Upheaval: Breaking Point

by Visiden Visidane

Those Who Must Fight

Upheaval: Breaking Point

Chapter 32: Those Who Must Fight

"Pay attention, Recruit Applejack!"

Infantry Captain Iron Jaw's sharp reprimand caught Applejack like a whip lash. She nearly jumped, and turned towards him, only to remember that Twocolt was trying to leave some hoof-prints on her face. She jumped away from couple of hoof strikes, one of them narrowly missing her nose.

"What's the matter?" Twocolt asked. "That's the third time you've been distracted." He swung his forelegs again. "If you won't take this seriously, I'm really going to break your face!"

"Sorry," Applejack said. "I'm serious this time!"

The two of them clashed heads, then tried to push the other back. Twocolt was slightly bigger than Applejack, but she didn't give a single inch. The sounds of fighting filled the air around them. When they fell in that morning, Iron Jaw had split them into pairs, and ordered them to spar. He stood at the center, calling out glaring mistakes, and giving tips. Several older members were also roaming about, making sure that nopony got seriously injured, as well as making corrections.

"Alright, that's enough!" Iron Jaw barked. "Fall in!" The noon sun was already shining when he gave the order. "Get to the mess hall, and quiet those guts! The rest of the afternoon will be for marching drills!"

Applejack groaned inwardly as the platoon made its way to mess hall. She didn't like marching drills. She didn't even understand why it was so important to know so many formations, and how to stay in them.

Lunch wasn't much to look ahead to either: a bowl of plains grass, and a clump D Grade Winter Moss. Applejack munched away stoically, trying to remember when the last time she had an apple, or any fruit for that matter. When she set her glass down, she bumped against a small cupcake next to her bowl. She looked around to see if the others had one. They didn't. She gave the piece of pastry a tentative sniff, and took a bite. It was quite sweet and still a little warm. The small bits of apple in it almost brought tears to her eyes. The cupcake felt like an apology for the rather bland meal, an apology that she was more than willing to accept. She looked around again. Why was she the only one who had it? She found her answer by the far end of the mess hall. Pinkie Pie peered from the kitchen's entrance, and waved excitedly. With a smile, Applejack waved back.

"Guess it pays to have friends over at Kitchen Division," Twocolt said.

Applejack put her hoof down, and looked around. Fortunately, only Twocolt seemed to have noticed. "You can have a bite if you like," she said. She offered the half-eaten cupcake to him.

"No, thanks." Twocolt shook his head, and waved a hoof dismissively. "It's already too small for you."

With a shrug, Applejack finished the cupcake off, and washed it down with water.

"So what's wrong?" Twocolt asked. "You've been out of it all morning."

Applejack nearly choked on the water. "Huh?"

"And there it is again."

Applejack wiped off some of the water and crumbs from her muzzle. "Sorry," she said. "I was just thinking."

"Thanks for telling me that much." Twocolt snorted. "Mind telling me more? Maybe if you get it off your chest, Iron Jaw will stop calling you out."

Applejack hesitated. Twocolt had been a good friend to her ever since she joined Infantry. Surely, there was no harm in telling him? Besides, he was probably right. She needed to talk to somepony. The problem was that she didn't know just how to talk about it. She remembered this morning's incident.

Applejack had awoken to find Twilight reading one of her books by the desk. Normally, this wouldn't be anything special. Finding Twilight with her face buried in a book was about as strange as looking up, and finding the sky. Finding Twilight reading a book while bound in fresh bandages, and her face swollen and bruised, on the other hoof, was another story. It didn't stop there. There was no disturbing Twilight: not good mornings, not questions about what happened, nothing. She looked so focused that Applejack was afraid of going over to nudge her.

Then, there was Rainbow. Something had come over her ever since her earlier outburst. The change wasn't spectacular, or even physical. Rainbow just seemed more distant, and more eager to get back to training. Their exchange that morning made it clear that something was wrong.

"Hey, RD, got a minute?"

