Epilogue
“Battlemother!” Stringe looked up as the pup neared, her fangs already bared. “We found something!”
The pup—Jasper, she reminded herself. Named after a variant of quartz, and about as smart—came to a running stop in the snow, almost tumbling over his armor as he slid on all fours into the small piles of rock she was waiting in. Like the rest of her pack, he’d been chosen for the mission based on two things: his coloration, which was a gentle grey that blended in with the surrounding snow—So why’d his sire name him Jasper?—and his ability to follow orders.
She questioned that last one sometimes. Like many pups, he was eager and willing, with enough sense battered into him by the training camps to obey her commands. And what few he questioned, her own paw would set straight. But like many of his siblings, there was a lack of …
Temperance, she thought as she regarded the pup panting in front of her, bowing his head but taking quick glances up at her in his eagerness to report. Then again, that was why pups were given over to the command of stronger, more seasoned veterans like herself, dogs with more even minds, where the eagerness of youth had given way to caution, cunning, and deadly understanding.
“Well?” she asked, staring down at the pup.
He nodded quickly, tongue lolling out of one side of his helmet. “We found a thing,” Jasper repeated, the barks and growls coming out much softer than they had a moment ago. Which was good. He’d finally recalled their standing orders to be quiet. And before she’d had to pummel him into the nearby boulders.
“You’re sure?” she asked, bending down and letting one paw fall to the handle of the massive mace slung across her back. Jasper quivered and shrunk back, but nodded all the same, his armor shifting.
“Yes, Battlemother Stringe,” he said. “Dark magic. Pony magic!”
“Where?” Her question came out as a growl, and this time Jasper did shrink back. She caught him by his breastplate with one mighty paw, lifting him into the air, feet kicking wildly beneath him.
“North!” Jasper barked, pointing frantically the way he’d come. “That way!”
She pulled him close, close enough that she could see her breath ripple against his coat. “Where to the north, pup? You and your paw-mates were assigned to the north.”
“I … I …” She debated throwing him against the rocks, or maybe to the snow, to help jumpstart his mind. “Six miles to the east of the great pony city, one mile south! In the foothills!”
“Much better,” she said, letting go and dropping Jasper to the ground. “The rest of your paw-mates?” She couldn’t recall if she’d assigned one of her few warriors to that collection of pups.
“Watching, battlemother! Guarding the magic!”
“Good,” she turned, eyeing the others of her pack that had stayed with her in the rocks. One warrior, young but strong, and four pups. “We move,” she ordered, the warrior nodding beneath their armor. “Quietly.” She gave the last word a hiss of emphasis, and again her warrior nodded before turning and barking orders to the other four pups. They jumped to their paws, eager to serve the Golden Horde.
“You,” Stringe said, lifting Jasper again in one paw. “Take me there.”
“At once, battlemother.” The pup bowed low before turning and racing off through the snow to the north, out across the rolling foothills.
Stringe moved after him, scowling at the endless white plains as she moved out of the protection of the rocks, wind cutting through gaps in her armor and chilling her coat. This had better be something, she thought as her lone warrior moved after her, pups spread out around him. I am sick and tired of this endless cold.
The general had been right, however. The ponies had been planning something. Somehow, through some magic Stringe didn’t understand, they’d made an entire city appear in the middle of the plains. And then fought over it, pony battling pony and some strange, dark creature from the mountains both.
Her scowl deepened as she thought of the strange shadow creature that had rampaged across the mountains. Her pack had tailed the pony airship for days, almost revealing themselves several times. One of them, a pony clad in tan, crystal armor, had almost spotted them with his strange magic, and purely by luck.
A shiver ran through her, one that had nothing to do with the wind. Had they been found, it would have been better to die than to return home and report to the general that she’d exposed their operation. Her rank, and very likely her life, would have been forfeit. Better to die in battle for the glory of the Golden Horde. She’d been told as much when she’d taken the mission.
There had been that group of yeti they’d been forced to slaughter, the ones with the dark magic clouding their minds, burning from the crowns of crystal on their heads. There had been several pups wounded, but no mindless yeti were a match for the weapons they now wielded. They had cut them down to the last without any mercy.
Then had come the explosion from the center of the new pony city, and the strange rainbow lights in the sky that made one soft if one looked at them for too long. We should have left days ago. The thought rolled through her mind like tremor through the earth, but she ignored it. Softness could be countered by discipline, and she was a battlemother. And I must return with something for the horde.
