Lost in Conflict

by YoshiBrony

Preparations

Chapter 15

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What Isaac saw in the distance was a sight to behold, over the grassy hills not one kilometer from Ponyville, a few dozen ponies in the distance made their way towards the town. Quickly followed by another dozen, then another hundred, and another thousand. All led by a single white unicorn with gleaming silver Armour. The ponies evacuating the town looked on as the army marched towards the town, though not in an orderly fashion, each had their eyes set on the town. A few more minutes passed as the townsponies watched the army of unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies alike entered the town. Isaac finally noticed the soul bomb had reached its final stage, as a hard outer shell encased the glowing energy. Hoisting it onto his back, he made his way back down the hill with the other four ponies who were beside him.

"Shining Armour!" Twilight called out as she ran to meet her brother, giving him a tight hug as she met her older sibling for the first time in months.

"Twily, it's so good to see you. Only, I wish it was under better circumstances..." The white colt's joyful expression faltered as he looked back to his new army, after a few seconds he noticed Cadance was not around.
"Twilight, where's my wife?"

"It's alright, she's helping to evacuate the town."

"Good, make sure she's somewhere safe." Shining looked past her sister, into the Everfree forest, before noticing the green maned unicorn make his way down the hill. Upon seeing the orb on his back, Shining made his way over to Isaac.

"Are you Isaac Oakleaf?"

"Yeah, Shining Armour, I take it?" Isaac looked at the colt with an almost blank expression on his face, he looked over the crowd before giving Shining a smirk. "Looks like you've been busy."

"As captain of the royal guard, i'm entitled to gather Equestria's forces in times of need. And we'll support you against whatever enemies we face in the coming battle." Isaac changed his view so he saw the hundreds of ponies still making their way into the town, each with at least some form of armor. The pegasi seemed to be using mostly bows and spears, the earth ponies hauling in with blades attached to their front hooves, pointed upwards on a slant. Shining Armour beckoned Isaac to follow him as he moved further into the town, the army already pitching tents and campsites around Ponyville.

"Just...Give me a second, alright?" Isaac said, his smirk relinquished as his eyes went glassy, turning back to Ponyville's residents watching the event unfold. Isaac told the four mares who followed to come with him, walking slowly to the townsponies, all of which had their eyes set solely on him. As he reached the center of the large massing of carts and carriages, stepping up onto a pile of boxes for use as a makeshift stage.

"Uhmm... Attention everypony. I'd like to say a few things." Though the crowd was already silent, Isaac felt the need to pause before continuing, taking a deep breath, he spoke.

"I'd just like to say that, I know that I most likely won't be coming back from this. But i'll fight to the bitter end to make sure you are all safe, the past few days i've spent here have been some of the best of my life. And I consider you all my friends....And, I guess that's it..." As Isaac stepped down, he heard nothing, no applause, no cheers, no noise. After a few seconds of walking, head down towards the ground, he felt a hoof reach his shoulder. The unicorn turned to see Berry Punch, as well the elements, standing a few hoofsteps behind him, smiling. Behind the mares he saw everypony in the town start to gather round, tears in all of their eyes. He took a few moments to say his goodbyes to everypony he met, with more than a few tight squeezes from a bawling Pinkie Pie. As the ponies ended their embrace, each of them slowly moved to the side to allow Fluttershy to make her way towards the colt.

"Fluttershy...." He found the words impossible to leave his mouth, clenching his eyes shut, he whimpered slightly as he tried to stop tears from flowing. He was about to give in until he felt the mare press close to him, still stammering, he continued.

"I...I don't want to....I can't....I....." He felt himself grow much calmer as he heard Fluttershy's voice call softly to him.

"Shhh....It will be alright." She stroked Isaac's roughed up mane and lightly pressed her lips against him. After a brief moment, Isaac slowly pulled away and replied.

"I'll try...No...No I WILL come back, you'll see." He gave a weak smile as she hugged him one last time. The townsponies slowly started to continue their journey away from Ponyville, Fluttershy said her goodbyes, as did all of the ponies. As they walked on, he noticed Berry Punch still waiting to say something. Slowly, she spoke up to Isaac.

"Make sure you come back, OK? You still have your Saturday shift to go through." She managed a comforting smile as the colt gave her a quick embrace, finally heading off back in the direction of the camp.

