Team Thunderbird

[Red Charge]

Team Thunderbird spent much time training for the task before them. As the Equestrian Army prepared for the final battle against the Cult of Eclipse, they were put to intensive training and studying, as their task was highly important. They would face an elite squad of mages near the acropolis. Disabling them would greatly aid the army itself, as well as draw guards away from the acropolis itself, giving Strike Team Moonbird a better chance of stopping the ritual in time.

The ponies chosen were Tongs, Storm Shroud, Firefly Razorwing and Strings. The final evening before the attack gave them a highly nutritious feast and a good night's rest. In the morning they would be teleported to an area of the swamp a bit far from the acropolis, and they would have to trek their way to the mage battery. This was because the area immediately around the pyramid was protected against magic.

And with a flash of light they were there, knee deep in bog water. The area around them was oddly silent, far away from the battle. They would have to now trek through the swamp by foot, to the disappointment of the pegasi in the group, so as to not be noticed.

[tongs]

Tongs was not prepared for the sliminess under her hooves as they landed. The filly side of her that she had beaten away since childhood squealed with disgust as the cold bog water seeped under her fur, darkening the grey to almost black.
Instead of showing disgust she went deep in thought trying to remember if she had done the anti-rust charm on the armor before she feel asleep. It had been a long while since she had eaten that well, and the food had made her sleep soundly.

In the early morning light she could see the shadow of the acropolis looming ahead of the group. They had been drilled, but no matter how much training and discussion of tactics, a pony never could grasp the full gravity of the situation. She considered her team and was confident in their abilities to at least dent the mages hold on the Acropolis. Of course she noticed on the first day she was the only Unicorn, she hoped it wouldn't be a disadvantage.

Each practiced marching step sloshed nearly too loudly for Tongs's like, and she soon grew wary of the silence from nature at each noise. She eyed the rest of the team, as they also were covered with the bog's muck, something that must be very uncomfortable to the three pegasi.

I hope the noise doesn't attract any unwanted attention. she whispered to the red pegasus known as Strings, his red pelt standing out brightly in the grey, green hue of the bog.

[Deleted]

Early in the morning, Strings and the rest of Team Thunderbird were teleported to Froggy Bottom Bog, the sight of The Final Ritual. This was to be the final battle against the cultists, where the ponies would drive them out of Equestria, or face their doom.

Strings had never teleported before, so he felt a little queasy afterword, but that with the disgusting sliminess of the Bog added on top, he thought he was about to puke. But he held it together. After a minute or so he was fine, but still annoyed that he had to walk through this swamp instead of flying because of the risk of attracting unwanted attention.

Strings had been outfitted well for the coming battle, though he was not wearing all his armour just yet. He had his leg armour in his saddlebag to avoid it getting rusty from the swamp. He was going to put it on just before the battle started, when he is free to fly above the murky waters. O his left side, where he usually had his guitar strapped, he had a guitar shaped Battle-Axe. He was a bit nervous about the battle, and how he was going to have to kill other ponies, even if they were evil cultist ponies trying to take over the world. However, having a weapon in the shape of one of the things he treasured the most seemed to make things a little better.

While they were walking Strings turned to the Unicorn Tongs as she spoke to him. "Yeah, I agree."Strings replied has he grimaced at the murky slosh beneath him. "It is a bit noisier than expected isn't it? I don't see why I can't just hover above the water a little. It'd make less noise, and I could scout ahead a bit."

[StormShroud]

The night prior to being teleported out into the bog, Storm Shroud made sure to spend time with what friends he still had. He realized there was a very real risk he wouldn't be coming back from this, as such was the risk everyone was taking to combat this horrible threat looming over Equestria.

A visit to Willow, a few hours spent with Ranger and his younger sister, and his last few free hours spent training, working on his fog-forming techniques and shrouding. He'd learned a lot since he had come to Ponyville and joined the militia, much more than he knew beforehand which, though he wouldn't admit it aloud, he wouldn't have learned straggling along on his own like he had been.




When they were finally teleported into the bog, he found his head swimming briefly as the smelly bog water pooled around his hooves. By instinct, his wings flapped and he began to hover, up until he remembered his orders - Strictly no flying.

With a soft groan, he slowly sank back down into the bog water, wrinkling his nose a bit as he folded his wings loosely at his sides, glancing left and right at his team-mates, offering them a nod. His armors clinked a bit as he started forward, stepping in such a way that he wouldn't be making so much noise.


"Because," Storm Shroud responded to Strings' musings as to why he couldn't hover or scout, "we have those among us who can't fly or hover - It wouldn't make a difference, the noise would be there. Not only that, but if you scouted ahead and ran into trouble, they also wouldn't be able to catch up in time to help you."

