//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 "Flight of the Highwind" // Story: Equestria Noir Case 25 "Endgame" // by Jacoboby1 //------------------------------// Chapter 2 “Flight of the Highwind” Perspective: Private Eye I steered the Highwind out into the battle outside. Everywhere the royal guard was locked into mortal combat with the changeling horde. The guards fared better than they did last time, what with not having to worry about the bugs transforming. I ducked as a changeling tried to knock me off. Twilight then fired a bolt of magic at the creature and sent him falling over the edge. “There’s too many of them!” “It’s only getting worse!” Rainbow called from above. “We got another of those portals opening up!” I looked ahead and saw what she was talking about. A blue portal was opening before my eyes and out of it came…a dragon? It was Shar’drel, the dragon who murdered Spike’s parents. The dragon who tried to ensure that Spike died as well. She was different now though, her black scales showed similar blue markings to those on the Changelings. Her eyes seemed, empty somehow. “Hard to starboard!” I cried, turning the ship around. Shar’drel roared a terrifying roar and Twilight held on for dear life to the railing. The ship barely dodged Shar’drel’s swoop and we started moving alongside her. “Pinkie, fire portside cannons!” I yelled. “Firing captain!” Pinkie yelled, the rest of us covered our ears as all three cannons fired at Shar’drel. The dragon got hit in the side by our barrage and seemed disoriented. I then yelled into the hold, “How are we doing on engines?” “Ah’m no expert Private,” Applejack called from below. “But Ah’d say we’re puttin’ her through her paces ere!” “She’s coming back!” Rainbow cried. I turned around and saw Shar’drel was flying straight towards us. Rarity glared at her and growled, “You beast! I will never forgive you for what you did!” She then climbed up to swivel gun mounted on the rear railing and aimed at Shar’drel. She fired and the cannon ball hit the dragon square in the face. Shar’drel roared loudly. It was then I remembered… “We forgot Spike!” I yelled in realization. “He’s probably at the castle!” Twilight said and began pointing. “Turn now and hurry!!!” “Turning now!” I yelled, turning the ship around towards the castle and heading full speed. “Oh dear, I seem to have made her quite angry,” Rarity said, pointing behind us. Twilight and I looked back as Shar’drel flew towards us, opening her jaws wide. “Private, move!!!” Twilight screamed as Shar’drel launched a fireball at us. I turned the ship just in time to avoid it. I made for a set of towers and flew between them. Good thing I was picking up on how to fly this thing otherwise this will be a really short trip. “Go, go, go!” Twilight yelled as Shar’drel started gaining on us. “Move to the le-no right!” “Twilight, I love you...” I turned to her. “But will you just let me drive!” “Guys!” Rainbow called. “Down on the bridge there!” All of us looked to see Spike running away from a group of changelings. He turned and fired a fireball at one as he stood on a bridge. It was pretty high up from the ground, he must’ve gotten lost in the chaos. “Spike!” Twilight called to get his attention. “Twilight!” Spike yelled. “Down here!” Before anything else could be said Rarity grabbed a nearby rope, tied it around herself and to a nearby railing and leaped off. I watched her use the momentum to swing into a changeling about to hit Spike. Rarity once again showed her fighting prowess by bucking a changeling that tried to grab her from behind. Spike looked on in awe for a minute but shook his head and blasted a changeling with a ball of fire. The bridge was clear and Spike went up to Rarity. “I’m glad I found you guys!” “I wasn’t about to leave you behind, my Spikey Wikey,” she said, hugging the dragon to her. Twilight and I couldn’t help but smile wide…but my smile soon faded. I saw a changeling, he was moving towards the couple while they were so enraptured in one another. Wait…a changeling killed Spike in the original history… This was when Spike died! I pulled out blackbird, aimed it at the changeling, and fired once. The bullet missed and the changeling screeched at the couple. Spike put himself in front of Rarity as the changeling lunged at them, fangs bared. Then Twilight leaped off the side of the ship, and slammed into the changeling. She started wailing on the bug. “Don’t you dare touch him! You will never hurt Spike!” When the changeling fell unconscious Twilight breathed a little and looked at Spike. The dragon ran to his mother/sister figure and held her tight. Twilight in turn embraced Spike as Rainbow and I started to pull up Rarity’s rope. Soon Spike, Twilight, and Rarity were all on the Highwind. Spike looked around in wonder. “Cool! I’ve never been on an airship before!” “Still not as cool as real flying,” Rainbow said, landing