Chapter 23: Graduation (M)
Chapter 23: Graduation (M)
The exercise ended, and the ponies were now standing in attendance as the ones that scored the highest marks during the Week of Pain, were called forward to be awarded their medals, Slate was among them.
The sun was high in the sky, a few clouds here and there, and Princess Luna, would be the one that to put the medals around their necks. She stopped in front of each of them and an aid would read the privates accomplishments before Luna would give them the medals, offer a salute and congratulate them on their accomplishments. None of the medal wore actually worth anything, but they did came with the advance to private two, if any of them chose to go career.
“Congratulation,” Luna said to the last pony after she place the medal around his neck.
“Thank you Princess,” the private replied, just like the rest of them did.
“About face,” they were ordered after Luna started walking away from them.
Before the officer could order them to return back to formation the crowd gasp as Luna wobbled and fell to her knees.
The Royal Guards rushed to the princesses side, but were taken down by green bolts of lightning coming from the crowd. The wind blew, the sky darkened a pony screamed, and chaos ensued.
The townsfolk were running away, and the Royal Guards tried to stop them from leaving the area, not wanting to lose the assassins. The top cadets took defensive position around the princess and were looking around for the source of the attacks.
“STAY IN FORMATION!” an instructor yelled at the privates, the rest of them relaying the order to their respective platoons.
The Guards were unable to stop the crowd from pushing through and soon the civilians were spread all over the city running towards their homes.
Four Royal Guards unicorns came running into the central square and headed straight for the princess.
“MOVE ASIDE!” they yelled at the privates that surrounded the Luna. “WE NEED TO GET THE PRINCESS AWAY FROM HERE!”
Two of them picked the princess up, putting her hooves around their necks.
“What is going on?” Slate ask as the two unicorns were dragging the princess away.
“Stand aside private!” the Guard ordered. “The Princess is in danger and we are wasting time!”
“But sir...” Slate went on, but another unicorn tugged on his cape and hit him in the face, knocking him to the ground.
“STAND ASIDE PRIVATE!” he yelled at Slate as the other two unicorns left with the princess.
“Yes sir,” Slate said, wiping the blood from his broken nose.
“You, take care of the recruits while I go and deal with the princess,” he told the other unicorn.
“Yes sir!” the unicorn replied, offering a quick salute and heading towards the platoon located the closest to the middle.
“You, back to formation!” he told Slate before running to catch up with the other two.
“Instructors to me! Instructors to me!” the Guard yelled as he headed towards the middle.
The wind picked up again, and the clouds were blocking most of the sunlight.
“Sir! What is going on here? Is the Princess allright?” drill sergeant Lance asked as he, and the rest of the instructors surrounded the Guard, all of them wondering what has happened to the princess.
“She is being taken care of,” the Guard reassured them. “But there are more pressing matters you need to be aware off...” A small quake that could be felt all through the city interrupted him.
He took a deep breath and let out a deafening shriek. The loud noise made the instructors ears bleed, and they screamed in pain. A second tremor was felt.
“For the Queen of Queens!” were the last words he said before his body exploded in a giant ball of green flames, that engulfed and incinerated all that stood near him.
A third tremor happened, this one much larger than the rest, and the ground beneath the city square collapsed, taking the recruits down with it. The pegasus quickly reacted taking off, some picking up other ponies as they saved themselves from the fall. A few unicorns with good reaction times managed to raise barriers around themselves and some of the ponies around them.
A deep crater now appeared where the square had been only moments later, swallowing up most of the privates. The armors offered some protection, but still almost half of the ponies that fell in either died or were buried deep under tons of earth and stone.
Barriers started dispelling and the survivors started making their way out of the rubble.
“Cory!” Starry yelled as he looked around for the mare. “Cory!”
“Starry!” a voice called out to him from above.
Starry turned his head upwards and saw Cory dangling from Slate’s forelegs. The two pegasi descended into the pit and as soon as Cory’s legs touched the ground she ran into his embrace.
“Thank Celestia, you are safe,” the both of them said, as they squeezed each other tighter, before kissing. Another loud shriek was heard.
“Knock it off you two!” Slate yelled at them as his eyes were focused on the sides of the crater.
The earth was starting to give way and tunnel mouths were opening.
“Arm yourselves,” Slate yelled out as he grabbed a spear from the ground and held it tight.
Cory and Starry listened to their friend’s orders and pulled out their swords. Starry holding his in his magic while Cory held hers in her mouth. They let their capes fall and prepared for a fight, the rest of the recruits did the same.
A plethora of shrieks came from the tunnels just before hundreds of bats came out and attacked the unarmed pegasi above. Their fur and wings was covered in blue spots, their fangs and claws were longer and they could be best described as anger filled, ravenous beasts.
As the bats attacked the pegasi the went straight for the kill, either tearing off their wings, slicing their neck, or ripping off their entire head, none of them survived.
“HUDDLE UP! UNICORNS AT THE CENTER! NOW!” Foggy ordered and the soldiers gathered in small groups, formed around the unicorns. “HORNS UP AND FIRE AT WILL!”
Every unicorn lifted his horn towards the sky and started firing blue magic bolts, three or four bolts were needed before a single bat fell. As if somepony gave an order half the bats fanned out throughout the city, while the other half attacked the soldiers.
As soon as they were close enough the Guards strike them down with the spears and swords, not allowing a single one to get close to the unicorns. But the creatures were relentless, and before long the ponies found themselves surrounded on all sides by a veritable wall of dead and dying bats. The wall was so high in some places that the ponies were forced to break formation and climbed onto it just so they would not be burried alive.
“Keep it up!” Slate urged the rest of them.
“Look!” a soldier pointed out towards the edges of the crater. “Reinforcements!”
Standing above them were two groups of eight Royal Guard unicorns, their horns glowing green. Without saying a word the ponies fired long continuous beams and completely obliterated two formations. The ponies didn’t even have time to scream before their lifeless husks fell to the ground. Two more beams were fired.
“SCATTER!” Slate called out, but it was too late. A third group was exterminated and a beam was coming straight for them.
Immediately Starry raised a barrier, and blocked the attack. He fell to the ground and the barrier fell.
“SCATTER!” Slate yell again and this time the ponies listened.
The ponies fanned out but that only made them easy prey for the bats, who swooped down and sank their claws in the ponies backs, lifting them up.
“TUNNELS!”
Cory and Slate picked up Starry and dragged them down a nearby tunnel. The rest of the ponies did the same. Inside the tunnels they would be surrounded. On one side were the bats that landed, while on the other were the bats that were heading for the surface.
The two pegasi took positions on the other side of Starry and held off the two advancing groups. Anypony who entered a whole alone never came out.
“The Princess...” Starry muttered, as Cory withdrew her sword from a bat’s neck.
“What about her?” Slate asked as he sliced at another one.
“The guards that took her, they were like the one that killed the Sarge.”
“We need to go after her!” Cory said as she stabbed a bat, forcing it to back away.
“Slate, can you carve a path in the sky?”
“I can’t carry you and fight them off!” he said, dispatching another one.
“You won't need to...” Starry’s horn glew and from beneath his armor he pulled out a small bag, inside the bag were two oddly shaped gems, both of them looking like purple cats eyes.
“You made two of them?” Cory took a peek and saw the gems.
“I was afraid you would break the first,” Starry said as he removed the cyan, star shaped gem from his chest piece.
“What are you two talking about?!” Slate asked after dealing with another bat.
“He is so going to freak out.”