Upheaval: Breaking Point
Chapter 11: A Violent Welcome
The wolven were a good thirty feet or so when they spotted Twilight and her friends. She blinked onc, and they had already closed three quarters of that distance. Around her, her friends were still recovering from the powerful teleportation spell that had taken them to the Barrier Lands. Only Rarity seemed coherent enough to react to the attack. The rest were still groggy and dazed. There wasn't a single moment to spare. Her mind racing, Twilight cast the first available spell that came to mind.
A mass of black hair sprouted all over the lead wolven's snout.
Twilight's heart nearly stopped at the botched spell. Fortunately for her, the sudden growth of hair around its nose startled the lead wolven enough to slow its pace slightly. The two behind it nearly crashed into their leader, allowing her to get another spell off. This time, the lead wolven levitated from the floor, surrounded by a purple nimbus of light. Twilight hurled it towards the two behind it, sending all three of them tumbling to the ground. "Run!" she shouted at her friends. Already, she could see the wolven rising and snarling from the corner of her eye. They would be upon her and her friends in a matter of seconds.
The urgency in Twilight's voice snapped the rest of them out of their daze. Rarity had but to take a single look at the enormous, lupine creatures coming at them to immediately try to get the others moving. "You can vomit later, Applejack," Rarity said as she tried to get Applejack on her hooves. "Right now, we need to run!"
Applejack tried to run, only to lurch to her left. Rarity caught her before she could fall over, then proceeded to half-drag and half-carry her to the doors. Behind her, both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had recovered enough to follow suit while supporting Pinkie Pie, who was doing her best to run…in the opposite direction.
With her friends needing more time, Twilight continued to face the trio of wolven. As she had expected, she was already feeling the strain of using her magic outside the Heartland. One of the wolven jumped at her while the two circled around trying to either surround her or get to her vulnerable friends. Twilight caught the charging wolven in her telekinetic grip. She hesitated for a second, realizing that she couldn't repeat the same tactic over and over. The wolven were already learning. They had separated to avoid being knocked down as a group and their persistence would mean that she would tire long before they did.
"What are you waiting for? Beat it against the ground until it's dead!"
Twilight smashed the floating wolven against the stone floor head first, stunning it. She then hurled it towards one of the circling wolven, knocking it over. When the third jumped at her from her side, she ducked and hoped for the best. Sure enough, it jumped past her. She had successfully avoided its vicious jaws, but not without a cost.
As she saw the wolven's shadow on the floor near her, Twilight felt as if her back had caught fire. The agonizing pain jolted her train of thought and sapped the strength from her knees. Something wet and sticky ran down her sides and dripped on the floor. She didn't need to look to know what it was. Despite the pain, she struggled to her hooves and looked to see where her friends were. Rarity and the others had made it to the doors at last. Panic and relief fought within her as she limped towards them as fast as she could.
"Twilight look out!" Rarity cried out. She let Applejack go and rushed forward. The wolven had recovered and were in hot pursuit. A faint light blue glow surrounded one of them, but it ignored the spell and kept charging. The telekinetically gripped wolven merely growled in annoyance as it found its pace slightly slowed. Beads of sweat formed around Rarity's forehead as she struggled to maintain the spell, but she couldn't even lift a single paw.
"Run, Rarity!" Twilight tried to shout, but her warning came out weak and strained. "Our magic is weakened here, just run!"
Rainbow Dash left Pinkie with Fluttershy and flew towards Twilight to support her. They managed to get to the hallway with the wolven just a few feet away.
"What are you ponies still doing here?" somepony shouted. "Get to the evacuation a-Terrato's broken horn! They've made it this far already!"
A pair of heavily-barded ponies charged into the fray. One of them crashed right into the mustache-sporting wolven just as it was about to land on Twilight. Fangs and claws scraped against metal plating as the guard slammed the wolven against a wall. The other two wolven changed their focus from the seemingly helpless, fleeing prey to the armored threats that had arrived. The second guard followed after his comrade, positioning his back against the other guard and rearing up to keep the other two at bay. "Move, ponies!" he yelled. "Get to the evacuation area!"
