Final Fantasy: Warriors of the Crystal

by shadowfalcon76

Battle on the Big Bridge

Battle on the Big Bridge

Azure Vessel wasn't certain what to expect when he woke up that day. Maybe more verbal venom and an escape attempt from Tricky Bit, perhaps a laugh at one of Vin's jokes or stories, or perhaps even some training with Highwind once they got back to town. He was even eager to get back to his mentor, Clover the Clever, to ask about the Wind Crystal and what it had to say. It sounded rather important, and he might know more about it. If not, then maybe Clover could even ask his mentor, Star Swirl the Bearded. If Star Swirl didn't know, then it was either a new discovery or not worth knowing. Azure really felt that this crystal couldn't be in the latter category.

What he didn't expect was to be set upon by a mercenary gang. He also didn't expect to be fighting for his life against said mercenary gang, either. He quickly learned that one's expectations and the reality of the world rarely see eye to eye.

He twirled his scimitar to deflect yet another attack from a pegasus that had charged him with a short sword, and had to jump out of the way to dodge a follow up attack from another pegasus that came at him with a knife. Meanwhile, two more pegasi were attempting to dive bomb him occasionally, taking swipes at him when they thought his guard was down or he was distracted by their companions. While he was doing well, Azure knew he couldn't keep this up forever, and that that was the most likely strategy these thugs were attempting to pull on him. He decided that the time to start evening out the odds was now or never, and so he started to gather his magic into his hooves, biding his time for the perfect chance to strike with his diamond dog punch.

Meanwhile, Highwind was attempting to clear the skies of enemies, but was having a bit of a time with it, being outnumbered four pegasi to one. His armor absorbed or deflected the brunt of the few hits he received, but he knew they would take their toll eventually, or one of the mercenaries would clip his wings and ground him, probably while he was still flying. He took care to try to avoid that, but at least one of the scoundrels was trying hard to accomplish just that goal. The fact that Highwind was wielding a lance versus the other four pegasi wielding nothing longer than a short sword helped him keep his distance from the majority of their attacks, but it also meant that they were playing the waiting game with him. Having his enemy in the air with him also kept him from using his jumping and diving attacks, as they would simply follow him up, and keep him from targeting any of them or their allies still on the ground. However, that did leave him one other option, but he needed to gather them into a group for it, otherwise he would wear out too quickly, as he nearly did against the Mist Dragon.

For her part, Tricky Bit fared a bit better than one could expect somepony tied up to do. Her thief training helped her agility, which was already naturally high being a pegasus, and that boost was keeping her alive for the time being as three of the Red Wings were focused on her at the moment. 'If only these ropes weren't tying me up,' she thought as she dodged yet another clumsy attack from one of the mercs. She wished she would have at least brought her knife with her, but keeping up with Azure, Highwind, and Vin required her to travel light, and had she not gotten caught, she would have made her way back to her saddlebags that she had stashed away, knife and all. However, that would have to wait, as she needed to get away from the Red Wings, and Enkidu specifically, to be able to get that far. As she dodged yet another slashing attack, she noticed that that one was a bit closer than the rest. The big guy must've been training them lately, she mused, these guys are better than the last bunch.

If they had been training, then one wouldn't notice it by the way Vin was laughing as the two pegasi facing her stumbled around blindly and swung their swords at each other, yelling randomly as if their vocabulary simply decided to leave their mouths and not care for what order they did so. Enkidu, standing a bit behind them and opposite of Vin, fumed with anger at their antics.

"Simpletons!" he exclaimed, "Can't even resist simple Blind and Confuse spells. Bah! Looks like I'll have to do this myself, YET AGAIN!" His temper was not helped in the least when one of the spellstruck ponies took a swing at him, thinking he was the enemy. Enkidu simply brought up his front two hooves and caught his subordinate's blade between them, the crafted punching claws he wore on them catching the sharp edge. He twisted the blade as to take it from his underling and tossed it to the side, and then, as he dropped down from his higher standing position, swiped a hoof at the pegasus' face, rattling his head and shifting him off to the side. Not even bothering to look to see his minion's status, Enkidu charged forward towards Vin, who had begun to cast another spell. He soon closed with her, and spun on his front hooves to aim his back ones at her, letting loose a buck that caught Vin on her side, interrupting her spell and flinging her several yards away. She yelped in pain as she landed in a heap. She staggered as she rose to her feet, drawing her rapier from its sheath with the her magic. Vin gathered her wits about her as she focused on Enkidu, a fierce look etched upon her face.

