//------------------------------// // The Battle of Wethoof: Part 1 (16) // Story: Bronze Hoof // by cowboybird //------------------------------// The Battle of Wethoof Part 1 Second Arc: Delay of Game The mornin came too quickly for anyone’s likin. I stood and stretched, mindful of the low ceilin. Everyone else was still asleep, so I decided to go outside and do a few exercises. As I stepped out of the inn, and into the street, I let the damp mornin air fill my lunges. I couldn’t say it was chilly, considerin that this far south it hardly ever got cold, but it wasn’t as warm and dandy as I remember in New Findings. I sighed when I realized what today would be like, the probable crowd control, screamin ponies demandin my head on a pike, and not to mention Flower Founder keepin an eye on my friends and I. I strolled through the town, back to the barracks. The sun wasn’t up yet, but its crimson rays were forcin their way through the night sky. When the building I was searching for came into view, I had to give its architect an appreciative whistle. The battle of night and day in the heavens left the stone structure in a skirmish of its own. While most of the first floor was darkened by shadow, the upper parts were bathed in light. It drew my eyes towards the heavens, its majesty not lost on me. I noticed that few guards ponies were out in the trainin field, and fewer actually doin anythin. Flower was currently instructin a few recruits on the proper way to handle a sword. If the weapon hadn’t been made of wood, it would have cut one particularly scrawny pony in two. I just chuckled at his whining as he was replaced by yet another of his number. Before Flower could beat the tar out of her new target she noticed me approachin. “Practice the moves I showed you on each other, you better have it down to a ‘T’ when I get back.” At her commands the recruits began pairin up and hackin at each other. She trotted towards me, eyein my usual attire of dragon scale armor and the massive battle-axe hefted over my shoulder. “Didn’t expect to see you so early. Where are the others?” She asked as though we were friends. “Don’t worry your pretty lil head, their still sleepin. I decided to get a little work out in before the real work started.” I began to remove my armor, stackin it neatly on the corner wall. Takin the stuff off with one arm is surprisinly difficult, but eventually I managed. As I usually spent every day and night with it on, it felt weird to be without it, my second skin. I felt a gentle mornin breeze brush my fur, causin me to give a slight shiver despite the temperature. “Not used to being without your armor I see.” Flower started, fallowin me over to the weights stacked neatly near the dinin hall. “Makes wearin it in battle a hell of a lot easier.” I said, pickin up the largest weight on the bench. It felt like a feather in my hand, despite the numbers readin a clear “100 lbs.” I sighed and began to curl it. Flower was shocked at the ease of which I lifted the weight. “You really are strong aren’t you? We’ve received reports about a minotaur that was as strong as a dragon, but I didn’t know it was you. I didn’t even know you were up near the Equestrian/Gem Fido region.” I stopped curlin my weight, confused. “I’ve never even been close to Gem Fido.” “Well, it must have been another one of your kin. Although not many among the sentient can boast their strength equaling a dragons, even a fledgling’s.” She gave another look at my arm, the veins threatenin the burst through my skin. I thought I saw a bit of longin in her eyes, but before I could pin it, she turned and returned to her recruits. I chalked it up to me bein tired, and resumed my work out. Every once in a while I would catch a guard givin me a dirty look. Once I noticed, they would turn away, and resume their conversation with their friends. I tried to keep track of which ones gave me the stink-eye, but they all looked the same. The only ones I managed to keep focused on were some of the officers. About thirty minutes later Quick, Bronze, Toni, and Nar-Kuth came into the yard, all lookin sleepy-eyed. “Hey Bronze, what’s up?” Quick said, grabbin his own set of weights and startin his morinin routine. “Not much, just decided to get a little exercise before the day started.” He gave me a nod. Nar-Kuth grabbed a jump rope, and began his own work out. Gear and Toni just sat in the grass talkin about what the day would bring in soft tones. The sun was now fully visible in the sky, havin knocked the last of the night into the horizon. I immersed myself in my workouts, now focusin on my legs. I was interrupted from my squats by an irritated lookin Flower. “Well, considerin almost half the guard has vanished from the