Their entrance into Town Hall was silent as the grave, even with all the locals-turned-guardswomen lining the hallways and more. When they reached a set of heartwood doors, however, the silence was broken in exchange for heated debate.
Horus opened the doors with one claw, revealing five mares all arguing at a circular yet hollow table.
“I already told you that if we try to add more guards around the Hall we’ll only leave ourselves open elsewhere!” Bon Bon shouted.
“And leave all the foals, injured and unstable unprotected? How heartless can you be?!” Redheart shot back, slamming her hands down on the table.
“Girls, calm down, please!” Lyra urged, placing a hand on her marefriend’s shoulder.
Horus walked in, brazenly ignoring the argument in front of him. “I have found us someone to help with our cause.” He announced.
All eyes turned to him and Illua at that. The disagreement had halted in its tracks.
Illua stepped around Horus, and bowed slightly. "Hello. My name is Illua. I am a warrior of spell and blade. It's wonderful to meet you all, in spite of the current predicament." She rose back to her normal height, only to approach the table as if she belonged to the discussion. "I hear the argument is unit placement currently, yes?" Her probing question lingered in the air, allowing the mares time to read the newest of the two.
They all shared looks, before Bon Bon and Redheart settled back into their seats. “We are, yeah,” Bon Bon affirmed with a snort. “What does it matter to you? We don’t need your help.”
Horus placed a claw on Illua’s shoulder, ignoring the comment. “Illua has led armies before, whereas none of us have. I deduced that she would be able to give all of us better insight on warfare and it’s tactics.”
The magus smiled, taking a moment to get comfortable in one of the remaining seats. "If you don't mind, I'd like to know a few basic things. Namely numbers, and locations that need protection, in order of priority.. without arguing." Illua seemed almost different, as if she suddenly held a higher authority.
Silence reigned for a time, all of the mares seeming to have silent conversations with their eyes alone. Horus and Illua remained silent, letting them do so.
Starlight was the one to finally speak up as she looked back to Illua. “...We have roughly 4,000 still living citizens, almost all of them mares or female in general. Of those, about…” She looked to Bon Bon. “...1,000 volunteered to fight, and 2,000 volunteered to help with the traps, right?”
Bon Bon nodded slowly. “Roughly. A good portion of the other citizens up and fled the town entirely. For all we know they’ve been recaptured, or killed.”
Redheart soon chimed in. “We also have about 800 who are indisposed in one way or another, underneath us in the bunker.”
“The locations we decided as a group were the most important were the local barracks, the Castle, and Sweet Apple Acres, with Town Hall coming last-” Lyra began, before Redheart snarled.
“You mean you and Bon Bon decided that,” She snapped. “The rest of us have still been debating.”
“We should follow the stranger’s advice, instead of returning to anger cold as ice,” Zecora intoned, shooting her colleagues warning looks.
Illua's gaze turned to each as they spoke, nodding. "Good information, bad priority. First of all," she turned to the nurse, "where exactly are these indisposed individuals?" She leaned onto her hands, keeping her now steely watch upon her.
“In the bunker beneath this building. Mayor Mare had it made as a precaution back when the Elements were still together,” Redheart said as she shook her head, as if banishing some dark thought. “Regardless, we decided to keep them there and bring the hospital’s equipment there as well, at his directive,” she nodded to Horus.
“Keeping them in the hospital would have been too obvious a target if the Caribou managed to overrun the town,” Horus said with his own nod.
Illua grimaced at the thought. "Good decision. So, based on the order you said the location, the castle and barracks have more value than this town hall and Sweet Apple Acres. If that is the case… why are we stationed here and not in said castle?" Poison laced her words as she attempted to explain the folly of their priority.
“Because they denied my own request for such,” Horus explained, crossing his arms over his chest. “She argued that we should station ourselves here to better protect the indisposed.” He nodded to Redheart. He then nodded to Bon Bon. “And she argued that the barracks should be protected to keep a firm hold of our supply of weapons.”
Bon Bon rolled her eyes. “Just because we ourselves have never used guns doesn’t mean we can’t learn to.” She retorted.
Illua pinched her brow. "Someone send an order to transport all supplies from the barracks here. Secondly, since we have already fortified this location, there's no point in moving to the- Horus, how long do we have till our visitors arrive?" She stopped to ask the Hellwolf, turning to face him. "That is our biggest limiter right now."
Horus’s furry brow furrowed, and he glanced out one of the windows on the ceiling. “...Roughly 18 hours.”
