//------------------------------//
// Other Battles 
// Story: Upheaval: Breaking Point 
// by Visiden Visidane 
//------------------------------//

Upheaval: Breaking Point

Chapter 25: Other Battles

While the battle raged fiercely by the walls of Bastion City, a battle of a different sort began for the ponies further in. Civilians locked themselves in their houses. Reserves stood at the ready. Patrols watched for infiltrating wolven. Though there was yet any combat within Bastion City, its citizens still considered it part of the battlefield.

Among the busiest places was the medical ward close to the northern walls, where Doctor Redbrand and his subordinates tended to the steady stream of injured. 

Work began almost immediately after the wolven howl signaled the attack. One unfortunate pony was carried into the ward with a wolven bolt through his right foreleg. Others soon followed: a unicorn with a gash across one eye, a pegasus with a crumpled wing, and bolt wound after bolt wound.

Fluttershy was quick to notice the disturbing trend among the injuries. More than a dozen barbed, wolven-crafted bolts lay in a pile next to her. Enough blood had dripped from their points to pool beneath them. "This is going to hurt, alright?" she would tell an injured pony. They would nod while biting down on a piece of rope. She would pull as quickly as possible. Each time, she closed her eyes involuntarily to avoid seeing the spurt of blood, but she could still feel the warm, sticky liquid on her hooves. The heavy, metallic scent made her dizzy as well. The others didn't seem to mind though, and she wouldn't be able to take it if she added to their problems now by fainting.

This time, they had proper disinfectants, and plenty of bandages so there was no need for burning, red-hot brands. Still, cleaning, and bandaging had to be done swiftly. Patients were arriving at an increasing rate, and the ward struggled to keep up. Redbrand's temper flared as the pace exposed the inexperience of his new recruits. He shouted at them when they fumbled with bandages, or forgot a step in a procedure, all the while working on patients of his own.

Fluttershy felt sorry for the new recruits. They were newly brought into an understaffed, overworked division, and thrust into emergency after emergency. All that yelling wasn't fair, and only panicked them. Even she felt the bite of a sharp reprimand from Redbrand when she took too long with a patient.

The senior medics didn't mind. On the rare occasion that Redbrand yelled at them, they corrected themselves without even a flinch. Fluttershy wondered if she would eventually reach that kind of state. As for now, she almost jumped each time Redbrand called her out.

Each time a patient was brought in, Fluttershy's heart skipped a beat. This time, it might be one of her friends. Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash, were at the thick of the fighting. Her friends were brave and strong: Twilight was the smartest, and most magical pony ever, Rainbow Dash was Equestria's best flier, and Applejack could take on anything with her hard work, and determination. The increasing number of injured brought only more doubts.

"We've got a bad one incoming!" one of the senior medics called out.

Fluttershy braced herself. The ward had treated a lot of ponies who had been shot by bolters, or badly torn up by claws and fangs. The senior medics had never made such a comment. Just how badly injured was this one?

A pair of pegasi brought in somepony on a stretcher. The darkening expressions from all the nearby senior medics, and the horrified expressions on the recruits nearly froze Fluttershy's heart. The injured pony's coat was sky blue. A hundred protests reared up in Fluttershy's head while she pushed her way past some of the recruits to see who it was.

A better look brought her up short. It wasn't Rainbow Dash, but a pegasus stallion. The laid up pony was covered in enormous gashes and tears. One of his wings was crumpled while the other one was a bloody stump. Blood soaked the stretcher, and the pieces of cloth that the pegasus carriers were futilely using to stanch the massive bleeding. The injured pegasus's breathing was quick and shallow. His eyelids fluttered, and his eyes were glassy and vacant.

Fluttershy's knees started to give at the sight. Where should she start? The bleeding was horrendous, she should stanch them properly before this poor pony's life gushed out of him. But which wound should be first? The giant gashes? His missing wing? She looked to the others for guidance. This was far beyond her. She needed experts. She needed-- 

"Move over!" Redbrand snarled.

"Bolter clipped him on his way back from a sortie," one of the pegasus carriers told a senior medic. "He flew into the wall, and fell into the middle of the wolven. They were tearing him up before Dreadwing managed to chase them off long enough to get him out of there."

