The five Templars rode out of the mouth of the cavernous tunnel and into the light of late afternoon, singing in praise of God. “Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.” Even as they finished singing, they came to a stop in the city they found themselves in. Johann looked around at the city, and wondered. Despite the smoke that was rising in irregular columns around the city, he recognised it. They had fled from this very same city mere hours ago. If that were not enough, having ridden through the tunnel, the sun should at least have sunk down. It did not seem to have changed overmuch. In fact, if the sun was any indication, he could only say that no time had passed in between their flying from this place, and their returning.
The city was the same city, but the past hours had been most unkind to it. Johann could hear the sound of fighting further on, and the smoke gave the lie to any other possibility. He wheeled his mount around, and looked to his brothers. “We have, it seems, still things we must do in this city, and before the night at that. Let us seek out these beasts as they come, and prepare for the battle. There is no other choice, brothers, so let us not be found wanting.” With those few words, they crossed themselves, and began to ride slowly into the heart of the city once more. Johann did not know where he was leading them, but he trusted that wherever the sound of battle was loudest, that was where they were called.
It was a magnificent city, and Johann supposed that if it had not been attacked by these beastmen it would be a sight to see for its sheer beauty, even the back streets that they had taken to leave this place the last time they were here. Nevertheless, he could not but long to be out of here. Something about it unsettled him, and the fighting was not that. If anything, the destruction was calming: it reminded him of his purpose and of his past years. No, it was the smooth lines and—dare he say it—unnatural curves. They were too smooth, impossibly so in such a large city. It was as if it was a masterwork of sculpture, not a real city. Yes, there were signs and banners that started to show a more normal side, but where were the new structures? To where had they expanded?
Even when this battle had been won, how would they repair or replace the damage? He shook his head. It was no time for distractions. This city was not their security—not yet, at least, and possibly never. It would not surprise him to save these people—it almost surprised him how easily that came to him now. Calling ponies people? Ridiculous, and yet—another distraction. It would not surprise him to save these people and still be imprisoned. Johann did not think that his brothers could stand that again. If that was to be their fate, he might prefer to flee.
Even the parts of the city that had mostly remained untouched by this war had not escaped. Rubble from damaged buildings was in the streets, and it seemed that somebody—the ponies, perhaps, or maybe these beastmen—had piled it up to clear the thoroughfare. Though they had not done a completely thorough job, it sufficed to make the paths clear for the Templars. That was all that they required.
The rubble did serve to wake him from his thoughts, and reminded him where they were. This city was a dangerous zone. If the beastmen were taking it by storm—and there were no indications to the contrary—then they would not ask questions if they found the Templars. Given the ponies’ previous reaction to them, it would not be likely for them to do any different. Whoever found them, the Templars would have to be wary. Perhaps that foal who had joined them would serve to aid them here, as well as in the tunnels they had ridden through to get here.
Howling, just as the one that had come from behind them in the cavern, now came from the fore and the flanks. It was not a single howl, but hundreds, seeming to echo from the city’s walls. Johann drew his sword, knowing that the numbers that were coming against them seemed impossible. That made no difference, for God was with them. “Brothers, today we are in the hands of God more than we have ever yet been. Commit yourselves to God, then, for it makes no difference to him whether he grants us deliverance by the hands of a few or by many. If you live, you live for Christ. If you die, you gain Christ. Onward, and to the Name of God be the glory!” The swords of his brothers rasped from their sheaths, and with a clatter of hooves, Johann led them further into the city, taking as their two guides the sound of their foe calling out to them and the tower from which they had escaped.
Johann looked at the tower as they rode onwards. It alone among the city looked unworn by the cares of war. If that tower was where the ponies ruled from, the beasts would be headed towards it. Whatever result would come, God had called them here, and he would not abandon them now.
The palace’s walls were not intended for a siege, but they had held out far longer than Twilight had thought.
