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Post by Mortar Retort on Aug 5, 2013 13:05:55 GMT -5
Retort tried to pay no attention to the chaos outside, like a persistent foal begging for attention, the unicorn ignored it as she worked. However, she couldn't ignore it for long as the chaos from outside spilled into her shop like a rampaging minotaur, bursting through her door and makeshift barricade. She dove out of the way of the charging corrupt abomination, diving into a nearby corner as it plowed through her shops front and straight through the counter she had just been behind moments before. In that slow, frozen few seconds it threw the room into discord, Retort mentally calculated the loss of her materials as she heard each bottle shatter to the ground, totaling how many bits she was now in the red. Her insurance premiums were already as high as Cloudsdale, this will set them to the moon most likely. It wasn't looking good for her or her business, so she thought quickly and attempted to grab the beast with her magic - to much failure. It completely fizzled out, so that wasn't going to work. Then she remembered the alchemist fire decanters she had, the ones Long Haul failed to take with him. Desperate, knowing this will likely spread, she wrapped them in her magic and slammed them against the armored titans hide. Celestia help her insurance agent.
The potions make contact and the beast is set ablaze, turning it from an angry tank into a fiery and angrier tank. As it thrashed about, Retort opted not to stay and find out if it planned to die anytime soon. She tumbled over the counter, slamming onto the floor as she scrambled to get onto her hooves. She snatched her saddlebag, only taking what she what was still left in them and bolted for the giant hole left behind by the beast and out onto the street, she used her magic to blink across the street, turning back momentarily to see if the thing had turned and would follow.
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Post by Live Wire on Aug 5, 2013 16:09:58 GMT -5
Live Wire was peeved, it was a perfect shot! How in all of Celestial's royal butt did that thing not fry like an overdone piece of toast. Even being swept by Darkness Reigns didn't jar her from her shocked disappointment, hooves out as if to beg 'what gives?'. It was on. Of course, she wasn't expecting Darkness to take a suicide dive towards the ground. Was he trying to kill her?
Live Wire braced herself against Darkness, burying her muzzle into his mane as they made for the building. She squeaked in fright, but as they reemerged, she sighed, then laughed in excitement. She peeked over the side of his neck, "You sure mister? I can pop a lot of amps, don't want to cook my ride." She gripped tightly with her backlegs and rubbed her fore-hooves together. Her horn ignited with sparks and arcs of bright blue and white electricity. "CHARGING!" She yelled, raising her hooves high, "CLEAR!" Then she slammed her hooves against Darkness's shoulder, shooting rivers of electricity into his body, coursing from her horn, through her body and into his, till they were both nearly glowing from the surge.
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Post by Zecora on Aug 8, 2013 17:59:09 GMT -5
The stallion she hailed never get near her, as an odd pony blocked the cart's path and was upon him. The attack was short-lived, however, as a bolt felled the creature. Zecora let out a breath of relief, glad to see that the guard had some control of the situation. That comfort was dashed, though, as one of the guardspony suddenly became aggressive, attacking the very pony that had just been saved! He was struck down by another bolt and the stallion made his escape in the opposite direction.
That sudden aggression...that odd, dark blood coating the pony. Zecora had seen it before, but she couldn't believe it was here! How could someone be so cruel to use Nightmares?!
“We're not just under attack from this monster, but also from our own drawn out rancor!” she cursed out loud.
The condition, as well as its cure, remained much of a mystery to her, so there was little she could do for those infected. As far as the zebra knew, there was no remedy short of a miracle. Even if she could do something, it would be very risky to go looking for ponies in need of care now, for any one of them could soon turn on her!
A terrible realization came over Zecora then. She had just left an injured guard with Daisy...a pony who had most likely been attacked by those abominations. If that was true, the Ponyville mare was in danger! She turned about and headed back for the house, silently praying that her fears were unfounded.
