The Bridge: The Eclipse Times

by Tarbtano


Eve of Light

Everything was burning. The streets, the houses, even the sky; flooded with the roaring red and yellow from the blood and fumes of the flames. Intense heat and blinding light overpowered Knight Shroud’s senses as he scrambled to try and find anypony to help. In some ways he almost wished the cackles of the fires and sound of rock splitting from heat stress was enough to override his hearing like his vision had. Timbers and masonry didn’t scream in agony when they burned, others unseen did. Gagging on the smoke and practically caked in his own sweat that made the smog stick to him, Knight Shroud stumbled out the door and into the streets that looked like they’d turned to Tartarus.

Through the agonizing light he could see her… It…. A blazen horror in the form of a giant pony. The towering form too large for an earth pony, spiraling horn too long for a unicorn and smoking wings more like what would expect of a monstrous eagle than a pegasus. All capped by an ever-blazing mane that set everything even remotely close to it ablaze or vaporized it on the spot. As she walked, the cobblestones underhoof cracked or melted. She breathed out the burning ash that wreathed her face, obscuring some features aside from the eyes. They were uncanny, almost reptilian at first with a burnt brown sclera and golden irises ringing slitted pupils. But with a single blink they were pure white, so pouring with power it was impossible to make out any features. Celestia, the living firestorm she was, was as terrifying and blinding as the sun that forever loomed overhead until the world was nothing but ash and dust.

It was the silence that followed the last of the burning that terrorized Knight Shroud awake. He lurched up from sleep, gasping for breath and feeling the sticky taint of sweat coating his fur. The first thing he witnessed as his wetted eyes opened again was the figure of an alicorn, one etched into the moon that hung over him. Knight Shroud lay still for a time, bathed in the silver light of the Mare in the Moon as he tried to take comfort in it. He closed his eyes and relaxed, feeling it. The pull, a draw to the moon as he felt to the night. The same draw that gave him the drive for truth, for justice, to form the Nights. In some ways he fancied maybe, just maybe, it was their lost Princess Luna, the alicorn so cruelly disposed of by her sister, that was pulling him; calling to him.

He’d had doubts at first, but like listening to whispers in his ear, he’d found his concerns to be valid and others willing to listen. No matter what happened, understanding was needed and they had to be prepared for the worst. In some ways he thought they needed to prepare more, hence the calling of the meeting as soon as his thankfully relatively minor injuries over his impromptu confrontation with Princess Celestia were bandaged. After what his subconscious just conjured up as his new greatest fear, they’d need everything that could get in case things went south; a very real possibility.

As he set himself to dress and clean the filth off him, he could at least take some small comfort in for whatever reason and however much time had passed, the sun still hadn’t replaced his precious moon in the sky. If anything, it meant they hadn’t run out of time before any burnings ensued.

Slipping his old helmet back on, Knight Shroud left his room and soon found himself at the meeting place for the cause; which was rather naturally a moonglade outside of the town and inns they’d been staying in. The Nights movement was growing in number every hour, with this meeting of the leadership numbering in the several dozen. In some ways Knight Shroud liked to think the group was a reminder of the pre-alicorn Equestria, pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies all spearheading a movement together without an alicorn at the apex. There was the martyrdom of Princess Luna of course being used as a rallying point, but more as a symbolic lead than an actual one. They wanted to know what happened and why, so the moon itself became the symbol. The moon was a bare surface for all to see to inspect down to the finest detail, with the night revealing all the stars in the sky. By comparison, the sun was a blazen sphere none could gaze upon without having to look away, so burning bright that it obscured everything else in the sky. And so, the hope of Knight Shroud’s movement was that the truth would be clear as the moon and night, no longer as obscured as the sun and day.

All he could do was hope.

Knight Shroud took his place in the circle of stones the others gathered around, banners waving behind their heads as he took mental inventory of them all. Knight Shroud was a keen study of body language, helped in charisma for speaking or judging the movements of another before it happened. And he was seeing a lot of fear or unease right now. Sure, many of those in attendance were clad in strong faces and tall postures, but numerous mares and stallions in sight were visibly reacting to something. Quiver in the eye, slight reflectiveness of sweat on the fur, ears twitching, tired darkening of the eyes, or muscles tensing; they were afraid of something.

Knight Shroud opted to break the conflicting murmuring and silence by clearing his throat, “Ladies. Gentlecolts. I see we all have been successful in coming here and judging from some new faces I see joining us, I am happy our efforts to earn more voices have been paying off. Rest assured my… incident… earlier has left me with no major injuries.”

Knight Shroud noted, motioning to some of the bandaging he had on his cheek and left foreleg; which were mostly from just getting cut on some broken wood Celestia’s shockwave had thrown him through more than anything else thankfully.

“Now, I feel we should gather up more to our ranks; at least a few hundred or so-”

A voice to his left and behind the inner circle cut him off, “We already number in the thousands! Thousands poised to act for justice!”

