Blaze looked over the distant lights of Baltimare that dotted the horizon in the twilight. Blaze tuned back to look at his dark clad warriors, each ready to follow him into battle. Blaze gave a quick nod before charging down the hill, his troops moving quickly and quietly behind him. As he rushed through the underbrush, Blaze noticed a small fire in the distance. He quickly directed his course, motioning to his troops behind him to follow as he silently drew his sword before sliding into position behind a tree, his troops following suite. Blaze looked around the tree towards the small encampment, spotting three reptilous soldiers sitting around the fire, tending to their meal.
Blaze nodded towards Bastion, who returned the same and sprung out in unison with his commander. Blaze shot his sword into the first while Bastion cleaved the head of the other off. The third reptilous turned towards the odd sounds he had heard, only to be struck by an arrow that pierced his throat, while another shot straight through his heart. Blaze gave a nod to his two archers as they gave out of their cover before rushing off towards the city again, his soldier quickly following after throwing dirt over the fire. And with that, the group disappeared as quickly as they had appeared, leaving only the corpses of their prey in their wake as a sign they had even been in the area.
Stone Wall charged along the wall of one of the building near the edge of the city, his soldiers following close behind. Stone Wall poked his head out into an alleyway, quickly spotting to reptilous, who quickly found an arrow shooting through their skulls before they fell to the pavement before being stuffed into a dumpster. Stone Wall shot out from the small space, zipping across the street into the shadows of the other side.
After a quick nod, His soldiers produced climbing equipment from their back before tacking to the walls. The group made quick work of the two story home, soon standing on the tile roof with a rather good view of the immediate surroundings. One of the archer shot two arrows that had rope fastened to the end towards the roof of next house over that was a level taller. Stone Wall quickly took out a roll of timber planks that had been fastened together and rolled them out along the ropes before fastening it to the ropes. His soldiers quickly darted across, Stone following close behind before they repeated the process with the house across the street.
Blaze pulled a reptilous into the shadows, slitting the beast's throat with a quick clean cut, dropping him to the side before moving on, his troops finishing up with the reptilous' partner. Blaze watched as an arrow whizzed by his ear, striking a reptilous as he ran from the scene. Blaze turned back to see Hawk giving him a nod before shooting at another reptilous as he slipped out from a bush.
Blaze shot out into the open plain, charging towards the city beyond under the cover of darkness. The cold wind rushed past him, ruffling the bit of mane he had coming up from the helmet. As he approached, he noticed several lights going out, signifying the arrival of the advanced team. Blaze veered off to the left, noticing a small patrol of reptilous standing outside a door with weapons drawn. Blaze leaped up and wrapped his legs around the reptilous, twisting with all his strength as they well down. As they landed, the sound of the warrior beast’s neck snapping met Blaze’s ears as the thuds of arrows planting themselves into the back of the other two reptilous behind him told him that he was in the clear.
Blaze turned to Bastion as the stallion approached. Blaze nodded towards the door before bolting off down the street, keeping to the shadows as best as he could with all the streetlamps that lined the road. As he took another corner, a patrol of five reptilous came into view, though he couldn’t tell if they had seen him in the short time between him seeing them and his sword shooting out towards one of them. Three of the monsters fell as Hawk and Eagle planted arrows in the skulls of the two leading the party. Blaze leapt up towards one of the beast while swinging his sword at the other, hearing the sickening, meaty zing as his blade past through the warrior beast’s neck. Blaze connected with the other reptilous, his forelegs wrapping tightly around the beast’s neck as he swung around the front of the beast, dragging it face first into the pavement before slamming his sword into its chest while an arrow slammed through its skull, splattering blood across Blaze’s face.
The bodies were quickly thrown into a shady alleyway as the group of soldiers moved on as if the encounter had never happened. The squad quickly entered a large ornate building that had been the former governmental facilities, now serving as the barracks according to their scouts' reports. Blaze bucked a door in, several of his troops flooding in to the room as he did, the sound of muffled conflict echoing from inside before every door in the area flew open, revealing reptilous who obviously had only just woken up. Blaze grinned as they charged him, only to have multiple hoof cannons go off, finishing them off as Stone Wall's group began their rooftop operation.
Stone Wall increased the focus on the small telescope he had mounted on his hoof cannon, aiming his weapon straight towards one of the reptilous that had rushed out of one of the many resting areas scattered about the city. The retort of his cannon cracked through the evening air as the reptilous sank to the ground, grasping his chest before sinking to the street. Several more hoof cannon blast sounded around the city as the ponies rained down upon the reptilous with deadly precision and speed. Stone Wall shoved another charge into his cannon's barrel before pounding it in with the ramrod.
As he took another shot, the sound of something scrapping against the stonework alerted him to the presence of the new arrival. Stone Wall let his cannon go, allowing it to fall onto the relatively flat roof, while he drew his sword. In the next second, a reptilous shot out from the rim of the building, headed straight for Stone Wall with two blades drawn. Stone ducked to the side, sending his sword out to meet the beast. The reptilous twisted in the air and deflected the blade with the seasoned practice of an expert. The reptilous slid to a stop before turning around and swinging out towards Stone Wall with great ferocity.
