The Inn of the Midnight Pony

by Emerald Harp

Welcome to Ponyville

The Lost Book of My Travels with Gotrek

As the train rumbled through the night, I tried to keep myself busy with creating some sort of plan before we arrived at Ponyville. This exercise was mainly futile, but it did help to keep my imagination from running wild about what we might face . . . at least for a little while. I remember chilling images of demons, beastmen, and mutants dancing before my mind’s eye. Now, I don’t think of myself as a coward, but before every major fight, a feeling of foreboding creeps into my soul. I was nervous (although scared would have been a better word) about the unknown. It was a familiar feeling that crept upon me before battle, and it never became easier to face as my life went on. But, I also knew that when the fighting started, I would not have time to be afraid; I would just react, and if Sigmar called me home, there would be nothing I could do about it. The Troll Slayer eventually noticed that I was nervous about something and out of boredom asked what was wrong. I should have known better than telling him the truth. He just laughed and said that it was natural for humans to be afraid, since we were a frail lot compared to dwarves. He then went on about some nonsense of having nothing to fear regarding a glorious doom. I knew he would say that, and it did little to quell my prebattle fears.

After this talk, I gave up trying to form a plan since no plan we had ever made survived its first encounter with the enemy. Also, I was tired despite the situation. We had not gotten a full night’s rest, and before I knew it, I was being lulled to sleep by the sound of the train as it rumbled down the tracks.

“Wake up, manling, we’re almost there.”

Felix felt a huge hand shake him awake. To his confusion when he opened his eyes, they began to sting and water. While rubbing his eyes, the poet sniffed the air, and the unmistakable odor of tobacco smoke filled his nose. Felix waved his hand around to dispel the smoke cloud. The warrior poet glanced around the room and noticed he and Gotrek were in a moving box with windows in it. The dark scenery outside fly by quickly, and over the gloomy horizon, the first crimson and violet hints of dawn appeared. Felix was about to ask the dwarf where they were until the poet saw Gotrek’s new piece of clothing. It was a dark blue tabard with a strange white symbol on it.

Felix wondered briefly what the dwarf was doing wearing a tabard. Suddenly, the memories of what had happened mere hours ago returned to him. The human’s reminiscing was interrupted by Gotrek’s gravelly voice.

“Did she come to you?”

Felix got up from his seat groggily. “What?”

Gotrek took the pipe he was smoking out of his mouth and elaborated loudly, “Princess Luna, did you see her in your dreams?”

“No. No, I didn’t dream. I just slept.” Felix replied.

At the mention of his new sovereign, Felix looked down to examine his own tabard. The midnight garment with the crescent moon and cloud in its center was a sight to behold. It covered Felix’s battered clothing beneath it and made him feel like a true knight. Even Gotrek looked more civilized in the shorter but identical version of Felix’s tabard. However, the garment did nothing to diminish the dwarf’s terrifying features; in fact, it seemed to highlight them. The color clashed with his insane orange Mohawk and made his tattoos more prominent.

The Slayer nodded, shoved the pipe back into his mouth, and in a disturbingly cheerful voice said, “Not surprising. I believe we have a few minutes until we reach town.” He grinned revealing the few teeth he had left. “Then the real violence will start.”

To see if the dwarf’s prediction was accurate, Felix approached one of the windows in the passenger car. He wiped away the thin layer of condensation and found that Gotrek was right. They were very close to Ponyville, or at least what he assumed was Ponyville.

Felix turned away and asked, “Did you get any sleep?”

After taking a few practice swings with his axe, Gotrek set his pipe down in an empty glass.

“No. Too excited. Had nothing better to do so I’m smoking up some of my old Mouldy Leaf tobac. If I die today, I want the scent of my home on my breath. Not this fusty train car musk.”

Felix pondered telling the dwarf that would be one smell of many but thought better of it.

A scowl creased the Slayer’s bearded mouth as he continued, “The fool conductor horse wanted me to put out my pipe, but I think he came around to seeing things my way after he got a good look at my axe.”

The dwarf put the pipe back in his mouth. “You don’t want to get in between a Slayer and his few pleasures in life, manling. Remember that.”

