On the Battlefields of Yesteryear
Thw-thw-thw-thw-thwisssssh!
The cloud of arrows arched, spiraled, and plummeted. In a black streak, they covered a patch of snow in the center of the frozen battleground. Th-Th-Th-Th-Thunk!
Members of the Central Guard squinted from afar, holding their breaths in an expert fashion. Those still charging craned their necks in mid-stride for a better view of their targets.
A frosted fog of vapors lingered over the field.
When at last the snowy mist cleared... a translucent dome of violet magic could be seen fluctuating in the epicenter. Mortuana and six other figures huddled under the shield—which emanated from the pack that Flynn was holding in two quivering forelimbs. The unicorn gritted his teeth, sweating as he channeled an emergency charge of mana into a series of densely interlaced crystals. The stallion shook, strained, and finally collapsed besides his equipment.
Fl-Flassssh! The dome dissipated swiftly, exposing the seven bodies within.
"H-holy crap," Ariel stammered, hovering low alongside Wildcard. "Good friggin' timing, Flynn."
"The manabatteries are spent," Mortuana said, her eyes locked on the ponies and griffons rushing in from all sides. "I do not believe he can erect that shield again."
"They'll be prriming theirr crrossbows once morre!" Kepler cried out.
Cl-Clakka! Bard extended his bo-staff. "Then let's not give them a second chance to fire!"
"W-wait a minute!" Rainbow Dash sputtered, eyes darting at the incoming bodies. "Let's not get crazy here! These jerks have us surrounded!"
"Yeah!" Ariel gritted her teeth, beating her wings as she ascended swiftly. "Sucks to be them!"
"Herald!" Mortuana shouted, eyes flaring. "Do not let them get the upper hoof! Protect the Austraeoh at all costs!"
Wildcard nodded with a frown. Sch-schiing! Within a second, he was bursting forward with both nighsticks drawn. Swoooosh!
"Ya hear that, Dubya-Cee?!" Bard galloped valiantly into the fray under the shadow of his partner. "Let's mosey!"
"Go go go!" Ariel hollered, meeting the airborn squadron in a violent blur.
"Oh my goodness!" Fluttershy's ghostly body shrank until she phased into Rainbow Dash. "Oh my goodness!"
"I..." Rarity clamped her hooves over her eyes. "I can't look!"
"Fluttershy! Rarity!" Rainbow panted. "Eyes front! We need your senses!" She spun about. "Mortuana! What does everypony think they're doing?!"
"Shhhhhh..." Mortuana calmly waved a hoof, gazing around them in a circle. "...what they're best at."
Just as the alicorn said this, Rainbow heard the clashing of metal—followed by the pained shrieks of strangers. She spun around to look, blinking.
Wildcard was zig-zagging his way between various troops on the ground. Sparks flew—with Wildcard coming out as the victor. Ponies and griffons flew from side to side—colliding with the frozen corpses of past victims before sprawling across the snow and groaning with pain and dizziness.
Meanwhile, up above, Ariel flew pretzel ribbon-streaks around the flying members of the Central Guard. Her expert wings distracted the Rohbreddenites out of formation, and soon the squadron quit their dive altogether in a futile attempt to chase her down. She spun and spiraled around them, throwing them off course and knocking them out of the air with sheer wing blasts. She had hardly touched a single body, and yet Rainbow spotted at least half-a-dozen figures already plummeting to the deep snow below.
"Grnngh... Big Show!" Flynn's voice sputtered.
"Rainbow...!" Twilight exclaimed, pointing.
Rainbow spun to see Flynn—weak and breathless—crawling across the snow to where an obese figure lay limply on his side.
Grimacing, Flynn shook the earth pony's shoulder. "Dammit... ya friggin' bastard! Say something! Belch! Fart! Anythi—" Flynn's mechanical eye bulged as a thick fetlock wrapped around his neck. "Grkkk?!"
Logan slowly sat up, sneering through clenched teeth. "Gggget out there and knock some skulls together, ya... snkkkt... slack-jawed fruit m-muffin! Grgnnngh!" He clutched the arrow embedded in his chest.
"But... but..." Flynn wheezed, pointing. "You've been—"
Snap! Logan broke the end of the crossbolt off, panting and seething. "The... v-vest took most of it... n-now stop being a softy and kick flank already!" Logan shook and heathed. "Just... need a d-damn breather... that's all... goddess, my nuts are cold..."
Flynn exhaled. He sniffled, smiling crookedly. "I swear, the day I ever shed tears over your fat ass—"
"Flynn," Mortuana's voice firmly blurted. "The north side."
"Yaaaaaaaaaugh!" A herd of stallions came charging in.
Flynn sucked his breath in. He hopped up to his feet, spun about in the powdery snow, then heaved his pack up. "Rrggnnghhh!" He galloped due north, his horn glowing. One by one, the crystals inside his pack were encased in glowing blue mana. They shot out, sailing through the cold air and shattering on telekinetic command. "You picked a fight with the wrong nerd!"
The shrapnel from his projectiles struck the soldiers before his voice reached them. Two fell—bleeding—while the rest took cover behind frozen wagons and ancient catapults. They aimed crossbows around the structures and fired at will.
Flynn held his breath and slid low. Dodging the blasts, he continued to launch crystals at the group, shattering them and forcing the members of the Central Guard to scatter.
Due east, Bard continued his charge into a line of soldiers. Wildcard swept in overhead multiple times, knocking random earth ponies and unicorns off their hooves—thinning the battlefield to assist Bard's assault.
"Rnnngh!" A stallion on the front-line deflected one of Wildcard's many night-stick sweeps. Through the splashing sparks, he caught sight of Bard and directed the group's charge straight towards him. "For Verlaxxxionnnnn!" Crossbolts and telekinetically charged stones flew past his head.
"Httt!" Using his wings, Bard twirled his staff, deflected the objects—cl-cl-clank!—and slid on his back to dodge several more weapon swings. By the time his slide ended, he hopped up in the thick of the enemy, then spun around with his staff held at full length. "Rghhh!" Th-Th-Thap! After striking many skulls, he knocked a good half of his opponents to the ground. "Learn a new tune already!" he growled. A stealthy soldier rushed up behind him, and Bard calmly jabbed his staff backwards—WHAP!—blindly uppercutting the combatant's chin.
Taking a breath, Bard twirled his staff once more and squared off against the remaining line of soldiers to the east. Beyond this phalanx, he spotted no less than a dozen members of the Central Guard priming multi-barb crossbows.
"Dubya!" Bard hollered, sweat pouring down his muzzle. He twirled his staff and deflected the first of many attackers, being forced to backtrot. "Due east! Twenty meters! The archers!"
"...!" Up above, Wildcard finished kicking another griffon out of the air. He spiraled about, his goggles reflecting the line of shiny crossbows. A pegasus pounced on him from behind. Wildcard sneered through his beak, grabbing the soldier's wing with a metal talon and twisting.
"Aaaaugh!" The pegasus' weight shifted from the painful tug of his feathered limb. He dropped, his nerves going numb.