barracks and their assorted duties, I’d say this coup is about to start. Get your men ready and meet me in the dining hall.” I nodded, and she walked away. The others had heard her, and began to ready themselves. Toni gave me a hoof with my armor, helpin me strap the stubborn leather into place. When we were done, I grabbed Spirit Inferno and headed towards the sound of Flower yellin at subordinates. When we entered, everyone turned towards us, eyein my group suspiciously. “They’re here to help. Take a seat.” She motioned towards five metal chairs sittin off to the side. My friends and I took our seats, and gave Flower our attention. “Now, as you all know, or at least realized, most of the guard is gone from their regular duties. You may ask yourself, where are they? What are they doing? Can I join in on the fun? I’m here to tell you that your comrades in gold have defected from the guard.” There was a surprised uproar from the other ponies in gold. Several accusations were thrown around about ponies in the room workin for the other side, but all were quieted by Flower. “SILENCE!” Immediately the guards obeyed the command, and after a few seconds of silence Flower continued. “We have a duty to Equestria, and to its ponies. We will protect them at all costs, and try not to squander the name of the Princesses in the process. We all took solemn vows to obey the rule of the pony sisters, and they have demanded that all outposts from the country be open to friendly species. They did not order us to close off our borders to those in need, and definitely not oppress those who are different!” She paused and took a breath of calmin air. “The other guard’s members will try to revolt against the princesses. They will try to convince you to join them, to betray our rulers! What do you say to that GUARDS?!” A resoundin “Hoorah” rang around the dinin gall, shakin the plates that rested in a sink, ready to be cleaned. “That’s what I like to hear. Out there you may be forced to attack, and even harm some of your fellow guards that you have called brothers for so long. For this I am sorry. But they are no longer guards, they are no longer part of Wethoof, and they are no longer your brothers! They broke their sacred vows, and now we need to protect our citizens from their wrath.” Everyone quieted down after Flower finished. Their somber expressions not hidin what they were feelin inside. I could tell most were morose that they would have to harm their friends. Some may have to kill. But even the sour mood in the room couldn’t hide the reverence each and every one of them held for their rulers. Flower and I could both tell that they were ready. That they were willin to defend their way of life. I looked over to my friends, Gear and Toni lookin to be on the verge of tears from the speech. Quick looked at peace, like he was ready to clean his name, wipe the red from his ledger. Nar-Kuth, as always, was hard to read. He seemed to accept the delay, even if it was barely. I looked over at Flower, who was busy givin her men their orders. Defensive barriers were to be erected here, pegasi would hold the sky here. Offensive and defensive unicorns to be positioned here. So on and so on. When she was done givin orders, and the officers around her gave a resoundin “Yes Ma’am” the only souls left in the dinin hall were Flower and my group. “What’s the plan captain?” I asked. “It’s Sergeant, and you will be with me. Quick and Toni, I could use you two with the pegasi, they will need the help. Gear can hold the defensive with the magi, I hear you quite good Mr. Head. Nar-Kuth…do what you seem would be most helpful.” We all gave a nod, and before the others could exit, she gave in one last word, “Try not to kill anyone please.” Quick and Nar-Kuth gave a chuckle before disappearin. Toni and Gear were short behind. I gave Flower a hard stare. “If anythin happens to them, you die.” I said, makin sure my voice was low enough that she understood my seriousness. “No need for that Bronze, if they are half of the fighters I hear they are, they should be fine.” With that she walked out of the building with me in tow. We walked up to the short wall that surrounded the courtyard. The street was eerily empty, despite the friendly guard patrollin the alleyways. “Where could the defectors set up camp where we couldn’t find them? The city isn’t that big that fifty ponies could go undetected.” I said, scannin the buildings around us. Most were wooden, their pane glass windows brushed with a miniscule amount of dew left over from the mornin. The sun was nearin its apex, maybe 10:30? “They could’ve gone out into the jungle, or maybe the sewers, or maybe a community friendly to their cause. The city may not be that