Belegrim Dipstick

by Praeco Nigrum

Round two, Fight!

Everyone was moved into the tower like building at the center of the fortress, they all guessed that this was the keep. It was a stone structure with wood floors and vaulted ceilings. The design of the keep and its surrounding buildings would be of the 15th or 16th century castle designs. In side everyone was seated around a large Rectangular table, it was small enough for our companions to sit on some throw pillows and be at the appropriate height.

“Now, Would you mind telling us what you have in store for us, since we are to be your ‘guest’s’ for the time being,” Emerald took the initiative to get straight to the point, he did not like to beat around the bush per-say.

“Well, Mr. Emerald, we will be treating you as our guests, you will be helping around the outpost until you have earned our trust, but that trust will only last until the princesses have either proven us right or have declared you all too dangerous to live. If you do well by us we will try and put as much leverage into your living as possible… and the reverse is true.” The White pony explained to them, not caring in the slightest what actually happened to them.

“Very well then, what would you have us do first?” Harbinger quipped from his spot next to Shade.

“Well, we need some repairs done to one of the barracks here on station. The rest of you will be taking up a position on the wall, you will be watching out for any suspicious movement. That Manticor you all killed was a part of a coven not too far from here… and that damned roar of its it has most likely drawn some of the other creatures of the forest, besides its coven members…” The pony glared at shade for some reason or another, though none of our human companions cared as to what jerked his chain or not.

“Very well then, Shade and I will be off then… Good luck to you both,” Harbinger got up with Shade and gave a slight bow to the pony and a smirk to his friends, they chuckled in return and emerald flipped them off, gaining a round of laughter from all four of them.

oooOO==OOooo

As emerald and Goff got closer to the barracks they noticed that the building in question was just four posts sticking out of the ground with all of the building material laying around.

“Are they shitting us Em?” Goff just glared at the piles of wood, cement mix, and other building materials.

“They had better be… I will torch this place if I have to…” Emerald, not one for foul play, was tensing and un-tensing his fists, each time making a slight spark with his fingers.

“Well, if we want to get this done, I guess we had better get started…” Emerald sighed and walked over to the supplies, he grabbed a hammer, a box of nails, and several planks of wood. “Get you but moving Goff, neither of us wants to be here any longer then we have to…”

“Fine, but I still loath this… we were just supposed to put a damned roof on! Not build the whole damned thing!” Goff complained as he went about grabbing his own set of supplies.

“Just shut up and work ya lazy ass!” Emerald yelled as he chucked a small rock at Goff’s head.

“I love you too Em!” Goff chucked the rock back at him, it had hit him in the head, and then landed on hit toes, preceding to his comeback at Emerald.

oooOO==OOooo

“Shade, how long do you think you were trapped in that damned void?” Harbinger inquired, they were both standing on the wall, just staring out into the vast forests making sure they kept a look out.

“Personally… it’s personal! But, if I were to venture I would say… roughly… two hundred years… give or take a decade or two!” He laughed at the insane amount of time he had been alone in the damnable void, but now he had a companion, one that might be willing to go with him to the ends… but he did not know yet.

“Wow… That’s a lot of lonely years… well you got us now and we, or at least I, am never going to leave a hanging!” Harbinger chuckled and patted Shade on the back, He did not, however, see the look of disbelief on Shades face.

“Well… thank you…” Shade was astonished, this man had not even known him for a full day and he was already willing to stick by his side… There might be a chance for this young warrior yet! But we shall see.

As the two kindred spirits talked up a storm, mostly about what they would do to Emerald and Goff the next time they did something stupid, a loud crash came from the forest. It was far off, but it was close enough that it caught their attention.

“Oh crap, what do you think that was?” Harb was straining his eyes to figure out which direction the noise had come from.

“I don’t know man, but I don’t like the look of that!” Shade grabbed Harb’s shoulder, he forced him around and pointed in the direction of some falling trees.

“Yeah… me neither…. Fuck…OK, you want to get the captain or should I?” Harb was looking at the falling trees, whatever it was, was big and it was heading straight for the outpost.

“I will go, You gather as many guards as you can and get them armed and ready, and make sure you get some for us!” Shade yelled as he jumped off the wall and landing on the ground with an audible thud, before running off to the keep.

“OK, this should be a piece of cake… I hope…” he turned around and noticed a few guards sitting underneath a tent, playing some kind of card game. “Hey you three! Get over here!” the three guards looked up and saw him motioning them over, and being quite urgent about it.

“What do you need sir?” the mare of the group asked, she was light brown and didn’t have any of her armor on, which counted for her different color scheme.

“I need you three to go round up as many of your comrads as you can, something big is coming this way and it will be here soon!” HE turned back to the forest, checking on the creatures progress, “GUARD I SAID GO!” he yelled frantically.