"Oh, it. Is. ON!!" she growled, and she and Enkidu charged at each other.

Just a little more, Highwind thought to himself, Come on, you can do it, you know you want to. He had managed to get three of the four following him in a tight formation as he began moving to the skies above his allies. He made to pretend that he had disregarded them, and was feigning to move to help his friends so he could gather the ones attacking him into a tight enough group. The last one seemed to be hanging back a little, though. 'A little closer,' he mentally said to himself. He turned in the air and adopted a flight path that intentionally left him open to attack, and the fourth pegasus took the bait and dived. 'Perfect,' Highwind thought as he suddenly and sharply rose, faster than any of his pursuers could blink. As he passed the diving Red Wing, he smacked the blunt end of his lance against the head of the enemy pony, causing him to veer wildly off course and crash into one of the three following pegasi. Highwind then turned in midair, took a deep breath, and unleashed his dragon fire. The blast caught all four Red Wings, setting parts of their clothing, manes, and feathers on fire, and the shock wave of the blast sent them crashing into the two fliers that were harassing Azure.

Azure had just taken a swipe at one of the pegasi that had just over reached on his attack, when a flash of light above him caught the corner of his eye. He glanced up for a split second, and then returned to look at the other pegasus, who had foalishly taken the opportunity to actually look up at what caused the flash. The first pegasus, staggered by Azure's attack, stumbled into the second one, catching his attention and distracting him enough for Azure to move into position. The four pegasi caught in Highwind's dragon fire were getting closer, and Azure wanted to time his punch for maximum effect. The unharmed pegasus then turned back to where Azure was, and after not seeing him there, quickly looked about to find him, only to see a blue-clothed unicorn rearing up on his hind hooves, with a bright blue shining light focused on one of his front hooves. The pegasus could feel the heat of the fireball behind him intensify greatly as the unicorn in front of him brought his hoof down and forward. The blast from the magic, combined with the fireball from Highwind's breath attack, knocked Azure back several yards, but the diamond dog punch connected with the pegasus caught in the middle, and the resulting explosion sent all eight of the hapless Red Wing pegasi barreling straight at Tricky Bit and the three pegasi still fighting her.

Tricky Bit had been dodging their attacks, not having a weapon of her own to use to defend herself with, and was quickly running out of energy and ideas on how to get out of this, when she saw the mass of ponies barreling her way. She feinted to her left, tricking one of the brigands into reaching on his attack, and got him off balance. She then quickly took a swipe at one of the other pegasus' front hooves, tripping him up, if only momentarily. She intentionally hesitated for a moment, luring the last pegasus to attack. At the last second, Tricky then jumped back and out of the way, as the quickly moving group of pegasi practicing uncontrolled mass flight slammed into the three mercenaries caught in their way, scooping them up into their chaos, their flight path leading them to a crash site that was centered squarely on Enkidu and Vin.

Vin had managed to parry or dodge most of Enkidu's attacks, and she was very glad she did, as the few attacks that did connect hurt like she had been trampled by a herd of buffalo. However, he also attacked constantly, and never let her have any openings to cast, keeping her purely on the defensive. She did manage to get a few swipes and thrusts of her own in, but Enkidu either blocked or dodged most of them. The two of them were quickly getting into a stalemate, and the only determination of who won would be who tired out first. It was looking to be in Enkidu's favor on that front, as he seemed to have vastly superior stamina than Vin. Just as she was running out of ideas on how to turn this around, Vin glanced over Enkidu's shoulder, and then gathered a sly smirk on her lips.

"Enkidu, darling," Vin chimed wryly, "What has many wings, but cannot fly, many hooves, but cannot stand, and many heads, but not a brain amongst them all?" She batted her eyelashes at him as a look of confusion spread across his face.

"Riddles? Now? Here?" Enkidu questioned, "Ha! You cannot win this bout with such frivolities! I'll have your answer now, and then your head!"

"Oh, my answer you most certainly will have," Vin responded, as she pointed the tip of her rapier over Enkidu's shoulder, pointing behind him. Vin jumped out of the way as Enkidu turned to look at what was causing so much ruckus behind him. His pupils and irises shrunk to pinpoint size as the mass of pegasi caught in the earlier explosion crashed into him, knocking him into the last two remaining ponies, and burying him under a pile of hooves and wings. As he worked to untangle himself from his underlings, Vin managed to cast a fire spell over the lot of them, and they were once again on fire. Panic set in amongst the Red Wings, and as soon as they were free of the crash site, they bolted. Enkidu was following close behind, but not without yelling back at the adventurers.

