A Great Endeavor

by Rune Soldier Dan

Chapter 9: Warlocks in Winter (Part 3)

”When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”

-Franklin Delano Roosevelt, US President

------

He was alone.

Hard to believe how strange the feeling was. General McAuliffe glanced around the planning room, blinking, wondering at the solitude. The worse things got, the fewer people were here. The officers were all on errands. Some were pulling together troops, others leading them into battle. The aids, the hanger-ons and walking wounded, all of them had been drawn into the fight. Now outside somewhere, fighting, freezing.

The crowd around the map table had become…well, him.

He kind of missed the chatter. The liveliness, the spunk. They had done so damn good, his officers, his men.

“Nuts.”

For a few days he couldn’t take a leak without someone shouting ‘Nuts’ at him. They loved it. A catchphrase, a one-word summary of their battle-plan. ‘Nuts to you, Jerry. We’re still in this.’

McAuliffe studied the map. He’d looked at it so much he could recall every detail, but it was something to keep himself busy. Strange how there was so little left to do.

A shell struck nearby. The building shook, but McAuliffe didn’t even notice. Bastogne had been hammered by artillery over the last few days. Wasn’t even worth getting upset about anymore.

Patton was close. So damn close, but he was out of time. The perimeter was like one of those bubbles you blew out of a…bubble blower. Whatever they were called. Floating in the air, thinner, thinner, thinner, then pop.

No more reserves. Everyone pinned down. The Krauts smelled blood and were giving it all they got. All those villages Miss Sparkle engineered into fortresses, just being blasted apart by tanks and artillery.

Maybe the bubble was already popping. Some of the villages had been overrun. Can’t reinforce with them hitting the road. Soon they’ll rip open a big enough hole to just pour in. Then we pull everything back to Bastonge and…

McAuliffe breathed a deep sigh, breath misting in the chilly room. “…Probably surrender.”

You didn’t throw your life away. You did your duty and gave up when the time came. Nothing shameful about that. Leave zealotry to the Nazis.

The map didn’t hold any answers. “God Almighty, I’m sick of this map.”

A girl’s voice behind him. “You and me both.”

Miss Sparkle, of course. The only girl with access to the place. He turned, matching her faint smile. A purple glow suspended two tin cups in the air, both steaming fiercely. McAuliffe gently accepted one of them and the two sipped in silence for a moment. The coffee was so hot it felt like his teeth were melting. Well, it’d get cold soon enough.

Twilight sipped and gasped, letting the air cool her tongue. Purple energy grasped a few of the pieces on the map, pulling them to new places.

“I’ve pulled Team Brown and the 327th out from Senonchamps.” A purple arrow appeared, pointing at the referenced village.

Twilight’s eyes squinted, the brain behind them still trying to disarm the trap they were in. “That’ll give us more reserves to play with. The Germans will take the town, but there’s another in their way before they reach Bastogne. Let’s see, ‘Isle-La-Hesse,’ if that’s how you pronounce it. We have some ambush spots before then, too. Should slow them down a little.”

McAuliffe sucked in a sharp breath, shaking his head. “A little, maybe. Not enough.”

“Not on its own, no.” Twilight’s voice didn’t lose its steady confidence. “But it, and a dozen other little delays? Maybe. We have to keep trying. We can make it.”

The older general shrugged, causing a magic hand to grab his jacket. Slowly, firmly, Twilight turned him around to look at her. “We can make it. There’s just enough left, I know it.”

“You’re putting me to shame, Sparkle.” McAuliffe stiffened his shoulders and smiled. Maybe it wasn’t hopeless. “If you ain’t giving up, neither am I. I’ll be darned if I’m gonna let a purple pony girl outfight me.”

“Nuts!” she laughed, drawing an eye-roll from him. “Gosh, the first time I heard you say that ‘girl’ line I was ready to send you to the-“

The door slammed open, giving them both a start. A flustered MP stood in the entrance, snow on his shoulders and blinded in the dim light. “Sorry Sir, Ma’am, but there’s this pegasus and she’s not taking no for an ansWHOAH!”

He shouted and staggered as a pegasus shoved past him, nearly trampling the poor man. She was cyan, rainbow-maned, and wasn’t in the mood to let anyone slow her down.

“Hey pops, I’m looking forTWILIGHT!”

With a laugh she sprung forward and tackled the unicorn. Twilight’s cry of surprise turned to a soft laugh of her own as she hugged the pegasus back. “Rainbow Dash! Good to see you.”