The cry went out with several huzzahs and cheers, earning a crooked eyebrow from Knight Shroud and some of the veterans in the inner circle the dozens or so meeting gathered around. Glancing at the source of the outburst with some awkwardness, Knight Shroud patiently waited out the cheering and made sure it had died down before continuing.

“As I was saying… Once we have our numbers, we need to organize and rally at Canterlot. With numbers at our back we can exude some force without resorting to forced coercion against our countryponies. We formed for answers and or justice, twenty dozen outside Canterlot Castle will make sure those within it try to dispense some more of both. But, I caution this is a trying time. We must be careful or we risk sowing disharmony when our group formed to promote the opposite. Then we can achieve what we desired.”

“Transparency and lessening of power for Princess Celestia,” another bat pony named Stella noted with a tap of her hoof on the central table.

Knight Shroud nodded to her, glad to see he still had plenty of rational folks rallied with him. Some of the younger or newer crowd were beginning to concern him. He could see it in their expression as he looked around. While the sense of unease in many of them was still extremely evident, a few of the new or youthful faces were looking increasingly invigorated, energized by adrenaline. The twitching in the nerves around their eyes, how quickly some were breathing, the dilated pupils; it looked frantic or even fanatical. He didn’t like it.

“Exactly. We don’t need to recreate what policy is going on now. Equestria is a great nation, we're not revolutionizing it, just reforming it if that's needed.”

Instantly Knight Shroud’s remark drew two extremely different reactions. Some, namely those in the inner circle or older new arrivals, smiled and nodded in agreeance after maybe a brief moment or two of pondering. But the younger and or new additions shook their eyes, stomped their hooves, or even sneered at the words.

“Why shouldn’t we?! She’s already attacked us!”, one shouted.

A stallion to her side, fidgeting and flinching from something he was remembering, shouted out as well, “Y-Yeah! She attacked Knight Shroud earlier and tried to blow up a rally!”

“Hey hey calm down now-”

“You said it yourself, she’s not even a pony!”

Knight Shroud inwardly growled at his words getting bent around by something he was rapidly putting under the ‘young punk’ label, “As for the attack, some of you must not have been watching as something was clearly wrong with her. Yet another factor for our rally to find out about. If it's something serious, we have a right to know. As for her being a pony, what I said she wasn’t ‘like’ any other pony, once. And that maybe certain rules should be given to Princess Celestia since she is aging so differe-”

He was again cut off by an uproar in the back, “She no princess, she’s a tyrant!”

“Princess Celestia has done many great deeds for Equestria. We should give her benefit of the doubt until proven otherwi-”

“Only a tyrant would overthrow her sister!”

“We don’t know exactly what happened with her and Princess Luna, that is why we are trying to figure this out-”, Knight Shroud grunted as he was put short by another shout.

It was useless as he tried, only getting cut off more and more as half the crowd whipped themselves into more and more of a frenzy.

“Nightmare Moon saw what the tyrant was doing! She was only trying to free us before it was too late!”

“Why should we reform a tyranny?! We need to dismantle it entirely, restore it to leadership by ponies, for ponies!”

“Yes, a republic! A republic guided by our true celestial!”, a young unicorn barked, motioning up to the mare in the moon.

Knight Shroud just watched it all, slowly shaking his head as some of his inner circle looked upon him apologetically for bringing this crowd. Glances cast to each of them with a shrug told the message of no hard feelings, even as Shroud impatiently waited to see if the out-crying broadcasters would run out of steam. He could clearly see their type as he studied each of them that shouted out, either to the crowd in general or each other. The levels of intensity, fear, and stress upon each seemed far too great for what they were shouting about.

-This isn’t them naturally getting worked up, something is doing it. It’s like they’ve been terrorized.-

But then one single line, a yelp from the back of the crowd that was practically blotted out by the shouts of another closer in distance and louder in voice.

“She will burn everything if we don’t stop her!”

“Eyes of darkness and fire!”

“A breaking of day!”

Knight Shroud felt like he’d been electrocuted, struck by lightning as his mind flashed back to the dream. More shouts came out, all perfectly aligning to what his dreamscape had showed him. True, it was hardly the first dream he’d had since starting this cause; but he’d chalked it up to stressful life creating a wilder imagination. But here and now, it was like every facet of his nightmare was being read off to him. And each time somepony named off a trait, be it the blank, uncanny expression on the nightmarish Celestia’s visage or the exact same burning flag he’d seen smoldering at her hooves; he saw them look up and glance to the Mare in the Moon. As crazy as it seemed, Knight Shroud almost thought the blankets of silvery rays coating many of them looked like strings to a giant puppeteer piece.

