Closer to Heaven

by Dconstructed Reconstruct

2

Somewhere in the San Palomino Desert - 6:15 AM

Dawn arrived quickly. Too damn quickly, if I was being honest. The light served as an unwanted alarm I couldn’t slap away. Not even turning my back on it was effective. Defeated, I opened my eyes, groaned, stretched, and noticed two important things in the process: first, the pain on my wings was gone. Second, the sun rays shining in were golden.

I walked over to the carriage's already open doors—which we should have closed, now that I was looking at things in hindsight—and set my eyes skyward to confirm my suspicions. Clear skies far as the eye could see.

“Damn,” I said to myself. “Would have loved to have some cloud cover.” I walked back inside and convinced myself nothing bad would happen. At least it wasn’t all terrible, as I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I had seen the sky so clean and clear. It was either a very good omen. Or the sign of our coming doom.

I was crossing my fingers that it would be the former.

I walked towards Dash, stopping only a few inches from her. She’d been smarter and had decided to sleep further inside. Seeing her slowly breathing figure gave me relief. Probably because it told me that she was still alive. Too bad she couldn’t keep on sleeping like I knew she wanted. There would be plenty of time to loaf around once we got to our destination.

“Hey, doofus. Wake up!” I said, giving her a couple of nudges on her relatively unharmed back.

She yawned in reply and swatted my hand away. “Five… more... minutes,” she mumbled in between snores, her eyes never once opening. She looked so peaceful that I almost felt bad about waking her.

Almost.

“Wake up!” I shouted louder, this time poking at her back a little harder.

“Go away!” she retorted, this time livelier, but still very much in the grips of slumber. I sighed, smiled, and shook my head—it couldn’t hurt to give her those five extra minutes, especially considering how she still needed to heal. In fact, I didn’t want to take any chances. The last thing we both needed was for her to pass out mid-flight again.

“Keep on snoring then, you lazy buffoon,” I whispered just loud enough for her ear to twitch in reply, but soft enough that the message had stayed mostly with me.

Quietly, I stepped outside.

With Dash snoring away like a small chainsaw, I was tempted to do some scouting. It was a good idea, but then I remembered that we still didn’t have a real destination outside of a vague general direction. Rather than wasting time trying to figure that out, I decided to form a plan—Tartarus knew Dash wouldn’t even consider such a thing. She might have been the best flyer Equestria had ever seen, but if there was one thing she sucked at, it was planning ahead. Sometimes I wondered if she even planned anything to begin with.

I licked my finger and gauged the wind’s trajectory. “Hmm... Southbound gale.” I looked to the horizon, spotting a massive storm front far in the distance, “With a good chance that it will only get worse,” I said to myself with a grimace. Not good. Would probably make getting out of the desert harder, assuming we didn’t run into patches of Sombra’s troops first—in which case, we could kiss our asses goodbye. Might even have to camp out again near the Macintosh Hills. That would make the trip last thrice as long! Couldn’t afford that.

I tapped a claw on my beak. “Maybe if we fly westwards towards Los Pegasus?” I was sure the city had managed to hold out—assuming it wasn’t an active battlefield. Dash would probably know.

I sighed and sat on my haunches. As crappy as it was, at the very least it was a plan. Dash wouldn’t like it, but not like we had much of a choice. At least with Los Pegasus in mind, we could potentially expect some relief, even if the city was an active battle zone. Heck, that would probably make things easier. Dash would get medical treatment and be reunited with her forces.

It really was the best outcome, all things considered.

With that settled, there was just one last thing to do. I flapped my wings a few times, just to make sure, before taking flight. With my refreshed muscles and freedom of Dash’s wounded form, I could zip and dart for miles on end within a matter of seconds again! Had the situation not been so dire, I would have kept on pulling air stunts until the sun set. Instead, I had to pull myself back to reality.

As expected of a desert, the surrounding land was pretty much barren. Not a sign of anypony—or anything living, for that matter. As I kept scanning the horizon, a few thoughts entered my mind. Some involved the potential of hunting a few small animals for my needed protein. Others involved plans on rebuilding my griffonscone cart. And at least one of those thoughts involved how Equestria’s soldiers would react to seeing me wearing Sombra Trooper armor. Something told me they wouldn’t exactly roll out a red carpet for me, even if Dash spoke in my favor. At best, I would be detained, questioned, and ultimately put into observation. I mean, I wasn’t really sure if anyone else had ever broken free of Sombra’s control. At worst, I’d probably be executed for fears that I was a spy.

It really did come down to just one option, and I groaned at it.

