When Legends Rise

Autumn stared at the rising fireball with mouth agape, it was almost close enough to scorch the underside of the frigate they were stood on, and drew enough attention to cause the other ships to stop firing.

“By the fucking devil” she drawled in a tone of awe in her native tongue. Fyrefly, Surprise, and Tarn all had similar reactions.

“Not even I have that much raw power even after all these years” Fyrefly said, before frowning and scratching her chin in thought as she remembered something “I can only ever recall one other wrakjon who had that much raw power, and she was bad news from the start”

“And who was that?” Tarn asked.

“The less you know the better” Surprise said, a haunted look in her eye “but the gist of it is that Wrakjon tend to manifest their power along something of a scale; high precision but low power, like myself, or vast amounts of raw power with very little focus... Fyrefly is middle of the road. Those with a lot of raw power had a tendency to go off the deep end big time,"

“If Onælan has that much raw power, that’s a red flag for me” Fyrefly said.

“Now hang on” Autumn said, rounding on the two elder warriors “Onælan might have a tendency to be a bit bullheaded, like the incident in the swamp, but he’s absolutely not the type to “go off the deep end”, he was afraid to spar with me in case he hurt me for buck’s sake, he’s gone after this army out of fear of what they might do to innocent ponies”

“You also weren’t alive when Humans existed on Terra, shit, he’s even told us some of the things his kind has done whilst on another planet” Fyrefly said, stepping up to Autumn and straightening her neck until she was a good foot taller than the already stocky westward pegasus “if we make the call that he might be a danger to others, do yourself a favour and stay out of our way”

“Onælan wanted you to help and now you’re just gonna kill him?” Tarn asked.

“We exist to maintain the balance, that means we can’t be allowed to slip too far one way or the other” Fyrefly said “sometimes that means sacrifices must be made”

“If that’s your take on this, then you can forget helping us” Autumn said, turning and walking away from Fyrefly and Surprise, stopping just as she placed a hoof on the edge of the boat “I won’t fight you now, but if you want to kill Onælan then you’re gonna have to go through me as well. The crazy bastard's lost enough being sent here in the first place for me to just abandon him...come on, Tarn, let’s see if he’s OK” the Kobald quickly followed after Autumn and climbed on her back, and with that they both departed, Autumn taking a leisurely descending glide, though thermals produced by the residual heat nearly sent her soaring into the air. Surprise made a move to follow after them, but Fyrefly place a hoof on her shoulder to stop her.

“No, let them go” she said “We’ll deal with the Human later, for now let’s focus on winning this battle, we certainly don’t need some young blood for that”

I awoke with a start, gasping for breath and proceeding to choke on the ash, when I opened my eyes all I could see was ashen ground. I slowely made my way to my feet, kicking up small wisps of ash, and immediately came to the conclusion that I might have gone overboard just a bit. My powers felt almost entirely depleted, my armour still glowed from the residual heat, my shield had seen better days, and for a couple hundred feet everything around me had been reduced to a circle of ash radiating out from my location, with the occasional charred body to be seen scattered throughout the ashfield, then beyond the ash lay badly burned but otherwise still living soldiers, those still in a state to be stood all stared at me in horror and fear and I could hear not only the moans of the wounded, but the hushed horrified chatter of the soldiers..

“Yeah...might have overdone that a bit” I muttered, staring around in a daze before my shoulders slumped “man...Octavia’s gonna kill me” nethertheless I began to harden my resolve, they would eventually get over the initial shock and make moves to retaliate and there were still thousands of them out there. I found my attention pulled behind behind me and turned to see a lone armoured figure approaching.

“Your raw power is formidable, ape” the voice of the heimut empress pierced the quiet of this part of the battlefield as she drew nearer, a smirk creeping onto her face. “Though I’m curious as to what your plan was after you immolated my troops, for a start you are closer to our point of command than your own. Secondly, I hardly doubt that your Prench allies or even your Equestrian friends will take too kindly to the atrocity you just commited” her voice was dripping with a tone that just screamed gotcha!.

“Assuming I survive?” I said, looking all around to make sure no one snuck up on me “I hear the Scythians are an alright bunch, figured I’d go hang with them” this prompted a snort of amusement from the Unicorn.

