The Mechanist

by OceanBytez

The bigger they are...

I rush through town quickly enough. The area around the town is mostly lush forest. All except a single brick home sectioned off from the rest of town. It sits in the middle of a small artificial plain. I have no idea why they deforested the immediate area but the various scorched and ripped up areas hints that something dangerous happens here regularly. Some of the marks in the earth have thin layers of grass growing while others are fresh and have shards of a glassy substance laying in them.

At least a dozen guards roam about. All fully donned in golden armor. They seem particularly vigilant today and, several watch my approach suspiciously. Their intense gaze makes me nervous as they study my every movement. Once I get close enough for them to see me better they abruptly stop glaring at me. Perhaps they already know me even though this is the first time I have worked with any of them.

The home itself is simple enough in design. I almost ignore it but, as I approach I spot runes carved into the walls. The subtly pulsate in a harsh light blue glow that was hidden by the bright of day. I recognize it as some sort of ward magic though I am far from an expert. I assume that these spells protect the home from whatever caused the scars in the earth near this home.

There is a large cart placed in a workshop projecting off the side of the home. The workshop has various tools, books, and magic objects placed within. The sidewall is lined with various glass bottles of assorted odd shapes. There are odd fluids within them. Some containers are boiling fluids while others appear to be condensing the vapor and running the result through filters. There is an odd smell in the air that I am unable to identify.

The cart seems to be already packed and ready to go for me. I notice immediately that there is an extra panel of wood on the sides of the cart. I scoff at this terrible idea. I hate when carts have crappy repairs. Why not just replace the planks rather than stacking new one over the first. Closer observation reveals the original planks seem to be in decent shape anyway. It makes no sense really.

"Hope you like it!" Halberd speaks a bit too loudly and startles me out of my thoughts. "We had the extra planks nailed to this cart yesterday. It should help keep the product safe from arrows. Sadly though our mage, as powerful as he claims he is, cannot place protective spells on the cart with such short notice. We will just have to improvise if anything goes south."
At this point, he seems a bit unsure. I can tell he does not like improvising a mission. He continues "I even have an extra set plate armor for you too if you wish. Is the weight going to be too much?" He suddenly looks at me expecting an immediate answer.

"Well..." I contemplate the weight of everything. "The cart is going to be very heavy with the extra wood. I don't want the armor. It will just slow us down. I should be able to pull the cart though." I beam confidently at the last bit. A life of cart pulling has honed my leg muscles to be impressive even for a royal guard.

He begins walking away while finishing the conversation. "Well good. We leave in five minutes. Get yourself ready while I gather the troops."

How rude...He could at least finish before leaving like that. I immediately get myself to the harness of the cart and begin working with the straps. Strapping myself in has always been a challenge but, I have done it for years. It is still certainly faster to have someone else do it so I take advantage whenever I can. This, however, was not one of those times. I would be handling the setup all on my own. The sole advantage is that all I can make all the straps just tight enough. Not so loose that they rub and cause blisters and not so tight as to cut off circulation and be generally painful.

Once I finish I pull on the cart. The straps are pulled taut immediately and, for a few moments, the cart does not budge. I plant my hooves and put more force behind it on a second attempt and it begins to roll forward. Whatever this material was it had a weight of its own. The extra wood just exacerbated the issue and made this cart insanely hard to get started. Once it was moving it was much easier to keep moving or change the speed albeit, slowly.

As I exited the workshop, the cart in tow, I see Halberd with about 20 or so guards formed up. He dismisses them and they each rush to take positions around me. One unicorn takes a position directly in front of me and begins offering me directions. Two pegasi fly off in the direction we are going presumably to scout the area ahead. They all move very quickly and efficiently. Their skill still astounds me to this day.

We head onto the trail to begin the long part of our trek. As the trip begins I zone out and let my body guide itself as we go.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Light begins to fade as the evening sun finally retreats below the treelines. The lighting is getting a bit dark. We have traveled a significant distance. At this point, I have chatted up one of the nearby guards trying to see if his family owns a business in Canterlot that might need my service. The guard just unshakable however and ignored my every attempt to converse. If the whole trip goes this way it will be awfully dull.

Canterlot is a huge city so finding business should not be too hard even with no connections walking into it. I wonder what it might be like to take a small vacation in the city. Canterlot remains one of the last places I have yet to travel to surprisingly. My business usually has me running around between towns in the wilds. The sweet air of nature is nice but, it does get old after a while and a change of pace is my key desire now.

At this point, the terrain has become increasingly difficult. The path is made up of tiny stones that hurt my hooves and cause the cart to get a questionable grip. It tugs on my sides as the wheels collide with rocks forcing me to pull against them and correct the course continuously. Some of the guards begin to mumble about stopping for the day. I certainly would not mind a stop. Especially considering this is one of the heaviest carts I have had the misfortune to pull. I am so tired I swear I saw a subtle glow from behind. It distracts me only for a moment.

Suddenly one of the wheels catches something and jars me to an abrupt and painful stop. The guards all pause when they notice the cart stop. I pull at it with all my might but, the cart refuses to budge. I look back and see one of the wheels is wedged in a deep hole in the ground. Odd I usually spot holes of that size. I wonder how I missed that. I am having an off day.

Halberd shouts out orders and two guards come to help push the cart. CLANG thuuunk

I hear the sudden shouting from one of the guards. I do not really catch what he has to say other than "AMBUSH!" That word sat with me for a moment before I realized I needed to get loose and to safety. The guards are good but, that does not make me any less of a target. Thun chingk

I felt that the last one hit somewhere on the harness. A quick inspection reveals an arrow hit a metal piece of the strap mechanism. It pinned the metal fastener and straps down. The easy solution would be to cut myself loose but I did not think to carry a blade with me. It seems I will be stuck until I pull this arrow out of the old fashioned way. I stretch uncomfortably to reach the arrow meanwhile, the sounds of battle pick up.

