True Black

by Leonofsweden

Chapter 11 Surprise In The Wood

True Black
Chapter 11
Surprise In The Wood

1th of April

This was just too good to be true; it was only the eve of the first day she'd been searching, and already Longbow had spotted the false Praetorian walking down a path through the forest, together with some muscle-bound stallion wearing what looked like cheap quilted armor. But what had actually made Longbow jump for joy was that they were heading towards the intersection where she had made the other soldiers in her little squad wait for her. She didn't need them tagging along and slowing her down while she searched for their target. Once Longbow understood the situation, she had quickly made her way back to join up with them. The four of them were now well hidden on opposite sides of the little campsite that was obviously used by many travelers as a night stop.

Longbow herself was well hidden inside the edge of the woods with a clear line of sight into the campsite. While she lay there waiting for her unsuspecting prey, Longbow could feel the anticipation building. Finally she heard the two of them coming down the path towards the trap. As they came out of the forest, she could finally have a closer look while they stepped out in to the fading sunlight. Longbow almost felt her chin hit the ground. The fake Praetorian mare looked far too young… How can anypony believe that she was a proper Praetorian?

Although she had to admit, that shining, silvery Praetorian armor did look very authentic. Still, she would have to have been picked up by the praetorians more or less immediately after completing basic training—which never happened, almost never anyway. And finally there was the biggest mistake this fake had made. She was obviously trying to pass herself off as a Praetorian smith, judging by the hardware they were dragging behind them. But that meant she was supposed to be a smith herself, not that she had a smith tagging along with her.

Longbow almost giggled. If they were this stupid, they would both be dead before any of them even knew what was happening. She could take the shot now, but she opted to wait. Once the two of them were in the camp, she would take down this fake Praetorian. Besides, it would be a bit more challenging at that range for her, and the sound of her arrow striking home would also be the signal for the four waiting soldiers to attack the stallion.

She withdrew an arrow and levitated her bow in front of her as she started to zero in on the target. They had finally stopped, but to Longbow´s annoyance, the stallion was blocking the mare completely from view. But she wasn't worried, she would wait for a good shot to presents itself and then let fly.

****

Bender looked around himself while he helped Hammer Song to step free from the harness. His red eyes scanned their surroundings methodically until his ears picked up what was wrong.

“Hammer it's too quiet… I don't like the way this feels.” Bender said as he continued to look around. Hammer Song nodded; she had been aware that something was out of place for a while now. Somepony was following them, maybe thinking to steal from their supplies during the night.

“I think we might get a visitor tonight…” Hammer said in her singsong voice while she sidestepped to stand closer beside him. Bender just grunted, indicating that he also come to the same conclusion. It was funny; the two of them had only known each other for a couple of days, and already it seemed and felt like they had been together for years. She gave him a peck on his cheek, and then walked around him to fetch the tent from the other side of the wagon.

“Hammer! Could you get my fl…” Hammer luckily stopped and turned her head back, so she could hear what Bender wanted. More or less simultaneously, a loud thump sounded right next to her. She turned back and bumped her forehead against a still quivering arrow. She quickly traced the arrow’s path through the air just in time to see another projectile heading towards her.

No! Was all she had time to think, when she realized she would not be able to dodge the arrow speeding towards her head. Suddenly she was slammed into the ground, when Bender tackled her out of the way. The arrow took him in the left shoulder; immediately he cried out in an ear-shattering roar. Hammer Song looked up just in time to see Bender catch another arrow that was intended for his neck by letting it strike right through the underarm of his left hoof. This time he didn't even make a sound as the arrow struck him. Hammer Song became enraged. Whoever this archer was, he was dead!

SPEED, BLOOD AND DEATH! Hammer thought loudly in her head as the world around her seemed to slow down. Of course the world wasn't moving slower, for it was she who was moving much faster, as her flesh binding spell was now activated. Hammer cast a last glance towards Bender as he moved in slow motion into his peculiar fighting stance, looking of towards his left side, and then she was off towards the hidden archer. She withdrew her two-bladed short sword from its sheath in a fluid motion. It was a special weapon Hammer had fashioned herself. Two short swords forged together with a single handle in-between them. As she clutched her teeth onto it, with a firm hold around the handle, Hammer Song could see another arrow speeding towards her from the forest. Whoever the archer was, he was good. The fact that this pony managed to get off a shot at her, even before she had covered half the distance to the edge of the woods, clearly showed that the archer was able to both aim and fire very rapidly. But the arrows were no problem at all for Hammer Song. She could clearly see them coming towards her now, so dodging was easy.

