Avatar: The Last Alicorn. Book 4: Alicorn

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 24: Is yours and mine

Sweetie kept her head low and her face hidden under the brown cloak she had managed to... procure from a poor stallion who decided it would be fun to shove her. Her hooves made a gentle clop clop sound as she made her way up the steps of the wall. Her mother was up there at the top, starring out over the world and keeping tight control over the soldiers stationed.

Every step brought her a little closer to the mare and made the anxiety rise in her. This was her mother, the mare who raised her. Even worse, she was possibly the most powerful water bender in existence. The only one better was now a fire bender and about to fight Flowerbloom. As confident as she'd tried to be before, and as much as she hoped her mother wouldn't actually try to kill her, she knew there was a good chance she wouldn't live through this fight. She struggled to keep that horrible thought out of her mind, instead focusing on on keeping the water jugs hidden under her cloak from moving too much. She could do this. Would do this. She just needed to delay her, then she could run.

She made it to the top of the stairs and looked out and around. Her mother was sitting with two other guards, all three looking out over the sands. She wondered if the one time ruler even squinted. Probably not. Squinting was a sign of weakness. She stood still and slowly drew the water from the jugs and lowered herself into her stance. She used the water to cut the jugs free. One quick blow, to weaken her mother and give her a chance. One--

The water under her suddenly jumped. She barely leaped back in time, the water turning to shards of ice under where she had been standing. She let out a gulp as her mother slowly turned around. “Sweetie, child. You cannot be so foalish as to believe you can defeat me? Even with a sneak attack, you are vastly outmatched.” Her mother didn't even look surprised. Just mildly annoyed.

Sweetie gulped and looked to the soldiers. They didn't even move. When Nightmare stood, they fell over. Shards of ice in their throats. “You... killed them? Why? Why would...”

“They were fire benders. Worse, they had no intention of giving up the avatar should they find her. That much was obvious. Such creatures need to be... removed.”

Sweetie slowly nodded. “I... I see. Mother, this isn't you. I mean, it was you for a very, very long time. But it doesn't have to be. Discord's control isn't all powerful, you can fight it off. You must fight it off! His control isn't really... it doesn't need to hold you. You don't need to obey it. You can fight it, you're stronger than he is!” The mare took a few steps back, stopping when she hit the rails. Her mother was just watching her with those cold, merciless eyes. This was suddenly seeming like a bad, bad idea.

“Sweetie, my child. I will give you one last chance. Whatever ploy the Avatar is working on, it will fail. We know why she's here. Trixie herself is keeping an eye on the statue and will strike the moment the alicorn shows herself.” Nightmare Moon held out a hoof. “I will offer you one last chance. Join me. The Avatar is doomed to fail. But you are not. You can still have a future, a life. Come back to me, my child.”

Sweetie looked up at her mother's cold, merciless eyes. She slowly shook her head. “I... won't. I love you mother, but I cannot allow this tyranny to continue. Discord, Trixie, all of them must be stopped. And... I have to help that. I--” She let out a yelp and leaped to the left, narrowly avoiding the razor edged whip of water that slashed through the rails. She looked to the slashed iron before forming her own blade of water. “I'm... sorry mother, but you leave me no choice. I hope when you're saved, you'll understand.”

The unicorn merely scoffed before sending another whip of water at her daughter. The younger mare brought up her blade to slice through the whip. Instead, the water coiled around the blade and crushed it, dripping water on the ground. “You do not really believe you can stand against me, daughter? Even at your peak you were as a rookie to I.”

Sweetie gulped and gave a nod. “I... I don't know. But I'll never know if I don't try.” She thrust out her hoof as the water fell. It shot out, turning to blades of ice and soaring at her mother.

Nightmare Moon moved a few inches to the left and the blades soared right past, only a few centimeters from her. “Surrender, daughter. You cannot win. I will not hold back forever.”

Sweetie didn't answer, instead pulling her hoof back. The water behind the one time ruler whipped around and sailed at the back of her head.