The ponies slowly made their way across the open land past the Town, the large green field making them easy to spot from miles away. A few minutes of walking and Fluttershy was already looking back towards Ponyville, sighing as every step made her think of Iridescent, and worry if he really will come back. A few more hours of walking had passed before the sun finally began to set on the horizon, and the ponies had begun pitching their tents. The massing of tents and carriages made the setting look like a miniature Ponyville, and in the distance the residents could still see a distant Ponyville still dimly lit by the fires and lights the army was using. As Fluttershy looked on over the hills, she couldn't get the thought of Irrie out of her head. She suddenly jumped as she heard a voice behind her.

"You're thinking of going back aren't you?" Twilight said over the pegasus' shoulder.

"I....Yes..." She dropped her head down low, knowing her friends would keep her anywhere near the imminent battle to come.

"Fluttershy, I want you to know that I want to see my brother again as much as you want to see Irrie. And all us decided that, if you need to, we can go back."

Fluttershy's eyes widened as she could not believe what she was hearing, a small smile appearing on her face as Twilight left to gather her other friends. She looked on in the direction of Ponyville, still barely visible in the night. She thought to herself while lying down on the soft grass, "I'm going to be there with you, Irrie. Until the very end."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright, could all the generals please meet me outside the town gates, that goes for you too, Isaac." Shining Armour commanded, in an emotionless tone. Around a dozen of the ponies who were engaging in multiple activities made their way over the the front gate. As Isaac passed he saw weapons being stored and sharpened, unicorns testing their magic and pegasi practicing their aerial movements. Though in all of them, he also saw fear, doubt, worry and panic. He had seen this multiple times in his past life, soldiers wondering if they would ever return from battle, the loss of friends, family and homes all but ruined their spirits. And the mere mention of the coming battle and the threat of the Leviathan was beginning to do the same to these ponies. After a few moments of walking beside the Captain, Isaac found himself beside the other generals. Each wearing golden-colored armor, worry almost undetectable in their battle-hardened faces.

"Alright, Isaac. You have your plan, let's hear it." The generals looked on in awe as the white unicorn placed his soul bomb in the center of the circle Its hardened shell illuminated by the glowing power underneath.

"By Celestia, what IS that?" One stunned general blurted out, Isaac did not face him, only staring deep into the translucent surface of the bomb.

"This will defeat the Leviathan. That's all you need to know, but what I need is for you to clear the path. We still don't know how.." Isaac stopped as an exhausted pegasus made his way towards Shining Armour, still panting, he spoke quickly.

"Sir, reconnaissance has reported in."

"What have they found?"

"Sir, the eastern post has detected a Changeling army of over just under 300, the northern post detected Tribal warriors, only 100 strong, and the western post detected an army of savages well over 500 in colt-power." The colt slowly retreated back towards the camp when he noticed the gathering leaders were in complete silence. Once he had left, one general pointed out to the rest.

"Only 900 strong? Our army is almost twice that!"

"Yes, but we all know the Leviathan is our biggest threat. Isaac, care to explain the rest of your plan?" Shining repeated, now all eyes were fixed on Isaac for a moment.

"Yeah, sure. All right, we know which way the.....What the hell is that?" Isaac looked towards the sky, his eyes squinting to get a better look at the distant object, now closing in on the town with surprising speed. Upon hearing a thundering voice, he looked back to Shining, now obvious they were thinking the same thing.

"SHINING ARMOUR! HOW DARE YOU DEFY US!"

"Oh Shit."

The remaining generals scattered into the town as the army took cover both inside their tents and buildings, some even choosing nearby bushes to hide themselves from Celestia's booming voice. Isaac remained unmoved and even though fear was obvious in his eyes, Shining Armour stood his ground.

"I couldn't let you allow Ponyville to be destroyed! I wouldn't have you responsible for my sisters death!"

"She knew this was coming?" Isaac thought to himself as the two Princesses made their way over to the two colts, anger burning in their eyes.

"Don't you understand what you have done!? I told you that it was the only way to...Luna? What is it?" Celestia's rage filled voice faded into one of curiosity, as Luna wandered away, Celestia noticed the orb in the middle of the grassy area, glowing a faint green. She slowly faded into a trance as she followed her equally gobsmacked sister. They two surrounded the orb, looking over it with astonishment, but their trance was short lived as Luna took on a saddened expression before speaking to Celestia.

