//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 - Fillydelphia Fallout // Story: Tartarus Infernum // by Sunderbraze //------------------------------// As the Equestrian Elite rematerialized, Starswirl was the only one not disoriented. The wizard quickly examined their surroundings, cursing under his breath. “Oh bollocks, I should’ve thought of th-“ ********** They had teleported a mile into the sky, and had already started falling at an alarming speed! “I say, you boneheads with wings! Make yourselves useful!” Starswirl barked. Flooded with adrenalin, the ponies plummeting around him began to quickly regain consciousness after the intense teleport. “Whoa!” Rainbow Dash yelled, seizing the nearest earth pony, Applejack. Soarin’ and Spitfire recovered shortly after her and grabbed ahold of Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Luna regained control of her flight, and caught the confused Ashton before he plummeted any further. Taking a swift dive, Cadance caught Shining Armor on her back, and Terra swooped over to Ironmane, struggling to slow the fall of the heavily armored stallion. “W… What the!? AHH! HELP!” Twilight screamed, realizing they were falling at intense speed. She tried to cast a spell on herself, but she was still too disoriented to safely cast anything. The clouds beneath the team faded from view, revealing the besieged city of Fillydelphia. Trails of purple streaked the sky below them as hundreds of thousands of shadowy birds swarmed around the city’s rooftops. “Somepony get those two!” Luna’s voice boomed over the wind, indicating Ragehoof and Twilight. Rainbow Dash tried to get to Twilight, but having already grabbed Applejack, she was unable to get the necessary acceleration. Fluttershy had just recovered, and was trying to reach them as well, but she wasn’t fast enough. In a blur of white wings, Celestia and Aeon swooped past the others and entered direct nose dives towards their two unsecured teammates. Celestia bared her teeth and squinted, trying to stretch her hooves towards the flailing unicorn, but she wasn’t aerodynamic enough to gain the proper speed. Aeon’s smaller and unburdened form allowed him to descend faster, seize Ragehoof around the chest, and pull up moments later, dodging several shadowy minions of the Nighthawk as he flew into the city’s airspace. Celestia desperately tried to increase her speed, but the ground was now approaching too fast for her to pull up or even stop herself. "TWILIGHT!!” she screamed wildly, realizing they were going to crash. With a loud CRACK of blue magic, Celestia and Twilight suddenly dematerialized, reappearing a hundred yards above the rooftop that they had been inches from striking. Disoriented from the sudden teleport, they fell the remaining distance like ragdolls, forcefully slamming into the concrete roof below them. ********** “Ow…” Twilight mumbled, trying to lift her head. For some reason, she couldn’t. Her eyes were open, but she wasn’t able to see well. Everything appeared… fuzzy. She couldn’t make out what she was hearing either—there was a ringing sensation in her ears that seemed to be blocking everything out. She struggled to sit up, but it felt as though her entire body was simply ignoring every command she sent it. There was a flash of light to the far right of her field of vision, accompanied by a rumbling sensation in the building below her. Suddenly, a couple of shapes appeared above her. Twilight blinked, trying to fight away the encroaching darkness that was invading her vision. Over the ringing in her ears, she heard someone’s voice. “It’s not your fault!” the worried, cracking voice insisted. “…will be okay, you can… take a deep breath!” The confused Twilight tried to obey the voice, but was finding it hard to breathe. Adrenaline shot through her system as she took inventory of her body, realizing that two-thirds of it was completely unresponsive. “Keep them off us!” the voice screamed, accompanied by the sound of striking hooves and high-pitched screeching. “Take a deep breath, Flutters! I believe in you!” Twilight blinked again, and suddenly felt a burst of energy strike her. It jumpstarted her failing heart, tugging her away from the brink of death. She could feel herself being lifted off of the ground, slowly regaining feeling in her legs. Awareness came at a high price--Twilight screamed in agony as several of her bones cracked back into place, and the trauma to her body started to reverse itself. Taking a deep breath and opening her eyes, she finally was able to discern what was going on. The sky above her was thick with the glowing wings of what seemed like hundreds of violet eagles, their