That was why she’d stayed. That was why her pack was spread across the mountains, searching for anything, anything that she could bring back to Kaan. A fragment of crystal, of armor, anything. And yet the dark crystals seemed to have vanished, ripped from the world like they’d never existed.
As she moved she let out a low howl, as loud as she dared so many miles from the pony city. She’d seen pony guards walking the streets from the foothills, golden specks that spoke of order and force. Seen more arrive by train, even after the accursed airship had left. If they were spotted, or even suspected, they would be forced to flee or die.
No one must know we were here, Stringe reminded herself as she moved across the snow in a gentle lope. That was why their armor had been covered in thin, grey cloth. Why her pack was made up of warriors and pups with grey-and-blue coloration like her own. Camouflage. Stealth.
A pity none of the more specialized warriors were quite ready for such a mission yet. But the horde was still young. And their loss is my gain, Stringe thought, baring her teeth. Already she was a battlemother, one of the few females powerful enough to both lead a pack of her own and give birth to new pups to fuel the growing army of the horde. When and where I choose, she thought with a sense of satisfaction. She’d already birthed one litter of pups, a litter that had been conceived before the rise of the great General Kaan, now given in his honor. Her clan was from one of the first he’d claimed. Maybe after I return from this mission a success I will consider bearing another.
She would have many options available to her after she returned from her current assignment. If she returned with something to show for it other than wasted rations. The Horde was still young, only a few months old. Returning with empty paws would be seen as a waste of what resources they possessed.
Granted, it would likely mean being sent to acquire more, sent on a raid to the south, into the unknown lands past their new home. She’d heard the rumors of what lay beyond their magnificent new dwellings, of lands never explored occupied by creatures never seen. And armies too. Already some of their scout packs had returned with tales of spoils and combat to be had there.
Going south on a raid would mean going into battle. The idea made her paws clench in eager anticipation.
But that is then. This is now. The reminder brought her back in line as Jasper scampered on up ahead, leaving clear tracks across the snow. Idiot. Behind her, she knew, her warrior and remaining four pups were covering their own tracks, as well as hers. No traces.
Answering howls began to drift out at her from the winds, often muffled and garbled, but understandable enough. My pack returns. Good.
If Jaspers paw-mates had actually found something, then they would finally be able to depart. They could return to the caves in the Crystal Mountains, gather what was left of their supplies, collapse the entrances, and head east. At the Choke they would pack their armor and equipment away to take passage on a private vessel south, down the edges of the sea. To return home.
With a prize. A familiar scent teased at her nostrils, carried on the winds, and she almost growled. It was her pack. But since she couldn’t see them yet over the rolling foothills, that meant they were once again ignoring their orders to stay clean. She would need to remind them.
Then she paused. There was something else to the musky scent she was now smelling, sharp and bitter, a smell that made the hackles on the back of her neck rise.
Fear. She came to a stop, one hand going to the crossbow hanging at her hip, the other outstretched to her remaining warrior. “Ready your weapons,” she ordered, drawing back the cord of her crossbow with a quick tug. “Something has the pups spooked.”
The warrior grunted, drawing his own crossbow and loading it. Around him, the four pups she’d given him responsibility over bunched up, readying their own, weaker crossbows. While not as powerful as the larger ones she and her warriors wielded, nor as well-built or even easy to reload, they were far more numerous in the paws of her many pups. Once their ammunition was expended, the heavy weapons were equipped with large blades for close combat. Simple, brutal, and effective.
Stringe moved ahead, motioning with one paw for her remaining warrior to flank to the left as they neared the next hill. From the strength of the scent, the pups Jasper had led them to were on the other side. And they still smelled terrified, though there was no smell of blood with them.
A quiet howl echoed nearby. She recognized the call. Phosphor, one of her other two warriors. With his own paw of pups. Four for each of her warriors, and eight more besides. Good. If there is trouble, they will arrive to lend aid.
As she smashed the skulls of their foes in with her mace.
She crested the top of the hill, crossbow at the ready, and saw her wayward pups. All four of them were clustered around something in the snow, facing outward. Their ears were down, their eyes wide. But there was no foe nearby that she could see.
However, she could feel something poking at her mind. A tendril of unease, and she bared her fangs. Magic. And familiar magic at that. Not the earthen magic of her kind, but the magic of fear that the shadow pony had used against the city.
