Once we begin to walk behind Strongheart again, Penny begins to quietly tell Ruby, Oscar, and Qrow what we have been up to since she and Pyrrha arrived here in Equestria. The three newcomers listen to her carefully, Ruby and Oscar being shocked by how she was describing what I have been doing and what I am like.
“So, Pyrrha is a teacher now? I can honestly say I never would have seen that coming.” Ruby says, rubbing her head. Oscar nods and I can tell that Ozpin is deep in thought.
“Indeed. Pyrrha and I have become rather close even after what happened back in Remnant. It was rather awkward for a while I will admit, but she and I are cool now.” Penny says as we climb over some rubble in the way of the path.
“I must say miss Polendina, I am surprised by your manner of speaking now. Before you were almost robotic, now you almost sound like any other human.” Ozpin says as he gets up with us.
“You said it. She has really been making great strides in terms of being ‘normal’. I am honestly impressed by how much she has improved over the last couple weeks.” I say to them. I look ahead of us and don’t notice the bright blush taking over her face. But the others, aside from Strongheart, notice. Ruby looks between me and Penny a couple times with a raised brow before shrugging and continuing on.
We continue on in relative silence for a couple minutes before we hear several animal like noises from the canyon below. Looking past the ridge we were on, what I see in not very encouraging. I see a huge swarm of Grimm, all of them being land based luckily, consisting of Creeps, Ursas, Beowolves, a few Deathstalkers and Boarbatusks, and even a couple of King Taijitus and I think I saw a duo of Beringel as well. This was definitely not good. Why were so many types of Grimm converging here?
I take out a pair of binoculars the sheriff gave me before we left and take a closer look at the Grimm, Ruby using the scope of her rifle to do the same. I look through the huge crowd of Grimm, seeing nothing of particular note, but I do notice something.
“There’s no alpha.” I mumble in shock.
“What was that Adam?” Shining asks as he and the others crouch near me and Ruby.
“The Grimm. There isn’t a single alpha in the whole horde. There all young. Just from the looks of them, most are still relatively fresh, lacking in any real experience.” I say, handing the stallion the binoculars. He remembers what I told him about differentiating inexperience Grimm from alphas, so he is equally shocked by the lack of a leader from what we can see.
“But that doesn’t make any sense. Why would this many young Grimm converge on this one location instead of attacking randomly or when they have the chance?” Penny questions. I shrug to her, not thinking of a reason for this.
“Any ideas Oz?” I ask the young wizard.
He goes to talk, but gets interrupted by the Grimm becoming louder. I take the binoculars back and see the Grimm looking to one of the caves. Looking in, my heart drops in fear of what was coming out. Two alphas, but of unique Grimm compared to the rest. One looking like a spectre with a single eyed mask on its face. The other having the bottom body of a horse with a rider fused to the top, its curved horned mask adorning its own face.
An alpha Geist and Nuckelavee.
I look wide eyed at the two Grimm as they walk out the cave. I look to Ruby, seeing she is just as shaken as me. Considering she and the rest of team RNJR had to take care of one of each and they nearly died both times, this will not be easy.
“We got trouble. I think we found the alphas in charge.” I say, handing the binoculars around as Ruby does the same with her detached scope. The gather group all look in shock at the two creatures presumably in charge.
“Not good. Those Grimm are no joke. Just one of them would be a challenge on their own. But they are together with all these other Grimm in the way.” Qrow says, taking a stiff drink from his flask. I don’t blame him, I would take a drink if I could.
“W-what are we going to do?” Strongheart asks fearfully. I think for a couple moments trying to think of a plan. After a bit, I come up with one. Sorta.
“Strongheart, Oscar. I want the two of you to head back to Appleloosa and get the town ready. We will try to take these things down, but there is the chance some may get past us.” I tell the young duo.
“Wait, what exactly is the plan here?” Ruby and Shining together. I look to the silver eyed huntress.
“Ruby, how much ammo do you have?” I ask. She looks confused for a second before taking her backpack off and digging into it, taking out five clips for her weapon.