"Don't think you've won this!" he yelled, "We'll be back, and next time, there won't be any mercy!" At that, he and the rest of his group took off and were out of sight within minutes.

"I suggest we get moving from this place," Highwind said as the mercenary group vanished into the sky, "I scarce want to be here if they return soon." The other three agreed, and the group were quickly on their way.

-=*=-

As they crested the hill in front of them, Cornelia came into view of the four ponies. A look of relief washed over Azure, Highwind, and Vin, but Tricky Bit wasn't enjoying the prospect of being out of one fire and in another. Before the group got much farther, though, Azure Vessel and the others turned to her and stopped.

"Your attempted thievery aside," Azure began, "I cannot overlook the fact that those... mercenaries... mentioned your family, and made a move to capture you. They most decidedly weren't the most friendly of ponies, and I doubt they had any good intentions for any of you. We have business with the town guard, but not to turn you in. If you'd like to tell us, we'd like to help." Highwind and Vin nodded in agreement. Tricky Bit looked at them as if they'd just taken leave of their senses, and then slowly spoke up.

"What? Like the town guard cares what happens to the family of a thief..."

"Then we ask, not as town guard, but as simply concerned ponies," Highwind answered as he stepped towards her. Tricky stepped back at first, but Highwind pointed at the ropes still binding her, then stepped forward again. After a minute, he had the ropes loosened and off of her, freeing her wings. "If you care not to tell us, then you are free to go. You have worries enough, it would seem, and we'll not keep you from working to solve them." Highwind then stepped back to rejoin the others. Tricky Bit looked at the three of them once more, then took another step back. A moment later, she turned and fled, leaving the trio behind with nary a word. Seconds later, she was out of sight, having made for a nearby treeline.

Vin sighed as she lost sight of the thief. "I sincerely hope you two know what you are doing."

"Doing the best thing we can do to help her and her family at the moment," Highwind replied as he took one last look at where Tricky Bit disappeared. Shortly after, the three turned to make their way to the guard station.

-=*=-

They are foals to let me go, Tricky Bit thought to herself, but at least now I can try to figure out how to spring my folks and my sis. Enkidu is hurt, and it'll be a while before they get back to his base... Her thoughts trailed off as she made her way to where she stashed her gear. She didn't carry much, just enough to survive with, but it counted for all she had to her name, and it served her well in the time she had it. Her dagger, a pouch of bits that she'd gained through various legal and illegal means, a deck of playing cards she'd used in various games of chance, and a map she was working on. The map had slowly been put together over the last few months by Tricky as she gathered information from the various settlements and travelers on bandit raids and Red Wing sightings, trying to narrow down where their base of operations were. She had no intention to pay those thugs a single bit, but was going to do everything in her power to find where they were hiding, and spring her family.

This last attack was a mistake Enkidu had made. Such a large group of them, and with the second-in-command to lead them, meant that they were nearby. As she studied her map, there was only one possible location they could have come from, and she knew she would find them this time. She packed up her map and everything else into her saddlebag, and made to leave, but something in the back of her mind made her look back at the village of Cornelia nearby. She had no clue why anypony would give her such a chance, especially after she just tried to steal from them, and furthermore, they even asked to help her. How naive are they?

As she turned back again to leave, one more thought struck her. She knew she was way out matched when the Red Wings attacked, and they had also gotten the drop on her. Even if she hadn't been tied, she knew she'd have been a goner without the help of those three. They didn't even have to fight against them, they could have just taken the bag of bits and gems and sell her to her fate. Why didn't they? If they wanted anything from her, they certainly weren't going to get it by letting her go. So why did they fight for her? And what was so important about that crystal they carried? She had heard the blue-clad unicorn speaking as if he was talking with it at one point, and they had mentioned taking it to somepony to see it. Clavicle? Custard the Clover? Something like that, she wasn't sure.

Those thoughts continued to nag at her as her hooves slowly carried her towards Cornelia.

-=*=-

Azure Vessel, Highwind, and Vintessa LaRouge made their way to the town guard station in Cornelia. The two stallions needed to report the attack to the others so they could be on alert, and they also needed to let Sergeant Pansy know they needed to go to Everfree Castle to speak with Clover the Clever. Pansy, while reluctant to let two of his junior guards go on such a long journey, even with the help of Vin, he nevertheless agreed that they needed to take the Wind Crystal to Clover when Azure told him about it. It was not long when Azure and Highwind were ready to leave on the trip when Vin brought their attention to the lone pegasus mare that was slowly making her way to them.

