[FwM] The Trotting Dead-Mlp without the Kiddy Thread XVI

[TheAmishPirate]

My Little Pony: Friendship Was Magic

In Equestria, the monsters are kept in safe places, and can be beaten off with hugs and clothing and angry stares.
In Equestria, a benevolent goddess raises the sun and the moon, and keeps the world in harmony.
In Equestria, the concept of danger is barely understood.

This is not that Equestria.

The town of Bridle Shores lies near a lake, and is one of the cities that survived the revolution. The heroic Moon Goddess, and her student, overthrew the Burning Hate of the Iron Hoof, saving Equestria from the searing, unending summer that raged for years. Even now, she tries to hold against the monsters, the literal armies of feral species that attack.

This is not the Equestria you know. Friendship has power, love may yet triumph. But evil is not just a word. Go out into the woods today, and be sure to take an axe, or make sure you have that fireball spell on a hair-trigger. If you want to keep your life... you'd better work for it.

Rules?

Spoiler

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Q: So, how dark are we talking?
A: As dark as Exalted or a darkish d&d game, no more. The idea should be that things ARE fixable.

Q: What kind of RP is this?
A: More active than the non-grimdark. The added darkness makes actual adventure-style plots more viable. We could have wars against [unspecified villains], Celestial cults, and dungeoncrawling!

Q: Anything else?
A: Yes. Dark or no dark, keep within the board rules.

Q: Hullaballoo.
A: Calloo callay!

Q: Is that all?
A: No. Whatever you do, do NOT forget about spell 87. Or else. Now have fun.

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[TheAmishPirate]

[Holding Cells]

Red Shift had barely shouted when a hoof thrust over his mouth silenced any further cries. "Keep quiet!" one of his guards hissed at him while the other hurried to shut, lock, and barricade the heavy iron door to the holding cells. "I'm sure whoever that is would love to know where they can find some defenseless, unarmed prisoners to slaughter while they're here."

[Walls]

A hail of gunfire tears into the ballista towers, and some of the ballista crew drop dead on the spot. Others are marginally lucky, and only get musket balls lodged in their legs. Those who make it through the salvo uninjured dive for cover behind the stone walls of the tower, before dragging their injured to safety. For the time being, the defensive ballistas have been effectively neutralized.


The walls themselves enter an unsteady stalemate. With the sun glare waning, the defenders' retaliatory shots get closer and closer to their marks - downing a few of the invaders - while their shields continue to foil the onslaught of missiles. However, the momentum of the attackers - combined with the confusion and chaos of a flaming front gate and the added front of gunners from the forest - keeps them on the defensive, and unable to drive them back. At the least Prose's assault on the ballista keeps a third front from opening up.


Staccata is certainly able to find a good hiding spot in all the chaos. Between the smoke and all the action, a sneaky mare might just be able to slip in somewhere she's not supposed to be.


Meanwhile, in the courtyard, ponies scramble to put out the fire without turning into pony torches themselves. A hasty bucket brigade starts to form and strains to soak down the gates before the fire can take them completely, while others beat at the flames with soaked rags and hoof-fulls of dirt. At the Captain's direction, some of the buckets are deposited at the stairs to the walltop, waiting for a chance to be dumped onto the burning outside.


If the defenders could just get a break, then they might be able to seize the momentum for themselves...

(Passe's group/Dawnstrider will be coming later, as I talk over with Grif on proper adjudication of all this.)

[TheAmishPirate]

[Outside the Guardhouse]

Beyn Counter had just started possibly considering wondering on how he might tell those guards to keep it down when he was bowled over by an armored blur. Both ponies tumbled out to the guardhouse doorstep in an ungainly heap. "N-now see here!" Beyn huffed as he disentangled himself. "This is wh-why there's a rule against galloping ind-"

The guard shoved the clerk aside and sprung to his hooves. "Invaders! They got to the prisoner! Where's the Captain?"

Beyn lay dazed on the ground, struck dumb. He pointed a shaking hoof alllllll the way over to the West Gate, where smoke had just started to rise above the rooftops.

"...buck."

[Inside the Guardhouse]

Passe threw down her sabre the way a child would a baseball bat after losing a hard-fought game. The rest of her guards reluctantly followed suit, laying down their weapons and kicking them over to the invaders. The filly glared darkly at 'Troubadour', her eyes burning with steely venomous defiance. "Traitorous bastard! Cowardly, ankle-snapping brigand! I hope you bite your poisoned tongue and die with a face so ugly and swollen your own mother would call you a monster!"

She stamped the ground in anger, huffing out the last bits of her flaring ire. "So; what now, villains?" she asked moodily.

[Kelvin360]

Dawnstrider - Outside The Guardhouse

In the fading light of the sunset, a shadow looms over the prone ponies. A tall earth pony, clad in spiked plate mail and a helmet resembling a demon's skull, both black as pitch, edges of sickly green tracing their way between the plates, looks down upon them. He draws his sword, the blade at least half again mimicking his height.

"Go and alert your superiors." He states. "I will keep them in place."

Nearby, another earth pony, this one white and covered in leather, but barely more than a filly, hops down from the side of the guardhouse and nocks two arrows into a bow. "You're not going without an escort." She tells Dawnstrider, a farmer's drawl coloring portions of her speech.

