“There are enough to kill, enough to capture and enough to run away.”
-A Welsh man-at-arms, David Gambe, on being questioned by King Henry as to the size of the French army.
In a flash of light, Rarity appeared three feet off the ground and landed in mud-drenched soil.
"Oh, ew! Not my fur, I just got it cleaned this morning!" She whined.
She shot up from the filth on the ground and shook herself off. Though not entirely pleased, most of the mud had been removed, at least the clumps that were the most noticeable. Checking her surroundings, Rarity could see that she was in the middle of a forest. The sky was grey; it had obviously been raining earlier.
"Now then, the princess said it shouldn't be too far from here. Perhaps if I-"
The nearby shouts coupled with the crunching of plants and metal plating hushed the white pony, making her duck low and inch toward the tree line to take a peek at what may have been happening. As she rustled through the grass, she heard the whinny of horses and the cries of many other voices speaking a complex language. It was the whinnying that caught Rarity's attention, prompting her to look over the tall grass she was hiding in.
Gasping, Rarity went bug-eyed when she stared upon the muddy field ahead of her.
On both sides sat two large assemblies of metallic figures, some of them riding equines larger than the princesses. She had never seen bipedal creatures like those before, if you could even call them animals in the first place. They were covered in sheets of metal, like some type of odd contraption. Large standards bearing various coat-of-arms protruded from the mass of moving, clinking things.
"I'd better not get involved in whatever that is." She spoke quietly to herself.
Retreating back into the foliage, Rarity scraped her hooves on a tree next to her in an attempt to remove the incessant mud that continued to form onto her hooves but to no avail, the moist earth clinging to her whenever she took a step.
"Oh well, I suppose I could take a bath when I get back." She complained, lowering her hooves in defeat.
She trotted around the general area, passing shrubs and wading through dense forest, all the while listening to the growing crescendo of noise in the distance. She would have to ask one of her fellow equines about her whereabouts later, for now she had an element to find. They certainly looked intimidating, the other horses in the distance. Even though she had emphasized this to herself earlier, she couldn't get it out of her mind how unusually tall these horses were.
"Se déplacer en silence! L'pourraient nous entendre!"
The voice was sudden and hushed, but it was loud enough to make Rarity hit the ground regardless of how messy it was. She crouched low in the tall grass as she watched a heavy tin appendage drop to the ground in front of her concealed position. Another foot dropped to her side and, looking up, noticed that a large number of the tin machines were moving discreetly within the tree line she was using to observe the lines of creatures formed up in the field.
"Restez calme! Préparez-vous à passer le signal du roi!"
They boasted large planks of wood and iron that were adorned with colorful symbols like the flags in the plain ahead of her. Each of the metal creatures carried a long metal sword like the ones set on display in Canterlot. Something told Rarity that these weren't for show. The thought of that made Rarity shiver as she backed away from the thing in front of her. As she left the shrub she was taking cover in, her backside bumped into something solid and icy, causing her to jump in the air as she shrieked a high-pitched yelp from the sudden cold.
"Qu'est-ce que l'enfer?"
Rarity shot a look at the metallic beasts above her and realized that she had bumped into it's leg of iron. If it had a face, it was probably encased in the sheet of steel that encompassed it's head. By now, most of the creatures accompanying the thing she had just run into were staring, not sure what to do at a time like this. They were obviously trying to uphold some kind of secrecy as they too were crouched low in the grass.
"Quel nom de dieu que c'est?"
"Je ne sais pas, saisissez-la! Il peut y avoir des plans français sur elle!"
A few of the metal monsters shot from there positions and lunged at Rarity, grabbing at her in their clumsy suits of armor. Despite their encumbrance, they were surprisingly light on their feet. One of them grabbed Rarity's tail but lost it's footing in the slippery mud. In the distance, Rarity could hear a loud blaring, as if numerous horns of different caliber were being blown. She could hear the ominous sound of thousands of feet taking steps as they marched across the field.
"Le roi donnera le signal bientôt! Préparez-vous!"
At this, most of the metal beings stiffened and prepared themselves for something, as if waiting for a signal of some sort. Two of the armored assailants were still chasing Rarity, intent on capturing her for whatever the reason. One of them drew their large sword and grasped it with both of their claw-like appendages and swung low in an attempt to gut the white pony in front of him. Rarity gasped and dodged to her left as she broke for the edge of the forest fence.
"Il va de donner votre position! Mettons fin au racisme!"
Rarity had noticed that the loud marching sound had died out, the heavy footfalls of a thousand feet ceasing to make any further noise. As she broke for the open field to escape the assailants, she found that she was headed straight for the main line of knight-like creatures. They had deployed large wooden stakes in the ground and were lining up, many of the individual animals grasping extremely large bows with arrows that boasted shiny metal tips that glistened in the light.
"Uh oh. What do I do? If I go back, they'll surely catch me." Rarity contemplated.
She was about to turn back and face her foes when she saw something that caught her eye.
One of the creatures, a distinguished fellow with beautifully decorated armor and a golden crown topping it's head, rode in on the back of an equine wearing a shiny, jewel encrusted necklace. It seemed to be issuing orders to the other beasts, not even bothering to pay any notice to the white mare in the middle of the field. To her right, the other ensemble marched forward, leaving behind their horses as they began a slow walk towards the other line. Yells emanated from the line with the stakes deployed as they nocked their arrows and aimed high.
Then all hell broke loose.
The sky was darkened as Rarity looked up at the looming shadow above her. The arrows sailed overhead, some of them landing frightfully close to her, and hit their targets on her far right. She had seen many of the royal guard unicorns practicing with such a weapon, fumbling clumsily with it despite their magic ability. These creatures however had obviously honed their accuracy over time with a bow as hundreds upon hundreds of the shiny monsters in blue slumped to the ground, some of their bodies turned into living pin cushions.