"It would seem our tricky thief has not yet slunk off into the mists," Vin mused. Azure and Highwind looked over to the approaching mare, who stopped a few feet from the group. Tricky Bit looked at the three of them, a look of confusion on her face, with but a tinge of sadness mixed in.

"Why?" she asked.

"Pardon?" Vin responded.

"Why did you let me go? Why did you fight for me, when you could have simply washed your hooves of me altogether?"

"As my friend said," Azure answered, "You've problems enough without us adding to them. Our offer still stands, if you would have it." He stepped forward and lifted his front right hoof, extending it to Tricky. She looked at it, then to him, then Vin, Highwind, then back to Azure. He held a warm smile, whilst Vin had her signature smirk that was always on the verge of spilling over into a laugh, while Highwind simply nodded when Tricky looked at him. After a small while, Tricky slowly raised her hoof to meet Azure's, shaking it once they met. After their hooves parted, the group turned to head to the path out of town. As they moved down the road, Tricky spoke up.

"My folks," she began, "they ran a bakery that was quite successful some time ago. Real great place, always had fresh bread for everypony all the time. My little sister and I would always help our mother bake in the morning, and then we'd help our father sell the bread in the afternoon. He would always send me with a basket of it to the local orphanage. There were always a few foals there that had lost parents to bandit raids, or sickness, or a wild beast attack. The bread always seemed to cheer them up."

"A few years ago, some ponies came to the shop, demanding bits from my father. He staunchly refused, and always drove them out. They were the Red Wings, trying to stronghoof their way into the various shops in town. Then, one day, they simply decided that they had enough of him and a few of the others refusing to give them the bits they asked for, and attacked the town. We didn't have any guards, we weren't large enough to have them, and they took away a lot of ponies. They left a few behind, demanding ransoms if we wanted to ever see them again. They took both my parents, and my little sister."

"I've been tracking them ever since. What few ransoms that the remnants of the town paid never saw any of the ponies returned, and I doubt they ever will, unless somepony does something about it. I plan on finding them, and taking down their leader. Without him, the Red Wings won't hold together, and I can rescue my family and all the rest of the villagers." As she finished, Tricky held a look of determination on her face.

Azure was the first to speak up as the group made their way along the road. "Who is this leader, then? Not Enkidu, I hope?"

"No, Tricky responded, "Enkidu is just his right hoof lackey. No, the leader of the Red Wings is a pony that goes by the name Gilgamesh."

"Gilgamesh?" Vin asked in surprise, "You mean, Gilgamesh of the Red Hood? Gilgamesh of the Eight Winds? Alleyway Jack? THAT Gilgamesh?"

"I take it you've heard of him, then?" Tricky asked with some trepidation.

"Aye, I have," the red mage responded, "and if what you say is true, then we've quite the task ahead of us. At least tell us you have an idea of where to find them. The less time we let them ambush us, the quicker we can be rid of them. Gilgamesh is no pony to take lightly."

"I do have a map here," the thief said as she pulled out a rolled parchment, "that I've been working on for some time, trying to pinpoint their hideout. With that last attack, I've managed to narrow it down to somewhere near a ravine at the base of a nearby mountain." Vin grasped the map with her magic and pulled it out in front of the group so they could all see it. Tricky pointed out the location she thought would be most likely to be their hideout.

"Hmmm," Vin mused as she studied the map, "That would take us over Ghastly Gorge, and the bridge there. That would make sense for a hideout. It's also along the way to Everfree Castle. We can catch two birds with one net with that, so to speak." She passed the map back to Tricky, who rolled it up and put it back in her saddlebag.

"Then it's settled," Azure said with determination, "We'll locate this hideout, find your family and any other prisoners we can find, try to sneak them out, and make our way to Everfree as quickly as possible if the Red Wings catch unto us. At least we'll be able to let Clover the Clever know what's going on there, and he could send word to the guards." The other three nodded in approval as they continued down the road.