Nightmare Moon lowered her head and the blades sailed over. She then pushed a hoof forward and the blades gained speed, sailing at the younger mare.

Sweetie stood her ground, pushing out a hoof and trying to make them go around her as they had her mother. She managed to knock them aside, just a bit, but a few cut across her side and face, drawing blood. She stumbled backwards.

“I've told you, you have no chance against me,” Nightmare Moon said as she started walked closer.

“Y-you're right. I... can't beat you like that. Your control is better than mine.” The water around her began to rise up, forming another whip to match her mother's. The whip then attached to her horn and she felt her control amplifying through the physical contact. “But you're not so much better than me that you can break this.”

Nightmare Moon chuckled. “Resulting to physical contact? So... pathetic. Very well, child.” The remaining water slowly rose up, forming into a few blades of liquid. “If you wish to test yourself against me so, I will allow it. Breaking you will... not be a difficult task.”

Sweetie gulped and charged forward, swinging the whip at her mother. All she had to do was delay, that was it. She could do that, no matter how out matched she was.

At least, she hoped.

------

Flowerbloom took a slow, deep breath as she stared from her hiding spot. She could see it, clear as day. A brand new air ship, just waiting to take off. No wonder Trixie had gotten here so fast. Fortunately, it appeared to be the only one. Not surprising, as they were becoming rarer and rarer as time went on. The things just kept getting blown up. Which suited her just fine, it meant that Trixie would have a harder time getting out once this one was wrecked. She couldn't help but grin at the sight of it, resting peacefully on the makeshift landing pad, surrounded on all sides by dirt. A weak earth bender could have damaged it. But her? She was going to have fun.

The only problem was the fact Solar Flare was on the main deck, along with a few unicorns. Once she did this, there would be no turning back. Even with a mountain behind her, she'd never have wanted to fight Celestia when she had water. Now that she was a fire bender there was no telling what destruction the mare could create. Flowerbloom's current plan revolved around making damage and running. Blueblood was hiding a few streets away and would try to ambush the elder mare, but she still had to draw the initial attention.

Still, she had no choice. It needed to be taken down and she was the only pony who could do it. They might not get another chance like this. She galloped towards it, her head low. A few of the guards looked up, confusion on their face. It turned to terror when she skidded to a stop, a few yards from the nearest ones. Ahead of her, the ground rose up in a massive tidal wave of dirt and stone, sending the ponies hurtling back and enveloping the air ship. It wasn't enough, she knew, but it was just the start.

There was an explosion of fire, bursting through the dirt. She tried not to think about it as she dug her hooves into the ground and sent out massive, flat spikes of stone from the ground, each at least ten feet long. They pierced through the dirt covering the balloon, shredding them. A few went into the main ship and connections, smashing the wood and creating great holes in the side as they erupted against them. She then shot to the left, barely avoiding the ball of fire that left a big black scorch mark where she had been standing. She could hear the loud rush of air as the balloon deflated. The air ship was wrecked, it wouldn't be flying for at least a few days. She wished she could have done a bit more, but Solar Flare rising from the dirt had her full attention and now she had to focus on survival.

“Flowerbloom?” the elder mare asked, glaring at her. “Why do you attack me? You do realize that now I will have to destroy you, do you not?”

Flowerbloom gave a slow nod. “H-had to take out the air ship. It's... it's worth the sacrifice.”

Celestia chuckled as five massive balls of fire appeared in the air around her. They quickly began to compact and shrink to only the size of a marble. “Such a noble thought. But the ship can be repaired. You, on the other hoof, can not.” The first ball leaped out.

Flowerbloom leaped to the side, using the ground under her to propel her further. The fireball erupted a few moments later and she could feel her fur being singed from the heat, though the flames missed her. She looked back to where she had been and whimpered. There was now nothing more than a deep crater. Her entire body began to shake, though she tried to contain it. If she had tried to escape underground, she'd have been nothing more than a charred, burnt husk. She was so out of her league she wanted to cry and curl up under a table. She wished she hadn't made Blueblood wait behind, ambush or not.

