//------------------------------// // Chapter 47: A Mare's Fury // Story: Into the Black: A Mare's Tale // by shirotora //------------------------------// The very ground shook as the two superpowers collided again and again. Xander was still adjusting to the power he stole from Celestia, but he was still much stronger the Twilight. Regardless of their strength difference, Twilight was much more skilled. Obviously a result of her fighting almost constantly over the past year. Xander once again found himself on the receiving end of a magic blast, slamming him into the ground. He thanked his indestructible body as once again the blow would have killed him. This pony wasn't holding back. “Get your ass back up here so I can beat you some more,” Twilight hissed. “You can't win. Twilight. I can't die.” “Then I'll make you wish you could!” Twilight fired a powerful lightning bolt at the undead alicorn. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Rainbow Dash made her way toward the Ponyville Hospital with a weakened Celestia in her hooves. The princess was heavy and it slowed Rainbow's flying, so taking her to Canterlot through a battlefield was a very bad idea. The only other hospital nearby was the one she tends to spend a part of her weekends at. Her journey finally ended as she landed in front of the building and collapsed, panting for air. “A little help!” Rainbow called. Instantly, four orderlies rushed out and, out of habit, started trying to examine the rainbow pegasus. “Hey, not me, the Princess!” They stared dumbly until RD's words registered. They looked at the wrinkled, gray maned alicorn in wide-eyed disbelief. “W-what happened?” one of the medical staff finally managed to ask. “She's been drained of her magic,” Rainbow said solemnly. “No...” all four of the orderlies gasped in horror simultaneously. “Hush now,” Celestia wheezed, “I'm not dead yet.” “Get her inside, now!” one of the doctors barked. The shriveled sun ruler was rushed in quicker than even the prismatic pegasus could follow. Dash dropped to her haunches and sighed. She needed to catch her breath after carrying the princess all that way with her wings wrapped in metal. Her wings needed a rest, so she released the straps and let the blades fall off. She stretched her wings, reveling in the freedom. “Rainbow? What are you doing here?” asked a changeling. “Ruby?” the changeling answered the pegasus' question with a nod, “The princess got... hurt... What about you?” Ruby tensed up, nervous, “Uh... Rarity got hurt...” “What?” Rainbow Dash half shouted, “How?” “One of the Dratali that was sent here to take the town hostage somehow slipped away and hid in the pantry of Sugarcube corner,” explained Ruby. “And Rarity found him?” Rainbow ventured. Ruby shook her head solemnly, “No... Sweetie Belle did. She's... she's dead Rainbow. He killed her and stabbed Rarity in the eye.” “What?” the cyan mare asked in disbelief, “No... this isn't funny, Ruby! This... oh Celestia, no...” she didn't even try hiding her tears. “Move!” called yet another familiar voice, “Injured dragon coming through!” “Dragon?” Rainbow whispered, fear evident in her voice, “Spike! What happened?” “He was hit with two of those explosive rockets and was chased through the Whitetail Woods by aliens,” answered the showpony. “Spike? Are you okay?” Dash asked frantically, running alongside Trixie as they went inside the hospital. “I... I'll be fine, babe...” mumbled the drake, “Just need a... whazit called... nap... yeah...” “Rainbow?” Ruby held Rainbow back by her shoulder, “Let the doctors do what they do. Come on.” Rainbow let her changeling friend lead her out before speaking again. “First the princess, then Rarity and Sweetie... oh goddess, Scootaloo and Applebloom are gonna be crushed... now Spike,” Tears were falling freely from the pegasus' eyes, “How many of my other friends are hurt or dead?” Her worry and fear quickly turned to a righteous fury. Without another word, she went back to where she landed with the princess. She glanced at her wing blades for a moment before moving past them and taking Celestia's mirror-like blade in her hooves. She gave it a few practice swings standing on her hind legs. Satisfied, and with Excalibur in hoof, she jetted back toward the distant battlefield with a fire in her eyes. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- “Fighter units, pull back to the cruisers. Firefly, I'm not sure what kind of upgrades your fighter got, but give our guys cover.” Admiral Gibson ordered. “Copy that. Firefly moving to cover,” Firefly complied. Luna couldn't help but be impressed with the efficiency of the Alliance Navy. She had watched as ships coordinated to relieve one another in order to give the unicorns a rest. Of course, it wasn't flawless. Two more of their ships had been destroyed, taking more than one hundred of her subjects and over two thousand Alliance soldiers. Still, with the Dratali's one advantage taken away, the Alliance was winning. Luna was certain at least two more of their ships would be lost, but the enemy was losing ships faster. If they could hold out until the reinforcements ar- “Admiral! FTL signatures detected!” called a Korg woman from one of the consoles to the side. The Admiral smiled, “Well it's about goddamn time...” the smile vanished when he saw several dozen Dratali warships appear in the distance, “Dear god...” Immediately, the Dratali began pummeling the nearest Alliance cruiser. In a matter of moments, both the ship's shield generator and the unicorns protecting it were pushed past their limits and their protection failed. Two warheads burrowed deep into the vessel and detonated, obliterating the ship and killing hundreds more. Luna closed her eyes, fighting back her tears. She had never seen so much death, and doubted Celestia had either. Thousands were dying in the fleet alone, and on the ground must have been worse. She could