The Battle of Ponyville
They had to have destroyed dozens of the wretched things, but their attacks were not letting up. For every astral Twilight crushed, four more would join the fray. Luna was doing the most damage to them, but that only made her their top target. And the worst part was that only a few of the astrals were actually fighting at all. All around Ponyville, the rest of the herd were simply watching as their numbers continued to swell. They were toying with the ponies.
The had fought their way to the train station. By the time they had gotten there, the train had arrived, and the earth ponies and the unicorns were now battling the astrals as well. Twilight had been in fights before, but never a battle. In the fray of things, surrounded by enemies, there was no clever out or ploy. There was only the instinct for survival, and the desperate need to stop the enemy.
A terrible cry filled the air, drowning even the noise of the battle. It was the same cry the astrals had made when Twilight first met them. At once, the astrals stopped fighting. All of the ones that weren't already in the air lifted into the sky.
“What are they doing?” panted Twilight.
“I...I don't know.” said Luna, just as confused as Twilight. “Whatever it is, it is calling all of them. Look!”
All of the astrals were running away towards the same place. Some were even running past the ponies, ignoring them completely.
There was a light flash. Expecting anything, Twilight braced herself. There was a sound of several ponies hitting the ground.
To her relief, it was Princess Celestia. And not just the Princess, but also Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. The royal guards bowed their heads.
“There's no time for that!” shouted Celestia.
“Princess!” cried Twilight. “Girls! You're all here! And are those... the Elements of Harmony!”
“We couldn't let you fight this all alone,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Shoot, Twilight,” said Applejack with concern in her voice. “You sure look like you've had some night.”
“Her and all of Ponyville from the looks of it,” observed Rarity.
“Listen to me,” said Celestia sternly. “I will soon raise the sun, and for a brief moment, both Luna and I shall be at our strongest. Twilight, you and your friends must use the Elements of Harmony to aid us we reseal the astrals in their prison beyond the stars.”
“Isn't there a way to destroy them?” asked Twilight.
“I'm afraid not,” explained Celestia. “The astrals are immortal beings of pure chaos. Physical destruction only temporarily stops them.”
“But if even one escapes from banishment, the entire herd will follow! We just can't let this happen! They're too numerous!”
“My dearest student,” said Celestia in a softer tone. “What would you have us do? I know how it sounds, but that's our only option.”
“Uh, begging your pardon,” interrupted Applejack. “But these, ya called 'em astrals? I don't think they're too numerous anymore.”
“What are you tal-” began Celestia, but she quickly trailed off.
In the center of where the astrals had converged, a massive figure was emerging. The astrals threw their bodies into it one by one, and it grew as they became a part of it.
“Oh dear,” mumbled Fluttershy.
“It's HUUUGE!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie.
The last astral threw itself into the Behemoth. Silence fell across the land.
It rose. It was larger than any dragon Twilight had ever seen. It had the same pony-esque shape as the astrals, but its mane was a distinct swirling crimson, and its eyes did not glow at all. They were completely black.
It took a step forward. All of Equestria shook. Its mouth opened, letting a blazing inferno that scorched the air in front of it. Then came the roar. Such a noise was almost indescribable as sound. It was if the universe itself were being torn.
Celestia's mouth was moving, but Twilight couldn't hear anything. The chest of the Elements of Harmony opened, and a yellow aura moved the Element of Magic to Twilight's head. Likewise, the other elements attached themselves to her friends.
Celestia slowly rose into the sky. She pointed her hooves out to the horizon. The Behemoth took notice. Her eyes filled with light as she lifted her hooves into the air. A small sliver of the red morning sun began to rise into the sky. The ground trembled violently as the Behemoth took steps towards towards Celestia. She slowly floated back down towards Earth.
“Prepare yourselves!” shouted Celestia. The royal guards took position in front of the Princesses and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. The unicorns filled their horns with magic in anticipation of attack, as the pegasi hovered in the air, ready for anything.
The behemoth was now close. It looked down, expressionless, upon the ponies.
A spear of dark blue energy shot out at the beast, piercing its shoulder. The behemoth let out another roar that didn't so much drown them in noise as it did remove all other sound around them. The air around them ignited.
At once, Twilight felt the Elements activate. Energy flowed out from her crown, linking to the necklaces of her companions. Together they created a massive bubble around all of the ponies, acting as a barrier between themselves and the Behemoth. The fire was driven out of the barrier, blazing outward.
More spears of light launched upwards at the beast, passing through the Element's barrier. As Luna and the other unicorns sustained their assualt, Celestia launched her own aura up at the behemoth, attempting to engulf it. Luna hurled one more spear of light before joining her own magic with her sister's spell.
The behemoth raised a massive hoof and slammed it down upon the barrier. Twilight felt the Element of Magic burn upon her head, but the barrier held. She looked back at her friends.
