Red Glare easily pulled ahead to the front of Luna's forces. The enemy unicorns had begun to lay down a barrage of spells, showering their attackers in a rain of fire, earth, water, and lightning. Ponies were slain by the volley, but the charge went on undeterred. Sand Shrine's army did not return the charge. Instead, they held their ground, patiently awaiting the collision of the two armies. Within a few seconds, they got what they were waiting for.
The two armies slammed against each other with a sickening crunch of wood, iron, and bone. Ponies here and there were trampled, skewered, beheaded, and cut in two as the two forces collided. Red Glare had zeroed in on an enemy unicorn and hurled himself upon his enemy. With his earthpony strength, he easily overpowered his foe, wrestling him to the ground. With a blow to the windpipe, the unicorn was dead. Red rolled off of his downed enemy, and scanned for another target.
The target, however, decided to come to him instead. A bright yellow, ethereal blade swept past Red's face, nearly taking his head off with a clean swipe. He ducked beneath the sword as it slashed again, then quickly rose and charged towards the blade's wielder. He quickly closed the distance between himself and this unicorn, then planted a hoof in his opponent's stomach, doubling him over. Glare then reared up, and delivered a crushing, double hoofed blow to the unicorn's spine. He heard an audible snap as his enemy fell to the sand below.
Before Red Glare could celebrate downing two enemy unicorns, he was struck across the jaw with by an attacking earthpony. Red staggered backwards, only for his assailant to whip about, then give Red a swift buck, sending him sprawling. Glare made an attempt to stand, only for his foe to dive upon his chest, pin him to the ground, and press a foreleg against his throat. Red struggled, but it was useless, all of his limbs were unable to move. He kicked his back legs furiously, but to no avail. His lungs were screaming for air, and his mouth was opened wide, trying desperately to suck in oxygen. He choked as his attacker pressed down harder on his windpipe. The edges of his vision began to blur, and his eyes fluttered as he began to lose consciousness.
Suddenly, the earthpony attacker let out an earsplitting shriek as a brilliant silver blade pierced his chest. In a split second, the sword was torn upwards by an unseen force, ripping through the ponies chest, and then through the skull. Red Glare rolled out from beneath the halved corpse, choking and spluttering as he was finally able to breathe. He looked up to see Elegance standing above him, with Sterling floating only a few feet away.
“Getting yourself killed already Red?” The unicorn said as he continued to plod forwards. An earthpony rushed towards him, head lowered and battle shout raised. Elegance swiftly whipped his blade about, severing both of his attackers legs. His enemy skidded to a halt about a foot in front of him, where he was promptly beheaded. The blood from the wound splattered against Elegance's pure white coat. He cringed at the sight. He absolutely loathed the filth and grit of war. With a simple spell, Elegance cast the crimson splotches off his coat and onto the sand below. Much better.
Elegance snapped out of his thoughts to see an enemy blade closing on him. He managed to parry the incoming assault then lashed at his assailant with Sterling. His blow struck only air, as his enemy easily dodged, retracted his sword, then retaliated with a viscous downward slash. Elegance managed to deflect it, but was knocked to the ground by the sheer force of the attack. His foe pulled his blade back, and prepared to finish what he had started. Before he could however, Red Glare rushed the attacking unicorn, slamming into his opponent's chest head first. A cacophony of cracks reached his ears as his enemies ribcage shattered. The unicorn fell to the sand, gurgling softly as he choked on his own blood.
“Getting yourself killed already Elegance?” Red taunted as his fellow commander rose and dusted himself off.
“Not another word.” The unicorn stated, casting his blade again.
Elegance and Red Glare raced back into the swirling melee of ponies, cutting their way through the center with hoof and blade. They fought as a team, perfectly in sync with one another. Together, they were nearly invincible. Red Glare bucked an enemy back, where he was instantly impaled on Sterling. The blade ripped the pony in two, then whistled through the air to slash the throat of another. An earthpony managed to dodge the whirling blade, and attempted to strike Elegance. Before he got the chance however, Red Glare pounded him into the ground, shattering his skull.
