed up, looking like one gigantic wound, cauterized by the flames, and her hair was missing at places, scorched off by the fire. She looked like death itself, and her still form and labored breathing made it clear she wasn't going to make it without immediate medical help.
Twilight was already at AJ's side, Rarity following in tow, both unicorns trying to somehow help their fallen friend. But with neither of them able to use any magic or any medical know-how, all they could do was watch helplessly and try their best to somehow help, even if only by moral support. But I know somepony that might be able to help. I just hope she'll be up to the task.
I ran right past Applejack, earning a quick glare from Twilight who I knew didn't have any idea what I was doing, and came to a stop in front of Rainbow and Fluttershy. The prismatic speedster had by now managed to get herself off of her friend, letting 'Shy to shakily get to her knees. The look on her face told me enough –the explosion snapped her out of her rage, and left behind the scared, terrified form I was so used to. With her wide eyes locked on Rainbow's wound, she seemed both ashamed and mortified by what she unwittingly caused. She was about to say something, probably shower Dash with apologies, when I came to a screeching halt beside the duo.
"Fluttershy, we need your help!" Was the first thing I said. With the two mare's attention on me I elaborated. "Hope your butterfly friend is up to do his tricks, 'cause Applejack really needs 'em right now."
"What are you talking about?" Rainbow looked at me confused, just before she winced again from pain. Fluttershy on the other hoof seemed conflicted.
"I… I don't know if I can. I… this is all my fault." She said weakly, on the brim of tears. Seriously, she chose a great moment to snap out of her rage-induced confidence.
"Look, it doesn't matter. Right now Applejack lies there, with her face burnt off, and you're the only one that can help. So please, pony up and help her." I insisted, earning a shocked look from Rainbow and a mortified one from Fluttershy. Fortunately, that expression quickly changed to one of resolve and after nodding to me she got to her feet and ran in the direction I pointed her in.
"You're serious with the burnt off face bit?" Rainbow asked, still a bit stunned. I nodded sullenly. "Jeez, that green bozo seriously messed her up… shhh…"
"Not only her. You probably need to visit that Father Zantus fellow again and get that leg checked up."
"Gee, ya think?" She snarked in response, only to let out another hiss. "What happened to the green guy? Somepony got him?"
"No, he ran away. After that explosion nopony was exactly thinking about stopping him or anything."
"That sucks, I'd like a few choice words with him." Rainbow muttered darkly, giving me the impression it would be her fists that would do all the talking. That however quickly changed when Dash looked behind my back at something. "Hey, isn't it that Ameiko-person?" Confused, I looked behind my back and sure enough, I spotted the exotic-looking woman running towards us with a burly-looking guy in the town guard uniform on him in tow.
The two stopped beside Applejack and the rest, and the innkeeper kneeled at her side. It looked like she wanted and actually knew how to help. A few seconds passed, and sure enough, her hands, just like in Fluttershy's case glowed with the strange healing magic she possessed. Seriously, is there anyone here that doesn't know how to use magic? Oh, right, Twilight can't.
This place's weird.
With his innkeeping companion preoccupied, the man that accompanied Ameiko took a better look around. He noted the goblin corpses littering the street, the small crater punched into the ground, and then his eyes fell on me and Rainbow. For a moment I didn't know what to think of this guy –he looked really stern, a dour scowl on his face, but at the same time something about him seemed to tell me we could trust him. He had this air of confidence and control over him, like if he lived for situations like this and thrived in them, reminding me somewhat of Shining Armor. Considering he was a guard I guess it was a good comparison.
The man approached the two of us, his dark eyes scanning Rainbow's injuries, before he spoke:
"You and your friends went through a lot." He stated, kneeling in front of Rainbow and taking a better look at the bone sticking from her leg. "My men told me you were responsible for driving off a goblin fire wagon. Any truth in that?"
"Yeah, I sure did!" Dash immediately seemed to perk up at hearing this. "Those greenskins didn't know what hit theaaaahhhh!!!" A loud scream escaped her throat as the man ripped out the bone fragment from Rainbow's thigh in a swift motion. I could only look on, shocked, as the man casually wrapped her injured limb in a part of his own orange cloak he ripped off, ignoring the pegasus' screams and did the same with her wounded arm. Finally, once he was done and Dash managed to somewhat calm down she glared at him and hissed. "What the hay did you do that for?!"
