The shockwave accompanying the double Flameboom rippled like a wave across the earth. None of the war engines were damaged enough to cripple them, but the wave was dizzying and paralyzing to the infantry. Moreover, the siege towers at the blast’s height were blown into splinters and fell upon the confused, terrified Noxxa below and sowing more chaos as small flames blossomed on the grass.
Then came the blasts of magic from the hovering Twilight. The purple beams spread out at random to bombard the battlefield far below with small explosions that threw up purple-tinged dirt and smoke. Twilight was using small-scale explosions at first, but the Element of Magic on her head pumped up her magical power and reserves so much, even her small blasts felt much more powerful, and yet didn't even drain her strength.
To Twilight, she reasoned that one could consider this encounter lucky. They could do something to relieve the load on their armies with the power of the Elements. Wasn't that one of their purposes?
They were charging down the hill right now, screaming their hearts out, for their country and for the future. Twilight, however, thought they were fighting for another reason--the same reason Freedom Fighter held in his heart. They hated the Noxxa. And really, who wouldn't?
They charged into the enemy flank, blasting and tearing their way in colorful streaks through the dreary black of the enemy. Twilight stopped her magic blasts for fear of hurting them. She didn't dare get closer, either. She served a different purpose.
Rarity screamed as she charged, pulsing her horn brightly to form a shield as she crashed into the enemy flank. Noxxa jabbed at her as she ran, but spears bent and arrows flew aside. The army was disorganized, and their troops weren't in the proper position to respond to an attack from their sides. So Rarity's path was mostly unhindered, except for the weapons thrust into her shield.
Rarity's plan was simple. She figured she would spread out, get to a siege engine, disable it with her magic, and use the debris as a weapon, like at Mount Aris and the Appaloosa hideout. But something was nagging at her. Something important.
What will my Element do? she thought as she ran. Will it deliver me? Her power should be similar to the power the human Rarity had. But how to summon it?
By then, Rarity had reached the side of a three-limbed catapult turret and jumped onto the wooden platform. After kicking a Noxxa’s legs out from under him and tossing him off, she began to precariously navigate her way up the slant of the catapult structure. Her horn was burning into her head as she tugged at the splinters in the wood, broke them up into sharp spears, and shot them into the faces of the furious Noxxa scrambling up below her.
Her magic went to work as she ran, unraveling ropes and bending small beams in half. It made Rarity’s head hurt from the amount of magic she was using. But it was having an effect; one of the catapult’s arms was drooping to the side, separated from the other arms from a break in the deck.
Rarity’s mind was quick. Groaning more from the magical strain, she enveloped the catapult arm in magic and tugged so hard, the catapult arm creaked, snapped, and finally completely broke free of the deck and toppled to the side into the sea of Noxxa trying to clamber onto the siege engine. Black dust flew up, and the catapult shattered.
But more Noxxa were clambering up the opposite side with scrabbling limbs, slashing at the air with their jagged blades and screeching like ravens. Rarity turned towards them and fired shot after shot at those that came up. But by the time she had started, more Noxxa were climbing from other directions. The back and front and sides were all unsafe, and Rarity found herself on the highest spot of the engine: the raised counterweight of the middle cocked catapult.
Looking down into the sea of black, she spotted something pink bounding towards her, throwing off those in the crowd who reached for it. Rarity turned her attention to the pink blob growing closer, and made a split-second decision and enveloped it in her magic, lifting it high above the roiling ocean of demons.
Pinkie Pie floated up to Rarity, who cut off her magic and made Pinkie drop next to her, and atop Pinkie's back was Spike, holding one of Firestorm's swords in his hands.
He slipped off Pinkie's back, ran to Rarity, and hugged her briefly before looking up with gratitude shining in his eyes. "Thank goodness you were nearby! I thought we were done for."
"You doin' good?" Pinkie asked Rarity as confidently as ever, even as demons managed to climb to the payload on the opposite end of the catapult arm.
"I'll have to think about that!" Rarity replied anxiously, keeping an eye on the opposite end. They were so close!
"Have you figured out how to use the Elements yet?" Pinkie followed up, getting into a guarding stance as the Noxxa climbed higher.
"No!" Rarity admitted. "And I don't have the time!"
"Tap into its power!" Pinkie advised, reaching into her hair and pulling out a hoof full of sprinkles. "You don't have to be around everyone else! Use it as you would normally!"
The Element around her neck began to shine brightly, and the sprinkles in her hoof began to glow and shake. Pinkie leaped into the air and hurled the sprinkles in a wide sweep, quickly disappearing into the frothing black army below.
Several seconds later, bright pink explosions began to pepper the black sea below. Pieces of the catapult broke off in splinters and Noxxa incinerated in half-a-dozen groups under the explosions.
Rarity's jaw dropped. Since when…?
"My Element turns anything I touch into a bomb!" Pinkie exclaimed. "What can yours do, Rarity?"
Rarity faltered as she tried to think, but it was too long. In that small time frame of distraction, a Nox leaped up from below them, landed on the upraised counterweight, and swiped his claw at the surprised Rarity, who leaned back instinctively right before. It ripped open the skin on her forehead and sent blood everywhere, and if she hadn’t leaned back, it would have torn out her brains.
Spike roared and shoved Firestorm’s sword through his crunchy shell, and threw the squirming thing off the edge of the counterweight. “Rarity! You okay?”
Rarity was wincing and groaning as hot red blood ran down her pale face and cheeks and got into her eyes and nose. “I… I need time!”
“There is no time!” Pinkie screamed, prying up a splinter from the arm of the catapult and hurling it into the crowd coming up the arm, exploding in a pink burst. “Tap into it!”
Rarity’s strength was failing, and her vision was blurry. There was no other option. She needed to call upon its power, but would she have enough time to do it? All that was left to do was try. Letting out a groan of pain, she opened herself up to the power of the Element on her neck.
It felt like hot chocolate was running through her veins and her legs were being propped up, relieving her strength. She felt something tremendously powerful inside of her manifest outside of her body. Like frost forming on a field of grass, a layer of clear crystallization began to cover her legs and chest. Her mane and tail hardened into something flexible like cardboard, but tougher than aluminum. Her body began to glow a bright blue from inside her crystallized shell.
"Whoah, whoah, whoah!" Spike let out, stumbling back from Rarity's glowing form. "What're you-"
With an involuntary glow of her horn, a deep rumble came beneath the earth, startling Rarity and making her look over the edge of her vantage. Erupting out of the earth from all over the field came jewels and diamonds of every color and shape, glittering in the rising sun's light as they hovered in place for a moment. Then, without Rarity even realizing it, they zipped towards the Noxxa swarming around her catapult.
The jewels cut and ripped through enemy after enemy like a rain of glass shards. As swirling color surrounded their vision, Noxxa disappeared in clouds of dust.
Pinkie Pie, initially stunned, began to whoop and holler, jumping in place as the enemy was cut down from the deadly jewels. "Yeah! YEAH! NO ONE CAN DEFLECT THE SAPPHIRE SPLASH!"
Rarity figured that was just what she called the swarm of jewels. Focusing her will, she discovered that she could reach out and touch each crystal effortlessly with her magic. The jewels stopped their swarm around the catapult and hovered in place, surrounded by a blue light that Rarity was sweating to keep up.
The instant she stopped the swirling swarm, she was able to notice the furious Nox who had been pulling it, the size of a railroad car, slam into the catapult and splinter it in half with a colossal crack.
Rarity, Spike, and Pinkie Pie were thrown off with screams, flying through the air as the Nox snapped the thick, limber arm like a twig. Pinkie desperately reached out and snatched Rarity and Spike with her arms as they plummeted to the earth.