It had been a long battle—as far as she knew, at least—and she had begun to hold out hope. She had feared the search and battle through the palace, but here the foe was obvious. It was not in hiding, waiting to spring, and despite her lack of experience, she had not found it overall too different from the invasion of the Changelings. Remembering the end of that battle, she hoped that that defeat would not be repeated as well.
Leaving aside such thoughts, she focused on using her magic. The beams that she was casting were not as complex as the teleportation that she had been working on, but while they required no great skill, they were quite draining. She picked off a wave of the diamond dogs climbing her section of the wall, but though she did not quite understand it, they were getting further and further up before the Guards slew them.
As if that was not enough, she could see some of the dogs had pulled back, and had started hurling projectiles at the wall. Despite the fact that as many hit the Guards as they hit climbing dogs, despite the Guards’ superior armour—despite all these things, they still forced the ponies to duck their heads, and let the dogs climb further still.
“Hi!” called one of the Guardsponies. “Ammunition carts, if you please!” The words did not register to Twilight for a second, before they became as sharp as the bolts of which they were running out. She turned to the Princesses. Celestia was lost in the action, her beams sweeping the field of whichever diamond dogs could not get out of the way in time. Luna had heard, and her expression gave Twilight no hope in an easy out. It was almost embarrassingly obvious how unprepared they were for this military action, and Twilight herself had no better experience.
Blindside dispatched another runner to fetch additional bolts, but Twilight could already see the logistical nightmare that would ensue in giving them out. She turned back to the wall, and the dogs had not slowed down any as the Guards slowed in their contribution to the fight. She redoubled her own efforts, knocking dogs from the wall left and right. Some of the unicorn Guards joined her as well, but it was far too little far too late.
The dogs continued to climb the walls, and soon one was grappling with a Guard for their position on the battlements. The other Guards around pitched a hoof in, and removed the offending dog, but the same was repeating all over the battlements. It could not last long, however, and Twilight spotted a figure at the back of the dog ranks, yelling something in their barbaric native tongue. The next time a dog met the battlements, it was after a blistering array of projectiles had forced the defenders to lower their heads. Where one dog had made the walls, the others soon followed.
The pitched fighting proper had begun. Even despite the party of dogs that had ascended to the walls, it was not hopeless. Twilight Sparkle could see the Guards fighting, and it was almost difficult to tell the dogs from the ponies by their ferocity. One had turned their crossbow into a makeshift hammer, and kept hitting one of the dogs that had climbed over even after it had died. All around her, though, she could feel the first hints of fear seducing the other Guards, and even she could hear its siren voice whispering to her to flee.
Despite that, she refused. It was not the first time she had faced terrible dangers, and Twilight refused to abandon these brave ponies and her beloved teacher. Even Luna had more than proven her goodness to Twilight during these last weeks involved with the Templars. If that were not enough, she had faith in another pony who would be here soon: her brother, Shining Armour. The Captain of the Royal Guard had never failed. Even when bewitched by Queen Chrysalis, he had been the lynchpin in removing the Changelings. The Diamond Dogs, and whatever threat was at the wall, would be no different.
They just had to hold on for a bit longer. Even as she thought that, Luna took to the air. She swept her beams across the battlements, and Twilight gasped at the sheer display of power. As the smoke cleared, she could see the stone burned smooth. A smell of burning fur was all that remained of the diamond dogs that had crossed over. Twilight could believe in the chance of victory again, even though she knew that the effort had to have cost Luna.
Even as Luna settled back to the wall, Twilight could see that the effort, while it had not been in vain, had not nearly been enough. The dogs had stopped the massed assault, it seemed from looking down the wall her section was at, but had instead decided to swarm at individual points, and concentrate their efforts. There were three different points they were storming at now, and although it meant she could rest a while, she could see the ponies at those sections of the wall struggling hard to keep from being overwhelmed.
