Upheaval: Breaking Point
Chapter 36: Chasing Scarlet
A day of dealing the other Logistics officers left Hammer Chain itching for some smithing. He returned to his work with a vengeance, and, in his enthusiasm, he dragged along a sleepy Rarity and Spike to start at the crack of dawn. With leather and cloth repairs not yet coming in, he had seized the opportunity to teach his apprentice how to forge her first knife. Thus, the clanging that came from his smithy did not come from his practiced strikes, but from Rarity's first awkward attempt at crafting a blade.
"Put some more spirit into it, Rarity!" Hammer Chain said. "That's not how I showed you, unless you're trying to make a comment on my forging!"
"I'm sorry, Hammer Chain," Rarity answered with a barely-suppressed yawn. Though the lack of sleep left her sluggish, and partly inattentive, she was surprised by the ease by which she maneuvered the heavy hammer. True to what Prince Terrato had said, all she needed was to stay in the Barrier Lands to eventually attune herself to its magic. She wasn't growing by leaps and bounds like Twilight was doing, but her telekinesis had returned to its normal strength. If Applejack and Rainbow's fighting hadn't woken her up last night, she would be impressing Hammer Chain by now. "I would not quite describe myself as 'spirited' this morning, if I may say so."
"Half-dead, is what I say so!" Hammer Chain remarked. "What's the matter? Did you spend the entire night drinking like that rainbow-maned friend of yours?"
"Certainly not!" Rarity huffed. "I knew I had work in the morning and-- wait, how did you know about Rainbow Dash?"
"Passed by Storm Brew's on my way home yesterday. Rainbow Dash, hmm? She was the loudest pony in the barroom. Haven't seen that sort of bragging since Overcast." Hammer Chain paused, his expression darkening. "Tell your friend to be cautious. Dreadwing doesn't take too kindly to a pegasus who can't back her talk up."
Rarity stopped hammering on the glowing piece of metal, and turned towards Hammer Chain.
"Don't let that piece grow cold, Rarity!" Hammer Chain warned her.
"Oh, sorry!" Rarity replied. She focused on her work, her hammer strikes now getting more vigorous as each blow shook some of her torpor out of her. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Do you know a lot about Flight Dreadwing?" Spike asked.
"Been working with them even before Tailwind took the captaincy," Hammer Chain said. "A lot of our bolts go to Dreadwing, and most of their officers are wearing my work."
"What did you mean by what you said earlier?" Rarity asked. "Is Rainbow in trouble?"
Hammer Chain stroked his beard with a hoof. "Depends on how seriously Dreadwing's taking her. How good a flyer is she?"
Rarity fell into in deep thought.
"She's the best flyer in all of Equestria!" Spike said. He nearly yelped when he noticed Rarity's disapproving frown. "Well, best in the Heartland anyway," he added sheepishly.
"Sounds bad," Hammer Chain said. "She'd better impress then. Otherwise, it's Overcast all over again."
"Might I know who this Overcast is, and what happened to him or her?" Rarity asked.
Hammer Chain raised an eyebrow. "You don't know?" he asked. "I thought that you'd be familiar with the story since you're with Vanguard Clash and Scarlet Rabbit."
Rarity shook her head. "If it's going to be a concern for Rainbow, I'd like to hear about it."
"Me too!" Spike added. He leaned forward from the crate he was sitting on.
Hammer Chain motioned for Rarity to keep working, and stayed silent for a while. Eventually, he shrugged. "Overcast used to be a Dreadwing flyer several years back. He joined up about the same time as Scarlet. He was a pretty fast colt, and he knew it. Talked up a storm whenever the flight gathered, and he did prove it by beating most of his flight mates in races."
Hammer Chain gestured for Rarity to stop hammering, then inspected the blade. After eyeing it critically, he let her continue. "You can't blame him entirely. Reconnaissance flights encourage this sort of behavior: trophies, insignias, bragging sessions in barrooms, and so on. Overcast shot himself in the hoof, but his flight gave him the crossbow."
