Sandpoint, 1 of Rova (Presumably 24 of September, 1000 SR), Afternoon
I held on for dear life as the crowd of townspeople ran past our small group, bumping into us in a desperate attempt to get away from the high-pitched voices. My porch on AJ's shoulders proved to be a bad place to be at the moment; with all the jostling going about and Applejack's attempts to dodge the ongoing storm of limbs it was like if I was a part of a rodeo competition. And knowing how those types of things usually ended for me I was mentally preparing myself for a close encounter with the ground.
I didn't have to wait long.
Some man (or was it a woman?) bumped into AJ violently, knocking her over. But if it was enough to knock Applejack to the ground, it most definitely was more than enough to fling me across the square. Which it did by the way. For a split second I was in the air, feeling completely witless as I soared majestically through the sky, just like a pegasus. And then gravity kicked in. Ah, gravity, my old foe, how I despise thee thou hath no idea. With your brutal, unforgiving ways you forced me to the embrace my lack of wings and reunite with the ground. My face greeted the dirt-covered street like one would greet his lover. Or in other words I face-planted. Hard.
Groaning and feeling my nose, hoping it wasn't broken, I tried to get back on my feet. A bit dizzy from the whole ordeal it took me awhile, and by the time I managed to stand up most of the crowd had dispersed. Only a few stragglers, either too terrified to move or too confused by what was happening still stood around, scanning their surroundings wide-eyed. The cackling, giggling, and let's not forget singing grew louder by the minute, and soon enough I saw my first glimpse of what drew so many people to panic. One thing's for sure however: whatever I was expecting, it wasn't that.
I noticed the… thing… the… goblin… hiding under one of the long tables, grinning gleefully. It was a small creature, a bit shorter than even me, which for all reasons and purposes should not terrify creatures three times its height. But its height wasn't the decisive factor on the creep-o-meter. The goblin had green skin, giving it the appearance of your stereotypical alien (that is if it was a quadruped), and its oversized head that seemed not to fit its scrawny little body only reinforced that image. It was bald, had long, bat-like ears and two small, beady eyes the color of deep crimson. And its mouth, dear Celestia its mouth. If I thought Pinkie had an overly wide one, than this creature had the mother of all maws. It almost spit its bulbous head in two, stretching quite literally from ear to ear, and was filled with rows of sharp, yellow teeth, giving it a look so downright creepy that I really was contemplating legging it. Its strange appearance was completed by a set of brown, leather clothes fastened in a crude fashion and decorated with bones and skulls that strangely resembled rodents, and by a rusty-looking, red-stained knife kinda resembling a cleaver with a sharp point, looking like if the thing had raided somepony's garbage bin and made it from refuse.
I stared for a moment at the strange creature, at its grinning, tooth-filled maw as it looked around in search for something to do. It licked its crude blade while giggling, unnerving me to no end. Instinctively I backed up until I bumped into somepony. Glancing back I realized it was Twilight, and noticed that she too was staring at the goblin under the table. The pale green tint her face was enough to realize what she thought of the creature. The fact she too was backing away from it slowly only added to that.
I stuck closer to Twilight, feeling a bit safer knowing she was near, but to be on the safe side I kept an eye on the greenskin. At the moment the goblin seemed content to ignore us and decided it would be a good idea to climb on top of the table. Judging by the twitching of its nose I gather it smelled all the food and decided it might as well eat something while it was here. After all, it was a smorgasbord it was climbing on.
With the goblin preoccupied I let myself glance at the others and see how they were doing. It took only a moment to realize that by this point everypony had seen what was making all the commotion. Problem is, each of the girls was looking in a different direction. Following Rainbow's gaze, and then doing the same with AJ who was looking somewhere completely else I came to a disturbing conclusion.
We were surrounded.
Why am I not surprised?
There was about twice as many of the greenskins as there was us, maybe more. Although most of them were distracted by other things, some for example comparing their shoddy garbage-made cleavers with actual tableware, a few of them were eyeing us, and the demented smiles they were sending our way were anything if not disturbing. It was probably why the girls gave in to their pony herd instincts. Each of them individually decided it was best to huddle together for protection, and in mere moments formed something akin to a defensive line with AJ, RD, and Pinkie of all ponies in front. Swallowing the lump in my throat I decided I wasn't going to let myself look like a wimp and begrudgingly I stepped forward too. Only once I stood in front of Fluttershy did I realize something however. We were completely unarmed, the makeshift clubs we made that night discarded before we entered town. Just our luck…
"Um… guys?" I asked. "Shouldn't we, well I don't know, try to find a way out of this? I rather not mess with those things."
"What is it Spike, you chicken?" I looked at Rainbow unamused. "I mean come on, they're like what, four hooves tall? Five? We can take 'em."
"They're barely shorter than I am." I said evenly, eying one of the goblin bite the flat of its own blade. "Sure, they look like numbskulls, but who knows what they're capable of."
"Considering they're green-skinned midgets with bulbous heads I doubt they are any serious threat." RD replied cockily.
"Besides, maybe they're not so bad." Pinkie chipped in. "Just look at them smile. How can something that smiles so much be bad? I bet they're real party animals." I was about to send her "are you serious?" look, but I, and everyone else for that matter, along with the greenskins themselves were distracted by a piercing scream. Turning to face the sound we were greeted by a disturbing site.
One of the locals still on the square seemed to attempt escape. Unfortunately for him, that brought the attention of the goblins. Two of them bound for him and clung to his legs, attempting to slice at his tendons with their rusty knives and effectively immobilizing him. Another of those little monsters jumped on the man from the table it was on, its weapon in hand, and tackled him to the ground. Once the man was sprawled on the dirt-covered square it was over for him. The greenskins pinned him down with their combined weight, a few of their numbers joining them in the process, and began slashing and stabbing at him mercilessly. The man's screams resounded in the air, accompanied by the shrill sound of cheering goblins, cackling manically all the time. Soon enough the pained cries died down, replaced by the sickening sound of metal piercing flesh as the victim's blood began pouring onto the street, painting it crimson. And all the while the green monstrosities were hacking at it, tearing parts of its still warm body from the rest and… I'm getting sick just by thinking of if… stuffing it in their mouths, skin, flesh, and intestines alike, ravenously eating his flesh.
