//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: Beyond the Portal II: Flames of War // by Firestar463 //------------------------------// Kyle sighed and rubbed his eyes. He glanced over at the clock hanging over the mayor’s office. It was nearly three in the morning. He should have been asleep hours ago. Instead, he was sitting in the waiting room waiting on the Princesses to arrive from Canterlot. He knew it was a long flight from the capital city, but his patience and energy were both running low. He wasn’t the only one who had grown tired of waiting. Or in Scootaloo’s case, just tired. The Pegasus had curled up in one of the chairs in the waiting room and was now sleeping. Somehow, this only lent more fuel to Kyle’s frustration. She still had school tomorrow. She should be sleeping back at home, in her own bed, not in the mayor’s office. Light only knows how worried her parents must have been… Kyle closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He let it out slowly, forcing himself to try and relax. No, that wasn’t the problem here. The waiting, the sleepiness, that wasn’t what bothered him. It was the demons.  No, it wasn’t even the demons themselves. It was the implications behind them. “I should have hunted him down…” Kyle murmured to himself. “When I first heard about him… that had to have been this Zinju guy Yxia warned me about. I should have had him tracked down and killed immediately, before any of this happened…” Kyle fell silent as he heard the sound of rustling wings. He looked up towards the door as it swung open. Celestia and Luna stepped into the town hall, their expressions unreadable. Celestia immediately moved towards the mayor’s office and stepped inside, closing the door behind her. Luna, however, did not follow. Instead, she moved towards Kyle and sat down beside him. “Commander.” “Princess.” Luna turned her head towards him. “You look unwell,” she commented. “It’s been a long night.” For a brief moment, there was silence. Luna peered down at Kyle. “There’s more to this than what appears on the surface, isn’t there?” she asked. Kyle nodded. “There has to be,” he agreed. “I really don’t feel like explaining it twice. If it’s alright, I’d rather wait until Twilight and Princess Celestia get out here to hear what’s going on.” “As you wish.” Silence fell over the room like a blanket on a hot summer’s evening, thick and oppressive. Uncomfortable. Kyle kept glancing around the room at the other occupants. Scootaloo was still fast asleep. Luna had closed her eyes as well, though she was clearly not sleeping. Perhaps she was visiting the Dreamscape again. As the minutes ticked by, Kyle felt his own eyes grow heavy. He glanced up at the clock again. 3:15. It was way too late for him to still be up. And he still had to be up at the crack of dawn for another day in his office… He slowly allowed his eyes to close. Maybe he could at least grab a little sleep here… The door to the mayor’s office swung open, ending that line of wishful thinking. Celestia was the first to emerge from the room, followed closely by Twilight and the mayor. The mayor said nothing, but instead moved towards the stairs on the far side of the room. Twilight, meanwhile, walked over to Scootaloo and began to wake her up. The Pegasus stirred and opened one eye groggily. Twilight began to talk to her softly as Kyle turned his attention to Luna. Her eyes were still closed, and she seemed unaware of her surroundings. Kyle poked her in the side to get her attention. “Psst. Princess Luna, are you awake?” Luna frowned slightly as she opened her eyes. “Hm?” “Twilight and Princess Celestia are done.” Luna stood up and stretched her wings as Celestia walked over to join them. “Commander,” she began. “You were there during the attack, correct?” “Yes, Princess.” “I’d like to see the aftermath for myself. Please take us to it.” By this point, Twilight and Scootaloo were beginning to make their way over towards the group as well. Kyle motioned for them to follow, and he led them out of the town hall and towards the statue near the forest. As they walked through town, Scootaloo trotted up to him. “What’s going on?” she asked quietly. “We’re taking the Princesses to see -” “I know that,” she interrupted. “But what’s going on with those… things? What were they? Why were they here?” “They’re demons,” Kyle replied. ‘As to why they’re here… I don’t know. But it’s not good.” The rest of the trip passed in silence. Kyle glanced back up at the sky as they passed the town limits. The moon was beginning to dip down towards the western horizon. It was late - far later than he cared to be awake. The next day was going to be painful… Before long, the statue of Nightmare Moon came into view. Out of the corner of his eye, Kyle noticed the feathers on Luna’s wings bristle ever so slightly, though he couldn’t tell whether it was the statue or the demons that was the cause. The smaller demons were piled up in heaps where Scootaloo and Zecora had held them off, while the felguards and doomguard lay not far away, visible just inside the forest. “So these are the creatures that attacked…” Twilight murmured. She took a tentative step forward and peered down at the corpse of a fallen fel stalker. “I’ve never seen anything like this before…” “That one’s a fel stalker,” Kyle explained. “A dog-like demon. They specialize in tracking down and hunting spellcasters, particularly those who specialize in arcane magic.” He pointed off towards another corpse not far away. “That’s an imp. They’re not particularly strong on their own, but they usually come in swarms, and can shoot felfire bolts from a decent distance away.” The next pointed at a pair of golden shackles lying on the ground. “That’s what’s left of a voidwalker. While alive, they look like dark-blue clouds of gas. They’re usually bound to a warlock - a commander of demons and fel magic. Again, not particularly dangerous, but they can bring forth very painful memories in an attempt to draw your attention away from its master.” Celestia nodded. “I see. And what of those two over there?” she asked, nodding towards the forest. “The ones with the axes, and the larger one?” “Those are two of the more dangerous demons,” Kyle began. “The smaller ones are felguards. They’re the standard soldier for the Burning Legion. They don’t use magic, and instead rely purely on brute strength. They’re not agile or very smart, but if they catch you, they can easily kill you.” “And that one over there,” Kyle continue as he moved towards the treeline, “is a Doomguard. They’re commanders of some sorts, and the other smaller demons tend to follow their instructions. Like the felguard, they’re not very agile, but they are smart - as smart as you or me. They can also use a wide range of fire and fel magic, though this one seemed to prefer fighting up close. They also have a lot of raw physical strength.” “I’m assuming there are other different types of these creatures?” Luna asked. Kyle nodded. “There’s a lot of other demons out there,” he agreed. “Infernals, Succubi, Pit Lords, Eredar, Wrathguards…” “You mentioned a ‘Burning Legion’,” Celestia interrupted. “What is it?” “The Burning Legion is an army of demons. Horrible, twisted, corrupt creatures. They’re out there in the twisting nether, on a crusade to eradicate all worlds of life. Azeroth has been invaded… what, three times now?” “And you believe these demons were a part of this Burning Legion?” Twilight asked. “It’s almost a guarantee,” Kyle nodded. “If there are demons, you can bet that the Burning Legion is involved. Especially with how many demons there were here.” As Kyle stopped talking, silence descended upon the group. He glanced back and forth between the three princesses, judging their reactions. Past her closed eyes, Celestia’s expression was carefully guarded, and Luna attempted to mirror her, though Kyle could sense her discomfort. Twilight, though, seemed on the verge of panic. Her eyes were darting back and forth rapidly, as if expecting an attack at any moment, and her tail flicked wildly from side to side. Kyle couldn’t exactly blame her. Nearly every horror that had befallen Azeroth could be laid squarely at the feet of the Burning Legion and their twisted masters. From the original invasion of the Orcs through the Dark Portal, to the creation of the Scourge, to the very sundering of the planet ten thousand years ago, the Legion had masterminded it all. From what Kyle had gathered from the Draenei, Azeroth was the only known world that had ever successfully defended against an invasion by the Burning Legion, and each invasion had only been repelled at a terrible price. And now, to some extent, the Legion had its gaze set on Equus. Luna was the first to break the extended silence. “What do we do now, sister?” she asked. “The locals have surely heard about this attack - if not from Mr. Slater here, then from the foals who were present. They will have questions that we do not have answers to.” “I do not know, Luna,” Celestia murmured. “I fear that our era of peace may be drawing to an end.” “Equestria isn’t ready to face an army. Especially one as large as this Legion sounds.” Twilght turned her head