dark figures leaving trails wherever they flew. Fluttershy was standing across from her on the rooftop, her eyes glowing bright white as she called upon the Element of Kindness. “Fluttershy, that’s it!” Rainbow Dash’s voice exclaimed from somewhere above. “You’re doing it! Alright, look, they need my help up there, but you’ve got this! Keep it up!” The ringing in Twilight’s ears had nearly faded as Dash soared into the sky, producing a powerful sonic rainboom. The bright rainbow-colored explosion tore through the night sky, illuminating the besieged city below with a ray of hope. Twilight felt the last traces of her injuries fade away as she was lowered to the ground. Taking full control of healed body, she observed her surroundings. To her left, a severely wounded Celestia was suspended in midair, her injuries beginning to subside as Fluttershy’s magic coursed through her. ********** “Where is everypony?” Twilight asked wildly, as Fluttershy’s eyes faded back to normal. “What happened?! Is everypony okay?” “They are now,” Fluttershy sighed nervously, taking flight. “But everypony across the city, and some of them might be hurt… I have to go help them! Be safe, Twilight!” “What happened, Princess?” Twilight asked, turning to face Celestia. “I… I’m so sorry, Twilight,” she said quietly, a tear beginning to leak out of her right eye. “Something went wrong with the teleportation glyph… Starswirl saw that we weren’t going to make it, so he broke our fall with another teleport…” “Princess, it’s alright!” Twilight said forcefully. “We’re fine now, snap out of it! We’ve got to protect the city! Where is everypony else?” “A swarm of the Nighthawk’s minions started attacking us, everypony scattered to avoid them,” the princess explained. “We’ll need to regroup, and-“ Responding to a sudden screech, Celestia’s head jerked upwards. Her face twisted into a spiteful glare as several minions swarmed above. A group of them began to descend towards her, talons bared. “BEGONE!” Celestia boomed, golden sparks shooting from her horn as she summoned a wave of light. The oncoming attackers were disintegrated by her fierce magical attack. “That’s more like it!” Twilight told her. “We’ve just got to get down from here, then we can-“ “Hop on,” Celestia told her, bending her knees and lowering her body towards the ground. “I get to fly… on the princess?!” Twilight thought in amazement. Shaking off the surprise, she nodded quickly, climbing onto her mentor’s back. “Hooves right there,” Celestia instructed, guiding Twilight’s front legs to her shoulders and her back legs around her waist. “Did Luna teach you the infernum spell?” “She showed me the codex, but it was way too dangerous to practice in Canterlot,” Twilight responded nervously as Celestia spread her powerful wings. “It’s kind of… overkill… isn’t it?” “With the Element of Magic fueling it, you can burn every last one of them from the sky,” the princess said firmly. “But first, we have to make sure we don’t hit anypony else. It isn’t positive energy--it won’t be selective of who it burns.” “How do we do that?” “Divide and conquer,” Celestia replied, preparing for takeoff. “I’ll explain on the way. Hold on, here we go!” Twilight held on with all her might as the princess kicked off of the roof, taking a steep incline into the sky. Minions of the Nighthawk tried to intercept Celestia, but she dodged each of them swiftly, firing at a pair of them as well. Her passenger lurched, pinning her chin against her back as wind swept over them. Noticing a white pegasus dogfighting with a pair of minions, Celestia rolled hard to the left, approaching the airspace below him. “Aeon!” her voice boomed through the sky, as she slowed to a hover. “One moment,” Aeon replied hurriedly, stalling in midair and dodging the razor-sharp talons of one of his foes. As soon as the minion passed him, he soared after it in a lead pursuit, striking its left wing. When the injured minion began spiraling towards the ground, the professor sped up, driving his hind legs into the back of the creature’s neck and flying back into the air. “We need to clear the civilians and the other Elite from the skies!” Celestia shouted, as Aeon ascended to her altitude. “We must-“ The second minion that he had been dogfighting came zipping downwards from above, but Celestia intercepted it with a well-placed jet of golden magic. “Thanks for that,” the professor said, flying up to Celestia. “We’re clearing the skies, then? What’s the plan?” “Fillydelphia is divided into five sections,” Celestia explained, firing at another incoming minion. “We’re currently above Grand Central—Twilight and I will ensure the skies here are clear. The