In truth, I was more than hesitant to do it. It really was only because of the armor that I had made it this far. Without it, I would probably be in worse shape than Dash! Heck, the fact that she only needed what essentially was only cloth on her back spoke volumes to just how strong she really was. Sure, she was missing the helmet and nearly all of the plating that made up the actual armor, but she didn’t need enchantments on those pieces in order to be awesome. She just naturally was.

After some more thought, I decided to keep the armor, at least for the foreseeable future. Dash would probably back me up on the decision as well. It was still fully functional, after all. I’d be a fool to get rid of it.

There was a sudden shift in the wind, carrying with it an ominousness. I detached my senses from everything except that sensation, focusing to the point that everything else faded into black.

Then I heard it; footsteps and hooffalls, chattering and laughing, the clanking of steel on steel—all getting closer by the second.

I swooped down towards the nearest intact brick wall and pressed myself against it, slowing my breathing down and going so far as to put a claw over my beak to muffle myself. I carefully leaned over the wall to see the source of the sounds.

The culprits were a band of mixed beings; two unicorns, three pegasi, two griffons, and a minotaur. The equines carried makeshift armor and swords slung on their backs—no doubt the source of all the metal noises—while the griffons sported similar makeshift plating, albeit thicker. They also carried poleaxe types I was unfamiliar with.

The minotaur, however, was the one that worried me most. Not only was he the most heavily armored of the group—sporting a full set of plate armor that covered every inch of his body save for his cloven hooves—but he also carried a war hammer almost twice as large as he was. Worse, he had to be over two meters tall, at the very least.

I studied them all carefully, trying to take stock of just who they swore allegiance to. Right away, I could tell they weren’t aligned with Equestria. Still, the lack of markings and black color told me they weren’t part of Sombra’s army either. Sombra was many things, but a fool that let his forces parade around in pieces of makeshift armor, he was not.

There really was only one conclusion I could come up with, and it wasn’t exactly better than Sombra’s army: bandits.

The bandit conclusion could explain the ponies and griffons. After all, Equestria was probably no stranger to lowlifes and criminals. But that didn’t give answers as to who the minotaur could be. His armor was far too pristine to be something cobbled together by thievery. It looked well taken care of—almost as if it had just come from a smith’s forge! If he was indeed some kind of bandit, he no doubt had to be the leader, or at the very least someone of enough standing, maybe even a warlord. Either way, he and his cronies were bad news. The day, much like the wind, had just gone southbound.

I grimaced, my heart beating through my chest and gut-churning to the point that whatever hunger I had quickly turned to nausea. I slinked back into cover and breathed deep and slow. Had to calm my nerves before I had a breakdown. Needed to remind myself that I was still hidden, too. All I had to do was get Dash and get the heck out of Dodge, It really was that simple.

So, why didn’t it feel simple?

I began my trek back to the carriage, making every effort to move as quickly and quietly as possible. Thankfully, being part feline meant I had a bit of an advantage in that department. Even so, keeping quiet took more focus than it should have. By the time I reached her, Dash had finished waking up and was preparing some of the ration cans. She trotted up to greet me with a wide beam on her face, completely blissful to the danger steadily approaching us.

Before she could open her mouth to speak, I quickly closed the distance between us and clasped her snout shut with my hand. “We’re not alone,” I whispered to her so softly, she probably had to read my beak movements to even get a gist of the message. “Got a group of not-so-friendly guys outside,” I continued, slowly moving my hand away from her snout. “Bandits, if I had to take a wager on it.” I felt my brows crease at my words.

Dash’s eyes widened as she processed the information. Meanwhile, I backed towards the doors of the carriage and had myself a look over the situation. I could hear the ruffians, but I couldn’t yet see them. Chances were they couldn’t see us yet either.

“Of course. It just had to be bandits,” Dash whispered, edging closer to me. “That’s what we get for stopping in a literal no-pony’s land!”

I turned to face her, my eyes narrowing at her words. “Well, excuse me for finding us a place to rest.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Jab wasn’t at you, not that it matters. We can talk about it once we fly the heck out of here.”

I shook my head. “Bad idea,” I said, not even bothering to hide the growing alarm in my tone. “They're bound to notice us flying, and they have five flyers. Damn, I can’t see them from this angle!” I rushed deeper into the carriage, setting my attention though one of the gashes on the cargo wall. I had to adjust my angle until I finally spotted their shadows reflecting off an eastward facing wall not far away. Sure enough, they were poking around, turning over the remains of the once thriving community.

“So, what’s the plan?” Dash asked as she again moved next to me.

“Well, I was thinking we could spring a surprise. Some confetti here, a cake there. You take the singing, while I prepare a party game or two,” I replied without really checking myself. I turned to face Dash, hoping that my words had gone over her head.