Pausing, Storm Shroud swore softly as his right hind hoof sunk into a deep hole, dipping half of his face into the water as he had dipped forward to avoid getting his entire right half soaked. After pulling his leg out, he shook the bog water from his face and continued on with the rest.

"No - It's best if we stay together. Mages are especially tricky - They'll try to separate us, and pick us off one by one."

[Red Charge]

"Aye." Said Firefly, seeming as comfortable in the bog as she was in the air. She was a Razorwing after all, and had inherited the family's endurance, but more importantly pride. The armor she picked for herself was a brilliantly crafted splint mail and drake leather.

The white pegasus continued ahead relentlessly, her gold tinted hair kept off her face by a rapier shaped pin. "We should hurry, Team Moonbird and the Army are counting on us. I have a lot of family in the army." She said quietly, "I hope they'll come out of this alright."

As the ponies continued through the bog the eerie silence seemed to press down upon them, and they began to feel the prickling sensation of being watched. Was the cult prepared for them? Were they walking straight into an ambush? Should they not make it in time to the Mage Battery, they will not be able to prevent them from raining fire upon the army. It could foil the entire plan.

[Deleted]

Strings continued walking through the thick slush of the swamp. He nodded his head in acknowledgment at the other ponies comments. "Yeah, I guess so." Though he hated to admit it, the other ponies were right, if they screwed it up, they could quite literally doom the whole of Equestria. He really did not like not being able to fly.

They kept walking through the bog, and Strings kept darting his head around looking at their surroundings. He was sure they were being watched, and he was ready for an ambush. He made sure to keep aleart, ready to hover above the water and draw his axe at a moments notice.

[StormShroud]

Shifting his gaze back and forth, the cobalt-colored stallion gave a soft huff. He didn't like the fact they were being watched, and they couldn't watch back. They were already at a disadvantage, and they hadn't been here for more than a few minutes at best.


"We're being watched." Storm Shroud stated - They were all thinking it, he was sure of that much, "Something we can't exactly afford. They know everything we're doing and we know none of what they're doing.. I could even it out and shroud the area with fog, but we'd still be at a disadvantage." He mused aloud, glancing left and right at his team mates, "Does anyone have any ideas? We could, and likely are, walking right into a trap."

[Red Charge]

It was then that the first spell landed next to them, a massive explosion and a splash sent them face first into the mud. Firefly was the first to get up, keen reflexes driving her to speed forwards.
"Charge!" She called, zigzagging between the trees and muck piles as spell after spell landed near them. Now they were at a worse disadvantage. They lost the element of surprise, and there was a vast gauntlet before they could even reach the enemy. In fact, they couldn't be sure they're still in the right direction due to the confusion caused by the bombardment and visibility, already low in the swamp, became nill with muck flying everywhere.

One particular vicious spell sprayed Stormshroud's eyes with muck as it crashed in front of him, blinding him. Firefly was too far ahead to notice, and stopping meant getting hit.

[StormShroud]

Swearing sharply, Storm Shroud's paying attention to the surroundings paid off, as he was able to spot the initial spell flying toward them. It was too fast, though -- He'd have no way of deflecting it in time.

He did the next best thing, wings flapping rapidly as a cloud of fog shot out from beneath him, rearing up in a half-dome over them, before solidifying into a meshed wall of ice. This, at least, protected them from being thrown face-first into the mud.


"Go!" Storm Shroud snapped, dissipating the wall of ice in the blink of an eye, flying up just enough to avoid being near the mud.

His task, now, was absorbing falling spells into clouds of fog and ice, to protect his team-mates from being harmed, whilst also allowing them a chance to get the upper-hand.

When his eyes were sprayed with muck, he swore sharply again, forcing him to envelope himself in a ball of his strongest fog-ice mesh, protected from the bombardments--at least for a moment--to clear his eyes before he would go back to blocking the falling spells to protect his team-mates.

[Deleted]

As they were walking through the bog, Strings kept looking around, on alert. All of a sudden he saw a large ball of energy flying down towards the group. "Oh no!" He shouted loudly, as he lifted himself out of the muck with his wings. However, he didn't expect to outrun it and braced himself for an explosion. Luckily, Storm Shroud was able to make a barrier of ice to protect from the bulk of the spell, but he definitely felt the force of the explosion.

Strings then drew his axe and followed Firefly through the trees trying hard to dodge the incoming spells. Though he was a good flyer, he was no where near as quick or as agile as Firefly.

[tongs]

Tongs felt the rush of energy surrounding the spell, then the cold mud and water flying. She heard Firefly call out charge. Her strength wasn't in agility nor did she have the ability fly. This left her at a supreme disadvantage. Using all her strength she slammed her hooves into the solid rocky bottom shoving herself towards the trees. She felt the suction it halted her escape slighty landing a few feet shorter than she expected. At that moment she had caught a glimpse of StormShroud manage to deflect most of the spell.