-They all had the same dream. How could that be?-

As more rabble ensued, Knight Shroud muttered a silent prayer of thanks when he saw his old friend, a green pegasus named Lightning Dash soaring towards them still clad in her Hurricane forces armor. True, she hadn’t joined the Nights formally, but it was more out of professional disagreeing rather than anything personal and they still kept in touch. Shroud, a former soldier before an honorable discharge, had hoped to use connections still from his old crew still in the military, like her, to maybe get some audience with Commander Hurricane or King Orion to win some influence peacefully.

His eyes instantly trained upon the scroll clenched between the blue furred, red maned mare’s mouth. She landed behind him and he sighed, “Please tell me you got something good.”

“What constitutes good?”, she shrugged as she hoofed over the scroll.

Knight Shroud glanced at the rabble rousers in the crowd still sputtering off while he started unwrapping the message, “Princess Celestia decided to speak and invites my associates and I for negotiations over tea?”

Knight Shroud knew that sure as Tartarus wasn’t happening from the somber expression on the typically energized pegasus’ face, even before he got the scroll open and read the first few lines. And when he did, the dark hued stallion practically turned white as the blood rushed out of his face. His hooves began to tremble, weak in the joints. A curious subordinate walked closer and tried to read as Knight Shroud finished, the shocked leader passing him the scroll to spread the same reaction to him. When Knight Shroud got both his hooves free of that terrorizing document, his entire body shook and he put a hoof to his forehead. Lightning Dash bowed her head as her jewel hued eyes bore a quiet tear. She had already read of what happened to her homecity, what had happened to her dear, grandfatherly king. And as Knight Shroud pushed his way past her and through the crowd, only one thought bore down on the former soldier’s mind.

How he was going to make it known to the crowd.

He stepped up onto the central table, standing above everypony not flying or hovering with magic. Some grew silent at his sobering appearance and downturned face wreathed in shadow. Others paid attention when he brought forth a great hurricane of voice from his throat.

“QqqqquuuuuuuuUUUIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!”

The shroud cast itself, and those covered obeyed. A full ten seconds passed in such silence one could have heard a pin drop from several dozen meters away. Knight Shroud took those ten seconds to collect himself.

“Earlier, at the waning of the day prior; a horror to contrast with the beautiful quiet of this night took place. According to witness reports as well as a personal inspection by Commander Hurricane himself, Timbucktu has been… eradicated. Changeling attack, Chrysalis has returned… There were no survivors. I am not overselling this. As of now, there are probably only a few dozen Timbucktu jewel-eyed pegasi in the world-”

Knight Shroud yelled, stealing a quick glance at Lightning Dash as some others did. The jewel eyed pegasus had her glittering eyes drowned with solemn loss, having been one of the 'lucky' Timbucktu natives to have been away from the capital when the attack and massacre went down.

“-And… Chrysalis was not stopped. There is good evidence to suggest she is on her way to Trot as we speak to do the exact same thing to that city. Then the next, then the next. Right now with Princess Luna gone and Princess Celestia… inactive… we’re vulnerable. Nopony else can use the Elements of Harmony, and if there are any we don’t have the time to find them. We Equestrians only have each other to act, to stop this monster before she sheds any more blood. Commander Hurricane is on his way right now with a combined force of pegasi, earth ponies, and unicorns; all rallying to Trot. And before me I see another combined force of pegasi, earth ponies, and unicorns. The only question I have is, will we take the same action?”

“Is this to win more to our cause?”, one voice piped up from the front rows, coming from another former soldier whom was clad from head to hoof in his now recolored guard armor; the celestial sun replaced by a crescent moon.

“No,” Knight Shroud barked with a shaking head, “If we do anything, we prove ourselves as true Equestrians in helping our countryponies. Chrysalis is a threat to us all. If she attacks Trot, she attacks all of us. So, effective immediately I’m calling for a renovation on the current agenda. Any of us with combat experience and or training along with anypony with medical or rescue work will rendezvous with me and the others in two hours at the south camp so we can form up with Commander Hurricane’s forces and reinforce Trot!”

But then, before the nods and determined looks could turn to cheers or planning for gearing up, a single word roared out from the middle of the crowd.

“Never!”

Knight Shroud whirled around, his face contorting with disbelief over what he just heard and all logic telling him he heard wrong. Some of the crowd pulled away to reveal a young unicorn stallion, dark blue in color with a purple mane. The unicorn huffed in breath, his wide eyes showing a mixture of fear and franticness that indicated enormous stress.

Knight Shroud steeled himself, motioning to the younger stallion, “...What… was that?”

“N-Never…”, the stallion sneered with flinches, “Celestia is a tyrant, a monster parading around in the form of a pony. She is no different from Chrysalis and sooner… or later.. She’s going to do to us what she did to her own sister!”

He barked frantically in paranoia, accentuating the last two words as Knight Shroud was at a loss for his own.

“I-It’s true! I saw it myself! Celestia was to be crowned Queen in a few years, she lusted for the crown and with the founders getting older, who do you think was going to replace them but Starswirl’s pet project?”, another voice calling out from a pegasus mare walking up to flank the first unicorn.

