Princess Essenta

by Pone_Heap

Chapter 16: Night Raid

Troubles Arc

Outside of the company’s camp, the three stallions waited. Everypony had fallen asleep, save the little Pegasus and Earth pony Essenta had recruited in the town. The two were obviously keeping watch but paid more attention to their chatter than their surroundings.

Once these two were out, moving in would be easy. They’d put all seven of them to sleep, take the princess, and kill the rest of them. They even had a spell Lord Radulf personally devised, which would clean up the mess, as if the six mares and their campsite never existed. The first stallion sat, while the second and third took up position.

At the first stallion’s signal, the other two fired their blowguns. Instantly, sleeping darts appeared in the necks of the two teenage mares. They were asleep before they knew what hit them. The Pegasus remained sitting up, but the little Earth pony fell over.

Disappointed at the possible disturbance, they waited. If the noise woke anypony, their stakeout would be for nothing. They’d have to come back in force. But after waiting a moment, all appeared clear. Satisfied, the three of them skirted the camp. They would take care of the unicorns next, just in case… Then, the other three Earth ponies would be easy prey.

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Ama had spent a year on the continent, much of it alone. There wasn’t much she was particularly afraid of, but her senses were honed. It took little to wake her up. So, when Wilka gasped at the dart in her neck, she stirred. When Orni sluffed over, she woke. She woke just in time to see her fall over. She saw the dart in Wilka’s neck.

Ama waited, staring around the campsite through the folds of her blanket. Three unicorns… stallions… in black were entering the camp. Other than the lightly crackling fire, all was silent. Unsure if anypony was awake, she decided to act.

She bolted up, the blanket wrapped loosely around herself, “RAAAAAAAAAID!”

The stallions were startled, but their experience saved them for a moment. Ama roared, swinging her ball-and-chain she insisted on sleeping with, almost pulping one of them. She tried to get Dragonsquarter. In the commotion, the other mares woke up. Loress was first, followed by Dechaa. Essenta, a deep sleeper, took a few seconds. Zyra’s eyes popped open, and she took a look around before jumping up.

The three stallions had a choice to make: flee or fight. Their experience told them to fight. They’d erased memories before. They could still kill all the mares, bar the princess, and nopony would be the wiser. It may have been wiser if they’d escaped. They may have had a better chance to live to see another sunrise.

The first stallion, had a sword drawn, brandishing it with his magic. The other two had their blowguns and were skilled with them. They fired the blowguns as fast as they could, dancing around the campsite, at the large mare barreling around with the ball-and-chain. She wouldn’t go down. The black-haired mare wouldn’t go down either. This was… not good. Essenta dove for her gear. In her unrest, she couldn’t recall where her dirk was… but she had her cesti…

Dechaa found herself taking on the first stallion, blowing fire from his mouth and trying to gut her with his sword. Her twin swords and teleportation abilities barely kept her out of his reach. The first stallion reflected, what’s going on?! These… aren’t the mares we were sent to kill…

Zyra first went to Wilka and Orni, checking on them. They were unconscious, but otherwise alright. Shielding her friends, she drew the wand Essenta made for her. She sent a bolt at the second stallion, still desperately trying to drop Ama with his darts. It stunned him.

Ama saw her attacker falter, she took the opportunity to kick him, “Loress!”

Loress, taking just as many darts, chasing around the third stallion, saw the second stallion fly towards her. She also saw Ama retrieve her greatsword, which she already had wound-up. Loress caught the second stallion, spinning around, and threw him back to Ama.

Ama gritted her teeth and swung Dragonsquarter with all her power behind it. She caught the stallion with it, practically liquefying some of his trunk, while the rest of him kept on going, spinning and tumbling into the edge of the clearing. What the sword caught, spattered across their camp and into the fire with many a hiss and pop.

Essenta jumped up behind the third stallion, as Loress had been throwing the now very dead stallion, and punched him in the guts. His strong trunk saved him, but he went sprawling, knocking over the first stallion. Dechaa, in great relief, teleported across the clearing to join Essenta and Loress.

Zyra, safely on the opposite side of the fire from the remaining stallions, remained where she was. She turned to her comrades, behind her. They’d just noticed the two young ones were down.

“They’re okay… they’re asleep.”

With this knowledge out of the way, the three mares turned their attention to the stallions. Essenta found her dirk, clamping it between her teeth. Ama, recovering from the almighty swing she unleashed, stood apart from the rest of them, looking murderous.

The stallions, now realizing the gravity of their recent decisions, realized they could either fight and maybe live, or die running away. The last 20 seconds told them all they needed to know about the mares: they’d been given bad intelligence. They were skilled fighters, though. They had a chance.

