Indomitable Bulwark could not believe it. Here he was, soaring high in the blue sky with the sun on his back amongst the clouds. Flying among blue skies, not the cracked black sky in Tartarus that reminded him of stagnant lava floes that are slowly hardening. Real clouds, to him that he perceived as real, that we're not made explicitly for rain only and even then the clouds were uncomfortable and unnatural. Oh for Bulwark to even begin describing the sun would be the equivalent of describing color to a blind pony. It felt warm, comforting, amazing. It was just right as here soared through the sky, his wildfire mane just soaking in the sunlight and making it more vibrant and full of energy.
Slowly out on the horizon he could make out the silhouette of a town which filled Bulwark's heart with both cheer and trepidation. It would be the first town he would have visited in the Overworld but at the same time it made him inwardly nervous of what he would encounter. Too many a time when he went out to answer distress calls from neighboring villages in Tartarus would he find them filled with nothing but evil. The ponies that carved out that home would be eviscerated, slaughtered, or their remains possessed by malevolent spirits. Such machinations made his gut twist and churn, he could not stand the undead and any that withheld spirits of peaceful ponies from eternal rest without reason.
Bulwark shook his head and slapped himself across the face. This is neither here nor there, Bulwark thought to himself as he tried to convince himself, This is not Tartarus. This is not an answer to ponies in need of help. This is me going to a town and gain my bearings before I proceed even further in this world. I need to know where I am and a town full of ponies is the best place for information. It was decided that he needed to stop anyway. He has been flying for several hours and he was starting to feel the fight with Cerberus take it's toll on his body. A rest was required.
Before Bulwark took to the ground, he observed the town from the skies from the cover of a cloud just to better allay his fears, that he was not about to walk into a death trap. Much to his relief he observed ponies trotting around and going about their business, going to to fro from building to building and nothing eventful could be discerned. What got Bulwark's attention was two things: one, his attire compared to the ponies he was observing was vastly different to a fault. He would stick out like a sore hoof. Casting his gaze onto the crest on his chest, he tentatively tapped it then the armor covering his body was sucked in into the medal all save for his sword. I can easily hide the sword and sheath, no problem, Bulwark thought as he returned his attention back to the town.
The second thing that caught his attention was the building alongside what appeared to be long girders of iron going across numerous long lengths of wood. What is that for? Bulwark mentally asked himself. He kept watching for roughly half an hour longer without anything happening and at that point, he decided that he wasn't going to find out anymore until he hit the ground. Just as he was about to take off to glide down, he realized another crucial element of the ponies he observed. If he were to glide down as his body physically was, a alicorn appearing out of the blue, was certain to cause a commotion when Bulwark desired no attention to be cast upon him.
Quickly prepping an illusionary spell, he cast it on himself which made him appear no different in size to another pegasus stallion and his horn was hidden by the spell as well while his mane and tail had adopted just a blazing red with yellow streaks in contrast to his silver coat. Bulwark repositioned his sword and sheath in a way that would be covered by his saddlebags and wing when it was tucked in and with that, he stepped off the cloud with his wings spread wide and glided down to the ground and gently landed in front of building with the iron tracks running by it. Down on the ground, Bulwark observed the buildings much closer and for the most part, he was unimpressed. The majority of the buildings lacked color other than brown, nothing set them aside from one another except for the clock tower which Bulwark could tell had paint covering lines from resulting cracks but didn't give much thought into what caused it... Much less what the state the tower was in after the cracks.
Turning his attention back to the building he had invested an interest into, he found it wasn't much of a building except for several windows where ponies were stationed behind and who knows what else. The roofs he saw were supported by wooden pillars and wood benches were underneath in the shade from the sun back to back with one another with a couple of ponies sitting and minding their own business either by reading something big and and made of paper, taking a nap, or talking with a nearby pony.
