The Ash

by Raging Mouse


The Assault

Chapter 32:

The Assault

Trumpets blared their alarm signals. Cries of confusion, fear and orders echoed from the city below. Princesses Celestia and Luna, together with Shining Armor and the Element Bearers, all clad in light barding, didn’t look down at the chaos of the capital but rather at the source of the panic.

Walls of cloud were rising around Canterlot, trapping the city and the castle in an upright cylinder of clear air surrounded by darkness and dust.

“The normal clouds of winter do not rise that high.”

“You are correct, Luna. These are not normal clouds. They are dry... filled with ash. There is alicorn magic in the storm.”

“Tia... How can the queen be an alicorn? We have records of a Diamond Dust. Born into a wealthy family of the jewellers’ guild. Parents are active in the Seaddle political scene. She’s listed as being a unicorn. No crimes.”

“Dear sister, I couldn’t possibly answer that. I don’t recall how we became alicorns. Were we born as such? Perhaps we were linked to our aspects during adulthood in the same way as Diamond Dust seems to be linked to the ash, perhaps not. The time for answers is not upon us yet.”

The clouds were now higher than the highest peak of Mount Canterlot. Their ascension slowed and stopped. Shining Armor looked down.

“Princesses, the enemy is visible. Shall I signal fire at will?”

“Not yet. We’re playing for time. Let’s not hurry our adversaries unnecessarily.”

Celestia looked down. The clouds that had girdled Canterlot Plateau were receding, retreating into the cylindrical wall of the higher clouds. As they retreated they revealed column upon column of marching ponies. She brought some energy to her horn and cast a focusing spell, looking closer.

“By the sun. They are... clad in stone. Their spears... stone! Their shields, stone!”

Luna also looked down at the emerging troops.

“Alien stone, I think you’ll find. Our unicorns will not be able to use their magic against them.”

This produced a snort from Shining Armor.

“Maybe not telekinesis, but a simple burst from anypony’s horn will blast that armor to pieces.”

“Maybe so, Captain... but the resulting eruption of chaos will likely hurt our defenders much more than their attackers. Take a look at the back of the columns, Armor.”

He squinted, trying to see what had caught Princess Luna’s attention.

“They’re towing huge carts, filled with... rocks and dirt? And... oh. Catapults.”

“They intend to poison us. Overwhelm us with the ash. They know we could just wait four days for all of their alien matter to decay, but they’ve brought along enough to corrupt all of Canterlot when it does so. The solitary Elements will not be able to neutralise enough of it before the time is up.”

“So... They intend to invade Canterlot, and failing that they will try to heap so much ashen matter on us that we’re wiped out four days from now when it all goes kablooey.”

“I’d guess so, though I am not familiar with ‘going kablooey’, Captain. Is it a new military term?”

“No, Princess. It is vernacular for exploding. I’d recommend not using it in official texts.”

“Noted.”

They watched in silence as the opposing army spread out. Then Shining Armor’s breath caught in his throat. Luna glanced at his face and followed his gaze down to an open wagon. Princess Cadence was shackled by her legs to four sturdy posts, and a tiara of stone sat on her head, cradling her horn. Her wings were bound as well. She appeared tired but otherwise in good condition. Luna frowned at the setup for a moment, unfurling one of her wings and gently touching Shining Armor with it to reassure him, before letting her gaze set on the next wagon. That one was built like a mobile bank vault. Iron bars criss-crossed a large, studded wooden box resting on four solid wooden discs that served as wheels. Six ponies struggled to pull it. Almost a hundred ponies guarded it.

“I wonder what is so dangerous that an alicorn pales in comparison and why they’ve taken all these pains to bring it here.”

Celestia tilted her head in contemplation.

“Good question. We shall see what we’ll find out once the inevitable envoy reaches our throne room.”

“With all due respect, Celestia, meeting with them would be stupid.”

“What do you mean, Armor?”

“They are here to conquer. They might occupy the city and even the castle itself, but they could never claim to have taken Equestria unless they can lay their hooves on you. Everything else is a secondary concern: Equestria stands and falls together with you. The envoys will demand unconditional surrender, and when you say no I give even odds for them to try something right then and there. Putting any of this scum in the same room as you is extremely inadvisable.”

