Spiral Knights: Equestrian Front

by Chazonic

Giant 'Kindling' Monsters

The group of four knights and four ponies rushed towards where the screams and howls originated from. All of the knights activated their shields and caused them to emit their respective glows, much to the ponies' surprise.

Delta Squad, hearing screams for the second time in one day, immediately rushed off to see what was happening. Dusk didn't say anything as, despite his misgivings on the situation, he knew that Flame was trying to convince the ponies they weren't hostile. Any reluctance on his part would quickly eliminate any progress his leader made and he respected Flame more than that.

Rainbow could of flown ahead of the group with her speed to see what was wrong, yet she kept with the group out of suspicion it might be an elaborate trick by these armored aliens to separate them further. She has decided that one wrong move from any of the 'knights' and she would kick their flank out of Equestria.

More screams rang out as they approached. When the entire group reached the location of the screams, the fillies from before were cowering under a white unicorn and a yellow pegasus. Looming over them were what appeared to be giant wooden 'Snarbolaxes' that were bearing down on the cowering ponies.

"Alpha timberwolves!" Was all Twilight cried out. None of the knights could comment on it, as the both of the beasts began to raise a claw to strike the cowering ponies.

Rainbow, no longer seeing the situation as a ruse, flew with a burst of speed at one of the alphas and started bucking it in the head. It quickly grew annoyed and tried to swipe at the pegasus, who dodged out of the way with no problems.

The other one, seeing it's compatriot being distracted, quickly tried to land a blow on the ponies in front of it. All five ponies flinched waiting for the blow to strike.

Only for it to be blocked at the last second by the combined shields of Volt and Blast. Volt looks at the ponies with a slightly pained look. "Go! Get out of here!"

The crusaders, recognizing them from earlier, quickly scampered away with the older ponies. The alpha tried to crush the two knights with it's claw, only to slightly fall forward when the knights dashed away. It let out a howl of frustration before glaring at the two knights.

Volt started waving his hand in front of his face. "Ugh... that STENCH!"

Blast thought for a moment before reaching into his arsenal bag and pulling out a massive white tablet, baffling Volt. "Mint?" The beast roared again and hit the tablet away with a claw. Blast sighed before pulling his Nitronome out. "Alright, just thought I'd offer. Howzabout a refreshing blast?"

"I-I don't think now's the time, Blast." Volt said, drawing his Sudaruska right before the alpha tried hitting them, prompting them both to dodge and finally engage.

"Hope there's room for one more in this party!" Pinkie rushed forward, pulled a party cannon out of her mane, and started firing at the timberwolf.

"Now's not the time for that, sugarcube." Applejack huffed as she rushed forward with her energetic friend.

Flame, Dusk, and Twilight decided to help Rainbow with the other alpha. Right as it tried following the pegasus with it's claw in an attempt to strike her, it got shot by Dusk's Argent Peacemaker. "Hmph, these giant mounds of kindling should really smarten up."

Twilight ran up beside him and started firing magic bolts. "They aren't just "giant mounds of kindling". Not much is known about alpha timberwolves, so we need to be ready for anything."

"Nothing a little fire can't cure." Because they weren't in the forest anymore, Flame no longer felt he was limited to weapons that didn't cause fire. Wanting to test the waters a little bit, he pulled out his Volcanic Pepperbox and started firing as well. The effect was immediate, causing the timberwolf to howl in pain and strike at Flame, causing the three standing together to break in order to dodge.

Dusk looked at Flame as he continued firing. "Use a different weapon! That Pepperbox isn't strong enough to cause any sort of substantial fire."

"Just figured I would try!" Flame switched for his Fang of Vog and started jumping up the timberwolf, much to Rainbow's surprise. The alpha tried to shake him off, but he held firm and started slashing at the beast's back with the flaming sword. Fires did start, but every time Flame shifted positions on the it's back, the fires would quickly go out. It wasn't long before the timberwolf flung him off it's back.

Rainbow huffed as she dodged another strike. "Nice try, metal head, but I didn't see any substantial damage from that little attempt."

"It's resistant to small fires, how was I supposed to know?" Flame quickly switched to his Warmaster Rocket Hammer, It's appearance causing Twilight to flinch a bit, and once again went in to attack.

---

On the other side of the clearing, the mixed group was faring no better against their alpha timberwolf. Blast's explosions and Pinkie's rounds would only slightly stagger it and and any damage done was quickly repaired. Both Volt and Applejack were landing powerful blows, but they were constantly in danger of getting hit.

Applejack was amazed with Volt. Whenever the knight commanded the timberwolf's attention, any blows against the knight clashed with Volt's own blows with his massive, glowing sword. He does get a few glancing blows, but he never flinched and kept fighting.

Blast, on the other hand, was getting sick of seeing his larger-than-normal explosions do next to nothing, even with his bowling-bomb technique. However, when he got another glimpse of Pinkie's blue cannon, he got an idea. "Pinkie, stop firing for a second!"

This confused the pink mare. "Why? Aren't we in the middle of something here?"

"Bear with me. This is either going to be a brilliant idea or a horrible idea." Before Pinkie could say anything, he primed a Nitronome and stuffed it into the cannon. "FIRE IT!"

