(( Room layout ))
Jaxler was in his room. He had a feeling, that him attacking a near noble pony was likely going to get him in some serious trouble. Jury deserved that punch, but legally he was at fault. The stallion assumed, that he could get jail time, get beaten or even killed for hitting the mare, but the one thing that scared him the most was the idea of having his crossbow taken away. Jaxler looked to the corner of his room, where he kept a barrel of 190 proof Moonshine. He took it to the back of his room, near his window, and popped open the lid. Jaxler also took his oil lantern, that stood on top of his cabinet and put it on the window sill. He then opened his coffer, took out his brass horseshoes and a few large iron daggers, which he hid around the room and on his person. Then he slung his crossbow onto his back. Jaxler moved over next to his window and stood there, waiting for somepony from the guard or militia to come to his door.
Partisan raced from his room as soon as the door was closed, Flying quickly and quietly. It took him a few minutes to reach the Barracks, only to find nopony there.
Knowing Jaxler, he will be preparing for a fight. I can’t go alone. With firm resolve to get this over with as quickly and safely as possible, Partisan grabbed two quivers full of bolts and two crossbows, hoping that he would not need them. He made sure that everything was in working order and sped off once more, going to a pony he knew he could trust in this kind of situation.
Kat was done for the day. She was already in her nightgown and preparing for a good night’s sleep. Just before she got to lay on her bed, she heard knocking. It almost produced a groan from the pegasus mare, but she bit it back and went over to answer it anyway, hoping it would be worthwhile. Her back straightened up instinctively as she saw her Captain there. She gave him a quick surprised sharp salute. “Captain?”
Partisan tossed her a quiver, and watched, as she caught it with ease that can only come through continuous practice. “It’s Jaxler. He punched Jury and now she is demanding his arrest.” His words were quick and more professional than usual. “We have to do it.”
Still in her nightgown, Kat strapped on the quiver and got her crossbow. All she needed to hear was ‘Jaxler’ and ‘he punched’ to know enough of what was going on. “Alright Captain, are we going in hot? Seeing that you brought me ammo and all...” She asked, surpassing a yawn and masking her sleepiness. The very idea of putting Jaxler in jail before going to bed was kind of a nice way to end a day in her view.
“That depends on his first move. I will handle it, if it comes to that. You just follow my lead.” Before she could say anything, he rushed over to Indigo’s door, not too far away, and gave it a gentle knock. Hard enough to be heard, but soft enough not to carry.
After work, Indigo cleaned himself, ate, filled the bowl in his room with fresh water and was looking over some papers. Nothing important, but some level of paperwork was useful for keeping track of things. He heard a quiet knock on his door.
Not Amor. Who could it be, then? Indigo went over and opened it, seeing distressed-looking Partisan.
“Indigo, we have an issue.” Partisan took in a deep breath before he continued. “Its Jaxler. He struck Jury. From the report, it was only once, but, it was enough to make her bleed, and it was done on purpose. She came to me demanding his arrest.” And another deep breath. “I came to you because, as Jaxler’s regiment leader, you are responsible to help me do so. I am sorry that this happened before I was able to take him back under my wing.” When finished, he let out a long and irritated sigh.
Take him back under your wing? I’ll finally be rid of him? Well, thanks for telling me. Indigo frowned, looking at Partisan. “I was expecting something like this to happen.” He spoke, as he hastily went back to his room to get his combat equipment, leaving his door open. “Knowing Jaxler, he will consider moving in force on him to be an attack and retaliate. If you want him to go to jail peacefully, your best chance is to go in alone, and leave your backup by the door. And I trust you got somepony to watch his window? He can fly, you know.” Indigo put on his mail shirt and helmet over his robe and choose his close combat gear: a shield and an iron axe, which was forged before Dawnpick had steel and before Castiron learned to make good weapons. Indigo left his crossbow and quiver on his table, so he could run back for them quickly. He really hoped Jaxler would be rational, and fighting wouldn’t be necessary, but being drafted like that still proved the usefulness of keeping their combat gear at hoof by the reserves.
