As Tarnish drew Flamingo from her sheath, he heard a yawn. Before the sword had a chance to say anything, Tarnish held her close and whispered to her, “We’re in trouble… be very quiet. There is going to be a big fight and we need your help.”

Flamingo’s yawn turned into a gasp. The sword quivered in Tarnish’s telekinesis, vibrating, and after a moment of coming to her senses, asked, “Will there be blood?”

“I hope not,” Tarnish replied, then he drew a sigh, and continued, “Flamingo, don’t kill them… just hurt them somehow. Slap them with the flat of your blade or spank them or something. But if things go bad…” What Tarnish didn’t say hung heavy in the air.

He glanced over at Limestone and Maud. Limestone was twitchy and a mean looking scowl was visible upon her face. Maud looked like she always did. Half asleep, a little bored, and disinterested. Tarnish’s eyes focused back upon Flamingo as he heard her start to speak.

“I can slap the fire out of them,” Flamingo said in an excited, but low voice. “And spanking? I can do spanking… I don’t like blood. Blood is icky. What are we fighting?”

“Diamond dogs.” Tarnish let go of Flamingo and left her floating in the air. She hovered close and he took comfort in the fact that she was drawn and willing to fight. He heard the sword let out a soft sigh at the words ‘diamond dogs’ and wondered how a sword breathed. It was a mystery.

“They never learn, do they?” Flamingo asked. The sword quivered. “This will end in blood, I just know it.”

Tarnish took a deep breath and began to protest. “Flamingo—”

“No, you don’t know diamond dogs like I do… Commander Luna wanted to drive them into the sea but Princess Celestia wouldn’t let her. Said drowning them all was bad.” Flamingo’s voice sounded rather sad and the sword let out another sigh.

“This is a rescue. We just need a way to subdue the diamond dogs long enough to rescue a pony named Trixie. Maybe we scare them off or drive them away, I’ll figure out something.” Tarnish frowned, the corners of his mouth turning downwards. “I want to avoid killing them if I can.”

“You sound like Princess Celestia,” Flamingo said to Tarnish in a low voice. “That’s not a bad thing, you know, but she has been known to make a soldier’s life a little difficult. Commander Luna took a far more direct approach.”

“Do you want bloodshed?” Tarnish asked.

“No.” The sword was silent for several long seconds. “No I don’t. Blood is icky and I don’t like icky. One time, some inconsiderate boob stuck me into a fat, gross, hairy spider. Would you believe that?”

“Whoever did that was terrible.” Tarnish kept a straight face as he spoke and glanced over at Maud with a look that begged her not to say anything. “Okay, we need to get moving. The sun is setting soon and we need to hit them while we still have daylight.”

Creeping through the trees and scrub, Tarnish, Maud, and Limestone came across a yawning mine. Picks and shovels were littered around the entrance, along with a lantern and a container of lamp oil. Tarnish lifted both the lantern and the lamp oil, then secured it in his saddlebags, while Limestone grabbed herself a large, diamond dog sized shovel. She transitioned to a bipedal stance with relative ease, used to doing hard labour on the rock farm while standing upright.

There were no diamond dogs about. Tarnish appreciated that Limestone grabbed a shovel and not a pickaxe. A creature could live through being smacked about with a shovel, while a pickaxe tended to cause grievous bodily harm and impalement.

Hearing something, Tarnish froze, waiting, his ears straining. Limestone hefted her shovel, her eyes darting to and fro, while Maud just stood there, doing her best statue impression. Not too far away, the bushes rustled and heavy breathing could be heard.

Something approached.

When a large, well muscled leg popped out of the bushes, Tarnish grabbed it with his telekinesis and gave a yank. The diamond dog, surprised, let out a startled yelp as Tarnish hauled him in, dragging him along in a telekinetic field. As the diamond dog was dragged in, Limestone took a swing with her shovel. She reached around, using her full body, and threw her back into it. The flat of the shovel connected to the diamond dog’s face with a metallic gong sound, there was a pained yip, and the diamond dog went still. Tarnish let go with his magic and the dog fell to the earth. Limestone had struck with so much force that she had shattered the handle of the shovel. She tossed the broken pieces away and looked down to check on her fallen foe.

