The Tome of Faust

by DungeonMiner

Chapter 45

Dawn peeked just over the horizon, barely clearing the hill the enemy camped on in front of them. Commander Hurricane set his jaw. The castra buzzed with activity as Legionnaires made their final preparations. Already the contubernia were forming into their eight-pony squads, small blocks that, when ready, moved out into the field.

The ranks began to form out there, forming centuries and cohorts in either long rows or large blocks of infantry. Currently, the Commander had the third and fourth cohorts on the left flank, while the fifth and sixth cohorts were on the right. These two thousand ponies were supposed to try and surround the approaching army. Meanwhile, the first and second cohorts, the most significant force of infantry, was to act as the fire below, cooking the trapped enemy between the two sides.

At least, that’s how this worked in the air. The Commander sighed and took a moment to again long for the day when he could fight in a three-dimensional battlefield. Having the freedom to dive-bomb the enemy, or come up from below, had proved to be a winning strategy more than once. Still, with the integration of unicorns and earth into the Legion, he felt limited. What’s more, he could use those pegasi to get the light behind them, making the enemy fight with the disadvantage instead.

Perhaps he could have the pegasi take wing and leave the others down below? It would certainly free up movement, but he was also told to present a “united front” by Puddinghead, whatever that meant…

He set the thought aside, it only served as a distraction now. With a heavy sigh as his last concession to the pony that could think these thoughts, he stepped forward as the pony that commanded the respect of every Legionnaire on the field.

Hurricane shot over the heavily armored ponies, flying directly to the front line where the sight of the enemy forces met him. Three thousand ponies stood opposite them, on a hill overlooking the woods behind them. While only half strength to his Legion, each one of the ponies in the enemy army was either a powerful mage or a heavily-armored Unicornian knight. Both were very dangerous and had managed to protect the borders of Unicornia for upwards of a few hundred years.

A highly-specialized, outnumbered, veteran force against his Legion of a handful of veterans, and farmers that wanted to protect their home. Of course, he could hardly tell with the morning light stabbing him in the eyes.

Hurricane chuckled. He’d worked with less before…

As he landed at the head of the first and second cohorts and turned to face the unicorn attendant he had picked for this moment. “Can you do it?”

“I’m ready, sir,” came the reply.

The Commander nodded before turning to his Legion, his voice amplified by a simple spell. “Legionnaires! On that hill stands an enemy we were destined to face!”

The soldiers all looked up to their leader.

"They stand there, bringing an army to bear because they cannot stand to see us rise while they wallow in the cold and darkness! They face us, for we are the only face they can bring their jealousy and hatred to. Everything they believe spits in the face of our way of life, and when we came together, we told them that we would not go quietly!

"They stand there now, glaring down at us from that hill, in some vain attempt to tell us we can’t. They say that we’re not allowed to stand together like this, to be free to do as we choose, unfettered by their old and bloated traditions.

“We will not stand for this!” The Commander yelled. “We will not be broken by the likes of those who could not bring themselves to see the light! We will not be chained to the darkness as they are! We will not let them rule over us, to choose our fates! No, we are free! We are free, and we will free forever, for no force can come against us!”

The Commander stood tall and proud before drawing his blade. “We are forever free!”

“Forever free!” came back the answer.

Hurricane turned toward the enemy and frowned. That was probably the worst speech he ever delivered.

Honestly, if this one was never remembered, he’d be perfectly fine with that.

The Baron and his bodyguard pushed deeper into the Darkwood Forest. They lost the mages somewhere behind them some three hours ago, and he had no idea if they were even alive anymore. This had all been a trap, and he’d fallen for it.

Somehow, the enemy knew he’d be coming from this direction, with this many ponies, with these specializations. The stench of the Tome was everywhere here, and he really should have guessed that the thief who took the book would have set this up.

But how he did it so fast still left the Baron’s head spinning.