"That's tight but doable. Send the order to bring all supplies from the barracks here, burn anything remaining if it is not finished in 15 hours. Abandon the castle; if we aren't using it, it's just wasted resources." Illua’s commands were spoken as if they were to be followed, not to be taken as advice.
"Lastly, we want sixty percent of our combat forces in Sweet Apple Acres. Not only will it protect a viable food supply, it will provide a viable secondary gambit we can attempt later. Any volunteer from trap setting will be taught how to fire a gun and act as a firing squad from the balcony here. Any questions so far?" She looked to the other mares expectantly.
“Quite a few, actually,” Starlight began, steepling her fingers. “Where did you come from? Why are you here? What gives you the right to order us around? What is your reason for helping us?”
The other mares silently and expectantly looked to Illua at these words whilst Horus scowled.
"Allow me to pose a question in return." Illua stood up, Nyx's venomous tone slipping into her voice. "How much do you value your lives? Your newfound freedom? If that answer is less than your desire to return to bondage, I suggest you surrender, and cut all ties with someone who sought to protect you." The warrior-mage waited, her glowering gaze scanning each of them.
All of the equines present flinched back, as if struck...all, save Starlight, who met the gaze with her own. “I value the life of all those present here as well as my own. That is why I’m not going to immediately rush into an alliance such as this. I will NOT allow myself to make that same mistake.” Starlight stood up from her own seat. “I don’t care how powerful you two are, or how much you know. We deserve to at least know your intentions for us, to have some modicum of respect for our situation.”
"Good. You're going to need that defiance." Illua sat back down. "In order, I'm not sure where I came from in relation to here. I was summoned by Horus. Nothing gives me the right, however, my experience gives me the wisdom behind the plan I provided. My reason for helping is simple; I was summoned explicitly to help Horus. If he is assisting you, so am I." She smirked a bit, her finger tracing a circle into the table.
“...” Starlight sighed deeply, slowly sitting back in her chair and holding her face with a hand. “Just why in the world do either of you want to help us? It makes no sense…”
“I’m still wondering what you mean by ‘summoned’,” Lyra said, looking to Illua, then Horus.
“As much as I would like to explain that, we’ve no time for such a lengthy discussion,” Horus said with a shake of his head.
“Would you please stop avoiding the Faust-damned question?!” Bon Bon roared, slamming her fists on the table.
Horus’s eyes narrowed, before he let out a tense breath, Dracophage Bugs briefly making his form crackle with their power. “For vengeance. That is all you need know.” He looked to Starlight, eyes boring into hers. “Make your decision. Either send out the orders, or send me to fight the Caribou head on.”
“Head on? You’d seriously just throw your life away like that?” Redheart asked, eyes wide.
“It would not be a life wasted, in my eyes,” Horus said firmly.
“And yet I sense more to your words, at least enough to suggest accords,” Zecora noted, giving the Hellwolf a scrutinizing gaze.
Horus’ tail slammed down on the floor, cracking the floorboards. “Enough.” He said coldly, before looking to Starlight. “Make your decision.”
"There is one more plan I would like to suggest." Illua leaned forward. "We need spears, and any caribou bodies that still have heads. I'm suggesting we instill as much fear as possible into them… as if basting a turkey. I will be actively engaging them within the village, acting as an independent ambusher. Is this agreeable?"
The others gave Illua looks of disgust, whilst Zecora, surprisingly, slowly nodded. “I can agree to this plan. It has served me well in the Everfree during many of Fate’s hard-dealt hands.”
Horus smirked. “Good to see you agree.”
“What?! Buck no! There’s no way we’re stooping to...to that level!” Redheart shouted, springing from her seat. “Do you know the kind of message that will give any other resistance cells? It could label us as a more radical group! We could even be targeted!”
“I’d have to agree,” Bon Bon said, nodding. “For monster traps it’s typical, but when used on something sentient? It’s just...not right,” she shook her head.
“I don’t think any of us wants to tell anyone to do anything so gruesome-” Lyra started, but Starlight interrupted her.
“Fine,” the pink unicorn said, still with her head in her hand. “I’m willing to go with both ideas.” She looked up, meeting Horus’ gaze. “If there’s one thing I can understand and agree with you on, Horus, it’s that the Caribou have to die. And I think we can both agree making them suffer is just a good bonus.”
“WHAT?!?” Redheart, Lyra, and Bon Bon screeched.
Horus smiled and nodded. “Good.”