"Drink this." He replied, completely ignoring her and sticking a small vial filled with a shimmery white substance under her nose. Rainbow took it, but looked at him as if he was crazy and did not want to do what he asked her for. Sighing, the man explained. "A healing draught, for your injuries. Down this and the’ll start to regenerate." Still looking at him with doubt in her eyes, Dash begrudgingly did what he told her, only to gasp in surprise once she drank the whole thing.
"Whoa… That was wicked! It feels like the wounds are gone…"
"Not quite, I'd go with this to Zantus and have him take a look at it." The man interrupted her, helping Dash to her feet. "And I'd stay off that leg for some time. Healing brews aren't known for their reliability, but they're better than nothing. Now mind telling me what in Asmodeus' cloven hooves happened here? One moment I'm escorting one of my men to the church for healing, the other I hear an explosion from my brother's inn."
Rainbow and I exchanged looks, shrugging at one another. The guy seemed okay, blunt and straight to the point, but okay, there probably wasn't anything wrong in telling him what happened. So, taking the initiative I quickly summarized what just happened, mentioning the guy that I think was still hiding behind those crates and stressing the fact the goblin's dog was the source of the explosion. Now that I think about this, the story was so unbelievable that if I was in this guy's place I wouldn't believe a word of it.
The guard seemed to take my story into thought, pondering my words for a few seconds. It actually looked like if he believed me, which I was grateful for, but still wanted it checked. Turning around, he looked at the crowd that gathered around Applejack and shouted:
"Hey, you there! You with the purple hair!" Surprised at being addressed in such a manner, Rarity turned from the broken form of the farmpony and looked at the guy in confusion.
"Yes? May I…" She started, still a bit shaken from witnessing AJ's state, but the man cut her off.
"You don't look like you're treating the blonde's wounds. Make yourself useful and check on the man behind those crates." He ordered authoritatively, pointing at our former hiding spot. For a moment I was half-expecting Rarity to refuse on the ground of this being no way to talk to a lady, but surprisingly she complied. Guess she was still too shaken up to argue.
Rarity quickly went back behind the crates, and seconds later returned with the covering man trailing behind her. Now that I could take a better look at him, I could tell that he was a person of some social status, his clothes, although dirty, still a clear display of his wealth. With a blue doublet with gold trimmings and a pair of beige pants there was no denying that. Again, as a dragon I have no concept of what could pass as handsome for humans, but I could guess with some level of certainty that this guy could possibly be called that, if not for his still terrified expression and shifting eyes. He still looked as if he expected a goblin to jump out of the shadows and gauge his eyes out.
The moment he saw the man the guard's scowl deepened a bit. It appeared that he knew the man, and whatever his relations to him were, they weren't exactly friendly. With false relief, the guard addressed the covering man, earning his immediate attention.
"Lord Foxglove, it's a joy seeing you in good health." Wait, hold on. Lord Foxglove? As in a noble?
"Sheriff Hemlock." The man nodded, and I immediately glanced at the guard's chest in search of a badge. "I… eh… Is the situation under control, sheriff?"
"As much as it can be, considering we were just raided by the biggest goblin party since Sandpoint's founding." The newly dubbed sheriff replied evenly, a small glare directed at the lord. "This was probably the last group of stragglers remaining inside town perimeter, with the last suicide rider. I have to say that you're blessed with surprisingly good fortune, sir. If it weren't for these ladies' you probably wouldn't've made it, milord." The sheriff spat the title as if it left a bad taste in his mouth, but the man named Foxglove didn't seem to notice, or care. The moment he heard the guard's words his attention was immediately drawn to Rainbow Dash, and then to Rarity, where it lingered for enough time to make it seem uncomfortable.
I was about to say something when the lordling sprung into action. Grabbing both of Rarity's hooves hands in his own, he brought them to his lips, kissing them, and then bowed deeply, a torrent of thanks coming from him:
"Thank you, thank you, a hundred times thank you! You… you saved my life! I…I could have died there if it wasn't for you!" Rarity blushed at all the praise directed at her, uncomfortable with the sudden attention. At least I hope it was that.
