//------------------------------// // Retaliation (Edited) // Story: The Silent Saviors // by AFestiveTaco77781 //------------------------------// Twilight could not believe what had happened. Her home was just raided, her friends and family threatened, and most of the town's food supplies had been all but drained. Applebloom was close by death's door and Rainbow Dash, in the time they needed her most, was nowhere to be found. The townsfolk shifted themselves to her, as if thinking she would know what to do. "Twilight?" Spike asked, "What should we do?" "Get me," "My," "Quill..." Spike sprinted off towards the library to fetch what she had asked for. Twilight trotted toward the storehouses to inspect the damage that the dogs had caused. As she got out of the square and passed the Sugarcube Corner, Rainbow Dash descended out of the air and walked with her. "Hey, Egghead! What's up?" Rainbow Dash said. "Diamond Dogs attacked the town, stole most of our food, threatened Applebloom, and made off with it all without so much as a hoof lifted against them. That's what's up, Rainbow Dash," Twilight replied flatly. "What? Diamond dogs attacked?" Rainbow recoiled back. "Yes," Twilight reached the storehouses and stood outside the main door. Rainbow put a hoof over her eyes. "You're telling me," she paused for a second, "That while I was gone, Diamond dogs attacked and stole our food, and I missed it?" "Yes." "Why does everything cool happen when I'm gone? I had a serious opportunity to kick some flank and I missed it!" Rainbow stomped her hoof on the ground in frustration. "And you're telling me that you are not the slightest, slightest, itty-bitty, teeny, tiny, bit worried," Twilight started to walk foward, "that Diamond dogs just threatened the safety of your friends," Rainbow Dash slowly started to back away from Twilight, "threatened a child with death, and took almost all of our food, and you are worried about FIGHTING THEM!" Twilight's face contorted with a rage unprecedented at Rainbow who had backed into a wall. "Twilight! Twilight! I got your quill and parchment!" Spike ran back holding the materials in his two claws. "We'll talk about this later," She turned to Spike and took the quill and parchment from his claws with her magic and began a letter. Dear Princess Celestia, An unfortunate event has taken place today in Ponyville. At approximately 5:20 pm, a platoon of Diamond Dogs came down from Mareaton Hill and raided our town. We were held hostage by their leader, named Rock, in the town square. He demanded that we give him some food from our food storehouses. At first, we refused his demands. However, upon hearing our rejection, he grabbed little Applebloom from the crowd and threatened her life unless he got his demands. We gave in and he got what he wanted. He left over the same hill he and his party came down from. I must request your aid in this time. Our food storehouses are low and we have no protection from any future raids that may possibly take place. Please send help. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle Spike sent the letter off with a whoosh of his breath. Two minutes later, he burped out a letter with the Royal Sisters Seal on it. Twilight opened it with a tug of her magic and read. Twilight, Your request for aid has been approved. Luna and I are sending two guard platoons to your location, one of pegasi, and one of unicorns. Food is being taken out of the Royal Reserves to be used to relieve Ponyville until the Fall Harvest. If I am able, I shall try to come as well. Princess Celestia "At least we have this bit of good news," Twilight rolled up the parchment and gave it back to Spike. "What do we do now, Twilight?" Spike looked up at her expectantly. "We wait for the guards, then we find these dogs and bring them to justice," Twilight seethed out, anger barely contained. Night had fallen upon Equestria. The harsh desert sun was replaced with the cooling gaze of the moon, spreading its light across the sandy dunes of the desert. Coal and Richard galloped onward, following the grooves of the wooden cart that the dogs possessed. Rich was happy that night had fallen so quickly and that the moon was not full. His luck was great today. Concealment would be easy to maintain with Coal's black coat and his grayish-black apparel. The only problem... was the gun. Richard definitely planned on using his gun in his attack. But it was loud and would surely draw attention to his position. It was just him and Coal vs. 40-50 five foot tall dog, some of which had crossbows. How would he go about this attack? He hadn't really thought about it all that much. His revengeful attitude had blinded him to the thought of how he would come about his attack. As the two scaled a sand dune, Rich sighted his target. The column of dogs had lit torches around their tents to illuminate the area. Two campfires had been started and some of them were cooking some of the spoils of their raid over the fire. "Ok, Mr. I-Know-What-I'm=Doing, whats our plan of action?" Coal stopped under a dune with enough room for Rich and himself to look over the dune towards the camp. Rich studied the camp and the terrain that surrounded it. The dogs had chosen to camp in a valley between two