-=*=-

The road had turned rocky and desolate as they entered the foothills of the mountains surrounding Ghastly Gorge. Highwind and Tricky Bit took turns flying over the group to keep a lookout, while Azure and Vin kept the group going with healing when needed. While monsters tended to avoid the roads, some were brave or hungry enough to think a group of ponies was worth attacking occasionally. The four adventurers didn't have too much trouble with the few that dared show their faces, dealing with them as they came and moving on. One particular monster, a treant, a walking tree hoping to find its next meal among the band of ponies, even taught Azure Vessel a new magic spell via an exploding pinecone. A useful, if unusual, spell, to be sure.

It was not long before the group made it to the edge of Ghastly Gorge. The drop off at various parts of the edge was steep and unforgiving, and the bottom did not grant much kindness to those who weren't gifted with flight. Fortunately, Tricky had found a path leading down into the gorge that wasn't too difficult for the unicorns of the party to navigate. It also helped that the other half of the group was made up of pegasi, in case something bad did happen to anypony. As they made their way down, Tricky pointed out a route that led to a small camp she spied while looking for the pathway. The group soon found their way to an outcropping overlooking the camp, and hid behind some rocks while observing what was going on below.

They noticed that the camp was well hidden, and wouldn't be found easily if nopony knew to look for it here, or even knew what to look for. Fortunately, Tricky had enough run ins with the Red Wings to know how they operated, so it wasn't too hard to find them. No, the hard part, as they saw, was trying to find where they hid the prisoners, and how to get past all the guards in the camp unseen. There were a lot more ponies here than there were at Enkidu's attack. The one advantage the group seemed to have, however, was the fact that none of the pegasi in the camp were all that alert or attentive at the moment.

"Enkidu must not have gotten back yet," Tricky whispered to the others, "otherwise the camp would be at much higher alert than this."

"Even if he had," Highwind whispered back, "would they know to expect us at their doorstep?"

"Maybe, maybe not," she replied, "I don't know. But I do know that they've been tracking me for a while, so there's a good chance they would know that I've been looking for them. If they do, then Enkidu coming back beaten and burned as he is so soon after he left might tip them off. We'll have to hurry while we seem to have the element of surprise." The others nodded as Tricky crept out from hiding to sneak up to one of the tents on the edge of the camp. As soon as a passing patrol of guards was out of sight, she motioned to the others to move up to her. The group moved stealthily through the camp in that manner, Tricky moving up and hiding, looking if the coast was clear, then having the rest move up to her. It wasn't long when the group had found one of the larger tents guarded by several Red Wings pegasi at the entrance harassing an earthborne colt.

"Hmph, filthy dirt farmer," one of the pegasi grunted as he pushed the colt to the ground, "Hurry and take that box to the boss, and if you get it dirty, we'll make sure you get your fill of dirt for your next meal!" The earthborne colt shakily stood up and picked up the box next to the pegasus, careful not to drop it, and quickly tried to make his way through the camp. Tricky Bit and the others had a scowl on their faces at the treatment they saw, and Tricky herself hissed under her breath.

"That no good- that was Rocky Road, one of the villagers they took! They're here, we've got to help them!" Tricky looked around, looking for a way to distract the guards or sneak into the tent somehow. As she did so, she spied a patrol heading their way that hadn't seen them yet. She motioned to the rest of the group, and they set up to ambush the patrol. As they passed, the group pounced on them, quickly knocking them out. They then quietly managed to put on the armor that the patrol was wearing, tucking their own clothes away into their packs. Fortunately the armors disguised them well enough that they looked like any other patrol. Well, except for the fact that two of them weren't pegasi.

"A simple illusion will cover that," Vin said as she masked her's and Azure's horns, and conjured up the illusion of wings for each of them, "but it won't last long, so we'll have to be quick." The others nodded as Tricky started to walk to the front of the tent.

"Follow my lead."

-=*=-

The four pegasi were joking around, passing crude jokes about earthborne and unicorns, when one of them spied an approaching guard patrol headed their way. He saw that one of them had a sergeant's badge, and quickly told the others to straighten up before they get a flank chewing from the ponies coming their way. It was not long until the sergeant, a gray-coated, brown-maned mare, made her way to them, when the leader of the tent guards spoke up.

"Ma'am, all is well with the prisoner tent," he stated as he snapped to attention, "Had some problems with them giving a little lip earlier, but we quickly quieted them right up!"

"Hmmph," the disguised Tricky Bit replied, "Well, round them up. We've got orders to move them."

"Ma'am?"

"You heard what I said. We're moving the prisoners. Boss pony's orders."

"We haven't heard anything about this," the guard replied. He wasn't too certain, but he was sure he hadn't seen this pony before.