The six of them ran for it. The sudden fighting had jolted them out of any lingering daze. A sense of panic began to build in Twilight as they ran. Evacuation area? Her friends didn't even know where they were. She only saw this place once! They were going to get lost in a place that's being attacked by wolven. To make matters worse, she was hurt and lagging behind the rest while drops of blood trickled from her back.
Atop Applejack, Spike watched Twilight with concern. "Twilight!" he called out. "Do you know where we should go?"
"I've only been here once." Twilight answered as they rounded one corner. "I think…" She looked around to get her bearings. Desperately, she beat back the panic and confusion. 'I think I can get us to the courtyard from here. If the fort is under attack, there will be more wolven there, but we can also find some ponies who'll know!"
"Sounds like you know this place better than any of us," Applejack said. "We'll follow you."
With every pony around her looking to her for guidance, Twilight led the way. The wound on her shoulder ached whenever she put her weight on her right foreleg, but she gritted her teeth through the pain. They passed through one hallway after another. She looked around quickly, making snap decisions on where to turn to next based on the one time she had been through the place. She also listened closely for the sounds of ongoing battles to determine if she was heading where she needed to go. There were no ponies in the hallways she passed through and, with each corner she turned, she dreaded seeing more wolven. She was panting already when they descended a flight of stairs. That was when Fluttershy started running next to her.
"Twilight," Fluttershy said, "we need to bandage your wound."
"With what?" Twilight asked as she looked around. This hallway looked particularly familiar. They were getting close. The sounds of fighting were also getting louder. "We don't have anything to bandage it with and we don't have time to stop."
"But-but it's all over the floor!"
Twilight looked behind her to find a thin trail of blood leading up to where she was standing. This was getting bad. She had left an obvious trail for anything to follow. She was also starting to feel a little lightheaded. Each step she took with her right foreleg sent bolts of pain running through her shoulder. If they didn't find help soon, they would be in even greater danger. "No time," she said. "Now, this way."
After a few more hallways, Twilight started to limp. Her efforts had paid off, however. They finally came into the entrance hall of the fortress. They skidded to a stop as soon as they saw what was going on.
The main doors had been broken apart. There were splinters of wood scattered across the floor. All around them, an enormous battle raged. The sound of fearsome snarls and angry neighing mixed with the scraping of claws against metal barding and the cries of the injured, turning into deafening cacophony that pressed on them from all sides. Everywhere they looked, ponies and wolven were locked in fierce combat. One barded pony knocked down a wolven and reared up to bring his hooves down on his opponent's skull. A pair of wolven clamped their enormous jaws on another pony's neck and leg to drag him to the ground.
"Where are we?" Rainbow Dash cried out over the din. "What's going on?" Her voice was barely audible. The others could only stare in wide-eyed terror.
Twilight looked around again. This was a losing battle. She could tell with a glance. More wolven were coming in from the main entrance. It wouldn't be long until the ponies were overwhelmed. She looked past the broken doors to see what had happened. To her shock, all three gates that led to the fortress had been blasted apart. It was night, but she could see what had happened clearly as the gates were ablaze. Enormous gouts of flame lit up the night, bathing the scene of carnage in a red-orange glow. More wolven streamed into the fortress while squads of ponies fought desperately to hold them back. Despite the ponies' efforts, groups of wolven managed to break through and run into the fort.
"We can't go through this way..." Twilight said. She didn't know if her friends heard her, she barely had the strength to keep standing. "…there has to be some…some kind of back door."
"Twilight, watch out!" Spike shouted.
Twilight looked ahead in time to see a wolven jump at her. Its claws were a foot away and about to gouge her face off. Surprised, she could only close her eyes and prepare for the pain.
But the pain didn't come. When Twilight opened her eyes again, she was looking at black-barded side of a pony. The wolven that had charged at her was dead on the ground, its gut sliced open by an enormous blade. She looked at the weapon that had dealt the horrific wound and recognized the two-bladed sword clamped between her rescuer's teeth. "Vanguard Clash!" she said.