Bulwark didn't pay much mind to the idle ponies as he did when his eyes where caught by a map. Briskly trotting up to the map, he observed the map and soaked in the information displayed. According to the map, and a red and yellow arrow pointing, "YOU ARE HERE," Bulwark was in the town of Appleloosa and to the north-northwest, was a depiction of a city in the side of a mountain with a star nearby it with the name, "Canterlot." There's my destination, Bulwark thought to himself, You'd have to be an ignorant foal to think that the leaders would be anywhere else but where a star on the map standing for the national capital. Bulwark sighed as it was a sad mental statement that things would be as such in the world, and something Bulwark came to accept but it was still agitating dealing with such.
Recollecting himself, he looked at the map then tried opening his bag to pull out a compass so he could get his direction. He pulled the compass out and opened it up only to stare in disbelief as the red arrow was spinning wildly about without him moving at all. North, south, west, southeast, northeast, the compass couldn't get a direction to north and then it hit Bulwark, It was attuned in Tartarus. It is used to track magic signatures in Tartarus for north, not here in the Overworld. Bulwark scowled and stuffed the compass away before turning to look up at the sky, hoping that the sun would give any indication of direction. From his position, the sun was slowly but steadily going left across the sky from his right which made him smile. Some things thankfully never changed from Tartarus to the Overworld. Glancing back at the map momentarily he took note of the name of the land. "Equestria..." Bulwark quietly mumbled and replayed it over in his head to memorize the name.
Bulwark turned away from the station and got into the street before spreading his wings and taking flight, flying away from Appleloosa to get away from prying eyes before shedding his illusion spell. Deeming it safe enough from the top of a mesa, he removed the illusion spell from himself, his body visually returning to full size along with his wing span and horn. His mane and tail reignited into that living flame with the medallion resting on his chest. Quietly regarding the medallion, There should be no need for putting the armor back on. I can move faster and maneuver better without it on. Bulwark stared up at the vast blue sky and looked up at the sun before closing his eyes with his horn glowing with his magic signature, he began to magically attune himself to where north was. The pull on his horn turned his head a little bit left and when he opened his eyes, his course was set before him. Getting up and spreading his wings he stepped off the edge of the Mesa and plummeted downward before pulling himself up and up high into the sky. The magic continued from his horn but he could not have been aware of constantly channeling a spell.
*******************
Meanwhile on a plateau where a runway spanned the width of the plateau and pegasi in uniform flew to where they needed to be, a detachment of unicorns were at work as a listening post and tracking any powerful magical signatures. What better place to have a listening post then at one of the homes of some of the fastest flyers of Equestria resided? Two unicorn ponies stood-by and quietly operated with their horns softly glowing, they tracked any and all that came in sight or was felt within their magic. Most common of these signatures came from dragons whom were innately magical and for the most part were passing through airspace to get to their destination and were usually ignored. If a large enough signature or a group of smaller ones altogether lingered around.
The unicorns shot up as they picked up a large signature, starting to work frantically to locate the signature. "Where is it coming from!?" The female unicorn asked, working together with her counter-part, "From the south, along the borderlands heading north by northwest. The signature indicates a strong magical presence, similar to the Princess' own signatures in terms of strength." The male unicorn replied. "The Princesses don't have anything scheduled do they? Do we have anything on schedule in that sector?" The male unicorn flipped through several sheets of paper, trying to determine if anything friendly was in that area, "Nothing that the papers say. What is this signature's trajectory?" The female unicorn focused, the aura surrounding her horn intensifying as she made predicted courses of where the signature was going.
"Ponyville, Dodge Junction, Canterlot, the Crystal Empire, Everfree Forest..." The female named off a few, "it is definitely going to cross Canterlot airspace and at the rate it's flying, it will reach there in a few hours." The male was already starting to write up a report to be passed on, "Consider it a potential threat then. We must pass this on to the Captain. She will see most definitely see to it especially after being cooped up with recruits for the past few months." After the male finished writing the report, the female took hold of it in her magical aura and teleported to the desk of the captain. The rolled up piece of paper bearing the Wonderbolts insignia poofed out of thin air and landed next to a nameplate on the desk belonging to one Captain Spitfire.