"Acceptable."

[HalfTangible]

[Cirrus]

Hay Bale's head popped out of a barrel, probably giving whoever was nearby to see a heart attack... or she would have, if anyone had been there to see.

Hello? She called out, climbing out of the barrel. I'm supposed to be escorting two ponies someplace. Got names and everything. Hello?

She pouted. What kind of ship doesn't instantly greet stowaways with a hail of lead and/or magic? She trotted across the room and banged her hoof on the door. OI! YOU GOT A STOWAWAY! COME SHOOT HER!!! HELLO?!

[TheAmishPirate]

[Cirrus]

Hay Bale's head popped out of a barrel, probably giving whoever was nearby to see a heart attack... or she would have, if anyone had been there to see.

Hello? She called out, climbing out of the barrel. I'm supposed to be escorting two ponies someplace. Got names and everything. Hello?

She pouted. What kind of ship doesn't instantly greet stowaways with a hail of lead and/or magic? She trotted across the room and banged her hoof on the door. OI! YOU GOT A STOWAWAY! COME SHOOT HER!!! HELLO?!

[Cirrus - Mess Hall]

Sandy had been preoccupied with lying face-down in his bowl of oats when distant shouts reached his wine-addled ears. "Snnnnnrk-huh?! Wuzzat?" He sat upright, oats sticking to his face. "Shtowaway? Hnnnnn...ain't got nona thosh...have t'shop somwhere else, missh..." He flowed out of his chair and onto the floor with all the grace and direction of a three-legged camel. "Wooofa...*hic* Hoverrrrrrrrr, shtop flyin' th' ship all wieeeeeeerd..." he whined amid his weaving walk.


Sandy slowly staggered his way towards the noise.

[Grif]

(Ugh, and I just realised I missed this.)

After the little 'talk' was over, Gearstride was dismissed and she put away the comm. She worked her jaw in silence, furrowing her brows. "Well damn....I didn't even know there was trouble going on in town....ack....I don't like this...I mean...I understand their reasoning...but I don't like not doing anything.."

"... perhaps it's for the best..." Silverpine said softly, drawing the Captain into a hug, though his eyes was drawn towards the town. The town that would soon find itself under siege. "We're in no shape to offer help... much as it pains me to say it."

[Cirrus]

Hay Bale's head popped out of a barrel, probably giving whoever was nearby to see a heart attack... or she would have, if anyone had been there to see.

Hello? She called out, climbing out of the barrel. I'm supposed to be escorting two ponies someplace. Got names and everything. Hello?

She pouted. What kind of ship doesn't instantly greet stowaways with a hail of lead and/or magic? She trotted across the room and banged her hoof on the door. OI! YOU GOT A STOWAWAY! COME SHOOT HER!!! HELLO?!

"Did ya hear that, Captain?" His ears perked up, trying to discern the voice. "... sounds like we have a stowaway."

[Benson]

The Cirrus


Gearstride stood up removing herself from Silverpine's hug, her ears erect in alert, a single brow raised. "What now..?.." She donned a grim expression and sighed. She briefly kissed Silverpine on the cheek and then began to make headway into the ship.

[HalfTangible]

Hay Bale eventually decided to open the door and yell more loudly. OI! Somepony get down here and shoot me in the face! I had a whole thing planned, regeneration and snake tongue and smells both erotic and repulsive! Once we're done shooting me, Sandy?! Balboa wanted to see you!!!

[TheAmishPirate]

Hay Bale eventually decided to open the door and yell more loudly. OI! Somepony get down here and shoot me in the face! I had a whole thing planned, regeneration and snake tongue and smells both erotic and repulsive! Once we're done shooting me, Sandy?! Balboa wanted to see you!!!

[Cirrus - An Unhelpfully Large Distance Away]

Sandy squinted down the blurry, swaying hallway. "Saywha? Zatme? S'gonna...look for me where I am, not where I ain't. That's makin' more sense with your head..." His bit of wisdom shared with the empty corridor, the buzzed engineer continued his teetering, tottering trot towards the tumultuous turmoil.

At his rate, it would take a miracle for him to reach Hay Bale before Gear and/or Silverpine.

[MCerberus]

At the Walls

While the battle is going on, Staccata waits for a peculiar puff of smoke that can be used as better cover. Because of some easy grips and a few blind spots at the wall, she's quickly over and on the other side. The rogue quickly gets her bearings seeing if there's any enemies in the immediate area.

Equipment for this little adventure: dagger, a few potions in the saddlebag, rope, and wits.

[Merellis]

[Forest Outside of Bridle Shores]
When the griffon would get around to finally finding Dive Bomb, he would come across a sad sight. A lone pony lying on a tree-trunk, mostly still, but there was obvious signs of heavy breathing and twitching wings.

The closed eyes would open into a fierce glare if the unknown soldier closed the distance, but he otherwise seems pretty out of it.

The odd thing to notice would be if the air got warmer the closer one got to this fallen pony.

------

[Crossbow Team]
The answer to the question that Purple Prose never really asked seems to be most of them. Ponies panic under the sudden panic as two of their number quickly fall, others abandon their post completely because they weren't going to be able handle a whirling avatar of silent death.