Vanguard turned to face her. She then noticed that something was wrong. His barding looked…distorted in some places, as if some of the plates had been partly melted. He was panting heavily and beads of sweat dripped from between the plates of his armor. "You're hurt," she said. Her vision started blurring as she fought to stay conscious.
"And you're bleeding," Vanguard mumbled through his weapon. For a moment, he was frozen in shock when he found himself looking at Twilight Sparkle once more. Even from a distance, the sight of her surprised him, but he had convinced himself that it was just another purple unicorn. Standing in front of her and listening to her speak, he was sure now.
Twilight was right. He was hurt. But the pain of his burns meant nothing compared to the sting of his failure. He had left the wolven camp as soon as he could put one hoof in front of the other, donned his barding, and made his way desperately back to FangBreaker Fortress. His injuries slowed him down and he had arrived too late. He had to skirt around the gathered wolven, then kill several of them just to get into the fort. Once inside, he had decided that he was going to defend the fortress to the death as penance for failing.
Seeing Twilight changed that, however. Whatever the reason why, she was back. His priority now was to get her to safety. Without another word, he put his head underneath her and lifted her up to his back. Twilight Sparkle didn't protest, and that only served to make her state even more worrisome. Vanguard saw the group of ponies that had run up to him. He didn't recognize any of them, but a quick look to their flanks told him everything. "Are you her friends?" he asked after replacing his weapon. "Follow me." He galloped towards the designated evacuation areas. He counted himself lucky for remembering where they were. Back in training, he had been inclined to forget about them. As if there was going to be a time when FangBreaker Fortress had to be abandoned...
"Wait!" a rainbow-maned pony flew up to Vanguard as he ran. "Who are you? How can we trust you?" she asked.
Forcing himself to ignore the bizarre coloration of the pony flying next to him, Vanguard answered quickly. "Introductions later. I'm a legionnaire and, right now, it's my job to get you all out of this fort. You can trust me or you can trust the wolven. Your choice."
"We need to bandage Twilight's wound," a yellow pegasus said as she flew up to him.
"What's that creature on the orange one's back? Put him on mine please."
"I'm Spike!" the creature said as the yellow pegasus placed him on Vanguard's back. "And I'm a dragon!"
"Tear off strips of my caparison and use those for bandaging," Vanguard replied.
"Capri-what?"
"The cloth around my legs. Climb down my armor and tear off pieces of it. Go!"
The plan was shoddy at best. Vanguard's caparison was a tattered mess and badly burned in several places. He hoped that Spike could find enough of it to patch Twilight up temporarily while he got her to whatever remained of the fort's medics. He also hoped that the very small dragon would not fall off or he might accidentally step on him while he continued to run.
They galloped through one hall and through several passages. On his back, Vanguard could feel Spike doing what he could with the pieces of cloth. Finally, they emerged through the back of the fortress. Still atop the hill, they saw a long line of ponies fleeing southward. To Bastion City, Vanguard guessed. Squads of pegasi flew above them. Even at a distance, Vanguard noticed that many of them were carrying wounded through stretchers.
"We made it!" the rainbow-maned pony exclaimed in relief.
"Not yet." Vanguard said. He turned towards the rainbow-maned pony, then pointed at the pegasi. "Think you can catch up with them?" he asked.
"Is that a challenge?" she replied. "Sure I can."
"Good. Tell them we have wounded and see if they have some spare wings to fly Twilight out of here."
The rainbow-maned pony looked a little irked by the orders, but she took a single glance at Twilight, who was draped over Vanguard with her eyes barely open, then nodded. In a blink, she was already soaring towards her target, leaving behind a prismatic streak. 'She's going to give Scarlet a run for his bits,' he thought. He focused on the rest of the ponies still with him. "Let's go."
About half an hour had passed since Vanguard helped Twilight and her friends escape FangBreaker Fortress. He looked back and was only mildly surprised that the fortress was not on fire. Fenrir's army was planning on using it.
The rainbow-maned pony had returned earlier with a pair of pegasi that he recognized from one of the long-range patrols. They put Twilight on a stretcher and flew her ahead. Spike had asked to come along to accompany Twilight.
