Chapter 17
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Isaac looked on in horror as the ginormous figure made its way around the corner of the valley, he stood completely still as the army readied themselves for the incoming danger. The dark beast was easily over 500 meters high, it's sheer size sending a shadow over the entire valley. It looked in similar fashion to a squid, but with 5 large claws digging into the ground and elevating it from the ground and causing it to stand vertically. A sleek black skin on the Leviathan gave it an ominous sheen, and 3 giant eyes, completely red and each one the size of a full-grown dragon. Under the legs Isaac noticed several large teeth in a circular fashion, shifting with each movement of the gargantuan monster. Isaac felt fear strike through his heart as he gazed at the Leviathan, its giant legs lifting it's body from the ground and causing it to go even higher. It's spiked outer body easily intimidating, and it's sheer size dwarfing any other living thing. The unicorn shook at the mere thought of how he was going to get near the Leviathan, let alone kill it.
"Isaac! Let's go, come on!" Isaac left his trance of the Leviathan as he heard Shining Armour's voice, beckoning the colt to follow him towards the rest of the army heading towards a large flat area near the bottom of the hill. Isaac took a last quick look towards the Leviathan, he could make out the rest of the opposing army a large distance in front of it. Heading down the hill, he checked his armor to make sure everything was in place. Isaac took a spot inbetween Celestia and Luna, who were both in the center of the front line. Luna wore dark blue armor, and Celestia wore armor out of modified pure gold. Behind Isaac, his entire battalion was waiting behind him, ready to form their strategy the moment they got close to the enemy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO-LUmfowLw (music to set the mood, personal favorite of mine)
Shining Armor stood next to Isaac for a moment, handing him a small metal device, "Hook this up to your ear, it'll let us communicate through the battle. Celestia and Luna have them, too." After hooking up the device with ease, Shining Armor made his way in front of the line, trotting up and down the area whilst speaking.
"Alright, Attention!" Shining Armor yelled out to the army, instantly the murmurs throughout the crowd were silenced as Shining Armour walked slowly along the front line, amplifying his voice with magic as he spoke.
"My friends! I stand with you today in the face of danger!" Shining took a brief pause before continuing.
"The coming battle shall decide the fate of Equestria! But we stand strong! Together as soldiers, comrades and friends!" He listened for the cheers and battle cries of the army before continuing once more.
"They will attack until our last city falls, but we will not fall! This day we fight! This day we succeed! As long as there is one pony left of the field of battle, we are not beaten!"
Isaac thought to himself while still listening to his leaders speech, the ponies behind all readying themselves for the charge. Battle cries were heard once more as Shining pointed his hoof forward.
"For the Princesses!"
"For my friends...."
"For Freedom!"
"For a new life...."
"For Equestria!"
"For Fluttershy."
"Attack!!!!"
The army instantly let out a tremendous battle cry as they began to charge down the hill, Isaac made haste alongside the two princesses and led the attack just behind Shining Armour, the hill was large but not very steep, so the soldiers could easily make their way down. The opposing army led the opposition although the Leviathan kept its distance a few hundred meters behind, although the sheer size made it feel as if it was in the very center of the battle. Isaac noticed the opposition begin to equal his speed and move into a charge, fear stuck him right through the heart, but Isaac also found strength in his determination to stay alive, and to save his new home. As the two forces became closer, bolts of magic and arrows flew through the air, unicorns creating conjoined barriers to keep the forces safe, but some got through and brought down a small amount of soldiers. A final cry from Shining Armour was heard before Isaac's group formed around him, and both armies collided with the Leviathan bringing a mighty roar in the background.
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"Oh my....That's....A big....Monster..." Fluttershy squeaked as she curled up into a ball, her mane covering her eyes so she couldn't see the Leviathan in the distance. Twilight and the rest looked on as the army brought themselves into formation, Isaac, Princess Celestia, Luna and Shining Armour all at the front of the mass of soldiers, Isaac's bladed armor easily recognizable as well as the large orb stuck to his back. Fluttershy took her eyes away from the walking, squid-like creature at the other end of the valley and focused on the speech being given by Shining Armor, the armies cries startling her slightly as they yelled in a synchronized fashion. A few drops of rain matting her coat as she watched the soldiers ready themselves. The six friends looked on as Shining Armor led the charge down the hillside, towards the dead plateau, and towards the Leviathan.