And they would have died on impact if Pinkie's tail hadn't sprung like a trampoline right before they hit the ground. With a cartoonish boing, all three of them hit the ground on Pinkie's tail, flipped into the air, and tumbled for a few rough seconds before coming to a halt.
Spike groaned and blearily stood up, only to get tackled by a screaming Nox and pinned to the ground, his sword skittering away. Desperately keeping the snapping fangs away from him by holding his gnawing face, Spike puckered his lips and blew a stream of green flame through the Noxxa’s brain like a blowtorch. The Nox faltered and became crumbly, and Spike shoved him off and he turned into dust.
Rarity was still losing blood from her forehead, and it was staining the crystals coating her like a shell. She took in her surroundings quickly. They had landed in a clearing of debris, with snarling, snapping Noxxa all around them eyeing them with fear and fury.
Chaos reigned among the battlefield. Burning remains of catapults and siege towers littered the land like seeds in a field. Small flames crackled on the plains, sowing even more confusion and disarray among the Noxxa ranks. The six-wheeled machine was encircling the field, blasting smoke into the air as it rumbled and squeaked at a run like the world’s biggest mouse. Cannon fire boomed out of the slots in its armor like thunder.
Twilight shone like a purple star high in the sky, not doing anything at the moment except observing. A crackling net of electricity thrashing about and a concussive blast or two of pure shockwaves in the earth let her know Tempest and Applejack were fighting together. Meanwhile, eruptions of blue power from further ahead told her that Noble Blade was doing his work mercilessly. And Rarity couldn’t imagine Fluttershy was anywhere else but with him. The air was filled with swooping rainbows from Rainbow Dash’s tail as she encircled the area, not letting any outliers escape. Firestorm was behind her and surrounded by Noxxa, roaring and burning with explosions in the heat of battle.
And then there was Freedom Fighter. Paired with Starlight Glimmer in the middle of the field, they made an invincible combination of melee and ranged attacks. While Starlight kept the hordes at bay with ever-pulsing magic, Freedom Fighter would catch the Noxxa and butcher them all with one sweep of his glowing staff, stopping only momentarily between bodies. No Nox could ever match him in fury, in power, in hunger.
Pinkie, and Spike, meanwhile, barely got to their hooves before the Noxxa surrounding them closed in from every direction. And barreling right for Pinkie like a freight train was the huge Nox that had split the catapult.
Right as the Nox chopped its claw down to impale Pinkie on the tip, Pinkie launched herself into the air like an arrow and smacked into the beast's face, sending him stumbling. The force flung her back towards the ground, but Pinkie bounced back again on impact and shot forward and hit him in the face again. The mighty beast barely had time to regain his footing before Pinkie bounced back yet again and punched him in the eye with a swing of her hoof.
"You think you stand a chance?!" Pinkie's maniacal voice screamed as the speed of the attack grew and grew, and Pinkie was suddenly a blur on her path from the ground to his face. "It's useless! Useless useless useless useless useless useless useless useless useless useless USELESS!"
With a mighty swing on her last rebound, Pinkie uppercutted the huge Nox, and he was lifted off his legs and went sprawling on the battlefield, crashing into the remains of the tri-armed catapult.
It was at that moment when the rolling tank managed to aim one of its mounted ballistae right at the landing pink pony. With a desperate release of its ropes, the huge arrow shot right at Pinkie.
Rarity, however, saw this a split second before Pinkie did and jumped in front of the monstrous projectile's path, swinging her arms up. The diamonds coating them managed to stop the arrow and spin it high into the air, but it flung Rarity painfully back to the ground.
Pinkie, meanwhile, jumped into the air after the spinning arrow, and with a downward kick changed the huge arrow's trajectory so it shot right into the huge Nox. With a crunchy squelch, the arrow embedded itself into the ground behind him.
“Oh, you think that’s bad?” Pinkie screamed above the chaos as she landed once more. “I touched it, remember?”
And true to her word, the huge arrow in the gasping Nox glowed a bright pink before exploding in an eruption that tore the earth asunder.
Rarity, standing up, was knocked momentarily back to the earth, but stood up once more in time to notice the hordes of Noxxa rush in on every side in furious anger upon the behemoth’s death. Spike was at her side, helping her stand up, and Rarity quickly slung him on her back. Rarity acted on instinct as death surrounded her; her attacks came quick and hard as she quickly became completely enveloped by the enemy. Enormous diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, rubies, and all other types of jewels erupted from the nearby ground and shredded any Nox unlucky enough to be in its path.
She couldn’t see the others anymore; all she could focus on was her own life and her own survival. Always keep your magic up. Punch the beasts that come within hoof-range. Let Spike unleash a torrent of flame every so often to repel them. Build up your diamonds coating your skin so every strike delivers death. No other thoughts came through to her, even as her body began to grow weary. Fight or die. And she wasn’t intending on dying, not here, not now.
As Tempest and Applejack fought side by side to repel the hordes striking at them every moment, Tempest had to use effort to take her eyes off Applejack. Shooting out of her body were multiple light yellow whips that cut multiple Noxxa in half with every strike, and every crack was like a blinding strike of lightning. Tempest’s own lightning wasn’t nearly as versatile as Applejack’s ability was, though.
Tempest fired a blinding, unsteady stream of lightning through a war wagon and it exploded, rattling her clenched teeth. Applejack redirected five whips to weave around and ensnare ten Noxxa. Lifting them up, she tightened her grip, and they were all cut in half and turned to ash. Both of them screamed with battle rage instinctually, and the enemies around them fell back temporarily.
“How are you that skilled at this?” Tempest yelled as a lull in the fighting occurred.
Applejack panted as the yellow whips dissipated into the necklace. “Let’s jus’ say… Ah had some practice with this sort o’ thing in Maretropolis.”
“Maretropolis? Where’s that?”
“In a, uh, comic book.”
“How does that work?”
“Hon, you wouldn’t believe me if Ah told ya.”
A clear bell-like ring sounded in Tempest’s mind at that moment, and Tempest perked up. Strangely, Applejack did the same. But there was no indication any of the Noxxa had heard.
This is Twilight, the voice said. I can talk to you all with the help of my Element. Listen. I have a plan. Target the catapults and other siege engines, but leave about half a dozen of them intact. Let the Noxxa know they need to use them to get rid of me.
“What?” Tempest said out loud at the same time as Applejack. What did Twilight mean, get rid of her?
Trust me. This’ll work. Stay away from the six-wheeler, though. I have a plan for that. Applejack, you’re up.
Tempest could only imagine Applejack was wary of Twilight’s plans, especially considering the last plan, which had resulted in the loss of Appleoosa. But nevertheless, Applejack looked ready to receive instruction, even as more Noxxa were coming at her.
Take the vehicle with as little collateral damage as possible. Kill everyone you see.
Applejack gave Tempest a look of regret before giving a reluctant nod and charging off towards the faraway machine, leaving Tempest alone to deal with the approaching forces.
Tempest let her horn overcharge, and the excess lightning flowed into her King Metal hooves and chest. Leaping right at the column of Noxxa, she hit the ground hoof-first with a punch, and a blast of plasma instantly fried everything around her and sent singed dirt flying.
From what she could see, the other ponies were taking Twilight’s advice to heart. Even as Applejack was hurtling towards the rumbling machine, which was firing indiscriminately into the fray, catapults and ballistas were being broken on every side.
Firestorm wasn't one for hesitating once an order was given. So he broke off his own attack in the rear of the column and flew up into the air, scanning the field below for targets.
Through all the smoke and flames, he spotted blobs of white and pink in the center of the field, surrounded by roiling black. And there were plenty of war machines turning to face them.