“What have you found?” she asked, lowering her weapon slightly.
“Battlemother!” One of the pups darted forward. “A pony horn, battlemother!” Behind where she had stood, Stringe could see a small depression in the snow. The sense of unease was faint, still, but seemed to be radiating from it. “Look, battlemother!”
She eyed the pup for a moment, checking her for any signs of strangeness in her eyes or elsewhere before taking a few steps forward and peering into the hole. There, at the bottom of the depression in the snow, its surface slick as if it had been radiating heat, was a red, curved horn. Not like any unicorn horn she’d ever seen before, but at the same time, it was the right size, and practically radiating magic.
“So … you did find something.” She shoved the slight edge of fear away as she looked down at the horn. This would be worth showing the great General Kaan. “Very good.” The pups nodded with eager excitement. “Very well.” She shifted her weight, one arm reached for her pack. “We will collect it—”
“Jasper will!” The pup jumped forward, and before she could say anything, wrapped his paws around the horn and lifted it out of the snow.
Then he froze, his eyes going wide with shock, body tensing as his jaws opened, sucking in a breath to scream, pupils shrinking—
Stringe’s crossbow spike entered through Jasper’s mouth, punching out the side of his helmet and skewering the pup’s brain. The body teetered for a moment, twitching, and then slumped to the snow, the red horn bouncing atop the limp form.
“Idiot!” Stringe snarled, glaring down at the dead pup. “Overeager imbecile!” The other three pups had widely eased away as she glared down at the body. “Touching a dark magic artifact with his paws! Fool!” She rounded on the rest of the pups. “Do any of the rest of you plan on joining him?” All stared up at her with wide eyes, but they shook their heads.
“Now we have to dispose of the body,” she said, turning back to the horn lying atop Jasper’s corpse. Blood was leaking out from beneath his body, now, staining the snow. She reached around her back, pulling out the small pack she’d been carrying since the mission began.
“Idiots,” she spat again as she pulled out the small, crystalline container from inside her backpack. It didn’t look impressive, but the unicorn working for General Kaan had assured her that it would contain any magic placed inside with the proper and careful bleeding of any excess magical pressure. She opened the box and set it in the snow. A pair of tongs came from her pack next, and she carefully reached out and plucked the horn from where it lay atop the pup’s body. She set it gently into the crystalline box, then, very carefully and using only the tongs, packed a blanket atop it so that it wouldn’t move much during transport. Only then, with the lid locked in place, did she at last put the tongs away and stand.
One more of her warriors had arrived while she was busy, bringing with him another four pups. All of them watched as she carefully secured the small crystal box within her pack. Whether or not the general’s pet unicorn could find a use for it, Kaan would have it to do with as he pleased. And if it held power of any kind …
“You three,” she said, pointing to the other members of the paw the dead pup had been part of. “Bury that body and all signs it was here. Deep! And fast!” The three jumped at her command, burrowing into the snow with great scoops of their large forepaws. “Leave no trace of blood or injury.” She stepped over to the body, and after a moment’s consideration, grasped the clean end of the crossbow spike between her fingers and pulled it free of the body, wiping it clean on the snow. No sense leaving any clues if someone did find the body.
She turned to look at her warriors. “One of you stay behind and make certain these pups bury the body,” she said. “The rest will gather the pack. We move for the cave. And from there, to home.”
She smiled, fangs bared to the world. “We bring General Kaan a great prize.”
END OF THE DUSK GUARD SAGA: BOOK THREE
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The Diamond Dogs were never fleshed out its a shame
Battlemother is a great title. And the epilogue promises so much in the future, building off the previous stories' epilogues.
I have loved this series but there is one little plot thread that has seemed to go no where and seeming vanish since the first story. What was up with the unicorn that was watching hunter during the ball and just disappeared? I had thought that it was going to tie back into this story due to the title hunter hunted but it seems that it has just gone unexplained. It was such a strange occurrence that does not seem to tie into anything later.
On a different topic, I think you handled a war story great and look forward to the next story.
First of Wooot!!! Thank you for righting this.
That said Nooooooo! They didn’t ask about his question. The kiss!!!! Sadpone.
Well, that was underwhelming. The setup and framing squandered a lot of opportunities for character work, you failed to follow through on Nova's plot thread, and there are numerous serious technical problems, especially regarding lighter than air vehicles which are seriously jarring to anyone with even a basic understanding of the subject.