In reply, the poet just shook his head. It would not be easy trying to approach the inhabitants of Ponyville with Gotrek by his side. Back where he and Gotrek came from, they stood out like sore thumbs. Sane people, at least, tended to avoid the members of the death-seeking dwarfish cult and those who associated with its followers. One thing was for sure; there would be no blending in with the crowds here, either.

Felix was about to ask if Gotrek had hurt the conductor, but the question died on his lips when he observed the Troll Slayer running his thumb over the blade of his axe. A bright red bead of blood formed and ran down the head of the weapon. Felix had seen Gotrek do this act dozens of times. He did this ritual every time he knew they were going into battle.

The poet recalled the oath they both had sworn to Princess Luna. The promise that they would not kill, and further more, they would be prevented from slaying by having enchantments placed on themselves and their weapons. Felix was not sure if this magic was ever performed which could be problematic. Felix knew that he would try his best to keep his oath and so would Gotrek, but in the heat of battle, it would be nigh impossible to hold back in such a way. The weapons they wielded were made for killing.

Felix had ended lives over and over again, just not to the degree the dwarf had. Felix knew full well what Gotrek was capable of with his axe. With this in mind, he asked the question, “Gotrek, shouldn’t you not be able to do that?”

The Slayer turned to face the human, annoyed that his battle rite was being interrupted. “Do what?”

Felix pointed to the Troll Slayer’s axe. “Draw blood.”

The dwarf eyed his prized weapon with a curious glance while his thumb dripped blood on the carpeted floor of the train car. Still puffing on his pipe he said, “You have a point, manling.”

Gotrek pulled at his beard a few times and said, “Draw your sword and strike me.”

Felix looked down at the dwarf. “What?”

The Slayer favored Felix with an angry look. “You are very hard of hearing tonight, human. I said take your dragon poker and strike me. We have to see if the Princess’s enchantments are working. It might affect what I do in the next few minutes.”

Seeing the mad wisdom in Gotrek’s words, Felix drew his runed crimson long sword from its sheath. He poised his blade above one of the Troll Slayer’s beefy arms.

The dwarf glared up at the human impatiently. “Just do it, manling. I won’t hurt you. Just don’t cut my arm off. And if you do, I swear to Grungi I will chop your balls off and make you eat them.”

Trying to ignore the Slayer’s threat, Felix gingerly connected his sword to Gotrek’s arm. When the weak blow struck, the poet saw a shimmering blue bubble form around his sword right before impact.

The dwarf raised an eyebrow in surprise and said, “It’s like being tapped with an icicle. Do it again, harder this time.”

The poet obeyed and put more effort into the next blow. The same effect happened, except this time the dwarf bit down on his pipe and said, “That one stung like a hornet, and now I can’t feel my arm." Then a realization hit the axe man. “Damn it, manling, she really did it. We won’t be able to . . . to. . . hmm.”

By this time, Felix was wondering if he had hit the dwarf too hard with his enchanted sword. The Slayer was about to go into another one of his very opinionated tantrums, but then his entire demeanor changed to one that was suddenly very composed.

“Are you alright, Gotrek?”

“Of course I am, manling, but a strange feeling came over me. I was going to say we would not be able to kill anything with these enchantments, and I felt very angry about that, but now. . .I can’t explain it. But suddenly, killing has very little appeal to me for some reason.”

The dwarf abruptly started to get mad again and turned his wrath at Felix like he was the one responsible for this sorcery. He pointed a meaty finger at the poet and said, “I don’t like this. I don’t like having my mind or weapon tampered with, manling. I know we agreed to these wretched curses, but what if Luna likes us this way and decides not to turn us back? What guarantee is there that what she did to us is not permanent?”

Felix sat back down on the padded bench with a small sigh. He was not surprised no one had come back here to check what was going on with all the dwarf’s yelling, but after what happened with the conductor, he understood why. Luna had arranged that the two have the entire train to themselves.

In a calm voice, he said to his upset companion, “There is no guarantee, but I believe when we are done with our task, she will undo these enchantments. And I hope whatever else we endure here will be worth it. Also, Luna did promise both of us a reward in exchange for services rendered. Remember that?”