large sand dunes. That meant that he could hold the high ground. He counted 15 dogs that wielded crossbows in their paws, 3 of which stood guard outside of the two entrances into the valley. Rich considered his options. Stealth would be incredibly difficult, if not impossible, as the camp was very tightly packed together and possessed very little dark areas to hide in and hide bodies in. But, staying behind these dunes sounded like a much better option. Rich decided what he wanted to do. "Here's what we're gonna do. The crossbow dogs are our biggest threat since they can keep us at range. But," Richard pulled out his rifle, "we have an answer for that. You and I will use the sand dunes for cover and peek the gun over, fire at a dog, and then relocate while I reload. Once the dogs with crossbows are dead, we move in with the saber and cut down all in our way. Then, we find the leader, interrogate him, and deal with him." "Decent plan. Let's just hope it works," Coal remarked and readied himself. Coal maneuvered himself to the downward slope of the dune nearby the east entrance to the valley. Rich decided on his first two targets. Two sentries were standing outside in a line guarding the entrance to the valley. The path in front of them was only slightly illuminated by a torch that was placed next to a dune. Rich slowly pulled his rifle out of its holster and loaded a round. He sighted in and took a deep breath. "Ok," he said as he exhaled. Rich lined up the dogs in a line, aimed for their heads, and waited for the right moment. BANG! Immediately, the dogs looked up and around, trying to find the source of the loud noise. Some by the campfire noticed their now two fallen comrades lying on the ground in an accumulating pit of their own blood and rushed over to help them. Rich re-chambered another round in his rifle and squeezed off another shot. Flipping the rifle open he yelled to Coal, "Let's move! We gotta relocate!" Coal started towards the other side of the dune, running through the blackened dark of the night. The dogs with swords by now were trekking to where Rich had fired his first shot. He took aim once more and took another crossbow dog down. Various forms of "Where is it? Where is it?" and "I can't see it!" rang out as Rich took down each of the dogs. He repeated the cycle each time as he fired off one or two rounds, switching between the two dunes that the camp was in. The camp was in chaos. The dogs had no idea where he was at all and the night was doing wonders at keeping him and Coal concealed, despite the thunder of Coal's hooves and the rifle. Rich could see the leader trying to organize his men together, but by this time, he had lost control as many of the dogs began to run. Upon finishing off the last of the crossbow dogs, Rich observed the camp. Most of the dogs had run off, but a few stood resolute and had gathered in the middle to take up positions. As Coal was started to gallop towards the dogs, Richard flipped the safety of his rifle on, holstered it, and pulled his saber out with sleek precision. The gallop towards the dogs had now illuminated him and the dogs noticed him. But by now it was already too late. Rich brought his sword down on the first dog he lined up on his right. He quickly swung on his left and cut cleanly through the next dog's neck. After his attack, he quickly disappeared again into the shadows to relocate and confuse his enemies. The dogs looked on into the dark, fear glazed across their wrinkly faces. Rich struck once more and cleanly took out two more dogs who had been split from their group. Now, only two out of the 55 remained. One of them Richard recognized as the leader. He would need him alive. For now. Rich put his saber away and took his rifle out. He flipped the hammer back and shot the last dog through the lungs. By now, only Rock remained. He reloaded and sighted Rock in, who by now, was running for his pathetic life. He squeezed the trigger and fired his round. The bullet tore through Rock's left femur and promptly sent him tumbling down the sand dune. He landed in front of the campfire and spat up blood. Rich galloped forward on Coal and stopped in front of him. He stepped down from Coal and walked toward the groveling Rock. "Please! I'll give you anything you want! But spare my life!" Rock put his paws up to cover his face. Richard stared at this man for a moment to elicit more fear into Rock's heart. And then he spoke. "You and I... are going to have a long night together," Rich flatly spoke. Rich pulled Rock upwards and adjusted him to lay back on the wooden cart's front wheel. "Who sent you? Do you act alone or were you sent by a higher power?" Rich asked coolly. Rock said nothing back and turned his head to the side. "Answer my question," Rich knelt down. No reply. Richard pulled out his rifle and shot Rock's right leg through his calves. Rock let out a roar into the air and clutched his leg with his paws. "Ok! OK! We were sent by the Alpha! We were sent by the Alpha!" "Who is the alpha?" "He's the pack leader! He sent us to get food!" Rock ground his teeth and bent down to lick his wounds. "And you thought the best idea was to raid a town that for all intents and purposes, did nothing to you and also would have