Through the Fire and Flames

by Rhodesm96

Chapter 5 - Fury Of The Storm

Canterlot, evening

Jason approached the barracks with mounting anxiety. Although he had readily volunteered himself, his palms were sweaty, knees weak, and his arms were heavy. He paused before the entrance to the barracks, before steeling himself and pushing the doors open. Before him, the guard were preparing themselves for the upcoming attack. Almost one hundred ponies milled about, gathering armour and weapons to use in the fight against the cult.

Jason spotted Celestia near the back of the room and walked over to her. As he approached, he saw that she was talking to a dark blue pony. This one was slightly shorter, but also had both wings and a horn. Since the only other pony he'd met with both was Princess Celestia, he assumed that this other pony was also royalty. Approaching the pair, he bowed to them both.

"Hi Princess," He said to Celestia. "And I don't think we've met, have we? Hi, I'm Jason." He added, turning to the other alicorn.

"Princess Luna." She said. "I will be assisting the guard in this endeavour to tackle the cultist problem."

"No, she won't." Celestia said. "I have told you, Luna, I will not allow you to take part in this. It would be folly for you to put yourself in harm's way like this."

"Sister, I am not a foal." She replied. "I can handle myself."

"She has a point, Celestia." Jason said. "After all, aren't you guys basically demigods? What's the worst that could happen?"

Celestia sighed in resignation. "I suppose you are right. Luna, you have my blessing to join the attack, provided you keep Jason with you at all times." She said, before turning to leave. "I will trust you to look after her, Jason." She added quietly to him.

"I will." He replied, just as softly. He turned back to Luna as Celestia left, clapping his hands and rubbing them together in anticipation.

"So, what's the plan?" He asked her.

"A few of our scouts have already located their base of operations." Luna said, moving over to a small table. On it was a map of an area named 'Hollow Shades'. It appeared to be mostly forest, but there was a ravine cut through the middle of it. Luna indicated a point on the ravine. "We have deduced that their base is centred around here. Once we find the exact location, the main force of the guards will engage in a full frontal assault on the main entrance. However, we have already found a side exit here." She pointed to a patch of forest a short distance from the first point.

"Utilising the main assault as a distraction, you and I shall take an elite squad and enter at this point. Then we shall move through their base, incapacitating any guards we come across. We will be tasked with finding and taking care of the cult's leader, and... your brother." She said. "Is this agreeable to you?"

Jason nodded once.

"Let's do it."

---

Hollow Shades, evening

Luke paced restlessly. It had been a day since he'd wound up with these cultists, and most of the time he'd been bored out of his mind. The only thing keeping him entertained was messing with his guitar. He'd managed to use it properly last time against those guards out of sheer luck, but now he'd had time to practice with it. He was sure that next time he had to use it, he'd be ready. Of course, the voice had helped him along as well. He still wasn't sure how it knew so much, but it had been helpful to him so far so he hadn't given it much thought.

He ran a finger over the edge of the axe blade. He'd noticed yesterday that it appeared to be made of real metal now, but he'd only discovered today how sharp it was. Swinging it, he could easily slice through about a foot of wood. As he wandered aimlessly, he happened upon the cult's ritual chamber. He'd been given the grand tour yesterday, and told all about their weird religious stuff. They apparently worshipped someone called Nightmare Moon, a dark goddess imprisoned for a thousand years by the 'Sun Tyrant' Celestia. He didn't really buy into it that much at first, but once again the voice in his head had assured him otherwise. So far, it'd only been helpful, so he took its word for it.

Suddenly, an alarm blared, snapping him out of his thoughts. As several guards rushed past, he collared one of them.

"What's all this about?" He asked.

"We're under attack!" He said. "Celestia's forces have somehow found where we are!"

Defend them

"Shit. Alright, where are the bastards?"

"We're trying to repel them from the front gate now." The guard answered, before running off again.

Protect the entrance

"...Well, I didn't have anything else planned." Luke muttered to himself, as he sprinted along the tunnels toward the front gate. He tuned his guitar as he went, racking his brain for a song. He decided on one just as he reached the entrance.

All over the immediate area outside the gate, ponies in golden armour clashed with the cult's members. Luke strode purposefully out onto the drawbridge, and raised his guitar

As he strummed the first few chords, all of the golden ponies looked upon him and shivered in fear. As one, the cultists fell back toward the entrance, taking cover from what they knew came next. Energy crackled around him, and he grinned sadistically at the assembled ponies.

He screamed the first few lyrics, and the force of his voice blew back several guard ponies. He continued his singing with a crazed grin, planting his feet firmly on the drawbridge as the earth began to shake around him, humming with power. Several small rocks began to rise from the ground and formed into a barrier in front of him, defying any to try and cross the bridge.

One earth pony ventured forward, holding his sword aloft. Luke turned his attention to him, and they wilted under his voice. He shot a flurry of rocks at him, and he withdrew from the barrage. Several others decided to try and rush him at once, a combination of pegasus air attacks and unicorn magic bolts harrying him backward a step. Steeling himself, he pushed forward once more and shook the ground, knocking the unicorns' hooves out from under them. Them being dealt with for now, he whipped some stones into a small twister and hurled it through the ranks of pegasi.

