Proelium in Ruinas
Proelium in Ruinas
(Battle at the Ruins)
Edited by Bad_Seed_72
Inside the ruins sat a lone black Alicorn mare. She had much on her mind, but little time, she feared. She had heard the firing of guns, and she knew that the end was coming and that she must be ready. With her magic, she removes her helmet and then her chest plate. She had no more use for them.
It is ironic, in a way, that she chose to return to this site for her last stand. She remembers centuries ago how her and her sister grew up here. It was much different back then. There was not much forest then, and the castle that was here was a palace that was also the center of rule.
The rulers of the time, Celestia and Luna’s parents, were good rulers who did their best to be fair and caring leaders. Unfortunately, when war broke out between Equestria and Griffica, along with the Changelings in Equestria siding with the Griffins, they were slain by assassins. Celestia, being the elder sister, took over the helm of leadership, and named her sister as co-ruler. Sadly, Celestia had differing views on how a nation should be led, as well as a thirst for power. When Luna rebelled, the palatial castle was reduced to ruins. When Luna fell, Celestia let the ruins lay, and built a new Capital on the mountain, naming it Canterlot.
It all began here, and now, it shall end here, she muses. She had never wanted for it to come to war all those years ago, but she had been left with no other choice. And because she failed, the ponies and other beings of this world have suffered.
Would it have been better if she had not rebelled against her sister? Would there have been less suffering? Would she have been able to influence her sister to become a more benevolent ruler? Would she have been able to prevent the thousands of deaths of those who fought during the rebellion?
None of that matters anymore. What matters is the now and what she has to do. This is not something that she wishes for, but she accepts it with a sullen heart. Tonight, she will take her sister’s life. Then, it will be up to the ponies of Equestria to take over the reins of power and forge a new nation. She prays that it does come to pass, even if she is no longer there to bear witness or help forge it.
Such thoughts are set aside, for she can sense the presence of others outside the crumbling ruins. Doing a quick scan with her mind, she can tell that there is only six out there, but these six are not to be underestimated.
The first one is an Alpha+ Unicorn. Interesting. Ponies of that power are extremely rare. And an Alpha+ Pegasus as well. This surprises Luna, for to find such power among two ponies at once is not something which she has seen outside Alicorns. There is also an Alpha Earth Pony, A Beta Unicorn, and then the last two... this is strange. One is clearly a Pegasus, but her power rank is something she does not know how to define. As far as her Pegasi magic goes, she is clearly a Delta, but she emanates power at an Alpha level. It feels like she has more Earth Pony in her than Pegasi. And the last one is such a powerful mix that Luna cannot begin to read her, other than she has at least Alpha power capabilities.
These six mares could easily be a match for her. And the most powerful of them just scanned her, the same as she scanned them. They will be ready as well.
Stepping through the open archway leading to the clearing outside where her opponents wait, she greets them. “Welcome to the ruins of the former capital of Equestria. Please, step inside, and we can get this over with,” she tells them, before stepping back inside to wait.
* * * * *
Outside the old ruins, six mares stand ready. It was not an easy journey to get this far, but the difficulties they have endured so far are miniscule compared to what they will soon face. Focusing her magic, Twilight Sparkle scans the ruins to see what the situation is. Much to her surprise, all she senses is the Empress and her sister inside.
This is good news for two reasons. One reason is that Empress Celestia is still alive, though Twilight also senses that her magic has been suppressed and will not be able to help them defeat Luna. The other good news is that they will not have any other opponents to battle. Just one very powerful Alicorn. One who wields more power than the six of them combined, most likely.
As she finishes her scan, a form appears in the entrance. Tall, black, with an ethereal mane and tail, wings, and a horn to rival that of the Empress,, it is none other than Luna herself.
Twilight can feel the power the Alicorn has, even without her magic, and at that moment, she understands what fear feels like. But then Luna beckons them inside, and Twilight sees something in her opponent’s eyes. Is it sadness? Is it resignation? Whatever it is, to Twilight, it is a weakness which she will gladly exploit.
When Luna turns to wait inside for them, Twilight turns to look at the others. Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash look stunned. They know now what they face, and the reality of the situation has finally sunk in. Fluttershy looks terrified, trembling like she has just seen the face of the Reaper Pony himself. Then she sees Pinkie Pie.
