//------------------------------//
// The Armageddon War, Part 1 
// Story: The Legacy Of Darkness 
// by Darkness 1 
//------------------------------//

As Snowshy and Rainbow Dash got closer to the conflict, at least 100 soldiers of Arrovak's army,  saw Snowshy and Rainbow Dash, and withdrew from the conflict to stop them from rejoining the fight. As Snowshy, Rainbow Dash, and Arrovak's soldiers that had come to stop them, got closer and closer, They drew their weapons, and then as they all got within striking distance of each other, their weapons clashed, and banged, as some of Arrovak's soldiers, couldn't react to Rainbow Dash's and Snowshy's attacks quick enough, and were cut down. They all fought hard, one blow after another, but this group of Arrovak's soldiers, were no match, for Snowshy and Rainbow Dash, as they made quick work of the group, and continued to run towards Twilight and the others, and help them, and the allies, to win this fight. Meanwhile, while Snowshy and Rainbow Dash were still on their way, Twilight and the others, were in heavy battle, with Arrovak's army, and many of Arrovak's soldiers, were being felled like leaves. Until, all of a sudden, they all backed off, and retreated a good distance away, as a horrible screech resounded through the air, and a bellowing warcry.
It was at this moment, that Snowshy and Rainbow Dash, had got over to Twilight and others, and they all saw each other, and everypony was looking at Snowshy and Rainbow Dash, in anticipation, and Rarity said, "Parallex??"
Snowshy shook her head, "Not dead, but missing a right eye. Arrovak called his attention, and he had gone to Arrovak's fort."
Twilight said, "As I thought, I knew I heard Arrovak's voice."
Applejack said, "Hate to break up the conversation, but we got more trouble!"
Everypony then put their attention, back to Arrovak's armies, and saw a massive air fleet, of what looked like gargoyles, and 208, rather large beasts, with riders on them, as eight of them, were much larger than the rest, and were carrying an arsenal of weapons, and Arrovak's flag colors on a pole.
Rainbow Dash said, "Well, there goes the war in our favor.... And those bigger ones, they look like commanders of some sort...."
Princess Celestia said, "They do, but where is their general?"
Fluttershy said, "Don't say that!"
Applejack said, "Fluttershy's right, let's not make it worse for ourselves! It ain't over yet, we are still breathin!"
Silver Sky spoke up this time, and said, "As long as we are, we still have a chance at this! Let them keep sending in more reinforcements! Let them come! I'll just keep knocking them down!"
The queen of the Powdersmith Ponies, said, "Well, said indeed, I like the way you all think!" She then said, "My army! Do not stop the attack! CHAAAARRRGGGEEEE!"
Arrovak's commanders, then blew their horns, as the riders, the army, and the gargoyles, charged at Twilight and the others, and they clashed with one another. Bodies of both sides, were struck, impaled, thrown about, beat down, stabbed, beheaded, or sliced up. Arrovak's gargoyles then came in, and started wreaking havoc within Twilight and the other's armies, and the odds, started to stack up in Arrovak's army's favor, as Twilight and the others army, were beginning to suffer heavy losses.
As they all were in deep battle, Princess Luna issued out an order, and said, "To those of you that can fly! Fly up, and start taking care of those gargoyles! We can't suffer this many losses much longer!"
All those that could fly, nodded, and took to the skies, as they clashed with Arrovak's gargoyles. Meanwhile, back on the ground, as Princess Celestia finished off those that were trying to attack her, she had a moment to spare, as she looked around the battlefield, and saw the devastation Arrovak's combined forces had wreaked upon the allied army, and she saw how fast their numbers were being decimated. and she said to herself, "And so, it ends here then....." She then raised her head high, and said, "IF WE ARE TO MEET OUR END HERE! THEN THE ENEMY WILL KNOW OUR FURY! AS MANY OF THEM AS POSSIBLE, WILL GO DOWN WITH US!" Everypony had heard, and they fought even harder, as they all prepared to meet their end, and as all seemed lost, a bird screech, was heard throughout the battlefield, followed a moment later, by a flurry of feathers. Everypony knew what it was and cheered: the Griffons had arrived!
