//------------------------------// // The Battle of Winniepeg Part 2 // Story: The Abundance // by defender2222 //------------------------------// "The skies split apart and the God of War stepped through." -The Narrator, God of War There was a very old saying in Equestria, dating back to the first arrival of Celestia and Luna upon the shores of Bridle Bay. Though several of the words have no modern version, the basic idea can be gathered from what is available. 'There is no peace when the gods go to war' The sleepy citizens of Winniepeg were learning the truth of this old adage first hand. The first warring had been the sound of explosions echoing from the Great Opera House. It sounded like some giant pony was stomping on the ground, trying to squish a bug. Then the building had trembled and a great multitude of light had blazed out, nearly blinding all those that saw it. The ponies that had not yet retired to their beds quickly sent up the alarm and their dreaming brothers and sisters awoke to find the Opera House, that hall of culture, reduced to kindling. Then the cries had been heard. Not from those that looked upon the event... no, these cries came from two beings that hung in the sky. The first, a mighty alicorn with massive wings and hair the color of the rainbow and a flank stained with the pallet of the afternoon sky, let out a scream of fury and frustration, challenging her opponent and daring her to attack. Queen Rainbow Dash, the alicorn of loyalty and commander of the pegasi air force and the Wonderbolts. The other was her opposite in form and demeanor. This mare was smaller but no less awe inspiring, with a body and mane that resembled the night sky. She never said a word, instead allowing her actions to speak for her thoughts. Her horn flashed and great tendrils of white and black magic lashed out like whips, cracking and breaking against the dark sky. Twilight Sparkle, the alicorn of the stars and personal student to Princess Celestia and, if one were to believe the rumors, the creature known only as Doubt, the corrupter of souls (at least that is what the queens labeled him). It was Rainbow Dash that attacked first, her horn flaring as she called forth the storm clouds and the lightning. The air became thick with electricity and a current of raw energy ran through the night sky. The rumble of thunder foretold of Rainbow Dash's power and she did not disappoint. The queen lifted up her head and the dark clouds took on the forth of a great war hammer bejeweled with ball lightning. She swung her weapon and Twilight dove away, tucking her wings as she began to twist. She rose, the funnel of winds that gathered behind her roaring as the power of the gale was summoned. No since Commander Hurricane had one so easily called out the winds and yet here was Twilight Sparkle, who had not even been born with wings, seeking to become his heir. The great twister met Rainbow Dash's hammer head on, ripping the clouds apart and forcing the speedster to warp a safe distance away. The cyan alicorn refused to give her once friend the chance to press the advantage; instead, Rainbow answered back with several Rainboom bombs, hurling them at Twilight and shaking the city with their rage and light. The night was chased away and Twilight Sparkle found herself in a world of white, with nothing to hide herself and no shadow to take refuge in. Twilight turned tail and spirited away, but if Rainbow Dash believed that her friend was turning tail she was sadly mistaken. Twilight twisted her head around and fired off a dark orb, hurrying away as it began to consume the rainbow energy around it. The black hole... a star which had collapsed upon itself and now captured all, including light. What better weapon for the once dark alicorn? Rainbow cried out, fighting against the pull. Any blasts she sent at the hole to try and destroy it merely fed its greedy mouth and let its mass swell. The cyan alicorn struggled, twisting and beating her wings, but every second saw her move 1 foot forward and 2 feet back. Finally, Rainbow launched out a chain of pure magic, lashing it around Twilight's ankles. The alicorn of the stars fought her own battle but found herself being drawn towards her black hole, a victim of her own trap. Even turning into starlight would not help her, as she was now caught in the pull as much as Rainbow Dash. With a cry of frustration Twilight shut down the black hole and the night sky returned to normal. The two deities panted, their wings flapping as they sought to steady themselves... then they launched themselves at each other once more. ~MC~MC~MC~ "Huh..." Trixie said, twisting her head through the bars of her cage, attempted to see Princess Cadence. "Trixie must admit, she knew she was powerful, but to be ranked next to two alicorns... Trixie blushes." Faith chose to ignore his friend and her ego stroking. "Cadence, what happened? What are you doing down here?" Cadence sniffed, her usual bubbling personality completely absent in the face of her new 'home'. Though the queens had done all they could to make the dungeon look like some posh hotel room there were still bars on the door and guards stationed at each exit. "What... what do you know?" "I know much," Faith said. "She meant about the situation, not in general," Trixie teased. "And they say I am arrogant." Faith glowered at the wall, not caring if Trixie could see it or not. "I meant that I know much about the general situation... including some things many do not." "Such as?" Cadence asked. "Twilight's friends are not fully responsible for their actions." When the two mares began to clamor Faith whistled for silence. "They are not themselves. They have been forced to bond with their elements." "Their elements?" Cadence said. "You mean-" "My brothers and sisters," Faith said darkly, spitting out the word. "I didn't realize obsoletes had brothers and sisters," Trixie stated. "...abstracts." Faith glared harder at the cell wall before continuing. "Yes, brothers and sisters... and no, not." Cadence blinked. "Faith, please don't do that double talk thing you do. I have a bad enough headache as it is." "My apologies," Faith stated. "The simple answer is that brothers and sisters is the closest word for what I and the rest of the elements are to each other." "What do you mean?" Trixie pressed. "Abstracts are not born in the traditional sense. Life is our mother and father... we are born when a being feels us for the first time. The first creature that found the strength to wiggle it's body created Willpower. An insect being chased by a predator knew fear and thus created Fear." "What of you?" Cadence asked. Faith smiled to