So he shot right at the nearest ballista, flame gathering around him, and crashed with an explosion into the siege engine. The delicate wooden ballista blasted apart in flaming chunks of wreckage, and Firestorm jumped out of the ensuing wreck and shot right at a trebuchet lining up. With a swipe of his wing, he cut the rope holding the counterweight up, and it crashed into the deck beneath it, collapsing the entire structure.
Looking around, he saw a fountain of jewels shoot out and splinter apart a monongel like a storm of cannon fire, flinging parts into the Noxxa hordes. But the white and pink blobs were almost overwhelmed.
Without a moment’s pause he flew like a loosed arrow directly over the heads of the Noxxa, pulsing bright with flame and incinerating those beneath him. Firestorm bellowed and slammed into the earth at that speed, spewing dirt and fire in every direction and carving a path right through the field.
As he crawled out of the end of his crater with his flame dying out, he saw Rarity, Spike, and Pinkie Pie in a circle, but all staring at him.
"I thought you were a swordspony, not a suicide bomber!" Rarity remarked. To his surprise, she was coated with diamonds and stained with blood.
"Well, what's the difference?" he retorted, igniting the flames around him again, but drawing his sword.
"Guys!" Spike interrupted, gesticulating wildly. To the west, Rainbow Dash was being pinned down in the air avoiding arrows and javelins. "We need to help her!"
Pinkie was the first to notice. "Dashie!" She jerked her head at Rarity, who had just sent a long emerald spike through three Noxxa at once. "Gimme a bunch of jewels!"
Rarity turned to Pinkie, thought for a second, and stomped the ground. Immediately a collection of tiny crystals popped out of the ground, and she collected them in her magic and proffered them to Pinkie.
Pinkie rubbed her hoof quickly all over the crystals to make them glow dangerously, then pointed it where Rainbow was evading the arrows and spears. "Fire!"
Rarity shot the jewels like flak from a gun, and they flew over the heads of those Noxxa before exploding mid-air. The clusters of explosions flattened the earth beneath them and spread flame even further among the ruined field.
One lucky arrow shot, however, managed to get past it all and hit Rainbow in the chest, which mercifully didn’t penetrate her skin due to being stopped by the Element of Loyalty. But the impact created a sudden charge in the air. Rainbow curled up in the air before being flung into the air like a ragdoll as a blinding surge of blue lightning erupted from her chest and tore apart the earth beneath her.
Rainbow miraculously managed to direct her body so the lightning coming out of the Element shot through a siege tower and still blew apart a collection of wagons a hundred yards off. After the lightning disappeared, however, Rainbow fell to the earth beneath, but regained consciousness right before impact and hovered in the air two feet above the black plain, singed, dirty, and severely weakened.
All understanding what needed to be done, Rarity, Pinkie, Spike, and Firestorm hurried over. The battlefield in their area by now had been depleted of enough forces to allow them to get to Rainbow in time to collapse in exhaustion. But terrible ebony still encompassed them about, simply waiting for the opportunity to all strike at once.
“That was some lightning!” Rarity commented, taking Rainbow’s hoof and standing her up. “You okay?”
Rainbow certainly didn’t look it; her mane was spiked and her face was singed black, and her legs wobbled as much as her wavering voice between heaving breaths. “I-I’m fine! Just… took a lot out of me, is all. I… I don’t know if…”
“That’s okay.” Rarity understood completely. “We should stick together now. Keep the Noxxa busy for now so the others can take out the outlying catapults!”
“What about that tank?” Spike asked, pointing. The enormous tank had been rolling mercilessly through everything in its path, firing cannons at the ponies it passed; it was hard to steer or turn around quickly enough to lock on to one target. And it was coming right for them right now, bearing down with spiked ten-foot-high wheels and a fearsome iron ballista atop a two-story chassis.
“Applejack’s gonna take it uninjured, so we can’t destroy it,” Firestorm answered, pounding one fist against the other. “But we can make her job easier. Spike, want a ride?”
“Uh, what do you mean?”
There was a gleam in Firestorm’s eyes. “We’re gonna take out their cannons!”
Spike looked scared, though. “O-on second thought-”
Firestorm grabbed Spike’s hand, took off, and flew right at the tank bearing down on them, Spike being dragged behind and screaming.
The pegasus swerved to the right of the tank right before impact and tossed Spike onto the end of a protruding cannon barrel. “Breathe fire down it!” he instructed, then took off to the other side of the tank.
Spike was gripping onto the top of it for dear life with one hand, the other holding Firestorm’s sword, which had curiously enough deactivated. As soon as that cannon fired, he was gonna do it! He didn’t want to risk his head being suddenly blown off, after all.
But those thoughts changed when he saw where that cannon was being aimed: He was looking right at Rarity! He needed to do it now before they-!
A colossal explosion rocked the tank and made it swerve, making Spike fall off the top. His legs still gripped the cannon barrel, so he was hanging upside down, but his heart pounded ever harder against his chest. Had Firestorm taken out a cannon on his side?
It didn’t change the fact that he still had a job to do, and quickly. He gripped the lip of the barrel and pulled his head up quickly into the cannon’s mouth. Sucking in a breath, he blew a cloud of emerald flame into the weapon.
It sparked the gunpowder at the end of it, and the cannon blew apart on the inside, rocking the tank once more. Spike’s feet lost their footing, and he was dangling precariously from the end of the ruptured cannon with one hand. The sound of creaking metal filled his ears like a banshee’s shriek.
And to his left, Firestorm came into view. He didn’t have a nimbus of flame around him and he was curiously using his flamethrowers instead of his Element, which looked plain and dull now. What was going on?
Firestorm was coiling a ball of flame between his hooves like he was shaping a ball of clay. He was so close Spike could feel the flame emanating off him. He hurled the fireball down another cannon barrel, and the cannon exploded just like Spike's had, but a piece of hot shrapnel hit him right in the gut, and he screamed and was thrown back.
Spike, in a split second of instinct, let go of the cannon barrel with his left hand and grabbed Firestorm before he went too far.
They fell together.
But while they fell, Spike plunged the blade into the side of the turning wheel, tearing iron and eventually lodging at the end of a long rip in the wheel rim right before they hit the ground. The momentum from their sudden stop made Spike's arm feel like it was going to tear off, and the jolt made him let go of the sword, and they fell two feet on their heads and backs.
The smoking, reeling tank rolled on, taking the sword with it.
Spike heard Firestorm hiss and groan, and he turned his attention to him. Firestorm's other sword was ignored off to the side as he picked at the hole in his lower gut, doing his best not to sit up.
He crawled over to the wounded pony and tried to get a good look at it. The shrapnel was a piece of smoking iron the size of his nail several inches in his orange chest.
"Hold on!" Spike tried to reassure him. "I'll get you aid!"
"No, " Firestorm hissed, curling and uncurling like a pillbug. "You need to… agh!... do it now!"
"Do what?"
"Take this thing out of me!"
"I can't! I'm not-!"
"You have claws! I don't! You're the only one that-!" He screamed again and heaved his chest in pain. The sounds he made were so terrible!
"N-not while you're still bent over like that!" Spike rushed.
"Hurry!" he urged with a scream of pain. Indeed, the Noxxa waited for no one. Some of them had noticed them, in an empty stretch surrounded by fire, and were rallying together to take them on.
Spike, sick to his stomach, hesitantly stuck two fingers into the hole in Firestorm’s gut. Spike tried and failed to ignore the screams and moans coming from him as he tapped the shrapnel with his fingertips. It was all squishy and warm inside, and blood rushed out of the hole and stained his ragged uniform. He scraped against it a bit more before pinching the thing and dragging it out as fast as he could. It was still hot, but Spike was all but immune to heat, and he tossed the bloody thing away without much of an issue.