“Aw, you too, girl!” Rainbow grabbed her in a headlock and gave a noogie. “Didn’t think I’d leave my P.F.F. hanging, did you?”

“Hey, c’mon! Leggo!” Despite her protests, Twilight’s laugh grew as Rainbow playfully wrestled her to the ground. “C’mon, you’re embarrassing me!”

“Shut up and let me be happy to see you! Ha-HA!” Rainbow leaned in and blew a noisy raspberry on Twilight’s belly. The unicorn shrieked in laughter, reaching a hoof over to the humans. “Hee-hee, Anthony, help!”

McAuliffe…wasn’t really sure how to handle this. “Twilight, there is no way I’m getting involved.”

A chuckle fought its way out of his throat. It was good for a little noise to come back to the place. Especially this kind of noise. Two friends, relieved beyond words to find each other again. He smiled benignly at the pair as Twilight finally pulled out of Rainbow’s grip.

She stepped away as the pegasus tried to grab her again. “Ease up, Rainbow. I’ve still got a lot to do here.”

“Nnnnnnope!” Rainbow drawled, an in-joke McAuliffe missed. “Princess’ orders: Me ‘n Thunderlane are here to lift you the buck out of here. Woulda been here sooner if I’d’ve know the mess you were in.”

A stunned silence filled the room. Mcauliffe smiled, small, but genuine. At least one of them would live.

Just as genuine was Twilight’s reaction. First she recoiled in shock. Then she seemed to grow sad, sending a guilty look the general’s way. She bit a lip and lowered her head slowly…

Then she brought it up fast enough to whip her hair back. “N-no! Absolutely not!”

Her voice was shrill with nervousness, but held that sort of conviction no one could ever talk you out of.

Although they would try. “Twilight!” Anthony and Rainbow said at the same time, with the pegasus adding more to it. “Are you nuts?!! These guys here have landed in Cloudsdale without wings!”

“…No offense, pops.”

“None…taken?” he said as a question, missing the reference entirely. Probably saying that we’re screwed. She ain’t wrong. “Anyway, Sparkle: Get while the getting’s good.”

“NO!” She said again, hooves planted.

This was just stupid. McAuliffe waved a hand, annoyance creeping into his voice. “Sparkle, it’s been an honor and a privilege, but this is an opportunity you are NOT passing up.”

“No.”

This time it was calm, like she was saying the most obvious thing in the world. Twilight turned her back on them and reared up, planting her hooves on the map table. “Part of war is uncertainty. ‘Fog of war’ and all that, I know. But a big part of it IS certainty. Logic and math and all those things that make perfect sense and have perfect solutions. I can see the solution. I can see where all these little pieces will move. There are things we know they’re going to do, and if we react exactly as I’ve planned we’ll hold out for another few days. I KNOW help might come too slow, and I KNOW unexpected things happen. But I also know that we have a chance, a good chance, of hanging on. It’s math. It’s math and it’s hope.”

Rainbow groaned in frustration. “You’re making this hard on me.”

Twilight ignored her, turning to the human. “General, I know I’m right. I know where every one of those little pieces is going, and how long it’ll take them to move. I’ve accounted for the speed of every tank, the conditions of the roads, and everything else that can be puzzled out. I can do it, I just need-“

The door slammed open yet again. This time it was Colonel Beckett, breathless and smoke-stained.

“Sir…” The aging colonel swallowed and shook his head. He had entered in an awful hurry, but took a second to learn against the wall and choose his words. “I…think it’s time to pay the Devil, Sir.”

“What do you mean?” McAuliffe snapped. Nothing should’ve caved in or been overrun or…

“Warlocks,” Beckett sighed. “They’re spear-heading the drive on Isle-La-Hesse. The village won’t hold, they’ll…well, they’ll hit Bastogne not even an hour later, and we’ve nothing here capable of deflecting it.”

McAuliffe slammed a heavy hand against the wall. “GOD D-D-D…”

With an exertion of will, he maintained his religion. “DARN IT!”

“Sir, I think the Lord will forgive you for swearing in a situation like this.”

“Shut up!” The general snarled at Beckett. He whipped around towards the ponies. Rainbow was ignoring him, looking intently at her friend. Twilight, of all the stupid things, was hunching over the map. As if it did them good any more.

“The math still add up for you, girl?”

Twilight’s eyes were closed. With her forehooves touching and her posture hunched, it looked for all the world like she was praying.

A roar from above announced planes in the air. The skies were clear enough for their fighter-bombers to hit the Germans. Too little, too late.

“Yes.” She nodded her head and slowly came down from the table. “Yes it does.”

