The waves of Las Pegasus have never splashed so loud against the shores, as if they knew a war was around the corner. Water splashed against the surfaces of the frontline, outfitted with rings of defenses aiming at the surface. Hundreds of soldiers from Psera, The Dragon Lands, and Equestria dotted the sands, watching the seas. Aerial Guards screamed by overhead, patrolling the air, and U-Boats pierced the seas. If Queen Arcadia was out there, all of their bases were covered.
No one talked, no one spoke. A radio was setup by the Pserateps, allowing them to hear the updates the Aqua Guard had of the sea. So far, an event had yet to occur.
Scootaloo began to wonder if Queen Arcadia would even show up. Of course, her not showing up would be very welcomed. Then they wouldn't be standing here at attention watching the waves for a sign of her. Unfortunately, life doesn't work that way. She was out there, she was coming. Regular storm clouds were forming in the distance and inching closer every minute. Those weren't normal.
She swallowed hard, but dared not look away. Other soldiers may be making idle conversation, but not her team. Not Silent Sound. Trained to be focused, they were ready for battle.
Miles away, in the silenced town of Ponyville, Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer raced against time hooking up the shield. Technicians compared notes, wrote down information, settled discoveries, and prepared for the final test.
A bright flash in the room and Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and all the leaders of IHT were present. Sunset whirled around from the contraption before them all.
"Princesses!" Sunset shrieked. Then placed a hoof over her heart. "Please, no teleporting."
Oh yeah. Maybe it's for the best. Celestia nodded and asked, "Is it ready?"
Sunset turned around. "Starlight!"
Starlight teleported next to Sunset, effectively shocking her out of her labcoat. "Everypony! Stop teleporting!"
"Sorry." Starlight lifted a clipboard and explained. "We need to charge up the battery cell before we fire off the shield. We're in that process now. Once complete, we'll fire the beam and release the shield."
Admiral Star asked, "How long will that take?"
Sunset pointed to one of the labcoats in the back. "How much time?!"
She replied, "Starting now, ten minutes until we're full."
They had ten minutes. Would darkness fall across the land sooner?
The majesty of the sea was a picture. The morning sun would greet the surface with a kiss each morning before revealing itself. A dawn before the light.
On those waves sat Aquatas, watching Celestia's sun rise into the sky. Hopefully they'd be able to see it again one day. They scanned the waves, walked the Aquatas, checked their weaponry, stayed in touch with the Department of Defense back in Psera.
Their U-Boats patrolled the world underneath, checking every cliff, rock, and movement. A Pseratep watching the radar systems kept their eyes locked on the screen and a straw in their mouth, drinking what was left of their dizzy beverage. Nothing yet, but that twirling needle sure was tantalizing.
Beep. His focus on the needle was drawn to a dot that disappeared as fast as it came. He stopped slurping and watched it closely. Beep. There it was again. The straw was popped out of his mouth.
"Captain!" He shouted. A Pseratep quickly approached. He pointed to the dot. "Closing fast, two hundred meters out!"
"Stars above," the captain said. They watched the dot disappear before it came back with a few friends. From one to five. "Sound the alarm! Send out the message! Brace for impact!"
Another dot returned. But this one much closer than the rest. Six of them with one right on their hull. Immediately, all systems went dark. They were plunged into blackness.
Scootaloo watched the waves with increased tiredness. Ugh, as beautiful as this was, she was tired. Scootaloo sat down and set her weapon by her side. Man, how could they hold these things with their hooves? It kept slipping and sliding out of hers.
Mixed Candies joined her on the lookout and sighed. "Well this is boring," she said. She turned to Scootaloo. "Think she'll show up?"
"I don't know or suspect anything," was her answer. "If she does, she does. If she doesn't, at least we're ready. Do you know how to hold these?"
"Oh yeah, here." She lifted her weapon and demonstrated how to hold it. "The Pserateps depend mostly on their wings for weaponry. So we have to be a little more creative. I hold mine like this and—"
They were interrupted when the beauty of the waves exploded. With a large bang, an entire U-Boat was blasted from the waves and into a nearby Aquata. It tilted and nearly fell on its side, spraying water into the air and blessing the serenity with its distress.
"We're under attack!!"
"Weapons up, weapons up!!"
Time for action. Scootaloo bounced to her hooves and immediately ran to a control box nearby. She grabbed the handle and pulled down. Arcadia Nova was here.
