"Mutig." Sapphire said to the kobold which seemed to get his attention.
A stone column stood just beyond the temple, adorned with a sizable stone ring. Yet, the heart of this circular stone formation commenced emitting a resounding hum. In a matter of moments, a portal crackled into existence, unveiling Sapphire's graceful entrance into the realm of Equestria. Her gaze swept across the woodland, cautiously surveying her surroundings.
"Ah, ze presence of a Cullis Gate 'ere, let alone a functional one, still manages to surprise me," Sapphire remarked, her words accompanied by a low growl that caught her attention. Emerging from the underbrush nearby, at least three Timberwolves manifested before her, assuming aggressive stances.
"I don't 'ave time for you," she uttered as the Timberwolves were poised to lunge at her. With the incoming creatures leaping into the air, she displayed no concern, opting to close her eyes.
Suddenly, the Timberwolves were obliterated by an immense force that seemingly materialized out of thin air, leaving behind a heap of splintered wood and fragments.
Sapphire let out a yawn as she casually walked outside. The female kobold strolled over to the entrance of the temple, where a conspicuous large hole now adorned the floor.
"Fascinating, no? Perhaps they are in th—" Sapphire's words were interrupted as she sensed another presence. Two subtle magical auras lingered nearby. Taking a few steps closer to the hole, she peered downward, discovering that the guardians remained alert.
The sight prompted her to emit a sharp whistle instinctively. Almost instantly, the guardian reacted, whirling around and began charging at her in an instant.
Once again despite the danger advancing on her, Sapphire was utterly unfazed, waiting for them to get close. Their claws were mere inches from slashing her body, only for them to suddenly drop to the ground, cut off at the forearm by some unknown force..
Sapphire just stared blankly at them as they fell close to her. The now disarmed guardians took a step back, unable to fight and only growl in frustration as Sapphire casually walked past them and into the room with the Princesses, who immediately became aware of her presence..
“Celestia! There’s another one of them!” Luna said, only to receive no response from Celestia. Sapphire, unbothered by Luna’s announcement, calmly approached the unconscious Celestia before flipping her to her back with ease.
“Do not lay a hoof on her!”
Even without looking Sapphire could feel Luna’s hostility as she opened her coat to pull out a small vial. Quickly uncorking the top, she placed the vial in her mouth helping Celestia drink it, much to the still staring at Luna's rage.
However, the Princess of the Night’s eyes widened upon seeing Celestia’s wounds healing before her eyes.
Sapphire, once making sure Celestia’s wounds were healed and her breathing steadied, she gently placed the ruler’s head down before pulling out another vial that she held out to Luna.
Still stunned and confused, all Luna could do was watch the female Kobold momentarily turn away from them as she was already leaving.
“Wait? Why art thou helping us?”
Sapphire didn’t reply, leaving the pair behind. As she walked out the way she came she noted, that the Guardian’s arms were beginning to reform, yet made no attempt to quicken her pace.
With casual ease, she walked towards the hole in the floor, before jumping straight down.
*****
Twilight and Spike kept running, evading large magical projectiles that soared toward their position. The fearful pony and the transformed kobold sought refuge behind a row of pillars.
"What in is that?" Twilight whispered, her voice barely audible, while Spike cautiously peeked out.
“Th-that is the one who attacked the princesses.” Spike gasped, barely able to process this information as another hostile kobold appeared out of the sky, landing directly atop the pillar.
“And now he’s on top of us!” Twilight exclaimed as the kobold opened his palm ready to kill both of them.
With zero hesitation, the kobold charged an orb of magic energy in his palm before hurling it at the frightened pair.
As the impending blast drew near, Twilight and Spike involuntarily let out startled screams. However, before the collision could occur, something deflected the blast, causing it to veer off course. The redirected energy struck another pillar with immense force, obliterating it completely. The duo stood in stunned silence, their expressions reflecting a mix of astonishment and shock.
"That could have been us?" They muttered in fear. The eyes turn their attention to seeing another kobold in front of them.
The stranger looked at the male kobold as she removed her coat and hat. She pulled out something from her pocket as she began to tie a bow to her hair.