It didn’t make any sense. McAuliffe, Rainbow, Beckett, and the MP gaped at her as she slowly cracked her neck back and forth.

“Without the warlocks, there’s just enough.” Twilight swallowed slightly and turned around, her gaze seeming to go past them. “It’s within the margin of error, certainly, but we have just enough left to last just long enough. So if we negate the warlocks, the math still adds up.”

A second of silence fell. It was Beckett who began the obvious question. “How DO we negate…”

Twilight began running forward. She was already at the front door before they realized what was going on.

McAuliffe turned to Rainbow Dash, voice rapid with urgency. “Go to Patton and tell him-“

“Bite me, Old Man!” She snapped. “I ain’t leaving her hanging! If she’s staying, so am I!”

And then she was gone, leaving a streak of color as she flew out the door and past Twilight, towards the sound of combat beyond.

“Sir,” The MP began, but McAuliffe was already speaking.

“After her!” The general shouted, hand outstretched. “Protect Twilight with your lives!”

------

“Stupid Twilight, stupid Twilight, stupid Twilight, stupid Twilight…”

Rainbow growled the words as she shot through the freezing air. The ground below was white, pockmarked black in too many places with the debris of war. She couldn’t even see the Americans. There were few enough left, and those remaining were dug-in and concealed. Men fought in ones and twos, skirmishing from the woods or crouching in foxholes. They weren’t making it easy on their assailants.

The Germans wore white as well, but on the move they could be seen as a distorted wave coming on against the Allies. There were a lot of them, slogging through the snow. Easy prey for bombs and machine-guns. Rainbow knew enough about war to know these men needed an opening, or they’d just die in clumps. Yesteryear, that opening was given by tanks.

Today it was a different power, one that made her stomach churn. A few explosions on a southern road lacked the black cloud of artillery, but rather shimmered with violent oranges, whites and reds. A pair of great, green hulks of shermans, one crumpling as it was lifted high into the air. The other belched its cannon one last time, defiantly, and then suffered the same fate.

Four figures in white smocks sped past their latest kill and towards the next, steam rising in their wake. A fifth on a motorcycle of all things flew above them, holding a miniature sun in his hand.

Twilight wasn’t discreet in her approach, nor was there time to come up with any plan. The tip of her horn glowed white. And like white wraiths, the warlocks flittered above the snow, fanning out to strike her from every side.

------

It was the kid’s turn to play defense. Derek nodded as Private Gessler shot forwards, hands sheathed in blades made of magic. He’d get her attention, and the rest of them would kill the poor, stupid unicorn. And after the battle they’d saw her horn off. God, he was sick of this.

Him, Stauller, and Haufmann circled around – the Wehmacht pair halfway to each side, Haufmann all the way to her rear. Fritz would come from the sky if needed. Derek was the first to his position. He turned early, anxious to get it over with.

The unicorn had already one-upped the brat, a telekinetic whip sending Gessler sailing into the air. He would land in the snow and recover.

Derek gave a grimacing kind of smile. Another unicorn that hadn’t figured out how to kill yet. Poor idiot.

But she was good at what she did. That same telekinetic force whipped her forwards, escaping the trap. Derek cursed and hurled a blast after her. Haufmann did the same, but she had gone far enough forward to block both. A wall of purple energy appeared before her, stopping the magic blows with ease.

That left Stauller. Precise magic darts shot out from his fingertips, flaring like tiny rockets. He had reacted the fastest, running to flank her shield.

She grimaced. It was a nice wall, keeping Derek and Haufmann at bay, but it took a lot of effort. With little left over for Stauller, the unicorn just tried to parry the darts with her horn. She managed to slap aside a few, and she dodged a few more. But one gashed her leg, then another split an ear in two. He saw white teeth as she cried out in pain. Desperation was in those eyes. Drop the wall to counter, and the other two strike. Can’t attack. Can’t defend.

Another gashed her shoulder, and a fourth cut her face right above the eye. The shield flickered as Haufmann cast another blast into it.

Not much longer now. Someone, somewhere was tolling a bell.

But who was it for?

Gunfire sounded, uncomfortably close. From the corner of his eye, Derek saw a spurt of blood as Haufmann gave a strangled shout. A bullet came out the front of his chest, driving the SS soldier to his knees. An American with a white “MP” on his helmet was charging up the road, bayonet fixed on his smoking rifle. Behind him a mob of soldiers ran forward, firing, shouting. He heard ‘nuts!’ somewhere in there. A last charge. A half-crazed lunge towards their final hope.