An alarm slowly grew in pitch, freezing the lives and souls of all creatures on the land. It could be heard in Las Pegasus, in Ponyville, yanking attention away from the shield to her arrival. In canterlot, plunging Flurry Heart down into fear and the soldiers into action. In Manhattan, where all ponies were ushered indoors.
"She's here," Celestia whispered. She turned back to Sunset Shimmer. "Once it's ready, fire that shield!"
She didn't wait for a reply, she teleported them back to the castle and behind the gate. Pserateps were flying towards the western coastline for a fight.
They burst into the castle and Luna shouted, "What happened?"
A soldier monitoring the situation saluted and answered, "A U-Boat was lifted from the waves and thrown into an Aquata."
That was her. She's entered through the waves.
They burst into the throne room, turned into a makeshift command station and outfitted with displays, controls, wires, generators, and military.
"Have we spotted her?" Neon Lightning asked.
"No, ma'am! Working on it now!"
"Five projectiles speeding towards the front line of Aquatas! Awaiting identification!"
"Aerial Patrol Alpha has an eye on the sea! Patching them through!"
Celestia asked, "Put it on the main screen."
A second later and they had an overhead shot of ground zero. They could see the toppled U-Boat and the damaged Aquata that was knocked out of line. They could see Las Pegasus. But what they could see most of all were five glowing projectiles soaring through the waves for the front line. They were as big as Aquatas, if not bigger.
Cadance and Shining Armor joined them, with the latter asking, "What are those?"
"I don't know," Admiral Shooting Star answered. "They look like Marrials. Or at least in design."
"No way," General Mack Land denied. "They're too big, and they're glowing. Has to be something else."
"Well they're clearly magical in nature," Luna commented. "Maybe we can distort them."
"Maybe." Admiral Shooting Star ordered, "All Aquatas fire kingslies on approaching projectiles."
"Fire kingslies!"
At sea, on the frontlines, Pserateps scrambled to their positions. Arming cannons, picking up binoculars, and watching the waves.
"Firing kingslies!!" Pods atop the decks expelled torpedo-like objects over the edge of the Aquatas that fell into the water. Their engines kicked up, propelling them into the distance towards the approaching threat.
They watched and waited. They were close. And....
Upon impact, a bright flash ignited. A bang so loud that the frontline could feel it in their hearts. Very briefly, but noticeable enough, the feed for the sea dropped before picking back up.
"It's designed to knock out your communications and Aquatas at the same time," Cadance figured. "Any sign of Arcadia?"
"None yet, ma'am!"
She was attacking in the shadows. Slowly making her way into the light. Celestia had a feeling that her appearance, as usual, would come with a very big bang.
It took hours. Countless efforts that lead up to this point. But the statue was filling. Dawn could see how it glowed when the shadow of a passing cloud draped over it. Albeit slowly, finally. It was close. But first, Shaoloh had to take a break.
After their one hundredth push of magic into the structure, she collapsed and took huge lungful s of breath.
"I . . . am tired," she said breathlessly.
Dawn wasn't even close to that point. another reminder that she was a living form of magic. But she stopped and let Shaoloh catch her breath. Going straight for the goal so soon was too dangerous for her. No matter how much she wanted to dive right in. She dropped onto her flank allowed First Light to take over. She hasn't come up to the surface for quite some time.
"Your magic is very familiar," she said.
Through her intakes, Shaoloh asked, "What . . . are you . . . talking about?"
"I can feel it." First Light rose to her hooves and slowly approached Shaoloh until she was right upon it. "I've felt it before. We've felt it before."
Shaoloh growled at her. "Don't get too close, Princess. You might scratch a nail."
First Light backed off, but that magical signature refused to leave her mind. She's felt it somewhere before. Like . . . it was hard to describe. As if in another life, she floated through time and space and came across that same energy. Narmeelah's magic. It was out there somewhere.
After a good second of resting, Shaoloh rose back to her hooves and stared at First Light. "Oh. You're still there."
"Were you expecting someone else?"
"Yeah. Your sister. Where is she?"
"Giving me my time in the body." She raised her hoof in Shaoloh's face, stopping her before she could start. "Save your energy, you just lost all of it. Let's continue."
First Light faced the statue and waited for Shaoloh to face it. But she was staring off into the distance, facing the hills. How ominous.