"Come on! We have to get down there!" Twilight commanded, already heading down the hill at a steady pace.
"Surely you cannot be serious!" Rarity exclaimed, looking at the rest of her friends to do something. Applejack nodded and ran towards Twilight, placing herself inbetween the lavender mare and the battlefield below.
"Hold on now, we can't just go runnin' in there." Applejack expected more of a fight from her friend, but logic and reason always gets the best of her as Twilight was forced to think twice.
"But what can we do? The elements are supposed to protect Equestria! How can we do that if we can't even fight?" Twilight felt a tear run down her cheek as Applejack embraced her, holding her friend close as she beckoned the rest of her friends to follow. Rainbow Dash picked up the still Fluttershy as she lay scarred by the sudden battle taking place below them. Twilight quickly regained her bearings and followed Applejack around the valley, as heading straight through would attract a lot of unwanted attention.
"So what's the plan Applejack?"
"Yeah? Whatta we do AJ?"
Applejack took a deep sigh before responding. "Ah honestly, have no idea. Ahm making this up as ah go along, once we get closer to the fight, i'll think of somethin'."
"It's alright Applejack, everything will be A-O-K!" Pinkie squeaked, bouncing up and down near the back.
"Pinkie, how can you be so happy? Can't you see what's happening?" Fluttershy said, quietly but sternly, Pinkie only smiled and spoke in her usual tone when she responded.
"Don't be so down Fluttershy! Once this is over, we're gonna have the best victory party ever!"
The mares chuckled quietly as they made their way around the side of the large area, though their smiles we're short lived as they passed a soldiers body, brought down by a flash of deadly magic, then another, and another, and another. Soon they were passing a body every few moments as the battle raged on across the land. "Twilight, can ya see him?" Applejack yelled, her voice almost drowned by the shouts and cries of the battle, and the Leviathan's roars as it got ever closer.
"No I can't...Wait, there!" Twilight pointed towards a mass of green and silver armor, surrounded in a piercing white bubble. Inside the center lay Isaac, pushing with way through with the soul bomb, and his personal army fighting off the enemy and blocking arrows and spells.
"Come on Irrie...You can do it." Fluttershy said quietly to herself, praying that the colt would somehow hear her voice. As the battle raged on, the six mars stood and watched helplessly as the armies collided, and the Leviathan moved ever closer to the fight.
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"Shining, how are we holding up!?" Isaac yelled into his earpiece, hoping the transmission would get through, a few seconds passed before he heard a response.
"We're definitely more than a match for these guys! Celestia's locked in a duel with Chrysalis, the Changeling queen. I haven't seen Luna in a while, and I just lost a dozen colts fighting off a battalion of savages!" Shining yelled back between grunts as he shot spells at incoming hostiles, Around him Isaac saw his army fending off wave after wave of enemies, some unicorns were hit by a series of arrows that pierced through a gap in his shield. Some survived and were fleeing the the inner layers of the circle. Isaac noticed the hole in their defense and promptly brought up barriers in the spaces. But the strength that went into making the soul bomb could only last so long, and Isaac was soon feeling the effects of using too much magic.
"The Leviathan's getting closer, how long until we finish them off!?"
"We should be done within about 5 minutes, the Tribal forces ran off as soon as we started targeting them. I doubt they'll be coming back!"
"Perfect! Listen, once their forces scatter, you pull the army out!" A few more seconds delayed Shining Armor's response, a crackly reply was barely audible as Isaac pressed onwards.
"Argh! Dammit, Luna's been hit! Get her somewhere safe, now! Isaac, what do you mean 'pull out'!?"
