The Templar's Fury

The clouds above had the fluffiness of a pillow overstuffed with feathers. Below them lay mountains that covered the earth like spines jutting from the back of some ancient beast. Through their recesses and pathways swept a soft summer wind, penetrating deep within the depths of the mountains to sweep about the mane of a new recruit to the Equestrian army.

It was a long, hard hike through the mountains outside of Camelot with the rest of Greyson’s battle group. At his side were soldiers as tired and frazzled by the beating sun and the hardness of the earth as he was, marching in a disciplined silence. If he remembered correctly, they numbered exactly one hundred, all armed and ready for combat. At the flanks of the group were the two leaders of the battle group, both veterans of war.

The tip of the formation was occupied by a battlemage who floated on a magical cloud, reclining in relaxation, an act of defiance against the struggling of the soldiers behind her. She wore a purple cloak studded with stars and a nonchalant grin on her face, which was shaded by a pointy hat. There wasn’t a single pony within the whole formation who didn’t utterly despise her.

The pack on his back was beginning to weigh upon him heavily. The sword at his side kept bumping into his side as he trotted, joining his equally loose canteen as another annoyance. His breaths came slower and longer each time he took one and he wanted nothing more than to stop. Even the gentle song of the birds was blending into an obnoxious cacophony that never seemed to cease.Though he understood the discipline the hikes were supposed to instill in him as a new recruit to the army of Equestria, he didn’t hate them any less.

As the minutes piled together into another hour, his eyes strayed skywards. For a moment, he lost himself in the sea of clouds above, and then he noticed something out of the ordinary.

He wasted no time in alerting his commanders to the oddity. “SIR, STRANGE OBJECT SIGHTED ABOVE, SIR!”

The entire group stopped to focus their attention on him. “What in Celestia’s name are you on about, boy?” The voice of the battle group leader was softer than usual, yet still punctually abrupt.

In response, the recruit raised his hoof to a black object tumbling from the sky. A hundred eyes followed his hoof to the oddity and a hundred hearts began to beat faster in a confused uncertainty. Each pony in the group felt the same, simultaneous sensation of mortal anxiety, as if facing down an enemy charge.

From the object’s trajectory, it was clear that it was going to land in the mountains close to them, perhaps a ten or twenty minute’s walk away from their location. One of the battle group leaders ordered the pegasi in the group to follow it, and for the rest of the ponies to follow them to the crash location. The mage had long since gotten off of her cloud and was following the events with a look of plain intrigue on her face.

Without delay, the one hundred ponies of the battle group filtered into the woods where they would meet their deaths.

**********

It had touched down within a lake deep in the forest.

Long waves from the force of the impact swept over the surface of the water. A number of pegasi hovered over the crash site, their golden armor sparkling in the sunshine. On the shore, the earth ponies and unicorns of the battle group huddled in a defensive formation, waiting for something to happen.

Several tense moments passed, then a figure emerged from the depths.

Greyson balked in confusion once it surfaced. From the hazy image of it that he could see from the shore, it appeared to be a hairless ape with pale white skin, dressed in a gigantic suit of black armor. Its head swiveled around for a moment and then it submerged beneath the water.

There was a moment of trepidation, then the commander barked a series of orders to his formation. The unicorns shifted to the backline and readied offensive spells, while the earth ponies drew spears and swords in a crescent formation. The pegasi above drew swords of their own, as well as bows and arrows, and retreated to greater heights as they waited for something to happen.

The commander strode to the shore, just in time to meet the creature as it surfaced on the beach. As it arrived, a protective barrier of magical shielding flickered over the front of the formation, wrapping around in a tight bubble. The cloudy, orange haze obscured his vision slightly but Greyson could still see through it well.

He felt his mane stand on end as he surveyed the mysterious beast before him. It stood many times taller than he was and its face showed no emotion. He had no doubt that it was intelligent from the armor it wore and the way it surveyed its surroundings, its eyes shining with a confused curiosity. He had no name to attach to the creature, yet the fear it stirred in him was all too familiar.