“You’re a funny one, ape” she said “though you needn’t worry, my troops will not engage you whilst I am on the field. No, I wanted the pleasure of fighting you myself”

“And why would that be?” I asked “You aren’t short of grand weaponry, by the estimates of my own kind your panzers are some 300 years ahead of the military discipline of other countries, you could just have one of them shot me to bits from afar” at this her face became serious.

“You make me curious” she said “for all my country loves to proclaim its superiority of blood, amongst all the races it looks down upon there is not one mention of a talking hairless ape that stands proud and tall. I would wish to judge for myself as to whether you would indeed be inferior, afterall your stence lends you well to the wielding of a blade” at this she procured a small tubular object, levitating it in her magic. A click and a thrum and a shaft of energy burst forth, crackles of raw untamed energy dancing along the shaft like lighting whilst the empresses magical aura tookon an appearance akin to the visualisation of a magnetic field stretching from her horn to the handle. I recognised the tool immediately from Alee’s teachings, it was an arcane wand, a multipurpose tool of wonder that tapped directly into the wielder’s own magical reserves and could be used to harm or heal, to build or destroy, reserved for the rich and wealthy, or for the most skilled of bladesmiths.

It looked for all intents and purposes like a lightsaber with a blade hue that matched the Empresses own magical aura, and indeed they could be just as deadly when wielded as such

“Ah...shit” I muttered, drawing my own blade but discarding the shield, I had one little trick up my sleeve that I’d withheld even from my newfound friends in case I ever found myself being turned on, and it was vital that the shield didn’t get in the way. One of the few aspects of my old life I could recollect, half remembered studies in a martial art straight out of fantasy.

Altering my stance I brought my blade up in front of my face, then down to the side, before charging. Rather than the hesitant bumbling I’d displayed to my allies I felt no small amount of familiarity and comfort as I launched into a flurry of strikes that initially caught the empress off guard and onto the defensive until she was able to recover and managed to lock our blades together and push down, sending the tips into the dirt and grounding them there.

“You’ve impressed me, ape” she said, smirking, causing a pit in my stomach as I came to the realisation that she was very much enjoying this “I did not expect you to be familiar with Qillin dueling techniques, but you’ve made one thing apparent”

“And that would be?” I asked, trying to unlock my blade, the arcane wand seemed to have a certain degree of attraction to it, drawing my own blade to it like a magnet.

“You’re not nearly as proficient as me!” before I had chance to react I felt a force push me back, and proceeded to have the tables turned as she charged at me displaying a level of skill with a blade that far outstripped my own, soon I was struggling just to keep her attacks from getting through and I felt no small amount of regret at having discarded my shield.

Alee, Midnight Quarry, and Lesovikk stood behind the raised drawbridge of the fort. Waiting for it to open to charge across the mass of enemy troops, even if it was a suicide charge, they would still more than likely cause far more damage to the enemy forces than if they were to wait for them to make their way up the siege towers.

“Well” Midnight said, tightening the straps of her armour, she couldn’t help but feel a certain energy about her, a sense of purpose “Live or die, I promise you both that no matter what happens I’ll make them remember me, should make them think twice before stepping foot in Yarvik”

“You’re pretty hard to forget” Alee said, wiping a cloth over her blades to clean them “you stand a good 4 hooves above everypony else, surprised other ponies don’t shit themselves upon first seeing you. And if you don’t deter them, the bullheaded stubborness of your entire species just might make them reconsider within a week”

“You wound me” Midnight muttered in a dry deadpan. At that moment a trumpet sounded, and the clanking of chains announced the opening of the gate as drawbridge dropped with a boom, revealing countless Heimutian troops staring bewildered at the three warriors. Lesovikk drew his sword and let out a harsh war cry in his own ancient language, joined quickly by Alee & Midnight rearing up to proclaim cries of their own.

“He taua!”
“Faugh a Ballagh!”
“Howay the lads!”

And with that they charged forwards, Alee and Lesovikk had their weapons pointing straight towards the Heimutian troops, whilst Midnight galloped between them and slightly ahead, her head bowed low with the plates on her back of her neck locking into place to transfer any impacts directly into her armour. Just before she hit the line of stunned soldiers, Alee chose to play her secret trump card.