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Dr. Scalpel
New Pony
As standing comedy relief I take full responsibility in leaving my sanity at the door
Posts: 14
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Post by Dr. Scalpel on Aug 15, 2013 23:49:18 GMT -5
“Another dead one…” Dr. Scalpel sighed, cursing his luck and moving away from the corpse of a soldier, and onto the next one lying in the street. The street was empty except for the lone unicorn in his blood stained lab coat… and the dozens of carcasses littering it. On either side of the street there stood the smoldering wrecks of once beautiful houses. Looking over the soldier beneath him the doctor checked for any signs of life, breathing, a heartbeat, still being attached to his lower half, and was deeply disappointed to find a lack thereof. “How am I supposed to do my job if zhey die before I reach zhem?” he cursed under his breath, moving on to the next soldier in the lane. It was a monotonous task, but somepony had to make sure. He continued to do this for several meters, checking every last soldier he came across. “Ach, how did it come to zhis?” he asked himself quietly, before remembering the very recent turn of events placing him in his current situation. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ (Flashback) /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Scalpel was sitting at his makeshift office desk, waiting patiently for somepony to come in. He hadn't had any appointments for some time now, and he was expecting that it was something to do with the ruckus outside. On top of the lack of work, his nurse had also recently quit on account of the coming invasion… what kind of excuse was that?! If anything, times like this meant that they were needed more than ever! Being one not to dwell on unhappy thoughts, he resumed waiting, humming a merry tune to pass the time. After more time passed, he heard a very faint, but noticeable explosion, followed by another explosion, closer this time. The cries of panic became cries of agony, a distinction he was very familiar with. Sighing he got up and decided to go help with what he could out in the field. Grabbing a briefcase he headed to his cabinets of dwindling supplies and took what remained out of it. One by one, he pulled out the supplies; A roll of bandages, a needle, a spool of surgical thread, three syringes of sedatives, one or two splints, and a bottle filled a clear liquid labeled ‘water?’, and placed them all into the briefcase. Moving on he went to fetch more of his medical tools from the next room. Opening a drawer, he levitated seven scalpels of varying sizes and placed them within his lab coat pocket. Finishing that, he took out a rather large bone saw, his favorite tool among his equipment. Stealing it away under his lab coat he closed up everything and exited his house. “Ze doctor is in” Scalpel chuckled, heading off down the road. \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ (Back to more current events) \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ Coming back to reality, Scalpel scratched his head and looked around again for even a small sign of any other living being. He only a caught a small glimpse, but at the end of the street, he saw the black and white stripes of a zebra rushing in one direction, but strangely turning around and galloping in another. Figuring that it was a better shot than just sticking around with the dead, he checked that everything was still with him, grabbed his briefcase in his mouth and began chasing after her.
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Post by Red Charge on Aug 17, 2013 7:41:13 GMT -5
"We need to go out there and fight!" General Gallop smashed his hoof against the war-room table. "Your Royal Guard are DYING out there Princess."
"No," Said Luna, biting her lip, "I can't allow any of you to be corrupted." She said, though Gallop could sense more fear than determination in her voice.
"Our soldiers and citizens are being killed, our turrets are being destroyed, if we don't go out there now, we will not be able to defend ourselves against Blackmane's Fleet!"
"The Princess said her peace." Shining Armor stepped in, "The Royal Guard is directing civilians to the palace and we're doing our best to stop the Nightmares where they stand."
Static, the communications officer piped up, "No reinforcements from Rainlock, Manehattan is under siege by that cursed Blood Bearer." He said, then returning to his listening.
"All of our air force is in Cloudsdale, we can call them up right now." Scimitar Razorwing pleaded, "They'll be here in minutes."
"No, they'll push the nightmares to fortify themselves, we'll never be able to flush them out." Gallop said, "How did they know when to attack? It's an awful coincidence that they're attacking when Tesla's ships are in repair and both Field Marshals are out."
"Remember, they have the sun on their side, using her Solar Vision, Princess Celestia can see Canterlot." Shining answered.
"How can you still call that traitor a Princess?" Gallop outraged, but was silenced by a look from Tesla.