Kat, still in her nightgown, trotted over to Partisan, her crossbow loaded and bolts at the ready. She arrived just a short moment after Partisan and heard Indigo talking something about ‘watch his window’ so she assumed she would be doing that. “Captain, you’d want me to watch his window in case he flies?” she asked, giving Indigo a nod, just to show that she acknowledged his existence.
“From the side. If he happens to be looking out there, I don’t want him to see you. He might jump to conclusions.” That said, he turned to Indigo and gave him a nod at his skilled call.
“I often fly around in my dress with my crossbow and bolts Captain. I believe It wouldn’t be too suspicious.” Kat informed, confident that she wouldn’t rise
too much suspicion... But if Jaxler knew that somepony was coming for him, that’d be a different story.
Partisan opened his mouth to give Kat another quick warning, when his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of quick trotting.
Already dressed in her full regalia, armed and armoured, Falcata was hurrying down the corridor on her way to the keep, when she bumped into Partisan and Kat (or was it Kit? She could never tell), both of the guardsponies standing in the corridor, at the threshold of Indigo’s door, with their weapons and armour and having what looked like a very serious discussion. "Um, hello? What's going on?" she asked the pair, unsure which of them was in charge of this little gathering. "It's not Indigo, is it?"
“Shhh!” Partisan sharply blew on his hoof, motioned for her to come closer and told her a short version of the story.
Once Indigo got everything he needed, he joined them outside. Exercises in putting armour on and off have finally paid off; it took him only a moment this time. He closed, but didn’t bar the door to his room, positioned himself to the east of Jaxler’s door and waited for further orders.
Jaxler? Hit Jury? Falcata bit her lip, torn. She really should be going to take over from Fuscina's shift as ducal guard right away, but she didn't want to miss this at all. At the very least, Jaxler deserved a pat on the back from somepony for putting that racist judge back in her place before Jury probably had him locked up.
Virtue will be fine without me for a few minutes... she convinced herself, pushing a slight feeling of guilt aside. This was probably one of those ‘exceptional circumstances’, anyway.
"All right, wow. Um, do you three need any help with that, by any chance? You know how he can be, and he probably knows you're coming."
Partisan shook his head in slight protest, but quickly changed his mind. She was right and, even though he had thought about this earlier, she would probably be a better choice to have with them, considering the fact that she was skilled in close range combat.
“Sure, but remember, we don’t want this to blow out of proportion. I don’t want anyone to get killed over this.” Partisan made sure that his point came across strong and silently nodded for Kat to get into position.
Kat nodded in acknowledgement, and with her wings spread and crossbow on her back, she took to the air and flied into her position, where she had a good look at Jaxler’s window. She tried to keep it casual, as if she was having one of her usual late-night flights again, hoping she wouldn’t alarm Jaxler, even if he sees her.
Having quietly padded across to stand beside Indigo outside of Jaxler's door, Falcata nudged the inexperienced unicorn gently, murmuring in his ear. "Hey, Indigo, just a thought. You might want to, uh, sort of... stand back a bit if he comes out here with hooves swinging looking for a fight, given that you and the rest of your squad are kind of, um, not exactly at mine or Jaxler's level. No offense." she added hastily, not wanting to offend him.
Indigo nodded and obeyed. He always told his squad, that in any real combat they will be better off doing what experienced soldiers tell them and generally practiced what he preached. None of his previous disagreements with Falcata over what he told Lady Virtue counted at this moment. He also wasn’t any kind of glory seeker and had nothing against other soldiers fighting in his stead.
Partisan walked slowly to Jaxler’s door, going over every possibility in his head.
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. He took a few seconds to clear his thoughts and looked in Indigo and Falcata’s direction, making sure that they were in place and ready.
“Jaxler!” He said, not even bothering to knock. “I am sure you knew I would be here, and why, so I’ll skip the formalities. Just come out, unarmed. I don't want any conflict.” His voice was strong and authoritative, hiding the anger that still swelled in the back of his throat.