"I stand corrected." Rainbow and Pinkie chorused, both looking like they were going to throw up. I think I even heard one of the girls do just that, but I'm not sure who that was. I was too preoccupied with the grim spectacle unfolding before my eyes.
"C-can we go now?" Fluttershy's voice sounded shakily, as if she was on the verge of tears. "Please? I-I don't want to be here anymore."
"Yeah, what she said." Trixie agreed, not even pretending not to be affected by the gruesome site. "I rather not be some greenskin's food."
"Hold your horses, were workin' on it." AJ assured, turning her attention from the feasting greenskins to the ones surrounding us. They seemed to still be distracted by their companions' success, cheering as they watched them hack and devour that poor man. "C'mon y'all, while the midgets are…"
She was about to continue when one of the little guys finally averted his gaze from his feasting brethrens and noticed us for the second time. The sick grin that spread on its fanged face made AJ pause, and the fact he poked his neighbor and pointed at us with his knife made her earlier words obsolete.
"…distracted. Shoot!" She cursed, backing up instinctively. By this time most of the greenskins surrounding us returned their attention to us, and it was clear they were going to attempt to repeat their kinsmen's success.
"Now what do we do?" I asked, slowly beginning to panic.
"Well, there's nothin' left than try an' break t…" AJ never got to finish her thought. The goblins decided to make the first move.
The greenskins began inching towards us, slowly yet nonchalantly, as if they were sure of their success. Some of them stalked forward while shifting their blades from one hand to the other. Others were cackling and intoning that horrid song I heard before, their shrill and off-tune voices making my ears ring. I think I even saw one pick up a knife from the ground and after comparing it to its own weapon decided that two was better than one and came at us dual-wielding. Others went to even more bizarre lengths to prepare. One of them for example jumped on a stool and got two if his companions to carry it while it was swinging its rusty blade overhead and making a high-pitched battle cry. There was even one skipping towards us like Pinkie, all the while swinging its rusty knife in wide arcs. I swear, this was the strangest, most random threat any of us has ever faced, and considering most of us lived in Ponyville that was saying a lot.
Finally, the goblins decided enough was enough and one by one they started charging at us. The girls tried their best to avoid their rusty blades, all the while staying close to one another. After witnessing what could happen if they got you while you were alone nopony was eager to stray away from the rest.
Rainbow seemed to handle herself quite well actually. The goblins charging at her had a hard time hitting her, and she even answered their attack with her own counters. Kicking and using her superior reach she managed to send a few of them flying already, though the greenskins just kept coming for more. AJ too was doing well enough, or at least I think she did. From my position all I could see was that a goblin or two were sent flying and that they seemed to approach her more cautiously. But there was just so many of them. How in the name of Celestia were we going to survive this?
"Hey, what's that one doing?" I heard Twilight's voice behind me. Following her eyes I noticed a particular goblin standing at the back of the pack, fiddling with something. After a moment it pulled some sort of clay flask from its… wait a moment, it didn't have a belt, did it? Well, it pulled it from somewhere, and not waiting for anything else it chucked it in our direction, all the while cackling. I got a bad feeling about it, and so I did the only sensible thing I could think of.
"Incoming!" I yelled and bound in a random direction, the girls actually trusting me for once and doing the same. True, we dispersed, making us easy pickings for the green midgets, but something told me we would be in much more trouble if we stayed there when the flask hit. And what do you know, my paranoia paid off.
The moment the flask hit the ground it shattered, spilling its content. And let me tell you, it was some content. Whatever it was, the liquid inside it burst into flames, making a small explosion of fire as it splashed on the ground. I felt extremely lucky that I listened to my gut feeling, especially after I noticed an unlucky goblin close enough to the flask be covered in the flammable liquid, screaming bloody murder as the flames ate away on its flesh. The other goblins didn't seem to notice though, or just didn't care, and were still coming at us, and now, separated into smaller groups, we had to fight them on our own.
Whipping my head around I tried to take stock of what was going on. Aside from myself, only Fluttershy and Pinkie seemed to choose the same direction I did. Fluttershy of course looked like she was about to pass out, scanning her surroundings wide-eyed in search of a hiding spot. Not that I blame her, she was being smart about all this. The same couldn't be said about Pinkie however. She was jumping excitedly, her grin matching those of the goblins, all the while she was clutching a wooden spoon as her weapon of choice. Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if she planned on charging the greenskins while screaming "spoon!" at the top of her lungs.
Soon enough, a hoof-full of goblins decided we were easy pickings. In no time at all they surrounded us, each of them wearing a grin more demented than the other, and began creeping up on us. I counted at least two of the creatures coming for Fluttershy, at which point I wanted nothing more than intervene, even if it would lead me to my doom, but I didn't get the chance. One of those insane creatures bounded for me at full sprint, swinging its blade wildly.
Surprised by the sudden attack I stumbled backwards, the blade narrowly missing my face. My assailant wasn't deterred by it however and kept pushing his advantage, swinging blindly at me. I was hard pressed to dodge those attacks, the erratic pattern of the attacker coupled with my lack of any fighting experience (not to mention weapon) made this a very one-sided confrontation. I stumbled about and tripped, always narrowly missing potentially deadly blows or just getting barely nicked by the rusty blade. Almost always.
My assailant finally realized he was getting nowhere and tried something else. He marked a stabbing motion with his armed hand, to which I reacted accordingly by dodging to my right. Problem is, that was what the goblin was expecting. Instead of stabbing the greenskin sliced widely with its knife, catching me off guard.
