//------------------------------// // Escalation // Story: Painted Mirror // by Lord of Turtles //------------------------------// The Dogs were on him in a second. The first, a slobbering beast with a heavy helmet over his brow, dove at his shins. Raj snapped out a leg and drove the toe of his boot into the thing's jaw hard enough to send the creature careening into his neighbor. His counterattack made a hole in the press of dogs and Raj drove through it, lashing out at any dogs that happened to be in reach. Some of the smarter ones backed off, the rest kept charging after him. Raj hopped up on the overturned cart, using its height to his advantage. Diamond Dogs bounded up the sides and were struck back to the ground with sharp punches or cruel stomps. Applejack stayed on the ground, staring at the fight with a slack jaw and painfully wide eyes “No... no... can't be, not now.” Raj didn't notice her rambling and yanked an idly spinning wheel off the wagon and started batting at the dogs that scrabbled up the sides of the wagon with it. One of the smaller ones bounded off its companion and gnashed at Raj's arm. He caught the meat of his forearm in his jaws and clamped down, locking in place. Raj swore and wrapped a black hand around the small creature's neck, squeezing tight enough to feel tendons shift and blood vessels burst. The dog's mouth was forced open and he clawed at the hand on his throat. Sneering, Raj tossed him aside to land in a sputtering heap. A second after that he felt a trio of blunt claws tear across his lower back. He tensed for a second and spun in a looping punch. Luckily, it was one of the bigger dogs and his swing didn't go high. Instead it hit the creature right in his bull-dog jowl with enough force to send a spray of teeth out of his mouth and launch him pinwheeling to the ground. Ace watched all this with steadily growing fury. One by one his dogs were laid low and either left in groaning heaps or sent limping away with cracked bones or bruised flesh. Those that didn't get hurt kept their distance from the human on the cart, their tails tucked low and the acrid scent of fear bursting from every one of them. The Diamond Dog Alpha gnashed his teeth and growled, the matted hair on the back of his neck raising. His bloodshot eyes darted around and settled on Applejack's prone form. “You,” he accused “this is your fault Applehat.” He stepped close, his dirty claws flexed out. “You brought that thing here.” Applejack slid back “Whoa now, pardner, whoa.” “I will eat your heart!” Ace clawed at her, raking across her flank. Applejack howled and scrabbled at the stony ground. Raj's gaze snapped up to the sound and a he felt a surge of rage. He flipped the wheel in his hand and flung it at Ace like a frisbee. The wooden disc sailed directly towards his face but was deftly caught in his strong jaws. His beady little eyes narrowed and he clench his mouth, pulverizing the wood into splinters. He loosed a bloody bark of challenge and started loping towards Raj's postion. Seeing the big beast coming at him, Raj bounded off the turned wagon, sailing over the heads of the remaining dogs that clamored to get on the vehicle, and landed in a sprint towards Ace. The big dog leaped up and brought his arms high, intent on pulverizing Raj with his brutish strength. Raj sidestepped and ducked, chopping a hand into the back of the creature's smaller back leg. The limb went numb immediately and Ace stumbled to the dirt amidst growls and snarls of rage. Raj watched him fall for a second and made his way over to Applejack's prone form. “Applejack, we need to go, can you walk?” “H-huh?” She answered shakily. “Can you walk Applejack, can you walk?” he repeated. “Yeah let's get go-behind!” Her answer cut off into a sharp warning. Raj spun to see Ace bounding towards him, bloody froth leaking from his mouth and his eyes wide with rage. He came at him with outstretched, flexing claws. Raj raised his hands to defend and ended up interlocking their fingers. The beast's sheer weight forced him from his feet and onto his back. As soon as they hit the ground Ace was leaning in, biting at his face and growling mad fury. Raj grimaced away from the fetid reek of his breath and the crimson foam that dripped onto his face. He tried to kick at the creature over him but Ace was securely straddling his waste, keeping his legs in a useless position. The mad dog pushed their arms wide and got his face close enough for his fangs to grace him, tearing two ragged gashes over his cheekbone. He snarled out “I kill you! I kill all of you!” Raj heard a grunt of effort followed by a a solid thwack over him and he felt Ace stop struggling. He cracked open one eye to see the black beast shaking his head drunkenly. A pair of orange hooves stabbed in again and hit him squarely in the forehead hard enough to draw blood. Ace's grip slackened and Raj pushed him off. He stood up, wiping bloody drool from his face and wheezing breath. He looked down at Ace, his head lolling and