Sometime passes. All of the remaining villagers and Sentinels are gathering at what they call the “Last Stand”. A region somewhere between what used to be Mustangon villages to the west, and Mount Mustango to the east. It is an open savanna area with the Mustango basin not far from them. The same basin that has the three fundamental rules to the Mustangon law carved into the large stone wall. It is said that this is where the first generation of Mustangoes began their first act in building their society. A sort of crossroads, and the mountain being the end of their territorial jurisdiction. This is a symbolic site that, in the future, would be turned into a historic monument.
The masses gathered inside the cave in the mountain. Sentinel guards take post on both North and South sides. And two Sentinels stands guard, one inside the cave, and one at the entrance of the cave overlooking west. If any pony has a clear view of incoming danger from the west, it will be the entrance guard. The rest of the Sentinels are inside the cave getting a much needed rest before taking turns guarding their site, as well as the remaining villagers and Sentinels coming from the battlefield.
Everypony is devastated. Beaten, battered, and a bit broken. They have never suffered as much as they are now. Not in this way. This truly is their last stand should the Shadow forces proceed at their current pace towards them. Their existence, their legacy is on the line. Everypony is feeling it. The tension, the anxiety, the desperation. The pony feeling it more is their Second Chief of Arms, technically promoted to First Chief of Arms, but refuses that title. The Second Chief cannot concentrate among all of this negative vibe. So he decides to do something for everypony to participate.
“Everypony, gather around me”, the Chief said as he noticed the Sentinels did not budge. Maybe thought they were not included, so he added “Yes, you too Sentinels”. And so they gathered too.
Fillies, colts, even some stallions and mares could not hold back tears.
One of the mares asked, “Be honest Chief. Is this the end of us all? Was it all for nothing?”
Another asked, “What will happen to our children?”
“Why has Nature forsaken us?” a stallion outbursts, followed by increasing murmurs amongst themselves.
The Chief closed his eyes for a long moment. Then he spoke, ”Ponies .. Mustangoes. Please, join me. You will find what you are looking for.”
Everypony stared at each other, wondering what he meant by it, then looked back at him.
“Trust me. Now, hold my hoof, or place your hoof on my shoulder. Then you place your hoof on another. Then you place your hoof on another. So forth until everypony has formed a link with one another.” And so they did.
In a calming, peaceful tone, the Second Chief continues. “Now everypony close your eyes. Focus on your breathing. Inhale ... Exhale ... Inhale ... Exhale ... Inhale ... Exhale. Your hearts are now beating at the same rhythm as each other, as the pony next to you, as the Sentinels, as the guards outside, as me too.”
Nothing at first for any pony. He continues, “Think of the moments your heart beat like this. Calm. Tranquil. Warmth. Calm of knowing one another and you are there for each other. Choosing tranquility and fidelity over chaos and hostility, thus keeping the peace and harmony with each other, and Nature. Warmth … of love.”
But then something strong. Something compelling.
Further he goes, “Do you know love? Do you feel love? Love for the air. Love for the sea. Love for our Earth, our homeland, us!”
A few ponies feel an aura, then the next, then next.
“Our First Chief said it. We are Nature, and Nature is us, since our beginnings long ago. Nature can be cruel. But Nature is equally giving. You may not understand Her. But Nature DOES love us.”
Then, everypony shines a bright glow, even the guards outside for they take a moment to close their eyes and let this feeling sink in.
“Take this time to feel this unconditional love of Nature. It has been there yesterday, it is with us now, and it will be with us tomorrow. If the pony next to you has forgotten, remind them as simply as think of them. From yesterday, today, and tomorrow.”
Everypony is in a state of bliss. Blissful feeling the air, their sea, their Earth, themselves and each other. It is so because everypony knows this. So does the Chief, and he is delighted knowing all his ponies in someway felt love in the past, are feeling it in the present, and will feel it in the future. Because he knows that “Love is Nature, and Nature will never be defeated”.
Then almost immediately, a voice that sounded like the First Chief spoke to the Second Chief clear as day,
“You got this.”