The blade sunk deeply into my exposed side, the soft, mammal flesh giving next to no resistance. I cried out in pain and shock, grabbing onto the blade and its owner's appendage on instinct. The goblin seemed to take pleasure in seeing me in pain, grinning at me with those yellow, sickly fangs of its. I was gritting my teeth in pain, and the thing was smiling at me. Oh, I was not going to let it have its little moment. With all the power I could muster and trying to ignore the searing pain in my side I did the first thing that came to my mind.
I headbutted it.
I was really lucky with my improvised strike I must say. I managed to smack the goblin square in its button-like nose, and judging by the crunching noise I think I actually broke it. Not that I had the time or was in the state to celebrate my small victory. As my assailant stumbled back from the blow it yanked its weapon from my side, making me cry out in even more pain. Now with a bleeding wound on my side I could do nothing but clutch at it, and I had a really angry goblin in front of me, glaring daggers at me. In short –I was bucked from here to Manehattan.
The enraged greenskin prepared something nasty for me, I could tell. Abandoning all playfulness (if you could call it that), the goblin took a few steps back, glaring at me all the time, and after it decided it was far enough it raised its garbage-made weapon in the air and with an angry cry charged at me. I could do nothing but watch as the enraged goblin ran towards me, mentally preparing myself for what was to come. Trying to spare myself the image I closed my eyes and in the last sign of defiance I lifted my free claw hand in a vain attempt to shield myself.
A strange sound, like if something collided with a thick layer of glass made me open my eyes. By this point I was sure I would've been skewered by that creature, but nothing happened. I looked around, confused, and was greeted by a site I still have a hard time comprehending.
The greenskin was slowly sliding down the reverse side of a dish-like object. It was clear and smooth-looking, like a great piece of glass, but it hovered in the air. I'm not making it up, the thing actually floated in front of me, no further than four hoofs from me. Completely dumbfounded I looked at it, and so did the goblin, who finally slid off of its surface. The creature looked at it dumbly, tapping it with its blade, only to be rewarded by the sound of metal hitting thick glass.
The goblin frowned and decided it might as well go past it, probably not wanting to tamper with something it didn't understand. I immediately snapped back to reality and followed the creature as it began going around the see-through shield. Still confused and letting my instincts direct me, I moved the same hand I lifted to shield myself in the direction of the midget. I was even more surprised when I noticed the invisible barrier moved accordingly and once again shielded me from the small monster. A sudden, crazy though sprouted in my head. Was it I that controlled the shield? Did I make it appear? Did I use… magic?
I didn't have much time to think about it as the goblin began pounding at the shield in annoyance. With each of its hits all it managed to accomplish was make a lot of noise. The… I don't have a better name for it… force field didn't show a sign of damage on its surface, as if it was completely immune to it. But if I created it and could control it… a little wiggle of my hand as a test was proof of that … then I may have an idea that could actually work.
Clenching my teeth and trying to ignore the pain, I sprung forward, catching the goblin off guard. The invisible shield, maintaining a constant distance from me slammed into the greenskin with enough force to knock it off its feet. Sprawled on the ground it looked at me dazed, but I knew it wouldn't last. In the spur of the moment I jumped on the creature, still pointing my shield-controlling hand at the goblin, and sure enough the shield complied. The goblin, now pinned to the ground by the invisible force could only watch helplessly as I jumped on the inside of the shield (it actually felt more like a sheet of hard plastic), with each jump beating it ever harder to the square floor.
"I'm… not… gonna… be… any… one's… food!" I shouted with each jump, my fear transforming into anger. I didn't even notice when the shield finally collapsed and I began jumping on the goblin itself, though by this time it was long unconscious, if not worse.
I cambered off of the unmoving greenskin, breathing hard. My side was killing me and my head pounded from my blood pressure, but at least I was alive. I couldn't allow myself to celebrate yet however. There was still lots of those greenskins around, and they could come at me any moment. I needed to be on my guard. Last time I got lucky, but now… why do I have a feeling I'm forgetting about something?
"Eeep!"
Oh yeah, Fluttershy's in danger.
Fluttershy's in danger!
I whirled around, my heart pounding. If something happened to Fluttershy, I would never forgive myself. I wouldn’t let somepony as innocent as her become goblin chow, not if I had something to say about it.
"Don't worry Fluttershy! I'm a com…"
"An' stay down, ye pansy!" I stopped mid sentence, noticing something I wasn't quite expecting. The same grumpy guard from this morning, the one that got on AJ's nerves was standing in front of Fluttershy protectively, a bloodied sword in hand. At his feet lie the still twitching carcass of a goblin, a vicious slash mark splitting its chest in two. It didn't take a genius to realize that it was his doing.
"Ye alright lass?" He asked Fluttershy, not even looking at her.
"I-I'm okay." She managed to squeak out, too horrified by what was going on to say much more. It was enough for the guard however as he nodded, his eyes scanning their immediate surroundings.
"Good. Its best ye stick with me fer now. No reason ta give the bloomin' greenskins a chance ta mess up yer pretty face, lass." He stated, tightening the grip on his sword. Well, at least one of the local law enforcers was doing something about this mess. But where in the name of all things sharp and pointy is the rest of the town watch?
Shaking my head I looked around, searching for the others. Pinkie I found without any problems. As expected, she was doing her usual shtick and annoying the living horseapples out of the goblins that attempted to attack her. Let's just say that she was running around with that spoon of hers, smacking the greenskins wherever she thought appropriate, all the while bellowing "spoon!" on the top of her lungs.
I'm beginning to think I'm psychic.
AJ was doing good as well. I was fortunate to witness her grab a stool and smash it on the head of a charging goblin, leaving only the stool’s legs in her hands, which she quickly utilized as batons. As for Rainbow…
"You wanna piece of me?! Come get some!" She was kicking flanks and taking names, and… wait a moment. What was that in her hand?
