The Elements of Honor

by Flanagan

Chapter 51: Before the Dawn

“LUNA!” Warhammer cried, rushing to his lover’s side. “NO! PLEASE NOT HER! NO!”

He grabbed Luna and turned her to face him. She was unresponsive, limp in his embrace. Golden blood trickling slowly out of her nose, but she was still breathing. “We need to get Luna out of here!” He roared to the group.

“We ALL need to get out of here!” Battleaxe shouted, pointing to Destruction, “He’s about to hit us!”

“You have fought admirably, ponies,” Destruction roared, “but in the end, all fall to Destruction!” His crest fired a blast of magic towards the group, blasting through every building as it made its way to them.

“We need to get moving!” Carmel shouted, running in the opposite direction.

The others started to run, unknowingly leaving Warhammer, Twilight and Princess Luna behind. Once they finally realized that they were missing they turned around, but they were too far away to get to them, so they had to keep running. While they ran they heard the sound of thunder behind them, they assumed that it was Destruction but when Spike looked behind him he nearly stopped in disbelief.

“Holy guacamole…” he said, the others turned around to see what he was looking at and what they saw they couldn’t find words for.

Warhammer was carrying Derpy, Fluttershy, Twilight and Princess Luna on his back and to top that off he was actually gaining on the ponies in their dead sprint. An emerald glow filled his eyes and pulsed out of his now metallic body as he continued to thunder towards them, Destruction’s blast only feet behind him.

“We can’t outrun this!” Scootaloo yelled. “We’re gonna get creamed!”

“THERE!” Rainbow shouted pointing at a ditch, “we can hide in there!”

“ARE YOU SERIOUS!?” Rarity exclaimed, “That place is just-“

“Do you have any better ideas?” Rainbow snapped back. “Because I’d love to hear them!”

The group all jumped into the ditch, hoping that it would be enough to shield them from the blast. It didn’t take long for them to realize that Warhammer hadn’t jumped in with them. Battleaxe popped his head out of the ditch to see Warhammer place Derpy on the ground with the others he was carrying before turning to face the blast.

“Little bro!” Battleaxe cried, reaching to him.

Warhammer reared up on his hind legs at the blast. Roaring, he sent one of his hooves into the ground, unleashing a wave of massive rocks towards the blast. The two forces met one another and with an explosive collision, the blast was halted. Warhammer stayed there staring at the direction he had sent his wave.

“Impossible…” Destruction said looking to what had just happened.

“Wow…” Event Horizon said in disbelief. “Remind me to take him drinking with me the next time I go out…”

They ran to the injured, gathering them up quickly so Patches could tend to them. Greatsword and Battleaxe mad a mad rush to Warhammer. He was still glowing teeth bared, staring into the city, like he was in a trance.

“Warhammer,” Greatsword said, attempting to gain his attention. “We need to get out of here.”

He didn’t respond, his body frozen, eyes locked onto a fixture unknown to both of them. Mere seconds later the bizarre metallic glow of his coat left, leaving his usual black fur, but his eyes remained glowing.

“Little bro…” Battleaxe said reaching for his shoulder. “Are you ok?”

The instant that Battleaxe’s hoof made contact with him he was brought back to his senses, the emerald glow replaced by his silver eyes once again. He immediately fell to the ground, holding his side. Taking heavy, painful breaths he looked to those who were at his side.

“Are… they… alive…?” He managed to say, before coughing up blood.

Greatsword looked behind him to see the group tending to the wounded. He looked back at Warhammer with a smile. “Because of you,” he said placing his hoof on Warhammer’s shoulder.

“What’s wrong bro?” Battleaxe said as he and Greatsword helped him up. “Did you break something?”

“His ribs…” Fluttershy answered while Big Mac placed her on his back. “I don’t know how but he broke his ribs…”

“Then you need-” Greatsword was interrupted by the building closest to them crumbling into dust, coating all of them in a light brown mist.

“Your kind never fails to impress me…” Destruction said, readying his claws. “But I will not allow you to have such fortune twice!”

Destruction sent his fist towards group, claws extended for deadly results, but before his claw struck them they were suddenly teleported away from his merciless attack. Destruction looked in every direction trying to find them, trying to since their presence but after a few moments with no results he roared in frustration.

“Fight or flight!” he bellowed over Equestria. “Your fate will be the same!”

