//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Welcome to The War [remastered v2.0] // Story: Equestrian scrolls I : epic pony tales // by Sanguine Eyes //------------------------------// Welcome to the war A long strained groan and yelp of pain sounded, alas he was held firmly and almost violently in place as a cream colored unicorn continued to drain the magical power from the device that pierced his chest into a soul gem. Thankfully the magical seal did not recognize Tamerielian magic and was very capable of being drained and destroyed by conjuration magic. “Discord!... would you shut up? We are removing it as fast as we can without killing you…” Twilight was tempted to just swat him in the face to get him to shut up. She was almost in awe of how she once feared this old pained creature, but looking about she winced. She had grown a little less patient and much more coarse in her time outside of Equestria. With 'Princess' Fluttershy by his side Discord seemed a bit more at peace but being wounded and his power sealed away for so long seemed to humble the chaos spirit. He hardly even spoke more than the soft greeting he offered to Twilight when she entered. Twilight could not help but feel that he was broken, even if he was rescued from this device that sealed him, his spirit would continue to be broken and he would never be the same again lest he found himself once more. “annnnnnd done!” The oddly shaped probe quite suddenly tore out of his chest with relatively little finesse as Taara whipped it about. Discord gave a long pained groan and Fluttershy gave him a soothing pat on his head. The hole in his chest quickly closed and Discord looked down at his talon like hand. It glowed brightly with chaos magic before he dropped it to one side almost as if he was still drained and utterly exhausted. “….Thank you Twilight… I did not think I would ever be free… I … honestly don’t know if I can just…. Go and wreck vengeance… but… I promise… I will do what I can… we will get our world back…” He offered a weak smile. It was almost painful for Twilight to see. Discord had always been so impossibly powerful and hard to deal with, she could feel his power, but his will was still nearly gone. “Good on you, you old bastard” Baldir’s heavy hand swatted Discord on the back. “We won’t need you in the fight… but it would be interesting to see you do your thing…” The pat nearly knocked Discord into the floor and he looked back with irritation which was a look that Twilight did indeed need to see on his face. She knew that Baldir wasn't stupid, the harsh treatment was to push him, to get him to react properly and break from his pain, to force him to see himself as the architect of his own fate once again. Like using bullying and peer pressure to yank him out of his depression and self doubt. Twilight looked back and Taara seemed to ignore them fidgeting with her pony form. She wanted to be in her normal human form but it was making everypony stare and scared the young. She had half a mind to change back anyway, but it was pushed under as the old and young alike stared at her like she was some sort of monster in pony form, just waiting for them to get closer. And Twilight made her swear not to use that fear to prank people. “Taara?...” The old woman, currently mare looked back curiously at Twilight. “When is Rashala coming back?...” “Well Twilight… She went back to get our armies. We can mobilize half of Tamriel… and intend to…” She smiled inspecting her hoof as if it were her nails and rubbing it firmly on her robes to give it a shine. “Can you really?...” Twilight looked concerned. She had known them all for years, but she didn't really get the feeling that they commanded armies, just that they were very well connected. “Yes… we are the Dragon born… as of right now we are the only ones who have a legitimate claim to the ruby throne. If the world refuses us they know we are very capable of coming back and forcing them to obey…” Twilight shuttered at the thought. She saw Taara and Baldir angry a lot but not so much ‘conquer a nation’ angry. “I am honored that you would do all this for me… but I just feel it’s not right to risk the lives of YOUR people for my own…” Twilight let out a long and somewhat distressed sigh before a hoof clopped over her head with a firm bump. “That’s something about me you should have figured out by now. I’m not doing this because I have to or feel I should. You are my friend and I WANT to do this. You know me well enough… I’m a Selfish, bitter, greedy, know it all, old woman and I’m sorry but you are getting our help. I don’t really care what your feelings on the matter are. No petty flying magical horse is going to out magic the Dragon Born arch mage of Skyrim…” She grinned wide with a hearty chuckle. Twilight managed an authentic smile which made her feel better. Taara was selfish and prideful but she was still a good friend that Twilight was ever grateful for. “Well… I really hope this all goes as smoothly as you planned” A message was sent out to what little of the resistance they could spare over the entire kingdom and the surrounding kingdoms. Finally a word back from the small wonderbolt squad, they gathered forces in southern Equestria just as requested, military maneuvers and mild skirmishes against Melody's forts int he area. This open display of defiance was instantly met with violence and organized assaults from Princess Melody’s army. Though much unlike all previous skirmishes the wonderbolts did not hit and run. They attacked with a large force and beat back the oncoming army. News soon reached the crystal throne and a heavy force was deployed to snuff out this newfound bravery amongst the rabble. However, in two weeks when the main force finally reached the now no longer hidden headquarters of this ‘petty would be rebellion’ every last living breathing pony for 50 miles had mysteriously vanished. In fact, ALL the outposts all over Melody's Equestria suffered at least slight increases in hostile attacks before receiving reinforcements. When those ponies reached their new stations ready for combat they came to find the entire station utterly void of life of any kind. The soldiers and their commanders however, stood firm anticipating an assault and searched relentlessly for the resistance forces unaware that they were becoming like only so much butter spread over a muffin too large to entirely cover. “Equestiran magic is interesting yes… but your