Fate of The Lostbelts Kingdoms
Chapter Eleven
From Russia to Equestria
“Is this everyone?” Celestia asked as one of the male Yaga soldiers nodded before speaking.
“We can manage from here. There’s a hidden fortress not far off that we use for when we have to deal with a giant demonic beast like that pig you all are riding on.” He said looking at the citizens for a moment before looking back at Celestia. “We appreciate the help in rounding up the citizens of this town.”
“It’s the least we can do. We can’t just stand by and let you suffer any more than you already have.” She said as the soldier smiled and began to make his way over to the other Yaga. The moment he left, Celestia’s ears twitched upon hearing the sound of heavy foot stomps heading her way. She looked over to Ivan along with Anastasia, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Ivan, and an unconscious Patxi making their way over to her. “Mother of me, are you all okay.”
“Other than a few cuts and bruises, we’re doing fine,” Anastasia said as she looked over at the giant wall of ice that she made. She squinted her eyes a bit as she saw that it was starting to form cracks. “We need to leave. I froze the monster, but that ice isn’t going to last long given his monstrous strength.”
“Is everyone evacuated?” Ivan asked as Celestia pointed a hoof over to the fleeing Yagas heading down the snow-covered path. “Good, then we can leave.”
“But wouldn’t that monster follow us if we leave?” Rainbow Dash asked as the caster servant nodded.
“That’s the plan. While Minotaur follows after us, we’ll be able to give the citizens enough time to make it to the hidden fortress to hide in for a couple of days before returning.”
“Admirable, but also dangerous,” Luna said as she pointed out Ivan, Patxi, and Anastasia’s weakened state. “But you three aren’t in the position for a prolonged battle. Not to mention I still can’t use my magic to assist you.”
“We don’t need to beat him, just keep him on our tail until we reach the borders of Russia…I’m hoping he doesn’t follow us after that.”
“...You’re hoping?” Twilight asked.
“We don’t have a lot of options,” Ivan said before making her way over to the demonic boar and placing Patxi on its back. “And I advise you all to start running.”
“And why is-” Before Cadance could finish her sentence, the giant wall of ice that Anastasia made began to crumble into pieces.
“That’s why.” He said before hopping onto the boar along with Twilight’s friends.
“Yep, time to leave,” Anastasia said as she felt Luna take to the air. Cadence, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, the pegasus guards, and Celestia took to the air while Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Starlight, and the earth & unicorn ponies hopped onto the demonic boar and bolted down the snowy path towards the borders of Russia and Equestria. Moments after the groups left, the Minotaur made his way to where they were. He scanned the area to see if there were any signs of life or at least a trail to follow after them. He sniffed the air for a moment as he caught the scent of both the Yagas and Ponies.
On the one hand, if he went after the group of Yagas, he would get a free meal. On the other hand, he was pissed that he was humiliated by the two servants, the yaga, and that cyan flying horse. He weighed his option for a moment before choosing to go after the two servants. Eating them might help increase his powers and possibly sedate his constant hunger. He sniffed the air again to track their scent before charging off towards the group fleeing Russia. While he was making his way through the snow, a familiar cat girl servant was watching the scene unfold to her from a nearby mountain as she watched the Minotaur rushing through the snow to chase after the two servants and the equestrians.
“Should we go after them?” asked one of the male Yagas as Atalanta shook her head.
“Follow after the group of Yagas who are making their way to the fortress. I’ll see if I can assist the foreigners and the former King in escaping.” She said before heading towards the border of Russia. “If I’m not back, continue to protect them from the bandits or any other monsters that might attack that fortress.”
“Yes ma’am!” The yagas yelled in unison as they watched the altered servant leave.
While Atalanta made her way to where Russia and Equestria borders meet, the fleeing servants along with the Equestrians were halfway towards the borders thanks to the boar’s help. While making their way through the snow-covered trail, Anastasia and Fluttershy finish reapplying new bandages on the former Tsar’s body.
“You know, you didn’t have to bandage me up. You could’ve waited until we were in a safer place than on the boar’s back while running away from the monster.”
“Having you bleed out and die would be a pain on us,” Anastasia said before returning her attention onto the road. “Don’t think this means I’ve forgiven you for what you did to me or the Yagas. You’re still a monster in my eyes.”
“That seems a bit harsh don’t you think?” Luna asked as she flinched from seeing the servant’s ice-cold stare.