But there was a new problem. The shrapnel had been acting as a plug, and the stopper was now out. Firestorm was losing blood, and fast. His orange coat looked paler already. And a group of twenty opportunistic Noxxa had decided at that moment to break through the flame walls and rush them, brandishing wicked spears with barbed hooks and swords with serrated curves. And behind them all was a Nox the size of a house striding effortlessly over the flames with his tree-trunk legs.
Firestorm gritted his teeth and reached for his remaining sword beside him. But Spike had already gotten between him and the enemy, and the fiery blade was trembling in his tight little claws.
He inhaled and blew out a blast of emerald flame onto Firestorm’s blade, and the combined sources of fire resulted in a blast of light and a fierce orange-green inferno that shot out of the tip of Firestorm’s sword. It enveloped the lesser attackers entirely, and they shrieked and hopped away. But the huge Nox lunged instead and snapped its jaws around Spike, lifting him into the air.
Spike had very thick scales, protecting him from most damage blades could do, but the jaw’s pressure was so tight it was about to snap his bones like sticks. He turned the sword and plunged it deep into his head. With a dying shriek that sounded like a stuck pig, the monstrous Nox collapsed with a thunderous boom and disintegrated.
Spike was flung for a few feet on impact, struck a rock, caromed off it, and rolled until he came to a stop. He felt dulled to all his senses as he slowly, slowly rose again; everything was blurry in his vision and hearing, and he felt like static was running through his limbs.
But Spike could feel warmth as an arm wrapped around him, and could see a long blade of fire in an orange hoof in front of him.
They were surrounded and outnumbered, but Spike knew he had to keep fighting.
Noble Blade was bruised, cut, and dirty, but he wasn’t weakened yet. The blade in his hooves seemed to tremble with pure energy that unleashed itself upon every impact, blowing anything away in its path. It was how he was at the center of a circle of craters and uprooted earth, fires blazing on every side. Fluttershy was right beside him, his shield on her arm, as beaten and dirty as he was. Noxxa were surrounding them, not attacking yet; they had learned their lessons from the first seven times that charging into a living weapon wasn’t a good idea.
But now it was the time to be proactive, not reactive.
“You heard that, right?” Fluttershy asked him.
“We need to get to the closest engine,” Noble answered. “Cut it down quickly.”
“I agree. Upsy-daisy.”
“What?”
But Fluttershy had already fluttered above him and picked him up. Noble flailed his legs for just an instant before realizing it was just Fluttershy, and accordingly spread his weight so it would be more even.
They began to hover above the heads of the Noxxa, but they had to fly through the oppressive smoke that was covering the battlefield like an angry haze. The Noxxa slashed at them with their wicked weapons, but since they were above their reach they resulted in firing arrows at them. They flew haphazardly and zigzagged in the air, but it wasn't long before Fluttershy's wing was clipped by a cruel arrow, and they plummeted. The ends of the wicked spears below them gleamed menacingly.
Noble Blade slashed his sword down with a violent swing, and the power of his Element was unleashed with a tremendous blue explosion.
The ground below was quickly cleared with another shockwave that rolled the earth, and blue flames encircled them as they crashed into the ground and rolled to a stop amidst the sapphire flame. A supply cart full of ammunition erupted and became a mass of splinters, boulders, and burning cloth that added to the chaos in their own little area.
Noble stumbled to all fours, dropping his sword, and quickly stood Fluttershy up. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," Fluttershy hissed. There was blood leaking between her wing and body, and it hurt to extend it. "Let's just keep them away!"
Noble chimed his horn to life, and a stream of blue energy erupted from his forehead and formed into a translucent dome just as the Noxxa crashed against it like the waves on a rock. Noble looked weakened by keeping it up, however.
Fluttershy saw it coming before he did. "Brace yourself!"
Noble turned just in time to see the masses of the army part, and a tremendous Nox the size of a railway car crashed his front legs into the top of the dome shield. Noble yelped and dropped to his knees, clutching his horn and hissing as the huge bug reared up again and pounded against the shield with increased fervor.
Fluttershy was drawn to the glowing blue sword smoldering the ground beside him. While he was occupied, she took the handle with both hooves and hoisted it up with some effort. After all, Noble didn't look like he could last for much longer against the barrage of blows. When that shield fell…
Which it did an instant later with one forceful thrust. It sparked out of existence, and the giant Nox fell upon them with blades and claws flashing the color black.
The claw plunged into the earth between the two ponies, making them roll in opposite directions. As she rolled and quickly rose again, Fluttershy swung the sword as if it was a fan of blue with all her might, which cut right through his giant claw and made the Nox rear up and roar in pain.
Meanwhile, Noble Blade had reached for his shield as the Nox stumbled back, and indicated Fluttershy. “Good job! Give me that!”
Fluttershy tossed him his sword, and when it smacked into his hoof, it seemed to explode with blue swirls and shimmering waves of incredible magic that cascaded around him. Noble then tossed her his shield, which she caught and quickly fumbled to get on her arm.
The mighty Nox lunged at them again, but this time with his gnashing pincers dripping with saliva. Noble just managed to stick the sword in his mouth and break his teeth with an explosion of blue light, but he was lifted up into the air as the Nox reared his head. Noble dangled more than ten feet in the air, flailing his legs in surprise. The Nox jerked his head up, and Noble fell leg-first into the monster’s snapping mouth. Blood sprayed everywhere, punctuated by a loud snap and crunch.
Fluttershy watched in numb horror as the Nox almost spat him out and hurled him to the burnt earth. There was a sickening crunch, and he rolled to a stop. His sword plunged blade-first into the earth and released a ripple of blue fire that rolled over them all like a tidal wave. Because Noble and Fluttershy were bearers of the Elements, they were unharmed by the flames; it felt like a hot blast of wind to Fluttershy. But it was no friend to the Noxxa; it burned those closing in around them and forced the remaining Noxxa to fall back once more. The tremendous Nox stumbled back, leaving them alone encaged by a wall of magical blue fire.
Her wings found the strength to flap over to his limp body. And her throat closed up and her heart lurched; his two back legs were gone. There was paper-white bone poking out of those stumps he once called knees.
Doing her best to speak, she croaked, “I… I’ll fix this! Give me a minute and I can bandage up those wounds!”
“Shy,” he coughed.
She paused mid-word, but started back up again. “Don’t speak. You’ll just make it harder. I…” There was nothing around her to work with except burning wreckage and stubbled earth. “I…”
“It’s okay,” Noble assured her, breathing heavily through his teeth and clenching the earth so hard it crumbled in his grip. “Do your best!”
“I can’t!” she blurted out. The rest of the world was becoming irrelevant to her now; her vision became narrow and the voices around her became quiet. All that mattered was him. “I can’t! No matter what kind of job I do, you’ll still…” The word couldn’t escape her throat without a tear. “...die.”
Noble couldn’t answer her, which Fluttershy couldn’t blame him for. It was his own death, after all. It was time to accept reality. Doing your best was pointless if they were still going to die anyway. Despair weighed on her like a sandbag.
“Don’t be sad,” he hissed. “I don’t care… about death. I care about you.”
“Don’t go,” Fluttershy whispered. “Fight! Fight for your life!”
“I am… but if I lose the fight… I need to say this.”
Fluttershy cradled his stumps up to get more blood flowing to his body, but listened intently.
“You… unlocked my potential. You inspired my life. Thank you. I was too trivial before. Too selfish to see that… perfection is pending. Thank you.” He never spoke like that before. It was with the utmost admiration that he said, “You were my suit of armor when I was trying to be yours. You made me see the worth I can be to those I love. Thank you.”