He was still breathing, but was out cold. Blood trickled from his nose and from the corner of his eye. His lip had torn against one of his fangs. Limestone poked him and there was no response. She looked at Tarnish and gave him a nod.

Grimacing, Limestone grabbed herself another shovel.

There was a well worn trail here leading away from the old, abandoned mine. The area around the trail had been picked over for firewood, useful bits of rock, like flint, anything that was a resource had been scavenged. Tarnish followed along the trail, moving from tree to tree, bush to bush, with Limestone, who walked on two legs, and Maud behind her. Flamingo floated near Tarnish’s side, no doubt somehow keeping an eye out for trouble, which was quite a feat when you were a sapient sword and didn’t have eyeballs.

Coming to a halt, Tarnish waited, his ears straining. Flamingo quivered beside him, unmoving, floating in the air. Limestone gripped her shovel in her fetlocks and a hostile scowl could be seen upon her face. Maud came to a halt beside Tarnish, tilted her head, and listened.

Something was coming. Maud glanced over at Tarnish and made a gesture with her head, a nod, pointing with her nose for him to move out of sight. He took the silent hint and ducked into the trees along the trail, vanishing behind them, and Limestone followed his lead.

Maud stood waiting on the trail, blinking, looking very nonplused about the whole situation. The diamond dog barreling down the trail saw her, he froze in his tracks for a moment, looking quite surprised.

“A pony,” the diamond dog said in a rough, growling voice.

“That’s exactly what I am,” Maud replied.

“We need another worker.” A wolfish grin appeared upon the diamond dog’s face as he hurried forwards. “You do nicely. You look like good worker. No horn. No trouble. No have to bash skull to make behave.”

“Speaking of bashed skulls…” Maud paused as Limestone’s shovel smashed into the back of the diamond dog’s head. The creature toppled over with a yelp, but started to try and get up almost right away. Limestone whacked him again, and then again in the back of the head, and then he went still. Maud blinked. “Well, I was about to warn you about your impending headache, but Limestone was a little too eager.”

“Nice work, Limestone,” Tarnish said as he prodded the diamond dog with his hoof. “He’s out. He’ll be out for a while. We need to hurry… I’m thinking they cracked that pony they have on the head.”

“Poor Trixie,” Maud said as she peered ahead. “I suspect that we’re about to be in a big fight. Limestone, stay close to me. Tarnish, remember to dance. They can’t hit you if they can’t catch you.”

“Right.” Tarnish nodded his head, which caused his ears to bob. “When we attack the camp, stay back… there is going to be a big fireball…”

As he slipped through the underbrush, Tarnish realised that he was at the point of no return. He didn’t want to kill anything, but he accepted that it might happen. He steeled his nerves and made ready to announce himself. He slipped the lantern and the lamp oil container out of his saddlebags.

Most of the diamond dogs were sitting around the large campfire, eating bowls of stew. Tarnish worried what the stew might be made out of. Gritting his teeth, he squinted his eyes to protect them, then hurled the lantern and the lamp oil container into the campfire.

The lantern exploded with a bright, blinding flash, and an incendiary cloud engulfed the area around the campfire. There were cries as several dogs ignited and went blind. As the dogs rolled over, trying to scramble away and put themselves out at the same time, the lamp oil container exploded.

There was a much larger fireball this time, and even more diamond dogs were set ablaze. Howls, yelps, and yips of pain filled the camp, along with shouts of alarm. Dogs rolled in the dirt, trying to extinguish the flames. Tarnish let go a fearsome steam whistle toot, which only added to the chaos and the confusion. Several dogs clutched their heads and let out howls of pain from the loud, ear piercing sound.

Tarnish realised he had a terrible weapon he could use. Taking a deep breath, he let go a shrill steaming screech that almost made himself go deaf. Dogs yelped and yipped while clutching their ears, and many were still on fire.

But not all the dogs were incapacitated. One dog rose up, a terrible, shaggy brute with a scarred face and an eyepatch. He towered over all the others and his arms were as large around as Tarnish’s barrel. He was smouldering, smoke rose from his fur, and hatred glittered in his remaining eye.