She arrived at the edge of the forest in little under three or four seconds, which should be completely impossible for a pony. The moment she entered the gloom of the woods, Hammer Song could see a stunned looking unicorn archer in the midst of grabbing another arrow with her magic. But it did not matter how fast the unicorn was. She would never be able to fire before Hammer Song reached her. She angled her sword straight at the mare’s chest, letting her speed and momentum do the job for her. The sword slipped right through the leather armor the archer was wearing and continued through her flesh. The power of the thrust was so excessive that Hammer Song impaled their attacker onto the tree she was shoved up against. The mare’s magical grip on her bow and arrow fizzled out, and they fell slowly towards the ground.

Still, stop and calm… Hammer Song thought as the world around her started moving at a normal pace again. She let go of her sword, and looked at the mare that had attacked them. She was a female unicorn, not much older than herself by the looks of it, very well camouflaged with her moss green coat, and lighter green mane and tail. Her two purple eyes were shriveled up in unfathomable pain while they stared into Hammers blue ones. Slowly the impaled mare’s two front hooves came to rest upon the blade that was pinning her against the tree. She looked down at it with gritted teeth, as a dark red liquid starting to run down its length. The sword had passed straight through her chest and out of her back. In other words she was already dead; the mare’s brain just hadn't caught on yet. The purple eyes once again found her own. They had finally understood what was happening, and the look of total disbelief in them was painful to watch, like she had finally understood some cruel joke been played on her. With a trembling hoof, she reached towards Hammer Song, who immediately took two steps back. The green mare tried to speak, but she only managed to cough up a lot of blood instead. She forced herself to take a grueling breath.

“You’re…” The mare gasped for breath. “supposed to be… fake….” the green mare managed to gurgle out before her hoof felt limp to her side, the blood that had so far been pouring out of her stab wound and mouth was beginning to slow down into a trickle, as her heartbeat became weaker and weaker. Gradually the light in her eyes dimmed, and then her head slumped forward onto the sword that was now all that kept her upright. Hammer Song was breathing heavily.

Supposed to be fake? The thought perplexed her while she studied her assailant. She looked at the bow and her armor with a frown; they looked very familiar. Then it finally hit her, they were both of Grand Army Scout issue. The leather armor was dappled to help blend in with its surrounding, and the longbow was of a very rare and finally made issue, only presented to the best of the best pony archers.

So why had… all of a sudden Hammer Song realized she was hearing shouts, screams and sounds of battle. She whirled around with fear in her chest.

“Bender!” she shouted.

There were more attackers? Of course there were more attackers! One lonely archer would never attack two heavily armored enemies by herself! Hammer Song thought and immediately grabbed onto her sword and yanked at it… Nothing, she pulled even harder. Still nothing, the weight of Longbow's body made it almost impossible to pull it out of the tree, since it was now wedged tightly in there. Hammer Song gritted her teeth on the blood-soaked handle, then placed both her front hooves onto Longbow´s body and pulled for all she was worth. Just when she thought it was starting to give, she lost her grip on the now slippery handle and crashed to the ground. She flew up on her hooves, desperation starting to build in her chest while she heard the ongoing battle behind her.

“Bucking sword!!!” she screamed and flew at it again.

****

Hammer song had disappeared. He never saw what had happened to her.

These bastards must have taken Hammer! Bender thought furiously through the red haze he was now moving in. It happened so fast, after the first arrow to the shoulder, battle frenzy took him completely. On pure instinct he was able to shield himself from the second arrow that was aimed at his throat that time. Since he was already in his so-called battle frenzy, Bender didn't feel a thing anymore, no pain, no fatigue, nothing except the primal rage and instinct of kill or be killed. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye. As Bender turned towards it, he could see an enemy closing in from his left with a sword pointed straight at him. This fool obviously thought Bender was completely immobilized on the left side, already having two injuries there.

He reared up, and looked down at the enemy with pinprick eyes and a manic grin across his face. As the other stallion came charging at him, fully intent on getting a quick kill under his belt, he was completely oblivious to how Bender´s left hoof raced up in anticipation of its strike. With a devastatingly powerful blow, Bender struck the flat of the enemy’s blade from the side. The point of the sword dug into the side of the cart, coming to an abrupt halt, which shoved the handle straight down the other stallion's throat until the cross guard stopped him dead in his tracks. The impact of the cross guard shattered the stallions jawbone, so he was now toppling over unconscious. Although Bender wasn't done with him, his right hoof racing down after his hated adversarial. Connecting to the side of the helmet, with all of Bender's weight and power behind the crushing blow, the helmet and the skull inside it was stomped into the ground. Most of what was left inside of the helmet came shooting out like an overripe tomato when it caved in between Bender's massive hoof and the ground.