The bodyguard moved carefully ahead, doing his best to creep quietly through the forest floor. He slowly cleared a path for the noble behind him, ensuring they could both creep closer as they slowly approached the target, the Castle of the Sky Sisters.

The better question was, the Baron wondered if the thief already knew about the castle? Did the thief know that he was trying to reach the castle so that he could reach the Tree during the Summer Solstice? Was there a trap there as well? Had he somehow killed the Tree to stop the plan? What other traps could this thief have set up?

An hour passed beneath them, and the bodyguard took careful paths in the twilight. A few brambles and ravines made travel agonizing through the forest, and the bodyguard took extra care as he carried the Baron over a small river. Still, they made good time. Time that Baron Jet spent wondering if his plan would work at all.

Could he still save Unicornia? Could he give Princess Gold the support she needed? Could he see the ambition of his parents come to fruition? Could he avenge all of those who fought for this cause?

“M’lord,” the bodyguard said, breaking him from his thoughts. Baron Jet glanced up before the bodyguard pointed with his hoof. A singular tower just broke the canopy, catching the sunlight of the late morning as it flashed at them through the leaves. Jet did not doubt for a moment that it was the donjon to the castle, the prize was within sight, at last.

“Good,” he said, his voice steeling itself as he pushed his doubts to the side. “We will make it there with plenty of time to spare.”

He would do anything he could.

The bodyguard and the Baron inched forward, doing their best to mask their presence. The latest trap could be just ahead of them, and they’d never know.

And then he found it.

“Trap” would have given what the mare was doing too much credit. No, this was a challenge. A single guard, dressed in brilliant armor, stood on a precipice. Behind her, a single suspension bridge, reaching over a ravine.

On the other side of the ravine stood the castle, and the path down to the Tree. It made it clear that his other option was to climb down the gorge, and cut across the bottom, and then climb back up the ravine, and finally try to get to the Tree.

The Baron frowned and silently cursed.

The thief must know that wasn’t an option. He must know that there was a time limit, that he could not risk wasting a moment. The declaration itself was apparent, either fight or waste time.

Now the long stretch of silence between here and the mage trap seemed obvious. It didn’t matter how he got here, this was the only way he could get to the castle in time. This was the proverbial chokepoint.

Still, the mare stood vigil over the bridge, reminiscent of the old tradition of the passage of arms. She almost cut the image of a proper knight, a fitting comparison, the Baron supposed, considering she represented the Kingdom of Equestria here.

More importantly, he had to get around her, and there was very little he could do save for rushing in.

“It seems we have no choice,” Jet whispered to himself.

“Shall I dispose of her?” the bodyguard asked.

“Do what you can.”

The bodyguard nodded and stepped forward into the clearing.

The guard glanced up. “He said you’d be here.”

The bodyguard said nothing.

“He told me you’d be quiet too,” Golden said with a smirk, as she drew her long-handled blade.

The bodyguard answered with his own earth-pony blade.

They stared each other down for a long moment, waiting for the other to make a move.

The bodyguard moved first. He slashed down with his blade, only for Golden to step to the side, before raising her own sword to his throat. She struck towards his neck, trying to end it quickly. Still, the bodyguard spun away, crossing blades again, before pushing forward, forcing Golden on the back foot. He pressed the advantage, forcing golden back a step, and closer to the ravine, trying to force her over the edge. Golden took a breath and steeled herself, before slamming her head forward, headbutting the bodyguard, and stepping out, leaving the ravine on her left side.

Swords flashed as they struck again, each blow rocking each other’s blades as they hit, or digging deep into the ground as dodged out of the way. The dance began in earnest then, each pony trying to force the other to the edge. Back and forth, back and forth, they switched and swung, trying to force the other to fall.

As the bodyguard’s blade thrust toward her, Golden twisted around and pressed the advantage as his attack left him open. She forced him back, attacking in quick succession, never letting up as she pushed him toward the trees. The bodyguard, hooves sliding to keep himself from tripping over the uneven terrain, lost ground quickly, try as he might to take back the tempo of the fight.