The commander tilted his head to the side in confusion. “So...are you a good guy or a bad guy?”

The creature stopped in its tracks, looking down at the commander.

It raised its hand to its head and there was a brief crackle as it activated something within its suit. Then it spoke in a flat voice with no humor. “To your kind, xenos, I suppose I would be a bad guy.”

Greyson felt an indescribable tension sweep over the formation. Before the commander could reply, the beast snatched the commander up in his hand.

“DO SOMETHING! HELP ME, HE-” His pleading was cut off as the beast slung the commander directly towards the shield at a blinding speed.

Gore was flung everywhere as the commander’s body exploded against the shield like a ripe tic popping. His remains slid down and piled at the bottom of the magical barrier in a revolting heap.

The response was immediate and savage. Magical fire rocketed towards the creature as arrows streamed from the archer pegasi above. The initial barrage harmlessly slid off of the beast’s armor, even the arrows crumpling harmlessly to the ground.

The pegasi above let out battle cries as they zoomed forwards to meet the beast. The first to reach it were swatted aside like mosquitos, writhing and dying in the sand from shattered skulls and snapped spines. Those who hadn’t arrived were smart enough to retreat back into the safety of the shield.

Its head swiveled to face the defensive wall of the earth ponies and it simply strode towards them with a quick gait.

More and more fire from the unicorns within the backline poured into the beast, yet even though its armor began to show signs of heating, it still did not slow in its advance.

Greyson’s heart and head were pounding with anxiety. He looked frantically about to find something to focus on to stop his fear and found solace in the flanks of the mare in front of him. She had a round, plump ass and wore only tight cloth pants to cover her backside. She stood braver than the panicking ponies around her and had her eyes gently closed, waiting for the battle to progress. Greyson tried to copy her stoic calmness and fixated on her ass, trying to distract himself from the chaos with sexual thoughts.

As he stared at the seat of her pants, it grew wet with urine. He watched in a trance like state as the liquid spilled out of her clothes and pooled on the ground, her legs quaking as she emptied herself.

A series of hoarse yells struck his ears and he was yanked away from that sight. He looked about to see the remaining commander shrieking insensible orders out of panic. His voice was soon drowned out in a chorus of battle yells as the beast approached the defensive line, as the soldiers tried to drown out their fear in battle lust. Spears and swords were angled forwards to skewer the creature once it arrived.

Before a single spear had the chance to strike the armor of the beast, it stopped in its tracks and drew a massive hunk of metal from its side. The ponies cowered behind the magical shield and waited in an anxious, gut-churning trepidation for the beast to activate the strange piece of machinery.

The metal chunk suddenly erupted in light and smoke, emitting bangs so loud they ruptured Greyson’s eardrums. The first rounds impacted the shield with a gigantic, explosive splash that knocked the ponies closest to the shield to the ground.

The ponies further from the frontline were equally helpless. Trapped as they were underneath the dome of the shield, they had no option but panic or a forced stoicism. Greyson's own mind was torn between those two extremes.

Some ponies helplessly threw themselves against the walls of the shield, trying fruitlessly to flee from the sides. Others sobbed in fear and covered their eyes with their legs. Greyson swiveled his head around, uncertain of what to do. Looking to his left, he saw a young female recruit curled into a ball. He stared with glassy eyes at her sheer helplessness. All of their training over the last few months had led her to this, he realized.

Greyson himself shut his eyes and imagined he wasn’t there.

In his mind, he was back at his cottage with his wife in the foothills of Camelot. They were on a boat sailing down a gentle stream and her head was in his lap. He focused on her smile, trying to remember every detail he could about her face, about her piercing green eyes and the special way she laughed only around him. As he thought about her, his fear abated a little and a new determination crept into his heart.

He took a deep breath and exhaled, his eyes still shut tight. I have to survive this, he thought. Because I love her.

With renewed confidence, he opened his eyes to the sight of the mare’s flanks in front of him. He breathed steadily and focused on them to center himself.