‘Come out
unarmed’, the hell was Partisan thinking? Jaxler would never leave his crossbow behind. “I’ll come out peacefully under two conditions. One, you promise not to try to whack me off the moment I walk outside and two, you let me keep my crossbow. I won’t bring any bolts, but I refuse to go anywhere without my crossbow.” Jaxler then peered out of his green glass window. How foalish was Partisan to have Kat watch his window. Jaxler was a much better fighter and markspony then her, and could easily take Kat down if he got violent.
“I can promise you, that you will be escorted to the cell unharmed and untouched, but you know I can’t allow you to hold onto your crossbow.” Partisan countered. “It is now considered evidence. I am sorry. I can promise you, on my life, that I will make sure, it is safely put away where no pony will get to it. And, when you come out, I will return it to you.” He was hoping to reason with him. Now that Jury was here, rules had to be enforced, by law of the King, or Virtue could lose her Job, her title, and her life. “Please, Jaxler, don’t make this harder than it already is.”
Jaxler’s trust in Partisan had died after he demoted him. The pony put a knife in his back and Jaxler would never trust him with his crossbow. Jaxler put his crossbow in his stone coffer, locked it and then walked over to his door. He still had his brass horseshoes on, and was ready to smash somepony’s head in, if they attacked him. There were two daggers within Jaxler’s reach, one under his doormat and another sitting on top his door frame. Jaxler didn’t plan on using them, but if he had to, he wouldn’t hesitate. “Okay, I’m coming out.” Jaxler slowly opened his door.
“Wait.” Partisan quickly said, as he motioned for the two other ponies to move away from the door. As Jaxler left his room, Partisan noticed a gleam on his horseshoes.
“You are going to hav-” Partisan was interrupted by a loud and sharp voice.
“I DON’T GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY CROSSBOW!”
When Partisan was still talking, the door to Sarissa’s room burst open, startling Indigo. The copper mare came out of her room, her sleepy face contorted into a grimace. “What the hay is with all of the yelling out here?!” As she had just been napping, she wasn’t wearing her armor. However, she did have her trademark axe within her telekinetic grasp. Sarissa took notice of the door that everypony was standing in front of, “It’s Jaxler, isn’t it? Is he being uncooperative with something? I’ll get him to straighten up...”
Indigo took one look at Sarissa and got out of her way. “We want him alive and unharmed, if possible,” he said.
“That means none of the crap you tried to pull with that darkbolt a while back, Sarissa,” added Falcata, glaring at the copper-coated unicorn.
“If you want to join, Partisan has the command, so okay it with him.” added Indigo.
“Did you have to bring THAT up again? It’s not like I’d do that to one of our fellow Dawnpickers.” Sarissa groaned at Falcata’s remark, “I don’t even know what he did; can somepony enlighten me?”
"He socked Jury right in the face," replied Falcata with the ghost of a smile. It was illegal, sure, but she could think of nopony more deserving than the odious judge. The things she'd said about Friesden...
“SHOES JA-” Partisan stopped himself from going any further. “Jaxler, I was talking about your brass hooves. I said to come out with no weapons.” It was becoming more and more difficult for him to keep calm, and that fact was starting to show on his face.
“Oh, those, you mean my fashion accessories? I’d never go anywhere without my horseshoes. Ponies might start to think that I’m distasteful.” Jaxler’s voice had a tone that would make Rarity proud. Jaxler wasn’t going to dare to trust anypony not to attack him. As far as he was concerned, Jury might have already condemned him to death. “And I’m not going anywhere without my crossbow!”
Partisan took a deep breath in and let it out very slowly.
“Jaxler. I still can’t let you take it with you.” It was obvious that he was referring to both the crossbow and the brass ‘accessories’ on his hooves.
“And if you are not willing to cooperate with us, we will search your room. I don’t have much choice in that matter. Trust me, it is for your benefit.”