tried to help you find a place to get your food," "Those ponies deserve nothing better!" Rich stomped on Rock's left leg and twisted his foot into the gaping hole that now took its place in Rock's left leg. Fresh blood squirted into the sand, sinking into the grains like water. "The major artery in your left leg is torn. You've already lost a lot of blood. You are likely going to die. Answer my questions and I promise you a quick and painless death," Rich reloaded his rifle with a fresh cartridge. "Where is this alpha? Where could I find him?" Rich asked, cradling his rifle in his arms. Rock once again said nothing to the gray and black man. "Answer me, dog," Once again, he was met with silence. Rich brought the stock of his gun down repeatedly onto the gunshot in Rock's left leg. Each time, he added more force and fervor. He grabbed Rock by his shoulders and shook him. "I AM LOSING MY PATIENCE! WHERE IS THE ALPHA?" "DRAGONS MOUNTAIN! DRAGONS MOUNTAIN! ITS FARTHER NORTH FROM HERE! PLEASE! SPARE ME!" Rock screamed out into the sky. Rich took his rifle and shot Rock cleanly through his forehead, ending his life quickly. He stood there for a moment, staring at the body of his victim and contemplating the actions that he had just committed. He turned to the camp, hoping to see Coal behind him. But instead, he found Coal far away from him, hiding behind a tent with his head poked out. He looked into his eyes and saw unadulterated and utter fear in Coal's eyes. He rose up and stared back at Coal. Five minutes past and they were both still rooted to their spots. Finally, Coal walked forward towards Rich and stopped right in front of him. The fear he saw in Coal shot through Richard like a bullet through his heart. The actions of his past flooded back to his mind. The Indian Wars. The cattle driving jobs. Albert. Now this. Just another thing that would haunt him the rest of his days. He had gone too far. But there was no turning back. The past was in the past and it could not be undone. Now his own horse feared him. And that, to him, was devastating. Rich put these thoughts away and turned to the cart to see the ponies food. He climbed up into it and examined the supplies. "Here, Coal," Richard reached into the pile and took out a massive bag of carrots. He also took out some apples from a large bucket and promptly ate one. Coal dug into the bag and gobbled up some carrots as his dinner. Rich thought of ways to return the cart to their respective owners. "We camp here tonight. Get some rest. Tomorrow, we leave. I'm sure the winged ponies should be able to find their things again out here," Rich said as he took his sleeping roll off of Coal and laid it down next to the fire. Coal said nothing to Richard and walked away towards the cart to sleep. He laid himself down and sat, staring at the sky. Rich eyed him for a moment and soon fell asleep, Rock's agonized face gracing his dreams. The next day... "Princess Celestia!" Twilight pranced over to where her teacher landed beside the two guard platoons that landed next to her. She raised her hoof in front of her and pulled Twilight into a hug. "Twilight Sparkle, it is good to see you," "You too, Princess," "I'm afraid we must not waste a moment now. We must leave to track those dogs down and see if we can claim what is ours and bring the culprits responsible to justice," Celestia stared out to Mareaton Hill where the dogs had disappeared to. "Are you ready to leave?" Rainbow Dash, who was next to Twilight before, hovered in the air. "I sure am, Princess," she gave a bow in the air. "I am as well, Princess," Twilight looked back to her teacher. "Then let us be off. Capt. Shield! Take your pegasi to the air! I want your platoon scouting ahead for potential danger! Unicorns, with me and Twilight!" Celestia relayed her orders to her troops. And so, the band of ponies set off to the great unknown, bent on justice and retribution. Rich awoke to an quiet breezy desert morning, as the sun was peaking over the horizon. He shook himself in an effort to wake himself and got up. His stomach cried out to him upon standing up, so he went to the cart and grabbed himself some apples and some blueberries to sustain himself. "Can't wait till I can hunt again. I want some meat running through my system," he thought to himself. He found Coal sleeping still, so he shook his back a bit to wake him. Coal's eyes fluttered open and focused in on Rich. A small frown replaced his expressionless look as he looked into Richard's baby blues. "C'mon, we got to get moving," Richard attached his sleeping roll to Coal and grabbed a few more apples and some water from the cart to resupply. He put out his fire and packed up the rest of the gear attaching it to Coal. He mounted up and rechecked the area. Everything was dead still, so everything's normal. "You alright, Coal?" Coal gave no reply and turned his head to the side, facing away from the gruesome bloodbath they had made yesterday. "So be it then," Rich muttered to himself, "Let's ride!" The two left the scene and never looked back. They had been traveling for two hours, and so far, Twilight had not spotted anything yet. The pegasi scoured the ground from their vantage points in the sky and they still found nothing. They