on the deck. “So what do we do now?” “Princess Luna ordered us to escape,” Twilight explained. “That’s probably why she got us to the ship.” “But where would we run to darling?” Rarity asked frantically. “We run back,” I said, walking to the steering wheel. “Private, are you crazy?!” Twilight screamed, running to me. “Princess Luna ordere-” “I know Twilight,” I said, looking at her. “But I made a promise to look after Luna. I’m not about to abandon a friend to become Changeling bait.” Twilight looked into my eyes, saw the sincerity in them, and nodded. “Alright, but we try to help Princess Celestia and Voidera too.” “That goes without saying,” I said, taking the steering wheel. “Uh, guys!” Rainbow pointed starboard. “Our old friend is back!” All of us looked on Shar’drel flying towards us. My eyes became pinpricks and I yelled, “Full speed ahead!” The thrusters fired and we found ourselves on the run from the dragon again. Spike glared back at Shar’drel. “I thought we beat her!” “Well apparently she’s seeking her revenge darling,” Rarity grumbled, hugging Spike close to her protectively. “I’m not about to let her hurt you again.” “Rarity…” Spike said, holding Rarity as the ship maneuvered around a set of towers. Shar’drel kept close to us and fired a ton of fireballs that luckily didn’t hit due to the small size of our vessel. “She’s gaining on us!” Rainbow cried from above. “Can’t you lose her?” Twilight asked me. “She’s going as fast as she can!” I explained, manuvering the vessel over a mansion where a group of guards were fighting with the swarm. “Guys, look!” Rainbow exclaimed. I looked on and streaks of fire and storm clouds were flying towards Shar’drel. The dragon only had a second to react as Spitfire flew towards her and punched the dragon in the muzzle. The dragon was disoriented as the Wonderbolts flew around her like flies over a corpse. Rainbow landed on deck and whooped, “Aww yeah! The Wonderbolts came to help us!” A wonderbolt landed on the ship’s deck. He was about my age with long blue hair that was streaked back. He lifted his goggles to reveal cheery green eyes. “Hey! Long-time no see Rainbow.” “Soarin!” Rainbow gushed. “Oh my gosh, it’s really you!” “Been a while since the gala,” Soarin said with a smile. “We heard about the attack on Canterlot and thought we’d lend our wings to the fight.” “It’s very welcome Soarin,” Twilight smiled at the pegasus stallion. “We are thankful for the assist.” “We’ll keep this freak off your back,” Soarin said, looking back on his teammates. He then gave me a salute. “Permission to disembark and kick some dragon tail?” I saluted the Wonderbolt. “Permission granted, good luck Soarin.” “Who needs luck?” he quipped, walking to the edge. “All I need is the wind at my back, and my teammates beside me.” With that he leaped off the edge and joined in the fight. “So awesome!” Rainbow gave a fan filly squeal. She then looked at me, “I’ll help them, they can use a flier like me!” She was about to fly out when I realized…Rainbow died around this time… I used my magic to grab Rainbow’s tail. She looked back at me. “What are you doing? I can help them!” “Rainbow we need you for the Elements of Harmony,” I said firmly. “But, I can’t just leave them either!” Rainbow argued, pointing at the flying group. “I know Rainbow,” Twilight said soothingly. “We’ll come back for them once we regroup somewhere else.” Rainbow slowly nodded. “Okay, for you guys I’ll listen.” Twilight and I were out of commission in the original timeline. By us being here we saved Rainbow from death and stopped the painful future that was originally to come. Now, it was time to save Luna… ______________________________________________________ Perspective: Luna I struggled as the Changelings piled on me. I tried to slice them but one of the insects took away my scythe. I was too weak at this point to fight back. My mane almost reverted completely to what it once was. It would take a month to regain the power lost. Right now though, I was practically pinned by these irritable changelings. Chrysalis laughed at my plight. “Oh what’s the matter your highness? Too tired to fight back?” “You wench!” I said, still struggling as the changelings held me down. “If I was at full power I could kill you with a glance!” “Brave words from such a little filly,” Chrysalis mocked. “You never could stack up to your sister. She at least brought a challenge. Why if I wasn’t so stacked up on love she would’ve killed me easily.” “Shut up!” I yelled. “The truth is you knew you had no chance against me,” Chrysalis chuckled. “You are and always will be, second rate. That’s why you teleported your dear elements away. But it’s only a matter of time before my army finds and makes them suffer.” “You will not harm them!” I growled. “And your precious Detective? Don’t worry, I won’t kill him, at least not until you can watch him suffer and die!” She laughed