She did not have to think about it. She turned to the Guards at her section. Remembering the Guard-cant that her brother had taught her as well as that which she had learned over the past day, she marshalled her forces. “Odds here, evens with me. Forks out, it’s dinner time,” she said, and led half of the Guards across even as they drew their blades. She glanced at one and—almost without thinking it—compared the small leaf-shaped blade to the long swords of the Templars. Perhaps it was a reflection of their different mindsets, but surely one design would be superior to the other?
Although she had no weapons, Twilight was not worried about the fighting. Even the Guards used their bare hooves for the majority of their fighting that was too close for crossbows. What worried her was the other dogs climbing the walls. Well, it was not as if she could do much about that now anyway. The only thing that she could do was trust in Luna and Celestia, trust in the Guardsponies, and most of all trust in Shining Armour.
There was no time to think of anything else before they hit the diamond dog lines. Twilight kicked one down, and swung around to take another out. “For Harmony and Equestria! Stand your ground!” She blasted another dog back with her magic as the Guards charged past her. It was not nearly over yet, and though it would be hard, they could still win.
The tulwar sang as it sliced through the air, a song of mourning and death, until it touched the blade lifted up to parry it. At the impact, there was a second of purest silence. Dizzy whirled away, swinging her blade around and above her father. Another shriek was cut short as their blades met. It was strange, but the silence was hateful to her thinking. Usually she had appreciated the silence.
“Your blood will run this day,” she said. “I promise you that, father.”
“I think you are mistaken.”
Rather than replying, Dizzy jumped up and dived at him. The tulwar knew where to go, even to meet his paired blades. The blade sang through the air, missing her father as he danced aside and sending a swing of his own blades at her.
The world seemed to be moving in slow motion, and she jumped up and onto the blades before swinging out again. He swerved his neck just out of the way, and she could even see two strands of hair too slow be severed with a burning smell.
He swung his blades again, swinging around to catch her between them. Instead of sliding between them, she swung her own sword to catch one of his out. As the two contacted, she could feel a tingle surge through her veins. She kept pushing, forcing the sword out of her way. As Dizzy did so, she thought she could see a crack beginning to form on her father’s sword. Soon he would be hers to kill, hers to revenge herself on.
The Templars did not slow in their charge, even as they saw the beastmen coming at them. It was folly—but all they did here was folly—and it was doomed to failure—but all they had done here was the same—except for one thing. They had the Lord on their side, and even if they died, they could not lose. The beastmen, on the contrary, could not win, even if they slew the Templars.
Even with that proviso, though, Johann did not think they would die. Not only had God led them here, but also, even to one who did not fear God, their position was not nearly a conclusive defeat yet. It could have been, had these beastmen any discipline at all, but even though they charged at the Templars without fear and in great numbers they were scattered and alone when they did. Johann slashed down at them as he rode by, keeping the reins tight to swerve around the oncoming hordes. Manoeuvring past them was gradually becoming more difficult, and the ones they had ridden past were now massing behind. If they slowed down, the beasts could tear them from their saddles. While the Templars were galloping, they were safe, but any delay would be the end.
The noise was immense. They were barking and growling from in front, and behind they were howling and whining. The smell of them mixed with the smoke from the burning city, and yet still their scent was almost overpowering. Johann was glad that their mounts were trained, and for more than just their courage in combat. Even he could barely endure the stink, and the foal behind him was struggling. He patted her absent-mindedly, hoping to reassure her a little, before refocussing on where he was going.
As he looked ahead, he could see in the distance one of the beastmen, large and obese. More of the beastmen carried it on a litter, but as Johann watched, they lowered it carefully to the ground. “There! That is the leader of these beasts. We destroy him, and they will break and flee. Charge, and stop for nothing,” he said, with the last of his words being almost drowned out by a loud howl coming from the very beast he had identified.
At this howl, two things happened. First, the beasts in front of them broke around the Templars, just as they had done in the cavern from which they had emerged. To match this, though, a new group of them was set off. Though they numbered less than the disorganised mob that had been harrying the Templars, these had formed a cohesive unit. Johann ignored the gnawing sense of the battle turning. This was merely how close they were to victory, that they were facing the best of these beastmen.