almost hear them calling out for help before their lives were snuffed out. “No...” she whispered. “Princess?” Gibson looked back at the royal, or at least where she used to be. In a flash of indigo light, Luna was floating just outside the ship. No more death. She closed her eyes, focusing on her magic. Deep within herself, a lock was placed on the majority of her vast magical reserves, keeping it at a controllable level. For the first time since Nightmare Moon, that lock was released. The surge of power shook the ship behind her as arcs of indigo lightning danced from her body. With a scowl, she exploded toward the enemy fleet, gathering terrifying amounts of magic in her horn. Where Celestia fights with grace and precision, Luna fought like a minotaur that got kicked in the scrotum; it may not have been efficient, but you didn't want to be unlucky enough to be caught in her path. The magic she gathered was unleashed in a devastating blast that tore through a cruiser and the frigate behind it. The dark alicorn dodged and weaved around glowing bolts of charged particles on her way toward the center of the enemy fleet. A squadron of fighters moved in to intercept the incoming princess. Their deadly bolts often coming close enough to singe her fur. It didn't matter, though. There was only one pony that had ever out flown the ruler of the night, and he died over a thousand years ago. Of course she wasn't quite as fast as Rainbow Dash, but she could still fly circles around her and every one of the Wonderbolts at the same time. A few fighters were no challenge, and Luna was quickly behind them, unleashing a torrent of raw magical energy and destroying them with ease. Her assault combined with the Alliance bombardment once again brought the enemy advance to a standstill. Luna, though she was glad to be helping, prayed the Alliance reinforcements would arrive soon. Despite her massive reserves, she could feel it draining fast. It took an enormous amount of energy to destroy one of those ships, and even she couldn't keep up attacks of that magnitude for long. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Another powerful blast shook the ground as the undead alicorn was pummeled into the dirt. Slowly, Xander stood back up, laughing of all things. He looked up at the panting Nightmare. He could tell she was exhausted, while he was still running at full. Her attacks weren't even hurting very much anymore. It was time to go on the offensive. As Twilight charged her magic for another spell, Xander launched his own. It tore through the possessed pony's fireball, striking her square in the chest. Pressing the advantage, he teleported above his opponent and swung a magical blade. Twilight instinctively brought up her metal hoof to defend herself only for it to be cleaved in two. The blade was morphed into a spear and thrown at the corrupted unicorn. The amulet around her neck saved her life as the ethereal weapon struck it instead of her heart. “It seems you're tiring Miss Sparkle,” Xander chided. “Fuck you!” Twilight groaned. “Eloquent,” the lich teased as he delivered another bolt of magic. Twilight dodged to the right and launched a bolt of her own, striking Xander square in the face. She gasped in shock at the grin plastered on the corpse's face. “It would seem I'm adjusting to Celestia's power quite nicely don't you think?” “I got plenty more where that- Agh!” Twilight was cut off by the beam of magical energy striking the alicorn amulet. With an explosion, the amulet shattered launching the unicorn back to the ground. Pain lanced through her body as her senses came back to her in full. Without the amulet, the Nightmare receded... or most of it did. One of her eyes was still slitted, and her wings remained, but her own mind returned in full. “Well,” Xander scoffed, “Its been fun. Goodbye, Miss Sparkle.” Xander's horn lit up with magical power as he charged a spell he knew would finish the job. He leaned his head toward his downed adversary... and screamed in agony as his horn went soaring through the air in the wake of a multicolor streak. He felt the bony appendage growing back, but much slower than it should have. The former unicorn didn't have time to ponder this before a cyan blur slammed into him, plunging a shimmering blade into his chest, and a pair of furious magenta eyes glared into his. Xander kicked out with his hind legs, separating him from the furious pegasus. He readied a spell with his newly regrown horn and let loose a bolt of magic as Rainbow Dash charged at him again. He grinned as he watched her barrel right toward it only for her to cut through it with the sword like it was air. He instinctively brought up his right hoof to defend himself only for it to be cleaved in two. The severed limb didn't return to its owner like it should have. Instead, it turned to ash in the air. Xander's eyes widened in fear as he watched the appendage vanish in a cloud. That fear turned to relief when he saw bone and tissue slowly regrowing from the stump. Xander laughed, “It seems that, even with that sword, you can't-” His head turned to ash as it soared through the air. Excalibur flashed in the light of the sun as it carved the alicorn to pieces. “This is for Twilight!” a leg turned to ash. “This is for Celestia!” another leg was severed. “This is for Rarity!” His hind legs disintegrated as the ancient blade tore through his abdomen. “This is for Spike!” the torso was split in two, the right half blowing away in the wind. “This is for Sweetie Belle!” her blade flashed again and again until all that was left was a coal black heart falling to the ground. “And this is for everyone else that died because of you!” With a great swing, Rainbow hurled the legendary blade, piercing the heart and embedding itself into the ground. “Burn in Tartarus you son of a bitch,” she spat as the last piece of the evil sorcerer turned to a pile of dust.