The recruit next to him turned towards him, a young, trembling stallion. “I...I don’t want to die...” he said in a trembling voice.

“It’ll be okay son, the shield will hold. And if it doesn’t somepony will show up to save us.” He tried his hardest to sound sure of himself.

“I-I only joined ‘cause my dad did, I didn’t actually want to die...” His eyes bulged in fear as they darted about nervously.

Before Greyson could respond, the stallion embraced him and sobbed into his shoulder. He began to sob as well and hugged him back, praying to Celestia that the shield wouldn’t break before some miracle happened to save their lives.

With a tremendous boom, the shield started to split and his own bladder failed. An evil stench violated his nostrils as soldiers began to lose control of their bodily functions.

After two more hits, the shield failed.

The soldier hugging him died as a bolt round struck him. He watched the light fade from his eyes instantly, his jaw swinging open and his tongue bulging out in death. Bucking the body away, he screamed as he retreated.

He was joined by most of his fellow soldiers, though those few who didn’t retreat immediately gathered in a small pack and rushed the beast. It fired two shots into their group and killed all but a lone stallion. He tensed up as the beast approached him.

It took him up in a large hand, uttering words to the unfortunate soldier that Greyson couldn’t hear. His legs swung about uselessly and tears of fear flowed down his face, then the beast squeezed the soldier until he was crushed. It nonchalantly tossed the remains to the side. They landed on top of Greyson, knocking him over as he fled.

Shoving the corpse off of him, he lifted his head up and looked about. His ears had been rendered useless, but the sight his eyes brought him made him wish that he had been blinded.

It was a sea of gore almost as large as the lake that it lay beside. The ponies who hadn’t been simply vaporized lay about as bloody, shrieking chunks of meat on the beach. Puddles of bodily waste studded the terrible display, a testament to the fear instilled in the soldiers before their doom.

Taking his gaze from the battlefield, Greyson saw several ponies dashing furiously for the treelines, only to be cut down by the horrific bullets of the beast. He tried to rise from the ground but found no strength to do so.

His eyes could not leave the beast. It was the center of his attention, an emblem of sheer terror, like something from a nightmare come to life. Even as he stared at it, its silhouette began to shine with an orange light. Suddenly, it shot up into the air and was thrown down headfirst.

The mage had finally entered the battle, realized Greyson. With her specialized knowledge of magic, there was a chance of the tide of battle being shifted, even if it was a slight one. For the first time since the monster had surfaced, he felt a smidgen of hope in his heart.

The unicorns who survived the initial barrage had joined her side, unleashing a torrent of magical energy into the beast as the mage charged a spell. The beast let out a groan and blood poured down its face as it withered and nearly crumpled under the onslaught.

“No, no, no, no, no…” muttered Greyson under his breath as the beast found the strength to raise its weapon.

More fire poured into the unicorns, several of them exploding as the other soldiers had. The ones who hadn’t been killed disappeared in poofs of light as they teleported away, leaving only the mage.

Her face was a mask of concentration as her spell charged. As the beast angled his weapon towards her, her eyes shot open, radiating with white light.

Buzzing fingers of lightning poured out of her horn and enveloped the beast. Greyson’s ears pounded once more as the beast let out a terrifyingly loud scream and began to charge through the lightning towards her. Its face began to blacken and warp under the electric assault, but still it moved forwards. An unbelievable sound was coming from its mouth and Greyson urinated at the horror of its deep, reverberating cadence.

Finally, it closed the distance and crushed the unicorn’s skull with a stroke of its hand. The beast sank to its knees and began to rub its face for a moment before standing.

His stomach churned and he struggled not to void himself once more. He shakily clambered to his legs and his mind raced as he tried to formulate a plan for survival. Before he could think of anything, the beast turned around and locked eyes with him, then began to stride towards him.

He meant to run, but instead he found that his legs had the stiffness of boulders. His head rose up to meet the gaze of the beast. Without speaking, it snatched Greyson up in an enormous hand and walked off into the woods.