“Starlight, what the buck are you saying?! You can’t really mean that we should just stoop even lower than the Caribou, can you?!” Redheart asked.
"She's saying we should fight to live another day. Not to win one fight on a moral high ground." Illua retorted. "Give the orders, we are strapped for time and the sooner we get things started, the more effective this will be."
They all shared uneasy looks, but Starlight’s remained hardened like steel.
“We’ll get on that. In the meantime, I would like you two to help out, and take your own time to prepare,” Starlight replied.
Horus nodded. “We already planned on it.” He turned on his heel, making his way out of the conference room.
Illua followed suit, closing the door behind her. As soon as they had made it back to the silent hall, she let out a tense breath, holding her chest. "God dammit.." a quick flash on the back of her hand and she was wreathed in a pale green mist, her breathing settling as it absorbed into her skin.
“Are you alright?” Horus asked, looking her way.
"I'll be fine… just an old issue that acts up once I start coming down from tense situations.." she only half-lied, but returned to her typical self all the same. "Hopefully they have a decent communication chain to get them moving."
Horus frowned at this, but nodded slowly as he led them both back outside. “It is as reliable as it can be in these situations. With the main postal service of the town so backed up with mail, the Caribou had apparently decided to set it’s only employees to other…’tasks’.” His tail flicked to the side. “Regardless, the mare in charge of it, while clumsy, is the best there is in town. It will be done.”
"Fascinating information, but I was referring to getting the orders out to the troops." Illua giggled softly.
Horus blinked, then turned his head away, but not quick enough for her to not see his cheeks redden ever so slightly. “A-Ah, of course. Well, I’m certain it will be fine. They’ve coordinated well so far, after all.”
Illua’s brows raised a bit, his embarrassment eliciting a tender smirk from her. "Then how about you and I return to the Library and we can talk some more? Play 20 questions?" She lightly nudged him. "Fix your pants?"
Horus’ cheeks only turned a darker shade of red at that as he refused to look at her. “I-I believe I shall pass on that offer, but thank you nonetheless.” He cleared his throat as they walked through the streets of Ponyville once more. “And besides, I...do not exactly have anything else to wear. I’d rather not be without my hakama for any stretch of time.”
"Fair enough. I would like to get your measurements though. It would give me something to work on while we wait for their orders." She kept looking around, watching the various preparations go up. "Hey… give me a sec.." stepping to a wall, she inscribed yet another circle onto the wall using a piece of charcoal, filling it with clouds around the root of a tree. "Just a bit of extra fun for the enemy."
Horus quirked a brow at this, blush receding quickly. “What exactly does it do?”
"Fog. Dense fog. It will be useful for sowing chaos." Illua's pride was clear in her voice. "Besides, it's not gonna be much use outside of when they first approach. Do you like foggy weather?" Her thoughts moved back to querying Horus more.
Horus blinked at this, before slowly nodding. “I do… Why do you ask?”
"It's calming. Watching as sentient beings walk through, as if shadows to one another. It was always fun to see in the larger cities, acting like a privacy wall between travelers." Her tone became wistful, full of nostalgic memories. Her feet began to move once more, catching up to her long strided compatriot.
Horus gave her a sidelong look, before returning his gaze back to the street ahead. He remained silent for a time as he walked side by side with her, before he slowly began closing his eyes, ever so softly.
’I can’t read her at all. Still...the memories she brings to mind…’
He slowly smiled, eyes still closed. “...Never knowing where you’re going, but always finding something new, something exciting as you wander through the mists. The feeling of walking through a cloud itself, yet still being grounded on the Earth…” He gained a small smile, one with an unknown context. “...Yes. Fog has always been a favorite for me.”
"Then we should hope for a cloudy day tomorrow." She slowed as he did, permitting him his memories as he did for her.
He hummed, the sound not unlike that of a soft thunderstorm. “Yes...we should.” His eyes remained closed.
The sun had not yet risen before the snow haired woman was awake. Her eyes opened to a starless dusk. Time to start. A quick flick of her wrist and a few taps led to a small, metallic stand with a tall handle and a deep bowl fitted with a stained cheesecloth sitting before her.
It wasn't long before the scent of coffee filled the main room, and the magus sipped a quiet cup whilst she watched the sky brighten.
Barely ten minutes later Horus came into the room, pure red eyes closed as he sniffed around, following the scent of coffee. When he drew close to where she was, he stopped and slowly opened his eyes, looking down at her.
