Fall of Equestria: For Honor (revamp)

Trusting his friends to complete their duty, Wulfric met Vortigern on the outskirts of the city, escorted by Shining Armor and his elite guards. A ring of stones was laid out for the warriors to fight and Vortigern sat in his chair, grinning at his rival.

"You came, good." He said with glee as they dismounted.

"You didn't give me a choice." Wulfric said as he removed his cloak and retrieved his helm from the saddle.

"Where are your two bitches? Arent they usually by your side?"

"Your only concern should be me when I wipe that shit-eating grin off your face." Wulfric spat as he fashioned the shield to his arm and donned his helmet.

"Pity, I was hoping your women would get to see me kill you before I take them as my whores." Vortigern said with confidence as his servants gave him his sword and shield.

"Win or lose, I'm cutting out that tongue of yours," Wulfric promised as he banged his sword against his shield.

"We shall see..." Vortigern said as he banged his weapons and the two charged each other like wild beasts as their shields gave a loud crash with Vortigern staggering back as Wulfric went on the attack.

Arminius and the girls scouted the ridge overlooking the mine. There were many fires outside the entrance, but no Wendol. "They must be inside the cave." Arminius led the girls through the outskirts of the mine.

"I don't like this, it's too quiet." Double Edge said while keeping an eye out for any sign of movement.

"Hold up." Applejack whispered as she ducked behind a rockpile with the others following her lead.

"Up ahead, two lookouts."

"Allow me." Ryu took the form of a little mouse and crawled his way past the two guards who didn't seem to mind his presence as they were too busy chatting with each other in a strange language. Only after did the Orochi resume his original form did the guards react but were shot in the head by a pair of arrows before they could sound the alarm.

"Hide their bodies, quick." Arminius whispered as they took them behind a rock pile and snuck into the cave. Lead by one of their scouts, the group came to a small passage that seemed to lead deep underground but were told to discard their armor, all quickly obliged save for the other scout who kept his breastplate strapped tight.

"You'd have to kiss me first dearie. Let's go!"

The small group soon moved along the cave floor in a small trench. As they inched further along, they spotted the Wendol surrounding a campfire. They weren't wearing their skins, so they could see that they were Caribou, covered in filth, and had unkempt hair. They were eating something as the group kept moving along.

As the scout with the breastplate peeked up, a loose stone was dislodged and hit his armor. Everyone froze as one of the Wendol turned around. They all held their breath as every second could mean their discovery. After a few more seconds, the curious Wendol turned back to the fire, making everyone sigh with relief.

They made their way across a hastily built bridge across a cavern. "Wow. How deep are we?" Pinkie asked as she looked around.

"Deep enough to fall out the bottom," Dash joked with her friend as they made it across.

Once across, they came into a large dark chamber. The torch's light soon found what appeared to be a large statue. The Mother of the Wendol.

One of the scouts felt something crunch underneath his feet and when he shone light on the floor, he was beyond horrified. "Look at your feet!"

One by one, everyone looked down to see that they were standing in a room full of discarded bones, picked clean of any flesh. Pinkie was about to scream her head off, had Applejack and Dash not covered her mouth while they looked on in horror. In the center of the room was the most horrifying sight. A tower of skulls was neatly stacked on one another. At the bottom were the skulls of ponies, caribou, griffons, diamond dogs, and even dragons. further up, the skulls became smaller and smaller. It wasn't until they reached the top did they realized the skulls belonged to children and babies.

"The stories are true...they are demons..." Arminius said in horror when Twilight spotted a passage leading past the gruesome altar.

"This way." She said in a hushed voice as they went further down to hear the sound of running water followed by distinct chatter. They came upon an underground waterfall where the waters edge was lined up with numerous wendol soldiers meaning they were closing in on their destination but over the roar of the waterfall, they heard someone cry out.

"LET ME OUT! YOU CAN'T KEEP ME IN HERE!! HEELP!!"

"That's Wiglaf, we're close." Arminius did his best to hold in his excitement but could barely contain himself after hearing the sound of his sons voice.

"If we cut our way through them, we'll have the other lot on us." Double Edge said when Ryu noticed a ledge just behind the waterfall.

"Down the wall and we swim."

With the rescue mission well underway, Wulfric was busy tossing Vortigern around the dueling ring like a ragdoll as he sent him tumbling into the dirt again.

"That all you have? I expected more from the son of a king!" He mocked just as Vortigern wiped the blood from his nostrils.

"Careful what you wish for, you might get it!" Vortigern said just as the element of Loyalty began to glow and he suddenly vanished in a puff of dust.

"What in the Odins name?!?" Wulfric gasped before he was suddenly struck in the chest by a boot and sent rolling back in pain.

"I picked up a few trinkets on my way here. Lovely, these gems." Vortigern smirked as he showed off two of the elements of harmony now decorating his armor.

"Strange isn't it? These Equestrians had these things the whole time and never even thought of using them to expand their domain."