The captain sighed as the piece of parchment appeared on her desk, "Those unicorns better have something good..." She opened it up and quickly read the report, "A lone contact flying north by northwest bound toward Canterlot airspace. Current location is near the borderlands following along the railroad tracks. Magic signature suggests aerial contact discovered and tracked by 1347. Equipment is unknown, suggests magic blockers for magical observation are in play. Assessment of the target is unknown and visual contact is requested..." Spitfire's wings rustled in excitement as a smile slowly spread across her face, "Sounds like an invitation." She pressed a button to an intercom on her desk keying her to her lieutenant, Soarin, "Soarin, grab Fleetfoot and suit up. We're taking a little trip to the borderlands near Appleloosa." Soarin replied, "Any chance we can stop in Appleloosa for pie when we are done?" Spitfire scoffed and smiled, "We'll see, you big marshmallow." Soarin just rolled his eyes on the other end, "Yes ma'am, on it ma'am."
**************
Bulwark continued flying high in the sky as he observed the landscape change from desert flatland into rolling hills of green. A wonderful change of scenery, Bulwark thought to himself as he soared above the clouds dotting the scene below him. Then out of the corner of Bulwark's eye, he saw a trail of dark clouds appearing on the horizon. He raised an eye in confusion at what could be creating a trail of clouds and focusing a bit he could barely make out three pegasi in blue jumpsuits flying at high speeds in his direction. Bulwark continued along his flight path, observing the pegasi for any change in direction but also curious as to why the pegasi were out here.
***************
The three Wonderbolts scanned the sky, alert for anything that came in sight within the sky. They had reasonably ruled out the contact being a dragon for dragons did not have the ability to accurately block magic sight nor did they care to put up such blockers. Dragons wanted to be seen and feared by any and all that laid eyes upon them. Fleetfoot was actually betting with Soarin that it was something they would not expect to see in a thousand years time. Soarin was betting it was a changeling queen if the magic signature was that powerful. Spitfire, in the middle of the bickering Wonderbolts just rolled her eyes and kept her eyes forward and scanning the skies for anything sticking out.
Her vigilance paid off. Off in the distance with her refined eyes she could what appeared to be fire streaking across the sky off her left. "Contact 10 o'clock! Got eyes on the bandit!" Spitfire called out, refocusing the attention of Soarin and Fleetfoot from their guesses about what they would see and to what Spitfire pointed out. Altering their flightpath onto an intercept course, they turned to the streak of fire and started beating their wings faster which started producing the trail of clouds behind them.
*****************
Bulwark could now tell that the three pegasi he spotted were not changing course for him but were actually on an intercept course straight for him already. He had to make a choice, he could wait and see if the pegasi were friend instead of foe but taking into consideration he had no knowledge of Equestria's disposition, their armed forces, past conflicts that lead to the necessity of alertness of said forces, he was essentially thrown out into the cold with no intel. He could engage them in self-defense if needed but their survival would have to be paramount and in air combat, especially when focus would be split between maintaining a handle on his sword, the three pegasi he would be engaging, and flying would be a challenge in making sure no fatal wounds were given much less taken. Fight was out of the question. All that was left was flight.
*******************
The trio of Wonderbolts were closing within a thousand kilometers when the streak of fire suddenly veered off it's original course and turned into a dive parallel to their intercept course. Spitfire smiled as the chase was on and the thrill of such began filling her up. "Filly and gentlecolt, we got a runner. Get into V-formation and continue pursuit. Bring down the bandit and ask questions after." Fleetfoot shared in Spitfire's excitement, breaking formation and shifting left then pulling ahead of formation to her place. Soarin on the other hoof sighed in disappointment, muttering something about hoping the situation was going to be easy and really hoping to have time for Appleloosian apple pie after but regained his bearing then mirroring Fleetfoot's actions to take the right of the V-formation.