"No way… She's actually using one of the goblins as a club?" I muttered unbelievingly, looking at the former pegasus swing a screaming greenskin like if it was a ragdoll. One of the other goblins tried to attack her while his companion was flung to the left, only to receive a swift kick to the face courtesy of RD, stopping him in his tracks. Seconds later his kinsmen was flung right into him, sending him several hooves back, all the while the living club was screaming something about "stupid longshanks" and "going off this crazy ride". And I thought Pinkie's method was weird…
Shaking my head again I searched for Twilight, all the while keeping an eye out for any goblins that might decide to go after me. I found her, and surprisingly Trixie, together. The showpony was holding a broom defensively while Twi held onto a chair leg, swinging it wildly. Both were screaming something, though through the cacophony of battle I couldn't make out what, and were backing up from a trio of goblins. Again, I was about to run off to try and help them, but that appeared to be unnecessary.
The two former unicorns were backing up until they bumped into someone. Glancing around, they noticed it was priest Naffer, the one with the limp. Reacting without thought Twi and Trixie scrambled behind the disabled man, just to put something between them and the goblins, even if it wasn't exactly the most honorable thing to do (though in Trixie's case that's probably hardly anything new). But there was something different with the priest, something I couldn't place at first. After a few seconds though I noticed what it was.
Priest Naffer was holding a shield in his hand, a round, wooden shield reinforced on its rim with a strip of metal. I was genuinely confused by that, what was a guy like that doing with a shield of all things? That quickly became apparent however as the three goblins decided they might as well attack him instead of the two girls.
One of the greenskins bound in the priest's direction, rising its knife for a stab. Naffer parried this hit with his shield, and using its momentum bashed the goblin with it. Seeing its companion dazed by the hit, another greenskin tried his luck and charged the man. This time however, the priest didn't limit himself to just defense. With a surprisingly swift motion, especially considering this was a holy man, he pulled a strange, curved, cutlass-like blade from the skirts of his robes and in one swift motion slashed at the charging goblin. The tip of the blade seemingly barely nicked the approaching creature, but in that moment the goblin stumbled back and began clutching at its throat, blood gushing out from between his fingers.
The third goblin tried to be smart about this. He tried to silently flank the priest and attack from his unshielded side. Naffer however saw him and he seemed to say something while adjusting his shield slightly. Figuring it has been discovered the goblin charged at him and tried to slash, but in that moment a shimmering likeness of the priest's shield seemed to detach itself from said defensive item and blocked the slash, just as well as the actual shield would. I was momentarily reminded of my own mysterious force field thingie, but I didn't get to think too much about that as something unexpected caught my eye.
A random goblin ran in front of the combatants, closer to my position. That in itself wasn't enough to warrant my attention, but what happened to it was a different story. For you see, a bright, bluish ball of something collided with the running midget, exploding in a shower of sparks upon hitting. The force of the impact was enough to send the creature sprawling to the ground, and a strangely familiar object fell from its grasp and landed on the dirt. Moments later a certain redhead entered the scene, her face in a furious scowl, and stepped on the goblin's back, hard.
"That'll teach you to steal from me." I managed to make out what Rynshinn said to the goblin. She drove her foot even harder to its back and picked the apparently stolen object from the ground. It turned out to be her father's Elven Messer, and in that moment I realized I did not want to end up on this Rarity look-alike's bad side.
After retrieving her stolen property Rynshinn seemed to snap out of her rage. She looked around as if she didn't realize she was even there, and tried to make heads or tails of what was going on. She must have heard Twilight's screams however, because she whipped around in her direction. Noticing her, as well as priest Naffer and Trixie, the three of them battling against two goblins, she decided to help out. Whistling loudly to gain the goblins' attention she pulled her dagger-holding hand threw the sharp object at one of the greenskins.
The goblin she choose as her target turned around with a dumb expression, wondering what was the noise it heard. Its eyes momentarily widened as it noticed the blade sailing towards it. It tried to dodge, but it was too slow and the Messer hit it square in the chest, piercing its leather clothes with ease, as it did with its skin.
The dagger stuck out from the creature's chest grotesquely, the goblin looking at it like it was more surprised by it than actually hurt. That is, it looked that way until the Messer just teared itself out of its chest and flew to Rynshinn's waiting hand, as if pulled out by an invisible force. Then the goblin reacted like it should. It collapsed, blood oozing from the wound.
I'm beginning to think that if Rynshinn was any more badass she would be a dude.
I was saved from the rather disturbing image of a male recolored version of Rarity by a very familiar scream. Tearing my eyes away from the mental image, I frantically looked around, realizing that the cry was familiar for a reason. Within seconds I located its source, and it made my blood run cold.
Rarity, in an attempt to stay away from the murderous little creatures climbed on one of the still standing tables. She was unarmed, frightened, and what's worse, she was being followed. Two goblins choose her as their victim, and one of them was already on the same table. Slashing with its weapon wildly, it tried to hit my lady and was forcing her to back away. She was doing her best to dodge the greenskin's hits, but being on a not entirely stable surface made it difficult. As the table shifted under her weight, she lost her balance and ended up on her back, hitting her head on the wooden surface. It was all the invitation the goblin needed and within seconds it was on her, bringing its blade down furiously. Lifting it for another stab, I saw it was painted red with blood. Rarity's blood.
I'm not sure what happened next. All I know for certain is that everything seemed to turn red. I vaguely remember letting out a bellowing cry and charging at the two, ignoring everything else around me. I think I ran as fast as my short legs would carry me, that I used a nearby stool to launch myself from the ground, and that once in the air I tackled the offending greenskin off of Rarity. We fell to the ground, or at least I think we did, and rolled around, trying to overpower one another, but for me it was all behind a thick, red mist. I was so angry, so furious that I lost control of myself for a moment. All I wanted to do was make the goblin pay.
I don't know how long it took: second, minutes, or maybe hours, but finally the red began to dissipate from my eyes. Breathing hard I realized I was sitting on the goblin's chest, pinning it to the ground. For some reason it wasn't moving, wasn't struggling to get free. Hay, it seemed it didn't even breathe. I saw some red beneath its bulbous head, but my eyesight was still blurry. Blinking out the tears of anger, I took a better look at what it was.