"Shaoloh?" First Light asked. "You okay?"
"...you don't feel that?"
"Feel what?"
"That power. Energy." She turned to First Light with genuine fear in her eyes. "Magic. I've never felt anything like that before."
Dawn took back over and closed her eyes to focus. She could feel it too. It was thick, like mud she couldn't get out of no matter how much she fought against the waves. It drenched her coat and leaked into her very being.
"It's mother," Dawn answered. "She's using her magic. Something's going on out there. We have to hurry." Dawn quickly placed her horn back upon the base of the statue, joined by Shaoloh's hooves. "Push!"
They were closing in fast, thirty seconds and counting. Scootaloo could see them, the streaks of violet closing in on their environment. The beach was in a frenzy. Weapons were being prepared, soldiers were taking shelter wherever they could find it. Was this what war looked like? Finding cover and attacking only when the target was seen?
Silent Sound took shelter in a nearby storefront, watching the beach through the windows with a handful of other Pserateps. They would report everything happening. So far, none of it sounded good.
"No sign of Arcadia Nova," they said. "Projectiles incoming."
"Buck," Scootaloo cursed. Here they were taking shelter indoors while something unknown raced towards their shores. Unfortunately, they could only await orders. What was going on up in Canterlot?
All eyes were glued on the princesses and generals, waiting for their command. There was only one thing they could do. It worked the first time. Princess Celestia pointed to the screen and ordered, "Have your Aquatas intercept those projectiles! We cannot let them reach land!"
Admiral Shooting Star quickly sent out the order. "All Aquatas, engage the projectiles! Don't let them pass!"
They began shooting at once. Kingslies were launched from their pods into the sea, speeding through the waves for a meeting with the threat. They could see it from their screens, all of them. From the soldiers watching from their own monitors biting their lips in anxiety, to the Kings, Queens, and legends that were escorted into the room. Celestia knew Odega. They all did. They had a little clue in on Crystaltite, but not enough. As for the others, she had to quickly introduce.
She raised an arm out to Psera's legends. "This is Crystaltite, Lordess of the Sea; Soymenar, Commander of the Earth; Leacrope, Commander of the Air; and you already know me. Ladies and Gents, Princess Celestia, Luna, Cadance, and Flurry Heart in a bubble."
That last comment earned her a raspberry. If she could get out of here, Flurry would gladly teach her a new one.
The princesses who could actually move freely nodded to them. Luna commented, "I am assuming they were summoned to partake in Equestria's downfall."
Leacrope gestured with her head to the floating filly glowing meters away, glaring at them. "I could say the same. Does our admirer speak?"
"Sky Duster." Sky teleported before Leacrope. "So you were this famed Arcadia's backup plan, huh? I have yet to see this mare and she's already caused this much drama."
Sky Duster teleported back to Celestia's side and scuffed her hoof against her chest. "I would very much like to meet this mare who claims to be the strongest pony to ever exist."
"It's the opposite actually," Luna corrected. "She didn't claim anything. We, all of IHT and Psera placed that label upon her."
"....oh." Sky duster glanced up to Celestia with a red tinge on her blue cheeks. "Why'd you let me look bad, Celestia? I thought we were cool." Ugh, Sky Duster at her best.
Celestia rolled her eyes and locked them back on the screen when they finally hit their targets. One violet eruption at sea rattled the oceans, followed by another and another.
"Three down! One more!" General Mack Land announced. That last kingslie was slowly making its way in. But right before it hit, in a surprising turn of events, the projectile curved around and let it past by harmlessly. "...what?"
Admiral Shooting Star turned around and pointed at a guard. "Fire two more."
At his command, two more Kingslies were fired and their trajectory was tracked. Just as before, they missed, but not because it curved. But because...
Cadance said what they were all thinking. "It just teleported."
It blinked out of their sights briefly before appearing behind the kingslie.
"Buck," Admiral Shooting Star reported. "It's going to hit. Have the front line take cover, there's no telling how big of a bang that is."
Luna curiously asked, "Can we not try again?"
"It's out of activation range. We'd be throwing dead metal at whatever that is. Do we have any clue on Arcadia's position? She must be close."
Close? Flurry peered as close as her bubble allowed her. "I think she's closer than you think."
