//------------------------------//
// Before Battle 
// Story: Tear the Sky Asunder 
// by Ice Star 
//------------------------------//

The ground that freezes more with each generation
trembles
His steps are nearer with each movement and his shadow washes over the inn and
looms
The building that does little to hold the cold at bay
quavers
like a leaf in bitter autumn gusts
Ponies who stand no chance pour from the ramshackle entrance, already screaming as they scatter to nowhere at all with the hope of
escape
Their strength is wrenched from them as he makes his appearance known and
scowls
His jaw clicks shut as he grows once more, above those who couldn't 
dream
or 
defy
much of anything at all
With the taste of all the pony magic of the races in sight and two races utterly
defeated 
and
decaying
he could now stand to take
something that matters so much more, the power of so many would be able to hold the might of gods within the boiling forces inside him, and though he has seen no 
Alicorns
bright beacons of everything meant to be in a world that appears dead
He towers above limp earth pony forms, glazed-eyed and shivering on the ground as their life drains away,
corrected
as there below him stand two goddesses with their wings flared like sails in such a dismal sea
and still, he thinks that
surely
this cannot be
except
a bolt of something bright from a sky that bears no storm
burns
his arm as it sails past, a streak of lightning sailing by and proves him to be
wrong
the blue-coated filly who challenges him gulps visibly and presents a sword in retaliation
she gulps again but does not
falter
beside her small, thin form, her companion and elder
stares
at the merciless monster of a tyrant before her
with eyes wide and fearful
To her, the thought of ponies nearby
in thatched homes that burned as easily as they do
hurt
Her legs trembling, her dress muddy and her magical grip on her weapon
slipping
She draws one last ragged breath
drops her gaze and
flees