She didn't need telling twice. The cannon launched the bomb right at the timberwolf's head, the resulting explosion actually toppling the beast with substantial damage. "Woooow, that actually works fantastical!"

Blast nods enthusiastically. "You and I are going places!" He stuffs another bomb into the cannon for firing.

Volt and Applejack noticed what their friends were doing and quickly pressed the advantage they now had, striking the timberwolf whenever it's briefly toppled.

The only time they couldn't press their advantage was when Blast stuffed a different looking Nitronome into the cannon, only to realize it right after. "Whoops, wrong bomb!" The explosion from the bomb caused confetti, sparkles, and balloons to fly everywhere, serving to only annoy the timberwolf.

Pinkie looked shocked. "What was that?"

Blast gives her a nervous look before stuffing an actual Nitronome into the cannon. "Sorry, Nitronomes and Party Bombs look so similar sometimes."

She fires the cannon before deadpanning at him. "That sounds an awful lot like my party cannon..."

"You like parties too?"

"Yeah, I'm Ponyville's premiere party planner!"

Blast whooped. "Alright! When we're done, let's throw a massive party!"

---

Dusk heard Blast's whoop and sighed. "Like I said, there's two of them..."

"Later, Dusk!" Flame took another couple of swings with his hammer, it's brutal blows garnering more grimaces from Twilight and a more suspicious look from Rainbow. Rainbow didn't dare call out Flame while they were fighting for their lives, but her trust of them took a turn for the worse when she saw how brutally effective some of their weapons are, which didn't help the fact they had weapons to BEGIN with.

Not long after Flame switched to his hammer, it became apparent that this alpha was a lot stronger than the other one, easily recovering from harsh blows and a lot faster when repairing damage done. It also seemed a bit more clever, often faking Flame or Rainbow out in order to get a hit in, as well as going after Twilight or Dusk whenever it felt they were becoming too much of a bother.

Unfortunately for Flame, it started to go after Dusk so he moved to intercept, only for it to change it's course and swipe at him. He barely got his shield up to protect his body, but not only did he feel pain from his current injuries including from before the fight, but the claw had hit his helmet off and threw him back towards Twilight.

After landing, he fell to one knee, clutching his side from where his most serious wound kept getting worse. Twilight, after grabbing his helmet from out of the air with magic to return to him, gasped at what she saw.

Flame's head looked like it was made of pure, solid shadow while his eyes stayed as what was essentially an animated neon light. The real kicker was how his head was shaped; he had two pony ears on his head and a pony muzzle and mouth, which was currently gritted and leaking a blue liquid.

"Pardon my language, but this is beginning to piss me off..." Flame growled as he put his Warmaster Rocket Hammer away and brought out his Magma Driver. "Let's see if you can withstand magma energy!"

The burning shots fired from the driver not only instantly ignited the wood but even bounced and hit another part of the timberwolf. Howling in pain, the timberwolf rounded on Flame and viciously tried to bite him, only to miss and get a few more rounds from the driver. Dusk switched out his Argent Peacemaker for his Hail Driver and started shooting the legs, freezing them in place.

"What the hay?" Rainbow had quickly noticed rocks getting set aflame from the orange energy and frozen from the blue shots, convincing her further just how dangerous these 'knights' were.

Twilight noticed what Dusk was doing and used her magic to redirect the bounced shots that cleared the timberwolf, making a mental note to ask them what kind of energy they were using. The thought of discovering a new type of energy or even magic secretly excited her, but she was even more curious as to who or what these knights actually were.

Flame noticed that, while his Magma Driver was doing more visible fire damage than his Fang of Vog, the fires still kept going out. Yet the timberwolf couldn't resist the ice encasing it's legs, effectively immobilizing the beast. Deciding on an all-or-nothing strike, he switched to his Combuster and started charging it.

He was initially appalled to find that his weapon was charging slower than usual. His worry turned to surprise when he felt how much power was coursing through his charging blade as the middle started emitting actual flames. The blade felt like it was going to explode when it was done charging and Flame didn't want to take any risks. "Get out of the way, now!"

Dusk and Twilight got away, but Rainbow ignored the warning as she continued to attack and dodge the beast's snapping head. Twilight groaned, teleported right beside Rainbow, and teleported back with a yelp from the pegasus. All friendlies clear, Flame unleashed the energy.

The effect was almost instantaneous. Five massive pillars of fire erupted from the ground, one right after the other in rapid succession, and completely engulfed the timberwolf. The beast let out one final howl before finally collapsing, now no more than a burning pile of wood

---

Over in Canterlot Castle, as she was preparing to lower the sun, Celestia saw five pillars of fire erupt from the other side of the everfree forest near her old castle. "Hm? What's going on over there, I wonder..." She pursed her lips, wondering if it had anything to do with the flashing lights from earlier today. She made a mental note to write to her former student and ask about what had happened.

---

When the other timberwolf saw it's compatriot being incinerated by the waves of fire, it immediately ran away, yelping in fright. Everyone looked at the smoldering remains, either in utter shock or in awe of what just happened.