With a savage roar Bender came up on his front legs, and bucked as hard as he could, catching the soldier who thought Bender hadn't noticed him trying to come up behind completely off-guard. This sent the soldiers flying through the air, into the next enemy following behind him. They both came down in a loud crash. The stallion that had been bucked in the side tried to get up, but found that he couldn't. He couldn't even breathe anymore. Looking down in wide-eyed horror, the stallion could see that the armor, which was meant to protect him, was now actually killing him. The armor had been so dented by the brutal impact that it was now impossible for him to breathe with it strapped on. And the fact that he had most likely broken several ribs did not help him either. Finally his body reacted to what had happened; his brain was immediately flooded with pain, almost knocking him out. Desperately he tried to undo the straps and buckles on his armor to free himself, but failed miserably, since he was an earth pony it took a long time to get out of the armor even if he wasn't injured. The stallion looked pleadingly up at his fellow soldier, who stood in front of him levitating a spear while staring intently at Bender. With a savage roar he raced off into battle again, unknowingly leaving his desperate friend behind to slowly be suffocated to death by his own armor.

Bender could see how the spear wielder charged at him. As usual, Bender couldn't stop smiling while the battle raged around him. And what a glorious battle it was turning out to be; he hadn't felt so alive since his less battle in Rapture alongside his father while there were still working as mercenary in the gryphon kingdoms. Right now though, Bender got the feeling he was forgetting something important, but try as he might he couldn't think of anything he might be missing, Bender couldn't concentrate on anything except how to crush the enemy in front of him. All of a sudden another soldier smashed down on top of him. It was a Pegasus he had hadn't noticed.

The annoying little thing had tried to stab him with a wicked-looking dagger in the back, but only managed to cut through the top layer of the quilted armor, exposing the first layer of ring mill below as it skidded off to the side. Bender reared up and crushed the Pegasus between himself and the wagon. The Pegasus cried out a muffled scream. Meanwhile the unicorn took the chance to thrust his spear towards Bender who tilted ever so slightly, letting the spearhead grace his side, exposing more of his ring mail armor, and then stab right through the leather armor of the Pegasus behind him. There was wans more a scream from the Pegasus who then went rigid as a board, before he slumped over as his whole body went limp. Bender was just about to throw himself onto the unicorn spear wielder, when a magic bolt caught him straight in the chest. Bender was thrown back into the wagon with such force that the whole contraption tilted up on two wheels, before coming crashing down again, the magical bolt would usually knocked out, if not straight up kill any pony not able to magical shield itself.

But to the disbelief of the unicorn Bender was already getting up again, grinning like a mad pony and looking at him with those horrible pinprick eyes, while smoke was slowly rising from his scorched chest. The unicorn was charging up another attack, when a blur past just in front of him. The next thing he knew blood was spraying out of his open throat. His eyes rolled up under his eyelids as he fell to the ground. Hammer Song was now standing by the side of the wagon, breathing heavily while leaning on it for support. Hammer dropped the dagger she had taken off Longbow`s body, and looked up just in time to avoid getting her head smashed into the side of the wagon by Bender. He looked at her with his pinprick eyes and manic smile, clearly not recognizing who she was.

“Stop!!! Bender it’s me!!!” Hammer Song cried out in her musical voice while Bender raised his hooves for another attack. Bender's eyes immediately went back to normal, a gurgled scream trying to make its way out of his throat and through his gritted teeth, while he looked at Hammer Song in complete shock.

“GHHHHAAaaaaaaa!!!” he roared and then fell to the ground unconscious. Hammer Song just stared at Bender, not understanding what had just happened to him. Bender had been moving around and fighting without a problem, even with all his injuries just a second ago, but the moment she said stop, he had just collapsed to ground unconscious. Hammer looked around for any more would-be attackers. Once she was certain no more attacks would come, she looked down at her unconscious coltfriend and sighed. Even if she didn't understand what had happened to him. She at least knew one thing for sure. The two of them needed to get out of there right now.

****

Zig Zag went tumbling into the grass again. He finally came to a halt flat on his back with a groan. Slowly he rolled over onto his stomach and looked up; Lobo was now walking towards him slowly shaking his head.