Her flat, almost pitiful look, told me otherwise. I sighed, and after mentally slapping myself for that slip of sarcasm, my expression turned steely and grim. “You know damn well what I would suggest we do. But I sure as Tartarus am not going to risk it, especially after I spent half the night stitching you back together!”

Dash gave me a jab on the shoulder. “Hey, I can fight! Did you already forget that I’m in command of a whole Wonderbolt division?”

I turned to her. “Look,” I started, trying to keep my voice as low, yet impactful, as possible, “It’s not that I doubt that you can fight—honestly, I don’t. Heck, I probably wouldn’t be here right now if you didn’t know how! It’s just that I’d rather not have to kill anyone now that I’m no longer under Sombra’s command.”

“But they’re bandits! Probably would kill us both just to amuse themselves!” Dash was now the one to grind her teeth in rage. “We can’t just ignore this! Who knows how many other ponies they’ll hurt!”

I shook my head. “What we need to do is sneak out, not get ourselves killed!” I turned away from her. “We’re unarmed and outnumbered, seven to two!”

“Only seven of ‘em?” Dash asked with bravado in her tone. “Please! I can take on a whole squadron all by my lonesome!”

I so wanted to shout at her for being so full of hubris.

“No!” I whispered through clenched teeth. “We fight them, we’ll wind up as smears on a wall!” I backed away from the crack and grabbed Dash by the shoulders. “Don’t be stupid! Better to flee now and fight another day than just wind up pointlessly dead.” I tried to keep as much worry out of my voice as possible, but I had never been good at keeping emotions in check.One of the main reasons Dash and I had gotten into that damn argument more than a year ago.

Dash didn’t meet my gaze for a few seconds. Even so, I could tell by her lowered ears that she was deep in thought. My eyes drifted to the left side of her head—to what remained of her ear. It looked as if it had been torn right off.

Seeing it filled me both with a deep rage, as well as an almost overwhelming sense of regret. I couldn’t quite understand why, though, and maybe it was better that I didn’t.

Finally, she looked directly at me again. Her eyes, though filled with much regret, were also resolute and steely. With a simple nod, she informed me of her decision. “I still don’t like that we’re running,” she added in her usual cocky voice, “but you’re right. Fight another day.”

“You’ll find some way to get back at me. I know it,” I said with a growing smirk on my break.

“Yeah. I’ll make you my second in command! You’ll get to do all the paperwork and oversee training the fresh meat.” She chuckled at her words. “Oh, how you’ll suffer. You might even beg me to fire you by the end of the month!”

I rolled my eyes at that. “Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to do unsavory work in the past.”

It was good to have a laugh or two before facing down the Grim Reaper. I mean, if you couldn’t laugh in the face of death, why live at all?

“So,” Dash started, her whole attention set on me. “What’s our real plan of escape?”

“Well…”

**** **** ****

I jumped out of the carriage first, looking around for the brigands and making sure our supplies were well secured in their bags.

When I was sure the coast was clear, I waved to Dash. After ensuring her own saddlebags were secure as well, she jumped out and rapidly covered the distance between myself and the carriage. From there, we moved from cover to cover, until we had made some good distance between us, the carriage, and wherever the thugs were. By the time we could clearly hear what they had to say to each other, we were well into our escape route.

With a nod towards Dash, I set our plan into motion. I would have said a small prayer too, but I didn't know if any deity was actually listening. Not that it mattered to me; Griffons were either atheist or just plain greedy. Piety just wasn’t in our nature.

I picked up a sizable piece of rubble and chucked it as far as I could, where it struck a burnt metal roof, causing a loud clank.

“Hey, did ya hear that?” one of the griffons asked, getting the attention of the rest of his cronies. The minotaur, who had been sitting down by a nearby burnt house stood up and motioned with his head at the source of the sound. I could hear the crunch of gravel under feet and hooves as the thugs scrambled away.

I was more than pleasantly surprised it had worked out so well. Maybe we weren’t as screwed as I originally had predicted.

I motioned my head at Dash again. She nodded and moved ahead towards another wall a few meters from where we were. I took one last look at my surroundings and raced after her, keeping my figure as low to the ground as possible.

“Guess it was nothing,” I heard one of the thugs say from a position that was far too close for comfort.

“Yeah. Probably just the wind knocking something down. Or maybe some animal.”

“Hey, I wonder if the boss will let us go hunting for meat later?”

“Nasty. You griffons really have to have your meat that bad?”

“Hey, I don’t go criticizing you for eating nothing but hay in the middle of two buns!”

They were getting close again.

