Burnt Offerings

by Spike the Scribe

Act Two Chapter Seven

Sandpoint, 1 of Rova (Presumably 24 of September, 1000 SR), Late Afternoon

From the very moment Twilight voiced our group decision I had a bad feeling about this. Something in my bones was telling me that somepony was going to regret getting involved in this, most likely me. Sometimes I really think the universe just hates me like that.

The girls, or at least most of them seeing as Rarity was in no condition to help and Fluttershy wasn't the best choice when it comes to manual labor went straight to work, and so did I. Thanks to the instructions the guards working on the barricades were giving us we at least knew what to do. Right now our main priority was to find as much materials as possible for the blockade: tables, stools, crates, barrels, anything that could help, and gather it near the mouth of the street leading to the gate. A simple task, really, or at least it was simple for those of us that were taller than six hoofs. Let's just say being a short guy didn't really help in the strength department. Though seeing Pinkie drag that cauldron of hers with next to no effort might've made my argument moot.

It didn't take us long to realize we had a problem at our hooves. Despite our best efforts to gather as much stuff as we could it just wasn't enough to block the street completely. Even with that butterfly-wagon from earlier that guard Ernie and his men rolled into position it wouldn't be enough. So, in a desperate attempt to make do with what we had instead of one single blockade Ernie decided to make several closely-placed barricades, packed so densely that nothing should be able to ride between them. Or at least that was the plan.

It took us surprisingly short to erect those impromptu defenses. They… weren't exactly the most defensible thing I ever saw, but hopefully they would be enough. I mean a wagon, several overturned tables, a bunch of barrels and crates, and one cauldron filled with unconscious goblins (Pinkie, need I say more) against what? Two dozens of greenskins? Or that fire-spewing thing Titus was talking about? Seriously, I would be surprised if everypony one would walk away alive from this. We're all gonna die, I just know it.

Just when I was starting to get myself acquaintance to my more fatalistic side reality came crashing upon us. The sound of goblin cheers, war cries, and songs was beginning to get audible, mixed with some kind of yapping-barking noise I never heard before and the sound of something on wheels. Fortunately, the defenses were mostly ready. Wasting no time the whole lot of us took cover behind our barricades, a few brave souls peeking carefully from behind them in search of the green menace.

Within seconds the street became swarmed by goblins. Pouring into town through the sabotaged gate, the greenskins looked eager to do more damage. But there was something strange about them. The only goblins we faced up until now looked mostly the same: leather protective clothing, wide, rusty knives, that sort of thing. Now however…

First off, a good number of the greenskins carried torches with them, probably planning on setting whatever they could ablaze. And seeing as a good portion of town was made out of wood, that could be one hay of a fire. Secondly, there were the rare individuals that looked and acted different from the rest. Some of them wore a little better gear than the rest, like metal-studded leather jackets or less rusty knives. Others were armed with bows and arrows, and were already scanning their surroundings in search of a potential target. And then there were they: goblin riders.

Armed with lance-like weapons only slightly better looking than most goblin knives, the riders sat on the backs of creatures I have never seen before. They looked almost like dogs, but something was off about them. They looked gnarly, like twisted, sickly, malnourished canines with a matted, thinning coat, yet they moved with surprising speed and strength. Their ugly heads sported maws filled with sharp teeth, showing them off as they growled and yap-barked. Slobber seeped from their muzzles constantly, as if the creatures themselves were rabid, yet somehow the goblins were able to control them. But probably the weirdest part about them was their tails. They were… rat-like. I kid you not, they looked like they belonged on an oversized rat. Come to think of it, were they even dogs to begin with?

We didn't have much time to think about the mystery of the rat-dog hybrids however. It seemed that the cosmos decided to throw at us everything and the kitchen sink, as became apparent once the sound of wheels became loud enough to draw attention. I heard a series of loud gasps and a "what in blazes is that thing", and I became curious. Taking a risk I normally wouldn't, I peeked around cover, searching for whatever it was that made such a commotion. I didn't have to look long.

A strange contraption overtook the swarm of goblins, more than one of them being run over by it. The thing looked like a… fire pump for lack of better word. Actually it looked like a fire pump made out of everything a fire pump shouldn't be built out of. Its frame looked like if somepony took a bed and attached cartwheels to it. Said wheels seemed to be salvaged from a junk pile; missing spokes and with rusty axles, they seemed to be holding together only thanks to some mysterious divine will of some sort. The wagon itself was divided into two parts: one where the goblin steering this contraption sat, and a "cargo compartment" if you will. The cargo section was mostly took up by a large, barrel-like container, protected by sheets of rusty metal and crowned by a wooden handrail, forming something like a crow's nest. A single goblin sat on top of it, aiming a shabby-looking crossbow at us. Now, the barrel itself was connected to a pump manned by two goblins going wild on its handles. I kind of think they didn't know what they were doing, treating the pump as a seesaw of sorts if their piercing laughter was anything to go by. Either way, the pump was connected to a flexible hose-type thing held by a third goblin, who was aiming its tip threateningly, a sick grin plastered on his hideous face. The picture of this mind-numbingly, Pinkie Pie-esque contraption was completed by two of those goblin dogs (think that's a good name for now), strapped to it and urged on by the driver.

"Okay, is it just me or did we just get to freaky town?" Rainbow commented, looking oddly at the contraption as it screeched to a halt in front of our barricade. The goblin driver seemed angry that someone had the gall to force him to stop, a stream of curses I rather not repeat escaping his mouth. "Seriously: what the hay is that thing supposed to be?"

"A flamethrower?" One of the guards proposed, peeking at it. "I saw it spew fire like forty feet away." Well, a fire pump it is then.

"Well if it ain't just peachy." AJ commented, also glancing at the thing. "Ah'm begginin' ta think this was a bad idea."

"I didn't hear ye propose anythin' better." Guard Ernie seemed to have heard that and take offense. He then glanced at his men, all of them hiding behind the roadblocks, and scowled. "Were aren't ye lot jus' the pinnacle o' uselessness. Ye got bloomin' bows, use 'em fer fuck's sake!" And to drive his point across he retrieved his bow from his back, drew an arrow and quickly peaked out of cover, releasing it into the crowd of greenskins.

Although Ernie probably missed horribly if the lack of pained goblin yelps was anything to go by, his men seemed to snap out of their trance. One by one they lay down their melee weapons and switched to bows that every one of them was carrying. Within seconds they were ready to start shooting at the assaulting greenskins, using the tactic presented by their (I guess) senior officer.

At first it seemed to be working. The goblin dogs pulling the flamethrower, spooked by the whistling of arrows flying by began scrambling away, running away and pulling the contraption with them despite the swearing protests of their driver, and a few unlucky goblins suffered arrow wounds, some of them dropping dead on the spot. I was even kinda relieved at that. At least they weren't going to hurt anypony if they're dead.

Man, that's a morbid thought.

Either way, the goblins' line began to waver, probably surprised by the opposition they were facing. That didn't last long unfortunately. For some reason the song some of the goblins were still chanting, the one about slashing and bumping and all that gritty stuff, as if by magic seemed to fill the greenskins with confidence. They slowly began retaliating, the archers shooting back at us, the ones with knives trying to rush our positions. Within moments what looked like a possible victorious defense turned into a desperate attempt to keep the goblins away.

"Ernie!" The Titus guy yelled over the din of hollering greenskins. "This doesn't look good!" He ducked, narrowly dodging a goblin arrow aimed at his head.

"Well a bloody genius ye are!" He snapped, taking a pot shot. Judging from a goblin shriek he must've hit one.

"They're gonna rush us Ernie!" Titus warned.

"And what am I to do 'bout it?! I have me hands full, and we need all able bowmen as it is!"

