//------------------------------// // 13 Loss and Ashes // Story: Ponies Give Me Hope // by Kuyashii //------------------------------// Nearly an hour after Dissonance appeared, I was standing with the ponies at war in the town square. Rarity was fighting beside Lily and me, using her magic to wield one of the dining tables as a club. The Draconequus was across the clearing, well protected behind scores of Diamond Dogs and partially hidden by the sheets of rain pouring down. He had attached metal spikes to his tail, which flipped back and forth impatiently. For the time being, he seemed content to let the Dogs handle the heavy lifting, while he hurled insults and destroyed any buildings within his reach. I think he was afraid of Twilight. It was hard to blame him. I wasn’t exactly certain when she had returned to the square, but I noticed that the magical overdrive had worn off. I also saw the Diamond Dog stalking up behind her, raising his fists high while she was distracted by one of his brethren. “Look out,” I yelled, diving through the melee to knock her aside. The ground shook with the impact of the Dog’s fists touching down where she had just been standing. We scrambled to our feet, and Twilight wasted no time in grabbing the aggressor with magic and slamming him into another Dog until they were both completely senseless. “Thanks,” she said. “Glad I could return the favor.” I winked in return, adjusting the satchel slung over my shoulder. I had found one in the square, and though it wasn’t mine I was certain that the owner wouldn’t mind me borrowing it. Applejack darted by, whirling around to buck a Diamond Dog beneath the chin with her hind legs. “Hyaah, take that ya varmint!” she cried. The Diamond Dog toppled over, spewing teeth as he landed in the mud with a squelchy thump. The battle lines had been drawn down the center of the square. We were engaging the forces of Dissonance around the bonfire pit—Twilight had hastily organized a ragtag defense of able-bodied stallions and mares, which included Applejack, Rarity, Lily, and myself. Behind us, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie struggled to organize an evacuation. As long as we held the line they would have a clear route out of New Ponyville, passing by my archery range on their way to the forest. There was some talk of meeting up at the castle ruins deeper within the Everfree, but as soon as the ponies crossed into the woods they usually just ran for their lives. We had bought enough time for the majority to escape, but the tide of battle was beginning to turn against us. I had already used a half-dozen arrows, and less than half of those found their mark—my heart was pounding so hard that it threw off my aim. One stallion fell beside me, crushed by an enraged Diamond Dog. I drew an arrow and nocked it with a practiced motion, stepping backward to steady myself as I fired it at the beast’s center of mass. The Dog roared in defiance, grabbing the shaft protruding from his chest and tearing it out with a spray of blood. I hurried to nock another and loose it before he could close the distance between us. The next one found his neck, and that sent him to the ground. The situation was spiraling out of control. I heard a cry of pain, and glanced over to see Applejack limping away, dragging one of her hind legs through the mud. Rarity galloped over to help her along. I was about to call out to Twilight, when she ordered the retreat. “Everypony run! Get out of here!” She pushed any pony within her reach back toward our only exit from the square. I moved up beside her, putting another arrow to the string and dropping a Dog that was towering over a wounded mare. The mare barely managed to get out from under him before he crashed down. “Twilight, I’m with you.” I put my back to her flank and nocked another arrow. “Me too,” Lily added, coming up on the other side of Twilight. “You both need to leave while you still can!” Twilight grabbed a stallion with magic, pulling him out of the reach of a bloodthirsty Dog. I sent an arrow in the Dog’s direction, but it was deflected by his leather vest. “Not without you,” I said. The Dog tried to rush us, but I swung my bow at him like a cudgel, warding him off for a moment. I saw Applejack and Rarity in the sea of ponies galloping from the square into the Everfree. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie stayed behind, standing guard at the cross streets to protect the escaping townsfolk. “Most of the ponies have left,” I said over my shoulder to Twilight. She didn’t respond. "Twilight?" I turned, setting arrow to string. Twilight was standing over the lifeless body of a stallion, his mane messy and his coat caked with mud. “Not enough," she said softly. The fighting ceased all at once. The Diamond Dogs stood around us in a semicircle, leaving plenty of room between themselves and Twilight. Several brave ponies had remained with us to form a defiant resistance, though we were clearly outnumbered. Dissonance strode out of the crowd, his dark eyes focused on Twilight. “It seems your friends have left you. To join the sixth, I presume.” Twilight’s eyes sparkled with tears, her expression a mixture of rage and despair. “I had to be sure you were scattered,” he continued. “I wasn’t about to make the same mistake as my brother.” Gritting her teeth, Twilight glared back at Dissonance through the rain. “Oh, perhaps I spoke too soon,” he chortled. “But I believe you're still missing one.” I risked a glance over my shoulder to see Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack standing behind us. Applejack was leaning on Rarity for support, still favoring her injured leg. “It’s really a shame—about my brother, I mean. He brought dishonor upon all Draconequus in failing to eliminate Equestria.” Fluttershy nearly surged forward, but Pinkie Pie managed to hold her back. “He’s taken his rightful place in the prison realm, within sight of the Sun in chains—the source of his weakness toward your kind. I've come to correct that which he could not.” Dissonance kneeled down, prodding the body of a mare with his claw. “These ones were perhaps the luckiest.” “This isn’t over,” Twilight growled. “You would prolong your suffering willfully? I can assure you, Princess, that neither you nor your friends shall find death here today. I have a better plan for you all.” Twilight’s friends all crowded around her, including Lily and I. “Harmony will be restored,” Lily countered. Dissonance cackled. BWOOM! It was as though the skies above us had been torn open. Something zipped down through the storm, generating a rainbow shockwave that swept the clouds away. All of the Diamond Dogs shrunk back in fear. A colorful blur streaked down next to Twilight, sending up a spray of mud where it landed. The mud settled to reveal a sky-blue pony, with a brilliant rainbow colored mane and majestic wings. Her flank mark was equally appropriate: a rainbow lightning bolt striking from a cloud. “Rainbow Dash!” Lily cheered. “The one and only,” she replied. “It’s so good to see you!” Twilight grinned. “I hope you don’t mind,” Rainbow said, “but I brought some other friends home with me.” The skies darkened again, but this time with a cloud of reinforcements. Rainbow Dash’s team of Pegasi poured from the sunny sky, dropping down all around the town square with hundreds of griffons in tow. They completely surrounded the Diamond Dogs, who began cowering and groveling for their lives. One griffon landed gracefully on her paws next to Rainbow Dash. "I heard you dweebs needed some help." Twilight laughed, along with the other Elements of Harmony. “Derpy!” Lily called out joyfully to her sister, who alighted just ahead of us. Dissonance narrowed his eyes and grumbled, as if to himself. "You're right, Princess. This isn't over." “Watch out!” I saw his tail whipping around too late. It slammed into Derpy's side, impaling her on the metal spikes. A few of them went straight through, blood spurting from the wounds. “L-Lily,” Derpy coughed. Dissonance wrenched his tail free and snapped his fingers, vanishing in a flash of light. I lunged forward, dropping my bow to catch Derpy as she fell. Landing on my knees, I cradled her as she labored to breathe. Lily rushed over to kneel beside her sister. “I f-found Rainbow D-Dash,” Derpy rasped. “I took care of Max like you asked me to,” Lily said, her voice thick. “We both did our jobs.” “I’m sorry,” Derpy whispered. “I’m s-sorry for being ditzy.” “No, don’t you apologize,” Lily’s voice cracked. “I love you no matter what.” Tears streamed down my cheeks as I rocked back and forth, hoping to provide some small comfort. “Let them go,” I heard Twilight say behind me. “We’re not like them.” The Diamond Dogs turned and fled, uncontested. The griffons secured the square after the Dogs had left, with the Pegasi and the ponies that stayed behind. They stood guard around the perimeter while we huddled together in the mud, surrounded by the still bodies of friends and foes. The Battle of New Ponyville was over.