were well into the desert, but nothing was found. The only thing that was found were tracks from a cart going through the plains, but the trail had ended as soon as they had reached the desert. She was worried that nothing would be found and that the dogs escaped unpunished. Rainbow Dash was getting bored with all the walking, or in her case, flying, and no bad guys had appeared for her to beat the snot out of. "Uhhhhhh... Are we there yet?" Rainbow Dash asked Twilight. "We get there when we get there, Dash," "But this is taking forever!" Rainbow Dash folded her front hooves. "Well, what did you expect, Rainbow? That the dogs would just magically appear and present their behinds for you to kick?" Twilight felt exasperated with her friends attitude. "Yes?" "We found something!" A pegasus scout yelled to Celestia from the sky, "Over the sand dunes, Majesty!" Twilight, Rainbow, and Celestia quickly galloped over the sand dune they were on to find am awful, horrific site. Dead dogs were everywhere, strewn about the small valley in various positions and configurations. Some had large holes in their heads, chests, and arms. Many had diagonal slashes up their chests and into their necks. But when Twilight sighted Rock, that's when she tossed her cookies on the ground. His left leg possessed a massive hole near the femur, with the bone barely clinging to the rest of the body by a thread. A dried pool of blood had gathered all around the body and made the area stink. His right leg had a similar hole in it, while not as big and finally, his head had one as well, but even smaller. Flies darted in and out of the dog's mouth and wounds, laying their eggs and eating the rotting flesh as the heated desert sun cooked it under its gaze. "What happened here?" Twilight said as she got up from the ground and collected herself. "Obviously, someone got to the dogs before we did," Celestia muttered back. Even Rainbow was quiet as she observed the gruesome sight in front of her. No longer were the flashes of battle and glory racing across her face. Only disgust occupied her now. "Princess! We have the food! Most of it is still here!" a private called out to Celestia. Celestia walked over to where the cart full of Ponyville's food supplies rested. Sure enough, most of the things that were taken were still present and accounted for. "I want logistics to count what we have lost and the dog causalities. I want clues as to what has gone on here. Bury the bodies and clean the place up," Celestia ordered. Celestia and Twilight walked about the camp, observing the corpses and looking for clues. A unicorn guard came up behind them, holding a brass casing in his magic. "Princess, I think we might have something. All around this campsite are these strange metal casings. They are almost everywhere. Here, take a look," he handed the casing to Celestia, who took it in her magic's grasp. Celestia observed the casing and squinted to make out any markings. It smelled exceptionally foreign, like fireworks after they had been shot off. Grayish coloring painted the rim of the hollowed metal in a random and explosive pattern. She turned the cartridge to the bottom and squinted her eyes to make out the writing. Springfield Armory 45-70 cal. The last observation she made was a small bend in the metal in the back. It was perfectly centered and looked like it was struck by a pin. She gave the metal back to the guard. "Gather as many of these things as you can. I want them analyzed back at the castle." "Yes, ma'am!" the guard gave a salute and hurried off. "What could have done such a thing to these dogs, Princess?" "Only a monster, Twilight." The ride back to the forest was silent. Coal refused to speak to Richard as they rode on through the plains. Richard prodded and tried to start conversation, but failed ultimately each time. Rich was afraid he was receiving the silent treatment. "So, nice weather out today, huh?" Rich said. He turned his head up to the sky, "Not a cloud in the sky." He received no reply. "So did I ever tell you about the time I pranked a telegrapher with a fake telegram?" No reply. "You feeling alright?" Nothing still. "Please, Coal, Please. Talk to me again," Richard pleaded with Coal. Coal only turned his head slightly towards Rich, but looked back at the path once more. "Please! Tell me what's bothering you!" Rich pleaded once more. He was met with silence, until Coal finally spoke to him in a very long time. "Why are you so cruel?" Coal asked plainly. "Do you have no respect for the life of other things?" "Yes, Coal, I do. I just got carried away," Richard replied back, rubbing his back neck. "But you always get carried away! I saw you torture a dog until he was screaming at the top of his lungs for you to spare him. I've seen you do many bad and terrible things, but that is easily one of the worst things I've ever seen you do. It's always endless violence with you!" Coal shouted back. Richard looked to his side and said nothing. Coal stopped walking, turned his head back, and looked Rich in the eye. "Just promise me, Rich. Promise me that you will never do something like that ever again," "I... I promise, Coal." "Thank you. C'mon, let's get back to the forest." The two said nothing more.