"Hey, new guys!" Titus, who was still ducking under cover looked at us. "You wanted to help out. Each of you grab a melee weapon from a guard and hack at any greenskin that comes near." Before we had the time to process that request he turned to the two local civilians. "Povalli! You're quick with that dagger of yours, make use of it. Vosk! A little divine help would be appreciated. Or at least use that scimitar of yours when push comes to shove."

"Surely I must have misheard you dear." Rarity interjected, hiding behind a barrel and completely ignoring the two local civilians proving her otherwise. "There is no possible way that you have just asked us to… to pick up those filthy, bloodstained weapons and use them to harm anything." Seriously? I mean seriously?

"Look: either you take those blood-covered weapons as you called them…"

"Filthy and bloodstained dear. I said filthy and bloodstained."

"Not important!" Titus snapped. "Either you take those weapons and put them to use, or we're all dead meat, you got that? There's no going back now, and I don't wanna hear that someone's a sworn pacifist; either we all do our part or we die and get eaten."

Well that was an interesting motivational speech if ever I heard one, but he had a point, and after my… episode… I was slowly getting used to the idea of killing to survive. And it did serve its purpose. Though begrudgingly, Rarity picked up one of the guards' swords clumsily (she made an effort to do that through a handkerchief), and crouched behind cover. I doubt she was going to actively take part in this fight, but then again, she still looked a bit too pale for comfort. At least if the situation went too far south she would have some means of defending herself that was more reliable than a golden snake coming out of nowhere.

Following Rarity's example the rest of the girls minus Fluttershy (again, no one seemed to notice nor be particularly peeved by it) took up some kind of arms. Rainbow was quick to secure a sword for herself, figuring this was going to be awesome or something, and so did Applejack. Twilight was forced a sword as well, interrupting her furious scribing… wait, what? Seriously, was she noting down what was going on right now? Should've known she would do something like that. Eh, no matter.

The rest, and by that I mean Pinkie, Trixie, and myself were left with significantly shorter blades, which coincidentally seemed almost to scale when it came to me and Pinks. Suffice to say Trixie was rather upset that Twilight's was bigger… okay, that came out wrong.

A few greenskins fell before they reached the barricades, shot down either by the guards or friendly fire. But that was only a little percent of their actual force. Most of them managed to reach our position and were trying to climb over our defenses. Clearly they weren't the brightest bunch. I mean there were openings in the barricade, maybe too small for a wagon to drive through but enough for them to fit on hoo foot. But that's not important. The point is that they were taking their sweet time climbing over the overturned tables and stacked crates, making them surprisingly easy pickings.

Rynshinn once again was proving to be far more than a simple seamstress. The dagger in her hands a blur, she didn't leave even a shadow of a chance to those few unfortunate greenskins that chosen her stretch of the barrier. Priest Naffer was doing well too, that strange sword of his making little work of the small monsters, the shield in his other hand defending him from the incoming projectiles. AJ and Rainbow too weren't slacking off, handling their weapons with surprising ease. It was almost as if they weren't in alien bodies at all, and weren't a Wonderbolt hopeful and a farmpony but professional guards with some training under their belts. Especially Applejack. She was slashing those greenskins that managed to climb to the top effortlessly, and stabbing those who were still climbing by quickly reaching over her cover, and not once had she flinched while doing so, her face set in determination. Rainbow for once in her life was hard pressed to keep up with her, swinging her own weapon wildly at any goblin she could reach and trying her best to contribute to the defenses. The others however… well, that's a completely different story.

Rarity, as I suspected earlier, was avoiding having to use her sword as much as possible. She kept her head low and tried to stick as close to Applejack as she could, quickly figuring she was doing great. The same went for Fluttershy, only she was tailing the living blur known as Dash. Twilight tried to help out as best she could, but her wild swings for the most part weren't connecting with anything. I even think she closed her eyes at some point and was hacking at the "goblins" (more like air) blindly. Trixie I didn't even see, so there's not much I can say about how she was doing. I suspect she legged it the moment the assault started. And as for Pinkie…

"This is the best game of whack-a-mole ever!" Yep, she was doing fine. Actually, she was probably the only one besides me that decided to cover the gaps in the barricade, though thanks to her (and my own) diminutive stature helping out with the barricade proper would be problematic to say the least. Zipping from one break to another, she whacked the more intelligent goblins that decided to use them over their heads with that wooden spoon of hers. It didn't even matter that she was holding a short sword in her other hand, she still favored the most inefficient weapon possible.

I should probably mention what I was up to during all this. Well, I tried, like Twilight, to contribute somehow. And, like I said before, I had the same idea as Pinkie did, though instead of running from one opening to another I guarded one and the same. Truth be told, I didn't have much to do; most goblins were too dumb to figure out there were gaps in the barricade, and the ones that did were taken care of by miss Spoon Fanatic over yonder. Though there was this one goblin…

I was standing near one of the gaps, back to the barricade, short sword in claw hand, looking at how the others were doing. That's when a green, bald, oversized head popped through the hole, its red, beady eyes scanning its surroundings. Our eyes met, the goblin letting out a surprised shriek, but instead of backing away it pulled the rest of its green body inside. From the corner of my eye I saw the blade it was carrying. Remembering how much it hurt to get hit by that thing, as well as noticing it was in the hand further from me, I made a split-second decision. Putting all my weight into it, I swung my blade in an arc, going for a wide stab. Surprised by this, the goblin was unable to parry or dodge out of the way in time. With a sickening slicing sound the sword sunk into the stunned sadist's sternum. The greenskin's eyes only managed to widen before they lost all life and the creature collapsed, sliding off of my blade. For a second I stared at its lifeless body, blood pouring out of its wound, but this time I managed to shake myself out of my stupor. It was a quick, clean death, he didn't suffer long, and I didn't brutalize his body afterwards. I'm cool.

Ah, who am I kidding. I'm probably having nightmares about this for the rest of my life.

Ducking back behind cover I decided to take a sneak peek at the goblin ranks, wondering how much longer was this going to take. I mean we were holding up surprisingly well, but that couldn't last forever. Somepony or someone was bound to slip up at some point. Even now one of the guards was taken out of commission by a stray goblin arrow, and with priest Naffer trying to heal him the melee ranks were weakened as well. If this keeps up we're going to end up as goblin chow in no time.

Just as I was thinking this something unexpected happened. The greenskins, up until now relentlessly storming our lines began losing momentum, as if they lost their drive to attack. It took me a moment to realize that the assault wasn't the only thing that was dying down. For some reason the singing (if those screeches could even be called that) stopped, and as if that was some kind of catalyst for their bloodlust the moment it stopped the greenskins did so too. Instead, they gathered further away and waited, as if expecting something to happen.

"Guys, I think it's working!" One of the guards shouted, encouraged by the weird goblin behavior. "We can repel them!"

"Focus ye twit, this ain't normal fer them soggin' greenskins." Ernie scolded, peeking over his cover at the weirdly behaving goblins. "They're up to somethin', I can feel it in me bones."

"No offense Ern, but you always were a pessimist." The same guard responded, a grin on his face. "Just look at 'em, they're hightailing it out of town as we speak." I quick glance past my cover revealed it wasn't exactly true. I'm beginning to wonder if that guy isn't just a tad bit overenthusiastic.

I didn't have time to ponder this any longer unfortunately. Looking at the goblins back away from our line of defense I could faintly hear something over their screeches and deranged laughter. It was the familiar sound of bark-yipping and the rattle of a wagon. Putting two and two together I realized what was going on, and it made my blood run cold.

"Flamethrower incoming!" I yelled as loud as I could, ducking back behind cover. The guards and the girls looked at me funny, but when Twilight was about to ask what I was talking about the goblins' ranks parted, letting in the fire wagon at full speed.