Fluttershy was so proud of him, she was almost about to kiss him right then and there. But there was still a roaring all around her from the Noxxa clamoring at the circle of flames. Fluttershy looked up, leaning for support on a split catapult boulder. Striding through the dying blue flames was the massive armored Nox once more, fury burning in his golden eyes.
"I’ll be that suit of armor as often as I can,” Fluttershy affirmed quietly, staring into the Noxxa's eyes as he lifted his tree-sized leg. "Always and forever! In life and till death!"
The tremendous Nox roared at her, and Fluttershy returned with a defiant cry of her own.
The Noxxa's claw came down like a strike of lightning.
And it was stopped by a fist that stopped the claw right in front of Fluttershy.
Behind the owner of the fist was Fluttershy's determined, dangerous face. Her Element was gleaming with unrestrained power.
With one of her hooves on a catapult boulder, something very strange had happened. The boulder had shapeshifted and warped into the form of a brown, ten-foot bear, which had stopped the power of the Noxxa's blow.
Fluttershy, initially surprised, let out a high-pitched yet primal snarl, and the bear shoved the Nox back with a punch from its other fist. Then she screamed, and the bear jumped up, slammed into his face, and tackled the Nox to the ground with an earth-shattering thud.
Even though the blue flames had died down now, none of the Noxxa dared to make a move. They simply didn't account for this new, unknown factor in the battle. When Fluttershy affixed them all with seemingly-glowing eyes, the collective hordes froze up in place.
"Run," was her only command. And her Element glowed brightly.
Under her hooves, spare bits of iron and wood suddenly morphed into smaller, deadlier animals. Fire salamanders, star spiders, vipers, wasps, and scorpions sprung to life and rushed into the Noxxa. As one body, they tried to retreat. But before they could get far, the tiny animals had entered their ranks and begun to wreak havoc, causing a pandemonium among the troops.
The command had shaken Fluttershy more than the Noxxa, though. She was reeling. What had her Element done, exactly? Life had sprung up from nothing!
Even Noble Blade was dumbfounded, and rightfully so, Fluttershy thought. He was even ignoring the blood-soaked stumps of his rear legs and was starting into the riot in the Noxxa army as they fought off their smaller and deadlier opponents.
"Well," he eventually hissed, "we have a fighting chance after all. Help me up."
"What?" Right after that? She couldn't allow him to die from this! "You need to stay down! Your legs-!"
“Get me out of here,” Noble insisted. “If I stay alive, I can fight. If I fight, I’m going to win.”
As she shot across the battlefield towards the rolling armored titan, Applejack had been momentarily taken aback at Twilight's direction to "kill everyone you see." Was Twilight slipping again? She had definitely become more volatile and relentless. But over the past few days, she was recovering and becoming more like her normal self. And Applejack feared the destruction of her friends. Whether by their own hooves, or by the blades of their enemy.
So she turned that fear into determination to get the job done. She latched onto two upright posts from an exploded siege tower, drew herself back like a slingshot, and fired herself at the rolling tank.
But just before she reached the tank, the powers of her Element cut off like a light switch, and in her confusion, she crashed into the side of the tank and fell onto the edge of a huge exposed wheel. Before she could fall forward and be crushed by the wheel, though, she rolled to the side and fell onto a long spike protruding from the hubcap of the wheel. She hung from it like she was doing a pull-up.
What in the hay had happened? Was her Element not working anymore? It had just stopped all of a sudden!
Well, that just meant she would have to take the tank without the help of the Element of Honesty.
As the wheel turned and the spike on the hubcap reached its highest point, Applejack pulled herself up, gripped the edge of the wheel, got on top of the wheel before it was too late, and made a daring jump to a part of the hull between the wheels.
Climbing slowly up the ridges of the armor plating, she eventually made her way to the top of the tank. There were about ten of them on top manning the ballistas on either end, but as they spotted her, Applejack was already on top of them.
With a few rapid strikes, kicks, bucks, and headbutts, the ballista on the rear end became vacated.
Applejack then pushed mightily against the tremendous ballista to aim right at the other weapon on the tank. With a swipe of the lever, the massive arrow shot out and splintered the opposing ballista into a cloud of wreckage with a sharp, resounding crack.
It was at this moment when a hatch on top opened up and vomited out armored Noxxa, screeching and swiping their wicked weapons indiscriminately. Applejack's heart thumped against her chest. She had no weapon except for what she could improvise.
So improvise she did. With a quick buck of her hoof, she broke the chain holding the ballista in place and threaded the chain through the holes of the weapon until she had a six-foot chain wrapped around her hoof, which she broke off with a sharp tug just as the first Nox lunged at her.
An average punch from Applejack could knock one's breath away. A hard punch, with the hoof wrapped in iron chain, was enough to tear through the helmet the Nox wore and crumple his skull. As he went down, another Nox reached her and swiped a cruel halberd at her neck, which she was able to block with the chain in her hoof. She gripped the shaft with her other hoof and bent it hard enough to snap the head off, then kicked him away and whipped the edge of the chain in a circle, keeping the rest of the Noxxa barely at bay.
"Y'all made a grave mistake comin' fer us!" Applejack yelled as she twirled the chain like a lasso.
The Noxxa all acted at once by closing in. Applejack moved on instinct. Her broken weapons lashed out and turned unarmored parts of the bugs into ash. Some retreated. Others just kept thrusting spears and swinging swords. Applejack felt long cuts open up on her legs and side. She felt the warm blood trail down her legs and coalesce on her underbelly. But her efforts redoubled anyway.
With a snap of her chain, it hit a Nox in the throat and made him choke as he crumbled away. A backwards kick sent another Nox flying off the tank entirely. Finally, she threw the head of the halberd to embed itself in the helmet of a Nox swinging an axe to come down on her.
Only for her to be grabbed from behind and held tightly against a spiny, sticky underbelly of a Nox she had missed. Applejack struggled and squirmed, making cuts appear all over her back.
"I got the farmer!" he bellowed as even more Noxxa piled out of the hatch to replace those who had been killed. "Quick! Stick 'er with an ACK!"
Applejack had elbowed the Nox behind her in the face, then broke free, grabbed one of his legs, swung him above her head, and slammed him into a pile of dust on the roof of the tank. Immediately, her hind leg shot out and hit another rearing Nox in the neck, making him stumble and choke, and she dove at the feet of one more skittering Nox, making him flip and tumble off the edge of the tank, screaming as he went.
Applejack galloped at the next Nox coming out of the hatch, ducked a thrust of his claw, uppercutted him, and tackled him to the deck. After a few furious snaps of its jaws, Applejack slammed her hoof into the side of his head and drove her elbow into his skull. A few more pounds, and he crumbled apart and blew into ash.
The next opponent stayed hunkered down in the hatch, but instead circled his arm and threw a small primitive explosive right at Applejack's face.
Applejack, lying down, bucked a leg in a roundhouse kick, sending the bomb flying back. It hit the hatch like a ball against a backboard, then fell into the hole, the hatch closing behind it.
A muffled explosion within the tank made her bounce and made the tank rock and roll like a ship on the ocean. Applejack quickly realized that since the tank was now full of smoke, going in through the hatch wasn't an option. The smoke would suffocate her, or conceal an attack.
So, as she always did, Applejack improvised.
Running to the front of the tank, she quickly wrapped the end of her chain around the stump of the destroyed ballista and rappelled down the front. Soon her hooves tapped against the narrow glass shield, and she pushed off and swung back into the narrow windshield with a mighty kick.