Solar Flare just laughed. “That was but one. What do you think will happen if I use all four?” The orbs suddenly hurtled forward.

Flowerbloom yelped and thrust out a hoof. The ground shifted under the other mare, making her stumble and threw off her aim. The orbs flew off in the wrong direction, crashing around the ground and building to create massive craters. Screams filled the air as ponies started running away, abandoning their homes and supplies. Even the guards who had managed to climb out from the rubble of the air ship were fleeing in terror.

“Tricky little thing, aren't you?” Solar Flare asked with a grin. “I'm going to enjoy this.” She galloped forward, her body erupting in flame.

Flowerbloom thrust another hoof forward, trying to shift the ground under the mare. But the fire bender just dove and weaved around the attacks. The earth bender brought both her hooves down, forming a wall of stone at least five feet thick in front of herself, before leaping as quickly to the left as she could. The wall only managed to delay Solar Flare a few seconds, before she erupted through it. She thrust her horn towards the younger mare, sending the fires from her body at her.

The earth bender pushed a hoof towards the ground and a whip of dirt lashed out, grabbed her hoof and pulled her in. She only barely managed to avoid the flame by inches, the heat still managing to burn her skin a light red. She laid on the ground a few moments and stared at the other mare.

Solar Flare was laughing, though her laugh was wild and half-crazed. The fires erupted from her horn yet again. “You know, this is actually kind of fun.” She took a few steps forward. “I want to see how long you can run. I'll give you to the count of three.”

“W-what?” Flowerbloom asked, her eyes going wide.”

“One.”

The earth bender let out a yelp, rolled to her hooves and galloped away, the ground surging under her to allow her to run faster. A few seconds later a blaze of fire scorched past her right side, singeing her leg but not hitting her completely. She tried to ignore the pain as she kept running.

She was almost to Blueblood when a wall of fire formed in front of her. She skidded to a stop, quickly leaping back. More screams filled the air as ponies fled their homes and streets, trying to get away from the flaming mare.

“W-what happened to a head start?” Flowerbloom asked nervously, backing away. The fires were growing behind her, but they were only slightly less scary than the unicorn.

“I gave you one,” Solar Flare said with a chuckle. “You wast--” She turned to the right and thrust out her horn, erupted a carriage that had suddenly charged at her. From the smoking rubble, Blueblood appeared and leaped into the air, his hooves thrust out.

Solar Flare stepped aside, her horn glowing as his hooves were gripped in the magical glow. He was then slammed into the ground with a groan. “A sneak attack only works once. It--” She leaped back as a pillar of stone nearly crushed her.

“You okay?” Flowerbloom called out.

“Ow... f-fine,” Blueblood said with a groan. “W-we've got this.”

Solar Flare chuckled and looked between the two. “Such an amusing thought. Come, both of you. I will break you both like the worms you are.”

------

Scootaloo held her cloak tight as she looked over the city. True to her suspicions, finding Trixie hadn't been too hard. The mare was keeping an eye over the statue, desperate to be the one to capture the Avatar. There weren't even any guards around. The wind bag probably thought she could take down Twilight on her own.

The scary part was, with her new bending and magic, she just might be able to. Scootaloo took a slow, deep breath. She wasn't a bender though, she was the exact opposite. She knew how to take down a bender. She'd even been trained on how to fight the avatar. This was just like that. Except fighting a louder, more obnoxious one. That she would probably enjoy punching in the face. Actually, her day was looking up, now that she thought about it.

The alicorn had taken up position on the roofs of one of the nearby buildings overlooking the statue. Her head was peering over the edge and it was so incredibly obvious that she was up there that Scootaloo just wanted to face hoof. There was no subtlety, no skill, no stealth. All Twilight would have had to do was look up and she'd see Trixie long before the wind bag would have seen her. It hadn't taken Scootaloo long to find a nearby roof overlooking the other mare and she seemed to have no idea. There weren't even guards there to watch the alicorn's back, this was going to be so easy.

Getting across to the other roof hadn't been too hard, it just required a quick leap, frantic flapping to try and dampen her fall and finally a quick roll to silence herself. She then held her breath and looked up at the alicorn.