"Not sure how you take yours. I still have a cup ready for you." She gestured to a significantly larger cup than her own, closer to a ceramic stein, half full with the elixir known for wakefulness.
He looked from her, to the cup, then back to her. “...I’m almost surprised you are carefree enough to do this before a major battle.” He strode past her, but not before smiling at her. “Thank you, it is appreciated.” He said as he picked up his cup, holding it up to his lips. After taking a long, drawn-out sip, he lowered it from his lips and took a deep breath. “...How long it has been…” he breathed. His smile turned melancholy, but he spoke no words.
Illua sipped her own, the color difference between revealing her love of cream and sugar. "It took a long time to find them, but I save them for events such as this. A little reminder of home, I guess." Her own mood was uplifted by his reaction. "With all that’s to happen today, it's gonna be busy. The ladies should be setting fire to the barracks any moment now, too."
Horus nodded, taking another sip. “They should.” He looked towards her, then down at his drink. “Did you...sleep well?”
Illua looked down as well, swirling her coffee. "Not particularly. This will be my first battle against mostly humanoid combatants. Even though they are a completely separate species, I can't help to see the similarities." An anxious sigh escaped her. "This is something I will have to accept, but for today, they are the monsters of this world."
Horus slowly nodded. “They are.” He continued to stare at the liquid in his cup. “Illua?” He asked after a few moments of silence.
"Yes?" Illua looked up at him, her expression a mask, caught in quiet contemplation, unmarred by the stains of war.
He paused for a time, seeming unsure, before he finally spoke. “...If you see any Caribou with gems in the shape of phallus’...destroy those gems first. I was told after I awoke that the Caribou managed to make portable versions of the Crystal...ugh, Cock.” He shook his head and looked her way. There was something different about his eyes. Something old, and worn. “I may not know you, but I’d rather not see a comrade in arms become another slave to the filth that is the Caribou.”
"I'll remember that. Thank you, Horus." Finishing her drink, she set the cup down as she began to walk back upstairs. "I'm going to sharpen my blade before I head out. I'll see you later."
He nodded slowly. “Alright.” He looked to the cup in his claws for a moment. ’I certainly hope so…’ After staring for a while longer, he chugged the rest of the drink down before heading for the front door, cracking his neck as he did. “I suppose it’s high time I get back to work.” He mused as he walked out the door and into the town beyond.
POV Change: Illua
Illua sighed as she sat upon the edge of the bed with an open menu.
I gave you time. What’s the plan, Lulu?
Well… Cast a few spells, incite as much terror as possible, and then proceed to kill any enemies. Take special care to destroy any blue dick accessories..
You’re joking right?
Not really.
So…
So, what?
How big can we go?
Nyx, I want to limit the collateral damage, we have people who still live here. Nothing in the -Aga category. Honestly, I’d prefer if we stick to Blizzard or Thunder for spells outside of survival.
Poo. I thought some smoked caribou would be fantastic.
Illua pinched the bridge of her nose, but a small snort escaped her. “God, you’re terrible.”
Glad you can still laugh about a situation like this.
Opening the door to leave herself, Illua looked to the sky to see the plume of smoke rising from the direction of the barracks, eliciting a satisfied grin. So they are actually burning it. Good. Her eyes traced the rooftops further, the outlines of bows and muskets protruding ever so slightly above the peaks. Time to take my starting position.
From atop the Boutique, she could see the lowlands around Ponyville, clear of all but sparse trees and a solitary figure, lying in wait. Upon the northern horizon, she watched as one company approached Horus’ position, but her eyes drifted to the west. The approaching platoon was obvious in its intention, with its heavily armored steam engine encroaching. They were here to secure the town. So be it.
Illua’s fingers lit up as she traced the sigil she had scored into her rooftop perch, linking to the others she had left amongst the alleyways between homes. A dense fog poured out from these magic circles, filling the streets in with low lying clouds, with a second spell pushing it out to the plains beyond the limits. In a matter of moments, the town was swaddled in a blanket of mist.
“Hey, Sapphi. Let your allies know that if they see lightning or hear thunder, that’s me.” Illua leapt down from the roof to address the woman in question. “Also, don’t shoot me. I have no horn or wing to identify myself otherwise.”
The fittingly sapphire colored unicorn mare nodded crisply as she kept her golden eyes on the approaching train as best she could. “Understood,” she said firmly, cyan tail flicking to the side before she picked up a lantern from a nearby crate and started to flash signals with it to those in other key points of the town’s defense.
