A Few Good Ponies

Baltimare

1700hrs

The sounds of screams and explosions filled the air as ponies ran for their lives. Smoke hung in the sky as a legion of royal guard fought back, slowly losing ground as they were hopelessly outnumbered. On three sides they were surrounded by Multis's army. The bulk of the attackers was made up of former residents of the city, though several darkly armored unicorns were visible in their numbers as they lashed out with dark magic, turning any pony who was unfortunate enough to be in their path.

The guards were losing their will to fight as they retreated. They tried to pull their punches when they could, doing their best not to kill the attackers as they were forced to fight the ponies they had sworn to protect.

Meanwhile...

Somewhere in the Badlands

Lightning hovered just above the group as they made their way through the forest. It was a very unnerving place. Despite being in the middle of a dry lifeless wasteland, a humid breeze blew through the trees, and a light fog blanketed the ground. It felt wild. Not unlike the Everfree forest, the weather seemed unpredictable, yet  there seemed to be an odd sense of order to it all. She fluttered to the ground as Twilight signaled the group to stop.

“Something doesn't seem right.” Twilight stated. “I can feel a strange magical presence ahead of us. I don't think we're alone here.”

The group looked around, their eyes darting back and forth, and ears flicking in various directions as they waited. Despite Twilight's warning, all that could be heard was the rustling of leaves and the creak of branches as they stirred in the breeze.

Moments later the rattle of metal could be heard over the sounds of the forest. Heavy hoofsteps echoed around them, drawing closer. With the snap of branches, several unicorns emerged from the dense foliage before them. They resembled the unicorns they had encountered before, wearing midnight black armor, but this armor was different. Much heavier, covering them almost completely in heavy plate mail from their hooves all the way to their heads, which were covered by thick helmets. Through the eye holes a faint green glow could be seen emanating from their eyes. Fastened to their sides were long scabbards that held weapons that were quickly drawn by mouth in a simultaneous motion that one would have considered unnervingly well practiced for a professional team of guards. Now held in front of them, the weapons were revealed to be vicious looking swords seemingly forged from the same dark metal as their armor. Their long double edged blades extended straight out from the hilt, following a slight curve before ending in a finely sharpened point.

Twilight lit her horn, erecting a shimmering purple dome around the group as the dark unicorns advanced towards them, smiling around the hilts of their swords.

The shield not phasing them in the slightest, the unicorns lashed out with their magic. Dark tendrils shot forth from their horns, going through the shield like it wasn't even there. As the tendrils contacted each of the ponies it dissipated as soon as it touched their fur, causing no discernible effect. Twilight's spell had worked.

The unicorns continued to close in on them, speaking in unison.

“I see what it is you have done. No matter, I will simply have to destroy you instead.”

Immediately the unicorns began battering the shield with a relentless barrage of glowing missiles. Cracks and booms resounded as they slammed into the shield. The lavender allicorn began to sweat from the strain of maintaining the spell.

“We need to do something quick, it won't be long before more of these guys show up!” Sunrise yelled as he lit his horn, combining his magic with Twilight's to strengthen the shield. It took on a slight orange sheen as he merged his magic with the spell.

Looking around worriedly, Twilight yelled back, “I'm not going to be able to hold it much longer. I'm going to have to teleport us all out of here!”

Sweat poured down Twilight's face as she activated the spell. Her horn glowed with a second aura overlapping the first as she concentrated. A large flash was seen as the five ponies disappeared into nothingness. As soon as they were gone the shield shattered, leaving the dark unicorns standing around a scorched black circle on the ground where it had stood.

****************

Sunrise opened his eyes to find himself lying on the ground. Thick underbrush filled his vision as he stood up. He was definitely still in the forest, but there was no sign of the others.

“Hello?” He called out.

Only silence answered him as he began to walk in a slow circle around the spot where he had fallen. Looking up he could see the sunlight filtering through the leaves as it cast long shadows across the ground. If the sun was still up that meant that he couldn't have been unconscious for more than a few minutes at the most. A quick check confirmed that he still had all his gear. He could also make out the tower through the trees, looming in the distance. Almost seeming to taunt him.

“Let's see. The wise thing to do would be to head back to the ship. Maybe that's where the others ended up.” He reasoned to himself.