remaining sections are Haymarket Square, Red Mane Row, Mayberry Estates, and Downtown-“ Celestia was interrupted by another minion’s razor-sharp talons scraping her wing. Jerking around in pain, the princess rotated her head and zapped her attacker with a flash of golden light. “Send somepony with wings to each of them, and instruct them fire a flare when the district’s airspace is clear of friendlies!” Celestia ordered hurriedly. Upon saying the word ‘flare,’ she conjured a white saddlebag, telekinetically strapping it around Aeon’s waist. “Understood,” the professor replied curtly, adjusting the bag over his flank and briefly checking the interior. Four self-propelling flares were inside. “As soon as the skies are clear, Twilight will purge them with fire!” Celestia told him, decreasing her altitude as a detachment of the swarm began to approach her. “Let’s go!” Nodding in swift acknowledgement, Aeon took off, his eyes scanning the clouds for any visible rainbow trails among the swarm of purple ones—Rainbow Dash would be the easiest to spot. He flew to the north for a few moments, dodging minions as they screeched past him. “Watch out, doc!” a voice suddenly hollered from behind him--Aeon immediately dropped his altitude, dodging a minion that had swooped into a lead pursuit from above. Spitfire zoomed past him, plowing her hooves into the shadowy bird before it had a chance to come about. As it plummeted towards the ground, Aeon shouted to the Wonderbolt before she flew away. “Wait! C’mere, quickly!” he hollered--Spitfire banked around and soared back to him. “We need to clear friendlies from the skies, as fast as possible!” Aeon relayed hurriedly. “Twilight's going to set them on fire! Go to the northeast and clear everypony from the airspace over the Mayberry Estates! As soon as you’re done, fire this flare into the sky!” “Got it!” Spitfire replied, catching the flare in her hoof as Aeon tossed it to her. Reaching behind her head, she tucked it snugly into the neck opening of her flight suit. The professor nodded at her once more, and took off towards the south. Several blocks away, on the roof of a townhouse in Red Mane Row, Shining Armor was preparing a powerful spell. Princess Cadance and a hatless Ashton Calhoof stood across from him. “Gah!” Armor shouted, as a minion grazed the side of his head. He interrupted his spell and blasted the shadowy bird away with his horn. “How’s about Ah get their attention,” Ashton suggested, pulling a coil of rope from his saddlebags. “Y’all stay here and do yer magic, I’ll keep ya covered!” “Thanks,” Cadance replied appreciatively; Ashton tried to tip his hat, huffing in annoyance upon realizing it was no longer there. He shook his head and galloped across the roof. Swinging his lasso into the dark sky, Ashton caught one of the birds by its talon and started swinging it around rapidly. The distressed shadow bird screeched in anger. “That’s right,” Ashton said, grinning triumphantly. “Call yer buddies over here!” As the minions diverted themselves towards Ashton, Cadance approached Armor, her horn beginning to glow. “There’s a lot of them,” Armor told her. “I’m not sure if we can get them all…” “We'll get as many we can,” Cadance replied determinedly, feeding him a burst of magical energy. With an explosion of magenta magic, they created a powerful shockwave of positive energy that spread throughout the city, forcing thousands of minions out of the streets and into the sky for several blocks in every direction. Quickly realizing that this was not strong enough to damage them, Armor followed it up with a second spell—his protective shield spell—creating a large purple dome that encompassed a dozen blocks around them. Because the minions had been knocked away, none of them made it into the barrier before it solidified. “Not too shabby!” Ashton hollered, dropping the minion that had remained attached to his rope and stamping his hoof into its face—it disintegrated. “It's up, go!" Armor told his wife as she looked at him worriedly. "Evacuate the civilians into the shield!” “But-“ “I’ll be here when you get back,” Armor reassured, twisting his bared teeth into a painful smile and wincing as thousands of talons began clawing at the shield. He pumped a continuous stream of power into it, keeping it from breaking. “It’ll be okay! Go! Save as many as you can!” Cadance reluctantly spread her wings, zooming through the dome and into the streets, beginning to direct the panicked crowds into the shield. Ashton galloped across the rooftops in the opposite direction, following suit in the search for civilians. Several blocks to the east—in the Downtown district—Applejack and Pinkie