//------------------------------// // Chapter 67: Battle for Naught (Part 3) // Story: The Phoenix King // by Turtlehaus //------------------------------// Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle were firing spells in all directions trying to fend off the Echoes that had skewed off from the rest. Rainbow Dash and Daring Do we’re flying close to the ground providing crowd control, flying at large groups of Echoes and smashing into them to break them up. Fluttershy carried Spike through the air, allowing him to breathe fire at some of the Echoes if not to impede them but distract them to give the other ponies a clear shot. From afar the Echoes were suddenly turning back around, a source of bright light had appeared within the distance as it grew closer and closer. It wasn’t hard to figure out that the Twins were charging their way through the horde of Echoes trying to reach Princess Celestia and the others to offer support. With a rather generous amount of magic, Princess Celestia fired a spell that obliterated a large section of the Echoes giving the twins a chance to come through. In a flash the Twins galloped through the makeshift path with an army of Echoes quickly closing in. With speed on their side, the Twins met up with every pony with the Echoes just minutes behind. “Every pony alright?” Pyre asked. “We’re getting by.” Daring Do replied. The Twins looked about, seeming confused at to what was supposed to be here and was obviously not. “Where is Lady Sapphire?” Pyre asked. “And Smolder?” Wick added. “Was this not part of the plan?” Princess Celestia asked. The Twins looked at one another. An unspoken conversation seemed to take place between them. A simple brow raise, to a frown, a deep breath, and a loud exhale seemed to have been enough to come to a conclusion of what had happened. “Lady Sapphire has decided to help our brother defeat Null, rather than to bring him back to the portal.” Pyre informed them. “Why would she do something so reckless like that?” Princess Celestia asked. “Ice Ponies have always had a sort of… selflessness towards those they really care about.” Pyre replied. There was an audible growl that came from Mira. The Twins turned to her, looking rather surprised to see the fabled Arcana up close. It was clear to them that her displeasure stemmed from Princess Sapphire hanging around Smolder. The sudden explosion that had come from the Kana and the mangled body of the Great Dragon Char had every pony shielding their heads from the falling debris. From the corner of her eye, Mira watched as Null shambled away, trying to flee from the fight.   “Give me some of your fire!” Mira demanded. “I beg your pardon?” Pyre asked. “This is our one chance to stop Null and if Smolder is going to make it out of this alive he’s going to need all of our help to do it.” The Twins made no move to give in to Mira’s demand. Even though their information about the Arcana came from their father, it made no difference to them about the ramifications of sharing their fire with such a creature. They had seen first hoof at what it did to Smolder and the thought of them being placed in a similar state didn’t sit well with them. “What we need is another plan, one that we are all willing to adhere to and not make such brash decisions.” Pyre suggested. “Agreed. Sapphire’s plan has succeeded for the most part, but our continued separation puts every pony at risk. We shall fall back to the city and rendezvous with Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie there.” Princess Celestia stated. With Flame and Ice Pony already beginning their charge to combat the Echoes, it would be the best opportunity for every pony to slip away and regroup.   “And once we’re all together, we can use the Elements of Harmony to defeat Null for good.” Twilight added. “That is if Smolder doesn’t get to it-“ Wick had been cut short. Mira had lunged at the Twins, grabbing both of their arms and quickly siphoned some of their fire. With her blue stardust like hair glowing moderately brighter then it had before, Mira let go of the two dazed colts and slammed her hands together before disappearing in a flash of black fire. Both of the Twins swayed for a moment before finding their balance and holding their respective heads. “Are you two alright?” Rainbow Dash asked. “You know it doesn’t feel any better when she does it either.” Wick mentioned. “The little Arcana is going to get herself killed.” Pyre mumbled. “I know she’s rather small but she can hold her own against those creatures just fine.” Daring Do reassured. “That’s not what I meant. The Arcana underestimated the amount of fire she has taken from us.” Pyre retorted. “Please explain.” Princess Celestia stated. “While our father and little brother like to display their