The wedge of the Templars clashed against the beastmen, but even this group could not hold them. Those who remained in the path of the charging men—not a few—were trampled under the horses’ hooves. Johann lashed out at the mass, clearing those who tried to force the chargers to slow out of the way, before breaking through at last. He gave a wishful thought for his lance, which the ponies had not returned, before returning his focus once more to the battlefield. Ahead was the one he had identified as the leader, and he turned back to reassure himself of his brothers’ continued fighting. Raymond was to his left, with Hugo and Frederick behind him. They had escaped the group of beastmen, but the beasts had trapped Jacques in the middle. Even as Johann watched, they brought down his horse, and Johann watched the doughty sergeant fall from sight.
The Templars could do no more for him. Johann knew that, and so with a heavy heart, he turned back towards the leader. It would suffer for the death of the Lord’s faithful. “We will pray for him tonight, but for now we must fight,” he said, and heeling his mount, he drove onwards. Behind him, the foal jumped up and off his horse. He turned, and saw her land among the beastmen, around where he had seen Jacques fall. Though he did not understand, and could not go and save her, it was with some reluctance that he left her there.
They were surrounded, and as Twilight looked around her, there was nopony coming to help.
She lashed out with her magic at a pair of dogs that were leaping upon them, and sent them to the ground with their fur smouldering. The drain from her magic almost sent her to her knees. She pushed herself up, straining her legs. It was almost more than she could bear, but she could not give up. Not while a single breath remained in her lungs.
Her vision swam, and she shook her head to clear it. She surveyed the scene, and wished she had not.
Her band of Guards was down to five, and they were drawing back around her. The dogs were in no hurry. They could scent the blood on the wind, and seemed quite willing to prolong it. That was okay to Twilight. At least it gave her time to think, and to try to find some way out. An escape did not look likely, though, and she could even see the other Guards on the wall running.
So then, it was all over. Strange. She thought she would feel fear and despair. Yes, she wished that she had done things differently, and that it had not come to this. Even so, she was calm. It was almost as if time had slowed down, just for her, and someone had turned up every sensation to eleven. She breathed out, a breath she had not realised she was holding, and decided that it was not over yet.
“We will hold.” She stood tall, fighting her aching muscles. “We will not surrender. Captain Shining Armour is on his way, and we will not disappoint him.” She breathed in and out, and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Her hoof came back covered in blood, and she wondered where it had come from before it came to her. She had not even noticed being cut.
Casting aside that distraction, she looked around again at the dogs surrounding them. They had stopped, and even as she looked, the larger one that had been ordering them in had climbed the wall. He swept his gaze across the battlefield, and the fighting paused for a second. Eventually, he nodded, and the dogs leapt back into the fight.
The ones surrounding them leapt out. Twilight lost her awareness of the surrounding action as she focused on the ones slashing and grabbing out at her. Hoof and magic served to protect her well enough, but the strain was threatening to break her. It hurt to cast spells now, each blast a spike of pain through her brain. One of the Guards fell, but she barely noticed in her effort to keep alive just a second longer.
Once more, she spent her magic to send another diamond dog flying. This time, however, a bolt of pain sent her to the ground. When the world finally stopped spinning, she saw a dog leaning over her. She tried to move, to use her magic, to do something, but her body refused to respond. It leered down at her, and saliva dripped from its mouth. It slowly pulled out a short blade, and Twilight closed her eyes. Please, let it be over soon! she begged silently.
“Damn you, father!” the zony yelled, swinging Oathbreaker around. Terrus rose to meet it, bringing Loyalty and Obedience to parry it. Oathbreaker’s song was broken by the silence of Loyalty and Obedience together, and he had reason to be thankful for bringing the paired swords.
Individually they were each weaker than the being contained within Oathbreaker, but together they were more powerful. She had given herself to the sword, though, and had they been fighting with merely mundane weapons, he would have lost. Even now, he could feel defeat at the threshold. Loyalty was beginning to show its own strain. Obedience was becoming too heavy to bear without Loyalty to keep up the load.