“I have three clips of standard ammo, one of electric dust ammo and one of fire dust ammo. Each of my mags hold twenty rounds.” She says, separating the magazines. I nod and motion Shining to come over here.
“Shining, you and I are going to use some duplication spells so Ruby can provide sniper cover.” I tell him, getting confused and shocked looks from the new trio.
“Spells?” They ask together. I look to Shining and nod before picking up one of Ruby’s standard ammo clips and lighting my horns, casting the spell. A couple seconds later, another clip appears in my other hand. I make two more of the standard and another one of the electric and flame ammo before I stop, panting a little. Shining nods and makes a few more. Seems we both have around the same amount of magic in our systems.
I look to the new trio again and see that Ruby and Oscar have eyes wide and jaws dropped to the ground while Qrow just looks surprised. Guess he didn’t know I can use magic.
“Like Qrow said, Equestria is very different from Remnant.” I say before standing and getting closer to the edge.
“Qrow, Penny. The three of us are going down into the gorge and are going to take down as many Grimm as we can before we try to take on the Geist or Nuckelavee. Ruby, I want you to stay here on the ridge and provide sniper fire. Once you get down to two clips, feel free to jump down and join us. Shining, I want you to stay here with Ruby and protect her while she is sniping before joining in as well.” I explain to them. The group look surprised by how I was taking charge, but Penny and Strongheart nod, the human joining me and putting her mask on and the buffalo goes to Oscar.
“Come on Oscar. We need to get back to town and get everypony ready.” She says to the young boy. He looks to us before nodding and turning to Ruby.
“Be careful Ruby.” Oscar says before he and Strongheart leave for the town. I inwardly smile to myself from his response. Looks like Rose Garden may be canon after all.
“Are you sure this is the best idea Adam?” Shining asks, looking at the horde of Grimm again.
“Not really, but right now it is our best bet. We need to take these things down before they have a chance to attack, and right now they aren’t prepared for an attack by a group of huntsmen. If we can take out these Grimm, any survivors will scatter and likely go back to just wandering around before attacking so they can be defeated easily.” I tell the stallion before getting ready. I place my hand on my sword and crouch, getting ready to jump down.
“If you’re sure about this, I will trust you for now Adam. But I expect a full explination of what has been happening here after all this is over.” Ruby tell me, laying down on the ridge and getting her weapon into sniper mode. I nod to her as Qrow walks to the other side of me after taking one last drink from his flask.
“Qrow, try not to stay too close. The last thing I want is for your Semblance to effect us when we are surrounded by Grimm.” I tell him with a smirk. The huntsman just scoffs and gets ready to jump as well.
“Alright. Let’s do this.” I say before the three of us jump off the ridge. I use my Ember Celica and slow down my decent before landing, Penny uses her swords and stabbing them into the wall of the gorge to slow down, while Qrow just turns into his bird form and then back before hitting the ground.
Our little entrance didn’t go unnoticed by the Grimm as many of the horde saw us and roar, alerting the rest to our presence. One of the Ursas tries to get close, only for Ruby to fire and blow its head off. I smile and get ready before punching forward a few times, sending shock shots at the Grimm that fry four with each burst. Penny follows my example and fires a few blasts with her sword while Qrow runs forward and begins to slash the Grimm to pieces.
Many of the Grimm roar again and attack, most of the Creeps and Beowolves being taken out at a range by me and Penny while Qrow is taking out the Ursas that cross his path of slashes and shots. I retract my gauntlets and begin to slash through the crowd of Grimm with my sword and shooting when I can, Penny backing me up with her blades, using them like buzzsaws and lasers to cut down the ranks.
All the while Ruby is sniping any Grimm that even attempts to sneak up on us or get away. She fires each shot from her rifle at the head of a Grimm, blowing them to nonexistent pieces. Shining Armor just watched all of us in awe at how we are dealing with this hoard.
