Chapters As the blazing fire lit the large cavern, Truestrike looked into the heart of it reflecting on the past few days.
Ponyville was recently attacked by a rather large group of Diamond Dogs, all wearing the signature metal armor. Though there were no deaths and only a few wounded, the town was left ravaged of almost all of its precious gems. Rarity, the local fashion designer, was hit the hardest. The Diamond Dogs took every last jewel in her enormous stockpile. Princess Celestia immediately took action after the attack by sending a group of 50 Equestrian military ponies to deal with the threat right at their base. The group consisted of ponies of all types, Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies. They found an entrance to a series of underground caverns just outside of Ponyville a few days ago and have been venturing forward ever since.
In all the time while in the caverns however, they had yet to find a single trace of the Diamond Dogs. They had been sent in with little intel on the enemy and the group began to wonder if this really was where the vicious dogs dwelled.
Truestrike continued her gaze into the fire as she sat on her haunches alone, thinking. This was her first mission since joining the Equestrian military and she still doubted if she could truly do this. Her whole life she had been told by other ponies that she had a great talent at using magic, especially destructive magic. After falling on hard times, she decided to join the military, it being her only choice.
She sighed as she sat there, hoping she had somepony to talk to. Since joining up with the group a few days ago, she hadn't really talked to anypony. Most of the group kept to themselves which she didn't really like but at the same time she enjoyed. She tended to wake up before anypony and relished in the time she had to herself.
Truestrike was quickly awoken from her thoughts as she began to hear a rumbling. She frantically began to look around to see where the noise was coming from, only realizing too late that the sound had been emanating from the floor of the cavern and its walls. Diamond Dogs in grey metal armor began springing from everywhere, some wielding their claws and some carrying crude, stone weapons.
A Diamond Dog lunged at Truestrike but before it could hit her, she had materialized a magical force field around herself. The dog bounced off it, sending it flying backwards. Truestrike looked around as she saw her group mates emerging from their tents but quickly being attacked by the Diamond Dogs.
Even though the military ponies were still in a groggy state, their training and fighting skill vastly outweighed the skills of the Diamond Dogs. The one thing the dogs did have though, were numbers. Compared to the 20 ponies, there were at least 50 to 100 Diamond Dogs.
Truestrike's mind quickly snapped back into battle as she heard the blood-curdling war cry of both Diamond Dogs and ponies. The two forces clashed as Truestrike saw the Diamond Dog casualties piling up. Realizing she needed to help as well, she began to charge up a large, emerald bolt from her horn. As it reached its full power, she acquired her targets, a group of 5 Diamond Dogs rushing straight towards her. She unleashed the bolt upon the group and once it hit the first Diamond Dog in the front, it caused a rather large explosion and enveloped the group of enemies in a sea of emerald fire. Truestrike watched as the Diamond Dogs writhed around in enormous amounts of pain. She cringed at the sight and felt a tear roll down her cheek. She was happy she had such powerful magic but at the same time, she hated herself for causing so much pain.
After dispatching of several other Diamond Dogs, the enemy finally retreated. The Diamond Dogs suffered heavy casualties while the ponies luckily only had a few wounded. Truestrike looked around at the all the blood and carnage and sighed, relieved that it was over for now. As she retreated to her own tent, she knew the momentary peace, however, could only last for so long.
After the attack on the camp, the group of soldier ponies decided to continue on their mission. Truestrike was slightly shaken from it all. The Diamond Dogs were very scarey to her. The appearance of them frightened a little, but what mostly scared her was the fact they could attack at anytime with little to no warning. However, she was a military pony and she knew she had to be strong, for herself and her group mates.
As Truestrike began to put her things into her saddlebags, she was approached by the leader of their squad, Ravenheart. Ravenheart was a mare like Truestrike, in height and sleekness, but was a pegasus instead of a unicorn. She had black fur, the complete opposite to Truestrike's white. She had her long, purple mane put up into a pony tail so it wouldn't get in the way of her deep blue eyes. Her tail, unlike her mane, was shortcut, black, and scruffy looking. Truestrike noticed that her cutie mark was an illuminated raven with two swords crossed over it. Oddly enough, it was surrounded by a patch of white fur so it showed up. Truestrike admired Raven's cutie mark as hers was just a patch of green fire. Some ponies found it cool looking but Truestrike disliked it considering it just reminded her of her special talent, causing destruction.
Ravenheart looked at Truestrike seriously and spoke in a commanding voice.
"Truestrike, you're assigned to the left side of the squad to provide light."
Truestrike nodded and spoke as she continued to put her things into her saddlebags.
"Yes ma'am, you can count on me."
Ravenheart smiled and spoke again, but this time in a more calming tone.
"Good Truestrike, nice to know there's a pony I can depend on. I'll just leave you to finish your packing."
As Ravenheart began to walk away, she looked back and saw that Truestrike's face was filled with sadness. Being one of the few ponies of the group to actually be talkative, she turned around and sat down next to Truestrike as she was packing.
Truestrike looked up from her packing and saw her leader sitting there, a smile on her face and a slight worried look in her eyes.
"Is everything okay, Truestrike?"
Truestrike gave her a slightly confused look, not expecting this from her commander. It did make her happy however that another pony was finally talking to her after the long journey they'd be on. That happiness quickly faded as she remembered what their journey was. A scared frown flashed on her face for a second but was quickly replaced by a forced smile, not wanting to show her fear. She spoke quietly and avoided eye contact with Ravenheart so she wouldn't see the frightened look in her ruby eyes.
"O-ofcourse, ma'am, I'm completely fine, ma'am."
Ravenheart saw right through the lie and the forced smile.She sighed loudly, mainly at the lie and also a little bit because of the whole 'ma'am' thing.
"Please Truestrike, call me Raven."
Ravenheart grinned happily as she saw a real smile come to Truestrike's face and continued.
"Truestrike, I'd really appreciate if you'd be honest with me. I know I'm your leader and all but I'm also a normal pony just like you. It looks like something's bothering you and it really looks like you need somepony to talk to. I'm not here talking to you as your superior, but as a friend. Now please, tell me what's wrong."
Truestrike looked straight into Ravenheart's eyes with a sad smile on her face. She was right, she really needed to talk to somepony about her fear. A warm feeling crept over her as she looked into the eyes of Ravenheart, concern in her blue eyes and a reassuring smile on her face.
"Thank you ma'a-...I mean Raven. It's just tha-"
As she began to speak, a large stallion walked into the tent and interrupted her.
"Commander, we're ready to move."
Ravenheart sighed and nodded at the soldier.
"Okay, we'll move out in a few minutes."
The stallion saluted and walked out of the tent. Ravenheart looked back at Truestrike, her smiled replaced with a frown. She really needed some comfort right now but the mission came first. Ravenheart got up from her seated position and looked down at the unicorn.
"I'm really sorry Truestrike, but we need to move."
Ravenheart immediately felt bad as a frown came over Truestrike's expression. She truly did want to know what was wrong and she was determined to find out, but later. Ravenheart gave the saddened unicorn a reassuring smile.
"But we'll talk later, I promise."
A faint smile appeared on Truestrike's face and she nodded.
"Okay."
Ravenheart gave a slight nod to her before walking out of the tent. Truestrike got up from the ground and put on her saddlebags. She didn't want to keep her emotions bottled up but she knew that the next time they set up camp, she'd have somepony to talk to.
