When Legends Rise

We soon came upon a small clearing in the seemingly endless stacked cages, with what looked like guards? Wardens? I wasn’t sure of the term but they were definitely the ones running the place. In the center of the clearing was what appeared to be an oil barrel filled with burning wood, off to one side was a cable drum being used as a makeshift poker table. But what really caught my attention was a dark blue almost lizard-like creature, well, I say lizard-like but it very clearly had certain mammalian features, such as mammary glands located on the chest in about the same location as on a human female, as well as a thick tail and doglike ears. The creature looked to be about 3 and half feet tall, though I wasn’t sure due to the fact she was sat with her back to a cage with her legs pulled up to her chest with a decidedly dark expression on her face, she was also devoid of any and all garments and chained to said cage, though I couldn't help but notice a couple of instruments close by to her, which warranted a raised eyebrow on my behalf. I elbowed Vinyl and pointed to the creature.

“What is that thing, some kind of lizzard?” I asked in a whisper, Vinyl looked where I was pointing and her eyes widened ever so slightly.

“That would be a kobald. And no, they aren’t lizards” Vinyl paused as she rubbed her forehead in thought “From what I’ve read they’re group is some sort of evolutionary offshoot between mammals and reptiles, I forget the name though, thera-something”

“Therapsid?” I asked, and Vinyl’s eyes lit up in recognition.

“That sounds about right, how do you know of them?”

“Therapsids died out hundreds of millions of years ago back on my homeworld”

“I have a sneaking suspicion about what what they’re using her for, other than perhaps playing music” Vinyl ‘said’ “It’s given me an idea, but you really aren’t gonna like it”

“I really don’t want to ask but I feel I need to for the sake of keeping up with your vampiric arse” I said, prompting an eye roll from her.

“I’m not gonna mince words, they most likely use her to get off. Sex slavery, rape, call it what you want, but sooner or later one of those cunts is gonna take her to a secluded spot and have their way with her. We use that opportunity to get the drop on them, hopefully before they start on her, then make our way from there”

“Now it’s beginning to make sense why you were the one who needs to learn compassion” I muttered, causing a low hiss of annoyance to escape Vinyl’s throat as fresh words appeared above her head.

“Now isn't the time” as if on cue one of the slavers, a griffin by the looks of it, stood up and made his way over to the Kobold whilst uttering obscenities towards her which even I dare not repeat. This entire situation, the slaves, the kobald, was making my stomach do flips and leaving a foul taste in my mouth.

The two of us slowly and quietly followed after the Griffin, having to leave the catwalk and camber across cages to keep him in our sight, who was all but dragging the kobald along by the scruff of the neck. Said kobald had a look which I could only describe as annoyance more than anything else, she had clearly been through this situation enough times for any trauma to fade over time, and that made my simmering rage burn all the brighter. Before I was uncertain about the possibility of taking the life of another sapient being, but after everything I'd seen so far I would have no qualms about ending the lives of a few worthless scum, I just needed to push myself to make that first leap.

Eventually the Griffin came upon a secluded spot, where the cages were empty and stacked particularly high. Vinyl tapped my shoulder with her magic to get my attention as fresh words appeared.

“I'm assuming that you've never killed before”

“I was hesitant before, but after what I've seen, you might just have to hold me back” I said, and Vinyl shot back with a look that could only be described as unamused.

“You say that now but I'm telling you, as a friend, the first kill is never easy” the sentence faded, replaced by fresh words “best advice I can offer, go for the side of the neck, it's more effective than blindly stabbing at the chest and quicker” I nodded as I turned back to the griffin, who was already starting to have his way with the kobald. I couldn't afford to hesitate any more, it was now or never, and reaffirming my grip on the dagger I gave a quick sigh, dispelling my cloak to of concealment before leaping down with the intention of landing squarely on the griffin's back.

My judgment of the distance held true and a split second before I landed I began to move the knife, with the intention of getting it into his neck the moment I came into contact.

