Part 17: Okay, New Plan
Guarding the abandoned ruins and sight of the greatest battle on earth out in the middle of monster infested woods sounded interesting. Any soldier worth his caliber would love a station here, given its danger and thus a good chance of recognition. It was even going to be the place of the rebirth of Nightmare Moon. All of that made it favorable to the soldiers of nightmare.
It wasn’t. It was extremely dull and uneventful. The animals had steered clear of the ruins and the cultists. It was either because they had killed the most dangerous of them, or they just knew better. Honestly, the guards posted outside felt their time was wasted. For Tartarus sake, most of them had been pulled inside to watch the Elements of Harmony. Only five of them were left standing guard of the entrance. Not exactly the most ideal number, but they didn’t have anything to fear. The loyalists had no idea that they were here and the only ones who knew Nightmare Moon was coming lay within the smoldering ruins of Ponyville.
“So…” One of them, a unicorn stallion, spoke up. “Did you hear about Celestia?”
Another, a pegasus mare, laughed. “That bitch? I heard she went down in one shot. I can’t believe we were afraid of her in the first place. I could have taken her down with one arrow years ago.”
“This isn’t over yet,” an older Earth stallion soldier of nightmare grunted. “Until our eternal goddess arrives, we have to be on our guard.”
“For what?” the mare scoffed. “A bunch of civies? I could take them with both my forelegs tied behind my back.”
“Underestimate your opponent and you’ll invite death,” the older stallion scowled through his helmet.
“Oh I’m shaking in my armor,” the mare and the other soldiers laughed. “I mean, what are they going to do? Sick some monster on us?”
The universe apparently heard her taunt, for at that moment, a large purple and rather flamboyant looking serpent rose his head from the river. The soldiers held fast their weapons, but they were too stunned to move. The creature’s cheeks were bulging. It, most likely a he, pointed it’s snout at them. Instead of fire, which their armor could at least hold off until they were able to escape, came a torrent of water. The next thing they knew, they were blown straight into the wall behind them. Darkness clouded their vision as they passed out.
_______________________________________________________________________________
“Alright,” Sunset Shimmer smirked from across the chasm. Thankfully, Steven was long enough to peer over the side no problem and deal with the soldiers. ‘Strange. I thought there would have been more guards.’ She noticed a ton of tents and supplies littering the front side of the ruins. There would be more soldiers about for sure. She was just thankful that she could just magic away the clouds of vapor that obstructed their vision. Otherwise, one of them could have walked over the edge. Not a real problem, seeing as a number of them could fly or use magic.
“That’s stage one,” she continued. “Now onto the next act.”
Lightning Dust huffed. “I could have taken those chumps.”
“Yeah,” Sunset started to point out. “But one of them could have escaped and warn the others. We’d be up to our neck in cultists.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Lightning shot her a cocky grin.
“Trust me,” Shade spoke up solemnly. “It is. Nightmare Moon has enough cultists in there to drown us all in armor. Not to mention a few tricks here and there that could even give our Sphinx friend trouble.”
“Pfft,” Lightning flew up a ways to be leveled with the sphinx’s head. “Arky over here could mop the floor with whatever trick they have. Isn’t that right, Arky?”
Arkarkhentkats sighed. “My name is not….Forget it. I, unfortunately, have to agree with the filthy cultist.”
“Not filthy,” Shade grumbled.
Arkarkhentkats ignored him. “We have no idea what sort of traps and creatures they have at their disposal. We could be walking to our deaths.”
“Aren’t we already?” Sunset ruefully smiled. “Besides, we have Shade here. He’ll know a thing or two about the castle’s layout.”
“Nope,” Shade shook his head. “I only know that Nightmare Moon filled the castle to the brim with guards. I never went inside and no one was very forthcoming about the interior layout…Not that I really cared anyways. I was too focused on…other things.” He looked away from everyone else in shame.
“Hey,” Redheart nudged him. “Let’s not think of the past. We already forgave you.”
“Yeah,” Quickfix piped up. “It’s not like ye killed a friend or somethin’. Ye gots a clean slate, pretty much.”