A bright flash of light pulsed inside the castle, the group were all huddled into a ball, closing their eyes tightly expecting the worst. Battleaxe was the first of them to open his eyes seeing that he and the others were still alive his body loosened up with relief. He quickly turned to Greatsword and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Bro… open your eyes.” He said trying to hold off a chuckle.

Greatsword opened one eye, revealing his brother’s trademarked sarcastic grin plastered on his face and the rest, still clinging to one another like it was winter in Stalliongrad. “We’re safe… but how?”

“That was me…” Princess Cadence said holding her head. “Teleporting’s easy, but it’s hard to do it with so many ponies.”

“You just bought us valuable time, Princess.” Battleaxe said. “Now we just need to wrap up everypony.”

His claim was easier said than done, nearly all of them had something bruised, bleeding or broken. Patches looked into her saddlebags for something that would help, but she only had one item in great numbers left.

“Band-Aids…” Patches said shaking her head. “All I have left is a few gauze pads and Band-Aids…”

“I can help.” Princess Cadence said walking toward her. “Aunt Celestia taught me how to do a few of her healing spells not long ago.”

“Are you sure you can do that?” Patches asked concerned. “Teleporting us here already took a lot out of you, and it’s dangerous to use so much magic at once… it could even be fatal.”

“I’ll be fine,” Princess Cadence replied smiling, still holding her head. “If we can just try to heal Aunt Luna and Twilight I think the rest of us will be fine.”

“If you say so, Princess...” Patches said, still concerned. “We should get started.”

The two made their way to the injured, starting with Twilight. Greatsword and Battleaxe stayed near their bother, watching him closely so he wouldn’t injure himself further.

“You can really take a beating, can’t you little bro?” Battleaxe said smirking. Warhammer simply nodded in agreement. “I think I can safely say that there’s nothing that can kill you.”

“Warhammer does seem to be made of steel,” Greatsword added. “He must’ve unleashed his true power.”

Warhammer nodded then began to think about the incident. “I was in great pain, but seeing Luna like that… I couldn’t lose her… She sees me as her rock, but the truth couldn’t be more different…” Warhammer looked over to Luna with misty eyes. She was slowly coming to while Princess Cadence did her best to heal her. “I need her more than she could ever need me…”

“Don’t say that,” Greatsword said comfortingly. “You both need one another more than either of you think you know…” he looked over to a particular pony, “just like me…”

“What’s that, bro?” Battleaxe asked. “Did YOU just say something about needing somepony?”

“It’s nothing, Battleaxe.” Greatsword replied. “But if you’ll excuse me, there’s somepony I need to talk to.” Greatsword left his brother’s side, heading to the one on his mind.

“My head…” Princess Luna said, reaching for her horn. “Wha-what happened? Where’s Warhammer?” She tried to get up, but between the head throbbing and Patches holding her down, she could barely move.

“Warhammer’s fine, Princess,” Patches said in her calming voice, “he saved your life.”

“Again I am in debt to him,” Princess Luna said letting out a sigh of relief. “I often wonder if I’ll ever pay him back…”

“Your love for him does that, Aunt Luna.” Princess Cadence said looking over to him. “I can see it in his eyes.”

“It’s true Princess,” Patches said in agreement. “You should’ve seen him in Ponyville; it was really tough for him without you there.”

“But he never showed it…” Princess Luna pointed out.

“Just because he never showed it doesn’t mean he didn’t feel it,” Patches pointed out. “He’s a VERY hard stallion to read, but you could tell that you not being there had its toll on him.”

“I wish I was there for him then…” Princess Luna said, lowering her head.

“You’re here for him now,” Princess Cadence said as her horn stopped glowing, she reached for her head and shook it a few times. “He’s… over there…” She said weakly. “I’m sure he won’t mind your company.”

“Thank you Cadence.” Princess Luna said standing up she made her way to Warhammer, passing Greatsword as she did so. The two nodded to one another and continued their paths. Greatsword stopped in front of Fluttershy; she was lying on her side waiting for Patches and Princess Cadence to work on her.

“How are you holding up?” he asked looking her over.

“I-I’ll be fine…” Fluttershy replied, hiding behind her mane.

“I hope so,” Greatsword said placing his hoof on her shoulder. “I still need you.” He covered his mouth, realizing that the words came out wrong.

“What?” Fluttershy asked, her cheeks slightly turning red.

“I mean… WE still need you…” Greatsword said correcting himself. “After all you are the only one here that can say that you saved my life, let alone twice.”

“Greatsword,” Fluttershy said reaching out to him. “Do you know what I said that brought you back?”