his eyes spinning in his head. The rest of the dogs loomed nearby, most with the fight beaten out of them but some still intent on fulfilling their Alpha's order, but even they were flicking their eyes at their prone leader. The two of them didn't even need to say anything, they just started running. * * * “Ah don't care if Aegaeon himself is gonna come knockin' on the door, ah ain't goin' nowhere!” declared Granny Smith with a stamp of her hoof. It took almost an hour to explain the situation to the old mare, everything from the tributes to the Diamond Dogs to the odd occurrences on the farm being explained away by Applejack and Macintosh all the way up to her and Raj's encounter earlier that morning. She was understandably upset to learn the situation, but was absolutely livid at the suggestion she run away from the farm. “But Granny-” “No buts Applejack, this is mah home. I will not abandon it and that's final!” “Mrs. Smith, we're not asking you to abandon your house, just clear out for a bit while we get this sorted. Shouldn't take more than a day or two. Think of it as a vacation.” Raj added diplomatically. “Don't give me that youngster,” She eyeballed him. “That bullplop ain't gonna fool me. I ain't budgin'. Me and this house weathered the parasprites, the fire-hail, the solid fog, even those dang phoenixes, we'll survive these dog extortionists.” “Granny, you don't understand.” Applejack implored “This is different, this is way more dangerous!” “She's right Granny. Them dog's are out of control.” agreed Macintosh. The old mare shot them a look that could have curdled milk “And who let it get that bad?” the pair winced as she continued “Keepin' something like this to yourselves and going behind everypony's backs. It's gotta be one of the most lowdown things I could imagine an Apple doing! What were you ponies thinking?” Applejack and Big Macintosh looked away in shame. She stammered “W-we didn't want ya'll to worry none.” “Ah'm yer Grandmother! It's mah got-dang job to worry!” she all-but-shouted. The Apple siblings cowered beneath their Grandmother's withering gaze before the old matron backed off and let out a fatigued sigh. “Well, there's no use whinnyin' 'bout it now. What's done is done. Now then,” She settled herself down at the kitchen table “what're we doin' about it?” The three of them stood in uncomfortable silence before Granny said “Well?” Raj spoke up “We're gonna send someone to Applebloom's school, get her to spend the night at one of her friend's houses, maybe longer if needed. After that, we secure the farm.” Granny snorted “Is that it? We hole up and wait?” “Of course not. Applejack?” The orange pony stepped forward “Macintosh came on the idea to rustle up a posse and march on down to their warrens. Show 'em what for with a whole mess of ponies. Should get 'em off our backs. Ah was gonna get that going, but if'n yer gonna stay maybe you should be the one to reach out to the family.” “I'll write up a few telegrams. Ya'll can run 'em into town for me. But this don't mean ah'm leaving the farm.” Applejack shook her head vigorously “Course not Granny, course not, and, uh...” she hoofed at the ground “Ah'm sorry Granny. We both are for, for lyin'.” Granny's stern gaze softened the slightest bit and she said “That's good child, apologies always matter. But let's hold onto that 'til we know how bad it gets.” * * * The next hour consisted solely of what the Apples do best, hard work. As soon as Granny was done putting pen to paper Macintosh scooped the letters up and went galloping into town with a mumbled promise to hurry back. Applejack set to fortifying the house. Windows were boarded up and doors were drilled with heavy deadbolts. Antiquities and items of value were boxed and stowed in the attic, safe from any raiding beasts that might come up through the floor. Granny tended to the livestock. The chickens were herded into their coop and closed up, the pigs were gathered into their pens. Winona and Banjo were escorted to the neighbors farm and tied up, much to their whining dismay. The cows were let loose into their pasture with instructions to keep their eyes open and stay away from any dogs and, much to Raj's surprise, they agreed to do so. He tried not to let the discovery of articulate livestock distract him. He too had a job to do. What was left of the Apple's supplies needed to be processed and stored. They couldn't harvest with Ace's dogs about, so they would need every last scrap of what they had. So engrossed was he in his job that he didn't even hear the tiny creature come up behind him, only noticing her when she brightly cried out “Hiya Rajrishi!” Raj let out a squeak of surprise and whirled around with the mallet he was using to seal up the crate. When he saw the red topped yellow creature he clenched everything tight to keep himself from moving. Tense as he was, it's almost a miracle he didn't simply swing and take the little pony's head off. Thankfully, Applebloom didn't notice this and simply looked up at