To his amusement, Felix saw a twinkle in the Slayer’s eye at the prospect of becoming wealthy. “Aye, manling, I do.”

Felix knew that Gotrek wanted three things for himself: a noble death, treasure, and good beer, in that order. Felix had yet to figure out how Gotrek would get treasure and beer if he were dead. He hadn’t the courage to ask that question.

The poet continued, “Alas, we only get the prize if we play by her rules.”

“Aye, and I still look forward to battle and dying gloriously. That has not changed,” the dwarf said.

Felix rolled his eyes and replied sarcastically, “Of course, you do. We wouldn’t want that to change.”

The dwarf picked up on his companion’s sarcasm, and his eye bore into Felix’s. “No, manling, I don’t. An honorable death is all I will ever want for myself, and by the blood of my people, I will have it.”

As those words were spoken, the train began to lose speed and came to a halt outside of a well-lit station. The Troll Slayer spat into his pipe to put out the smoldering ashes, then emptied the remnants into the glass.

“It looks like we’re here,” Gotrek said.

The pair shouldered their packs and prepared to leave the car. Felix took a quick last look out of the window and saw a single pony-shaped figure in a brown hooded cloak. The pony was standing still on the docking platform in one of the several pools of light that illuminated the station. The figure’s face was covered by the hood and cast in shadow.

Felix backed away from the window and said curiously, “Gotrek, someone’s out there.”

Cracking his knuckles in anticipation, the dwarf replied, “Either he’s our guide or our first victim. Let’s go find out.”

True to form, the eager dwarf pushed open the door to their car and rapidly descended onto the station platform. Felix kept right on his heels. The poet was glad to get out of the train car and breathe the cool night air, a welcome scent after smelling Gotrek’s pipe smoke for so long. The pair approached the unknown pony at the far end of the small station cautiously, their weapons before them. The being continued to stand motionless under the lamp light. The train began to depart the station with a great shriek of steam as it picked up speed. Distracted by the piercing noise, both of them glanced at the train. As they turned back to look at the stranger, the unknown pony was gone.

Gotrek muttered a dwarvish curse that Felix was unfamiliar with. It made the poet’s skin crawl all the same. Felix quickly looked all around the train station and saw no sign of the mysterious pony.

The Slayer had the better eye of the two of them, and after a few seconds of frantic searching, he shook his head. “The snotling fondler disappeared. We only looked away for a second. He couldn't have run off or hid in the building. I would have seen it.”

The poet nodded his agreement. Expecting trouble, Felix and Gotrek set down their packs to search for the pony. The extra weight would not help in a fight. Felix turned in a circle searching the area. Where had the pony gone? They simply had not given the pony enough time to escape undetected . . . unless. . .

The poet looked skyward and saw the pony flying at them with blazing speed, the cloak discarded. Felix could see the pony’s coat shone and sparkled in dazzling fractals, but the creature was anything but beautiful. It had empty glowing green eyes, and its muzzle was open in a snarl, bearing razor sharp teeth. Worst of all, the pony wielded a mace that was aimed at Felix’s head. Sickened, the poet realized that this pony must be infected with warpstone.

Felix had just enough time to bring his sword up and parry the blow. To the swordsman’s surprise, the strike lacked any sort of killing power. During all the time he had spent with Gotrek, he had become a connoisseur of what attacks could be lethal to an opponent, and this one lacked the necessary force. This was strange because servants of chaos always went for the kill.

As the pegasus flew back into the air, Felix said, “It looks like our answer is in the sky, Gotrek.”

The dwarf growled back, “When you’re right, you’re right, manling.”

Now that the pair knew where to look, they were able to track the pony easily. The pegasus swooped down again, and instead of attacking, made a howling noise that was loud and clear.

From inside the train station, answering howls and shrieks reached the ears of the two knights. It sounded exactly like the calls of a wolf pack.

“Manling,” Gotrek said, “I believe we just became wolf bait.”

The dwarf said this as if anticipating a drinking contest with a fellow dwarf.

From an open door in the train station, a large group of creatures rushed out to gather in front of them. They were wolves except they were made up of sticks and roots and had the same glowing green eyes as the pegasus. Each of them seemed eager to bowl the knights over and rip out their throats. All of them were growling and snapping their jaws impatiently.