Knight Shroud sneered in disbelief as more and more rallied behind the two. He was going to note they were cherry picking facts, like how Luna was also to be given queenship when she was older and Celestia was just going to be crowned first on account of age gap. Or more directly where the mare had claimed to have ‘seen’ this she spoke of.

“If we go to Trot, how are we to know Celestia won’t just swoop in and ‘accidentally’ take us out like she will the changelings?!”

“-We don’t even know if Princess Celestia is going to be at Trot, Commander Hurricane has assumed she won’t be given her conditio-”, Knight Shroud was cut off. Not even his commanding voice able to rip through the mass hysteria that swept up a good portion of the crowd. If he were a superstitious stallion, he could have sworn he saw that part of the Nights group being cast in more moonbeams than the rest.

“-Then she’s leaving Trot to die! It’s a cull!”

“Princess Luna, a true princess, rebelled! Now we must too! Let the Tyrant’s lackies get thrown into battle! We are not them! We protect our own!”

“We are her Children of the Night! Break the day!”

The young, the impressionable, the scared, and if the back of Knight Shroud’s mind was true, the influenced; swept each other up in a cornucopia of hysteria, fanaticism, and misplaced belief. The Nights Rebellion truly began in that hour, and Knight Shroud was powerless to stop the powder keg from going up when one nightmare lit the spark. He could only shake his head in shock.

The Mare in the Moon practically looked like she was smiling.

========
Trot
========

Commander Hurricane could hate all the times he was wrong, which he wasn’t ashamed to admit had happened a lot in his more bullheaded, earlier years. But experience and age bore wisdom. He still hated, it’s just that now he hated being right almost all the time. A million questions, often similar in scope to the whispers of doubt he’d gotten but told nopony of upon discovering Timbucktu. As he and his forces descended upon the already panic-stricken and assaulted city, every burning home or equine scream was a plague of the mind and worry his decisions had costed them.

Commander Hurricane sneered and adjusted his lance which now bore the point of an old friend, King Orion’s spear, on the opposite end as a secondary weapon and counterweight. Going back to Canterlot to amass might have cost them some time, but given the living wave of buzzing blackness; pegasi alone wouldn’t have been nearly enough to face this horde. Hardened nerve became etched across his grayed face. He could worry about those who’d been harmed in the initial attack later and leave the wounded for the trained to tend to. He was a soldier amongst soldiers, and they had their job to do.

“FOR EQUESTRIA!”, he roared and charged into battle.

The sapient tidal wave of ponies echoed the Commander as they rushed in, pegasi flight teams zooming down from the sky, earth pony shocktroopers being deployed down from carriages some pegasi were carting, unicorn mages and guards teleporting or being airdropped in with their earth pony compatriots. By wing of air, hoof of land, and horns of magic they rushed in to fulfill their duties to fight or protect.

“F-O-R E-Q-U-E-S-T-R-I-A!”

=================

Be it because he was bruising his way through her drones or her cunning mind telling her the ponies would fold from lost morale at his loss, it was natural that Queen Chrysalis, clad in her war armor, rushed Commander Hurricane. Smashing through the side of a wooden storehouse, the changeling queen shrieked with manic laughter as she surged forward into Hurricane’s defense. The advantage in the battle was clear from the first few blows exchanged. A single hoof smack from the changeling toppled the large stallion over after swatting him out of the air, forcing Hurricane to roll away to safety and avoid being the epicenter to the crater Chrysalis’ follow-up stomp created in the cobblestone road. Whirling back to his hooves, Commander Hurricane bellowed and slashed out with the bladed portion of his lance. But, despite his own admirable strength and agility born momentum; the lance rather unceremoniously bounced off the side of Chrysalis’ helmet after only managing to crack one of its eye lenses. The dark magic embodiment of lust sneered, grabbing onto the lance by its shaft and ripping Commander Hurricane off the ground. As he furiously beat his wings to try and get clear, Chrysalis slashed upwards with her head and brought her horn into play in the most brutal way possible.

The forgers of Timbucktu were quite skilled in their craft, the Commander’s armor being one of their best works in both absorbing as well as defusing physical impacts and or magic blasts; even if it was originally only made with the intent to deflect off earth pony bucks or unicorn concussive blasts. The queen of the changelings was something else entirely. Commander Hurricane wasn’t impaled on her horn or sliced open by its scimitar-like shape as she intended, the armor spared him that fate. Instead he was sent flying back after a sickening crack indicated Chrysalis broke half his ribs with a blow that dented his chestplate and ruptured the padding under it. Beneath his armor the old soldier’s torso was soon becoming flush with ugly red and black from a massive bruise forming atop his winded chest.

Sliding across the ground, Commander Hurricane gagged and coughed, staggering to his feet. He wiped some blood off his lips, balling up a wad of sanguine and other ichors to spit it out.

Chrysalis’ mocking tone seeped across his ears, “Oooh, still able to stand? Now there’s the Hurricane that could stare down a flock of gryphons. But… that was a long time ago, my little pony.”