I wish I never did.
Where there should be the goblin's throat there was a gaping hole, blood oozing from it slowly. It was as if something torn it right out, clawed on it until it reached the neck bones. It was a horrifying, tangled mess of skin and tissue, all soaked in bloody crimson. I stumbled back in shock, staring wide-eyed at the mortal wound, and only one thought echoed in my mind.
Did I do this?
Shakily I lifted my claws, dreading what my eyes would meet. I felt a wave of nausea wash over me at what I saw. Crimson. Crimson everywhere. My claws were covered in blood, they were dripping with it. Realization came crashing upon me. I… I killed it. I ripped its throat out. In my blind rage I murdered something. It didn't even matter at the moment that it would gladly do the same thing, if not worse to me if given a chance. All I could think of was that I ended its life as if it was nothing.
I felt lightheaded, the world spinning around me. The thing I saw, my own doing, it disgusted me. I was disgusted with myself.
I started to hyperventilate, my eyes glued to my bloodied claws. I stared at them, and like through thick fog I noticed something else. My claws… they were actually claws. Not those soft, defenseless hands my new body should have, but actual claws. I still had five fingers, they still looked basically the same, but now… now they were covered in purple scales, and my weak fingernails were sharp and hard as steel. I don't know how or when, but somehow I've got back my old claws back.
It didn't last long.
Before my very eyes my claws began to shift and contort, a sickening crunching sound emanating from my fingers. Wide-eyed I stared as my scales began fusing together and softening, their once magnificent royal purple changing into that pinkish hue I came to know. I watched helplessly as my claws shortened and dulled, losing all that made them useful to me. I… I felt as if I was losing it. I was on the verge of a mental breakdown. Was this even happening?
I shiver to think what would've happened to me if not for Rarity's scream. Her frightened voice, her shrill scream of terror has led me back from the verge of insanity back to the waking world. I shoved to the back of my mind the thoughts of my bloody deed, the warping of my very own flesh forgotten for now, for I had much more important things to do than dwell on such petty things. Not when Rarity was in danger.
I shot to my feet and turned in her direction. She was still on the table, clutching at her shoulder where the goblin I've dealt with stabbed her. She was backing up as quickly as she could from another greenskin who realized she would pose less of a threat than the others, especially now with her wound.
I was about to repeat my murderous rampage, tackle that flesh-eating monster and get rid of it for Rarity, when suddenly a loud bang pierced the air and a mist of white smoke erupted between the fashionista and the creature. The goblin skidded to a halt, looking at the smoke suspiciously, and I admit, I did the same thing. The two of us stared at the slowly dissipating mist for a moment, and I could hear a faint hissing sound coming from it. The goblin however didn't seem to notice and finally dismissed the smoke as nothing to worry about, taking a step forward. Oh, how wrong it was.
The hissing intensified and in a flash a golden blur rocketed from the white haze. It bound at the goblin at lightning fast speeds, colliding with its knife-wielding hand and biting into it. The goblin let out a pained yelped and tried to shake the thing off, but the thing, a golden-scaled serpent coiled around its arm. The greenskin dropped its weapon and tried desperately to get the reptile off, but all that did was make the snake angrier and bite him again and again, each time sinking its fangs in the goblins flesh and releasing new doses of a deadly poison. Soon, the goblin slumped to the ground, the venom doing its thing, and the snake slithered away from it and towards Rarity.
Confused and afraid that the serpent was going to do the same thing to Rarity I sprinted to her side, grabbing the rusty knife my… victim… previously wielded as I went. Within moments I was by her, standing between the serpent and my lady and shielding her with my own life. The snake seeing me move stopped, staring at me with its shiny reptilian eyes, its forked tongue tasting the air. We stared at one another, the golden viper looking as if it was studying me, evaluating me. Suddenly, I got this weird impression that the snake didn't mean me no harm, lying flat on the table, and that it didn't want to harm Rarity as well. I don't know how I've gotten to this conclusion, I just did, and against all better judgment I let it pass, turning to face Rarity myself.
At once I noticed she wasn't in a good way. She clutched at her shoulder, blood dripping from between her fingers, and she looked horribly pale. Her deep blue eyes were frozen in shock and she breathed hard, giving off pained, unladylike grunts. With the goblin gone the adrenalin levels in her blood must've lowered, allowing for pain to kick in. Before now I've only read about it, but now seeing this with my own eyes I came to the frightening realization that Rarity was going into shock.
"Don't close your eyes Rarity!" I pleaded, trying to figure out what to do. "I'm… I'm going to get help. Don't worry, I'll get help." I promised.
"S-Spike…" She breathed out.
"I'll be back, I promise!" I shouted back, already on my way. I looked around in panic, searching for somepony or someone that could help. In my confused state I didn't even know who to look for, who to prioritize, and I ended up doing what I did for most of my life: I ran for the first pony I recognized. And it just so happens that it was Twilight.
I ran towards her, ignoring everything around me. All I wanted at the moment was to get to her as quick as possible. I wasn't concerned that some wayward goblin would attack me, nor did I care. I was so focused on my task that I'm surprised I even noticed AJ and Rainbow taking cover behind an upset table from one of those flame bomb thingies. All I wanted was for Twilight to help.
It took me less than a few seconds as I sprinted for Twilight. I barely noticed she was still accompanied by Trixie and the locals, by this point both Rynshinn and priest Naffer. I skidded to a halt in front of her, kicking up a cloud of dust, and bellowed as loud as I could: "Twilight!"
"Spike?" She looked at me surprised. Moments later she let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're al… Is that blood on your hands? Oh my gosh, are you hurt?!" Before I managed to get a word in she scooped me up in her arms and started to check me for injuries. I broke out of her embrace and took a step back.
"No time… Rarity… goblin… snake… shock… lots of blood… we're losing her… help her!" I yelled out in rapid succession. There was no time for explanations, Rarity could… oh dear Celestia… she could die at any moment!