I started to sweat under my feathers. Instinctively, I hit the ground, frantically looking for anything else to throw. As my talons dug into the dirt, they struck something that didn’t feel like loose gravel or stone. As I pulled it out, I recognized the thing as a fire gem. The dull crystalline orb had been buried in the dirt by what looked to be hundreds of scrambling hooves. Despite that, it was still intact, even if it wasn’t glowing. Instantly, a part of me thought of using it. Toss it far enough away and let the thugs run to the explosion.

As soon as that idea entered my mind, I shot it down. The risks were just not worth it. I didn’t even know if the thing was functional to begin with!

I put the gem in one of my armor’s waist pockets before I did something stupid with it. Maybe it would still work, but I would have to set it up just right for it to not backfire.

By the time I found another sizable rock to toss, the bandits were practically on top of us. I could already feel them breathing down my neck.

I shot Dash a mournful glance and clenched my fists tight. She shook her head and set her eyes on the group of thugs.

“Dammit…” I whispered to myself as I reached for the weapon I had told myself I wouldn’t use. With its alien grip in my hand, I took a deep breath—I’d be opening more than cans with it this time, even though It was like a butter-knife compared to the weapons the thugs were carrying.

I motioned for Dash to stay low, though I knew well she wouldn’t. She was a fighter.

When the first of the bandits turned the corner, I leaped into action, taking on the two unicorns first. They didn’t have time to react as I drove the blade into the first one’s foreleg and slashed at the second’s face with my talons. Seconds later, Dash jumped out of cover with a flying kick, smashing into one of the griffons. He groaned as he flew back, breaking through a wall behind him with enough force that what remained of the house came down around him. Dash then grabbed the other griffon by the arm and flipped him over herself, smashing his head onto the floor.

I withdrew the blade from the first unicorn’s limb and used the hilt to smack him over the head, giving him a one-way ticket to the dreamlands. As I did, the unicorn I had swiped at tried to attack me with her weapon. Fortunately, the mixture of injury and blood on her face made her swings reckless and aimless. With a punch to the side of her face, I sent her reeling straight to the floor, where she remained, coughing and wheezing.

With the two unicorns out of action, I turned to the remaining baddies. To my shock and relief, Dash had moved on to incapacitate the other two griffons. The first one she had slammed against a wall so hard that he was still stuck in it with an addled look on his face, while the other griffon looked as if his spine had been twisted in a way that wasn’t at all natural. He was somehow crawling away as best as he could, though, so he was still very much alive.

I made a mental note to never again piss off Dash.

Then, I sensed it: a sequence of small quakes beneath my feet, deep and heavy breathing, and the very air turning hot around us. I only had a second to process it all.

I turned to Dash and tackled her without a second thought, hitting the ground just as the battering ram-sized hammer of the minotaur swung above us, picking up loose dirt and rubble along its path.

“Sweet Holy Celestia!” she shouted, “What the hay was that!?”

I got back up, helping Dash to her hooves. “If I had to take a wager, it was our minotaur friend.” I spun around, ready to face off against our remaining foe.

Only to find emptiness.

“Where did he go?” Dash asked. It was a good question. I mean, how could we misplace such a large piece of meat? More thoughts started running through my mind as the adrenaline continued to increase. We had to end it. Time was not on our side.

I knew what we had to do, even if a part of me hated it. “Dash! Now’s our chance!”

“No way!” she retorted, a grin forming on her lips. “We can win this! Two versus one!”

I grimaced. “Are you insane? We have a golden opportunity! Let’s not get carried away!”

Dash scoffed. “Please! You’re being overly cau—”

Her words were cut off as a barely visible silhouette formed right behind us. What followed was something big and hard smashing against us with such force that I doubted even a train could have mustered it.

With what little time I had, I set myself in front of the hammer’s impact zone.

My body took the brunt of the assault, my ribs feeling as if they had shattered into a million pieces. My armor dented in parts and shattered in others, pieces flying in all directions. Dash and I went soaring right through a brick wall, our bodies barely stopping once we had broken through.

When I finally got my eyes to open again, red tinted the left side of my vision. Something warm and reeking of copper dripped down the side of my face. It stung real bad, too. One of my arms felt even worse, with parts ablaze in pain, and parts completely numb.

Dash was next to me, thrashing and screaming in agony as she grabbed on to her left wing. Or rather, what was left of it. A frigid something formed in the pit of my stomach at seeing that.

Despite every last nerve in my body screaming in pain, I stood back up. Despite every part of my functioning brain demanding that I run, I moved towards the slowly materializing minotaur. With a sneer, I glared daggers at him.