Their commander had a different idea of what to do as she charged towards the quiet assailant with only a single sentence before her words became naught but roars of rage and anger.

"Launch the arrow in the name of our Lord!"

The panicking ponies stumble to a stop and turn to face towards the massive weapon of war, their commander already trying to close the distance between herself and Prose.

With a united yell, and a terrified expression, the five remaining soldiers launched themselves towards their instrument of destruction, each wielding large axes and saws as best as they could.

The commander however, throws a far smaller axe at her foe before unhitching the massive one situated on her back.

Looks like the retired Shadow Bolt has his work cut out today! Can he take a second commanding officer?

------

[Bridle Shores Guardhouse]

"That one sounds just like your daughter." Comes a bored voice as the cloaked unicorn steps out from the hole in the wall, managing to prompt a sheepish grin from the white pegasus.

Mask's voice takes on a proud and light tone as he responds. "I know, it's like they're both in play! Isn't it just adorable?" The smile widens of all things, how strange for a stallion so used to lying.

Both ponies seem to start chattering on about how things like that are so cute, though only the male pegasus seems to be enthusiastic about it. It takes of the bowmen tapping on his side to knock Mask out of that pleasurable moment.

The soldier gestures to the surrendering ponies and the smile on Mask's face falls to a simple frown, a disappointed sigh escaping his lips. "Tell us where your prisoners are kept, including the one know as Red Shift. If you don't lie or resist, we'll let you keep your lives, if you do either of those..." He shrugs as the rest raise their weapons in time with his shoulders and wings. "Well, I don't think I need to tell you what happens with that."

"Course, you could just say nothing and my lovely comrade here could pick your brains for a bit." Mask gestures to cloaked mare, a dark aura of magic escaping her eyes as the shadows grow darker. "We'll still leave you alive, but you'd just be vegetables at the point."

"So, any takers?"

------

[Western Gate]

The attackers take to the walls and trenches that they have created, making sure to keep up the assault of arrows and spears as the pegasi providing air support fall back a little to gain some distance. A few even slip off to grab a few clouds!

The strange thing though is the ponies who think they can take to the skies in the middle of an attack, the targets that most of the attackers are aiming for suddenly shift to the ones who for some reason have left the safety of the walls.

Even the unicorns start blasting bolts of magic at them, because really, they're right there.

And even with this sudden shift to the ones showing themselves on the ground and above the walls, there's still plenty of ammunition attempting to keep the defenders pinned down.

Of course, this doesn't stop the arrows and attacks from the ponies defending this town from being able to find some targets. The soldiers of the Dark Army do fall to a multitude of attacks, though a good deal of unicorns keep their magic flowing to hold their walls as a shield to the onslaught.

------

[Inside the Gates]

The water almost seems to cause the fire to spread, rather than taking it out! The dirt on the other hoof is actually helping to smother the flames that spread across the oil soaked ground and doors!

-------

[Hospital]

Sure Strike and Bumble follow the procession from the back, the smaller pony leading her blind companion through the doors. They close with a soft click, as Bumble assesses if they lock or not. Sure Strike though, hesitantly moves to block the filly from view, her empty sockets seeming to gaze around the room as she gives her wings a little flap. Just two ponies to deal with now, and if Bumble could lock the door it'd be much easier.

"I'm not sure how I'll be able to go on like this, who's going to take care of my dear sister when i can't even see a thing?" She says with a depressed sigh, even as her special talent allows her to take in the dimensions and placement of the room.

Whether or not Bumble can lock the door, she uses her larger companion as a blind spot and begins to bite at one of her wings, loosening a small wooden needle that seems to have been stitched there...

[Lycan 01]

[Crossbow Team]

The answer to the question that Purple Prose never really asked seems to be most of them. Ponies panic under the sudden panic as two of their number quickly fall, others abandon their post completely because they weren't going to be able handle a whirling avatar of silent death.

Their commander had a different idea of what to do as she charged towards the quiet assailant with only a single sentence before her words became naught but roars of rage and anger.

"Launch the arrow in the name of our Lord!"

The panicking ponies stumble to a stop and turn to face towards the massive weapon of war, their commander already trying to close the distance between herself and Prose.

With a united yell, and a terrified expression, the five remaining soldiers launched themselves towards their instrument of destruction, each wielding large axes and saws as best as they could.

The commander however, throws a far smaller axe at her foe before unhitching the massive one situated on her back.

Looks like the retired Shadow Bolt has his work cut out today! Can he take a second commanding officer?

That depends. Can she handle a poison-laced crossbow bolt to one or more of her vital organs?

Purple Prose deftly sidesteps the hurled hatchet, giving her an almost bored look of annoyance. He allows her to close the distance, before springing backwards to stand on his hind legs, wings flared for balance. His forehooves dart to his chest - and to the backup crossbow he strapped to his underside, toxin-laced bolt locked and loaded. He quickly brings up the deadly weapon, and gives the axe-wielding mare an almost pitying look before firing a bolt point-blank into her charging form, aiming for either her face or chest - whichever part is least armored.