The stallions and the mares faced off a moment. The first stallion drew from his belt a sawblade on a long chain; he’d taken many a head with it… The third stallion, banged up from Essenta’s cesti, but alive, pulled out two swords. Their horns glowed, brandishing their weapons. Don’t kill the princess…

Essenta and Ama went for the first stallion, while Dechaa and Loress went for the third. Zyra remained on the ground, with their unconscious friends, hoping to make a shot with her wand; she could do little else… The groups clashed.

Ama had to drop her greatsword, just to avoid the sawblade. She weaved around, feeling the blade nick her hide as it was swung around. Essenta was desperate to get in, but realized she wasn’t fast enough to help Ama.

Dechaa and Loress fought their stallion, him in between them. He was fast. Loress could do little more than keep out of his reach; she still had no weapon, and was unskilled in them anyway…

Zyra changed the game. Seeing openings, she fired a one-two, hitting each stallion. The first stallion dropped his sword and went end over end into the edge of the forest. Ama immediately dove closer to Zyra, realizing it was the best place at the moment. The three by the fire were the most at risk.

The third stallion was only staggered, but Dechaa saw an opportunity. She hit him with a magic blast, sending him further than she expected. She’d done it in a panic, but Essenta was ready. So was Loress.

Essenta saw him coming and did the only thing she could. She managed spin him around. Essenta saw Loress… she was ready to “catch” him… Essenta caught him in the back with a kick, sending him sailing into Loress at breakneck speed.

Loress wound up and caught the stallion with an almighty punch in the side, putting all her weight into it. His body doubled over against the seemingly immovable Terran's front leg. Her hoof had gone clear to sunshine, or in this case, firelight. He was dead instantly. He may as well have been shot at a stone wall.

Dechaa had her back to the edge of the woods. She didn’t see the first stallion leaping out of the woods, pulling his chained sawblade back for a killing hit. Zyra saw.

“Dechaa!”

The healer had no time to respond. She didn’t even turn around. She would have lost her head, had Essenta not seen.

“Dechaa!”

Essenta leapt, back legs first, kicking Dechaa out of the way with concussive force. In what should’ve been a futile attempt, she covered her face. For the briefest of seconds, she realized she was going to die, seeing the chained weapon fly towards her. Other than Dechaa and the two unconscious, her comrades saw it as if in slow motion. Their friend… their… princess… was about to die.

But the attempt wasn’t futile. It was pure luck that saved her; there was no other way to explain it. Her cesti caught the projectile, splintering the sawblade. As she traveled after Dechaa, what was left of the sawblade shot back at the stallion, even as he leapt into the camp.

The broken weapon caught him in the side, tearing him open. His body managed to hold together, as he went tumbling amongst the fire. His viscera left a path, from the edge of the clearing, through the flames. The smell from the fire, almost immediate, was shocking.

This had only taken a few seconds. Ama sprang up, screaming and ready to dive after the first stallion, but it was over. Loress was still shaking the third stallion from her hoof, aghast at what she’d done. Zyra looked up, in sickened disbelief at the red now covering her and their downed friends. Essenta was holding Dechaa tightly, having caught her in midair, making sure she herself had landed first.

They had no time to breathe easily. What would happen next would never leave any of their minds, for as long as they lived. Wilka and Orni, in a way, were fortunate they slept through it.

Almost immediately the first stallion screamed, in a mixture of horror and pain; he was still alive…

It was the worst thing Essenta had ever heard in her life. Dechaa huddled closer to her, shaking and whimpering at the noise. Ama looked down at him, dismayed at the sight of him, as she began to tug the darts painfully from her body; she didn’t pity him… not one bit. But his was not an envious position. Loress felt sick, the smell, the sight, the sound, mixing with the taste of iron in the air, was beyond the pale.

Nopony might have guessed what happened next. Something snapped within Zyra. Whether it was the noise, any of the other terrible things invading their senses, the fact some ponies had just tried to murder them all... murder her friends... or something else within her, she stood up with a previously unrealized blackness in her heart.

She stood up and walked with purpose to the stallion. The others, still wrapped up in their own minds, began to notice. Zyra zapped the stallion, eliciting even more awful noise from him, and began to drag him across the clearing with the aid of her horn. She propelled him against a rock, pinning him to it. Quickly, she crudely cauterized his side; the bleeding stopped, but it sure wasn't going to save his life.

“WHO ARE YOU?!”

Her voice… was shocking.

“WHO SENT YOU?! WHO SENT YOU?”

She zapped him again, “Answer me! Who sent you?!”

Essenta ran over, horrified, “Zyra, stop!”

She rounded on Essenta, “Back off, Essenta…”

The fact Zyra looked at her in such a way surprised her almost as much as Zyra calling her by name. Dechaa ran up, just as Zyra had shouted.

“Zyra!”

Zyra turned her lethal gaze to her old friend, “Dechaa… I need your help. Keep him alive… Keep him awake!”

Dechaa blanched, “…Zyra?”