“True,” Shade said. “It was just a few animals.”
“Poor animals,” Coco muttered more to herself.
“Focus,” Sunset cut everyone off. “We need to move onto the next part of our plan. They’ll be a ton of guards behind that door.” She gestured to the two magically hardened, steel doors. “We’ll throw them open and I’ll cast a flash bomb. It’ll disorient them long enough for us to finish them off.”
“So outstanding,” Pizzelle chimed. “Why it reminds me of…”
“Focus,” Sunset got right up in her face and glared at her, causing Pizzelle to chuckle nervously. She moved back to look at everyone else. ‘So…this is it? The final moment before everything goes to Tartarus….Can’t say that these would be the ones I’d spend it with.’ She turned to the two non-combatants: Grundle and Hikaru. “Now, you two are going to stay here with Steven, okay?”
Hikaru shook his head. “Nuh-uh, I want to stay with you.” He quickly hugged Pizzelle’s leg. “I can go too. I can help. My illusion magic scared away that big baddie earlier. I can do it again.”
Pizzelle sighed and stroked his head. “Sweetie, you might be useful, but you’re still a child. We don’t want you to get hurt.”
“But they already hurt me,” Hikaru buried his face into her fur as he whimpered. “They killed my parents. I want to hurt them. I want them to pay.”
“And they will,” Pizzelle nuzzled him. “We’ll make sure of that, but we can’t do that and worry about you at the same time. You have to be strong for me and stay out of harm’s way.”
“But….but if I don’t go, they could hurt you,” Hikaru pulled back to look her in the eyes.
“Squirt, don’t you worry.” Lightning smirked, standing over him. “Nopony’s going to lay a hoof on her. Not with me around.” She ruffled his head fur with a hoof. “I’ll whoop those guys into next week. That’s a promise.”
“See?” Pizzelle smiled. “I’ll be safe and sound, sweetie.”
“Okay,” Hikaru said. He walked over to Steven with Grundle.
“Don’t be so glum,” Steven smiled down at the young kitsune. “Everything’s going to work out.” He turned to the others and bowed. “You have my word that I will protect them.” The other’s nodded.
“Shouldn’t ya stay too?” Fiddlesticks asked Ghoul. “Yer breakin’ apart. Ah don’t think ya would last long inside.”
Ghoul shook his head. “No, I can’t manage.”
Fiddlesticks frowned. “But they’ll tear ya apart.”
“I will not leave you unguarded,” Ghoul picked up one of her hooves lovingly and she blushed. “You saved me. You brought me back to the world of sanity. I will be forever in your debt, but I can never repay it if I just sit idly by while you throw yourself in harm’s way. No. I’m going to defend you, both body and soul. I promise you that.”
“’Kay,” Fiddlesticks looked away shyly.
‘Necrophilia,’ Sunset felt a little sick just thinking about it.
“This is it,” Sunset said with determination fitting with her princess stature. “This is what we’ve been fighting for all night. Behind these doors lies the keys to Nightmare Moon’s defeat…but also, Nightmare Moon herself. I wouldn’t blame you if you….”
“Just shoot yer spell a’ready,” Quickfix quickly cut her off. Everyone else was sending her annoyed gazes. Well, except for Coco, who was shaking too much in fright to do so.
“Right,” with a sigh, she turned to the large doors. Sunset took in a deep breath and let it out. “Let’s do this. Quickfix, Shade, would you do the honor?”
“It would be my pleasure,” Shade smirked as his horn lit up.
“Same ‘ere,” Quickfix’s horn lit up as well. Instantly, both of the doors were a glow in their hues. They made sure it didn’t seep through the edges and cracks so as to not alert the ones inside of their coming assault.
“Pretty magic,” Grundle spoke up as he watched the two, now three unicorns, light up their horns.
Sunset concentrated enough energy for an advanced flash bomb. A minor one could work, but she didn’t know if any of them had protective gear or spells that shielded their eyes. She had to make sure that they were all blind when they barged in, or someone of in this group could be hurt or worse. ‘I still don’t know why I care, but I do.’