He swung again, trying to get past her guard. She was too quick, and he was tiring more quickly than he had thought. Whether that was because of the weakening of Loyalty or whether the desk job had caught up with him, he was unsure. What he did know was that he had to finish this fight soon, or he would lose.
She parried the blow without even seeming to think about it, her parry sliding effortlessly into another attack. He could hear the laughter of Oathbreaker echo as he swung Loyalty up to parry it and Obedience to try and force her onto the defensive.
When the two blades collided, Oathbreaker’s song was not interrupted, but was loud and clear. Terrus watched in horror as a crack began to run down the length of the blade, and as the sword broke, he thought he could see a red form drink something from the blade before it disappeared again. He dropped the broken blade and drew Obedience back. It felt heavy, even in the grip of his magic, and he knew that it knew of the death of its twin.
His daughter swung again, not even trying to hit him. Oathbreaker bit deeply into Obedience, breaking him down the middle before knocking the broken blade away. This time, he knew he could see Oathbreaker swallow Obedience’s soul. The broken half felt light and empty, but he had no time to pick it up. She had ran at him, and knocked him to the ground, before he knew what was happening. He looked up at her, and she smiled as much as she could with the tulwar in her mouth.
“I told you.”
Applebloom kicked out at the first diamond dog that surrounded her friend, knocking it flying back at a sickening angle, and she gulped. She did not really know why she had jumped into the thick of the fighting, but it felt right to do so. “Don’t you dare try it again, or I’ll make you regret it,” she called out to the dogs, but they did not even respond as the one who had captured her had done. Instead, they circled around her, silently assessing her. She felt almost like the frog that she and her friends had captured from Froggy Bottom Bog. They had poked and prodded it for about two hours before letting it go.
One moved, and without even thinking, Applebloom jumped and gave it a good helping of hoof-in-mouth syndrome. Breathing heavily, she landed and looked around. They were still only watching her. Though she did not regret a single action she had taken, Applebloom did wish that it had not come to this. She looked around the diamond dogs as she stood on the body of the Templar, and wondered what would happen. She knew enough about hoof-fighting to protect herself, but that was not all she was doing now. This person she was protecting was like a Guardspony, she supposed, and if he had not been able to defend himself, how would she be able to defend them both?
The standoff continued, and she could feel her muscles tensing and bunching as she waited for the inevitable attack. The fear that she had felt before was gone. All that she could feel was a trembling eagerness for it to happen.
One of them looked like it was about to move, and Applebloom set herself to defeat it. Before it could move, though, another howl sounded, and the dogs, without exception, melted away with a chorus of barking and growls. Within a few seconds, Applebloom and the wounded Templar were alone.
She took the breather to examine him, and she could see the blood pooling underneath. Even despite her knowledge of the race, she did not imagine that anyone could survive such blood loss. His eyes were closed, but perhaps he had been knocked unconscious. She looked around her, and saw another horde of the dogs, the ones that had barely hindered the Templars, coming towards her. If it was just her, she could have run away, but she would not leave the Templar behind. She steeled herself for the fight, and hoped that their failure to even slow the Templars would mean that she had a chance. Their numbers, though, did not give her much hope. They slowed down as they circled around her, and she could see one begin to salivate.
Him-Enthroned seethed with anger as the seemingly unstoppable warriors cut through His prized slaves. One had actually had the nerve to drive his blade through the body of His favourite. If that were not enough of an insult, they were still coming forth, and seemed intent on reaching Him and stealing His victory out from His grasp.
He watched them, and sneered. He had one more trick to play on them. Reaching out, He pulled up the pony He had taken prisoner from His side. She had been broken, and did not even resist His touch. Usually that would please Him, but He had no time for it now. With His right hand He drew His own blade up and placed it gently across her throat. He stared at the warriors, and even as His slaves followed them, they began to slow. His anger began to seep away, as He gloated at their failure. Just like every foe that had come against Him, they were too weak and tender hearted. He laughed and loosened His grip on the prisoner. She was broken to Him anyway.
