//------------------------------// // The Battle of Bridlewood // Story: Forgotten: Mists of Bridlewood // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// Due to her pulling around her smoothie cart, as well as her smaller delivery cart, Sunny was more than used to prolonged galloping, and so was having little trouble keeping up with the fiery spectacle above the canopy of Bridlewood. Two trails of fire, one orange, one blue, were currently dancing around each other in a helix as fireballs rained from the sky, impacting the shield that had covered nearly the entire populated portion of the forest. The unicorns of Bridlewood were scattered throughout the trees, keeping a careful eye on the shield, and repairing any weak spots as the cracks showed from the impacts. "That's it, you guys are doing great! Keep it up!" Sunny encouraged as she ran to keep up with what must have been Sunset and whoever this attacker was. But encouragement at this stage was all too easy; this was minute two of the battle. What about minute five, or ten? Sunny wasn't sure what an 'ace in the hole' was, but she had a feeling that Sunset Shimmer didn't want this opponent, whoever they were, to know about her alicorn form until the perfect moment to catch her off guard. 'Be careful up there, Sunset,' Sunny thought to herself. Sunset fired off a trio of magical bolts of energy towards Opaline, who was twisting through the air along with her. Two bolts missed, and the third impacted the magical shield the alicorn had cast right before taking to the air. Thankfully, the magical shield, cast with the magic of the entire population of Bridlewood, seemed to be withstanding Opaline's meteoric bombardment so far. In retaliation, Opaline, surrounded by an aura of blue fire, fired off her own pair of offensive spells; their trajectories bent towards Sunset. "Custodire sorbeo!" Sunset called out, her horn modifying the magical shield around her body. Both spells impacted, but the shield absorbed them, and while Sunset felt the physical impacts, she felt her magical reserves surge. 'Nice and easy, Sunset. She's an alicorn, but she has limits too. Make her reach them before you do,' she told herself. "I want you to remember your choices when Bridlewood burns to ash!" Opaline taunted. Sunset wouldn't say she wasn't worried or scared, but she kept reminding herself to let those emotions fuel her determination, and in turn fuel her magic. She could only hope that Opaline would lose her patience, and use more of her magical reserves than she did; and that Sunny could come through in a pinch with her own alicorn form if it was needed. She had always been worried; against the Dazzlings, against Midnight, Gloriosa... None of them had been a sure-fire victory, and it had been her and her friends all working together to support each other. Newbies or not, students or not; she knew the unicorns of Bridlewood would give it their all. "Rest assured, Arcana, I will remember my choices, and my students will remember theirs. Burn this forest, and we will rise from the ashes like phoenixes!" Izzy zoomed along on her new scooter, as the tires left grooves in the dirt every time she did a hard turn. "Everypony's doing great! Let's kick alicorn butt!" She yelled through the trees, occasionally looking up at the shield that was under constant barrage from the fiery meteors falling from the red sky above. "Custodire!" Izzy shouted, her horn firing off a long white-blue beam up at the shield dome, repairing a long crack that had appeared after several hits from the fireballs. She still felt plenty of magical energy in her horn, so she decided to pull double-duty. While she was here on the outskirts keeping an eye on the shield and the outlying students, she could also double Alphabittle's search party of one, and also keep an eye out for Misty. Izzy had a hard time believing that the sweet mare had anything to do with this attack; but honestly, it made the most sense. Izzy had never seen her before, and the address she had given Sunset didn't exist. Where else could she have come from? Most important of all; when this was over, could they help her? Izzy turned so hard into the next right bend that she had to lean to counterbalance and prevent her new scooter from falling over onto its side. Why couldn't there have been a whole cluster of scooters out there rusting in the meadow? She would have fixed them all up, and Bridlewood could start a racing league. She had quite enjoyed Sunset's retelling of that 'motocross' race her school had run back in the mirror world. They could absolutely do that here. Misty looked up at the sky with fear in her eyes; she hadn't been informed of this at all; Opaline hadn't told her she was coming, that she was going to try something like this. She had no idea that the spell tome she left for Opaline to find would do something like this. The fireballs were indiscriminate, and if the shield fell, ponies were undoubtedly going to be hurt. Her gaze shifted