teleportation abilities only go so far… long distance portals are a rare thing in Tamriel but not impossible…” A cream colored unicorn quickly shifted into a bipedal old woman supporting her weight on the staff of Magnus as she stretched, letting her old bones pop and creak. “Your majesty!...” The soldier hesitated in the presence of the woman who seemed so utterly alien to him, but continued sternly. “General Rainbow Dash has the special forces in position, General Derpy has the standard troops on standby, General applejack just checked in ready as ordered with the heavy infantry to the south, the foreign mercenaries are all in their places, Princess Fluttershy has the barrier up with all civilians inside of the headquarters…” The one winged Luna nodded and looked at Taara who looked to Twilight as Ra’Shala seemed to meld into existence between them. “This one has made sure that your instructions were rigorously followed we await only your signal and the tear with the anchor.” Taara nodded calmly and Luna took in a deep breath. “Are you certain of this Twilight?... if we fail here today, we lose everything, there is no second chance, no way of breaking through again.” Twilight nodded firmly and her eyes narrowed. “There is a time for harmony… and there is a time for war… That mare desecrated our world and our beliefs, she slew our kin, razed our lands, and reveled in the destruction of everything good… she will be purged and Equestria will fall back into the hooves of its rightful rulers…” Luna nodded, still full of fright but content enough in her trust in Twilight. She trembled and gnawed at her lip before looking to the purple alicorn. She couldn't help but feel more ease looking at her, how tall Twilight stood, how powerful she felt. "You... look just like her, that face... Celestia would have been proud..." The two princesses looked to each other and shared a pained memory of the fallen. But both steeled themselves and Luna turned to the human woman. “It's your move Arch mage…” Taara grinned and reached into her bag. Gripping firmly she motioned to them. “Avert your eyes unless you want to go blind…” Flicking her hands up she wrenched open the scroll and her powers blasted forth. “Open… and come forth… by my right as Dragon Born… by the power in my blood hear me Akatosh and call my kin, your children forth…” The elder scroll strained with power as a rift tore open from the throat of the world to their location and the massive flood of Akatosh’s children blasted forth followed quickly dark portals opening with all manners of strange creatures pouring in from other dimensions lead by a Draconaquus holding the Wabajack easily doubling his no longer crippled power. Legions of ponies from the air and the ground flooded in, Minotaur, Griffins, bat ponies even changelings and more closing in on the crystal empire. Quickly ponies lined the walls that now surrounded the city. However, chaos instantly started to brew up within the great walls as they faced a foe they could not identify. Humans, Elves, Orcs, Argonians, Khajiit and more erupted from under the city effortlessly killing and passing the guards Princess Melody had assigned to watch over the mirror which had been fuming with energy since Twilight had returned. “Goodness…I never thought I would see this day.” Luna stared at the events unfolding before her as her mechanical wing spread just like her long since gone feathered wing once did. If this was really considered a war and not just a late execution she would have to amend the Equestrian dictionary. “Remember the plan you dumb horse… you deal with princess bitch… We will try and overpower her brother…” Baldir in his human form was quite a sight to see leaping up the castle walls with inhuman speed and strength as all of Equestria charged in to fight for their freedom. The only cause for concern was the flood of endless dragons which quickly erupted from the crystal citadel and flooded outwards to meet the oncoming forces. However, Equestrian dragons were no match for the children of Akatosh and his eldest son Paarthurnax. The magic that tainted the minds of the Equestrian dragons could not touch the power of those who were created to dominate all other living beings. But, for every one Thu’um bearing dragon assaulting the great city, three slightly weaker treasure hoarding monsters came crashing into the oncoming forces. Taara, Twilight, Luna, Baldir, and Ra’shala met close to no resistance before they reached the door. “This is it Princess… you ready?” Taara breathed calm as she stared over at her friend. Twilight looked about her soaking in all that was being done to repair what she knew she could have prevented had she not been trapped in Tamriel. She grimaced at all the violence but nodded. “I am ready…” They forced open the door and there they were. Calm and confident, her eyes glanced at the invaders with a face that screamed power. All about her magic enhanced gems and jewelry shined brilliantly. Bronze armor stared emotionless into empty space, his overbearingly massive dark powers flooding out his eyes like they were ablaze with black and green flames. Princess Melody stood up from her throne which had a blatantly obvious new addition of two heavy crystals on either side. One containing a white unicorn. Aged and wrinkled, a purple mane and three diamonds on her flank. The other princess Cadence just as Twilight had remembered her. Both the mares frozen in the crystal like statues. It was unclear whether they were alive or dead but Melody flaunted them all the same as she stepped down from her throne and her lance levitated from its place to just over her shoulder. Bronze Armor’s vacant eyes widened and he let out a pained scream as his power flared in a massive ungodly display of power. “Don’t keep us waiting…” Taara grinned as her body lit up with magical power like the heart of the sun. “Mul! Qah DIIV!!!” A mask and armor of energy flooded over Ra’shala’s body as her blades drew. A long pained yell which quickly turned to a savage and brutal dominated roar sounded as Baldir’s body contorted and shifted into a furry savage bundle of muscle, claws, and fangs. Twilight looked to Luna and back towards her friends, she drew in a breath and twirled her staff, Luna twirled her twin blades and the silent confirmation was made. The legendary three dragon born rushed in at the Godlike stallion as the two princesses rushed at the dark and twisted princess of domination.