//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: Equestria on the Brink // by G-Money //------------------------------// Chapter 10 The legion of pegasi descended upon Los Pegasus. With Rainbow Dash at its helm, the legion fiercely collided into the rear of the troll army’s ranks, taking down an entire platoon in one fell swoop. “Onwards!” cried an enthusiastic Rainbow Dash. “This city is ours for the taking!” A jubilant cheer erupted throughout the swarm of pegasi. They were eager to take back the city. The troll army soon realized the pegasi presence and turned around in unison to fend off this invading force. A taller troll in the middle of their ranks bellowed an unintelligible noise, and the entire army began launching firebombs at the pegasi. The first orb hit a pegasus from behind, surprising her and knocking her to the ground. Rainbow Dash and her fleet watched as the pegasus fell onto the hard dirt, screaming and writhing in pain. Several nearby pegasi walked over and began flapping their wings to put out the fire, but their efforts were in vain. The burning pegasus repeatedly rolled across the soil, violently calling out for help…but there was nothing anypony could do. More firebombs fell upon the fleet. Pegasus after pegasus fell, squirming helplessly as they waited for inevitable death. “We’ve got to pull back!” called out an older, gray pegasus. “Our ranks are being destroyed!” “We won’t last another five minutes in this madness!” screamed another. Rainbow Dash was clearly disappointed in the broken morale of her comrades. “No! We’ve got to fight on! Los Pegasus needs us!!” “This is suicide! If we stay here, there won’t be anyone left to save Los Pegasus! We need to fall back and regroup!” Rainbow Dash defiantly barked back, “I’m going in there, and I’m saving the city!” She darted over the sea of trolls, skillfully maneuvering around the firebombs that now filled the air, and swiftly entered the city gate. Eight others followed her in, courageously storming the occupied city. “That fool!” exclaimed the gray pegasus. “She’s going to get them all killed. Everyone, fall back!” The remaining pegasi gathered around, dodging the firebombs as best they could. The gray pegasus led them away from the city gate and back into forest. The trolls feigned pursuit, but they knew they could not keep up and turned their full attention to hunting down the nine ponies that had entered the city. The trolls still had a sizable garrison in the city, but most of them had left to assault Fillydelphia. Rainbow Dash was relieved to see that there were patches of pavement still visible – in Fillydephia, the trolls had fully covered the streets. She called out to the few pegasi who had followed her, and together they began their offensive against the trolls. “All ponies, begin fire!” called Dash. One by one they descended into the streets, forcefully knocking down startled trolls. Rainbow Dash quickly jumped back into the air, ready to hit another. The other eight pegasi formed a line behind her, and they proceeded to knock down all trolls that had been on the street. “What should we do with them, Captain?” Captain…I like the sound of that. Rainbow Dash thought for a second, unsure of how to follow up the initial strike. “Um…let’s round them up and drive them out of the city. We can’t have them here within the city if anypony is going to be safe.” Her companions nodded, and they began lifting the fallen trolls in groups of two, with three needed for one of the larger ones. They transported the heavy beasts to the forest south of the city, piling them around the sullen trees. “Good work, everypony!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. Now let’s go beat the rest of those monsters and save the whole city!” “Yeah!” replied her enthusiastic squad. The ponies swiftly returned to Los Pegasus. They charged at a swarm of trolls convening in the courtyard; apparently, an alarm had sounded and all trolls were gathering to search for the invading pegasi. “Capture them all!” bellowed a troll from the center of the city square, pointing his torch at the incoming pegasi. Rainbow Dash knocked the torch out of his arm and another pegasus immediately followed up by striking him on the head. The squad had caught the trolls by surprise, and many of the hideous creatures were now flailing on the ground. “Let’s bring this batch out of the city before they get up!” suggested an orange pegasis. The squad lifted several trolls and began flying back to the forest. Rainbow Dash sped over the Los Pegasus rooftops, growing ever confident in her chances to save the city, when – BAM! – a searing pain seized her back, lurching her into a nearby building. Her hooves lost control of the troll, and the other pegasis collapsed under its weight, tumbling dozens of stories and landing with a loud thud on the street below. Rainbow Dash began to fly to help her comrade, but her wings burned with such a pain that she couldn’t move – and she too began falling towards the street far below. Her eyes slowly began to close, but she caught a fleeting glimpse of bright light out of the corner of her eye; the other pegasi were being hit by the troll fireballs as well, and they were falling one by one. She had led them all to their dooms. Two days had passed, but Twilight and Applejack still hadn’t seen any sign of Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy. “Ah’m starvin’, Twilight. We can’t hold out here much longer ‘an this,” sighed a defeated Applejack. “Do you think they’re…” Twilight couldn’t finish her thought, horrified at the notion of what could have become of her friends. She stared down at the empty street, waiting for any sign of motion. Every blur became a glimmer of hope, but each time she was let down when it turned out to be only a passing troll. After the battle ended, Fillydelphia had become nearly deserted. Trolls still wandered up and down the streets, but Twilight hadn’t seen any other creatures. Most importantly, she hadn’t seen any trace of Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy. “It’s a-been two full days, Twilight. We gots to rescue the Princess.” Twilight turned her gaze from the street, sullenly looking back at the chariot. “I suppose you’re right, Applejack. Let’s go save the Princess.” The two ponies entered the chariot, and Twilight slowly lifted it over Fillydelphia with her unicorn magic. As they flew away, they watched Fillydelphia get smaller and smaller, eventually passing over the horizon. As the city disappeared from view, so did their hope. Equestria could only hope that the two remaining ponies would not abandon it as they had abandoned their friends.