Jaxler’s face hardened. “And the buck do you plan on doing with my crossbow once it’s at the barracks? I plan on confessing to hitting that annoying jackass, Jury, and when I go to jail I know that you won’t let me keep my crossbow. I would rather die than go three months without MY crossbow, do I make myself clear?” Jaxler was clearly pissed. If Partisan said ‘no’ he’d be getting a dent in his head.
“I plan on putting it away in a chest, in Virtues office.” He gave a stern scowl. This was not heading in the direction he wanted.
“And I can’t choose when you get your crossbow back.” Partisan reached out with a hoof, hoping that he could reason with Jaxler without any more issues.
“So, what you’re saying is that I may never get my crossbow back?” Jaxler sighed. “Then I’m sure that I’d rather die than trust you with my crossbow.” Jaxler then flung his brass clad hoof toward Partisan, hoping that he could down the crossbow-thieving bastard.
Partisan was struck hard, even though he did his best to roll with the incoming punch. "BUCK!" he screamed as the ground rushed toward his face, as the darkness enveloped his sight. His sight returned to him, though filled with fuzz and red, for a short time and he tried to stand. Then everything went black once more as he landed with a thud.
Sarissa’s eyes widened with shock as she beheld Jaxler’s impulsive move. Surely he can’t be
that foolish; attacking Partisan a
second time? Her jaws clamped shut, teeth bared in a sudden burst of outrage. “You...you
trash!” Tightening her mental grip on Elegy, the brown unicorn decided that she was going to show him what blunt force trauma
really meant. Orienting her ax such that it was being held sideways, she made a forceful swing with the intention of smacking Jaxler on the side of the head with its flat side.
Seeing an axe arcing through the air and misinterpreting Sarissa’s intentions, Falcata reacted instantaneously, catapulting herself towards the copper-coated mare as she swung towards Jaxler. Her intervention was only partially successful; the impact carried Sarissa past her target, although the unicorn still managed to land a solid blow to Jaxler’s wing.
“GUARDS, JAXLER HAS GONE MAD!” yelled Indigo, standing behind his shield, Falcata and Sarissa. He tried to grab Jaxler with telekinesis to slow him down enough for the other soldiers to take him down.
Why are they fighting each other instead of Jaxler? Have they gone mad? “THE HAY IS YOUR PROBLEM?!” Sarissa snapped at Falcata. In an instant, this reminded her of the time when Glaive had stopped her from attacking the Darkbolt. “We’re supposed to be working together! Not sabotaging each other!”
“
MY problem? You’re trying to kill him, you psychopath!” barked Falcata, trying to pin the heavier mare down. “I’m not letting you murder somepony!”
Jaxler knew he’d probably get tackled, or punched or wrestled in one way or another, but this? Jaxler knew Sarissa was a short fused mare, but swinging an axe and trying to kill him? Jaxler appeared to be defenseless, and to make things worse he couldn’t dodge either, as he was both standing in the middle of his doorway and hindered by Indigo’s spell. The pony had one option, so he raised his wing and stopped the axe’s blow. The stallion heard a loud crack and had a horrible pain go up and down his spine. “SCREW YOU, I’M NOT GOING TO DIE HERE LIKE AN ANIMAL, GETTING SLAUGHTERED BY SOME... FAT MONSTER!” The little pony was having a hard time moving his wing but still managed to grab a large iron dagger with his mouth out from under his wing. Jaxler was enraged by all the enemies.
Looking up at the white pegasus on top of her, Sarissa’s expression turned to one of malice, “PSYCHOPATH?! Get off of me! I am NOT trying to kill him! I only want to knock the freak’s lights out!”
“You were swinging your axe at his
head! I’m not blind, Sarissa! I know you have a skull collection!” yelled Falcata, struggling to stop the larger pony from throwing her off. Glancing back towards the rest of the commotion, she noticed Jaxler holding a knife of some sort in his mouth, and her grip slackened in shock, the pegasus beginning to realise her mistake. Disabling herself and another capable soldier while a now-armed and very, very angry criminal was standing barely a few yards away, in hindsight, hadn’t been the smartest of moves.