It was getting closer. The Pserateps on the Aquatas could see it under the blue of the sea. They talked it with their eyes when it passed through their line of defense for the beaches of Las Pegasus.
"Brace for impact!!" Scootaloo heard the call and waited calmly. Heart racing, bones trembling before finally...
Boom!! A blast so violent that it blew out the glass windows of any structure nearby. Scootaloo screamed and ducked lower upon impact. Goods fell from store shelves, dust from the ceiling rained over their bodies, any lights that may have been on cut immediately due to the loss of power.
"Holy Celestia," Private Red Mass said under his breath.
A violet glow slowly began to take control of the colors of the room. Something was happening out there. Scootaloo slowly peeked over the edge of their building and saw the cause of such a spectacle. Las Pegasus was damaged once more. The beaches were in turmoil. Weapons and barriers scattered across the ground. On the edge of the beach between the ocean and the land was a massive violet fire reaching for the sky. Ponies lying on the ground slowly bounced back to their hooves, checking in on their Comm Blocks.
"Section Nine, we're okay!" They shouted. "Does anyone copy?!"
"We copy, Aerial Team Eight en route! Are there any wounded?"
"No, but our defenses have toppled! It's confirmed something's in the fire!"
Scootaloo and the rest inside the buildings ran out into the street and stared at the flames. A few citizens in hiding poked their heads out, watching the tendrils reach for the sky. The command ponies in Canterlot watched the flames cover Las Pegasus. Their sight was covered in violet. The sky darkened, covering the land in shadows.
One of the command ponies in the room announced, "There's movement reported in the flames!"
"All units, standby!" General Mack Land ordered.
Back on the beach, Pserateps, Dragons, creatures of all kinds converged on the point of movement. Weapons were drawn, shouting commenced. A firm radius of weaponry was pointed. The Aerial Guard watched from the sky. The Aquatas trained their rifles on the same location until a wall of weapons would greet whomever lied in those flames. Scootaloo bent low at the ground and raised her rifle. She took deep breaths. This was what she signed up for. This was what she trained for. This was what all of that has come to.
Her and hundreds more facing off against the god of magic. Who would come out on top?
All eyes were on the location of movement. No one spoke, none dared move.
All inside of the throne room kept their eyes peeled on the screen. Watching. Waiting.
There. A violet hoof slowly took their first steps out of the fire. Followed shortly by a sharp horn illuminated with magic upon the head of Twilight "Arcadia Nova" Sparkle. Her helmet and armor was on, but at this point, they all knew her shape. They didn't need to see her face. She walked out of the flames and stood in the sight of all of their weapons.
"So . . . that's her," Tritanium commented in his deep voice. He crossed his thick arms and huffed out hot air. "She doesn't seem all that."
Arcadia glanced between them, waiting for them to attack. Well, since they wouldn't...
"Fire away," General Mack Land ordered.
The first shots came from the air before they were followed shortly by those on the ground. The battle has begun.
Arcadia teleported into the air right when the first shot was sent. She appeared next to a unit and flapped her large wings, glowing with energy. With a rush of magic, they were blown from the air and into the buildings of las pegasus before teleporting away again.
Tubes of sand burst from the ground and whipped across the beach. Scootaloo dropped to her stomach and covered her head when a good third of their front was thrown from their spots. They were slammed into walls, thrown into buildings whilst crying out in pain.
The reports flooded in.
"We need aerial assistance!"
"Aquata One-Zero-Six, you copy?! We need assistance!"
The Princesses weren't the only ones who heard their call. Queen Arcadia turned around to the ocean and fired a single bolt from the tip of her horn. A beam, smaller than anything speared into the front of an Aquata, exploding and engulfing its body in flames.
"Holy Narmeelah!! Aquata One-Zero-Six is down, One-Zero-Six is down!! We're evacuating!"
The room watched in disbelief as One-Zero-Six was engulfed before another shot was fired. Another Aqauta blew.
"Two-Four-Nine's going down! We're evacuating!"
Buck, they were getting wiped out up there! General Mack Land hopped on a Comm Block and shouted, "Alpha Squad, provide aerial assistance!"
"Approaching the scene now, sir!"
Princess Celestia asked, "Do you have anymore battleships at sea?"
General Neon Lightning nodded. "Yes. Aquata Eighty-Seven is armed and ready." She turned to the commanders behind her. "Have Aquata Eighty-Seven lock on Queen Arcadia! But don't Engage!"