A resounding crack pierced the night air before the reptilous turned and swung at seemingly nothing, only to have his sword shatter as he fell on his back. The reptilous quickly shoved off of the roof's stonework, claws outstretched for Stone Wall's throat. Stone Wall quickly reared up and swung his sword down towards the reptilous' extended limb. The blade shot straight through the beast's arm, the reptilous releasing a gigantic roar as it fell to the floor. The beast's eyes seemed to shift to an even more sinister form as he charged the pony.
Stone Wall rolled to the side before shooting an arrow out towards the reptilous with a blast of magic. The beast smacked the projectile out of the air, the shaft severed in two. Another blast shook the evening air, but the reptilous once again fell down, catching himself on his remaining hand, not even letting his legs touch the ground as his final arm's muscles rippled under his scales under the strain before sending the reptilous forward toward the pony, who again rolled to the side, only to have the beast's blade still scrape his armor, though it fortunately didn't pierce it. Stone Wall brought out three charges from his pack, which he struck with a small whirl of flame, a tiny trick passed on by Blaze. The paper packaging caught the flame before the powder exploded, sending the small metal pellets out towards the reptilous. The beast warrior jerked to the side, the three rounds zipping past him without causing him any harm. The reptilous gave a loud roar as he charged Stone Wall, swinging his sword down towards the pony's head. Stone Wall jumped backwards, attempting to avoid the blade, only to have the reptilous thrust his sword forward at the last moment, catching his in the chest. Stone Wall leapt backwards, only to find his hind leg scrapping past the edge of the building, sliding straight down the side. He quickly leaned forward to escape his death by massive fall, only to have the reptilous grab him by the throat, lifting him above the street with a devious smile.
Stone Wall lifted his sword and shot it at the reptilous, but the beast out whirled around, with Stone Wall still in his grasp, and clamped down on the blade with his teeth. The reptilous looked towards the pony with an enrage look, his hand applying move force to Stone Wall's windpipe. Stone Wall thrashed about wildly, trying to break free from the life sapping hold, only to find he grew weaker with each protest as the corners of his vision grew darker than the night sky he had been looking at. In the last moment he had, Stone Wall searched the area for something that could help him, but nothing appeared to be of help. As his vision faded completely, He threw his magic out all around him, and found his opponents broken sword that had been behind him, and thrust it into the beast's shoulder, and found the death grip quickly loosen as his sense returned to him.
Stone Wall looked up towards the beast, only to watch as the beast delivered a swift kick to Stone's stomach, sending him sprawling across the ground breathless. Suddenly, a crushing force slammed into his throat, and then another painful strike to his snout. As he waited for the deathblow, a crack, much closer than before, broke through the pain. The weight of the reptilous collapsed on top of Stone Wall as the warrior beast slumped over and died. Stone Wall pushed the huge mass off of him as he tried to catch his breath, but only found a shocking, electrical pain coursing from his throat. The sound of a pony rushing up towards him gave him a small sense of hope a he tried to look over to see who it was, but never saw as his vision began to fade once more. The pony stopped beside him, checking for any serious injuries that needed to be treated, but found none that were visible. Stone Wall wrapped his hooves around the pony's leg and brought it to point at his neck where a bruise was already forming. The medical pony quickly brought out a knife that was formed in a circle shape with every edge sharpened. Stone Wall nodded hurriedly as he slowly felt unconsciousness creeping up on him as the medic prepared for a tracheotomy.
Blaze blocked yet another attack from his reptilous assailant. He replied to the blow with a strike of his own, that the beast warrior caught on its shield. Blaze shot a bolt of fire at the reptilous’ face, that the beast simply shook away as the last flickers of flame dissipated. The warrior beast shot a glare towards where the pony had been, but found no trace of the little fiend until he went hooves wrapping around his neck, sending him falling backwards to the floor. Blaze pulled back with all his strength, and the popping of the reptilous’ spine gave him all he needed to know before he rolled out from under the beast. The alabaster flooring was stained red with the blood of the reptilous, littered with the corpses of the same that all had the same type of puncture wound going through on part of their body or another. Blaze gave a sigh, yet more violence given to ponies, would the war ever stop its wicked way.
Blaze looked up towards the rooftops revealed by the glass cupola, occasional flashes of the hoof cannons firing dancing across the many high rise structures. It almost looked beautiful in a way, the light blinking like Hearth’s Warming Eve lights, yet all of them just being a bright whitish-yellow instead of multiple hues. Still, he couldn’t let himself become distracted by the little things. The battle was going well, and he couldn’t let that change.
The medical tent was a bland and drab as ever, the sounds of soldiers in pain filling the air as Blaze passed each room, looking for one in particular. He eventually reached it, drawing back the curtain that blocked the entrance. A nurse turned to him and gave a nod while putting a hoof in front of her mouth, making a ‘hush’ sound. Blaze nodded in return and walked up to the stallion that lay in a tired heap, a hole punched into his throat allowing him to breath. Stone Wall looked up with a faint, tired smile as Blaze approached. Blaze put a hoof on Stone Wall and gave a small nod; there was no need for words after all.