"My sister...I believed there was another way, but this...."

"Is impossible..." Celestia finished her sisters' sentence, looking back to Isaac, she sighed and spoke to him in a calm tone.
"How did you do this? Even with your power, you should never have been able to create this...Monstrosity."

"I knew the stakes, and I did what I had to do to ensure our survival."

"But...You know what this will do!..You can't..." Celestia pleaded, she finally sighed and gave in. The lack of options for Celestia made her realize that this was now the only possibility of success. Even if the consequences would be great.
"If...If this is how it will be, then we will fight. Both of us."

The Princess's made their way into the camp, taking shelter in the library, the sun had long since set, and everypony needed as much rest as possible before the battle. The night passed slowly for Celestia, still awake despite the distinct weariness she felt from the day. Luna was outside as usual, attending to her normal duties watching over the night. Looking out of the window, she noticed Isaac sleeping soundly on a patch of grass outside the Library, seeing the colt shivering in the cold night air, she slowly stepped outside. Careful not to wake the colt, she lifted him up and brought him inside, setting the orb in the corner of the room and the unicorn upstairs. Isaac found much needed comfort laying Twilight's bed, Celestia took a short trip around the library before coming to a wooden door she didn't notice when she first entered the tree house. With curiosity getting the best of her, she quietly open the furnished door, and using her magic to light the area, she made her way down the curved staircase. When she reached the bottom, she found nothing but old equipment and used parchment, but as Celestia looked around the room, she saw a small bed with a wooden guitar laying next to it. And a small framed picture on a white desk.

As she lifted the picture and brought it to her face, Celestia found herself isolated and sitting as she took the time to observe the frame. It was a simple picture but brought much emotion to the princess. Inside the framed photograph lay a smiling Isaac with his arm over Fluttershy, with Twilight and the rest of her friends grouped next to them. There were also a couple of ponies Celestia didn't recognize, but as she put the picture back onto the table, the Princess thought to herself in the darkness.

"How could I have even thought of tearing this away from you. I can't stop the events to come, but i'll do my best to ensure you stay as you are now."

The princess made her way back up the stairs where she lay back down on the couch, looking up towards where Isaac was sleeping, she finally sighed to herself and let sleep take over. Drifting into a much needed slumber.

As the sun slowly rose over the horizon, Isaac awoke slowly. Though confused about how he ended up in the library, he quickly shrugged it off and headed downstairs. He found Princess Luna sleeping quietly on the couch, he couldn't help but smile at the all powerful Princess taking a power nap. He wandered outside to find the familiar sight of the army in full activity, all sharpening weapons and checking armor. Isaac spotted Shining Armour readying his silver metal plates, upon noticing the colt moving towards him, Shining stepped up and spoke first.

"Princess Celestia has ordered us to move out in the next few hours. We're heading through the Everfree Forest, setting up camp at the top of the valley, there it's a straight downhill to where we'll be fighting."

"Alright. I'll go make sure everything's ready." Before Isaac could leave, Shining Armour beckoned him to follow, leading him into a small tent.

"I had this made especially for you, if you're going to lead this battle, you might as well look the part." Shining made a small smirk as he lifted a brand new set of armor. A silver saddle-plate with pointed shoulder plates, with sharp lines tinted green to match his mane. Isaac looked in awe at the new set as he tried it on, a perfect fit. And even though it didn't matter, he thought he looked badass. Isaac thanked Shining Armour and as he headed out of the tent, he was met by a legion of around 100 ponies, each saluting in different armour, but all of them had a small tint of green to signify their allegiance.

"These are your soldiers now, Isaac. Take care of them."

Comments

[batran]

Yay

[Fountain Pen]

Awesome, as usual.

[djponyfl]

good story.

[Tenebris Caeruleus]

Oh yes, now Issac has a legion of troops, his own very badass armour, AND a weapon of mass destruction. This shall not end well for the Leviathan.

[The Library]

I'm playing: (Ruby Skies and Violet Clouds) dubstep.
it gives an amazing affect to the story. especially the singing mares. It some how made me a little emotional