"Well now, let's not jump to conclusions." She tried to calm the man down awkwardly. "I only helped a little bit… and did more harm than good." She added under her breath, but the Foxglove-fellow would have none of that.
"Nonsense! I can tell a true hero when I see him, or her in this case." That left me gawking at the guy, Rainbow following close by. Was this guy for real? I mean I know I tend to praise Rarity to the heavens themselves, but I at least try to do it accordingly to what she…
"I'm afraid I could only dream of being half as courageous as you, milady. Unfortunately the gods did not bless me with as strong a heart as I would desire." Well, that makes some sense I guess. Compared to him Rarity really was…
"But I am no stranger to gratitude! You have saved my life, and as such I am forever in your debt. On my honor as a noble, I will repay you for your deed, or I am not Aldern Foxglove! And I will do so gladly, seeing as my savior is also a lady of unparalleled beauty." ATTENTION!!! Possible rival to Rarity's heart detected! Initiating countermeasures in 3… 2… 1…
"I'm flattered, I really am, but it really isn't necessary." Rarity really seemed uncomfortable with where this conversation went, which thankfully snapped me out of my… possible episode let's call it… Who knows what I would do to the guy if she didn't step in. "I was just trying to help…"
"And help you did, milady! But I realize that this may seem a bit sudden. In the regard of me repaying my debt: I will be staying in the White Deer Inn for the next week. I'm sure I'll be able to come up with a suitable way of compensating your deed in the following days. Now, if you'll excuse me, I would like to put this day behind me as soon as possible and retire for the night. Fare thee well…" Well, good riddance. Finally the guy will... "Uh, such a faux pas. Here I am, pestering you milady, and yet it did not come to me to even ask for your name, or give my own for that matter." Or maybe not. Ugh… "I do hope you can forgive such untactful behavior. My name is Aldern Foxglove, lord at Foxglove manor, at your service." He bowed again, this time even deeper than before. For a second Rarity was as stunned as we were at this, but she quickly regained her composure replied with a curtsey of her own.
"Rarity the Unicorn, a pleasure making your acquaintance."
"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Rarity. Such a beautiful and fitting name." I'm starting to think I'm at a serious disadvantage here. "Now then, if you'll excuse me, I want to wish you a good night and until our next meeting. Farewell!" And with that Aldern Foxglove, lord of whatever and the first to grace my personal unwanted element list made his retreat, passing by Applejack and her ER group without sparing her so much as a glance and bounding for the inn's doors. It took us a moment to process what had just happened, but in the end it was Rainbow who decided to break the silence.
"Well, that just happened." She commented. "Is it just me or did he the guy completely ignore all of us except for Rarity?"
"Seems that way." I nodded, silently gritting my teeth. That guy seriously got on my nerves.
"I have to admit, I haven't seen Foxglove act like that in years." Sheriff Hemlock added, reminding us that he still was there with us. "Then again, he left the Hinterlands for a few years so my information on him isn't as accurate as I would like." He looked at us again, his ever-present scowl lessening slightly. "But he did bring up a good point: you did a great service to Sandpoint, all of you. So, on behalf of the town guard I'd like to thank you all for helping in our hour of need. I'll see about arranging a proper reward for you later. Right now I think some of you should go pay Father Zantus a visit. This was a long day and I'm sure your friend over there will need the medical attention of a professional sometime soon." He added, pointing in the direction of Applejack.
Speaking of her, the two healers that worked on her, that is Fluttershy and Ameiko looked like they were ready to collapse. Both of them seemed to be extremely tired, barely able to keep their eyes open, but they did what they could to help our friendly apple farmer. Applejack actually looked somewhat better than she did a few minutes ago, her chest rising and falling regularly, but she was still covered in cauterized wounds and burnt clothes.
Ameiko, after pumping the last of whatever healing powers she had slowly rose to her feet and, looking in our direction, made her way towards us. Once within speaking range, she addressed the sheriff by what I guess was his first name:
"Could you help us out Belor? Jack or whatever her name is needs to be brought to Pops. We managed to stabilize her, but she's still in pretty bad condition."