With a thud and sickening ‘shink’ I collided with the griffin and sent the blade plunging into his neck, he barely even had time to let out a startled cry as we went tumbling to the ground. We landed with myself on top and I immediately held him down, waiting as the gasps turned into sickening gurgling and his struggling subsided. Eventually he relaxed and eyes faded, only letting out the occasional shuddering gasp and at this point I knew he was dead, just the brain dead body trying to survive on nerve impulses.

I withdrew my dagger and heaved myself up, sparing one last glance at the dead griffin, for a split second contemplating my own actions, before quickly pushing them to one side and turning towards the kobald, whose gaze was switching between myself and the griffin, blinking owlishly.

“Are you hurt?” I asked, she just shook her head dumbly. Vinyl chose this moment to glide down and landed with barely a sound before dispelling her own concealment “Well? How did I do?”

“Sloppy, not to mention messy… But not all that bad for a first kill, we'll make a warrior out of you yet” the kobald looked between the two us, an expression of clear confusion on her lizzard-like face, before speaking for the first time, her voice coming out as a croak.

“Wh…who are you?”

“Not important” I said quickly “all that matters is that we're breaking these slaves out, hopefully crack some slaver skulls whilst we're at it” her ears pricked up at this.

“I can help” she said, standing up to her full height of 3ft 6in. I’ll admit that I was glad for the mask on my face as my cheeks flushed at the sight of her naked form, the ponies and griffin's I could manage with their fur and tails hiding anything evocative, but she was just that little bit too similar to a human for my own sensibilities.

“You?” I asked, trying to hold back a laugh “Sorry, but you're in no condition to fight, you're buck-arse naked, and you don't have any weapons, you'd slow us down in your current state” she crossed her arms and huffed, but didn't protest. Instead it was Vinyl who piped up.

“Actually, Onælan, she could be of use to use, not just here either”

“How so?” I asked.

“Because kobald’s make excellent lock picks and pickpockets, not to mention they're good with tech” she then turned to the kobald “I take it they used you to repair stuff when they broke” she nodded at this.

“About the only reason they fed me as well as they did…not to mention not beating me within an inch of my life…” she said, her voice having a noticeable welsh-like lilt to it, going decidedly meek and rubbing her arm with a clawed hand as she trailed off.

“Every groups gotta have a scout” I muttered, thinking the situation over, before sighing. “Alright, you can come with, but make sure you stick behind us, you won't be much help to us in a fight in your current state” The kobald nodded, and with that myself and Vinyl made our way out of the clearing, leaving the dead griffin behind. When I didn’t hear the kobald immediately follow after us I turned to see her quickly made her way over to the dead griffin and retrieve a dagger of some sort, before spitting on the corpse and following after us.

“So...what’s your name, then?” I asked in a hushed voice, glancing down at the kobald. “I’d rather not have to call you “kobald” all the time”

“Tarn” she said after a moment “My name’s Tarn”

“Well then, Tarn, I'm Onælan and the vampire unicorn beside me is Vinyl Scratch” I said as we continued to meander through the stacks of cages, we occasionally had to quiet down a few of the slaves who were particularly vocal in begging to be freed.

“We’ll set you free, I promise” Tarn said, before looking pointedly at myself and Vinyl.

“Why else would we be going to the trouble of bringing down this slaving operation?” I asked rhetorically.

Eventually we drew close to the clearing where most of the slavers were gathered and vinyl singalled for us to get down and keep quiet as she drew close, I took note that Tarn was sticking unnervingly close to me for my own liking, but I wasn’t about to risk blowing our cover simply because I felt “uncomfortable”. My attention was diverted by Vinyl, who was just about ready to step out.

“I’ll spring an ambush, Onælan, then you pick off any stragglers” the words flashed up and I nodded to her, she then glanced at the kobald now present in our company “You hold back for the time being, you’ll be much more use to us putting your light claws to use springing some of these slaves out than you would be in a fight. Got it?” Tarn simply nodded, and began doubling back, fiddling with the lock to one of the cages.

“Well shit” I muttered “we’re gonna get it in the neck once we get back” Vinyl hissed at that.