Along with most of the makeshift militia in Ponyville, she wore the white and gold splint mail the old Caribou guard bore. Despite the obvious breaches in it’s structure - four long gashes across the chest - all of the volunteers agreed some protection was still better than none at all.
Illua nodded at the mare, before throwing herself off the balcony. “Keep your eyes to the north west, and be prepared to engage at any moment.” She called out, tossing a quick air spell to catch her as she landed. Now to intercept them before they get too far into Ponyville.
Horus sat with his legs crossed in the plains outside the hamlet, eyes closed as he waited. His ears perked up as he heard the train whistle as it roared down the tracks only but a mile from him.
He remained still nonetheless. ’Not yet.’ He told himself. An ear twitched at the distant sound of heavy boots and metal encroaching on his position. ’Not yet…’ Another twitch of an ear as he heard idle, if hushed, chatter. ’Almost…’ The sounds were more crisp now; closer.
His eyes opened. “Now,” he almost purred, before getting on all fours. As he did, he let out a roar that would make the heavens shudder. Soon after this, his body started to grow exponentially. Larger, larger, and yet larger, until he was a hulking wolf of Hell in all his quadrupedal, titanic glory.
Sadly, even when the approaching company saw him, it was all out of their hands...and into his. Already he had leapt into the air, slamming his weighty tail between their ranks with a somersault, the immense force behind the strike cracking the earth below and leaving only a crater filled with the pasty remains of Caribou soldiers.
The cries of fear from the Caribou were followed by the booming retorts of muskets and flintlocks that opened fire soon after. Each bullet seemed to dent the Hellwolf’s hide, but this only furthered the intensity of his rage, his hatred. With a roar that almost ruptured their eardrums, his symbiotes fanned out in clusters, soon after calling down bolts of hellish lightning, flash frying many of them.
The Caribou either scattered to the winds in fear, died on the spot from the lightning, or tried to retaliate with blades, since bullets had failed them.
None of it was enough, as Horus simply spun and tail whipped them with a sickening crack as their armor bent inward, piercing their stomachs from just the one blow.
Horus snarled, but there was a distinct joy in his red eyes. His ears briefly perked as he heard the train nearby whistle it’s arrival at the station. He spared a glance back to see flashes of white light and the rolling timbre of thunder. He smirked, then turned back to the Caribou fleeing before him and licked his chops menacingly.
’This is proving to be just as fun as I’d hoped.’
The engine pulled into the station, the fog barely thinning at its approach. The whistle sounded off as thick metal doors opened, revealing the glittering platoon. They advanced onto the cobblestone platform, weapons in hand as they scanned the fog. They’re nervous. Good.
Lightning flashed from the fog at Illua’s command, running holes through the chests of the vanguard. Illua quietly stepped just close enough to give the platoon her silhouette. Her eyes glowed with the violet energy of her spiritual parasite. “I’m so glad you could make it. Now you can all die for me.” Ice launched from her now outstretched hand, slamming into the side of the train, locking the gears. “Escape is not an option.”
Her blade left it’s sheath as she lunged forward, carving her way through steel, flesh, and bone.
Step. Strike. Step. Strike. Turn. Each movement was punctuated by another flash of her blade, and another victim was slaughtered. A step forward brought her blade from hip to shoulder. Spinning to face the horde brought the deaths of those who approached her. It was mere seconds to her, but the first departees lay slain upon the flagstones. “Bring me your leader.” Her fingers were tipped with individual spells, each ready to fire at a moment’s notice.
Many of them stepped back at this, but a few remained defiant. “Hah! Nice try, but I think we all know that little display of yours was just luck!” One Caribou said, hefting a long-mace over his shoulder. He seemed larger than the others, and instead of the splint mail the others wore, he had full-plate armor.
The retort of several muskets from the rooftops showed him this had nothing to do with luck, many of his comrades falling into heaps around him.
Illua could only grin. “Luck wouldn’t have turned you into an easy-bake oven.” A plume of red leapt from her fingers and caressed his armor, liquefying the heavy plate onto his soft flesh. “And it definitely would have saved you from me.” Another crack of lightning, and his head splattered like a watermelon on concrete. “Bring. Me. Your. Leader. Or I will murder every last one of you until I find him.”
“[Hagalaz.]” A new voice spoke, just as a storm of sharp icicles sped through the crowd, burying several of those very icicles into Illua’s right arm and side. “[Elhaz.]” The voice said again, as a cyan glow emanated from the fog before shooting towards the rooftops, followed by many muskets dropping from the rooftops with muffled curses from those above.