“My NAME isn’t guard! It’s Slick Foot!... bucking idiot….” She said, with the last part under her breath, hoping that he didn’t hear her.
“I Heard that!” He yelled from over his shoulder as they galloped away, his quip making the mare trip up for a moment.

oooOO==OOooo

Emerald and Goff were done with all but one of the walls, they had spent most of the time redoing several of the boards thanks to crappie materials, the nails were soft and had to be replaced and the wood would splinter if looked at funny, and that actually happened.
“Men, we got incoming! There appears to be something coming our way from the north wall! Get your weapons together and prepare to repel whatever it may be!” A light brown earth mare started yelling to the guards around them.

“Hey, do you need us too? We could go for a break right about now…” Goff asked of the light brown mare.

“Sure, do you know how to use a sword or spear!?” She turned to them and asked, not caring that they were not of her species. If they could help then they were good in her book.

“Yes to both of those ma’am… just tell us where!” Goff saluted, he was a sucker for getting back into the swing of the regimented life he once had.

“Same here Miss, But I think a sword and shield would be best for me at this time… if you have any to spare,” Emerald stood up and also saluted the mare, but he noticed that she was just happy that at least someone was listening. Noticing this he turned to the other guards. “HEY YA BUNCH OF MAGGOT SACKS, GET TO THE ARMORY AND GRAB YOUR GEAR, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!”

“Thank you…” The mare blushed slightly at his form of getting the guards rallied, not at the vulgarity but at the volume and control.

“You’re welcome miss.” He said with a bow before joining in on the armory raid.

“Come on Em! We need to get some too!” Goff called back to his friend, he was already half way across the compound.

“I’ll be right there! You coming miss…?” emerald asked with a comical brow raise.

“Um… Slick Foot… and yeah lets go…” She blushed even more and raced after his friend, granting a chuckle from the usually stoic man.

oooOO==OOooo

“Captain, we have a situation…” Shade yelled as he barged through the captains doors, only to be confronted with a not so child friendly sight, “I’ll… come back another time…” He made an immediate ‘U’ turn and left the building, gaining a new hate for his captor. ‘That piss pour excuse for a captain should be hung! Matter ah fact I might just do that once this is over… depending on whether or not the bastard actually gets out of there fast enough to stop me…’ He chuckled at the thought of killing the pig, but he had better things to do right then.

Shade raced back to his companion and took notice of the large amount of guards that had showed up, they were all putting on their armor and those that already had theirs on were handing out swords and spears. He looked around and noticed that his companions, and one ‘friend’, were putting on some pieces of armor, since most of it wouldn’t fit they were beating the bracers and grieves into shape.

“How goes the preparations Harb?”

“Going well I guess… but we don’t have much time… it will be here soon,” with every pause he would look to the wall, there was a guard up there motioning to him on how close it was getting.

“Alright then… Well the captain is… well indisposed and will not be helping us anytime soon, fucking bastard that he is…” Shade had an angry glare plastered to his face, just thinking of that pig was getting him extremely pissed off.

“I don’t want to kn-‘CRASH', WHAT THE HELL!” Harbinger, along with everyone else, rocked sideways as large amounts of debris went flying into the mass of bodies that were around them. The wall to their north east had blown apart, several manticors had charged it and blown it apart with the force of their impact.

“BUCK!” One of the guards yelled as one of the log pillars came flying past them, crushing a couple of guards on its way through.

“Everyone, CHARGE!” Shade picked up a sword and fallowed Harbinger into the fray. His friend had taken the lead without provocation. His taking of command had saved several ponies lives, most of them had been rooted to the spot thanks to the unexpected appearance of nine Manticors busting down their wall.

As they charged the manticors balked at the sight of so many creatures yelling at them, but it only took them a moment to realize this was their prey and leap into the mass of armored bodies. The first casualty was a Pegasus male; he was stupid enough to jump in front of one of their strikes and got himself disemboweled, his insides splashing onto the ground around him and his comrades.
None were spared as the manticors tore through their ranks, their armor not standing up to their claws and stinkers. One earth pony was bitten right in half when he pushed one of his friends out of the way, his screams were shot lived thankfully, but his lifeless and bloody body was a sick reminder.
The first Manticor death came by the combined hands and hoofs of Emerald Night and Slick Foot. Slick Foot jumped right and Emerald jumped left and they were able to split its concentration enough for them to take its head clean off. Emerald with a down stroke and Slick with an up stroke, severing the head cleanly.

“Work as a team damn it! It’s the only way you can beat them!” Emerald yelled as another one jumped at him and Slick.