Okay, let's see how much of a backlog we've got he—
Whoops. May have let this one go a little long. Okay then, here we go!
9864973
Eh, it wasn't an issue in the show, so I kept to their rules in that regard (no contractions). And some languages have gone a thousand years with little drift before in the real world, so we'll just give it a wave ...
9865069
In the future, we'll see them be even more in synchro. The team here did have a tendency to somewhat fight on their own while trading off, and that was intentional. They've been training for a while, but they've still got a ways to go.
And yeah, don't mess up your teleportation magic. My own thoughts on that matter is that the first elements of the spell are all the safeties, just so something like this doesn't happen. Unless, you know, you really get jarred during the attempt.
9870481
I'm glad you've enjoyed the series and the characters so much! This was a great comment to see in my morning. Hopefully you'll be around still for the next entry! And as to Bolt handing over her controls, don't worry, she's got a plan for that.
9874372
Sky Bolt has something in the works (spoilers). However, arming The Hummingbird would be something that could cause issues with Equestria's non-militarization treaties the Celestia and Luna have mentioned before. Though if you'd expect therefore, that this issue may come up in the future, well ... you'd be right!
Yeah ... but that kind of kills the drama. And those teams have had a lot more experience than this team has. But books written with that approach have to be very careful, as it confuses and alienates a lot of readers who end up having no idea what's going on.
9878127
I took great pleasure in working to make Sombra legitimately terrifying and cruel. Pretty understandable why the crystal ponies were so beaten down.
9878152
I know right? They did come in right in time for the big finish though, so there was that!
9886619
I hope your week was an awesome blast of Dusk Guard goodness then!
9891224
In my head it was "—when you need me" but I'm not certain Hunter was alert enough to have gotten that far.
9891530
I had a lot of fun coming up with the various ways these two "parties" would attack one another.
9894087
Well, given most folks here have seen the show, the ultimate end shouldn't have been a surprise to most.
Though oddly enough, I feel like it was for some people. Like they expected the Dusk Guard to be some big moment with the Mane Six in the end of the season 3 opener or something.
9894214
Hey hey, leave it for the fanart!
I joke. Don't worry, we'll see more of these two.
9894503
Once you know it, you keep waiting for it to take effect too.
9894596 9895051
Thanks, though I think the readers were far more relieved than I was. I just had to make sure I had a chapter ready to go!
9898623
Thanks! Yeah, I won't lie, it'll probably be a few years, what with Axtara, Fireteam Freelance, and Starforge all in the pipeline already. But we'll get to Fires of the Earth eventually. I will finish this series.
Granted, as always I'll point out that the better my professional career does, the quicker I'm able to get work on it and for the Dusk Guard done!
9898836
Yeah, dealing with the ramifications of what was going on was a major focus I knew the story had to have going in. I had to spend a lot of time on Sabra's chapters as a result, but it came out pretty well. Hopefully as you continued on you enjoyed how it was handled and how Sabra worked through it.
9899322
All I'll say is that it is possible to make some predictions for the next piece of the tale based on what's been given so far in the series and comparing that to the title. Outside of saying that ... I'm actually going to stay silent on Fires until then. It's definitely going to be an interesting entry.
As far as the Dusk Guard versus your creations, you're free to write a fic on that if you wish. Just don't do something really OOC for the Dusk Guard and properly attribute them, that's all I ask.
9899327
Thanks! Yeah, a lot of creators on the site lose their interest, momentum, or drive, and move on to other projects, but I promised you guys I'd see the story through, and I plan to. It may take two decades by the end, but ... such is life.
I'll trim that if I can reach a point where I can drop my part-time job though. And hey, at least there's plenty of other reading material, non-pony though it may be, to check out. There's always something coming!
9899464
Yeah, that's why I include all the song info. Folks can look it up on their own if they want to.
And Sabra and Sky Bolt will probably be sporting new music themes the next time we see them anyway. It's time for them to move onward and upward.
Thanks for enjoying the adventure! And we may see the Crystal Fae in the future, but with regards to this adventure there wasn't really an ideal location to slip them in without tripping up the overall plot. Plus, they'd be hiding anyway, with how locked-down the city was.
But Steel is owed a thank you, so make of that what you will ...