“Thank you for your insight, Captain, but I doubt the queen herself will accompany the envoy, and we can surely manage anypony else trying to spring a surprise attack. She’ll have something else in mind I’m sure. We’ll entertain the guests as long as possible until they realise we’re only stalling. Come, we have other things to plan.”


~~~~~


The envoys from the ashen entered the ballroom. The three high priests ambled sedately forward, smiling serenely at everything and everypony, their jewelled ceremonial staves glittering in the candlelight. Rarity and Pinkie Pie stood side by side in front of them.

“Welcome! The princesses are slightly occupied but will meet with you momentarily. In the meanwhile, perhaps you’d like some refreshments? We’ve put together an assortment of freshly baked goods for your enjoyment.”

The spokespony of the ashen, a wizened earthen mare clad in blue-black robes, looked over the presented delicacies with every sign of enjoyment.

“That was very kind of you indeed! We’re of course saddened to hear that the princesses cannot see us immediately, but we’re quite prepared to wait as long as it takes. They should under no circumstances feel the need to rush their schedules on our behalf.”

She gazed steadily at Rarity and Pinkie Pie, still smiling, while a tremendous boom shook the castle and trumpets signalled alarms from Canterlot City. Then she continued.

“After all, our troops certainly don’t see the need to reschedule their activities while we wait.”

Rarity alternated between gasping and sputtering monosyllables.

“B – But that’s a gross breach of diplomacy! Military etiquette clearly states that—”

“Miss Rarity, this delegation is not here for diplomacy. We will be close, should the Princesses see reason and surrender. At that very moment we’ll run out of here and shout for the fighting to cease. We wish to provide expedient mercy to the citizens of Canterlot – to make sure that as soon as their tyrants bow to us there will be peace.”

Pinkie huffed and used her forelegs to sweep up half of the table’s displays of sugary treats in a single move.

“Well then, these wares were for diplomats! I guess I’ll go find some and make sure they are having a good time!”

The high priest merely fixed her with a level stare.

“You do that. We don’t anticipate having to stay very long in any case.”

Rarity growled and rushed out of the room, all the way to the castle’s gates and into Canterlot City. The capital sloped downwards from the castle to the city gates, allowing Rarity to assess the situation at a single glance with every street laid before her. Huge boulders were flying up and crashing onto the city buildings from the plains below. Clusters of smaller rocks and pebbles rained down and threatened to cause serious injury to anypony caught beneath them. At the same time the wall of cloud was collapsing. In mere seconds the billowing ash would descend upon the city. A cry went up, repeated by everypony who heard it. Rarity shouted it as well.

“Cover your mouths!”

It was the work of a split second for Rarity to uncoil her scarf and tie it around her head so it acted as a filter in front of her mouth. Then she ran on in the abruptly darkened street, squinting through the dust.

A shape in front of her turned out to be an armor-clad unicorn clutching at her throat and wheezing. Rarity ran up to the mare and gripped the fabric of a plain skirt peeking out underneath the armor with her magic, ignoring the sharp stabs of pain in her horn as small pieces of dust interfered with her telekinesis, ripping out a patch of cloth and bringing it up to the mare’s snout. Then she opened her heart to the Element around her neck, bathing the choking unicorn in silvery light. Focus returned to her patient’s gaze and she was rewarded with a grateful but hurried hug before the unicorn ran onwards. Rarity ran after her, down through the city streets, stopping to aid those who’d been caught unprepared for the ash.

Horns were lighting up, sending pulses of magic up into the polluted air. A dangerous tactic, and the unicorns doing so were weighed down by multiple layers of clothing to soak up the chaos magic that issued forth from the overloaded particles of ash in their vicinity. Rarity ran up to every thickly clothed unicorn she saw, purging the accumulated corruption from their armor with her Element. She was progressing slowly closer to the city gates, where the noise of fighting was loud enough to tear at the eardrums of anypony in immediate vicinity.

Pegasi!