"Mutig." Sapphire said to the kobold which seemed to get his attention.
The creature growled from the mention of the strange word, immediately charging at her with his fist reeled back. Sapphire raised her paw up grabbing his punch which seems to create a large collision causing the cave to rumble from the unforeseen force.
"Whoa!" Spike's eyes widened as Sapphire confronted them, and he couldn't help but acknowledge her incredible strength. Now that he had a chance to observe her more closely, he found himself struck by her beauty as well. A crimson blush tinged his cheeks, and he found it difficult to divert his gaze from her.
"Wux jiil rigluin ekess jaseve jaka!" She shouted at them with the same language the male spoke. Spike looked utterly bewildered by her words, clearly not understanding their meaning.
"Go…now." A strange voice spoke as Spike didn't think twice.
"Come on Twilight, we need to go!" Spike shouted as he grabbed her hoof leading her away from the fight. Sapphire smiled as she launched a kick at the kobold, apparently named Mutig, which launched him to another pillar. Mutig's mask begins to shatter, which he quickly tore it off, revealing an orange fur covered face. His green eyes glared at Sapphire.
Even as he was running Spike looked back as he saw them unleashing powerful spells at each other. He didn’t know why he kept staring. The way the fight made his blood boil for some unkown reason.
“Spike! Come on, we need to go!” Spike didn’t reply as he continued to gaze almost like he was stuck in a trance.
"Spike! Spike!" Twilight's cries persisted as Mutig took a forceful kick to the face, sending him hurtling backward against the wall. Mutig's frustration grew as he found himself consistently overpowered by Sapphire. In a surge of anger, the determined soldier's expression twisted into a grimace. His attention snapped towards Spike and Twilight, and an unsettling grin formed across his face. His mouth stretched wide open as he revealed a disturbing display. Suddenly, the ground itself began to tremble, shuddering under the weight of an impending force. A foreboding dark aura enveloped Mutig, intensifying the air of danger around him.
“What!?” Sapphire saw a blast headed towards them at quick speed.
The former dragon shook his head seeing the bright light. Spike let out a frightening scream with the blast nearly missing them. As the ground beneath them started to crumble, Spike and Twilight found themselves on a collapsing floor. Reacting swiftly, Spike managed to seize hold of the ledge, using one arm to support Twilight as she dangled precariously beside him.
“Spike!?” Twilight shouted as he let out some grunts from the weight. He felt his arms shaking, unable to hang on for much longer. He tried to fling Twilight up to safety but couldn’t. He could feel his strength quickly draining.
“Twilight I can’t hang on much longer!” Spike shouted, not wanting to look down. All Twilight could do was watch Spike desperately try to save them both by holding on for dear life.
Twilight horn lit up, attempting to use her magic to help, only to look horrified as the magic quickly dispersed. The small part of the temple Spike was holding on begins to crack.
Sapphire just watched seeing the two desperately clinging to life. Before she did anything she remembers the words.
“If you fail this objective you will be on the watchlist for life. That's enough incentive for you?”
Sapphire observed the dire situation, drawing in a deep breath as she assessed the unfolding events. Meanwhile, Mutig's attention was locked onto the female Kobold. Charging forward with a blade gripped tightly, he raised his arms, poised for a lethal strike. However, Sapphire's eyes began to emit a radiant glow as a rune materialized beneath her. A clock-like symbol took form, and her gaze remained fixed on Mutig. As the blade neared her face, her only response was unwavering glare, causing the blade to halt just inches from her skin.
“Twilight I ca-” Spike's eyes widened as he lost his grip with the two letting out a panicked scream, only for them to soon realize that neither moved a single inch. Their fall was halted as Sapphire reached Mutig’s pocket grabbing what looked like a coin-like medallion. She kept holding her breath as she jumped towards both Spike and Twilight, grabbing them both with her tail before lifting them to a safety. She exhales as the two screamed while they landed on the floor. Sapphire begins to pant while the two looked confused.
“What the? How are we even here?” Twilight said as Spike approached Sapphire.