The Wonderbolts were closing in on the streak of fire, which had leveled out, to the point where they could get a rough identification on the bandit. They saw a coat of silver fur followed by long feathery wings beating as hard. They could see the presumably retreating pegasus was carrying saddlebags that blocked any view to it's cutie mark. Preliminary guesses came in that they were dealing with a pegasus who may have been a courier of some sorts carrying a package magical in nature which could potentially answer why the pegasus' mane and tail was on fire. Coupled with the fact that the pegasus turned tail and started to get away from the Wonderbolts gave the feel that the Wonderbolts were dealing with some underground organization trying to fly under the radar for illicit activities. Pulling the V-formation closer to encircle the pegasus they were in pursuit of, they stared aghast with their mouths open as the noticed one more detail that escaped their initial profiling of the target.
Fleetfoot was the first to exclaim in shock, "Is that a bucking <b>alicorn</b>!?" Soarin and Spitfire only stared as they reconfirmed over and over that what they were chasing was an honest to goodness alicorn. Horn? Check. Wings? Check. Larger than the average pony? Check. They could not believe that they were flying in the presence of an alicorn and lost their bearing as each of them tried to figure out what they were supposed to do in a situation like this.
*********************
Bulwark was flying what he perceived was fast and only looked back occasionally at the pegasi who were most assuredly still in hot pursuit. He stared as they continued to gain on him and he refocused back to the front and quickly reran his options in his head. He could still chance air combat but he still did not want to cause harm or even kill one of them which is not what he wanted to do as his first big impression in Equestria. The voice of reason in the back of his head advised that he could very easily just stop flying away and attempt to talk to his pursuers. He saw no weapons of any kind on them when he last glanced back at them but time spent explaining meant less time for Equestria much less the Overworld in general had to prepare for what he knew.
"Is that a bucking <b>alicorn!?</b>" Bulwark barely heard the voice of a mare from the air rushing past his ears on his left flank. His eyes shrank to pinpricks as he realized that if he could hear their voices at the speeds they were going then they were right on his tail. Chancing to look back at them again, they had him encircled to his left, right, and rear. A quick glance at all of the revealed they were in a state of shock from realizing what they were dealing with. If there were ever a better time to get out from being circled like this, this was that time.
Bulwark pulled up and started to climb up and rapidly gain altitude in a hurry. By then the Wonderbolts realized what was going on with the alicorn they were in pursuit of and Spitfire barked out that he is still running from them then they must pursue him. At that order they started climbing after him slightly going over Bulwark's own speed in an attempt to overtake him and encircle him again to try and control his direction. Bulwark's breathing picked up as the air got thinner and the Wonderbolts behind him showed no sign of stopping any time soon. Bulwark closed his eyes in self-resignation. There was only one way he knew for certain of how to evade them.
Taking as deep of a breath as he could in the thin air, he closed his wings and performed a backwards U upward into the sky and started into a nosedive to the ground at an angle. The Wonderbolts mirrored him in to keep up pursuit and followed him in his dive, forming back up in their patrol formation to better stay in the air draft Bulwark was creating. Bulwark spread his wings and kept his eyes closed as he felt the air rush past him and magic fill every fiber of his being. His mind was clear, his focus on the compass spell long gone, he felt himself rapidly picking up speed like all those years ago back when he was a colt. No cares, no worries. Only thing that was on his mind was his goal and the need to not only meet it but utterly obliterate it. That goal was escaping his pursuers and he was going to go the distance.
He felt the pressure in his primary feathers, he could feel the barrier form in front of him trying it's hardest to prevent him from piercing through. He could feel the sparks flying, the air friction heating up his body. He dared not open his eyes to see the ground closing in on him. The heat being caused by his mane and tail made the air thinner which propelled him even faster which in turn the pegasi behind him in his draft went faster. A thin veil of flames started to form just before the barrier and Bulwark could feel the heat on his muzzle and his horn flared to life.
The next could only be described at rolling thunder in the distance.