9899746 9900582
Thanks for reading, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. Keep your eyes open, there's always more writing rolling out of my creative ... cave? Lair? Airship? Hmmm ...
9900671
Thanks! I'm glad you like seeing the process. It's both more forgiving and, I feel, a better way to show my appreciation than trying to hit everyone's personal pages. Glad you enjoyed the adventure!
9901126
I mean ... this is the third time I've done a stinger like this, of the three entries in the series. So yeah. It's like a Marvel credits stinger: We all know it's there, and we know it's coming. But the movie is "over" and you don't have to see it.
9901857
Thanks! I'll admit I hemmed and hawed on it a bit, as a war-movie ending is kind of hard to handle. But I think it worked, and I'm glad you think so as well.
9902429 9905181
This seems dumb, but it's actually fairly logical. There's a serious difference between "unarmed transport" and "armed vehicle" both in a combat scenario and where international agreements are considered. Equestria has, as the series has pointed out, a standing agreement with its allies that they don't have a standing military. Arming The Hummingbird would put those agreements at risk, or in other words, if Steel simply went ahead and did so, making The Hummingbird a war vessel rather than an unarmed transport, he'd face severe censure from Celestia and Luna, as they'd shortly be dealing with unhappy diplomats from other nations. If Steel were to go through the proper channels, the first step would have to be the various diplomats working out an exception to the current set of rules.
Now, this doesn't mean that the airship can't carry weapons, such as crossbows or something you could attach to a railing (not that it has any), as that's still just transport (you see this with transport choppers, for example, that are transports first, but have a gun "just in case" ... and usually if you use it, it's because someone did something wrong). But actively sporting guns (hidden or otherwise) could very easily create an international incident.
Plus, rules of engagement for unarmed vessels are different than rules of engagement for armed ones. It's a lot easier to get an unarmed transport over a border, for instance, and they're not as likely to be fired upon.
It seems weird, but Steel is following some proper logic. If the team wants a gunship (basically), there's a lot of hoops to go through.
A "tactical package" on the other hand, can be stowed in a hold somewhere and circumvent agreements like that.
We will see more on this in the future, don't worry.
9905496
One of the reasons I did want to throw them a bone and give them some actual development. Which then turned them into antagonists. Ah well. You can bet we'll see more of them in future.
9905691
I'm looking forward to the moment everything culminates. I won't say when. But oh man, what's coming is awesome.
9906203
Or has it ...?
It's not forgotten. There are ... clues. One day, it will make sense. And I'm glad you enjoyed the book! Thanks!
9906422
They were, to be fair, a little occupied. Don't worry, it'll come up in the future. We're only on 3 of 7 here.
9907122
Well, I'm sorry you didn't find it to your liking.
AH HA I FINALLY CAUGHT UP tho almost 2 weeks late
This was great. plenty of world building and explanations to thing as well a a LOT of good action.
Would recommend
I do kinda want to see that deal with Nova's sister come to an end and stuff abut Sabra as well. There is at least 1 thing for each character that still needs to be talked about or tied up more. Maybe in some more short side stories again?
ANYWAY
9/10
~Reggie
This story is kind of in a weird place for me, now that it's all said and done. I really want to like it, and there's parts of it that I genuinely love, but ultimately I think too much of it falls flat.
First, the good. The entire arc of the story within the Crystal Empire hit all the right marks. Sabra's crisis of conscience and faith feels very real and very organic. We watch our stoic little zebra face real Capital-E Evil for the first time, waver under the strain, and ultimately emerge better for it (with a few close calls). I think you accomplished everything you intended to in the war parts of this war story.
Unfortunately, I don't think the rest of it is nearly as successful. We start with 10 chapters of the Dusk Guard just waiting around for something to happen. It feels tense at first from the anticipation, but it drags on way too long for me. Doing some quick napkin math after glancing at the word counts, we easily spend an entire novel's worth of text where ultimately nothing happens. Looking back, the only scene I can even remember from that section is the snowball fight.
Once things pick up and actually start moving, Hunter's sections start becoming more interesting, but only kind of. And ultimately, I think most of the problems I have with it stem from the fact that Hunter is the perspective character. I'm going to quote a section of the author's notes of the fic Nine Days Down here because I think it nicely summarizes my thoughts on the matter:
Sabra's struggles in the Crystal Empire are just that, struggles. Hunter doesn't feel like he's really struggling to me. An established part of his character all the way back from the beginning of Rise is that he's a skilled, seasoned Ranger. He already knows what he's doing, and he's proven to himself that he can do it. So when we're watching him tromp around in the frozen north, I just never really felt invested in it. He's not really worried that he's up to the task, I'm not worried that he's up to the task on a character level, and I'm also not worried that he's up to the task on a meta-narrative level.