Wildcard rode the soldier's body towards the earth. He used their combined momentum to accelerate, then kicked off at the last seconds. Swoooooosh! The Desperado flew so swiftly over the ground that his wings kicked up snow in twin trails. He twisted his body in time to thread through a narrow alley made by frozen corpses. Along the way, he struck a jagged icicle with a nighstick—THWACK—then grabbed the frozen barb in his flesh talon, holding it like a javelin. Breathlessly, he flung the improvised weapon at the end of his dive. Thwiiiiish!
One stallion with a crossbow looked up, gasped, and dove aside. "Look out—!"
"Huh?!" Three others looked up, only to have the thrown icicle graze their flanks and chests. Sliiiiiink! "Aaaaugh!" Blood sprayed in the air as the stained icicle embedded into a decrepit wagon behind them. Thunk!
Swoooosh! Wildcard sailed past the arches, then landed with his feline feet on the embedded icicle. The pressure of his body springing off of it shattered the item entirely, spraying a blinding mess of frozen shards all across the crossbow-wielding guards.
"Aaaugh!"
"Grghhh!"
"Goddess!"
Before the soldiers could recover, Wildcard descended from his backflip... and pummeled them one after another, nighsticks blurring. Wh-Whack! Clang! Wham!
Twilight squinted, her violet eyes reflecting Wildcard's movements from afar. "Well..." She turned around, panting. "Seems like the Desperadoes have everything under control." THWUMP! A dazed guardstallion landed in the snow just a few inches from Rainbow Dash, making Fluttershy shriek. "Well... almost..."
"There's st-still so m-many of them!" Fluttershy whimpered. "And at least a third of them are hurting already!"
"What did they expect?" Rainbow stammered, eyes darting about. She flexed her right wing as she winced. "One th-thing's for sure." She gulped, blinking as Ariel shot overhead once again, knocking several pegasi aside. "Mortuana's group is good."
"You're certainly showing a great deal of restraint, Rainbow Dash," Rarity sputtered.
"Huh?"
"I th-thought... erm..." Rarity shivered, glancing every which way as the battle raged on. "...that this was your element."
"I'm not going to bash heads unless I have to," Rainbow grumbled.
"That's very noble of you, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said—then shook as she heard more shrieks and clashing of metal. "However..."
"These melon fudges came here expecting the Rainbow Rogue," Rainbow said, growling slightly. "And... and if I give them the Rainbow Rogue—"
"Down!" Pinkie hollered. "DOWN!"
"Guhh—" Rainbow yelped into the air. "Everypony duck!" She squatted low as several crossbolts flying from the south embedded into the snow all around them. Th-Th-Th-Thunk!
"... ... ..." Mortuana took a calm step backwards. TH-THUNK! Two arrows landed where her bony fetlocks had been just milliseconds prior. With a calm breath, she spoke into the heated air. "Kepler, we have assailants to the south."
"Duly noted, Mountain Matrron!" Kepler panted through his tusks, all the while picking glass canisters out of his wagon and tossing them towards the rear of the battlefield. "Although I am currently prreoccupied with a rratherr disgrruntled crrowd of my own, prresently..."
"Charrrrrrrrrrge!" Ponies in snow-frosted armor came running, galloping straight forward the Heraldite and his wagon.
"Kill the agent of the Blight!"
"Die, you heretical wyvern freak!"
"Alas! Such passionate insults!" Kepler calmly threw more glass cannisters. "Curriosity abounds. Have my Trribe insulted you in some fashion?"
If the attackers had any desire to reply to Kepler's inquiry, they lacked the opportunity, for the glass bottles exploded among them, filling the air with thick green fumes.
"Kaff! Grfffkkk!" They dropped their weapons, turning pale in the muzzle as their eyes teared over. "Mrmfmff... what... s-sorcery...?!"
"No black magic of the sorrt, my terrribly misguided frriends!" Kepler's voice chirped as he leaned over his wagon. "But merrely centurries worrth of trried and tested alchemy! It will—at worst—leave you with a furriously taxing headache in the morrning. As a matterr of fact, I suspect each of you will manage enough seconds to explain to me the meaning behind yourr vehemently hateful warr crries."
The foremost guardstallion gagged, teetered... and fell down into an unconscious slump.
"Hmmmff..." Kepler shrugged. "I fearr I may have calculated the dosage for wyverrn lungs. Ah well." He gripped two more cannisters and pivoted south. "What is this new wave you speak of, Morrtuana?" His spectacled eyes twitched, reflecting a line of twenty-plus ponies charging in. "Oh botherr..."
"Rainbowwwwww..." Twilight leaned in, grimacing. "...now may be the time to go rogueeee."
Rainbow gulped. "Alright... eyes on me, girls!"
"Oh Rainbow..." Fluttershy sniffled. "Do you have to?"
"Just lend me your senses and we can do this as cleanly as possible." Rainbow huffed and puffed, breaking into a full gallop. "Let's do this! Elements of Harmony Style!"
"Oki Doki Loki!" Pinkie Pie nodded, puffing up her chest.
Rainbow tilted her head up, hollering. "You hear that, Morty?! We're going in!"
Mortuana exhaled. "As you wish." She shouted firmly into the air. "Herald! The Austraeoh is engaging the enemy!"
Panting and sweating, Bard blocked and parried several guardsponies when he heard Mortuana's voice ringing in the air.
"Draw the fight inward! We shall not let the Spark falter!"
Bard blinked. "Rainbow?! Awwwww dag nabbit!" He felt a body pouncing on him from behind. "Augh! H-hey! Grnnngh... lay off the guitar!" THWACK! He slammed the guard off and spun around to knock him out—when two more pounced on him. "Ooomf!"
Bard went sprawling across the snow while the soldiers converged.
"Stay down!"
"Surrender in the name of Verlaxion!"
"Grnnngh!" Bard sputtered, struggling to fight off the weight of the attackers with his bo-staff. "Dubya... snkkkt... a lil' help here..."
"He's still fighting!" A soldier grunted aside.
"This is a waste of time." Schiiing! A unicorn marched in, aiming a scimitar for Bard's neck. "Leave the body and move on."
Bard's eyes widened. Just as his flesh felt the pinch of metal—
WHAM! A violet body barreled into the group. The armored soldiers scattered like bowling pins.
Bard gasped, suddenly able to breathe. He felt a thick fetlock lifting him up to his hooves. Teetering, he squinted at the mare in front of him. "... ... ...you?!"
"Rrrgh!" Remna headbutted a soldier who was getting up and spun to buck a pair of guards so that they smashed through an ancient wagon. Crasssh! "I heard Mortuana's shout. Where's the Austraeoh?"
"How in tarnation are ya still standin'?!" Bard spat, picking up his bo-staff and leaning on it. The sounds of battle raged all around them. "I saw ya take a damned axe to the chest!"
"Yes, well, I got better," Remna grumbled, spinning to sweep another pony's legs out from under him.
"Bullshiet!" Bard frowned. "What in the Hell are you made of, lady?!"
"Answer my question." Remna turned, glaring. "Where is the Austraeoh presently?"
"Watch yer rear!" Bard twirled his staff and flew forward.