Elegance paused during a lull in the combat, and surveyed the battlefield. Sand Shrine's army was in full retreat. Luna's forces had swept them aside with minimal losses. It seemed so simple. Almost too simple. These ponies hadn't even put up a good fight, they had just stood there and been cut down like beasts to the slaughter. Something about this didn't feel right. Elegance couldn't put his hoof on it, but something was amiss here. He wanted to pursue this train of thought further, but was distracted by an enemy unicorn assaulting him with a hail of fire spells. Elegance quickly shielded himself with a bubble of magical energy, then sent Sterling on a collision course with his enemies chest. It sliced through the flesh like a hot knife through butter.
Elegance once again gazed out over the battlefield. Victory was near. Their enemy was routing. Yet somehow it all felt hollow. He sighed and rushed back into the fray. He was only a soldier. It wasn't his place to question.
*****
“You remember Negrev, don't you Luna?” The desert alicorn said, leveling his glass blade at her.
Luna shuddered. She remembered that blade well, even though she had tried for nearly a century to forget it. The last she had seen of it was during the second siege of Canterlot, when the alicorns had returned to retake their capitol from Discord and his Draconequus army. She and Sand Shrine had been tasked with retaking the outer courtyard, and they had been vastly outnumbered. The fighting was intense, but Shrine seemed to enjoy it. His voice had risen to an incomprehensible screech, and his eyes had glossed over, as though he were in some sort of sick euphoria. His blade snicker-snacked back and forth, splattering blood and gore over both the courtyard and himself. It was horrifying to watch, and every second of it had been etched into Luna's memory with remarkable clarity.
“I remember it.” Luna replied, “And thou certainly must remember my blade.”
Luna's horn glowed softly as she brought her blade into existence. In stark contrast to her opponent's blade, which was straight and narrow, hers was curved, more like a sickle than a sword. While Celestia's blade had been pure sunlight, Luna's was pure black, as dark as the sky on a moonless night. It seemed as though her blade hungered for light, sucking it in from the area around her. Yet, despite all its darkness, her sword actually gave off a soft pale white light. Just like the moon itself.
“Ah yes.” Sand Shrine sounded bored by the sight, “I remember your blade. Penumbra. Truly a work of great blade craft. Its unfortunate that you won't get the chance to use it tonight.”
In the space it took Luna to blink, Sand Shrine had crossed the distance between them, and made a thrust with his blade. Luna had barely managed to parry before her enemy struck again, aiming a solid stab to her stomach. Again, she deflected his blade, only for Shrine to push her back with a wave of telepathic force. She staggered back, ignited her horn, and fired off a bolt of lighting towards her enemy. The desert alicorn slipped past the bolt with ease, and sent a writhing tendril of send flying towards Luna to counter. She tried to dodge, but the sand followed her every move, then struck her in the chest with unparalleled force, sending her sprawling.
Luna leapt back to her hooves, instinctively blocking another thrust from Negrev. She parried again, but Shrine was quick to react, and delivered a swift punch to her stomach. Shrine stabbed again, this time at point blank range. Luna's eyes widened as the glass blade closed on her chest. Thinking quickly, she gave her wings a mighty flap, sending her both backwards and upwards, just out of range of her enemies sword.
Sand Shrine raised a hoof full of sand from the desert, then began to meld the individual grains together into glass. Within seconds, he had formed a small glass dagger. He took aim at the tip of Luna's wing, and let fly. The knife tumbled through the air end over end, then clipped Luna's wing as it shot by. The lunar alicorn let out an earsplitting scream as she fell, just before slamming into the sand and kicking up a small cloud of dust. She opened her eyes just in time to see Negrev descending upon her, and she instinctively rolled to the side. The blade embedded itself in the ground beside her, and Luna attempted to rise again, only to be clouted across the cheek, and sent skidding across the desert.
Luna rose to her hooves, and spat out a mouthful of blood. The sticky red fluid had begun to seep out from the wound on her wing, and was now dribbling down across her back. She gritted her teeth, and prepared herself as Sand Shrine slowly strode towards her. His gait seemed so cool, so calculated. It was downright disturbing how calm he was in battle. The desert alicorn aimed another stab, this time for her left eye, but Luna was ready. She blocked the incoming thrust with a simple parry, then whipped Penumbra about and delivered a swift slash to her enemies neck. The black blade easily cut through the alicorn's throat, cleaving his head clean off.