He tried to cast a navigation spell to find his way back, but that idea was quickly crushed as his brain was wracked with a stabbing headache. Apparently the effort of helping Twilight hold the shield had been too much for him, and had put him on the brink of magical exhaustion. He doubted he could do much more than lift a pebble in this condition.

With no good way to get his bearings he simply chose a random direction away from the tower and started walking. After several minutes of making his way through forest he found himself standing on the edge of a steep hill that ran down into a narrow valley. In the heart of the valley the trees gave way to smooth sand before growing back in on the other side. He noticed several train tracks running through the valley. He counted four sets laid side by side, one end disappearing into the forest on one end of the valley, and the other following it for several miles before heading into a tunnel underneath a large fortified wall. Behind that wall he could see the tower reaching into the sky, mocking him once again.

Hearing a loud rumbling sound, he ducked down as a train came into view. It trundled down the tracks, pulling several open topped cars loaded with stone. He watched as it disappeared into the tunnel. However, just before the last car was gone he saw a dark shape throw itself off the train and beeline toward him.

Quickly he got to his hooves and rushed back into the forest. Branches slapped against his armor as he ran, panting as he wove his way around trees and pushed his way through thick brambles.

He turned around as the dark shape crashed through the forest canopy and landed behind him, revealing itself to be a darkly armored pegasus. Though the same in color, this armor appeared to be much lighter, and only covered the mare's barrel. Her helmet only covered the top of her head, held on with a chin strap. This gave him a good look at her eyes. Like the unicorns they gave off a green glow, spreading out from her irises and ended in glowing green flames at the corners of her eyes.

She drew a sword from her side and lunged at him. He rolled to the side as she brought it back to slash at him. He managed to dodge it, but the tip cut across his left foreleg, passing through his armor like it wasn't even there, leaving a deep gash behind. He ducked another slash that whipped through the air where his head had been, backing up as she pressed forward.

Another swing left a gash across his breastplate, just barely missing his skin. The pegasus shot into the air, landing behind him with a flap of her wings. He threw himself forward onto the ground as she swung again, catching the end of his tail and neatly taking off a few inches of hair.

Thinking quickly, he levitated a small clump of sand off the ground and flung it into her face. She stopped her advance as the sand stung her eyes, giving him just enough time to kick out with his rear legs, bucking her square in the jaw.

The impact sent the sword flying out of her grip, landing on the ground with a 'clang'.  Sunrise rushed forward and slammed into her with his shoulder, sending her sprawling. She rolled across the ground before deftly righting herself with a flap of her wings. She was a mess. Her jaw was clearly dislocated and her glowing eyes were bloodshot.

Sunrise lowered his head and grabbed the sword in his teeth. The hilt was solid, but perfectly molded to be held in the mouth. Getting a good grip, he held it in front of him as she moved toward hi once again. He held the blade to the side, deflecting a blow a she swung at him.

“Plesth Thtop.” He mumbled around the sword.

His head rang as another strike glanced off his helmet as she continued to attack him with her bare hooves. He couldn't just strike her down! She was unarmed and he clearly had the advantage.

“Don't make me do it.” He mumbled, tears rimming his eyes. Sure, the Royal Guard was trained to use lethal force, but they almost never used weapons like this. Even then it was typically only for ceremonial purposes. It was just too....barbaric.

She didn't listen as she continued to land blows on him. One caught him in the face, causing his vision to blur, and completely lose sight from his right eye. He cried as he swung the blade in front of him, catching her in the neck. He saw her eyes go wide, turning a soft amber as the green glow disappeared. They almost seemed to hold his gaze as her head was separated from her body, falling to the ground with a thud.

The sword fell from his mouth as he cried. Tears flowed freely down his face as he leaned over and emptied the contents of his stomach onto the ground.

Sunrise sunk to his haunches, closing his eyes as he shook. He remained like this for several minutes before he heard soft hoofsteps approaching behind him.

“Just do it.” He whispered. “I don't want to have to kill anyone else.”

The hoofsteps stopped, and moments later he felt a hoof rub his shoulder. He looked over to find himself gazing into a pair of sapphire eyes.

“Oh Sunrise.” Lightning whispered quietly as tears rimmed her eyes. They wrapped their hooves around each other in a tight hug.

They remained like this for a while before getting to their hooves. As they made their way back into the forest Sunrise retrieved the sword. He looked at it for a moment before sliding it into a strap on his saddlebags.

A brief smile lit his face, and a glow of green flashed quickly across his amber eyes.