Remna ducked, allowing Bard to vault over her and smack a griffon in the beak. Once he landed, he and Remna stood flank to flank, surrounded by a sizable chunk of the remaining forces in the east.
"Fine." Remna snorted, glaring at the circle of opponents and their glinting weaponry. "We deal with this for now, and then we rally beside Rainbow Dash."
"I swear..." Bard exhaled, readying his bo-staff. "...stiffest dancin' partner I ever did have."
"Less discussion and more concussions." Remna threw herself prematurely into the group, bucking and kicking.
"Dammit—not so fast—rrrrgh!" Bard struggled to keep up. "At least keep in rhythm, ya cold-blooded varmint!"
"Okay, Dashie!" Pinkie glided over the snow while her anchor galloped south. "There're two earth ponies with swords coming straight for you. Behind them are three unicorns acting as support with spikey balls on twirling chain thingies! Then you've got a full line of ponies with crossbows and a bunch of meanie-looking griffons who I'm pretty sure have stuff that's sharper than butter knives—"
"Pinkie, I can see! With my eyes, y'know?" Rainbow panted as she galloped straight for the soldiers. "Gimme the senses that I don't have!"
"But... but that only happens randomly!" Pinkie's voice cracked.
"Then be random!"
"Shhh! Rainbow, game face on!" Twilight gulped. "Here they come—"
"Rainbow Rogue!" A unicorn stallion hollered, gritting his teeth as he pointed a levitating sword straight at her petite figure. "You are hereby under arrest by the authority granted me by Brye Chandler, Defense Minister of the Interim Military—"
"No you!" Rainbow Dash leapt high, bicycle-kicked, and came sailing straight down with a hoof slapping across the broad side of the blade.
WHAM! The hilt flew up, smacking the unicorn's jaw. "Ooomf!" As he stumbled back, the rest of the forces came charging in.
"Raaaaaaaugh!"
"Curious..." Twilight's muzzle scrunched. "Did that guardstallion just say that Brye Chandler was—?"
"Not the time for thinking, egghead!" Rainbow grunted.
"Oh gosh!" Fluttershy squeaked, clenching her eyes shut as the group converged on her anchor. "You made them soooo mad!"
"Yeah, well, let's make them regret." Rainbow ducked, juked, and side-stepped several weapon swings. "Httt!" She jumped high, swinging a hoof across a griffon's beak. WHACK! When she came down, she ducked a spiked club, then dove forward—spearing the stallion to the ground with her weight. The snow was slippery, causing the two to slide nearly fifteen feet—all the while Rainbow twitched and wriggled to avoid sword-slashes from above. She came out the end of the slide with an athletic jump, springing forward and landing in the thick of the ponies with crossbows. She flapped her right wing, knocking two off their hooves so that they dropped their weapons.
"Random!" Pinkie yelped, her ears flapping. "Random's happening directly behind you!"
Rainbow's ears heard the notching of crossbolts. She cartwheeled aside, dodged three sailing projectiles, and landed beside the fallen soldiers. "Httt!" Lifting her front hooves, she slammed them back down—impacting the triggers of the crossbows on the ground. They fired, sending arrows sailing back at the combatants.
Gasping, many of the guards dashed aside. The rest came charging in, weapons glinting in the cold air.
"That's a lot!" Twilight shrieked. "That'salot. That'salot! That'salot!"
"Guhhhh..." Rainbow backtracked, her right wing twitching. "Gosh dang it... when, Mortuana, when—?"
"Rainbow, darling." Rarity pointed at the long-frozen catapults and vehicles. "The old weapons of war! They should give good cover—"
"Right! Uhhh... j-just what I was thinking!" Rainbow spun and began sprinting, just as she heard a loud chant from behind.
"Ready... aim... fire!" Thw-Thw-Thwifffft!
"M-more random!" Pinkie wheezed. "Dive! Dive!"
A flock of arrows sliced the air, eating at the space between the soldiers and Rainbow's flank.
"Grnnngh!" Rainbow dove forward, gliding behind an overturned wagon at the last second. Th-Th-Thunk! Several projectiles embedded into the frozen wooden surface behind her. Panting, Rainbow sprinted through the forest of ice-covered wreckage. "Just keeps getting snazzier and snazzier..."
"They're on your tail, Rainbow!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "Don't stop! Whatever you do, don't stop moving!"
Fw-Fw-Fwooosh! Ariel twirled, barreling through a squadron of pegasi and griffons. She kicked one soldier upside the beak, then swiped a spear from another. "Hnnnttt!"
She twirled in a black blur, tossing the spear down at the winged attackers pursuing her. It grazed one's shoulder while the others came after her at full speed.
"I... c-can't keep this up for long!" Ariel panted, eyes darting about as she zig-zagged to avoid even more bodies. "Mortuana! Flynn! Somepony!" She gulped, spiraling. "I could use some cover—"
WH-WHUMP! Two griffons slammed into her from opposite sides. The members of the Central Guard wrestled with the Heraldite in midair.
"Nnngh... get off... get off!" Ariel shrieked, punching, bucking, and gnawing at the limbs encircling her. "Rnnngh! Augh!" She yelped as one of the enemy's talons grazed her skin, drawing blood.
"... ... ...!" From the northeast side of the battlefield, Wildcard's ears picked up her distressed voice. He finished uppercutting a unicorn and twirled about. His goggles reflected his traveling companion struggling in mid-air with two other griffons. Holding his breath, he slapped a glowing Odrsjot band over the ends of his nightsticks, then joined both of them together like a miniature staff. Cl-Clak! Next, the Desperado spun twice and flung the weapon diagonally skyward with all his might.
Ariel saw the maneuver, and she held her breath.
"Huh?" The griffons holding her took notice of the pegasus' suddenly slack muscles. They looked down—and spotted the prismatic javelin incoming. Flapping their wings, they moved aside, dodging the conjoined nighsticks easily. As Wildcard lifted up and flew at them, they sneered, "Stay put, traitor!" Schiiing! A dagger kissed Ariel's neck. "Or we'll send her soul to a swift judgment!"
Wildcard merely snorted. In mid-ascent, he extended his metal limb. The grooves between talons glowed with manalight.
"...?" The guardians heard the chopping of wind. They looked up and behind them—just in time to see the nighsticks return via magnetic pull. CLANNNNNG! One took the full brunt of a Odrsjot band to the skull. "Ooomf!"
A spectral explosion threw his body off of Ariel. The pegasus easily overpowered the second, gazed griffon. "Gnnnngh!" Ariel threw him over his body and straight into Wildcard.
WHUMP! Wildcard introduced his knee into the breathless griffon's chest, then let him drop to the floor below. Thap! His metal talon gripped the nightsticks as he hovered in front of Ariel, checking on her.
"I'm okay..." Ariel panted, managing a weak smile. "Let's clear the skies, eh, buddy?"
Wildcard nodded with a smirk. He held his right talon out.
Ariel locked limbs with it. She stretched her right wing out.