"Perhaps they saw there was no point in subjugating their neighbors." Wulfric said before ambushing his opponent with an ice spike that shot out of the ground.

"Then it's no wonder we took their lands so easily! and the campaign would've gone a lot faster if you and the rest of the norhtlands had joined us!"

"We would rather die than help you!"

The two clashed again with Wulfric seeming to gain the upper hand until the element of honesty began to shimmer and Vortigern felt a surge of power course through his veins.

"So be it." He whispered before sending Wulfric flying with a backhand.

"Want to know what I found laughable about these ponies? They say that "Friendship is Magic" BAH!" He scoffed while waiting for Wulfric to get up.

"I'll tell you what friendship really is Wulfric. Friendship is WEAKNESS!!"

While the duel continued, the rescue party were closing in on the lair of the supposed mother of the wendol where Wiglaf was being kept. Using a long rope, they tied off one end to a stalagmite and rappelled down one by one until it came for Double Edges turn.

"Everything alright friend?" Ryu asked when he noticed Double Edge trying not to look down.

"I don't enjoy heights..." Double said in annoyance before Ryu suddenly pushed his hand off the ledge and sent him swinging into Arminius who was waiting to catch him on the other side.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it-wait!" Arminius suddenly jerked Double Edge back up after noticing several torchlights coming down the cave path. For a few tense moments they waited until Double Edge nearly slipped but thankfully was caught in time before sliding down the rope with the others.

"Ahhh my hands..." he hissed in pain after feeling the rope burn through his gloves.

Using the sound of the waterfall to their advantage, the party snuck up to a group of wendol performing some kind of ritual as they stared at another makeshift altar of skulls and bones.

The group looked to each other just before Arminius brought out a second axe and immediately brought them down on two of the unsuspecting wendol while the rest moved in swiftly and caught the enemy off guard, Ryu shoved one onto a stalagmite while Applejack chucked a knife straight into the skull of another. The ambush caught the attention of the rest as they came rushing down the path with weapons in hand.

"GO! KILL HER!!" Double Edge shouted just before skewering another with his swords.

"Alright, Twilight with me!" Arminius pulled Twilight along as they left their friends to handle the enemy.

Arminius and Twilight traveled through a winding path of dirt and hanging roots. As they ventured further, they saw lumps in the roots, only to find out they were the heads of their fallen warriors. Twilight tried to keep her composure, but it was very difficult. "Calm yourself, Princess."

"Sorry," Twilight apologized as they saw a small fire through the roots. In front of it was a female caribou with bones braided in her dirty scalp, and a snake wrapped around her neck. Opposite her, a large caribou was eating what may have been a child's arm. "Oh no! Is that-?"

"Get me out of here, you crazy bitch!" They heard Wiglaf's voice at the end of the small room. When my dad gets here, he'll tear you all apart!" He screamed at his two captors, though they paid him little mind.

Realizing stealth was no longer an option, Arminius stepped out to catch the attention of the guard who immediately took notice and attacked only to be vaporized by Twilights magic.

"Dad!!" Wiglaf called out with joy upon seeing his father but noticed he was more focused on the wild female before him.

"Twilight, get him." Arminius said while carefully stepping forward as the mother dipped a claw bone into a bowl of strange black liquid while her pet snake slithered away into a corner.

The two of them began to circle each other as the mother snarled and hissed like some wild animal and when Arminius took a few swings at her, she lashed back narrowly missing his arms and neck while Wiglaf looked on anxiously unable to help.

"Come on bitch, make your move..." He taunted the mother, not caring if she could even understand him but on his next swing, Arminius failed to notice the roots hanging above as they caught his axe allowing the mother to scratch his arm before her head was sliced off its shoulders and sent tumbling to the cavern floor.

"DAD!!" Wiglaf cried out as he ran to embrace his father.

"Oh my little Drengr, thank odin you're safe." Arminius sighed with tears in his eyes when Twilight took notice of his arm.

"Arminius, she poisoned you! We need to get out before it's too late!"

"Let's go rejoin the others. Come son."

Upon making their way out, Arminius heard one of his men cry out in pain after hearing a loud clang before the wendol were forced to retreat, shouting through the whole cavern to raise the alarm.

"Dammit!" Double Edge cursed when he saw Arminius and Twilight with Wiglaf in tow.

"It is done?"

"It is..." Arminius said as he looked up to the enemy retreating back up the way they came.

"I'm not sure we can make it out of this."

"Now don't talk like that hon, there's gotta be a way." Applejack said when Pinkie noticed a small stream flowing behind the wall.

"Hey! I think we can get out this way." She said pointing to the tunnel before leading the way. As they made their way down the tunnel, one of their men suddenly fell on his knees with a painful grunt as he propped himself up against the rocks.

"I've run about as far as I've cared to..." he said before spitting out a good deal of blood.

"Today was a GOOD day! a good day..."

