Repercussions

by GaryOak


Chapter XX - The Battle of Cloudsdale

Chapter XX
The Battle of Cloudsdale
===============

Spike lost count of how many times he had stared at Canterlot Castle, which grew steadily larger on the horizon. Dust clouds rose and pebbles danced as the tramp of thousands of hooves shook the road like an earthquake. The ranks of Luna's army had swelled over the course of the day, with the addition of the Appleloosans and the buffalo. As he turned his attention to the troops, fear jolted through him.

How many of them are gonna die?

He hugged Rarity's neck. Even her offer to carry him after he had nearly collapsed from exhaustion under the blazing sun could not ease his spirits.

Feeling the tightening of Spike's grip, Rarity turned her head. “Is something the matter, Spikey?”

“It's just...” Spike sighed and waved a hand at the army. “Everything.”

“I know what you mean,” said Rarity as she continued to plod forward. “But everypony here is doing what's right. We've both seen what King Cosmo is willing to do to somepony who stands in his way.”

Spike shivered. “But – but everypony here could die,” he said in hushed tones.

“Then we'll have died for a good cause,” said Rarity, her voice loaded with an unnerving amount of resolution. “I saw what his soldiers tried to do to Alpine Heights. You saw what he did to – to Twilight. Is an Equestria with him as King worth living in?”

Spike relaxed his grip slightly. “You're right. But I can't help feeling like we're all marching to our deaths...”

“Everypony here understands the risks. What matters is we trust in Princess Luna. She's the best hope we have.”

Spike nodded and gazed at the many towers of Canterlot which looked down upon their approach. It surprised him how the simple act of transferring the crown of Equestria from one head to another transformed Canterlot into such an intimidating fortress, when it had felt so welcoming just a fortnight ago. The thought that Cosmo could be watching them from one of the towers at that moment made Spike's scales crawl.

Spike felt as if his fears had been confirmed when the sky abruptly began to darken. The army halted. He looked up in alarm and cried out, but breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the cause of the darkness. Iniquitus, accompanied by scores of dragons, descended upon them. He touched down at the head of the army, and Spike leapt off Rarity's back and rushed to greet him.

“We meet again, little one,” rumbled Iniquitus, lowering his head closer to Spike. “Where is your Princess?”

“She and the pegasi have flown to Cloudsdale,” said Spike, his hands trembling. “Princess Luna told me to welcome you as we march to Canterlot.”

“She will return soon, I trust?” said Iniquitus, drumming his claws on the road, inflicting enormous gashes upon it.

“As soon as she's retaken Cloudsdale,” said Spike. “She's got the Wonderbolts, plus hundreds – or thousands – of pegasi with her! Cloudsdale's as good as ours!”

Iniquitus let out a deep, mirthless chuckle. “You underestimate Cosmo, little one, and so does she. Unlike any of you, I fought a war against Cosmo long ago. He was a cunning foe then, and the intervening centuries have only tempered that cunning, I daresay.”

Spike stood his ground. “Luna's got this! I know it.”

Iniquitus laughed. “We shall see, little one, we shall see...”

* * *

Luna grimly surveyed the city before her from behind a thick veil of clouds. Nearly all of its once magnificent structures bore the scars of the previous night's battle. She squinted. From here, she could only see a few squadrons of the Comets patrolling the city. She frowned. It was most unlike her brother to leave such an important location with little protection.

“Good,” said Spitfire, hovering next to her. “They're none the wiser. We may have lost control of Cloudsdale, but nopony can move clouds like our pegasi.”

Luna nodded. “A wise decision indeed.”

Soarin looked far behind them, to the swarm of slowly approaching Cloudsdale pegasi. “Are we just about ready to do this thing? It looks like everypony's in position.”

Luna turned to face the Wonderbolts. “Very well. The strategy is clear, and we are poised to strike. You may commence the attack.”

The Wonderbolts tossed Luna a quick salute before splitting up and zooming toward different sections of the approaching pegasus air force. After a moment's pause, the entire fleet of pegasi sped toward Cloudsdale. Luna took up formation with them as soon as they neared her position. She veiled herself in a dark haze as she galvanized her power in preparation for the coming battle.

They breached the fluffy wall of white clouds like a spear would flesh. The sounds of Cloudsdale's alarum reached Luna's ears as soon as the first ponies emerged from the clouds. As they drew closer, the Comets scrambled into action, rallying at the city's edge, preparing to meet their foes.