A Caribou in gold, armored robes stepped past those around him, his face covered with a mask hewn from the skull of a fellow Caribou, or mayhaps an elk. The skull bore runes all over its surface, and in his clawed, silver gauntlet was a small stone with a glowing blue rune on it. Several more stones were attached to his hip, as was a crossbow of some sort.
“Where is Ingvar, wench,” he asked in a voice as cold as the grave from which his mask was dug.
A purr of excitement escaped the magus as she pulled one of the shards from her arm, the hole glittering green as it resealed. “You have no idea what's about to happen, do you?” The magus’ almost feral grin was highlighted by a series of sigils glowing along the edge of her blade. The blade itself warped into pure flame, keeping only the silhouette of a weapon. “I’d like to know if you’re truly a leader, or just another minion Shitlord.”
A snarl emanated from the skull-capped Caribou, as well as those remaining behind him, whom were picking themselves up. “I am the Chief Representative of the Council, whore. Do not think you will escape punishment for these transgressions, no, these heresies.” The Caribou pulled another rune out, this one glowing orange as he raised it up. “Do not kill her, men!” He ordered as the rune pulsed with energy, which soon enveloped those around him. “Capture her at all costs! We must learn what happened to the Prince! Show her why men are the best warriors!”
All the remaining men of the platoon cheered and whistled, before rushing Illua with greater speed than before. Five rushed her with sabers in hand, whilst others readied ropes to toss her way and bind her. Six more moved to fire their muskets at her after loading them with green capsules.
All the while the Council Representative stood his ground, holding the same rune high as it continued to pulse with magic.
“[Double Cast: Hastega - Protect].” Illua blurred suddenly as a reflective layer coated her form, stepping back and retaliating with a lash of flame, amputating the oncoming warriors’ hands with a cauterizing blade. She dove into the firing squad next, the fiery weapon eating through their primitive muskets, her eyes constantly glowing with that intense purple glow, leaving a streak of light behind her. "You really don't understand the situation, do you? Your plan is fucked and you still think yourself above us? What a waste." A flick of her hilt sent a wave of flame towards the skull-masked man-beast.
A brief wall of blue covered him, shielding him from the flames yet also concealing his form thanks to them billowing over that very shield. Just as the flames died, a crossbow bolt shot out and grazed Illua’s shoulder, leaving a burning sensation in it’s wake. This was followed by at least four more, before Illua could finally see the repeating hand crossbow in the Caribou’s other gauntleted hand.
Illua smirked, pulling her blade back. “[Fire Whip.]” She grinned as the flames curled back around, slamming into the back of the horned mage, a fragment of his mask crumbling away. Stepping in once more, her fist shot out, slamming him in the throat. “[Aphonia.] Your magic is fun, but It’s annoying.”
The Caribou grunted in pain, stumbling back and clutching his face. “You bitch!” He swore, before flicking his wrist, in turn causing the repeating crossbow in his hand to fold and reveal a blade within it, which he slammed into her elbow. “How dare you strike me! I am you superio-!”
She looked to the impaling instrument, only to respond by slamming the pommel of her blade into his mask again. “ [Sleep.] You’re gonna want that.” She turned to the rest of them. “I’ll give you a choice. Retreat, or he dies, and you get to wallow in the regret you couldn’t protect him before I kill you.” She spat at them, as she removed the bladed gauntlet from her body, the glitter of Regen closing the wound once more.
The remaining ten looked to each other, then finally noticed their surroundings. The heads of their own on pikes, the eerie fog, the distant cries of slaughter…
They couldn’t help the tremors. “We-We surrender-” A mace slammed into the head of the one who uttered that phrase, crushing their skull in an instant.
Similarly, a long arm slammed into the gut of one other, knocking them prone.
Two Caribou stepped up. One was yet another long-mace wielder, but with much heavier plate armor of what looked to be steel, covered in numerous runes and tassels with yet more runes inscribed on them. His long-mace seemed to be made of cast-iron, and looked like a set of double-edged talons gripping a gem at the top.
The other was wearing nothing but a set of red fur leggings and wielded two battle-axes of iron laced with rusted, old copper. But his build was nothing to sneeze at. He was easily equal to Horus in height, and all over his chest and arms were runes, carved straight into his flesh.
“I won’t let my brother’s death go unanswered, whore. I’m gonna use you ‘till you drop dead and full of my seed,” the mace wielder snarled, twirling said mace like it was nothing.