"I know how difficult it is to break from Blackmane's control. It envelops you, you don't see things like they are anymore. I'm only fortunate enough to have been able to snap out thanks to team Leviathan. The blame is not with your Princess, but with Blackmane."
"Don't worry, our Slayer trainees will be here in a short moment." Luna assured the war council.
"Princess," Static interrupted again, "They're already here."
Retort was barely able to turn around before she noticed the burning nightmare charging at her again like a raging bull. She barely had time to concoct a way to evade him before a bright flash blinded her. Something swept in front of the Nightmare and blinded it as well, dazing it as a magical force wave crashed into its side.
"We can't touch it until you take out that fire!" Birch Bright called, Lightning Dust was quick to react, spinning a tornado around the creature, suffocating it in the eye of the storm, causing the fire, though alchemical in nature, to die down.
At that point the Creature got up and turned to charge Retort again, still unsure of what was going on. Immediately two Earth Ponies dove into its chest, trying to hold it back. Gleam Lucre and Birch Bright did their best to hold it in place, Nova Blast and Sunspire, with combined magic, yanked it backwards, throwing it straight back into Retort's store, before launching stun bolt after stun bolt at it, each one illuminating the interior of the store with bright white.
Even despite that, the creature continued to try and charge, getting slower, but not relenting as it advanced. "Won't that thing go down already?" Sunspire called, "Gleam, get on top of it and tear off that helmet, the armor's deflecting our spells!" Nova ordered.
ZAP! Darkness Charged, of course, alone he would never have had the power to summon so much lightning, but along with Live Wire, he has committed an amazing feat and made a simulated Titan's Blade. Of course, it wasn't nearly as powerful as Percheron Razorwing's, but it was a Titan's Blade non the less and it smashed into the massive Nightmare with the force of a wrecking ball, throwing it clear across the street. The Nightmare was stunned, but would recover if left unattended.
"Awesome job kid, now check this out." He said, flapping his wings furiously, as he did, what appeared to be some form of dark smog formed around them and as he dove towards the Nightmare, that smoke left a trail. Darkness smashed right into the Nightmare's face, bucking it powerfully with all four hooves and allowing his smog to settle around the creature, knocking it out.
"They don't call me Darkness for nothing." The pegasus declared, "Pulling pollution out of the air is my specialty, works better around Manehattan, I focus it into a concentrated cloud of smog. How's that for a special talent?" He asked, raising a hoof for Live Wire to high-hoof.
Selenia continued to run, but as it turned out, the Nightmare had completely lost interest in her, instead heading towards the last standing tower in the city, her own Library of course, was now trashed as well as ... burning, apparently. Yep, it lit it on fire, all of the spells, all of the formulas all of the work. Continuing where she was going, Selenia would probably not run into more Nightmares, if the others headed in the same direction as the spider-like one. All they cared about was the towers, of course, because that would ruin Canterlot's defenses against Blackmane's fleet. Selenia wasn't weak, she was combat honed and practiced in magic, she could help, should she choose to head to the last tower.
By the time Zecora was out, the entire area was already clear of Nightmares, the nearby tower had collapsed and they moved on. She heard Scalpel's clopping hooves behind her however.
Long Haul ran past guards as they rushed towards the last tower still standing in Canterlot. Even the castle towers were destroyed in the initial attack, this did not bode well for Equestria. However, in a good turn of events, it seemed that all of the nightmares were heading for that tower as well, ignoring Long Haul as he ran past them and leaving him unharmed.
Finally the Nightmare leader stumbled into Eagle Eye's sights. She recognized the attire alright, after all, Ranger was another operative in the COLT program pilot, but the fighting style… it was as though it was a completely different pony now. She never thought being a Nightmare made that much of a difference, but she had little time to think about it now, she took aim and fired.
The skull masked leader dodged her bolt skillfully, it hit instead one of the other nightmares, crippling them. Noticing the sniper fire the leader charged forth, zigzagging between shots and eluding a lock by the sniper by dispersing into smoke and shadow occasionally to advance. But then he made a mistake, Eagle Eye grinned as she locked him in her sights, but before she could fire a shot, two thick Everfree trees sprung from the ground, rising up and sprouting instantly into their full size, blocking her line of sight, a bolt hit one of the trees square in the trunk, to no effect. The marksmare pony lay still, observing the trees for any movement; she could not allow the leader to escape her sight. Then in a snap, movement bursting from the trees forwards.