Truestrike did her best to focus and keep up with the group but other things were on her mind. The constant threat of Diamond Dogs kept her on her hooves and if she managed to forget about them for even just a moment, her fears would bring the thoughts back in an instant. Though the menacing creatures were the main thing on her mind, something lingered in the back of her mind. For some reason, she couldn't get the black pegasus out of her mind. Perhaps it was because that she was the first to even notice Truestrike or that she was the only one who really cared. Maybe it was her beautiful emerald eyes...
Truestrike shook her head as the thought entered her mind. She did her best to forget it and stay focused. She sighed heavily and began to look around at her surroundings, as dull as it was. The only things she had been seeing for the past hour of walking with her squad were rocks, dirt, and high ceilings. She had hoped to see some jewels perhaps but knowing the Diamond Dogs, they would of taken them already.
Her gaze shifted to the ponies to her right. All of them looking forward, so focused and so serious. 'So boring.' Truestrike thought. She glanced at the unicorn at the front with his horn glowing, providing light. A unicorn was assigned to each side of the group so they wouldn't just be wandering around in the dark.
Truestrike, getting restless, decided to try to start a conversation with the large stallion next to her.
"So...how about that ambush?"
The stallion kept moving forward and that's where his gaze stayed as he replied.
"Yep."
Truestrike sighed and tried to further the conversation.
"So, I didn't catch your name."
The stallion kept his gaze in the same direction.
"Ironhammer."
Truestrike smiled, finally making progress. Normally, another pony however would ask the other's name right back.
"Do you care to know my name?"
Ironhammer replied back coldy.
"Nope."
Truestrike's smile dropped into a frown as she realized the stallion didn't want conversation but she did.
"Oh...well it's Truestrike."
Ironhammer didn't seem to notice. She knew that they were all military ponies but that didn't mean they all have to be antisocial.
Truestrike heard a slight giggle from above and looked up to see Ravenheart hovering above her. She smiled and landed between Truestrike and Ironhammer. She turned to the stallion.
"Ironhammer, take my position in the middle of the group."
Ironhammer saluted and shifted into position. Ravenheart laughed and turned to Truestrike.
"Not the most talkative pony, eh?"
Truestrike, feeling down from the previous conversation, only nodded in response and kept her eyes forward. Suddenly, she felt Ravenheart bump her flank playfully with her own. Truestrike quickly looked at Raven, a big grin on her face. This made Truestrike slightly blush and she let out a slight chuckle.
"Looks like you're not a very talkative pony, either."
Truestrike's blush faded and she smiled at Ravenheart.
"Sorry Raven, just fe-"
Truestrike was interrupted as Ravenheart put a hoof up and a serious look came upon her face.
"That's Commander Ravenheart to you, soldier."
Truestrike's smile faded at this and she quickly look down.
"Oh, sorry, Commander Ravenheart."
Truestrike felt the pegasus nudge her. She looked up and saw her leader laughing madly.
"Hahaha! I'm just messing with you Truey."
Truestrike smiled at the nickname and laughed as well. She also felt relieved. She thought she had lost the only friend she had made on this journey.
"That wasn't funny!"
Ravenheart continued to laugh.
"Than why are you laughing!"
Truestrike rolled her eyes playfully.
"Okay, I guess it was kind of funny."
The two continued walking with their gazes forward. Slowly, the laughter died down and Truestrike sighed. With the laughter gone, the fears came back to Truestrike's mind. Her content smile was replaced with a depressed frown and a worried look in her eyes. Raven immediately noticed and looked at Truey with concern.
"So, we've got time if you still want to talk."
Truestrike looked up and a small smile formed.
"Well, I-"
"HALT!"
A pony yelled from the front of the group and the soldiers stopped. Ravenheart sighed and began to walk to the front. She turned back as she walked and mouthed a 'sorry' to Truestrike. She nodded sadly in response and stood there, horn still lit.
She looked forward and saw the reason. There was a normally-sized wooden door in front of them encrusted with jewels of all types. A lit torch was on both sides of the door, lighting their current space so the four unicorns turned off their lights.
Ravenheart nodded to a heavily armored stallion and he nodded in return. He walked forward and clumsily opened the door with his hooves. As the door opened, it revealed a dimly lighted room. He looked back at Ravenheart and she waved her hoof at him, motioning him to continue.
He walked into the room and looked around. He looked back at the group and nodded.
"It's clear!"
The group filed into the room. The room was indeed dimly lit and was rather large. There were many piles of rocks scattered throughout and there was also another door up ahead. The group began to move to the next door but that's when things went to hell.
The ground beneath them and the walls around them began to shake and a rumbling sound started. Everypony, knowing what was about to happen, shifted into fighting stances. Earth ponies unsheathed their swords and held them in their mouths. The only earth pony not to have a sword was, surprise, Ironhammer. He had, you guessed it, an iron hammer held in his mouth. The pegasi lept into the air and readied their bows and swords. She saw Ravenheart wielding a sword in each hoof, a bloodthirsty look on her face. Unicorns began charging their spells as was Truestrike, a massive bolt of green fire materializing from her horn.
Before the Diamond Dogs attacked from the ground and walls however, groups of them popped out of the piles of rocks. They began chucking heavy stones at the ponies, hitting several of them and sending them to the ground. Quickly realizing the strategy, the ponies charged at the rock throwers. Just as they did however, more Diamond Dogs came out, bursting out of the dirt and stone around them.
After losing a few ponies to the surprise of the attack, they fought back and the Diamond Dog causalities began to add up. However, every time one would die, two more would pop out. Ravenheart slashed from the air, taking out many of the vicious monsters. Ironhammer fought fiercely, swinging his hammer around in a circular pattern, taking out dogs as they tried to attack him.
Truestrike, however, was not fairing well. The Diamond Dogs, this time, decided to attack the unicorns first so they could more easily deal with the others without magic flying at them. Truestrike was attacked furiously by the creatures and her magic began to ware down. As she fought off another wave of Diamond Dogs, she was quickly rushed by more. She needed a moment to rest and with her last bit of energy, her horn became engulfed in emerald magic. She released a spell and a large ring of green fire surrounded her. She collapsed to the ground, the fire giving her a minute to rest without interference from the Diamond Dogs. However, she wouldn't get that minute.
A Diamond Dog sprung up from the ground beside her and she looked at it with terror. A bloodthirsty grin was on its face and eyes full of hate and craziness looked at her. The dog swiped at Truestrike and its claws sunk into her side. She cried out in pain as blood started to ooze from her wound. The Diamond Dog stood triumphantly over her and laughed madly. She tried to crawl away from the monster but the pain was too much. She looked up and saw the dog raise its claw, this one going for the kill. She could only look in terror as the claw began to come down on her. Before it could make contact however, a black blur saved her.
The Diamond Dog flew through the air into the fire after being powerfully air bucked by Truestrike's savior, Ravenheart. The Diamond Dog got up, screaming in pain and desperately charged at Truestrike. Before it could reach her though, its body finally gave up and collapsed, dead.
Truestrike, however, was about to join the creature in death. She laid there, her side oozing blood. Her vision began to fade and she saw a pegasus frantically shake her. She barely her the pegasus' cries.
"TRUESTRIKE! TRUESTRIKE! DON'T YOU DIE ON ME!"
Truestrike could make out tears flowing from her commander's eyes. Ravenheart spoke again, this time her voice trembling.
"Please Truey, don't go! Come on Truey...please."
Truestrike's last thought before slipping from the world of consciousness was of Raven, happy she finally had found a friend who not only cared, but was one of the most beautiful ponies she had ever seen
Truestrike gazed at the blazing fire as she lied down, something she found doing everyday in the cave. It gave her peace from all the fighting and the fear that engulfed her mind. However, the comforting warmth from the fire was slowly losing its ability to calm her. Images of the vicious Diamond Dogs slaughtering her comrades forced themselves into her head. She furiously shook her head trying to reject them but they wouldn't disappear. A tear ran down her cheek and she let out a quiet plea to seemingly to herself.