Regardless of whether she's armored or not, at this range, the power of the crossbow should brutally slam the bolt through any protection she has on, save for the most heavy and bulky of gear. Even then, the sheer force of the impact ought to slam her back or lay her out, or at the very least slow and wind the attacker. And should she survive the bolt slamming through her armor and into her face or chest, the paralyzing toxin should have interesting results on her already traumatized system.

Whether or not the mare is killed is of no immediate concern to Prose, though. The moment he fires the crossbow, he immediately kicks off and begins to fly towards the ballista, hurling the empty crossbow at the legs of the pony closest to the siege-crossbow. Hopefully it should trip them up, and slow them or some of the other ponies down a bit. He flaps his wings hard, zipping towards the ballista... and then right past it. He aims to simply pass the heavy weapon by - and stick out his wing-talons as he passes the far side of it.

With a swipe of blood-stained claws, he aims to sever the cord used to launch the heavy bolt. If it hasn't been tightened and locked into place yet, then the weapon should be rendered useless and inert. If the bolt is already locked in place and the cord pulled taut, then his claw-swipe may have interesting results.

It may fail to cut through the tight cord, buying the other ponies a moment's advantage as Prose must whirl about to face the ballista again.

Or his claws may sever the cord at its far end, causing a massive whiplash effect as the taut line snaps and swings around to the other side of weapon, likely scything out and slamming into - or through - some of the charging ponies. Normal ropes can be deadly when taut, after all, so the large cord used to operate a ballista is no doubt much the same, if not worse.

Should Prose succeed in cutting the cord, and should it be strained taut, then whoever is on the receiving end of that cord is likely gonna have a bad time.

Spoiler

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A little factual backup so it doesn't seem like I'm trying to powergame or anything.

Crossbows in medieval times were brutal. At close range, they were fully capable of punching through the armor of a fully-geared knight. With a few cranch of a winch and locking mechanism, a peasant with a week of training was suddenly equal to a noble aristocrat who'd spent his whole life learning the arts of armored combat. Crossbows were even banned by Pope Innocent II in 1139, supposedly because their brutal effectiveness was a crime against humanity and, simply put, unholy.

As for the kinetic force behind ropes being freaking devastating, I'm pretty sure that's common knowledge. But there are plenty of historical records and accounts of people being killed or having limbs amputated by snapping ropes, even by simple games of Tug Of War.



So yeah, if this works out, Prose likely just left the axe-mare dead or dying or severely wounded and/or poisoned, and hopefully just disabled the crossbow and took out a pony or two or more, to boot.

[TheAmishPirate]

[Walltop]

"Hold position! Stay in cover!" The Captain's yells followed the Moon Motes down. The defenders glanced around uneasily; few of them relished the idea of leaving those two to whatever suicide mission they'd gotten into their heads, but better than taking an arrow between the eyes trying to follow them.

The ballista towers remained quiet. Seems nopony wished to risk another volley of musket shot on the off chance that their ambushers had gotten bored and wandered off.

[Walltop - Inside the Gate]

It didn't take the ponies at the gate long to realize that this fire was a greasy, thirsty one. They dropped their buckets of water and filled them with loose earth instead, hurling sand, dirt, and pebbles at the blaze. Others soaked towels and beat at the flames, smothering them with the thick rags.

Little else they could do except wait...

[Outside the Guardhouse]

The guard nodded and saluted the armored pony. Beyn quivered helplessly, wishing this all to be some terrible nightmare that he'd soon wake up from. "I-I'll just, uh, wait out here...somewhere. I-In case any more guards walk p-past."

"Good thinking, Beyn. And here," The guard tossed the secretary a spare whistle.

"Wh-what do I need this for?"

"In case they make it out. Somepony's got to sound the alarm."

Beyn pinched himself. No luck.

"Thank you, whoever you are. I'll have backup coming your way before you know it!" The guard threw one more salute, before tearing off towards the west gate. Beyn had already found himself a lovely barrel to hide make into a lookout post.

The open door to the guardhouse beckoned...

[Inside the Guard House - Passe and Co.]

"I'd rather jump in the nearest ocean and become a seapony rather than have a mannerless churl as a father!" Passe fumed at the chattering ponies.

She fell silent as the terms were read to them. Standard fare, really; cooperate, or die, or worse. The guards shared many a questioning look amongst themselves, some of them eying the weapons they'd just tossed down moments ago. "Hmmph!" Passe's sharp scoff cut through the silence. "I'm afraid there'll be no need for any of that, you unspeakable cad. Leave my ponies alone and unharmed, and I'll be your 'taker'."

"But ma'am-"

"I did not just hear backsass, did I?"

"No ma'am, no!"

"Thought not." With a flick of her mane, she turned back to Mask. "Well?"

[Kelvin360]

Dawnstrider/Mountain Bloom - Guardhouse Exterior

Dawnstrider turns to his new compatriot and makes an announcement. "Keep hidden; if my plan fails, a surprise attack is our best chance to keep the outcome relatively in our favor."

"You gonna tell me what this plan is at some point?" Bloom remarks, bringing out a few arrows and threading them in a few choice bits of her armor for easy access.

He nods. "It is simple. I intend to assume control."

She rolls her eyes at him. "So do you take a full-on perverse sort of tickle from being ominous and cryptic, or just the normal out-of-bounds kind?"