Still dangerous. Derek crouched, glancing back towards the unicorn. “Haufmann…”

“See to the caster!” the fanatic shouted. One hand was clutching the wound, but the other crackled with energy. Though pained, his voiced retained its arrogant command. “I’ll deal with this!”

Haufmann flew directly upwards, grasping balled lightning in his hand. A few gunshots came at him. Nothing hit. A few in the desperate charge were diving to the side. Wouldn’t help. They were too packed together. This was going to be ugly.

A strange, high PEOW sounded, just as Derek turned back. The unicorn had planted her feet and discharged a beam of white-purple energy. It sped through Haufmann’s chest and continued into the sky. He fell to the ground, all his pride now lost forever.

------

He died. Twilight killed him.

There was no time to think about what she had just done, the line she had just crossed. Nor was there time to think about the pain, the throbbing in her leg and ear. Both of the warlocks around her glanced to the side, distracted by the death. A few seconds. It’d have to be enough.

With those few seconds, Twilight refocused her magic and swung her shield out in a straight line. It slammed into the far warlock, knocking him to the snow. The more precise, bespectacled one raised his hands, but she was faster. A bolt of bright purple discharged from her horn. It zig-zagged like lightning before reaching him.

But he was only a hair slower, and switched to defense without pause. His hands encased in murky magic, the warlock slapped his palms closed and caught the tip of the bolt bare inches from his chest. Twilight channeled more magic into it. The lightning crackled and advanced an inch, but the warlock held on, straining, channeling his own magic.

No good. The warlock behind her was skirting away from the soldiers, but the one she had thrown at the start of the fight was racing towards her. A stalemate would end poorly.

Which meant she had to end it. With skill born of practice, Twilight changed the energy in her spell to telekinetic force. The lightning curled around the warlock’s hand and whipped him outwards, slamming him into the younger soldier.

As she raised her head to swing him, Twilight saw the fifth warlock. Riding a bike through the sky, cradling a dense, searing ball of flame in his hand. Nursing his energy, readying a single, massive blow for the exact right moment.

Twilight wasn’t even finished with the telekinetic throw. No time for a shield. His arm was already up, pitching the tiny sun right at her hooves.

As the hand reached the apex of its height, his aura began glowing a fierce orange.

And a cyan-tipped rainbow slammed into the orange, smoking as it hit the field. One of Rainbow Dash’s hooves went into his hip, shattering the bone with her mythral shoes. The other hit the thigh below, snapping it. So hard was the blow that the leg beneath came up at a sideways angle, kicking her in the nose.

The tiny sun flew to the side, incinerating snow a hundred yards from the fight. Rainbow bounced off him, singed, bleeding from her face. The warlock spun in the air and lost altitude. His crushed leg flapped at his side. He was crying in his goggles, in so much pain, knowing that he’s have to focus or he’d fall…

He hit the snow with a sound like water on a frying pan. The bike landed heavily on top, and he lay still.

Now, one of the warlocks – the boy who struck first – was charging towards Twilight, firing wild lightning. She ducked, but her eyes were on the more precise one turned away from her. He had raised a hand and shot a single, knife-like dart at the pegasus. She dodged, but not far enough. The tiny missile exploded as it passed Rainbow. The worst of it was avoided, but the thunder of sound made her heart skip a beat, and her wings frayed out at unnatural angles. Stunned and senseless, Rainbow fell the last few dozen feet to land wetly in the snow.

But the man shouldn’t have turned his back on Twilight. Lightning flared once more from her horn, this time striking squarely between his shoulder blades. He didn’t even have time to look surprised before collapsing, his heart roasted in his chest.

And Twilight didn’t even have time to worry about Rainbow. There were still two left.

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STAULLER!

Not Stauller!

God Damn Stauller.

Derek jerked an arm at the Americans. A green-black beam shot out. One of them was struck and a same-color explosion emerged from his corpse. Those around him caught fire and thrashed in the snow, screaming.

God Damn Stauller. Smart Stauller. First in our class to recite the alphabet. Then first to multiply.

Could’ve been an engineer. But Fritz and I wanted to join the Freikorps, so he came too. Maybe not so smart, to have friends like us.

Whatever. The Americans didn’t matter now, with their planes and guns and ‘nuts.’

Gessler threw one of his bolts at them too, but the unicorn parried it with a thread-like magic beam. The humans returned the favor, stopping their charge to shoot at Gessler. His shield blocked a few of the bullets, but he was always the weakest of them. Through his imperfect defense, one found a hip. Then his stomach, then his head.

