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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2014 17:10:38 GMT -5
Phalanx adjusted her posture for what felt like the twelfth time in the past few minutes, her armour making just a hint of noise in the quiet hall. It had been quite a while since Phalanx had to perform any kind of guard or sentry duty, and she had to admit she was no longer used to standing still for what felt like hours on end. She turned her head slightly to her side to see how Hoplite was faring.
He was standing surprisingly stock still on the other side of the door to Watermark's, only occasionally looking up and down the hall. Of course he was far more familiar with this sort of thing, back when they served in the militia he was the one doing sentry duty the most out of the two of them. Phalanx grumbled and rolled her eyes, she couldn't stand...well...standing here for much longer, she had to do *something*. Taking a bit of initiative, she stepped away from the wall and started idly walking up and down the hall. She could tell Hoplite was initially confused since he moved a bit before settling back down, clearly understanding what she was up to.
And then White Fire ran past her. She barged into Watermark's room and called to him in what seemed like panic. The zebracorn seemed just as troubled, telling the Red Mage to get everypony out of their homes immediately. Before Hoplite or Phalanx could ask the two anything, Watermark and White Fire ran past them, heading out of the headquarters. Hoplite and Phalanx shared a very brief wordless exchange of confusion before following them.
When the two made it outside, Phalanx immediately noticed something that seemed to hint towards whatever Watermark and White Fire were so antsy about. The Red Mages, Fillydelphia, and several unicorns were running about in a frenzy. Phalanx looked to Hoplite expectantly, only to see him sharing the same look towards her. They both had absolutely no clue what was happening, and that much was incredibly worrying.
They looked to Watermark, "What's going on?" she asked tentatively. For whatever reason, the zebracorn was looking straight up towards the sky. Both Phalanx and Hoplite looked up to see just exactly what Watermark was staring at.
And immediately regretted it.
It looked at first like a vicious storm had covered the sky, dark clouds and bits of lightning obscuring any semblance of what it used to look like. The clouds soon parted and something that looked like a talon made it's way through the hole in the clouds. That talon gave way to a gargantuan eagle-like creature that looked like it was composed of lightning! It emitted a sound that struck quite a bit of fear into Phalanx, and it appeared as though Hoplite was faring no better. It soon emitted several lightning bolts in multiple directions, and Phalanx's ears fell to the sides of her head as she saw one of the bolts heading straight for Hoofington.
The bolt pierced right through the ice shield, and Phalanx seemed frozen in horror as the bolt sliced through the town, lighting buildings and trees on fire. She watched as the shield dissipated, leaving the town once more exposed and didn't doubt that the smoke from the fires would be a clear signal to the diamond dogs that they were no longer protected.
She felt her whole body shaking, at once thinking it merely trembling in fear before she heard somepony shouting into her ear. She looked to the source to see a rather worried-looking Hoplite looking to her expectantly. It immediately hit her that the town was facing several needs all at once that needed immediate tending to, yet she didn't know what to do.
She brushed off Hoplite, telling him to follow her as the two ran up to Watermark. "Watermark, what do you need us to do?" she asked expectantly. If Watermark himself didn't have a plan, what chance did Hoofington stand?
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Post by Red Charge on Jan 20, 2014 17:31:45 GMT -5
Watermark, however seemed completely out of focus. His eye were staring blankly at the sky and he was unmoving.
"First, help the militia put out the fires. Watermark's golems will be there in a minute to help you out. The Red Mages will erect a temporary shield, the Drill Sergeants will be in charge of organizing the defense force." Whitefire ordered quickly.
Fillydelphia ran over from the Red Mages, like many of them she was sweating profusely from the episode of violent ether energies brought upon by the Sky Titans. "We'll help with the fires." She said. Whitefire nodded, Sapphire Bomber looked at Watermark with a look between scared and curious.
"What's going on with Watermark?" She asked.
"He's making sure Canterlot is okay, come on, get to it..." Whitefire was about to say, before Watermark snapped out of it.
"I'm not sure there's a point, it's gone."
"I can see it's gone, Watermark, but it took down the shield and we need..." Whitefire retorted angrily.
"No, Canterlot. It's gone, completely destroyed." He said in a low voice, Phalanx and Hoplite could barely hear him over the shouts and rush of movement in the background. A horde of water golems flowed past her towards the burning Militia Headquarters.
Whitefire whispered a question to him and he whispered back, at which point she nuzzled him shakily, before going out to assist the Red Mages.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2014 17:42:51 GMT -5
Phalanx blinked confusedly. Watermark was still staring blankly and didn't so much as twitch after Phalanx's question. Thankfully enough, White Fire was quick to call out orders and some sort of direction for them. If nothing else, at least they would have a surrogate shield up until Watermark could get the ice shield back up.