Within seconds however, Sand Shrine's face had already reformed itself. He stared back at Luna with an emotionless smile. Her stomach churned at the sight, and she lashed her blade again full force. Shrine deflected the blow with ease, then countered by ramming a pillar of hardened sand into her gut, knocking the wind out of her. Luna staggered back and tried to catch her breath, when she was suddenly caught in a whistling mass of flying dust. She choked and spluttered, squinting to see her enemy through the haze.
Sand Shrine rose up, flying higher and higher until he was free of the cloud he had created. His enemy however was trapped in the choking sandstorm, blinded and frozen for the time being. His horn ignited, and he instantly melded the miasma into a storm of flechettes, which glistened in the sunlight, casting their gleam all about the desert. Below him, Luna had managed to catch her breath, and now stared upwards into a drove of daggers. She managed to cast a shielding spell as the glass blades began to rain down on her. The lunar alicorn fell back under the volley of shards, and was struck in the foreleg with one of the blades.
Luna let out a cry of pain as the knife burrowed into her flesh. She fought the urge to tear the blade out as her foe dove on her from above, his blade primed for the kill. Luna struck back, and Penumbra and Negrev met and exchanged a series of lightning fast blows before each returned to its wielder. Luna stood there panting, dripping with a vile mixture of sweat and blood. Sand Shrine however remained cool and composed, pointing the tip of his blade into the desert sand.
“Its over now.” The desert alicorn said in his dry monotone. “You've failed Luna.”
“Lies.” Luna huffed, “So long as I draw breath, I shall do battle with thee.”
“It doesn't matter what you do Luna. The board was set, the pieces all fell into place. The game is over.” Shrine replied. “That hail of glass I hit you with wasn't just an attack. The reflection of the sun off of the individual shards was meant as a signal to my own troops. Damarescus has been outflanked, and will fall in a matter of minutes. You could have saved it, but your desire for revenge blinded you. You rushed off to avenge your sister, leaving your army and city vulnerable.”
Luna was dumbfounded. She didn't speak, only stared at the ground in shame.
“In the face of superior strategy, everypony falls. Even the gods.”
Luna snarled, pulled her blade back, and lashed out once more, her attack fueled no longer by her desire for revenge, but raw rage.
*****
Hidden in the shadow of the wall of the city of Damarescus, on the opposite side from where the battle was taking place, a rather large task force of Sand Shrine's army lay in wait. Leading this clandestine operation was none other than Nightshade, who stood by the wall twitching impatiently. They stood awaiting their leader's signal, and were soon rewarded by a bright sparkling on the horizon. That was the signal. Nightshade breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly cast Belladonna. It was her time to shine now.
Nightshade's horn ignited with a bright green glow, as she wove a powerful spell into the sand at her hooves. At her command, the desert on which she stood began to swell with grass, eventually sprouting short, thick vines that wavered about like writhing snakes. The vines quickly began to grow, at a rate too rapid to be natural, then suddenly shot up to the top of the wall, where it latched on and held firm. The creepers tightened, and dangled down like ropes for the army to use. Nightshade took hold of the vine with her teeth, as did several of the other soldiers. Her horn lit up again, retracting the vines, and pulling both her, and her comrades, to the top of the wall.
Nightshade landed atop the barricade, right between two earthpony sentries. Before either could react, she had swept Belladonna about her in a wide arc, slicing through them both with ease. The soldier's blood splattered against her sides, leaving warm crimson stains on her normally green coat. A devilish grin danced across her lips as she watched her enemies writhe and moan on the wooden boards. Normally, she would have leapt at the chance to prolong their suffering, but for now, stealth was of the essence, so she whipped her blade around again, this time killing her enemies.
After a few moments, Nightshade had moved most of her forces from the ground to the wall. About a hundred ponies had gathered for the assault, and were now beginning to make their way through the town of Damarescus. They slowly and silently made their way through the empty streets, half expecting to encounter a sentry around every turn. They did not. In fact, the city seemed deserted. They were completely unprepared for a strike to the rear. As Nightshade and her comrades reached the town square, they finally could see their enemies. The invaders issued a loud cry, then charged their unwary foes.