For a second Twilight looked confused, but to her credit she shook it off quickly. She was about to say something when priest Naffer decided to butt in.
"Lead me to her, I can help." He said simply, looking concerned. I wasn't about to look a gifted horse in the mouth and nodded, turning around and running back towards the table with Rarity. The priest hobbled right beside me, somehow managing to keep up with me despite his limp. Twilight too was close behind, as was Rynshinn for some reason. And of course Trixie tagged along, probably not too keen on leaving the safety of numbers, though that wasn't important right now. All that mattered was Rarity.
As we were nearing the table with Rarity so did a single goblin, again hoping for easy prey. And again, the nasty buggers found itself having to go through a gold-scaled serpent to get to her. The greenskin shrieked as the snake was sinking its fangs in its flesh and backed away terrified. He wasn't the only one however, as Twilight too stopped in her tracks, looking with wide, fearful eyes at the reptilian. I ignored it, figuring it was just her fear of snakes thing. Besides, there were more important things than that.
We finally reached Rarity and the priest went straight to work. Throwing his shield and weapon to the ground he removed the hand Rarity was clutching her wound with and looked it carefully over. By this point Rarity was as white as a sheet of paper and was sweating heavily, her breathing labored. I silently prayed she would get through this, hoping that the guy would be able to help.
"Is she going to make it?" I heard Rynshinn ask, her voice sounding like it was coming from down a well. She seemed concerned, though I couldn't figure out why.
"I hope so." The priest replied uncertainly. "It all depends on the Dawnflower's will at this point. She lost a lot of blood, and I'm not as good as Abstalar at this type of thing…" He trailed off, looking at something slightly to the left of Rarity's wound.
It was the serpent. The legless reptile coiled beside Rarity's injured shoulder, as if in concern, and lifted its triangular head, its shiny, beady eyes staring at the priest. Naffer seemed transfixed with the snake, looking at it as if it was not an animal, but, I don't know, a sign from the heavens or something. Of course, not everypony reacted like the holy man, mainly Twilight, who let out a whimper and backed away slightly. Trixie looked at her with a raised eyebrow for a second, but dismissed it and looked back at Rarity, and… I must've been seeing things. There's no way she looked even remotely concerned. I must've been projecting my own emotions or something.
"Everything's going to be alright." Naffer's voice snapped me back to reality. He was smiling serenely for some reason, and it wasn't exactly clear whether he was reassuring Rarity, us, or himself. He seemed sure however, and for Rarity's sake I hoped he was right.
The priest reached for something around his neck. Only then did I realize he was wearing a sort of pendant made out of painted wood and attached to his neck via leather string. It looked somewhat like a likeness of a human woman with two feathered wings sprouting from her back and with a nimbus of light surrounding her head. The priest brought the pendant close to his face and whispered something inaudibly, as if praying. Seconds later he lifted the symbol over his head and loudly he proclaimed:
"May the Healing Light shine upon you!" His voice rang clear as a bell, and seconds later we were all engulfed in a bright flash of white light. Well, maybe not exactly white, it had a gold-like shine to it if you looked close enough, but I digress. It slowly dawned upon me what was going on as I saw the light move seemingly on its own accord and seep towards the wound on Rarity's shoulder, especially since it started to close up before my very eyes. The girls did say something similar happened to them when father Zantus was treating their wounds, so it must've been that healing magic thing they were talking about. But if memory serves me right…
I looked at the wound on my side which by now was all but forgotten. With all the stress of the last few minutes it completely slipped my mind. And now it could be forgotten completely, for it wasn't there anymore. The slash the goblin made in my side was gone, replaced by new skin I could faintly see through the tear in my clothes. But instead of relief I felt uneasy. There was something eerily familiar about this healing flash of light that was nagging at my thoughts. But try as I might, I couldn't figure out what was wrong.
I dismissed the thought hearing a loud intake of air from Rarity. Giving her my full attention I noticed her wound too had completely closed, and that a bit of color returned to her face, but she was still deadly pale. She breathed hard, as if exhausted, and looked at us in confusion.
"What's… going on?" She asked slowly, eyes darting from one face to another. "Not to sound rude but why is everyone looking at me?" She tried to sit up, but was stopped by priest Naffer.
"Easy there miss, please refrain from any sudden movements." He told her softly, helping her up carefully. "You lost a lot of blood and you may feel weak for a day or two. Sadly, I'm not as talented as Abstalar and I don't know how to replenish lost blood effectively, but I did manage to bring it up to a safe level."
Rarity looked at him nonplussed, as if the events of the last few minutes were completely forgotten to her. After a moment however realization hit her and she hastily looked at her shoulder. She flinched, seeing her blood-soaked clothes, but still smiled softly noticing that was the only damage there was. She looked again at the priest and nodded gratefully.
"I'm very grateful for your help, Mr. Zantus. If it wasn't for your timely arrival I shudder to think what fate would befall me."
"There's no need to thank me, I'm just trying to help." He waved the thanks off modestly and pointed at me to my great confusion. "If anyone, it's the little master you should be thanking. If he hadn't informed us of your condition when he did, I fear my measly knowledge of the healing crafts would not be enough to help." Okay, I think my ears are starting to burn for some reason. Have I just been praised for running around like a scared chicken?
Rarity gave the priest's words some thought and then shifted her sapphire gaze to me. Even now, pale, covered in sweat, and with tangled hair and tattered clothes she still looked breathtaking. It didn't even matter that she was a… what was her kind called again? Ah yes, a half-elf. It didn't matter that she wasn't a pony anymore, she was still as beautiful as ever, and I just realized that she was for the first time truly grateful for my help. Did I just got hit in the head and was daydreaming again? Because if so I never want to wake up.
