//------------------------------// // Case Seventeen, Chapter Seven: The Battle of Collina Nord // Story: Ponyville Noire: Misty Streets of Equestria // by PonyJosiah13 //------------------------------// “She found that faster than I thought,” Daring commented, banking and heading for the blue flare that was hanging over the town to their left.  “Just got lucky,” Phillip grunted, holding his trilby onto his head as Daring put on speed. “Let’s get down there and--”  He paused, his ears swiveling. A sound carried by the wind made a chill run up his spine that had nothing to do with the northern cold.  Screaming.  “Faster,” Phillip urged needlessly, for Daring was already diving down like a missile.  As they approached, they could see a writhing crowd of ponies spilling out onto the streets, their eyes shining disgusting colors. They clawed at one another with violent abandon, smashing the skulls of neighbors against the ground, seizing each other’s throats, attacking one another with whatever weapon they could seize.  “Oh, shit,” Daring muttered.  The cracks of gunshots drew their attention. Cadance was standing at the head of the street, with two of Royal Guards standing at her sides. Blue-white runes glowed on the barrels of the soldiers’ submachine guns as they fired semiautomatic stun rounds into the crowd, each glowing round instantly knocking out whomever they touched. Cadance was firing crystalline arrows from her bow, nocking and firing each one nearly as fast as her Guards' shots. “Your Highness!” Daring called as they glided down. “Where’s Frostbite?”  “We lost him when he activated the Mirror!” Cadance called, firing another arrow at a mare who was charging them, spittle flying from her mouth like a rabid dog. Blue energy crackled around the mare as the arrow struck her and she fell with a grunt, her eyes closing in a deep sleep.  Flash dropped out of the sky next to them as a blue portal opened up and Shining, Twilight, Spike, and the two other Royal Guards jumped out.  “Stordire!” the two Guards cried upon landing, immediately opening fire into the crowd.  “We have to find Frostbite!” Shining called, casting a shield dome over them all. A thump sounded as a pegasus crashed into it, crumpling to the ground. "Push through, find Frostbite, and destroy the Mirror!" The others all glanced at one another. “We’re with you, Emperor,” Daring declared.  “Stay close, everypony!” Shining said, casting a hard look around at his crew. His guards, Cadance, and the detectives all nodded grimly back. Twilight was shaking slightly, her face pale, but she swallowed back bile and nodded as well. Spike rode atop her shoulders, head swiveling from side to side as he watched for threats.  “Let’s go!”  Shining began to gallop north, maintaining his shield spell around them as the others followed. The group followed him, the dome pushing through the rampaging rioters around them like a bulldozer. A few ponies charged the shield, but only bounced off harmlessly before being stunned by the Guards’ weapons.  A massive crash sounded as two struggling forms dove through a plate glass window. Blood from their multitude of cuts flowed onto the street as they struggled, biting and smashing each other with their hooves.  Two quick stunning spells from Cadance and Twilight knocked them both out, causing them to sprawl onto the ground. A moment later, they were swallowed up by the churning mass of forms around them.  A blue bolt screamed through the air and hit Shining’s shield. The Emperor stumbled and fell with a grunt, his horn sparking as the shield spell faded out.  “Shining!” Cadance cried, rushing to his side as the four Royal Guards closed rank around him, firing into the mob that was now surging towards them like a single organism out to devour them.  “I’m okay!” Shining called, sending out a wave of magic that bowled over the surrounding rioters like bowling pins, allowing Twilight to conjure magical ropes that secured them to the ground. Shining grunted and ran a hoof over his horn, which sparked and flickered. “Thaumatic scrambler,” he grimaced. “I won’t be able to form a shield spell for a few minutes.”  “Frostbite,” Cadance snarled, darting her head around in an attempt to catch a glimpse of their ambusher. The wall of a house next to them exploded outward, raining shrapnel down onto the crowd. A red yak tore out of the wreckage, bellowing as he ran into the crowd, trampling over ponies. Shining, Cadance, Twilight, Spike, and the Royal Guards all dove out of the way as the massive, bloodstained horns slashed through the air inches away from where they had stood.  As the yak raced past, an instinct took over Spike’s body. He lunged forward, grabbing the yak’s leg and digging his toes into the ground, his claws carving into the asphalt as he was dragged behind. He strained his muscles with a groan, hanging onto the leg like he was trying to stop a runaway train.  The yak grunted and stumbled, whirling around to glare at Spike. “I got him!” Spike yelled, turning to see one of the Guards, a pale yellow unicorn, pushing himself up to his hooves as he swung his weapon around.  “Tyghlfi!” the yak snarled, kicking out at Spike as he regained his footing and charged the Guard, forcing him to roll out of the way. The dragon was launched into the air with a scream, flailing through the air.  Somehow, his claws managed to seize something: the thick, curly fur of the enraged yak. Before he knew what was happening, he was riding atop a huffing, rocking vehicle, screaming and clinging on for dear life as the yak charged through the riot, bowling over ponies like they were made of cardboard.  “Spike!” Twilight cried, watching in dismay as the yak carried the dragon away.  “I got him!” Daring called, shooting off after the yak. She flew over the yak as he charged down the street. Snarling blasphemous phrases and curses, he jumped up onto the sidewalk, ramming over a lamp. The lamp fell over with a groan and crashed, sparks shooting up from the stump.  “C’mere, you!” Daring shouted, diving down. She landed atop the yak’s head, seizing him around the neck. The yak shouted and began to buck violently, trying to throw her off.  “Spike, on my back!” Daring ordered. Spike climbed up onto her shoulders, terrified half-curses stumbling from his mouth.  “Now what?!” he shouted into her ear.  “I--” Daring abruptly realized that she hadn’t really thought up a plan before pouncing on the yak.  Spike looked up and gasped. “Look out!” he shouted, pointing.  Daring looked up to see that the yak was now charging right at another house, the windows and the door smashed outwards and fire rising from the upper floors.  “Shit!” Daring and Spike shouted and did the only thing that they could: they seized the yak’s horns and tilted his head sharply to the left, trying to steer him like a runaway car.  The yak mooed furiously, but he began to bank to the left, turning away from the house and running into the grass. Daring and Spike continued to force his head to the side, struggling to control their writhing, snarling transportation. The yak’s right horn clipped a half-constructed brick wall as they guided him around in a rough arc, grunting as he stumbled over some loose bricks.  “Get off!” the yak shouted, giving them a violent buck that launched Daring and Spike from his back. The two were both sent flying right at the solid brick wall, Daring flailing in desperation, Spike screaming and hanging onto her back. In the single heartbeat before impact, Daring managed to twist around to face the wall so that she would hit first, closing her eyes and clenching every muscle, crossing her legs in front of her face. Fuckfuckfuck--!  She slammed into the wall like a wrecking ball. The breath exploded from Daring’s lungs, her vision whiting out as she crashed to the ground, Spike thumping next to her with a dazed groan. Her vision slowly returned and she saw the yak glaring at her from just over a yard away, the horrific colors swirling in his sclera. He lowered his head, blood dripping from his massive horns, and charged with a roar that seemed to shake the world, every hoofstep rattling her bones.  “Fuck!” Daring screamed, her hoof going for the .38’s shoulder holster. Too close, too fast, he was gonna hit--! A brick flew through the air, cast from a purple limb. The red stone smacked the yak center on the forehead with an impact almost as loud as a gunshot, shattering into dust. The yak stumbled, his eyes rolling, then crashed to the ground, skidding across the dirt towards them. Daring grabbed Spike and rolled aside, the behemoth passing so close to them that she felt the heat from his breath before he hit the wall and stopped.  The two lay on the ground, panting and staring at the unconscious form of their almost-killer. Daring looked down at Spike, who was staring at his talon in amazement.  “Wow,” he breathed.  “Not quite what I was gonna say, but yeah,” Daring nodded.  “Daring! Spike!”  Twilight, Flash, Shining, Cadance, Phillip, and the four Royal Guards all sprinted up, pushing through the streets to them. Twilight grabbed Spike in a hug. “Are you okay?” she asked, trembling from shock.  “We’re fine,” Daring said, allowing Phil to help her up, giving him a brief smile in response to the pale ghost of worry on his face. “That was close, tho--”  Hideous colors that had no name exploded over the street. The group immediately covered their eyes as Cadance conjured up a semi-translucent wall of azure magic that filtered out the anomalous light. Through the window of magic, she spotted a green unicorn with a snowy beard across the street, the Mirror thrust into the air over his head as it spat out its magic.  “Colonel, stop!” she shouted.  “I didn’t want to do this!” Frostbite called back and disappeared around the corner.  A roar like a jet engine taking off sounded from the crowd as the magic took hold. The mass of ponies began to surge with new violence, neighbors rushing each other, bodies being flung into walls and through doors and windows and against objects. Some of the villagers began to charge the royal entourage, forcing them all to rapidly retreat for new cover.  "Behind me!" Shining barked, conjuring up a purple shield wall. Enraged civilians started to batter the shield, which flickered and cracked. “This is insane!” Flash cried, suppressing a flinch as a huge stallion slammed into the shield, roaring like a runaway steam engine. His bellows were silenced when one of the Guards fired a stun round into his head. “Your Highness, isn’t there some spell or something you can use to shut this all down?”  “It’s too risky! I could hurt all these ponies!” Cadance replied, firing a barrage of arrows that petrified a mob that was tearing at an older mare that was curled around her wailing toddler. Cadance quickly teleported the family to a nearby rooftop out of reach of the carnage and signaled them to stay down. The silently weeping mare nodded her gratitude.  “Wait...Cadance, the Vicit Draconis!” Twilight cried, firing out a volley of magenta spheres that streaked through the air with a chorus of whistling, striking at the surrounding mob and sending many of them staggering.  “The what?” Flash asked.  “It’s too dangerous!” Cadance replied, conjuring more arrows and firing them, sweat running down her long mane and blood dripping from her hoof.  “It’s love magic!” Twilight replied. “Blended into a physical form via a hardlight construct! But if you removed the physical form and blended it with the counter to the Mirror--”  Cadance and Shining both glanced at each other. “Could that work?” Shining called, wincing as his shield spell cracked and splintered beneath the constant battering of many hooves.  “Scorso rivista!” one of the Royal Guards called, slapping his final mag into his submachine gun.  “We might not have a choice!” Cadance replied grimly, closing her eyes as energy swirled from her horn.  The blue mist coalesced another crystal arrow, this one larger than normal. Sparks and bolts of blue lightning danced across the runes carved into the shaft.  “Is that it?!” Daring shouted. “What’s one arrow going to do?!”  “A lot,” Cadance replied as she nocked the arrow into her bow, drawing in a slow breath to calm herself. She reached down into herself, calling to the power that her crown granted her: the power of her Empire, of all its citizens, all of their love and hopes and dreams and fears and hatred and anger and grief, all gathered into the Crystal Heart, a sleeping giant waiting for the command of the Crystal Empress. For the second time in her life, Empress Cadenza called to it, shivering as the well of power washed over her. Her hoof did not tremble as she pulled the bloodstained drawstring back and aimed the arrow up into the air. The heart-shaped head of the arrow began to glow with blue-white energy, waves of that same energy rushing down the length of the arrow as Cadance’s mane and tail began to flow in an unseen wind. She snapped her eyes open, her eyes glowing the same color as the arrow. Energy surged down her face like serpentine smoke and she gritted her teeth as she struggled to control the flood of power, harness it, direct it, release only the small amount she needed. “PER L'IMPERO DI CRISTALLO!” she roared, and fired the arrow. The arrow passed through the shield with a whistling.  Then it exploded in a burst of light like a blue-white sun had just crested the horizon. The sky shook with a great roar as the light formed into a shape: a massive snout full of teeth, blazing eyes, a long serpentine body, claws, and giant wings.  “Holy shit!” Daring gaped in astonishment as the dragon twisted through the air, glimmers of a rainbow dancing through the transparent scales. The conjured beast, the same one that had once destroyed King Sombra, flew over the crowd, seemingly pulling the anomalous colors from the eyes of the surrounding ponies and into its bodies. The uncorrupted ponies paused as the spell was removed, blinking in confusion as they stared at their neighbors, staring in horror at their bloodied hooves and dropping their makeshift weapons. The dragon twisted through the air in a prismatic display, the screaming and howls falling silent in its wake. Finally, when all was quiet, it slowly faded away into wisps of magic.  Cadance dropped to her knees, panting and leaning against her husband as he dropped his shield spell. “It worked,” she sighed, giving Twilight an exhausted smile. “Good thinking, Twi.”  The wailing of sirens announced the too-late arrival of the marshals. Their green vehicles, red and blue lights spinning, screeched up the road as they stopped. The marshals exited their vehicles, eyes wide and jaws dropping as they surveyed the carnage. The rioters staggered about the street like zombies, some sitting down and clutching their heads as they began to weep, some vacantly clutching injuries as they trembled.  A northern wind blew down over the village like a relieved sigh. Gray clouds began to roll over the sky, a cool rain gently falling onto the surviving ponies.  “Oh, that feels good,” Spike sighed, tilting his head up to welcome the rain. “Twilight, you and Spike stay here and help us with the wounded,” Cadance said. “The rest of you…” A grim shadow of remembered ghosts passed over her face. “Find him and stop him.”  