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Post by Gleam Lucre on Aug 17, 2013 11:31:33 GMT -5
The shock of the transition from certain death to safety to battle had driven Gleam's normal mindset into the ground and shattered it. Right now it was probably shock and adrenaline that was keeping him composed, but once the threat of death was lifted the full realization of what was going on was going to Gleam with the force of...well, of this tank-like pony-thing they now faced on the streets of Canterlot.
Being suddenly back in his hometown was disconcerting too, even if this particular street wasn't located in one of the upper class neighborhoods. Especially since never in a million years would Gleam have ever imagined Canterlot on fire.
Thank Celestia for Nova Blast taking charge. As soon as the teleport flare died down, their work became very obvious: a bizarrely huge pony in huge, equally-bizarre armor attempting to kill a unicorn mare. Pushing the monstrosity back and into a nearby wreck of a building (some alchemist's shop, recognition of the place would come to Gleam later) and their blasting it with stun spells to keep it down did next to nothing.
What did Big Axe call them? Nightmares? Capable of corrupting another pony to be like them? Somehow that utterly failed to live up to the image now burned into Gleam's mind: the heads and the teeth and the writhing flesh - that unholy undead abomination. No, this wasn't that undead. And if it wasn't that undead, that meant they could kill it. Gleam's eyes took on a manic light at the idea.
"Gleam, get on top of it and tear off that helmet, the armor's deflecting our spells!" came the order.
"Understood!" Gleam replied.
His teammates were battering the thing from the front, so Gleam charged around the nightmare's side to get at the thing's back. If he could get up on the nightmare's back - and those spikes were big and thick enough that they'd give him good hoof-holds - Gleam could take his sword to the buckles and straps. If it tried to bite him or something - he didn't know exactly how nightmares corrupted ponies, his team had been here all of a few minutes by now - Gleam would simply have to block or dodge.
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Post by Live Wire on Aug 17, 2013 22:45:40 GMT -5
The smog left in Darkness Reign's wake made Live Wire feel as if she needed to cough, hacking and wheezing at the mere sight of the fumes. Despite how utterly gross such an ability was - she found it pretty cool. And did he really perform what she thought he performed, that Titan... something something? She now had major bragging rights back on the street, that was better than bits.
She was happy that she was useful, though she was now doubting how awesome being a hard-flank was. Street scuffles are one thing but nearly dying by the hooves of some evil pony was entirely a whole other matter. Between stifling psychosomatic coughs, Live Wire nodded to Darkness's claims. She replied to his high-hoof, but quickly scraped her hoof against the ground as if to scrape off any grime. "That's a real nasty ability, mister." She finally took a full unabated and exaggerated breath. "They should call you Grimy or Soot or Grimy McSooty Flank. Whose special talent is pollution control? Weird." She was thankful she wasn't a pegasus, they always seemed to have the worse jobs.
Live Wire looked over to the felled Nightmare, scrunching her nose in disgust and pity. What horrible thing made a creature like that, and here she thought that the Changelings were ugly - this was on a whole other level that was well beyond her understanding. Nightmare indeed; she wished to go home. "Is it dead..?"
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2013 22:01:43 GMT -5
Long Haul panted heavily as he continued to run towards the palace, eager to put the near-death experience from a few minutes back behind him. What was that thing? Sure, it looked and moved like a pony, but ponies didn't tend to act that way. That guard looked ready to tear his throat out, and had run full-sprint at Long Haul. Were it not for that crossbowpony, Long Haul had no doubts in his mind that he would've been dead. Now, though, at least he could count his blessings that he was that much closer to the palace, to safety, and to where he was supposed to go in the first place.