My dream mare sent me a smile that could melt through even the thickest of icecaps. I felt my knees grow weak on me and my cheeks catch on fire. My heart was pumping harder than ever before. It was like in my dreams had just come true. She was now going to lean to me now… Holy buck, she actually did it! …And now she's going to whisper 'Thank you, Spike'…
"Thank you, Spike." …am I in heaven? But if my predictions are true then… oh please dear Faust, don't let me fain, don't let me faint, don't let me…
"Rarity, thank goodness you're alright!" What?
I looked confused as Twilight embraced Rarity.
Did she just…
Did she…
She did, didn't she?
…
BUUUUUUCK!!!
"I wouldn't go as far as to claim I'm perfectly fine, darling, but I am most definitely better." Rarity reassured Twilight, hugging her back. Not that I cared or anything. I was too busy planning my revenge on Twilight for ruining such a great moment for me to do that.
"That's good to hear." Rynshinn decided to butt in, smiling in relief. "I would hate to see someone as generous and kind as you die, miss Rarity. Not after what you have done for me." Well, now at least I know what her business here is. She's still feeling gratitude towards Rarity. Good for her I guess.
"Oh come now, it was not…" Rarity cut off mid-sentence with a look like she just remembered something. She ended her friendly embrace with Twilight and reached to the side of the table for something. Seconds later she returned, her beautiful gaze fixed on what she was holding in her ho hand. By the yelp of fright I could guess it was the golden snake.
"Well hello there, gorgeous." She cooed at it, not unlike Fluttershy usually does. The serpent was lazily slithering through her hands, its small head fixed on her. "I remember you. You came to help me and kept me safe while Spike was searching for help." Surprisingly, the snake seemed to nod at that, as if confirming her words. "Such a fabulous little thing to come to my aid, I must really be a lucky girl."
"Not that she particularly cares but Trixie was meaning to ask: what's up with that thing?" Still plotting revenge here, nothing's gonna distract me… oh buck it, who am I kidding. Trixie asked something I myself wanted to know.
Rarity looked at the showmare as if she just noticed her and scoffed, but answered nonetheless. "This, if you haven't noticed yet, is a serpent. A beautiful, fabulous, and most of importantly friendly serpent. And if you listened to me closely you would remember what I have said about it protecting me while Spike here was looking for help…"
"The Great and Powerful Trixie wasn't asking what it was, she has her own eyes." She replied coldly. "What she was asking was where did it come from, and why is it so docile."
"Actually, I kinda want to know that too." I added my three bits. "I mean it appeared with a loud bang in a cloud of smoke and all, but I have no idea where it came from."
"It did what now?" Well that got Twilight's attention. She looked genuinely interested, and I think her hands were instinctively reaching out for parchment. She even inched towards Rarity's serpentine friend, though she was still keeping her distance from it.
Rarity was about to respond, and I was actually looking forward to hearing it when something unexpected happened. The snake, still in Rarity's hands seemed to stiffen for some reason, and looked at Rarity strangely. I mean snakes don't have facial expressions, right? So how come it looked like it was apologetic? But I digress. So the serpent looked at Rarity apologetically, and after a second or two burst into a small cloud of white smoke, not too different from the one it came from. Twi and Trixie looked by all means surprised by this, and I wasn't any better, but for some reason neither Rynshinn nor priest Naffer looked fazed. Truth be told, Rarity too looked like if this wasn't anything surprising, though for all reason and purposes she should not be fearing any better than we did.
"Seems like she couldn't stay any longer. A pity, I was hoping to introduce her to Fluttershy. I'm more than certain she would be smitten by her golden coloration." Okay… Either I'm missing something or Rarity really knows what's going on.
My confusion was mirrored by Twilight, however unlike me she was more vocal about it.
"What are you talking about Rarity? What just happened?"
"Oh, nothing much Twilight. Our scaled guest just had to run back home is all." She explained, as if she was discussing the weather. We exchanged confused glances.
"Home?" I asked. "What do you mean by that?" The smile on Rarity's face gradually faltered, until it was replaced by a thoughtful frown. She stayed silent for a moment, thinking, and after a moment she managed to form a reply.
"I… don't rightfully know." She admitted to our ever growing surprise. The look on her face told us that she wasn't joking either, she really didn't know what was going on, and was beginning to panic. "How on earth do I even know about all this? What's going on? And what in the heavens is that noise?" Wait, what noise…
*clang*clang*clang*
Oh, that noise.
We turned around to check what was making all the ruckus, and truth be told, what we saw was something nopony valuing his or her life would dare question.
It was Pinkie Pie of course, being her usual random self. She was sitting on top of an upturned cauldron bigger than herself, and was hitting it with that spoon of hers creating a loud, resounding *clang* with each hit. Of course, Pinkie seemed to be too engrossed with what she was doing to notice much else, such as the fact she was making it hard for us to hear one another.
"Pinkie!" Twilight shouted, trying to gain the party pony's attention. "Could you cut that out?! We're trying to talk here!"
"No can do Twilight! *clang* I'm kinda in the middle of something! *clang*"
"Pinkie, darling, whatever are you doing?" Rarity, who by now was back on her feet decided to venture down the path of enlightenment, though when it comes to Pinkie it probably was a road straight to a migraine headache.
"Subduing *clang* goblins *clang*!" Well, there you have it folks. She was subduing goblins.
How in Equestria did banging a spoon against a cauldron count as subduing anything?
The cauldron lifted up a little bit, a few clawed green fingers poking from beneath it. Feeling more than seeing this happen Pinkie jumped on the oversized pot, her momentum enough to force it back down and painfully squish the creature's fingers.
Sorry I asked.
We were about to shrug off Pinkie's antics and continue our earlier conversation, but silly us, there of course had to be something that would derail it entirely. And it started out innocently enough, when two mares hid behind a table from a fire bomb. Of course, we didn't have the rest of the story, which happened to be important to understand the ending. And just our luck, the ending was coming at us with all the force of a charging bull.