“We're fine, Sugarcube,” assured Applejack, though her voice sounded strained. “We've got to focus on that big guy!”
The behemoth reared its front legs and brought them both down upon the barrier.
There were a few cracking noises, and to Twilight's horror, she realized where the noises had come from. The Elements of Harmony were cracking. Holes were forming in the barrier.
“What do we do?” cried Fluttershy.
“We have to get the Elements to do something else!” shouted Rainbow Dash.
“How? We don't even know how the Elements truly work!” shouted Rarity.
“My little ponies,” said Celestia, struggling to maintain her aura against the Behemoth. “The Elements bow to your will, and will do as you desire. I know you want to protect everypony, but the enemy is too strong, and it will only destroy the Elements if you keep that barrier up.”
“Then let's attack big and ugly with that awesome rainbow beam thingie!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie. “That worked pretty well for us in the past!”
“Okay,” said Twilight. “Big rainbow beam thing.”
The barrier began to vanish as the energy of the Elements of Harmony came back to their bearers.
“Scatter!” shouted General Striker.
Tendrils of light branched out from the Behemoth. Each tendril touched the ground, before quickly forming into the shape of a pony. They were astrals, connected to the behemoth like a marionette. The Royal Guard charged towards the astrals.
“Okay girls,” shouted Twilight above the chaos of the battle. “I'm not entirely sure if it even works like this, but think about how the Elements have worked for us in the past. Focus on doing that. If we don't stop this thing, here and now, we'll never have another chance. We need to believe this will work! Believe because it has to!”
Light burst forth from the Elements, colliding into a rainbow colored force of magic. It slammed into the Behemoth, knocking it back. The Rainbow light wrapped itself around the Behemoth. The astrals attached to the Behemoth began attacking more ferociously, like cornered animals fighting for their lives.
“It's working!” shouted Twilight.
Celestia, Luna, and the Elements of Harmony all cast their power upon the Behemoth. And still it struggled.
“Sister!” cried Luna. “I fear my power is beginning to weaken!”
“You have to hold on for a little longer,” pleaded Celestia. “We have it at a stalemate!”
Twilight wasn't sure that was true. The Behemoth was struggling, but they couldn't keep this up much longer. She was worried the Elements would be destroyed forever if this kept up.
There was a crack of thunder in the sky. As chaotic as the battle was, this had caught Twilight off guard.
“It's controlling the weather!” said Twilight in shock.
“No, look!” said Fluttershy.
A massive storm front was forming above Ponyville. Lightning flashed among the clouds. Then it began to rain. The Behemoth hissed in pain as the water pelted it.
“Yes!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “The storm isn't that thing's doing, it's ours!”
A blonde-maned gray pegasus poked her head out of the clouds.
“We came to help you, Rainbow Dash!” she yelled from above. “All of us!”
Approaching from the south was the entire evacuated population of Ponyville. All of them were wearing make shift saddlebags. The group was led by a red earth stallion.
“Big Macintosh!” yelled Applejack.
“Eeyup!” Big Macintosh called back.
“Ponyville is our home!” cried the mint-green unicorn, Lyra.
“And no way are we giving it up without a fight!” shouted the cream colored earth pony, Bon Bon.
“CHARGE”
The ponies of Ponyville sprinted up towards the ranks of astrals.
“But they haven't been shielded from the astrals heat!” panicked Twilight.
Lyra opened her saddlebag and retrieved something from inside. Then she hurled it at the astral. A blast of water exploded on to its head.
“They're attacking the beasts with... water balloons!” said Rarity disbelievingly.
“That's brilliant!” said Twilight excitedly.
Each pony had come with bags full of the water balloons, and were now unloading all of them upon the invaders. Even Spike, riding on the back of Mr. Cake, was throwing the balloons.
“The Behemoth is on the defensive!” shouted Celestia. “Luna, girls, now's our chance!”
The Behemoth moaned in pain as the magic of Celestia, Luna, and the Elements of Harmony wrapped it tighter and tighter.
“Now girls,” cried Celestia. “We have to banish it!”
“Twilight Sparkle,” called Luna. “Remember everything you can about the Pony's Head Nebula. Envision every detail you observed there.”
Twilight concentrated upon her memories. She felt herself flying through the cosmos until the nebula appeared before her. Every detail still stuck in her mind. The glowing red clouds, the twinkling stars...
“Got it!” shouted Celestia.
The Behemoth lifted into the air, enveloped in light. All connected astrals were drawn back into its body. It opened up its mouth, far wider than any natural pony could and let out a pained, high scream that caused several ponies to fall over, clasping their ears.
A massive flash burst in the air, covering all Equestria in a blinding light. When it faded, the Behemoth had vanished.
At last, it was finished.
Art Used: http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=Equestria%20sunrise&order=9&offset=0#/d4mw0ci