Multiple guards form a protective wall pointed toward the source of the arrows. They cast a bright blue ward just in time as a volley of arrows rains upon us. A unicorn steps out of the thick foliage and begins to cast a spell. Pure magical energy surges up to the tip of his horn and begins forming an orange ball. As it grows it takes on a much deeper red color and seems to almost pulse periodically.

A group of four Royal Guards attempt to advance and preemptively stop the spell but are thwarted as numerous more shadowy figures surge forth to protect their magical ally. The clash is brief but the guards quickly retreat behind the ward as another volley of arrows fills the air.

At this point, I am tugging fiercely at the arrow holding me captive to the cart. I pull with everything I have but, I just cannot seem to dislodge it from the wood. I opt to simply watch the battle unfold before me as it should surely end quickly in my favor. One of the guards should free me after the battle.

The unicorn with the angry hellish orb finally finishes whatever his spell was. He tilts his head and flings the orb violently at the guards. As it collides with the ward the magical energy pulses red then flashes white suddenly before dissipating. The poor stallion casting the ward howls in pain as the spell apparently forced his ward to generate a huge magical surge back into him. His horn appears to glow red from several cracks and is steaming. I can hear it fizzle faintly before he collapses to the ground.

The guards charge as their defense falls hoping to rush their foes before they can attack once more. This tactic seems to work well as this time the whole group advances. With numbers now in their favor, they begin easily decimating their untrained opponents in close-ranged combat. I can hear the clatter of blades and various screams of pain as the battle unfolds.

The mage who cast the ward breaker joins the battle with his allies. He is much deadlier than any bandit as his orange magic lashes too and fro like a dancing firefly. Royal Guards surround him but, he simply jumps back before sending a wave of energy taking out several guards. Less than half of the original defensive formation protecting me stands.

I notice a commotion higher up in the foliage. The movement reveals more golden armor. No more arrows attack my remaining defenders and, the unicorn looks at the offending disturbance in frustration realizing his plan is failing. He creates some kind of high pitched whistle with his magic that echoes deep into the forest. Suddenly one last group of raiders floods toward the rear of the cart beyond my vision.

My defenders rush to fend them off as Lt. Halberd bursts through the foliage from the earlier disturbance. His face twisted with a fury that seemed unnatural on a pony. His magic violently assaulted the unicorn before he could take advantage of the opening created by his allies.

The battle seems as if it is won. For a moment I was very anxious but, I always knew it would end in my favor. I look over the wounded saddened that so many good ponies could get hurt. At least... I hope they are just hurt. The injuries look severe.

In my brief distraction, I miss a bit of the battle. Turning my attention to what I hope to be the conclusion of the battle I note that the flankers had been crushed. Now the lone unicorn was in a fierce standoff against 8 guards including the captain. He charges a spell. All of the guards prepare wards in preparation for this dangerous unicorn's next attack.

He releases a charged bolt of energy that reminds me of lightning but, only if it was red. It was very hot and I feel a wave of heat wash over me from the erratic movements of the energy bolt. It jumps around searching for a break in the defense but, all of the guards seem to form an impossible barrier over each other. Their overlapping fields allowing them to be far better protected by magical attacks than earlier.

His eye flashes my direction and my heart skips a beat. I know the guards will win but, the way he looked at me flooded me with fear. It was the look of a mad man who focused on something he wanted to destroy. Perhaps he thought I was important somehow or that the guards would make a mistake if they worried about saving me. The energy bolt zipped viciously toward the guards before suddenly zipping over their heads. They all brace before realizing what is happening.

The bolt flies forward and it is all I can focus on. I cannot move and have no hope of surviving such a strike. I kneel and cover my head to try and duck the bolt. I close my eyes in terror hoping for enough luck to make it through this. A soft blue glow of a magical ward slowly envelops me. It washes over me like water with a soothing cool feel.

I open my eyes to see the bolt fly right over my head. My thoughts are flying so fast that the world seems to move in slow motion. At first, the bolt missing me was a relief. The realization hit me like a wall. I do not even have time to think about the contents of my cart. My eyes go wide as a deafening roar drowns out everything. A bright flash floods the entire forest. The wave of heat from behind me scorches my body even through the ward. The pain of the heat begins to be unbearable. Suddenly massive force blows me clean away and darkness consumes my vision.....

Author's Note:

And so it begins. An unknown antagonist (maybe) with incompetent allies. The overall event that sets the story into motion.

This chapter was really fun for me to write because I had to write about several smaller fights in a bigger battle. All in the order as it is perceived by our old buddy Comet.

There will be some skipping of the latter parts of this battle. It is actually far from over but, Comet is out cold and so is our perception of the battle. Question is should there be a dream sequence or should I go straight to the aftermath. Only time will tell.

Also, I am sure you are wondering what the title means by this point. You will find out soon enough. Just give it time and all shall be revealed.

Comments

[OceanBytez]

I just want the readers to know that I really enjoyed writing the action sequence. I hope it is as exciting for you reading it as it was for me imagining it. It was like a live-action movie in my head and i could not wait to spill it out onto pages.

[Dashie04]

I’m glad you had fun, that’s usually what matters when writing stories.

Thankfully, this is now completely in present tense, which is nice. This looks to be heading the way of Never Meant to Be, not professional in the slightest, but an enjoyable read anyways.

[OceanBytez]

10097268
Thank you. I never aimed to be professional. I honestly just want the book to be fun yet also have an intriguing plot. I will admit this not the last action sequence that will happen but, probably the only big one. Guess I will see.