Chrysalis lifted up one of Hurricane’s shed, graying hairs that had fallen from his mane, giving it a bemused look before flicking it off into the wind, “And nopony can best time.”

Commander Hurricane leered, still choking on his breath as he backed away. Before Chrysalis could bemuse the possibility he was retreating, the pegasus stallion’s cold expression and fact he hadn’t lowered his lance spoke otherwise. Chrysalis rolled her eyes and paced after him, her wider stride and the fact she wasn’t having to move with multiple broken ribs meant she didn’t need any effort to keep up with her prey. They passed through the battle, into a quieter part of the city into the marketplace.

Commander Hurricane winced and lunged forward, swinging his lance in a wide arc that Chrysalis easily stepped back from. The lance spun around and snapped a tent pole, sending the cloth roofing crashing down. Queen Chrysalis grumbled, easily swatting the nuisance aside before it could fall upon her. When she regained sight of Hurricane, he’d taken the chance to back up further and she again pursued. Again he swung, momentarily blinding her, but the cloth debris hardly gave him any opening to retreat any significant distance. By the time they reached the end of the marketplace’s bazaar, they’d gone through fifteen small tents, Hurricane was huffing for labored breath, and Chrysalis was just annoyed.

“Tired, old stallion? I must say, you are proving far more irksome than I imagined…”

Magic hummed forth across her body, fueled by thoughts that lusted for what she desired as it was channeled as a ghastly green glow upon her horn.

A long tongue drew itself across her fangs as she slowly chased him into the last, largest tent, “You pegasi always did like your glory, so you need not make this difficult. Death by my hoof certainly will make you go down in history like your friend, Orion. You’ll end with your honor intact.”

Commander Hurricane flinched, letting his lip curl up into a hateful snarl. He muttered only a single, quiet phrase, “Give Tirek my regards.”

Queen Chrysalis rolled her eyes and fired a blast that melted Commander Hurricane, or rather the ground he’d been standing on a moment ago, in an instant. The pegasus champion surged forward at speed betraying his age and current condition, moving so quickly one could swear he caused a sonic boom in less than a quarter of a second. He lunged forward with his lance in a warcry, but rather than futilely stab into Chrysalis’ armor; he aimed higher and to her side. The point and edge of the lance moved with surgical precision, shearing through a strap keeping Chrysalis’ chestplate in place despite less than a half an inch of said strap being exposed. Hurricane zoomed past her in slow motion, contorting around and beating his wings to grab onto one of the big tent’s poles and swing around it to alter direction. The mastery of speed, force, and aim was fitting for the Commander’s legendary status. He nimbly vaulted himself off the pole while stabbing through it with Orion’s spear point, bringing it down behind him as he grabbed ahold of the falling fabric with his air wake. Shooting past the changeling, the pegasus forcefully ensnared her in the fabric.

Commander Hurricane could count the milliseconds tick by, feeling alive. This was the skill he’d honed after decades. This was what he brought forth to teach Pansy, Sentry, and multitudes of others. This made him feel like a young stallion again. For a brief moment, the mythical stone-face of the pegasi smiled as he flew upside down and looked at the beautiful night above. As he vaulted off the last remaining tent pole, Hurricane spun himself around like a drill and aimed his lance at the cloth covered mass of Chrysalis where he had aimed before when he sliced the armor strap off; only this time slightly lower.

The lance bit into something and there was an ungodly shriek that erupted from the body. But it wasn’t a death wail or a scream of agony, nor was the metallic clanging that followed there the lance tip had impacted the sound of steel biting flesh. At the last moment, young as he felt, Commander Hurricane was still well past his prime. In a last moment before impact, age and injury caused him to flinch.

Queen Chrysalis exploded out of the fabric, screeching in rage with Hurricane’s lance lodged in the edge of her armor. The demoness’ armor had slowed down the attempted impalement just enough for it to not bite through her chitin even when it severely dented said armor. But it hurt, and being harmed, let alone by a mortal, was more than enough for Chrysalis to emulate her old colleague Sombra in emotion. True, she wasn’t wrath like he was; but it didn’t mean the massive beam of magic she spewed out onto Commander Hurricane was any less dangerous. Unable to get out of the way due to exhaustion and being stuck in place due to his lance being lodged in Chrysalis’ armor, Commander Hurricane was engulfed in dark magic.

=================


Captain Ardent Sentry, Pre-Changeling Conflict

Several minutes later and the battle was not boding well for the Equestrians. Most of the civilians were out of harm’s way and the soldiers were fighting admirably, but the effect of the prior conflict was taking it’s toll. Chrysalis marched through, casually burning her way through a barrier erected by several unicorns. Ever since dealing with Hurricane, the Changeling Queen’s patience had run thin and her bloodlust ran thick. The unicorns, scampering back in fear after seeing the green changeling magic rip through their defenses as Chrysalis briskly walked towards them, had to be grabbed by a flight team of pegasi to avoid being flash-fried by a energy blast from Chrysalis. A large mass hefted itself off the ground to her right and Chrysalis’ eyes diverted to meet it. Several earth pony stallions and mares ripped half a stone pillar out of its foundations and shoved it over, collapsing the marble like a falling tree. Chrysalis sneered, taking her eye off the pegasi and unicorns to focus on the next distraction.