"Please...go away."
Truestrike heard a familiar voice behind her respond to the comment, disappointed.
"Aw, but I just got here."
The unicorn quickly looked behind her and saw Ravenheart, a disappointed frown on her face. She felt her heart skip a beat as she looked at the beautiful pegasus. Her mane, usually in a pony tail, was let loose and her breathtaking purple hair was draped over the left side of her face. She had never seen her commander look so...free.
The black-furred mare blew the hair out of her face and let it hang loosely. She turned her slightly in confusion at the unicorn whose mouth was hanging open and her ruby eyes wide open.
"Are you okay, Truey?"
Truestrike let her look linger on Raven for another second or two until she realized she had asked her something. She quickly looked away from the other mare, trying to keep her from seeing her blushing face and responded quietly.
"Y-yeah, of course. Why do you ask?"
Ravenheart was oblivious to the unicorn's blushing and she spoke back with concern in her voice.
"Well, I saw you laying down over here and you seemed kind of depressed. Also since everypony else is sleeping, I thought now would be a good time to talk."
Truestrike laid her back down, looking at the fire as a smile came to her face. She could hear the caring in her voice and it warmed her heart. She responded back, still looking at the fire.
"Thanks Raven, I could really use somepony to talk to about...stuff."
Truestrike heard walking behind and watched as Ravenheart laid down close beside her. Truestrike looked away from her as she blushed. She had never been this close to anypony else. She felt Raven scoot more towards her until their sides and flanks were touching. Truestrike felt the warmth of Ravenheart and it made her blush even deeper. She wasn't exactly sure if she wanted her this close, but she couldn't deny the pleasure she had from it.
Truestrike felt something nudge her face and looked at Ravenheart who was giving her a warming smile and care glistening in her eyes.
"Well, I'm here so let's talk about 'stuff'."
Truestrike and Ravenheart giggled in unison at the statement. However, Truestrike remembered what that 'stuff' was and she lowered her head back down and gazed into the fire once more. Her smile slowly sunk down and she sighed heavily. She really needed to talk and of all the ponies to confess her fears to, she felt the most comfortable with Raven. She did her best to sound confident as she spoke.
"Raven, do you feel a little...scared by this whole situation?"
Truestrike her Raven mutter a 'hmm' before she spoke.
"To be honest, Truey, not really. In my years of experience, this is probably one of the least dangerous missions I've been on.
'Oh.' Truestrike thought. Maybe she was alone in the fear of the Diamond Dogs. Before she could respond, Raven spoke again.
"Than again, this is your first real mission. Everypony gets scared their first time."
Truestrike felt Ravenheart drape her body with her wing. She looked up, blushing and slightly suprised at her. However, on Ravenheart's face was a warming smile and understanding in her eyes.
"No matter how much training you receive at the military academies, it doesn't even remotely prepare you for the real thing. Sparring with a fellow comrade doesn't compare to fighting a bloodthirsty creature with the intent to kill you in its eyes."
Raven pulled Truestrike closer with her wing until their faces were only a few inches away from eachother. A playful grin appeared on Raven's face as she spoke in a low, seductive voice.
"All it takes...is experience."
Their muzzles inched closer to eachother's as a word echoed in Truestrike's head.
'Experience...'
Truestrike's eyes shot open. She was breathing heavily from the intense moment that was about to happen...in a dream sadly. She was drenched in sweat from the fantasy her mind concocted.
As she calmed herself down, she finally noticed that she was in a world of darkness. She slowly shuffled around and felt a soft, wool blanket draped over her. She began to move her head so she could poke her head out and gaze at her surroundings but stopped as a sharp pain pulsed through her mind. She had an incredibly painful headache and she put a hoof on both sides of her head, clenching tightly. Oh sweet Celestia, this was worse than any hangover she had before. She wished the painful ache was from a hangover but as she came down from the pain, she remembered her life now as a military pony.
This time, she slowly poked her out from the blankets and glanced around carefully. She concluded she was in a tent but it was not hers. There was no light in the tent and it made it difficult to see. She made out a weapon rack in the tent with two light swords held in it. Saddlebags were scattered around the tent with the belongings from them on the ground.
Of all the things scattered about, however, her gaze was drawn towards a book right by her. Out of curiosity, she picked up the book and looked at it. There was a title on it and she squinted her eyes to read it in the dark.
"Ravenheart's Jorunal"
Her eyes widened as she realized where she was. She slowly looked to her left and saw the black-furred pegasus curled up beside her, sleeping peacefully. Her mane, like in her dream, was let down. Even in the darkness, she could make out the beauty of Ravenheart.
Wondering why she was there and at the same time feeling a little uncomfortable, she slowly began to rise in an attempt to leave. However, as she began, she felt a sharp pain in her side. She looked at where the pain came from and found the middle part of her body fully bandaged.
Suddenly, she remembered what happened. A Diamond Dog attacking an exhausted unicorn, sinking its claws into her side and leaving a gash. Images of the same vicious creature flashed in her mind of it standing over her, ready to deliver the fatal blow. However, a black blur saved her just in time and she remembered her commander, Ravenheart, weeping over her unconscious body. She smiled as the memories flooded back into her mind but she didn't know why.
She let the memories linger for a second before she slowly got up, ignoring the pain. She felt like she overstayed her welcome and began to make her way out of the tent. However, curiosity got the best of her as she turned her head slightly and gazed at the book. She knew it was wrong to but she couldn't help it. She quietly picked up the journal with her magic and walked out of the tent. She didn't know why but she desperately wanted to see what Ravenheart wrote about.
She glanced around and noticed the familiar environment. It was the room where she was knocked out in. Of course, it was now void of Diamond Dogs and filled with the tents of sleeping military ponies. There was no fire and she didn't know where her tent was so she decided to walk to a corner of the room that was secluded from the tents. There was a somewhat large rock in the corner and she sat on it, wincing in pain as she lowered herself down upon it.
With no light from a fire, she dimly lit her area with magic from her horn and held the journal between her hooves. She considered putting the book away but she couldn't. She sighed, somewhat disappointed in herself as she opened the journal.
Truestrike gazed at the writing in the journal with curiosity. To her surprise, the writing was very neat and pristine, something she didn't really expect from her commander. The words were written in a deep shade of beautiful red. She was ready to dive into the reading but she paused and closed the journal.
She stared at the journal intensely as she contemplated what to do. She didn't want to intrude on somepony's personal thoughts and writings. However, something about Ravenheart made Truestrike want to learn more about her. She could always ask her later but why wait? Also, maybe she could find something embarrassing about Ravenheart... or if she's been writing about somepony.
Truestrike finally looked up from her staring at the journal and a look of shock appeared on her face. Her constant thinking about Ravenheart was slowly beginning to confuse her.'Why do I keep having these thoughts about her' she thought. 'Not that it's weird to be thinking of her like this...is it?'
She sighed heavily and looked around the area. With the dim light of her horn's magic, she could see that there was still no pony out of their tents. As the thoughts of Ravenheart lingered in her mind, she closed her eyes and decided to revert to a method of calming herself and sorting out her thoughts. Talking to herself. Usually she wouldn't mind but with others around, she was slightly afraid of being heard. She really didn't want to be known as that white unicorn that talks to herself. She opened her eyes and looked around once more making sure the area was clear. She sighed and relaxed, allowing her upright posture to sink down. She closed her eyes and leaned against the rock wall.