Wildcard outstretched his left feathers. The two twirled-twirled-twirled through the air. Swoosh-Swoosh-Swoosh-Swoosh! Together, the two formed a living missile—and proceeded to dive straight into the advancing squadron of guardians. Wh-Wham! They knocked several of the adversaries to the ground, completely dissipating the battallion's aerial backup.
Bruised bodies littered the floor all around Flynn. Panting, the unicorn backed up, telekinetically tossing crystals left and right, covering the northern fields with shrapnel. Despite his best efforts, the forces kept advancing—with several flanking him to the side.
"I'm having a little tr-trouble here!" Flynn stammered. "Now that you guys have the skies clear—"
"Almost!" Ariel's voice hollered from above. "Protect the Austraeoh!"
"I-I've lost track of Rainbow! I-I think she's engaged the enemy!" Flynn looked over his shoulder, horn strobing. "Mortuana?" He gasped, his eyes spotting several stallions and griffons rushing the alicorn. "Mountain Matron! Look out!"
"Morrtuana!" Kepler hollered, hoisting more cannisters out of his wagon. "Harrk! Frrom the norrth and coming in fast!"
Mortuana took a deep breath, flexing her bony wings. "Remain calm, Kepler."
"But... b-but..." Kepler sweated, adjusting his spectacles. "I-I do not believe I possess enough rremaining gas grrenades to warrd off anotherr wave—"
"Save them for another occasion." Mortuana inhaled. "All will be fine."
"What is that creature?!" a guard shouted.
"The rogue's ally!" another chanted.
"The monster from beyond the Blight!"
"Attack her!"
"For Verlaxion!"
They rushed in from all sides.
Mortuana closed her eyes. She exhaled.
"Rrrrgh!" A stallion came in, sword swinging.
Mortuana calmly side-stepped.
Another griffon rushed in, thrusting with a club.
Mortuana raised a hoof—then brought it down onto the staff. She limply flicked a fetlock, uppercutting the griffon.
"Ooomf!" As he fell back, two more guardians rushed in.
"Yaaaaaaaugh!"
Mortuana inhaled, slowly pivoting in a circle. Her bony wings stretched out—slapping the attackers in the flank and adding to their momentum.
"Whoah—!" They yelped, stumbled, and slammed into one another. "Ugh!"
Mortuana exhaled. As two more griffons flew towards her with weapons stabbing, she pivoted towards them, stretched her wing-joints forward, and expertly contacted their talons with her wingtips. She swung her limbs in twirling motions, causing them to veer off-course until their weapons collided. Cl-Clack! Before they could react, Mortuana inhaled, ducked her head, and stepped forward—lazily shrugging her wings.
"Aaaaah!" Both griffons were flung off several feet—where they landed numbly in deep snow.
Kepler blinked. With a smirk, he desposited his cannisters back into the wagon.
Mortuana exhaled... then slowly reopened her eyes. She looked at Kepler. "Eyes on the Austraeoh...?"
"You want the bad news?" Fluttershy murmured. "Or the worse news?"
"Give it to me straight or bent," Rainbow grunted, running in and around the frozen detritus of an ancient battle. "Either way, I'll make the best out of it."
"You've been running in circles," Fluttershy wheezed. "We're surrounded now. It's seconds until the soldiers fill in the gap and converge on you."
"Okay, where is it less dense with flankholes?" Rainbow stammered.
"Uhmmmmmm..."
"We've trapped ourselves in this mess!" Twilight whimpered. "Rainbow, we gotta find a way out!"
"More like fight a way out."
"I have an even better idea." Rarity pointed at the crumpled remains of an overturned wagon. "See that mess right there, darling?"
Rainbow skidded to a stop in the powedery snow. "Yeah? What about it?"
"It's remarkably fragile," Raity said. "A good, solid buck shall do the trick."
"What kind of trick?" Pinkie remarked.
Rainbow gulped, staring at the wreckage. "Fluttershy? How many bad guys on the other side?"
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Pinkie grinned. "That kind of trick!"
Soldiers huffed and puffed, threading their way through the wreckage.
"Damn that rogue!" One hissed to the others. "Where did the coward run off to?"
"She can't be far off from here," another stallion muttered. He heard a rustling sound, then pointed at a collapsed wagon. "Over there! I'm sure of it!"
"Quick! Bag the Rogue and bring her back to Frost—"
POWWW! A mess of frozen splinters sailed straight at the group.
"—knife?" The stallion's jaw dropped as—WHAM!—he and several of his companions collapsed under a mess of frozen metal and wooden planks. A few lucky griffons and pegasi jumped up, levitating over the scene.
"Httt!" Rainbow Dash leapt through the fresh hole she had made. She saw the shadows of the flying guards, then looked straight up. "Uhm... hi..." A nervous smile. "...Verlaxion's blessings?"
"Bastarrrrd!" Th-Th-Thwiiish! The air combatants dove swiftly.
"Incoming!" Rarity chimed, gnashing her teeth.
"I see them!" Rainbow ducked low and rolled to the side. "Feel them—!" One griffon landed on her, his claws grazing her left side. "Aaaaaugh!" She punched him in the face and sprang to her hooves—only to be met with a club to the face. WHAM! "Ooof!" She fell back from the attacking pegasus.
"Rrrgh!" The pegasus swung at her again.
Rainbow spat blood, then raised a hoof to block the hilt of his weapon. Wham! She kicked him in the groind, then reverse-somersaulted with another hoof uppercutting him in the chin.
By this time, the rest of the company had galloped around the nearest concentration of frozen rubble. They surrounded her on both sides. "Raaaaugh!"
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh fuzzies!" Pinkie yelped, fetlocks quivering.
Holding her breath, Rainbow slapped her hoof over the edge of a club, knocking it skyward so she could spin and buck it—propelling the object straight into the left wave of attackers. She spun to face the right wave, ducking a sword swing and throwing her leg out to trip two stallions. Two more rushed in, swinging blades. Rainbow jumped their slashes, kicked off the side of a frozen catapult, then landed on the shoulders of a stallion rushing in from the right wave. Whump! She hopped off his body, drop-kicked a griffon, then spun around his body so she could use him as a shield. Wrangling the scimitar from his talon, she slowly backtrotted down the narrow space between wreckage, deflecting several blows with splashes of sparks.
"Absolutely smashing, darling!" Rarity cheered.
"No time to celebrate!" Twilight pointed. "Behind you, Rainbow—"
"Rrrrgh!" A particularly muscular guard came charging through the fray.
Rainbow answered him by shoving the griffon straight into his chest. As they collapsed together, she spun—only to receive a savage punch from another stallion.
"Ooomf!" Rainbow spun in a circle and teetered.
"Look out!" Rarity yelped.
"...!" Rainbow's eyes widened as her off-balance body plummeted straight for a razor sharp array of icicles jutting out of a wagon. "Mmmmmm—!" She flailed her forelimbs, attempting to lean back from the sharp tips looming just a sneeze from her muzzle and eyes.
"Right wing!" Pinkie yelped, eyebrow quivering. "Right wing!"
Rainbow held her breath and—Fwooosh!—flapped the feathers in question. Her body spun. Her vision blurred. A howling stallion's muzzle loomed into view.