Even though it was reinforced glass, a buck from Applejack's legs was like a thunderbolt. The shield shattered and blew shards in as Applejack swooped inside the pilot cabin, the chain still wrapped around one of her hooves.
Applejack had slammed directly into the pilot's seat, pushing back a few levers on the side. She felt the entire weight of the vehicle swerve to the left, making her tumble along with the three surprised Noxxa inside. As the vehicle turned at an unstable angle, Applejack managed to look out the front long enough to see it plow headlong into an iron catapult.
The entire tank jolted and got lifted off its wheels for a minute as it simply rolled right over the catapult. It crushed iron, splintered wood, and sent sparks flying as metal screeched and flattened. The vehicle was simply unstoppable. And directly in its path were Rarity, Pinkie, Firestorm, and Spike, surrounded by enemies!
Applejack, still struggling while on top of a Nox, kicked the controls again, and the wheeled tank applied the brakes in the span of a second while swerving to the right. The momentum made her fly again, but into the front instead.
Applejack was barely able to stand up once more when the driver lept at her with a sharp thrust of his serrated claw. She dodged the move made for her head, but the tip went deep into her shoulder instead.
Applejack roared and tried to swing a punch at him, but the chain dangling from the outside was still snagged around her hoof. The other two Noxxa grabbed her and hurled her through the broken windshield.
Applejack hit the end of the chain length and dangled helplessly from the front of the out-of-control tank. Shock, pain, blood loss, and the constant spinning of her on the end of the chain were making her vision blurry and her arms weak. She couldn't even lift one other hoof above her head.
Then a rainbow streak shot right into the side of the tank like a bullet, making it tilt on the right set of wheels.
As it fell back onto all six wheels again, it sent Applejack swinging to the left, and she managed to grab a piece of the hull and hoist herself so her shoulders were resting on them.
From here, she could see who had done it. There was Rainbow Dash, covered in smoke stains and singed all over. She hovered and gave a brief salute. "I see you're doing well."
Applejack just sighed and twirled her hoof tiredly. "It's been a, ah, stressful day."
Rainbow panted for breath and hovered weakly in the air. "Whaddaya mean? I haven't even broken a sweat!"
"You got somethin' wrong with ya, Rainbow."
"D'ya want my help or not?"
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine."
So Rainbow Dash grabbed Applejack and flew back around through the windshield, with Rainbow crashing through and taking two Noxxa down as she tumbled into them.
And Applejack crashed back into the driver. With a furious bashing of his head into the dashboard, Applejack then grabbed him by the neck and hurled him through the window with all the strength she could muster. He fell twenty feet to the ground and landed as a mangled heap in the path of the tank.
While Rainbow Dash went into the back of the tank to take out any surviving Noxxa, Applejack heard Twilight's voice in her head again.
Good work, Applejack. You can go and pick everypony else back up. Your work is done. Leave the rest to me.
Any cut healed in moments. Any spear thrust was countered, and the monster was quickly slain. Any pain was small and fleeting. Nothing mattered but the death of thousands.
Dozens and dozens had already fallen on the mangled battlefield. Once a lovely green plain, it now looked like the burning surface of the moon, but the instructions from Twilight had been loud and clear. He needed to buy time for the tank to pick the two of them up. Ash obscured Freedom Fighter’s vision, but he didn’t need his vision. He needed to act, and act he did.
The power of his left arm glowed yellow and flowed directly into his staff, making it overcharge and spark yellow as he snapped the staff into a bow. He drew the string back, and instead of an arrow instantly forming, a torrential yellow laser erupted from the bow. He spun the bow in an arc, and half a hundred died from the spinning laser. The Noxxa surrounding them fell back, giving the two of them more space and time.
But his arms were now heavy and weak, and the speed of his attacks was slower. Every breath he took was inhaling a terrible fume into his lungs. It was like this time, the knives were on the inside of his body. Even as he dismembered Nox after Nox, he was at least healing. But Starlight…
His companion was doing all she could to keep her magic up, but he knew fatigue when he saw it. She couldn’t last for much longer.
He took one end of the bow and pushed a slot the wrong way, and the end of the yellow string fell off. Freedom Fighter took the long energy whip in one hoof and circled it in a large motion to keep the more daring Noxxa back. He snapped it a few times with cracks of thunder and flares of lightning, and he barked a few yells to keep the Noxxa away, but it wasn't going to keep up like this.
Freedom Fighter heard Starlight cough violently and saw her magic horn falter and sputter for strength. She fell to her knees even as she unleashed a green laser beam that cut through a long line of opponents. Blood covered her body, tinged black from the air around them.
He couldn’t let her die! Not now, not here.
He growled loudly and held his long staff upright like a broadsword. If he was to now die, he would do it emulating the pony closest to his heart.
But something big rumbled through the smoke and fumes, and Noxxa dispersed and screamed and ran and leaped away from the tremendous tank that had just entered the scene
For once, he was grateful to see an enemy weapon.
A hatch opened and a ramp lowered in the rear of the tank as it passed him by, showing Rarity, Pinkie Pie, who immediately began coughing violently from the smoke, and Tempest, who urged him to get in by violently circling her hoof. Freedom Fighter took Starlight by the hoof, ran through the blackened field, and led her up the ramp into the metal behemoth. As they ran, a large group had assembled at the rear of the tank. Arrows and javelins clattered all around them, and one lucky spear nicked Starlight’s ear in half, making her cry in shock, not pain. Rarity broke apart the diamonds coating her body and shot them in a wide spray into the black battlefield in one last effort to slow the Noxxa down, and Pinkie hit a button on the side of the vehicle to close the ramp and doors.
One daring Nox leaped after them and wedged part of his body into the gap between the door and the tank. At first, he tried to scramble inside, but he was caught, and the realization of what he had done came to him right before he was cut in half and the door finally closed. His ashes coated the floor.
“Is everypony here?” Freedom Fighter inquired. The inside of the tank was dark, blasted apart with smoke, and cramped, but the ponies he knew were colorful and stood out in the dark.
“We’re all here,” Pinkie groaned. “But…”
But there were groans of pain from all assembled. Nopony was uninjured. Often, the wounds were severe. And from further ahead…
Freedom Fighter pushed his way aside to come to a sight that halted him in his tracks. A hissing, hyperventilating Noble Blade was lying on a plank of wood, the ends of his legs wrapped in bloody rags.
The stumps…
He felt a lump rise in his throat and water come to his eye. And he knelt by his side. He took Noble’s hoof in his own.
“If there was a way to give my power to you…” he breathed, “...I would do it in a heartbeat.”
Noble gripped his hoof tighter in the dark. And a smile came to his trembling lips.
“We’re gonna leave the field!” Applejack called from the pilot’s cabin. “Retreat! Twilight’ll take care of it all!”
And the tank rolled on to get away. No one relaxed, not even when they rolled up the hill they came down and the clamoring of Noxxa died down at last.
Finally, they were all off the field. Finally, Twilight could finish it all.
As the tank full of her friends drove off out of the way, Twilight’s horn spat bits of her magic in little pitter-pats of condensed power. She built up more powerful reserves of magic, and finally fired her horn in one-second intervals that grew in power as they reached the ground far below. Twilight was now the center of everyone’s attention.
Purple blasts of plasma bombarded the field like a deadly rain. Colorful violet fire overwhelmed every other visible color on the battlefield.
At first, the archers aimed up at the sky and tried to take her down, but their bows and crossbows simply didn’t have the range or power to reach Twilight. It must have eventually dawned on the Noxxa that since their bows didn’t have the range, and since the other ponies had been going around destroying the siege engines, the ponies were obviously afraid that Twilight could be taken down by a catapult. So, naturally, they adjusted their aims desperately on the remaining catapults, and began to fire them into the sky.