towards Kyle. “Is there anything we can do to prepare?” “First of all, we need to hunt down the Warlock that summoned these demons,” Kyle replied. “Zinju is his name. He’s a Troll. I saw him just after I took out the Doomguard, and he fled into the forest. Yxia sent me a warning about a Troll skulking around, but I never imagined he’d bring about a threat this big…” “Anything else?” “Yes. Guards. Step up security around any objects of power. I assume Princess Cadence and Shining Armor have returned to help with rebuilding the Crystal Empire?” Luna nodded. “Good. I’d suggest putting extra guards around the Crystal Heart. The Legion loves to take any powerful relics they can find and use them for their plans.” “Very well.” Celestia let out a great sigh. “Perhaps it is also time to begin training Ponies to fight the Legion as well…” Celestia and Luna moved close together and began to speak in hushed whispers as they slowly walked away. Twilight took a step towards them and paused. A few seconds passed, during which time she glanced back and forth between the Princesses and Kyle. When the Princesses did not request her to join them, she turned and trotted over towards Kyle. “So what now?” she asked. “Now we rest and recover our energy.” Kyle couldn’t stop himself from letting out a large yawn. “As the local Princess, the people of Ponyville will be looking to you for answers. Just try to keep them calm alright? I’ll do what I can to track down this Zinju guy, and try and dig up what information about the Legion I can.” Kyle turned his attention towards Scootaloo, who had been leaning up against his leg for support for the past few minutes. “Alright squirt,” he said. “No training tomorrow. Get some sleep before school. Go straight home, and don’t fly over the forest.” Scootaloo nodded sleepily before flapping her wings and soaring away towards town. Kyle yawned again. “I’d better get some sleep too,” he murmured. “And someone’s gotta tell the guys at Ironwall about this whole mess…” “Alright. Good Night.” Twilight turned away and took to the air, flying after Scootaloo back into town. Kyle glanced back towards where the Princesses were, only to realize that they weren’t there anymore. He just managed to spot Celestia’s tail before it vanish over the treetops as she and Luna flew back towards Canterlot, leaving Kyle all alone at the statue. “Stupid flying Ponies…” he grumbled to himself as he walked towards Ponyville. On foot, this was going to be a bit of a walk…” ----- Kyle could feel weariness dragging at his limbs as the stone walls of Ironwall came into view. It had to be well past four in the morning - already the birds had begun to chirp for the new day. He couldn’t remember the last time, besides during a battle, that he had been up so late. It had to have been boot camp, at the very least. Still, it was calming in an odd way. They way the starlight reflected off of the early-morning frost that coated the grass. The chirping of the birds as they awoke to begin their hunts for worms and insects. The faint smell of smoke on the wind… Wait a minute… Kyle took another sniff, cringing slightly as the cold air stung the inside of his nose. Yes, that was definitely smoke. And not from a campfire. Kyle’s pace quickened as a pit of unease formed in his stomach. The guard was not waiting for him as he approached the gates of Ironwall. Instead, a familiar pink-haired Gnome was already running up to him, her eyes frantic. “Thank goodness you’re back, commander,” she all but yelled. “You’ve got to come, quick!” She jumped up and grabbed his arm before dragging him through the gates and into the main area. Inside, the atmsphere was that of barely-contained fear. The guards stood more sharply, looked more wary, kept their hands closer to their weapons. Several walked around with their swords openly drawn. Workers, who would normally be asleep at this time, were beginning to move stone and wood around, as well as large amounts of dirt. Almost instantly, Kyle could see the source of the soldiers’ distress. The eastern wall, solid and unbroken when he had left, was now little more than a smoldering ruin of tattered timber and shattered stone. A large crater lay just inside where the wall had once stood, and the hole was seared black by heat. Here and there, pieces of charred wood still burned with green felflame. Kyle starred in disbelief at what hours before had been a perfectly sturdy stone wall. “What… What the hell happened here?” he stammered. “Just about an hour after you left, sir,” A nearby guard began. “We heard a loud explosion. When