The guys didn't have time to react as the strange contraption rolled on the now corpse-ridden foreground. Knowing that there was a barricade in their path the goblin steering the contraption forced the dogs to go in a wide arc, riding just in front of the barrier with surprising speed. In the meantime the goblin operating the hose, that same sick grin still plastered on his face made his debut with the onboard weapon. Aiming in our general direction he pulled back the sealing mechanism on his hose, releasing hell in liquid form upon our ranks.

For a split second after it left the confines of the hose the napalm-like substance looked like a stream of tomato juice, opaque and dark red in color. Half a second later it was a blazing inferno speeding through the air towards us. With shrieks of surprise and fright, and a good number of startled yells everyone ducked behind cover, trying desperately not to get hit by the liquid flames, me included. After all, now that I'm not a dragon anymore I'm not exactly fireproof.

The fire wagon rode off a bit, its driver preparing to turn it around and come for a second pass, all the while laughing maniacally. Our group on the other hand was attempting to figure out what just happened. True, we all knew at some level this was bound to happen, but it did little to diminish our shock. It was slowly dawning on us what we were up against, and it was not looking pretty.

"Man, we're screwed." Titus muttered dejectedly. "That thing's gonna roast us."

"Will ye quit yer whinin' already?! Yer getting on me nerves!" Ernie snapped at him. Then, after he took a calming breath the looked over his men. "Status?"

"Nothing serious, a few scrapes and light burns, but we're mostly good." The same young guard replied. "Only problem is that hell engine over there. I'm telling you man, I have a bad feeling about this. I can only imagine what that thing can do to you if it hits."

"As long as ye do yer part ye can even imagine yerself makin' sweet love to it." Ernie grumbled and then turned to us. His eyes lingered for a moment on Fluttershy, who as predictable was scared out of her wits and was huddling behind a barrel, as close as possible to Rainbow as she could. "How are ye holding up?" He asked finally, a little less gruffly than when he asked his men.

AJ shook her head and pushed whatever animosity she felt towards the guy to the back of her head as she replied. "We're fine for the most part. But that fire-spewin' do-hickey is a might concernin'." As if to stress her words the goblins did a second pass and sprayed even more liquid fire on our position. Thankfully, no one got hurt.

"Agreed." The guard nodded, taking a sneak-peak at the retreating contraption. "That thing has to go."

"Easier said than done." His most vocal companion retorted snidely. "If you haven't noticed Ernie, that thing is impossible to get near to. What, we rush it and hope it doesn't burn us to a crisp?"

"Ye got bows, do the math." Was the only reply he got. Unfortunately for Ernie though, Titus was far from finished.

"Ah, yes, brilliant idea oh fearless leader. There's only one problem: we're running low on arrows. What are we gonna do once we run out of them completely, huh? Throw rocks at them?"

"If ye don't quit yer bitching I'm gonna throw you at 'em!"

"And those are supposed to be the defenders of this place." Rainbow muttered, shaking her head in exasperation.

"Well, both have fairly good points to be honest." Came Twilight's reply. "We are in a tight situation, and the only way to get out of it is risky to say the least. It's obvious that tempers will flare in such conditions."

"Yeah, I hear ya Twi. It's just that… do they have to argue about this right now? We have bigger problems at hoof, like the one spitting fire every fifteen seconds." That effectively shut up Twilight, mainly because Rainbow was right. This was getting us nowhere. And like the fool that I am, I decided to remedy this by doing something extremely stupid.

Waiting for another pass of the fire wagon I inched my way to a break in the barricade. I was hoping that if I was quick enough I would be able to spot something that could help us, like a weak spot or something like that. So, waiting for it to go by my position I prepared myself mentally for what I was about to do, and the moment I heard the high-pitched sound of grinding axles I peeked around the corner, keeping my eyes peeled for anything we could exploit.

I quickly scanned the whole bulk of the wagon. The thing actually looked pretty shabby to begin with, like a proper smack would break into itty bitty pieces, yet somehow it was able to withstand all the jerking around, sharp turns, and of course the constant quick pace. It really was bizarre how something like this could actually work.

Just as I was about to duck back into the safety of cover I spotted something that made me realize what needed to be done. My eyes lingered on the contraption on the wagon, the barrel-pump-hose system operated by the four goblin passengers, and in a stroke of realization I knew what had to be done. We could take this thing out of commission, in more ways than one actually. The greenskins after all weren't protected by anything, all that had to be done was to get rid of them to make the contraption only a simple wagon.

Or we could focus fire on the barrel containing the combustive liquid. Although it was somewhat reinforced with makeshift armor plating, it was only sheets of thin, rusty metal, and I bet if we were to punch a hole in it the liquid would burst into flames in a violent reaction. After all, it combusted when mixed with air, and if such large amounts of the thing were to suddenly get into contact with it, it could even explode! That would make this so much easier for us.

I was about to share my findings with the others, but of course something had to go wrong. So preoccupied with my scrutinizing of the wagon I failed to notice what the one with the crossbow was doing. Yelling at the one holding the hose and pointing me out, he grinned maliciously, readying his weapon, looking forward to what was about to happen to me. I only noticed all this when the gunny hefted his hose in my general direction and hollered at the top of his lungs something along the lines of "Burn! Burn! Burn!". Before I could react a stream of red liquid quickly turning into flames sailed through the air towards me, promising me a painful death.

I stood there, paralyzed by fear. I know I should've just bound back behind cover, that it would be enough to protect me, but when faced with the possibility of confronting my own mortality I just couldn't force myself to act. They say when faced with certain death your life flashes before your eyes. For me, the only thing I could see was the damned fire coming my way, and the helpless realization that this was going to hurt.

I faintly felt something grabbing me by the collar of my shirt, but I was too preoccupied with my impending doom to pay it any mind. But just as the liquid fire was about to splash into me and burn me to a crisp, I was yanked out of the way with enough force to send me flying. For a split second I was confused as to what just happened, especially after hearing something whizz right past my ear, but that was quickly replaced by the searing sensation in my right foot.

The moment I landed on my side I scrambled to a sitting position, my eyes darting to my injured foot, and with dread I realized that I didn't avoid the napalm strike completely. The short, curly fur on my foot was seared and blackened, as if charred (which it was, considering the wisp of smoke coming from it), and my exposed skin was scarlet, with blisters slowly forming on it. It was official: my first ever burn, and in a highly irritable place to boot. One thing was for sure however –I did not want to experience something like this again, ever.

Gulping down mouthfuls of air I tried to ignore the pain, focusing my mind on something different. Obviously my first thought was on what the heck just happened. Did somepony pull me from harm's way? It sure seemed that way. Guess I owe somepony. Hmm… maybe I should incorporate that into my dragon code? Well, that can wait, I needed to find out who saved me first, and then properly thank…

"You could've moved on your own, lizard brain." Oh hay no!

I whipped around, almost giving myself a whiplash, and with wide eyes I looked at the one who pulled me out of the way. And I already knew this was going to be a pain.

Trixie was gathering herself from the ground, obviously after pulling me to safety. She was looking at me with that infuriating superior scowl on her face, but… There was something different about it. Again, I'm probably only projecting this, but I think she was actually a little bit concerned. I mean a little bit concerned, like you'd be for your goldfish or something, but it was there.

"Did you just… pull me into cover?" I asked, voice heavily laced with confusion. I was rewarded by another smug, superior look from the magician, and I already knew what was about to happen next.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie, in a show of her boundless grace has decided to come to your aid, and saved you from certain death by immolation." She proclaimed proudly, actually doubly so because it was somewhat true. Problem is, from the position she was in, still trying to get on her feet after being painfully reunited with the ground it was more comical than glorious. That and her tone was still getting on my nerves.