Pie had just climbed down a fire escape ladder, reaching the city streets. Minions of the Nighthawk were flocking in the skies above, taking potshot dives at the panicked civilians that galloped below. “Ah’m over here, ya cowardly varmints!” Applejack hollered at the dark birds. Having lost her hat in the teleportation mix-up, she was very agitated. “Come’n get me!” Minions began flocking in her direction; she leapt furiously into the air and struck two of them head-on with her front hooves. When the pair crashed into the ground and dissipated, the other minions immediately backed off, reevaluating Applejack’s threat level. At that very moment, a magenta wave of positive energy washed through from the east, blasting the minions upwards into the sky. Armor’s shield subsequently appeared, and Pinkie recognized it instantly. “Hey everypony!” she cheerfully shouted at the panicking ponies in the streets. “You should head for the pretty pink bubble! Up, up! Now’s your chance!” With the minions focused on Applejack, the frightened civilians began to gallop towards Shining Armor’s shield in the east. “Right this way, folks! Step right up! No need to push, there’s room for everypony!” Pinkie hollered, directing the traffic with a sparkling pink firework in her hoof. “Where’d ya find that at?” Applejack asked, looking at the sparkler that seemed to have materialized out of thin air. “Duh, I always have sparklers with me, silly!” Pinkie replied, as though it were as obvious as the color of her mane. “In case of sparkler emergency!” The clueless Applejack bucked out the lights of another minion as it attempted to charge her from behind. “Whatever ya say, sugar cube…” She dodged another minion, elbowing it in the back of the head as it swooped past her. “We’d ought’a head Downtown and get everypony there to safety!” “Okie-dokie-lokie!” Pinkie agreed, directing the last of the crowd towards the shield. Pausing for a moment, she pointed her hoof upwards. “Ooh, lookie! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s-” “Rainbow Dash!” Applejack finished for her, gazing at the dazzling six-colored glow from above. High in the sky, the supersonic pegasus was plowing her way to the west. She ripped through hundreds of the Nighthawk's minions, leaving a trail of rainbow-struck shadow birds falling in her wake. In mid-flight over the newly formed dome in the Red Mane Row district, Aeon noticed her as well. He tried to shout her name, but quickly realized she was unable to hear anything at that speed. Looking around for a way to get her attention, he was temporarily blinded by a flash of indigo magic. Princess Luna was hovering about twenty yards west of him, zapping each minion that approached her with laser-like precision. “Princess!” Aeon shouted, soaring over towards her. “Princess Luna, can you get Rainbow Dash’s attention?” “For what purpose?!” Luna’s booming voice replied, as she shot a cone-shaped jet of magic into an incoming flock. “Celestia’s going to have Twilight burn the skies,” Aeon explained hurriedly, watching Luna zap a minion readying to attack him. “We need Rainbow to help clear them of friendlies. Can you slow her down?” “Very well,” Luna said, increasing her altitude and studying the pattern of rainbow trails. As the soaring pegasus predictably banked right, Luna conjured a sphere of magic around herself, causing Dash to slow to a halt as soon as she entered it. “Hey, what gives?” Dash asked, while Luna collapsed the slowing field. “Twilight Sparkle is going to set the skies ablaze—but first, we must vacate them,” Luna explained, zapping two more minions. “Set them a-what?” asked Dash, her eyes widening. “On fire?” “Correct,” the princess replied, as the professor approached them. “Professor Silverwing, does my sister have a plan to clear our allies from the skies?” “As soon as the airspace of each district is clear, we’re to send up flares,” Aeon explained, reaching into his saddlebag. “Celestia has Grand Central covered, and I’ve already sent Spitfire to clear Mayberry Estates. We should divide the remaining three quarters among us. Rainbow Dash, head east to the Downtown sector, it’s a mostly commercial district with a clock tower in the middle—you can’t miss it.” “I’m on it!” Dash determinedly replied, catching the flare that Aeon tossed her. “I’ll have it done in no time!” She clutched the flare firmly in her hoof and took off to the north, producing another ear-splitting rainboom as she went supersonic. “Princess, which section would you take?” Aeon asked, offering her a flare. “Keep your device, you may require a spare. I will produce a beacon of my own,” Luna replied. “I will teleport to Haymarket