"What in the name of Celestia-"
Rarity was awe-struck. It took her a moment to realize that all those poor things had just been killed.
Killed.
The only time she had ever seen a dead body was at the open casket funeral of her great aunt Belle, and just seeing the solemn look on her face back then was enough to almost scar her for life. These creatures were being killed so abruptly. Some of them weren't even dead yet. The screams of those punctured by the deadly arrows yet still drew breath echoed in her mind as Rarity watched row after row of knights advance towards the other line, taking hailstorms of the killer arrows. It finally dawned on the white pony that this was no game, and she was in the middle of a war.
"I . . I've got to get out of here!" She spoke frantically to herself.
Rarity wheeled on her hooves, tears ready to flood out of her eyes when she remembered that she had not yet accomplished her task. She may have been no element of loyalty, but that didn't mean she lacked the capability of being loyal. She had a job to do, and she wasn't about to let her friends down. Reluctantly, she started towards the archers as they continued to pour their deadly arrows on the enemies across from them.
"Perdre vos flèches!"
A voice came from the tree line Rarity had just escaped from as a storm of arrows erupted from the forest. Even more of the knights fell, relinquishing cries of anguish and despair as they were cut down. The advancing knights broke into a full charge as Rarity began to gallop toward the creature with her element in an attempt to beat them before the fighting started.
"Almost . . there!" She exclaimed as she neared the line of wooden stakes.
The knights in blue followed up close behind, shouting a plethora of dialogue in their own vernacular tongue. Many of the archers seethed through their steel helmets as they drew swords, knives, and clubs. Knights in red lined up alongside the archers, including the one wearing the crown.
And my necklace. She thought to herself.
The line of blue knights converged on the red ones, and a distinct white pony was galloping directly in the middle of the two forces. Rarity was close to the stakes now, but was hindered by their angle and position that they were facing.
As if they were placed to skewer anything coming near the archers.
To the surprise of the archers, Rarity leaped a stake that was pointed lower and landed on the backside of one of the things that had ducked. It yelped, and Rarity jumped off, galloping straight into the heart of the army just as the blue knights crashed headlong into the ranks of the red knights. Apparently not quick enough, Rarity was knocked onto the ground as one of the creatures in red surged back from the blue knight's charge.
Caught in the middle of one of the largest struggles she had ever witnessed, Rarity lay on the ground in fetal position as a bloody war raged around her.
She heard a loud shriek, and one of the suits of armor crashed in front of her unmoving, a lance embedded in it's chest. The clang of metal on metal rang throughout the field as the two opposing armies faced off in a terrible slaughter-fest. Ahead of her, Rarity watched two suits of armor struggling in fierce combat. The blue knight blocked as the red one swung a terrible blow. The blue suit of armor parried and caught the red one off-guard, and with a swift kick, knocked the red knight onto the ground.
"Oh my . . ." Rarity uttered for lack of a better phrase.
With one foot the blue knight pinned the red suit of armor in place and with the other, it kicked the helmet off of the knights head. It was then that Rarity saw that they weren't just heartless suits of armor. Instead of a black pit encased in a metal visor, Rarity saw that it was a living animal hiding under it's helmet's visage. A living, breathing animal that looked scared to death.
"Non! Stay est votre lame!" It pleaded.
Ignoring the cry, the blue knight swung his great sword down, beheading the poor creature. The head rolled to a stop right in front of Rarity. To her horror, the eyes blinked and the lower lip quivered for a few seconds before it's eyes glazed over and the skin on it's face turned pale-white. Blood oozed out of the major veins that had been severed as Rarity shot up from her position, determined to find her element and leave this infernal battleground.
"Les repousser! Votre Seigneur le commande!
Rarity looked up and noticed the crowned monster tower above the swirl of chaos shouting commands and orders, wearing her necklace like some kind of war trophy. It swung it's sword gracefully, lopping a head off here, severing a limb there, all the while screaming defiantly into the hell before it. Rarity jumped back when two knights locked swords in front of her, grunting and swearing as they struggled fiercely. She backed away and whimpered terribly, traumatized by the horrors ensuing around her. One of the archers backed into her, tripping on the terrified white unicorn. It yelped in surprise as the blue knight before it brought the pointed edge of it's sword down on it's stomach, spraying blood in all directions.
Including the white mare that shivered beside it.
Rarity sputtered violently, the crimson bodily fluids seeping through her closed lips. Her tears of disgust mixed with the blood as she writhed on the ground, trying desperately to wipe the sanguine liquid from her fur. She stood up on shaky legs, now a blood-red quadruped sitting in the middle of an all out battle. She weaved in and out of the violence and sheer chaos, getting closer and closer to the distinguished individual.
"Die-vous bâtards français!"
The thief swung it's sword low, beheading the poor creature below it. A second knight in blue rammed into the crowned leader, knocking it off of the mound of bodies it stood on. Rarity charged through the murderous crowd, trying to ignore the thunderous cries of the dying. The thing with her necklace parried the sword of the blue knight and countered, impaling it with his own tool of death. A gap in the line opened up, prompting a distinct white pony to leap through despite her current condition and rush the creature with the crown.
"Quel nom de dieu que c'est?" It gasped in surprise.
Rarity roared loudly as she jumped onto the thing's chest and grabbed the necklace with her teeth. The thing resisted, but was too alarmed at the blood-red pony gnawing at it's newest piece of jewelry to react appropriately.
With a hard tug, the clip of her element snapped in two as it left the thing's neck, and Rarity was gone in a bright flash of colorful light.