big, but there are a ton of hiding places. Besides, it wouldn’t matter. The only thing we have against them is that they weren’t at their posts this morning. They need to throw the first punch, or we’ll be charged with treason.” I sighed, rememberin the wars that were fought back on Earth. The ones like this, where the enemy had to swing first, and there were a ton of civilians around were always the worst. Vietnam and Desert Storm came into my mind. They lasted the longest, and were the most debatable among the college folks. I always hated those who forced others into war. They were just old men sendin young men to their deaths. My thoughts drifted to my older brother, Jake. He’d been eighteen when he was first deployed to the middle-east. Only nineteen when he died. I promised my mother that I would never go into war, let alone see a battle. Not that that much mattered here, here was a different world. Different world, different rules. “So what do we do?” I asked, breakin the silence that had fallen around us. “We wait for…” she was cut off by a large explosion down in the markets. A cloud of dark smoke rose from where a bomb had gone off. “…that.” The sounds of swords sparkin into one another filled the street as ponies of all different shapes and sizes emerged from everywhere. Some came from the sky, others from the ground, and even more through the alleyway. They started to swarm the guards that were patrollin the streets, forcin them back to the barracks. I went to reach for my axe, only to be stopped by Flower placin a hoof on my hand. She shook her head, and I let the shaft fall back into its sheath. In total there were thirty five, some might have been guards, others maybe civilians who had joined their cause. Their numbers soon reached the friendly guards ponies, who were quickly put into a defensive retreat into the courtyard. There were only ten here with me and Flower. The rest had gone off into the city to patrol for aggressors. The guards ponies stopped their retreat at the walls. Although they did nothin to keep out the pegasi, they funneled the earth and unicorn members through the gate. I looked over at Flower who was barkin orders at her subordinates who were strugglin to hold back the onslaught of the renegades. I looked at her again, motionin if I could join the fray. She gave me a quick nod, and went back to her yellin. Although the renegades were usin what looked to be wooden trainin weapons, they were still doin damage on the guards. Two were already knocked unconscious, their bodies hulled back into the mob by one burly lookin renegade. I quickly marched past the friendly guard pony’s barrier, grabbed one of their fallen comrades from the stallion, and through him over my shoulder. Quickly the brown coated renegade stallion dropped the other off his back, and bucked into my chest. Although his kick might have caused a couple of ribs to crack in another opponent, not only was I wearin my dragon scale, but I had taken much stronger hits from others. I looked around to see that the other members of the mob were slowly startin to advance on me, havin overcome their initial fright at my size they were gettin bold. I decided to get the pony back quickly. The brown stallion gave another buck, which I caught in my hand. His eyes went wide as I lifted him into the air, careful not to drop the guard from his back. I placed him on my other shoulder, and held him as he tried wrigglin free of my grasp. I jogged back into the protective barrier of the guards, who were still holdin off the mob. Once inside I dropped all three ponies, letting the stallion drop with a little less grace. I smacked him hard on the back of the head, knockin him out. The other two I helped onto one of the corners of the wall. They were in no shape to continue the fight, but they could at least keep an eye on our backs. I turned my attention back to the wall of ponies fightin in their brawl. The renegades were startin to win, pushin the others back further into the courtyard. Flower was in the skirmish now, swingin a wooden sword of her own against someone who she apparently knew. “GOD DAMNIT PUMPKIN! I THOUGHT YOU WERE WITH US!” She hollered between smacks to his head. Despite her givin a beatin to Pumpkin, the others were not fairin so well. Most of who had stayed behind were new recruits. Unfortunately the renegades were mostly veterans of the guard, and were givin the recruits a whoopin. I grabbed a log that sat in the yard, and ran up to the line, battin a few pegasi out of the air. They flew over the wall and landed somewhere on the street, but that didn’t much matter. I pushed two of the guard aside and began swingin into the mob. My first couple of strikes landed