Harbinger and shade were doing just that as they took out their third one of the day, they had started out with nine ponies and were down to three. Their first kill was won by taking off the monsters tail and shoving the stinger down its throat as it tried to munch on one of their charges. Their second was the hardest, it was huge compared to the rest of them, towering at around eleven feet at the top of its head when sitting straight. Within seconds of it spotting them it had taken out three of the pegasi that had come with them and turned one of them into a bloody pile of Swiss-cheese. The only way they killed it was because it was busy swallowing one of their comrades, he had been ripped in half and still alive when it had eaten him. Shade and Harbinger looked to each other, reversed the grip on their swords, ran and jumped onto the creatures back. They were using their swords to stab into its flesh and hold on for dear life while their comrades took spears and stabbed into the beast’s underbelly. Shade was then throne free and tossed into a large pile of flour, knocking the wind out of him. Harbinger, seeing his friend was OK, took the other sword and started to clime the monster, with each thrust he was closer to its head and his prize.
As he finally reached it, he took out the sword in his right hand and thrust the fucker right into the base of the monsters skull, killing it almost instantly.

“FUCK YOU BITCH!” Harbinger shouted from atop his kill, everyone around him shouted with glee at the demise of the monsters death, but screams of joy turned to shouts of anger as they turned back to the last four Manticors left in the compound.

Emerald and slick foot were surrounded, there were two of the beasts right in front of them and one behind, cutting off their roots of escape. Emerald had lost his sword and spears during a collision with a cart and sick had lost her weapons when one of the manticors body slammed her.

“Well this Bucking sucks…” Slick muttered as she looked their death in the face, and she smiled, not one of victory, but one of resignation.

Seeing this emerald smacked her in the back of the head, “Don’t you dare even try that with me Sick, I will kick your ass from here to kingdom come if you get killed,” He stared her in the eyes and she knew it was true, and she smiled, a warm thank filled smile. “I will not let us die this day… NOT NOW… NOT EVER!” At the last part his hands ignited into flames and he sent gouts of it at their attackers, lighting them up like the 4th of July!

“OH BUCK ME…” Slick just stared wide eyed at what her friend was doing to the creatures around them; they were burning… and then crumpling to the ground from the intensity of the flames. She noticed that even being this close the source of the flame, it was not hot, but cool and welcoming.

“YOU WILL NOT HARM MY FRIENDS AND COMRADES ANY LONGER FOUL BEASTS! NOW BURN!” Emeralds eyes were glowing a bright orange color, almost the color of the sun, but dimmer like the core of an inferno.
Even as the bodies of the three manticors crashed to the ground and stopped moving he did not let up, it was not until Goff walked over and put a hand on his shoulder that he calmed down and let the flames go out.

“Thank you my friend… I don’t want to think of what I could have done had that lasted any longer…” Emerald looked down to the female pony next to him and shed a tear at the thought of harming such a noble friend.

“Um… what was that just now?” She asked as she fell to her haunches and stared at the burnt remains of the manticors, each being a black burnt bit of charcoal.

“That was my will… made manifest, I am able to perform some basic forms of magic… life flames and some levitation… but it takes all of my concentration to do so… and bad things can happen…” He looked over at the charred remains before them and winced at what he might have done.

"If you hadn't of done that... who knows how many more of us would have died..." She looked at each of the bodies in turn and then at Emerald. She got up off her haunches and wrapped him in a bone cracking hug and started to weep for joy.

"SHhhh its OK, none of them will be coming back anytime soon..." He knelt down and embraced the crying pony, he even went as far to rub her back and cup her head in a close embrace.

oooOO==OOooo

Harbinger and Shade were off to the side, they had gotten up on the palisades and were now over looking the damage done to the base... it was extensive.

"Well shit... this lace is toast... I mean look at it, the barracks are on fire, the walls are breached and irreparable and almost half the guards are dead! We need to relocate, this place is not up for another fight like this." Harbinger looked like he was about to have a heart attack, he was worried for their new allies, these ponies had looked to all of them for guidance once the fighting had started and they had pulled them through with fewer casualties then what they had expected.

"Harb, I know how you feel... but i don't know what we could do. their leader is a piece of shit and he won't even give us the time of day!" Shade was livid, he had gone to speak to the captain and was told he was 'Not to be disturbed...' what a load of bullshit. HE would show HIM what not to be disturbed felt like with his foot shoved through his intestinal track!

"Sirs! there's a problem in the keep!" One of the pegasi had flown up and was now talking to them.

"What seems to be the problem guard?" Harb gave a half salute, motioning for him to continue.

"The Captain and his guards have been ripped to sheds sirs! Come quick!" the pegasi then took off towards the keep, leaving two very perplexed and anxious humans in his wake.

Author's Note:

Thank you all for being patient and what not, this chapter was a blast to write and it kind of moves along at a fast pace, BUT it gets the job done! Oh and if none of you noticed i have made a blog for this story.

I want as many of you as possible to participate in choosing the names for some of the guards from outpost Whitneigh as i can get, this should be able to last for the next, oh four to five chapters... give or take one or two... or more XD

Well i hope you all enjoyed reading this, it was fun writing it, good night!

Comments

[Toa from Siberia]

Nice chapter.

[Praeco Nigrum]

Nice chapter.

Thanks, i worked hard on it