"Leave it to Dreadwing to never give up on anypony," the senior medic replied. "But I don't think there's anything that can be done for this one."

Fluttershy frowned. This pony needed help more than anypony else, and here was a medic who was giving up after just looking! She looked towards Redbrand. If there was a pony he should be yelling at, it should be this one.

Redbrand, however, didn't pay attention to onlookers. He inspected the injuries, then went for something in his harness. Fluttershy expected bandages or some disinfectant. Instead, he pulled out his flask.

"Here," Redbrand said. He put the open flask against the injured pony's lips. The stallion winced, and drank several mouthfuls before laying back.

"It's medicine," Fluttershy said. "I see. That's why it tastes so awful. It has to be very strong medicine."

"It's brandy," A senior medic replied. "For the pain."

"But even if he doesn't feel any pain--" 

The injured pony's breathing steadied, then stopped. Fluttershy rushed forward to try something, anything, but the senior medic held her back.

"King welcome you to the Eternal Herd, colt," Redbrand said to dead pegasus. He looked to the ponies watching. "What's the matter with you ponies?" he shouted. "Get back to work!"

The other medics scrambled to tend to new incoming patients. Fluttershy remained even as the dead pony was carried away. She tried to move, but found herself rooted to the spot. This couldn't be. Not Redbrand. He was always angry, and shouting, but that was because he was so dedicated. She trusted him to pull through, even with the most terrible injuries, and he betrayed that trust. He gave up without even trying. He wasn't a dedicated perfectionist, he was just a grouchy old stallion, and a bully.

She hadn't noticed that she was staring for a long time until Redbrand looked up. "I'm not your patient, Fluttershy!" he snarled. "Keep spacing out, and I'll have you whipped!"

A dark cloud hanging over her, Fluttershy returned to treating the next wave of injured. For the rest of the battle, some of the spring in her step was gone, and patients had to go through slightly rougher treatment.





The initial wolven rush ended just as quickly as it started. It wasn't so for Medical. Injured had kept coming after the horns that signaled the battle's end. It was already afternoon by the time Fluttershy finished with the last patient. The recruits, and some of the senior medics collapsed where they stood. Redbrand watched them for a while, a frown still on his face. He opened his flask, and took a pull from it before heading out. Still frowning, Fluttershy followed him.

They were walking along an empty street when Redbrand turned around. "What do you want from me, Fluttershy?" he asked. "You should be resting up in case of an emergency."

"I can't believe you did that!" Fluttershy said with a stomp of her hoof. "How could you just give up on that dying pony without trying anything?"

Redbrand snorted. "Easy. I assessed his wounds, determined what treatment could help, then decided that he was too far gone."

Fluttershy gasped. Her eyes bulged as she stared at Redbrand. "That was his life you were dealing with!" she cried.

"His life was gone!" Redbrand retorted. "The best that could be done was to ease his pain a bit! What did you want me to do, Fluttershy? Patch him up desperately, then cry when he's dead? It would have been a waste of supplies, and a waste of time to do so. We don't have a lot of those in case you haven't noticed!"

"So you let him die to save on bandages?" Fluttershy asked. She wiped several tears away furiously. "I thought you were a good pony, but I was wrong. You're a cold-hearted pony who only cares about procedures and supplies!"

Redbrand glared at Fluttershy, and strode over. "And who's a good pony?" he asked. His face was but a foot from hers. "You? You think weeping, and getting angry over a lost cause makes you so much better?" His voice rose to a roar. "Well, you're wrong! You have a lot of compassion to go with your skills, Fluttershy, but you're arrogant! Arrogant at a level that is staggering if you think you can pull everypony from the brink every time! It's about time you learned some humility, and if watching somepony die is what will do it, then so be it! Be humbled! Be humbled by how fragile life is, and how harsh the world is!"

Redbrand turned his back so abruptly that something fell from his harness. It was a tuft of lavender hair tied up with a piece of yellow ribbon. His hard scowl softened when he picked it up. "Be humbled," he said in a more subdued voice, "by how painfully imperfect you will always be."

"The stallion's old enough to be your father!"