Greatsword took another step closer to her so she could place her hoof on his face, “No, what did you say?”

“I knew that you needed a reason to live…” she said drawing him closer to her, “and I knew that you needed me…”

“Ok, Fluttershy,” Patches said with Princess Cadence not far behind. “I had Rainbow go to the infirmary and-“

The two froze mid-step the moment they saw Fluttershy and Greatsword only inches away from one another. He froze the moment he noticed the two staring at them and quickly steeped in front of his now furiously blushing counterpart. After a short, awkward silence, Greatsword finally spoke.

“You said you went to the infirmary.” He said casually, like nothing had just happened.

“I had Rainbow go to the infirmary,” Patches corrected, “and she found a lot of supplies, and sense Fluttershy isn’t half bad at medicine, I thought I’d take care of her first so she could relieve the strain on Princess Cadence and myself.”

“She actually found some splints and clean wraps,” Princess Cadence added. “We thought we could use it on those who are hurt the most.”

“That’s good news,” Greatsword said smiling, he turned to Fluttershy. “Looks like you’ll be walking sooner than you think.”

Fluttershy sheepishly smiled at Greatsword, then turned her attention to Patches and Princess Cadence. Patches walked to her side and gave her a small vial of liquid.

“We still have to be careful…” Patches said cautiously. “We don’t have much and we still need it for the others.”

Fluttershy nodded watching closely while Patches and Princess Cadence worked on her. The Princess’s magic and Patches handy work flowed seamlessly as they continued. Once done she looked up to those who did their best, with anxious looks, Patches, Princess Cadence and Greatsword waited for her to stand up. But Fluttershy didn’t move a muscle, after a few moments of waiting, Patches spoke.

“Did we do a good job?” Patches asked, looking her over. “Why haven’t you gotten up yet?”

“I think she needs her space,” Greatsword said. “Come on, we need to use that stuff on some of the others.”

“Wait…” Fluttershy said meekly, pulling herself up. The three stopped and turned to see her struggle to her hooves. When she was back on all fours she gave them a small smile. I-I can barely feel it now.” She said looking to her back legs.

“Well that’s good,” Patches said. “It’s really amazing what magic and medicine can do.”

“It’s like my horn was never broken in the first place!” Twilight said feeling her freshly wrapped horn, “Patches you’re amazing!”

She gave Patches a hug, “It was the supplies and the Princess, not me…” Patches said, “but your welcome none the less.”

“Do we have anymore supplies?” Greatsword asked, “Derpy’s still in bad shape.” They looked over to Derpy, still waiting patiently with a smile on her face.

“I’m afraid we don’t…” Patches said looking into her bags disappointedly. “Just when things are looking up for us…”

“And I can barely stand…” Princess Cadence said wobbling. “After healing Warhammer… I… I think I used too much magic… I need a few minutes to-“

The roof of the castle suddenly ripped open. The group looked up to see Destruction gazing down on them, smiling. “I have you now…” he said, his crest beginning to glow.

“I don’t think so big guy!” Battleaxe yelled with Greatsword and Warhammer at his side. “You just entered the hall of PAIN!”

“NOW!” Greatsword yelled, at that moment the three simultaneously unleashed untold powers. The wave they sent towards Destruction pulsed and roared as it drew ever closer to him.

“No…” Destruction said, “NO!” Destruction fried a blast of his own, the two forces clashed over the sky, even causing the shy itself to shake from the furry. Then a massive explosion overtook the entirety of Equestria, sending Destruction to the ground.

“We… We did it?” Battleaxe said looking to where Destruction had fallen, “WE BUCKING DID IT!” he embraced Warhammer and Greatsword, Warhammer gritted in pain, his ribs were still broken. “Oops, sorry bro…” he said apologetically. Warhammer looked at Battleaxe sternly, but then grabbed him up in an embrace of his own. Battleaxe struggled in his grip before he was finally released.

“It’s over…” Greatsword said relieved. “It’s finally over…”

Then the ground began to shake violently, buildings began to fall and the clouds let out a thunderous boom. “Really?!” Battleaxe yelled. “Of all the times to get an earthquake-“

“This is no earthquake…” Warhammer said. “It’s-“

Before he could finish his statement Destruction burst from under the city, basting anything that was in his path to the side as he ascended. He looked to the castle and roared. “Your weapon…” he said smiling. “Is weak…”

Comments

[nevergone]

good god why cant he just die already?