A rock bounced off of his skull and he went down as though he had been poleaxed. Maud lifted up another rock and made ready to throw, the flames reflecting in her eyes as she surveyed the campsite. Limestone stood beside her, her shovel ready.

“Rocks make the perfect gift,” Maud deadpanned, “and I am eager to give some away.”

One of the diamond dogs, still smouldering, got to his paws and then scrambled away, his tail tucked between his legs, and he howled as he made his retreat. Tarnish let him go. Others followed, but one diamond dog didn’t run away. He stood up, hefted a spear, and still on fire, he charged at Tarnish.

Maud bounced a rock off of his head, and while it slowed him down, it didn’t drop him. It struck with enough force that it almost tore the dog’s ear off. The dog let out a savage growl, smoke curled up from his fur, and flames crackled along his back and shoulders.

Tarnish took a step backwards as Flamingo chopped the spear in two, and then he used his telekinesis to shove the diamond dog away. Flamingo smacked the dog on the backside, causing him to yelp, and the dog retaliated by lunging at Tarnish again. He swiped with his huge paw, his claws gleaming in the firelight, and Tarnish sidestepped the clumsy attack.

With a clang, Limestone’s shovel connected to the side of the dog’s head, but the dog did not go down. He took a swipe at Limestone, who blocked it with her shovel, and the handle splintered as it was cloven in twain. The filly let out a cry of alarm as she tried to back away. Tarnish, using his telekinesis, gave the dog another shove, pushing him away from Limestone to keep her safe.

There was a grey blur that shot past Limestone and collided with the diamond dog. There was a shrill, ear piercing cry as Maud connected with a flying kick to the creature’s groin. Clutching himself, he toppled over, whimpering as he curled into a fetal position.

A spear hurtled through the air and would have struck Maud in the head if Tarnish hadn’t grabbed it in a telekinetic bubble. He passed it to Limestone and advanced into the camp, ready to punish the spear thrower. The dog charged him and Tarnish let go of a massive cloud of scalding steam.

In mere moments, the dog, who was smouldering from being on fire just a few minutes ago, was now covered in blisters from head to tail. He fell down in the dirt and writhed around, trying to find something, anything to cool his scalded skin.

Realising the power of magic, Tarnish lifted up several burning logs from the fire and began to wave them around. They were big, they were heavy, and they were on fire. He let out a shrill steam whistle and heard more yelps. More dogs were retreating now, grabbing up their fallen fellows and beating a hasty retreat.

“Yeah, you better run!” Flamingo shouted. “BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD! KILL ‘EM ALL!”

Demoralised, knowing they were beaten, the dogs fled the camp, leaving Tarnish, Maud, and Limestone as the victors. Tarnish stood waving an orbit of flaming logs around him, ready to use them as shields or as weapons. If something threw a spear, he believed that he could block it.

When the camp was secured, Tarnish, still watchful, went over to check on Trixie…

The blue unicorn mare lay in the dirt, unmoving. Her legs were shackled and she was chained to a stake driven down into the dirt. The side of her head was swollen to grotesque proportions and one eye was shut, unable to be opened. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth and lay in the dirt, covered in pine needles.

One leg was swollen, puffy, and flesh caused the shackle around her fetlock to be far too tight. Her knee had to be three or four times its usual size. Fearing reprisal or an organised counterattack, Tarnish knew he didn’t have time to stand here and stare.

Flamingo moved and made a few swift strokes, cutting the shackles away, and doing so without cutting or nicking Trixie a single time. Tarnish had to put down his flaming logs so he could lift Trixie, and he draped the unresponsive mare over his back. He turned to look at Limestone and Maud.

“We should be going,” Tarnish said.

“I agree,” Maud replied, glancing around. “I hear dogs all around us. We should go before they get reorganised.”

“I can’t believe we just walked into the camp and wrecked it,” Limestone said, sounding as though she was in shock. She shook her head and her whole body trembled. “Let’s get moving. Tarnish, up for a run?”

“Yep.” Tarnish looked around, held on to Trixie with his telekinesis, and thought about his long and hurried flight away from the volcano with Maud upon his back. The memory made him shiver. “Let’s get the fronk out of here!”

Author's Notes:

Took a slightly different approach to combat writing. Tell me what you think, I'd like to hear it.