//------------------------------// // The Sounds of Battle // Story: Tales of the Battle Foals // by Sirdubya //------------------------------// Faced with unholy horrors abound across that dreaded island, the Battle Foals and Captain Frigg and her forces could only hope to whatever high powers watching over them that their strength was enough to nullify the overwhelming menace that they had accidently unleashed. Greensprout casted holy auras around everyone to offer some protection and a boost of damage against the undead forces. Before any punches could be thrown or swords be swung, Bullseye opened their act with a golden arrow volleyed skyward above the conjured curs; gilded destruction rained from the heavens and impaled many unfortunate undead, leaving them open for attack. However, the undead that managed to avoid the heavenly onslaught were unfazed, likely only concerned with the will of the dark master whose will they were bound to like a hive of abominations bent on spreading their plague. “HYAARRGGHH!!” Fire Fight led the charge and thrust himself into a flying side kick, his body coated in a raging inferno. The first zombie he struck nearly had its neck snapped upon a little meteor crashing into its face. He back-flipped off of it and land an uppercut on another that swooped towards him; he then axe kicked it to the ground where Turf War smacked it into its comrades, scattering them like bowling pins. Fire Fight used the axe kick to launch himself further into the air where he then rocketed himself down into the middle of the enemy squadron, building immense amounts of heat before crashing back to earth and releasing it all as a spectacular explosion. Many of the griffon guards found themselves locked in ferocious duels with their undead brethren, some of whom were armed with weapons from the past while most others were content to utilize the corrupting demon fire that engulfed their once peacefully resting bodies from the inside out. Though some were unlucky enough to find themselves on the wrong end of Captain Frigg’s short fuse, and were crushed and mangled in one fell swoop of her greatsword like pebbles and ragdolls. As always, Quantum Tech and Spiral Galaxy hung in the back and blasted away, but Tidal Wave summoned a vast amount of water from the sea and used it to jet around the battlefield slashing and impaling whatever tried to attack the back line, sometimes creating walls of water that caught thrown rocks and volleyed arrows that he flung back; he handed the loose arrows over to Bullseye. At one point, a small mass of zombies flew towards him, and he caught them in a huge bubble of water. He started violently swirling the water so that it sucked the beasts into the center, and Spiral Galaxy summoned a big meteor that crashed into the bubble, obliterating the trapped undead. Tidal Wave then quickly used the dispersed water to swamp away more undead. They both shot each other a wink. Shadow Shroud quickly joined Fire Fight, her ability to go unseen easily granting her passage to her friend without incident apart from the smell. Her kamas were drawn and ready to hack her foes apart while Fire Fight’s gauntlets burned with volcanic fury. They needn’t words; they’re unsheathed battle spirits and a shared nod were all they needed to let each other know that they were ready to bring the pain. Any flares of demon fire hurled at the two were countered by fireballs courtesy of Fire Fight. Shadow Shroud used the fireworks as cover to assassinate her enemies, using her ninja arts to vanish and reappear between where she needed to strike. The flaming scrapper himself punched and kicked with ferocious grace, his flames incinerating all evil in his wake. Instead of being in the background like so many times before, Kickback decided to get up close and personal, presuming that the zombies were sturdier than they would be if they were alive, thus rendering longer ranged shots virtually ineffective. Plus, he was ready to have fun with his whip. He twirled his whip around himself so it could collect some energy from the holy aura cast onto him, and the sonic booms from every crack of his whip to burst a little with the cleansing light. It was enough to distract and damage his foes and allowed him to take point-blank shots to their joints, crippling them and knocking those aloft out of the sky; he knew that creatures like these wouldn’t go down from a mere headshot, so he left their vanquishing to his peers. He kept his cool as always as he fed lead to the swarming undead. Turf War and Valkyrie had their shields raised to defend their surrounding comrades, the latter having ignited her ancestral light. Any enemies willing to duel with them were brutally bashed and beaten; Turf War used both ends of his hammer-axe to either chop or pummel his foes while Valkyrie unleashed the wrath of her ancestors. From high above, Frostbite rained storms of ice and freeze-fire and occasionally swooped in to swipe at them with frozen claws dripping with his frost venom, slowing them down. Eventually the two shield warriors were at each other’s backs and being stared down by another wave of undead, but neither of them were fazed. They had their weapons drawn, ready to further obliterate their foes. “Yo, my girl, how the weather lookin’ like right now?” Turf War asked. “Cloudy with a chance of a serious beatdown!” Valkyrie replied. “Damn! Hope these m***********s brought they umbrellas!” Turf War said. Frostbite landed beside them with a nasty thud and stood up, cracking his knuckles as ice drooled from his toothy grin. “Hehehe. I don’t.” The sheer plethora of monsters did nothing to daunt the mystic duo. Zebota rode on the back of his titan as said beast mauled and maimed the undead; the little mystic slung rocks imbued with the power