The sudden cry of warning made Rarity look up at the sky. The ashen clouds above were swirling, stirred by unseen wings within them. Shouts of surprise and alarm were heard from all sides. A net, weighted by stones, suddenly fell out of the ash above, entangling her. She yelled with surprise of her own and focused on her Element again, sending a small pulse in all directions. The ashen web crumbled to dust. An anguished scream nearby made her look around and see the nearest armored unicorn succumb to aura feedback from the much more concentrated ash in the net that had entangled him. Rarity quickly ran in his direction but failed to reach him before yet another net enveloped and tripped her.

Two pegasi landed in front of the struggling stallion, each carrying a staff of some kind strapped to their barrels, with a small jewel at the end pointing forward. They laid a hoof on their staves and guided the jewelled ends towards the unicorn’s horn. A bright arc of blue-black magic made contact between the staves and the unicorn, causing the hapless stallion to writhe and spasm with pain.

Rarity gasped. She could feel her perception change: the unicorn was turning from ally to enemy. It lasted only for a short moment, though, before the unicorn collapsed and the pegasi collected their nets... and turned to Rarity, the net entangling her disintegrating, already sending a kick towards the closer one’s head. The pegasi have quick reflexes, but it would have taken precognition to react in time.

As one pegasus flew into a wall and collapsed, the other one stared with wide eyes at Rarity before leaping into the air.

Element Bearer!

Rarity gulped. She’d just been promoted from random target to priority target. A nearby doorway offered the most likely protection, so she darted to it and found the door ajar. A bolt of lightning struck the street behind her and the shockwave picked her up and threw her inside and against the wall of a hallway. She looked back, stunned, and saw a pegasus mare land next to where the lightning had struck, electricity arcing over her wings as she scanned around. Rarity’s white coat was perfectly outlined against the dark wooden wall of the hallway, and the pegasus spotted her immediately. Lightning flashed in her eyes and Rarity could hear the electric hum as the pegasus unfurled her wings, letting her feathers sprout like antennae.

The pegasus charged, electricity playing over her body. Rarity yelled defiance and her horn flashed wildly as she slammed the heavy oaken front door into the oncoming face of her opponent. There was a crunch and brief burst of electricity on the wooden surface. Then Rarity let the door open again and saw her enemy lying in the middle of the street, out cold and with blood pouring from her snout. She quickly concentrated on her Element, sending a pulse each of its magic towards the two unconscious pegasi and the still unconscious stricken unicorn.

My little ponies, cover your ears!

Celestia’s voice in her head. The princess sounded urgent, so Rarity did as told and clapped her hooves over her head.

There was a noise as if the very air was torn asunder, followed by a boom that wasn’t heard as much as felt. Rainbow shockwaves of magic shredded the ashen clouds and impacted the streets below, clearing the air of the ashen dust and severely stunning any ashen caught in their wake. Rarity spotted Rainbow Dash pulling up from her pass over the city, lightning-gemmed necklace glittering.

Then a blue-black bolt of lightning flew over Dash’s shoulder. Enemy pegasi were flying out of the cloud walls, trailing ash and smoke, and converging on her. The clouds and the ash was slowly creeping back over the city, but the defenders were capitalizing on the improved visibility and clear air, pushing the disoriented enemy back towards the gates.

Rarity glanced up at the dot in the sky that was Rainbow Dash. Her friend would probably relish the twenty-to-one odds, but Dash was being distracted when her sonic rainboom would soon be needed again. Biting her lip, Rarity ran into the building again. She lit her horn and looked around, searching for a staircase when her light fell on three small, frightened faces peering at her from behind the edge of a partially opened cellar door.

“Mommy?”

Rarity’s breath caught in her throat. Images of Sweetie Belle and her parents flashed before her eyes, but she forced herself to remain composed.

“Not mommy, young ones. She told you to stay hidden, didn’t she? Go!”

Her inflection had been perfect and the foals obeyed instantly, closing the cellar door. Rarity looked to the right of the door and found stairs leading up. She muttered under her breath.

“This is for you, little sister.”

Soon she was clambering out of a hatch and onto the sloping roof of the mansion. Sharpened stakes had been mounted on the roof tiles in order to hinder enemy pegasi from landing. She picked her way gingerly between them until she was standing on the crest of the roof, switching her gaze between the sky and the colorful pennants flying from the mansion’s flagpoles.