maniacally. Private, my friend… Please be safe, I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to you. Nocturne would never forgive me… BOOM!!! Suddenly the wall got blasted by a powerful explosive that sent the changelings on my back flying. I looked to the hole in the wall and saw Private and his friends on an airship. Good, my teleportation spell worked. The cannon fired again, this time aiming for the changeling queen who barely managed to dodge in time. The cannonball took out the wall behind her. I looked as Private leveled the deck with the hole in the wall. Hmm, it seems he knows how to fly it. I knew she was among his ancestors. It was only natural he would know it because she knew it. But even still, he ignored my orders! “Princess Luna, come on!” Private yelled. “I ordered you all to leave!” I yelled back. “I’m not about to leave a friend behind!” he argued. “I made a promise to a very old friend I would watch over you!” I looked into his grey eyes, and knew that he meant Nocturne. Even in death you watch over me my love, ever loyal indeed my stallion. I walked over to the gaping hole in the wall and hopped onto the deck. Tia was going to be mad once she heard of that. Now…time for…a nap… I collapsed onto the deck and heard voices all around me. I looked up at them, and smiled contently as I drifted off to slumber. I... had... friends… ______________________________________________________ Perspective: Voidera Tia and I leaped back as the battle wore on. We’d been fighting for what felt like hours. I breathed heavily as I looked on Lunard, he might not have shown it but he was just as weary. Tia beside me had suffered some wounds from the fight. Parts of her armor were discarded and her wing was broken from a sword strike. Her right eye also had a cut over it. Alicorn natural healing ability would help her recover her strength in time. As for me, I got a few cuts on my side, along with a nasty bruise on one of my hind legs. I would have to limp through the battle and that is never a good thing. Lunard came at us again, swinging Moonsunder down on Tia. I leapt in the way and blocked it with Elucidator. My blade cracked under the force of the blow. This sword won’t last forever. “Why do you hold back Voidera?” Lunard asked. “I know it is well within your power to defeat me.” “You were the one who always taught me restraint.” I said, grunting from the effort of holding back his blade. My magic was being strained. But I can’t use my full power on Lunard…I couldn’t. “But I also taught you to do what was necessary,” Lunard said. “Had you merely listened to me and did what I asked the cataclysm wouldn’t have happened. The false prophet wouldn’t have activated the spell and wiped the Alicorns from the planet. All you had to do to stop it was sacrifice the mongrels to my spell and all would have been saved.” “What was worth saving?” I snarled, glaring at him “A society that stagnated to the point when it would sacrifice it’s own children just to feel better?” “They are not Alicorn children; they are mongrels responsible for the destruction of our very way of life!” Lunard roared at me. “Maybe your way of life,” I said, grinning. “But it was never my way of life. You forget, I am a mongrel myself.” “Stop this pointless fighting Voidera,” Lunard chided, leering at me. “I know why you hold back, it is because you can’t bring yourself to kill me. Just like fifteen hundred years ago when you and I faced each other. You did not kill me, instead you sealed me away by tricking Discord.” I kept holding Moonsunder back as Lunard continued. “I know you; I know you have enough magical power within you to level this entire city.” Lunard’s voice was cold and calculating. “Yet you refuse to use it here, you can easily defeat me if you used your power. Yet you won’t, it’s not just because you hold useless sentiment towards me. It’s because you want to serve as a distraction. You wish to do it so that mongrel can escape.” “Private has nothing to do with this!” I roared, my eyes flashing. “Oh, has the mighty dragon gone soft?” Lunard mocked and then glared at me. “You know full well and why I hunt him! That mongrel holds dark magic within him! He should’ve been put down as a child before the taint could grow!” I gave him a long look and frowned. “He didn’t kill Solara…” Lunard’s eyes flashed with fury and he brought his blade up and slammed it down on mine. At that point the blade completely severed and I fell back as he began swinging madly at me. I can’t let him take his revenge out on Private! I have to give them enough time! I have…to use…this magic… My eyes glowed red as well as my horn. I crouched down and felt my body heal from it’s wounds. I roared as I felt claws come out of my hooves, destroying the white shoes I once had. I felt my fangs and teeth become larger and more deadly looking. I was about to unleash the fury on Lunard…. I