With a nod, the others took their positions. Sunset’s horn lit up with her fiery magic. She honestly just wanted to burn everyone inside the room, but she had to save her energy. While she may have regained her strength after her run-in with a warlock, she wasn’t up to full strength. Instead, she wanted to save as much energy as she could. There was no telling when she’d need it and Nightmare Moon was still at large.
“Do it,” Sunset muttered just loud enough for the others to hear.
The other unicorns’ horns pulsed and the door was flung open. Sunset launched her spell. Immediately the inner room was filled with bright lights. The group charged with abandon, yelling or roaring. The goblins fired their pistols, the unicorns fired spells, and the others sprung about aiming to smash into something. It would have been really intimidating and crippling to any guards stationed there.
If there were any guards stationed there.
Everyone just stared dumbly at the rather empty room.
“Well,” Xed, the leader of the goblins, frowned. He lowered his pistol. “That was disappointing.”
Kur spat on the ground in anger. “You’re telling me. Three shots, Xed. I used three shots. Do you know how much it costs to make goblin powder in this country? It’s damnably expensive is what it is.”
“Quite your complaining,” Xed shot at his subordinate.
“I’m just raising a point,” Kur glared at him.
“Now, now,” Redheart got in between them. “We’re here to fight Nightmare Moon. Not each other.”
“Wouldn’t be much of a fight,” Kur chuckled. Xed just grumbled angrily and walked to the rest of his gang.
“So….” Fiddlesticks started. “Where is everypony? Did they vamoose?”
“No,” Sunset gritted her teeth as she buried herself in her thoughts. “They’ve got to be here. This is the only place Nightmare Moon could conceal herself from my mother’s forces. How else do you think they could have amassed the force to attack Ponyville?” She shook her head. “She’s here….It’s just, she didn’t post any guards here. Why?” It seemed rather stupid and careless of Nightmare Moon. She didn’t strike Sunset as a stupid and careless mare. Not when she had been planning her revenge for a thousand years. ‘She has to have a trick in her fur.’
“Duh,” Lightning pointed out. “Obviously she sent them all to guard the elements. Those are the only things that can stop her. She’s not going to take any chances.”
“Really?” Sunset quirked an eyebrow. While it did make sense, it still seemed so stupid.
Lightning nodded. “Yeah, Zalvago did it in ‘Daring Do and the Tablet of Harmony’. The guy got so caught up in his own fear that he pretty much let Daring Do waltz through his fortress unmolested. It was pretty hilarious.”
“I loved that scene,” Sunset beamed. She was an avid fan of adventure. A. K. Yearling had to be her all time favorite author. ‘The Tablet of Harmony’ may not have been the greatest, it was a bit over the top in her opinion, but it was a fun read. Sometimes its over the top antics were quite hilarious. “The author captured the detail so well. It was almost like she was there herself.”
“Yeah,” Lightning said. The two mares were bubbly talking beside each other, to the amusement/confusing of the others. “And Daring was like ‘Hey Zalvago, thanks for keeping the Tablet warm for me’.”
“And Zalvago was like ‘OH NO! How could this have happened?’,” Sunset mimicked. The duo started laughing.
Arkarkhentkats leant down to Redheart’s level and whispered in her ear, “She reads?”
Redheart nodded. “Adventure mostly. It was the only way I could get that filly to learn to read at all.”
“Still surprising though,” Shade said aloud. “That girl doesn’t exactly seem like the brightest bulb of the bunch.” The goblins broke out into laughter.
“HEY!” Lightning soared over to Shade and butted her head up against him. She glared at him, face to face. “What did you just call me?”
“He called you dumb, sweetie.” Pizzelle spoke up, giving Shade a disapproving stare. “That was certainly uncalled for, mister warlock. Lightning was kind enough to help you in your time of need. The least you could do is keep such comments to yourself. Why, I haven’t seen such disregard of a hero since I saw this one soldier actually punch her captain when he had to grab her flank to pull her out of an arrow’s path.” She hmphed. “Though, I do hear that they did get together later. Oh, how delightful~”
“Yeah,” Sunset rolled her eyes. “Can we please get back on track? We don’t have all night you know.”