One of the unicorns paled in her face when she saw the explosion of rubble that followed Chrysalis backhoofing the pillar hard enough to smash it to pieces.

“Wh-Where’s the commander?! Where’s Hurricane?!”, she shrieked, clearly getting scared out of her mind.

Her companion pegasus wasn’t doing much better, eyes trained upon the battlefield as Chrysalis went on a bonafied rampage. She was an unimpeded force, able to shrug off what was thrown at her with nopony bold enough to try and face her head-on, only able to try and avoid her. The fear lead to a domino effect. Nopony wanted to fight Chrysalis directly so they avoided her attacks and presence. Nopony assaulting her meant Chrysalis could roam more. Chrysalis roaming more meant more areas affected and more ponies afraid of her. More ponies afraid of her in a larger area meant nopony wanted to fight her directly.

“Sh-Should we fall back?”

“Retreat?! To protect Canterlot maybe?”

“No!... Maybe, no point in dying so we can’t help anypony!”

“Where’s the Commander?!”

The voices spoke of helping the wounded and civilians, or of retreating to reinforce the capital; while all true, also were true to something unspoken. Morale was breaking down without command. Everypony had come rallying around Hurricane, and the storm had seemed to subside. The crowds began to fall back as Chrysalis bore down on them.

But as Chrysalis locked her glare down upon the ponies, a typhoon came to strike with a vengeance. A gray-blue blur slammed into Chrysalis’ side. The changeling shrieked, the edges of an iconic lance sparking off the edges of her green war armor. They struggled, Chrysalis shoving back against the lance’s shaft and firing a burst of magic. But her foe, clad in burnt gray and purple armor, nimbly dodged out of the way, spinning in such a way they smashed a hoof into her cheek. Chrysalis, while bigger than the pony, only had so much mass. Her head was forced back and the magic blast diverted harmlessly off into the sky.

The ponies, once tempting the idea of retreat, felt there mouths gape and eyes widen. Their expression turned to awe struck cheering when they recognized the distinctive armor and lance the gray and blue pony bore. While he wasn’t landing any dire hits as he weaved, lashed, dodged, kicked, and stabbed at the armored changeling, he was holding ground. Commander Hurricane was back on his hooves despite his burnt armor, and he seemed stronger than ever. He zipped around Chrysalis in a spectacle none had ever seen before, a lone warrior fighting a titan of terror like Chrysalis one on one. Hurricane launched himself back, skidding across the ground on sparking hooves. Not missing a second to act, he darted out of the way without a hint of pause, dodging a charging Chrysalis as she lunged past him while taking the chance to slash at one of her armor’s straps with his lance.

A bat winged stallion put his helmet back on as he landed in front of the crowd. Before any others could wonder what was going on if they recognized the newcomer, Knight Shroud let his eyes dart over to a fallen flag standard, showing the emblem of two alicorns of white and blue encircling one another. He hoisted it high and pointed back at the battlefield, shouting at the top of his lungs.

“No retreating yet! We got a fight to win so let’s get back in there!”

A chorus of bellows, howls, snorts, and winnys answered him with many ponies, soldier and local, hoisting back up their weapons, horns, wings, or even bare hooves before charging back into the fray.

They didn't nor couldn't know it wasn't Hurricane fighting Chrysalis.

=================
A short time earlier
=================

Ardent Sentry blocked three changeling drones’ rushed attacks with her spear, kicking at its shaft to spin the weapon around and throw her attackers off balance. Fazed and stumbling, they were powerless before the powerful mare blitzed forward and tackled them through a wooden wall and away from the paramedic and wounded civilians they’d attempted to ambush. Stabbing the counterweight of the spear into the ground and kicking off to rotate around, Ardent Sentry smashed her hindhooves into the remaining support beam for the wall to bring the structure down on top of the marauders.

She covered her face to shield her eyes from the falling debris, wiping a bloodied cheek before turning back to those she’d help save.

“Get them out of here, now! South end has less fighting and earth ponies holding the line, take the side streets and keep running!”, she roared and was obeyed.

Casting her vision upwards, Ardent steeled herself as she saw several burning fireballs of green dark magic arcing down from the sky towards her. Ardent Sentry braced, twirling her spear as she calculated where to dodge and how to counterattack the pending seven-on-one battle to both not get overwhelmed as well as cover the civilians. Her questions were answered for her when the sound of a war horn called out and a mass of objects sailed in from the east. Some flew in on bat wings, others charged into the fray on dark hooves; with more appearing out of thin air in bursts of magic. Numerous dark hued ponies of nightly blues and grays piled into the fray, tackling, ramming, or blasting the changelings off course before engaging them.