"!!!" Rainbow hooked her limbs with his.
Not expecting the contact, the stallion gasped as Rainbow's spinning body flung him violently into the blunt sides of the icicles. SMASSSH! The air filled with shattering ice. The remaining soldiers flinched from the explosion of petrified frost.
Holding her breath, Rainbow attempted to make a break for it.
A trio of grave guardians dove through the mess, grabbing Rainbow's rear legs.
"Ooomf!" Rainbow fell hard to the ground.
"Rainbow!" Rarity shouted.
"Oh no!" Twilight bit into her hoof, spinning around. "They're all going to dogpile on her!"
"Get out, Dashie!" Pinkie hollered. "Get out!"
"I'm..." Rainbow grumbled, fighting against more and more limbs clasping her on all sides. "... tr-trying!"
"It's... it's going to be okay!" Fluttershy wheezed. "Eyes up!"
"Huh?" Rainbow looked up. A black streak pierced the settling snow.
"Grab ahold, Miss Awesome!" Ariel shouted, gliding by.
"Hrnngh!" Rainbow lunged forward, forelimb outstretched. Ariel gripped her, pulling mightily. Rainbow felt herself lifted skyward, and her ears echoed with the blissful sound of soldiers collapsing to a meaty heap beneath her. A griffon and a pegasus gave chase, but Rainbow easily kicked them back to the ground as Ariel lifted her out of reach.
"Woohoo!" Pinkie cheered.
"Hah!" Ariel panted, smiling down at the pony in her grasp. "Not exactly the most gracious exit, huh?"
"Sister..." Rainbow replied sweatily. She smiled into the cold winds. "...you just earned your wings twice over."
"Heehee..." Ariel grinned from ear to ear. "Well if I don't feel special—" Sliiiink! An arrow impaled her left rear leg. "Aaaaaaugh!"
Twilight and Rarity gasped.
Rainbow blinked. Her eyes fell, catching a line of soldiers below, re-cocking their crossbows.
"She's hurt bad!" Fluttershy winced. "Her nerves are on fire!"
"Nnnngh... mmmm..." Ariel clenched her eyes shut, tears streaming. She struggled to stay upright, her wings flapping unevenly. "Goddess... damn... that st-stings!"
"It's... it's okay!" Rainbow gulped. "You... you can let go! Find someplace safe to land—"
"I... I'm sorry, Austraeoh..." Ariel whimpered, dipping in flight, shuddering. "I... I-I can't... I..." A final yelp, and her whole body went slack.
"Ariel—!" Rainbow gasped, but it was too late. The two fell like anvils, sailing towards the snow below. After an eternity, they finally landed—Thud!—and rolled in separate directions.
"Aaaugh!" Ariel cried out in sharp pain.
"Grnngh..." Rainbow pushed herself onto her hooves. Panting, she galloped over to Ariel's side. A patch of snow was stained red in a circle beneath the pegasus. "No... no no no..." She reached into her saddlebag and produced several bandages, fumbling. "Just... j-just stay still! Don't move your leg!"
"Grnnngh..." The rest of Ariel's body curled up as her impaled leg stretched out. "Mmfff... eheh..." She coughed, her muzzle caught between a smile and grimace. "Boy wouldn't Mom be ashamed of that lameness... mmmm... shit!" She winced.
"Don't friggin' say that, okay?!" Rainbow tried to patch up the bleeding. "Fluttershy! Is... is she going to—?"
"She'll live if we can get her to safety," Fluttershy said, glancing all around. "But, at this rate—" Her pupils shrank. "Oh dear."
"Six o'clock, Dashie!" Pinkie shouted.
Rainbow heard the crunching of snow. She spun about to see a lone soldier, bruised and bleeding, charging at them with a sword.
"Raaaaaaaaugh!"
Holding her breath, Rainbow leaned back over Ariel's body and raised a hoof to her pendant. All it took was one rub and—FLAAAAAAAAAAAASH—a ruby beam shot skyward, temporarily blinding the soldier.
"Aaaaugh!" The stallion squinted his eyes as his body lunged forward, carried by the momentum of his charge.
With a grunt, Rainbow kicked her legs up, throwing the weight of the soldier over her. The mare's ears twitched to the sound of his sword falling to the side. More soldiers came charging from the ruins where she had been picked up. With a deep breath, Rainbow picked up the sword and gripped it in the crook of her hoof. "Stay put. G-gonna hold them off."
"Mrmmff..." Ariel wheezed, nodding as she clutched her leg. "My hero..."
"Hey!" Rainbow hollered, eyeing the incoming wave of guardians. "Ariel's down!" She shouted a few last words before tossing the hilt into her teeth and bracing herself. "Mrmmfff... could use a hoof here!"
The first line of soldiers rushed her, swinging their blades.
"Grkkk!" Rainbow deflected as nimbly as she could manage. Clank! Clackkk!
"You h-heard the Austraeoh!" Ariel's voice pierced the air, pained and fragile. "Rally around the rainbow! Gnngh... n-no hurry or nothing, g-guys! She's only surrounded by flankholes in armor!"
Logan panted and panted, his teeth clamping over the hilt of his axe. In one hoof, he gripped the bolt that was lodged into his flesh. With the other fetlock, he held the bandaged end of a glowing hot manastone. His nostrils flared and flared... and then his body went slack as he tilted the burning end of the manastone to his injury. At the same time he yanked the bolt out, then proceeded to cauterize the wound.
Hsssssssssssssss! Steam filled the air as his flesh cooked from the scalding contact.
"Mrmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmnghhh!" Logan clenched his eyeslids shut, snorting and hissing through the pain. At last, once he felt enough pressure had been applied, he tossed the stone aside—instantly melting the snow next to him. Limbs shuffling, he stood up, reached blindly into a pocket, and produced an Odrsjot band. Slap! He placed it over the blade of his weapon, producing a prismatic aura. "Hrfffff..." Two bloodshot eyes opened as he grit his teeth... then slumped onto all fours.
Through the fog of war, he spotted Rainbow Dash standing over Ariel's body in the distance. A wave of soldiers surrounded the two mares, obscuring them from sight... but not for long.
"Hrmmmfff..." He marched forward, and that marched turn into a trot, and that trot bled into a gallop. "Gang way!" He huffed and puffed, stomp-stomp-stomping towards his destination. "Move! Move out of the way, ya sniveling sissy pants! Hellfire on a damn mission here!"
From a distance, Flynn turned, standing side-by-side with Mortuana. His ears drooped as his mechanical eye rotated. "Ohhhhhhhh for buck's sake..."
Stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp!
The attackers squaring off with Rainbow Dash froze suddenly, their eyes widening.
Rainbow blinked. Sweating, she and her ghostly marefriends turned to look over her shoulder.
"Rrrrrrrrgh!" Logan came hurdling over the snowbank, swinging the axe down at full force. "RAAAAAAAAUGH!"
The weight of the weapon—combined with the enchantment of the Odrsjot rune—sent a virtual shockwave rippling through the crowd.
SLAMMMMM!
Bodies of both ponies and griffons alike were sent sailing over a dozen feet into the air before crashing unceremoniously to the snowy field below. Snow and shards of ice sailed southward in a violent, blinding wave.
