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Dusk Rises- Chapter 12

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The shockwave rippled up her arm as her hoof collided with the cheek of a griffin guard. Twilight's mane and tale were ablaze with magical fire; mostly for show, it was just an illusion to make herself look more intimidating. Her entire body was covered in magical armour; plates of glowing magenta energy that defected nearly any blow. Around the knees of her hind legs and going all the way up her legs and spine was a complex mechanical system of Twilight's own design. It supported her knees and back so that she could stand upright, much like Pinkie Pie after her bout of brainwashing. It was both a huge strain on her body and her magic. The spell used up a surprising amount of energy and with Twilight already exhausted from her earlier fight, she was struggling to keep it stable.

'I'll give them some credit, these guys are pretty dedicated to their job,' she thought as she threw a knife into the chest of an advancing guard. The twenty that remained had done their job well, protecting councillor Ignatius from Twilight's near infinite wrath. She had managed to take a spear from one of the guards and was brandishing it with near expert skill, having read multiple books on the subject and also receiving training from a pony whose special talent was with weapons. Using it to help keep her upright and taking some of the strain off the spell, Twilight waited for the next one to attack. Her white glowing eyes were still trained on Ignatius; the griffin's cold expression felt as though it was cutting into her soul.  

"Going… to… kill you!" Twilight shouted, swinging the spear in a long sweeping arc that knocked two guards onto their backs. Another one thrust at her, only to have it blocked by Twilight. The offending spear was knocked into the dirt and the back end of Twilight's was used to hit the guard in the face. He dropped the handle of the weapon, and Twilight seized her chance, spinning her own and impaled the guard through the belly. The two that had fallen were now back on their feet and advancing on her with nothing but their own talons. She smirked, ripping the spear head out of the still twitching body of her last victim. She sprinted toward them, her spell beginning to fade and making it extremely difficult to stay upright. With a twirl, she hit them with the blunt end, before another swing had her slashing them across the chest with the spear head. Their legs quivered for a moment before they buckled and both guards collapsed into a heap. The plates of her armour were flickering between active and inactive, and her eyes had lost their glow.
Twilight tried to stay upright without the armour, but even with the spear propping her up, gravity won out and just before she started to fall, Twilight lifted the spear onto her shoulder and heaved it toward the head of Ignatius. Had she used her magic, it would have certainly found its mark. However, with only her injured and weary body as a means of propulsion, the spear narrowly missed Ignatius, instead getting embedded in the ground behind him.

"Wow… Good throw," Ignatius said sarcastically, giving her a slow clap that only infuriated her. "Look, this is just getting pathetic, and as much as I would like to continue this and have you all killed, I'm afraid I have a dinner date." With a single gesture of his hand, Ignatius and the six guards that Twilight had not yet managed to kill took to the sky, heading back toward the centre of town and the guard barracks that resided nearby. Twilight watched them leave, before turning and hastily making her way back to the others and to the injured Max. Drying blood was caked around his mouth as he coughed up spurts of blood. Archangel and a lime green unicorn pony that she didn't recognise were bent over him, treating his wounds.

***

"How is he?" Twilight asked, crouching down beside her friends. Archangel shook his head, shrugging slightly as he injected Max with the same painkiller that he had used on her earlier. Twilight gestured to the other pony, giving Archangel a quick look.
"This is Panadol, she is a very accomplished surgeon that taught me everything I know. She was part of the group that we were protecting. I asked her to help because I have no idea what to do here. It's so far past my pay grade," he explained and Panadol smiled as she rubbed a mashed pea coloured paste straight onto Max's chest.

"This paste should help the bones knit back together but we have to get back to my surgery and get that piece of rib out of his lung," she told her, wiping her hooves on Max's cloak. She got to her hooves and filled her horn with magic, creating a light green stretcher out of thin air underneath Max. He rose into the air, letting out a gurgling groan. Twilight was much more concerned about him than she let on, not wanting to panic anypony present, especially Jean, who was crying as she herded the throngs of griffins and ponies away and back into the maze of the slums. When they had disappeared, she raced back to her brother as he was carried back to Panadol's house, which was referred to as 'the clinic.' When they finally arrived, Twilight was less than impressed with the building; it was nothing but a ramshackle tin shack with boarded up windows and when she tried to open the door, it had to be bucked in by Archangel. Inside however, it was a sterile white environment, with a very small area set aside for Panadol to sleep and eat. Max was laid down on a surgeons table, as Archangel opened up a cabinet and started to retrieve medical tools. Twilight put her arm around Jean, hoping to comfort her as she shook with fear for her brother.

Max had long since passed out, and he was barely breathing, each one sounding full of fluid. Panadol quickly went about getting her scrubs on, tying her white mane into a bun.
"Hurry up and save him!" Jean screamed, and Archangel gave her a worried look, before making his way over to Twilight and whispering in her ear.
"Dusk, please take her outside. She should not have to see her brother being cut open," he told her, almost pleading that she do what he wanted. Twilight just nodded once and started to lead Jean outside, only to be shrugged off.

"No, leave me alone, just let me stay, I need to make sure he's going to be okay," she cried, pushing past Twilight and Archangel and collapsing beside the table. Panadol enveloped her in magic and pushed her back toward Twilight, who took over the struggling and distraught griffin with her own magic, albeit with much difficulty. She exited the clinic with the grey feathered griffin, her cries echoing throughout the slums that used to be her home.

***

As the sun finally set and the light of Luna's moon spread out across the city, casting long shadows in the maze of dilapidated buildings and shacks, the slum's denizens travelled to the clinic en masse to give thanks their saviours; the assassins of New Grifburg and Dusk herself. Those trained in first aid patched up Jean and Dusk, but neither of them revealed their faces. They brought food and drink, every single one offering their thanks and even what little money they could, which was always declined. Jean was silent for the most part; thoughts of her twin were nearly visible in her eyes. She was cuddled into close to Twilight's chest and the feathers around her face were wet with tears.

