Canterlot in Flames, Summary for Chapter 7-8. · 9:39pm May 22nd, 2016
So, before I get into anything else, I would like to post a small summery of chapters 7-8, as those were the violent chapters and I know a lot of people likely don't read the story because of the fact it's marked "gore". Because of this, I promised I'd post a small summary of the chapters so that, if people chose to, you may skip those two and just go to the (mostly) non-violent chapters.
So, Chapter 7:
The Second Battle of Canterlot is in full swing, Blueblood and Janis Security Solutions (JSS) have drawn their weapons and are attacking from within the city walls! The chapter starts out with Daring meeting with Shiro, who is now in full armor and ready for battle, in the throne room where the Alicorn is staring at the throne of Equestria and musing over how Luna has abandoned her duties when she is needed most. Daring argues in favor if her monarchs, and reminds Shiro that he cannot sit idly by while ponies are put in danger, for he is a warrior! Shiro agrees and they go to the ballroom command center to meet with the other Commanders.
Upon reaching the ballroom, Canterlot General asks for aid, as they are in dire straights and about to be overwhelmed. Wind Rider has the unfortunate duty of being on the radio, and has to inform Canterlot General (Specifically everyone's favorite Nurse, Faith Cure) that they've lost too much ground and cannot secure a supply line to them by land. He promises to send aid via the air in the form of Wonderbolts' Reserves, but it will be some time before they can get there.
It is at this point that HMS Enterprise comes over the comms. Commanded by Admiral Gold Star, who is in fact the grandson (Insert a few hundred greats) of Shiro, he has stolen his old ship (Which is a double masted First Rate Man of War), tied a balloon to it, and come to help Canterlot! Shiro, of course, does not take kindly to his grandson being an idiot, and barrates him. Gold Star of course wets himself, and his second in command informs Canterlot's commanders that their front gate is about to be knocked upon.
Shiro goes to deal with it in the second scene of the chapter, in which only a few of Blueblood's mercenary troops walk away.
Scene three is Canterlot General, in which we see Faith Cure and the rest of the hospital staff up to their elbows in the absolute worst case scenerio any medical professional will ever be in: Too many people who are in critical condition, not enough beds, and nowhere enough supplies. Suffice to say, more than a few die slow, painful deaths. This scene is primarially about Faith Cure and her ex-husband, Real "Bones" McCoy, both of whom served on the Enterprise together during the Griffin/Drake War.
The first part of the scene honestly can be summed up by this passage, which is me drawing inspiration from Psalm 23 in the bible.
"... Beneath her wings, I fear no darkness, for Her light is eternal. Struck low are the foes who hath dealt me grievance, for they cannot stand before her glory. I go now, to rest beneath Her wings, forever sheltered and protected from harm, my days shall be filled with joy at meeting those who I hath loved, and lost. I shalt know no sorrow, shalt not know pain...." The chaplain's voice trails off, the stallion no longer shaking. With a weary sigh, the chaplain reaches up with a hoof, and gently closes the poor soul's eyes, before looking at Faith and shaking her head before moving on to the next bedside.
The second part of the scene finds Faith, Ember, McCoy, and Quicktail rushing to the front of the hospital after an artillery shell strikes the courtyard and wounds/kills a large amount of the already haggard defenders. During the process of rescuing the surviving defenders, JSS makes a push, in which Ember (Who is a changeling that belongs to my friend Zoljin) changes into a drake and slaughters JSS soldiers as they attempt to kill her mate Quicktail (Who is a griffin). Ember's rampage causes JSS to break, and Quicktail picks up a grenade from one of the fallen mercs, and tosses it. However, it is a colored smoke grenade, and signals artillery to fire on the position, causing all present to dive for cover as a large shell once more strikes the courtyard.
After the small skirmish, Bones drags Faith to her office and basically orders her to rest since she has been up for 72 hours straight.
The third scene details a small fight within House Grey, in which Fine Brew's uncle (White Tie), who has been fighting for Blueblood, attempts to murder Fine, Leaf, and Tricks. He is, however, swiftly defeated by Fine and Leaf, and brought to the Castle and tossed in the dungeon.
The final scene of Chapter 7 details Twilight watching the battle from her home in Ponyville (Which is still the Golden Oaks Library in the Wonderverse), debating with herself on entering the fray. She is convinced by her friends, and Prose's husband Foxfire, and consents to join the battle and put an end to the madness.