The barrier snapped and magic released behind him, generating a ring of fire that expanded outwards and produced searing heat that threatened to scorch the sky above and the lands below. Following in the wake of this explosion was Bulwark going incredibly fast with fire being left in his trail. Following after, or rather falling, was the concussed forms of the Wonderbolts after losing all sense of balance in the wake of such a blast. A metallic aura surrounded them and followed after Bulwark in his wake. The ring of fire continued to expand but then eventually died out while Bulwark slowed his speed and looked for a place to land and eventually found a small clearing. He glided down into the clearing and set the dazed and barely conscious Wonderbolts on solid earth. Looking back on them, a wildfire colored mare was looking up at him while her two companions had given up on consciousness and blacked out. The mare was panting and barely managed to say, "Who are... you...?" before she passed out completely.
Bulwark stared at the unconscious ponies and sighed, knowing full well he could not leave them like this when he didn't know if it was safe to in the general area he was in. Picking them up with his magic he made for the nearby trees to get them out from underneath the sun and into the shade. He opened his saddlebags with his magic to pull out what were two linen rolls and rolled them out then unfolded them. He set down the two mares on the rolls, one for each of them, then pulled the covers over them. Unfortunately he did not have something to cover the unconscious stallion with so Bulwark set him down and set about creating a fire pit. He excavated into the ground a bit with his magic so that if the wind started blowing it would not easily blow an embers out of the fire. He took what stones were nearby and made a fire ring then placed kindling along with sticks and such he could find into the pit. Satisfied with his work, he set cast a spell to ignite the fire pit and it caught fire. Bulwark looked around at his present if unconscious company then turned to face out toward the woods to keep watch until the ponies he indadvertedly knocked out regained consciousness.
It wasn't until the sun was hanging low in the sky in hours of evening twilight that one of the pegasi began to stir. One of the mares with a tarnished light gray coat and a silvery mane began to stir and rubbed her head with her forehooves, "Uggggggh... I feel like I got rear kicked in the head..." complained the awakened mare. Slowly she sat up and took note of her surroundings, noticing for the first time that she was covered with a blanket. She looked over and saw Spitfire covered up in a similar manner, still out cold. On the opposite side of the fire was Soarin looking no better than Spitfire but didn't have anything covering him but did see he was closer to the fire than they were. Whoever found them certainly took the time to make sure they would be tended to as properly as they could be in an improvised setting. "Wait a minute... we weren't on the ground... we were flying..." Fleetfoot slowly started, rubbing her head as she tried in a vain attempt to recall earlier events.
"You were flying. Flying after me." Bulwark's voice responded, causing Fleetfoot to turn around and face the alicorn who was facing outward. She scrambled onto her hooves in a panic but then later regretted it as she lost her balance with her vision briefly fading out, collapsing on to her forelegs, "I wouldn't do that. You did follow in the wake of somepony who broke the sound barrier. Relax. I am not your enemy. In fact it was me that prevented you three from plummeting to your deaths," Bulwark advised Fleetfoot, knowing that she likely tried to get up upon seeing him. That is when it came back to her. She and her comrades were chasing after Bulwark then he broke through the sound barrier. They passed through the hole he made roughly milliseconds just after him but the concussive force of the barrier breaking still struck them, wrecking their flight path and losing consciousness from the force.
"I understand if you are wary of me. I did take you all for a ride and knocked you all out but understand that I am not your enemy and if I weren't there then you and your companions would have most likely perished upon impact with the ground or whatever you may have landed on. Could've crash landed into a spike pit for all I knew." Bulwark stated which made Fleetfoot a little blue in the face at the prospect that her life could've been ended on the off chance she crashed into spikes or worst. Sitting on her haunches she looked over at her friends with slight worry. "Are they going to be okay?" Fleetfoot asked, voicing her concerns. Bulwark turned his head and gazed upon the unconscious forms of the two remaining ponies, "They should be alright. In all honesty, I thought that yellow and orange mare was going to wake up first. She was the last one out." Bulwark answered then looked like a cow that stares at an oncoming train, "It just occurred to me that we haven't made proper introductions yet. My name is Indomitable Bulwark. And you are miss...?"