home, knockin out more than a few of the renegades. Unfortunately they caught onto my game and began dodgin my strikes easily. I was slow with the swing, and most of the ponies were quick enough to dodge. By my count there were still around twenty of them, and only ten of us. Only when one of the recruits remembered that they were a unicorn, and through up a barrier around the barracks did we get a break. I looked at our numbers, countin eight still on their feet on our side, and twenty one on theirs. I could hear the sound of combat reverberatin through the city, the sound of small explosions echoin through the air. I thought about Quick and the others facin off against an opponent that was usin explosives. As if she were readin my mind, Flower stepped next to me. “We are the ones using the explosives. They aren’t deadly, and only serve to disorient the opponents. The offensive magi should be the ones throwing them. Gear will be fine. So will Toni and Quick. So far we are only using nonlethal measures, and so are they. Hopefully this will last, as no one wants to kill their brothers and sisters.” I gave her a nod, and she went to go tend to some of the wounded. I gave the brown earth stallion from earlier a glance. He was startin to stir, and still wasn’t tied up. I got walked over to him, and started tyin the climbin rope around his hooves. Once he became fully aware he started to struggle against his restraints. “Let me out of here you trash!” He screamed. Upon further inspection of him, he looked a lot like Big Mac, except, you know, brown. His main was baby blue, which complemented his dark green eyes. His cutie mark depicted a Hammer bearin down on a shield. “What’s your name?” I asked, only elicitin several insults about my genitals. “…WITH A GOAT!” He finished, out of breath from his rant. “Flattery will get you nowhere. Now, I’ll ask again, what’s your name?” This time he spit at me, but given his angle, he missed utterly. “Go fuck a dragon you son of a whore!” Apparently he must have seen my eye twitch, because he immediately stopped rantin, and adopted saucers as eyes. “What did you say about my mother?” I asked, the calmness in my voice doin little to mask the seethin anger buildin inside of me. “I’m sorry. It was spur of the moment. I…” Before he could finish I lifted him into the air by the rope. They hog-tie I had him in held, but from the sound of a couple cracks, his bones didn’t. “Now, I’ll tell you this once. I love my mother very much. She is a saint. And if any piece of trash says anythin wrong about her, I will end them. Now tell me, what did you say?” I was holdin him at eye level, lettin the edge in my voice go right into his ears. They were currently pinned to his head, and were he able, I’m sure his tail would be between his legs. He looked on the verge of tears when he replied. “I…said…my…my name’s Buffer…Forge…My name’s Buffer Forge.” His stutterin allowed me enough time to calm down from what he called my mother. “The shield won’t last much longer!” The unicorn who through it up yelled. Again the guards formed a line, this time only out two ponies. “Now, I’m gona ask this once. Where’s your base?” I asked as I sat him down. He began stutterin again, this time followed by a puddle formin between his legs. “I ain’t got all day son.” I said slowly. “They’re…in the markets. There’s a shop called Bucky’s. It’s a gem shop. The leaders are there.” He said, tears threatenin to break through. “That’s good Buffer. Now, how many are in the coup?” I kneeled down next to him, tryin in vain to get to eye level with him. “There are about a hundred. Some guards, but most are civilians.” The shield faltered, drawin the attention of the renegades out front. “Formations! Let’s move, come on!” I heard Flower yell, drawin her guard’s attention towards the glares that they were receivin from the other side. “That’s all for now Buffer, go ahead and take a nap.” I said, standin from where I knelt. “I don’t feel tir…” I cut him off with a quick punch to the face. He went out like a light. The shield fell, and the fightin continued. I ran over from where I was, and joined in the fray. Flower was next to me, beatin another poor soul with a wooden sword. I left my log in choice of usin my hands. I delivered a couple blows to some of the larger lookin stallions that decided to get close enough to me. Whenever I laid one out, another would join their place. I turned to Flower. “I know where they’re hidin.” I said, laud enough for her to hear, but not loud enough to be heard over the sound of battle. I told her about Bucky’s, and the approximate size of their numbers. “Fine, you stay here. I’m gonna go get some magi and storm the place.” I nodded while simultaneously sendin a hay-maker into the muzzle of a pegasi. Flower backed out of the circle, allowin me to fill her place. She disappeared from my peripherals, presumably to a back door in the complex. One lucky earth stallion landed a buck to my crotch, elicitin a moan of pain while I fought through the want to drop to my knees and rock back and forth. This was goin to be a long day. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Elsewhere “I don’t like this game!” Toni complained as she dodged another attack from the grey Pegasus she was currently fighting. “It’s not a game Toni. Just knock him out!” Quick yelled from his brawl with two more of the winged ponies. Toni mentally shrugged and did a flying roundhouse kick into the stallions’ muzzle. Although they were only twenty feet from the ground, the sound of his hard landing made Toni flinch a little. She had never liked hurting ponies, but Gear had told her that they were mean, and needed to be kept at bay until the princess got there. She heard the sound of wind whipping past hooves just in time to feel said hooves collide with her flank. Pain ran along the sight of the blow, temporarily stunning her. She caught herself before she hit the ground, spreading her wings and gliding just above the street. She looked at her surroundings trying to find her abuser. Too late did she see the pair of gold colored hooves plow into her muzzle. Toni dropped to the ground, the pain in her snout indicating that it was at least cracked. She let out a whimper from the pain, barely coherent enough to recognize the rebel guard approaching on hoof. Her vision was blurred and most all of what she could hear was a faint ringing that came from deep in her ear canal. The blurred guard approached her seemingly silently. Muffled sounds signaled that he was speaking to her, but what it was she had no idea. Once the ringing stopped, and she could hear him, she gathered the jist of it all. “…non-pony lover scum. Did you really think that you and your friends could just wonder into our town and expect us to do anything?” He kicked Toni in the ribs, not cracking any, but getting the message across. That’s gonna bruise. Toni thought. Just as he delivered another kick to her barrel Quick swooped down and tackled the guards pony to the earth. “Don’t…You…Ever…Touch…Her!” Quick yelled from his dominant position, delivering hard blows to the Pegasus’ muzzle. He stayed on top of him for a while, continuing to break and disfigure the pony. Toni laid there, the battle raging around her. When Quick had satisfied his anger, he turned his attention towards her. His face was etched with concern, his brow was furrowed in that way she always found kind of cute. She came out of her musings just in time to hear him talk to her. “Are you alright?” He began examining her body, taking care to look over her barrel and muzzle. She found herself blushing, which if it weren’t for the reddening of the beating Quick might have noticed. “I’m fine. Nothing broken, but I think I need a minute.” He nodded, and picked her up with his strong arms. I nestled up into his plumage, enjoying the sight of his yellow chest plumage against my muzzle. The sound of battle escaped into the distance as he flew me away. “Where are we going?” She asked, curious as to why he was leaving the battlefield behind. “I’m taking you back to Bronze. If I wasn’t able to protect you, he sure as hell can.” He flew between buildings, keeping low to the ground as to go undetected from the rebel pegasi that roamed overhead. “But I want to stay with you!” She demanded, squirming just enough to wriggle a hoof free. “The battlefield is no place for a pony like you, you could get hurt.” Quick replied, slowing down greatly from her attempts at freedom. “I’m not a pony, I’m a dragon!” Toni insisted, once more freeing her other foreleg. “Still, you’re way too young to be out here. Bronze will keep you safe. Stay by him.” They had reached the street the guard’s compound was on only to come across an interesting sight. There were maybe ten of the rebel guards and civilians attacking their behemoth of a friend at once. All around them bodies lay unconscious from the battle previous. Bronze was wielding a large wooden log or bench as a weapon, swinging madly into the mass of enraged ponies around him. He was wearing his armor, but still showed off bruises and cuts of different sizes from the onslaught of hooves. The two watched in amazement as their big lug grabbed his impromptu weapon with both hands, and spun it around him like an ice skater would their partner. Several of the baddies were caught in his perilous path, allowing them to join their brethren in the land of dreams. Four managed to back away from his attack, three