Gleefully Gotrek said, “You keep an eye on that flying rat while I chop some fire wood.”

The dwarf did not wait for a response as he surged forward into the now surprised wood wolves. Felix watched Gotrek attack the wolf pack with the same enthusiasm and brutality as he had every fight before. Except this time wherever his axe struck, a dark bluish shield formed around the weapon before impact. This did not stop the axe from utterly dismembering the wolves and the pieces scattered everywhere.

Felix watched, horrified at what was happening. Already it seemed like they were violating their oaths to Luna, but how else were they supposed to defend themselves against creatures literally made of sticks?

From the corner of his eye, the poet saw the mutated pegasus dive down at him. No doubt the pony thought that the human was completely distracted with the carnage the dwarf was causing.

Felix waited for the pony to get closer and then turned on his heel. He slashed his sword in a wide arc, catching the pony in the side of the head. Thankfully, the same blue force field materialized around Felix’s blade, absorbing most of the energy the human put into the action. He knew that if Luna hadn’t enchanted his weapon, the top half of the pony’s head would have been missing.

Despite the successful blow, Felix miscalculated. The blow rendered the pegasus unconscious, but the pony continued to fall. The pegasus’ limp form barreled into the poet, knocking his sword out of his grasp and painfully sent him skidding across the floor of the station. Man and pony tumbled off the platform and slid across the gravel. It happened so fast and violently that one of Felix’s boots was left on the station platform. The swordsman just barely managed to avoid bashing his head on the railroad tracks. His vision blurred and refocused. After a moment he realized dazedly that he was pinned beneath the unconscious pegasus .

The pony was unbearably heavy on top of him, and his lungs ached for air. Felix struggled as he feebily tried to lift the fallen pony off him. The pegasus was wearing some kind of armor that made it all the more heavy.

Felix began to black out, due to lack of oxygen and the pain in the back of his skull. He then heard a familiar gruff voice off to the side, “There’ll be plenty of time to rest when you’re planted six feet under, manling.”

With the Slayer’s help, they rolled the pony off Felix, and the poet got to his feet shakily. Felix touched the back of his head to see if he was bleeding. The flesh was tender, but there was no blood. He then moved around to see if anything was out of place. Other than a mild concussion and an aching rib, he was fine, but each breath he took stabbed his side painfully. Felix hoped he had not broken a rib in the impact, but only time would tell. For now, he had to press on. The swordsman did his best to shake off his injuries. After retrieving his sword and boot from Gotrek, Felix looked out to the east. Dawn pierced the night sky and bathed the area with a dim but brightening light. The poet was glad to see the sun. Fighting in the night was not something he enjoyed.

Felix turned to the Slayer and asked, “What happened to the wood wolves?”

“Those curs are held together by some sort of magic. After I struck one with my axe, the magic or energy or whatever you want to call it, left. It just formed a green ball and sped off,” Gotrek continued grimly. “I have never seen warpstone animate twigs before. I say we are in for some more surprises today, manling.”

Felix nodded and saw the dwarf had acquired a deep cut just above his good eye. Gotrek was constantly wiping the blood away with the back of his hand. The Slayer was trying to be nonchalant about it, but the blood kept getting into his eye. The wound would clot eventually if he gave it a chance, but the bleeding would go on and on if something was not done. No doubt the dwarf was too excited to get back into a fight to pay much attention to his wound.

Felix fished a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Gotrek saying, “I’ve never seen that either. That pegasus I brought down was also acting strangely. It was like he didn’t want to kill us; just roughen us up a bit or perhaps knock us out. I wonder why.”

Turning around to look at the fallen pony, Felix asked, “Speaking of which, what should we do with it?”

The pony was still and breathing, a picture of innocence, but Felix’s mind still held the vivid image of the pony’s sharpened teeth and glowing eyes.

Clamping the cloth to his head, Gotrek replied, “Leave him for the crows. We don’t have time to play with it. And leave the backpacks where they are. Everything we will need for today, we have in our hands,” he said hefting his axe. “Right now, we have to find that blasted Twilight Sprinkle or someone who knows their way around this damned place.”