"Well, here I am again, talking to myself. Hello self!"
She giggled quietly to herself as her methods of calming down were already working. Her thoughts returned to Ravenheart however and she remembered her reason for acting 'crazy'(as someponies would say) by talking to herself.
"Oh Ravenheart, what do I think of you. Hmm...you're very pretty, very friendly, and very caring. Hay, you're the first person I've been able to actually talk to-, well kind of talk to anyways. We've been constantly interrupted by one thing or another. Well, I got to talk to you in my dream just a short while ago but that was in a dream."
She opened her eyes and stared into the darkness of the rocky room. 'She seems so trustworthy and caring...or maybe I'm just misreading things.' She smirked at the word trustworthy as she looked down at the journal. 'First pony to really interact with and one of the first things I do is take something person from her.' She put the journal on the ground gently and returned to talking to herself.
"Maybe I'm just trying to find companionship because of the current situation. Heck, I don't even know if I like mares... or stallions for that matter. I've never been on a date..."
A stern look developed on her face as she realized how sad that sounded.
"But that's only because of my lack of trying. I've never really been interested in anypony before. But I'm sure if I did ask somepony out they'd go out with me!...right? Hmm, I wonder if I'm attractive."
She ran a hoof through her blue mane and played around with it for a minute. 'I think I'm attractive...I think. I wonder if Raven thinks I'm pretty.' Images of Ravenheart flooded into Truestrike's mind and she smiled as she thought of the beautiful pegasus. Her glistening emerald eyes, her beautiful, untied mane, her black fur so soft and warm looking...
Truestrike coughed as she found herself sweating and blushing profusely. She took a moment to calm down and giggled.
"Okay, so I definitely like her but I don't know if the feeling's mutual. Hay, even if she likes mares, would she even like me? I'm kind of a plain looking pony when I think about it."
She closed her eyes and sat there for a minute thinking to herself. 'I could always find out...but I don't want to risk making things weird and losing my only friend down here.' Truestrike buried her head into her hooves and mumbled to herself.
"What am I going to do?"
"About what?"
At the sound of another voice, Truestrike's face shot up out of her hooves and was met with a pair of familiar looking emerald eyes. Ravenheart was hovering in the air in front of Truestrike, her muzzle inches away from Truestrike's.
Truestrike immediately looked away, blushing furiously and her thoughts began to race. 'What had she heard? How long had she been there? Why did she just sneak up on me? Why am I just staring at the ground?' She sighed, trying to calm herself down.
Truestrike turned her gaze back to Ravenheart who had a look of concern on her face.
"Is something wrong, Truey?"
Truestrike's heart fluttered at the nickname and she found herself blushing again.
"Oh, nothing's wrong. I've just been thinking about stuff."
Raven gently landed next to Truestrike and giggled slightly.
"Well than, we should talk about 'stuff' finally. I swear, everytime we've tried to talk, something has always interrupted us."
Truestrike nodded with a smile on her face and giggled. Finally, she could talk to somepony!
"Yeah, I know. So, I want to ta-"
Before she could finish her sentence, Raven interrupted.
"Actually, do you mind if we talk in my tent, it's so dark and cold out here."
Truestrike sighed but nodded in reply. Both of them walked to Raven's tent. It was a decent size, slightly bigger than all the others.
As Ravenheart began to light a candle, she motioned for Truestrike to lie down where she was before she had woken up. She complied and laid down on the wool blanket. The warmth was a welcomed feeling after the cold, dampness of the rock room. Ravenheart finished lighting the candle and took up a spot right next to Truestrike, slightly snuggling into her. She looked at Raven who was gazing at her with a warm smile.
"Are you feeling alright after what happened?"
Truestrike grimaced at the slight pain coming from her wounds. She sighed and responded with a brave smile on her face.
"Yeah, I'm doing fine. Dang Diamond Dog caught me off guard. Not only that, I was so exhausted after already battling tons of them."
Ravenheart playfully nudged Truestrike.
"Good thing I was there to save you, right Truey?"
Truestrike slightly blushed and replied in a gentle tone.
"Yeah, I'm really thankful of what you did Ravenheart."
Suddenly, she was pulled into a tight embrace by Raven and her eyes widened in surprise as her face became a deep shade of red. She hesitantly returned the embrace and felt the warmth of Ravenheart's soft, black fur. It was exactly what she imagined. Raven then spoke in a hushed voice coated with playfulness and care.
"Well, I couldn't just let my favorite soldier leave me just yet, could I?"
A smile of pure joy appeared on Truestrike's face at the compliment. 'Maybe she does like me.'
"After those tears, I did kind of assume I was your favorite."
Ravenheart broke the embrace and blushed. She ran a hoof through her own mane awkwardly and chuckled.
"Oh, you saw that, huh? It's kind of hard to see somepony as young as you fall in battle. It really saddens me when I see a life so full of potential struck down in front of me.
Truestrike nodded and her heart warmed at Raven's care and concern.
"What happened afterwards?"
"Well, once I recovered from my waterworks, I quickly rushed you to a medic unicorn. You lost a lot of blood and you've been advised to take it easy for a while as hard as that is to in this place. After you were healed and bandaged up and the battle was over, we sat up camp here and than I brought you to my tent."
Truestrike smiled and nuzzled Raven.
"Thanks for taking care of me."
Raven nuzzled her back and returned her smile.
"No need to thank me, just taking care of my favorite soldier. Okay, so are you finally ready to talk about 'stuff'?"
Truestrike relaxed and nodded. Ravenheart draped a wing over her and pulled her closer. Truestrike felt so warm and secure in her commander's embrace.
"I think I'm ready."
"I've never had an easy life" started Truestrike as she gazed at the candlelight in front of her, still feeling unsure if she wanted to tell her life story to Ravenheart. She didn't even know if Raven truly cared but with her wing draped over her and their bodies pressed together, her doubts began to subside.
"I grew up in Manehatten, not one of the friendliest places in Equestria. Not only that, I was abandoned by my parents as a filly and for a while, I had to fend for myself" Truestrike grimaced as she recalled the memories. "I was a scavenger and a criminal, digging out of trash cans and stealing from other ponies whenever I had the chance. Whenever I was caught thieving, I would put on the most adorable and convincing face that I was never reprimanded." Truestrike sighed, "Truly a bad lifestyle, especially for a young pony."
Truestrike looked at Raven out the corner of her eye to see if she was still listening. Ravenheart wore a sympathetic look, empathy glistening in her eyes. She nudged True to continue.
"Than one day, I eyed a mare who had the most beautiful necklace. It had a ruby encrusted in it and was surrounded by tiny emerald jewels. However, its beauty was not what really interested me. My thoughts were of all the bits I could get if a stole the necklace and sold it. So, I tried my usual method of stealing which was 'accidentally' galloping full speed into them, knocking them down and snatching the necklace during the confusion and running before they noticed." Truestrike smirked before she continued, "This one, however, didn't fall for it. She caught me mid grab of the necklace and lifted me up in the air with her magic. I tried my innocent face but she was the first not to fall for it and she threatened to alert the police. I panicked and quickly started to explain how I had no real home and how this was the only way I could get by. I mean, if this innocent little filly without home did this to you, wouldn't you just let her go?"
"I probably would of smacked you."
Truestrike chuckled, "Well, you and her are alike in that sense considering she did just that. I thought I was done for sure and that she was going to turn me in, but she did just the opposite. She invited me to live with her."