There's a dark tag, sure, but I don't have any reasonable expectation that you as an author are going to kill, maim, or otherwise seriously scar any of the protagonists, so I'm not really worried that Sombra is going to wind up chewing them up and spitting them out. Plus, it's telling a story that we already know the outcome of, just from a different perspective. It's the Crystal Empire. Sombra is always going to lose.
Like I said in the beginning, I want to like this story, and Sabra's struggles in the crucible that was the Crystal Empire were great. The rest of it though? I would have been happier if it wasn't there, or was at least a lot shorter.
This one was great like the others I can’t wait for the fourth book and/or the side stories to follow
ps I finished all the other discard Saugus stories in like a week
9997316
I agree,Viking. The Dusk Guard Saga is the best I've ever read.
Are there going to be anymore Dusk Guard Stories?
10647948
10674020
So he can create massive crystals that hold tons of ice in place, control minds, punch holes in airships, and fly unimpeded through storms, but making a single spell explode on contact is too difficult?
...
Yeah, I'm sticking to the Dramatic Scene reasoning.
10674036
Explosions are massive amounts of energy being unwound. Small nudges on minds, or propelling an object in a single direction are far less energy intensive (see the energy requirements for a bullet vs a grenade).
This one is actually quite reasonable. You're hurling something at a foe, why not have it drain their own magic and build up to a titanic boom with the energy it stole? It'd be a lot easier to throw a lot of them, and allow for more, than trying to make just one that would go boom and have a high chance of missing.
This one makes a lot more sense, tactically and logistically, than spending a ton of time and effort on a single boom.
10674052
Huh. Either I'm vastly overestimating Sombra's strength, or his unimpressive tactical/strategic behavior so far – namely slapping at pony-shaped ants when he could be going for the city-sized ant spray – is him playing 4D chess to their checkers. I suppose only time will tell.
10674110
It's just straight-up a case of efficiency. Think about it like getting rid of an ant-hill, or termites. Yes, you can pour gasoline down the holes and set fire to it, and that will kill the hive. You'll also lose a good chunk of your lawn/house/foundation at the same time (there are some funny videos of exactly this on Youtube). If you can afford to do that, well, then you can. But if you hire an exterminator, they're going to use something much more efficient, like poisonous food that the ants take back to their hive and disseminate on their own. It's a lot less intensive and turns your own foe against itself.
Now imagine you're trying to hit a moving anthill. It's all over the place, and where you pour the gas might not be where the hill is once its lit. There's a lot of lawn to cover, and you're looking at spending hundreds on gas with still possibly no effect. If your wallet is fat and flush, well ... even then it's wasteful. Or you could use something like the poisoned food, which is a lot less flashy until it "hits" but cheaper to spread around.
So you have a recovering abomination like Sombra that's effectively coming back from being dead. Even in a frenzied state, most beings (even unsapient animals) will try to conserve where they can. If you're going to hurl dozens of shards of crystal at an annoying gnat, making them all explode while you're still needing that energy isn't going to be a good use of what you've got. But making it so they sap your foe's strength and turn it against them to kill them? Much easier by comparison. Less intensive. And just as devastating most of the time.
Reasoning like this scales all the way up into warfare doctrine (something Sombra would know). For example in most conflicts its considered far better to shoot to wound, rather than shoot to kill. Why? Because A) it's easier/cheaper and B) a wounded soldier has a larger energy cost on your foe than a dead one. Wounded soldiers need to be pulled from a battlefield, taking another man to do that job, and then cared for while they're unable to fight. Sure, you could give all of your soldiers explosive bullets, but it'd cost more and be less effective in the long run.
From a combat perspective, Sombra's strategy here is militarily sound. It was cheap, easy to spam, and then wholly distracted his foe for a period of time while they were busy not blowing up. And if they blew up, like a soldier dying on a medical bed it's still a win for his cause, but it came at far less of a cost to him for more result than simply showering them with explosives.
Of course, as he continues to grow in strength and they continue to be a bothersome fly, that scale slides further toward 'screw the cost, where's my flamethrower?' Which is how you get the US doctrine of "Fine, level the next hundred miles with artillery."