He opened his eyes in a shock. Almost everypony did for they heard it too. That was unexpected. Some were in tears, not of sadness, but of joy. Others were speechless. But most of them were still in a bliss still even as they opened their eyes. Mustangoes are not Unicorns. But the one thing that makes them very special, their bond with the Earth, and the strength it gives them. The first generation may have very well formed a sacred pact with the Earth. As the Chief said, their love of Nature is still with them, and will continue on as long as they remember.
“INCOMING!” Shouted the guard at the entrance.
Still glowing, everypony is now aware of the coming storm. Not of Nature, but of evil. They are not in sadness, they are not in fear, they are brave. The Second Chief stands up. Everypony follows.
Then speaks still in tranquil tone, “Now that you remember, all of you know what to do.”
Everypony nods in agreement.
He goes on, “This is our moment to show them what unifies us, what keeps us together, and most importantly, our bond.” Then with a loud yell “DEFEND -- OUR -- NATURE!!!”
And every pony shouted like a roaring thunder “YEEAAH!!” and it echoed throughout the land.
The storm known as the Shadow Army has now shifted, crossing over the savanna continuing its movement eastward. It is moments away from reaching the dried up lake at the basin.
Airebelle speaks, “They seem to have taken refuge by the cave inside the mountain.”
“Of course, that is their sacred land, where they etched their law of Nature into a stone”, added Hammer.
“A piece of rock is sacred to them?” asked the Unicorn Commander as he clenched his yaw with a grin and a fierce look in his eyes. “They and their rock will now crumble at our hooves! Then afterwards, Equestria!”
From the Shadow Commanders vantage point, it appears like a lava is flowing out of the cave. That is not lava. Those are Mustangoes! Just about all of them are coming out of the cave. Mares, fillies, and colts still inside guarded by the two designated Sentinels.
This is a familiar event occurring again. Unlike the first battle at the village, there are two differences. First, the location. And second, the will of the ponies. Their spirits are at an all time high, they have never experienced before. They will need it as they come closer and closer, bridging the gap between them and the Shadows. And once again, both sides outburst a war cry before an even greater explosive collision at the middle of the dried up lake. The impact extremely forceful as they created their own thunder clap that echoes in all directions. The ground trembled for a moment. It may had been felt everywhere.
Headbutt. Push. Shove. Smack. Tug. Bite. Pin down. They were fighting with all their heart. The Shadow Commanders noticed something different in the way the Mustangoes were combating this time. They seem to be reaching to their friends and families that are under the Shadow’s spell. You can hear some of their pleads.
“Snap out of it!”
“This is not who you are!”
“Fight it!”
“Let not these Shadow fools overtake you!”
“Nature is with you!”
Nocturnal is surprised, “What?”
The villagers are successfully dispelling the cursed Shadow grip. The ones that were under the spell’s influence are now conscious.
“.. w .. what? Where am I?”
“What happened?”
“Where are we?” are some of their initial thoughts.
“How is this possible? You ponies posses no Unicorn magic!” wondered the Shadow Unicorn in confusion, though he would deny being impressed if some pony asked him.
And just as the Second Chief was about to answer, another pony beat him to the punch.
“We don’t need it!”
“Yeah! We have each other!” said another with confidence.
The Second Chief gave a brief smile before adding, “Indeed. Most importantly, we have Nature. She is counting on us, and we won’t let Her down!”
Not a moment sooner, clouds that are covering the sky began to weakened, opening up holes, and letting the sunlight shine through, right at the Mustangoes, adding more to their glowing effect. It was a sight to behold. For a brief moment the battle was halted by this divine design. The Shadow Commanders were not pleased at all. The Second Chief closed his eyes a second or two. As he opens his eyes, he gives the Shadow Army an ultimatum.
“It is not too late leaders of the Shadows. I ask of you, please return the rest of our family. Abandon your old ways. Stop your hostility. Return to your homeland and start giving back what you have taken from Nature. I promise you all. Do this, and all will be forgiven. Should you decline .. well .. I rather not say.”