Ravenheart raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Really? Why would she just invite you to live with her?"
Truestrike rested her head on her front hooves. "To this day, I still don't understand it really. She said it was something about there being potential in me to do right and that I had just been going down the wrong path. Whatever the reason, I was incredibly thankful to be off the streets." A smile crept onto Truestrike's face, remembering the feeling, "After so long of being on my own and living everyday in fear of when my next meal was going to be or if maybe that next time, one of the to-be-robbed ponies would actually turn me in...or worse", shuddered at the thought of it, "I had a home to call my home."
Ravenheart smiled and nuzzled Truestrike, "You must of been so relieved and happy to be free of all the danger." Truestrike only slightly blushed as she was still caught up in thought of her life.
"I was relieved, but it didn't last long." A frown made an appearance on her face before quickly becoming replaced with a blank expression, "The danger was still there and it got worse. As I got older, roaming the city became more dangerous. Thugs and low-lives were quick to harass a young mare. After so many close encounters with these terrible ponies, I decided I needed to be able to defend myself. I began to study magic, learning as much as I could. One particular form of magic interested me the most however, and that was destruction magic. Mind you, I never liked hurting anypony and I still don't, but the power of it was so...alluring. There was one branch of it as well that interested me the most and that,"Truestrike's horn became engulfed with magic as she reignited the flames of the dimming candle," was fire. The flaming light was usually my only companion when I was younger as I would stand by a lit trash can for hours, feeling its warmth."
Truestrike gazed at the candle in front of her, intensely looking at the flames. "I wish I could be like fire sometimes, now and when I was younger. It's so...carefree." She blinked and continued her story, "Anyways, one day, I ran across a two thugs that were particularly...frisky you could say. They cornered me in an alleyway, no where to run and nowhere to hide. They slowly advanced towards me saying in their rough accents, 'This won't hurt one bit'. I was trembling in fear, unsure what to do. I sunk to the ground and shut my eyes, yelling for help. I tried to prepare for whatever horrible things that they were going to do to me, but luckily something happened. Without me controlling it, my horn began to glow. I opened my eyes to see the two thugs backing off, fear in their eyes. The magic emanating from my horn began to grow in size." Truestrike reeled as the memories came flooding into her mind, "The whole thing to be honest was a blur. All I remember is the two thugs running away and than a moment later, their bodies hit the ground, charred. After that, I fled the city. I returned to the mare's apartment for a minute, grabbed some essentials and left. It was a short while after leaving the city did I realize I had my cutie mark, flames. What a way to know what you're good for."
A tear rolled down Truestrike's cheek and she wiped it away quickly. She glanced at Ravenheart and found tears streaming down her face. She was about to start speaking again when she was pulled into a tight embrace by Ravenheart. She buried her face in True's mane and openly sobbed. Truestrike stroked the crying mare's mane and wondered why she was so crying so much. She shrugged it off and continued to comfort her.
Through muffled sobs, Ravenheart managed to say, "I'm so sorry, Truey..."
Truestrike didn't respond and continued to stroke Raven's mane.
After a few minutes of this, Ravenheart finally pulled herself together and untangled herself from Truestrike's mane. She gave a weak smile to Truestrike, "Sorry about that."
Truestrike returned the smile and wiped one final tear from Raven's cheek with a hoof. "It's alright."
Ravenheart leaned into Truestrike more as the latter continued, "Anyways, not much happened after Manehatten. I settled down in a tiny village called Ponyville and tried to live my life, happy. Of course, however, that wouldn't happen for me. I couldn't keep a job down for one reason or another and I never really made any friends there. I've always been a loner I guess. However, my entire time there, I never stopped practicing magic. Finally, when I was out of bits and a job, I turned to the military. They thought I was very good at what I did, which was hurting and destroying things, whoo. And, you know the rest of that part considering you've looked at my file."
As Truestrike finished her life's story, Ravenheart just merely blinked. "Wow...our lives are so different."
Curious, Truestrike prodded for answers. "How so?"
"Well, I've lived a comfortable life. Lived in Cloudsdale my entire life, nothing too exciting ever happened. Than, one day I just joined the military."
Truestrike blinked in confusion and wonder, "So one day, you just decided to join the military?"
"Pretty much. The pay is pretty good and I get to serve my country."
She giggled at the response. 'So carefree her entire life, joins the military, and still stays the same way.'
"How are you so carefree in this line of work?"
Ravenheart stared at the candle's flame as she pondered the question. Than she answered with a smile on her face. "Life is short, especially when it comes to us in the military. I look at everyday as my last, considering it could be, and I just enjoy myself. I don't want to waste my short existence worrying about things. I just..." Ravenheart began nuzzling True's neck, "Have fun."
Truestrike blushed furiously and said with a quaking voice, "I wish I could be more like you. So fearless and courageous and-" Truestrike was silenced as Ravenheart shoved a hoof in her mouth. Raven stared at Truestrike with eyes full of passion and desire. Truestrike stared back but with eyes of anticipation.
Ravenheart moved her nuzzle closer to Truestrike's and whispered seductively to her, "You talk too much, Truey." Ravenheart than lunged forward and locked lips with Truestrike.
Chapter 8: The Final Door
Or at least they would have spent the rest of the time exploring each others' desires if Truestrike wouldn't have told Ravenheart to stop.
Ravenheart quickly pulled away from the passionate embrace and momentarily loomed over Truestrike as she gazed into her gentle, ruby-colored eyes. She mentally chided herself. 'Stupid, stupid! I knew I shouldn't have moved too fast, Truestrike's not that kind of pony!'
Ravenheart, feeling ashamed of herself, pulled away further from Truestrike and sat back on her haunches. She decided to apologize to her and hope she would forgive her.
"I'm so sorry, Truestrike! I really didn't mean to push things too far! It's just-"
Truestrike slowly rose from her previous position and readjusted herself to sit on her haunches. After such an intense exchange, she finally recovered and registered that Ravenheart was talking. As she heard her spout her apologetic ramblings, she couldn't help but adopt a slight grin.
"sometimes I'm really brash and I don't think things through and it's just that you're really pretty and I like you and... why are you giggling?"
Ravenheart stared confusingly at the unicorn across from her who was, it looked like, dying from a fit of the giggles. This continued for a few more seconds before Ravenheart started to become frustrated. She crossed her forelegs across her chest and frowned.
"Hey! Why are you laughing, I thought I was being considerate!"
Truestrike, after nearly running out of air, finally began to calm down from her fit of giggles. However, the grin on her face never left as she wiped a tear away from eye. She looked at the pouting pegasus and chuckled lightly as she placed her hoof on one of Raven's crossed hooves. Seeing this, the leader of the group dropped her forelegs and chuckled with Truestrike.
"So, what was that about?"
"Trust me, Raven, you weren't going too fast for me. To be honest...I really wanted you."
Ravenheart only looked on in confusion.
"Than what was it?"
Truestrike motioned to her bandaged body and Ravenheart quickly understood.
"I'm just really not at my best right now. With me being hurt, my endurance is really shot and it was really hard being like that on my back."
"Okay, I totally understand, sorry."
Ravenheart looked away for a moment and shyly looked back at Truestrike.
"Well...can we at least cuddle?"
Truestrike giggled and slowly laid back down, motioning Ravenheart to do the same. Ravenheart's face immediately lit up and she quickly went to Truestrike's side. She embraced Truestrike as they laid together, but was careful to avoid hurting her. She wrapped a wing around Truestrike and sighed contently. She was perfectly happy with this too.
"There's also another reason."
"Hmm? And what would that be?"
