Broken: Chapter Eight, Loyalty
Tank fluttered around his new home, trying his hardest to gain speed in order to impress his master. However, this was to no avail. His copter-contraption only had so many speeds, and its fastest wasn't exactly the speed of sound. Meanwhile Rainbow had finished unpacking the last box in her bedroom, ignoring her trophies. They would only remind her of her past life, something she simply couldn't handle. In the meantime the box of awards was stashed away in the closet, saved but not visible. Dash sat on her newly-formed cloud bed, wrapping new bandages around her chest. It was difficult without the assistance of unicorn magic, especially in her clumsy hooves. Her job was indeed messy, but it did the job just fine. Fortunately Doctor Wave's stitch work was top notch, better than Stable's even. Then again, he was the official caretaker of the most famous and talented group of pegasi in all of Equestria. It made sense. Unfortunately Rainbow was confined to her home from the tour of her new 'neighborhood.' She had only been in the air for ten minutes overall, but it was still enough to start ripping at her wounded muscle. Rainbow got back to her hooves, pacing into the living room before a crack of lightning resounded at the front door.
"GAAHH!" Rainbow Dash yelled, frightened at the sudden sound that broke the silence. The knock was repeated immediately. One of her friends had found her. How? She had retreated to one of the highest mountains in Equestria. How had she been found so fast? Dash didn't know what to do. She couldn't pretend that she wasn't there, her cry of fright was loud enough for Tank to come through the window, concern on his small, green face. Rainbow shook in place, frozen with apprehension. Suddenly the visitor had obviously grown impatient, and the front door opened to reveal Fluttershy, panting heavily, her wings drooping at her sides. Rainbow was at a loss for words. What did she say to her oldest friend whom she had left behind, without so much as a goodbye? Dash merely stood there, her legs stiff and her eyes wide. Fluttershy took a few moments to collect herself, her breath heavy and her eyes tired.
"Rainbow Dash! What are you doing out here?!" she cried, hurt and confusion on her face.
"I...I-I-I..." Dash stammered, unable to think of an explanation.
"What are you thinking? Why would you leave Ponyville without even telling anypony?" Fluttershy asked, the bravery in her words catching Dash off-guard. "What is this about?"
"I...I can't handle being in Ponyville anymore Fluttershy," she said finally. "I just can't take the pain anymore. I need to be alone right now. Please just...leave..."
Fluttershy looked taken aback.
"What?! Rainbow Dash we need you-"
"No you don't! Nopony needs me!"
"Rainbow you don't understand!" Fluttershy interjected, her eyebrows furrowed. "Ponyville is in trouble! It's under attack and we need your help!"
Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to reply, but then realized what the yellow pegasus had said. Ponyville in trouble? That was a sad excuse. She knew her oldest friend better than that. She was attempting to use her Element of Loyalty against her, and right now, Rainbow found that to be a low blow. A really low blow. The lie had hit her right in her weakened heart. She responded the only way she knew how to:
"How dare you," Dash snarled, her wings flicking up defensively as she edged towards Fluttershy threateningly. "How DARE you try something so low?! You think that I'm going to believe any of that? You think you can just walk into my home, AND STAB A KNIFE INTO MY HEART LIKE THAT?!"
Rainbow Dash's rage had been cut off completely by the last thing she had ever expected from Fluttershy. The cyan pegasus received a swift hoof straight to the cheek, throwing her head back in surprise. The punch wasn't necessarily painful, but it was absolutely surprising. Suddenly Rainbow's anger had simply left her, replaced by an enormous bewilderment. Fluttershy wore her own look of anger, but it wasn't just that. It was a hurt anger, as if Rainbow Dash had suffocated her pet bunny right in front of her.
"Are you done being so darn stubborn?!" she hollered right into Dash's face. "Griphons have taken Appleloosa hostage! And now they have an army taking over Ponyville! Ponies have died Rainbow Dash, because you were too selfish to stay with your friends and your home! Why would I ever lie about something so serious?! Applejack, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie are fighting for their lives right now! Do you really think, for even a second, that I would poke at your injured heart just to get you to come back home?! How heartless do you think I am? I've known you for years Rainbow Dash, and you've always been stubborn, but never would I even wonder if you would ever become such a self-absorbed, idiotic mare! How dare YOU, Rainbow Dash?!"