With the fortress a good distance behind them and no pursuing wolven in sight, he had slowed to a trot instead of a hard gallop. The darkness made it difficult to see anything and the half moon did not help much. He followed the lit torches from the distant fleeing ponies and hoped that he didn't run into too many obstacles.
The ponies behind him looked exhausted and he was as well. His burns were hurting from all the exertion. He was about to drop, but they were coming closer to the main line of FangBreaker's retreating forces and he needed to protect these ponies. While he kept a calm exterior, he was fighting through each step.
"Excuse me, good sir," somepony said.
Vanguard looked back in time to see the white pony trotting towards him. "Yes?" he asked.
"Now that we're a good distance from the danger, perhaps we can introduce ourselves? We would dearly like to know a lot of things."
"My name is Captain Vanguard Clash of the Northern Equestrian Legion," he replied. "You are?"
The white pony looked at him blankly at first. He had expected that. "Northern Equestrian Legion" likely flew past her as surely as one of her pegasi friends. She recovered swiftly from her puzzlement, however. "My name is Rarity," she said. "Pleased to meet you, Captain Clash."
Vanguard raised an eyebrow. This pony had just found herself in a strange land and came under attack by strange creatures. Her friend had been badly injured and had to be flown off for treatment, but she spoke to him with an earnest formality. 'This must be a chosen noble,' he thought. The carefully combed curls on her mane reinforced his guess.
"The name's Applejack," the orange pony behind Rarity said. "Could you tell me where in the hay we are? It's bad enough that we've been banished, but banished to the middle of a giant scrap between ponies and…what did you call those monsters again? Wolven?"
"My sympathies for your banishment," Vanguard answered. Applejack's words just confirmed what he had been fearing since he saw Twilight Sparkle back at FangBreaker. "You're in the Barrier Lands, the realm outside the Equestria you know." He studied Applejack a little. Here was a direct contrast to Rarity, a pony who was a little rough at everything from appearance to manners.
The other ponies began to introduce themselves as well. The rainbow-maned pony was Rainbow Dash and the pink one with the mane like sugary froth was Pinkie Pie. After a little coaxing, the yellow pegasus introduced herself as Fluttershy. With the introductions out of the way, they resumed trotting in silence.
Several minutes passed when Fluttershy spoke up. Her voice was so weak, however, that Vanguard thought she was just talking to herself. It was only when she approached him and repeated what she was saying did he realize that she was talking to him.
"Those ponies lying on the ground…" she said. "They were just tired right? They got tired of fighting, and had to lie down?"
"They're dead," Vanguard answered. Fluttershy wilted on the spot. Her eyes focused on the ground while her lips quivered. It wasn't just Fluttershy either. His confirmation weighed down on each of them like a thick shroud. He softened his tone when he replied again, aware that his dog's growl of a voice served him poorly when dealing with ponies. He was a little thankful that Fluttershy had not seen what the wolven did to ponies after killing them. "We will mourn for them later, Fluttershy," he told her as gently as he could. "For now, let's be thankful that we're alive. Then, we make sure that they didn't die for nothing. When all of that is done, we mourn."
"But why were they fighting anyway?" Pinkie Pie asked. There was something in her voice that seemed incredibly subdued to Vanguard. He guessed that she was far more used to shouting with joy that talking like this.
"We fight to defend Equestria," Vanguard replied. "That fortress has been protecting Equestria's north for more than a thousand years."
"But we just lost it!" Pinkie said.
"There's been a betrayal," Vanguard growled. The thought of how it happened angered him. The blazing gates were a clear sign of the culprit. The other ponies quickly noticed his mood and backed away slightly. "Somepony will pay for this."
Vanguard looked on ahead, cutting off any more discussion among them. They had finally caught up with the rest of FangBreaker's forces. There would be time to talk later. For now, they had to rest up and take stock. He had a report to make to Commander Dreadstep, if the pony was still alive, then he would be off to the medics to have his burns treated and to see how Twilight Sparkle was doing.
After that was revenge.