Trixie didn't even turn around, her focus completely on the statue down below. Scootaloo barely managed to suppress a smile as she snuck up behind the mare. It was almost too easy. She was only a few feet behind the mare when her head suddenly whipped up and the stone roof latched up, enveloping Scootaloo's hooves. “Really? Did you truly believe you could sneak up on the Great and Powerful Trixie? Oh hoh hoh hoh hoh!”

Scootaloo gulped and gave a little nod. “Actually, I kind of did.” She pulled weakly on the bindings. They were a little loose, she'd definitely broken out of stronger ones. She started pretending to pull on them with all her might. “H-hey, let me go.”

“Ugh. You Shadowbolts always are such trouble makers, aren't you?” Trixie said with a shake of her head. “I should have had the lot of you executed when I had the chance.” The alicorn moved closer. “Well, I suppose I still do now. Where is the avatar, Scootaloo?”

That made the pegasus pause. “W-wait, what? You remember me? But--”

“How could I not? I had you imprisoned long enough. You and that little... princess. I didn't think you'd actually escape, however.” Her horn burst into flame. “I thought my little prison was just perfect, especially with your lack of flying. A stone roof that the earth bender couldn't get close enough to bend? Marvelous!” She then shook her head as she started to circle the pegasus. “But then the Avatar broke out. So I'll ask again. Where is she?”

“I-I won't tell you! N-no matter what you do to me!”

Trixie grinned and moved closer, the flame from her horn glowing a bright red. “Oh, but you will, the Great an--”

The mare didn't get to finish the sentence, she'd come too close. Scootaloo's front hooves broke free and she lunged, aiming out to hit the other mare's pressure points. Less than a few centimeters from them, Trixie's wings spread out and sent a powerful burst of wind out, sending the pegasus flying back and skidding across the roof. She quickly managed to get to her hooves and jump away before the stones could grab her again.

Trixie stared at her for a few moment, her eyes wide and breathing fast. She soon began to chuckle. “Oh hoh hoh hoh hoh! A clever little pegasus, I'll give you that. But I am a master of all four elements, do you really believe you can defeat me?”

“I've beaten all four elements before, I can do it again,” Scootaloo said with a grin on her face before galloping forward. A burst of fire erupted from the alicorn's horn, forcing the pegasus to skid slightly to the right to avoid it. She kept going forward through, making the alicorn take a step back and start raising stones from the roof to block her path.

Scootaloo dove and wove around them with ease, ducking under another burst of fire before coming in close. Her hooves reached out and she managed to strike three times at Trixie's front left leg before another burst of wind sent her hurtling back. She skidded on the ground, but didn't fall. The same could not be said for the alicorn, who toppled over on her now disabled leg. “Oh! You little… winged… chicken!” Trixie yelled angrily.

“Okay, two things,” Scootaloo said with a grin as she went in a low stance and readied herself for another attack. “One, chickens HAVE wings. Two, that is quite possibly the worst possible insult I've ever heard.”

Trixie growled and slowly got back up on her hooves, her limp one hanging at her side. “Very well. Two things from the Great and Powerful Trixie then!” the mare said before spreading her wings. “I can fly and this building is made of stone blocks.” She thrust a hoof forward and the ground began to collapse under them as she rose into the air.

Scootaloo yelped and galloped forward, leaping over the collapsing stones as she tried to get closer. She lunged into the air at the alicorn, grinning as she almost made it.

Then Trixie sent out another burst of wind, catching the pegasus and slamming her down through the roof, the stone floor caving in from the force of the blow. The alicorn merely laughed. “Did you believe the Great and Powerful Trixie was still but a novice at these arts? Oh hoh hoh hoh hoh! I have mastered all the elements to a degree that… that...” She turned back to look at the city, her mouth falling open before she flew to the edge of the roof, hanging on the little bit that still stood after her last attack. “Where's the statue? Impossible! I was right here! She couldn't have, h-how did she, you!” The alicorn turned, her eyes going wide as Scootaloo swung up and drove a hoof into her face. The two toppled off the roof, the pegasus wrapping one hoof around her back while the other hoof started striking at pressure points.