Rainbow just stood there, Fluttershy's words beating her heart and soul into a quivering, bleeding pulp. She wasn't lying. Ponyville was truly in danger, and Dash had just left them to deal with it, without so much as a backward glance. What had she done? How could she be so selfish, as her friend had said? The yellow mare was right, in every single way. Her outburst may have crippled her near-non-existent pride, but every single word was indefinitely true.
"Y-You're not...You're not lying..." Rainbow whispered in total and complete horror.
"No Rainbow! Of course not! Ponyville is crumbling, and we need you right now!" Fluttershy yelled again.
That was it...it was all true.
Rainbow Dash felt a spark in her soul, igniting an old, but familiar flame. The red-hot blaze spread into an inferno, and Dash could feel it in her eyes. Soon she was able to recognize the flame, it couldn't be anything else. It was the Element of Loyalty, swirling throughout her being once again. Rainbow gasped when a bright, blinding crimson light erupted from her chest. A tingling sensation filled the wound over her heart, sewing the muscle and skin back together. The light disappeared as soon as it came, leaving a red lightning bolt to fade away where her injury used to be.
You have learned who you truly are. Now do what you must do...
Rainbow flinched at the voice in her head; Loyalty. She ran a hoof over her chest after hastily removing the bandages. There was no scar, no interruption in her coat. It was like she never had surgery, like she never had her heart almost explode out of her ribcage. A sudden sense of purpose and direction filled her mind. The Element was right: she needed to do what she needed to do. Rainbow Dash didn't listen to Fluttershy's gasps or words of surprise, but spread her newly-fueled wings and bolted through the door, immediately reaching race-worthy speeds.
"Rainbow Dash where are you going?! Ponyville is the other way!" she heard her friend call after her.
"To get reinforcements!"
-=-
"Drunken what?!" Applejack exclaimed, not understanding what Twilight had said.
"Drunken Hoof Style," Twilight repeated, looking back to a wobbling Pinkie Pie, standing five feet in front of the two ponies, defending their lives. "Pinkie never drank at any of her parties because of what happened to her. She has never practiced any sort of martial art obviously, harming ponies just isn't in her. But one night she got curious and drank an entire bottle of Buck Daniels at once. None of us knew what to do until..."
"Until what?" asked Applejack, trying her best to ignore the immense pain in her foreleg.
"She...changed Applejack," said Twilight. "She started shuffling around, starting fights with everypony in the room. She pulled off all of these...You know what? Just watch and find out for yourself."
What was Twilight saying? A martial art? Pinkie Pie? None of this made sense, so the orange mare merely looked to her pink friend, watching in fright as five more unoccupied griphons noticed Pinkie Pie. They laughed as they approached the drunken mare, surrounding her.
"Ya'll think yerrrr so tough ehhhh?" Pinkie murmured, her eyes blinking individually, but somehow holding an engaging expression. "Well-HIC-COME ON THEN!"
That instilled an instant cry from the closest griphon, flying forward at lightning-fast speed. Applejack gasped. There was no way she could dodge that. However, Pinkie fell unto her back, as if she had fainted, but her hindhooves were still planted to the ground. The griphon recovered quickly, turning on a paw to lash out with her large, yellow talons. The pink mare had rolled over on the ground, avoiding the strike. The bird's talons sunk into the cobblestone, trapping their owner. Pinkie Pie spun on her back, clumsily kicking out a hindhoof into the griphon's beak. There was a loud snap as the bird flew backward, clutching her clearly broken beak. This time two more griphons flew over to avenge their fallen comrade. Pinkie somersaulted toward them, driving two forehooves into their windpipes without even looking. She kept her head low as the two birds of prey fell to the ground, Adam's apples in their throats.