“Forgiveness is earned, not given. Though I may not have been the Tsar for long, I at least tried to save my country instead of resorting to an iron grip or killing our subjects.”
“Hey, cut the big guy some slack. If it weren’t for him, I’m pretty sure we would be in even more trouble than before.” Rainbow Dash said as she flew in front of the caster servant’s face. “He at least gained some trust from me in my book.”
“There is no need to defend me. Understandably, she wouldn’t forgive me, and I’m okay with that. My time as the Tsar has ended the moment I died by the last human’s hands. All I want is to see that our country thrives once again like it used to before the changes that caused it to be erased from existence.”
“Hm, I’ll believe that when I see it,” Anastasia said before noticing Pinkie Pie looking behind them with a pair of binoculars. “Is something the matter?”
“You know that Minotaur that you said that you froze in ice?” She asked as she handed the binoculars over to her. “Well, she’s following us…I think he might be mad that you gave him the cold shoulder.” The caster servant looked over to see what she meant as she saw Minotaur charging at them at blinding speed.
“How is he still standing after being frozen in ice!?” Rainbow Dash yelled as Ivan summoned his staff into his hand and began firing beams of lightning bolts at the berserker servant. Only for him to use his halberds to deflect them away.
“We’ll handle this princess.” One of the guards said as he along with the other earth ponies were about to attack the Minotaur, only for Celestia to extend her wings out as a means to stop them from attacking.
“Attacking him now will be pointless. I know some of you saw what he can do and how strong he is, but we’re trying to escape him with three being injured. Adding more to the list will make it harder for us to escape even more.” Celestia said while biting her lower lip in frustration. “All we can do is hope that our friend here can outrun him.”
“Which might be a problem given how he’s plowing through snow and trying not to let anyone fall off him.” Applejack said as Fluttershy tried her best to encourage the boar as best as she could. “This would be so much easier if y’all can use your magic.”
“Can’t you use that spell of yours to freeze him again?” Cadence asked as Anastasia flinched a bit from hearing that.
“There’s a limit to how much a servant can use a noble phantasm.” She said before looking over at Minotaur and using her ice powers to manipulate the ice and create spikes to try and slow the berserker down, but easily burst or cut through the spikes made out of ice. “I’m a masterless servant. So using my noble phantasm again without a master to supply me with magic will drain me more.”
“So all we can do is just run and hope your attacks can hurt him enough to back away?” Rainbow Dash asked as Anastasia nodded. The cyan pegasus was about to say something, but an idea appeared in her head as she grins. “Keep the big guy busy. I got an idea.” Before Anastasia could say anything, the cyan pegasus took to the air and flew off above the clouds.
“Where is she going?” Ivan asked after noticing Rainbow Dash flying off towards the clouds.
“Oh, horse apples.” Applejack said before looking over at everyone. “Everypony brace yourselves! She’s about to perform a sonic rainboom!” She yelled as everyone besides Anastasia and Ivan held onto the fur of the demonic boar.
“...A sonic rainboom?” Ivan asked as Twilight looked over at the two confused servants. “Care to explain what that is?”
“It’s best that you watch and possibly hold onto something so the blast doesn’t accidentally send you flying,” Twilight said as the two servants looked at each other for a moment before hearing something soaring through the air. Looking they saw the clouds moving around slightly before seeing a familiar cyan-colored pegasus bursting through the clouds with a Mach cone around her.
“....Is she planning on ramming into Minotaur!?” Anastasia yelled in disbelief as she noticed the pegasus heading towards Minotaur at breakneck speed.
“Seems like it,” Ivan said before grabbing the caster servant and pulling her in close to him as if he was hugging her. Anastasia was about to say something and pull away from the rider servant, only for her to notice that he used his tusk to extend out towards Minotaur, only for him to jump into the air to avoid it. In doing so, it made him much easier for Rainbow Dash to unleash a sonic rainboom upon the berserker servant as the blast behind it caused the demonic boar and the two servants to be sent flying forwards and crash into a mountain of snow made by the boar when he was charging through the thick snow.
Ivan soon pulled himself out of the snow along with Anastasia, who struggled out of his grip to stand up on her own feet. She staggered a bit upon doing that as she looked around to see what happened. From what she saw, there was a huge crater from where Rainbow Dash made after she crashed into Minotaur, the cyan pegasus’s feet were sticking out of a pile of snow due to being forced back from crashing into something hard and sturdy, and the equestrians were currently scattered around the area due to being sent flying off of the boar.