I shook my head listening to this. "You pulled me into cover and that's that." I droned, receiving an incredulous look from the mare. Still, there was one question that kept nagging at my conscience. "Why?"

For a second it looked like Trixie was spluttering, as if shocked by something and desperately trying to come up with something to say. It took me a moment to realize that I actually asked that question out loud, no wonder she's acting like this. I decided however against trying to explain myself, this was after all only Trixie, it's not like I have to play nice with her, right?

Why do I suddenly feel like a jerk?

"See if I pull you out of harm's way ever again, half-size." She finally settled on a glare, her tone easily described as furious. Trixie then scowled and averted her gaze, muttering darkly under her breath. "You pull his scaly behind from certain doom and he questions your motives, the ungrateful sonuva…"

"Alright, alright! Sheesh, don't need to blow a gasket about it." I interrupted her angry ranting. Judging from her glare that didn't do too much to calm her down. Ugh… This was really the last thing I wanted to deal with right now. "Yeah, well… thanks for pulling me out of the way." I attempted to appease her, despite really not wanting to do this. Fortunately, I didn't need to do much else; Trixie's glare morphed into a superior look that I was more used to.

"Finally, some well deserved recognition." She stated proudly, and finally gathered herself from the ground, still ducking behind cover. Seconds prior another swoop of the fire-spewing contraption splashed against the barricade, so it was understandable. "You were very lucky that the Great and Powerful Trixie saw it in her to risk her own wellbeing to save you from a fiery death."

"Yeah, I'm the luckiest dragon in Equestria." I droned. She really had to push it, didn't she?

Once again she leveled me with a look, and for a moment I was beginning to think that Trixie took notice of the heavy sarcasm in my tone. "Do not get your hopes up, lizard." Huh? What is she insinuating now? "As much as it pains Trixie to admit it, you, Sparkle, and her minions are the only other natives of Equestria besides her. If keeping you all alive will make Trixie less of a target for such deranged creatures as these green-skinned menaces, then so be it."

…that answers that; herd mentality at its finest. I don't know what I was expecting.

I shook my head once more and got to my feet. Or at least I tried to; the moment my left foot touched the ground I felt a sharp jab of pain course through my system. Stumbling a bit and letting out a grunt of pain, I managed to steady myself against the barricade. I forgot for a moment there my foot wasn't exactly in the best of states. Still, I had information that might be crucial if we wanted to survive this, something as trivial as a burnt foot wasn't going to stop me.

I hobbled my way towards the girls, leaning against the barricade for support. Following me like a shadow was Trixie, and of course the high and mighty con mare didn't bother to help me. I ignored her, making my way to the bulk of our group, still huddled against the blockade. By now most of it was on fire, burning slowly and providing rather poor protection, but it was still better than being in the open. Getting closer, I was able to make out between the crackling of the flames and the goblin screams of fiery ecstasy the tail end of a conversation.

"…hope you know what you're doing Ern. This is risky as all hell." I think it was guard Titus who said that, but I can't be sure.

"I bloody well know it's risky, but what other choice do we have?" That was unmistakably Ernie, the bearded guard's accent easily distinguishable. "Now on the count o’ three: one, two…"

"Hold up!" I yelled, interrupting them. The guards all looked at me, as did the girls as I quickened my pace.

"Spike?" I heard Twilight's surprised voice. She was looking at me, those too-dark-to-be-normal eyes of hers boring into me. "Where have you… oh my gosh, you're hurt!" Here we go again.

Before I had the time to protest she bounded for me, her eyes gleaming with concern. Within seconds I found myself scooped in her arms (however strange that sounds) and carried towards the only person that knew any healing magic around, priest Naffer. Before long the holy man was looking over my burnt foot and preparing a spell.

"Spike, what happened? How did you get hurt? You should've been more careful. Why did you wander off in a time like this? You should've known better…" Okay, as rare as this was, Twilight just went into overprotective mode. I don't even know if it's more embarrassing than sweet, but right now, it was first and foremost getting in the way.

"Whatever you guys were planning, hold up with doing that!" I yelled over Twilight's concerned rambling, as well as the din of the girls who more or less swarmed over to me. In any other circumstances I would find this as proof of my irresistible charm. "I found out something that might be useful!"

"What are ye talking about, half-pint?" Ernie asked, for once actually curious. In the meantime Naffer cast that healing spell of his and a small, golden light was shining on my foot, easing the pain.

"I took a better look at the contraption, and I think I know how to deal with it." I said, grabbing everyone's attention. With all eyes on me, I gulped down the sudden wave of nervousness and began retelling my findings.

By the time I was finished Ernie adopted a thoughtful expression, going over the info as well as my suggestions. For a second it looked like he was about to reject my input entirely, but then:

"I got to give it to ye: this plan isn't half bad." He nodded, though the look on his face didn't change one bit. "I just don't think we 'ave enough arrows fer this to work. That plowin' hell engine moves so fast it takes a bloody marksman to hit it. We'll sooner run out o' ammo than properly hit it."

"Maybe we won't need to aim though, Ernie." Titus suggested, and at the bewildered look from his fellow guardsman elaborated. "What if we all shoot in a volley, aiming only in the wagon's general direction? Maybe we won't be as accurate as while taking the time to aim, but a few arrows are bound to hit."

"Hold on a minute now, sugarcube." AJ for some reason decided to jump into the conversation. Looking at her, it seemed like she had an idea of her own. "What if we wouldn't need ta worry 'bout them green varmints makin' rounds round the square?" The two guards looked at her for a moment with surprise, and after a moment Ernie decided to voice his thoughts.

"Ye want to tell us, lass, that ye could a stopped 'em a long time ago, is that right?" His question was more of an accusation, but Applejack expertly ignored that part.

"Ah'm sayin' that Ah have an idea how ta make 'em stop. There's no promise it'll work." She explained. "Ah'll need a length o' rope though. Any of you guys have some?"

"I think I saw some loose rope over by the tents earlier today. I'll get it." One of the guards volunteered. After getting permission from his superiors he ran for the nearest tent, careful to avoid being spotted by the goblin pyros.

"I hope whatever you're planning works, I really don't fancy using Ernie's approach." Titus commented, earning a glare from his fellow guard and a confident nod from Applejack.

"Don't ya fret none sugarcube, Ah took part in enough rodeo competitions ta know what Ah'm doin'."

"Still, I'd sleep a lot better if I knew we have enough firepower ta shower those green arsewipes in arrows if things don't go yer way, lass." Ernie grumbled, flinching a bit as the said greenskins made another pass and released another torrent of liquid flames.

"If that is the case than rejoice, peons, for I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, have exactly what you need!" The sudden declaration from the con mare took us by surprise. All eyes fell on Trixie, most of them either suspicious or annoyed, for obvious reasons. Still, the magician seemed to grow, obviously enjoying the spotlight if her smirk was any indication.

"What are you blabbering about?" Rainbow asked suspiciously, probably voicing the thoughts of most of us. As expected, this only served to inflate Trixie's already overinflated ego. With the "better than thou" look of hers in full swing, she hefted something from her back and placed it on the ground in front of us. After closer inspection it was revealed to be a quite sizable bag. Opening it, she revealed that it contained a number of crossbows, quite similar to the one I used earlier today in that target shooting game, as well as a good amount of ammunition for them.

"Trixie will spare you the details of how she came into possession of these armaments. Suffice to say we have more burning problems as it is to lose our breath over such details."

For a moment there it looked like Dash was about to argue about it, but she ultimately refrained from doing so. Whatever she did to get those crossbows, or why she did it in the first place was unimportant. The only thing that mattered was that with these we would finally be able to do some serious damage to that fire wagon. The guards too seemed to share my point of view and didn't ask questions. I'm guessing they're just going to later say it was requisitioned for the purpose of driving off the goblins or something.