~~~~~


Rainbow Dash dodged a bolt of blue-black magic before turning into the path where it had flown past and accumulating G:s until she heard her bones creak. She was prepared for the surprised pegasus stallion now meeting her head-on and extended her back legs just enough to snag both of the attacker’s wings just above their base. She felt one wing give against her hoof, pulling the bone out of its alignment. The pegasus beneath her screamed in pain and started to plummet. Dash held on and grabbed the net tucked in the pegasus’ belt before kicking him away, sending him falling towards the spiked rooftops of the city below. Then she flapped twice to dodge another pony who’d tried to skewer her with a spear.

She fought to regain some speed as she divided her attention between her pursuers and untangling the net in her hooves. A bolt of lightning shot out at her and she let it course along her wingtips to be deflected against another pegasus who took it straight in the chest, frying her primaries and sending her into an unconscious spin.

Dash’s awareness was razor-sharp. She had almost an omniscient view of the sky around her and its air currents. It was almost like meditation to her, a serene state of mind where air and muscle conspired to dance violently with her foes. That was why she dodged the wingdaggers before she was conscious of somepony managing to sneak behind her. She noted the new opponent’s flight vector and added it to the constantly updating list in her mind, focusing instead on the unravelling bunch of weights and webbing in her hooves. She yawed hard right and opened her wings fully. The braking caused the net’s weights hanging from her hooves to swing like the end of a flail, connecting hard with the back of a pegasus flying past. Then she swung the net around and open, hurling it into the face of a careless opponent who was trying to charge her.

Then she regarded the newcomer hovering nearby with narrowing eyes.

“Hello, Spitfire.”

“Hello, Rainbow Dash. Time to see if your warrior spirit can cash all the checks your mouth has written.”

Rainbow Dash glanced around, noting that the other pegasi were keeping back for the moment.

“What do you mean? I don’t see anypony in this sky who could – whoa!

Spitfire had done something with her wings that Rainbow Dash hadn’t quite been able to follow, suddenly shooting forward with momentum that Dash just couldn’t comprehend how she’d achieved. The dodge had been a hair’s breadth from failing and Spitfire seemed to be charged with so much static electricity that it singed the tips of Dash’s feathers. She quickly tried to pull away, but Spitfire turned so hard that Dash’s eyes threatened to water in sympathy. There was something else, too: little metallic whistling noises as Spitfire gently undulated her wings, dislodging small winged needles tucked between her feathers. The needles curved further inwards in the direction of Spitfire’s turn, sending a cloud of stinging death towards Rainbow Dash.

Dash yelled and dodged again... and felt a hoof connect against the back of her head. Spitfire had managed to make Dash focus her attention on just one opponent out of fifteen. Bad mistake on Dash’s part. She folded her wings around her and let herself plummet while she tried to fight the unconsciousness threatening to envelop her. Lightning hissed past her, sending inquisitive sparks into her mane and causing her to twitch, but also clearing her head somewhat.

She tasted death. This was usually the point during her stunt practice when she knew she’d pushed herself over her limit and it was time to pull out, but it wasn’t the ground that was rushing to meet her that would kill her now. Still, she looked down, searching for a street where she could do some canyon flying. Instead she saw three large, blue gems centered in a huge, rainbow-coloured bullseye.

She grinned and opened her wings, yelling straight ahead:

“Catch me if you can, you neutered turkeys!”

Normally, a dive worthy of a sonic rainboom would have been the last thing on her mind while dogfighting multiple enemies carrying long-range weapons: it was fast, sure enough, but it was also straight as a sunray before she could reach critical velocity. She flapped her wings to gain speed quicker during the first stage of her dive, hoping that the faster pegasi would try to catch her and thus fly in the way of the ones trying to shoot her with their lightning.

Even if the chasing pegasi were unable to match Rainbow Dash’s speed they had to stay on her trail if they wished to continue engaging her. There was one pegasus back there who probably could, however, especially when flying in Dash’s slipstream. She started to feel a very intense electric charge on her hindlegs just as she approached the strange floating bullseye.

The bullseye and the gems dissolved into tens of colorful ribbons that flowed around Dash, letting her pass without touching her. A familiar blue aura caught her attention for a split second and she saw Rarity out of the corner of her eye as Dash shot past just below critical velocity.

Then the electric charge was suddenly gone. Dash spread her wings again, pulling up and out of her dive below the roof level of most buildings along the street she’d entered. She looked over her shoulder and saw Rarity standing on a rooftop and waving back at her. The unicorn’s horn was glowing as she used large streamers of cloth to snare two pegasi who were trying to fly through the bullseye. An unconscious Spitfire, likely shocked by the sudden telekinetically induced deceleration, lay at her hooves.

Dash flew over to Rarity and hoofbumped before landing on the roof. She grinned at the limp form of Spitfire while engaging the Element around her neck. Spitfire’s eyes fluttered open while the Element’s glow was still fading around her.

“Well done, Dash. Though next time we’ll have to try a little one-on-one.”

“Bah! Why make it harder for you if you’ve already lost once?”

“Call it friendly sparring.”

Lightning grounded itself on some of the stakes on the roof, and Rainbow Dash took to the air to deal with the rest of her pursuers. Rarity walked over and studied the bound pegasus.

“You must be Rarity.”

“Charmed, I’m sure.”

“If you could unbind me then I’d be very grateful. We need to hurry and make sure the princesses are safe.”

Rarity tilted her head.

“Why wouldn’t they be?”

“Did you see the jewelled staves we’ve been issued?”

“Yes?”

“The envoys carry more powerful versions.”