Flame looked at his sword, arm shaking erratically, before finally dropping it and collapsing backwards, breathing heavily in exhaustion. The sword deactivated as it hit the ground, still smoking from the energy it just released.

Applejack was the first to speak. "What... in tarnation just happened? Did Flame do that?"

Volt snapped out of his stupor and rushed to help Flame. He was appalled to find him covered in injuries, the one from before the fight was worse than before, and quickly got a med-kit out.

Dusk shook his head as he and Blast approached. "I told you. You need to take care of yourself as much as you take care of us."

Helmet still in Twilight's magic, Flame managed a weak grin. "Heh... that just... how I... roll."

"T-thank y-you." The knights look and see the yellow pegasus with the white unicorn and the crusaders.

Volt nodded. "I'm just glad you five are safe."

The white one sighed. "Dare I say, when that brute went to strike us, my life flashed before my eyes. I'm just glad we got away unharmed." She puts a hoof to her muzzle before her eyes widened in realization. "Oh how uncouth of me, I never introduced myself."

Twilight stepped forward. "We can do the re-introductions later. This place is still too dangerous for us to be loitering here."

Pinkie squeed in joy. "I'm just glad everypony is okay! I'm totally throwing an "Everypony's Safe and Sound" party on top of the "We Met Aliens" party!"

Blast nodded. "I'm with you, sister! Party like there's no--"

"Now hold on a second!" Everyone looks at a disgruntled Rainbow Dash. "Aren't we forgetting something? Like how they never mentioned that they have powerful WEAPONS?"

Twilight gave her a bewildered look. "Rainbow, I don't think we--"

"When were you planning on telling us? Just what are you trying to pull--"

Applejack cut her off. "Rainbow! For Pete's sake, they just helped us fight off two alpha timberwolves. I think they deserve more credit than that!" Looking at the knight with a slightly irritated look she added, "Although it would of helped your case if ya'll brought it up sooner..."

Flame coughed a bit. "I don't know... Would it of helped our situation if you knew from the get-go?" This got a deadpan from Applejack.

Rainbow opened her mouth to retort when Dusk cut her off. "I'd suggest engaging your brain before engaging your mouth. Think about what would've happened if we WEREN'T armed to the teeth with armor and weapons. What would've happened to your friends then?" This got a bewildered look from her.

Pinkie blanched. "How can you say things like that? Isn't that a little... harsh?" The other mares agreed.

Dusk shrugs. "I tell it how it is."

Everyone lapsed into an uncomfortable silence before Twilight gave a nervous cough. "Right... well we shouldn't stay here for much longer."

The yellow pegasus shivered. "W-where can we go?"

Flame motioned with his head. "We have camp set up further into the ravine. We can... recuperate there."

Twilight sighs and nods. "I guess that will have to do for now. You're too injured to make a trip to the castle. I'll... keep hold of your helmet for now." Flame nods as he gets up and leans on Volt. Everyone started making their way back into the ravine, Rainbow begrudgingly following.

Author's Note:

I can tell fighting sequences are not my thing, but I tried anyways. Tell me what you think of it and what I could do to improve.

Weapons in order of use:
-Nitronome
-Sudaruska
-Argent Peacemaker
-Volcanic Pepperbox
-Fang of Vog
-Warmaster Rocket Hammer
-Magma Driver
-Hail Driver
-Combuster

Comments

[Texus]

You nearly forgot Dusk there, but i liked how the others were fighting.
There was a leader Team, which was somehow pretty cool. I like the Flame guy, and i guess the Dusk guy was my favourite, but i forgot which Counterpart he is, probably Rainbow Dash´s.

I don´t want to say they were more awesome, but the Team with Pinkie, Blast, and the other two, were pretty interessting as well.

[Chazonic]

5831416

In a way, I was trying to be subtle about who were parallel to who outside of Blast and Pinkie (I decided against being subtle with those two) but if you want the parallels more defined, I'll state it in the authors notes of the next chapter with my reasoning.

Also; glad to see my fight scene didn't totally suck. It WAS the first fight scene I've made since I started writing, so I expected it to fall on it's face.

[Texus]

5831523

In a way, I was trying to be subtle about who were parallel to who outside of Blast and Pinkie (I decided against being subtle with those two) but if you want the parallels more defined, I'll state it in the authors notes of the next chapter with my reasoning.

Sorry, but i have to ask to be sure that i really understand it.
With subtle you mean, which Knight is fitting with which Pony?, or do you meant.....i....forgot..,, well never mind, but most of the time i understand everything withouth really have to translate something.

I guess if you read english for a while, you start to remember certain words.

Your fighting scene was enough for me, usually i skipp some fighting scenes in other storys, if they are to detailed, or to overdone.

[Chazonic]

5831618

With subtle you mean, which Knight is fitting with which Pony?

Essentially. I didn't want to be too blatantly obvious on the get-go, so that's why I tried being subtle about it.

[Mkchief34]

THIS IS AWESOME!

[Mkchief34]

MORE!

[Joker_F5]

Sans wants more epic fighting

[Terrataur]

WHERE IS NEXT CHAPTER!? WHERE IS IT?!!!!

[Texus]

new chapter please