"Twilight can you help him?" Ryu asked as she used her magic to check his body.

"He's bleeding from the inside, I don't think I can heal him in time..."

"Just leave me..." The scout said when they heard shouts echoing in the tunnel.

"Go."

Against their better judgement, they left the soldier to his fate as he prepared to make a final stand while they rejoined the others.

"We'll just keep following this stream, it has to come out somewhere!" Pinkie said before they ran into a dead end with a small pool.

"Stream goes under the rocks..." Ryu said before Arminius suddenly collapsed and was held up by his son.

"Dad!"

"I'm alright son..."

Thinking fast, Double Edge took cover near the entrance while tossing aside his torch as he tried to think of a plan for their escape.

"We fight by twos, give the other pair a chance to rest."

"Here they come..." Rainbow Dash said as she readied her axe before a loud rumbling filled the cavern.

"Well as if it wasn't bad enough, now it's going to rain!" The surviving scout joked as they shared a quick laugh when Twilight realized something.

"Wait wait! Listen...." She said as they all quieted down to hear the rumbling again.

"That's sounds like...waves!"

"We must be near the coast then." Ryu said as he leaned an ear to the wall to listen.

"If there's a surf, that must be the way out!" He pointed towards the pool as the shouting grew louder.

"Whoa whoa whoa, we don't know how deep that cavern goes! We could drown." Rainbow protested.

"Better than dying in here!" Applejack argued.

As the sound of the Wendol kept getting closer, the group started getting in the water. "Dad, can you swim?" Wiglaf asked.

"Don't worry about me, son. I got ya." Arminius grabbed hold of his son as they prepped themselves.

"How will we know if it's far enough?" Twilight asked as she got in the water.

"If they don't follow us, then we'll know for sure," Arminius joked a little before signaling everyone to follow. "Deep breaths!" And just like that, they dove under the water.

As they had hoped, there was a large tunnel carved into the rock by the waters current as they swam through and found their way to the surface.

"We did it! We made it out!" Pinkie cheered as she did a celebratory splash.

"I knew we'd make it." Dash smirked while AJ rolled her eyes.

"Say Twilight, why didn't you just teleport us outta there?"

"I tried but something was interfering with my magic." Twilight explained when they noticed Double Edge and Ryu keeping Arminius afloat.

"Twilight he's getting worse, can you teleport us back to the palace?"

"I can, everypony stay close." Twilight then focused her magic as they were surrounded in a purple aura before vanishing in a flash of purple light.

The Duel

Wulfric had been beaten to a pulp throughout the entirety of the duel, his forehead had been cut and his face had been bruised with the rest of his body aching form being trounced by his rival who seemed to take pleasure in toying with him.

"I must admit, this was entertaining." Vortigern smirked at Wulfric who was barely able to stand.

"How pitiful. You speak so highly of your friends yet none of them are here to save you."

Wulfric would say nothing and just glare in defiance as he stumbled forward, dropping his sword and shield.

"Fear not, I'll put you out of your misery." The arrogant prince then grabbed Wulfric by his antler and forced him to look him in the eye while pulling out a dagger from his belt.

"Your loyalty to your comrades is admirable but in the end, we all die alone."

Just as Vortigern was prepared to plunge the dagger into Wulfrics heart, his arm was caught mid swing and could feel his opponent slowly getting stronger somehow.

"That's where you're wrong boy..." Wulfric said as he managed to find the strength to stand.

"None of us are ever truly alone."

"What is this? unhand me!!" Vortigern snapped as he tried to send him flying again only for his other arm to be caught.

"Our clans are bound by honor, tradition and loyalty! Something you and your ilk know nothing about. You wage war to corrupt and conquer, to bring those weaker than you under your heel and crush any who stand in your way!" As Wulfric spoke, the element of Loyalty seemed to glow brighter and brighter as if it was responding to his will.

"We fight to protect those we love, to defend those who cannot defend themselves and to destroy any who would see our way of life brought to ruin!!"

"The elements....they're responding to you! TH-THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!" Vortigern began to grow desperate as he tried to wrench himself away while his arm was slowly being crushed.

"To fight in the name of justice and to protect the weak is what it means to truly be called-WARBORN!!"

With one twist of his hand, Wulfric snapped Vortigerns wrist and forced him to his knees in agony before pulling the bracelet off his arm.

"This belongs to my beloved."

Before he could retrieve the other bracelet, Vortigern ran like the coward he was. Wulfric tried to give chase but was too beaten up to go after him and could only shout and curse as he watched the prince slither away like the coward he was.

"COWARD OF COWARDS!!" He roared as the thunder rolled in the distance.

"BEGGARS BASTARRD!!"

After a few tense moments of anger, Wulfric fell into the snow as his vision began to fade and the last thing he saw was a flash of light and two winged figures carrying him off the ground followed by a few muffled voices while he held the element of loyalty tight in his grip.

End.