Felix was hesitant to leave the packs out in the open, so he sheathed his sword and walked back to the train station. He hid the packs in the room where the wolves had been hiding and shut the door. Felix’s backpack contained notes of all the adventures he had shared with Gotrek, and he did not want to lose them. His brother, Otto, had a copy of the notes, but Felix’s pack held the master copy. When his thoughts turned to Otto, regret filled the poet. Felix had meant to visit his brother when they were still in Nuln, but then Luna had appeared to them in the dream.

Felix made a promise to himself that he would go see him when and if he got back.

After the bags were hidden, he redrew his sword and joined the Troll Slayer.

Both knights were about to depart the train station when Felix suddenly stopped walking. “You smell that, Gotrek?”

The Slayer sniffed the air and said, “Aye lad, it smells like sugar and flour. We must be close to a bakery.”

The pair then heard the terrified screams of ponies in danger off in the distance; they also heard the different, more blood-curdling howls and chittering of animals gone mad.

“You know that sound don’t you, manling?”

Felix nodded. “Skaven, and things bigger than skaven.”

“Aye, well those bastards aren’t going to stop themselves,” Gotrek smirked. “Let’s go join the party and start dancing.”

From behind them they heard a shrill voice, “Did somepony say PARTY?!!”

The surprise was complete. Neither of them heard the newcomer come up behind them, and Gotrek’s ears were very acute. The blood in Felix’s veins turned to ice as the words shrieked into his brain. Felix raised his sword, but the Troll Slayer reacted far more aggressively as he swung his weapon around in a wide arc, wielding it with one hand. He stopped his axe barely in time from hitting a wide-eyed pink pony in the face.

A pony with pretty light blue eyes instead of empty glowing ones.

Gotrek was breathing heavily, trying to stop his racing heart. The Slayer was not used to being surprised. How could he have missed that sneaking up behind him? He screamed his frustration at the pony. “You idiot! What are you trying to do? Get yourself killed?”

The irony of the question was not lost on Felix as he shot the Troll Slayer a look. Gotrek had been trying to get himself killed for almost twenty years now and, so far, had been unsuccessful.

Felix gazed at the newcomer. Her coat was a soft pink, and she wore the biggest grin the poet had ever seen. She was wearing a golden necklace with a sky-blue piece of jewelry in the shape of a balloon. The balloon ornament’s color matched the pony’s sparkling eyes perfectly. Judging from the overpowering sweet smell emanating from the pony, it was her that Felix had detected seconds ago.
She did not seem at all hostile as she stood and rubbed her chin thoughtfully with a hoof.

Amazingly, she was not put off by Gotrek’s appearance and reaction in the least. “Hmmmm,” she said. “No, I’m definitely not trying to get myself killed,” she giggled then and continued rapidly. “That doesn’t sound fun at all! I just heard you two talking about going to a party, and I thought I had better introduce myself. I can’t tag along with two new friends to a party and not introduce myself. My name is Pinkie Pie. What’s yours?”

For a few seconds neither Gotrek nor Felix spoke. The dwarf was too enraged to speak. He just stood there seething while his hand was still on his head, trying to stop the bleeding with the handkerchief. Neither of them knew what to say to a creature like this. They had never encountered anyone so bubbly and talkative outside of a traveling circus or a court jester.

“My name’s Felix Jaeger, and this is Gotrek Gurnisson,” Felix said finally. “Where did you come from?”

“Oh, I just got here,” she said casually.

From behind Gotrek, they heard a groan come from the mouth of the corrupted pony. The pink pony immediately brushed past the pair to look at the fallen pegasus and gasped, “Oh my gosh! That’s Morning Star! He’s one of Shining Armor’s guards!”

The pony whirled to face the human and dwarf. “What happened?” she demanded, suddenly fierce and angry. “What did you do to him?”

Felix felt a pang of guilt even though he knew he wasn’t in the wrong. “That pony attacked us, Miss Pie. We simply defended ourselves. He’s fine, I assure you; he’s just unconscious. If he was a friend of yours, he was not himself.”