After a bit more running, he knew he was in the clear. Guards were escorting and guiding townsfolk into the palace ahead, and he made his way in with a surprisingly large crowd of other ponies. Breathing a sigh of relief - and trying to catch his breath - Long Haul took in his surroundings on his way into the palace. It was exactly how he imagined, despite the situation at hoof. It was just as posh and ritzy as he had heard it was, ravish decorations all over the place and wide-open spaces abound. Despite everything, he felt...comfortable.
Hey, isn't that the barracks or something? he thought to himself, spotting a door and a few decorations that seemed to resemble the description the official had given him, provided his memory was at least semi-accurate. Not wanting to waste much time, he made his way over quickly, slipping out of the harness and starting to unload the cart. The 'clinking' and 'clanking' of the glassware inside the crates reminded him of just how fragile the alchemical supplies were, and just how lucky he was that they hadn't shattered on the way in.
The supplies off-loaded and his cart emptied, Long Haul slipped back into the harness and made his way further into the palace. Surely there was a room or area the guards would end up keeping the townsfolk in, likely the most secure area in the palace. He absently hoped nopony would put a lance or a sword into his hooves and send him out to fight with the soldiers...
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Post by Mortar Retort on Aug 20, 2013 10:07:03 GMT -5
Retort stood slack jawed at the sight of the creature still alive and moving, only made angrier by the flames that coated its back and as it turned and charged, Retort’s mind was rocked with questions and doubts. How, she wondered, could anything survive such an intense heat? Had she failed in her learnings with Watermark that, once again, she produced faulty formulas or was the nature of this beast something so far beyond that she had no hope to see it taken down. Her thoughts were shattered when she realized that the thing was nearly upon her, she tried to think of something quick but coupled with gripping fear and doubt, she found herself petrified.
With a blinding flash that sent her slipping onto her flank as she covered her eyes, she was saved. Several new ponies appeared on the street, soldiers, distracting the creature long enough that Retort was able to snap out of her trance and reconcile with the situation. Recovering, she watched on as they battled the creature back – straight into her shop. She facehoofed, her poor shop was getting destroyed from the inside out. With each flash from the stunning bolt, she winced and cringed, ”That’s not fair! Wait, no, not the distiller, anywhere but there!” She bemoaned, imagining the street filling with apple flavored foam as the angry, old distiller bellowed out in protest like a hornets’ nest with each blow from the rampaging nightmare. From across the street, watching on reluctant acceptance, she held her fez over her heart and mourned the death of her shop. Thank Luna for insurance.
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Post by Selenia on Aug 21, 2013 17:06:35 GMT -5
After barely clearing the avalanche of debris, Selenia quickly shot up a shield over her body and scanned the rooftops, slowly walking towards her destination- the palace- at a deliberate pace. She didn't know exactly why a shield was her instinctive defense against these creatures. Clearly it hadn't done her much good in her first encounter, as that spider pony thing had a way to burn a hole in it and slip a spell through before she could notice. It was a dirty trick that had caught her off guard, but if they tried again she would be prepared.
Selenia fancied herself as a sufficiently athletic pony. Sure, she was no acrobat or decathlon champion, but she was spry and strong enough to pass by as a challenge to hoof-wrestle or a hard target to hit. On top of all that, her mind and reactions were notoriously quick and getting quicker, courtesy of RedCharge's training. If she couldn't deflect or absorb the attack, she decided she would just juke and weave out of the way, and if that wouldn't cut it, she would tap into her magic and simply blink out of the line of fire. The teleporting would have to be reserved for emergencies only, as Selenia hadn't studied it in much depth so it was fairly taxing to disassemble her own molecular makeup and then put it back together in the right order at her destination of choice. Or maybe it was 'rip a hole in space-time in two locations at once' kinda like a portal? She couldn't remember. All she knew is that it was tiring as all hay and she needed practice.
It took nearly two blocks of careful walking and self-strategizing for Selenia to realize that the pony wasn't following her. She dropped her shield and stopped, looking around anxiously. Had it lost interest in her? Maybe it thought she was crushed in the collapsed library. The collapsed... Library... "Awww HAY!" Selenia yelled to the air and groaned. She looked back down the street at the pile of rubble that used to be the library. What remained standing was just a skeletal tangle of splintered boards and stubborn masonry, and even that was now on fire.