Miles away from the firefight impacting the beaches of Equestria sat Aquata Eighty-Seven, watching the events unfold through powerful telescopes and display screens. Never once had this Aquata been outfitted with weaponry during its life in service. Yet, here it stood with twelve pods of kingslies and marrials pointed at Equestria's border; Pserateps waiting for the signal to provide backup.
The order was sent and Queen Arcadia was in their crosshairs. Tracking her every movement. The pods clicked and whirred, preparing for launch.
The commander back at the castle announced, "Target locked, ready to fire!"
"How's Alpha Squad looking?"
Shot after shot was sent after the strongest Alicorn-Pseratep to ever exist. Yet, she never went down. Bullets bounced off her shield and landed harmlessly in the sand before she would attack with her own. Magic as strong as bombs would propel from her horn, slamming into defenses and buildings, erupting them into fireballs.
"Fall back, fall back!" They would shout over the radio. Some never did and continued to fight until Arcadia's magic would hit where they would be. Scootaloo saw it all. She saw them get blown back screaming in pain. Saw the smoke reach for the sky and cloud what was once blue, inhaling into her lungs the essence of war. Hundreds of their soldiers falling to the God of Magic. Any Aerial team that flew over were swiftly blown from the sky and crashing into motionless heaps at her hooves.
After ducking into cover with her squad, Scootaloo shouted over the gunfire and explosion, "We need the dragons! Where are they!"
A Pseratep that slid in next to her pointed behind the fence. "Over there!"
The dragons barely stood a chance. For while they were fighting, the dragons have already fallen to her magic by turning to stone. All of them frozen.
"Buck," Corporal Scootaloo cursed through her teeth. They were losing and the battle's barely begun.
"We still have a few moves left!" Her Pseratep friend shouted over the screams, gunfire and explosions. "Alpha Squad's going to do a fly-over, the Front Lawn is going to let her have it from afar, and we still have that shield!"
Right, the shield. Scootaloo peeked over her cover and saw Arcadia withdraw her sword. Holy buck, she could see her own reflection of fear upon its blade. She wouldn't be getting too close anytime soon.
Corporal Dimen hit Scootaloo's shoulder and pointed to the sky. "Here comes Alpha Squad!"
A aerial team consisting of ten Pserateps were angling down on Queen Arcadia's position. In a perfect formation, whatever they had in store would certainly hit.
If only Queen Arcadia hadn't spotted them first.
She could feel them in her field of magic. Coming in closer and closer. An honorable attempt, but still not enough. At the glowing of her hooves, Queen Arcadia jumped back into the ocean and danced with the waves. A tube of water was pulled and snaked around her body before she threw It at Alpha Squad.
They were blown from the sky as fast as they came and angled towards the ground. Coughing and choking up water, their leader weakly reported in.
"Alpha . . . Alpha Squad . . . down." Cold. So cold. Too tired to stand. A large shadow draped over their forms, trapping them under the gaze of their rogue goddess. They knew what was coming. Why waste time?
Arcadia lifted her hoof, glowing with arcane energy and threw forth a tube of water into their bodies. Immediately, ice took over their forms, turning them into motionless statues she carelessly walked past.
"Holy stars," Cadance whispered. "Where is that shield?"
Celestia quickly teleported back to the fallen castle of friendship, into the chaos inside. The guards moved their protections to outside, for Arcadia Nova could arrive at any moment. Scientists were rushing back and forth performing last minute check-ups on their latest form of protection, orchestrated by Sunset Shimmer. Rushing with newfound energy, Celestia shouted, "Sunset!"
Sunset ran over to greet her with a clipboard in hoof. "Three minutes!" She reported. "The cell's almost at full capacity!"
Did they even have that much time? Based off what they saw on the screens, Arcadia was eating through their defense like a hot knife through butter. If they kept this up, she would be too far in for the shield to protect them from her or her magic.
Celestia teleported back to Canterlot for an update on the frontline. So far, no good. Arcadia had yet to suffer even a single hit. Yet, here they were falling to her like dead trees in a tornado. Didn't Psera have backup out there in the Western Seas? The moment Celestia turned to Psera's generals for confirmation, the command was given.
Admiral Shooting Star looked over his back. "Have Aquata Eighty-Seven engage on the target. Prepare for heavy fire."