Just as Twilight planned.
A few boulders sailed towards her, which were easy enough to avoid. This would let them know that she was indeed within their range, and she shot a few smaller beams at them to encourage more counter-fire.
After a few more close calls with boulders, she was ready to deliver a finishing blow. A huge boulder the size of a house was coming her way like a rocket. Perfect.
As soon as it reached the apex of its peak, Twilight swerved out of its path and immobilized the boulder. It just quivered in place from the intensity of Twilight’s magic. Twilight didn’t care; she just poured more and more of her power into the rock.
It cracked and groaned and grumbled as splits appeared. Finally, with a powerful pulse of her magic, the rock crumbled apart completely, shattering into smaller pebbles the size of buckballs, hanging in the air in a purple aura.
And Twilight sent those rocks shooting towards the earth all at once like a storm of meteorites.
The ground was quite literally flattened.
There was no sign of life. Nothing moved but the humble flickering remains of translucent flames scattered about the massive field.
Twilight walked the ashfallen earth alone. Grey covered the ground and choked the skies, leaving her as the only spot of color in the world.
This is what she was capable of. Only a small part of her tremendous potential was unleashed. For good or evil? Twilight needed to figure that out. The ambiguity of war was like a haze in her consciousness. All she could do was gawk at the craters and wreckage, the ashes and the flames.
Plowing through the terrible bleakness came the tank. It creaked and groaned and heaved, but it came to a stop with a hiss. A wide hatch in the side opened up and displayed the ponies, all injured, dirty, tired, and overwhelmed.
“You’d better see this,” Rarity told her glumly.
Twilight came close enough to see what Rarity was talking about. Several stretchers had been made that were supporting the ponies with the worst wounds. Starlight was heaving for breath from exhaustion. Firestorm had a deep puncture in his belly that made every breath elicit a grunt of pain. And Fluttershy was clinging to Noble Blade like his life depended on it, who in turn had bloody, hastily-bandaged stumps for legs. Twilight froze. Nothing so permanent had happened before.
“Can’t you do something?” Rarity urged her. “You could heal ponies before, you know.”
“Scratches and flesh wounds are one thing, but…” Twilight looked over the severe injuries and the dirty wounds in everyone else. “But regrowing limbs?”
“You should try!” Fluttershy brought up firmly. The intense emotions inside of her manifested itself as the iron deck beneath her suddenly turned into a bed of flowers. “We can’t go on in this condition!”
“What have you done to help him first?” Twilight responded. “I need to know.”
“I…” Fluttershy looked like she didn’t know how it all mattered. “I managed to stop the bleeding…”
“What about the work your own Element can do?” Twilight asked.
“It can’t help!” Fluttershy cried. “All it does is turn inorganic material into organic material, like flowers and animals, and if I tell it to change back, it will. I can’t regenerate bodies like Freedom Fighter can!”
“Well, he can’t stay with us if he can’t fight,” came Rainbow Dash. “So we need to decide fast if-”
“No,” Noble weakly said from his little table. “I can still…”
“What are you talking about?” came Spike. “You gotta realize there’s a limit to what you can-”
“Only my back legs are gone,” Noble said, trying to sit up and support himself on his front legs. “Put my sword in my hoof and put me on the back of a mount, and I’ll keep on fighting.”
“That’s bound to be really inconvenient,” Tempest quietly protested, but no one really had a direct objection to that.
And all of a sudden it hit Twilight. The answer was obvious.
“Fluttershy,” she said. Twilight was trembling, unsure if it would actually work or not. “I have an idea. Come with me.”
Fluttershy hesitated, then planted one kiss on Noble’s forehead and followed Twilight out of the tank and some distance afar off.
The others took the chance to get out of the terrible iron beast, but into the ashen wastes. The sheer scope of the grey destruction and unnerving silence was enough to make most of them swallow.
“What do you see?” Tempest asked a hovering Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow took a bit to respond. “Death.” She landed, and one of her hooves was trembling. “A wasteland of ashes.”
“You know what I see?” Tempest responded. “Victory. This is what we all wanted, right?”
“I didn’t want…” Rainbow shook her head. “I just don’t want war, is all.”
“War never changes,” Tempest whispered in agreement. “The winner is the ruler of a barren land.”
Twilight and Fluttershy were coming back. There was a desperate feel around Fluttershy, who was carrying two large rocks on her back.
“...Whaaaat are you doing?” Rainbow asked in confusion.
“There’s a chance to save him!” Fluttershy exclaimed, making her way back into the tank and next to Noble Blade’s stretcher. “And Firestorm and Starlight and… everypony else!”
She heaved the boulder onto the stretcher, Twilight overseeing it. The other girls watched curiously.
Fluttershy, stress written on her dirtied face, pressed the boulder into the bloody stumps of his legs and, trembling, whispered to the rock to obey her command.
After a few tense moments, the rock recognized Noble Blade’s unique genetic structure and matched it, and it morphed and shifted into the form of a brand-new back leg attached to his body. The color was a little paler blue than normal, but that was just because the blood in the rest of his body hadn’t gone into it yet.
Fluttershy gasped, a smile gracing her face, and quickly repeated the procedure with another similar boulder, shaking with excitement. Freedom Fighter, holding his hoof, held a gleam in his eye of joy. Noble Blade couldn’t take his eyes off the procedure as it happened a second time with the other leg.
When it was all done, Fluttershy held one of his front hooves and helped him sit up better. “How do you feel?” she asked, all business but full of compassion.
Noble awkwardly moved his new legs in circles. He concentrated, but only a slight bend came to his knee. “I feel heavy,” he admitted. “Like there’s something weighing on me. Something extra that shouldn’t be there."
“Yeah, those are called legs,” Pinkie observed. “We all got ‘em.”
"Well, you go without them for a few hours and see if it does you any good," Noble responded.
“Hey, um, I was wondering if you could…” Firestorm asked, pointing delicately at the shrapnel wound in his gut and hissing.
So she did with a pebble. Then she tended to the gash in Rarity’s head and the clipped ear of Starlight. There was little she could do to solve exhaustion, but Starlight insisted on getting up and moving around a bit anyway.
As Fluttershy turned to Applejack to heal her next with a clump of mud, Twilight accompanied her.
"Thanks for all you've done today, Applejack," Twilight said when she reached her. "I know you must have doubts about following me. Especially considering the incident with Appleoosa. But it means the world to me to see you by my side."
Applejack just shrugged and winced as the mud in the wounds bit into her skin. "Ah thought Ah told ya. Ah'm with ya til the end. Ain't no monster or tank gonna change any o' that."
"You can say that again," Twilight complimented her. "You took control of the tank all by yourself!"
“Speakin’ o’ which…” Applejack started.
“Was there a problem?”
“See, Ah couldn’t use ma Element’s power to take th’ tank. Ah had to use my own strength. It was like my magic jus’... cut off.”
It reminded Twilight of a similar feeling. What on Equus…
Oh.
“It was another Dark Stone,” Twilight whispered. “From Chrysalis’ throne! The Noxxa liked to use them. It nullified your magic!”
But if that was the case, how were they able to use magic now?!
“Oh, is that what that was?” Spike asked.
“What what was?”
“When Applejack picked me and Firestorm up in the tank, I saw a shard of crystal in a glass case in here,” Spike told her. “You know, the size of my fingernail? I ate it. It tasted like licorice.”
Applejack couldn’t help but smile. “You… are a genius, Spike.”
“Thanks, I guess,” Spike sheepishly agreed.
"I helped a little," Rainbow grumbled.