"W-What am I going to do without him?" she asked finally and Twilight hugged her closer, remembering how she herself had felt after losing Celestia.
"Jean, I am so sorry for dragging you both into this, but I swear on my life that Max is going to pull through this. You told me that he is a fighter, and that everything he does is for you. So he won't ever give up, because if he did, it would mean failing you in his eyes, and Max would never allow that to happen," replied Twilight, pressing her forehead against Jean's.
"I think I'm starting to understand why everyone thinks you are so incredible. It isn't because of what you do or what you fight for, but the way in which you inspire them. You make us; you make me feel like I need to be as good as you. To become more than ourselves. I don't know why, I mean, remember what I said to you when we first met? I said that I don't think I could ever kill another, and look at me now; I just killed dozens of guards to protect a bunch of complete strangers,"

"Is that a good thing though? It sounds like I turned you into a murderer," Twilight asked, uncertain as to what exactly Jean was trying to tell her.
"Assassin, not murderer," Jean replied and Twilight smiled, hugging her friend even tighter. More and more griffins and ponies arrived, placing more gifts in front of them. Twilight felt guilty for accepting them, but at the same time it also felt nice to be appreciated for her efforts.

***

After some time, Archangel opened up the door and collapsed onto the ground next to the two girls. His silence seemed to say everything and Jean began to cry once again, and Twilight's eyes began to water as well.
"So he's…" Twilight started, before Archangel looked up and saw the tears. His eyes went wide and he shook his head rapidly.

"Oh, oh god no! He's fine, the surgery went fantastically. I'm just exhausted," he explained, and Jean snapped upright and punched him in the shoulder.
"Oh you suck, why did you have to scare me like that?" she yelled and Archangel shrugged and smiled awkwardly. "Well can I go see him?"
"I'm afraid not, Panadol is cleaning up the wound and doesn't want any kind of potential infection risk," he said, shaking his head.
"But I'm his sister!" she argued, wiping her tears from her eyes.
"I know, but they are the doctor's orders," he explained with his voice full of knowing sympathy. Jean hugged Twilight again, before looking up in a look of sudden realisation.
"Wait, where's David?" she asked, and Twilight looked around. With all of the confusion and concern with Max, David had been forgotten.

"Now don't worry, I saw him just before we started to move Max. He's gone back to his own group of rebels to try and organise some sort of guard to make sure that something like this doesn't happen again," he told them and Twilight let out a relieved sigh. Her heart had skipped at the thought of one of her team having gone missing. She had yet to lose a member of her team and despite some close calls by both of the griffin twins, no one had died. She was grateful for that fact, as the war had already claimed far too many of her friends and she knew that she would only lose more as time went on.
Panadol suddenly swung open the door and walked out, her scrubs splattered with blood, which caused Jean to pale at the sheer volume that must have been shed.

"Well my dear, I have some good news. Your brother is going to be absolutely fine. He was fortunate that his lung didn't receive too much trauma. The rib that punctured the wall of the lung wasn't broken completely, so the puncture wasn't too severe. I won't bore you with the details, but rest assured that he will live," she said, and Jean let out a happy cry, leaping to her feet and hugging the unicorn doctor. "Well I appreciate the hug… please let me go. I can't let you see him today but if you come by tomorrow, and if I decide that he is stable, then I will be more than happy for you to say hello. So please go home, rest. You have all done so much for us, and I think you deserve a few days of recovery," The assassins all agreed, gathering up the gifts that had been left for them and starting to make their way back to the cathedral. As they walked, Twilight looked at Jean and Archangel and smiled.

"I don't know if I have ever said this, but… thank you, both of you. I seriously doubt that I could have done anything like what we accomplished here today," she told them, receiving both a smile and a nod from them both.

"You don't have to thanks us, like I told you earlier; you inspire us to be the best that we can be, to rise above ourselves. If you hadn't come along, nothing would ever have changed," Jean said, making her blush slightly.
"So what do we do now?" Archangel enquired and Twilight had to take a moment to think before she answered.

"We do what the doctor ordered, we rest, let ourselves heal. Once we are back in our prime we can keep going, keep fighting. Besides, I'm almost certain that we have delayed whatever it is they are planning for the slums for at least another few months. Even if we haven't, we have shown them just how serious we are,"
Twilight finishes off the last of Ignatius' troops in the slums, using a trick she learnt from Pinkie Pie, while Max struggles to survive. And Jean opens up to Twilight.

As always, special thanks go to :iconerockertorres: for the cover art and the use of his OC, Archangel.
© 2012 - 2024 The-rogue-shadow
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pj202718's avatar
:star::star::star::star::star-half: Overall
:star::star::star::star::star: Vision
:star::star::star::star::star-half: Originality
:star::star::star::star::star-half: Technique
:star::star::star::star::star: Impact

Vision: While I initially thought that this was part of a final confrontation, I find myself liking the idea of a less apocalyptic battle. Whatever plans Gilda's clique might have have been delayed so that both sides might prepare themselves for the real set-to. Also, I do like the further character development.

Originality: It does make sense that given the different setting that emergency medicine would differ in form (if not function) from our own. Hinting at the differences helps to establish the ground rules of this world.

Technique: The way in which the characters speak helps remind us of who they are. As an example, we have Ignatius and his discussing slaughtering the unwilling as if he were discussing the weather.

Impact: I'm glad that these guys are okay. They'll need to be one hundred percent for the big fight scene.