Square and clear the skies there.” “Understood, your highness,” Aeon said, placing the flare back into his bag. “I’ll take care of Red Mane Row, then, but are you sure you should be teleporting? The last teleportation didn’t seem to go very well…” “Your concern is appreciated,” Luna told him, her horn beginning to glow. “But I know what went wrong with Starswirl’s glyph, it shall not affect me. I shall explain more when we have time.” “Good luck, then!” replied Aeon, watching the princess dematerialize with an indigo flash. He turned and flew downwards, beginning to scan the sky for any non-minions. ********** Meanwhile, beneath a large clock tower, Terra was covering for Ironmane as he galloped through the streets. She was pulling bits of stone from the ground and accelerating them to lethal speeds at the attacking minions. “Are you certain you know where you’re going?” Terra asked him, firing a stone projectile at a minion that attempted to swoop onto him. "...These cities all look the same to me..." “Yes, your h-, uh, ma’am,” replied Ironmane, trying not to instinctively call her by a royal title again. Accidentally calling her princess when thanking her earlier had earned him a rock to the helmet. “I grew up and used to be stationed here—it should be in the clock tower.” “What is this… device you’re insisting is so important?” Terra questioned as they reached the tower. “No time to explain, you'll see,” Ironmane replied gruffly, smashing his armored hoof into the wooden doors of the clock tower. They flew open with a bang, causing several worried cries to echo inside. Realizing it was a Royal Guard, the ponies taking shelter within breathed a sigh of relief. The sergeant galloped past them, ascending a nearby stairwell and heading to the upper levels of the tower. Terra closed the door behind him with a weak haze of red magic and continued firing rocks at the shadowy birds that tried to follow. Reaching the seventh floor of the spiraling stairwell in the clock tower, Ironmane halted his ascent and looked at the ticking mechanisms around him. Amidst a dense array of gears, he fixed his eyes upon a large red lever protruding from a column on the wall. Galloping over to the emergency lever, he plunged it into the downwards position, causing a loud SNAP to echo throughout the building. Outside, Terra turned and stared at the clock tower as a mechanical grinding sound began to emanate from its upper levels. The pitch and volume of the sound increased into a blaring warning siren, piercing the air for miles in every direction. In a bright flash of light, the faces of the clock tower illuminated themselves into powerful searchlights. Other searchlights throughout the city began to shine into the sky, projecting beams of light into the dark clouds. The minions of the Nighthawk began screeching angrily, avoiding the searchlights and fleeing to higher altitudes. “The professor said they’re sensitive to light,” Ironmane called down to Terra, exiting onto a balcony just beneath the illuminated faces of the clock. “During the Parasprite infestation last year, the city board attached spotlights to the warning system, to see them better at night!” “Perhaps I underestimated Celestia,” Terra thought, watching Ironmane pull his collapsible crossbow from the saddlebag on his left flank. He flipped it open, immediately firing a pre-loaded bolt at an approaching minion. “Good thinking!” Terra called back, flying to the other side of the clock tower and preparing to defend it--a swarm of minions were flocking to attack the source of their newfound disadvantage. “Whoa, whoa, what’n the hay’s that?” Soarin’ wondered aloud, pausing to stare at the massive searchlight that had just activated below him. He had been dogfighting over Haymarket Square since the battle began, acrobatically attacking the minions wherever he could find them. The Wonderbolt jerked his head to the side, realizing that his opponents were now fleeing the light. “Son of a griffon!” Soarin’ exclaimed, taking off after them. “Get back here, you pigeons!” As he pursued the screeching minions, he suddenly got clipped in the wing by a foe from above. “Agh!” he yelled, turning and readying to counter the attack. “Sneaky little…“ When Soarin' faced the culprit, another minion turned hard and sliced at him from behind. He cried out in pain and rotated again, realizing that they were ambushing from all sides. He struck several of the minions before they could reach him, but a swift foe dove from above, bared its talons, and swiped them across his neck. Choking and sputtering in shock, Soarin' drew his wings inward and swiftly dropped altitude. As he fled the sudden