‘Sweet Celestia. I knew these guys had to be strong if they are also Huntsmen and Huntresses, but this is incredible. And here I thought that Adam was powerful. The Qrow guy and this Ruby could probably fight him to a standstill.’ He thinks as he looks around the area near him and Ruby, not spotting any Grimm that could be trying to sneak up on them.
I slash through another trio of Beowolves before I hear a hissing and dodge right just in time for one of the heads of one of the three King Taijitus to go by me. I jump back a few feet and get ready. I jump over its black head as it tries to eat me again and fire several shots at the second head as I am running along its body. The white head tries to tackle me, only for me to fire down and launch myself with my gauntlets. As I am in the air I load my sword and fire it straight down into the top of the white snakes head. Falling down, I punch the sword with a flame shot and it goes straight through the Grimm’s head and out the bottom to the ground, a burning trail being left behind inside the Grimm.
I jump to the ground and grab my sword just as the first head tries to attack me again, only to for me to do as Ren did and I stop it by grabbing its fangs with my aura enhanced hands. I pull, breaking the fangs and as it goes to attack again, I stab it in the eye with one before punching it through the head, blowing it up. I hear a couple more Grimm exploding and see as Penny and Qrow both took down the other King Taijitus.
At this point I was beginning to get a little winded from all this fighting and my earlier magical strain, but I manage to power through for now. I look and see as the Boarbatusks were joining the fray. I remember what I did during my fight with one in Ponyville and get an idea.
“Ruby! Penny! Pull!” I call out and point to the Grimm. I can see Penny looking confused for a second before I point up and she gets what I have in mind. She runs toward the Grimm as the five of them go to do a Sonic spin dash at her. She smiles and angles a few swords in their path and once they hit them, their own momentum sends them into the air. I hear as Ruby begins to fire several shots in rapid succession at the airborn Grimm before they land, two of them already dead from the sniper shots and the other three having cracked plates and appear tired. Me and Qrow don’t give them a chance to recover before we rush forward and slash them to pieces.
I look and see as the two Beringel charge at me and Penny and some of the Deathstalkers head to Qrow. Me and Penny meet the Grimm apes in close quarters and trade blows with them. Even if they are young, their strength is no joke. It feels like it might punch my sword to pieces, but no such luck for it. As it pulls back to deliver another punch, Ruby fires at it, striking it in the protected chest and cracking it. As it is momentarily stunned I rush forward and slide under it before jumping and running its head clean through with my sword. As it falls I take my sword out of its head and see as Penny manages to slice her opponents head off and that Qrow managed to slice the smaller scorpion Grimm to pieces, so far not using his scythe mode.
I see that Qrow, Penny and I are all showing some exhaustion from this battle, but we managed to take out a majority of the horde. I hear a pop of a teleportation spell and turn to see as Shining Armor and Ruby came down from the ridge, Ruby looking a little wobbly from the sudden transition. She soon gets her senses back and runs up to her uncle as he is swaying a little, and not from alcohol. I walk over to Penny as she is panting with her hands on her knees from the effort.
“The one thing I do not like about being human. The exhaustion.” She says before coughing and straightening up, her orange hair looking a mess from sweat and the fight. I nod as Shining comes up beside us as we look to the remaining Grimm and the alphas who were hanging back the whole time. The Nuckelavee releases a loud screech and the remaining Grimm begin to scatter, the Creeps digging into the ground and the few remaining Beowolves and Ursas straight up running away. I glare at them and grab my sword, getting ready for a harder fight.
‘Oscar, Strongheart. I hope you two made it back the town.’
Meanwhile at the edge of Appleloosa. 3rd person POV.
Oscar and Little Strongheart had been running to town for the past few minutes before arriving at the edge of the barrier set up after she and the others left. The young duo were able to hear as the fighting started in the quarry not long after they left so they decided to book it back to town to make sure they were all ready to fight in case Adam and his team were not able to stop some of the Grimm.
After arriving at the edge of town, Oscar and Ozpin notice the slightly surprising lack of humans. In hindsight, they shouldn’t have been that surprised consider what they were following.