Selenia sat her plot down in the middle of the street and rested her face in her hooves. A library burning down calls for a day of sadness in Selenia's eyes, and on top of that, it was her own library. All the books , all the work, even her own house was now nothing but rubble and cinders. But she refused to let her resolve crack. Buildings were replaceable, so were books. Lives weren't. She'd take her home going up in smoke over any of her friends doing the same any day. If anything, this made her ticked. These pony things chose to invade when she was in the middle of an assignment for RedCharge, and she didn't fancy failing him anytime soon. Oh yes, they would pay a hefty price for messing with her schedule and ruining the work of art that was Canterlot City.
She stood back up and ran a few blocks down the street, keeping her eyes and ears keened to any sound of the invaders. There was distant commotion and the resounding rumbles of either explosions or crumbling buildings, maybe even thunder? She couldn't tell. What she did notice, however, is that almost all of the city's towers that graced the skyline were gone- only one remained, aside from a few spires that were part of the palace superstructure. If the development plans were to be believed, each of those towers was either in the process of being, or had already been equipped with anti-air defenses. A strange target to focus on as this attacking force had no aerial units she could see... It took her a few seconds to connect the dots: the attacking force was aiming to remove the city defenses, leaving it completely vulnerable to Blackmane and her upcoming assault! Selenia had all but forgotten about the looming attack in the chaos, and these ponies had almost met their objective to the letter.
Selenia redoubled her efforts and entered a headlong sprint towards the lone standing tower. Hopefully she wouldn't be the only Equestrian defender willing to fight on site when she arrived.
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Post by Zecora on Aug 26, 2013 3:06:08 GMT -5
All around her, Zecora could see the nightmares being routed as another force of ponies appeared. They didn't appear to be royal guard, but the zebra hardly dwelled for long on that curiousity as the threat to her Ponyville friend still rested in her mind. Daisy's home was still close by and Zecora moved as fast as her hooves could carry her. Quickly reaching reaching the house, she bounded through the doorway. There was no immediate sign of the pony, could something have really happened to her?
“Daisy, where are you?! Where did you go to?!” she called out.
“I'm right here, Zecora, but just be quiet!” the pink mare replied in a harsh whisper. She was knelt in a corner beside the guardspony, who was now clearly asleep. “I finally got this big guy to rest and I don't want to listen to his groaning again. Come here and lend me a hoof with this bandages, I cant get them to stay for the life of me!”
She let out a relived sigh. No nightmare; her fears were for naught. Zecora took a seat next to Daisy, reapplying the haphazard dressings on the soldiers wounds.
“Those strange ponies you saw before are being dealt with now, though I am still going to look for those caught out there and help somehow.”
Content with acknowledging her safety, Zecora headed out once again. She didn't get out far, though, as a stallion stood right outside the threshold of the door. The tan pony's white coat looked to be stained with blood. Had he been fighting out there?!
“Are you injured and looking for aid? We're taking in those harmed by this raid,” Zecora offered with a tone of concern, looking to Daisy behind her for confirmation.
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Dr. Scalpel
New Pony
As standing comedy relief I take full responsibility in leaving my sanity at the door
Posts: 14
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Post by Dr. Scalpel on Aug 26, 2013 17:27:53 GMT -5
As Scalpel continued to follow the zebra, he noticed more and more of what appeared to be… monsters? Something about them made Scalpel sick, and he hated it. Usually he didn't have such a light stomach… but just looking at these creatures made him want to throw up. Turning his eyes away he moved his focus back onto the zebra just in time to see her run into a house up the road. Coming to halt outside the door he took a few moments to catch his breath, the equipment he was carrying wasn’t exactly light. “I should really work out more…” he mumbled to himself as he turned to the door, but instead came face to face with the zebra.
“Are you injured and looking for aid? We're taking in those harmed by this raid,” she worriedly asked, having looked at the bloodstains on his coat.