swarm of minions that were attacking him, he quickly ran a hoof across his neck, wondering how he could have possibly survived such a fatal cut. “You saved me, darling, now it’s my turn to save you,” Rarity smiled intensely, standing on a rooftop several yards away. Her gaze was fixed on the fleeing Wonderbolt, and the Element of Generosity was shining brightly. A faint trickle of blood began running down her white neck--absorbing the slash from Soarin' had given her the equivalent of a papercut. “Rarity!” a booming voice called from behind her. “You must leave the rooftop at once!” “Of course, princess… could you kindly lend Soarin’ a hoof first?” Rarity asked, recognizing Luna’s voice but keeping her protective gaze on the darting Wonderbolt. “...He’s in a bit of a bind!” “Very well,” Luna replied, soaring past the unicorn and readying a charge of magic. She stopped about twenty yards away, matching his altitude and waiting for an opportunity to fire. Noticing the princess ahead of him, Soarin’ tried to barrel roll to the left, but it appeared that Luna had the same idea. She tried to dodge him by juking to the right, and he ended up running into her chest. As soon as they collided, Luna doubled over and exhaled painfully, but managed to unleash her spell, disintegrating Soarin’s pursuers with a cone-shaped jet of indigo magic. “Ow... uh…” said Soarin’, rubbing his head. He looked up at the alicorn he had just crashed into, his cheeks reddening. “Ah! Thanks, princess!” The embarrassed pegasus readied himself to fly away. “Stay!” Luna replied, using her magic to catch him by the tail as he tried to flee. He bounced backwards like a yo-yo, bumping into her chest again with an oof. Rarity couldn’t help but giggle when she saw what was happening overhead. “Ah! Um…” Soarin’ stuttered, grinning sheepishly as he backed away slowly. “S-sorry ‘bout that…” “Never mind that,” the exasperated Luna told him, and readjusting her necklace. “Twilight Sparkle is going to set the skies ablaze, but first we must clear this airspace of allies. Assist me by searching inwards from the northeastern perimeter of Haymarket Square—I will search inwards from the south. We will meet at this light when you have finished.” The princess pointed a hoof at the searchlight that had blinded Soarin’ a few minutes ago. “Yes ma’am, your highness, ma’am,” Soarin’ replied, hurriedly taking off to the northeast. Luna rolled her eyes and took off towards the southwest. “Wait!” Rarity screamed, watching her winged teammates fly off. “...Just leave me here, why don’t you?!” On the western side of the city, Spitfire had already cleared most of the civilian pegasi from the skies over the Mayberry Estates, but was hot on the trail of another pegasus she had just spotted. She dodged several swooping minions, and began diving to a lower altitude. “Hey!” Spitfire called out, recognizing the yellow pegasus. “Wait up!” Fluttershy continued to weave through the birds ahead of her, coming to a landing on the lawn in front of a large manor. Spitfire followed suit, realizing that she was not alone. Under a stone gazebo in the manor’s yard, three civilian ponies, a unicorn mare, and two guard pegasi were lying down, each of them injured in different ways. “Just calm down, everypony,” Fluttershy said quietly, powering up the Element of Kindness. “Everything is going to be okay…” She hovered into the air, her white eyes scanning the gazebo around her. One by one, the injured ponies around her began to heal rapidly. “Wow, that’s pretty awesome, dude,” Spitfire told her, watching in awe as she healed the last of them. “Fluttershy, right? I’m Spitfire. Is everypony okay here?” “Oh yes, they are now,” the yellow pegasus replied quietly, her eyes returning to normal. She knew who Spitfire was, having heard Rainbow Dash talk about her many times. “Look, Skydrop! The Wonderbolts are here!” a light green unicorn mare exclaimed, comforting a young foal that was hiding behind her. He removed his hooves from his eyes, gazing hopefully upwards. Spitfire smiled at him. “Hey, you two,” she said, turning towards the two armored pegasi that were standing up. “What’s the City Guard’s situation?” “They took us completely by surprise,” the lighter-colored pegasus guard replied, his voice shaking. “As soon as the sun disappeared, they hit the guard station without warning… It was horrible…” “Take cover, they’re coming!” a brown earth pony interrupted, pointing his hoof towards the sky. A large number of glowing minions had detached from the swarm, and were flocking towards the stone gazebo. Fluttershy gasped and hopped in front of the civilians, while Spitfire galloped out of the