of the earth and threw his boomerang which summoned thorny vines from the ground wherever it flew over that thrashed the zombies around like toys, making them easy targets for his beast and every ranger fighting alongside them. “SHOW ME YA MOVES!!!” Crazylocks, with Bullseye backing her up from afar went ham on the unholy legion. She made full use of her mutant body, spreading her wings to buzz around them like a wasp and tricking them into smacking into each other. She’d then land and sprout her horn to crunch them together before reverting to an earth pony to pulverize them. Just striking them with her hardened hair was enough to stagger them, but she was starting to get swarmed. Just as an undead was about to grab her from behind, Bullseye landed a blast arrow in the back of its head, and it detonated, blowing that chunk of it to smithereens. The one-eyed archer smile and wiped her nose. “Stay down this time…” Suddenly, one tried to jump Bullseye from behind, but she felt its presence right then and there and jammed her bladed bow into its stomach and slashed it across its neck, finishing it by impaling it into the ground. “Piece of s***!” Air Slash stayed beside Greensprout and didn’t dare leave her. He swung his swords furiously at any undead that came within ten feet of her and was careful not to accidently strike her. The little monk herself, calm as could be while surrounded by chaos, channeled the tranquility of the earth into the undead one at a time, quelling their conjured rage permanently and burning away their corrupted effigies in holy fire. Every ember of light, every distorted final cry from the undead, every violent *shing* she heard from Air Slash’s swords rending their foes’ flesh…… She had long put aside her detest of her new friends’ eagerness to use violence, knowing that they were restrained by their own morality. But unlike them, she more so relished in the calm after the storm. They all knew that such a thing would be attained once the enemy was quelled, but she knew that these unfortunate souls would find no such peace. Their souls cursed, she could only imagine what sort of horrific fate awaited them in the afterlife. She knew that the rest of her friends, namely Shadow Shroud and Air Slash would tell her that there was little point in worrying about something that was beyond their control if it meant preventing a catastrophe, but she wondered what would really grow from the ashes of such bouts. For these conjured prisoners and guards of old, that would be nothing, for they crumbled into ashes as her holy fire burned them. The only comfort she could find was that their ashes would serve as the foundation for whatever new life she would help cultivate on this dreaded island. As the pandemonium played out, Quantum Tech kept a close eye on her scanners, trusting that her friends would be able to pick up her battle slack. Unfortunately, it seemed that their earlier concern was indeed valid. Each time an undead lost its strength to point of dying ‘again’, it dissolved into the necro fire and was absorbed back into the swirling cloud where Nidhogg gathered his strength. However, each one that Greensprout cleansed was beyond his reach. Whether or not the ones he absorbed empowered him was still unclear, as her analysis of the infernal serpent himself yielded readings that she could barely comprehend. “Everypony, listen up!” she called out. “It appears to be as we suspected Greensprout and her Gaia Root are the only truly potent chance we have against this fiend!” “So that’s how it’s gonna be, eh, bastard!?” Frigg shouted to the dark cloud. “Well, bullocks…” she muttered. “Alright, horses, you’er gonna have to skin the lizard while me swabs n’ I break all o’ his toys! Fire Fight had to blast a fireball into an undead before giving Frigg his attention. “You sure you’ll be okay?” Frigg creased the cockiest smile he’d ever seen. “You can never get enough exercise when ya get to be my age, bucko.” Fire Fight nodded. “We won’t let you down.” “Damn right, ya won’t.” Frigg replied. “All right, Battle Foals!” Fire Fight shouted. “We’re gonna siege this castle and bring down Nidhogg! Let’s use that hole Turf War smacked in again and finally cut that serpent’s head off!!” He ordered. “YEEEAAAHHH!!!!” All of the Battle Foals rallied to their leader’s side upon his command. “I thought you’d never ask.” Shadow Shroud said. Valkyrie, however, stood beside the fierce captain of the royal guard. “Go on without me. I’m staying here and fighting with my people.” “Sure you don’t want the glory of smiting the beast?” Air Slash asked. Valkyrie shook her head. “Even a bearer of the Valhalla can hold so much glory in their lifetime. Besides, its gonna be your island, so the honor oughta be yours.” “Then… fight well. May Nature’s favor be with your success.” Zebota said. Tidal Wave gazed nervously up at the dark vortex of doom looming above him. He could feel Nidhogg’s eyes staring them all down, ready to open his horrible maw and plague the world with every foulness imaginable… Knowing the odds and having his friends beside him, the skittish colt took a big gulp and mustered his courage. “Ready?” Spiral Galaxy asked him, a warm smile decorating her face. Tidal Wave nodded. “Always.” “YEEE-HAAAW!! Let’s get this varmint, y’all!” Kickback rallied. With Fire Fight leading the charge, the Battle Foals bravely went to confront what were surely the jaws of death. Valkyrie proudly watched them incur the prison ruins and turned to her captain. “That fire of his is more than just on the outside, huh?” Frigg maintained her stern expression. “He better hope n’ pray that he’s got enough fire to even face that bastard.” She said, and then creased another cocky smile. “Wouldja do this old hen the honor o’ fightin’ blade by blade with