One familiar voice rang out in unison with a crossbow bolt shooting over Ardent’s head, “Cover the medics! Take them down!”

Ardent Sentry whirled around to face a reloading Knight Shroud, still amped up on adrenaline and nearly whacking the bat winged stallion in the face. Shroud’s eyes nearly burst out of his head when she stopped the spear short of hitting him. He dropped his crossbow and threw his hooves up.

“Whoa whoa whoa! Friendly! Friendly!”, he yelped.

Mindful of who it was they were fighting, Ardent had to be certain with such a big force suddenly moving in from their rear flank. It could easily be a diversion tactic by a transforming changeling, sacrificing one or two of their number to launch a mass ambush.

“I’ll buy it but quick, give me proof,” she barked, “Name something Knight Shroud would admit to or know!”

After a moment of pondering, his head shot up with elation as he hoped he said the right thing, “I noticed there was something wrong with Princess Celestia in the square, she’s suffering from bursts of uncontrollable magic and her condition has been tight lipped as of late, right?”

Ardent Sentry paused for a moment before shrugging, pulling the spear away and holding out her hoof to her former coworker.

“You luna-tics got good timing, glad you’re here,” she sighed as Knight Shroud shook her hoof with a chuckle.

“Nice pun, but I think an hour or so earlier wouldn’t have been too bad either. We got a situation with some former colleagues of mine- Heads up!”, he barked, trying to shove Ardent Sentry out of the way and smack the butt of his crossbow stock into a dive bombing changeling.

While he did manage to do the first part, the changeling had far too much momentum for his hit to make much of a difference. It would have continued barreling towards him now, wreathed in green dark magic flames like some sort of evil meteor; had a spear not planted itself in the ground. Using Knight Shroud’s shove to spin herself around at her weapon born anchor, Ardent Sentry whirled around and smashed her hooves into the changeling’s side with all her might. Its chitin armor splintered and its path was diverted, sending it careening off into a market shack that tumbled down on top of it.

Knight Shroud breathed into still his pounding heart, which was beating hard for multiple reasons, before helping Ardent back up.

“Thanks.”

Reloading his crossbow, Knight Shroud surveyed the war zone. Through the pandemonium of ponies, changelings, soldiers, medics, and civilians trying to get out of the way, he was having trouble spotting the one form in particular he sought. His old commanding officer.

“Where is Commander Hurricane? I was trying to give him the command chain for my group.”

Ardent Sentry’s eyes dilated when his words sunk in and she was in the air in an instant. No words could escape her mouth, her throat clamped down upon itself. She looked to the city hall, the home district, the gates and walls, but bore no sight of Commander Hurricane. There was an explosion from the market distinct, where the tent stalls were. Her eyes trained upon it just in time to see a large, smoking mass go flying out of a green hued burst of magic she knew came from Chrysalis. She recognized who it was as they went sailing back and slammed through a partially collapsed, burned house.

She wanted to scream as she bolted off after it, call out several loud words of regret, anguish, or denial. But Knight Shroud didn’t hear her say anything as her tear hit the ground and he bolted after her.

Ardent Sentry kicked down the charred doorway and instantly scrambled inside. The house had partially fallen in on itself, some smoldering remains still bleeding smoke with the only light coming from streaming moonbeams thanks to the hole in the roof. Dropping her spear aside to less encumber herself, Ardent frantically dug into the rubble and debris. By the time Knight Shroud caught up, he saw her managing to lift and throw a heavy roof beam out of the way.

“Ardent what’s going on?!”, Knight Shroud gagged from the smoke and dust in the air. As he approached, he witnessed Ardent gather something up in her hooves. When he got to her side, his breath was stolen.

Commander Hurricane’s coarse breathing was the only noise inside the half destroyed house, as his head lay limp in Ardent Sentry’s lap. Neither was emoting, Hurricane only huffing for breath as tears streamed down the mare’s cheeks. Hurricane was in a worse state. The disjointed angle of one of his wings and hindlegs clearly indicated they were broken, bent around at the joint. Half his body was covered in still-smoldering burns with dried blood caking his cheek, neck, and shoulder. His armor had taken the brunt of the magic blast, but was partially warped and burned. Due to the unique forging of the armor in reaction to the dark magic that still crackled over it every now and then in small, sparking arcs; the darker hues had been stained with blotches of purple and gold.

Commander Hurricane looked up at Knight Shroud, one of his eyes swollen shut, and flinched. Sneering slightly to bite back the pain, he croaked out a phrase, “The battle?”

Knight Shroud’s lips quivered seeing his old commander like this as he saluted, steeling himself and carrying on, “Still.. Ongoing, sir. I’ve brought reinforcements”

“And Ch-Chrysalis?”

“Alive, Sir.”