A couple Griffons hovered a little off the ground from Twilight and the others, who had landed back on the ground, as one of them said, "Hopefully we are not too late."
Twilight shook her head, and said, "No, you guys came just in time."
The Griffons nodded, and one them said, "Well then, lets show these punks, what happens when you piss off the Griffons!"
They all said in unison, "YEAH!!" And they flew up, and started clashing with the gargoyles, and the tide of the war, had been shifted once more, as everypony, with renewed vigor, gave it all they had, and met the enemy head-on. A commander, made it's way towards Twilight, and Silver Sky, intercepted him, and said, "Why don't you pick on somepony your own size?"
In a gnarly, deep voice, the hideous commander said, "Hah! You are no bigger than the rest of these fodder! But fine, if you wish to throw your life away, that I shall grant it to you!"
Silver Sky said, "Not if you die first, you won't!"
The two drew their weapons, and they met each other's blows, and engaged in heavy combat. Meanwhile, Twilight and the rest of allied forces, were still fighting bravely, and things were starting to look up, when a horn blew, and a massive figure, the size of a skyscraper, and a massive army, was behind it, as it began to charge towards the fight.
Princess Celestia said, "Is that Arrovak?"
Princess Luna said, "No! He is much too small for it to be Arrovak! No, this must be the general of Arrovak's armies!"
Applejack said, "Prepare yourselves!"
As the army got closer and closer, the general and his army, began combat with the allied forces. The general, with eight hooves, and massive wings, stomped and crushed anything in his path, and then he saw Twilight and the others, and began to make his way toward them. Princess Luna said, "You guys take on the general! You all are better equipped for such a foe! We'll keep Arrovak's army off your back! Just take that bastard down!"
Applejack said, "You heard the lady! Let's take him down!"
All, except for Silver Sky, who was still in heavy combat with one of Arrovak's commanders, made their way towards the general, while the allied forces, kept the rest of Arrovak's armies, preoccupied. As the two got to each other, they met each others blows, and were sent reeling back a little, as the general said, "Hmph....you all have some strength left in you....good. At least this won't bore me too badly."
Rainbow Dash said, "Would you just shut up, and die already!"
The general said nothing more, as he drew four swords, and everypony readied themselves, and ran towards one another, and blocked each others blows, one after another. The General said, "Is that all? Is that all you can do?"
Rarity said, "Quiet! And stop talking!"
Everypony then focused on trying to break the general's defenses, and he reacted with a massive side blow, and a cyclone of spinning attacks, and it sent everypony backwards. The general laughed, and charged towards Twilight and others, and everypony quickly got back up, and dodged his attack, and he was surprised by this, and before he could turn around, Twilight and others, went behind him, and started to attack him from, all directions. The general screamed in pain, turned around, and sent everypony back, by using all four of his swords, in a massive crash to the ground, which created large cracks in the earth as well. As everypony panted, including the general, he said, "Well done, you have found a way through my defenses, but any enemy of mine, has only ever gotten one chance to kill me, and that was yours! Now, it's my turn!"
As everypony barely caught their breath, the general threw two of his swords, in front of him, and chanted a few words, and the swords exploded, creating a massive hole in the ground, and extended his wings, and flew towards them, as Twilight, and the others, prepared to defend themselves. However, Rainbow Dash realized, that the general would be too quick, and said, "Wait! We need each other on this one! Call forth the sword! And deal the killing blow to this freak!"