"Nopony can take down this thing but me! I'm not going to let you waste lives distracting it, that's an order!" Shining paused for a few seconds whilst taking down a group of changelings, grunting as he got grazed by a claw. He took a second to look back up at the Leviathan, it was almost at their position, and as it took another step, flattened a group of savages, changelings and ponies alike.
"Alright, but this better work!" A few more minutes passed as Isaac's army pushed through the last blockade of forces, finally reaching the Leviathan, he stood near one of it's gigantic legs as his forces felt it's presence strike fear in them. Meanwhile, Shining Armour had met up with Celestia, who had dealt with Chrysalis and was now aiding Shining Armor's forces as they fought the last remnants of the opposing army. Spell's still sparking through the air, and the clashing of blades as they smashed and slid against one another. Shining looked around and spoke to Celestia.
"They're scattering! How much longer!?" Celestia gave a quick reply after sending a large amount of savages through the air.
"Has Isaac made it to the Leviathan?" She looked around until Shining Armor pointed towards one of the Leviathan's massive legs, noticing the green and silver coloring of Isaac's forces, he heard a crackly response through his communicator.
"I'm here Princess, get everyone out! now!" Celestia nodded to Shining Armor as he made the call to retreat. The hundreds of fighting soldiers quickly sprinted out of the main battleground, carrying wounded and injured towards makeshift emergency rooms. Shining noticed that Isaac's forces we're still underneath the towering beast, which was now very slowly raising one of its huge, clawed limbs.
Back over at the center of the valley, Isaac noticed that the army was falling back. Taking this opportunity, he quickly ordered his forces towards their starting point. But not before calling out to the fastest runner in his legion. After quickly removing the blades off of a certain soldiers forelegs, Isaac attached them to his own and told the scared colt to run, as fast as he could back to the main army. After he had left, Isaac took one last look towards the battlefield before noticing one of the Leviathan's legs rise up into the air. Taking this opportunity, he quickly boosted himself up with his magic and latched onto the towering beast's leg and began a fast climb.
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"Fluttershy! Look!" Twilight cried out as she saw her brother lead his army away from the Leviathan, with Isaac's forces following close behind. Looking around, she couldn't see Isaac in the group anywhere. Becoming very worried, the six mares looked around every part of the battlefield, searching for their missing friend. Rainbow Dash spotted the black beast raise a leg, and on the bottom of one of its claws, she spotted Isaac, his silver and green armor clearly visible on the Leviathans' pitch black limb.
"Look! There he is!" Her friends quickly looked towards where Rainbow was pointing, mouths agape as they saw the colt scaling the monster, his soul bomb still firmly attached to his side. Despite the danger of battle being no longer present, the six ponies still had no idea how to deal with the current situation. So they simply sat, and watched as their friend climbed, slowly but surely. Towards his goal.
"Fluttershy, ah'm sorry, but I don't...."
"It's okay Applejack....It's okay..." The two mares huddled together as they watched as the event unfolded, they sat for a few seconds before Twilight began to move in the opposite direction, towards the army. Which was now tending to wounded and watching the same point of interest.
"Twilight? Where are you going?" Rainbow asked, curiously.
"We have to do something, I'm going back to help the injured, then we'll figure what to do next while we're there."
The six took one last glance that the Leviathan before making their way back towards the remaining forces of the army. After a brief run towards them, they finally made it back to the other end of the valley, where Shining Armor spotted them. Angry and tired from battle, he made his way over to his sister and, while she expected a talking to and a yell from her big brother, was instead greeted by a tight hug.
"What are you doing here? I told you to stay with the others..."
"We had to help somehow Shiny..Please, let us help." Shining Armor showed no desire to resist the help, leading Twilight and her friends into a nearby tent, they immediately set to work on healing the wounded soldiers. Fluttershy, meanwhile, stayed outside. Staring off into the distance at the Leviathan, moving ever closer to them. She thought of Isaac, and cried at the thought of losing him. She felt Applejack place a hoof around her shoulder as the two looked off towards the other end of the plateau.
"He'll be okay sugarcube, you'll see."