Luna frowned. “There must be only a few hundred of them. Brother, what is your plan?” She blinked and tried to wash away her doubt as the two forces hurtled toward one another at full speed. “Keep your distance from the buildings!” she shouted. “There may be more of them concealed within!”

The forces met several meters above Cloudsdale. Spitfire and Soarin exchanged feral grins before diving headlong into a tightly packed group of Comets. The Comets struck at them, but the two Wonderbolts juked the blows and struck back. Two foes plummeted earthward, one with a shattered pair of goggles, the other with a crushed windpipe.

Spitfire sped upward, pursued by three opponents. Soarin, locked in a tight dogfight, finished his foe with a series of quick jabs and a pair of kicks from his hind legs. He looked up and surged after his wingpony. He caught up to his foes within seconds and wrapped his forehooves around one Comet's wings. The Comet struggled before Soarin brought his hooves up and snapped his neck.

When Spitfire saw what Soarin was doing out of the corner of her eye, she banked hard left before corkscrewing around and smashing into a Comet's chest. He fell with a grunt, and Spitfire brought her hooves up just in time to parry a jab from her foe's comrade. She darted upward and brought her forehooves down on her opponent's head, cracking his skull.

They nodded to one another and surveyed the battle roiling around them. Their comrades were not faring as well. Although the Comets were heavily outnumbered, they held their ground against the Cloudsdale pegasi, who lacked the training, speed, and agility of the Wonderbolts. Soarin and Spitfire steeled themselves as they plunged into the thickest part of the combat.

Luna gritted her teeth as she sped toward a pack of Comets near the middle of the battle. Darkness pulsed around them. The Comets hovered in place and flailed blindly as she swooped in. White electricity crackled on Luna's horn tip and illuminated the sky around them like a buoy in a thick fog. They lunged toward her, but when they drew close, she unleashed her gathered power.

Lightning bolts encapsulated her foes, playing across their bodies and invoking screams of anguish. The Comets writhed as they struggled to break free, but pegasus after pegasus dropped from the sky as the electricity overrode their brains' command of their bodies. When the last of her foes had perished, Luna closed her eyes and exhaled, returning the air around her to normal.

Cheers of triumph rippled throughout the Cloudsdale pegasi as they witnessed the heroics of Luna and the Wonderbolts. They fought with renewed vigour, driving the outnumbered Comets farther and farther back. In the Comets' midst, the Captain led a squadron in a counteroffensive. He wove his way through a group of his enemies, aiming precise kicks and jabs as he passed through.

Emerging from the dogfight unscathed, Captain Comet soared hundreds feet above it before he spun around and hurtled toward them. Gaining velocity by the second, he appeared as a streaking blue meteor. He smashed into the pegasus cluster, laying waste to anypony in his path – friend and foe alike. Once he emerged from the other side, he looped around, laughing as he prepared for another pass. Three Wonderbolts blocked his flight path before he could gain enough momentum.

The Captain screeched to a halt and spat as he sized up his adversaries. “Wonderbolt scum.”

“You'll pay for what happened to Rapidfire!” shouted Spitfire, baring her teeth at him.

“Don't make me laugh,” said the Captain. “His fate was no different from anypony who doesn't serve the King with unquestioning and unrelenting loyalty! Mark my words: none of you shall leave this city alive.”

“Big talk for somepony whose air force is a fifth the size of ours,” said Soarin, wiping a bloodied forehoof on his flight suit.

“You think you'll take the city?” Captain Comet carelessly gestured at the battle raging around them. “Cloudsdale belongs to the King! It will never fall to enemy hooves!”

Soarin roared and charged toward him headfirst, Spitfire and Fleetfoot in tow. The Captain banked hard to the right, narrowly avoiding him, but he left himself exposed to Spitfire's forehooves, which slammed directly into his chest. Winded, he doubled back, dropping several feet. Fleetfoot ducked under him and aimed a kick that connected with his chin.

Captain Comet spat out blood. “You'll – regret – that,” he said as he flew toward the core of his air force as quickly as his wings would carry him.

“Wonderbolts, to me!” boomed Luna's voice across the sky. “Drive them back!”

Cloudsdale's five ace fliers congregated around her and formed the point of a wedge that drove mercilessly into the heart of the Comets' formation. The Comets scattered before them like leaves in the wind. Luna allowed a grim smile to spread across her muzzle. With their numbers thinned, the Comets dispersed and took cover in the city's structures. Spitfire flew to her side.