gazebo, preparing to charge the minions head-on. With a blinding flash of blue light, a silhouette materialized next to her, immediately firing a projectile at the incoming minions. It struck one of them, forcing the shadowy bird to explode violently, causing each of the nearby minions to be disintegrated. “Not very safe here, is it?” Starswirl asked the group cheerfully; they stared at him in awe. “You!” Spitfire replied angrily. “Why’d you teleport us to the middle of the sky?! If we hadn’t caught everypony…” “Honest mistake. If you’d like a written apology, it’ll have to wait until after the battle,” the wizard replied dully. “Now, has there been any word from our leader?” “Princess Celestia needs us to clear the skies—she’s gonna set them on fire to get rid of those… things,” Spitfire explained to the wizard, turning to face the guards again. “I’ve already finished scanning the Estates and I couldn’t see anypony else in the sky. Are any pegasi guards in the air right now?” “N-none of the others made it out,” replied the grey-pelted pegasus guard. “They swarmed into the barracks and snatched them all away!” “We’ll get them back as soon as the city’s safe!” Spitfire told him, pulling the flare from her suit and darting out of the gazebo. As soon as she had a clear view of the sky, she pointed the flare upwards, pulling the cord on the bottom. With a shower of golden sparks, a glowing projectile burst from the flare, shining almost as bright as the sun as it arced into the clouds above. “Ah! Set the skies on fire, huh?” Starswirl exclaimed, his yellow eyes following the flare. “I’ll bet Celestia is having Twilight give the infernum spell a whirl… that’ll be a sight to behold!” ********** “Watch out, princess!” Aeon shouted, zipping past Cadance and knocking a minion upside the head. Cadance and the professor were guiding a group of fleeing pegasi into Shining Armor’s shield, and the minions above were relentlessly harassing them. “Thanks,” Cadance told him, lowering her altitude as they reached the edge of the dome. “Into the shield, everypony! Go, go, go!” The pegasi began to fly through the shield, a section of which weakened to allow their passage. “Is that the last of them?” Aeon asked, as Cadance cast a quick healing spell on a blue pegasus who was unable to fly straight. “I’m sure of it,” Cadance replied. “I’ve been over almost every street in the district by now.” “Looks like Spitfire’s ahead of us,” Aeon told her, pointing a hoof to the north--a bright golden flare was illuminating the Mayberry Estates, causing the aggravated minions in the district to scatter into the sky. “Get into the shield when you’re done!” Cadance called out, flying into the purple dome and starting to look for any wounded. The professor pulled a flare from his saddlebag. “Red Mane Row is clear!” Aeon shouted, pulling the cord from the flare. It soared into the sky above them, illuminating the rooftops of the residential district. “Alright, I’ve been around the entire place three times now,” Rainbow Dash thought, banking right at the southern end of the Downtown district. She dropped out of supersonic flight and decelerated towards the clock tower, where she saw Ironmane and Terra continuing to defend the beacon. “Hey guys, you gotta get inside!” Dash called out to them. “Twilight’s gonna set the sky on fire as soon as I send up this flare!” “What flare?!” Terra responded, firing a large stone at a group of minions. It broke into smaller bits, shredding the shadowy birds with buckshot. Dash looked down at her hoof and cringed. Having been crushed at supersonic speeds for the past fifteen minutes, the flare had fallen apart. Only a hoof full of it remained, and powder was leaking from the sides. “Heh, uh,” Dash laughed, flying over to the brown alicorn. “I think I broke it… you can make another one, though, right?” “I’ve never studied conjuring magic!” Terra replied vehemently, striking another minion with a rock. “But you’re…” The confused pegasus scratched her head. “Find another one!” Terra commanded. “Go!” Dash nodded and flew around to the other side of the clock tower, where Ironmane was fending off minions with his crossbow. “Hey, buddy,” she called out, not remembering his name. “Got any flares in your saddlebag?” Ironmane shook his head, not making eye contact. He was busy tracing his next target. “Oh my gosh,” Dash moaned, looking around the city. “Where am I gonna find another flare at a time like this?!” “SOARIN’!” Rarity screeched, spotting the blue Wonderbolt above. “How dare you leave me behind?!” “…Mares,” Soarin’ muttered, slowing down and yelling over his shoulder. “You’ve gotta get inside, now! Twilight’s gonna