You see Kelpies, specifically the shark-like Capall-Ishk like Alee, are very odd creatures once one gets down to it, and even without her newfound water powers she had more than a few surprises up her proverbial sleeves. Many assumed from a casual glance that they were mere equines, albeit strange ones, though the truth was far odder than that, they had the fins, tail, & the head of a shark, and webbed, otter-like paws. They could create disproportionately loud singing vocalisations heard for miles around, like a whale. And just like some members of the shark family, specifically rays, they could build up an electrical charge, stored along lateral lines running all the way along the back and tail, located between the hip & shoulder, and the spine. With exertion, such as when running or swimming at speed, they would start to build up a charge and glow a neon blue, just as they started to do on Alee, and when they were fully charged she could feel a slight tingle all the way along her back, similar to the goosebumps one felt when listening to a particularly nice piece of music.

But rather than blindly letting off these electrical pulses she first began to manipulate the moisture in the air, sucking it out of the area occupied by her allies and forcing it forwards and away. This meant that when she finally released the pent up electrically energy, bolts of blue lightning raced forwards, arcing through her swords and towards the gobsmacked Heimutian troops whilst leaving her comrades unharmed. Once, twice, three times the electricity discharged, each one containing thousands of electrical pulses, either killing the soldiers in the immediate vicinity outright or at the least badly stunning them.

But Alee wasn't the only one doing something to catch their enemies off guard, for Lesovikk followed in the wake of her attack with a shockwave of air which rippled outwards with a whoosh, this further disorientated the soldiers on their wake, before Midnight finally chose to make her presence known.

Her armour began to glow a golden brown and then change, wrought iron plate turned into immaculate & durable steel with a polished surface of brown and highlights of tan, whilst the ends of her hooves became heavily reinforced, perfect for dealing considerable damage to anyone unlucky enough to be standing in their way. The colossal mare let out a harsh battle cry before rearing up her front legs and slamming them down at the same time before resuming her charge, at once glowing cracks in the ground shot out from under her hooves towards the troops, spires of bedrock burst forth through the earth, clearing a path right through the troops all the way to the circle of ash, sending scores of Heimutian troops sailing through the air to land back down among their own ranks. The way was now clear for them to charge the distance towards Onælan, either to aid him in battle or rescue him. Alee half-eyed Midnight’s change with bemusement as she ran, cutting through the occasional troop that ventured back into their path.

“I know my kind’s warcry is clear the way, but I didn’t mean literally clear a path for us!” she said between pants “all the same, it’s about time your powers manifested, sister”

“Happy to be of use besides acting as a living battering ram-Havat it!” at this she charged an unlucky pony, before pulling her head up and sending them sailing through the air.

“I had wondered what you would be a protector of” Lesovikk said in the midst of their charge “I’d figured something like stone or earth, maybe even magnetism”

“I thought Autumn controlled metal, why have two powers that control the same thing?” Midnight asked “and what do you mean “protector”, I thought we were called Wrakjon”

“Firstly lots of elements overlap; Ice and water, earth and stone, fire & plasma, but magnetism would also give you the ability to fly” Lesovik said “as for titles? Well, formally you’re wrakjon, as my kind are formally Toa, but in day to day interaction your correct title is protector, just as toa are known as spirits”

“Not that that doesn’t sound like a riveting discussion” a familiar voice called out as Autumn flew down and landed to gallop alongside them, joined by Tarn who jumped off the pegasus’ back “But I think we have better things to focus on than titles and semantics!” as if to prove her point one of the heimutian tanks began lumbering its way into their path a hundred meters away, there was a flash from its gun, followed by a boom as a mortar shell shot towards them. Without missing a beat Autumn took off into a low level flight, the metal of her forelegs splitting apart to reveal all manner of mechanical components held inside before settling upon two formidable grappling caws, similar in appearance to the talons of an owl, angling her body she deftly caught the shell firmly in both claws and used her wings to change its course, using her innate powers over metal to provide a little nudge she completely reversed the direction of the shell, performing a piruet in midair before sending the shell back towards the tank with a yell. The tank exploded in a fireball and Autumn landed back on all four hooves with ease to run alongside her comrades once more.