“What? Oh, no… at least I don't think any of zis is mine. Did I start to bleed while I wasn't looking agia-… wait, did you say harmed?!” he exclaimed, attempting to look past her to catch a glimpse inside. Calming himself and his renewed excitement and began again. “Oh, apologies… allow me to introduce myself. I am ze esteemed Doctor E. R. Scalpel, at your service.” He bowed, caught up in his own little world. “I have been looking for a place where my skills could be of use, mainly because everypony I saw out zhere is dead. But enough with ze formalities… zhere are patients’ zhat need tending to!”
Half pushing the zebra out of the way, he rushed inside the house to search for his first patient. He weren’t splattered on the ceiling or strewn across the staircase, so there was a good chance that he was still alive. Clamoring about he eventually noticed a pink mare next to a resting guard. Not wasting a moment he plopped down his supplies and went through his mental check list (he had to be sure).
“Breathing… check” “Heartbeat… check” “Brain still in skull… check” “Still attached to his lower half… check!" "We have a winner!”
Cheering for having finally found one that had survived, he immediately shut everything else out to get to work. Looking the Guard over Scalpel noted several wounds… nothing too life threatening. He also noticed the bandaging that the others must have applied; chuckling at how rushed it had been done. without wasting a single second, he pulled out his bottle of "water?" and his roll of bandages, and set to work. He removed the bandaging and cleaned out the wounds, following it up by using his telekinesis quickly and efficiently dressing the soldier’s wounds with his own. When he was enough with his work he got up and dusted himself off. “… And since we're being invaded, and our very way of life itself is at risk, I’ll give you a ten percent discount absolutely free of charge!” Scalpel chuckled as he came back to reality, once again noticing that there were others around him.
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Post by Stygg Whitefeather on Aug 28, 2013 10:32:49 GMT -5
Stygg and a few trusted members of her entourage were listening on, while confiding among themselves as the ponies coordinated their defensive efforts around the war-table. They sat to the side, guests, offered to observe as a gesture of good-faith. They hoped to provide insight, but their resources were slim in Equestria and desperate back in their Kingdom. Isolated and cut off from the Dreadnought, the situation was grim, desperate and unnervingly convenient in timing. Stygg would exchange glances with Luna, only to be disrupted by Gallop’s insistent bickering.
One of her griffons, a member of Scythe passed a message from the entrance to the war-room to her. Stygg quickly read through it, whispered some hushed words to her griffons, who then quickly left along with Scythe, leaving Stygg alone in the war-room. She waited for the ponies and Tesla’s to finish their exchanges, and then interjected.
“Princess Luna, Gallop, and Shining.” She addressed to each, ignoring Tesla. There was still a clear air of tension she felt around him. “In light of this, I’ve ordered my people to open our weapons cache; we’ll be fortifying our position around our airship. I have also ordered Scythe on stand-by in the event they are needed to assist in the defense of Canterlot, you give the word and they’re yours. I regret we can’t offer more in the way of assistance, but what few resources we have are yours if you see it fit.” She folded her talons on the table, stoically placing her weak hand of cards for the others to see. It was clearly troubling her that she had been caught in the midst of this without the resources to aid anymore than a gesture.
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Post by Red Charge on Aug 31, 2013 14:30:39 GMT -5
"Red Charge, please escort Stygg and her entourage and stay with them." Said Luna, looking over the state of her capitol. This was going badly so badly. The room was silent for several more moments until Static talked again.
"It seems like all the nightmares are heading towards the last tower, every unit we have is engaged trying to stop them."
It was at that point General Gallop snapped, "Enough is enough, I've had it with these monster-loving nightmares in this monster-loving city." He said, "Fetch me my armor." He shot to one of the soldiers, "Now."
"What are you doing Gallop?" Asked Scimitar Razorwing as Gallop strode back and forth across the room. Princess Luna had no words, Gallop was right, but if she went up there... the music... if they got Celestia... She couldn't dare to go.