Her curly pink hair suddenly became straight and fell across her shoulders. Pinkie Pie slumped to the grass in front of Morning Star. “But if he’s become changed by warpstone. . .Then what about Shining Armor and Bright Shield? Did you see any other ponies with him?” she asked the two of them.

Felix shook his head, “No, he was alone.” He gestured to his tabard, “We were sent by Princess Luna and—”

“I know,” she interrupted. The pony stood up, and her hair sprang back into bouncy curls. Gotrek and Felix exchanged a questioning glance. She faced them, smiling, “You’re Gotrek and Felix, a dwarf and a human from a whole ‘nother world. You’re gonna help us save Equestria. Celestia wrote to us all about it.”

“Us? You mean to say you’re one of the ponies that wields an Element of Happiness?” Gotrek asked, finally overcoming his anger with sputtering disbelief.

“Harmony,” Pinkie Pie corrected. “And, yeah, totally!” she grinned hugely at them.

Gotrek gaped. His mind couldn’t grasp how such an absurd creature could possess any sort of magical power.

Felix came up to the pink pony and said, “Pinkie Pie, we need to find Twilight Sparkle. Can you lead us to her?”

She nodded, bobbing her head up and down repeatedly. “Yeah, she’s at the hospital. We gotta get there fast. Let’s move it, Misters.”

With that she took off at a gallop, leaving Gotrek and Felix behind in the dust. Gotrek tied his blood-soaked handkerchief around his head and ran after the seemingly insane pink pony as fast as he could.

He called behind him, “Come, manling. She’s heading toward the skaven, which is where we should go.”

Felix brought up his red sword in a two-handed grip and followed the dwarf deeper into the town, his rib aching with every step.

Pinkie Pie galloped back into town elated. This was what she and her friends had been waiting for, the help Princess Celestia had promised them. Twilight had been all worried about having strangers form another world come here. She had mentioned something about disrupting the balance of the world, but Pinkie Pie didn’t care about that. If these funny-looking ponies could help save her friends, then balance, shmalance. Pinkie needed to get them to the hospital as fast as she could.

Pinkie ran until she reached Sugarcube Corner, zipping past houses and shops. She stopped at the steps of the bakery. “Wait here, guys. I’m just going to pop in here and make sure the Cakes are alright.”

Pinkie was about to knock on the door, but after hearing no response to her statement, she looked behind her. The newcomers were nowhere in sight. She stamped her hoof in frustration. Of course, they couldn’t keep up. She had four legs, and they only had two. It wasn’t like they were ponies. She had told Twilight she could handle this. Her friends were counting on her.

“Great. Now I gotta go find them,” she muttered to herself.

From off to Pinkie's side she heard rustling in the bushes. Maybe Gotrek and Felix had kept up after all.

Pinkie Pie walked up to the bushes. “Gotrek? Felix? This is no time for games. And believe me, I know all about games.”

She poked her head into the bushes and saw two glowing green eyes staring back at her. That was the last thing she saw.

* * * * * *

Meanwhile the Lunar Knights did their best to keep up with Pinkie Pie but were quickly left behind. Gotrek swore loudly about it. Not knowing which way the pink pony went, the pair continued down the road they were on. Each of the buildings they passed had boarded windows and closed doors. It was a stark contrast to the cheery colors and well-kept gardens. No pony was in sight on the streets. In the distance they heard the sounds of chaos grow louder. The noises came from a tall pink, white, and purple house that looked like a mixture between a circus tent and a fashion salon. Gotrek and Felix quickly hid behind a nearby wooden fence. The salon was being attacked by a dozen mutated woodland creatures. Each stood upright and had the same glowing green eyes as the pegasus that attacked them earlier.

Gotrek and Felix were shocked by the scene before them. There were mutated rats that they knew from their world as skaven. Alongside them were changed squirrels, rabbits, and other formerly benign animals. They were all now creatures of nightmares. In the Old World within the mostly uncorrupted lands of The Empire and the World Edge Mountains, one would see beastmen, which were mutated humans, and skaven, which were a race of chaos unto themselves. Other mutated creatures in the Old World were a rarity, requiring the animal to come into direct contact with the stone. Warpstone changed all things, but Felix had never seen this many mutated animals gathered in one place, with the exception of the Chaos Wastes. This wasn’t a good sign.