The thing about the Second Chief is that even though he has also fought alongside with his comrades and subordinates, as he is now, he never considered himself a fighter in the sense of brute force. Rather wishes to think he is a peacemaker. He always thought to himself a victory over any battle is one that is never fought. He wanted to share this philosophy with his peers and superiors, even with the First Chief of Arms, but never had the guts. All he saw from his superiors were strong, stern, statue-like figures who pursuit further strength and cannot be bothered by sentiments in battle. But he learned under those tough skins, every pony share the same feelings. It was not too long ago he saw an example of this fact as he recalls what the First Chief confessed to him;
“In all of my warrior life, I have fought alongside with my comrades. We have fought really bad-boned ponies and creatures alike. We have fought formidable enemies. We fought threats greater than ourselves. We even fought against the elements of Nature, and of course we lost to Her. Never have I thought in my warrior life I would see my ponies on the other side. For the first time in a very long time, I am trembling in fear.”
Still, the First Chief pressed on for that was the only solution he was taught, the only answer he knew. Seems like Second Chief is regretting not having enough fortitude to have voiced his opinion to his superiors, and to the First Chief. But he remains positive, for this is the message he has spread to all Mustangoes.
"Brute force is not always the answer, and it is definitely NOT the only answer. Otherwise, should we continue down that path, we would become into something despicable, something monstrous .. something not worthy of being associated with Nature, not worthy of ourselves.” Every Mustango understood this message.
For a brief moment, it seemed like this battle would come to a peaceful end. The Second Chief couldn’t be happier. But then, “Enough!” outburst Nocturnal with a fierce tone in his voice.
“All you ever do is blabber on about nonsense”, said Airebelle.
“The fact is, this makes all of you weak”, added Hammer.
“I will hear further NOT another word of sentimental drivel, nor words of changing our ways.” added Nocturnal.
The Second Chief closed his eyes in utter disappointment, for his attempt to persuade the leaders have failed.
“Mustangoes, and Equestria will get what is coming. You all fall right here, right now!” said Nocturnal before unleashing a powerful magic.
The holes in the skies are covered up again, blocking the sun, and reintroducing the Shadow. This Unicorn seems to be unleashing all of his magic, hoping not to do it so soon, saving it for the fight against Equestria. Who exactly is this Unicorn? What kind of magic did he study? His magic is so strong, it gives power to his Vice Commanders, and Shadowlings, taking back control and recasting a Shadow, tentacle-like grip on Mustangoes. Second Chief tried to disarm and repel this grip, but it was no use. It was taking any pony it could latch onto.
The Mustangoes quickly got in a formation and launched an attack that can only be done in high numbers. Second Chief recognizes this move and follows it. Every Mustango blocks each Shadowling attack, and engages in a struggle, equaling them; strength for strength, hoof for hoof. While this occurred, the remaining Mustangoes pushed further and further, one by one equaling the clash, until all who was left charging was the Second Chief as he leaps into the air and comes down on the Shadow Commanders. Hammer Hard Rock quickly counters, and pins him to the ground while the Airebelle Gust leads all the Shadowling Pegasi to the sky and into the dark clouds, and the Shadow Unicorn Commander casts another spell. As if he hasn’t done enough already, this is another high level spell that begins draining energy, taking away from the grappled Mustangoes their power of Nature, bit by bit. You can hear their out cries and screams.
“AAAH!”
“Nooo!”
“This power is NOT of yours!”
“You fiend!”
Many of them lose their glow, and turned into Shadowlings at even faster pace. The ones that haven’t been capture are now cautious of the tentacle-like Shadow grip. The Pegasi in the dark clouds are bucking them, creating lightning. These lightnings begin reaching below, striking down Mustangoes. It is impossible to dodge this attack for it happens in an instant. Now that they are knocked down, the tentacle-like Shadow grips them and drains them of their power. This was horrendous. Too much to bare for the Second Chief. He closes his eyes, but keeps his ears open, continuing to hear the cries of his ponies, still being pinned by his Shadow counterpart. It is unfortunate for him, he knows what he must do next. He is about to go against everything he stands for, against his principles. All but one thing. As the screams of his ponies resonate into his ears, he thinks to himself, “Never forget love ..”