himself, remembering well. "I am the baby of the abstracts... one of the very last to be born. When a small foal looked upon his mother and believed that she would always love him... I was born." He chuckled slightly. “I was the one that was constantly coddled and worried over… my family feared that I could easily fade away if enough ponies lost faith. I think it was my age that allowed me to survive the loss of self.” “How old are you?” Cadence questioned. Faith smirked. “I am 1,709 years young… Luna beats me by a century. For immortals I am barely a teenager.” Trixie let out a huff. She was going bored quiet rapidly. "This is all quite dull... could you please get back to the matter at hand?" "Of course," Faith said, bowing his head. "My brothers and sisters are connected to me because we are all seen as parts of something greater. In this case, Harmony. We tended to, back in the day, find that we were influencing the same ponies and thus we became kin, in a pony sense." Faith chuckled. "It is hard to explain and even for I it is confusing... I have lived separate from my species for so long that I think in your terms and the ideals of my own kind are nearly lost. I am not a true abstract... I am more of a hybrid... an abstract pony." He frown marred his face. “That is why they behave as they do… and why Twilight’s friends are not to blame.” “I don’t understand,” Cadence said. “My brothers and sisters never learned how to adapt to the mind of a pony,” Faith stated. “All abstracts inspire ponies with their abilities. I learned to do it with a light touch, mostly because I was unsure myself what I was becoming until Clockwork gave me my new name. My brothers and sisters do not have those lessons and thus they are like hammers… they overwhelm their targets to near madness.” “The queens are insane… yes, I can believe that,” Trixie stated. “Who would have this color carpet with these bedspreads?” Faith rolled his eyes. “Yes, they are quite insane… and in Equestria you can be found guilty by way of insanity. That is how we must view Twilight’s friends… and that is what I had hoped to tell the rebellion before my imprisonment.” “When you screwed up and got locked up,” Trixie reminded him. “Quite,” Faith muttered. “Now Cadence, unless you have the urge to see baby pictures of me, perhaps now we can discuss what happened to you. I understand that the queens banished Celestia and Luna… why were you not given the same fate?” Trixie and Faith could hear the annoyance in the pink alicorn’s voice as she spoke. “They got it in their heads that I could work with them. I think… oh, what’s her name, the yellow one with the long hair-“ “Gutterpie.” “Fluttershy,” Faith said drolly. Trixie shrugged. “Same thing.” “-I believe she considers me to be another queen, but the others aren’t as interested. Perhaps the snooty white one-“ “Bitchity,” Trixie supplied. Faith did not bother correct her, as he still had some soreness in his neck from the beating ‘Bitchity’ had commanded her guards to perform. “-might have also went along with it, but the other three-“ Cadence paused, but when Trixie didn’t supply and cute and insulting names, the alicorn continued, “-they see me more as a tool or a weapon; something pretty they can trot out to prove they haven’t destroyed everything from Aunt Celestia’s reign.” Cadence glowered in annoyance. “They kept me locked in my room when they weren’t having me canter about the city, visiting the poor ponies they are brainwashing. I haven’t felt the wind through my feathers or a drop of magic burst from my horn in nearly a month and a half. I was only brought down here because the queens are going after Twilight and don't want to risk my escaping.” “Poor little foal, forced to not be in a dungeon for a month and let out to walk around,” Trixie snarked. “I mourn for you.” “Trixie, the adults are talking. Go play read your magazine until we are done.” “I am not a child!” Trixie roared. “I am over a 1000, my dear… you are a fetus compared to me.” “Fossil,” Trixie muttered. "When we get out of here I am going to take you over my knee and show you just how much of a child you are!" "Is that a threat?" Trixie snapped. "A promise." "You aren't stallion enough to handle me!" Cadence blinked. “Are you two… flirting?” “No!” Trixie and Faith said sternly. The pink alicorn merely smirked. ~MC~MC~MC~ “So, this is the end of the world!” Shining Armor shouted, watching the battle above his head with wide, fearful eyes. The winds the two alicorns were whipping up roared around the team and the princesses, forcing the captain to scream in order to be heard. “And my sister is causing it!” “I always knew she’d destroy everything!” Spike called out over the howling gale. Though his words were mocking, he couldn’t help but smile as Twilight began to perform Hurricane’s Lightning Rider maneuver. His best friend had been giddy when she had finally perfected it, having always wanted to determine if it was possible. Of course, she had told him she had no plans to actually use it in a battle… Rainbow Dash screamed as Twilight bucked the bolt and sent it into the cyan alicorn. …but fate had a funny way of making liars of us all. The Doctor was the only one not impressed. “I’ve seen the end of days plenty of times and this rates about a 6.” He winced when Rainbow Dash animated several clouds to take on the form of griffons, which dive-bombed Twilight and forced the mare to go into her intangible form. “Though I will admit this is a bit flasher than that volcano…” “They’re going to destroy the entire city,” Spitfire whispered, not caring if any pony heard her. This entire time she had been gearing up to take on Rainbow Dash, to give the queen some revenge for the pain she had brought upon her and those that had lost friends and family to their insane rule. The rest of the rebellion thought that she had a death wish because Spitfire lived with the guilt that she had ran while her friends and comrades had been brainwashed by the cyan alicorn. But now, Spitfire knew that they were 100% right. She did have a death wish… because she could never hope to take on one of the queens and she STILL wanted to go up and kick Rainbow’s flank. “I suggest we move!” Celestia called out. She grimaced as Twilight dove at her former friend, the sound of the two mares colliding rocking several buildings. “Perhaps to someplace where we can be sheltered-“ “-or we can get the hell out of this city!” Luna called out, already racing down the street. She turned, glaring at them when they just stared at her blankly. “This was suppose to be a rescue, right? Well then hurry up and RESCUE US!” And with that, the 6 of them ran.