//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Vengeance // Story: Hope Trots Alone // by Crowquill Symphony //------------------------------// Hope Trots Alone A Fan Fiction by Crowquill Symphony Chapter 3: Vengeance         In a small dark room in the depths of Luna’s fortress, the green lights that covered the wall began to go out. The pegasus in the room looked at the now dark lights, and gently poked a panel on the console beneath the lights. It slid open, revealing a map of the city. There were numerous red dots marking a trail ending in the fortress courtyard. And there was a lot of red there.         “Oh my.” The pegasus turned and exited the room into the light of the barracks she spent most of her time in. There were five others in the room, two of them trapped in some sort of argument, three standing off to the side watching with interest. She raised her head, and spoke softly. “Everyone? Could I get your attention? If, you know, you’re not to busy…” She stared at the floor, finally looking up to see she had the other’s undivided attention. “Uhm, there’s trouble in the city. A lot of robots are gone.”         Silence. The yellow pegasus began to curl up slightly when the others began to shout and grab their weapons and gear. She made her way to her bunk, opening the locker near the base. Inside was a simple harness, covered in small metal patches. She slipped it on, tightened the straps, and focused. Small arcs of lighting covered her body, hitting each of the metal patches before she slipped her coat on over it. No sense frightening the intruder, whoever he, or she, was. ******         More robots poured out of the fortress, getting ripped to shreds by the hail of bullets that welcomed them. A pegasus-bot swept down at the intruder, missing by just enough to wind up a smoking pile of twisted metal. Twilight’s magic wrapped around the guns of the nearby robots, shattering them and levitating the bullets out. She loaded them into her own gun, thanking the heavens for the break in the fighting. She hadn’t been counting bullets, but she could tell that her Gatling guns were running low on ammo. She still had the heavy shells, but she wanted to save those. Behind her stood a crowd of ponies cheering and chanting for her. There was hope in their eyes. She smiled as she saw it.         “You’ve got some nerve, trying to break in here!” Twilight looked up to see a cyan pegasus in a purple and black flight suit covered with bombs descending from the second story with five others. She recognized them. They were the Shadowbots. Nightmare Moon’s six most trusted lieutenants.         She clenched her jaw, her teeth grinding against each other. They were the ones who killed her sister. She lined up her guns, heard them beginning to spin. More robots poured from the fortress, and she began to fire, mowing them down as the approached. The Shadow bots charged, one of them hanging just behind. Twilight leaped into action as they got close. She leapt into the air, towards Big Macintosh. He reared back, and bucked out with his hind legs, just barely missing her. The giant did a double take. She was covered in a slight glow as she landed, having used magic to slow herself. She landed beneath Macintosh, bucked, and raised her cannons into the Stallion’s belly. His eyes went wide as she fired. Two giant holes appeared, oil and metal shards pouring out. He collapsed, Twilight barely avoiding the falling giant. He was still alive, but incapacitated. She turned her attention to the pair flanking her. Rarity and Zecora reared back, inhaling deeply before releasing their elemental fury. Twilight sighed. They were making this too easy. She leapt up, propelling herself out of the blasts range. She bucked again, switching back to the Gatling guns. She turned, still well above the ground and began to fire at Rarity when she was struck by the loudmouthed pegasus. She spun, and her eyes went wide. Rainbow was holding a lit stick of dynamite in her mouth. She was built to withstand her own explosives, even at a close range. Twilight wrapped her magic around the stick, forming a shield. The blast pushed at the shield, draining Twilight’s energy, as the pegasus crashed into the ground with her as a cushion. The pegasus stood tall over her, laughing. “That was it? Come on! That blue one put up more of a fight!” She laughed as more robots poured from the fortress, forming up behind the Shadow Bots, who advanced on the seemingly fallen hero. The crowd was silent. “Hah! Another ‘Hero’ down! Nopony can take us! No-” She fell silent as she felt warm metal barrels pressed into her gut. She jumped back, trying to take to the air a second too late. Bullets ripped through the metal pegasus. She lay in a crumpled heap, twitching and groaning. Twilight bucked out her cannons as more minions charged out. She fired both barrels again, and smiled as the approaching mobs split apart. Rarity screamed, spitting another stream of fire. Twilight rolled, just barely avoiding the flames, but coming face to face with a rather insane looking pony covered with blades. She thrust out at Twilight, scratching her flank. It was a shallow wound, not even breaking through. Celestia had been even more careful when building this daughter. Twilight dodged Pinkie’s attacks, maneuvering her into a better position. She finally saw it, and shouted. “What a tacky mane!” A burst of flame came towards Twilight. Unfortunately for Pinkie Pie, she was in the middle of a charge, unable to stop. The flames scorched her, and she screamed as her vest, mane and tail caught fire. Rarity fell still as she looked in horror at her burning comrade. “Focus you great foal! The invader is close to her goal!” Zecora shouted as Twilight raised her guns again. Rarity snapped back, just in time to see her right side get ripped open by another of the cannon shells. Zecora let loose another burst of frost, barely missing the pony. Twilight dodged, back and forth, up and down, using her magic to stay a step beyond the frozen blasts. She closed the distance, firing a shell into the side of the robotic zebra. Zecora fell to the ground, leaking oil from the large hole that passed through her. Twilight spun, looking about the