"So that's what happened?" Spike asked. "Flight Dreadwing gave Overcast a crossbow, and he shot himself?"
"He meant that figuratively, Spike," Rarity said. She looked to Hammer Chain, silently asking her teacher to continue.
"As I was saying…" Hammer Chain said. "Overcast had potential. He and Scarlet were easily the best flyers in their flight. Inseparable too. Couldn't count the number of times I passed by those two over at Storm Brew's. To nopony's surprise, Overcast eventually challenged Scarlet to a race."
Rarity dipped the blade into a bucket of oil to cool. After an approving nod from Hammer Chain, she went over to the grindstone to sharpen it. "How did the race go?" she asked.
Hammer Chain shrugged. "I wasn't there when they went at it. From what I heard, it was pretty close for the first half. By the second half, Scarlet pulled away, and won by a wide margin."
"I guess Overcast got taken down a peg, and had to learn a lesson on humility," Spike said. He nodded sagely. "I've seen it happen before."
When Hammer Chain didn't respond, Rarity looked worriedly at him. "That's not what happened, is it?" she asked.
"I'm sure it was a humbling experience," Hammer Chain said grimly. "Official story is that Overcast was so shamed that he couldn't show his face in Fangbreaker anymore, so he asked for a transfer to the Western Legion."
"So what really happened?" Spike asked. Rarity had been about to ask the same. If "official" meant the same as "truth" Hammer Chain wouldn't have used the word.
"Everypony did find the transfer strange," Hammer Chain said. "There was no sending off party, or even a goodbye from Overcast. Nopony even saw him after the race. The popular story was that Scarlet was so livid over his easy win that he threatened to kill Overcast and Dreadwing, rather than lose their best flyer over murder charges, decided to transfer Overcast."
"But he won!" Rarity said. "Why would a pony be so angry over winning?"
"Because he wanted to lose," Hammer Chain answered. "I saw his face whenever he won a race with his weights still on, and whenever he was listening to Overcast. Scarlet wanted to lose at his best, and he really believed that Overcast was the one to do it. When Overcast failed…I doubt that it was a pretty sight."
Spike swallowed hard. "S-so…what happened to Overcast after that?"
"From what Tailwind told me, he ended up at the wrong end of a wrath dragon's sneeze. Maybe that's true. Maybe Tailwind just says that to keep Scarlet from hunting him down."
Rarity wordlessly put a fine edge on her first blade. This was bad news indeed. She didn't know Scarlet very well compared to Rainbow, or Vanguard, but she couldn't have expected something like Hammer Chain's story from a pony who was constantly laid back, and smiling. She could talk to Rainbow about it, but after what happened with Applejack...
"Let's see how it's turned out," Hammer Chain said. He held up the blade to his face with magic. "Not bad for a first try. Let's continue with the hilting and--" Tailwind flung the door open, and entered. Hammer Chain put the blade down. "What a coincidence."
Tailwind set an enormous crossbow on the floor. The weapon was about as tall as a pony when stood up, and had a metal prod. "I need your help with this, Hammer Chain," she said. "The stock feels a bit flimsy."
"That's not exactly standard issue, Flight Captain," Hammer Chain said. "Off on a hunting trip?"
Tailwind nodded, and smiled. "You could say that. I need it ready for tomorrow's sortie."
"A sortie?" Hammer Chain asked. "What for? Is the siege breaking already?"
"I wish," Tailwind muttered. "We've got the first wave of reinforcements approaching from the south, and we need to give them a path to the city. I've been tasked with assassinating the brachyurus leading the wolven forces by the southern gates."
Hammer Chain frowned. "Sounds like a Special Operations pegasus' job." He levitated the enormous weapon, and inspected it. "Here's your problem. The stock's cracked. At least the prow's still useful. So, how'd you end up with the job?"
"Who knows what's going on with Special Operations?" Tailwind snorted. "I know that Scarlet's laid out in the infirmary. I guess none of the other squads could spare their pegasus for the job, or I'm the best candidate after Scarlet."