flew at him with blinding speed and clawed at Lunard. He blocked the attack with Moonsunder, but claw marks left themselves on the blade. I roared and tried to skewer him with my horn. He yelled in pain as my horn pierced his armor and hit his shoulder. His own horn glowed blue and he fired a bolt of magic that hit me. I flew back and opened my mouth to unleash a torrent of flame at him. Lunard threw up a shield spell to protect from it. I then zoomed towards him and slammed my hind hooves into his armor, denting it and sending him flying to the wall. Lunard stood after recovering from the blow. I charged at him again, but this time Lunard was prepared. He lowered himself, and fired a beam of blue magic at me that sent me flying. I felt…the power…fade from me…as I lay on the ground. I used too much magic already, had I let it continue…nothing would’ve have stopped me from destroying everything. I felt my claws return into my hooves and my fangs return to normal. My fury form could only last for so long before I gave into my instinct to destroy everything. I hoped I bought them enough time. Lunard walked to me, and looked down in disappointment. “Still not willing to do what it takes. You always were a weak stallion.” He raised Moonsunder again, but cried out as Tia’s spear pierced his side. I watched my love dodge Lunard’s counter blow. She stood there, panting from the effort of the fight. Lunard looked at her with equal disappointment. “I had hoped I raised you better than this, Celestia.” “The father I knew would never call Voidera weak!” Celestia cried, glaring at Lunard. “Nor would he do anything like this! Voidera was practically a son to you! You raised and cared for him in that tower as your own! Does that mean nothing to you?!” “I know your feelings for him Celestia,” Lunard said. “You betrayed me by those feelings.” “I love him father!” Celestia cried. “There’s nothing that will ever change that! Fifteen hundred years I waited for him and never took another lover! I will fight for him with every fiber of my being because of that love!” Lunard looked at her for a long time, and then said, “You are truly like your mother. But you are also more like me then you realize.” “I’m like the old you,” Celestia said somberly. “Before mother’s death, you were a kind king who cared for the people. You may have been stoic and cold but you always made time for me and Luna. You taught me everything I know about being a ruler. But you also taught me a queen should have a heart and a head. Voidera, is my heart, as mother was yours.” Lunard looked down, I could see he was remembering Solara. The mare he loved, the mare he cherished above everything in the world. Is this why he’s hunting Private? Because he blames the magic within my student somehow? He then looked at Celestia and scowled, “You however, were a disobedient daughter who refused to follow my commands. Had you simply submitted to Onyx and became a proper ruler we would have avoided the nonsense of you trying to save the mongrels. Now I return to find you have a whole kingdom of them. A mockery of what the Alicorns once were.” “I chose to do what was right!” “You chose to betray me!” “You aren’t my father, the stallion standing before me is somepony else!” Celestia screamed. “I want my old father back! The stallion who taught me everything! The stallion whom I respected and idolized! You are just a tyrant waiting to happen!” “I will grant you this only because you are my daughter,” Lunard replied. “Surrender now and I will spare you and Voidera’s lives.” “I refuse to bow to you! You are in my kingdom...” She brandished her spear. “Now, I think you’ve overstayed your welcome.” “Poor choice…” His horn glowed and Tia’s spear hit her upside the head. I cried out as Tia was soon thrown against a pillar. She crashed into it hard and Lunard held her by the throat in his magic. “Leave her alone Lunard!” I shouted, trying to get up. “Don’t hurt her!” “I have had enough of your pathetic romance,” Lunard growled, and then grabbed me in his magic. “Now, I shall do what I should have done fifteen hundred years ago.” Was this…it? Had I failed…? Faust, forgive me… BOOM!!! A cannon ball suddenly blew threw a stain glass window and hit the floor in front of Lunard. The force sent the surprised Alicorn back and freed Tia and I from his magic. I looked on, there was Private on an airship, along with the rest of the elements and Luna. Celestia looked on and shook her head. “She’s as stubborn as I am sometimes.” I ran to Tia and used our magic to teleport us both onto the ship. I collapsed on the deck as the ship flew away. Hopefully we could get away in time. Faust, thank you for saving us as you saved Tia fifteen hundred years ago. I felt the airship’s engines roar to life and we flew away from the fighting. Hopefully, we bought enough time for the Crystal Empire’s aid. If not, Equestria would be doomed…