Once the brief blizzard had settled, there Logan stood, panting and heaving with both forelimbs gripping his axe.
"Huh?! Huh?! Is this what you came here for?! What?!" Sneering, Logan hoisted his axe again, dragging it through the snow, melting a solid trail with the rippling heat of Odrsjot. "Clean up on aisle sixty-nine, cuz I see a bunch of pussies showed up to play hardball!"
Fumbling, the soldiers re-formed ranks. Those in the rear notched their crossbows and fired at will.
"Httt!" Logan held the staff horizontally in front of him. Cl-Cl-Clank! Most of the arrows deflected off his weapon. Two grazed his body while another whizzed by his ear, almost lopping it off. In the end, the Heraldite was still standing, albeit bleeding in half-a-dozen places. "Rrrrgh! Aaaaaaaaugh!" He lowered his axe just long enough to beat his still-burning chest with an angry hoof. Whap! Whap! Whap! "Ooh-ra! Mother Nature called! This morning she shat out a bunch of dumbass turds who put on armor and decided to play soldier!"
"What..." Rainbow wheezed, shaking off powdery snow. "...is happening?"
"Snkkkt..." Ariel clutched her bleeding leg, wincing. "Big Show is happening."
"My turn to sneeze!" Logan spun a three-sixty and swung his axe down once again. "Raaaaaaaugh!" WHUDDDD!
Another avalanche of frost sailed out at the group, this time kicking up the bodies of ancient corpses and weaponry. The soldiers flailed, their bodies rained on by petrified rubble and limbs. Armor rattling, a few of them bravely charged on through, rushing at Logan.
"Ohhhhhhhhh pretty pretty puppies!" Logan swung his axe in wide swaths. "Rrrrgh! Haaaugh!"
Wh-Wham! Clang! He knocked the attackers back, sending them toppling through the frozen mess.
The southern forces stumbled, being spread too thin already. With frenzied breaths, they picked each other up and hobbled away. A high-ranking griffon struggled for half-a-minute to take off, then finally ascended, his talons fumbling to grasp a horn. When he finally brought it to his beak, he blew a loud note into the air, sounding off the tone for a swift retreat.
Rainbow and her friends watched with a breath of relief as the forces fled further south, joined by their hobbling companions all across the field.
"Rrrr-raaaaaaaaah!" Logan leaned forward, bellowing victoriously at the flanks of his opponents. He beat his smoking chest again and propped his heaving figure against his axe hilt. "Thank you for attending the barbecue!"
High above the battlefield, Wildcard traded blows with a griffon and prepared to clobber the opponent's skull—when the griffon suddenly turned tail and fled off.
"...?" Wildcard hovered in place, breathing in and out. He watched as the silver-plated bodies of the Central Guard fled in opposite cardinal directions.
Beak clenching, he relinquished the Odrsjot bands, then detached his nightsticks from one another.
"Hrrrrrnngh!" Remna headbutted a guard and prepared to pounce at another—
"Hold up!" Bard stammered, stretching a hoof out as he leaned weakly against his staff. He adjusted his hat and squinted wearily across the snowy ruins. "They're... they're turnin' flank..."
"Hmmm?" Remna—hardly breaking a sweat—watched as soldiers galloped east, several of them fleeing straight past the two.
"Mrmmmff..." A griffon paused to hoist a battered soldier to his hooves while his companions did the same for others that were grounded. "Move, brother! They've sounded the retreat!"
"B-but... the Rainbow R-rogue..." the other guard weakly slurred.
"There will be a reckoning! Another time! Their blighted power is too much for us!" The soldiers hobbled off, fleeing beyond the wreckage of the ancient battlefield. "We must regroup with the other battallions! Regroup with the full army!"
"Rrrrgh..." Remna gnashed her teeth, galloping after them. "They'll return in full numbers! Quick! We must stop them—"
"Let 'em go," Bard muttered. "They know when they've been licked."
"Unacceptable!" Remna sneered. "If they return here to attack the Austraeoh with their full army—"
"One way or another, we risk facin' the full army." Bard gulped, wiping sweat from his brow. "Now that we know they're stagin' ambushes for us, we gotta find another way into Starkiss. Perhaps Mortuana or Dubya Cee knows a way."
"What good will that do?" Remna frowned, glaring east. "No matter what we do, this damnable nation of zealots will be hunting the Austraeoh down at every turn and—" A flash of cold blue light reflected off her emerald eyes. She gasped, her violet ears drooping. "Oh no..."
"What?" Bard blinked, craning his neck. "What is it?"
Remna said nothing. Muzzle agape, she stared towards the dull white horizon.
"Big Show!" Flynn came galloping over the snowbank, followed gradually by Mortuana and Kepler. "Dammit! Do you always have to go full ham?!"
"You're welcome, ya little dipshit," Logan grumbled back. "Had fun tossing rocks with that little science fair project of yours?" He suddenly winced, clutching his chest. "Piss in my eye, that hurts."
"You're lucky your crazy charge broke the camel's back!" Flynn rushed up, panting. "Had you gone in too deep, they would have clung to you like dung beetles!"
"Look, it worked, didn't it? Besides..." Logan pointed down at Ariel. "I'm not the one who should be counting his lucky stars."
"H-hiya, Flynn..." Ariel stammered through a pale muzzle.
"...!" Flynn gasped. "Oh jeez! Oh jeez oh jeez, Ariel!"
"I tr-tried stopping the bleeding," Rainbow said, still catching her breath. "But... but I'm no expert on—"
"Rrelax, Rrainbow one," Kepler said, squatting by the wounded pegasus side. "The battle ended with perrfect timing." He adjusted his spectacles, staring at the impaled leg up close. "Hmmmm... appearrs to be a clean skewerring..."
"You mean..." Ariel gulped. "...my dancing career isn't ruined?"
"Ha HAH!" Kepler bore a stucked grin. "You have yourr motherr's spirrit, child!" He reached for his satchel. "Some assistance, Flynn."
"Absolutely!" Flynn opened the wyvern's bag and levitated several first aid tools loose. "You hear that, Ariel? We're gonna clean you up all nice and good, girl!"
"Don't I f-feel lucky..."
"Flynn, Kepler," Mortuana spoke. "Stabilize her swiftly. You all did a marvelous job today, against tremendous odds."
"Yes, well..." Logan huffed and puffed, peeling the Odrsjot band off his axe. "A barf bag full of badass will do that."
Swoooosh! Wildcard flew down until he hovered above the group. His goggles rattled, reflecting Ariel's bleeding leg. He gestured worriedly.
"It's okay, Wildcard," Flynn exhaled, trimming off both edges of the arrow until all was left was the narrow shaft on either side of Ariel's leg. "We've got her. She's going to be taken care of."
"Yeah, buddy..." Ariel bore a weak smile. "You didn't save my tail for nothing earlier—ow ow ow... K-Kepler..."
"My exuberrant apologies, dearr."
Wildcard exhaled. He pivoted about, gesturing some more.