Granite awoke to the sounds of shouting and got out of bed to investigate. He opened his door and witnessed a golden unicorn bringing her axe down on Jaxler. For just a moment, he stood frozen in shock as to what was happening, but quickly shook off his fear and started to run towards Jaxler as Sarissa was tackled by Falcata.
Indigo noticed Granite, but assumed he was there to help subdue Jaxler. Things were going bad quickly.
What happened to going to prison peacefully? He continued to slow Jaxler down with telekinesis, as other ponies were in his way and Jaxler was too far for an axe swing. “GUARDS!” yelled Indigo again.
Kat, hearing Indigo’s yell, decided that it was probably her time to help out. She flied lower, so she could see through Jaxler’s window. She then slowed down her breathing and aimed down the sight of her crossbow. “I always knew it’d come to this Jaxler. Me shooting you in the back...” she whispered quietly to no one in particular.
“Don’t jump to judgments on me, Fal!” Finally managing to roll out from under Falcata, the frustrated unicorn set her sights on reclaiming Elegy, which had been thrown several feet away by the bum rush. She just took notice of the knife that Jaxler had pulled as she regained her own weapon. The mare pointed the axe in his direction, “Drop it Jaxler! Don’t let this get any messier than it has to!” Sarissa was becoming increasingly angry at this whole situation.
Falcata sprang to her own hooves, maneuvering her own axe into her mouth in one fluid motion and trying to circle around the furious Jaxler. “Put ‘e knife ‘way!” she cried, her voice muffled by the weapon in her jaws. “‘arissa, I’b warning ‘ou, don’ kill hib!”
Keeping a close eye on the black pegasus, Sarissa hears Falcata’s last statement as a vein begins bulging in her forehead, “I’M NOT GOING TO BUCKING KILL HIM ALREADY!” She honestly had no intentions of ending his life. As Falcata continued to spur her anger on, however, she was increasingly tempted to turn him into a broken heap upon a blood-soaked hospital bed; Jaxler really did need his flank handed to him for not learning his lesson the first time he hit Partisan.
Granite ran up next to Jaxler and looked behind him, just in time to notice Kat taking aim in front of an open window. “Jaxler, what the hell is going on?!” Granite said, still looking over at Kat.
Kat, having Jaxler in her aim, pushed her crossbow’s trigger mechanism, sending out her metal bolt flying towards Jaxler’s backside. After all, things seemed to be devolving fast. Without thinking, Granite threw himself into the path of the flying bolt and felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He screamed in agony and collapsed. “Stupid colt..” Kat groaned at the sight of Granite taking the bolt for Jaxler instead. She began to pull the strings back so that she could reload her crossbow.
“Get out of there, you idiot! We’re trying to arrest a criminal!” yelled Indigo at Granite, as he continued to slow Jaxler down.
“The bucking…” Jaxler couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing. Granite got shot, Granite got shot in Jaxler’s place. His mind went on like a skipping record for a few moments until his mind finally stopped all rational thought. Jaxler had a look in his eyes, it was somewhere between that of a cornered snake and a Rottweiler that just saw its puppy get killed. The enraged stallion didn’t even think twice as threw his knife at Kat. He would have stabbed the mare himself if Indigo wasn’t being so damn annoying with his magic. “I’ll kill you Kat... I’LL BUCKING KILL YOU!”
Granite had been hit and now there was knife sailing off in an arc towards Kat. Sarissa realized that there was too much chaos going on for an effective arrest; Jaxler needed to be brought under control NOW. Falcata was already airborne, hurling herself towards the pegasus stallion like a living ballista bolt. It seemed that Indigo was having trouble holding him down by himself, so Sarissa would add the strength of her own magic to his. She drops Elegy and latches onto Jaxler’s front hooves with the glowing green aura of her telekinesis. “Now! While we’ve got him! Somepony put this dope down!” Even as Sarissa was speaking, Falcata slammed into Jaxler’s left side, knocking both herself and the other pegasus to the floor just as she had done with Sarissa.