"Move, NOW!" She commanded herself while Stormshroud had given the cover despite how temporary it would be enough of a chance. She was free of the mud and water, landing on the roots of bogged trees. Tongs found it a bit harder to get her muscles to cooperate in the cold when she was so used to the heat of her forge.

She whipped her head around looking at Storm deflecting as many as she could. FireFly and Strings raced ahead, Strings lagging behind. Oh Celestia, do not let us down. This was now extremely real and frightened her a bit. She bound after the Pegasi hollering at Stormy to follow, she attempted to follow a different pattern as Firefly had done , but different from her's. Giving a wide birth from her teammates so they would be harder targets. They would, hopefully, all reach the pyramid and be able to fight on equal ground. Her dark red hooves slammed into the trunk of a tree propelling her over a large pool of mud. She needed to be quicker.

[Red Charge]

Though the barrage did not do much more than sting the charging ponies. Once they got out of the thick swamp, the situation changed entirely. To their surprise, the spell barrage did not come from the battery itself, still heavily focused on the battle, but instead it came from a solitary unicorn standing right beneath the heightened platform.

Her silvery mane and white fur, pure of any mud or muck, made her contrast wildly against the olive and brown of the swamp. Her eyes were ablaze with magical energies, as was her horn. They were facing none other than White Fire, second in command of the Red Mages.

"You will be facing me." She called, a confident grin upon her face, despite being outnumbered. At once she released several fireballs from her horn, flying in a confusing, wave like pattern, each picking a target at random and hurtling itself at them. What was unique about these fireballs was that they were of the whitest, hottest, flame. The heat they emanated cracked the mud beneath their path and could be felt even at a distance.

Tongs was at a heavy disadvantage, being the only earth pony in the group. Shroudy's mist would not be able to protect against such intense heat, not even to slow it down. They had to dodge.

"And I'm just warming up." The female unicorn taunted.

[Deleted]

Strings and the rest of the team emerged from out of the swamp to the platform where the mage battery was, expecting them to be focused on the ponies, but instead they were firing spells at the Equestrian army. Instead, it was a white, silver-maned pony standing in front of them. Oh no, he thought to himself. He knew right then that this was going to be much harder then he thought. He quickly surveyed his surroundings.

"Move!" Strings yelled as the mare shot the white-hot fireballs from her horn. He started flying straight up into the sky and noticed that the ball of white flame was following him. Quickly he nosedived as quickly as he could, and just before he collided with the swamp, he pulled out of dive and flew towards the silver-maned pony with axe raised. He hoped that this would send the fireball into the swamp water, extinguishing it. Hopefully.

[StormShroud]

After his eyes were cleared and he broke free of his protective chamber, Storm Shroud made to catch up with the others.

There was a moment of brief, VERY brief, very careful rest as they came upon the single unicorn who had been barraging them with magical firebolts, after which she began to rain even more dangerous bolts upon them.


After trying to block one bolt and narrowly missing it after his blocking failed, Storm Shroud realized he wouldn't be able to help them any longer. They'd have to watch out for themselves.


Storm Shroud growled quietly, sailing upward in very fast, intricate movements to avoid the bolts - He had to give them a wide girth, due to the fact that they gave off so much heat.

When he had the chance, however, he suddenly zipped far enough behind White Fire that he was out of her peripheral vision! This allowed him a moment, but only a moment, as he began to flap his wings madly to generate a steady stream of fog, shooting it down toward White Fire. It was loose enough on its way to her that it would just form around anything hurled toward it, but if it surrounded her, it would suddenly congeal into a thick ice-slush.

He was well aware the attempt may very well fail and cost him his life, but he had to try /something/. If nothing else, he prayed it would serve as able distraction for his allies to find cover or move in on White Fire.

[tongs]

Tongs glared at the Brilliant White unicorn out of hatred, fear and most of all for maintaining such a glorious appearance in such a slimy, ancient area. She was an affront to the natural world. She was also cocky, to the point Tongs wanted to kick the smirk right off her face. Tongs smiled as she though of a dirty cold muck staining that white pelt.

However her fantasy was cut short as multiple bursts shot from the rival unicorn's horn, her teammates flew in all directions as the white hot mage fire flew towards them with no care who their target was.

She leaped to the side, part of her yearning for the warmth it reminded her so much of home, until she heard Strings hollering "MOVE" before plunging into a nose dive. She had leaped directly into the path of an oncoming attack. Her bright red eyes glared into focus, white hot as it may be her horn glowed brightly concentrating them beam directly at the fire. One thing was for sure, mage fire was nothing like the fire back home.