set the skies on fire!” Rarity huffed angrily and trotted away, heading for a fire escape ladder nearby. Moments later, Luna swooped in from above and came to a hover across from Soarin’. “Are the skies in your half of the city clear?” the princess boomed, hovering into the beam of the searchlight. “Y-yes, princess,” Soarin’ gulped, trying not to make eye contact. Realizing that he was staring at her chest, he hurriedly averted his eyes again. “Then we shall signal our success,” Luna replied, her horn beginning to glow. She materialized a bright blue flare of magical energy and launched it into the sky. It shone brightly over the carts and fruit stands of Haymarket Square. “Look!” Twilight shouted from Celestia’s back, pointing her hoof to the north east. “That’s three out of four!” “That only leaves downtown,” Celestia shouted over the whipping wind. “Prepare your spell, Twilight! As soon as that flare goes up, we must end this!” The Element of Magic firmly fitted onto Twilight’s head began to glow brilliantly as she closed her eyes and concentrated. “Tell me when, princess!” Twilight replied, feeling power begin to surge through her body. ********** Rainbow Dash was frantically looking into the abandoned shops and stores in the Downtown district, but she was coming up empty-hooved. “Some days, I swear!” yelled the hopeless pegasus, pressing her face against the glass of another store--it was a shop called Hats & Bread. “You just can’t find a flare!” Dash darted back into the air, noticing Applejack and Pinkie Pie in the streets below the nearby clock tower. “APPLEJAAACK!” Dash shouted, zooming towards her friend so quickly that she crashed into her. “Oof!” Applejack gasped as the two powerful ponies collided. The clashing of the two Elements created an explosive shockwave, shattering several windows around them. “Hi Rainbow!” Pinkie said happily, cleaning out her pounding ears. “We were just telling sergeant what’s-his-face and Cadance’s mom that they should head for the pretty bubble!” “No time for that!” Dash said, picking herself up. “I need a flare, and I need it yesterday! Do either of you know where I can find one!?” “A flare?” the confused Applejack asked. “Uh, Pinkie, got any flares on ya?” “Nope!” Pinkie replied. “But I’ve got sparklers!” “Sparklers?!” Dash asked wildly, as Pinkie reached over her shoulder and produced three unlit fireworks. “Close enough! Give’em to me, I’ll fly’em up and set’em off!” “Do that, and you’re gonna get fried!” Ironmane’s gruff voice yelled at her from the balcony above. He struck a lever on his crossbow, causing the bolt in the firing chamber to pop out. “Give me those!” Dash darted into the air, pausing just outside of the balcony. “Everypony take cover!” she hollered, handing the sparklers to Ironmane. Pinkie Pie and Applejack galloped into the clock tower, shutting the door behind them. Terra circled around the upper level, soaring past Dash and diving into the balcony. “You, too!” Ironmane ordered Dash while she watched him break the sparklers into bolt-sized pieces. She nodded quickly and swooped into the balcony after Terra. “Let’s turn up the heat,” Ironmane muttered, shoving the three sparklers into the crossbow. He struck his armored hoof against the metallic firing mechanism, creating a spark that ignited the fireworks. Ignoring the searing burns on his forearm, the sergeant fired his crossbow into the night sky, dropping it and diving into the clock tower. “There! That’s it!” shouted Celestia, her eyes following the makeshift pink flare as it soared through the southern sky and fell apart. “Do it, Twilight! FIRE!!” Twilight opened her eyes, which shone brighter than all the searchlights in the city. The raw power that had been building in her body funneled its way through her horn, ejecting a stream of purple light that collected into a ball fifty yards above her. A few moments later, the stream cut off, and Twilight’s eyes stopped glowing. “It’s done!” Twilight screamed, burying her face into the princess’s neck. “Get away from it!” Celestia lowered her head into a nose dive towards the ground, pulling up as they reached the city streets. She landed to a gallop, slowing and stopping as they turned to look at the sky. With a flash of violet light that blinded the entire city, Twilight’s spell detonated, causing the skies to erupt with brilliant purple fire. Everyone shielded their eyes as the shockwave traveled through the air--it disintegrated clouds, minions, tower tops, and everything else in the air for miles in every direction. The airborne inferno raged brightly for almost a full minute. When it finally faded, the moonlit skies were completely clear.