Now Pinkie Pie had the attention of every griphon in the town square, their faces distraught with anger. Five more birds leaped towards the drunken mare, who's eyes were on the ground, forehooves still out. The five griphons rained down upon her, and Applejack felt her jaw drop when she saw what happened next. Pinkie Pie rolled onto her back again, spinning on her spine as if she were break-dancing, throwing out both hindhooves in an impossible whirlwind of kicks. Every kick landed on differing spots across the birds' faces. All five griphons rebounded off of the strikes, falling to the stone square in heaps of brown, white and gray feathers. The pink mare rolled onto her hindhooves, standing in that odd, engaged position again.
What. The hay. Was that.
"Looks lahk-HIC-yerrr all a bunch'a siwwy-HIC-wittle buuurrrdiesss!" Pinkie droned, a slight squeal in her voice. With a gruff snort, the two largest male griphons stood back up, starting to circle Pinkie Pie, murderous intent in their eyes. This occurred for several moments, tension building in the air.
"See what I mean AJ?" asked Twilight, excitement and hope in her voice.
"H-How did she...How is she..." Applejack stammered, shock still fresh in her mind. "Pinkie Pie...yer a darned monster! Get 'em ya' pink drunk!"
Pinkie Pie dropped to her left, granting one of the griphons the chance to pounce. It was a feint, and Pinkie rolled on the ground, leaping lazily into the air toward the bird, wrapping a forehoof around her attacker's neck and yanking him backwards, headfirst. In the middle of the fall, the pink mare rolled, landing a heavy blow to the griphon's neck with her elbow. The creature's head rebounded off the stone and instantly knocked him unconscious. Pinkie Pie somersaulted out of the way, evading another blind swipe of talons. She returned to her hindhooves, pointing at the griphon in challenge. The bird's eyes were twitching, clearly frustrated at the hijinks of the pink mare. Pinkie Pie grinned, blinking an infinite amount of times. The griphon circled his prey wearily, careful not to pounce into another feint. Finally the bird of prey leaped straight into the sky, ascending as quick as any pegasus in Ponyville. Pinkie gave him an unimpressed look, her forehooves hanging at her sides lazily as she fought to retain her hoofing. The griphon dove, accelerating at a ninety-degree angle to the ground, towards the drunken warrior. Pinkie Pie made no move, but merely stood there on her hindhooves, swaying back and forth. Applejack found herself biting at the grieve wrapped around her uninjured forehoof in apprehension.
Pinkie Pie suddenly dipped down, her entire body low to the cobblestone. Once the griphon reached ten feet from the ground, the pink mare corkscrewed into the air, stretching her body upward and swinging a hindhoof into the bird's face. The immense amount of momentum that the kick held drove the griphon straight through the brick wall of a nearby building with an ear-shattering crash. Applejack and Twilight threw up their hooves, cheering like fanfillies. The drunken mare landed on her hindhooves again, clapping and humming to herself with an air of amusement. This was like a game to her. Pinkie Pie's inebriated form was like a foal playing with her toys. Except the toys were bloodthirsty killers, and she was positively kicking their flanks...so to speak.
"ENOUGH!" a prominent female voice broke out, echoing across the square. The remaining ponies and griphons all turned their heads to the direction of the voice. A new griphon had entered the plaza, walking across the cobblestone as if she owned the place. Her feathers where a light brown, her head bright and brilliantly white, a few longer feathers hanging over her forehead. The female griphon walked with a sense of boastful pride, her chest heaved outward. Her eyes were a fierce yellow, the eyes of a natural predator. They bore a malevolent, light violet shadow around them, making her gaze violently piercing. She paced slowly toward the pink mare, her expression grim and unnerving.
"Gilda," whispered Twilight to herself. Applejack felt her eyes widen. The female griphon's comrades all stopped what they were doing, as if they were waiting for direction. This was Gilda? She led the griphon army?!
"It seems like we have a problem here," said Gilda in a gritty, menacing voice to Pinkie Pie. "Looks like I'm going to have to be the one to put you down."
"Yooouuuuu can't-HIC-catch meeee! Ah'm the freeeekin'-HIC-GINGERBEAD MAN!" Pinkie challenged. Gilda stuck low to the ground as she cut through the air, catching the pink mare off-guard. The griphon leader scooped up Pinkie Pie by the hindhoof, throwing her bodily into the local suit shop. Applejack gasped before the drunk mare spun through the air, colliding into the outside wall on all four hooves. Pinkie Pie fell to the ground, again, on her hindhooves. Gilda looped through the air, descending to the ground.