battlefield. There was only one left; The yellow pegasus. Twilight raised her head high as the crowd cheered. “It that the best you’ve got?” She shouted, arrogance in her voice. “Are these your strongest Machines?” The pegasus finally looked up, her eyes dark and angry. She spoke, loud enough for Twilight to hear. “You do NOT. HURT. MY. FRIENDS!” ****** Nightmare Moon watched from the second story balcony as Fluttershy erupted into a mass of flailing tendrils of electricity. She laughed as Twilight charged towards the pegasus. “I could take her.” Came a voice from behind. Nightmare turned, smiling. “Now, now, my faithful soldier. Let the children have their fun. Besides,” Nightmare looked down at the battle, “You may yet have your chance.” ****** Twilight flew backwards as electricity ran through her metal body. The battle was starting to take its toll on her. She trained her guns on Fluttershy, sending a storm of lead into the tempest. They sparked as the lighting disintegrated them. Twilight was running out of options. She only had two more shells left, and she wasn’t sure if they would even make it through. The writhing ball of sparks advanced slowly, taking care to avoid her wounded friends. As she passed Rainbow Dash, an idea hit Twilight. It was dirty and underhanded, but there weren’t many other options. The crowd was still cheering, but many had fallen silent watching the battle. Twilight wrapped the bomb covered mare in her magic, pulling her in front of Fluttershy. The pegasus gasped as Twilight flung the mare towards the electric storm. In a heartbeat, or the robot equivalent, Fluttershy had dropped the field. Just in time to see Twilight’s magic dissipate, except for one small cluster. A cluster full of grenade pins. “Eep.” Fluttershy shut her eyes tight as the blast knocked her through the air. She smashed into the fortress walls, falling to the ground, a pool of oil forming beneath her. Twilight turned her attention to the front doors of the fortress and noticed someone atop the balcony the Shadowbots had leapt from. There stood a jet black alicorn whose purple mane flowed and shined in the night. Behind her stood a strange pony covered by an elaborate cloak. Twilight couldn’t see her face, or even what kind of pony it was, but she could see its eyes. They shined brightly in the cold night. Twilight shivered slightly. Those eyes were just like hers. “Hey you!” She shouted, “Come on down! It’s a party down here and everyone’s invited!” The crowd roared with approval. “You think you can take me? Step into the light, assuming you’re ready to fight!” Nightmare Moon raised a hoof, and more robots began to pour out of the fortress. Twilight buckled down and began to spray them with bullets as they approached. So be it. These robots were nothing but Target Practice. She had come to save all of ponykind. She had come to kill Nightmare Moon. And most importantly, she had come to avenge her sister. She would not be stopped. ****** Celestia soared from roof to roof, fear in her heart. She had cursed herself out for not checking for another weapon. When she had gone to check in on her daughter, she found the window open and her daughter gone. She heard the sound of gunfire in the distance. She rushed out, trying to find her daughter before it was too late. She landed on the roof of a building across the street from the Fortress, and she saw the mob, and her daughter firing into the approaching crowds of robots. For a brief moment, she was distracted from the peril by her daughter’s performance. Twilight was effortlessly defeating each robot that approached, and the Shadowbots were already down for the count. Despite the fact that she wasn’t built for combat, Celestia had to admit she was doing a good job, possibly even better than Trixie. …Trixie. The thought of her first daughter returned the worry to Celestia’s heart, and she jumped, gliding towards her daughter. The robots finally stopped coming, and Twilight began to pull ammo back to her as Celestia landed. “Twilight! Twilight!” Twilight spun quickly, guns at the ready. Her eyes went wide as Celestia hugged her tightly, tears streaming down her face. “Twilight… I was so worried…” “Mom,” Twilight was silent for a moment, considering the weight of her words before she spoke again. “I wasn’t going to just give up. I know you’re upset, and you have every right to be,” She pulled away from the alicorn, facing the fortress once more, “But right now I have to finish this.” Celestia couldn’t stop crying. Her daughter was a hero, through and through. But her sister had been a hero as well. Celestia wiped the tears from her eyes. “Twilight, I need you to know something. Your sister…” “Well now, what have we here?” The voice echoed from every telescreen in the city. That dark familiar voice. Celestia raised her eyes to the balcony of the fortress. Nightmare stood, her mane waving in the wind, with her cloaked guard nearby. “If it isn’t Celestia, my old partner. I could have sworn you’d died years ago, as well as that annoying mare. What was her name, Applejack?” Celestia ground her teeth. Twilight looked on, surprised at her mother’s aggression. Despite everything, Twilight had never seen her this angry. Nightmare Moon smiled before continuing, “I’m honestly amazed you’ve found the will to fight back. Tell me, are you still fighting for Emerald?” “Shut your god-damned mouth!” Celestia screamed. Twilight felt a twinge of fear at her reaction. A realization came to her, and she swiveled about, raising her guns to point at Nightmare Moon. “Hey! I’m still here!” shouted Twilight. “I’m the one who’s going to destroy you!” Celestia’s anger vanished and she turned to Twilight, fear in her face again. “Wait, Twilight! You need to know-” The sound of four hooves hitting ground grabbed the daughter and the mother’s attention. Twilight felt her jaw drop. The cloaked pony stood before her, but the hood she wore had come off in the fall. Twilight knew the face before her. It was a face she had seen before in her dreams, in visions of the past. It was not the face of evil. It was the face of a hero. The face of a daughter. The face of a sister. Twilight could barely squeak out the name of the figure before her. “Trixie?”