A tentacle is about to grip the Chief as he is still pinned down. Then, his voice changed into a roaring thunder-like tone, and demands.
“LET - MY - PONIES - GO!”
This shook the Shadow Earth Commander, loosening his grip against the Chief. He opened his eyes wide, which are now glowing. The Earth around him begins to tremble. The howling wind calms down to a breeze. The lightning that the Pegasi were creating stopped. Something strange is happening. Something never seen by the Mustangoes, or the Shadowlings. Something is happening to the Second Chief. Now his whole body is glowing, shining bright! His body is growing! Bigger, and bigger. Not only growing, but morphing into a different form.
“What the hay is that?” asked Airebelle.
By the time the transformation was over, the Second Chief grew ten times, maybe twenty times bigger than his original pony body. His body morphed into something that resembles a half horse from the waist down, to half human from the waist up with his face remaining relatively the same, but resembling more of a horse than a pony face. He stands on two hooves, and is now holding a transparent, glowing, divine hammer with two hands, not hooves.
Everypony is amazed as they stared in awe. One of them softly asked, “Is that our Chief?”
Nocturnal is not thrilled, “Oh .. this was unexpected.” he said in a low grunt.
Another excited pony said, “Unbelievable! Our Chief is a giant! A titan!”
One of the Sentinel snaps out of it and quickly realizes the situation is in their favor, and commands, “Now is our chance while they are distracted! Get our friends!”
And so the fight continues. Neither side making much progress. But then as the Mustangoes grabbed on to their friends, the Shadow Unicorn sees it and reacts.
“Oh no you don’t!” he said, quickly turning them into Shadowlings. And just like that the Shadow Army grew exponentially what seemed like now a four to one ratio.
The others panicked, “Oh no!”
The Second Chief, sees the dilemma and does an amazing thing; He holds his hammer with both hands. He bends his arms slightly towards his body while twisting his upper body slightly backwards, then swings his huge hammer at The Shadow Commanders, Shadowlings, and Mustangoes. The Shadow Unicorn saw it coming and blocked himself and nearby Shadowlings with a magic barrier. The Chief’s hammer did two things. First, the hammer went thru the Mustangoes, expelling the darkness out of them, and turned them back to normal. Secondly, to the Shadowlings that failed to dodge the hammer were dealt a big blow, knocking them to the ground.
And just like that, the odds are even again. Mustangoes rejoiced with a big cheer. But the battle is not over yet. They rushed to their friends, knocking down as many Shadowlings as they could. The goliath Chief goes for another swing. This will surely put the odds in their favor. Nocturnal anticipated his next move. As the Chief swung his hammer at another group, the Unicorn erected a force field, nullifying the hammer’s effect. This irked the Mustangoes.
One of them said out loud, “This is insane! Are all Unicorns this powerful?”
The Chief tries again, and it is blocked. Again, and again, and again. Each time nullified by the Unicorn’s magic.
“How long do you intend to continue this vainful attempt?”
The Second Chief continues on pretending he heard nothing, but jesters, “Hmm? Did you say something?”
This annoyed Nocturnal. As the Chief continued on what seemed to be doing nothing much, he noticed the limitation on the Shadow Unicorn’s ability.
He thought to himself, “He sure is powerful, but lacks stamina.”
Then he noticed an opening in the Commanders’ defenses. That was the break he needed. Nocturnal is unaware what the Chief will do next. The Chief raised his leg closest to the Commanders, and stomps as hard as he could to the ground.
“You missed!” said the Shadow Earth Commander.
“Did I?” replied the Chief.
Quite a delayed attack, but it came furiously as the reverberation quickly erected a big Earth spike under Hammer, Nocturnal, and the surrounding Shadowlings, catapulting them into the air. That is when the Chief took a big swing. Luckily for the Unicorn, he caught a glance of what was going to happen during his airborne trip, so he conjured around him a barrier, not having enough time and power to provide others that luxury. The hammer delivered a blow to the Shadowlings, and the Shadow Earth Commander, sending them all into the sky. A farewell departure to them. The Shadow Pegasus Commander emerged out of the cloud and blitzed towards the Chief from behind. Without having to look behind him, the Chief raised his hammer to right back side of his shoulder, high enough to stop Airebelle as she blatantly crashed into it. Then falls to the ground.