“Did you-”
“Argh!” They all looked at Mutig who struck the ground. He searched around until saw Sapphire who was waving the coin with a smirk right before flipping it in the air, catching it in her paw.
“Svabol!?” He angrily responded, seeing Sapphire. His arms shook as his anger continued to grow.
“Si geou xurwk wux xikin! si geou amid wux shio!” Mutig looked at the ground they were on. He noticed the water behind them as he let out a laugh as the water rose up and became two large water bubbles.
“Jaka trian di wux xikin mrith dout tobor!" Sapphire’s eyes widened as the bubbled collided with her as she was unable to remove the bubble. Spike froze seeing the bubble rushing towards him.
“Spike!” Twilight galloped towards him pushing him away as the bubble wrapped around her.
“No! Twilight!” Spike begins to panic while they were lifted up from Mutig’s magic. All Spike could do was watch as they were suspended in the air. Spike's heart pounded unsure what to do.
“Do something.”
“What?” Spike heard the voice again as he saw Twilight began to drown struggling in the water.
“Do it or she will die Kobold!”
Spike didn’t know what the voice said as he saw that metal crossbow again, likely belonging to the female kobold. He noticed that it fired what looked like an explosive.
Spike rushed to grab it remembering how he held it, yet its considerable weight made it unwieldy.
Sapphire could see he was struggling with it as she used some part of her magic to lift it up forcing his claws to press the trigger. Mutig’s eyes widened, unable to react, seeing the metal projectile fly towards his chest before colliding. Twilight and Sapphire’s bubbles popped instantly.
Mutig stumbled backwards grabbing at his chest in tremendous pain.
Spike, still stunned by what happened, only looked on with wide eyes as the kobold glared at him.
“You…you!” He opened his palm as he blasted a large wind spell at Spike launching him back to the wall hitting head first.
“Spike!” Twilight cried out as Spike's body fell to the ground blacking out.
“Hehehe you will do.” The voice said to Spike before falling unconscious. Mutig reached for his headset, turning it on as he was smirking at them. Sapphire walked towards him as she pulled out a small metal crossbow, she aimed it at Mutig.
“He he he. Go ahead and do it.” Sapphire heard him as he panted loudly.
"Yeur a traitor." Sapphire explained to him which made the kobold laugh.
“Traitor? Me? The one who’s gonna die is you. I didn’t betray anyone. I…..I found what they were looking for.” Twilight just watched, unable to know what they were saying. They were speaking another language.
“My captain has been hearing everything. Have you noticed the headset I am wearing? Hehehe!” Sapphire's eyes widened as she saw it.
“You and this realm are as good as de-” A loud bang was heard causing Twilight to jump. Sapphire threw the crossbow, feeling used. She reached for her pocket pulling out the Coin.
Elsewhere….
In a land far away two figures sat in a campfire as they waited for a result. A kobold who was almost the same height as the princess looked about a few years older than Spike, he growled from the result. He had brown fur with darker brown hair. He glared at fire with his blue eyes.
“Damn that Mutig! Got him himself killed.”
“Serves him right. Pathetic. If he can’t even handle one mercenary.” Beside him was a smaller Kobold wearing a uniform, unlike the kobolds. He looked the same age as Spike. With black mid-length hair with beige fur. He even seems to have frightening red eyes, which almost seemed to shine as he took a bite from his ration while sitting on a stump.
“So what now? Do we put this extermination on hold and head towards that realm?” The small kobold chewed on his ration again as he threw the box onto the floor.
“That we should, but we got a job to do. It’s gonna be another boring job. But something caught my attention.” The teenage kobold eyebrows rose up.
“What is it? Did that mercenary catch your eye Lyon?” The small kobold who’s name was Lyon stood up, took some small steps and stared at the sky.
“The one kobold, what was his name? Spyke? He looked to have lived there all his life. We can use him just to find the rest of the temple Stein.Woudn’t you say that is worth a little trip?” Stein gave it some thought as he closed his fist giving a sadistic smile.
“Yeah I like it! Count me in! Hahaha!”