"Make way!" The unmistakable voice of Rainbow Dash rang out, and it took but a single glance to realize it was better to heed the warning. The girls and I, and of course the locals accompanying us all dodged to the side as a table charged where we stood only seconds ago. You got that right, it was a table. Of course, it wasn't moving on its own accord. Rainbow and Applejack were responsible for it, having lifted it between the two of them and running at full speed while using is as a shield. And to make things even more interesting three or four goblins were clinging for dear life to the top side of their crazy ride. And here I though nothing else was going to surprise me today.
AJ and RD charged straight past us, and judging by their course their plan became transparent. Running as fast as they could they barreled straight into the nearby church wall, goblins first. The greenskins' pained cries could be heard echoing through the square, but they apparently were still very much up and about. So, the dynamic duo decided to rinse and repeat. A few hasty steps back and they smacked against the wall again. And again. And again. They stopped only once the goblins fell silent.
"Ya reckon we got 'em?" AJ asked, panting.
"Think so. Lemme check." Rainbow volunteered and took a peak to the other side of the table. She was back within seconds, a bit green on her face. "Ya know, I think we overdid it a bit."
"Whaddya mean? What happened?"
"Trust me, ya don't wanna know." RD deadpanned, moving away from the table-turned-bulldozer. She was soon joined by Applejack and the two of them joined up with us.
"Hey guys. How you holding up? And what the hay happened to you Rares?"
"It's a long story Rainbow Dash, one that I will be more than pleased to forget about." Rarity responded with a shudder. "I see you two were not complaining about a lack of things to amuse yourself with." She added, gesturing at the table they were using.
"Are ya kiddin' Rarity? Ah would gladly take borin' over these green varmints any day of the week." AJ replied with irritation. "Fightin' for my life definitely ain't my definition of fun."
"Hey, where's Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked, noticing the lack of the shy pegasus. However the moment she asked the question it became obsolete, as in that same moment we could hear Fluttershy's sweet voice.
"Thank you again Mr. Caletti. If it wasn't for you, I don't know what would happen."
"Bah, don' mention in lass. I was just doing my job." The voice we came to associate with the grumpy guard replied, though it sounded significantly less… well, grumpy. Moments later we noticed the two walking towards us, Fluttershy keeping close to the guard, and the guard looking like he was enjoying himself, some would even say more than it was appropriate. Guess that's the Fluttershy Effect in the working. The look of enjoyment however disappeared from the guard's face once he noticed us, particularly Applejack. "Well, here ye go, yer… friends… are all 'ere an' waiting fer ye. Just do me a favor an' try ta keep away from trouble, alright?"
"I'll try my best." She promised, turning to face us and giving us a small, shaky smile. "It's good to see you girls are okay, I was worried sick that something bad has happened to you, and… Why are you looking at me like that Applejack?"
"Nothin' just… glad to see ya too sugarcube." AJ replied, though I suspect she purposely omitted whatever she was thinking about. Besides, the cold glare she was sending the guard was a dead giveaway. Not that he seemed to care much, she was too busy giving Rynshinn glare of his own.
"Spit it out already Ernie." She said flatly, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. "I don't have all day." The guard's glare intensified.
"Don't think ye can fool me like ye did with Belor, Povalli. I'm keeping an eye on ye." Okay, seriously: what the heck was going on? I was completely lost at this point, and it didn't seem it was going to change anytime soon, especially considering the guard averted his gaze from the fashionista and looked behind her at something, his expression changing into one of confusion. "What the bleeding 'ell…"
"Ernie! We have a problem!" I turned around and saw the second guard from this morning, Titus if memory serves me right, running at us in the company of three other guards. They didn't look very good, one of them was heavily bleeding from his arm, and another seemed to have a nasty cut on the face. Titus himself was sporting a black eye, and his orange mantle was stained with blood splatters, but other than that he seemed fine, still holding his spear tightly. Priest Naffer went on to help the wounded at once.
"What is it? Shouldn't ye be defending tha gate? An' where's Sorrento?"
"Sorrento's dead man, a goblin sniped him." Guard Titus was clearly agitated. Every few seconds he was shooting looks behind him, as if he expected something to come after them. "Listen: something's coming our way, and whatever it is, I saw it spit fire." Ernie paled hearing that, and the girls just got confused. What the living hay was going on?
"Ye mean like a bloomin'…"
"Nah man, it ain't that. The thing's on wheels." Titus shook his head.
"Then why are ye here? Ye closed the gate, didn't ye?"
"That's just it: we can't! The shit's stuck man, it won't budge! Someone tapered with it or some shit, I don't know."
"Oh, fuck me sideways…" Ernie muttered, shaking his head. After a moment however he regained his composure and looked the guards over, a strange look in his eyes. It seemed almost… professional for a lack of better word. "Listen up lads, here's the plan: we're gonna form a defensive perimeter 'ere an' block off Church Street. Find anything that can be used fer creating a barricade an' set it up: tables, stools, crates, whatever. We're not about to let them soggin' green arsewipes torch us down. Now move it!"
Three of the four guards set off to work, securing whatever they could for their barricade, the fourth still being treated by priest Naffer. However, it was only three men, four if you counted Ernie, and who knows how soon whatever was coming would get here. The guard with the Edinspur accent noticed that too, and though it looked like he was doing it reluctantly, he turned to us.
"Listen, I'm not doin' this lightly, but we really need any help ye can give." He almost pleaded, looking both at Rynshinn and Naffer, and at us. "If whatever's out there get's deeper into Sandpoint, we could have a repeat o' the Late Unpleasantness. So please, fer fuck's sake, help us."
The two locals didn't need to be persuaded. The vision of their hometown burning down was enough reason to help out. But what about us? We didn't live here per se, and our first priority should be our own safety. But there was just something wrong with letting those people unaided, not when we could make a difference. And keeping the town safe would translate into us being safe, right?
The girls and I shared a look. We all knew what was needed to be done. We nodded at each other, even Fluttershy, though she seemed to be terrified at the prospect, and we looked at the guard with resolve in our eyes.
"Where do you want those barricades?"