Wrath

The walk to the armory was a quick one, with Contessa catching me up with her plan of action along the way. The armory itself was impressive, a massive room filled with racks of all kinds of weaponry. Ranging from simple swords and shields, to polearms and even some ballistas. Sombra must have been preparing to wage a war, against Equestria perhaps? The five guards who were chosen stand at attention, stoic faces, a saddle of equipment, and a new weapon on each.

Contessa addresses the guards. "Alright stallions! Once Spike the dragon gets here we set off. We will leave through the eastern edge of the city, make our way to the edge of the Crag mountains, and proceed southward until we reach the railroad that leads us into the heart of the mountains. Any questions?" Her question is met with silence.

I look around the room for my weapon, when a decorated shield catches my eye. It's an incredibly bright thing to look at, all light blues and purples, but being made from crystal makes it very durable. Lifting it, I feel its got a good amount of weight to it, and is larger than a pony by a good margin. Its only flaw is it lacks a strap of any kind to hold it. Hmmmmm. Ah! I grab two small daggers from the same shelf and drag them across my palm, drawing just a thin line of blood. I then jab the daggers into the back of the shield and connect them with a strip of cloth torn from my coat. I hold the thing aloft and admire my work.

"What are you doing?" Contessa asks from behind me.

"Arming myself." I respond, turning to her. I see Shendu's old claw on her back and gratefully take it from her. "Thank you."

"My pleasure." She responds. "But are you seriously using the front of a chariot as a shield?" I take another good look at my new 'shield'. Sure enough, it does appear to be the frontal armor for a chariot.

"I suppose I am." I answer. She just turns and makes for her own gear. I heft the claw in my hand. It's stiff. But with any real force put into a swing the joints would move. I look around the armory again, searching for a way to make the claw into a proper weapon. I spot a spear. Taking some more cloth, I bind the two together. The spear facing down with the claw at the upper end. I would rather hollow out the claw and simply place a metal pole within it, but I do not have the time. That can be done later, for now, this will do.

With my new shield and sword....claw.....spear.....weapon I stand by Contessa as we wait for the Spike. The olive mare is expressionless, as usual. I start to say something, but my mouth snaps shut as I hear the pitter-patter of footsteps approaching. The door opens and the dragon himself walks through. He finds six ponies and a human staring directly at him, bringing a claw to his neck he chuckles weakly.

"I suppose we are ready to go?" He asks.

"You suppose correctly. Now Brightheart and I-" The guard whose name Contessa spoke stands up a little straighter. His new axe nearly sliding off his side. "- will act as a vanguard, and will be at the front. Spike will be behind us directly, behind him will be the remaining guards, and the human shall take up the rear. We leave now, Come Brightheart."

She trots past Spike with Brightheart at her heel. Spike is lost for just a moment before following, the guards follow after him with me in tow behind them.

We quickly leave the palace behind. I take one last glance back at it.

We breach the barrier with caution. Sombra's attacks ended some time ago, and it should be another few hours before they start up again, yet caution is important. Those exploding shadow-ponies are a nightmare to deal with, we barely got away the first time. The clouds have parted, allowing a few scant beams of sunlight to hit the wasteland; the frozen, desolate wasteland. It is just clear enough to see a mountain range off in the distance, with one earthen spire reaching far higher than its brothers.

As we walk I keep a sharp lookout, and a firm grip on my equipment. As the daylight fades the shadows seem to come alive. Every jagged rock has a dark ghost.

The shadow of one particularly large hunk of ice and rock seems to shudder, before expanding. I watch it closely as it shrinks again, before beginning to wave back and forth. Is he toying with us? I wonder in silence.

Half a days-walk later we find ourselves reaching the foothills. The moon is obscured in the sky and the mountains seem solemn in the darkness. The trip was uneventful, however extremely stressful. I determined early on that Sombra was toying with us, intentionally or otherwise. The shadows had danced around us more and more as they grew longer in the setting sun. Spike especially had it bad, jumping in fright on several occasions. The cold grew worse as well, and I found myself grateful for the clothing Rarity fashioned for me.