The crossbows were quickly distributed between us, the guards sticking to their bows while the civilians, us included, took one each. Or at least most of us did; again, Fluttershy didn't seem too comfortable with the idea. Curiously enough though Rarity didn't seem to hold as much resentment towards taking one as when she was forced a sword into her hoof hand. Each of us took a quiver of bolts and after getting a crash course on using crossbows (or refreshing our knowledge in AJ's, Rainbow's, and my case) we spread out, preparing for the assault. That is until all hey broke loose.

As we were getting into position, each of us trying to stay low and find a good firing position, preferably one that wasn't already on fire itself, the guard that went looking for rope for Applejack made his comeback. Unfortunately, he didn't time it right. The moment he choose to try and regroup with us the goblins started another pass. The gunny, noticing a lone human running in the open hefted his fire-spewing hose a bit higher and aimed at the guard. When the time was right, he released a torrent of liquid flames at the unfortunate man, murderous intent audible in his shrill cry.

The guard had barely any time to react. The moment he saw the flames flying towards him he threw the rope he was holding as far away from him as he could, already knowing he didn't have a chance to dodge. A second later the liquid fire splashed against him, covering the poor man from head to toe in flames. His agonizing cries of pain filled the air with the lament of a tortured soul, momentarily making our blood run cold, The pain of fire eating away at his flesh was enough for him to lose his mind, and as he began thrashing about, flailing his arms around he ran in a random direction. And luck just had it that he ran straight at a familiar-looking white and red tent.

Within seconds the tent caught on fire, flames spreading at a lightning fast pace. Bales of fabric and ready clothes alike, they all served as fuel for the raging inferno as Rynshinn's possessions went up in flames. It took the fire less than ten seconds to consume everything, the weakened, blazing canvas collapsing on the still horrifyingly screeching man inside. It was already clear that he wasn't going to make it, and that he was destined to die in a way so unimaginably painful that I shudder to even think about it.

We watched helplessly as all this happened, too shocked and horrified to do anything. We were by now slowly getting used to the idea of death, that we all could die here, but witnessing this was like a slap to the face. We truly knew nothing, we knew only that death may happen, but we didn't think about it being such a horrifying, mind-numbingly painful experience. But now? Now we knew. And we were determined not to let it happen to us.

We weren't the only ones affected by the events of the last minute. Rynshinn, who not only had just witnessed the death of the unfortunate guard but also lost her own property was staring at the blazing remains of her tent, her wide eyes glued to the burning structure. The look on her face was one of shock and disbelief, her eyes brimming with tears. She seemed to try to say something, but no sound came from her throat. But this state of shock didn't last forever, and within moments it was replaced by something completely different.

White-hot rage.

She stood from her place behind cover and turned around to face the goblins. Her eyes burned with boundless anger, her whole frame shook with barely controlled emotion, but the worst part were her hands. They were glowing with a sort of light one could describe only as magic; wild, uncontrolled, destructive magic. Its bluish hue was darkening with every second as if reflecting Rynshinn's emotions, yet it was growing ever more intense at the same time. It was warping, coalescing, forming into small balls of energy that were doubling their size with each heartbeat. Soon, they were so large that they barely fit in Rynshinn's palms, flowing and crackling with mystic power that made every sane creature witnessing it happen step back in hesitance.

With an animalistic, rage-filled cry Rynshinn threw the first of the blue balls of energy at the retreating fire engine. The magic bolt flew through the air in a ballistically-impossible course, moving in a corkscrew motion while flying in a wide arc, its speed difficult to follow. It zoomed towards the goblins, as if guided by an invisible force, and in less than a second it collided with the one holding the hose. Upon impact the ball of energy discharged in a bright flash, a bang echoing through the square, drowning the pained screech of the injured greenskin. The goblin stumbled, letting go of the hose, and a large, purple, bloody bruise was beginning to form on its ugly head, but it otherwise managed to stand its ground against the magical attack. That is until with an equally animalistic grunt as before Rynshinn released the second ball of magical energy. The second missile collided with the greenskin's torso with enough force for its ribcage to collapse with a sickening crunch and send the goblin flying off the wagon.

We stared in silent awe at the dressmaker's range-induced magical assault. It was one thing to know that she was capable of things like that, but something completely different to see her do it. For a second none of us, including the guards and priest Naffer knew what to do. That quickly changed when Rynshinn suddenly collapsed to her knees, letting out a pain-filled cry. Shaking off his confusion priest Naffer made his way towards the redheaded woman, sensing what was the problem.

It took but a glance to realize what had happened. While Rynshinn in her surprising display of magical power managed to kill one of the goblins, the one sitting in his post on the barrel managed a clear shot at her with his crossbow. The bolt was sticking from her right shoulder grotesquely, blood pouring from the wound. It was clear that she was in much pain, and that the shot managed to make her whole arm completely useless.

Naffer quickly got to Rynshinn's side and after laying her down checked her wound. For a second he looked remotely relieved, as if he knew that this wasn't too much of a problem for his healing magic to handle. This expression changed however once he got to work. For reasons I'm not entirely sure whatever healing powers he possessed seemed to be unresponsive to his attempts. He strained with all he had, brow furrowed in concentration, but try as he might, he couldn't produce that healing glow of his. After several seconds of unsuccessful attempts, when his whole face was covered in sweat and his breath started coming out in ragged pants he came to a frightening conclusion.

For reasons I don't know his powers have abandoned him in a time of need. But what was the cause? Was human magic more strenuous than unicorn magic? Did he reach his limits? Or was something else at hand here? Whatever the case was however, it spelled trouble for the red-headed fashionista.

A sudden movement from the corner of my eye brought my attention from the bleeding form of Rynshinn. At first I was half expecting to see the ugly mug of a goblin trying to sneak attack me. Before I brought up my short blade however I realized that it was nothing like that.

It was a… butterfly? What in Equestria was a butterfly doing in a war zone like this? Half the square was set ablaze by the goblins, the smell of fire and death filled the air, and a butterfly of all things was fluttering about just like that? I was slowly starting to think I was losing it, and what happened next didn't help in that regard.

The aforementioned butterfly, as blue as the ones from earlier today made its way towards, surprise, surprise, Fluttershy. Like the ones from that Swallowtail Release ceremony, the azure insect gently landed on the terrified mare's hand. That seemed to snap 'Shy from her stupor. She stopped covering in fear (though she still was huddled behind cover) and looked at the butterfly in surprise, probably as confused as to why it was here as I was. She stared at it for a few brief seconds, and then, as if she suddenly decided to pony up for no apparent reason she took a deep, calming breath, and turned towards the downed fashionista.

Fluttershy was by Rynshinn's side in no time, a rare determined look in her eyes. For a second she looked as focused as when she was dealing with that boar last night. Giving a short nod to the confused priest she looked over the woman's wound and after a few seconds and to my ever growing consternation she placed both her hands on her shoulder, butterfly still in place.

And then magic happened. No, seriously, that's the only explanation I have; the butterfly started to glow like that bauble priest Naffer used, and that same glow enveloped Fluttershy's hooves hands. Seconds later, when the glow started to die down, a barely audible clattering sound could be heard as the bolt was pushed out of Rynshinn's shoulder by rapidly regrowing muscle tissue.

Told you I was beginning to lose it.

With my mind still boggled by the fact I just witnessed Fluttershy of all ponies using magic, I started to back away slowly. Silently questioning my own sanity I turned around and just like that found myself face to face with Pinkie Pie. Yep. My mind just about shattered at this point.