"I'll get on it then," Hammer Chain said.
Tailwind nodded, and left. Once she was gone, Hammer Chain let the weapon hover in front of Rarity, and Spike.
"Wow," Spike said. He hopped off the crate for a closer look. "That thing's huge!"
"This is a Quarrel Mark Two Windlass-Operated Arbalest," Hammer Chain said proudly. He pointed to the engraved symbol of a hammer with its handle wrapped in chain on the prod. "One of mine at that."
"Its string is so tough!" Spike remarked as he tugged on the bowstring. "I can't even bend it!"
"Its dragongut," Hammer Chain said. "Best bowstring material in all of Equestria."
Rarity put the strips of leather down, and stared at Hammer Chain. "Did you say "dragongut"?" she asked.
Hammer Chain raised an eyebrow. "That's right. You've never heard of it?"
"As in the guts of an actual dragon?" Spike asked aghast. "You kill dragons here too?"
"Not here," Hammer Chain said. His tone softened. "And only the ones we can't negotiate with. The lesser dragons like greed, gluttony and lust ones provide this material. We have to kill them when they rampage through a settlement anyway. Might as well make use of the bodies."
"But I haven't seen any other dragons around," Rarity said. "And the ponies here don't seem to recognize Spike."
"You won't find any this far north. You'll find plenty down the Western Barrier Land. Came from there myself." Hammer Chain shrugged. "The dragons don't mind us killing their lesser kin. Those mindless beasts are an embarrassment to them apparently."
Seeing Spike relax a little, Hammer Chain went over to Rarity. "Now, let me show you how to hilt that before I work on this thing, alright?" he said.
Rarity nodded, and pushed aside her worries for now. In the back of her mind, fear for her friend continued to nag at her.
Forced to lie on his belly and with his flank bound up, Scarlet stared at the infirmary's walls as if they were cage bars. He had been brought here after apparently shooting himself. If he wasn't so embarrassed by the incident, he would have protested having to spend the night in this place. All it took was a glare from Vanguard to get him to comply.
"Redbrand could at least get me some brandy," Scarlet muttered. He flapped his wings impatiently. A while ago, he had heard that there was a sortie being planned for tomorrow. It was all that he could do not to burst out of the infirmary, and tell Commander Dreadstep that he was ready for action. "Hey!" he called out when one of the medics entered. "Tell Redbrand…uh…my flank's hurting really badly, and I need a drink!"
Instead of hurrying away like the last one, this medic approached him slowly. As he got a better look, he recognized the long, pink mane, and the yellow coat. "Fluttershy!" he said. "Am I glad to see you! Say, do you have a drink on you?"
The lack of an immediate response didn't bother Scarlet. Fluttershy was but a foot away when he decided that she wasn't as glad as he was for this meeting, and that there was no drink coming.
"I want you to stop," Fluttershy said in a low voice. There was no hesitation when she spoke. No stuttering, and no backing away as well.
Scarlet raised an eyebrow. "Stop?" he asked. "Stop what? Shooting myself? I'd love to, but--"
Fluttershy leaned on Scarlet's bed, her face just a few inches away from his.
Scarlet froze when he stared directly into those green eyes. A chill ran up his spine. He tried to speak, but no words came out. All the world blurred except for those eyes.
"Whatever you're doing to Rainbow, I want you to stop it!" Fluttershy said. Her normally soft voice had steel underneath.
A low chuckle escaped Scarlet's lips, and his hooves dug into his bed. Oh, at long last he'd found it! This terror had to come from only one source! He lunged from his bed, knocking her to the ground, and pinning her in place with his hooves. His lips split into a grin as he took quick, and heavy breaths. "Found you…" he said, his voice shuddering.
Scarlet was already raising a hoof for a strike when Fluttershy realized that she was in danger. Just as suddenly, he flew to the right, crashing into a nearby table of medical supplies. Somepony offered Fluttershy a hoof. After a few shaky, and failed attempts, she took it. The hoof belonged to one of the senior medics. A couple of them had arrived with Redbrand.