her, descendent?” Valkyrie flared her golden light and poised her sword fiercely. “It’d be my pleasure, Captain Frigg.” She said. The raw willpower of a withered, old warrior and the immeasurable courage of a young hero joined as one, two mighty blades wielded by these two hearts beating to the sounds of battle were ready to rend even the sky. “” “” Just as the foals got to the entrance they’d created, a small pack of demonic wolves slightly smaller than Shrapnel pounced from the brush, fangs gnashing and distorted growls oppressing their ears. Undaunted, Fire Fight intensified the flame crowning his horn and stared the beast down, his comrades doing the same. “A little roadblock, huh? No problem.” Shadow Shroud drew her kamas. “A pity; I’m normally against animal cruelty.” Before the foals could make a move, the wolves bellowed a coordinated howl of dark, blazing sound waves. Greensprout immediately ran to the front of the party and casted a shield of light around them. It held strong, but it started to crack as the howl became more intense; but her will to protect her friends kept the barrier fortified. Kickback shot into each of their open mouths, stunning them briefly, but long enough that the foals could go in for an assault. He hung in the back with Bullseye and Spiral Galaxy. Quantum Tech, however, decided to go on an offensive; she activated her mech’s force field and electromagnetic beam swords from her railguns for a heavy assault on the heavy enemies. Frostbite managed to quickly put one down before it could get up by impaling its skull with his frozen tail. He froze its head to ground to ensure that it wouldn’t get back up again. Turf War coordinated with Crazylocks…somehow. The hood-blooded bastion held his hammer back and blocked the blows of one of the wolves with his shield as Crazylocks crawled onto his hammer. “NORTH TO YAKYAKISTAN!” Crazylocks exclaimed. “WOOOO!!!” Turf War gleefully swung his hammer downward, smacking the beast atop the head with Crazylocks pile-driving herself into it with all that momentum. She then used her enhanced strength and center of gravity to flip the corrupted canine over her body, and she started violently shaking its head. “GOOD PUPPY! GOOD PUPPY! GOOD PUPPY!” The wolf’s head then suddenly was ripped from its shoulders, and Crazylocks just looked at it puzzled and then back at Turf War. “The puppy’s gone bad.” She complained. Turf War just shrugged, knowing that he had no right to complain about a job well done. Another wolf pounced from above the prison wall and nearly crushed them until a meteor surged down from the sky and blew it to smithereens; a certain blue unicorn filly giggled from pride. A certain blue pegasus felt a surge of pride himself when he rained javelins of water down onto the wolves. Zebota, knowing that his Beastcraft couldn’t tame creatures of the underworld, imbued his tomahawk with the essence of the earth, hoping that the wolves’ nature of constant decay would be more or less expedited by his magic simulating soil breaking down their rotting flesh, effectively making them poisonous to themselves. Once Shrapnel managed to wrestle one to the ground, he confirmed his theory when he lodged his tomahawk into its stomach, and it started violently bubbly, the wolf yelping in horrible agony. He decided to have Shrapnel cripple as many as he could so that he could inhibit their movement by chopping into their legs. This was made much easier with everyone inadvertently helping him. Once all was said and done, Greensprout purified them, but somehow was able to channel her Gaia Root beam into a stream of holy fire, quickly burning away their corrupted forms. Even she was stunned by her new display of technique. “Yeesh! That was some damage control.” Spiral commented. Kickback fixed his hat. “Enough chit-chat, y’all. Let’s keep rollin’.” Suddenly, the darkened sky rumbled violently, and when the foals looked up, Nidhogg’s terrible, serpentine body slithered from within its ominous veil. “You….have proven to be a nuisance!” “Hey, Nidhogg!” Frostbite exclaimed. “You wanna come down here and tango with us? ‘Cause we’ll show you a good time before you’re dust!” “Or are you afraid of a few foals!?” Fire Fight taunted.” Nidhogg deviously chuckled. “Bold words for mere insects! If you truly think you can challenge one who has spat in the eyes of the circle of life, then please…. I’d be happy to entertain a few guests.” His voice boomed as he taunted them. “But first….something to whet your appetite.” Nidhogg opened his maw, his throat seeming to be a portal to hell itself, and vomited a burst of dark fire that quickly struck Air Slash before anyone could react, knocking him to the ground. “AIR SLASH!” Fire Fight exclaimed. He struggled to get up, but he was noticeably writhing as though he were fighting off some kind of parasite, screaming in pain….which eventually sounded distorted and demonic. Once his eyes started blazing the dark fire, Greensprout hurriedly used her Gaia Root to purge the corruption from his body. “Air Slash!” Greensprout ran up to him and helped him to his hooves. She then glared up at the dark wyrm. “You monster!” Nidhogg just chuckled again. “Look at you. You wield life itself, and yet you waste it away with such an utter lack of strength! I look forward to snacking on you and your little walking stick…” “I’ve never defined myself by my strength, Nidhogg, but I will fell you regardless with the aid of my friends!” Greensprout declared. Air Slash, recuperated, furiously raised his swords towards the draconic devil. “THE ONLY SNACK YOU WILL SAVOR IS YOUR ULTIMATE FATE AT THE HOOVES OF THE BATTLE FOALS!!!” Nidhogg just huffed and retreated back into his cloud, and the foals knew that the only way to go now was forward….into the lair of the beast….