Truestrike looked seductively at Ravenheart and gave her a slow, alluring lick on the cheek.
"I wouldn't want your screaming to wake the others."
A deep blush developed upon Ravenheart's face as she glared at Truestrike.
"You are such a tease."
Truestrike giggled as she began to drift off to sleep.
"I know."
***
"Eep!"
Truestrike quickly jumped up in shock and pain as she felt something nip at her rump. However, she immediately regretted it as she felt the pain from her wounds resurface. She clinched her body with her forehooves as she glared at her feathered attacker who had a devilish grin on her face.
"What was that for?!?"
The pegasus, who was fully clad in her armor, could only giggle as she looked at the distraught unicorn.
"It's time to move out soldier! Scouts report that they've found another jewel encrusted door and they think that behind it is the leader of the operations here. Now, hurry up and get ready, we move in 5!"
Truestrike hurriedly got to her hooves and gave a quick salute.
"Yes ma'am!"
And than Ravenheart booped her on the nose.
"Stop calling me ma'am and get ready!"
She adopted a determined face as she realized, however, that she would just have to deal with it. She would have to be strong for all her fellow soldiers and especially her leader.
"Halt!"
The group that was marching in a diamond formation stopped at the order from their leader as they finally arrived at the door.
"Line formation facing the door!"
The soldiers formed a line, horizontally facing the door. Ravenheart went to the front and looked at them all. She began to pace as she gave her speech.
"This is it everypony! This is believed to be the base of operations for the Diamond Dog that organized the attack on Ponyville! Now, I know that some of you might be a little nervous..."
Ravenheart momentarily looked at a shaking Truestrike.
"...but now is not the time to show weakness! The coward behind this door thought that he would just steal from ponykind and not be reprimanded for it!"
Ravenheart stopped her pacing and gave an intense gaze to all her soldiers.
"Well... HE WAS DEAD WRONG! He thought that he would just injure harmless ponies, take their possessions, and get away with no repercussions! He, once again, THOUGHT WRONG! We will bring this criminal to justice and avenge the lives of the ponies we've lost in these caves! Hell, I'll go in there by myself and do it alone if I have to! But you brave ponies won't let me, RIGHT?"
"NO, MA'AM!"
"GOOD, VERTICAL LINE FORMATION! UNICORNS IN BACK, EARTH PONIES IN FRONT! I WANT PEGASI ON BOTH SIDES OF THE LINE AND READY TO SWARM!"
The soldiers quickly organized and Truestrike took her position as last in the line. Truestrike wiped a tear away from her cheek. Ravenheart sure knew up to inspire ponies. Truestrike became more confident from her leader's inspirational speech. That only increased, however, as Ravenheart took up a position behind Truestrike in the air. The two shared a quick glance and nodded to each other.
"IRONHAMMER, MIGHTY BLADE, GET READY TO BREACH ON MY COMMAND!"
The two biggest earth ponies of the group took up a position facing away from the door, ready to buck it open. The tension in the air was massive, the military ponies ready to face whatever was behind that door.
Truestrike's horn began to glow as she started to prep a fireball. Her concentration, however, was interrupted when she felt a tap on her rump. She quickly turned around and found a grinning Ravenheart looking at her. She could only giggle as she turned back around and her horn lit with magic again. She sighed heavily and adopted a determined look on her face. She was ready.
"BREACH!"
As the band of military ponies filed into the area, they were met with many amazing sights.
Firstly, the amazing sight of the new scenery they were in. This was, by far, the largest part of the cavernous system they had been in. It was large enough to be able to fit at least two or three fully matured dragons. (Thankfully, there were none in the room.) The most impressive part of the scenery, however, was the decorations of the walls. Artificially placed into the walls were large amounts of various jewels, sparkling beautifully as the flames of the torches placed around the room reflected off them.
Another amazing sight that piqued the interest of the military ponies was the large hoard of also spectacular and shiny gemstones lying in the center of the cave. It quickly became obvious to them that this large amount of gems were the ones stolen from Ponyville. As their eyes ventured further up the pile, however, there was a peculiar sight: a throne was erected at the top.
Atop the throne sat a Diamond Dog fully clad in armor. The difference between his armor and the others, however, was that his was lined with two types of gemstones, alternating between sapphires and rubies.
Also, instead of a helmet, he wore a crown. With a lot of gemstones encrusted into it.
And he had a scepter with a lot of gemstones in it.
And he wore rings on his claws with a big (guess what?) gemstone on each ring.
Everyone knew how much Diamond Dogs liked gems but at this point, it was just incredibly annoying and obnoxious.
At the bottom of the pile with the Diamond Dog on it who REALLY, REALLY liked gems, there was another amazing sight. However, this was one of those amazing, perplexing sights that wasn't necessarily a good one.
Surrounding the hoard of jewels were 5 unicorns fully adorned in gem-encrusted robes. Usually ponies, or any other race, wouldn't even think of associating themselves with such a foul creature but the promise of money can change someone's affiliation in the blink of an eye. And for a Diamond Dog to stoop so low to hire a pony, that meant one thing: that these unicorns were very powerful.
This drastically changed the situation for the military personnel for a couple reasons.
One being that ponies, in general, didn't really like fighting unless they had to. They tended to be very peaceful unless provoked and the prospect of having to fight their own kind was not an easy one.
Another reason is that instead of now just having to deal with large amounts of Diamond Dogs, which there we hundreds of in the room, they now had to deal with 5 powerful spell casters.
As the group finally finished filing into the room, the two forces stared intensely at each other. For many, this would be the final day of their lives which was a very grim outlook to have in this situation as true as it was. Ravenheart, however, didn't want this to become truth today for many in the room. She landed in front of the group and stood stoically, looking directly at the Diamond Dog atop the gems.
"By the order of Princess Celestia herself, we've have been charged to bring you to justice for your heinous crime of attacking the town of Ponyville and its residents and stealing all of their gems. Now... we can either do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way is that you and your forces surrender right now and you will be brought before Her Majesty and judged accordingly. There will be no bloodshed, no death, and I will personally guarantee that the Princess will be fair. Do you accept these terms or do we have to do things...the hard way?
There was a moment of dead silence as the two forces stood across from each other, motionless. This was broken however, when a loud, menacing cackle echoed through the room. It came from atop the gem pile and was soon joined by the mocking laughter of the forces of the Diamond Dog below. After a few seconds of this, it died down and the Diamond Dog spoke.
" NO! I DO NOT ACCEPT YOUR SsssTUPID WORDS, PONY! WE WILL KILL YOU AND STOMP ON YOUR CORPSsseS."
Ravenheart sighed in response and leapt into the air as her wings flared out from her sides. She brandished her two swords and looked at the Diamond Dog directly in the eyes as she realized that they would have to do things the hard way.
"Very well. When your forces are demolished and dead upon the floor, remember that it is your fault!"
Ravenheart's wings began to flap faster as she prepared herself.
"SOLDIERS!..."
The group braced themselves for the upcoming battle.
"CHARGE!"
And it began.
The first out of the stables were the pegasi melee fighters. They zoomed forward at the word and immediately went for the opposing unicorns and the rock throwing Diamond Dog positioned near the piles of the material, picking off targets instead of going for the meat of the enemy forces. Ravenheart, however, went for the large Diamond Dog sitting atop the mountain of gems and tackled him to the ground at the back of the cave, isolating the two from the others. The others pegasi, who were archers, stayed where they were and began raining down arrows upon the enemy forces.
The bulk of the group, the Earth Ponies, charged forward brandishing their large and heavy weapons in their mouths and upon reaching the enemy, some instead switched to holding them in their hoof.
