Chapter 5: Legends Reborn
"Honor Guard! We must hold this city at all costs," I yelled to my my personal guard, "It's us or them!"
"We're with your, sir," said Captain Stormcry, as well as the ten elite guards under his command, "Glory or a glorious death!"
As I turned to face the gates of Canterlot, the Changelings broke through. I unsheathed the Sword of Solstice and gave my men the order.
"CHARGE!"
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Meanwhile, back at Elegance's barracks...
"Twilight! Get to the castle," yelled Fate as she scored a direct hit on a Changeling that had been coming at her, "GO!"
Without further hesitation, Twilight took to the skies and flew almost as fast as Rainbow Dash towards the castle. Thankful she had listened, Fate returned to the task at hand,
The whole of Canterlot was surrounded by thousands of Changelings, if not millions, it was hard to really tell, being in the middle of it all. She took down another one just before it managed to jump onto her. What was strange was when they died, they just turned into puffs of black smoke.
"Elegance," Fate called out, but to which she recieved no reply. "Elegance, where are you!" She once again recieved no reply, and feared the worst. Still, if she was next, she was going to take as many of these evil Changlings as she could with her.
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"Where is Prince Winter," yelled Celestia at one of her guards to overcome the noise of the fighting.
"I have no idea, your highness," replied the guard just seconds before he was overcome by the changlings. It took Celestia a second to realize that the oly thigs in the throne room were her and about thirty Changelings.
She fired off a magical sphere of pure energy that dispatched them, and took a moment to rest. The moment the changelings had attacked, about half of the Royal Guard had turned into Changelings, catching her and the real guards by superise.
Celestia lifted her head to see the room was once again filled with Changelings and an exact replica of herself that was charging a spell. But there was nothing Celestia could do. Despite the fact the she had nearly limitless magic reserves, her method of spell casting left her extremely drained. She closed her eyes, wait for obivion.
Suddenly, a bright light shone in from the enterance to the throne room. Celestia was luck she closed her eyes, or she would've been temporarily blinded like all the Changelings in the room. She heard the copy of herself release it's spell into a wall before she opened her eyes.
All that was in the room now was her and one other pony, an alicorn, but an alicorn of myth and legend who had disappeared nearly five hundred years ago, just after helping stop the last major Changeling invasion at her and Queen Fate's side.
"Get up," he said to her in an almost angelic voice, "Today, Queen Chrysalis will know what true defeat is."
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"Winter," Fate exclaimed as she reached the front gates of Canterlot, "Is that you?"
"Queen Fate," I exclaimed, "I was wondering when I run into you. Men, get Fate into the city! These Changelings want her dead as much as they want the Princesses dead!"
My men and I formed a perimiter around the Changeling Queen and quickly escorted her into Canterlot, keeping the Changelings at bay all the while.
"It was nice to see you again," said Fate as she blasted a Changeling with her magic, "Shame it isn't under better circumstances."
"Indeed," I said, "Hurry to the castle, though. I'm not sure how much longer my men and I can hold the gate!"
Fate nodded and began making her way to Canterlot Castle. She noticed most of the Royal Guards that were left were doing the same. She encountered a few badly injured ones, who looked in fear at her. She ignored this and placed them on her back, determined to make sure that as many as possible survived.
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I held the gate for a few more minutes, but since the Canterlot Guard was in full retreat, more Changelings committed to the gate, so I was forced to retreat, but did so slowly to buy the city more time.
Managed to cut their numbers in half by the time we reached the castle, but that still left thousands. The moment the heavy castle doors closed, I took amoment to rest and observe my surroundings.
The keep was filled the mares, non-guard stallions, colts and fillies of Canterlot. If those doors gave way, hundreds of ponies would die. I needed to think of something, and fast.
Suddenly, the idea struck me. "Everypony! These doors are strong, but they will not hold forever! Royal Guards, I want half of you to escort the civilian ponies to the basement and defend them, the rest are to remain here with my men in case that door gives way, understood!?"
Everypony in the throne room nodded. "Okay! Quickly, I don't know how long we have!"
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It took few minutes to clear the throne room, but all the ponies were safe in the basement area of the castle, th furthest point from any point of entry. The door was already starting to creak and bend with the weight of the Changelings pushing against it.
"Honor Guard, prepare to go to dragon form," I commanded. All my remaining guards nodded and readied their transformation spell.
"It's really that bad," asked Fate in a worried tone.
"I doubt even I'll be alive in an hour," I said honestly.
The door made a rather loud groan as the hinges partially came off. The next push would without a doubt bring down the door. I decided to give one last speeh.
"Though Canterlot may fall today, the rest of Equestria lives on," I said, "Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor are not here, so Equestria will still live on in them. If this is where we must fall, then let us make sure that this stand is remember for ages to come!"
As I said the last word, the final push came, and the doors came crashing down, and I gave every pony and person in the room the order. "CHARGE! FOR CANTERLOT!"
The Changelings didn't even know what hit them as a flurry of pony, men any dragon came storming out of the keep, wiping out anything on it's path. It made it's way throught Canterlot, the dragonified Honor Guard lighting the streets full of changlings ablaze, but not even blackening the buildings or streets themselves. Soon, not a single Chageling remained in the city, save Midnight Blue, who was in the castle, and Fate, who ws fighting with me and the guards.
We stood at the entrance, distraught at the sight before us.
The Changelings had recieved reinforcements, and Queen Chryalis was among them, meaning this was the second of two waves of her forces. Canterlot could not withstand another assault like that.
Canterlot would fall...
Suddenly, the sun seemed the shine brighter for a moment, blinding the changelings and the ponies, dragons and men defending Canterlot. What stood before them when their vision cleared was something beyond words, almost.
A white alicorn clad in gold armor covering his individual feathers, body, neck, legs, and head stood before them. This was Flash of Gold, the greatest and most legendary of all Equestria's heros, and one lost to the passage of time, save for a few rare tomes in the Solstice Library.
Suddenly, Celestia, clad in her Royal Armor, landed right beside him, looking ready for a fight. Luna, too, came down and landed before us in her Nightmare Moon form, although the remains of Nightmare Moon were in Solstice, probably worried sick about her and me. And that's when she, too, landed in front of us, looking noticeably different from Luna. Me and Fate stepped forward to join them. Now, despite their numbers, the Changeling horde was badly outmatched...
...and they knew it.
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The battle lasted less than a minute, and ended with my sword quite firmly placed against Chrysalis' neck. She was very afraid. Fortunaltely, I was the only one there, as she had ran from the battle as soon as Fate and I stepped forward. While everypony else would have killed her on the spot, I was not so cruel.
Her eyes closed, I raised my sword...and sheathed it.
Chrysalis, confused as to why she wasn't yet dead, opened her eyes and stared at me.
"Why do you not kill me," Chrysalis asked, "They all would."
"I'm not any of them," I said, using my magic to get her on her hooves, "I'm reasonable."
"What do you imply, then," asked Chrysalis with genuine curiosity.
"Diplomacy, Queen Chrysalis," I replied calmly, "Diplomacy."