“Ruddy show off!” Midnight remarked, rolling her eyes, Autumn simply shot her a toothy grin, and Midnight noticed for the first time that those on the right side of her face were silver.

I was knocked on my arse for the second time, only instead of feeling a blade being ran through me I noticed the empress merely standing at the ready.

“Come on, ape, you disappoint me!” she goaded “surely you can do better than that!” I used the opportunity to pull my shield over with a quick hand gesture and rose just in time to bring my shield to bare to block another strike from the Unicorn, sparks dancing along the scales. The Empress seemingly took note of this and hummed “Interesting...am I to assume you are the one responsible for killing that dragon?”

“You can think what you want!” taking advantage of the opening to deliver a kick squarely in the empress’ chest, sending her stumbling back with a yelp, though that gave way to a chuckle as she recovered.

“That’s more like it!” she snarled, and as she came at me with renewed vigour, I got the distinct impression that she was enjoying this, dare I say she was actually toying with me “You tutor must have been terrible, come on! Did they not teach you to distract your opponent’s focus, to control their central line?” I felt no small amount of irritation at this, here I was getting my ass handed to me by a pony who was very likely the up-and-coming tyrant of this chapter in history, meanwhile she had the gall to be giving me tips whilst she was laying a beating on me. Unfortunately this irritation would cost me as I proceeded to block sloppily with the shield causing her blade to glance upwards directly into my face. The helmet offered some level of protection, however it wasn’t perfect as I felt the metal heat up rapidly and a searing hot pain on the left side of my face as my vision on that side went blank. The Empress must not have fully intended to bring me harm as I remember the blade being pulled back rapidly, though my focus soon shifted to trying to get the damaged and still burning hot mask off. Grunting in pain I dropped my sword and shield and all but threw the mask off as I fell to my knees, clutching my left eye. Gritting my teeth I looked up at the Empress to see her looming over me, her blades at the ready.

“Sorry about that” she said, actually sounding genuine, only for one of her blades to draw close to the underside of my jaw, the heat causing my to lift my head up on reflex “But I’m afraid our little dance ends here, so tell me, what name should I inscribe upon your casket when I send it to the princesses” I didn’t dignify her with a response, choosing instead to spit in her face, my act of defiance no less satisfying despite the Empress quickly casting a shield and tittering quietly.

“A pity” she said “But at least this makes me feel slightly less bad about killing you” and with that she drew the blade back, aiming for my throat, no doubt intending to decapitate me, just as I accepted my fate and she brought her blade down there was a blue flash as a familiar double-bladed sword bounced off the empresses own blade, causing the unicorn to recoil as a gust of wind blew her back and Alee & Autumn jumped between to two of us, weapons at the ready.

“Keep Onaerlan out of the way," the Kelpie said “we’ll deal with this bitch!” the Empress merely chuckled at this.

“Finally” she said, bringing her blades to bear “a real challenge” and with that Reinesfell lunged for them, this time things seemed much more evenly balanced, and if anything things seemed tipped in our favour. I let out a hiss as Tarn pulled my hand down to look at my eye and visibly winced at the sight of my injuries.

“That doesn’t look pretty” Lesovikk said.

“Gee, you think!?” Tarn asked, shooting him a dirty look before tapping me on the shoulder “Up you get, you’ve lost an eye but you’ll live” I accepted a hand up from the Toa and took stock of the situation, whilst Tarn and Autumn continued their duel with the Empress, Alee trading blows very much in keeping with the Empress’ own form and Autumn fighting in an altogether more primal style. I noticed that troops lining the perimeter of the ash pit watching with no small amount of bemusement, some cheering on their own empress. Continuing to glance around, a task now made much more difficult by the loss of my eye, I felt a sudden shock as I glimpsed the turret of a tank aimed directly at Midnight and without thinking on the matter I took advantage of Alee & Autumn keeping the Empress distracted as I ran straight towards the towering pony. I scarcely registered hearing the dueling stop, followed by the Empress barking something out in a panic in German as I shoved Midnight out of the way.

I saw the world turn upside down before I heard the boom or even felt the blinding pain coursing through my lift side. I didn’t even remember hitting the ground before blacking out.