“Gotta admit, you are a tough one!” he said, tossing aside what looked like a small necklace charm, causing his figure to become fully visible again. “Most melt after a single swing of Iron Will’s hammer!” The minotaur spoke in a heavy, over-the-top voice that suited someone giving out a seminar more than a soldier. “Unfortunately for you, you hurt the Will’s friends! And I pity the fool who hurts Iron Will’s friends!”

“Who... are... you?” I wheezed out, less out of curiosity over the obvious, and more to buy Dash enough time to slink away unnoticed.

The minotaur heartily laughed. “Iron Will shouldn’t be surprised you’ve never heard of Iron Will. That’s something I’ll have to rectify in the near future!” he replied. “Not that it matters!” He raised his mighty weapon, his face growing steely and grim in the process. “I’ve got a bone to pick with you, little bird!” Despite its size, he could lift his weapon as it if was a weightless stick. Even if he missed, the force of impact nearby alone would damage me. In my state, even that would be enough to make me crumble.

But I couldn’t yet let go. I had come too far to just let myself die like a coward!

When Griffonstone fell, I hid. When Sombra captured me, I begged... Forced to serve, forced to kill, forced to live…

I would at least choose how to die!

Then, it hit me like a freight train. The fire gem I had found earlier—it was still in one of my pockets! Though, I didn’t even know if it was charged.

Either way, I was already dead. No harm in one last grasp for life.

The only issue was how I could use it?

Dash’s blade! But... It had flown right out of my hand and landed right behind Iron Will...

Damn, It was a long shot, but I could tie the gem to the weapon and… Yeah, it could work!

With what remained of my energy, I dove between the minotaur’s legs just as he smashed his hammer down. Struggling to get back up, I reached into my pocket, pulled out the fire gem, and avoided a stomp from the oversized bull as I crawled away, grabbing the blade in the process.

“You won’t get away that easy, little birdie!” Iron Will shouted.

I replied by jumping on his back before he could complete his turn. I dug the talons of my good hand into his armor, hanging on for dear life as my bad arm barely grasped onto the fire gem and the blade. Using my beak, I tied the string around the gemstone and blade’s handle. It wasn’t the strongest of knots, but it didn’t need to be.

“What are you planning, lil’ birdie!?” Iron Will roared.

“Going out... with a bang!” I shouted back at him as I grasped my hand around the gemstone hard enough to form a crack on it.

Without any more hesitation, I plunged the blade down with all the might I could still muster with a half-broken limb. The force was such, that as soon as the weapon made contact with the bull’s armor, it pierced right through the metal to the sinewy wall of muscle below, embedding itself an inch into his shoulder.

The attack snapped whatever bones hadn’t already been broken in my arm before, sending indescribable agony racing right into my brain. Instinctively, I let go with my other claw, falling to the ground, screaming and writhing in absolute pain.

So much for going out with a bang...

“That hurt!” Iron Will shouted as he reached an arm to try and pull out the blade from his shoulder. “You’re just digging yourself an even deeper grave at this point!” His fingers made contact with the blade’s handle, their oversized girt causing the already broken gem to finally shatter.

The blast of fire was so bright I had to cover my eyes with my good arm. Iron Will roared, reeling backward a few feet as his right arm limply hung to the side. Smoke and fire emanated from the spot, and despite the absence of blood, I knew there had to be a sizable hole where the blade had once been.

I struggled back to my feet, my three still functional limbs barely managing to keep me standing. I was already going numb, both from the pain in my broken arm, and the creeping cold slowly enveloping the rest of my being. While I would have loved to say something witty, the truth was that I was weaponless, armorless, wounded, and barely hanging on to consciousness. There really was nothing more I could give.

One last glance back at Dash, only to notice the spot where she had been lying empty.

I collapsed, a broad grin plastered on my beak despite the growing circle of darkness around my vision. Despite it all, I felt happier than I had been in a very long time.

One more breath of air... and I started to let go. This would be a good death, one my ancestors could be proud of.

One step closer to heaven.

Comments

[Emperor]

Iron Will's appearance makes the inner fanboy in me happy, even if it is as a bandit (well, I suppose he did call his subordinates his friends, so there's some of canon Iron Will's personality still there, buried under the horrors of war).

Since it hasn't been mentioned, I assume Rainbow Dash hasn't lost a wing at this point in time and still has both of her natural wings (at least, I don't think it's been mentioned, I may have skimmed over it at some point).

On that note, I see you've been referring to the official Equestrian map, but I see one big issue with it: you're putting the geography of all this aciton in the south part of Equestria, with reference to the Macintosh Hills and Los Pegasus. However, the Crystal Empire is to the north of Equestria, so why would there be fights on the south end of Equestria between them and the Empire?