Legion's Plague

The light faded. When the light level returned to Anna's horn-lantern level, both Nazi and archer looked at where the Dark Crystal Golem stood....the monster lay in pieces of stone and shattered crystal shards. They then glanced at the red-haired, staff-wielding, single-horned satyr who unleashed the very light that pretty much blinded everyone momentarily.

"Uh.....Natalie, I have to ask, but when the fuck did you learn how to teleport?" Lance asked, pointing a finger at the woman's horn. His entire being shook, but just slightly.

"I knew how to do it when I was a kid and I apparently forgot all about it until my transformation happened." Natalie answered with a sigh. Traces of that ghastly aura still lingered around her horn and staff. The ground shook again, this time from behind. Things sounded as though something were pounding against them. Pieces of crystal rubble began falling from the ceiling-wall above. Anna and Lance glanced around again.

"If it's another Golem, I'm gonna--" Anna started, only to be cut off as a whole chunk of the wall broke off, revealing another bipedal silhouette. This one was, quite frankly, like a cube on legs. It lumbered its way to the party, and behind it was the Valkyrie. The bipedal thing was made of mostly wood, but there were chunks of exposed metal here and there, such as one hand being a drill for starters. It had round holes where eyes would be, and the top of its head was flat and smooth. There were a few tree branches sticking out here and there on its entire frame.

"You brought the Mighty Oak here as well?" Anna asked, turning her gaze back to Natalie.

"Might as well." Natalie answered with a shrug. Something seemed to click in her head briefly, and she let off a giggle. Lance and Anna also chuckled briefly before turning their sights on the palace in the distance.

"So....uh, what happened here?" Natalie asked, tilting her head to the side.

"A lot." Anna retorted, crossing her arms in frustration.

Suddenly, more Dark Crystal Golems stood in the way between the entrance and the palace. There were at least thirty of them.

"Well, shit." Natalie sighed, her eyes narrowing low. In an instant, her horn was crackling to life yet again, this time in a white glow. It was then that she noticed on one stallion statue had a hapless Moogle chained onto its horn. The poor thing had its wings cut off, as well as the trademark pom-pom. Before doing anything, she used her magic to break the Moogle's shackle and quickly carry the poor thing to Lance. Natalie then turned back to the golems, her horn crackling more fiercely than ever. Her eyes took on a glow of sinister intent.

"YOU." She started, flinging a ball of raging fire at the beast which the Moogle was attached to. The beast roared and ate the fireball before spontaneously exploding.

"DO." She scowled as she flung shards of ice at another. The creature froze and then shattered instantaneously.

"NOT." She yelled, calling down heavenly thunderbolts on another still. The stone monster convulsed so much the crystals broke, leaving a sad stone shell behind as it died.

The Moogle wailed "Kupo" in horrendous agony. It clutched Lance's arm frantically. The Nazi and archer rushed inside the Valkyrie tank and sat down watching the screen.

"EVEN." She hissed in seething, loathing anger as a white orb encased another and caused its pieces to be flung everywhere.

"THINK." She shrieked, flinging a shower of golden, hollowed-out stars at ten more monsters. They fell on their backs in shock, causing their statues to shatter and death to take them away.

"ABOUT." She snarled as a white beam suddenly shot out from another golem, causing it to disintegrate in its glow.

"HURTING A DAMN MOOGLE!!!" She screamed in fury as the remaining golems were encased in a furious storm of fire, ice, and lightning. The furious storm from hell continued to swirl around the twelve or so monsters and then coalesced in a single fluent motion. The resulting explosion collected what remained the monsters into another corporeal form and then turn them to ash. The ash, still glowing, was then scattered across the entire battlefield as a sort of warning to those who would dare harm another Moogle. A group of ponies chained together witnessed all this and approached the mysterious satyr who caused the monsters to die in a rather spectacular display of raw magical power.

"Free us..." Said a mare.

"Mommy's dead....this bad stallion hurt me..." Cried a filly.

"The golems killed my family...." Wailed a stallion.

"Make it stop..." Sobbed a colt who had three legs.

Natalie shook, newfound anger sprouting in her like a seed of sin. Looking at all these hurt ponies--especially the three-legged colt--made her anger almost impossible to contain. But through some miracle she didn't let it loose; she kept it under control.

She looked at the Valkyrie with teary eyes and nodded once. Returning her gaze to the hurt ponies with horn aglow, she fiddled with the shackles for a bit. The troublesome binds were encased in a soft white glow as they jiggled and had their inner workings deciphered.

A series of loud clicks sounded soon after as the chains were unlocked. They fell onto the snow blanket soundlessly with ease. One by one, the ponies climbed into the hatch of the tank. Old, young, male, female, sick, healthy....you name it. But the three-legged colt didn't follow them--instead, he looked at the satyr with a pleading look. She looked back at him.

"Make the pain stop...." He repeated, half-hobbling, half-shambling towards her. His flanks were raw and red, and there was exposed flesh where his cutie marks should've been. The satyr knelt down to his level and held him upright with both forelegs in her hands. She turned him at every angle to study the rather horrific abuse before making her judgement.

She picked him up and ran with him towards the tank with her horn glowing. In a flash, she disappeared off the street and reappeared in the tank. She saw Lance patch up the Moogle before wrapping it in a fuzzy blanket. She began casting a spell on the colt. A white glow bathed his form as about twenty glowing star-like orbs surrounded him before slowly, softly wrapping his wounded body. In a flash that ended as quickly as it had come, the wounds of the colt were closed off and healed as if nothing happened. Of course, the leg didn't regrow. The cutie marks--a shield and sword--were restored, however. "Lance, get a damn prosthetic." Natalie sighed, her horn ceasing its soft glow.

"Roger." Lance replied, passing the sleeping Moogle off to Anna before digging around in a box behind him. He then pulled out a leg made of metal and plastic with a cup fitted for all shortened limbs. He looked at the leg and then the colt and gently slid it onto the thigh. It matched up with the length of the other legs perfectly, and the fact that it was shaped like a regular pony leg made it that much better.

The colt was carefully put on all fours. He moved his new leg carefully to ensure that it worked. Wearily, he began walking around slowly before finding a nice spot to curl up on and fall asleep.

A bulky figure dropped down from the hatch. Over silver armor he wore a thick coat of Ursa fur that had white spots with padding underneath. Ivory shin guards and bracers the color of snow decorated his arms and legs. Sandals of Ursa leather were on his feet. In a sheath he was carrying a sword of ivory, and his robe contrasted his blond hair.

"How'd ya follow us, Kaleb?" Lance asked the brute. Natalie walked up to the fur-wearing blond and grabbed his arm. This caused Kaleb to look at her.

"What the hell have you taught my kid?" She asked sternly.