Harmony's Wrath

by hahatimeforponies

David and Goliath

Three pegasi settled on a rooftop at the edge of the city, overlooking the forest. Rainbow Dash scanned the trees for signs of the gryphon camp. Soarin sat and gazed idly at the sky, while Spitfire fluttered around uneasily.

"Well. The gryphon said she'd be a while, so I guess now we have some time. What was this about Celestia that we don't know?" Her tone was as chilly as the wind coasting past them. Dash gulped.

"Uhm..." Where's Twilight when you need her! "... you... never told me how you knew I was up there."

"I think my question is more pressing."

"I asked first!"

"I can take those goggles right back if you want."

"Ladies!" Soarin shouted. "Priorities!" He pulled himself upright and crossed his arms. "Personally, I think Spitfire should go first, since I still don't get what's up with that."

"Hah! Two beats one." Dash jeered.

"It was a hunch."

"Spitfire." Soarin glared at her. "The diary."

"Ugh, fine..." I'm surrounded by kids. "This is gonna sound a little crazy, but it all starts with this book." Dash wiped the smirk off her face, and paid close attention. "A diary specifically. Belonged to one of my ancestors. It's the first written account of the Sonic Rainboom, and the only one until you came along. But, that's not the only thing in here. It dates back over a thousand years, and it's got all kinds of information about ancient Equestria that's not on the history books. I won't bore you with the details, but it kept talking about stuff like gryphons, and weird body shapes that didn't make sense... I have to admit, when you did the Sonic Rainboom, I started looking for signs. Looking at things in another light. And then today happens, and it's like the whole thing just jumped off the pages." She chuckled. "It was a bit of a shot in the dark, I mean, an old diary isn't much to go on, but well, here we are."

"That's funny..." Dash scratched her chin. "My story starts with a book too."

"Oh? This should be interesting." Spitfire hovered upside down. Soarin groaned, muttered something about 'bookworms', and turned away to watch the city waking up.

"Well. Basically, my friend Twilight Sparkle found this book in her library, that was also about Equestria a thousand years ago, and also had a whole load of stuff about gryphons, and ponies' bodies being different. But most importantly, it talks about where Celestia came from, and how it's all related. To cut a really long story short, she's a control freak demon from another dimension, and the way we were until last night was a curse to keep us on a leash."

"And... what happened to her?"

"Well, after we found this out, we did a whole lot of fact-checking to make sure it was all true, and then we sent her back where she came from and put everything back the way it was."

"So..." Spitfire looked increasingly uncomfortable. "You just went and threw away what was easily our best defence against the gryphons?" Dash chewed her lip.

"Actually, it was more like the only defence..."

"I don't suppose you thought about all the ponies that are going to die as a direct result of this?"

"Okay, we didn't think absolutely everything through. But... if you knew what I knew, would you be able to live with that? Could you go on with your life, knowing that everything around you - and I mean everything - was a lie, and not do anything about it?" Dash furrowed her brow. Spitfire inhaled and thought deeply.

"Rainbow Dash, what you did was impulsive, reckless, stupid, and... probably exactly what I would have done." Spitfire conceded with a wry smile. "We're more alike than I thought." They paused, neither thinking of anything more to say on the matter. "Anyway. The important stuff."

"Right."

"Finally!" Soarin turned to face them again.

"So, who here has actually fought before?" Spitfire asked, with unfortunate sincerity. Ha, we are so dead.

"Don't know about fighting, but I've sure got the guns!" Soarin boasted, flexing his biceps. Spitfire and Rainbow both rolled their eyes.

"You're also about as coordinated as a drunken schoolcolt right now."

"Aw..."

"Dash, do you know how to use that thing?" Spitfire pointed to the spear. Dash deftly lifted it into the air, twirled it, and balanced the blunt end on her finger. She let it spin for a few seconds, before dropping and catching it.

"A little." She replied innocuously. Spitfire sighed. She looked to Soarin, and he nodded. She turned back to Dash, and looked her dead in the eyes.

"Don't mess it up."

---

Thump.

Applebloom rolled in the upstairs window of a closed clothes shop and tripped on the windowsill. She was still a little unsteady on her hooves, but she was getting there; she wasn't going to let a silly little thing like bipedalism stop her now. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Dinky Hooves stumbled in after her.

"Applebloom, are you sure about this? I mean, stealing?"

"This is an emergency, Sweetie Belle!" The little earth pony barked as she started rummaging through boxes to find something to wear. There were a lot of grown-up clothes, and even the foal's clothes they found were really baggy.

"Ugh, I guess they'll have to do..." Dinky whinged.

"At least we still have our capes!" Scootaloo added.

"Alright Crusaders, let's get movin'! Twilight 'n her friends ain't gonna find themselves!"

---

"We're out of time. Good luck, Rainbow." Spitfire patted Dash on the shoulder. Three gryphons had emerged from the trees, and were approaching the city. Dash, Spitfire and Soarin glided down from their perch to meet them halfway. As the distance closed, they recognised Gilda among the group.