"Not really. I have to go, Applejack. The flight captain's gonna kick my flank if I'm late!"

"Let's talk about what happened the other day!" Applejack reached out towards Rainbow's shoulder.

Rainbow snorted. "Look, the past is the past alright? Stop getting all touchy feely over every little thing!"

"I'm worrying about some of my friends," Applejack answered.

"What happened?" Twocolt asked. He set down his empty bowl. "Are they hurt?"

"Well, Twilight's looking pretty hurt. Crazy filly's making a habit of it too."

"I heard she took on some raiding wolven infiltrators yesterday." The admiration in Twocolt's voice was unmistakable. "That fire over the west section of the city could have been worse if it wasn't for her and Vanguard Clash."

"Darn it, Twocolt! How are you getting all these stories?" Applejack eyed him suspiciously. "Do you go around every morning picking up gossip?"

Twocolt shrugged. "I've got a good ear for these things. Looks like Twilight Sparkle is racking up the heroics."

Applejack set her glass on the table a little too forcefully. "Yup, I'd be happy for her, if I could be happy about what it takes to do some heroics out here."

"So what's this about?" Twocolt asked. The last of his Wintermoss disappeared into his mouth. "You don't like that she's doing so well?"

"No! It's just…darn it, I'm no good at this! It's just that…she's changing! So's Rainbow. The scary part is that I think I'm changing too."

"You can't have possibly expected to stay the same as the pony you were in the Heartland when you ended up here."

Applejack gulped down the rest of her water. "I know that! But…all of us came here so we could stay together! What's the point if we just fall apart now?"

"Maybe it's not as bad as you make it out to be," Twocolt said. "How long have you been here anyway? Give yourselves time to settle down."

Applejack exhaled loudly, and stood up. Lunch was finished, and the rest of the platoon was heading out. "I hope you're right, Twocolt," she said.

Something besides more training waited outside the mess hall, however. A large group of ponies had surrounded something at a distance. Applejack nudged Twocolt, and pointed towards them. "What's going on over there?" she asked.

"That's the unicorn mage training area," Twocolt said. "They're doing sparring too. Somepony must be putting on a show."

Applejack galloped over. "Let's take a look!" she called behind her.

"We're going to get in trouble for this!" Twocolt huffed as he galloped after her.

The unicorn mage training ground was similar to the one that Applejack's platoon used: large, wide open spaces, and dummies for target practice. The scorch marks on the ground was a unique marker, however.

Applejack and Twocolt forced themselves through the crowd of unicorns. While Twocolt tried to squeeze into every available opening, and apologized to anypony he accidentally shoved, Applejack rammed her way in. Twilight wasn't in the crowd. That meant that she was the center of attention again. She swore that if she saw Twilight tied to a post again, she was rushing to stop it, Prince Terrato's orders or not.

Two unicorns squared off at the center of the gathered ponies. One of them was a red-coated unicorn mare with a fluffy, bright pink mane. The other one was Twilight. Applejack had to look closer to make sure. The mage-coat hid the pony's flanks. The purple coat was definitely Twilight's, as was the straight, dark purple mane with the stripe, but something else made her hesitate in identifying her friend.

It was the eyes. This pony's face was swollen, and beaten up just like Twilight's face this morning. Some of the swelling had gone down enough to let her eyes work. This pony's eyes focused on her target with an intensity that Applejack had never seen in any pony. These were eyes that didn't see the gathered crowd, only her opponent, and every opportunity to win. Her lips were pressed in a thin, grim line as her horn flashed with magic again and again.

The other unicorn was dodging for her life while bolts of purple energy flew towards her. Two of the bolts struck the ground heavily. A third one pounded her back with the force of a pony's kick. Before she collapsed, the unicorn fired several bolts of pink energy from her horn. They flew true only to fizzle when an enormous purple wall flashed in front of their target.

"Even Cloudfree," one of the unicorns next to Applejack said. "Damn, that Twilight Sparkle's kicking a lot of flank."