For the first time, the Mustangoes’ odds of victory are in their favor by a one and a half to three ratio. They begin pushing back the Shadow forces into one spot, corralling them further and further. Yet another flawless plan in motion they just thought of and already executing. Now that they are in a tight spot, quite literally, they signal the Chief to hammer them down. Just as he goes into motion, Nocturnal has a trick of his own
“Your attack earlier seemed quite useful. I shall borrow it.”
With that said, his horn glows and the Earth starts shaking violently. It is throwing the Chief off balance as it is difficult to stand with two legs instead of four. A spike comes out of the ground and lifts one of the Chief’s leg.
“Pegasi! Now is your chance!” yelled Nocturnal to Airebelle and her forces.
Without hesitation, the Shadow Pegasus Commander led the train of Pegasi, circling around the Chief’s one leg that is still touching the ground, at a breakneck speed. In doing so, they created a twister with enough power to lift the leg, causing the goliath Chief to fall backwards crashing down. Once that happened, the Unicorn’s horn glowed even stronger. Almost instant, many many thorny-like roots appeared from the ground and grappled the Chief, pinning him down. As big as he is, as strong as he looks, he cannot budge. Nocturnal got him. A few stallion Sentinels nearby the Unicorn saw what was happening, and thought this was their opportunity to take him down. So they charged towards the elite, only to be knocked down by Shadowling Pegasi and Unicorns.
“No! Chief!” screamed one pony, followed by others encouraging him to get up.
Try as he might, he just can’t force his way out. The Mustangoes had the advantage. But just as they quickly had it, they quickly lost it. Rendered down to doing nothing but to look at the cloudy sky, the Chief re-evaluates, and knows exactly why the Mustangoes are having such a difficult time against the forces of Shadows.
“I am not one to admit defeat, not to my enemies. But I think I know why our ponies have such a trial against this malignant scourge.”
At the corner of his eyes, he can see the difference between Mustangoes, and the Shadowlings.
“It is so obvious and fundamental.”
He further examined and exactly looks at each Shadowlings. Their hooves, their wings, their horns.
“Our will against their will is matched. Our tenacity against their tenacity is match. Even at one point, our numbers matched theirs. They may all be the same. But they are different. One thing we lack that they have, that makes them different, is diversity. Earth, Pegasus, Unicorn.”
He then makes some more observations. An Earth Shadowling headbutting a Unicorn Shadowling. A Unicorn Shadowling using her magic in a menacing way against Pegasus Shadowling. And a group of Shadowlings all different types taking turns tickling a Mustango.
“As chaotic as they are, these different types of Shadow ponies are very effective when they are not horsing around.”
“You have so much power.” snickered Nocturnal and begins draining the Chief’s energy.
“No! Chief!” shouts a Mustango, still putting up a good fight against Shadowlings, though now the Shadows are beginning to push back.
“No! My power ...” grunts the Chief as his power is being drained, and the Shadows gain momentum once again.
The Chief continues thinking, “I am sorry brother. I did the best I could. I do not know what else to do.”
All hope seems lost. The Chief and all Mustangoes want their last thoughts to be not those of sadness, not those of fear, not those of hate, not those of despair, nor remorse. None but one thing that got them this far .. love. So, many of them closed their eyes as the Chief does, and remembers that feeling one last time.
The Shadow Unicorn Commander catches on, “Is this your way of admitting defeat? By staying silent and hoping for a higher divine to strike down? Your kind has a weird way of doing battle. Oh well, not that I’m complaining. This makes it easier for us.”
They ignore those remarks. They care not. They care not even about the preservation of their legacy. They care about now. The present. Them. Each other. Peace. Nature. As the walls keep coming closer and closer, to the point that they are going to close down on them, there is one final thing that the Second Chief wishes for,
“I wish we had Pegasi and Unicorns among our ponies.”