She has this almost gleeful look on her face, but this is not expression that you would get from someone known for parties. This is a look of gleeful lust for violence. This has Twilight a bit worried, but dismisses her concern. “Girls,” she says to them, “we can do this.”
Applejack turns to Twilight. “That was Nightmare Moon?” she asks, swallowing a lump of fear.
“That’s her. And we can defeat her. I could see something in her eyes. Something that shows weakness,” Twilight reassures. She has to boost their confidence if they are to defeat her.
“Let’s kill her,” they hear Pinkie say. With now-unmasked bloodlust, she continues, “Let’s get this shit started.” And with that, Pinkie marches off ahead of them towards the archway. The others quickly follow, with Twilight jumping in ahead of them.
Inside, their opponent stands waiting. She watches the six ponies walk in with purpose, ready to fight. She can sense the fear in most of them.
The yellow one looks like she would run in terror from her own shadow, but if she made it all the way through the Everfree Forest, then she has to be tougher than she looks. The white one looks like she should be in some spa right now. That or at some posh party for the elite. And yet, she is here as well.
Two of them have a look of fearful determination, as if they have experienced this before, and know full well what the outcome could be. And while they know they could end up dying, their faces convey that they are prepared. The purple Unicorn has a look of sheer determination to her. A look that says she fears failure more than she fears death. That makes her dangerous. Lastly, there is the pink one. She simply looks like she wants blood.
“Well now...” Luna is interrupted by a bloodthirsty banshee scream from the crazy one as she leaps in to attack. The Alicorn barely has time to raise her hooves to deflect the fluid punches and kicks that are launched at her.
“Everypony attack!” Twilight yells once Pinkie has Luna engaged in battle, while firing off a burst of energy at the tall, black mare. The magic blast hits Luna in the side just as she manages to throw Pinkie across the room into the wall head-first.
Stunned for a second by the hit in her ribs, she is then hit by combined blows from Fluttershy and Applejack. Blocking one pony’s blows is easy enough, but the two combined prove to be difficult, and she almost misses seeing Twilight teleport.
Reacting on instinct, Luna guesses where the Unicorn is going to appear, and bucks her hind legs. Her hooves connect just as Twilight flashes back into existence. Having enough of the two ponies raining blows upon her, she shoves Applejack and Fluttershy away with a telekinetic blast.
Rainbow Dash, the fastest of the bunch, now slams into Luna’s side, having flew out a window to get room for speed. The momentum of the collision carries the two ponies halfway across the room, skidding to a stop in a blur of punching hooves. Luna would have easily knocked out the cyan pegasus if it was not for the speed of her attacker.
During this, Rarity gathers hanging vines from all around, which she fashions into a length of rope. With her magic, she wraps the makeshift rope around the Alicorn’s neck, and tightens.
Suddenly struggling for breath, Luna fights the magic grasp wielding the vine rope around her neck. Under normal circumstances, it would have been nothing for her to take care of this attack, but now Fluttershy and Applejack have joined back in the beating. When Rainbow Dash starts grappling her around her head, Luna does the first thing that comes to mind. She starts swinging her head around, and ends up throwing the mare like a ragdoll straight into Rarity.
Fed up with the fight that is taking too long for her liking, Applejack rears around and bucks the much taller mare square in the jaw, sending her flipping onto her back. “Meet Kicks an’ Bucky, ya whorse!”
Applejack did not get to say anything else as Luna grabbed her and Fluttershy and knocked their heads together roughly. As the two of them slump to the floor, knocked cold, Luna jumps to her hooves. Looking around, she sees ponies lying around. A couple are completely out, but the others seem dazed enough that they should not pose much more of a threat to her.
One of them seems to be getting up though. The pink one. Something has changed about her. Luna prepares to launch a preemptive attack.
Pinkie has changed. The blow was the event that sent her over the edge, triggering her Pinkamina persona to come forth. Gone were the fluffy masses of curls that was her mane and tail. They have gone straight. If her eyes and smile hinted at being unstable, or even a bit dangerous before, now they positively radiated pure insanity. Immediately, her eyes find the one thing they have been looking for. An opponent to kill. With a chortle of evil glee, she says, “Let’s dance, fucker!”