The unicorns took up their positions in front of the pegasi archers and began flinging spells at anyone they could. When a rock would come dangerously close to anypony, they would catch it in their magic and send it back to the sender.
The enemy responded with large Diamond Dogs using either their vicious claws or large weapons such as hammers or broadswords. The smaller ones ran around with daggers or small maces and used their height and quickness to their advantage by quickly attacking and then backing away. There were the rock throwers of course and most deadly of all, the unicorns. In the initial attack by the pegasi, they were quickly able to dispatch two of the unicorns. However, the others responded quickly and began slinging spells at the enemy forces and even catching some of the pegasi in their telekinetic grip and slamming them into the ground or against the ceiling. These rogue unicorns were extremely careless and ruthless.
This encounter was viscous and fierce... and it could of been avoided if it weren't for the greed of one Diamond Dog.
***
As the battle raged on, the two leaders of the opposing forces squared off against each other at the back of the cave. The leader of the Diamond Dogs, now missing his crown after being thrown off his throne, now had a helmet atop his head. His only weapon were his claws which had steel tips on them, making his attack deadlier.
The two gazed intensely at each other as they began to slowly move in a counter clockwise pattern, their sights never leaving each other. The silence between the two was agonizing. So agonizing, in fact, that Ravenheart had to break it.
"It's still not too late. You can still lay down your arms and come peacefully."
The Diamond Dog growled in response.
"I will not sssurrender to ssstupid PONIES! I would rather DIE!"
Ravenheart smirked as she launched into the air. She shouted something at him as she lunged towards him.
"AS YOU WISH!"
***
Truestrike, instead of staying stationary like the majority of the other unicorns, went forward into the fighting. There was no longer a line that the forces fought at and there were now individual groups of fighting happening. She ran around blasting her magic anywhere it was needed. As brave (and stupid) as she was for charging forward, she was also terrified.
'Oh Celestia, what am I doing!!! I should have just stayed back' She thought as she just narrowly stopped a rock from hitting her with her magic. She spotted the thrower of it and sent it back, crushing the Diamond Dog. As she finished this, however, she quickly conjured a shield around herself just in time to block an attack. She discharged the magic from the shield, sending the attacker flying back. She quickly conjured a green ball of fire from her horn and sent it to the Diamond Dog, extinguishing its life. She slightly grimaced at the sight of the charred body that was now dormant of life.
She shook her head furiously. 'No, no, no! Focus on the fight, you can't be distracted now!' As she shook herself from her mental stupor, she barely avoided the magic from another unicorn. She found the rogue attacker and sent a blast of magic back but it was easily deflected by a quick bubble shield. The two began to have an arcane duel and migrated their fighting to an empty part of the battlefield. The two couldn't focus on each other if there were others interfering.
***
As they situated themselves into their new location, they stared at one another. Truestrike snarled at the opposing unicorn and sent a ball of fire towards her. The Diamond Dog's unicorn rolled out of the way and telekineticly picked up two large rocks and sent them at Truestrike. She managed to put up a shield but was barely able to hold it as the rocks collided with it.
Truestrike dug her hooves into the ground and channeled a beam of fire from her horn that shot towards the enemy. The unicorn erected a shield and struggled to maintain it as Truestrike's magic hammered at her. The shield broke and the unicorn was barely able to roll out of the way of the beam. As Truestrike began channeling the spell again, the unicorn disappeared.
Truestrike panicked. 'Oh no... she knows how to teleport.' As this dawned on her, she quickly unsheathed her dagger from her pouch with her magic and turned around. As she did, the unicorn rematerialized with a dagger also floating in her magic. Even though this was rare, unicorns would sometimes engage in melee battles although they never involved large weapons.
Though Truestrike was inexperienced with melee combat, it quickly became apparent that so was this unicorn. She only resorted to it because her magic began to make her feel fatigued. For awhile, one would lunge at the other and the latter would parry the attack. Eventually, the rogue unicorn got lucky and managed to slash one of Truestrike's forelegs. The cut ran deep and blood began to ooze out of the wound. Truestrike winced in pain and stumbled back as her movement became slightly impaired. The opposing unicorn took this as another opportunity to strike and lunged forward once more, fully pushing herself into the attack.
Truestrike, however, anticipated this and did the only thing she could think of. The clumsy, all-out attack was easily dodged by Truestrike and as the rogue unicorn was still in a forward motion, unable to pull back, Truestrike hit the unicorn's horn with her hoof. The unicorn continued to fall forward and her dagger dropped from her grasp, her magic now disrupted for several seconds.
The unicorn, now on the ground, quickly flipped around and was now on her back. She attempted to fire a bolt of magic at Truestrike, but her magic failed. Truestrike took the opportunity to stand over the unicorn, triumphantly. She hovered her dagger dangerously close to the unicorn's throat.
As Truestrike glared down at the enemy unicorn, she paused. The unicorn had a look of pure terror in her eyes as she realized that this was going to be her end. Truestrike could make out the subtle tears rolling down the cheek of the opposing unicorn. The unicorn managed to whimper out a plea in a soft, weak tone.
"P-please m-m'am, s-show m-mercy."
Truestrike's body began to tremble and so did the dagger in her magic's grasp. Eventually, she tossed the dagger to the sides with her magic, releasing it from her grip. Truestrike did not want this to end with more death. This unicorn was very talented in magic and if she was desperate to align herself with a Diamond Dog, then she could just be on rough times. Perhaps she needs the money to support her family or even just herself... Truestrike didn't have a clue. She knew, however, that she was tired of all the destruction she caused. All of the pain she caused. 'No...', she thought to herself. 'No more death.'
The enemy unicorn was relieved for a second but began to cower in fear as Truestrike began to charge her magic. As Truestrike fired her magic, the opposing unicorn screamed in absolute terror. As Truestrike's spell hit, a sad smile appeared on her face.
"I will show mercy."
The unicorn below her, instead of being a charred corpse, stayed the same except that she was now unconscious. Instead of causing more death, Truestrike used a knockout spell on the enemy. It assured that she would be fine (except for a terrible headache) and that she would wake up long after the battle was over.
Truestrike breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped away from the unicorn. She felt happy and very relieved that she didn't extinguish another life from this world. Though her cutie mark looked as if it meant that she would cause nothing but destruction everywhere she went, she was able to prove it wrong this time and hopefully several more times to come.
She cast her gaze back towards the battlefield and sighed once more.
'There's still so much fighting...'
As she looked for her next encounter, she spotted a grim sight. Ravenheart and the leader of the Diamond Dogs were squaring off against one another and it looked like her Commander was losing. She had a large gash across her side that bled a moderate amount. The look of fatigue on her face was evident and she definitely looked like she needed help. Upon realizing this, she quickly charged towards the fight.
"I'm coming, Ravenheart!"
Chapter 10: Savior
Ravenheart was down...
She rolled to the side, dodging a swipe from the Diamond Dog's claws.
...but she wasn't out.
The Diamond Dog leader lunged at her again but missed as she took back to the air.
She hovered in the air just enough to be out of the Diamond Dog's reach but was struggling to maintain her current altitude. She clutched her side with a hoof, the grievous wound taking a toll on her stamina. She was barely holding her own against the surprisingly strong Diamond Dog and after being disarmed of one of her swords, her bite, so to speak, was incredibly less viscous.
She pulled her hoof away from her wound and was met with a grave sight: blood... so much blood. At first, the wound didn't tax her strength but over the course of the battle and several more smaller cuts later, it was finally causing her movements to slow. Her vision was beginning to blur slightly but she quickly shook the feeling away.