The ponies in the court were mostly pegasi, who had just landed after completing their aerial combat. A few earthponies and unicorns were in the mix as well, but it seemed that they were in the minority. A pegasus lifted into the air, and flew like an arrow bound for Nightshade's skull. The unicorn however, was well prepared for the attack. She ducked low, and arced her blade above her head as her foe sailed over her. With this single, well placed strike, she slit her opponent's belly, spilling a grotesque mixture blood and entrails onto the sand below. She leapt forward, and thrust Belladonna's jagged tip into the spine of a now retreating earthpony. With a quick corkscrew motion of her sword, she cut him down, landing squarely upon his corpse.
Another pegasus charged for Nightshade, closing the gap between them in seconds. He slashed at her throat with the tips of his wings, missing his by only a few centimeters. Nightshade's horn ignited as she leapt back from her attacker, then she swung her hoof at him, casting a spell as she did so. Her hoof was suddenly wreathed in magic, and the spell began to transform her limb into a vine, studded all over with thick thorns. Her newly formed vine punched through her enemies chest, exiting out the other side. With a sweeping motion, Nightshade whipped her foreleg about, hurling the pony she had hooked back through his own ranks. He skittered across the ground, just before landing in a bloody heap amid his own comrades.
The bloody corpse landed at the feet of Sir Craven, who nearly vomited at the sight. He took several steps away from the body, retching with every step. His breathing had grown short and rapid, and his eyes darted about the battlefield, watching with horror as his soldiers were cut down. Craven scanned his enemies, and caught a glimpse of some sort of demon in the middle. She appeared to be a pony, perhaps a unicorn of some sort, yet her back, hooves, and mane were all a writhing, deep green mass of tentacles. It seemed to be some hell spawned fusion of unicorn and squid, flailing its tendrils about the battlefield, skewing ponies and splattering their blood about the courtyard like paint upon a canvas.
Craven turned to his subordinate, Dream Sickle. She seemed to be much more composed than he, as she jammed both of her wingblades into the neck of an attacker, then whirled around to slash open the stomach of another.
“General Sickle.” He stated plainly, swallowing hard to hide his disgust.
“Yeah?” She replied, tossing an enemy to the ground with a well placed punch.
“I need you to assume command of the troops for a moment.” He turned his back on her, “I'll be back shortly.”
With that, Craven dashed for the frontal barricade, his hooves flying over the pavement with uncanny speed. In only a minute, he had reached the wall, and dashed up the ramp to the battlements, where Inkwell stood, still jotting down notes on the unfolding battle. She was entirely engrossed in her work, and didn't even notice the general's approach until he tapped her on the shoulder.
“Craven?” She said, snapping out of her fantasy world. “What are you doing here?”
“Come on!” He shouted, giving her a forceful shove. “Somehow they managed to slip into the city. We've gotta get out of here!”
Inkwell hurriedly tossed her belongings into her saddlebag and raced off after the now fleeing general. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nightshade and her troops slaughtering their reserves.
“What about them?” Inkwell said, her eyes watching in horror as Nightshade impaled another pony upon a thorned vine.
“Not our problem.” Craven replied, as he and the journalist made a mad dash for the city railway station.
They reached the station with ease, and quickly clamored into a docked train. Without slowing his pace, Craven dashed through the cars, diving into the engine and hitting the floor hard. He leapt to his hooves, and began fanatically hurling coal into the still burning engine, listening with an impatient ear as the steam began to build. He stared at the steam gauge, tapping it frantically with his hoof as the needle slowly turned. Finally, enough steam had been collected to power the rig, and Craven slammed the throttle forward. The train lurched forward with an earsplitting screech of iron on iron. The iron horse began to slowly chug forward, puffing clouds of smoke and steam from its stack.
Dream Sickle looked to the station as the train pulled away. They were trapped. Prisoners in their own city. There was nothing she could do now but grit her teeth and fight on. The enemy general, a unicorn who was utilizing some wild form of nature magic, was already racing towards the train station. Sickle made up her mind that she would never reach her destination. She gave her wings a flap, and sent herself hurtling downrange like a bullet. In a split second, she collided with her enemy, tackling her to the ground. The unicorn's spell was interrupted, and the vines she had conjured withered. Sickle aimed a punch for her enemies skull, but was thrown back with a sudden wave of force.