him with a bright smile. “Whatcha doin'?” she asked cheerfully. “Applebloom, what are you doing here?” He asked back, “You're supposed to be at your friend's house. Didn't Mac go see you?” “Yeah, he did. Talked Sweetie Belle's parents into lettin' me spend the night, then we got Scootaloo and Twist too, so we're gonna have a big Cutie Mark Crusaders(and Twist) sleepover!” She shouted, an excited little dance coming to her hooves “Ah just came home to get a few things, like mah pillow, mah toothbrush, a spare bow, y'know, important things.” “That's not, shouldn't- you go...” Raj stammered, his eyes scanning around pointedly. Applebloom's face fell “Something wrong Rajrishi?” Raj shook his head, snapping himself out of the paranoid fugue he felt himself falling into. Scaring Applebloom would help nothing, and keeping her in the dark about what was going was the one thing the four adults agreed on. He smiled as genially as he could “Nothing, just worn out. Your sister has been running me ragged all day.” “Ah bet. Oh, here it is.” She trotted over to a flip-top box against the wall and opened it. Raj could see a series of lightly colored rods and a thin puff of dust drift off of it. Sidewalk chalk. “Cool, now we can finish the drawing in Sweetie's garage.” she tucked the things in her saddlebag and trotted away. Raj watched her go with sweaty palms. It made terrible sense, Applebloom being there. Mac wouldn't have wanted to scare her by telling her not to come home or, even worse, engaged her curiosity with a vague story. She'd have to come home for a few things, it only made sense. It was a stupid oversight on everyone's part. He had to assume the dogs knew she was here, and if they went after her once, they were likely to do it again. If only to satisfy Ace's bloodthirst. He jogged up next to her as she made her way to the house. “Hey, um, so who's this Twist girl, she a Crusader like the other two of you?” He asked, trying to seem as nonchalant as possibl His attempt failed utterly. She looked up at him with a curious face and asked “You okay Rajrishi?” “Yeah, 'm fine.” He muttered while scanning the yard. She flipped around and walked backwards so she could face him. “You sure? 'Cause you kinda look like you need to poop really bad.” Raj blinked “What?” “Yer all clenched up and stuff, like yer about to mess yerself. It's how Big Mac looks when he's been in the yard too-” She cut herself off and looked down “Oh, cool! The ground's shaking!” She wobbled her knees in an exaggerated motion. Raj's eyes widened, knowing full well what that meant. He lunged forward and grabbed the little pony around the barrel. She let out a startled squeak as he lifted her into the air. The second he did so the ground where Applebloom had been standing crumbled away and a pair of filthy, grasping arms waved in the air. The dog in the ground let out a howl of frustration its claws failed to find its quarry. The creatures shook the dirt and grit from its face just in time to see the tread of a boot descend down onto its face. The Diamond Dog let out a pained yelp and its arms flung up. When Raj lifted his leg up there was a neat tread pattern pounded into its muzzle. Raj was already running back to the barn. He twisted his head around and shouted with his soldier voice “APPLEJACK!” That got an immediate response and he heard a muted cry of alarm come from the house. Several more patches of dirt collapsed in his path and he was forced to dance around them while Applebloom squirmed in his grasp. She looked up at him with fearful eyes “What's goin' on?” “Barn.” he answered as calmly as he could. They reached the structure in short order. By then most of the beasts had freed themselves from the ground and started after the two of them. As soon as Raj was past the threshold of the structure he dropped the filly to the ground and slammed the doors shut, swinging the crossbar down with a heavy thud. Applebloom flicked her head back and forth in confusion “Rajrishi, why're Diamond Dogs on the farm?” Raj stepped away from the door and a great weight slammed against it. Splintery cracks sounded from the crossbar. He grimaced and answered “For very bad reasons. C'mere.” She stepped over to him “Are they after us or something?” “Yeah, they are. Here, up.” He grabbed under her torso and lifted her up the ladder into the loft. “Stay up there, hide somewhere, you'll be fine.” She turned around and peered down at him “What about you?” “I'll be fine too. Now hush.” He turned around, scanning the barn. Another heavy slam rocked the barndoor, bursting jags of broken wood from the crossbar. He looked at that sourly and moved over to the discarded claw-hammer from earlier. He reached for it, thought back to the dog that tried to drag Applebloom into the earth, and decided to take the heavy sledgehammer hanging on the wall instead. He gave it an experimental flip and nodded to himself. The next hit against the door burst the crossbar and the whole entrance burst open. Close to a dozen