Applejack suddenly cried out in pain as she subconsciously tried to put weight on her broken leg. She had completely forgotten about her injury, being so entranced by the scene developing in front of her. Obviously Twilight had too, for when she jumped at the sudden sound, she gasped with her hooves over her mouth.
"Oh my gosh! Applejack I'm so sorry I forgot! Let's get you to the infirmary!"
"S'alright Sugarcube, Pinkie can sure put on a show," the orange mare breathed heavily, panting from the return of the pain.
"No need, help has arrived," said another female voice. The two ponies turned around to find Trixie, standing proudly with a smug smile across her face. She had abandoned her old cape and witch hat, now donning similar armor to Applejack's. "Princess Celestia sent my magnificent self here to heal the wounded."
"Y-You?!" Twilight exclaimed, although ignored by the sky-blue unicorn as she took Applejack's broken foreleg. The farmer grunted, her pride keeping her from uttering another blood-curdling scream.
"It's fractured, here," said Trixie, her horn starting to glow a bright azure. Applejack winced as she felt a white-hot burning through her bones. "Don't worry my dear farmpony, Trixie is taking care of you."
Applejack wanted to headbutt the obnoxiously boastful unicorn just to shut her up, but then felt the bone in her foreleg start to mend itself amongst the searing heat of the spell. Twilight watched in awe as the orange-coated leg did several weeks of healing in mere seconds. With a final snap, Applejack seethed through her teeth in agony, falling forward, her cheek colliding with the stone underhoof. She heard Twilight gasp, but the farmer couldn't feel the energy required to even move.
"I may have neglected to warn you, but bone-mending spells require the energy of the pony being healed. I apologize," said Trixie from above.
"H-How did you..." Twilight stammered. Trixie laughed her smug, fake laugh.
"Well Twilight Sparkle, you may be talented in all forms of magic to an adept level, but I am an intermediate magician in the field of healing magic. I have spent two longs years perfecting the art. How do you like that?"
"I hate to admit it, but you did an amazing job Trixie," Twilight seethed. Applejack finally found the strength to get up, testing her weight on her leg. It was completely fine. No pain was felt in her leg, as if it were never broken.
"Thank ya' Trix, ya'll sure did help-"
SLAM!
The three ponies turned on their hooves, facing the source of the crash. Pinkie Pie had struck the ground on her side, bouncing back up to her hooves. Gilda skid across the stone plaza on her talons and paws, her expression vengeful. Pinkie Pie looked absolutely exhausted, even in her drunken form. She swayed more and more with every breath. She was losing. Come on Pinkie, thought Applejack. We need ya'll ta' do this. The farmpony's leg may have been healed, but she was still tired. She didn't think that she could take on Gilda in her current form. If the griphon had run the pink mare down this far in such little time, how would anypony else fare? The pink mare needed their help.
"Twi', d'ya think yer magic is back?"
"Um, well I think I have a small reserve left, you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Twilight.
"Yeah, let's go help Pinkie Pie."
The two ponies bolted toward the leader of the griphons, flanking both of her sides, Pinkie in the middle. Gilda stopped in her tracks, facing her new foes.
"Oh this is good," Gilda sneered. "Let's do this."
Gilda may have been strong, but there was no way she could take on a magician, a rodeo pony, and a...really drunk mare. Pinkie lashed out without warning, tumbling forward into a swipe from the griphon's talons. Pinkie Pie couldn't get out of the way in time, so Twilight magically threw her high into the air. Applejack, seeing her plan, whipped her lasso, which was avoided by the agile bird. Now Pinkie Pie dove toward the ground, her forehooves over her head in a readied strike. Gilda had been temporarily distracted, but not enough to be ignorant of what was coming. With a ground-level barrel roll, she kicked the pink mare in the stomach, throwing her through the air and inevitably to the ground. This time Pinkie didn't land, but collided with the stone, rolling across the town square. She shook, trying her best to get back onto her hindhooves before collapsing to her knees, vomiting profusely. The gut was the worst place to strike a drunken pony, and it cost Pinkie Pie her power as a master of the Drunken Hoof Style. The mare fell onto her side next to the puddle of vomit, beaten.