She turned to Hoplite, who was visibly sweating but seemed a lot less confused compared to earlier. "I'm heading over to the north side! You coming with or getting a different side?" Phalanx asked.
Hoplite didn't respond right away. "I'll...I'll go with you!" he eventually replied. Phalanx nodded and turned back to see if Sapphire and Fillydelphia were coming with them, only to suddenly clue in to an exchange between Watermark and White Fire.
She blinked a few times. She couldn't have heard that right. Did Watermark just say Canterlot fell? He did say 'completely destroyed' after referring to Canterlot, but...that couldn't be right. She couldn't pick up any more of the discussion, but judging from the two sharing a brief nuzzle, she had a few reasons that confirmed her suspicions in her mind.
She had to push back the thought of the many towers of Canterlot turning into rubble out of her mind, along with her many thoughts of who might've survived. She had to help Hoofington now, thinking about Canterlot could wait. She and Hoplite turned and ran towards the north side, ready to do whatever they could to put out the fires. They had their role to play, they couldn't leave that for any reason.
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Post by Red Charge on Jan 21, 2014 12:27:11 GMT -5
Phalanx and Hoplite, along with Fillydelphia and Sapphire Bomber were quick to get to work, going around the town in a frenzy (and getting quite the workout sprinting across such a large area) trying to extinguish the fires and then take census for the civilians in Hoofington. Watermark was with them all along the way, he wasn't as weak as he was last time he had to burst his shield bubble, but his water golems were getting fewer and fewer by the minute and though he tried his hardest, he wasn't much able to do more than Phalanx and Hoplite did. Occasionally he would stop and stare blankly out, as though trying to determine what was going on with Canterlot again, but it would last only for several moments before he carried on, obviously still not seeing any change.
It seemed like hours before all the fires were put out and all the civilians were accounted for, no casualties except a stray cow, fortunately. Several ponies suffered from smoke inhalation and others minor burns. Phalanx and Hoplite both had a few burns but Watermark's new health poultices were really quite the boon in that situation. Not only did they immediately relieve the pain, they felt simply fantastic and enervated whenever they had to apply them. There was absolutely no comparing them to the old ones they had in the militia, with those, it seemed feasible that all of Hoofington could stand up to any Diamond Dog army.
The surrogate disintegrator shield was up faster this time, the practice seemed to be doing good for the Red Mages and eventually, Watermark, Hoplite, Phalanx, Fillydelphia and Sapphire all retired to a one of the remaining offices in the Militia Headquarters, as Watermark's was split in half by the massive lightning bolt.
Whitefire came in shortly, "Anything?"
"No, not yet." Watermark replied wearily, "Any signs of Diamond Dogs?"
"A few companies tried us, we broke them. Nothing other than that." Whitefire replied.
"Scouts?"
"Maybe."
"You four alright?" He turned to the others.
"Yes." Fillydelphia answered shortly.
"I'm good." Sapphire replied.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2014 12:37:32 GMT -5
Phalanx breathed a sigh of relief as her poultice was applied, the pain from her burns not only immediately leaving but quickly being replaced by intense relief. It seemed as though no matter what was hitting Hoofington, they were still standing. Between the lightning strikes, a few attempted sieges and losses of the shield, they were still standing and well defended against the dogs.
Better yet, nopony was killed in the strikes. She had to admit she was more than a bit worried about that, yet despite a few burns and smoke inhalations the townsponies were alright. Better still, her wounds were already being healed along with Hoplite's own burns. Give it a few days and there would hardly be any signs of the lightning strikes if they had the time to rebuild.
* * *
Phalanx and Hoplite stepped into the surrogate office Watermark was using in the headquarters, finding their own corner to stand in. White Fire soon entered and began an exchange with Watermark, and once more Phalanx's mind wandered to the state of Canterlot and if she had indeed heard right earlier.
"Yeah, we're doing just fine," Phalanx replied to Watermark's question, "What's the word from the rest of Equestria? Did those lightning bolts hit anywhere else besides Hoofington?"
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Post by Red Charge on Jan 21, 2014 12:54:58 GMT -5
"Canterlot's gone. Levelled." Watermark said with a sigh, rubbing his temple with a hoof with his eyes closed as if he was having a particularly strong migraine. "Couldn't reach anyone."
"Gale knows anything?" Whitefire asked, Watermark shook his head.
"Couldn't reach her either."