fire in a rather grandiose way, many Flame Ponies regulate their fire to conserve energy. It could be best described as stoking the fire.” Pyre began. “We keep our flames at a moderate level or even lower to conserve energy. The Arcana has merely gotten a small sampling of it, the second she tries to use that energy she’s going to realize how minimal it really is.” Wick concluded. The sound of a horn being blown from the east near the Forgotten City had stolen everypony’s attention. The Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers had begun their charge. Princess Celestia could not leave all these ponies on their own to find Mira again and taking them all into the heart of the battle was not an option either. “We fall back to the city. We’ll regroup and plan our next step from there.” Princess Celestia decided. The Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers swarmed out from the portal. The portal had opened just on the outskirts of the Forgotten City. It was clear that this portal was the furthest from all of the fighting, which allowed them time to come up with a strategy in which to approach the battle. “Get into formation now, lads! Post haste! Let’s not keep these freaks waiting for the beating we’re about to serve them!” Arthur Tullius ordered. The ranks of the fusiliers were being reformed, following Arthur’s command, just as he began to speak of the mission they were about to under take. The roar of the Storm from over head put many of them at unease, but for the portals keeping it contained it brought some comfort. “I should be at home right now with my beloved wife and my three adorable daughters. But because the Duke personally asked me to oversee this mission, I knew that the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers would accomplish it in record time that I would still be able to get home to kiss my girls goodnight. That mission is to save the King of the Flame ponies and several civilian ponies that got caught up in this mess. So heads up, look these foul creatures in the eye like any good Trottingham pony would, and have them remember why the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers are considered to be the best fighting force in the world!” The Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers grunted in unison. “First battalion will lead the charge and set up a perimeter. Second battalion will push the line. Look to your commanding officers for further instructions once the battle gets underway.” Arthur raised his battle horn to his lips, blowing hard into it as the sound of the charge had been given. The first battalion took off while the second battalion followed soon after, many of the commanding officers dictated their own battalions rolls in the fight and instructed them with the parts they would be concerning themselves with. Near the edge of the portal, Lord Nox and the Duke were in awe of what they were seeing, a while other world was something already far beyond their understanding, but the sheer size of the Forgotten City had them reeling. “Incredible.” Lord Nox whispered. “It is like something out of a dream.” “I don’t believe it.” The Duke mumbled. “I know, it’s staggering. The number of years alone it must have taken to build something like this and the stone that would be needed is unimaginable.” Lord Nox replied. “I wasn’t talking about the city.” Lord Nox tore his gaze away from the Forgotten City to the Duke, but to find him still staring in the city’s direction. Turning his head back, his eyes fell upon an even stranger sight coming from the edge of the Forgotten City. “Your Dukedom! We’re still alive!” Pinkie Pie waved her arms wildly in the air, trying to get his attention. Applejack and Rarity were close behind, visibly pleased and relieved to see them as well. “Friends of yours?” Lord Nox asked. “Don’t go spreading that around.” The Duke mumbled. Pinkie Pie launched herself at the Duke for an airborne hug, but the Duke sidestepped her. Pinkie Pie landed in the sand but her excitement did not change in the slightest. “Nice try.” The Duke mumbled. “You have no idea how glad we are to see you again. These last few days have been most unpleasant.” Rarity remarked. Rarity and Applejack trotted up to the Duke, who wore a relieved smile himself seeing them unharmed, but noticed that they were at a loss to who his companion was. “Everypony, this is Lord Nox, leader of Mustangia. He’s here to oversee the mission we are all undertaking to rescue that kid from the Storm.” The Duke introduced. Lord Nox bowed his head to them, Applejack and Rarity returning the gesture. “Lord Nox, these are those ponies from Ponyville we discussed in length.” The Duke continued. “So these are the fabled ponies that have risked life and limb to