Luna does not hold back. She strikes full force with a bolt of energy from her horn that should have incinerated the pink Earth Pony. It would have too, if it had it connected. Pinkie dodges behind a fallen column though, avoiding death by the closest of margins. As Luna prepares to fire once the pony comes out, she is suddenly hit from the side by a series of vicious kicks. Where in Tartarus she had come from, Luna cannot fathom, but she swiftly turns to parry any further blows while delivering a brutally swift punch to her opponent’s gut.
Landing on her back, Pinkie immediately leaps to her hooves and pounces once again. Dodging another bolt of energy, she reaches behind herself, and from seemingly nowhere, pulls out a bat, which she swings towards the Alicorn’s head. That blow is blocked telekinetically, and Luna rears up to strike. Her forehooves come down instead on the rock floor, as Pinkie disappears under her, only to fall down from the ceiling holding a brick in her hooves, which she brings down upon Luna’s head.
Half-stunned by the blow, she realizes that she had better get into the other room quickly, if she is to do what she intended. Bucking her hindhooves, she catches the Earth Pony in the ribs, sending her flying. Charging her horn for a teleport spell, she gets interrupted by a pair of magic blasts that hit her simultaneously. Twilight and Rarity are both back in the fight.
Grabbing Rarity with her telekinesis, Luna does the first thing she thinks of, which is to throw her at the other Unicorn. This time, she manages to successfully teleport.
Twilight follows, teleporting out from under Rarity. She materializes right under Luna’s nose. In a panic, she stabs at Luna with her horn, barely missing. Once again, Luna uses her magic to throw her opponent, slamming the mare into the wall repeatedly. When she lets go, Twilight does not get back up.
Turning to Celestia, Luna prepares for the kill. This time, nopony will stop her. After all, they can do what they will with her, as long as Celestia dies, and with her, the empire she built.
Charging up her magic for a lethal blast, Luna focuses on her sister for a final time. “I’m sorry, Sister,” she whispers, tears in her eyes.
Celestia looks Luna square in the face. If she is to die at this moment, she is determined to face death as an Empress should: with dignity. She cannot completely suppress her fear, so she swallows it down.
The killing blow never comes.
Instead, from the doorway comes a booming shot from a pink bazooka. It matches the pony who fired the shot perfectly. The projectile, a wooden ball the size of a grapefruit, catches Luna’s folded left wing, crushing it, as well as several ribs, knocking the black Alicorn onto her side.
Rarity attacks with bolts of energy as well, further stunning the dark mare, giving time for Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy to jump in and start pummelling her with blows.
While this is happening, Twilight weakly crawls to her Empress. She does this without conscious thought, just reacting on an instinctive need. The impact from being slammed into the wall repeatedly like a ragdoll have broken several bones, including a skull fracture. Her world spins and every movement is torture worse than the deepest pits of Tartarus, but if she can just get to her Empress…
Celestia urges Twilight to get closer. If Twilight can pull the ring off her horn, she can end the battle quickly. Twilight is closer now, and Celestia strains her neck towards Twilight. “Remove this ring from my horn, Twilight, so I may fight.”
Twilight tries to focus on Empress Celestia’s horn. She sees something there that should not be there, and she knows she should remove it. She hears the Alicorn say something, but she really cannot understand. Her thoughts seem so muddled right now and everything hurts, but she senses that her Empress needs her.
Straining, she pushes herself even closer, and when Celestia brings her horn down, Twilight reaches for the ring on it with her hooves. That is the last thing that she remembers before passing out from her injuries.
Now free to use her magic, the Empress shatters the chains and shackles that have kept her restrained to the stone floor. She rises to her hooves at the same time that Luna throws the attacking ponies aside. When her sister rises, Celestia is ready for her, and slams her repeatedly against the wall with her telekinesis, then hits her with a blast from her horn. It is not a lethal blast, but one powerful enough to end the fight.
Standing on shaky legs, the Empress walks over to stand above the one that would have usurped her power, if not for Twilight and these loyal subjects who fought alongside her. As powerful as her sister is, Luna had not put a full effort into the battle. It seemed that she had wanted to be defeated.
Celestia looks down upon her sister with contempt. Luna failed, plain and simple. She could have killed her easily so many times, but she chose not to for some reason. Pity? Sisterly love? Weakness, Celestia thinks to herself. Luna is weak. That is the answer, no matter how one can cut it.