"I don't know what happened yesterday, but she's really on a tear now," another nearby unicorn replied. "She's already proven that she's the strongest recruit. Now, she's just beaten her first senior mage."

The name the unicorns used confirmed it; this was Twilight. There was somepony else in this mess who was familiar. Applejack waved a hoof at the black-barded pony nearby. "Vanguard!" she called out.

Vanguard motioned for her to come closer. She did so with Twocolt behind her. "What are you two doing here?" he asked. "Don't you have training of your own?"

"We saw the commotion, and we just thought we'd check," Applejack replied.

"Oh, so it's 'we' now," Twocolt muttered.

Applejack glared at Twocolt. "You're being a fuss-budget again, Twocolt. You're here too, aren't you?"

"Yes. I'm here too," Twocolt sighed.

Applejack turned towards Vanguard. "So what in tarnation is going on here, Vanguard?"

"Owlsight said that it started out as your typical sparring training," Vanguard replied. "Twilight trounced her sparring partner in less than a minute, then repeated that result for the next two. One of the senior mages thought that the chosen recruit was acting too high and mighty, and challenged her. You just saw how that ended."

Twilight let out a long exhale, and dusted her hooves. Some of the recruits were cheering while the others simply watched her warily. She didn't look happy with her victory. She paced around, clearly waiting for the next one to step up. Nopony did. Mage Captain Owlsight looked ready to take that challenge.

"That looks fun!" somepony yelled from the crowd. "May I go next?"

The crowd of unicorns parted to reveal the speaker. It was another unicorn mare. This one had a dark blue coat, and a deep purple mane in ringlets. "Nightcanter," Vanguard said. "Of all the times--"

"Who's Nightcanter?" Applejack asked.

"That's Special Operations Captain Nightcanter to us," Twocolt said.

Mage Captain Owlsight walked over to Nightcanter. The two of them started talking, but Applejack couldn't hear what their conversation was about. Eventually, Owlsight allowed Nightcanter to step into the sparring ground against Twilight, who looked shocked for a couple of seconds before composing herself. Nightcanter looked over to Vanguard, and winked.

"You gotta stop this!" Applejack told Vanguard. "Twilight's awesome and all, but she's not ready to take on a captain! Especially not with her face still like that!"

"I'd stop her," Vanguard said. "Then, I'd have two angry unicorn mares to deal with." He turned his attention back to Twilight. Applejack did the same. Vanguard was right, of course. Twilight looked ready and eager. She wanted this.

The two unicorns squared off. While Twilight had a serious look on her face, Nightcanter had a confident smile. Their horns flashed at the same time followed by cheers from the gathered unicorns.

A bolt of purple lightning erupted from Twilight's horn. Applejack nearly jumped at the sight. That was fast and that bolt looked dangerous.

Nightcanter had not been caught off-guard, however. She jumped to the side, narrowly dodging the bolt, then cast her spell. A globe of darkness enveloped Twilight. As quickly as it had appeared, the globe dispersed like fog. Twilight's horn shone with bright light as she emerged from the darkness.

"Did you see that?" Vanguard asked.

"See what?" Applejack asked in return. "Twilight being amazing?"

"Nightcanter casting another spell after Twilight's Daylight dispersed her darkness. She timed it so that the bright light hid the flash from her horn."

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "I didn't see her cast anything. Besides, I don't see anything else happening."

"Neither does Twilight." Vanguard snorted. "That means she just lost."

Applejack frowned. "What are you talking about? They look evenly matched to me!"

"It looks that way to Twilight too," Vanguard replied. "But 'looking' doesn't get you far against Nightcanter."

A barrage of tiny energy bolts, each one the size of a small apple, flew from Twilight, forcing Nightcanter to gallop about dodging them. They struck the ground with the force of hurled rocks, and kept on coming. After a while, Nightcanter was no longer smiling as she continued to dodge. The bolts continued to fly from Twilight's horn. It was a panting Nightcanter who stood in the middle of the sparring ground with bolts of energy flying at her from all directions.