help the flame pony King. You lot have made quite an impact on our decision to open these portals. I hope that it won’t come back to bite us in the flank.” Lord Nox said. “With that there Storm being contained by the portals, it's just a matter getting rid of Null. I’m sure ol’ Ash is already on it.” Applejack replied. “Ash? I thought the King’s name was Smolder?” Nox asked. “Sparky is a better name!” Pinkie Pie interjected. The horn of Arthur Tullius rang out once more drawing the attention of Lord Nox and the Duke. From the way the horn was being played, the Duke could identify it as being a warning, but it seemed rather unlikely that the any trouble was to arise to quickly. In the distance, everypony saw a sight so incredible that it may have almost made the Duke smile. For it was Princess Celestia leading everypony else towards them with great haste with the horn signifying their approach. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack hurried to greet them, Princess Celestia floated towards Lord Nox and the Duke looking very happy to see them. Lord Nox bowed his head to her. “Princess Celestia, thank the Elements you are unharmed.” “Lord Nox, Duke Wellington, it is a great pleasure to see some friendly faces. Is my sister with you?” Princess Celestia asked. “Princess Luna teamed up with the flame ponies. She and the others are coming through the portal from the Ashen Fields.” The Duke replied. Looking beside Princess Celestia, the Duke could see the Twins standing off to the side, watching the three of them converse. It wasn’t hard for him to tell that these two flame colts were the infamous flame pony twins of the Mad King Scorch, but was more disheartening was that they were still missing a brother. “Where’s the kid?” The Duke asked. “Smolder is attempting to finish this by destroying Null. Princess Sapphire is assisting him in this effort, but we have chosen to fallback and regroup for the time being.” Princess Celestia stated. “A wise decision, your royal highness. It would be best to minimize the risk of civilian ponies getting lost again.” Lord Nox confirmed. “Some of this ponies are the wielders of the Elements of Harmony, Nox.” The Duke reminded. “And until these wielders have the powers they need, they would pose a great liability if one was to get lost or hurt.” Lord Nox retorted. “If the elder ponies are done bickering, perhaps we can form some sort of plan that doesn’t have us measuring our-“ Wick was cut short by a sudden elbowing from Pyre. Lord Nox seemed unamused by Wick’s implications, but the Duke found the bluntness of it refreshing. “Prince Pyre and Prince Wick, you’re a lot taller since we last met. Although you were merely babes at the time, but still just as much of a headache.” The Duke replied. “Alright, listen up you jack-“ Pyre had clapped a hoof over his brother’s mouth. “Wick and I would very much like to speak candidly with your highnesses, but our first and foremost concern is Smolder.” Pyre replied. “The faster we find Luna, the faster we can have the Elements of Harmony in our arsenal to help Smolder defeat Null. We should take to the portal by the-“ Princess Celestia had slowly trailed off, a noise had reached her ears that seemed very strange to her. Every other pony had heard it as well. It was a cracking sound, almost like ice on a lake breaking apart, but it was much more profound. “What in the world?” The Duke mumbled. “Sir Duke Wellington! Sir!” A voice from the other side of the portal leading back to Trottingham was heard. There stood Mr. Bartelsby looking extremely worried, trying desperately to get their attention. “What is it, James?” The Duke asked aloud. “Sir! It’s the Obelisk! It’s beginning to crack!” Mr. Bartelsby shouted. The Duke felt his stomach churn, the memory of Queen Chrysalis attacking the Obelisk came racing back into his mind. It had been damaged far more than it had appeared and the amount of power that it required to stay open this long was beginning to take its toll. The roar of the Storm high above them seemed to have noticed this as well. Lightning broke across the sky, it’s thunderous roar groaned across the kingdom of Naught. “We haven’t much time. Evacuate as many soldier ponies as you can to this portal. Everypony else will have to make for portals closest to them. Once the Storm is free we must be prepared to close them all before it’s too late.” Princess Celestia stated. “But what about Smolder?” Spike asked. Twilight and everypony else was now looking as worried as they did. Knowing what was to come if the portals were to fail. “You ponies must find Luna and get the Elements of Harmony. It may be our only chance of fighting the Storm if Smolder fails to destroy Null.” A black flame flashed over the battlefield, Mira reappearing