There was an echo of a magic blast from outside. Judging from the volume and magnitude, it could only have come from the Changeling Queen rejoining the fray. Hurricane winced, narrowing his good eye as he tried to rise. Ardent Sentry kept him back down, scowling even as she cried.

“No!”, she roared, more frustrated than enraged. Hurricane growled and tried to rise again, only for the mare to force him to remain in her grasp.

“Stubborn old dog! STAY! DOWN!”, Ardent snarled with her eyes still damp.

Commander Hurricane fit that description, still trying to struggle up even as his strength left him. He collapsed, the graying soldier was spent. He could only talk in a quiet, broken tone, not as a legendary hero but as a tired old stallion.

“Fight’s… not-t.. finished. If I stay out, the troops will break. They’ll win.”

Hurricane looked to Sentry and they stared at eachother for a time. Knight Shroud observed the two, glancing between them slowly as the two held a silent conversation. Ardent Sentry and Commander Hurricane’s expressions ran the full gamut of emotions. Pleading to stoic. Somber to softening. Determined and concerned to relenting and grief-filled. He didn’t know what was being said, but they did. Ardent Sentry took Hurricane and her own helmets off, letting the two look at each other fully.

Liquid, a mix of red and clear, wept out of the edges of Commander Hurricane’s good eye as he closed it. An apology.

Ardent leaning in and put her forehead to the old stallion’s, an acceptance.

She laid him down as he rested, quickly but carefully taking off his armor. She threw her voice back to Knight Shroud.

“Strip me. Do you have any of those dye potions to change fur color you were passing around at Canterlot?”

More than a bit flummoxed by both the demand and the question, he nevertheless got to work and started undoing the straps to shed off Ardent Sentry’s armor.

“Y-Yes but I hardly see how that’s relevant!”

He fished out one of the vials, having not had the time to dump all his armor's pockets before heading to Trot, and Ardent quickly snatched it up. Not caring how long the effects might last, she ripped the cap off and chugged it down. Like a veil being drawn over, her orangey-yellow fur began to grow much darker, approximating the dark blue of Commander Hurricane out of either sheer willpower to look such or fortunate luck. Knight Shroud dropped Ardent’s chestplate and cocked an eyebrow as the now extremely Hurricane-looking mare looked to him with a sharp, unbreakable expression despite her dried tears. That was the look of somepony about to kill something or die trying. It only enhanced the resemblance. Even without the potion affecting the mane and tail, Knight Shroud had never noticed until now how similar Ardent and Hurricane’s mane colors were, near identical dual shades of medium blues.

Ardent slung the rest of Hurricane’s armor on top of herself, adjusting it some to compensate for a slightly smaller size; though she was a larger than average mare and filled the gear decently enough. She picked up and pushed her spear and his crossbow Knight Shroud's hooves.

“Watch over him or get him out of here,” she muttered.

He had a million questions rolling through his head, but he knew not to ask one. Instead all he did was nod his head, saluting.

Ardent Sentry picked up Commander Hurricane’s lance and attached it to the holster on the armor, pausing only when an outstretched hoof wrapped around hers. She looked down to see a calmed Hurricane gazing up at her. She leaned down to him and despite her wearing his armor, he saw a resemblance to somepony else. He closed his eyes as they embraced. He remembered two decades prior, when he was younger and quickly rising through the ranks. He went to his favorite tavern to celebrate alongside an old female acquaintance who worked there. A celebration that got a bit out of hoof despite the two lacking any feelings for one another. In the years after he’d written it off, as the chances were slim even when Speedy Service was with child. Timing seemed off and he was hardly the only stallion she’d slept with, let alone recently. But all these years he’d had suspicions ever since Service's daughter joined the guard and her having an extremely familiar mane and eye color was not lost upon him. Maybe said nothing because they hated him. Maybe they didn't want to alter his career or image. Maybe they didn't care. But all those suspicious were ones answered by a single two word phrase Ms. Service’s daughter whispered to him before he lost consciousness in her embrace.

“Rest, father.”

They would have a lot to talk about, if that chance came...

===================

If viewed from miles above, Equestria seemed almost peaceful despite the dour and chaotic happenings going on. The Mare in the Moon seemed to leer down upon the country as she hovered high above it. But that changed. High in the north, in the land were Timbucktu once hovered; there was a flash of light. Like a puff of flame, it was bright but soon went out. But before the darkness could settle back in again, another burst of light sounded off. Then another, then another, growing in strength. A pinprick of light emerged before drastically swelling in size, seemingly miniscule from the vantage point of this high an altitude, but distance meant such a flare of light had to been a fireball hundreds of meters wide. It swelled, compounding before a streak of luminance shot out of it. It raced across the landscape, going thousands of meters per second.

The resulting sound wave of the explosion was deafening for kilometers. In it and the light streak’s wake, Timbucktu had been completely destroyed. Cremated. The streak of light made her way Southeastward...

Death bore a fiery mane at day's break.