just slightly to the right, and she saw a large fireball slam into the shield, and a crack immediately appeared and began to rapidly spread. Misty swallowed as she nervously glanced around at her surroundings, looking through the bushes, crystals, and trees. There was nopony else around. She took a breath, and decided to give it one more try. She closed her eyes, concentrated as hard as she could, and remembered the words from the spell tome. "Custodire!" Her personal shield faltering, Sunset had no choice but to give a flap of her flaming wings, and let Opaline's latest attack fly under her, and deliver three glancing blows to the portion of the shield that they were fighting over. Growing more frustrated at the unicorn's midair agility, Opaline gritted her teeth and let loose a barrage of magical bolts directly down at the shield, which began to crack. The cracks spread, and the spells to repair it weren't coming fast enough. Sunset's gaze went from the shield, back up to Opaline, and she saw the magical glow around her horn flicker for just a moment. She looked back down into Bridlewood as the shield began to ripple and fail, and miraculously, Opaline's magical meteor storm was also beginning to let up. The only question is would the shield be able to stay up to absorb the last of the fiery projectiles. If any made it through, she hoped her students would be ready with water spells. "Now, Sunny!" Sunset shouted. Sunset fired off a volley of magical projectiles, forcing Opaline on the defensive, distracting her from the glow of golden light coming up from almost directly below Sunset. Opaline cast another defensive spell, surrounding herself with a glowing blue shield, and Sunset saw her horn flicker again. Sunset held back; not sure if the shield was an absorption spell; if it was, any offensive hit could recharge the alicorn's emptying reserves. Unfortunately, that was something that Sunny didn't know, and a flurry of magical golden projectiles came up from the brightening glow below, two of them impacting the shield around Opaline, and just as Sunset feared, the flashing impacts turned into motes of energy that floated up to the alicorn's horn. "Such power!" Opaline shouted, laughing confidently. She gave a victorious smirk as the spreading cracks were finally too much for the shield, and it began to dissipate into nothing. Luckily, the meteor storm seemed to be over as well, and the sickening red sky faded to the cloudy evening sky. Opaline's confidence was shaken once more when a second pony flew up from the forest canopy; this one with a glowing horn and wings. Another alicorn? No wonder that single burst of spells had recharged her reserves considerably. But it was still two versus one. "Because you have put up a considerable defense, Sunset Shimmer, I offer you one final chance; surrender," Opaline demanded as the second pony came up to her side. "Never," Sunset answered immediately. Both of their horns began to glow intensely. "Ignis tempesta!" Opaline cast. Sunset's eyes widened. The spell that had set fire to the Crystal Tea Room. "Take my hoof Sunny, and focus," Sunset told her friend, offering her left hoof. Sunny looked over to Sunset worriedly as a gargantuan fireball appeared in the sky, and began to descend towards the forest, which now had no shield to protect it, and the only thing between the forest and the fire was the two of them. She took Sunset's hoof in her own, and began to focus as she hovered in place next to Sunset in midair. Sunset began to siphon the incredible magical energy Sunny's alicorn form was giving off. This was going to be risky, but it was the best way to ensure Bridlewood's safety. "Verto!" Sunset shouted. Sunny blinked as Sunset's horn flashed, and when her eyes opened again, their position had changed; they were where Opaline was, and the alicorn was now floating right in front of her huge fireball, and there was no time to get out of the way. Her horn flickering, she quickly cast a spell on her front hooves, which she quickly raised up, and they impacted the front of the fiery projectile, stopping it in it's tracks as it slowly pushed her down towards the canopy. Sunset felt that the flow of her magical reserves was now a trickle, but she had no choice. She just hoped that Izzy had some really good aspirin and an ice pack. "Revoco comprimo sigillum repurcutio!" She screamed, wincing in pain as her horn let out one final volley of energy which surged towards the alicorn who was attempting to hold back the fireball. Sunset's spell impacted right where Opaline's hooves were, and there was a deafening bang and flash, and Sunny immediately brought her leg up to shield her eyes. There was a wave of heat, and when it passed, she lowered her leg and slowly opened her eyes; finding Opaline and her fiery spell were nowhere to be seen. Then she felt Sunset's hoof slip from her grasp. She looked to her left, and saw Sunset, completely exhausted, begin to fall towards the forest floor. "Sunset!!!"