My Little Ragnarök: Vermintide

Chapter 3

Battle Engines

   At midnight, in Twilight's base, Pinkie woke up startled. She felt as though something was amiss, and the Skaven were after something else. A few seconds of thinking later, she soon came to a conclusion. "Oh my gosh, my family's in danger!" she said. Everyone quickly got up and followed Pinkie outside, knowing that the Skaven are twice as keen at night as they are in the day. The train station still seems to operate just fine while the Skaven are still roaming, believe it or not. They managed to reach Pinkie's old home safely. "Oh good," Twilight sighed, "If your house isn't damaged, Pinkie, then I'm sure your family's safe too."

   Now, the Pie Family's home is a rock farm residing several miles from Ponyville. Most of the work consists of rock harvesting and mining. Some of the rocks they harvested were sold as pets or construction material. To everyone's relief, the house was still standing. Of course, Pinkie's prediction was mostly right; the Skaven were up to something! They were constructing war machines in the quarry. Those cursed contraptions can cause MAJOR destruction once they roll out. They had to destroy them before they're finished, but they still had to figure out how. They found Pinkie's parents, Igneous Rock and Cloudy Quartz, inside the house. "Are you two okay?" Asked Twilight, "Of course," replied Igneous, "Tis an honor to meet a princess like thou." Twilight's cheeks turned red as she smiled. Such a gentleman! "Any friend of our daughter is a friend of the family," said Quartz. "Are Pinkie's sisters safe?" asked Twilight. "They should be unharmed," ensured Igneous, "We just hope those vile beasts hath not got to them first."

   They found one of Pinkie's sisters, Limestone Pie, outside the house protecting a large egg-shaped stone. This was Holder's Boulder, and it brought the family good luck ever since it was gifted to them by their ancestor, Holder Cobblestone. "You okay, Limey?" asked Pinkie. "Don't worry, I'll be fine," said Limestone, "You might wanna find Marble before those rat creeps do." Suddenly, a massive beast ran straight towards them. It was a Rat Ogre, the Skaven's best unit for brute force and strength. They are not truly Skaven, but Rat Ogres are quite dangerous nonetheless. "Go, hurry!" Limestone called, "I've got this one." The monster ran straight towards the boulder, in hopes to knock it over, but Limestone wasn't having it. Timing it precisely, she charged straight towards the Rat Ogre, tripped it, and it fell off over the cliff. It fell for three seconds before landing on a sharp rock. Limestone looked down and saw the Rat Ogre, which laid there, bleeding to death. "NO one touches Holder's Boulder," Limestone smirked.

   Twilight's group reached the Skaven's encampment where the doomwheels were seen. And what luck; there was Marble Pie trying to escape the Clanrats. "They're after her!" cried Applejack. "Let's do some rat-catching," smirked Rainbow Dash, as she raced on ahead. The rest followed her, and they fought back against the Skaven protecting Marble. Magic missiles sparked and blood sprayed, until there was only one Skaven left. the ponies looked at the rat, and the lone Skaven looked at the ponies. It's eyes shifted left and right, and then it ran away. "That coward," Twilight said to herself, "Clanrats only fight in groups. A skaven by itself is too afraid to pick a fight with anyone!" Pinkie quickly hugged her younger sister. "Marble, are you alright?" she asked. Marble nodded; she was fine. Rainbow Dash spotted barrels containing explosives. "Look, over there!" she called out, "Those barrels should take care of the machines."

   "We'll use those black powder barrels on the wheels," Twilight told Marble, "You just try and make it back to the house, understood?" "Mmhmm," was all Marble could reply with, and off she ran quickly. Twilight and the others picked up the barrels, and tossed them onto the doomwheels. They escaped into the crystal mine just as the bombs went off. With Limestone and Marble safe, there was only one Pie Sister left. They explored the caves, the illuminating crystals guiding them. Deeper down they crept, until they reached the belly. No one was inside! Maybe Maud managed to escape before the rats got to her. Soon enough, they heard the Skaven's battle horn. "The pack's coming!" Twilight warned the others. In the rats came, charging straight for them swords raised. The six manage to strike them off as best they could, but more rat men came. Soon, they were surrounded. Before the Skaven could deliver a blow, another pony entered the cave and fought them with ferocious speed. Quick jabs and kicks sent the rats flying! This pony was much too quick for the Skaven to counter, and they legged it.

   As the Mane Six waited for their eyes to focus, they soon got a glimpse of the pony who saved them; it was Maud. "We better get out of here," she told them, in her nonchalant, deadpan tone, "They might come back." "I said it once, I'll say it again," Twilight told herself, "Pinkie Pie has a weird sister." They walked out of the caverns, and while the rat men still attacked, their war machines were no more. "How did you know where we were?" Asked Pinkie. "Boulder told me," answered Maud. Upon entering the house, Igneous and Cloudy were waiting for them. "Good," said Igneous, smiling, "all of our daughters are safe. We thank thou for helping them." "You're welcome," said Twilight, "Do you think you can handle these rats?" "There won't be as much as before with those machines out of the picture," said Limestone, "And I'm pretty sure they won't be touching our boulders any time soon." And so, the Mane Six bid them good luck, and went back on the train. Not to Ponyville, but Canterlot. The sun was already rising, and Twilight still had to make sure the princesses were still alive.