"That was amazing, don't you think Spike?" Pinkie asked, her eyes looking right past me at Fluttershy. "The way Fluttershy went all super-duper healing crafts on Rynshinn, that was totally awesome! I didn't even know she could do that! Come to think of it…" She adopted a thoughtful expression quicker than you could blink. "I wonder… Maybe if I'm lucky I'll get some magic too? That would be magi-riffic don't you think?"

"Eh… maybe?" I really didn't know what to say, my mind was so full of “what” right now.

"I know it would. Imagine how much fun it would be! And don't get me started on all the party-applications magic would present itself with. I'm telling ya, the possibilities are limitless!"

"Yeah… right… limitless." Slowly back away, don't make any sudden movements. Maybe if you're lucky she won't notice…

"Hey, where are you going?" …that you're legging it. Great.

"Nowhere! Nowhere at all!" Actually why am I scared of Pinkie Pie? She's just Pinkie after all, the one mare that would be able to befriend an ameba if given enough time. It's not like… wait, what's that in her hands? Is it… "What's with the rope?"

Pinkie blinked at me like an owl and looked at her hands. Sure enough, a length of rope was resting in her grasp, though to Pinkie it still looked like she just saw it for the first time in her life. For about a second that is. After that agonizingly long period of time (not really) she grinned at me that disturbingly large grin of hers.

"Oh, this old thing? Remember when you told us your plan and the guards were like "not bad", but then they started to worry that they'll won't be able to hit the barrel, but Applejack said she had a plan and she needed a rope, and that one guard went looking for it?" Does she even breathe? "Well, here it is!" Cue squee.

For a second Pinkie Pie looked like her normal (relatively speaking), cheerful self, but that lasted about as long as a period of peace in Ponyville library, which isn't long to say the least. It took her a moment to remember that the same rope she was holding right now was the reason why someone had died not too long ago. For reasons I'm still not completely sure her puffy hair seemed to deflate like a punctured balloon, or at least become visibly straighter, and the smile disappeared from her face, replaced by a look so sad that I could feel my heart shatter just by looking at it.

"Oh… oh my." Did she just pull a Fluttershy? "I… em… I completely forgot about the guard that brought it here. I didn't get to properly greet him. I… I didn't even learn his name… And now he's…"

"Dead?" Oh, me and my big mouth. The moment I said this Pinkie's hair went completely straight and she was visibly on the verge of tears. Trust me, it was a really heart-wrenching experience, and I was mentally kicking myself for saying anything.

Grasping at straws, I tried my best to somehow console Pinkie Pie, or at the very least direct her attention at something less morbid. Thinking quickly, I glanced at the rope she was still holding and hastily conjured up a plan.

"Pinkie, listen… em… How about we… er… we deliver the rope to Applejack?" I started uncertainly, hoping it would work. "I mean the guy risked his li… neck to get it, it would be a waste to let his sacrifice go in vain. Well? How does that sound?" Okay, maybe not the best plan ever, but it seemed to work. Although her hair still was as straight as a die, Pinkie at least didn't look like she was going to break down any time soon, especially after she gave me a resolute nod. Another mental breakdown avoided thanks to yours truly. Maybe I should consider a career in psychiatry after all…

It didn't took us long to find AJ. She was currently huddled behind cover in the same place I used not so long ago to observe the wagon, loading a bolt on her crossbow. We approached her, careful not to blow her cover.

"AJ?" I asked, gaining the farmpony's attention. Applejack looked at the two of us, and was about to say something, but then she noticed the state Pinkie was in. Making a double take, she asked slowly:

"You alright there hon? Did somethin' happen?"

"It's something for another time, trust me." I jumped into the conversation before Applejack could coax Pinkie into sharing anything. Not that I was trying to cover it up or anything, it's just that Pinkie was obviously in no state to talk about it right now. "Maybe after all this dies down a bit you can talk, but right now, we have bigger fritters to fry. By the way, Pinkie has that rope you wanted." Applejack gave me a mildly suspicious look, but didn't press the matter and instead took the rope from Pinkie.

"Allrighty then, but Ah'm not lettin' this slide. Mark my words, Ah'm gettin' to tha bottom of this." She warned me, and I got a strange feeling she was somehow blaming me for what was going on with Pinkie. I didn't have the time to properly come to terms with this though, as AJ started to do her stuff.

With a surprising amount of dexterity, achievable only by creatures with opposable thumbs, Applejack tied the hempen rope into a lasso in record time. Even she was surprised at how quickly it went, now that she didn't have to use her mouth, but she didn't let it distract her from her goal. Preparing her weapon of choice and giving a signal to the others to prepare their barrage, she scooted towards the opening in the barricade and waited.

The goblins in the fire wagon didn't have the slightest idea what was about to happen. After the loss of their main gunny the goblin with the crossbow clambered down to replace him. It was obvious that he wasn't as experienced as his dead compatriot, at least not in the use of the fire-spewing hose. Fumbling with it, he was barely able to shoot it in a way safe for himself and his companions, and his accuracy left very much to be desired. That's probably one of the main reasons why Applejack was so confident this would work.

The goblin wagon made another pass, the liquid flames barely reaching the barricade. As it was about to start to make a turn and put some distance between them and us, Applejack burst into action. With practiced ease she threw the hoop of her lasso at the object speeding right past her. For a second I thought she was aiming for one of the goblin dogs and was about to try and stop the whole thing that way, but her actual plan was more ingenious. In a show of skill only a regular rodeo contestant could hope to come close to, she threw the hoop over the unsuspecting driver, catching him completely off guard.

With a mighty yank Applejack pulled on the rope, the hoop momentarily tightening on the greenskin's midsection and forcefully tearing him from his seat. With his wind knocked out of him the goblin didn't even manage to utter a single syllable before he hit the ground with a resounding thud. Applejack didn't leave him time to come to however and quickly dragged him towards her, and using his dazed state tied him up tightly, effectively immobilizing him.

In the meantime the wagon was left without a driver, a situation no one wanted to find himself in. The goblin dogs pulling the contraption, feeling the distinct lack of another being directing their moves lost any pretense of working together. One of them decided to stop, while the other did the exact opposite, forcing the whole thing to make an extremely sharp turn and effectively stop after kicking up a cloud of dust. The green skinned passengers didn't fare any better. One of the goblins manning the pump has been flung from his end, colliding with the ground and letting out a pained groan. The other bumped his head against the pump itself and looked like it had trouble controlling his eyes. The least affected was the crossbowyer-slash-firemaster. The only visible injury on him was probably his pride, as he was knocked down on his butt and looked around in confusion.

The moment couldn't be more perfect. The goblin fire engine was momentarily immobilized, making it an easy target which the guards were going to capitalize on. Shouting out an order, guard Ernie gave his men and us the awaited signal. Each and every one of us that happened to be in possession of a ranged weapon let loose their arrows and bolts. The girls and I, well, we weren't particularly useful at this, though AJ scored a nice hit on the barrel (didn't punch a hole through though, so that's a shame). Seems my expertise with the crossbow was only a fluke unfortunately, since I missed the darn thing completely, while the others either hit the side of the wagon or their bolts bounced off the metal plating of the barrel.

The guards however were far more effective, and significantly faster. In the time it took us to fire and reload our crossbows, these guys managed to let loose two or even three arrows each. And they were more accurate too; figuring their bows didn't have as much power as the crossbow bolts carried, they concentrated their fire on the live targets. The goblin on the pump has been hit twice and looked like he wasn't going to see the next day, and the new gunny suffered a precise hit into his shoulder, doing the exact same damage as he did to Rynshinn moments before. The dogs weren't left unscathed either, and both now had an arrow each protruding from their sides. It's a wonder they didn't run off once hit. Unfortunately for us however, our plan on completely getting rid of the fire-spewing menace didn't work out quite as we have hoped it would.