Fleetfoot snorted at the suddenness of pleasantries, "Fleetfoot. My name is Fleetfoot. The stallion over there is First Lieutenant Soarin and the mare is Captain Spitfire." Bulwark looked over the two as he matched names to faces, "And you don't have a rank, miss Fleetfoot?" Fleetfoot only smirked which was followed by a chuckle, "I only care about ranks when it comes to those above me which happens to the the Ell-Tee and Capitan and other officers."
"So that must mean you are a high rank enlisted then."
"How would you know that?"
"You said you only cared about the ranks which were higher than you which I believe would put you at the equivalent of a master sergeant or higher."
Fleetfoot rolled her eyes, reaching for her goggles and pulling them down around her neck then unzipping the top part of her flight suit down to her neck so her head could be free from the stifling material. She looked at Bulwark and figured it would be safe trying to make small talk while waiting for the others to wake up and generally try to relax, "You have no clue how hot it gets in these suits. It gets tight to your body and with your coat it just gets hard for your body to breathe." Bulwark snorted, "I dunno. Armor does tend to pretty dang hot."
"At least it doesn't cling to your body."
"It does, actually. Armor that has been specifically made for a pony will do that."
"There is no way you can compare it to these flight suits! I feel like I'm sweating buckets with this thing on!"
"But aren't you up in the air with that suit on going so fast that the wind chill would cool you off just as fast as you're building up heat?"
"... Good point. But still when you're down on the ground, especially at a special event where no pony will turn down the heat? It's a nightmare in and of itself. Like the last time the Wonderbolts were at the Gala. I swear the suit was more stifling then the stuck-up nobles attending."
"The Wonderbolts, huh? Is that your organization's name?"
Fleetfoot nodded, "It is. We're famous around Equestria for our high flying stunts and generally being a coordinated team of daredevils."
"So an airshow team was sent to come after me."
"We're not just that. We also take care of problems around Equestria as well such as the occasional rampaging dragon. Man that was awfully embarrassing then."
"What exactly happened?"
"We uh... got pinned against the mountainside..."
"Got pinned by the dragon's claws? I'd hardly call that embarrassing."
"... inside of a water tower reservoir."
Bulwark just stared before letting out a hearty chuckle, "Okay, I have to admit that would be pretty embarrassing being contained like that. Hardly professional at all." Fleetfoot rubbed the back of her head with a nervous look on her face, "Yeah... thats an experience I don't wanna do ever again..." A groan sounded out and the two looked at each other as if one of them made the sound then realized they had completely forgotten about the other two Wonderbolts present. Spitfire was just regaining consciousness as she sat up, "Oh great Celestia what a migraine I've got... Where's my cup of coffee...?" Fleetfoot laughed, "I don't think coffee is good for a headache or a migraine, boss." Spitfire looked up at Fleetfoot and just shot a glare at her, "Well it helps me regardless, Fleetfoot. Oh and if you see Soarin... tell him we're not stopping in Appleloosa..." Fleetfoot giggled, "Well the big ol' marshmallow is right over there boss so I think you can tell him yourself."
Spitfire looked to where Fleetfoot is pointing at and saw Soarin sitting up with a defeated look in his eyes, sighing depressed. Spitfire facehoofed, "Ah boy..." Bulwark just shrugged, "I don't see what the big deal is about that town. It's out there on the edge of the badlands and the only thing iconic about it would be the apple fields." Soarin, not realizing who it was talking at first, started going off, "Appleloosa has amazing pie! It is so good that it brokered peace between the Appleloosians and buffalo that stampede in that land! It has to be good!" Soarin then went wide eye as he saw he went off at an alicorn, then his eyes shrank to pinpricks as he suddenly became fearful for his life of what he could and probably would do. Spitfire realized it herself as she stared at the alicorn she had originally been out in pursuit of, realizing the vulnerable position they were in until she noticed Fleetfoot actually sitting close by the alicorn...