All of them passed through her, and struck the ground. Nightcanter grinned sheepishly. Gasps of surprise came from the crowd. Mage Captain Owlsight shook his head.

"Nightcanter" simply faded away. Applejack blinked several times to check if her eyes were playing tricks, then looked around. Twilight ran forward to look around as well. After a moment, Nightcanter appeared out of thin air next to her. She draped a foreleg over Twilight's neck, and said something before patting her on the shoulder, and walking away.

"What did she just say?" Applejack asked.

"She said 'checkmate'," Vanguard said. "If this was to the death, Twilight's neck would be spurting blood by now. Twilight lost when she failed to notice that last spell."

The gathered unicorns began to disperse. From the way they talked, they hadn't had lunch yet. Nightcanter walked over to Vanguard, and brushed against him. "Like what you saw?" she asked.

"You went too far, Captain Nightcanter," Vanguard answered.

"Oh, don't be a foal!" Nightcanter snapped. "These drill-heads thought that she was just showing off. Your whipping partner was looking to improve herself through experience. She'll be better prepared for that trick the next time, and she'll thank me for it as soon as she stops gaping over there."

Nightcanter shifted her attention towards Applejack. "And another one," she said. "Have you turned these chosen into your harem, Vanguard?"

Vanguard didn't grace the question with an answer. "So what do you think of Twilight Sparkle?" he asked.

"Dangerous," Nightcanter replied, her face serious now. "She's accumulating too much power too quickly." Her eyes narrowed as she stared at Vanguard. "Apparently, somepony pulled a few strings to give her access to a bunch of advanced spell books."

"She has the talent for it," Vanguard said.

"I'm not doubting the talent, but you're being far too trusting of your new whipping partner, Vanguard. If she burns out, the flames will take out more than just her."

"Her heart's in the right place, and I am watching out for her."

Nightcanter shrugged. "You'll forgive me if I'm not very assured. Pyre Valor's still out there, remember?"

Vanguard didn't answer, and Nightcanter went on her way.

"What was she talking about?" Applejack asked once Nightcanter was a good distance away. "What did she mean by Twilight burning herself out?"

"You two should get back to your platoon," Vanguard said. "If you stay here much longer, it'll be the whipping post for you both."

Applejack still waited for a proper answer from Vanguard. Twocolt grabbed her by the harness. "He's right," he said. "We're in trouble enough as it is."

As she let Twocolt drag her away, Applejack glanced back one last time towards Twilight, who was smiling. It was a smile of triumph despite losing and, try as she might, Applejack couldn't bring herself to be happy for her friend.

---

Night had fallen upon the Barrier Lands once again. While most of the legionnaires active during the day had turned in for some rest, the ponies of Medical remained wide awake, and alert. The Bastion City's pegasi were on their first raid. There would be injured once the mission was over, and every available hoof was needed to tend to them.

Unlike some of her fellow recruits, who grumbled over lost sleep, and extra work, Fluttershy needed no incentive to stay up. Rainbow's flight had a major part in the raid. Fluttershy had been there just as the two flights were taking off so she could wish Rainbow good luck. She even tried cheering, but worry turned her already feeble voice into a half-dead mouse's squeak.

In response, Rainbow had looked at her with mostly indifference, and a slight hint of embarrassment.

Tense hours passed as Fluttershy waited for Flight Dreadwing. Even from where she was, distant howls, and the sounds of battle blew in with the night breeze. Eventually, those sounds died down. Fire light filled the sky from where Flight Dreadwing and Flight Storm Dawn had headed to. Throughout the waiting, a scene kept replaying in Fluttershy's mind: two pegasi flying a nearly-dead Rainbow to the ward, her trying everything to save her friend, and Redbrand offering his flask to Rainbow before closing her eyes.

Finally, wing beats filled the air. Several pegasi landed nearby.

"Don't just stand there!" Redbrand barked. "Get over there, and help!"