Right now, Doctor Redbrand did look much older. There were lines on his face, especially his forehead. There was stubble on his cheeks, and chin. He looked very tired, and she was intruding on time he could be resting.

Redbrand tucked the ribbon-tied bit of hair back into his harness, and walked away. He took another pull from his flask, a longer one this time. Fluttershy stayed behind, and stared at his back. What did she feel about him now?





In the southern section of the city, Hammer Chain's smithy operated even with the fighting by the walls.

"Put those molds out faster, Rarity!" Hammer Chain called out. "I've got a few more uses for them so they better not burn out because you're slow!"

With her telekinesis, Rarity dumped a bucket of water on the burning bolt-head molds. "Honestly," she said. "We've been making bolts all morning. Just how many of these things does the Legion need?"

"As many as we can make," Hammer Chain said. "You won't find any tale about some hero known for his legendary bolt, but the Legion goes through these so quickly, you'd think they were rocks that they just picked from the ground!"

With the molds put out, Rarity dumped the cooled bolt-heads into a small pile, and began filing edges and serrations on them as she had been taught just yesterday. "I suppose there are no stories of legendary bolt makers either?" she asked. She had no problem with engaging in small talk with Hammer Chain. She had been afraid the other day that he was going to be gruff and no-nonsense like Mage Captain Owlsight. However, he enjoyed small talk even if it was over the loud ringing of his hammer. He showed an interest in what Ponyville was like, and she was happy to oblige him with stories while she learned more of his trade.

"Bah!" Hammer Chain snorted. "Maybe a footnote or two about a smith, that's about it!"

Making bolts made up their first lesson out of necessity. The Legion needed a lot of them, and the sooner she could start helping, the better. Rarity didn't mind. She sharpened each head to a fine point, and added the serrations neatly and precisely, paying attention even to the distance between each one. Hammer Chain didn't dissuade her from such a practice, saying that was fine so long as she didn't lose much time.

With another pile of bolt-heads ready, Rarity magically lifted the pile into a crate that was full of them. A lone bolt-head escaped her grasp, falling and skipping into a dark section of the smithy. With a grunt, she put the pile inside the crate, then headed over to the fallen bolt-head.

As she approached the section of the smithy, however, her horn lit up with magic. She followed its pull to a nearby crate. "Hammer Chain, what's in these crates over here?" she called out.

"Those? Just some old projects," Hammer Chain replied. "What's the matter?"

Rarity opened the crate and discovered the cause of her magic's agitation. Inside were four six-inch long objects bundled together with a piece of cloth. She pulled out the bundle, and removed the covering to find four delicately tapering blades. Along the flat of each was a small blue gem. No wonder she detected them. She lifted each blade with her magic, marveling at how light they were for their size. "Hammer Chain, what are these?" she asked.

Hammer Chain stopped pounding long enough to look. When he saw the floating blades, his eyes widened. "You idiot, watch--" He stopped, alarm turning to curiosity. "Well, that's interesting."

"What do you mean?" Rarity asked.

"Those are the mage-blades I helped Magical design. They're supposed to give unicorn magi a set of blades they can use to slice up wolven even at a distance. That way, even if all a unicorn knew was telekinesis, he'd still have a powerful weapon. The mana crystals embedded on them makes them easy to magically maneuver so a unicorn can move them swiftly while remaining mobile and alert. The idea was scrapped, however. A shame too. It was a viable, but rare skill a long, long time ago."

"Scrapped!" Rarity said. "Why would such beautiful things be scrapped?" She smiled, and watched as she spun them in a  slow, graceful circle.

Hammer Chain stared at the formation with undisguised interest. "For one thing, the mana crystals work too well. Our testers flung them out of reach, or sliced themselves up when they tried to use them. They were also unstable. One moment easy to move, the next moment hard. The amount of precision needed to keep them in control was too much for your average unicorn mage. When we tried them out without the crystals, the amount of telekinesis needed to maintain hold of a blade, and maneuver it at a distance took too much focus. The same reason why telekinesis isn't so useful in combat. Unicorns were better off learning on-the-fly spells like fireballs and lightning bolts."

"But they're not difficult to maneuver at all," Rarity said. She spun the blades above her quickly, making them dance about.