"Of course." He nodded and waved someone over. It appeared that Trixie was currently looking in our direction, 'cause she was the one to come, still looking disturbed by what she witnessed but regaining some of her usual spunk. "You. Help her get to the church. I'll help carry the burnt one."
"WHAT?!?" Both mares shouted in unison, glaring at one another until Trixie continued. "Why should I help this featherbrain with anything? She looks fine to Trixie."
"Yeah, I can totally get there one my own!" Rainbow added, taking a step. Seconds later she landed on the ground, moaning in pain and clutching at the bandaged part of her tight. The sheriff sighed seeing this and shook his head.
"Obviously you can't. And I told you to keep of that leg." He muttered, annoyed. "Now I don't know what the deal is between you two, and I don't care. Right now you do as I say, or today's casualties may be a few number higher, is that clear?" The two mares nodded, both staying silent and glaring at one another. The guard helped Rainbow get to her feet again and placed her in Trixie's 'care', wrapping her arm around her shoulders for support. In no time the two of them were making their way towards the cathedral. As they went I heard a snippet of their 'conversation'.
"It seems like the Great and Powerful Trixie is once again keeping your prismatic mane safe. Just like when she covered you from a vicious goblin attack to the back…"
"Shut up and walk."
Called it.
"You too should go, you look like you need a checkup, and some rest." Sheriff Hemlock looked at me and Rarity. I was about to respond that we didn't exactly have a place to stay when miraculously this issue solved itself.
"I can arrange for you to stay at the Rusty Dragon for a few days, free of charge, as a token of gratitude." Ameiko offered, giving us a tired grin. "Hey, I may find you and the way you talk about my place annoying, but after you helped out with the goblin I feel inclined to return the favor. Just try to keep the complaining to a minimum." She winked at Rarity, who rolled her eyes but smiled tiredly nonetheless.
"Thank you dear for your generous offer. We may actually take you up on it, seeing as with all this mess we didn't have an opportunity to book a place anywhere else." She replied, but then added as an afterthought. "I'll be sure to inform the girls of this arrangement, as soon as I get Pinkie down from her place."
"Pinkie… you mean the pink one with an appetite for kelps?" Ameiko asked, and after getting a nod asked. "What do you mean by 'get her down from her place'?" I responded by pointing at the place where she was hanging, the pink party pony still swinging there in the wind, unconscious. "Oh. How'd she get there?"
"It's a long story." Rarity replied dejectedly and turned to me, flashing me a tired yet still bedazzling smile. "Spike, dear, would you mind lending me a… hand… and help me with Pinkie? I'm afraid I won't manage alone."
"Sure thing!" I replied, all the wariness in my body disappearing as if by the touch of a magic wand. That is it disappeared for a whole of five seconds, after which it came crashing down again, especially after I looked at Pinkie's position.
"This is going to be a real pain" I thought to myself, trying to figure out how best to approach this. Bus as I was looking at Pinkie, delicately swaying from side to side in her makeshift harness, I noticed something odd. At first I couldn't place it, but after a second or two I realized what I was seeing. Taking a closer look at Pinkie, I noticed she was looking back at me. I momentarily froze at the realization of that, staring wide eyed it her. She was just there, hanging there, unmoving, and staring back at me, unblinking. I momentarily felt my blood run cold, creeped out by this immensely. This wasn't natural, she's supposed to be unconscious. And even if she wasn't, she'd probably be swinging there right now and laughing hysterically, not stay there silent and just stare.
I looked at her, breath caught in my throat, ignoring the sounds coming from anywhere else. I vaguely remember Rarity saying something to me, asking me if I was okay, but I didn't respond, just stared in the eyes of Pinkie Pie. I stared… and her mouth curled into a smile, not a happy one or a reassuring one, but one that made my skin crawl. The next thing I remember, her blue eyes turned solid white and started to glow that accursed glow, ever brighter with each passing second, and I couldn't help but stare. I stared as the light became overwhelmingly bright. I stared as it began spreading, consuming everything in its path. I stared as it engulfed me.
I stared, as it all faded to black.
I stared into darkness, and it stared back at me.