The ground trembled, and spires of rock burst forth from underground, almost impaling several ponies. Two earth ponies darted forward through the assault, flanked by a unicorn. As the first drew near, he launched them into the air by causing a pillar of stone to spring from under their hooves. The other dodged this and almost got near enough to engage him directly, but was intercepted by one of the pegasus cultists. The pony he had launched earlier fell back toward him, but Luke flung a large rock at him, and he ploughed into the unicorn.

Luke used the earth to fling them back toward their allies, and drew the pillars back into the ground. He stomped one foot, and a huge boulder sprang from the ground and floated before them. Kicking it, it was sent hurtling through the amassed ranks. Most of the ponies dodged it, but some were crushed under its weight. Luke leapt into the fray after them, whirling several sharp stones into the faces of a few guards. The small projectiles punctured throats and eyes, and several guards leapt back, screaming, blinded, or bleeding. Those who did not fell never to rise again.

A pegasus flew at Luke from behind, and sliced at him with a set of wingblades. Luke only just managed to evade him, but was left with a deep gouge on his arm. He attempted to use his magic to spear the pony, but the gash had hit muscle. His playing faltered, and the pegasus took his chance. He flew at Luke's throat, and was only just parried by holding his guitar up in front of him. Too late, Luke realised what he had done. There was a sharp twanging sound as one of his guitar strings snapped.

You fool!

Luke began to back off toward the bridge, attempting to continue playing. The song became distorted, however, and it had little effect. A pegasus dashed toward him and he tried to fire off a chord, but the pegasus dodged it and leapt toward him. A cultist dropped onto him from above, stopping his attack before he could reach his target.

"Go!" They yelled, as more and more ponies tried to attack him. The cult managed to defend him, however, and Luke fled toward the entrance to the hideout. He sprinted along the corridors, guitar slung over his shoulder, not quite knowing where he was headed. Eventually, he stumbled upon a large circular chamber. Four cultist unicorn ponies dressed in hooded robes were surrounded by a dark dome of magic, and chanting in hushed tones, their words inaudible. Across the room, he saw the leader of the cult lying unconscious on the ground.

Stood over him were five ponies, four of whom were wearing armour similar to that of the ponies he had just been fighting, but coloured dark purple, and their wings were like those of bats. The fifth was noticeably taller, and had both wings and a horn, marking her as one of the four Alicorn Princesses. But they were not what held his attention.

Behind them stood a sixth figure. This one towered over even the Princess. His hair glowed with an unearthly light that pervaded the gloom of the room, as did his crimson eyes. Fire flickered in his palms.

"...Jay?"

Author's Note:

So, the second fight scene of the story! Let me know what you thought, especially of the timing of the music and lyrics to the description of what was happening in the fight.

Comments

[adaniels156]

I'm really enjoying this story! I can't wait to see how those two... talk it out.

[Zman537]

NOW SHIT IS ABOUT TO GET REAL, OR THE'RE GOING TO CALMLY TALK IT OUT. PREFERABLY THE FIRST ONE! THIS STORY IS SO GREAT MY CAPSLOCK IS STUCK TO SHOW HOW HYPED I AM!

[Rhodesm96]

4372879 4375290 I didn't know people could get so excited over conversation

[Zman537]

4378116 Only when talking involves massive amounts of fire and pummeling and an excessive lack of words beings verbally said. A true brother doesn't simply talk to his stupid sibling, he punches the stupid right out of their face! Just ask my brother, he's punched me a few times for doing stuff that I admit was incredibly stupid. Like thinking I could get away with covering his broken playstation with silly string in an attempt to hide it.

[Rhodesm96]

4378315 That does sound incredibly stupid

[Zman537]

4378555 Eh, I was eight. It's been eleven years since then so I can look back and laugh my ass off at how dumb I was.

[Just_A_Nopony]

WHY?! Why again?! The internet keeps stealing my ideAs before I can... Yah me and my friend thought of something like this... And now he's raging as I write this...

[Rhodesm96]

4421583 What part of it was similar to your idea?
That shouldn't stop you writing it anyway.

[Just_A_Nopony]

4424852
Just the main characters being a pyro and a guturist

[Rhodesm96]

4426230 Heh, I thought I'd never see another fic where one of the main characters is a guitarist. Would yours also fight with music?

[JarheadHME]

PLEASE use Sudden Death by Megadeth at some point, I'm BEGGING YOU

[Rhodesm96]

4431178 Hmm. I do have songs picked out for the rest of the story, but there are one or two I'm not sure of. I'll have a listen and see what I think.
EDIT: I listened to it, and it's just not really what I'm looking for. Sorry.

[Just_A_Nopony]

4431158
Yup, he would manipulate sound waves and mimic voices and stuff

[Rhodesm96]

4431258 Awesome. If you ever write it be sure to send me a link, it sounds tasty.

[JarheadHME]

4431225 Damn, cause to me it just sounds like something that would be good for a fight scene. Ah well, regardless, liking the story (and the DF and A7X references ) keep writing.

[The Dankest Meme]

So, what happened to the guitar string?