He has to stop to consider this for a moment before making his decision. "Just the normal kind."

With that, they enter. Mountain Bloom keeps to the shadows or behind her much larger counterpart, both of them following the shouting voices.

---

Sunshine - Clinic Interior, Pantry

No sooner have they arrived than the doctor takes to work, rifling through the inventory with a fiery intensity of mad scientist proportions. He is cautious to only take items that there are plenty of, mixing them together in a hauntingly beautiful mixture honed by years of practice.

After mere moments, he steps back, sweat beading from his brow as he looks upon his deadly creation...

A sandwich.

Which he then proceeds to devour.

"Much better. I've needed that for a while." Satiated, he glances at the sisters. "Do you two have any favorites? I'm sure I can find something in here to whip into shape." He puts on a faint smile. "Or, alternatively, I could put forth the suggestion that I not worry so much and let you see about your own needs."

---

Starbeam - Clinic Interior, Entrance

Night Jewel considered for a moment. "How long does it last? If you can't keep it going for long, save it for when they're in sight, but if it can hold, then set it up now and we'll be prepared in case someone sneaks in."

"It's only draining when it actually blocks a magical attack. It took me figuratively forever and literally years to find the right abjurative seed for that."

Her horn glows, and violet energy flows off of it like sheets of water from a rooftop. Under her direction, it forms into an orb roughly the size of a head, and floats between them. "When you're ready, make a magical connection with this. That's the first step, and I'll be able to walk you through the rest. Whatever happens, remember to keep calm."

---

Raucous Reprisal - Western Wall Battlements

The lilac pegasus takes a moment to peer over the wall at the commotion below before shrugging at Blueshield. "I don't think she heard you." She flashes the Knight-Commander a grin. "Orders stand, though. Looks like I'm your wing-mate until Tropics regroups." She nocks an arrow. "What's the play?"

---

Coconut/Boon - Western Wall Exterior

The attack? Not planned. The hail of fire from above? Not planned. The raging inferno? Definitely not planned. The jump headfirst into certain death?

Of course!

Coconut hits the ground flat on all four hooves, shield upward. Boon engages a quick hover to keep himself from breaking anything and lands behind her. Now, they're trapped between a flaming gate and a gathering armada. They're not the only thing there, though.

They both turn in unison, acting on an unseen axis, and thrust out their back hooves with all of their might, impacting the end of the abandoned battering ram that they landed next to, spinning it horizontally relative to both the walls and trenches, as opposed to vertically. Without hesitation, they leap behind it on their side, putting a massive wooden cylinder between them and hostile fire.

And not a moment too soon. Coconut notes, snapping an arrow that had lodged itself into her side in half. "Mobile cover obtained!" She shouts back. "Notify us when it becomes necessary to breach the trenches!"

"Remind me why we let you make the plans?"

"Because they don't fall apart this spectacularly."

"That's what you said about the last plan!"

"Yes, it's good to know that I'm getting better at strategic insanity, not worse. Gather what fallen swords you can with your pike - we'll need grips to stop the ram if it begins moving too quickly."

[Grif]

[Forest Outside of Bridle Shores]
When the griffon would get around to finally finding Dive Bomb, he would come across a sad sight. A lone pony lying on a tree-trunk, mostly still, but there was obvious signs of heavy breathing and twitching wings.

The closed eyes would open into a fierce glare if the unknown soldier closed the distance, but he otherwise seems pretty out of it.

The odd thing to notice would be if the air got warmer the closer one got to this fallen pony.

[Forest]

Corsair crept slowly through the forest, his keen eyes and ears on the lookout for any hostile creatures. Whatever... or whoever it was that might or might not have downed the Captain, the griffon wasn't about to blunder into.

Fortunately, however, he soon picked up the Captain's scent, and that led him directly to the fallen pony after several more minutes of nervous trekking through the dark and eerily silent forest. "Captain?" the griffon gruffly spoke, inching closer, not really minding the warm air, and would try to help him up.

[Western Gate]

The attackers take to the walls and trenches that they have created, making sure to keep up the assault of arrows and spears as the pegasi providing air support fall back a little to gain some distance. A few even slip off to grab a few clouds!

The strange thing though is the ponies who think they can take to the skies in the middle of an attack, the targets that most of the attackers are aiming for suddenly shift to the ones who for some reason have left the safety of the walls.

Even the unicorns start blasting bolts of magic at them, because really, they're right there.

And even with this sudden shift to the ones showing themselves on the ground and above the walls, there's still plenty of ammunition attempting to keep the defenders pinned down.

Of course, this doesn't stop the arrows and attacks from the ponies defending this town from being able to find some targets. The soldiers of the Dark Army do fall to a multitude of attacks, though a good deal of unicorns keep their magic flowing to hold their walls as a shield to the onslaught.

[Walltop]

"Hold position! Stay in cover!" The Captain's yells followed the Moon Motes down. The defenders glanced around uneasily; few of them relished the idea of leaving those two to whatever suicide mission they'd gotten into their heads, but better than taking an arrow between the eyes trying to follow them.

The ballista towers remained quiet. Seems nopony wished to risk another volley of musket shot on the off chance that their ambushers had gotten bored and wandered off.