Chapter 8:
Chapter 8 opens with Twilight on the bridge of the HMS Voyager, an airship commanded by Captain Cafe' Noire and is a part of the Royal Equestrian Navy's airship division (The real one, unlike Gold Star's earlier attempt with his old ship). Twilight watches the battle from the bridge, as well as speaks with various ponies including a former JSS Experiment named Dee-Seven. Eventually, they get close enough to the city to pick up the radio transmissions from the command center's comms, and reach Daring. Daring is less than happy to hear from Voyager (Her and Noire have a past), and she yells at the Captain to get her airship into Canterlot asap before her transmission is cut out by a massive explosion inside the city, presumably from one of the many magical power stations inside the city's walls.
Shortly after the explosion, while they are attempting to figure out exactly where and what, it is learned that JSS is rounding up civilians and putting them to the torch. Twilight and Captain Noire both shout for the ship to get into the city immediately.
The second scene of the chapter has Foxfire, AJ, Pinkie Pie, Thunderlane, and a pegasus stallion named Bloody Miracle heading towards JSS's giant siege cannon to take it out of service. While in the forest, Foxfire learns that Miracle (Who is a semi-retired Naval Captain) is the grandfather of Pinkie Pie, and taught her everything she knows about cannons. He even helped her make her first party cannon out of old 12lb naval cannons.
There are quite a few references to movies in the scene, such as Jurrassic Park, Monty Python, and even Space Balls.
The cannon is eventually brought out of service (Pinkie Pie 'jams' the fireing pin... using jam.) and the scene ends with them deciding on heading into the city while Pinkie Pie watches the massive artillery piece (A great idea, right?)
Scene three has Twilight running through the streets of Canterlot, eventually ending up at the entrance to the Castle, which is littered with bodies. She meets Shiro, who is called a monster by the JSS Mercs, and is ushered into the Castle to meet with the commanders, who quickly turn over-all command over to her after advising her that the best course of action will be to reinforce the Hospital. She informs them that she already thought about that, and the scene ends.
The third scene is Fluttershy and Big Mac at Canterlot General leading a division of medics and other military reinforcements needed by the besiged hospital. She is met with enthusiasm, and after assuring the soldiers out from that they're nightmare is over goes into the ER's proper where she is appalled by the amount of dead.
After exchanging words with Bones and Faith, she ends up finding her way to a small table with Ember and aids the changeling in winding bandages. While she does this, Admiral Gold Star finds his way in and gets into an argument with Bones (Because, you know Kirk and Bones always argued), and eventually talks to Fluttershy about the fact he crashed his ship in Ponyville next to the Everfree Forest.
Scene four is Evening defending his home from the window in his attic. He isn't alone in defending, however, as a hooded pony has been fighting in the street near his house against the mercs. The hooded pony is challenged by a group of mercs, including four JSS Jaegers (Big, scary ponies who are more like tanks from L4D or Bulldozers from Payday), and it is found out that he is in fact a Shadowbolt Renegade.
The Renegade battles the Jaegers and normal mercs, and almost wins until he gets tripped up and is caught by one of the Jaegers. When asked if he has any last words he asks 'what took you so long?' prompting Captain Noire, who has just shown up to liberate the area, to make a smartass remake about needing her coffee. Evening then rushes down to the street, and confronts the Renegade, who turns out to, in fact, be Epic Prose (my oc, and editor/publisher/friend to Daring).
Scene five, the final scene.
Prose, Twilight, Diamond, and AJ all discuss how to bring the battle to an end.
Prose argues the best way to do it is to capture Blueblood, which is agreed upon by all but Diamond who believes they should just kill him. Twilight gives the go ahead to capture him, and informs Prose that he should gather a team as he will be the one to lead it. Prose agrees, and goes to get his two choices.
The first, is Daring, who he trusts with his life in the absence of a fellow Renegade, and his second is Dee Seven who knows how JSS operates.
Together, they infiltrate Blueblood's final stand. Daring and Dee move off to distract JSS and Prose gets the honor of capturing the rogue Archduke, which he does after being wounded by Blueblood in single combat.
The chapter (And the first arc of Canterlot in Flames) ends with their escape, and Prose passing out on the way to medical attention.
That wraps that up, the next blog shall be Chapter 9's announcement!
Until then!
~Sylvian
img02.deviantart.net/46c0/i/2014/341/8/8/payday_2_bulldozer_ponified_by_newsupaluigibros-d88z44l.png
^Until I commission a better image, that will be a good representation of a Jaeger.