from the fire before dropping out of the air and into the sand. She seemed surprised by the amount of fire she had already used, looking at her arms and noticing her markings were barely a glow. Gritting her teeth, Mira could only assume that the Twins had held out on her, but it was too late to try again. She still had some of their fire left, what meager amounts of it that she hadn’t used and started to make her way towards Null. Mira looked out over the battlefield seeing hundreds of stupid flame ponies to worry about, not to mention the ice ponies and everypony else that had decided to join in. From the sand beneath her an Echo had dug its way up from the earth and taking hold of Mira’s leg. Mira lost her balance, falling backwards to the ground as she tried to pull herself free from the Echo. It’s mangled face groaned in hunger, attempting to drag Mira’s leg to its mouth. Thousands of small shadow like arms were swirling in the Echoes mouth, clawing towards her leg, wishing to feed on the light within her. With a hard swipe of her hand, a lash of dark energy sliced the Echo’s head from from its shoulders and felt its grip loosen. Mira crawled away from the slain Echo, already feeling exhausted from having used what little of her power she had. The deep gurgle of Kana rumbled across the world, its tentacle swinging wide over its bulbous head and flinging its acidic slime over the fields. Raising her hands over her head, Mira conjured a magical shield of dark energy that intercepted the slime, but was not strong enough to stop it from eating through. Scrambling away, Mira found herself nearly being bowled over by a group of Ice Ponies that had rushed by to flank Kana from the opposite side. Several more Echoes had sprung from the ground, chasing down the group of Ice Ponies that had raced by, but others had seen Mira’s light and shambled towards her instead. Raising her hands up towards the Echoes, Mira’s black fire struggled to ignite, leaving her with little power to defend herself. The first of the Echoes attempted to stab Mira with its long lance of an arm, but was deflected by brittle shield Mira was able to conjure. With a firm jab of her arm a sudden blast of dark energy shot through the Echo, effectively destroying it before it could strike again. The clubbed arm of another Echo swung through its fallen friend, connecting with Mira’s head and sending her sailing through the air. “You’re my friend, Mira. I made you a promise and I plan to keep it.” Glow’s voice drifted in. Mira felt herself slam hard into the sand, feeling the pain course through her body. She gritted her teeth, gripping the sand, feeling her anger mount. “Whatever happened… whatever you blame yourself for… whatever you’ve done, I forgive you. I forgive you Mira.” Smolder’s voiced had gotten Mira to open her eyes again. Almost furious at these memories that were being dredged up. Picking her head up she could see the Echoes charging towards her, perhaps they would viciously tear her apart for her light. “I lied to you… I betrayed you… I used you…” Mira hissed. Getting to her feet, Mira’s eyes burned wildly, turning to meet the Echoes with all of the fury she was feeling. “But you kept coming back. You wouldn’t let slip further into the darkness. Because… because…” The clubbed armed Echo was just upon Mira, its malformed arm raised high to bash her once again. Clutching her hands into fists, Mira shrieked at the Echoes, sending a powerful shockwave of energy and black flames from her person. It knocked all of the Echoes that stormed her to the ground, burning their bodies within her black fire. Slamming her fists onto the ground the area beneath the Echoes had opened up, causing them to fall into a ravine before being crushed as the earth slammed shut once again. With her stardust like hair turning a ghostly white once again, her markings having faded away, Mira still gritted her teeth in anger. “Because…” Mira’s destructive display had caught the attention of more Echoes. One Echo in particular was massive in its size, having appeared to be several Echoes fused into one grotesque creature that stomped its way towards her. Picking herself up off the ground, Mira stood barely at knee high to this Echo, holding her arms out ready to defend herself against the multilayered Echo and the ravenous horde that followed. “...because…” A massive hand made of purple flames flew over Mira’s head and took hold of the giant Echo before it could reach her. The fiery hand swelled for a moment before exploding with such force that it obliterated the Echo into millions of smaller pieces. Staggering back in surprise, Mira watched funnels of purple fire worm their way towards other Echoes watching them fruitlessly slash at the flames before being consumed