“Mind if I join in afterwards, brother?” the axe wielder asked, licking his lips. “I’m quite curious how different her breed is from the other bitches we usually get.”
“As long as you help teach her her lesson, I don’t see why not,” the mace wielder replied, shrugging but glaring at Illua all the same from under his barbute.
“God, it’s as if your entire species has been blue-balled and jealous of fair treatment or something. [Scathe.]” Illua shot out a beam of light from her fingertips, taking the red adorned caribou out at the knees.
“Gah! Fucking bitch!” the axe bearer swore as he fell to what remained of his knees.
“One, if this cum stain is your brother, he’s not dead. I’m willing to barter for him. Secondly, if Ingvar is your brother... I’ve never met him. And lastly,” Illua hefted the council representative up on her shoulder. “Don’t die in vain. You’ll only sully his ‘honor’ further. Fuck his bitch or something, I don’t care.” She raised her hand with a sigil, letting it hover behind her as she began to walk away.
“Where do you think you’re going, girly?!” the mace bearer roared as he charged after her, only to suddenly feel the ground underneath him give way. “Wha-?!” Before he knew it, he was at least ten feet below ground in a ditch. “You whores! I’ll kill you all for this! My brother will be avenged, I swear it!” He screamed.
Horus walked through the remaining fog of Ponyville, covered in Caribou blood and gore and occasionally licking some from his claws. He was making his way to the train station first, so as to see just how effective the defenses had been.
Horus could see the numerous traps that had yet to be sprung, and judging by the lack of bodies or blood in the streets themselves, they had taken few, if any, casualties.
He didn’t have to walk much longer to hear the cursing of an unknown male voice. Ears perked to the sound, he followed to it to find a number of bodies arrayed all around a pitfall trap as well as the train station itself.
He smirked as he noted that one Caribou had died trying to crawl towards the pitfall trap; likely to save whomever had been caught in it. After walking over himself, he saw the one making all the noise.
“You! Diamond Dog! You’re our reinforcements, right? Get me out of here, and we can both take turns with that hairless bitch!” the heavily armored Caribou offered, looking to Horus with eyes full of vengeance...and hope.
’Hope is a luxury you scum shall not have.’ He reasoned as he snarled. “I have no reason to free filth such as you.” His maw opened wide, and out shot an orb of Dragon Lightning, obliterating the Caribou’s head by breaking it’s runic wards and crushing the helmet, effectively crushing the skull with it.
Horus started to walk away again, towards Golden Oak. “Stay there and rot.” He spat as the corpse in the pit spewed blood.
As he continued his walk through town, he noticed how many residents were peeking out from their windows, and how many whom once held weapons now had them shouldered and were burying Caribou bodies.
’Good. Seems we lost barely any lives.’ He looked to the oak tree in the distance. “With any luck, Lady Illua has the captive and is interrogating him.”
Starlight came rushing up to him. “Did you-” She began, before her nose scrunched up and she gagged. “N-Nevermind, I can see that you kept your end just fine.”
Horus nodded, not breaking his stride. “It was a delectable slaughter.” He looked to her as she matched his pace. “Any casualties?”
She shook her head, pinching her nose as she followed him. “None. Barely any of our traps were sprung, too. Illua managed to stop pretty much all of the first platoon from going too far or doing too much damage. We may as well have prepared for nothing.”
Horus grunted. “‘To be prepared for war is the most effective means of preserving peace.’” His tail flicked to the side, a bit of gore flying off with the motion.
Starlight blinked at him. “That sounded...surprisingly well-thought.”
“I am not just a mindless beast. You’d do well to remember that,” Horus replied evenly as they reached Golden Oaks. He pushed through the tent at the front, before opening the door behind it, Starlight following him and walking inside.
The Caribou whom had been captured was bound and gagged in a chair, his mask, gauntlets and most of his clothing off to one side, whilst on the other, Illua was vomiting into a makeshift bucket, covered in the blood, gore, and the soot of her own battle. Horus and Starlight immediately rushed over to her.
“Illua, what happened? Are you okay?” Starlight asked hurriedly.
“My stomach is tied up in knots, and my old disease is working against me. Do we have any ginseng, mint, Mana leaf…?” She said weakly, looking up from her bucket with puffy eyes and a face dripping with saliva and snot.
Horus noticed one of her wounds and lifted her arm before sniffing experimentally. “Kame. Dammit,” he swore, before looking to Starlight. “Procure some white sage tea, and mix it with echinacea, swiftly!”