"I'm going out there to take back my city. If this council is too afraid to follow me, then discharge me." Razorwing opened his mouth to speak but was cut off before he could by Gallop, "I thought Razorwings were warriors." He snapped, as his armor was brought clanking into the room. Gallop suited up with all the efficiency of any regular soldier and stormed outside, Scimitar after him, calling, "Bring my armor to the entrance."
The armored nightmare thrashed and hopped, running amok and doing everything in its powers to knock gleam off. Gleam could now fully appreciate the backbreaking training Big Axe was making them go through, as he was able to stay on the beast and bit by bit pull off its helmet. Although when he did, he wished he hadn't. With mighty buck Gleam, who had nothing to hold on too was thrown off the Nightmare's back and could see its face, it was barely pony anymore, savage, with rows of shark-like teeth and burning eyes, it looked more like a barghest than a pony.
"Now shoot it now!" Nova called and the barrage immediately resumed, aimed directly at the nightmare's face countless stun bolts were sent at it, time and time and time again until its struggles finally ceased and it laid blacked out on the pavement, a large explosion erupted from the shop and the wall fell on the nightmare, partially burying it.
"Think that'll hold it?" Asked Birch Bright.
"It's out now, won't wake up any time soon, especially with that wall on top of it." Sunspire said. "Man that was tough, no wonder they called us in here."
Lightning Dust took off to the sky to try and see where the most action was taking place, "Looks like everyone's headed towards that last tower over there... wow, these things sure did a number on the city... half of it is burning."
"No, knocked out, probably for a while. Alright kid, I'm going to drop you off at the palace and head out to get the rest of them." Darkness said, kicking the nightmare just to make sure before signalling Live Wire to get on his back again, "I'll come pick you up after, alright? You did great, you can be proud of yourself kiddo."
Selenia was headed towards the tower, the closer she got the more savage the state of Canterlot was. Apparently one of the nightmare could summon Everfree trees right into the city as there were clusters of them scattered around the city. But that wasn't the worst part, the worst part was the packs of flaming timber wolves roaming about. Selenia stumbled across one when trying to run to the tower, a pack of three, looking furious. They immediately pounced at her.
Eagle Eye swore, it was not the leader, but rather two burning timber wolves burst forth. She quickly loaded her special slime bolts into her crossbow, firing two rounds in succession rapidly, one for each timber wolf and striking dead on; these bolts, instead of penetrating their targets instead exploded in a burst of slime and immediately coating and suffocating her targets, extinguishing them and thus ending them. They were useful for capturing targets, but they also came in use in this particular case, how fortunate that Darkness Reigns was able to collect that intelligence on the burning timber wolves beforehand. Well, thanks to that zebra anyway. With the targets down, Eagle eye removed the slime bolts and was reaching for the regular ones.
However in the distraction, Eagle Eye failed to notice the Nightmare Leader's approach, before she could react he was already climbing the rooftops leading up to her. She barely had time to reload, he was nearly upon her! A bolt was in place… he lunged at her; she can't be killed here, not by him! She had him tagged as a weak pony from the beginning, as soon as that pesky Pegasus got himself killed in the Feral Caves he just gave up. She couldn't lose to a pony like him, a weak pony that allowed himself to get corrupted. Time was running out, it was going to be a last second shot, the bolt was locked into place… She looked into the burning pair of eyes behind his mask and then the crossbow clicked as she pulled the trigger and heard the twang of the crossbow bolt being shot.
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Post by Live Wire on Aug 31, 2013 14:59:26 GMT -5
Livewire complied, hopping onto Darkness's back and holding tight. She wasn't keen on getting dropped off so soon, not after delivering a knock-out to a evil pony. She thought she could do more than just sit back on her flank and let the adults finish the rest off. She wanted more action, back at the castle sounded boring. "Can't I stay with you?" She pleaded, "I did good, right? I can do even better, besides, we make a good team. How else are you going to take down more of those things without my zappy-zappies? I've barely even warmed up. Go on, fly me into a thunderhead!"She excitedly asked, prodding Darkness in his side with her forehooves.
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