Shaking off his initial surprise, Gotrek grunted, “Well, manling, I don’t think we are going to find that damned pink pony. Let’s do some damage instead. Today my axe dines on vermin. You head over to the right, and when I start laying into this scum, you come out and join me. I’ll meet you in the middle in front of that . . . whore house.”

The poet sighed, “Eloquent as usual, Gotrek.”

Felix kept low and moved from the fence to bushes, trying to get closer. Luckily, the large mutants were too busy setting kindling around the establishment to realize what was about to happen to them.

The leader of the pack was a rat larger than the rest, that commanded his smaller cousins through chittering commands. “Quick! Quick! Hurry, Scurry! Find the white pony. The unicorn commands it. No, wait, I have a better idea. Burn it. Burn it down, yes. Yes, do it. We’ll smoke her out.”`

The creatures were in the midst of lighting whatever they could find when suddenly they heard a ferocious war cry behind them. The big skaven turned around just in time to see a short, squat creature swing a huge axe into the stomach of one of his mutated brethren. The mutated white rabbit went flying into a changed beaver.

After seeing Gotrek pitch into the mutants, Felix murmured to himself, “That’s my cue.”

He jumped over some shrubs, surprising two mutants. Felix had no problem dispatching them with two quick swipes of his sword.

The poet was surprised at how easily Gotrek and he were winning this fight in spite of Luna’s restraining enchantments. They were able to render the creatures unconscious quickly. These mutants didn’t fight as a group, but as a mess of disorganized individuals.
They got in each other’s way and did not attack as a single unit. They lacked the unity and cunning of the skaven and beastmen from his world.

After striking down a mutated badger, Felix saw the pack leader storming toward him at an alarming rate. The huge rat dodged the swordsman’s attacks and landed two clawing blows and a bite in rapid succession. The mutant’s claws raked across Felix’s armored chest, tearing through the tabard but thankfully not the chain shirt. The skaven’s bite landed on Felix’s unprotected sword arm.

The poet cried out in pain as the rat’s teeth sank deep into his flesh. Felix dropped his sword and caught it with his other hand. He awkwardly swung the weapon to strike the skaven’s head. The huge rat immediately released the human’s arm, and the wounded creature stumbled back dazed. It gave Felix the time he needed to deliver an angry sword blow to the beast’s skull. The skaven collapsed in a heap.

Felix glanced over at Gotrek who was making short work of most of the smaller changed forest creatures. More mutants were coming, drawn by the fighting. Cradling his injured arm, Felix was about to rejoin the fight when he saw a few of the skaven light a huge fire on the side of the salon.

Felix would have ignored the blazing building if he had not heard a voice from inside cry, “Help! Some pony, any pony! Help me!”

Felix gritted his teeth against the pain of his injured arm, sheathed his sword, and rushed into the burning building. The rooms in the burning salon were filled with dresses and fabrics obscured by a thick haze of smoke.

“Where are you?” Felix yelled.

A faint reply came from the upper story, “Up here. Hurry.”

The poet wrapped his cloak around his face and raced up the stairs. Felix kicked down the first door he came to. Smoke burst forth from the room. His eyes watered, but he could make out a small bed and a few children’s toys on the floor.

Felix yelled again, his voice muffled by the cloak, “Are you in here?”

He heard the voice from underneath the bed, “Down here.”

The poet dropped down on his hands and knees to see a pair of scared green eyes looking up at him. Felix slowly reached out his hand to the little unicorn and said, “We have to leave now, child. Come with me. You will be safe, I promise.”

The little pony needed no more prompting as she heard the sound of her home crumbling around her. She took the poet’s hand, and he pulled her out gently. Felix took off his orange cloak and wrapped up the small unicorn.

He picked her up and said, “Hang on.”

The poet then sprinted out of the room and down the stairs, coughing as he went. He dodged falling debris as he ran. After what seemed like a life time, he found the front door and raced out of the burning building as fast as his legs could carry him.

When they were safely outside, Felix called out, “Gotrek? Gotrek, where are you?”