we arrived, the wall had been blown open. An Infernal dropped out of the sky just a moment later and took a good chunk of the rest of it out. We took it out with little trouble, but Smith got a nasty burn on his arm, and the wall was already destroyed.” “Zinju,” Kyle hissed angrily. “That Troll’s got some nerve to strike at us here…” “A moment, if I may, commander?” The guard interrupted. Kyle took a deep breath and slowly released it. He nodded. “Filwin, go put some more resource request forms on my desk,” he ordered. The Gnome saluted quickly before running off. Kyle then turned his attention towards the guard once more. “Name and Rank, soldier?” “Corporal Wes, sir,” The soldier saluted. “Engineer from the 107th division.” “Alright, Corporal. What is it that you need to tell me,” “Well sir…” Wes began slowly. “If you look at the crater, you’ll notice that the deepest part - which would indicate where the explosive was detonated - actually lies within the boundary of the garrison. The explosion happened on this side of the wall. This is further verified by the amount of debris that was blown out of the garrison, as opposed to further in.” Kyle glanced down at the crater. Sure enough, the deepest point in the crater lay within the boundary of Ironwall, and most of the debris had been scattered in the fields outside the wall. A feeling of dread slowly washed over Kyle as the implications of this hit him. “And what does this mean, Corporal?” he asked, already knowing the answer. “It means that someone within Ironwall planted and detonated the explosive, sir,” Wes replied. “This was an inside job.” “There’s a traitor among us…” Kyle murmured. “An agent of the Burning Legion rests within our walls, Corporal.” “The Legion, sir?” “There was a demon attack at Ponyville this evening,” Kyle explained. “A Troll Warlock was responsible. I’d bet the last copper I own that he and this traitor are working together.” Kyle sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Bloody hell, this just gets better and better…” The quick pitter-patter of feet across the cobblestone path announced Filwin’s return. “I’ve put the forms on your desk, as requested sir,” she announced. “What next?” “Right… First we’ve gotta repair this bloody hole in the wall,” Kyle muttered. “All construction on the buildings is postponed until this wall is fixed.” “But sir, that’ll put us at least a week behind schedule -” “Damn the schedule!” Kyle snapped as stress and fatigue finally took their toll. “The situation has changed, and our plans change with it.” Filwin flinched slightly, but nodded. “Y-yes sir” she stammered. “Anything else?” “Find anyone in Ironwall who’s connected in any way with dark magic,” Kyle ordered. “If we have any warlocks, shadow priests… hell, if someone was captured by agents of the Legion for any period of time. Let them know that until further notice they are not to leave the walls. We’ve got a traitor among us, Filwin, and they’re connected to the Legion. And until we find out who they are, we cannot let our guard down.” “Yes sir. Anything else?” “Yes, one last thing.” Kyle turned and began to walk away. “Do not disturb me until I wake up.” “But sir!” Filwin exclaimed. “There’s so much work to do! You can’t go to sleep now!” “Filwin.” Kyle turned and placed his hands on the Gnome’s shoulders, hunching over slightly to do so. “It is four in goddamn the morning. I have been up all night. I have fought off a small army of demons and their commander. I have taken a Warlock’s Chaos Bolt to the face. And now I’ve got to deal with this whole mess. I. Need. To sleep.” “But -” “No buts.” Kyle stood back up to his full height and began to walk away again. “You have your instructions.” He left no time for further argument as he walked up the stairs to the town hall, stepped inside, and slammed the door behind him. A few moments later, Kyle finally flopped down on his bed with a loud sigh. He had been very short with Filwin, and he knew he’d have to apologize for his behavior in the morning. But right now, that was very low on his list of worries. A traitor. First a Troll, then the Burning Legion, and now there was a traitor in his garrison. Light only knows what else this rat would try before he was finally found and killed. And that would only deal with the threats within their walls. There was still Zinju out there to deal with, and whatever other agents of the Burning Legion that had been alerted to Equus’ presence. As Kyle settled in and close his eyes, he couldn’t help but fear that Celestia was right. Things were about to get worse. Much worse...