“Well, technically we do,” Fiddlesticks pointed out, receiving a glare from Sunset. “What? It’s true.”
Sunset sighed. “Well, now we just have to figure out where that is.”
“It’s kind of around the middle, but more to the back of the castle,” Xed spoke up. “You can’t miss it.” Everyone stared at him. “What?”
“And you didn’t share this with us before because….?” Sunset asked.
“You didn’t ask,” Xed shrugged.
“How were you able to….” Sunset started.
“We flew over it,” Nes, the female goblin, cut her off. “That’s why they shot us down. Thankfully, it was more of a glancing blow. I don’t want to think about what would have happened if they hit the fuel tank.” She shivered.
“It’s in a large, open courtyard,” Xed explained. “There’s plenty of room to maneuver, both on the ground and in the air. From its size, I’d say she could easily fill over a dozens of soldiers in there with no problem. A hundred or so tops.”
Sunset sighed. “Wonderful. A hundred verses less than twenty.”
“Well, they’re just nameless mooks,” Fiddlesticks piped up. “We’re the heroes. When has that ever been bad odds? Hay, it’s usually worse than that.”
“Yeah,” Sunset snapped. “But that’s in books, not real life. Sure, a highly trained soldier could take on several his number, but we aren’t soldiers.”
“No,” Lightning smirked. “But we’re awesome. We’ll pound those tincans red and blue.” She mocked a few punches in the air.
“We need to think this through,” Sunset warned her. “We’re not just going up against a hundred Nightmare Cultists. Nightmare Moon herself will be there. She might not be at full strength now, but she’s still capable of killing every single one of us.”
“Pfft,” Lightning snorted. “I can take her easy. She’s a washed up, daemon princess.”
“Lightning,” Sunset glared at her. “Get with the picture. She’s a creature who gave my mother, Princess Celestia, a run for her money. If she can hold her own against her, I think she’s something we should at least be wary of.”
“Fine,” Lightning sighed. “We’ll do it your way.”
“Good to see you’re finally seeing reason,” Sunset smirked. Lightning just gave her a death glare. “Now, we’re going to have to split up.”
“Split up?” Redheart asked, looking concerned. “But that’s a terrible decision. It’ll make us more vulnerable if they find us.”
“Not to mention that we just got back together,” Fiddlesticks put in.
Quickfix snorted. “Ah agree with Sunset. We need to hit her from all sides. If we just go runnin’ in, they’ll swarm us. Ah can take a number of ‘em, but that still leaves a whole lot of armor between us and the Elements.”
“That and we can move faster in small groups,” Sunset put in. She was surprised at Quickfix. She didn’t take her for a battle strategist, but she was from the North. Ponies up there had to fight every single day just to survive. ‘It shouldn’t be too surprising, since Equestria is always at war, but it still feels odd. I mean, at least everyone else gets a respite. Northerners never get that.’ She made a mental note to see if she could do something about it. She doubted she could, since her mother surely had tried before. Celestia wouldn’t let her subjects suffer. “Anyone disagree?”
Everyone was still.
Well, except for Coco who raised a hoof.
“Yes Coco,” Sunset quirked an eyebrow.
“Ummm, I was wondering,” Coco gulped. “Well, it was more of a suggestion. I don’t want to mess up your plans or anything….Actually, no.” She squeaked in both fright and embarrassment and pulled back a ways.
Pizzelle sighed. “Honey doll, just let us hear it. No one’s going to bite your head off.”
“Intentionally,” Arkarkhentkats smirked, causing Coco to shriek in fright and hide behind Redheart. Pizzelle glared at the Sphinx. “It was a joke.”
“A very bad one,” Redheart glared at her as well. Her gaze softened as she looked to Coco. “Now, what were you going to say?”