After the initial shock of losing their driver and being showered by arrows, the goblins managed to hastily regroup. The one with the arrow sticking from his shoulder dragged himself to the front and grabbed the reins, ready to replace their actual driver. The one that fell from the wagon entirely clambered aboard and tried to replace their second up until now gunny, hefting the hose at us with a vengeance. Unfortunately for him however, nothing came out, as the only greenskin left operating the pump was on his way to meet Surprise (or whatever the local corresponding spirit of death is).

The goblin clutching at the reins tried his best to force the two rat-dog hybrids to move, planning on retreating. It was probably the best we could've hoped for right now, but that obviously wasn't enough for somepony. The moment the wagon started to slowly roll, the two beasts forced into submission, a very familiar voice called out in anger.

"Oh no you don't!" Before anyone could react Rainbow Dash, in a surge of bravery or blinded by anger cleared the burning remains of the once barricade in an impressive leap. She was holding the spear guard Titus discarded in favor of his bow in her hand, intent on using it. Ignoring our pleas for her to stop she charged at the wagon, closing the distance despite it gaining more and more speed with each passing second. In far less than ten seconds she was within arm's reach of the fire-spewing contraption, and was about to do something, that the whole town of Sandpoint was about to remember her for.

With a burst of speed that wouldn't be that surprising if she still was a pegasus Dash jumped onboard the retreating fire wagon. Grabbing at the crown of the barrel for balance with her free hand, Rainbow quickly took stock of what was going on. In less than a second she found herself confronted by the newest gunny, aiming his hose at her and pulling at the release mechanism, hoping to burn her alive. Yet like before, nothing happened as the pressure in the whole contraption was too small to force the liquid flames out. Realizing his position the goblin quickly discarded the hose and was about to draw a backup weapon, but it never got the chance. Seizing the opportunity Rainbow did the only sensible thing and thrust the borrowed spear at the greenskin, stabbing him right in the gut. The creature collapsed to its knees within seconds, trying in vain to keep its entrails inside.

Having dealt with the offending goblin, Rainbow went to the second stage of her impromptu plan. Figuring she didn't want to be onboard when the wagon reached the goblin lines she made a quick decision. Adjusting her grip on the spear so that her hoof hand was closer to the spearhead, she made a powerful swing and brought it on the barrel's side. Either her brute force was enough to stab through the sheet of metal or she managed to hit it in a particularly weak spot, but the point is she managed to pierce the side of the puncheon, effectively making her weapon stick out of it. And that was exactly what she was hoping for.

Taking a calming breath Dash jumped off of the by now speeding wagon, grabbing at the far end of the spear with both hands. Once her hooves feet met the floor she did the best she could to dig her heels into the ground. The effects were to be expected. The spear, working like a crowbar, broke off a portion of the barrel's side, widening the hole enough for a fairly large amount of air to come into contact with its contents. And seeing as the liquid stored inside combusted when exposed to oxygen, the effect could only be one.

A literal storm of fire engulfed the moving frame of the wagon in one massive burst. The flames easily reached the wounded driver, immolating him within seconds, and spread even further, claiming the two rat-dog hybrids as well. The two beasts, crazed with pain and fear began pulling the burning remains of the wagon blindly, straight into the crowd of shocked goblins, leaving a burning trail in their wake. Screeching and hollering in fright the greenskins dispersed, retreating as quickly as their short legs would carry them away from the inferno on wheels as well as from the accursed square altogether. Some of them weren't quick enough, ending up beneath the wheels of the contraption, themselves catching on fire, others managed to flee, but whatever fate befell them in the end, it meant nothing in the light of what just happened. For in her crazy attack, Rainbow Dash managed to drive off a large portion of the goblin horde all by herself.

Speaking of Rainbow Dash, our prismatic friend, after rolling a bit to lose momentum clambered to her feet using the spear she was still holding to prop herself up. Somehow she seemed to be unscathed, as if what she just did didn't even faze her. With a confident smirk on her lips she shouted at the retreating goblins, shaking her fist for added effect:

"Yeah, you better run! You're no match for us!"

"Rainbow Dash!" I teared my gaze from RD upon hearing Twilight's voice. Looking in her direction, I noticed she got past the burning remains of the barricade and was running towards her, Applejack and guard Titus in tow. Judging by the look on Twi's face however she wasn't about to congratulate Rainbow, not that Dash seemed to notice.

"Hey Twi. Did you see how awesome I was?" She asked, oblivious to the annoyed look on Twilight's face. "Seriously, I didn't think I could bust out such sick moves the way I am right now, but man, if that wasn't rad as hay I don't know what is."

"Rainbow Dash…" Twilight started slowly, now actually glaring at the prismatic mare, which had enough of an effect to make RD pause in confusion. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

"What?! No, of course not! What gave you that idea?"

"Oh, Ah don't know." AJ decided to add her two bits, also looking a bit peeved at Rainbow's performance. "Maybe the fact that ya went off runnin' after a retreatin' wagon filled with flammable liquid and risked your life fer nothin'?"

"What were you thinking Rainbow?! Not only was that stupid and reckless, it was downright dangerous!" Twilight continued, but at this point RD had about enough of being accused all those things.

"Hey, I did what I thought was right, okay? I mean think about what would happen if we let them escape with the wagon untouched. At best it would take them some time to find and train another crew, and who knows what would happen then. Someone could get hurt, or they could use it in another attack or something. Or they may had a spare crew just waiting around to switch out. Then what? You ever thought of that?"

It was actually a pretty solid argument she presented there, so solid that Twilight herself faltered for a bit. Managing only a "well, I… eh" she gave an opening for Rainbow, one that she was adamant on taking advantage of.

"I just made our life that much easier by getting rid of that thing entirely. I mean sure, it was dangerous, but my middle name isn't Danger for nothing. And besides, I'm okay, they didn't lay a hoof on me."

"Yeah, and I for one found all that awesome as all hell." Guard Titus jumped into the conversation, siding with Dash and obviously ignoring the typical Equestrian language mannerisms. "Seriously, that was all kinds of incredible. I bet if any guard did something like that he would be bound to get a promotion from old man Belor, ain't that right Ern? Ernie?" Titus looked around in search of his fellow guardsmen, only to find him back with the two surviving guards, looking over the damage dealt to the square. Seeing this Titus shrugged and continued on. "Eh, no matter. If I know him it would go something like this: 'Ye don good lass, but I still think yer giving a statement with that hair o' yours'." He made a commendable impression of the second guard, earning a chuckle from Rainbow and AJ. Twilight still looked conflicted between being angry/worried at RD and admitting she was right.

"Is it over? Are those scary monsters gone?" I faintly heard Fluttershy ask in her timid voice. Looking in her direction I noticed she at some point left her post with priest Naffer and Rynshinn, the fashionista already better but still in a slightly enraged state, looking hopelessly over the smoldering remains of her tent, and joined me and Pinkie Pie.

"Seems that way." I responded, letting a bit of tension escape my weary body and lowering my guard slightly. "Rainbow drew them off. Didn't you see?" In response Fluttershy shook her head.

"No, I was too busy helping miss Rynshinn and then, well, I hid." She seemed ashamed to admit it. "I'm really sorry I couldn't help more, but those mean monsters were just too much for me to handle. Especially after what I saw them do to others, as if they were treating murder as a game…" She trailed off, shivering slightly. Looking away from us and avoiding eye contact she lowered her voice to barely a whisper. "I feel like I'm just a burden. You all risked your lives and all I did was hide."