“We got 'em,” said Spitfire, bearing only a score of minor cuts and scrapes.

“It is a shame that they did not abandon the city upon their defeat,” said Luna, keeping her eyes fixed upon Cloudsdale. “There is no doubt that King Cosmo has a stratagem.”

Spitfire rubbed her chin. “But what? His air force took a beating.”

Luna's eyes narrowed. “That remains to be seen...”

Soarin joined them and tossed Luna a salute. “Princess, is it time for phase two?”

“Yes,” said Luna. “Take your assigned flight groups and exercise extreme caution; my brother will not let this city fall easily, and the few hundred pegasi employed against us were not the full extent of its defenses.”

Spitfire and Soarin saluted and flew to different sections of the pegasus formation. In under a minute, Luna's air force split up and flew toward various sections of the city. Luna hovered in place to observe their progression through Cloudsdale, ready to rush to their aid at any sign of trouble. With the help of Spitfire, she had divided the city into quadrants.

The first was the residential zone, with its myriad of houses capable of concealing hundreds of foes. As she watched the skirmish in the streets below, her fears were soon put to rest. Despite their ability to use the buildings as cover, the hoof-full of Comets defending it crumbled before Spitfire and her troops.

The second quadrant was Cloudsdale's Weather Factory. The pair of Wonderbolts leading their detachment appeared to gain entry with no opposition. Doubt flickered in Luna's mind.

“This is far too easy,” she muttered to herself. “Brother, what are you hiding from me?”

She turned her attention to the town centre. Though it was not a particularly large objective, Luna considered it important. Soarin himself had volunteered to lead that assault, taking only the pegasi whom he had hoof-picked, as he had anticipated it to be difficult to capture. Luna gasped when she witnessed its defenses crumbling as well.

“Of course!” She sped toward the Cloudsdale Coliseum where Fleetfoot and her contingent fought. “The Comets must be using it as their staging area if they are not anywhere else!”

Luna gritted her teeth as she desperately tried to reach it before it was too late. The Coliseum, open as it was, seemed like the least logical place to hide a reserve force, which also made it the easiest to overlook. Its sheer size allowed it to house hundreds of pegasi.

When she flew over the upper lip of the Coliseum, her jaw dropped. A few dozen Comets were already fleeing, as they too had been routed by the Wonderbolt-led pegasi. Before she could do as much as lift a hoof in assistance, the remaining Comets fled toward the Weather Factory.

“Regroup at the city hall!” said Luna, waving a hoof at Fleetfoot. Doubt continued to gnaw at her. Something was not right. Not a single quadrant had appeared to put up much of a fight.

Cloudsdale had not sustained much damage, relative to the ravaged state it was already in. Luna saw groups of pegasi congregating above the city hall and the residential area, as well as the group from the Coliseum behind her. A sharp twinge of dread stabbed the pit of her stomach.

“Has anypony returned from the Weather Factory?” she said to Spitfire when she they landed in front of the city hall.

Spitfire shook her head. “No, and I've been keeping an eye on it, too.”

Luna winced. “Then it is certain. That is where they are making their final stand. Who knows how many of them lie in wait?”

“We can't just leave everypony in there to die!” said Spitfire, punching the air. “They could be alive inside, fighting! We have to help them!”

“And help them we shall,” said Luna, flaring her wings. “But we must be wary. It is possible that they have been killed by an ambush. Many ponies have lost their lives today. I do not wish to fruitlessly add to the death toll.”

“I say we hit 'em with everything!” said Soarin. “I've been inside the Factory tons of times. There's no way there can be enough of 'em to stop us all.”

Luna reluctantly nodded. She stared intently at the Factory, fervently hoping to see signs of combat, but there was only silence. She shivered as she led the pegasi toward it. They reached it with no opposition. Its doors lay wide open. Flanked by Soarin and Spitfire, she took a hesitant step inside. The Factory was eerily quiet, its various normally-churning contraptions unmoving. When she turned and began surveying the floor, she almost cried out in alarm. Beyond the initial set of machinery, it was festooned with the corpses of Cloudsdale pegasi and Comets alike, including –

“NO!” screamed Soarin, flying toward a pair of bodies.

