//------------------------------// // Chapter 47 - Battle For Ponyville Pt:7 // Story: Ark: Friendship is Survival // by Pomp-Neigh //------------------------------// The firing of Tek Rifles sounds off both on land and in the air, followed by spherical-shaped, light-blue energy projectiles. These attacks collide against the monstrous forms of the infected, their groans and roars emphasizing their defiance and savagery. The large forms of Stryders stomp all across Ponyville’s territory while being accompanied by several Defence Units, Attack Drones - which soared through the skies like a highly advanced wasp, and terrestrial entities of Equus.   Flyers such as dragons, pegasi, changelings, griffons, and those gifted with flight fought alongside Attack Drones in the skies as aerial combat ensued. Together, they raged against their shared foes of the infection. Limestone Pie jumped and leaped from rooftop to rooftop, firing her Tek Rifle at the infected below while being sure not to fall prey to them herself. “Yeah!” The Rock Farm mare exclaims. “That’s for my family, you freaks!” [SKREAAAAW!] The abominable roar of an infected dragon makes itself known as the creature is swooping down upon the mare, its claws ready to tear away at her flesh. Limestone’s gaze shifted towards the flyer, but her body couldn’t move in time due to the dragon’s sudden actions. Limestone grits her teeth with narrowed eyes, expecting the claws of the infected dragon to carve into her form. But another draconic entity made entirely of metal intercepts the dragon, biting into the entity and holding them within its metallic maw as it carries them off. Limestone’s eyes widen in wonder, and her muzzle falls agape as Starlight Glimmer, mounted upon the back of her Voidwyrm, meets the Rock Mare’s gaze and nods before flying away with her behemoth. “Oh, come on!” Limestone roars out after recovering from her stupor. “I want one of those!” ………. In the air, Derpy Hooves pulls back on the energy-comprised string of her futuristic bow before an ‘arrow’ made of the same energy is formed. Because of this, there was no need for a quiver as the ammunition manifested itself out of thin air—the advanced technological workings of humanity’s wonders. The pegasus aims, her allies flying past her with melee weaponry, such as members of the Wonderbolts, Flash Magnus of the Pillars, and even Rainbow Dash’s father: Bow Hothoof.  Derpy lets loose the arrow, which soars through the air with the wind building up around it before colliding and exploding with a gathering of infected flyers. Despite the appearance of her eyes, she had quite the marksmanship. The churned forms of the infected fall to the earth afterward, but the mail mare spots another opponent: a Noglin-controlled hippogriff, which rushes towards her. The pegasus narrows her eyes. “I see you, weird toad thingy!” The lights on her bow suddenly turn green, as does the weapon’s string, before she pulls back on the string with her left forehoof and produces a green variation of the former ammunition.     The controlled hippogriff careens toward her with flesh rendering claws at the ready, the attached Noglin on its back bearing a condescending smirk. But then, shockingly, Derpy becomes stunned by what unfolds before her - as do her allies who witness this from nearby: An infected griffon suddenly intercepts the Noglin-controlled hippogriff. In one swift motion, the griffon bites onto the Noglin and brutishly tears the entity right off of the hippogriff, said Noglin crying out with a screech before falling silent with its now torn in half form. The other half is swallowed whole by the corrupted griffon, and the hippogriff’s deceased form falls to the earth. However, Derpy wasn’t the only one to witness this phenomenon as, throughout all of Ponyville, everyone bore witness to a new war taking place. Noglins were now being killed off by the infected left and right, and some of the little critters even tried to flee altogether, only for the infected to intercept them and finish them off. “Wh-why are they fighting?” Derpy inquires shockingly while slowly lowering her bow. “I thought those toad things and the infected were- AUGH!” The pegasus suddenly cries out due to an infected changeling ramming into her form, which causes her to drop her bow.  The blackened changeling, some of their chitin having fallen off with some exposed innards and patches of lavender ‘radiation,’ wraps their forelimbs around Derpy before forcing her down to the earth, which she tries to resist. But despite her best efforts, the mail mare suddenly crashes through the rooftop of Ponyville’s now corrupted Day Spa.  ………. Derpy is then forced harshly against the Spa’s foundation by the changeling, and the duo is now located near several massage beddings and a large pool of moldy water being held within a wooden tub. But with gritted teeth and quick thinking, the grey pegasus bucks the changeling off of her before it tries to clamp its jaws onto the downed pegasus, sending the infected equine soaring and crashing into another set of massage beds. The adrenaline of that moment wears off, and a painful cry leaves Derpy’s muzzle, “M-my wing!” She shouts as her now cracked appendage, her right wing, pulsates with jolting torment.  Her Tek Armor was sadly unable to protect her limb from harm completely. And although her equipment would indeed allow her to defend herself properly, she was simply in too much pain to form a coherent thought as she grunted with gritted teeth and closed eyes. Warning. Warning.  Her suit cautions with a mechanized adjustment of Lyra Heartstring’s voice.  Severe injury sustained. Attention: Infected entity inbound. Resistance is highly advised. The infected changeling roars out as it bursts out of the rubble of bedding and leaps into the air with its fangs and dangling tongue at the ready. Derpy, only able to look upward with a single eye, could only watch helplessly as the zombie-like entity nearly sank its teeth into her. “Leave her be!” A male’s voice exclaims, followed by the sounds of multiple energized gunfire, which hurls the changeling’s hole-filled form into the tub of moldy water.  “You will not take her away from me, abomination.” Derpy shifts her gaze towards the source of the voice and approaching armored hooves that slammed against the Spa floor. And soon enough, a white unicorn stallion with a golden mane and tail donned in Tek Armor comes into her sight. The stallion’s face is currently hidden behind his Tek Helmet’s blanket of hexagons, but the pegasus knows who it is as she mutters with widened eyes: “B… Blueblood…” “I’m here, Derpy,” Blueblood responds. The blanket of hexagons recedes and reveals his features as he offers his left forehoof. “Please, take my hoof.” The pegasus obliges, extending a forelimb towards him. But another surge of pain reminds her of her condition as she grits her teeth and winces. “You’re hurt,” Blueblood states with concern. “Let me see your-” “Dinky!” Derpy suddenly roars out. “Is Dinky ok?!” “She’s fine,” Blueblood responds with a smile. “She arrived via a teleportation spell, and I’ve seen to her well being personally. She’s currently in Dr. Whooves’ adequate care. Now, please, let’s get you off this simply grotesque floor.”  Derpy lets loose a sigh of relief as she’s gently aided onto her hooves with Blueblood’s support, the stallion making doubly sure as not to bother her damaged wing. The unicorn leans into the wing to get a better assessment of the damage, but Derpy surprises the white stallion as she lunges forward and locks lips with him, causing his eyes to widen for a moment before he melts into the gesture. After a brief moment, Derpy departs her lips before she buries her face into the base of Blueblood’s neck. “Thank you,” She said. “For coming to help Ponyville.” “Truth be told, I didn’t come to help this distasteful- er, I mean, Ponyville,” He responds, resting his head on her own. “I came for you.” The pegasus parts upon hearing those words, looking into Blueblood’s eyes with a narrowed expression, “Bluey,” She scolds. “Ponyville is my home. Be nice.” The unicorn’s expression becomes nervous, “M-my apologies, beloved. It’s, uh, old habits - in a sense. But…” His eyes travel downward, and a chuckle is let loose. “It’s… a far more suitable place for Dinky to grow up in. You’ve raised her well, my love,” He sighs, “Whereas, I, couldn’t.”  “Don’t say that, Bluey. You might not have been able to be here personally, but that’s because you were protecting us from the other nobles. At least, the big mean ones. And let’s not forget the bits you’d send to help me raise her,” The pegasus laughs sheepishly, “I love my job, but being a mail mare doesn’t exactly pay too much. It’s decent, but not a lot.” “I suppose you make a valid point,” He responds, followed by a smirking chuckle. “My offer to be my personal maid still stands.” A moment of silence ensues as Derpy stares at him with wide eyes and reddened features. “That’s so romantic!” A familiar voice chimes in, causing the duo to slowly turn towards the source with shocked expressions where they see a certain pink alicorn sitting on her flank, her forhooves crossed in delight.    “I always knew you two were secret lovers,” Cadence continues. “‘The Prince and the commoner,’ such a great classic! Oh, sorry about that. You see, I saw Derpy get tackled by that changeling and you, Blueblood, came to aid her. So I thought I’d give you some backup. But, oh my, what a treat I’ve stumbled upon!” “Wh-how-you-” Blueblood stutters while Derpy hides her face behind her remaining unharmed wing. “I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!” He roars out as his voice travels throughout the Spa. The pink alicorn’s eyes widen, and she clears her throat. “Anyway, the situation outside has taken a strange… turn.” “Oh, don’t you dare try to segway out of this!” Blueblood responds with a pointed forehoof. “Who else knows about-!” Suddenly, the ground all around them shakes violently, and a thunderous roar bellows from outside - being slightly muffled by the walls all around them. Debris and non-secured items start to fall and shatter, and the trio tries to maintain their balance during the disturbance. Then, the commotion suddenly stops, and the three equines bore faces of confusion and concern. “What’s going on out there?!” Derpy exclaims. “I-I don’t know,” Cadence responds, her voice drenched with worry. “But we’d better go find out!” “Go on ahead,” Blueblood comments. “Derpy’s wing has been injured. Please allow me to tend to her first, and if she’s able, we’ll join you.” The alicorn nods, but a thought comes to her before she fires up her horn and floats a particular Tek Bow towards Derpy. Said bow having fallen into the Spa from the earthquake-like phenomenon. “I believe you dropped this,” The alicorn said before flapping her wings and exiting the Spa via the same hole in the ceiling that had been forged by Derpy and the infected changeling’s conflict. Cadence’s wings flap to keep her airborne and her eyes are stunned by what she sees approaching Ponyville from the direction of the Everfree Forest.   “Sweet Celestia…”  Four serpentine heads with long necks can be seen peering over the treelines of the Everfree, and those who stood on ground level could see this entity over the buildings of Ponyville, drawing ever closer with every quaking step it takes. In response, several Stryders throughout Ponyville began to aim their heads towards the encroaching behemoth. Attack Drones and Defence Units also follow suit, although others continue to fight off the corruption, while the many uninfected life forms of Equus now faced a new threat: an infected Hydra of great proportions. “Creations of man,” The heads of the hydra says in unison, their voices echoing all across the vicinity. “You belong to me.” Among the masses that began to form to combat this threat, Nightmare Moon stood on ground level with her sister, Daybreaker, floating at a small distance beside her. Their allies prepared their weapons and steeled their nerves for combat. And as Princess Cadence lands beside Nightmare Moon, the trio of alicorns fires up their horns in unison with the sounds of futuristic weaponry clicking and phasing in tandem.