The medics swung into action. One pegasus had lost an eye, while another had a crumpled wing. Fluttershy took care of every injured pony that came her way while keeping an eye out for Rainbow.

"Hey, Fluttershy!" Rainbow called. "Over here!"

Fluttershy squeaked, and tightened her current patient's bandages a little too hard. Ignoring the angry yelp from her patient, she went over to check on her friend. Rainbow had a large gash that ran from the left side of her snout to her upper lip. Her leather champron had been torn around the area. Her right foreleg sported a vicious, still-bleeding claw mark. She also had several abrasions around her body. With a gasp, Fluttershy fumbled with her kit. Despite her wounds, Rainbow was grinning from ear to ear.

"Rainbow," Fluttershy cried. "You're hurt! What happened?"

"This idiot took a tumble after getting clipped in the wing!" Scarlet said between laughs. "You should have seen her jumping around like a madpony while the wolven ran after her rainbow-marked flank!"

Fluttershy glared at Scarlet, but he was so busy laughing that he didn't notice. She forced the sight of this insane pony to her periphery. "How about your wing?" she asked Rainbow as she grabbed the disinfectant. "Can you still fly?"

"I'm fine!" Rainbow replied. She raised the wing in question, revealing a small wound just around the tip. "It's just a bunch of scratches. You should have seen me, Fluttershy! I was awesome! No panicky random flying like the other day! I was a lean, mean, wolven-shooting machine!" She poked Scarlet with a hoof. "I got seven! You owe me a drink, Scarlet!"

"I gotcha!" Scarlet said. "You better hold your liquor because I'm not paying to watch you puke! On second thought...I might if it comes out rainbow-colored."

Rainbow laughed while Fluttershy gazed at her warily. She had seen Rainbow laugh plenty of times, but the sounds coming out of her friend's mouth sounded so...different. The sound reminded her of a bear's angry growl, or a snake's warning hiss. An ominous, and dangerous sound. Something was terribly wrong here. Their merriment took away any relief over Rainbow coming back safe. She focused on Scarlet. It was him. He was doing something to Rainbow. "You should get some rest," she said.

"Are you kidding?" Rainbow asked. "Scarlet's buying me drinks! I'm not resting yet!"

Fluttershy gasped. "But you've never drank a drop in your life!"

"Well, tonight sounds like a good time to start!" Rainbow tilted her head. "You okay, Fluttershy?"

"I-! I'll be fine..." Fluttershy finished the last of the bandaging.

"Okay then. Thanks for patching me up!" Rainbow clapped Scarlet on the back. "Let's get those drinks, Scarlet!"

The two pegasi trotted out of the ward merrily, laughing as they passed by another group of injured.

Comments

[Blik]

Yes, Fluttershy has every right to be concerned. If in the future they have to use the Elements of Harmony, I'm sure it will be Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and possibly Rarity that will pull the others back in. AJ too. But I'm worried for Twilight and more so for Rainbow.

[Sengachi]

Mislead, the most terrifying spell. Oh hello there, I'm just going to turn invisible while leaving a Major Image in my place, you okay with that? No? Well too bad, eat Disintegrate.

[Thread Necromancer]

I'm a little worried about RD now...

[PaulAsaran]

Oh yes, Twilight and Rainbow are definitely going to be having identity crises by the time this story is over. Hopefully they won't throw away all the things they've learned about the real world as a result.

[CoverArt]

Ok so first time in the three times I've read this story that I discovered that it's NightCANTER not NightCANCER. I always read it as the latter and now I read it right. GG brain GG

[Commander Darklight]

5503615 meh twilights wont be as bad as rainbows

Twilight is trying to better herself to help the legion
Rainbows just trying to glory hog the spotlight

[BlueMoonHarlot]

damn, hope the real breaking point ain't the elements of harmony. maybe it's a lotta things breaking. and upheaving.

[Emkozul]

1601894
*Sniff sniff* I smell a fellow DnD player!