"I've noticed," Hammer Chain said. "Maybe it's because of those gems on your flank. Why don't you keep them, Rarity? You never know when you need to slice a wolven up."

Rarity gasped. "May I? They looked expensive, and well-crafted!" She didn't relish the idea of attacking wolven, let alone slicing them up, but having something to defend herself with would be reassuring. Especially since she lacked Twilight's magical power.

Hammer Chain shrugged. "Why not? They were just gathering dust anyway."

"Thank you so much! I'll practice with them when I have time."

"Good. I'd hate to lose a good apprentice because she skewered herself with my old failures. Now, back to work, you've got more bolt-heads to make."

With a smile, Rarity put the blades away, and returned to the molds.





While his friends fought by the walls, or worked in their specific stations, Spike wandered the streets of Bastion City. He wanted to stay by Twilight's side while she was off fighting the wolven, but Mage Captain Owlsight would have none of it. "The front lines are no place for babies, hmph!" he muttered. He walked towards the southern part of the city. Maybe he could help Rarity. However, the streets were unfamiliar, and he was soon second guessing the paths he took. 'Great, now I'm lost.' 

Spike continued to wander about, hoping he'd chance upon the smithy Rarity was working in. He stopped when he heard loud scuffling sounds come from one alley followed by screams and howls. That wasn't right, the thick of the fighting was supposed to be in the northern part of the city. What was that all about?

A familiar voice suddenly came from a nearby alley. "Oh! Hey, Spike, what are you doing here?" 

Spike nearly jumped. "Scarlet Rabbit?" he asked. "What am I doing here? What are you doing lurking in an alley? Shouldn't you be helping with the fight?"

Scarlet grinned, and wiped some blood from his hooves to his barding. "Special Operations, remember?"

It soon became apparent that Scarlet wasn't alone. There were more legionnaires in the alley, including Vanguard Clash. They stood over the dead bodies of several wolven, and twice as many ponies. Next to Vanguard was what appeared to be an uncovered sewer opening. "What happened here?" he asked.

"Just a little cleaning up," Vanguard said. As he spoke, another pony emerged from the opening, a dark blue unicorn mare who dusted herself off after being helped out by Scarlet. "Did you collapse it?" Vanguard asked her.

"Right on top of another group of them," the unicorn said with a smile. "The wolven won't be using that tunnel again."

"Just in time too," Vanguard said. "Let's hope Blaze Trotter's squad got to their target in time."

"Don't be such a worry wart," the unicorn said. "He'll be fine." She caught sight of Spike, and inspected him curiously. "What's this?"

"His name is Spike." Vanguard replied. "He's a dragon who came along with the chosen."

"Dragon, hmm? I've read that they preferred Western Barrier Land, not this frozen paradise." The unicorn lifted Spike up with her magic, and held him up to only a few inches from her face. "Aren't you a cute one?" she said. Spike swallowed, and tried to back away despite being helplessly caught in the unicorn's magic. He'd been called cute before, but not by a unicorn with such a cat-like playfulness on her face.

"Captain Nightcanter," Vanguard said sternly.

"Oh, relax," Nightcanter said. "I know we're working." Spike immediately scampered near Vanguard when she put him down.

"I can't be too careful with you," Vanguard replied. He turned his attention to Spike. "No mentioning this to anypony, alright?" he said.

Spike nodded. He looked at the dead ponies. These weren't killed by wolven. Instead of bite and claw marks, they had sword cuts, the sort that Vanguard's enormous weapon would leave. "You killed them," he said.

"Yes," Vanguard replied. He glanced coldly over the dead ponies. "Equestria has a lot of enemies, Spike. Not all of them will come with claws and fangs."

The lack of emotion sent a chill down Spike's spine. He hadn't known Vanguard Clash for long, but he had already believed that the grim, silent stallion was a good pony who saved Twilight from being mauled by a wolven. Right now, Vanguard was more coldblooded killer than kindhearted rescuer. The other ponies with Vanguard began to wrap the bodies up in cloth, and drag them away. It was less than week since he found out that Equestria had enemies. Now he had to worry about some of them being ponies? "Now, I'm starting to wonder how we've survived for so long," he muttered.