With a flap of the wings to stabilize her, Dream landed on her hooves, just in time to duck beneath a slash from Belladonna. She closed the distance between the two of them in a moment, and thrust for her foe with both of her wingtips, only for Nightshade to easily sidestep the assault. The unicorn's horn lit up once more, as a cluster of thorns burrowed out of the flesh of her foreleg. With a flick of her leg, she hurled the drove of flechettes into her enemy, who deftly dodged all of them. Again, Sickle slashed with her wings, and again her foe avoided it. The two began a deadly dance of wings and blade, with each striking out and dodging the attacks of the other. They continued in this way for a short time, until Nightshade conjured another swarm of vines. With these, she was able to overwhelm her enemy, and ensnare her in a tangle of the thorny tendrils.
Dream Sickle struggled against her bonds, but they only dug further into her flesh. Nightshade leaned close to her, leveling her blade at her downed enemy.
“Oh, I would love to have some more fun with you.” The unicorn whispered, her eyes gleaming, “I think it would be fun to sever your wings, then hurl you from the battlements and watch you try to fly.”
Nightshade smiled as she drank in the look of sheer terror from Dream.
“Of course, your friends there decided that they should high-tail it out of here. That's something I can't let happen. I'm sure they would like nothing more than to warn all of Equestria of what happened here. That wouldn't be any fun now would it? They'd ruin the surprise!” The unicorn let out a childish giggle, “Well, I've wasted enough time talking. Ta ta!”
With that, Nightshade began to dash along the railroad tracks, determined to follow them to hell and back if need be.
*****
Sand Shrine and Luna had lifted into the air again, and had begun an intense skyward duel. Their blades clashed with one another as they tumbled and rolled through the air, ceasing only to fire off an attacking spell, or to block an incoming blow. They had strayed far from their original field of combat, and now soared over the battle outside of Damarescus.
Shrine gave Luna a forceful push, leaving him free to move for just one moment. That was all the time he needed to cast his spell. In that split second, he managed to form the desert below him into a sea of writhing tendrils of sand, all of which were edged with a thin blade of razor sharp glass. These desert tentacles thrashed around violently, slicing both Luna's and his own soldiers. He no longer cared who died to take this city. After all, he had resurrected the dead once already, he could easily do it again.
Luna charged him, Penumbra whistling through the air before her, only to have her foe block her blade without even looking up. He was somehow controlling his blade with one spell, and slaughtering the troops below with another. It was an incredible, if terrifying, display of magic. He wove another spell and cast it upon the desert below. This time, the ground became loose and shaky, destabilizing the sand. Ponies all over began to slip into the churning sea of slit, drowning and choking beneath the desert waves.
Both armies were devastated by these blows, but Sand Shrine's army would not retreat. Other than Terra Cotta, who had already been slain by Shrine's reckless spell casting, only his reanimated dead remained. They would remain until they all lay dead once more. Luna's forces however were not so lucky. They realized what they were up against. They could see that they were facing down an alicorn. They knew they faced a god. At this realization, the few ponies who remained instinctively retreated, racing back to their city, unaware that it had already been overrun.
Luna disengaged her blade, surrounded herself with a crackling aura of lightning, and made a last ditch effort to ram her opponent. Sand Shrine looked up from his assault on the ground troops just in time to see Luna's attempt at a charge. His horn ignited, and his hoof was suddenly surrounded in a thick bubble of telepathic force. It was a simple spell, but one he knew to be effective. He threw a punch against her barrier, and watched as it began to compress beneath the raw force of his attack. It seemed to move in slow motion, as the shield condensed, then suddenly dissipated as Shrine's punch broke through it. The shockwave of telepathic force rapidly expanded, colliding with Luna and sending her flying.
As she soared through the air, Luna's eyes slipped closed, as her mind fell into unconsciousness. Her body however, continued onwards, sailing ever closer to the horizon with no sign of stopping.