Everypony stopped trying to defend themselves, and focused their self-confidence, as the massive sword, was called forth once more, and it this time, it split into several weapons, and everypony took parts of the sword, that matched their colors, as they readied themselves for the right time to strike. The general saw this, but continue towards them anyways, and as he came close enough to Twilight and others to strike, they both met each others blows, but then, a shattering sound, was heard, and a bright blinding bright light, that lasted a few moments, and a cry of pain. As the light faded, Twilight and the others, saw that they had stabbed the general all over his chest, and saw that his swords, lay on the ground, in many pieces, as the general was taken aback, and stunned, as he started to make dying noises, and everypony took their swords out of the general, as he made one last sound, and started to stumble backwards. As the general was continuing to stumble backwards, he came to the edge of the hole he had made, and said, "Im....Im.....Im.....Impossible! I can't.....believe....it!" And he barely finished these words, when he slipped off the edge of the hole, and fell into it, as his scream of terror, could be heard, as Twilight and the others, watched him go down, until they couldn't see him anymore.
It was then, at this time, they could hear the breaking of bones, and loud 'thud', and then silence, and then, everypony cheered as Pinkie Pie said, "Well, you better believe it! And you called yourself a general!"
Just then, a massive red surge of energy came from the hole, and went into the sky, and then, violently came back down, and crashed back into the hole, as the hole sealed itself shut, as everything, and everypony, went silent. As Twilight looked around at the battlefield, she saw, that Silver Sky was standing over, a now-dead commander, and the rest of Arrovak's army, were beginning to flee in terror, for they too, must have saw the general's death.
Twilight and others rejoined the rest of the allied army, and they all began to chase down Arrovak's army, and killing all those caught up the stampede of hurling weapons, gunshots, or impalements, until Violet Winter said, "Wait! Let them go!"
Everypony stopped, and Princess Celestia said, "Why? They are only going to go back to Arrovak's fort, to regroup, and then they will come back, with an even bigger army! We must put them down here!" And as she finished speaking, she began to charge forward, but Princess Luna held her back, as Princess Celestia said, "LET ME GO SISTER! WE HAVE TO END THIS HERE!"
Princess Luna said, "Listen to yourself! You are beginning to sound no better than them sister! We are all better than that! Let them go!"
As Princess Celestia continued to struggle, Twilight said, "Please! Princess Celestia! Listen to reason! We cannot take on Arrovak's fort even if we wanted to!"
Rarity said, "That's right, plus, we need to account for our losses as well!"
Princess Celestia stopped struggling, thought about this, and realized it to be true. She then sighed, and collapsed to her knees, as she broke out into tears, and she said, "I'm....I'm so sorry everypony....I just....wanted....so desperately.....to make them...pay...for what they've.....done....for the destruction they've caused...........and for those they have killed.......I.......I don't know what came over me........I was so.....overcome.....with grief.....and hatred towards.....Arrovak and his army.....I wanted to them to...as we all have suffered from them and Arrovak.....because of all of this....."
Everypony went over to Princess Celestia, and began to console her, as Rarity said, "It's alright now.....and believe me, they will pay....but we need to honor and bury the dead.....and call in reinforcements."
Princess Celestia wiped her tears, sniffled, and said, "You're are all right.....we must think about what we must do right now.....we will all see, that justice is done soon, but we must do what we can right now...." She then picked herself back up, as everypony took a step back from her, as she said to everypony, "Everypony....I'm am sorry....but right now....we need to recover....bury and honor our dead....call reinforcements, and plan our next strategy and plan of attack in this war."
The queen, who was slightly injured, came up to Princess Celestia, put a hoof on her shoulder, and said, "Never have I seen such caring and compassion, in such a leader such as yourself....you really do care for your world, and for all those that call you 'Princess', and I am honored to fight alongside such a leader. But you are right, we need to do what we can right now..."
Fluttershy said to the allied forces, and said, "You heard the Princess! Do what we can right now!"
Princess Celestia said, "We'll make camp, a couple miles from here and we will plan out, what to next!"
Everypony began to spread out, as some began to head towards the area, where camp would be set up, while others helped each other get up, or began performing basic medical attention, while the rest, began to get shovels, from their packs, and began to dig graves and make headstones. Princess Celestia and the others, spread out as well, and helped out where they could, as everypony had their own thoughts, and worries, as to what was going to happen next.