//------------------------------// // Escalation // Story: Equestrian Doom // by tankmanbrony //------------------------------// The Guards were nervous as it late at night. They always came late at night several ponies had been dragged to their death. They had only started a few days ago with the high profile raid of five of had been dubbed Wraiths for their prowess at the task of raiding. They often killed their victims with several stabs into the belly and chest leaving many disemboweled or in pieces. They had been posted all twenty of them to halt such attacks. They had encountered different types of demons after the wraiths had been surprised imps and maggots had been encountered in other villages besides Ponyville. A few of the higher ups had warned the guards about a larger four legged kind sighted in packs numbering from ten to sixteen. Deemed highly dangerous by the high command they were to be exterminated on sight. Stahl paused in his thoughts to examine something on the ground it was a large foot print five toed behind it were two smaller footprints both round at the front and square at the back. He motioned for his partner Stalwart Shield over. “These are the foot prints of the other type” Stahl whispered “and they are still fresh.” “That means the demon is here somewhere.” Finished Stalwart. They heard a loud howl that these creatures were infamous for. As they closed in on the sound they eight Diamond Dogs ringing a pair of these demons. “Get the beastie, kill it!” shouted one who was the leader judging by his armor. They advanced slowly towards them eyeing the demons shuffling. Suddenly the two demons charged towards the leader and the other diamond dogs on either side of him. When they let out their howls the two diamond dogs broke at their charge but not their leader he lowered his sword and braced himself for their charge. When the first one slammed into him he rammed his sword through the bottom of its skull through the top. It stopped pulled back and tried to get the blade while the second one circled him waiting for him to produce a second blade. When none appeared it charged. He quickly sidestepped it grabbed one of dropped spears and rammed it into demons back. The first one was dead as the other diamond dogs has impaled it several time through its main body until it stopped moving and dissolved. The leader went over grabbed his sword and turned to face the demon it limped towards him and was getting ready to pounce when he slammed his sword into its body. Stabbing it again and again until it laid dead. “Bad beastie” was all he said afterwards. The two guards were surprised how the leader had taken down two almost single handily. Stahl was now interested “if that diamond dog killed both those demons that means they could be viable allies.” Stalwart laughed “those dogs are some of scum of Equestria who happened to get lucky and you think they’ll make good warriors. Besides wasn’t one of the high command once ponyknapped by Diamond Dogs?” “Yeah she was” admitted Stahl. “Bad idea”. Still later that day he filed a report marked “priory” and told the commanding officer that it was for the high command “I’ll send it but don’t be surprised if some higher rank decides it isn’t worth the higher ups attention”. They needed to know about potential allies as the ponies could not fight this war alone and most of the surrounding nations were preparing for the inevitable assault. They were all turning inward except his Equestria and the Crystal Empire, both were raising armies to go on the offensive against the demons. However with a current strength of sixty thousand he knew he shouldn’t doubt the capabilities of the army but what they were up against was unheard of until a few weeks ago. Desperate to raise an army most of the country’s stallions and a portion of the mares had been drafted into the army or they volunteered to join. He remembered the day he signed up to the guard before the war. It had been a bad day for him he had found out that his mare friend had been cheating on him with another stallion who didn’t even know about her. He had stormed out of the house at that point cursing himself for beginning stupid enough to trust her. He had walked into the recruiting officer’s booth sat by nineteen other ponies that they were being sent to Canterlot to train for several months. He was a veteran of three years of service but not in one was the guard ever called to do what it was doing. Last week the guard had been given over to the army for use as sergeants and other duties that would require experience in combat or leading other ponies into some altercation. How many of his brothers would live through the war he couldn’t say but judging by the enemy they fought not many. “Sir” shouted a private “a group of demons has been spotted numbering several hundred they are headed this way.” Stahl froze his worst nightmare had come true his small force of twenty would have to face a demon horde numbering in the hundreds unless reinforcements arrived. “Send a message to Canterlot requesting a full battalion of reinforcements we shall require them to repulse this enemy.” A soldier quickly wrote down he asked and gave it to a pegasus “bring this to the high command we’ll need every sword and spear we can get.” The soldier flew away straight towards Canterlot. He turned towards his soldiers. “Stallions, mares of third platoon we are to perform a delaying operation to slow down the advancing horde of demons from reaching Ponyville before the civilians can evacuate. But we will not stand alone just yesterday I saw a tribe of Diamond Dogs fighting the demons outside of their cave. They will fight against our common enemy.” If not for his senor position or his soldiers’ disciple he knew they would have laughed at him. “How many of you want to fight an army of demons numbering in the hundreds with only twenty soldiers with you?” Silence was all that greeted him. “That is what I thought." "With these additional soldiers we will be able to holdout until the reinforcements arrive to finish the job. At the worst we will only give the civilians time to slip away at the best some of us will live long enough to survive when they arrive to drive them back to their fortress." He had spent the better part of day organizing the evacuation when he decided if he wanted his platoon to survive he needed to enlist the Diamond Dogs as a last ditch defense force to help them last until the battalion arrived. As it happened the pegasus had arrived earlier that day saying that battalion was mobilizing but it would take it three full days of marching to get here, it would however take the demons two as they were closer. He need to forge an alliance with those dogs quickly. The latter part of the day was spent getting to cave and navigating it. He fell stumbling into a room crowded with Diamond Dog soldiers somewhere between eighty and one hundred this was better than he thought and simultaneously worse. Than one noticed him and the cry went up. They surrounded him some of them larger than the normal stock and judging by the fact that they actually had armor of decent quality very competent. When they had formed a complete ring around him the leader by the far largest detached himself from the crowd and moved forward the thing that bothered Stahl the most was his size easily seven feet tall he was nearly taller than the now deceased Princess Celestia. He spoke “what does this little pony want” his tone was gravelly and slighter higher than expected from such a larger beast but still very deep for a Diamond Dog. “I have brought news for you.” He shouted “there is a demon army numbering in the hundreds headed this way and I’ve come to ask that you help us defend each other.” One of what was probably the lieutenants spoke “why should we help you, why not use you to bait the beasties”. The leader turned and considered what each had to say before turning to Stahl and saying “we help you fight the beasties.” Stahl smiled in spite of himself as he was led by his newfound army to sun light. Here is where they’d fight them in the pass that would limit the number of demons that could come at them. His platoon had been waiting for him not expecting the quantity of Diamond Dogs that came behind him or the size of some especially the leader who was by far the largest. But a voice in the back of his head reminded him that he had nothing on a Hell Knight if their description was accurate. one the monsters a black one had supposedly killed Celestia. .This battle would have several if the recon could be trusted. He knew they’d be at the pass before noon so he had his soldiers and the diamond dogs followed suit to start preparing a defensive position.