"Pinkie!" Applejack cried. The inebriated warrior had fallen after a rein of terror. Now only the farmer and the magician were left to face the powerful leader of the griphon army. Applejack's mind filled with rage. Gilda had led the regime that caused the death of several ponies, and she injured her best friends. It didn't matter who the advantage fell to.
Applejack was going to tear her apart.
With a roar of anger, Applejack ran towards the griphon at a full gallop, her strategy right in the front of her mind. The farmer swooped under the predictable swipe of talons, spinning on her forehooves low to the ground and as fast as she could. Applejack delivered an upward rearing buck to the chin of the griphon, sending her skyward. In the same turning motion, the orange mare threw out her lasso, tying itself around Gilda's paw. Applejack yanked her back to the ground, plucking her out of the air and slamming her into the stone. The farmpony didn't give her any time to get back up, she didn't deserve it. The ruthless, bloodthirsty creature didn't get the reward of living through any of this. Applejack dove through the air, finally delivering a heavy blow to the griphon's ribcage with a crashing elbow drop. Gilda gagged in pain, spraying blood into the air. The vengeful mare straddled the griphon's stomach, quickly dispatching several blows to her face and chest with her hooves, cries of rage with every punch. Before Applejack knew what had happened, Gilda rolled backward, forcing the farmer to somersault across the cobblestone. She recovered, but not before feeling the griphon's talons wrap around her neck. Suddenly Gilda took to the skies with Applejack in her grasp. Once they were about fifty feet in the air, Gilda chucked the orange mare to the ground below.
Applejack panicked as she hurtled to the earth, flailing her limps rapidly. A violet square erupted to life, catching the farmer before she bounced off the magic net, landing clumsily on the ground. Gilda dove toward her, talons outstretched, her wings tucked to her sides. Her eyes were fixated on Applejack, not noticing the oncoming brick colliding with her skull. Gilda, disorientated, was thrown out of her trajectory, swooping upward and landing on her paws ten feet to Applejack's left.
"OH HAY YEAH!" Twilight cheered to herself. "Suck on THAT you overgrown pigeon!"
The orange earth pony was completely stunned at the unicorn's triumphant banter. She felt a small smile creep to her lips. They were going to do this. It was going to work. Once they took out the griphon's leader, the regime would be without direction, and they could finally end this. Applejack readied herself alongside Twilight, both low to the ground, facing the recovering Gilda.
"Ya'll can't win this, now give up before I wanna rip yer head off again," the orange mare snarled. Gilda stood up again, chuckling to herself maniacally. "What're ya' laughin' fer? This is over!"
"Over?" she cackled. "You stupid pony, I haven't even started yet!"
With that the griphon burst forward, suddenly right in front of Applejack, whom flinched at the impossible speed. It was as if she had teleported. Gilda smiled through her cracked beak, delivering an unseen blow across the farmpony's face. Applejack felt herself skidding across the square, the stone grinding at her side. Her path was marked with long streaks of blood until her momentum finally ceased. Applejack groaned, her left side screaming in pain. She couldn't move for her skull was throbbing with an oncoming migraine. She watched desperately as Twilight doubled her efforts in engaging the griphon. Gilda was unlike the other birds of prey that Applejack had so easily dispatched. Three ponies barely stood a chance when the griphon wasn't even fighting with her full potential. Now it all seemed so hopeless. She had just taunted Gilda with the threat of utter defeat, and the leader of the griphon army responded by swiftly defeating her in one fell swoop. How could they win now? They remaining troops of Ponyville were dropping like flies through a cloud of poison. Applejack had fought with all her might, but only to take down five of the griphons. Even Pinkie Pie had dispatched more than her, fighting with everything she had before falling to the might of Gilda. Now all that was left of her friends was an underpowered Twilight Sparkle, her magic visibly growing weaker and weaker. The plan wasn't for her to fight alone. She simply didn't have enough magic left.