pegasi and an earth stallion. As one they began their assault anew, ushering in a new round of “Kick the Big Guy in the Back.” Quick placed Toni on the ground, her hooves still a little unsteady due to her probable concussion. She watched as her feathered friend flew into the skirmish. Bronze must have heard him or smelled him, because he immediately dropped to his knee, barely catching the buck that was coming for his head from the earth stallion, as Quick plowed into one of the three flying ponies. Bronze made short work of the earth stallion seeing that his companions were more concerned with Quick, as they should be. When it came to ground battles Bronze held the advantage, hands down. But areal warfare was Quick’s business. Griffins were faster, and much more ruthless in the air than any other species with wings, except for dragons of course. Toni watched as Quick dodged several attacks from two of the pegasi, only to retaliate with his own strikes. She let herself be caught in the way Quick moved, the tension of his muscles as he blocked one of his opponent’s attacks, the sweat that accumulated on his brow glistening in the sunlight. Only once Bronze came back into the picture did the tables turn from even, to just downright unfair. Her horned friend grabbed one of the pegasi that was distracted with Quick, and smacked him into the concrete street. While the other two lost themselves in Bronze’s show of strength, Quick made short work of them. When all the renegades were unconscious the three friends regrouped inside the walled courtyard of the barracks. There were two guards ponies who had appeared to have fallen asleep inside. With a quick nudge from his hoof, Bronze got them up, and gave them orders to tie up the rebels, and wake their companions. They offered a short solute, and retreated to obey their orders. The big lug sighed and sat down hard on one of the stone benches that sat around the courtyard. Quick soon joined him on it, motioning for her to do the same. She obliged, and took a seat on the opposite side of Bronze that Quick had sat. “So, how’s your day goin mate?” Quick asked, lightly punching the minotaur on the arm. Gods she loved his accent. “Just peachy hoss. Yours?” Quick chuckled, and waved towards Toni. “She almost got the tar kicked out of her. You think you can watch her as I rejoin the air battle over by the markets? They could use all the help they can get. There has to be at least thirty of the little flying rats over there.” Bronze thought for a second, then nodded. “Yeah I’ll keep an eye on her, besides, she could probably be more help than some of the friendly guards around here.” Toni giggled, the side effects of her beating subsiding. “You two worry too much! I’m a big dragon, I can take care of myself.” She made a motion of puffing out her chest and placing a hoof on her chest dramatically. Quick gave her one of his warm smiles. Gods she loved his smile. Another explosion rocked the city, its epicenter coming from the residential district. “Looks like Gear is havin fun. Poor guy, hope he’s alright.” Bronze sighed again. Toni knew what he was feeling. Regret. Regret of leaving each other to go to different parts of the city on orders of some Sergeant Flower who Toni really disliked. Regret that they couldn’t be there for each other like they always were. “Oh well, I got to be getting back to the markets.” Quick made to get up, only to be stopped by Bronze’s hand. “When you get there, keep an eye open for a gem store called ‘Bucky’s.’ Supposedly it’s the hiding place of the big dogs behind all this.” Quick gave a curt nod, and took off hard into the air. He shot over the buildings, and out of sight. Toni sighed inwardly, she really didn’t like leaving her friends. But she really REALLY didn’t like leaving Quick. “Don’t worry darlin, your boyfriend will be fine.” Bronze said, laughing deeply at the shocked expression she gave him. “Oh don’t be such a sour puss. Everybody knows about you two but you two.” Toni, out of nowhere, started to growl at Bronze. If she hadn’t been angry with Bronze, she would have laughed at his expression. Why she was mad she didn’t know, but she knew who to take it out on. “Now Toni, let’s not be rash. It was just a joke.” She gave him an evil smile, then lunged at him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Elsewhere…Elsewhere Sweat poured off of Gear’s brow and into his eyes, stinging them. Even though he was surrounded by his fellow unicorns for the first time in what seemed like forever, he wasn’t having fun. All day since the original bomb went off in the fountain that was the center point of the domestic area of the town, he and the friendly guard had been casting spells nonstop. Another