"I trust you've come to a decision?" She asked as soon as they were within earshot. She made no secret of how she was only pretending to be formal. Dash pulled the spear off her back and broke away from the other two. Spitfire and Soarin hung back to watch.

"Yeah."

"Good." The two gryphons flanking Gilda drifted back a little, and she drew another spear, similar in design, but much newer. "Because so have we." Oh, for the love of... "You're lucky we were able to strike this deal. We thought we weren't going to convince the captain, but... she was feeling generous this morning." She smirked.

"Let's just do this." Dash snapped. Gilda shrugged nonchalantly. One of the other gryphons began to bark instructions, read from a scroll.

"In accordance with the laws presided and defended by King Eisen the first, the rules of duelling shall now be read!" The two opponents began to circle each other. Dash glared spitefully at Gilda, who just returned a mischievous grin. "Three rules will be observed. Rule one: neither duellist shall be permitted external aid in the course of the duel. Any attempt to request aid shall be considered a forfeit. Rule two: the duel will continue until one duellist is dead. Any attempt at surrender shall be considered a forfeit. Rule three: should the duel be forfeit, the winner is entitled to take the life of the loser." Spitfire gulped. I hope you know what you're doing, Dash. "The arbitrator will now commence the duel." The third gryphon drifted around to a position above Gilda and Dash.

"Champions, ready!" He screamed. The two of them assumed combative stances. "Three! Two! One!" He inhaled deeply, and forced a shrill whistle through his beak. The ear-splitting screech briefly stunned Dash, but Gilda was prepared for it, and charged immediately at the signal.

Dash barely had time to react, parrying the charge at the very last moment. She felt the spear point whisk past her face, close enough to fan cold air on it. This gave her the jump she needed, and she ducked to dive downwards for a few yards. Gilda banked around in a wide arc, giving Dash plenty of time to recover and face her. Well, she definitely means business. I just hope ol' Bolt Spectra was as good at fighting as the book said she was. On Gilda's second approach, Dash started a counter-charge, both of them holding their spears behind them. Gilda telegraphed her attack with a long, wide, backswing, and Dash prepared a parry, pulling her spear in front of her.

When they made contact, Gilda's spear stayed behind her. Instead, she brought her free claw around, attempting to slash the pegasus in the face. However, she failed to keep track of Dash's leg. Dash swung her leg upwards when they met, slamming her knee under Gilda's beak. This interrupted the slash's course, but in return, Dash got two long scratches on her thigh as she pulled away. One was along the side from Gilda's claw, and the other along the top, from the point of the beak. Agh! She'd suffered injuries in training before, but this was excruciating. And just from scratches! She dreaded what a serious injury would feel like.

She rotated her hips to swing her other leg around, and hurl a hoof to Gilda's other shoulder. Gilda caught the hoof before it made contact, and flung her away. Caught off guard, Dash spun out and careered towards the city.

---

"... and that's how we all ended up here." Twilight snapped shut her book. The guards still looked a little confused, but were reasonably satisfied with the explanation. At any rate, they weren't trying to apprehend her friends.

"So... if Celestia is gone, shouldn't that mean..." The guard was distracted in the middle of his sentence by the window behind them shattering. A spear hurtled through the glass and stuck in the floor, and a big ball of colours and feathers tumbled in after it, glass cuts along her forearms and scratches on her legs. She skidded to a halt on the floor.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight scurried over to help the pegasus up. Dash refused her help, and rose to her hooves under her own steam. "What happened?"

"We got a problem." As soon as she was up on her hooves, she grabbed the spear from the ground. "A whole horde of problems." Without any further explanation, she sprinted towards the broken window and took off through it.

"A whole horde of pr- oh, horseapples, the gryphons! I can't believe I forgot!"

"G... gryphons?" Trixie squeaked. Twilight bounded over to the window to see the duel in the distance.

"Guys, we need to think of something, and fast."

---

"Need me to slow down for you, Dash?" Gilda chuckled as the pegasus fluttered back up.

"Like hell I do." Dash growled, and reared up for another charge. Gilda responded in kind, and they barrelled towards each other, spears hanging behind them. Another clash, another fruitless combination of parries and flesh wounds. Dash's spear grazed the side of Gilda's head, ripping out some feathers, while Gilda was able to slash across Dash's belly. Were it not for the the torsion of her parry, the claws would have gone deep enough to hit gut. With both of Gilda's front legs busy, Dash was able to put one of her newer strengths to work; she pulled both her legs up, pressing her knees to her chest, and kicked firmly with both hooves. Gilda lifted her head in time to take both blows to the chest, shattering three ribs, but avoiding a potentially fatal blow to the skull. They separated again. While Dash reeled from the gashes on her stomach, Gilda wasn't even fazed. She's gonna keep this up all day... there has to be another way. Maybe...

Dash steeled herself, and immediately entered a third charge.

"Come back for more, eh?" Gilda jeered, before returning the rush. About a second before contact, Dash dipped sharply. Gilda tried to stop and turn, but her inertia made her sluggish. Dash spun in the air to face upwards, and hurled her spear into the sky. It twirled into the air, flying straight up, missing Gilda by a mile. Dash hovered where she was, and folded her arms. Gilda turned in time to see Dash floating there casually, unarmed. She tilted her head. "Giving up already?"