------

Twilight let out a grunt as the statue was slowly drawn out from the ground. She gave Pinkie a small, gentle smile before setting the statue down on the floor. They'd managed to hide besides a small stone wall, using earth bending to create a second wall in front of them inside the alley. The only way to see them would be to look straight down.

Applejack looked out towards the wall nervously. “Ah should be out there. Flowerbloom might need me an'--”

“She told you to help us,” Rainbow said with a shake of her head. “We're going to need you if things go south. Trust me, I've been around that mare a while. She can take care of herself. She may not be as good an earth bender as you, but only barely.”

“But what if somethin' happens? What if she gets hurt? What if they capture her? What if--”

“Then it happens,” Rainbow snapped. “She knew it could happen and she accepted the risks. It was her choice. We can't stop her. All we can do is make sure not to ruin the opportunity we have here.”

Applejack stomped her hoof before sighing. “Fine. But… ah don't like it. Ah don't like any of it. Twilight, how long will it take? How many of us yah gonna bring with yah?”

Twilight frowned and rubbed her chin. “Well, we need you out here, Applejack. In case anything happens and our bodies need to be moved. Fluttershy would probably be best out here as well, to watch, well...” She glanced to Angel and Spike. “Is everypony okay with me and Rainbow being the only ones?” She shivered. Entering a world of Pinkie's still didn't sound very safe, even if she had to do it.

The group gave their slow, grudging approvals. The alicorn looked at the statue. It was so… happy looking. Pinkie had a big grin on her face, even with the cracked element around her neck. She took a deep breath. Twilight nodded and looked to Rainbow. “Just… remember to be careful. There's no telling what you'll encounter here. She's never… well, as much as we love her, she can get a bit wild sometimes.”

“Don't worry, I'll be fine,” Rainbow said with an uneasy chuckle. “Pinkie's a bit wild, but she's not evil or anything. I'm sure whatever I encounter will... make sense eventually.” Twilight closed her eyes and her horn began to glow. Light illuminated them as the two were drawn into their friend's world.

Comments

[eric-emanwu]

I have to admit, these particular battles are perhaps among the best you've written for the fic in terms of straight up one on one fights. Sure, you had others, and great group fights, but I think these particular battles, for the different atmospheres they create are among your best one on one battles. Oh, don't get me wrong, there's been some other good 1v1 fights. Twilight v blueblood, Twlight v gilda, twilight v lightning dust, rarity v nightmare moon. But for these three, the tension and atmosphere makes me super invested in what's happening.

Let's start with the triumphant fight: Scootaloo vs trixie. What scoots has on her side is the antibending arts, and playing off trixie's arrogance as an additional weapon to use. But trixie is still an alicorn. Though as the least sympathetic of the 3 generals, fighting her is like waiting for a good punch in the face of a jerk. So scootaloo could go all out, even getting trixie's leg despite her 4 element use. And plus, she even managed to get pinkie away into team avatar harmony's hands. Her fight seemed to be going the best. And besides, it seems trixie's old grudges against the shadowbolts have passed down to scoots too, who trixie knew from being a prisoner rather than when she went there for manpower.

Flowerbloom and Blueblood are fighting a desperate battle against an Axe crazy solar flare. She makes things go boom, toys with her opponents, and even created a fire ring dueling area. Flower, with a lack of earth finess, knew she was going to have problems, but all she needed to do was hold on with blueblood for as long as possible.

Sweetie's fight is definitely the most personal. Mother vs daughter. Prodigy vs master. Water vs Ice. Redeemed vs corrupted. I have this weird vision of sweetie being all hesitant and scared going into it, but putting on a brave face nonetheless. I think part of why her control isn't as strong is due to her conflicted nature in dealing with mommy issues. Perhaps she could accuse her of never loving her, or saying celestia was always better to throw her off?

Well, it looks like twilight and rainbow are going in. Good luck team. A salute for dream number 5.