"Well, now you have," Tricky answered, "Just came down, and we're here to let you know. Now, you gonna get the prisoners, or are we gonna have to let the boss know his prisoners aren't moving because of some guards that can't take orders?" With that, the lead guard turned to the others in front of the tent and told them to prepare the prisoners for moving. As he was busy with that, Tricky turned to Azure and Vin quickly and whispered to them.

"I'll need a distraction from the two of you when we get the prisoners moving. I saw some barrels off to the side that looked to be filled with oil." The two disguised unicorns nodded in understanding as they slowly worked up the magic within them to generate spells on the fly, quickly and silently. Azure looked around quickly to make sure nopony was watching him, and made a few pinecone bombs that he quickly tucked away next to some barrels nearby. He had his magic ready to make a few more if necessary. Vin could only create enough ready magic for a few fire spells; she was still trying to maintain the illusions on herself and Azure.

When the guards produced the prisoners, Tricky had to stifle a gasp. Among the group were her parents and her younger sister. They looked worse for the wear, but generally seemed okay. Well, as okay as one could be as a prisoner in a bandit camp. When they were all outside, the lead guard turned back to Tricky.

"Okay, they're out. Where are we taking them?" He looked at Tricky suspiciously. Something was off about this guard he was talking to.

"We're taking them to the front gates," Tricky answered, "We have transport ready to move them to a new location. Boss wants them moved, thinks some ponies might be closing in to find them or something." She tried to sound like a convincing guard, while simultaneously trying to not sweat a river from all her nervousness. The guard, however, started looking closer at her.

"Hmmm, you seem familiar. Have we met before?" he asked.

"Probably, some patrol or a raid or..." she trailed off. This isn't looking good, she thought. Tricky suddenly turned to the side, pointing off to the set of barrels next to a tent a little ways away. "You there! What are you doing," she shouted. Azure took that as his cue to detonate the pinecones, causing them and barrels they were next to to explode, sending a large gout of fire up and outwards, catching other barrels in the fire, and sending a chain reaction of explosions to spill out into the camp. The guards turned to the barrels, and then back to the disguised ponies that were in front of them, only to catch several fire spells and the shining of steel in their faces. They were quickly subdued by the surprise attack, although the group did not have much time. The adventurers shrugged off their disguises, Vin dropped her illusions, and Tricky ran up to her parents and her sister, hugging them.

"Mom, Dad, Flower," Tricky exclaimed through the tears, "I'm so glad to see you again, and I'm happy you're alright." Her family returned her sentiments, but she quickly gathered herself as explosions continued to rock the camp. She knew the confusion wouldn't last long, and they had to get the villagers to safety quickly. She bade them to follow the group, and they all made their way through the camp, taking down any Red Wings that got in their way that tried to stop them. Fortunately for them, most of the mercenaries were busy trying to quell the raging fires blowing through camp. It didn't help the guards that Vin and Azure added to the fires every chance they got with more fire and pinecone bomb spells.

It was not long until the group managed to make their way out of the camp, and were heading up the gorge. The majority of the villagers split off to try to make for Cornelia or other nearby settlements, to warn them of the Red Wings, and to try to make their way back to their loved ones. Tricky's family decided to stay with the party, as they were headed to Everfree Castle, and could let the guards there know what was going on. They also wanted to be back with Tricky herself, and she with them. It wasn't until sometime later that they made their way to the bridge that passed over Ghastly Gorge on the way to Everfree.

"Not long now!" Tricky exclaimed, "Once we get over this bridge and through the plains surrounding Everfree, the Red Wings won't be a problem ever again!" The seven ponies started to gallop across the bridge, Tricky holding her little sister Flower Basket to help her keep up. As they neared the halfway point of the bridge, however, Highwind happen to look back to see if they were being followed. Sure enough, there were several of the Red Wings closing in on them from the direction of the camp.

"We've got company!" he warned, and Tricky gave Flower to their mother to hold.

"Go, run, fly away!" she told her family, "Get to Everfree and don't stop until you get there! We'll hold them off as long as we can, and then we'll be right behind you!"

"Nooo! Sis, don't go!" Flower cried as her mother and father nodded to their older daughter and made to get away. As Tricky wiped a tear from her eyes and pulled her dagger, Highwind quickly flapped his wings and readied his lance, turning in mid air to meet the oncoming mercenaries. Azure and Vin also turned, both drawing their swords and readying their magic. Just as Tricky landed to get ready for battle, the group heard a high-pitched scream come from behind them. They quickly turned, and Tricky felt the blood in her veins run cold.