"Nah. I'm just playin' on hard mode." Dash chuckled, keeping one eye on the sky.

"If you wanna raise the stakes, then done." Gilda readily tossed her spear away. Not wasting any time, she launched straight into a charge. Dash had no problem diving out of the way, and Gilda's momentum kept her from immediately pursuing.

Schling.

Dash's spear came down on Gilda in the space she had just vacated. Thanks, Bolt. You really knew how to use that thing. The spear had drifted a little off target during its flight, but it was still close enough - it embedded itself in Gilda's right wing, severing a number of key muscles and an artery.

"Agh! You little..."

"I missed your head." Dash smirked. With Gilda's flight badly handicapped, Dash dove to catch the discarded spear. The gryphon tried to keep altitude with limited success. Before long, blood loss began to take its toll, and she plummeted to the ground.

Thump.

Gilda landed in the snow at the foot of the hill, just short of the forest. Dash swooped down on the crash site and landed a few yards away. The four observers dropped down to watch, the two gryphons sitting on the tree tops, the two pegasi sitting on the hill.

"Heh..." Gilda coughed, spitting a little blood on her white chest feathers. She was badly injured in the fall, and her breathing was pained. "Someone got smart." Dash breathed deeply, struggling to keep her cool as she approached. "But maybe not smart enough."

"Save the mind games, Gilda." Dash snarled, raising her spear, holding the point towards the fallen gryphon.

"Well? Go on. Finish the job." Gilda coughed again. "What are you waiting for?" Dash hesitated. "What's the matter? Can't do it? Too lame?"

"Ugh, enough!" Dash's patience snapped, and she jammed the spear forward.

Squelch.

The point easily sliced through Gilda's shattered ribs, piercing her heart. The wound began to bleed profusely, dripping on to the snow. But, even in the face of imminent death, the gryphon let out a pained, mischievous chuckle. She grabbed Dash's arm and pulled her closer, whispering to her.

"They... hate it... when their messengers... get killed..." She spluttered. Her grip loosened, leaving another few scratches on Dash's forearm, and she collapsed backwards, her beak hanging loose. Dash didn't celebrate, and she didn't cry; she simply breathed. One of the gryphons - the designated arbitrator - fluttered down from his perch and landed next to her. He grabbed her wrist roughly and hoisted it up high.

"Winner!" He squawked. Neither Spitfire nor Soarin cheered; a simple sigh of relief sufficed. The other gryphon, still clutching a couple of scrolls under his front leg, wore a knowing smirk upon his beak. It didn't take long for Dash to notice this.

"What are you smiling about?" She snapped. He simply blinked, pulled out another scroll, and resumed his pontificating.

"In accordance with the laws presided and defended by King Eisen the first, the worldly possessions and mantles of the loser in a duel are to be treated as follows. If the winner is under the protection of the laws of King Eisen the first, and is of sufficient physical and mental faculty to do so, they may take for themselves any possession or title belonging to the loser that they choose, and any debt or service owed to the loser is henceforth owed to the winner." Wow, gryphon laws are weird. "However:" This can't be good. "If the winner is a criminal, a citizen of another nation, a citizen of no nation or otherwise outside the protection of King Eisen the first, then the possessions and titles of the loser are passed on to their next of kin, and any debt or service owed to the loser is deemed null and void in the eyes of the law of King Eisen the first." Whoever this 'King Eisen' is, they sure like the sound of their own name. Dash furrowed her brow, and then turned to Spitfire.

"Did you get any of that?" She asked. Spitfire pouted and shrugged. Soarin was idly playing with his fingers.

"It means..." The gryphon cut in, rolling up the scroll. "... that because you, the winner, are a citizen of Equestria, the service of the gryphons of the horde to Captain Gilda is deemed complete, and they are no longer bound to conditions of the wager." Spitfire went wide eyed. Dash blinked, still a little lost. Uh, okay. Don't see why that was relevant, but whatever.

"So... we win?"

"No, that's very, very, very bad!" Spitfire shook her head frantically. "It means there's forest full of hungry gryphons who are about to attack anyway!"

"Wh- why that dirty double-cro-" By the time this twigged with Dash, the two gryphons were already about to set upon her. She yanked her spear out of Gilda's wing in time to hold one of them back, and Spitfire leapt in to block the other with a flying kick. Soarin swooped around to grab the other spear.

"Everypony back to the city, now!" Spitfire yelled. Neither Rainbow Dash nor Soarin needed to be told twice.

Comments

[EvilEnchantress]

listen to this

[Shadow Scryer]

Called it.

Looking forward ta reading about the fight.

[Snowstreak]

Always. Read. The fine print.

[themanesix]

loopholes.....love them when they are for you.... when they are not

[JOEBLACK]

"No, that's very, very, very bad!" Spitfire shook her head frantically. "It means there's forest full of hungry gryphons who are about to attack anyway! "

Wow, didn't see that coming. Haha. Welp, time to get to work. *throws on cloak and picks up scythe*