by it and turned to ash. “Mira!” The voice that had cried her name cut like a knife deep within her heart. Turning sharply towards the flames, Mira could see another Arcana flying through the fire towards her. Tier emerged from the flames, her purple fire swirling back into the markings of her arms as she dashed through air quickly towards Mira. Mira got to her feet, losing her footing from the first step and fell forward before trying again and having the same result. Tears were already welling in her eyes as she could only reach out her hands towards Tier. “Mira!” Tier shouted. Tier flew past Mira’s open arms right into a full hug, clutching her tightly while smothering the side of her face against hers. Mira gripped Tier tightly, quietly wailing as her tears fell freely from her face. Tier was unable to keep her powers from activating, sharing in Mira’s feelings and feeling the enormous weight of her sorrow come down on her all at once. Tears had immediately began to fall from her own eyes, almost unable to comprehend the sadness Mira was sharing with her, but there was something quickly overshadowing it. It was the feeling of happiness that seemed to consume Mira now, which almost surpassed Tier’s own feelings of joy of having found her friend again. Tier gently stroked Mira stardust like hair, trying to calm her down. “I thought… you were dead.” “I should be!” Mira wailed. “Mira!” Tier snapped. “Don’t say things like that!” “Why did you come back? I told you to stay away! You never listened!” “Because I’m your friend, Mira.” Tier’s words echoed the ones Glow and Smolder had said to her. The reason they risked their lives for her, the reason they looked passed all her faults. It was a bond forged by a hundred small things, that got stronger with each shared experience, and it was something that connected them. It was like magic. Mira could not respond to her friend. Her heart broke open, tears ran from her eyes and she sobbed uncontrollably with her face in hers hands. Tier cling to her, whispering every comforting word in both Arcana and pony language to sooth her. The trembling of hundreds of hooves was felt through the ground, the Jungle Ponies charged passed to meet the Echoes with everypony else. The familiar rattling of Talon’s pony skulls slowly approached them, standing guard over Tier and Mira. He smiled softly at the sight of the two Arcana. “Talon, my friend is very weak. I can share some of my light with her, but it will take time.” Tier began. “Take all the time you need. We shall not let this evil take one step closer to the Heart of the Jungle or her friend.” Talon replied. Mira sobbing had suddenly turned into hoarse laughter as she wiped away her tears. “What did he call you?” Mira asked. “It’s a-a-a long story, b-b-but it doesn’t-“ Tier muttered. “She is the Heart of the Jungle.” Talon restated. Mira laughed out loud, still wiping the tears from her face as Tier flushed furiously. “Talon!” Tier hissed. Tier took a hold of Mira’s hands, still visibly embarrassed by the title the Jungle ponies had given her. Mira could feel a steady flow of light coming from Tier’s fingertips and passing into her. Mira could feel all of the love and happiness she had for the jungle ponies, how much joy she had since having left this place. In turn, Tier could feel all of the sorrow and anger Mira had endured having stayed within the realm. “I don’t think I would have lasted as long as you did if I had been the one that stayed, Mira.” Tier mumbled. “At times, I don’t think I could have either, but a… stupid flame pony… kept me going.” Mira looked up at Talon who dutifully stood by, watching over them and keeping an eye out for trouble. “Kinda like how your pony watches out for you.” Tier flushed a bright purple, gripping Mira’s hands tightly from her embarrassment at what she was implying. “He’s not my pony!” “I’m not a what now?” Talon asked. “Hush!” Tier demanded. Mira smiled, noticing her own markings were beginning to glow again, the blue of her hair growing in intensity. With her strength returning, Mira squeezed Tiers hands in gratitude, and leaned her head against hers. In the words of the Arcana, Mira spoke to Tier, who in turn spoke back. Talon listened to their speech, finding it almost song like between the two of them. While he did not know what each of them were saying, the softness and compassion of their melodic words were enough for him to realize that they were speaking lovingly to one another. Mira looked up at Talon, smiling mischievously, saying something to him in the language of the Arcana. Before he had a chance to ask what it was she said, Tier covered her mouth in a hurry looking mortified. “Can I ask what she-“ “No! I forbid you from ever asking about it ever again!” Tier shouted.