Now however, the cold was worse than ever, only Spike seemed unaffected by it. The eight of us all stand around a small fire, burning whatever wooden scraps we could find while Spike was off gathering more a small ways up the foothill.

"What is your plan of action?" I ask, looking to Contessa. The mare stares in to the fire as she thinks.

"We will continue with our original battle plan, and will head south, however this cold is debilitating. Sombra is expected to become active again very soon, we make camp here, and after Sombra's attack ends we continue south." She pauses as a shiver overtakes her. "W-we should reach the old railroad around mid-day tomorrow, and the crystal mines a few hours after that."

We all stand in silence around the fire for a few moments, before the ponies begin to move. The guards all unfurl bedrolls and place them around the fire, Contessa herself sitting upon one and taking an, almost meditative stance.

"Go ahead and rest, Wrath. I will take the watch for now." I nod at her and sit myself in front of the fire.

"Wake me when you tire, and I will assume the watch so you may rest." She nods her agreement as Spike returns, a large bundle of sticks and twigs in his grasp. He drops them all down in a heap and makes his way over to me, laying on his belly next to me.

"It's not much but it should last through the night." He says, yawning. I pat him on the back.

"Good job."

"Thanks." With that, the diminutive drake promptly falls asleep. I stare at him before I lay myself against my shield, having slightly embedded it into the ice to act as a back support. I allow the bliss of sleep to come to me, but I find my thoughts turning toward Celestia, and what she has done.

She has to know more than she lets on. I ponder, glancing at the sleeping dragon. I distinctly remember what I saw when I last examined his soul. The way his draconic soul is bound is eerily similar to what was done to Shendu, Celestia claims the only way that can be done is through the power of the elements, that she can not do it on her own. However the elements have not been used on the dragon, so how is he bound?

I contemplate meditating to examine his soul further, but I ultimately shy away from the idea as I remember what occurred on the train. Sombra would likely pick up on my heightened awareness. It is a powerful gift but a great vulnerability to a manipulator of dreams, were he to trap me in my physical body I would be defenseless. I again try to banish all thought from my mind, try to join the oblivion that is sleep, but sadly my attempt is thwarted yet again as I hear a movement in the snow behind me.

I start to rise, already reaching for my weapon when I see Contessa. Her face looks normal but her eyes seem terrified, she locks eyes with me and carefully shakes her head. I slowly relax myself as she slowly reaches down, into her saddlebag, and produces a round bottle filled with some red liquid.

The disturbance grows in volume behind me, likely having gotten closer, and still Contessa motions for me to be still. What is in that bottle? I wonder, as she slowly changes her stance, her right forehoof held at her far side with the red liquid, her arm ready to lob it. She intends to throw it?

I hear the sound once more, a clear thump in the snow directly behind me, before Contessa launches the bottle, sending it hurling over my head. I hear the shatter of glass, followed by the roar of fire. I jump to my feet and grab my weapon, leaping over my shield and bringing it to bear against whatever intruder or minion of Sombra dared to attack us while we rested. To my surprise I find nothing but scattered flames around a trail of snow-tracks left by something with large claws.

No corpse in sight.

The guards were awakened by the noise, but stay in their bedrolls.

"I'll take a walk around the camp, there may be more of whatever that was." I say to the guards. They attempt to return to slumber as I approach Contessa.

"Exactly what was that?" I ask.

"I don't know." She responds, shock bleeding through her usual stoic demeanor. "It was large, and birdlike, and....and had darkness dripping off of it."

"How about I take the first watch then? Get some sleep." I offer. She seems like she wants to protest, but agrees as she lays down.

"If anything happens, and I mean anything. Wake me right away."

"As you wish."

I slowly begin to patrol the small camp, walking larger circles around it as I go. The darkness is thick, almost tangible. I feel as if were I to stray too far from the campfire I would be consumed by it. While the area seems to stink of malicious intent nothing appears to be out of the unordinary that is equestria, and I return to camp.

I sit down next to Spike, who slept through the earlier ordeal, and begin the night's watch.

Author's Note

Hey guys!
Not a long one, I know, but I still think it's worth being uploaded as I have not updated in awhile.

Please tell me what you think and thanks for reading!