Forced back, the bodyguard kept falling further and further from the bridge, he nearly hit one of the trees. Then in a single move, the bodyguard parried a downward slash and pinned the guard’s blade against a tree with his own sword. Slamming against the weapons with his own body, he ensured that they were stuck fast, and not moving anywhere.

And that’s when the Baron made his move.

Golden gasped, eyes wide, as she watched Baron Jet make a break for the bridge. She tried to pull away, but the bodyguard held tight, keeping her pinned. Golden released her sword, rushing for the bridge as the Baron quickly crossed the ravine.

She rammed into the bridge’s supports. The bridge buckled under Jet’s hooves, and he hit the planks at the bottom of the bridge. She bucked into the supports again, trying to take the bridge out entirely, only for the bodyguard to slam into her.

She felt her hooves go out from under her, and she felt the earth crumble beneath her as they both went over the edge. She grabbed onto the lip of the ravine, scrambling as she held onto the very edge.

The bodyguard hung from her hind leg, holding onto her as they both hung over the edge, dangling just over the ravine.

She sighed as she hung there. “You know, if Mouse told me about this, I wouldn’t have minded.”

The bodyguard kicked the wall, forcing Golden to swing out into the air. Her tentative grip slipped for a moment before she grabbed it again. “Hey! Stop that! You’ll get us both killed that way!”

The bodyguard kicked again.

“Hey! Did you not hear me?” she asked. “If you do that, I could slip, and we’d both fall!”

He kicked again, swinging her even further out.

“Will you stop it!” she said before kicking him lightly in the face. “I’m trying to keep us alive!”

He bit her leg.

She yelped, before kicking him harder. “Do you want to die?” she asked before she tried to reach for a hoofhold to grab onto. “Peme give me strength.”

The earth pony kicked the wall again, and Golden felt her body swing up and out from the ledge.

“Do you have rocks for brains? I’m trying to save us!”

The bodyguard kicked again, and Golden felt her grip slip. She scrambled, trying to grab something before she slipped over the edge.

She screamed as she fell, the wind whipping past her as she tumbled over the edge. Branches from below slapped her as she passed, many already broken by the bodyguard who plunged beneath her. Rolling in the air, she glanced down, eyes wide, as the ravine floor shot up to meet her.

She slammed into another branch, growing from out the side of the rock wall, before finally bouncing as she hit the bodyguard, her only cushion between her and the ground. Her world went black as she went unconscious before she slowly came back around.

Her body ached, and after a quick check, she came to the conclusion that her left hind leg and her right foreleg might both be broken. She looked back at the pony she landed on and found him dead as a doornail. “Great, wonderful,” she muttered.

She rolled off of the bodyguard and tried to get on her two remaining hooves. “You know, Mouse, if you’d told me that I was going to break a couple of legs, I would have just cut the bridge.”

She limped along the bottom of the ravine, trying to find a way up that wouldn’t force her to climb. She took a few steps before sitting down, trying to make the walk in pieces. Taking a moment to rest as she sat at the bottom of the ravine, she turned back to face the castle, which towered over her from the ravine’s bottom.

A pair of lights, flashed from the tallest tower, before streaking across the sky, leaving the sound of thunder in their wake. Golden briefly wondered what those were, before she forced herself back up, to continue on her trek.

With how slowly she was making progress, she did test her legs. She carefully put pressure on both of them, only to find them painfully tender. Even if her legs weren’t broken, then she at least suffered a fracture, but at the very least, she needed to get out of the ravine before she could—

A thunderous noise erupted behind her, and she turned to face the castle.

The cave, the one that Mouse slipped into, the one he said had the Tree that Baron was looking for, spewed magic and fire from its mouth. Green, orange, and purple flames shot out of the cave like dragon’s breath, incinerating everything around it.

Golden stared, mouth open, as devastation tore across the ravine, and all she could do is hope that Mouse was still alive.