"You all did phenomenal," Twilight assured the others. "With our combined strength, I believe there's nothing we can't do, no battle we can't win, and no enemy we can't destroy."
"Uh, about that, Twi?" Applejack tapped Twilight on the shoulder and pointed. “Ah think we missed a spot.”
One Nox had covered himself in a mound of ash full of debris to hide himself, and had emerged from it undetected and was running at a breakneck pace from the field.
As the Nox ran off, Starlight ignited her magic and enveloped him in a light green aura. Struggling and roaring, he was floated over to the group by a careful Starlight, who settled him down on the ashen ground and stepped alone to face him.
Their eyes met. Starlight felt some sort of primal rage in the sole survivor that matched what she had felt before from Twilight. It only made what was to follow harder to say.
"I know you," Starlight murmured.
The Nox spat sickly yellow saliva at the ground. "You know nothing, little pony."
"You were my brother," she responded, solemn and serious. "I don't know your name, but long ago, you and I were brother and sister, and sons and daughters of Faust and Solaris. Perhaps you and I were close friends in the premortal life. Perhaps you broke my heart by defecting to Solaris. Perhaps you thought I was a traitor for sticking with Faust."
The Nox looked shocked at first, then enraged. "Do not speak her name!"
"I know you don't want me to," she whispered. "You've been manipulated. You think that you were unfairly wronged when Faust cast you out of heaven, and you've hated us for the lives you never got to have."
"Shut up!" he bellowed, twisting and squirming in Starlight's magic aura. He lunged at her, but couldn't move, and just ended up snarling and drooling like a rabid animal.
"If you were offered a second chance to choose Faust… would you take it?"
The Nox stopped. He gave Starlight a look of incredulity. "But that would mean abandoning Solaris!"
"Yes," she said. "It would."
"I…" He paused. "I… can't. I can't! Solaris is my God! My father! I won't abandon him!"
"Is that because you don't trust yourself enough to make the right choices? So you would prefer to have someone else make them for you?"
The Nox gaped at her. Then he closed his mouth and made little whimpering noises.
"Our choice is the greatest gift we've been given. I learned that lesson for myself long ago when I tried to eliminate choice from other ponies’ lives. It's that power of choice that led to spare you. I… don't know what happens to Noxxa when they die. Perhaps they just get reincarnated in Tartarus to begin a terrible cycle all over again. I don't want to send anyone there, but I'll do it if I have to. Before, I wanted to go along with Twilight and destroy your entire race, but looking back, I… I at least understand you… brother."
He squirmed once more. "Don't do that!" he suddenly exclaimed. "I'm not your filthy blood brother! Our ash is miles purer than any sludge in your veins! Hrrah!"
"You chose to give up the right to your choices long ago. But I will give you one more now. Tell me, Nox," Starlight said. "What would you like your fate to be?"
He just groaned and slashed at thin air with his claws. He flailed and screeched obscenities at the sky against her, against Faust, against the universe.
Pity, not resentment, sent the magic bolt into his chest. He was blown into ashes abruptly, dispersing in the air until nothing existed.
"Ah… never thought of it that way, " Applejack remarked, sitting on her rump. "This whole war we're in… ain't nothin' more'n an elaborate family dispute."
"A really bloody dispute," Spike added in with a shudder.
"Now I really feel sorry for killing them," Fluttershy whispered. "I wouldn't want to kill my own brother."
"They brought fire and war to us," Firestorm murmured darkly. "And they'll get fire and war back."
"We only fight for the defense of our lands and people," Rarity agreed. "I find it no sin to destroy our enemies."
"But understanding is the first step to victory," Pinkie Pie said forlornly. "And understanding this is really sad for me. Everything we do just drives more and more fun out of the world!"
“Which is why this all must end, and now,” Tempest finished. “Come on and get into the tank. Let’s go.”
They did, except for Twilight, who lingered behind by Starlight as the ponies loaded in. Starlight was able to see a strange look in her eyes.
“Why did you even bother?” Twilight muttered. “He would have never converted.”
Starlight put a hoof on Twilight’s back. “I’m the Element of Redemption, Twilight. Ponies make mistakes, and mistakes aren’t what defines us. Not getting back up does, though. I just… wanted to see. None of us should be too quick to deliver final judgement.”
Twilight nodded, unable to look Starlight in the eyes. “I know. I know.”
“You were the one that taught me all that,” Starlight reaffirmed. “I know it can be hard to remember, though. Jerks can cloud your judgement and quicken your temper.”
“No, you’re right,” Twilight was quick to say. “I should have known better than to forget what I taught you. A student and teacher should be symbiotic, but...” Twilight looked horrified. “What’s become of me? All the things I’ve taught and learned, they’re gone. Out the window. I’m a terrible excuse for a teacher.”
“No! No, Twilight. Don’t say that!”
“I’ll say it anyway,” Twilight reiterated, tears pooling in the corner of her eyes. “I lost who I am because of the Noxxa. I’ve changed for the worse, and I hate them for it, but I also know I shouldn’t hate at all. I feel divided, stuck with hooves in both camps. You’re leagues above me, Starlight! Throughout all the trials so far, you have stood strong to resist the urge to destroy, not me. You fight, but it doesn’t define you! But I…? The circumstances we’re in are no excuse for me to let go of my ideals and lose myself in fire and shadow. Every time we fight, I slip into darkness. I fall into cruelty. You are what ponykind should aspire to be, but I’m… just what ponykind ends up becoming.”
“You’ve realized that now, though, which means you’re not truly like that! Take my word for it, Twilight. You are a great teacher. Not just from your successes, but from your failures as well. Each one has prepared me for when I’ll get my own Element.”
“You… mean it?” Twilight whispered.
“More than anything,” Starlight said emphatically. “If I was given the chance to lead, I’d mess it up. I'm not ready for that yet. You’re the one that needs to lead us. I’ll follow you into the fiery jaws of Tartarus, but you must be the one to guide me. We can both find our ways together!”
“But how can I be a good leader?” Twilight asked despondently. “I’ve failed us time and time again.”
“And you led us even further,” Starlight reaffirmed. “Remember what I said. Remember what you taught me. It doesn’t matter how many times you fall…”
“...only if you get back up again,” Twilight finished. She blinked back her tears and hugged Starlight so intensely she thought her ribs would crack. “Thank you, Starlight. What… would I do without you?”
“I could ask the same thing,” Starlight whispered in her ear. “I’ll help you every step of the way. We all will. You have Spike, Freedom Fighter, Tempest. And me.”
Twilight nodded and pulled her close, tearing up once more. "How many… tears do I need… to wipe away these ash stains on me?"
"Don't use your own," Starlight whispered. "I'll shed a tear for you."
"No," she replied, cracking. "No, don't do that. Not for me."
"Shh," Starlight hushed. "All you can do now is accept this. You've done what you can for now."
"No," Twilight said, a little stronger than usual. "No. I'm never done. I'll always keep fighting, because how many more need to die before this is all done? It's… horrifying to think about, my friends dying. But I need to kill in order to save lives. I just… wish I had never gotten involved in this. They've hollowed me into a husk of who I was."
"It's so hard to figure it out," Starlight admitted, holding her face steady. "And it's okay to be afraid when facing Tartarus itself. We are waging war against evil itself. The Noxxa are a tragic race, but it's not them we hate. It's the God who corrupted them."
"I don't… know what to think anymore…"
"That's okay too," Starlight affirmed. "Now just act, and do it on faith and hope."
Twilight couldn't respond to that. She just buried her face in Starlight's shoulder.
Scorpan was at a loss for words, and so were the pegasi carrying him high in the air.
Apparently somepony else had done the job for him.