"Watermark, we're going to go outside and see if we can help somewhere." Fillydelphia said unconvincingly. It was obvious she felt uncomfortable being in there with them, either that or she wanted to be alone after hearing about Canterlot. Sapphire went after her, leaving Watermark, Whitefire and the brother and sister duo.
"So we need to decide, what we do... if there's no government anymore."
Whitefire gasped at the mere statement.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2014 13:07:36 GMT -5
Phalanx frowned, she had heard right earlier. Canterlot, *the* Canterlot, had fallen. Judging from how Watermark was talking about it, it didn't sound like anypony survived that either. Could...that mean that Luna and Red Charge had died as well? That couldn't happen, right?
And then Watermark said something incredibly grim, completely unlike how he usually acted. But he did raise a valid point. If Luna had indeed died in the siege, as unlikely as that sounded, they were without both leaders and royalty. They had to think of something to do, some way to act if there weren't any more orders coming.
"Well," Phalanx started, scrambling for words, "We can't surrender, right? I mean, chances are the Diamond Dogs are either going to completely ignore our surrender or we'd be subjected to slavery in mines...or worse. We need somepony else to take the helm, even if it means a leader per city. We need to tend to the pressing matter of the war first before we can take the time to re-establish a government."
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Post by Red Charge on Jan 21, 2014 13:29:55 GMT -5
"No, we're not going to surrender. But we can't stay on the defensive. We need to reinforce Hoofington and strike back against the Diamond Dogs. But first, we need to rebuild. We were already going to convert this militia headquarters into a fort. I suggest we up the ante and make it a citadel. A safe place for folks to retreat to if under attack, a place we could oversee all of the farmland from and send units out of without fear of being attacked. After we go about that, we send out the mages and deal a crushing blow to the Diamond Dogs. Until such a time, I want our defense to be spotless and more than that, I don't want the enemy to know what we're doing. Whitefire, go to the masons and engineers, get them working. The militia is as ready as they can be, well equipped, well trained and well prepared. We'll make do with what we have until we recieve communications from any other settlement."
Whitefire acknowledged and left, sending him a worried look before trotting outside of the broken headquarters.
"How about you two, any suggestions? Any requests?"
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2014 13:39:47 GMT -5
Phalanx blinked a few times. They were going to erect a citadel in what used to be a quiet, quaint little farming village? She understood why it had to happen, sure, but it was still a bit of a shock. No doubt it would take quite some time to get this building up and functioning, and apparently all they'd do in the meantime is sit and wait just like before.
When Watermark asked his question, Phalanx couldn't find anything to respond with. She didn't have any suggestions to make, nor did she have anything she wanted to ask. Hoplite, however, took the opportunity. "How soon before the mages launch their offensive?" he asked simply, "And would they be going alone or would they be backed up by us or the militia?"
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Post by Red Charge on Jan 21, 2014 14:02:00 GMT -5
"We'll formulate a strategy when the time comes." Watermark replied, "We can't tell how soon just yet. We'll need a strong defensive position in order to launch an offensive. This means I'll need you two more than ever to stay sharp. If word gets out that Canterlot's fallen, we may have problems, riots, refugees, maybe even Diamond Dog collaborators. It's impossible to foresee what's going to happen once the word hits the rest of the civilians. So we need to stay on our toes." Watermark's voice broke a little near the end of the last sentence, but he cleared his throat.
"This is not how I thought it would go." He sighed, "I just can't believe this. Blackmane is just a pirate, just a pirate! How in Tartarus was she able to level Canterlot?" He asked as quietly as he could, "I had family there."
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2014 15:12:24 GMT -5
Hoplite sighed, he had been hoping that their offensive would start much earlier than what Watermark was making it sound like. Albeit the zebracorn did make a point that he hadn't thought about: the ponies' responses to word of Canterlot falling. He cringed at the thought of having to keep back civilians with his shield during a riot.
He cringed yet again as he watched Watermark starting to break down, muttering about how he had family in Canterlot and musing about how Blackmane managed to topple the city. A thought struck him and he turned to Phalanx, speaking just as quietly as Watermark did. "Hey...when was the last time we heard from Long Haul?" he asked Phalanx.
She turned to him with a smug look, "A while ago, but you know him, he'd turn tail at the first sign of potential fighting. He probably made his way to Manehatten or something when he heard about the war," she replied flatly, as if she couldn't accept that Long Haul might've been in Canterlot when it fell.
"Yeah, but what if he got stuck in Canterlot?" Hoplite prodded.
Phalanx looked to him with annoyance, "He wasn't. He isn't. He's alive and he'll write us soon, if not outright come back, okay?"