"Hmmm? Bard? Remna?" Logan blinked. "I thought you had your sexy eyes on them."
Wildcard clenched his beak.
"They're east of us," Fluttershy said to Rainbow Dash, her breath steadying. "They're in one piece—the both of them."
Rainbow lifted her head up. "Fluttershy says they're both okay, Wildcard." She smiled. "Nothing to be worried about—"
"Guhhh!" Twilight suddenly curled into a lavender ball, clutching her hot, glowing horn.
"Twilight!" Rarity stammered. "What's... what's wrong, darling?"
"Now now, Twi..." Pinkie patted the ghostly unicorn's shoulder. "Now's not the time for migraines. We're trying to save Ariel's legs here!"
"There's..." Twilight whimpered, her body rippling up and down in lavender waves. "...there's something coming..." She seethed through clenched teeth. "...something powerful... from the east..."
Rainbow blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Magic... very powerful magic..." Twilight calmed down slightly, staring at Rainbow with wide eyes. "The likes of which I haven't sensed since... since..."
"Since what?"
Twilight gulped. "Braum."
"What's the matter?" Logan asked, squint. "What's going on?"
"Does the Austrraeoh sense something?" Kepler inquired.
All of the sudden, Mortuana's wings drooped. Her lips pursed as she murmured, "It's her..." Her jaw muscles tightened. "...she's here."
Elsewhere...
A plateau of snow rested under an overcast sky.
The Herald... the Central Guard... the ancient battlefield...
All was a distant gray speck in the west.
Silence hung over the frozen plains.
Then... trailing with ethereal blue vapors... a silver limb came to rest against the permafrost with a dull crunch. Spiderwebbing bands of ice spread from the contact that the sterile hoof made against the pale landscape.
A golem of ancient metal stood in place, its stalwart figure draped in tattered raiments that billowed in an unearthly wind. An out-of-body breath resonated against the hollow chamber between armored plates.
"Httttttttttttttt..." Slowly, the helm lifted, a pair of pale blue eyeslits beaming from deep beneath the visor. "Yes, Austraeoh...at last." Stormclouds gathered darkly overhead, billowing from the east. They reflected menacingly off the suit's shiny flank and shoulder plates. "The circle nears completion..."
The snow and ice fractured all around as the air shook with piercing banshee shrieks.
The golem raised its forelimb... then stretched it forward.
Almost instantly, a horizontal cyclone budded off of the stormclouds, surging due west. The anomaly spread wider and wider... until an immense array of galloping hooves burst forth from the gray beds above, accompanied by the thrusting, charging heads of ghostly equine shapes—trailing snow and dragging a horrible blizzard in a deathly wake.
With howling shrieks and whinnies, the phantoms spread from horizon to horizon, until the entirety of the Star Fringes were covered in gray death... sweeping towards the battlefield and the hapless mortals stumbling in wait.
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Okay, so:
1) It wasn't an illusion. That was definitely a battle. With real soldiers.
2) Those weren't just any soldiers, those were Brye Chandler's soldiers. He knew they were going to be there, somehow.
3) Someone told him, or them. It could have been Verlax, but given Seraphimus's reaction to Keris when he showed her WC's letter...
4) Ohsweetfrostyjeezusit'sVerlaxandshe'ssentawaveofwindegos
This line would have been delivered better if he had been bashing one or more of them with his guitar.
Also, Mortuana can kick some ass as well.
Windigo-ing gets tough, the tough get going.
Climactic chapter
Oh boy. That's not good.
I wonder how Kepler will react when he learns that all his brothers are about to suffer genocide. Maybe it's best if he doesn't learn about that so soon.
That combat is awesome. What's in these runes, though? Must be pretty darn powerful.
Out of the freezing pan and into the blizzard. Hope Rainbow can get out of this one without giving up everything.
I'm going to predict that the windigoes wipe out the remainder of the army, save a few witnesses, and then Verlax gets to blame the windigoes on Dash. Seems like her kind of batshit-crazy, no-regard-for-life M.O.
Well, shit.
Holy throne, that was absolutely insane! And it's not over yet!
Mass Psychosis - Fool's Game
Damn that was a great fight, now however it is time for the Windingos to come marching in.
Well this doesn't seem good.
Also
I'd usually brush this off as sheer badassery if a character said this, but this is too damn suspicious
7124182 Hmm, even if Brye was informed of Rainbow's current location, that he could have got the information out to the army in that short of time... This is most likely just a planned ambush that was thought of since he knew the Herald were on their way to the Starkiss from the Wyvern's, which means that since Brye knew their starting point, as well as their destination, it would be quite feasible for him to plan the ambush in a direct line from where they started and where they're going. Also, Wildcard's letter mentioned some kind of canyon or glacier... Some kind of landmark that he wanted Keris to meet them. The place they are now was described as a battlefield of ancient times, so it most likely isn't the same place.
So as annoying as Remna is, the fact that she doesn't even seem to care about being axed in the chest is pretty friggin' tanky.
Sexy Wings can never die! Her legs, not so much.
Poor Will
this was his only chapter.
I love how most of Logan's lines mention heat in some way. This reflects how he is packing heat in this cold tundra.
There is the obvious reference to the journey and the less obvious reference to the circle of troops that will surround the group. These battalions almost completed the circle thus trapping the Rainbow
RougeRogue. Soon the circle will be completed unless RD can outwit Verlax.Well I got the chills at the end of this one. ..
Goddess damn it, just, why? !
This is bad. This is really bad.
Remna is a regenerator.
The Adam West school of combat, dissuading by damaging unless theres a beserker, which hpefully will be elsewhere. Like Big Show.
Given Flyns mana shield only worked against extraordinary blizzards and medium arrow rain, its going to be zip against a whole flood of Wendigo, and Mortuanas single vial can only last so long and Id expect Verlax to last far longer.
Theres only one way out that I can see, which Rarity pointed out earlier.
Get ready for one hell of a ride.
Well... I'm kinda surprised by this chapter's contents. Part of me expected that battle to be an illusion or something, because how in the frozen hell did the Guard manage to travel that far and get their early enough to not be seen by the Herald's scouts? Meh, Verlax's stupid golems aren't fair. And then the end to this chapter... they're in for one heck of a battle. Windigoes incoming, I suppose, and then the big boss herself.
~SolidFire
7124230
Sounds about right
7124182 Mortuana weaponized dodging.
What the fuck is Remna made of?
Pure surliness apparently.
That was a glorious battle.
Though.. Mortuana, for real, was it necessary to announce Rainbow's presence like that?
Verlax enters the fray.
This could be very interesting.
-Companions have returned, inner darkness spurned. Utaan.
45.media.tumblr.com/dce4fdf8333aa8d91fd6a6b324fff1da/tumblr_n3u9twE2Pv1qlfgkho1_500.gif
Two bodies, same gravitacional acceleration, more air drag. Cartoon physics y'all.
7124484 Not necessarily. If one body is right behind the other, the cross section is the larger of the two, not the sum. Gravitational force goes up more than drag. This one is close to real physics.
7124289 *Rogue
Rouge is still a colour, and a bat from Mobius.