“We’re wrakjon, now, we can’t afford to dwell on later repercussions, only focus on doing the right thing in the moment” and before I even had a chance to respond she practically leapt out, taking a unicorn mare by surprise as she tackled her to the floor and began tearing into her throat. Acting purely on gut instinct I charged out from between the cages with a wordless cry, running for some sort of dog-like creature as my dagger shifted into my original sword in a burst of flame. I barely even had time to process the situation as my arm moved seemingly on autopilot it a sideways arc, cutting cleanly through the neck and sending the head flying with a flick of the wrist. I barely even had time to process the blood showering me as something tall and densely built ploughed into my side and sent me hurtling into a set of cages. Before I had time to come to my senses a large, 4 digit, hand grasped around my neck and raised me up by the throat, revealing the assailant to in fact be a minotaur, one of the few creatures I’d encountered so far which made me feel small

Acting on instinct I grabbed hold of his wrist firmly and began to channel my elemental powers through my hand. An orange aura surrounded my hand and a sizzling reached my ears as the minotaur began to yell out in pain, a acrid smell of singed flesh filling my nose. His hold around my throat lessened ever so slightly and I pressed the advantage by plunging y sword deep into his chest and channeling my element through it. The minotaurs eyes shrank the pinpricks a split second before fire burst out of his back and his hold on my neck relinquished.

I dropped to the ground and stood to my full height just in time to see the minotaur stumble backwards before falling over, a large smoking hole going right through his chest. I quickly glanced around to take stock of the situation and saw that Vinyl had already quite literally savaged two other individuals and was already biting into the throat of a third. It seemed that that was the last of them, and at that point the smell of blood became quite acute...maybe it was something to do with the dog blood dripping off the brow of my helmet. A small part of me noted that I was feeling distinctly detached about the whole thing, maybe it was the adrenaline rush from only a few brief seconds of fighting, maybe I was actually acting under Fantasia’s control, I couldn’t be quite sure.

Vinyl rose to her hooves and licked away the blood surrounding her mouth, a expression of what could only be described as bliss on her face. A few moments later the expression faded to detached stoicism and her horn lit up for a moment, before the sound of locks clicking began to echo throughout the warehouse. She then turned to me as blue lettering appeared above her head.

“We need to get out of here before anymore slaves see us”

“What about Tarn?” I asked.

“We’ll grab her when she comes out” she explained, before turning and making her way towards what I could only assume were the main doors to this warehouse. Following after her my hunch proved to be correct and we came to a set of large metal doors, where Vinyl turned to me “Your turn to open up the doors.” She nodded her head towards the doors to emphasise the point, and feeling little other choice I cautiously made my way up to the door. For a moment I stood there, wondering how to approach this particular problem, before an idea crept into my head and I placed the palm of my hand on the door. I called forth my element, but didn’t let it rush forth immediately, instead I let it build until my hand began to glow. Then, after a moment to mentally brace myself, I let the power rush forth.

At the point where my hand was contacting the metal of the door a large hole appeared, and the surrounding metal instantly caved in under the force of what could only be described as a shockwave, the large sliding doors were ripped from their runners, which in turn took part of the surrounding brickwork with them. My entire arm right up to the shoulder recoiled as if I were firing a shotgun, and I was forced to take a could steps back. As the loud boom echoed through the streets, setting dogs howling, and the dust and rubble began to settle I turned to see Vinyl looking at me with a raised eyebrow and an unamused expression on her face as words faded into view above her head.

“...You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!” and with that she took flight towards the rooftop, and as I heard the approaching commotion of ponies coming to investigate the explosion I teleported after her. From our vantage point on the rooftop I saw Tarn emerge a few moments later carry what I could only assume to be a couple of instruments hastily strung to her back with a belt presumably pilfered from one of the slavers. I saw her look around in confusion for a few moments, before a blue glow surrounded her and she disappeared with a pop, appearing next to us just as a group of ponies on the street below rounded the corner to investigate.

“W-what?” Tarn muttered, blinking owlishly, before her eyes focussed on the two of us.

“We need to get out of here, let the townsfolk and authorities deal with the former slaves” Vinyl said, before turning and casually trotting off in what I could only assume was the direction of the castle, with a simple shrug on my behalf I jerked a thumb towards my back, hinting for Tarn to climb on, and once she was firmly clutching my shoulders I followed after Vinyl.