Luna looks up at the white Alicorn standing above her. She is broken and defeated. Once again, she has failed. Defeat tastes like ashes upon her tongue. She could have won so easily. Back on the road, or at any time before these six ponies showed up, she could have ended the Empress’s life. She could have brought down the Solar Empire that Celestia started so long ago, but she did not. She deserves death. Had she succeeded tonight, Equestria could have risen from the tyranny that was her sister’s rule for over a thousand years. Had she succeeded, a new world could have dawned with the rising of the sun.
Seeing the look of contempt in Celestia’s eyes, Luna weakly asks for one thing. “Kill me. Kill me now, sister. Please.”
“And grant you martyrdom? I think not. You shall be forced to live, and you will have to face your weakness and failure for every remaining day that you shall live. Once Shining Armor gets here with the troops, you will be held under house arrest for as long as I deem fit,” Celestia informs her. Turning around, the Empress leaves her fallen foe to check on Twilight, but not before bringing down a hoof to knock Luna out.
Fluttershy is already checking on Twilight. After a moment’s inspection, she turns to the Empress. “She’s critically hurt, Empress. We need to get her to the hospital immediately.” the Pegasus tells her sadly. “She has a broken hip, numerous broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a skull fracture.”
There is nothing that she can do for Twilight here. If Twilight does not get to a Trauma Center fast, she will not make it past the morning. “Empress, now that you’re free, is it possible that you could send for help? That is, if it is not too much to ask?”
“I’ll need parchment and a pen. With that, I can send a message.”
“I can give you that. I have some in my medical kit outside.”
“That will be perfect. What is your name, my loyal subject?” asks Celestia.
Meekly, she replies, “It’s Fluttershy.”
“No need to be so meek, Miss Fluttershy. You have proven yourself tonight.” Looking across the room, Celestia sees another pony down. Another one of her rescuers has paid a painful price for her efforts this night. “You should check over your friends. It looks as if one other has been badly hurt,” she tells the primrose Pegasus.
Before Fluttershy can head over to check on Pinkie, a cyan Pegasus lands in front of them, setting Fluttershy’s medical kit down in front of her. “I figured that you’ld need this, Shy. Seems some of us got worked over pretty hard.”
“Thank you, Rainbow Dash,” says Fluttershy, as she digs inside the pack to give the Empress a sheet of paper and pen before heading over to check on Pinkie Pie.
Empress Celestia writes a quick note to Shining Armor explaining the situation and what is needed, and sends it off in a whisp of green smoke. Turning to the one who brought the pack in, she says, “So, we do meet again Rainbow Dash. Once again, you have shown your loyalty to duty. It makes me think that maybe I should have pushed to have you stay in the Air Force.”
She then heads over to Fluttershy and Pinkie, to check to see how the Earth Pony is faring after the fight, leaving Rainbow Dash beaming.
“How is she doing?” Celestia asks when she gets to them. The pink Earth Pony is lying on her side, visibly in pain, but trying not to show it. Her hair had gone back to its normal curly state, and she no longer had that manic look in her eyes.
“She has several broken ribs, Empress, and probably some internal bruising as well. But she should be OK, given proper treatment. Pinkie Pie is a tough mare, Your Majesty, and she should recover quickly,” Fluttershy assures her. “It seems that Twilight received the worst from the fight. Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and I seem to have come out of this with a lot fewer serious wounds. I guess we were lucky,” she concludes.
“Yes, That is true. You six are very lucky to have come out of this alive. Even as powerful as each of you are, collectively, you should still have been outright killed. Nightmare Moon was, and still is, very powerful. As powerful as I am, even.”
Celestia refrains from letting these ponies know the truth about Luna. It would not be in her best interests for them to know too much. In reality, if the six of them had been better prepared, and trained to fight as a team, then they would be strong enough to take on anything, including an Alicorn fighting at full strength.
Except for a very few who happen to be in the Empress’s inner circle, everypony believes an Alicorn to be immortal and filled with godlike power. This is how Celestia wants it believed, so that she may maintain her position. The truth is that, though even with their increased magic abilities and the fact that they naturally do not age once they attain adulthood, Alicorns are still mortal. Nor is their power infinite. There are limits, and they can be defeated.
Continuing, she tells the Pegasus that she has sent for transport, including ambulance chariots and medical ponies.