Redbrand himself was turning around after kicking Scarlet. He gestured for the other medics to help him. Scarlet still had a bizzare, eager grin on his face when he got up. The bandages on his flank seeped blood. When he tried to make another lunge, the medics caught him. "Tie him down!" Redbrand snarled. "Use chains if you have to!" He looked to Fluttershy. "Let's go." With one last confused, and frightened look at Scarlet Rabbit's trashing form, Fluttershy followed Redbrand out.
"Come back!" Scarlet shouted. "Hassyth!"
"What were you doing in there?" Redbrand demanded once they had walked out of the infirmary. "Some kind of twisted chosen magic?"
"I was…I was trying to talk to him…" Fluttershy said. That was what she had planned when she saw Scarlet being brought into the ward. What she had seen last night was too much. Applejack and Rainbow Dash had argued before. They had even fought before. That would not have been a surprise as they were both headstrong, and stubborn ponies. But what had happened last night was no simple fight between friends. It was a strain on their friendship itself. For the first time in her life, she was afraid that the damage could be permanent. Rainbow was flying off somewhere she, or any of her friends, couldn't follow, and all she knew was that Scarlet had something to do with it.
Just as Scarlet had looked into her eyes, she had looked into his. He had recoiled when "the stare" suddenly came on, just as any other creature did. But, instead of staying recoiled, he had snapped loose like a metal spring wound up too tightly.
Redbrand stopped, and grabbed hold of Fluttershy, forcing her to look at one of his hooves. He was trembling too. "This is just from catching a glimpse of your eyes, filly," he said. "You better hope that I'm not doing any surgery today."
Fluttershy looked downwards. "I'm sorry."
"Forget apologies," Redbrand snapped. "Why were you trying to terrify him into talking anyway? Terrato grind me, they could use you in Special Operations with that stare. It'd do wonders for interrogations."
"Well…I didn't know it was going to happen," Fluttershy said meekly. "I just wanted him to stop what he was doing to my friend. But…it didn't work on him…"
"It worked alright," Redbrand muttered. "It just didn't have the sort of effect you're used to."
Fluttershy's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"
"That thing you do shakes ponies up. You don't get to control what you shake out when you do. "
Fluttershy stayed silent and stared at Redbrand in confusion.
"There are more monsters in this world than the ones out there, Fluttershy," Redbrand said. "Ponies hide plenty inside them. You never know what's going to tumble out when you shake a pony around. Scarlet's given you a taste of just how bad it can be."
Fluttershy swallowed. It was a foalish thing she did: confronting Scarlet by herself, and cornering him like that. She was fortunate that the other medics had stepped in when they did. More than ever, she was sure that Scarlet was bad for Rainbow. "I've never seen such a pony before," she whispered.
"You'll get used to it," Redbrand replied. "Spend a few years in Medical, and you'll see how the carnage of battle damages a pony. And it's not just their bodies too."
"Could it happen to me and my friends too?" Fluttershy asked.
"What kind of question is that? You're ponies too. Those ridiculous pictures on your flanks won't protect you from this place. Isn't that why Celestia stuffed you all in the Heartland?"
Fluttershy's heart sank. So it wasn't just Rainbow she had to worry about. Her other friends might start changing because of this place. Even she might start changing. She closed her eyes, and quivered slightly at the thought. She opened her eyes in surprise, however, when a hoof patted her on the shoulder. She looked towards Redbrand, who didn't match her gaze.
Redbrand cleared his throat before speaking. "Don't mope," he said, his gruffness sounded forced this time. "Not everypony ends up partly deranged. Others are strong enough to stay themselves. You and your friends might be among them."
A slight smile creased Fluttershy's face. He scowled, and looked away. "You have friends out in the front lines right?" he asked. "Tomorrow will be a test for them. You better be ready too, Fluttershy."