Kat suddenly regretted not getting on her guard’s armor; her dress did little to stop the knife, as it sailed towards her, hit her in her upper body and buried itself into her soft sweet flesh. The impact made her jerk backwards and almost drop to the ground below from pain, but she managed to land on her hooves, before slumping onto her side on the ground, gasping and whimpering slightly at her bleeding wound. She was hurt before, sure, but that was from a hammer and she had her armor on. Having a knife lodged inside her was a completely different experience.
Still holding Jaxler as best as he could, as well as his shield and an Axe, Indigo moved closer, now that there was more room beside Sarissa.
A hit to the head with the blunt side of an axe could still knock Jaxler out, though this would be easier if we just wanted to kill him. Indigo quickly dismissed the evil thought and spared a glance to the stunned Partisan. Sarissa was stronger than Indigo and her magic was a great help. Holding Jaxler in place worked even with Indigo and Oil Macepony during their training, but this fight was different. Jaxler seemed to have lost it and it made him stronger.
Jaxler was caught off guard to have Falcata’s slam and was stunned. Jaxler was brought down to the ground and couldn’t even begin to move with the amounts of magic on him. “LET ME THE BUCK GO, SO I CAN KILL THAT MONSTER!”
Not bothering to waste time talking, instead maneouvering herself into position atop the immobilised pegasus, Falcata struck Jaxler in the back of his head with the pommel of her axe, knocking him out in one blow. She rolled off the downed stallion, clambering to her hooves and quickly bolting through the open window to help the stricken, bleeding form of Kat on the ground below.
“Sarissa, can you get him to prison alone?” We have some wounded here.” Says Indigo as he tries to help Partisan, still keeping his shield and axe with him, and Jaxler in his field of vision.
Being relieved of the burden of having to hold the enraged pegasus down, Sarissa relaxed and responded to Indigo’s request, “You bet I will...” She lifted the limp form of Jaxler from the ground with her magic and laid him across her back. The unicorn almost wanted to break some of his bones in private, once she was out of sight of everypony else, but she fought the urge to delve deeper into that fantasy. It was jail time for him, although she’d likely be trying to think of ways to make his sentence and suffering worse in the meantime. She trotted off towards Virtue’s office, ready to explain the situation and ask for the keys to the cell.
"Kat?" asked Falcata in a deeply concerned tone, having dropped her axe to the ground, bent over the prone guardspony. "Kat?"
There's blood all over the ground... Kat looked up at Falcata for a moment, “I.. didn’t mean to.. shoot Granite..” she said weakly before her eyes rolled up and she slumped back onto the ground, losing consciousness.
Extremely worried, Falcata carefully lifted the unconscious mare onto her back, careful not to jostle her too much, and began staggering slowly towards the hospital under the weight of both her passenger and her full armour. Despite their slow pace, Falcata was hopeful they would make it before Kat lost too much blood.
Bastard, she thought as she struggled onwards. The poor markspony had just been doing her job; she hadn't deserved a knife in the ribs. Falcata winced mentally, remembering the time she herself had been injured in a similar manner, although thankfully it looked like Kat had been much more fortunate.
Meanwhile Indigo made sure, that Partisan was alright and woke him up. Partisan opened his eyes and looked at the unicorn with pained expression. "Buck. Head hurts. Where is Jaxler?"
"Knocked out and being taken to prison by Sarissa," Indigo quickly replied, "If you don't need further help, I should help Granite
now."
Partisan cast a quick glance at the young colt. He was lying in Jaxler's room with a bolt in his back and a puddle of blood under him.
Not good. Not good at all. "Indigo! Get clean cloth! Quick! We need to stop the bleeding." His commands come out rushed, because he was trying to think past the throbbing pain and about many things at once.