Her family was in the middle of another group of Red Wings that had somehow managed to sneak ahead of them. Her mother and little sister were huddling next to each other, as her father was being held down by Enkidu, who still bore the scorch marks of his last encounter with the group. Just as Tricky was about to charge, however, they all heard a voice come from up above them.

"Oh HO! So you are the ones that put my precious camp to the torch. You are quite brave to attack me within my own domicile, and that bravery shall be met with the proper and just reward!" A moment later, a much larger pegasus landed on the bridge in front of them, between the group and Enkidu and his prisoners. The group of Red Wings that were pursuing the group from behind moved to gather on that side of the bridge, while Enkidu's group closed off the other end, trapping them all on the bridge with the lone pegasus.

The pegasus in question was a large, intimidating beast of a pony, a red coat of fur covering him, wearing a black armor chest piece that had gold trim on the edges. His mane and tail were candy striped red and white, a coloring scheme he seemed to share with the face paint he wore. The majority of his head and neck were covered in a red silk hood, and to his side he carried a naginata, a large type of polearm with a wickedly curved blade at the end. His hooves all ended in gauntlets that were made of the same black-and-gold-trimmed material as his armor. Upon his flank was the mark of a large, wooden bridge. He shot a glare at the party as he spoke again.

"It took me quite some time to gather those supplies, and to have them all go up in smoke? That simply just will not do." He took a closer look at the group as they tensed up, weapons ready for a fight. "Well, well, Tricky Bit. We meet again." Tricky gave a scowl as he called her name out. "I was beginning to wonder if you weren't going to show," he continued, "I had believed you were resigned to leave your family to their fate, as you wandered the land, lost and alone. Alas, I see that you have finally come to this part in our play, and with more actors in tow as well."

"GILGAMESH!" Tricky Bit yelled, "Release my family at once, and I may just let you live to see another day!" She snorted and kicked her front hoof against the ground, readying a charge, as the rest of the party moved to position themselves to attack if needed.

Gilgamesh, for his part, simply laughed as he shrugged off Tricky's threat. "Tricky, my dear sweet deluded foal of a pegasus, I have been to many lands, fought countless strange foes, and seen much in my travels. A little pony like you with that toothpick for a weapon does not scare me. If you wish to dance the dance of ages with me, then we shall do so on so grand a stage as this bridge! We shall even have an audience!" With that, he kicked up his naginata into his hooves and charged the party, while Tricky and the others did the same towards him.

Tricky and Gilgamesh reached each other first, and he swung his polearm in a mighty arc, looking to cleave Tricky in twain and end the fight right there. Tricky was a bit more agile than he accounted for, and she managed to dodge just under the swing, coming in close with her dagger. She tried to slash against his neck, hoping to cut through the cloth and into his flesh, but she heard the distinctive clink of metal on metal, and saw a moment later chain barding under the hood. She quickly got out from under him before he could react to her presence there.

Gilgamesh wasn't as worried about Tricky Bit, though, as he was with Highwind at the moment, who had taken the opportunity to try a diving attack with his lance. Gilgamesh brought his naginata up to attempt to deflect the dragoon's lance, and the two met as Highwind came crashing down, the force of his attack pushing the giant pegasus back several feet. The red-hooded brute managed to avoid the brunt of the attack, but it still took a little out of him to do so, and he couldn't ready in time to try to send an attack of his own back at the dragoon before he backed away. As he began to charge Highwind, flashes of fire and thunder erupted in front of Gilgamesh.

Vin was tossing fire and thunder spells at Gilgamesh, while Azure readied a few of his pinecone bombs to toss. For the most part, the giant of a pony was shrugging the majority of the magic off, either quickly putting out the fires, or just powering through the pain, as he closed on Highwind. Azure lobbed a few of the pinecones at the leader of the Red Wings, but Gilgamesh managed to deflect or dodge most of them. Most he knocked over the sides of the bridge, where they exploded after some time. A few, however, landed on the bridge, and began to roll to the sides, the curve of the bridge leading them away from the fight. For whatever reason, they didn't detonate, but that wasn't something Azure was concerned with at the time. He was more worried about he and his companions surviving this fight.