Starlight swiftly nodded. “I think Twilight left some in here before she abandoned the place. I’ll go look.”
“Hurry,” Horus urged as Starlight ran off and into the kitchen. Horus looked back to Illua and picked her up bridal style as he began carrying her to the bedroom. “Close your eyes, the more your brain is overloaded with sensory data the faster the poison acts to make you nauseous.” He ordered gently.
Illua nodded, grimacing as she closed her eyes, taking slow breaths. “I spent way too much mana. I could have just Esuna’d this away, but no, Lord Cuntabus down there decided he needed to experience excessive force,” she idly complained, before another wave hit her, forcing her to shut her mouth reflexively.
Horus soon reached the bedroom, gently and carefully laying her down on it. He looked her over. “Where else were you hit?” He asked.
“He shot me a couple times. Protect deflected a couple of them, but I got struck here, here and here.” She pointed to her arm, shoulder, and the graze mark from her rib, most having been sealed by her healing spell, but faint marks still lingered.
Horus winced. “Then I’ll have to remove your upper armor. Apologies for this, but your health comes before any reservations either of us have.” He told her solemnly.
“That’s fine, It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been injured.” She remarked, a slight smirk on her lips as she kept herself up.
Horus gently grabbed the hem of her tunic, lifting it up and over her head as she raised her arms so that he could pull it off her. He tried his best to not look at her now exposed mammaries with a brief blush on his face as he placed the article of clothing aside before taking a deep breath.
“I’m going to have to reopen your wounds. I apologize in advance for the pain,” he told her as he lowered a claw to the wound on her ribs and gently but swiftly cut it back open.
The sickly magus nodded as he warned her, taking a deep breath as the claw expertly cut open her rib once more. “That’s gonna scar, I can almost be sure.”
As he applied pressure to the newly reopened wound, he moved one hand to a patch of his fur, memories coming unbidden to his mind as he ripped a clump off with a grunt of minor discomfort.
“Daddy, are you sure-”
“I am, Goldie. Just bear with me, okay? Daddy will have you fixed up in no time,” Horus said hurriedly, applying pressure to the girl’s wound with his clump of fur, watching as it soaked up with sickly green and purple liquid, as well as blood. Horus looked back to the small, red-skinned creature behind him. “If this doesn’t work, your head will be on a platter with my next meal.”
The creature smiled. “I’d consider it an honor, ser. Either way, you’ve no need to worry. Many experiments with your species has shown this to be a tried and true practice for such operations.”
“You better hope it is,” Horus shot back.
“Daddy, it hurts…” The girl cried, tears stinging her eyes.
Horus raised a hand to gently cup her cheek. “Don’t worry Goldie, it’ll all be over soon…”
Horus shook his head as he applied the clump of ashen-white fur to Illua’s first wound, holding it tight against the injury. “Pony! Speed it up, if you would! And gather some wrappings as well!” He called over his shoulder.
“I’m working on it! Don’t exactly have magic to carry more than two arm-fulls of stuff anymore!” Starlight shot back.
Illua grunted. Nyx’s voice this time came from the mirror nearby, her ethereal form waving from the reflection. “Mmh. Harder.”
“Go fuck yourself.” Illua growled back at her other half. She put her head back down on the bed, remaining as still as possible for her careful attendant, her nausea still fighting to escape.
Starlight soon entered the room, bundles of wrappings held under one arm as the other held a steaming cup of tea.
“Here, this is all I could find,” Starlight said, placing the items on a nearby nightstand. “Most of the other items were rotted or just not usable. Thank the stars Twilight had the sense to use preservation spells, even if only on a few things.”
Horus nodded swiftly. “Thank you,” he said, before reaching over with one claw and grabbing the wrappings, starting to wrap Illua’s ribs and making sure the clump of fur remained tight against her wound.
Starlight blinked a bit at his words, before nodding slowly. “..Of course. Is there anything else I can do to help?”
“Rip off two more clumps of my fur, carefully open her other wounds, and start wrapping them,” Horus told her, moving so the mare had access to his back.
“Don’t be gentle, we can take it,” purred Nyx from the mirror, waving at the frazzled unicorn. Illua only growled again, looking up at her with a single, reddened eye. “Don’t mind Nyx too much. She likes to instigate things.”
Starlight looked between Nyx and Illua for a moment, before sighing and setting to work. “I’m not sure I even want to question why you have Nightmare Moon inside you. Too much bullshit going already.”
Horus grunted as Starlight pulled a clump off. “You likely don’t want to know.”