Luna's face fell when she spotted them. Near the entrance to the rainbow factory lay a pair of pegasi clad in the distinct uniforms of the Wonderbolts, the dark blue fabric stained red.

“They must be in the rainbow factory!” said Spitfire, struggling to maintain her composure.

Luna abruptly fired a beam of concentrated energy into the room, creating an explosion that rocked the whole factory and left a thick haze of purple smoke.

“Quickly! Move!” said Luna, charging into the factory beneath the veil she had fashioned.

When Luna and the pegasi entered it, they braced themselves for the Comets to be upon them like a swarm of bees whose nest had been disturbed. But to her thorough befuddlement, the rainbow factory was completely deserted, its floor almost completely devoid of bodies. The pegasi looked around and started to babble amongst themselves as the smoke cleared.

“Are there any other rooms in this facility?” said Luna, looking at Spitfire.

“Just one,” she said, indicating a large pair of doors with elabourate patterns of clouds decorating them. “The refinery.”

Luna gazed at the doors. “I imagine that is where –”

“The raw materials of all the weather are processed before being distributed amongst the other sections of the Factory,” said Soarin. “That's where they must be hiding!”

Luna nodded. “There is no telling how many Comets are behind those doors. Be prepared for anything.”

Her horn shimmered as the doors creaked open to reveal yet another deserted room full of inactive weather machinery. Crates of all shapes and sizes were piled high. Luna's gaze frantically darted from side to side, expecting a group of Comets to pop up from behind a pile of crates at any moment. But the refinery remained silent save for the scores of careful hoofsteps upon the tile floor. When they rounded the corner of yet another crate tower, they were greeted by a single Comet.

“Ah, welcome, Princess Luna,” said the Comet, bowing in an exaggerated fashion. “So glad you could make it!”

“Spare me the theatrics,” said Luna brusquely. “Where is your master?”

“Oh, the Captain and his forces are long gone.” The Comet, smiled broadly. “You, however, won't be joining them.”

“Silence!” said Luna, her voice echoing throughout the vast room. “You will answer me clearly, or you will meet your end!”

The Comet tossed her head back and laughed, voice cracking from the pitch she tried to achieve. “But I am answering you clearly!” she said. “Once we knew of your grand entrance, the Captain left through the refinery's loading bay. We're completely alone here.”

It was then Luna noticed the device the Comet held. It was a slipshod contraption that had a small lever, as well as a wire connecting it to various nearby crates. No sooner had Luna realized this than the Comet pulled the lever, a crazed glint in her eyes.

“Everypony, get out! NOW!” screamed Luna as she took flight and soared toward the exit at top speed.

The others cried out as they attempted to join her, but within seconds, the crates near the Comet exploded, with all the adjacent crates following suit. Luna dared a glance behind her and saw the refinery engulfed in flames as more and more crates full of volatile material exploded in a deadly chain reaction. The pegasi bumped into each other as they tried to escape.

“My wing!” yelled Soarin, trying to free himself from a crate that landed on him and pinned him to the floor.

Spitfire rushed over and grunted in exertion as she helped her wingpony lift the crate. Soarin took off like a bullet as soon as they succeeded. As Spitfire began to join him, another crate, this one from the top of a nearby stack, tumbled down and hit her squarely in the back, spinning her out of control for a few seconds.

When she regained her bearing, she could only open her mouth in horror as a wall of fire rushed to greet her. She could not utter so much as a squeak before the inferno ravaged her, immolating her coat and flight suit in less than a second.

“SPITFIRE!” cried Soarin as he continued to speed toward the exit.

The flames rapidly gained on them, consuming pegasus after pegasus as the explosion grew in strength and speed. Luna projected all of the power she could spare as she unleashed it past the pegasi behind her in an attempt to stall the wild flames. Unhindered, the explosion, fueled by the vast quantities of volatile raw materials, devoured her magic as easily as it did everything else.

With one final burst of speed, Luna shot out of the Weather Factory's front doors, closely followed by scores of pegasi. A mighty plume of fire billowed out from the doors in pursuit. In moments, the inferno consumed the entire structure. The pegasi flew as far away as they could before a deafening explosion rocked all of Cloudsdale.

Its shock waves sent the pegasi tumbling in all directions. When Luna managed to right herself, she hovered in place, slack-jawed, and her eyes filled with tears as she bore witness to the most terrible display of fireworks she had ever seen in her many years of life.