"That's not true." Surprisingly enough it was Pinkie that decided to intervene. Her hair still was that same unnerving strait, but her eyes seemed to shine with a sort of determination I rarely saw her display. "You're not a burden Fluttershy, you never were. So what that you didn't take part in the defense, nopony's blaming you for it; it really was scary now that I think of it. But you helped out in your own way."

"B-but…"

"If it wasn't for you Shinny would be… would be…" Pinkie faltered at that point, again coming to a point in which she didn't want to finish her own sentence. Sensing where this could go I decided to carry on from there.

"Rynshinn probably owes you her life. That alone is more than we all did today, trust me." I expertly avoided the dreaded "D" word, and was rewarded by a nod of gratitude from Pinkie. There was however something that kept nagging at my thoughts, and I decided to let it out of my system. "Say: how did you exactly do that healing trick. I mean you're no unicorn, you shouldn't be able to do magic…" I ignored the fact I shouldn't be able to do it too and yet I did.

I was rewarded by a slightly confused look from Fluttershy, as if she didn't know what I was talking about. After a moment however her eyes lit up and she reached to the back of her head, retrieving something from her hair. It was the azure butterfly from before, fluttering its colorful wings lazily as Fluttershy looked at it and smiled serenely.

"It was thanks to this little guy." 'Shy explained in an affectionate tone. "Somehow, when he landed on my hoof… excuse me… hand, I just knew what I should be doing. He directed me through all I needed to do and gave me confidence I needed to do it."

"So a butterfly told you how to use magic?" I asked, slightly skeptical. On one hoof I doubt any sort of insect could possibly hold any knowledge on a subject as diverse as the arcane arts, but on the other it was Fluttershy we're talking about. She could do a lot of weird things with the help of her animal friends, like for example clean up a whole library worth of mess.

To my ever growing surprise though, Fluttershy shook her head no. "He didn't tell me how to use magic. All he did was direct me through what was needed for it to work. And besides, he… doesn't actually talk for some reason." Here her brow furrowed a bit. "I can feel what he wants from me, but he doesn't talk like the butterflies from back home. It's… a bit strange actually." She finished with a curious glance at the butterfly, who by this point fluttered from her fingers and was circling around Fluttershy's head.

I was spared the need to think further on strange magical butterflies as the rattle of armored steps came from the road leading deeper into town. A quick glance revealed it to be a man wearing the armor of the town guard, running towards our position in a hurry. He did however slow down once his eyes fell on the burning remains of our barricade and the number of goblin and human corpses littering the square.

"What in blazes happened here?" We heard him ask no one in particular, after which he shook his head and went straight for the form of guard Ernie. "Ern, gather your men. Belor needs reinforcements at the marketplace, stat."

"Shite." Ernie grumbled and shook his head. "Tell Belor we're be there in five. I need ta take care o' something real quick."

"Don't take too long mate, you know how the old man gets." The second guard replied and turned on his heels, running back deeper into town. In the meantime Ernie took one more glance at the square-turned-battlefield and let out a heavy sight.

"Murciani! Quit yer flirting and prepare ta move out. Belor needs help at the market." Guard Titus shot him an annoyed glare but didn't protest. With an apologetic smile he took his spear from Rainbow's hands and regrouped with his fellow men. As he was doing this, Ernie looked at us, or more specifically at Applejack and Rainbow Dash, with a mix between annoyance and respect, and decided to say something. "Ye best find some place ta hide. Can't say if the goblins will try anythin' else. An' don't worry 'bout the barricades, they're far enough from other buildings that fire won't spread. Now get yer arses moving, we don't need Belor chewin’ us out fer being late." The last portion he directed at his men, and within seconds they were on their way deeper into town, leaving us to our own devices.

"This was quite possibly the worst twenty four hours of my life." I heard Rarity say, finally getting out from her hiding spot. She looked herself over, noticing the state of her attire, and let out an unlady-like groan. "First giant ticks, then boorish guards and equally boorish magicians, and now this mess. Can my life get any worse?"

I really hope Murphy's law doesn't work around here.

"Gotta say, for once Ah agree with ya Rares." Applejack nodded, her, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash joining us. Within moments our group was assembled once again, all eight of us (yes, Trixie actually joined us of her own volition). "Glad its over though, too many close calls if ya ask me."

"Agreed." Twilight, well, agreed. She looked over the mess the square has turned into, and, just like that, produced some parchment and a quill, scribbling something down. "It was possibly the most frightening experience I ever had, bar maybe the whole Nightmare Moon fiasco. Nonetheless, it was a learning experience, and I am not going to let it pass unrecorded. The sheer magnitude of data I managed to gather during this attack is staggering and I need to write it down as quickly as I can, until the memory's still fresh." Considering earlier events, I have no doubt in my mind that she was serious. Sometimes I wonder if she would write an essay about a dragon attack on Ponyville during said attack…

Why do I have the feeling I just jinxed myself?

"We should probably do what that whole Ernie guy said and look for somewhere to stay." Rainbow proposed, snapping my out of my thoughts. "Not that I'm skittish or something, I can totally handle myself against those midgets, but, well, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie don't look too good." She glanced at the two mares in question, as did the others, and quietly agreed.

"I may have a solution then." An unexpected male voice sounded from behind RD, making her jump and whip around. She was met by the tired face of none other than priest Naffer. "I thought that it would be wise to bring Rynshinn to a safe place until this whole mess is sorted, and what better place to do that then inside a stone cathedral, no?" He smiled tiredly. True to his words, he had Rynshinn wrapped around his arm and was obviously leading her to the church.

"Yes, I… I think that would be nice. That is if everyp… everyone else is okay with that I mean. If no then I'm okay with whatever you want to do." Fluttershy, need I say more?

"The Great and Powerful Trixie does agree, the temple does strike her as a very defendable, and she would rather not waste her time on any other greenskins that may still lurk the streets.” The con mare surprisingly supported 'Shy's idea. Or maybe it wasn't that surprising? She acted high and mighty, but I think she was as nervous as most of us (with the noticeable exclusion of one Rainbow Dash).

"Okay then, in that case follow me please." And with that said Naffer continued to hobble his way towards the cathedral building, Rynshinn still wrapped in his arms.

We were about to follow the holy man when Fluttershy suddenly stopped mid step, tilting her head as if she heard something. After a moment I could faintly make out the sound too. It sounded like a dog barking frantically and whining, as if something bad had happened to it. In normal circumstances such a thing wouldn't warrant our attention, nor should it in the situation we were in right now. Problem is, with Fluttershy onboard you can be certain that this wouldn't go unnoticed.

The pitiful barking of the dog must have unlocked something in Fluttershy, the same instinct that made her be able to stare down a boar like it was nothing. Her features momentarily became more stern, her normally kind eyes hardening significantly, and without a word she changed direction from the cathedral to the town gate, where the sound was coming from. It was quite a shock to everypony present, and it took a moment for the rest to realize what just happened. The first to snap out of it was Dash.

"Hey, Fluttershy, wait up!" She shouted after Fluttershy and started to run after her. One by one, the girls also joined the chase and in a few moments everypony except me and Trixie was rushing to catch up with Fluttershy.

"What do they think they are doing?" I heard Trixie's ask no one in particular, staring at the retreating forms of the girls. For a split second I actually agreed with the sentiment, but then I realized that this wasn't the time nor place. If what happened to that dog to make it whine like that had anything to do with the goblins, than Fluttershy would need all the help she could get. So, wasting no more time I rushed to join the rest, leaving a bewildered Trixie in my wake.

"The things I put up with." I faintly heard her say, and was joined by another pair of footsteps.

Comments

[Toilet Sprinkle]

Really lovin this. Spike's snarky comments in the narration really add a lot of flair to everything.

[Trevor12300]

I hope we get to see spike in action more