Fluttershy nods, then asks, “Excuse me, Empress, but should I check on Nightmare Moon’s injuries as well? That is, if I am not too forward for asking.”
Celestia nods her assent, allowing the young mare to tend to the wounded enemy.
* * * * *
Shining Armor sat at the desk in the Golden Oaks Library in Ponyville. He had just received notification from the Guard officers that all was set in the town. Nopony would have more than a second to step out of line before being taken down quickly and viciously. He was taking no more chances with security. Already, they had several suspicious ponies in custody, and if he even remotely suspects that any are involved with any sort of plot to harm either the Empress or Priestess Cadenza, they would be made into an example to give even the most seasoned combat veteran nightmares for a long time.
Looking out the window, he could see the eastern sky beginning to lighten. It looks like it will be Cadance doing the ceremony after all, he thinks. Looking back down to a map spread before him, he has the location where the bodies of the Empress’s personal guards were found. They had also found the hoofprints of six ponies heading off into the Everfree Forest. The six guards, three Pegasi and three unicorns, all heavily-armed, that he sent in to investigate were seasoned vets and highly-trained.
Not far from that location is another location that would not show up on most maps. It was a small ruins within the Everfree that few knew about. Luna would be familiar with the place though, and his intuition tells him that she is most likely there with the Empress as a captive.
The rolled-up scroll that materialized and landed in the middle of the map caught him by surprise. He knew of only two who could do that, and one of them was snoring on the couch. That meant it could have only come from the Empress herself. Opening the letter, he felt much relief and a new sense of urgency.
At the old ruins in the Everfree Forest.
Luna has been defeated.
Require three ambulance chariots and a medical team for each. Three seriously-injured ponies. One ambulance must be sufficiently large for an Alicorn, plus guards.
Speed is of the absolute importance.
Location is secure.
Also need chariots for four more ponies.
Inform Priestess Cadenza that she will have to perform the Sun Raising Ceremony.Empress Celestia
“Spike! Wake up!” he yells, causing the Dragon to half jump from the couch.
As the dragon stumbles over towards the desk, and more specifically towards the carafe of coffee that sits upon the desk, Shining Armor quickly calculates how far it is to the ruins. Ten minutes, tops.
“I need you to take a note, Spike. ‘In Ponyville now. Have the town secure. Priestess Cadenza is here and ready to do the ceremony. Will bring the needed chariots for you and the ponies that need them, including the three ambulances, as well as medics to staff them. ETA thirty minutes.’ You have that, Spike?” he asks.
Upon Spike’s nod of confirmation, he instructs him to send it directly to Empress Celestia, which Spike does.
With that, the unicorn marches out the door to get things rolling, already yelling his instructions to his officers.
Grabbing the still-full carafe of coffee, Spike forgoes using a coffee cup, instead preferring to just drink it down straight from the source. Awakened a bit from the sudden influx of that most-precious substance called caffeine, he says to himself, “Damn, and I thought Twilight got intense. That pony needs a blowjob!” he scoffs, rolling his eyes towards the door. “I sure hope Twilight’s OK.”
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I was kind of hoping that Luna would get to explain what really happened 1000 years ago.
3114547 I am thinking in ch 5 or 6, she will be telling Twilight what really happened.
Twilight knows "what" happened, but she does not know the REAL reasons why, believing what Celestia tells her.
3145790 That is not the only think that will have you in shock... Keep reading.
3145952 What did you think of Dash's "road pizza" comment? lol
3146159 LOL road pasta...ironic since I had lasagna for lunch
3146189 Yeah... as you can see, the story is well deserving of the AU tag
3146193 Tasty! Pony pasta!!!
3146222 That pony needs a blowjob.
.............
Can't wait for the next update...and from what I can gather, the sun really DOESN'T need Celestia to raise it. What scandal!
3146293 THIS IS BLASPHEMY!
3146518
3146834 Priceless
3147411 Nope, it's worth exactly 87.34 cents
Volare: wtf
3147595 Volare, I will ship you with Mayor Mare... or worse, I will ship you with Granny Smith in a thong
MOAR!!!!! and FOR THE LUNAR REPUBLIC
Luna needs to call on demons to annihilate Celestia and free equestria.
LONG LIVE THE LUNAR REBELLION!!! LONG LIVE QUEEN LUNA!!! LONG LIVE THE NIGHT!!!!!