massive dogs, each almost as large as Macintosh, spilled into the room and locked eyes on Raj. They didn't offer any negotiation, no chance at parlay, they just let out hunting howls and loped for him. Raj bellowed wordlessly and leaped forward, bringing the hammer around in a downward arc. Most of the dogs bounded out of the way, but one was too slow and caught the hammer where his neck met his shoulder. There was an unhealthy sounding crunch and the creature simply crumpled to the ground. If the rest of the dogs were disconcerted by one of them going down so quickly, they did not show it. A pair of the large beasts bounced off their strong hinds and grabbed at him with their lanky arms. He twisted the haft of the hammer in the way of one, but the other managed to slip past his guard and locked his jaws on Raj's leg. It set its feet and started to pull, hauling its head back and forth as it did so. Raj swore and jabbed down with the butt of his hammer. The hit glanced off the dog's muzzle, not landing square, but it was enough to encourage the dog to let go and bound back. Raj did some warding motions with his hammer, intent on keeping the dogs back. He experimentally put weight on his leg, trying to see how hurt he was. It hurt fiercely and he could feel the hot slickness of blood running down his ankle but the limb bore his weight fine. The dogs sidled away, circling on him and padding on all fours. They growled threats or mindlessly snarled at him. He glared impassively back, not letting any fear show on his face. He gave the hammer an idle spin and said “Leave now while you still can.” A light tan dog chuckled and rasped “We will chew your bones not-pony.” “You can try.” A pair rushed at his exposed back while another made a play for his front. Raj didn't fall for the distraction and whipped around in time to see the beasts cutting in at his legs. He danced back and lashed out with the hammer, audibly breaking the dog's jaw and sending it on a tumble across the dirt floor. The second one faded back, now wary of the hammer. The tan one sprang upwards and latched onto the wall with his stubby claws. He watched Raj for a moment and pounced at his exposed back, grabbing at his head and neck and biting at the back of his shoulder. Raj cursed and started stumbling blindly through the barn, waving the hammer to ward away the rest of the dogs. The creatures yipped and hopped in circles around him. He dug his fingers into the thick forearm of the dog on his back and pried it off in time to see two of the bulky dogs coming at his opposite sides. Screaming with effort, he leaped straight up. There was more than ten feet of clearance from the floor to the loft. Raj managed it easily. He crushed the dog on his back with enough force to bow the floorboards of the loft upwards. Applebloom let out a shriek of terror when she saw a section of the floor buck upwards. The pair of dogs that flanked him, their target suddenly gone, skidded their paws on the floor in an effort to stop and ran into each other, their lanky arms tangling together. They spent a second dazed before Raj landed on them feet-first, forcing them to ground and drawing howls of pain from the creatures. Snarling, he drove the head of his hammer down twice, striking each of the dog's heads hard enough to silence them. He shrugged the limp Diamond Dog off of his back. It hit the ground with a pained whimper and it clutched at its broken ribs. He looked around, assessing his situation. To his surprise, the circle of dogs that had been bouncing around him had dissolved. Instead the lot of them were clustered on the far side of the barn near the base of the ladder up to the loft. Two of them were scrambling up it, their oddly shaped limbs not quite up to the task of climbing like that, but the one on top almost close enough to grab the lip of the upper level. Raj swore and flipped the grip on his hammer. He took an instant to line it up and threw the thing like a javelin. His aim was true and the heavy projectile sailed through the gaps in the ladder and caught the climbing dog squarely in the gut. It let out a strangled cry of pain and flew back, impacting the back wall hard enough to shake loose some of the tools hanging from it. The dog that was lower on the ladder was not disconcerted by its packmate sailing across the room and rushed to get up and reach its quarry. It barked at the remaining dogs to cover it. They did so, creating a wall of growling meat that blocked Raj's avenue of attack. Undeterred, Raj broke into an aggressive sprint and dove, sailing over the guarding dogs and crashed into the ladder hard enough to blow right through it. He wrapped his arms around the climbing dog and the thing skidded along the ground on its back, abrading off a healthy amount of fur and skin in the process. The prone dog let out a growl of pain that switched into a howling croon of agony when Raj clapped the creature over the ears, deafening it. The warding dogs did an about face and came at