EDIT: Another modern comparison would be most "tank-killer" rounds, which don't actually destroy a tank themselves, but are designed to capitalize on weaknesses. The most efficient way to kill a tank (and many common tank-killer weapons are designed around this) isn't to obliterate it with the shot, but to set off the tank's ammunition and fuel and make the tank destroy itself from the inside out. A lot of tanks are designed to try and counter this (or crew-killing) as these are the most effective ways to eliminate armor while being cheaper. Sombra's weapon here was a damaging chunk of crystal that then did something similar: sapped the airship's own energy and ambient magic to charge a secondary boom.
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I was going to make a lengthy argument, but then I realized this whole conversation is pointless. It's one minor thing that I didn't intend to make a big deal out of. It's not like this topic makes or breaks the story.
That being said: I can't imagine why anyone would waste gas on an anthill or call an exterminator to fight them. Ant poison is publicly available for purchase, it works fine, it won't ruin your lawn, and will last way longer than gas (unless you've got a really big yard). Unless you just wanna watch the pretty fire, I guess.
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Oh, Youtube is full of these!
Yeah, sorry for the lengthy write-up. My point was ultimately that there was sound strategic doctrine behind it, which is why it made for a great scene (kind of like using an incendiary weapon on a ship during a naval battle, again another real-world example). It seems odd or perhaps silly if you're not familiar with the doctrine behind it, but militarily it is sound (kind of like the complaints leveled against the true-to-life strategies of Audie Murphy when they made a film out of him dealing with a tank).
You can has review!
Wow... okay this story was amazing.
Was a bit worried going in, always a little leery of "This is the stuff going on behind the scenes that you never saw." type fics just do to how many of them end up going the route of invalidating the actual events in favor of it's own story being the 'real' one. Not even close to a case here, I love how well the story balanced both it's own narrative, while also making clear that this was all just support for the real mission of the Bearers. The Dusk Guard played a vital role, but so did everypony else involved. Very well done!
Could be some nitpicks about how hard lining up the Empire we see here with the one we see in the episodes but... yeah needs of the story and the episode didn't really dive into what should have been more of the lingering effects of it's condition so, can't really blame the story for adding in elements that logically should have been there. And as noted, given how fast and how often they can rebuild parts of Ponyville, I'm sure they can fix up a little bit of battle damage. It's only three ponies doing it, and they aren't even the CMC.
Character wise, very well done as well, though I would have liked to get some PoV's from Steel and Dawn as well... and that is only half due to wanting more of Steel's fights onscreen cause damn is it satisfying seeing him just pound some mother bucker. But everything went so well, again Sabra's breakdown realizing the full weight of what being a Dusk Guard means, but pressing on, seeing why it's worth it and never stopping for a moment... just.....*chef's kiss*
Just all around a really damn amazing story that does a wonderful job of slotting itself behind the scenes of canon without ever even hinting at taking anything away from the canon events. And then that little set up again for the larger threat looming ever nearer.... very eager to see more!
How'd I miss this story being released?
Feeling a little nervous about where each of the epilogues of this series seem to be pointing. Kaan is looking like a major force to be reckoned with, and now we know for sure where Radiant ended up. Not looking good for the world.
Another fantastic entry in the series, Viking! Your action scene prowess is second to none, and this story was chock full of edge-of-the-seat moments, as well as some really nice character development. For me, Sabra is the real triumph of this story. He's a richly interesting protagonist of a flavor I've rarely encountered in fiction (not that I'm super widely read, but I've personally never seen a warrior monk searching for the meaning of life written as a main character before). I absolutely adore him and his relationship with Sky Bolt, and every time they're on screen I have a hard time tearing myself away. I'll be waiting on that moment when he decides the time is right to tell her his answer :)
And next time I assume we're going back to the Rogues? I love me some Blade, can't wait to see her again
Finally got around to finishing this story, and wow was it everything I hoped for!! Behind the scenes stories where the characters work to make sure everything lines up for the show the way it did are one of my favorite things to read. My biggest issue is I expected it to be the final story, however, but it very clearly is not! So many loose ends! What is Mint planning with the Diamond Dogs? Who is Nova's sister? I hope you'll be back soon with more, because I am definitely eager to read it! In the meantime, I guess I'll just have to go get caught up on your published works.