“Everyone seems to be okay. But what about Minotaur?” She thought before looking over at the crater that the minotaur was in, but was taken by surprise to see that he wasn’t in there. She began to quickly look around to see where the berserker servant was, but soon heard something hard hit Ivan from behind as he was sent flying into the crater. The caster servant soon turns around to see Minotaur standing over her. She was about to attack only, but couldn’t react faster as he grabbed her. The moment she was grabbed, she could feel the servant starting to squeeze the life out of her as she gritted her teeth from the pain she felt. “D-Dammit, I let my guard down.”
“....Die,” Minotaur said as he continued to squeeze the life out of the caster servant as she felt and heard certain bones in her body beginning to break from the pressure. The moment he opened his mouth and was about to bite the servant’s head off, he quickly released his hold on Anastasia after feeling a sharp pain in his arm and hand. Looking over his hand, he saw a volley of arrows embedded in his flesh. He soon heard the sounds of arrows flying through the air as he quickly brought his halberds up to protect himself from the arrows. While this was happening, Anastasia felt herself being pulled out of the way of the assault by Applejack from the side as she tied a rope around the caster servant’s leg.
The Minotaur took notice of the farm pony pulling his meal away as he was about to throw his weapons at the pony but was sent flying backward by Ivan as he charged into him with full force. The berserker servant quickly recovered from being sent flying backward by using her halberds to stop himself from sliding backward. The soon glared at the demonic boar and was about to charge at him, only to push himself backward from seeing a volley of darkish purple-colored arrows heading towards him.
“You okay sugarcube?” Applejack asked after pulling Anastasia to a safe area where the ponies were helping each other out of the snow.
“N…No…No, I’m not okay.” She said before coughing up some of her blood.
“Hang on, we’ll get you to Equestria in no time.” She said before noticing the boar pulling himself up and shaking the snow from off his body. The farm pony quickly moved underneath the servant as she placed her on her back and quickly made her way over to the others. “Girls, we need to leave, like now.”
“Mother of me,” Luna said as she noticed the state of the caster servant was in as she grimaced a bit. “Place her on my back. I’ll carry her back to Equestria.”
“What about Rainbow Dash? She’s fast enough to get from here to Equestria, right?” Rarity asked as Twilight cleared her throat to gain their attention. The group looked over at the princess of friendship as she saw a passed-out Rainbow Dash and Patxi laying on Twilight’s back.
“She’s currently out of commission after hitting Minotaur with her sonic rainboom. Our only form of transportation is the boar.” She said before looking over at the ponies getting back onto the boar. She soon looked over at the Minotaur who was currently dodging the volley of arrows and Ivan’s lightning attacks. The moment she saw an opening where Ivan stood away from Minotaur, she quickly flew over to him and spoke. “We can't stay here for much longer. Especially given how Anastasia and Patxi are knocked out and in critical condition.”
The former Tsar turned his gaze onto the alicorn as he noticed she was having trouble staying in the air due to having to carry Rainbow Dash and Patxi. The rider servant nodded upon seeing this as he took the two off of her back and began to make his way over the demonic boar along with Twilight. The Minotaur noticed the two fleeing as he was about to chase them, but was blocked by a volley of arrows as they formed a wall of falling arrows to block his path. The berserker servant gritted his teeth upon seeing the group escaping him. He would pursue them, but the fact that someone was preventing him from giving chase, that all he could do is watch them leave. The moment the volley of arrows stopped he looked around the area to see where or who it was that attacked him. He sniffed the air a couple of times but couldn’t pick up the scent of the newcomer. The lostbelt servant snorted in annoyance as he began to retreat for now. Eventually, they will be back, and the moment they do, he will kill and eat them all.
As he was retreating, Atalanta watched the minotaur leave. She lets out a sigh of relief upon knowing that he gave up his pursuit as she turned her attention onto the group that was feeling. She was tempted to follow them to this country full of talking demonic horse beasts but chose not to as she was more focused on making sure the minotaur didn’t attack the yagas that were fleeing or any other towns that the beast might attack. It’s the least she could do seeing how the former tsar is being treated along with Anastasia.