Bulwark broke off in a laugh, "You do not need to worry. I am not going to do anything to either of you. In fact, you three owe your lives. Following me into a sound barrier breach like that. Pardon me for saying but that isn't exactly smart to do." Spitfire, now calmed down from being reassured nothing bad was going to happen, looked at Bulwark in a confused look, "Well breaking the sound barrier isn't exactly something that every pegasus can do. Much less what exactly perform what Rainbow Dash can do..." Bulwark tilted his head, "I'm sorry, who now?" Spitfire shook her head, "Never mind. It is not important but now we know you can do that sort of thing. But that was no Sonic Rainboom. What in Equestria was that?"
Bulwark cocked his head, "There is such a thing as a Sonic Rainboom?"
"Please answer my question first and I'll answer your's."
"Fair deal. No, that was not a 'Sonic Rainboom.' It was sonic at the very least but no Rainboom. What was created in my wake was what they called a, 'Sonic Firestorm.'"
"A 'Sonic Firestorm?' That's what that was?"
"I answered your question, now you answer mine." Bulwark said with a cheeky smile.
"Gah! Yes, there is a thing called a Sonic Rainboom. Take the product of your Sonic Firestorm and replace it with a prismatic explosion instead. Still a very concussive force from what I'm told."
"I see. Well my Sonic Firestorm is a very destructive force. I do not know if you noticed it but just before I broke the barrier, my horn lit up to contain the storm."
"I did notice that. What is up with that?"
Bulwark settled in and sighed, his face darkening, "The Sonic Firestorm is just that. A firestorm. Very destructive and if left uncontained, it will scorch the earth and burn the sky. You have no idea. I first performed it when I was young. Pax Æterna was observing me flying one day and when it erupted when I broke the sound barrier... I was exhilarated that I created something just by going fast but the effect of it was seen by Pax... It started to scorch the farm land and that if she had noticed it a second too late then it would've burned all of the crops, leading our home to starve..." Bulwark shook the memory, shuddering at the incident.
Fleetfoot spoke up, "I forgot to say, we still don't know where you come from and they don't know your names." Bulwark snapped his head up in surprise, "Ah yes, forgive me. I've introduced myself to Fleetfoot here but not you two. I am Indomitable Bulwark. I come from a town that ponies have somehow managed to carve a living out of." Soarin then asked a question, "Where at?" Bulwark sighed, "From Tartarus itself."
Spitfire stared at the alicorn as if more than his mane and tail had caught fire, "Wait wait wait wait... wait. You're telling me that you are an alicorn."
"Yes."
"An alicorn that came from Tartarus which the gates of are guarded by Cerberus and the gates sealed with powerful magic rivaling Princess Celestia."
"Cerberus is kind of a push over if you ask me and the seals are the reason why I am here in the first place."
"Then what is the reason then?" Spitfire asked, getting down to serious business in a right big hurry.
"The only reason I am here is because the very thing meant to keep me in Tartarus is losing strength. The seal is weakening. Through the combined efforts of Pax Æterna and other magically adept unicorns, they managed to open the gate just wide enough that it allowed me to go through and find my way to your leaders and warn them the current condition of the gates."
"Well then why are we laying around for?" Spitfire stood up, shaking out her limbs and wings, "We better get going to Canterlot. We can give you an escort there. If you can keep up that is." Bulwark smiled, extinguishing the fire while Soarin got up and limbered up while Fleetfoot pulled her flightsuit hood back up and zipped it up before putting on her flight goggles. He wrapped up the linen back into rolls and placed them back into his saddlebags then making sure his gear was secure to his body. After checking himself, the trio of pegasi and alicorn made for the nearby clearing and once there, they spread their wings and with a push off from their hind legs they took the skies and gained altitude quickly before making their way to Canterlot as fast as their wings could beat.