Coconut/Boon - Western Wall Exterior

The attack? Not planned. The hail of fire from above? Not planned. The raging inferno? Definitely not planned. The jump headfirst into certain death?

Of course!

Coconut hits the ground flat on all four hooves, shield upward. Boon engages a quick hover to keep himself from breaking anything and lands behind her. Now, they're trapped between a flaming gate and a gathering armada. They're not the only thing there, though.

They both turn in unison, acting on an unseen axis, and thrust out their back hooves with all of their might, impacting the end of the abandoned battering ram that they landed next to, spinning it horizontally relative to both the walls and trenches, as opposed to vertically. Without hesitation, they leap behind it on their side, putting a massive wooden cylinder between them and hostile fire.

And not a moment too soon. Coconut notes, snapping an arrow that had lodged itself into her side in half. "Mobile cover obtained!" She shouts back. "Notify us when it becomes necessary to breach the trenches!"

"Remind me why we let you make the plans?"

"Because they don't fall apart this spectacularly."

"That's what you said about the last plan!"

"Yes, it's good to know that I'm getting better at strategic insanity, not worse. Gather what fallen swords you can with your pike - we'll need grips to stop the ram if it begins moving too quickly."

[West Gate]

"Coming through!" a shout came from behind the defenders. Anyone turning to look behind them would see a full fledged cloud formation the size of a quarter of the town moving in at full speed towards the gates, pushed from behind by the entirety of town's weather/aerial team. The tops of the walls and gates would soon be shrouded in full misty cloud cover, possibly throwing off the aim of the attackers, at least momentarily until they could find a way to remove it. With clouds being reflective as well, the flying attackers might be momentarily blinded by the sudden dazzle of the setting sun.

In the midst of the sudden and unexpected loss of vision, the Captain would find someone dropping to land behind him. "Sorry for the late backup. Had some trouble gathering clouds," Stormcloak said. The lieutenant winced as one of his team screamed, followed by a heavy thud on the ground below. "Get into cover!" he bellowed, a little unnecessarily. His team scrambled to obey, with most opting to flying below the level of the walls.

Then he turned to the Captain. "What now?"

[Edge of Forest, Griffon's Nest]

From the cover of the forest, Stuka cursed inwardly. With the gate assault stalled, the backup ballista mysteriously not firing and now this sudden inclusion of misty clouds, her snipers are lacking targets. "You, you, you, you. Keep that two hero down by the ram pinned. If they stick their heads out, I want them dead." A chorus of assent. "Rest of you. Keep eyes on the wall. See any moving shapes, shoot it dead. You, with me. We'll be seeing what's holding up the boys and fire the bloody thing ourselves if we have to." Orders given, Stuka then melted into the forest with one of her griffon in tow.

[Hospital]

Sure Strike and Bumble follow the procession from the back, the smaller pony leading her blind companion through the doors. They close with a soft click, as Bumble assesses if they lock or not. Sure Strike though, hesitantly moves to block the filly from view, her empty sockets seeming to gaze around the room as she gives her wings a little flap. Just two ponies to deal with now, and if Bumble could lock the door it'd be much easier.

"I'm not sure how I'll be able to go on like this, who's going to take care of my dear sister when i can't even see a thing?" She says with a depressed sigh, even as her special talent allows her to take in the dimensions and placement of the room.

Whether or not Bumble can lock the door, she uses her larger companion as a blind spot and begins to bite at one of her wings, loosening a small wooden needle that seems to have been stitched there...

Sunshine - Clinic Interior, Pantry

No sooner have they arrived than the doctor takes to work, rifling through the inventory with a fiery intensity of mad scientist proportions. He is cautious to only take items that there are plenty of, mixing them together in a hauntingly beautiful mixture honed by years of practice.

After mere moments, he steps back, sweat beading from his brow as he looks upon his deadly creation...

A sandwich.

Which he then proceeds to devour.

"Much better. I've needed that for a while." Satiated, he glances at the sisters. "Do you two have any favorites? I'm sure I can find something in here to whip into shape." He puts on a faint smile. "Or, alternatively, I could put forth the suggestion that I not worry so much and let you see about your own needs."

[Hospital]

It is quite unfortunate that the nurse noticed neither of the subtle moves the two dastardly saboteurs were preparing. Instead, she was engrossed in looking through the fridge for the plate of cupcakes that somepony had brought earlier through the hospital.

"Well, Doctor, try not to use up all the lettuce. Dr. Hope likes his greens and he gets snippy if he don't find them," the nurse remarked cheerfully as she produces a plate of tastefully decorated cupcakes. "Hope you like vanilla, chocolate or banana. No strawberry though. That glutton Sacred Heart snagged them all earlier." She offered the nearest of the pair the plate...


[Somewhere in Town]

"And that's what you git fer insultin' my wee lass!" Shell Shock shouted, as he trotted out of the shop, presumably with Flash Bang in tow. The demopony only stopped to adjust his beret, before noticing that the streets were deserted.

"Hey. Where did everypony go?" he said, scratching his head.

[HalfTangible]

[Cirrus - An Unhelpfully Large Distance Away]

Sandy squinted down the blurry, swaying hallway. "Saywha? Zatme? S'gonna...look for me where I am, not where I ain't. That's makin' more sense with your head..." His bit of wisdom shared with the empty corridor, the buzzed engineer continued his teetering, tottering trot towards the tumultuous turmoil.