7124282
i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz159/Thatlittleskitty/BZ42_zpssvu7hy4k.jpg
So Mortuana is a master practitioner of some form of totally badass martial art. Experience beats sheer strength almost every time.
I'm just waiting for Rainbow to slip one of those bands on her hoof and go godmode like she did with Kera's help back in book 4.
"Hey, sir, Sargent sir?"
"Ugh...what Private Nitpick?"
"So I feel like I ought to point out that we really, really got our flanks kicked back there."
"Gee, what a remarkable observation, Private, and here I thought I was still spitting out teeth because it was a glorious bucking victory!"
"I know sir, I can't even feel my half of my face right now. Rather surprised I can still talk. Must be shock. Anyway sir, I just wanted to say that you shouldn't feel bad, at least your ambush technically worked."
"Private, do you have any idea what latrine duty is like when the ground is frozen solid?"
"...I would prefer not to."
"Then please, for the love of Verlaxion, shut up!"
"...Speaking of Verlaxion, sir, is it just me or is that an army of Windigos careening towards us?"
Well. They are not in a good position. No shield, not everyone in the same place, and a couple of injuries.
I really hope some backup gets there soonish.
I'll be honest Skirts, I always thought your battles needed less dialogue. A badass one-liner every now and again is fine, but a lot of these lines really disrupt the flow of the chapter. They don't really mesh with the fast and frantic pace of battle. People aren't talking during battle, typically -- they're fighting for their lives. And every line of dialogue is a whiplash in the pacing. It's one thing for Twilight and the other girls, but those actually in the fight should be struggling just to stay alive.
Buckle up everyone! This starts another bumpy portion of the ride! Please keep all your limbs inside the cart at all times unless The Conductor needs you for something. Please note that anyone who is not feeling feels right now should prepare to feel some feels sometime during the upcoming chapters. Thank you and enjoy.
Windigos coming? Quick! Everyone sing Hearth's Warming carols!
The perfect come back
Well, the irrational defiance of logic that the ambush could happen in the first place with such little time, the completely inhospitable nature of the frozen wastelands, such little knowledge of the frozen wastelands, no knowledge of the Herald's route and the majority of the army being totally green aside, that fight scene seemed a little over the top. A bit too much conversation and blunt force trauma compared to a real battle. It read like a showcase of the Herald more than anything, like it was the trailer to the Seven Pony Army DLC package or something. Felt like it should have had some voice-over announcing stuff like "Meet Ariel, who can control the aerial battlefield with her wings!" between the one-liners and other assorted nonsense.
I also fully expect those windigoes to go after the Central Guard so they can inspire even more hatred in Rohbredden. The less zealous citizens, while certainly approving of Verlaxion's will would probably still be pretty iffy on wyvern genocide or what have you, but throw in the ancient terrors that symbolise the nation's need for Verlaxion's help in the first place and claim they're the work of the Rogue and her Blight buddies and even the most easygoing folk are going to go mental about it.
The army being windigone with the wind would be a good signal for Keris that Verlax is playing at something. That would clear his doubts.
First off, I kinda regret hoping Big Show would die. I like him now. On another note, I have been shipping Bard and Remna since they first talked, and I feel like it might actually be a thing.
Anyways... Yeah... Verlax is being a dick, not much else to say. Have a drink.
groin
Question since you're missing some parts here.
A pony's groin is located under the dock. Which is behind the forelimbs wielding the weapon. How'd she kick him in the groin, while blocking the weapon being bashed at her?
_____________________
7124454
Renma is a changeling. After all we've yet to see the Lings can bleed Red bit that was shown in Stratopolis. She never eats. And has an obsession to keep eyes on Dashie at all times. Which is why Verlax keeps finding Dashie since they left the sanctuary, as well as how she found Dashie with no tracks, or reasonable way to know where she was when she saved her hay bacon.
7124321
If you'll remember, there've been times in the fic where someone's eyes flash blue. Like when the herald was leaving the sanctuary, to go to Sunkiss. And if you'll remember, Verlax captured very many Lings when Chrysalis was passing through. So it's not hard to guess that she'd have messengers pass on messages via Ling Spies.
Well that and we don't know what using Windigo spell components does for Verlax, since they're still technically laced with her magic. (both the note from Jordan, and the Heating Shields. Which being from Verlax, technically, makes strong anchors for her to use to spy / get (fixes / data) on.).
Only the flame of Harmony may repel cold hatred.
7124230 It would seem rather pointless though. What more would she aim to accomplish through that, make Rainbow public enemy number zero instead of one?
Achievement: Wave 1 complete.
Warning: Wave 2 inbound.
Positive ID: Windigo Horde
Let's see how friendly RD's team is... cos they're going to need a harmonic blast at this rate.
7124318
the magic of friendship will save them !
I wonder if we're going to find out if you can punch a windigo, or maybe they can be affected by the Element of Loyalty.
7124230
Seems like Verlax is the only one making casualties. Even the army couldn't do that and they had the mandate and the ambush for stopping them, not just slowing them down. I'd expected casualties even from Logan's swings.
Oh boy. Showdown time.
My guess is they will find a hole in the ground somewhere and hide.
Well, that was intense. Now they get to chill out.
7125364 windigoes (albeit "wild" ones) were driven from equestrian territory by harmonic forces. It stands to reason one of the elements of harmony would have similar effect on these ones.
7125154 you're*
They were likely both standing on their rear hooves, making such a feat much more feasible.
7125662
Thank you for the catch
. And for the both flying bit ... maybe? But as we see with fly fighting in the show, when using the forelimbs they keep their rear legs back similar to how they do flying forward (other than reverse punches, when they are on their back). Other than when doing kicks where the situation is reversed.
I was wondering when the Job Squad would run into trouble, guess that moment is now. I'm both glad and worried that this battle was not an example of 'plot armor, ho!' and that it was an actual battle with injuries on both sides. Of course, with the Job Squad not having the power of 'we're on the good guy team and thus don't get hurt' I really wonder if they will even make it to the Dark Side - it seems like it was almost GG right here.
I hope Keris and the other Talon show up soon to help Rainbow, she's going to need it.
7124230
Would be a convenient way for IC to take care of the whole 'how is Rainbow and Co. going to take out a whole army' problem and get us to the epic showdown quicker. It would also be quite in character for Verlaxion, as we've seen.
7124282
7125154
Indeed, Remna coming back from a wound like that is quite curious. A Changeling could be a possible explanation, the original Remna died from her illness to be replaced by the changeling. Only issue I would have with this theory is where would 'ling Remna be getting her energy from? She's not exactly the most lovable sort.
7125787
Ambient love. Lings don't need to be loved themselves to feed, Ebon fed off of others love of food. And the wyverns love the Mountain Matron, and they have love for their fellow kin. Ariel loves Rainbow Dash. And while the others might not love-love Dash, they hold a deep respect for her which is a type of love.
Then you have Rainbow Dash's love for her friends. And when talking about / thinking of Roarke. There are probably other ponies in the group that have love (familial, friendship, etc.). So there's plenty of food to eat.
Logan, in my head, looks and sounds like Nick Frost.