Good riddance. Damn Youth Soldiers. Damn SS. All you God Damn Nazis deserve it.

Stauller didn’t. He wasn’t a Nazi. His girl’s roommate, she was an earth pony. Student at Konigsberg. He helped her escape. I was a good friend, I didn’t tell.

What do you think of that, unicorn?

God Damn you.

Not Stauller. Not Fritz.

PLEASE, GOD, NOT ALL OF US.

God Damn you.

------

Twilight felt the man coming in on her side, heard the snow beneath him melt with a hiss. Her horn was charging power even as she turned.

The blast of purple energy met his own, its color now a bright green swirling with black and purple. White light glared from the point of collision, and kept glaring as the mages poured more and more energy into it.

Sweat and blood trickled down Twilight’s face. The warlock’s attack was coming on full-force, stronger than any of the other blows she suffered. Stronger than most unicorns could ever get. If she tried to move or even alter the spell, the time wasted would let him rip through her magic. An instant was all he would need.

Nothing to do but endure. Twilight felt herself sliding backwards in the snow, but didn’t even dare move a leg to steady herself. No finesse for either of them left, just raw power. A magical grapple.

So long as she held on…it was one she would win. A warlock’s magic was stolen. Unnatural. A thing consumed and processed. The more used, the less would remain. To a unicorn, it was more like a muscle. The more often it was used, the stronger it got. And even among her own, the depth of Twilight’s magic was legendary.

The force of her beam was steady. The warlock’s began burning itself out. The purple beam began slowly devouring the green one.

Not a hint of fear was on the man’s face. When Twilight finally looked at him, he met her eyes with hatred. At once calm and furious, his eyes wanted her dead. No matter the cost, he would kill her.

The strange, stolen magic responded to his wishes. The green energy surged forth anew, passing the halfway point and driving Twilight’s backwards. The warlock walked forward after his beam, arms trembling with the power. His face was red, his teeth grimacing beneath the enraged eyes.

A vein on his face burst open, spraying the snow below with green sparks and blood. His body couldn’t take so much at once. The tide of magic was starting to burst out in any way possible.

The balance shifted another few feet against Twilight. The warlock coughed fresh, red blood. His pinkie fingers snapped backwards as he willed still more power into the attack. His beam moved up another few feet, almost touching Twilight’s horn.

Bullets came at him, but melted as they approached. His cold expression shifted and strained. He was so close. But Twilight was throwing in everything she had. Her horn throbbed, but still she forced more magic into the air. Steam was rising from the snow around them.

Another burst of blood and green sparks, this time from his chest. And another from the side of his head. One more foot closer to Twilight.

The warlock’s eyes finally broke from hers. They swam out of focus and glanced to the side, looking at…something.

The green tide waned to a trickle in an instant. Twilight tried to hold back, but she had put so much strength into the beam by now it couldn’t be stopped. The purple force shot forward, searing the final warlock to ash.

She blinked. Her horn was still throbbing, but adrenaline chased out the pain. Now – for the love of Celestia, even now – there was more to be done.

The Germans were still coming.

“Take the wounded and get to the village! Hold it at all costs!” The band behind her sprang to her orders, but Twilight ran forward a little further.

About thirty yards out slumped a scorched, battered cyan body. Twilight swallowed nervously as she approached, but the pegasus groaned and moved.

“Oh thank you.” Twilight breathed, eyes blurring with tears. “Thank you so much. I’m alive. You’re alive.”

“Huh-wa?” Rainbow managed, eyes rolling around in her head. “Wah? That you, Rares?”

A concussion, probably. Rainbow squawked as Twilight’s magic lifted her out of the snow.

“C’mon Rainbow.” Twilight said it, determined. She was exhausted. She’d have to stay up late making sure everything was arranged just right. Then she’d have to stay up late again the next night. And the one after, until help came for Bastogne. Oh well. She’d live.

She’d live.

Author's Note:

Comments

[Vailen]

Now, that was awsome. Don't mess with the Elements.

[sopchoppy]

good chapter

[Derpmind]

Ey, you get notifications whenever someone comments on one of your stories, right? Well, guess what I've been reading instead of the chapter you sent me to pre-read.

[toxiconym]

The magic struggle is real.

[Harry_Jones]

I can't help but wonder how the story would have played out differently if Twilight had died during or shortly after this fight.

[the7Saviors]

WHOO!!! Twilight gets her badass moment!

[The_Laundry]

r/UnexpectedSabaton

[Ice Star]

Aaah, Sabaton! Nice!