“Hey! Braeburn! Chief! We’re back!” Strongheart calls out. Not even ten seconds later the barrier opens and Braeburn and Applejack come out.
“Little Strongheart! You’re ok!” Braeburn says, hugging the young buffalo girl.
“Wait, where’s Adam and Shining Armor?” AppleJack asks, before noticing the faint gunshots and roars of the Grimm in the distance.
“Adam and the others are taking out the horde back in the quarry. He asked the two of us to return here to get the town ready for a fight in case some of the Grimm get by them.” Oscar says, the ponies and buffalo just now noticing him and doing a double take.
“What the? Are ya’ll from Remnant too kid?” AppleJack asks as the four of them head back into town.
“Yes I am. My name is Oscar Pine. I am an acquaintance of Penny and Pyrrah’s. I am friends with their teams.” He says as they head to the sheriffs building.
“Alright. I take it yer a Huntsman too? Yer pretty young for that line of work, don’t ya think?” AJ asks.
“Maybe, but I am more than capable of taking care of myself in a fight. Adam asked me to come back so I can help with any Grimm that gets past him and the others.” He explains as they enter the building.
’You shouldn’t worry too much about them Oscar. I am sure that those five will be fine. We may have only just met him, but I can tell that Adam is not like the one back in Remnant.’ Ozpin says to him in his mind. Oscar just silently sighs.
‘I know I shouldn’t worry, but I am still not a hundred percent sure if even all five of them can take out that many Grimm.’ He thinks back as Strongheart begins to brief the others what happened back in the quarry. ‘I guess I should just put my faith in them for now and help out in getting this place ready.’
“Alright, it is good to know that Penny, Adam and Prince Armor have some backup for this fight. For now, let’s get everypony and buffalo who can fight ready in case any of these beasts get to us.” Sheriff Silverstar says, earning a round of nods from the gathered creatures, Oscar included.
“Alright ya’ll! Let’s make sure our town is ready for a fight, and hope it doesn’t come our way!” Braeburn says before they all head back out to help get the townsfolk ready.
Back in the quarry...
My ‘team’ and I get our weapons ready as the Nuckelavee gets closer to us. Shining Armor takes out a magic sword and shield and get into a defesive stance as Ruby extends her scythe and me and Penny get our swords ready. Qrow was already at the ready with his sword by his side. For some reason I had a odd feeling about this Grimm, unlike all the others I have faced since I arrived in this world. The Grimm looks to me and we lock eyes. I can see that is no different from the other Grimm I have faced, but I cannot get rid of this feeling.
“Get ready guys.” I say as we all tense. The Grimm screech’s at us and pulls its arm back. The five of us dodge just in time for it to extend its arm like it was Luffy before retracting and trying again with its other arm, doing it again and again. As it tries to grab and hit us, the five of us run around it in a circle, shooting it with our guns and magical blasts in Shinings case. I get a pretty big feeling of déjà vu from when team RNJR fought one of these things.
As it tries to hit me and Qrow, the both of us manage to dodge and pin its arms and Shining runs up while covering his sword in his magic and slashing at its flank. Wow, he is acting like Jaune. Unlike the human though, Shining managed to dodge its buck at him and slash at its ankles, causing it to go to its knees for a second before it manages to rip its arms away from me and Qrow. The stallion quickly teleports to my side and we stare down the beast as it looks at us. I see as it pulls back it’s arms and twists its body and me and Ruby see what it is going to do.
“Get back now!” We say together as the Nuckelavee begins to spin with its arms out. The five of us barely manage to get out of range of its arms, Qrow and Ruby launching themselves into the air to dodge and Shining, Penny and I just running back. As it retracts its arms again, I can’t help but feel like this thing is doing the same thing as the one team RNJR fought.
It covers itself with its arms and we hear the sound of bones cracking as the spines in its back extend and it begins to jerk around erratically before extending both arms and letting out an ear piercing screech, causing all of us to cover our ears. Ok, time for phase two of this thing.