At his rate, it would take a miracle for him to reach Hay Bale before Gear and/or Silverpine.

She raised up a hoof. I see what's going on here. Clearly the crew was kidnapped by zombie alien pirate pony robots. That are also from Saddle Arabia's secret spy division composed entirely of psychotic orphans. They were then turned into bits of wood for the ship and built into it.

And since nopony owns it now, then by the laws of the sea* THE SHIP IS MINE NOW!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! She adjusted her shades, smirking. First order of business is to get some stallions in here!...And a few mares. Preferably hot.

Then we shall find Chorselu and feed it to its future self, thus creating a temporal paradox that will destroy all of reality!

...Or possibly just turn Equestria into a pumpkin.

---
*Yes, I am fully aware the Cirrus is an airship

[TheAmishPirate]

[West Gate]

"Coming through!" a shout came from behind the defenders. Anyone turning to look behind them would see a full fledged cloud formation the size of a quarter of the town moving in at full speed towards the gates, pushed from behind by the entirety of town's weather/aerial team. The tops of the walls and gates would soon be shrouded in full misty cloud cover, possibly throwing off the aim of the attackers, at least momentarily until they could find a way to remove it. With clouds being reflective as well, the flying attackers might be momentarily blinded by the sudden dazzle of the setting sun.

In the midst of the sudden and unexpected loss of vision, the Captain would find someone dropping to land behind him. "Sorry for the late backup. Had some trouble gathering clouds," Stormcloak said. The lieutenant winced as one of his team screamed, followed by a heavy thud on the ground below. "Get into cover!" he bellowed, a little unnecessarily. His team scrambled to obey, with most opting to flying below the level of the walls.

Then he turned to the Captain. "What now?"

The well-trained defenders would have shouted in triumph, would that not have utterly destroyed the point of the cloud cover. Instead, they ducked out from under their cover and started firing off a fierce counter-volley at the flying attackers. The wall-mounted and tower ballistas started to swivel back to life without the hail of missiles pinning down their teams. The setting sun proved to be a double blessing; not only did it help to momentarily dazzle the enemy flyers, but it cast dark shadows onto the misty clouds, providing the town guard with no shortage of easy targets. Leaving the entrenched and out-of-sight enemies for later, the defenders worked to clear the skies with deadly efficiency.

The Captain nodded to Stormcloak as he landed. "Keep the cloud cover up as long as you safely can, and get the rest of your team on the gate. We need to get that fire out, now!" He sidestepped a javelin that embedded itself in the stones where he'd been standing. With a practiced flick, he pulled it out and sent it flying back at its owner. "And keep quiet; don't give them any targets." he warned.

[PurityIcekiller]

[Thou Wall, O Wall, O Sweet and Lovely Wall]

Blueshield fired a red-tipped quarrel at the spot where enemy casters were most concentrated, intending to disrupt their shielding or at least distract them. She followed this up with another spray of shots around the same area.

Before she could fire again, however, the clouds moved in.

What in- Oh, they're ours! About time.

She took advantage of the cover provided to adjust one of her quarrels, waited until she had another clear shot at a dangerous-looking group, then fired. This one had a red tip as well.

The lilac pegasus takes a moment to peer over the wall at the commotion below before shrugging at Blueshield. "I don't think she heard you." She flashes the Knight-Commander a grin. "Orders stand, though. Looks like I'm your wing-mate until Tropics regroups." She nocks an arrow. "What's the play?"

"The plan? Target casters and other dangerous targets. Disrupt formations when you can. And, most importantly, avoid dying."

"It's only draining when it actually blocks a magical attack. It took me figuratively forever and literally years to find the right abjurative seed for that."

Her horn glows, and violet energy flows off of it like sheets of water from a rooftop. Under her direction, it forms into an orb roughly the size of a head, and floats between them. "When you're ready, make a magical connection with this. That's the first step, and I'll be able to walk you through the rest. Whatever happens, remember to keep calm."

"Right. Better to start early, then."

Night Jewel concentrated her magic, feeling for a spot to link with the sphere.

"So how long will this take?"

[Grif]

She raised up a hoof. I see what's going on here. Clearly the crew was kidnapped by zombie alien pirate pony robots. That are also from Saddle Arabia's secret spy division composed entirely of psychotic orphans. They were then turned into bits of wood for the ship and built into it.

And since nopony owns it now, then by the laws of the sea* THE SHIP IS MINE NOW!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! She adjusted her shades, smirking. First order of business is to get some stallions in here!...And a few mares. Preferably hot.

Then we shall find Chorselu and feed it to its future self, thus creating a temporal paradox that will destroy all of reality!

...Or possibly just turn Equestria into a pumpkin.

---
*Yes, I am fully aware the Cirrus is an airship

"Sorry. Ship's not empty yet." a voice called out from around the corner. An ominous click as Silverpine slid the safety off his shotgun, then peeked around. "Now then. Care to explain who are you and why you're here?"

Presumably, Gear was somewhere behind, hopefully armed as well.