“No, no, no… You have to be more mindful of where you place your paws. I heard you approach from a mile away.” Lobo scolded Zig Zag, although in a very mild and soothing voice.

“Naaha! I was like, totally quiet this time!” he shot back quite annoyed. Lobo smiled at Zig Zag who it seemed was no longer afraid of him when he did so. Zig Zag got up on his hooves and shook himself off, and then trotted up to Lobo, still frowning a bit. Lobo put one of his paws on his head and ruffled his dark blue mane a bit. That's when he thought of something. Zig Zag was, as a matter of fact, not a wolf… Maybe he didn't know how to sneak properly just by instinct. He looked around himself and spotted some tricky looking bushes Zig Zag could sneak through, while Lobo would still be able to observe how he was doing it.

“You see those bushes over there? Try to get through them as quietly as possible.” Lobo said. Zig Zag watched them curiously; he gave a little nod, then trotted up to them and started making his way through. Lobo studied his movement and immediately saw that he was doing a lot of things wrong. Realizing what a bad technique Zig Zag was actually using, Lobo was now almost impressed with how little noise the pup made in spite of this. Zig Zag exited the bushes and happily trotted over to Lobo, quite pleased with himself.

“See, I'm totally awesome!” he said with a big smile, showing his new and still-sore fangs. Lobo sighed sadly; he hadn't known how to react when he discovered what the pup had done to himself while Lobo was asleep. In retrospect he was furious at himself; he should never have left the pup alone while he slept. He knew Zig Zag was distraught, although Lobo had only envisioned him running away while he was resting, so he would have had to track him down again once he woke up. But he had clearly underestimated just how depressed the pup was, since Zig Zag had been able to do something like that to himself. Lobo had decided then and there that from now on he would only sleep while Zig Zag slept. He gave a little grunt. What Zig Zag needed now was time to heal, and a lot of things to occupy his mind.

“Actually that was quite horrifically… bad… I think I lost count of how many twigs and dry leaves you stepped on while you were going through. And you're much too harsh when he stomp your hooves down. You need to settle them carefully on the ground before putting weight on them. If you were a wolf, you would be a very hungry one.” he said in a teasing manner. Zig Zag looked infuriatedly at him.

“Then you do it if you think it's so easy.” Zig Zag countered. Lobo nodded quite pleased with the fact that Zig Zag wanted to see how it was done correctly without having to suggest it himself. Lobo started stalking around Zig Zag without making a noise. Even though Zig Zag knew he wasn't in danger, the sight of Lobo moving around him still sent a chill down his spine.

“Now look at my paws; what are they doing?” Lobo asked. He could just tell Zig Zag the answer, but making the pup figure it out himself would most likely make the lesson stick better. Zig Zag watched intently while Lobo continued moving around him. But he couldn't really see anything except how he crouched down low, and moved really quietly. Lobo stopped, still in a stalking position.

“Don't try to see everything at once, pup. Look at my paws to begin with. That's what is important right now; body posture and weight distribution will come later when you got the basics down.” Lobo told Zig Zag and then started moving again very slowly. Now as he concentrated on solely the correct manner, he was finally able to see something. Every time Lobo's paw came down, it slowed significantly before making contact with the ground. And even when he had put his paw down, he didn't put his weight on it immediately, thereby letting anything under it settle quietly. Zig Zag perked up at his discovery, and immediately told Lobo.

“Good… What else can you see? There is one more thing that will immediately make you better at prowling.” he informed the pup. Zig Zag immediately starting searching for this new technique. He looked, and he looked, but he couldn't see it. He looked at the front paws, the back paws and right and left. But he still couldn't figure out what he was supposed to see.

“Ahhhhh! There is nothing more! You just teasing me aren't you!” Zig Zag vented. Lobo shook his head patiently while he continued round and around.

“There is something important. Look at my paws again. But not at how I put them down. You still haven't seen the big lesson that will make it all a lot easier for you.” Lobo said. Zig Zag rolled his eyes, and then once again started to study how Lobo moved.

“You're just looking at me… See what I do.” Lobo prompted. Zig Zag looked at Lobo quite confused now.

“But looking and seeing are the same things?” he said, baffled. Lobo just shook his head.