him. The lead one pounced up high, claws and fangs bared. Raj met him with a blind mule kick that was badly aimed. It struck, but only caught the edge of the thing's hip. Instead of being sent flying, it only went into a spin and bounced away in the dirt. The other two hit him full force and bore their full weight on him. Raj felt a few claws scrape at him, nothing serious but enough to draw blood. He rolled off the deaf, howling dog and grabbed, wrapping his black hands around the dog's throats. They let out breathless cries, but kept flailing at him. The dog he kicked recovered and tried to pounce again, apparently having learned nothing. Raj spread the dogs in his hands and lifted a leg. He caught the flying beast in the chest with his boot and launched it. The creature sailed and struck the back of its head on the edge of the barn loft. It let out a squeak and hit the ground unmoving. Raj's pride at the feat he managed evaporated instantly when he saw the last of the dogs picking his way up the ruined ladder. Each rung threatened to break under his weight, but it was most of the way up. Raj glanced around in a panic, searching for options. The dogs in his hands were slowing from lack of air, but were nowhere near done. If he let the dogs go, they would pounce back on him immediately. There was nothing around to throw and he couldn't move. He was trapped. He was considering hurling of the dogs in his hands when he heard a high-pitched cry and a pair of little yellow hooves smacked the dog on the ladder squarely in the eyes. The beast let out a bark of annoyance and the hooves struck him again, this time against one of his paws on the ladder. The thing's grip fumbled and it tumbled back, hitting the dirt with a hard thud. Applebloom stood on the edge and looked down proudly. “And stay down ya varmint!” Raj let out a short laugh and cracked the dogs he was strangling together, knocking their bodies limp and their eyes spinning. He got up and looked at the remaining one as it was recovering. The thing growled and then looked around, seeing its packmates in various states of beaten violently. Most of them were on the ground, mewling in pain. The rest were unconscious except for the one stumbling around in a deaf haze, trickles of blood leaking out of his ears. Its eyes settled on Raj and it fearfully whimpered “Uh, I sorry?” Raj flicked his eyes up to Applebloom who stared at him intently. He tonelessly said “You may take one of your friends and go. Now.” The dog did not take any time to question the order, ran over to the tan one with broken ribs and started dragging it out of the barn. Raj watched him go until he lost sight of him in the orchard. A scream came from outside the barn and Applejack came galloping in, brandishing a splintered length of wood in her mouth. Her mane was disheveled and her hat was gone. She scanned the barn and asked “What in the hay happened in here?” “Dogs. We're okay. Applebloom, c'mon.” The little pony hopped down onto his shoulder and then to the ground where she promptly darted over to Applejack's leg and wrapped all her limbs around it. Applejack cooed “It's okay little Apple, it's okay.” she dropped the wood and stroked the filly's mane. She looked to Raj “What now?” Raj shrugged “Don't know. Go back inside?” Before she could answer they both heard a high, sharp howl sound from the house. At once, the dogs on the ground all stirred. Those who were able to started to dig down, those who weren't limped over to the holes made by those who could. Even the deaf one started burrowing when he saw his companions doing so. The three of them tightened together defensively, not sure what to make of the sudden development. It was hardly necessary though, within thirty seconds all the beasts were gone. Applejack started to say something but her eyes went wide before a word left her lips. She darted a look up to Raj and said “Granny.” before breaking into a sprint towards the house, Applebloom still latched onto her leg. Raj chased after her, reaching the door to the house just a few seconds after Applejack. He found her in the disarrayed kitchen, frozen still and staring at the floor in front of the sink. Raj followed her gaze and sucked in a breath. There was a slick of purple blood. Pony blood. Applejack pried her sister off and went galloping through the house, shouting her grandmother's name. Doors slammed open and cupboards were thrown off their hinges. Applebloom, lacking any idea of what to do, sat on the floor and cried. Raj ran a hand down his face and lowered himself into a chair, staring at nothing. His hands clenched and unclenched involuntarily. He heard hooves gallop along the porch and come inside. Big Macintosh slid to a halt, a smaller light-brown pony standing breathlessly beside him. They both scanned the kitchen and Big Mac asked “What's going on?” There was no answer for a few seconds before a wail echoed from the cellar followed by staccato sobs. Raj whispered to him “Granny. They got Granny Smith.”