There was no sign of Gotrek. The dwarf was gone and had left many unconscious mutant creatures in the yard. Felix set the little unicorn on the ground and lifted his cloak from her. Her white coat was dingy from the smoke, but she appeared to be unharmed. The small pony’s gaze immediately locked onto a fallen skaven and then to her burning home. Felix noticed that the unicorn clung to a red piece of fabric as she began to cry.

The poet looked down at the unicorn with pity. He regretted not being able to save her home, but at the time, it was not a concern of the knight. The poet knelt down next to the crying unicorn and gently tilted her face up at him.

He smiled warmly, “My name is Felix Jaeger, a sworn knight of Princess Luna. What’s your name?”

“Sweetie Belle,” the unicorn squeaked out.

Her grip on the red cloth loosened a bit.

“What have you got there?” he asked curiously.

The little pony showed him the cloth. It was a small red cape lined with golden silk. The cape was crudely sewn together, no doubt made by the child pony herself.

“It’s my Cutie Mark Crusader Cape,” she explained.

“Hmm. Well, I have no idea what a cutie mark is, but I do know what a crusader could be. A crusader is a person er. . . a pony with a heart of gold and a soul of courage. And I need you to be a crusader for me right now. Sweetie Belle, I need your help. Can I count on you?”

The brave unicorn dried her tears and tied her cape around her neck. She looked up at Felix and said, “Okay. I’ll try. Thank you for um, saving me.”

Felix’s smile did not betray the worry he felt about being separated from Gotrek. He ruffled the pony’s mane. “Anytime.”

The poet stood up. It was not unheard of for the Slayer to disappear on his own, and he usually picked the most inconvenient times to do it. If Felix had to guess, he was probably running down retreating mutants.

As this thought entered the poet’s mind, the pain from his right arm became too great to ignore. Felix winced in agony as he rolled back his sleeve to get a better look at the wound. The gash from the rat’s teeth was deep, and blood was still flowing freely from the injury. Sweetie Belle saw the blood and gasped.

“It’s just a scratch,” he said quickly.

The knight then drew a short dagger from the sleeve of his left arm. Felix grabbed the edge of his cloak and asked Sweetie Belle, “Could you do me a favor and help me make a bandage for my arm?”

With Sweetie Belle’s help, Felix cut up his cloak and made a binding for his arm.

“What happened to you?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“I was on my way to the hospital when I saw your house being attacked. I fought against the changed animals.”

Fearing the answer, Felix then asked, “What are you doing here by yourself? Where is your family?”

Sweetie Belle took a deep breath, appearing to calm herself. “Rarity is at the hospital, not far from here. My parents are there, too.”

“Who is Rarity?” he asked.

“My older sister. She said that Apple Jack got hurt and that I had to go to the hospital. That’s where most of the ponies are hiding.
That’s where I’m supposed to be, but. . .”

She trailed off and scuffed her hoof in the dirt. “I snuck away from there and came back to Ponyville to get my cape. And then when I tried to leave the boutique, those things were outside. If you hadn’t have come. . .”

The thought was unbearable for the poor unicorn, and she began to sniffle. “I shouldn’t have come back for my cape. Now Rarity’s boutique is gone. All of her dresses and her work is gone. She’ll never forgive me.”

“It will be alright, Sweetie Belle,” he reassured her. “Boutiques can be rebuilt, and I’m sure your sister can make new dresses. The most important thing is that you’re safe. And I’m sure your sister would agree with me.”

Sweetie Belle seemed to brighten a little at his words.

“Now I don’t want you to think about that anymore. I need you to lead me to the hospital. I wouldn’t normally ask someone so young to be my guide when there is danger all about, but I have no choice. Will you do this for me, Cutie Mark Crusader Sweetie Belle?”

Sweetie Belle glanced at one of the fallen mutants and trembled slightly.

“I won’t let any harm come to you,” Felix promised. “You have my word as a Lunar Knight.”

Sweetie Belle gritted her teeth and nodded bravely. The pony started walking and Felix followed closely, keeping his sword firmly in his grip.

Comments

[Killbot3.0]

This story rocks! I eagerly await the next instalment.

[Emerald Harp]

3956867
Thank you for the comment. I shall continue writing.