Essenta tried to approach Zyra and her prey, “Zyra… stop. This isn’t-”

Zyra pushed her back with a magical surge, “Stay out of the way. Ama! Come here…”

Ama did as she was bidden. She knew what Zyra was up to, as repugnant as it would be. Essenta tried to stand up. She was bewildered at the sudden violence within her friend. Managing to find her hooves, she bolted to attempt to get to Zyra. She was stopped by Loress.

Loress had a terrified look in her eyes, but she was remaining composed, “No, Essenta.”

Essenta looked up, aghast at the horror in the Terran’s face; she saw Loress peppered with the darts the stallions had been firing, “Loress! We can’t let Zyra-”

Loress shook her, almost hard enough to give her whiplash, “Shut up.”

Essenta was most disturbed at Loress’s manner, at once looking sick and determined. Loress held Essenta down.

“Dechaa… Ama… Do as Zyra tells you. Ama… I think you know what needs to be done, anyway. Do it, both of you!”

Dechaa, looking absolutely sick, trotted over, joining Ama. Ama looked very much at odds, but was prepared.

Essenta struggled under Loress’s immense strength and began to sob, “Loress… How could you-”

Loress again shook her, her own eyes streaming, “Essenta… Get ahold of yourself! We’ve just been attacked. As disgusting as it might be, we need to know what’s going on. If we hadn’t woken up, we’d all be dead now.”

Essenta, still weeping, was listening, “But… Zyra…”

Pressing Essenta to the ground further, Loress spat, “Don’t concern yourself with her terrors right now. If she’s willing to extract information from that unicorn stallion, we need to let her do it. He needs to stay alive long enough. And Ama knows what she’s doing…”

Essenta went limp and didn’t protest further. Loress now felt even more ill. She staggered off Essenta and threw up, just shy of her.

“Essenta… get up. You and I need to keep watch… If it’s any solace, be thankful the young ones aren’t awake to see this…”

Essenta understood that and got up. It was shocking, seeing what lay before her. But she looked to the forest, watching for any sign of movement. Loress steeled herself and walked to the other side of the campsite. There, she watched in the other direction. As she began to find and pull out the numerous darts stuck in her hide, she knew she wouldn’t have been able to do what Zyra and the other two were doing. Both attempted in vain to block out what was happening.

It wasn’t pretty. Dechaa looked on in wide-eyed horror. She was using a very strong spell just to keep him alive, and one she was barely able to maintain, keeping him awake. But both she did.

Ama was aiding in the interrogation. He was in such bad shape, she mainly questioned him and gave Zyra advice. Zyra was willing to do anything, she found, without hesitation. Ama had seen how damaged Zyra was in some ways and knew this could break the little mage. But this had to be done and the stallion wouldn’t stand up to any Mazan techniques, as close as he was to death.

Zyra zapped him again, and they could see smoke rising from his damaged body.

“Who sent you?” she was much calmer now, at least on the surface; perhaps it would be more accurate to say she had gained control over herself.

The stallion, as much pain as he was in, “Fuck you, little mage.”

That got him another zap, this time more intense. His screams assaulted their ears. Even Ama, ready, willing, and able to go through with this, felt weak in the knees. Dechaa was perhaps too far gone to do anything but wait until it was over. Essenta wanted to cover her ears but had to maintain her watch. Loress, weeping silently, tried to do the same.

Zyra put a hoof to his face. She channeled her energy through it, branding him as if with a hot iron. This really got a reaction out of him.

Ama reeled at the smell of burning hair, but, “Tell us who sent you and who you are…”

He still refused, coughing and shaking, “Go to Hell, the three of you…”

Ama popped him one in the jaw, knocking out a few teeth, “The only one going there is you. Tell us what we want to hear, and it will be an easier journey for you…”

“You have nothing to threaten me with. I won’t be around much longer anyway, with your friend’s weak attempt at keeping-”

Zyra hit him again, silencing him, other than more of the same bloodcurdling screaming it provoked.

Zyra took a deep breath; she spoke in a toneless voice, “Ama… stand back. Dechaa, I’m going to get an answer out of him. Try your best to keep him conscious… Better stand back too."

Dechaa and Ama both did as they were told. Dechaa sat down, closing her eyes in concentration. She wouldn’t want to see what Zyra was about to do anyway. Ama would have given a great deal to not have seen it... or had it invade her other senses. Essenta and Loress would regret looking back, out of their horrified curiosity, when they should've kept their eyes on their surroundings.

Zyra set him on fire. It was a controlled burn, keeping away from his most vital areas. His screams, high-pitched and ratlike, were unlike anything any of the mares had ever heard, other than Zyra herself… when she was a little filly...

Ama’s knees buckled, but she managed to keep her footing. Dechaa somehow managed to maintain her concentration, possibly only because her eyes were shut. But she could feel his pain; she’d felt it the entire interrogation. Essenta and Loress quaked but managed not to faint. The smell permeating throughout the camp was indescribable.