They hustled through the alleyway where they had seen Frostbite, passing through to the other side, where wounded civilians stumbled, zombie-like, past the bodies that lay on the stone like discarded trash.  Phillip cast his eyes about and spotted something on the ground. A castfire assault rifle discarded on the sidewalk, next to a trio of bodies covered in circular burns. “That’s his weapon,” he said, pointing.  Shining lit up his horn and purple glowing hoofprints appeared next to the weapon, leading further down the road. “Let’s go,” he grunted.  “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” Frostbite muttered, tilting his head against the rain, shouldering the bags and hurrying down the street.  “Have to keep moving,” Skyline urged, flying beside him. “Have to get a car or something. Get to Cuore--”  “Shut up!” Frostbite shouted, whirling on his subordinate. “Just shut up! We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you! Ponies have almost died!”  “And where would we be if it hadn’t been for me?!” Skyline snapped back. “Blue Moon and his band of traitors would have Tirek’s Mirror by now and they’d be using it on the city. Bringing it back to the rest of Sombra’s cultists! Fossil, Moon, they’re all traitors that are in on it! You know it!”  Frostbite was silent for several moments, shaking his head as water dripped down his white mane and beard. “No, no, you’re right,” he mumbled. “But this...this is just…”  “Sir, we’ve done worse,” Skyline pressed. “We both have to carry that. But the mission is the same: keep the bad guys from getting the Mirror. And the only way we can make sure that we get them all is if we get Blue Moon--”  “Frostbite!”  Frostbite and Skyline turned and faced the stallion that was now approaching them, water dripping off his purple armor. “Stay back!” Skyline ordered, raising his weapon at the white unicorn.  Frostbite blinked. “Major Armor?” he asked, his eyes going to the prosthetic leg. “What happened to your leg?”  “I lost it in the war, Colonel,” Shining replied, his saber rattling softly as it bounced against his cuirass. “And it’s General now, remember?”  “Sir,” Skyline hissed to his companion. Frostbite squinted through the rain to see others taking up positions on the nearby rooftops: four Royal Guards and those three detectives, all of them aiming their firearms down at them.  “We don’t want anypony else to get hurt,” Shining continued, pausing a yard away from Frostbite, keeping his steady gaze fixed upon him. “But you need to put down the Mirror.”  “I can’t do that, Shining,” Frostbite scowled, raising his pistol with one hoof. With his magic, he lifted Tirek’s Mirror out of his saddlebag and hoisted it up into the air next to him, faint light circling around the mirrors. The watching sentries tensed up, weapons centering on him, but Shining’s hoof snapped up, silently ordering them to stand down.  “What is all this for, Frostbite?” Shining pressed, apparently not noticing or caring that the Neighretta M1934 was aimed directly at the center of his forehead.  “That traitor just wanted the Mirror so he and his cronies could use it,” Frostbite snarled. “We just wanted to get him to tell us who else was involved.”  “Sir, he’s probably involved in it,” Skyline hissed, keeping his weapon on Shining.  “Colonel, do you think that we would trust him if we hadn’t checked him out already?” Shining continued.  “He would if they were working together,” Skyline replied.  “How do I know I can trust you?” Frostbite replied, keeping his weapon on Shining.  “Colonel, we worked together for years,” Shining said. “When have I ever given you reason not to trust me? I’m just trying to keep more ponies from getting hurt.”  Frostbite glanced at the Mirror, then scowled at Shining. “Or maybe you just want this for yourself.”  “Did Skyline tell you that?” Shining said.  “And I’m right!” Skyline replied.  “If you have an issue with it, Shining, you can take it up with him,” Frostbite scowled, gesturing to his partner. “He’s right there.”  “No, he’s not,” Shining replied gently.  The two stallions stared at him for a beat. “Are you daft, Armor?” Frostbite grunted. “He’s right there!”  “Colonel,” Shining said slowly. “Skyline was a good stallion. He was one of the best soldiers I’ve ever known, a great friend, and he was brave right up until the end.”  “Don’t talk about him like that! He’s right there!” Frostbite pressed.  “No, Colonel,” Shining said. “Skyline has been dead for six years.”  “You son of a bitch!” Skyline shouted and fired his pistol, the gun kicking hard in his hooves as it spat out its fire and brimstone. Nothing happened. No one reacted, no wound appeared in Shining’s head; he just continued to stare at Frostbite, his eyes full of pity.  Frostbite stared back and forth between Shining and Skyline, his jaw hanging open. “No...that’s not…”  “Do you remember Persano, Colonel?” Shining whispered. “The ambush?”  An RPG screamed through the air, skimmed over the top of the embankment that they were crouched behind, and detonated in the dirt mere yards behind them. Dirt cascaded down onto the purple shield spell like rain, the pattering drowned out by the ringing in his ears.  “MEDIC! MEDIC!” Frostbite screamed, securing the tourniquet around the bloody stump of Shining’s leg. The major gritted his teeth, tears of pain leaking from his eyes, but kept the shield spell around the three of them.  Skyline stood up, puffing as he hefted the heavy machine gun, sweat running from beneath his helmet. His bellows mixed with the thunderclaps of castfire spitting from the red-hot barrel, burnt orange beams racing through the shield towards their unseen targets. Blood from his many wounds dripped into the mud.  “Hang on, son,” Frostbite said, clasping Shining’s shoulder. “Medic’s on the way. You’re gonna be fine.”  Shining swallowed and nodded. “I damn better be,” he grimaced, wincing as a barrage of bullets slammed into the shield, causing his horn to flicker. “I’ve got Cadance waiting for me.”  “Eat this, fuckers!” Skyline bellowed, his knees shaking with the effort of holding him up as his weapon continued to spit its vitriol towards their foes. The barrel was now glowing almost the same color as the beams he was firing. Sparks were shooting out from the cooling vent.  “Sergeant, cool your weapon!” Frostbite cried, but his shout was drowned out once more by the thunder of a grenade exploding outside the shield, the noise slamming into them like a physical force.  Skyline didn’t hear him, continuing to hold down the trigger. Sparks were now shooting out of the cooling vent like a firework. “Sergeant!” Shining called.  The gun exploded in a burst of orange light with an earsplitting crack, shrapnel flying everywhere as Skyline was thrown to the ground. The blue pegasus writhed on the ground, howling in agony and clutching the burns that now covered his body. The horrid scent of blackened flesh mixed with ozone crushed the stallions’ nostrils.  “Skyline!” Frostbite cried, rushing to his aide’s side. Skyline sobbed in agony, clutching his colonel’s hoof.  “Medic!” Shining called, waving. A unicorn mare, the mud over her fatigues nearly covering the red cross on her armbands and her saddlebag of medical equipment flapping in the wind, sprinted over the hills towards them.  “Don’t leave me,” Skyline whimpered, squinting up at Frostbite.  “I’m right here, son,” Frostbite assured him, squeezing the burnt hoof. He looked up just in time to see the medic skidding through the shield, panting heavily as she knelt down next to Shining Armor.  “Not me!” Shining grunted, gritting his teeth against the pain. “Help him!”  The medic turned to Skyline, then shook her head and started working on Shining’s leg.  “Medic!” Frostbite shouted, grabbing the mare in his magic and yanking him over to them. “You have to help him!”  “Sir, I can’t,” the medic replied, her blue eyes filled with pity. “I’m sorry. It’s too late.”  “No, I--!” Frostbite looked back down at Skyline and froze. The battle faded away into the background as he stared at his ward’s face, his brain refusing to process what his eyes were telling him.  Skyline was staring up at the sky, the purple light of Shining’s shield spell reflecting in his empty irides. “Skyline died bravely,” Shining continued, water running down his face. “And I know it hurt you. But he’s not there.”  Frostbite stared at the blue pegasus, who suddenly grimaced and clutched his chest, his pistol tumbling to the ground. It hit the ground without a sound. Tears began to leak from the pegasus’ suddenly desperate, pleading eyes.  “Don’t leave me again,” Skyline whimpered. “Don’t leave me. Please.”  “This has to stop, Colonel,” Shining continued. “You need help. But first, you need to put the gun and the Mirror down.”  Frostbite stared silently, his hoof slowly dropping. “Skyline,” he whispered.  As he helplessly watched, the blue pegasus closed his eyes with a whimper. Then slowly, he faded like a mirage and with a soft sob, vanished. Frostbite stood frozen in the street, sobbing as tears began to run down his face, mixing with the rain. His horn went out and Tirek’s Mirror splashed into a puddle.  Shining Armor gently picked up the Mirror with his magic and tucked it into his saddlebag. “That’s it, Colonel,” he said, slowly stepping forward and stretching his hoof out to take the gun; behind him, his Guards and the detectives all slowly lowered their own weapons. “Now just let me…” The Neighretta slashed up through the air. “General!” the Guards shouted, their submachine guns snapping up, iron sights centering on Frostbite’s head.  Fast as lightning, a blue arc cleaved through the air with a metallic shiing. A heartbeat later, Shining Armor was slowly returning his saber to his sheath as he stood in front of a sobbing Frostbite, who was holding his pistol to his head, futilely pulling the trigger, producing no result aside from a very faint clicking. The hammer of the weapon lay on the wet ground, the smoothly cut edge still faintly glowing blue.  “It’s okay, Colonel,” Shining whispered, hugging the older stallion. The gun clattered to the ground as Frostbite began to sob onto his shoulder. “It’s okay.”