volley of bolts came from their opposition. Fire, ice, metal, even some dandelions smacked into the shield that protected most of the defensive unicorns. Gear winced as they made contact. Hitting the shield was like poking his brain, except his brain is really big, and their poking it with fire. He and the other defensive unicorns opened holes in the barrier to let the offensive unicorns throw their own projectiles at the rebels. More fire. More ice. More swords and axes and arrows. On the other side of the fountain, where their battle was taking place, a large pink bubble enveloped the enemy group, shielding them from the attack. Wherever a projectile hit, a wave of energy would flow out, just like dropping a pebble into a puddle. The various ripples traveled along the bubble, finally reaching the street and dissipating into the ether. Gear sighed as another volley came their way, and winced once again when it made contact. This time one of the guards fainted from magical exhaustion, dropping his knees, and then passing out entirely. “Damn!” Gear thought, “That’s the third of our ranks, and only the second of theirs.” Part of the barrier he saw in his mind faltered from the lack of energy being poured into it. Gear grunted as he attempted to fix a hole that had formed in the combined spell. A second layer of energy encompassed his horn as he mentally applied a new skeleton and magic “concrete,” as Gear liked to call it, into the hole. He finished his job right before the next volley hit. The poke became a jab as more of his energy was needed to keep the barrier from falling. He took a moment to look around him. There were maybe ten of them, three of which were unconscious, and five who were acting as offense. All were guard, which meant that they were well suited for dealing with strenuous times like these. Their magical reserves were said to be some of the highest in the world, save for dragons and the princesses. He took a glance at where the three soldiers had fallen. Well maybe not in the world. Gear closed his eyes and waited for the next volley to hit, only to find it never came. He tentatively opened them and looked across the way to the rebels. Almost half of their twenty members were unconscious, and the rest were looking around nervously for the source. Gear took a better look and saw that the ones who were down were all clad in golden armor, leaving only three other rebel guards and seven civilians. Before Gear could question how their numbers had been cut so severely, a plume of smoke erupted in their defensive bubble, cutting out any light entering, and dropping visibility down to zero. Gear gasped as the smoke cleared to find none other than Nar-Kuth standing over the downed members of the rest of the rebel unicorns. The cat strolled out of the wreckage that surrounded where the rebel bubble had been, and towards Gear’s group. Just as he dropped the barrier he noticed several of the friendly guards raise offensive spells towards his friend. “Hey! He’s friendly. Didn’t you see what he just did for us?” Gear yelled gaining the attention of the guards. They gave him dirty looks, the reason of which he didn’t know why, before dropping the charges in their horns and moving off to a different area of the city. As Nar-Kuth got closer Gear smacked him on the back, well as best as he could anyway. “Good job Nar-Kuth. That was some good fighting. Where did you learn that?” “When you live in the jungle, and your main alley is stealth, you pick up a few things.” He replied, already walking towards where the friendly guards had disappeared to. “Where have you been? I know Flower said do whatever you can, but no one has seen you since you slinked off back there.” Gear said, waiting for his feline friend to respond. “I was doing some research.” He answered cryptically. “What kind of research?” “Kind that will come in handy later.” “I know that but…” Gear was cut off by Nar-Kuth raising a paw to silence him. Gear watched as the cat-man’s ears swiveled around on top of his head. “Do you hear that?” Nar-Kuth asked. Gear strained his ears in vain. Only to find nothing out of the ordinary. “I don’t hear anything.” “Exactly.” The feline said before ducking swiftly into a building they were walking by. Gear was quickly pulled in by his friend, and not a moment too soon. Just as Nar-Kuth closed the door, a dozen guards and civilians ran around the corner of the building. Gear and Nar-Kuth watched through one of the windows in the wall, hidden in the dark corners of the house. “What happened to the guard?” Gear asked. “Probably ambushed, we can’t stay here. Come we’ll find a way around them.” He said as he slipped off further into the home. “But where are we going?”