Gilgamesh had managed to make his way to Highwind and engaged him in combat, swinging his polearm with enough strength that had Highwind not dodged or deflected most of the hits, there would be dragoon cutlets in short order. In order to get the giant to back off, he took in a deep breath and exhaled a flash of fire, bathing Gilgamesh in a momentary sea of green flames. He hopped back, attempting to escape the flames, when he felt a sudden, sharp pain in his back. He looked back, and saw Tricky Bit with her dagger plunged into his back. Gilgamesh bucked wildly, knocking the thief off his back, and rounded onto her, catching her squarely in his eyes.

"Hmmph, you wanna play dirty, eh?" Gilgamesh roared, "Then how's this for dirty? Have a taste of my Death Claw!" He reared up on his hind hooves, while his fore hooves glowed with an intense, purple energy. Tricky Bit was caught off guard, and so was stunned when she saw the purple bands of energy, shaped like the claws of a dragon, form to her sides. She had heard about this attack before, when trying to gather as much information on Gilgamesh and the Red Wings as she could some time ago. Apparently, not many ponies that have fallen victim of this attack live much past it, the few ponies that escaped the Red Wings being the only ones to be able to give testament to its deadliness. The very same attack that is now poised to claim her life as its next victim.

As the ethereal lavender claws began to snap shut, Tricky felt a sudden jolt in her chest, and she was suddenly flying across the bridge a short distance, before landing a little ways away from where she was standing. Momentarily stunned, she managed to look back to what happened, when she saw Highwind standing where she was, his hooves up from where he had pushed her out of the way. Unfortunately, it also left him standing directly in the way of the Death Claw attack, and the claws clamped around him, discharging the energy of the attack into him instead. Highwind screamed in intense pain as the energy coursed through his body, several slashing wounds opening across his body. His lance fell to the side as he lost his grip on his weapon, and he slumped to the ground as his vision went dark and his body went numb.

"Highwind!" Azure screamed. He had seen his friend leap to Tricky's rescue, only to be on the receiving end of the attack he rescued her from. He barely even noticed his magic drawing the leylines of the attack to him as he rushed over to his fallen friend. He summoned the magic for his healing breeze and washed the currents over Highwind's wounds, attempting to heal his friend and try to save him from death. The wounds began to close, but Azure didn't get much of a chance to see how effective the spell was, as Gilgamesh pressed his attack against him. Azure jumped back, sliding Highwind off to the side so he was out of the way, and he glared at the brute facing off against him. Little did anypony notice, as he did so, the pinecones scattered about the bridge began to glow blue.

Azure screamed as he charged Gilgamesh. Tricky, still somewhat stunned from what just happened, crawled up to Highwind, trying to see if there was anything she could do to help him. It seemed that whatever magic Azure was able to perform helped some, but the dragoon was still heavily wounded, and he needed more help if he was going to make it. She turned to see if Vin could help, but she saw that it was all she and Azure could do just to simply fight hoof-to-hoof with the Red Wings leader. All the while, the pinecones continued to glow.

After a few more moments of this, Gilgamesh gave a gruff yell. "Enough of this! Now it's time we fight like stallions! And mares! And mares who stab the backs of stallions! For Gilgamesh... it is morphing time!" As he said this, the giant pony surprisingly began to grow in mass and bulk even more so than before. Bolts of energy began to form around him, as he gave a battle cry that sent shivers down the spines of the three standing adventurers. He somehow managed to grow an extra pair of front and back hooves, and in each one he held a weapon. As he brandished these new weapons, various swords and axes and whatnot, Gilgamesh gave another boast.

"I am Gilgamesh of the Eight Winds, and your fate is sealed!" As the mammoth of a pony stepped forward, he stepped on one of the glowing pinecones. He heard a crunch under his hoof, and he looked down, as did everypony else. That's when they all, finally, noticed the numerous pinecones, all glowing blue, scattered about the bridge. Azure's eyes suddenly widened once he realized what was about to happen. Apparently, so did Gilgamesh.

"Noooo wayyyyyyy!!!" is all that Gilgamesh managed to say before multiple explosions rocked, and eventually collapsed, the bridge out from under them. Azure and Vin plummeted into the ravine, while Tricky, still stunned from the blast, tried to glide down with Highwind, but was having little luck. Gilgamesh was flailing about as he tried to correct himself enough to fly, but remnant pinecones kept falling near him, exploding and upsetting the winds around him. Very shortly after, the lot of them splashed into the river at the bottom, the current catching them. Azure desperately tried to get a hold of Vin, Highwind, or Tricky, but the last thing he could see before the darkness claimed his vision was the blue explosions of more of his pinecones.