The stallion yelled out, unintelligible at first. Zyra let up, urging Dechaa to give him an extra dose, to keep him coherent.

“…‘Fire Breathers’… I’m a ‘Fire Breather’…”

Ama was the only one to see. Zyra’s eyes showed a stricken light.

“I see… I know of you… Who hired you? Who sent you after us?”

“I… don’t know.”

Zyra lit him up again; this time he barely responded. Ama realized before Zyra did… he could no longer feel pain on most of his body; his nerve endings had been destroyed.

Dechaa’s horn was faltering; she was shaking, “I’m losing him… Zyra… I’m losing him.”

Zyra turned to her, her eyes no longer dead, but desperate, “I need 30 seconds. Try…”

And try she did. She put everything she had into it, hating herself every second of the way. This time, Zyra burned out his eyes; he still needed to hear and talk. Pulling out of him a markedly weaker scream, she let up after a few seconds. He was close to gone. Ama had to turn away; it was her limit of what she could take. Essenta and Loress hadn't looked back since their last unfortunate glance, but they could hear.

Zyra came close to him, “Who. Hired. You?”

He coughed; gasping, his features now quite unlike they were 10 seconds earlier, “…I don’t know… It was just a job…”

“Tell me!”

She lit him up one last time, only to see no response. Ama shook her.

“Zyra… he is gone. It is over…”

Zyra looked back to Dechaa. Dechaa was barely able to stand, unable to maintain her spells any longer. She vomited, having given her all. Zyra turned around, beginning to shake. A ragged sob built in her throat and she screamed furiously, tearing up the ground around her. She fell to her knees, quaking.

Essenta and Loress dared approach. The stallion was smoking beside the rock, blood and ashes coating where he’d been pinned. Ama stood, feeling helpless, watching Dechaa reel. Nopony dared move to Zyra for the moment.

Loress, steeling herself, called to the company, “We can’t stay here. I don't know if it's over but we can't stay here. Gather up our supplies. I’ll pull the wagon.”

Whether or not this was the best plan, nopony could say. They were very shaken. Essenta and Ama quickly gathered their goods, almost unaware of their hooves. Loress lifted Wilka and Orni onto the wagon. Then she helped Dechaa to her hooves, settling her on the wagon, giving her a jug of water on which to sip. Having pushed the wagon to the trail, Loress saddled up. Essenta was about to douse the fire, while Ama went to get Zyra, to put her on the wagon.

Zyra suddenly started, “Leave the fire…”

Both were so shocked to hear her speak, they halted. Zyra stood up, drawing from the fire. Glancing to the rock they’d used in the interrogation, she began to write upon it, in blood and fire:

“'Fire Breathers': I will kill all of you. Someday, I will find you and I will wipe you off the face of the Earth. Death will be a mercy. There will be no saving you.”

At the bottom of her message, she drew a large dot, surrounded by three expanding circles. On the line of the first circle, she placed two dots, on the second, six, and on the outer circle, eight. Essenta knew what it was…

“Argon”… It was a representation of her namesake, the element Argon.

Turning from the rock, she further horrified her companions by gathering up what remained of the stallions and dumping them on the fire. She cast a final spell, engulfing them in a blue pillar of fire. The sight was unbelievable. The flame was high and practically roared at them, but it didn't burn them. The pillar rose above the forest canopy. It was... a message, just as much as the writing on the rock had been. Zyra then crawled onto the wagon, lay on her side, curled up, and cried.

Loress had been second-guessing herself about their leaving; it may have been best to hunker down and see what happened next. But Zyra's rage-filled actions sealed it... The noise the stallion had made would have either scared off trouble, or attracted worse trouble; in the outrageous situation, neither unicorn had thought to establish a sound barrier around camp. The pillar would be visible for untold miles; they had to run. Looking back, Essenta felt another wave of sickness come over her, but she managed to swallow it back down. Taking point, she began to trot down the trail, Loress and the wagon behind her, with Ama taking up the rear. The last 15 minutes was something none of them would ever forget.

Author's Note:

Check out the Appendix for Princess Essenta, updated as the story moves along. It shows the story's timeline and character designs. Contains spoilers.

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A rather unpleasant development for Essenta's little company, but their journey was never going to be nothing but fun and games.

Next time, the girls attempt to get someplace safe and contemplate their situation, while King Dale and Lord Radulf come to realize their substantial failure.

If you enjoy Princess Essenta, please take a look at my other stories, Larkspur Blossom and The Virgin Company, if you haven't.

Watch for the next chapter in a week.

Like or comment if desired. I'd like to know what folks think of the story.

Thanks for reading, and take care.

Comments

[Fudgebrownie]

The little mage lost it! Holy shit!