[HalfTangible]

"Sorry. Ship's not empty yet." a voice called out from around the corner. An ominous click as Silverpine slid the safety off his shotgun, then peeked around. "Now then. Care to explain who are you and why you're here?"

Presumably, Gear was somewhere behind, hopefully armed as well.

Hay Bale, here to pick up a guest for my boss. Who the f%$# are you? She cocked an eyebrow. What kind of moron doesn't shoot the stowaway on sight? Honestly, it's like you never read the manual.

[Benson]

"Sorry. Ship's not empty yet." a voice called out from around the corner. An ominous click as Silverpine slid the safety off his shotgun, then peeked around. "Now then. Care to explain who are you and why you're here?"

Presumably, Gear was somewhere behind, hopefully armed as well.

Hay Bale, here to pick up a guest for my boss. Who the f%$# are you? She cocked an eyebrow. What kind of moron doesn't shoot the stowaway on sight? Honestly, it's like you never read the manual.

"I'm really not appreciating the language right now or name calling...." Gearstride was grumpy from having her HPK interrupted earlier, she was very sensitive about that!

"Anyways, I am Captain Gearstride and this is my lieutenant. Who is your boss?" The xanadu mare asked, lowering her weapon to her side.
====

From out of nowhere a red blur would appear behind Sandy who was somewhere in the halls. "You really oughtn't drink so much for someone your size...." Miss M commented.

"Anyways...I heard someone...thing....we ought to get to your superiors, they should be this way." She said as if though earlier did not occur between Sandy and herself.

[TheAmishPirate]

From out of nowhere a red blur would appear behind Sandy who was somewhere in the halls. "You really oughtn't drink so much for someone your size...." Miss M commented.

"Anyways...I heard someone...thing....we ought to get to your superiors, they should be this way." She said as if though earlier did not occur between Sandy and herself.

"Waugh!" Poor Sandy yelped and whirled about to face his ambusher!

...which is to say, he stumbled forward ungainly until he tripped over his own forelegs and fell flat on his face. And then he rolled over to see the blurry form of Miss M standing over him. "Ggrrrghhhh...s'only wine, ain't even th' realsh hard stuff," he sullenly protested. Nevermind the fact that he'd nearly downed half the bottle himself; details, details. "S'goin' that over way m'shelf...gotta shtowaway for me an' I ain'tsh ordered no stowawaysh..." He pulled himself up with whatever was close at hoof; walls, railing, Miss M herself, whatever his hoof touched first. "Whatsha doin' out over thish way? Thish ain't down b'low...y'hungry? *hic!* That'sh it?"

[HalfTangible]

"I'm really not appreciating the language right now or name calling...." Gearstride was grumpy from having her HPK interrupted earlier, she was very sensitive about that!

"Anyways, I am Captain Gearstride and this is my lieutenant. Who is your boss?" The xanadu mare asked, lowering her weapon to her side.

Well excuuuuse me for being upset that I wasn't shot in the face. Half the fun of being a stowaway... She grumbled, adjusting her shades. Balboa Shag. I believe I'm supposed to escort a... Sandy?... or was it 'Candy'?

[MCerberus]

Past The Wall

Well it seems things are getting... well at least distracting. Without any present danger, Staccata seems free to make it towards the source of the attackers. The mare begins sneaking through the woods.

[Grif]

Hay Bale, here to pick up a guest for my boss. Who the f%$# are you? She cocked an eyebrow. What kind of moron doesn't shoot the stowaway on sight? Honestly, it's like you never read the manual.

Well excuuuuse me for being upset that I wasn't shot in the face. Half the fun of being a stowaway... She grumbled, adjusting her shades. Balboa Shag. I believe I'm supposed to escort a... Sandy?... or was it 'Candy'?

Silverpine raised an eyebrow. "Now why would one of Equestria's richest want somepony like our engineer, hm?" Unlike Gear, he didn't lower his weapon.

[HalfTangible]

Silverpine raised an eyebrow. "Now why would one of Equestria's richest want somepony like our engineer, hm?" Unlike Gear, he didn't lower his weapon.

I dunno. Why would he tell the courier? She stuck her tongue out at him. Supposedly he or she or it already knows I'm coming.

[Grif]

I dunno. Why would he tell the courier? She stuck her tongue out at him. Supposedly he or she or it already knows I'm coming.

Silverpine raised his eyebrow even more. "Really, now?" he replied in a skeptical tone. Then he reached for his communicator. "Mr Shores. Are you there?"

[HalfTangible]

Silverpine raised his eyebrow even more. "Really, now?" he replied in a skeptical tone. Then he reached for his communicator. "Mr Shores. Are you there?"

Oh for f%$#s sake, YOU HAVE A GUN AND I AM A STOWAWAY, BLOW MY HEAD OFF ALREADY!!! Hay Bale whined. Half the fun of sneaking onto someone else's ship is their heart attack when my head reforms!

[Grif]

Oh for f%$#s sake, YOU HAVE A GUN AND I AM A STOWAWAY, BLOW MY HEAD OFF ALREADY!!! Hay Bale whined. Half the fun of sneaking onto someone else's ship is their heart attack when my head reforms!

"Trust me. We probably have seen weirder. Though a reforming head would be pretty high on the 'Most Weird' list," Silverpine said with a smirk.