Gilda dashed all around the purple unicorn, her body a mere brown blur to Applejack's fuzzy vision. Twilight's head darted all around as she attempted to follow her movements. The wounded farmpony couldn't even yell out a warning before the griphon landed a heavy blow across the unicorn's back. Blood spattered the square as Twilight Sparkle fell forward, beaten and broken. That was it. It was all over. Gilda cried out in victorious laughter. Applejack's heart sank into her stomach, unable to take defeat. She had lost, Ponyville had lost. All of her friends had fallen around her. Everything was ending. The griphons had won, and they were now free to move on to another town. What did they even want? Why were they doing this in the first place? It just didn't make sense. Gilda walked towards the fallen orange mare, still chuckling.
"Why?" Applejack managed to choke out. "Why 'ave ya' done this? What did we ever do ta' you?"
"What did you do?" Gilda repeated. "Your kind has oppressed griphons for far too long. Your prejudice has kept us from being free, from becoming more, from thriving. For instance, Ponyville had destroyed my reputation and my pride by banishing me for a crime that would only grant a pony a mere slap on the hoof. Now I would never expect you, a pony, to understand what it's like. Well, once we grow through these victories, you probably will. Nice to see the horseshoe on the other hoof eh?"
"An' simple discussion an' debate couldn't help?"
"Evidently not. Your kind has refused to be civil, so now I lead an army that will tear you all apart," Gilda hissed, her face right in Applejack's. The orange mare furrowed her brow. "I'd tell you that you ponies fought well, if beating you wasn't so easy."
Applejack coughed, her lungs bruised from the fall. She still couldn't move, her head resting on the cold cobblestone. The feeling was refreshing, assisting her in accepting the inevitable.
"Now I'm going to finish you. Would you like your death to be fast or-"
KRAKOOM!!!
Somewhere off in the distance, something detonated with a climactic roar. Gilda whipped her head around to the skies, trying to find to source of the sound. Applejack couldn't see anything but the tops of the tallest buildings in Ponyville, obstructing her view of what was happening. Suddenly the sounds of battle had ceased. Apparently all eyes were looking for the sound's source as well. From the skies to the North, a solid rainbow had split the blue expanse at break-neck speeds, followed by two lines of sparking, gray cloud trails. As quickly as they appeared, the streaks and turned their trajectory, diving towards the remnants of what used to be Ponyville. The plaza had quickly filled with the remaining soldiers of the griphon army, preparing for whatever was coming. The three anomalies accelerated with the assistance of gravity as they headed straight towards the outermost part of the town square, an area that had already been utterly destroyed. Applejack could have sworn that she heard a familiar battle cry before the streaks of light had made impact.
An explosion, followed by a prismatic mushroom cloud erupted in the town's center, followed by a similarly colored shock wave of light. Applejack had been forced to throw her hooves over her eyes, protecting her from the piercing light. Wind rushed through her ears although still able to hear the gasps of fright and shock coming from the many foes that surrounded her. As soon as the shock wave had passed, the orange earth pony had dared to look at the cause of the impact. Clouds of dust filled the air, taking its sweet time to disperse. The sunlight had shown through the cloud, casting the shadows of three ponies standing proud in the middle of the newly-formed crater. Eventually the dust was cast aside by a gust of wind, revealing the trio. The two ponies on the outside were clad in navy blue flight suits, yellow lightning patterns lacing around their hooves and waists. Their eyes were covered with thick goggles, obviously meant for high-velocity flight. The mare pegasus on the right had a blazing orange mane, as if her scalp had ignited into a magnificent blaze. The stallion pegasus on the left wore a mane of deep blue, blown back wildly from the wind. The pegasus mare in the middle, however, stood out between her two comrades. Cyan coat, prismatic mane and bright, shimmering magenta eyes. Applejack felt her heart soar at the sight. She had come back. They were saved.
"I hope you all don't mind me crashing the party," announced Rainbow Dash to the crowd of griphons, her tomcoltish voice alight with her old, brash attitude. "But I brought a couple of friends."