That was Kat's bolt. "Kat? Where the hay are you, Kat?" Hearing no answer, Partisan ran over to Jaxler's window, looked outside and saw Falcata carrying Kat to the hospital and Sarissa carrying unconscious Jaxler to the keep.
What have I done? Indigo quickly took his axe and shield to his room, grabbed a piece of clean cloth and closed his door from outside. He run over to Granite, pushed the cloth against his wound and asked "Partisan, what now?"
At least the stupid colt is still breathing.The question broke the pegasus out of his shock. "Let's take him to the hospital," he answered, with a dejected look on his face.
Indigo nodded in acknowledgement and the pair carefully lifted Granite, without disturbing the bolt still lodged firmly in the wound, and took him to Panacea, who was already working on Kat. Afterwards Indigo and Falcata told Partisan what happened, while they were walking to check up on Sarissa and Jaxler in the Keep
Sarissa approached Fuscina, who was standing guard at the countess’ door, “See this drunk on my back? I need to keys to the prison. He’s been....naughty. Is Virtue in?”
Fuscina raised an eyebrow as she saw the unconscious pegasus draped across Sarissa’s back. “What did...” She shaked her head. “Nevermind. Yes, she’s in.” She stepped back, opened the door to the keep and gave Sarissa enough room to enter.
“Thank you,” she responded to Fuscina. Peaking inside, she requested Virtue’s attention, “My Lady? I need to put Jaxler in the prison. Perhaps it would be best if I explained later; I’d prefer if I went ahead and got him in there before he comes back to the waking world.”
Virtue’s eyes went wide as she stood from her desk. She opened her mouth to speak, and it took considerable effort for her to accept Sarissa’s request without question. “Yes... alright,” she said as she retrieved the keys. She transferred them to Sarissa with a gravely concerned expression. “Here.”
She accepts the keys telekinetically, “Thank you. The situation is rather messy and we’ve got some ponies who have been harmed. I’ll fill you in when I get back.” After having acquired the keys and searched the pony for any further weapons, Sarissa dumped him in the worst-kept cell she could find. “Sleep well...” she hissed sarcastically after spitting on him.
After she had returned, Sarissa began to recite the situation, “Let me see how I can put this in a nutshell... Jaxler hit Jury, then hit Partisan, I broke Jaxler’s wing, then he struck Kat with a knife, Granite got struck with a bolt, Falcata knocked Jaxler unconscious, and, well, here we are. Kat and Granite are probably going to the hospital...”
Virtue sat heavily, trying and not doing a good job of taking it all in. She gave Sarissa a pleading expression and said, “So... Jury, Partisan, Kat and Granite are all injured? Because of Jaxler?” She blinked and shakes her head slowly. “Why?” she asked in a weak voice.
“To be honest, I don’t know,” Sarissa shook her head, “I don’t even know much of this ‘Jury’ yet. I guess she must have made him angry or something.”
She didn’t doubt for a moment that Jury had done something to anger him, but there was absolutely nothing she could think of that would justify him hurting anypony, much less four separate ponies. “I... I just...” she said, shaking her head in disbelief. She felt like she had to do
something, but she didn’t know what. Bothering Panacea and Chestnut just to see how the wounded were doing would be counterproductive to their work, but she didn’t know what to do. “What is everypony else doing? Is there anything else happening?”
“I imagine they are tending to the wounded. Perhaps we should go tell Panacea and Chestnut to get ready for them, unless Kat and Granite are already there. If anything, maybe I can lend some assistance with my Vitalsight in order to assess the degree of internal damage they’ve suffered,” Sarissa answered as she looked in the direction she imagined the hospital was in, “Yeah, I think I’ll head there now.”
Virtue felt completely helpless, but that was something to do at least. Something to keep her mind occupied. “Yes... alright, I’m coming with you.” There wasn’t much she could do, but just sitting there in her office while all this happened would drive her mad. She started toward the door and left with Sarissa, hoping beyond her better judgment, that what she found there wouldn’t be as bad as she feared.
Author
Topic: Dawnpick (My Little Fortress) (Read 225191 times)