Hoplite could tell this was the point not to prod any further. For now, they still had a zebracorn potentially on the border of outright weeping. "Uh, Watermark? Should you need us, we'll be just outside your office here," he commented before getting up and heading towards the door.
Much to his surprise, though, Phalanx didn't follow him. Instead, he could hear her still speaking to Watermark. "That does beg the question of how that might happen," Phalanx started, "How *could* Blackmane topple Canterlot with the Red Barons, Red Charge, Luna, and *many* other ponies garrisoning it? Did they send any word during the siege? Was there any other information on the siege besides when it fell?"
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Post by Red Charge on Jan 23, 2014 9:47:54 GMT -5
"You saw the same thing I did..." Watermark said, thinking about it for a moment in agitated silence. His ears twitched once every few seconds as he wracked his brain to try and figure out what went on. He wasn't nearly as scholarly as Red Charge was... was... no, he needed to shake that thought out of his head. He needed to focus on what happened. He rubbed his forehead with his hooves, trying to explain what he felt when the attack occurred.
"When it happened I felt something violent... the entire flow of ether was disrupted... it's like, someone took the sky over Equestria and the ether flow and violently pulled them to form that giant creature. It was literally made of the sky... I don't even know how to explain it, but if I had to venture a guess, I would say what we just saw was Titan's Judgement... but that would mean that Blackmane... Blackmane used it to destroy Canterlot... the same thing Titan Razorwing used to destroy the entire Griffon 1st and 2nd fleets, including the Dreadnaught during the Prism Wars... according to Admiral Tesla anyway..."
Watermark brooded once again, he was obviously distressed by the last occurrence, but more than anything, the prospect that he might have lost his adoptive father and his best friend in the attack.... he seemed so very alone.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2014 0:32:13 GMT -5
Phalanx's expression grew more and more grim as Watermark continued his explanation. Blackmane had outright destroyed Canterlot by using an ancient magic of some kind, causing the sky to come alive and throw lighting all over Equestria? If Blackmane were still alive, doesn't that mean that this could happen again, destroying yet another town in seconds? All of this while they still had to deal with the diamond dogs and Celestia being turned?
She shook her head in frustration, still taking in the loss of Canterlot and it's denizens. Soon a thought struck her, brought up when she thought about Long Haul once more: didn't Watermark have family in Canterlot? Wasn't Red Charge stationed there?
Suddenly the distress Watermark was showing seemed subtle to what she figured he'd be showing. "Wait, Watermark..." Phalanx started, "Red Charge wasn't in Canterlot when this happened, was he?"
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Post by Red Charge on Jan 27, 2014 13:27:17 GMT -5
Watermark was quiet, "He was in Canterlot, he's the Royal Advisor. I can't reach him and I've used my emergency totem when Celestia attacked. If Canterlot was leveled, well, there was no one in the city last I checked." He said quietly, slowly. Only when talking about it did the truth really sink in. Watermark's body shivered as he fought back the overwhelming sensation. Red Charge doesn't die so easily, he's not going to start any drama just to find out he's alive later on. Red Charge survived much, much worse than a Sky Titan. He survived dragons, alchemists, zodiac beasts, the most treacherous ruins and most aggressive creatures on the planet.
"I'm sure they're fine though, the Princess would have found a way."
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2014 13:38:30 GMT -5
Phalanx shifted uncomfortably, Watermark was obviously incredibly shaken from this, to a point where she doubted he'd be much of the same zebracorn after the war was all said and done. Yet she couldn't blame him for any of that, she was actually far more surprised that she hadn't turned into as much of a mess at the mere notion of Canterlot crumbling into rubble and taking it's denizens with it, nevermind Hoplite's implications that Long Haul might've been there at the time of the siege.
Before Phalanx could dwell on that subject too much, Watermark added to his last phrase with something a bit reassuring. "Yeah, of course," Phalanx almost muttered, "I'm sure they had an escape route of some kind, right? Knowing in advance about a siege, it would be exactly like Red Charge and Princess Luna to have a way out in a worst-case scenario. Something tells me we'll hear from somepony within a week or two," Phalanx added, partially to herself and partly to Watermark. She didn't want to admit that this 'something' that was keeping her from falling into a depression was really just uneducated hope, but even despite that there obviously wasn't any point in feeling down at such a critical point as this. As Watermark said, they had the potential of riots and turncoats on the horizon if word got out of Canterlot's fall, and having Watermark and his 'bodyguards' feeling dreary about things wasn't going to help anything.
"I'll be outside with Hoplite if you need either of us," Phalanx spoke up, turning and heading for the door, "Take some time for yourself, Watermark. Let's face it, a frown doesn't exactly suit our favourite zebracorn very well."
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