I look to it again and it tries to catch me in its hand again, its arms moving faster than before. I manage to roll out of the way and slash at the arm as it was retracting, causing the Grimm to screech in pain. The horse part suddenly roars and begins to charge at me and Shining. I see that the two of us are backed against a wall of the quarry and smile. I place a hand on the princes shoulder, focus my magic and wait a second. The Nuckelavee gets closer and closer, and as it is a few feet from us, I activate my spell and teleport me and Shining to Penny’s side, the Grimm running face first into the wall.
My victory was short lived as my vision becomes blurry and I fall to my knees, barely conscious.
“Adam!” Penny and Shining rush over to check on me as the Grimm is dazed.
“You need to take it easy Adam. You’re dangerously low on magic power.” Shining says as he helps me to my feet, my mind coming back from that sudden daze.
“Shining is right Adam. I may not know a lot about magic, but I can tell that running out is not something you want to happen right now.” Penny says, looking me over and helping me stand up properly. I spit out bit of blood that got in my mouth and get back to my stance.
“Right, sorry. I guess I really need to take more care of myself in the magic department.” I say as Qrow and Ruby join up with us and tha Grimm seems to get out if its daze. It looks to our group and both half’s growl at us before charging. The five of us split up again and keep moving around it, managing to keep it distracted as Ruby and I think of a way to take this thing down. I suddenly get an idea as I dodge a punch from the Grimm and feel something in my pocket. My prototype flashbang!
“Guys! Cover your eyes!” I say before taking my flashbang out. Penny recognizes what it is and does as I ask, the others following suit as I pull the pin of it and throw it at the Grimm. The Nuckelavee actually catches it before looking at it confused, before...
BANG!
The flashbang goes off, giving off a blinding light and causing the Grimm to cover its eyes and screech in pain. I look to Penny and nod as it is distracted. The both of us rush forward, the horse half seeing us and the rider half throwing a punch in my general directing. As the fist goes flying past me, I take out my sword and spin, slashing the arm a few times before cutting completely through it. It roars in pain and tries the other arm, only for some of Penny’s swords to pin the arm to the ground, then cut it off comepletely.
As the two of us gets closer, the light dies down and the rider half can barely see as Penny and I are on either side of it before we both grab our respective swords and seperate the body of the rider from to horse. The rider flies off and the horse roars in pain and runs forward, away from us.
The horse goes to charge at us, only for its hooves and claws to be covered by a pink aura from Shining Armor.
“Now Ruby!” He calls. I barely am able to see as a tornado of red rose petals flies by me and I hear the shots from Cresent Rose and the horse becomes silent, its head slowing falling off of its neck. Not long after, both parts of the Grimm begin to evaporate and turn to smoke, leaving nothing but some black stains on the stone. I sigh with a tired smile, sheathing my sword and leaning on the wall of the quarry.
We don’t get a chance to celebrate or recover however, before we hear...clapping? The five of turn to see the Geist just floating by the cave, slowly clapping its hands. I frown and try to push myself off the wall, only to fall back onto it.
‘This is bad. I am so exhausted, I can barely stand. Penny isn’t looking to good either. If that thing uses the stones in this quarry to make a golem body, it will be up to Shining, Ruby and Qrow to take it down.’ I think to myself as Penny makes her way over to me, the two of use supporting each other as we stand. The Geist just stays there, looking between the five of us, before it shakes its head.
“What? Aren’t you going to fight?” I ask aloud. To my shock, it turns to me and shakes it head, before pointing to Ruby and Qrow and making a finger gun and making the motion of shooting itself in the head. I think it is trying to say those two will end up killing it?
“So, you’re not going to fight us?” Penny asks, clearly tired like me. Again the Geist shakes its head.
“You do realize you two are talking to a Grimm right?” Qrow says as he and the others make their ways over to us. The Geist just looks to Qrow before looking up at the sun, then to the cave it was in before. I seems to sag like it is sighing before....waving at us? Yup, it is waving at us and soon after seems to fade like mist.
The five of us just look at the spot where to Grimm was floating not two seconds ago in shock and confusion, before I look to the others.
“What the hell just happened?”