'No..., I can't give up. Not yet.' She thought to herself. No matter how much she tried to though, she couldn't shake one thought: the realization that things were not looking good for her and there was no apparent way that she could get out of this situation.
She thought of trying to fly away but as the idea entered her mind, her wings immediately seized up. As she dropped through the air back to ground, she realized that she no longer had enough energy to be able to fly, making flight impossible for the time being.
Ravenheart attempted to land on her hooves but stumbled slightly as she hit the ground. As she did, all four of her legs gave out on her and she crumbled to the ground. Due to the suddenness of her unplanned landing, her sword was thrown off to the side during the crash, now leaving her defenseless.
After taking several seconds to breath, she heard the menacing cackle of her opponent. She struggled to lift her head off the ground and face her enemy. She watched as the Diamond Dog laughed uncontrollably at her unfortunate situation, savoring his soon-to-be victory. After his triumphant laughing died down, he almost looked at Ravenheart with pity.
"Ssstupid pony thinking it could stop us! Diamond Dogs reign sssupreme! We will continue ravaging this ssstupid pony-filled land. We will hit city after city until all your preciousss gemsss are ours!"
"No..."
The Diamond Dog leader only looked on in amazement as the pegasus pony slowly rose to all four hooves, struggling as she did. Her once beaten face now adorned a look of determination.
"No. I will not allow you to... I will fight you with every last fiber of my being. I will stop you and your forces from hurting anypony else even if it's the last thing I do."
The Diamond Dog chuckled in response and snarled out a threat.
"Looksss like you won't be able to do that either, pony."
The ferocious beast lunged forward, taking a swipe at the worn down pegasus. However, Ravenheart didn't feel like dying today. With a second wind and a renewed will of staying alive, she rolled out of the way of the swipe with all her might. Recovering from the dodge, she shot forward and hit the Diamond Dog with a hoof to the face. The enemy stumbled slightly, rubbing the skin where he was hit with a paw.
"Pony ssstill wants to play, huh? Then we will play too!"
With a renewed vigor to kill, the Diamond Dog lunged at Ravenheart once again, taking quick swipes at her. Ravenheart struggled to get out of the way of her attacker's agile swipes and even used her her forelegs sometimes to block the attacks even though it only hurt her worse.
The Diamond Dog finally got lucky and connected a punch to Ravenheart's face. She was sent spiraling through the air, blood trailing through her trajectory. The strap that held her helmet onto her head snapped and it was sent flying as well.
Ravenheart landed on her back with a thud. She tried to get back on her hooves but her limbs no longer heeded her call for she was no completely drained of energy. Her time, as she saw it was, was up.
The Diamond Dog stood triumphantly over the fallen pegasus. He only chuckled as he began to raise his claws for the killing blow.
"See, pony? We can not be stopped! WE CAN NOT BE ST-"
Before the Diamond Dog could finish his sentence, he found himself no longer on the ground and no longer in control of his body. He began to flail around in the green aura of a unicorn's magic.
"DOWN, LET ME DOWN"
Truestrike, her horn glowing, levitated the trapped dog in front of her and laughed.
"Very well."
With a twist of her head, she flung the Diamond Dog into the wall. The beast hit the wall with a loud thud and slid down the wall. The Diamond Dog sat there, dazed and confused, not entirely sure of what just happened. Truestrike walked in front of the disoriented dog and began charging a spell. She smiled.
"Now..."
She shot a bolt of magic at the Diamond Dog.
"Sleep."
As soon as the spell connected, the Diamond Dog immediately went stiff and his eyes closed. His tongue lolled out of his mouth as he sat there, unconscious.
Ravenheart sighed, relief washing over her.
"That's another problem solved, now to deal with..."
As she turned her head to Ravenheart, she quickly realized the situation was a lot worse than she thought. There was blood dripping out of many of her wounds and she laid there, unconscious. Ravenheart quickly rushed to her side, scared.
"Ravenheart, Ravenheart! Wake up!"
She furiously shook the unicorn, screaming.
"WAKE UP!"
Seeing that her efforts were in vain, she tried to do her best to help. She quickly checked Ravenheart's pulse and was relieved to find out that she was still alive, although only slightly. Truestrike looked around, furiously searching for a medical unicorn, finding none. There was no way she could move Ravenheart in her current state.
Truestrike only had one choice: healing magic. Even though she was very inexperienced in it, she had to try something, Composing herself, she focused intensely on the large, grievous wound on Ravenheart's side.
Her horn began to channel a spell onto the wound. If she was more experienced she could have healed it faster but since her specialization was the complete opposite of mending, destruction, it was a slow process.
Sweat began to form on Truestrike's body as she continued the spell, the wound finally starting to seal. After its completion, Truestrike collapsed out of exhaustion. She scanned the rest of Ravenheart's body, seeing several, but minor, wounds. She knew she didn't have enough energy to heal those as well so she did the next best thing she thought she could do.
Struggling, she levitated a roll of medical wrap out of her pouch to stop the bleeding. She slowly began to wrap it around her wounds, bandaging what she could. After she finished, she scanned over her body to look at her work.
She was definitely looking better, although only slightly. Truestrike smiled down at the still unconscious pegasus and sighed. She did all she could and she only hoped that it was enough.
Truestrike checked on the battlefield, relived to see that the number of Diamond Dogs was now very small. Even though there was a significant less amount of pony presence, she was happy to see that today, they had won the battle.
Author's Note
Feedback would be highly appreciated.
Truestrike's body seized up in pure shock of what she was experiencing. Out of seemingly nowhere, her leader, of all ponies, kissed her. As shocking as the kiss was ,however, it definitely confirmed one thing; she really liked Ravenheart.
After a moment of confusion, Truestrike returned the kiss. The soft lips of her commander's on hers was everything she had been dreaming of. As Truestrike started to return the kiss, however, Raven pulled away. As she did so, True gave her a look of confusion as she breathed heavily. "Why'd you stop?"
Ravenheart looked at True, breathing heavily as well. "I just wanted to make sure I wasn't being too sudden."
Truestrike giggled slightly at her concern. "Trust me Raven, you're not going to hear any protests from me. However...I do have a question."
"Yeah?"
Truestrike looked down at the ground and began tracing circles into the dirt with her hoof. "I just wanted to know...why me? I mean, look at you, you're beautiful and you could have anypony you want. Why would you choose me?"
Ravenheart responded immediately, a grin on her face. "Why not you? You're extremely cute, you're one hell of a fighter, and like I said, life is short. And..."
"Y-yes?"
Ravenheart looked into Truestrike's dazzling emerald eyes. "I love how open you are. We've only known each other for a few days and you're willing to share your emotions. Most ponies in the military are so stoic and prefer to bottle up their feelings but you... you feel like somepony I can share my problems with and actually listen. And I want you to know... that you can do the same."
The unicorn opposite to the pegasus was dazed. "W-wow, I didn't know you felt that way...I'm still shocked though. You're so friendly and courageous and-" Truestrike was silenced by Raven's lips on her own.
Raven pulled back, much to True's disappointment, and giggled. "Once again, you talk too much." She continued in a sultry tone. "Let's just enjoyed the rest of the night...or day... or whatever time it is."
Truestrike could only respond with a sheepish smile and a weak, "O-okay."
Raven pushed Truestrike on her back and got on top of her. The two once again locked lips passionately and embraced each other as closely as they could. They shared each others warmth as they began a night/day filled with untold passion and an endless amount of exploring each others' desires.