“Just looking at something won't help you very much, but truly seeing… to truly be able to see your opponent’s strength and weaknesses, to read their movements and intents, then act accordingly. That is the difference between just looking at something and truly seeing. Now try to see why I never step on something that will give me away.” Lobo said. Zig Zag looked puzzled, but continued to watch intently. Then he almost facehoofed. It was so obvious and basic that Zig Zag almost laughed. Lobo was always meticulous about where he put his front paws, but he never ever glanced back like Zig Zag constantly did to see where his back paws were placed. Because every time Lobo brought his front paws forward again, he always placed his back paw exactly where his front paw had previously been. Therefore he automatically knew he would not step on something that would give away his position. Zig Zag excitedly blurted out his findings and Lobo smiled proudly at him. Zig Zag then started sneaking around Lobo and their surroundings. Lobo´s jaw almost dropped. Zig Zag´s entire body movement had more or less become a mirror image of his own. He snuck in and out of bushes, between narrow trees, all the while being more or less soundless, compared to what he had achieved before, he implemented his new understanding of prowling perfectly. Zig Zag stopped in front of Lobo, and then pounced straight at him. Lobo caught him in a warm embrace and tumbled backwards as if he had been caught unaware. He continued to tumble around, while Zig Zag squealed in delight.

“Ohhh!!! You got me there little one! You were very good this time, I'm very proud of you, Zig Zag.” Lobo said happily, but he immediately felt Zig Zag tense up. Lobo instantly looked down, worried that the pup might have hurt himself while they were tumbling over in their play. As their eyes met, Zig Zag´s were full of tears.

“What is wrong little one?” Lobo asked worriedly. Zig Zag looked away.

“No pony except… mom… ever said they were proud of me before…” he answered and looked back at Lobo, his face shriveled up as he started to cry loudly.

“I miss her so much!!!” he howled while he bawled his eyes out. Lobo hugged him fiercely, tears started to flow from his own eyes.

“I know you do little one… I know…” Lobo said soothingly, while gently rocking the desperately crying pup protectively. Zig Zag wept for a long while before he finally started to quiet down again. All through Lobo simply held him, letting him wail all he wanted. Now that he had finally started to gather himself again, Lobo carefully looked down at his little charge with unquestioning love and devotion, which quite frankly baffled him a bit. He had not thought he would grow this attached so quickly. He sighed and ruffled the little one’s mane again.

“Well Zig Zag… we will have to start moving again. We're still too close to those bad ponies for us to be safe here. And since you've been doing so well in training today, I will carry you for a while. Do you think you can hang on if I put you on my back?” Lobo asked. Zig Zag looked up that Lobo, and then nodded a little bit. Lobo smiled down at him.

“Good.” he said, and shifted his body to make it easier for the pup to climb up between his shoulder blades. Lobo rose up and set off. In the beginning, Zig Zag twisted his hooves around tuffs of fur to hang on, but after a few minutes he noticed he didn't have to hang on at all. Zig Zag fit perfectly in between Lobo's shoulder blades, which were constantly working on either side of him. It was almost like he had a little seat there, which was custom fitted for him to lie down on. Moreover Lobo ran so smoothly over the ground that if it wasn't for his surroundings swishing past him, Zig Zag would have thought he was lying on the most comfortable bed in the world. As he sank down into the warm and comfy fur beneath him, it didn't take long for the emotionally exhausted Zig Zag to fall asleep. Lobo soon noticed the pup’s steady breathing, and the fact that he had fallen asleep while they were on the move. Grinning widely, Lobo continued heading further north. According to the map he had been looking at in Lightning Strike´s command tent, he would soon be able to leave the land belonging to these accursed ponies if he continued in this direction along the coast.

Whatever was on the other side of that border, it can't possibly be any worse than this. Lobo thought, and quietly prayed to the Alpha that he was correct.

****

Thanks to Meeester for the Pre-read/Edit

Comments

[Xaldon Ajide]

bender is truly a beast. and lobo your doing a good job teaching zigs, do carry on,

[EveningShadows]

I love this fic, carry on sir!

[Leonofsweden]

1295127

Whay thank you sir

[Bealoreas]

Looks interesting. I shall track and read when I can.

[Leonofsweden]

1369664
Well what more can I ask for…
Hmmm…
Maybe…
No! The readers would never go for that!
I bet you're all thinking about something dirty right about now…
SHAME ON YOU!!!
Thinking like that without turning it into a fic…
I feel like we might have gotten off topic here…
Eeyup!

[Leonofsweden]

1414644

Where did you find the first problem?

Second one is taken care off.

And the third one will be fixed... Eventually...