They were only seconds from being caught by His guard when He felt the pony struggling, and His right hand twitched before He could think. He looked down, and watched in confusion as He cut through the throat. He felt the warmth of her blood with apprehension, before He looked up with widened eyes. The enemy had seen the action as well, and knowing that there was nothing left to stop them, they had started charging once more.
He waited for them with mouth agape, and when their leader readied his sword to kill Him, He shook His head. “No, no. This is My victory. You cannot do this!”
He thought He could hear the voice of one of His prisoners speaking to Him from the grave. “Did I not tell you? You have been defeated, just as I said.” Only the swing of the sword silenced this voice.
As Johann sliced the head from the shoulders of the miserable beast, he turned around. The ones pursuing them had stopped, only ten yards from Hugo and Raymond at the back. He trotted his mount forward to be in line with the sergeants, and waited. At first, one by one, and eventually in pairs and groups, the beasts howled aloud, and then ran away. He panted, slowly looking around at his brothers. “It- It is over.”
He could feel the exhilaration of battle seeping away. Now he was tired. Slowly, he dismounted, and fell to his knees. Frederick and his brothers joined him.
“Father, will you lead us in prayer?”
“Of course, my lord. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti.”
Luna stood on the wall, watching as everything froze. The pain in her forehead from the magic still panged, but nobody moved. All listened to the howl that echoed across the city. One dog reared up on his haunches, and let loose his own echo. As silence fell again, the scene began to move again.
The dogs scrambled away from the ponies, down the walls. Some even jumped rather than climb down. It did not make sense. They had nearly taken the walls, and then the palace. Why did they retreat now?
Whatever the reason, there was not time to waste wondering about it. “Well done, everypony, but the battle is not over.” Even the Royal Canterlot Voice hurt to call upon, but she pressed on through the pain. “Our brothers in arms, including Captain Shining Armour, are still in danger. We cannot waste time here in celebrations while they suffer. Every able-bodied pony is to assemble on the other side of the gate in two minutes!”
Her head spiked with pain, but it was not enough to induce her to abandon this work. The last time this kingdom had been threatened, her brother had disappeared. She refused to allow him to disappear this time. This time he would stay.
Terrus looked up at his daughter. Her eyes were red with rage, and he almost thanked that as he heard the howls rising around the city. “You have forgotten two things, my dear daughter.”
“What, father?” She almost spat the word, and he winced. Her blade still hovered at his neck, and he could see that she wanted to use it.
“You have forgotten who made that sword, and that I am not limited to hooves and mouth.” With that, he summoned his magic and sent the blade flying away with a whine like a whipped diamond dog. Before she could move, he leapt up and knocked her over and to the ground.
She looked up, even angrier if that were possible, as he pulled the hilts of his broken swords towards him. He looked down at her, trying to read her face for some hint of regret, or sorrow. There was none for him to read. All of her face was contorted in rage. Even without Oathbreaker’s influence.
Around them, he could hear the trumpets of the Guards sounding a charge. He could see more and more Guardsponies coming through the city. He looked back down to his daughter. “The battle is over, my daughter. You cannot win.”
The zony snorted in anger, and whinnied in a peculiar, highly pitched fashion. On cue, the zebras around broke from their engagements and began to run off through the hole in the wall. There seemed to be no rhythm or organisation in their flight, but it did not matter to Terrus right now.
“Thank you for sparing those lives.”
“Kill me, father. Do it now!” He looked down on her, surrounded only by hate and anger for much of her life. Her crimes were not truly her own. They were his as well. She could not be the only one to pay for them.
With these thoughts in mind, he raised the haft of Obedience up. Looking her in the eyes, he swung it down and thumped her in the head. She fell limp at once.
“No.”