“Well….” Coco shivered in fright, keeping low to the ground. She looked like she was trying to make herself as small as possible. “I was wondering if…maybe, we could try talking to them. I mean, we talked to Shade and he’s nice.”
“The enemy deserves no quarter,” Quickfix snarled. “She dies. End of story.”
“Easy there, Quickfix.” Fiddlesticks tried to calm her friend. “Don’t get yer vines all tied up.”
“Nah, ah won’t,” Quickfix snorted. “Ah’m just gonna tie her vines up instead. Show her that she shouldn’t have messed with the north.”
“We will,” Sunset turned her gaze to Coco. “I’m sorry, but there can’t be any negotiations. Nightmare Moon wants us all dead. It’s that simple.”
“But…” Coco started. “I don’t want anyone to die.”
Redheart sighed. “Death is a part of life. We can’t avoid it. We just have to make sure that the blood shed is kept to a minimum. That’s the best we can do.”
Coco whimpered, but said nothing else.
“You don’t have to come,” Pizzelle nuzzled Coco. “You can go outside and stay with the others.”
“I want to come,” Coco said. “I…You’re my friend and…well, the rest of you are nice. I know I’m a coward, but….” She took in a deep breath and tried to put on a strong face. It didn’t work exactly, given who she was. “I’m not going to leave you guys.”
“That’s the spirit,” Lightning hoof-pumped. “Let’s go kick some tail.”
“Alright,” Sunset said. “Quickfix, take the goblins and get that flying machine going. I want you to provide air support in the battle. Lightning, go with them. The more we have in the air, the better.” They nodded and trotted/walked outside. “Coco, Redheart, Arkarkhentkats, and Pizzelle. Take the left corridors. Fiddlesticks, Ghoul, and Shade will come with me on the right. Let’s go people.” The group finally divided up once more. They were ready as ever to finish this fight.
___________________________________________________________________________
“You have lost track of them!” Nightmare Moon roared.
Apostle wasn’t phased by his mistresses’ anger. She was rightfully sore. That and he was used to her outbursts. He had been a Warlock all the way back in the Equestrian Civil War, a thousand years ago. Her fury had shook the heavens. This was a pale imitation of her true anger. ‘It’s a wonder how I escaped those bursts of rage unscathed.’ “We have,” he answered. “But we are sure they are within reach of the castle.”
“How,” Nightmare muttered to herself. “How is this possible? The Everfree Forest should have killed them. My soldiers should have killed them?” Her killer glare turned back to him. “Why didn’t they?”
“You will have to forgive me,” Apostle sighed. “Most of them were common street urchins. I had to make due with what I could get. Though, I was able to get a couple mercenaries and ex-soldiers, but not in any substantial number. As for how they could have slipped through the forest. It’s quite simple, Your Highness. It’s vast. Not even I can keep up with them and…” He frowned. “Its aura disrupts magic. Oh, I can still use it, but scrying spells, such as the one we originally set up, become useless rather quickly. It’s why we weren’t able to keep such good tabs on the group.”
“Excuses,” Nightmare snorted. “I should kill you for this failure, but you did bring me those Kitsune souls.” She licked her lips. “They are so succulent, like a fine wine. Perhaps I could keep some of them alive.” She shook her head. “That’s for tomorrow. Today is more important. Those ponies don’t matter anymore, nor the Elements. The time is almost here for my rebirth. With Celestia imprisoned, there is no one alive who can possibly stop me.”
“Of course, Your Highness.” Apostle bowed. “Your reign shall be eternal. It’s beauty shall be seen till the end of days.”
“There will be no end of days,” Nightmare snorted. “I will keep this world turning forever!” She barked out in laughter, filling the entire area with its maddening mirth.
Apostle couldn’t help but be drowned in the beautiful chime. His goddess’s laugh was perfection. Everything about her was perfection. Yes, the other cultists seemed nervous around Nightmare Moon, but that was natural. They were weak willed fools, pawns to be used. A pawn is always nervous, because they never know when they’re time was up. He was no pawn. He was the ‘Queen’ of the checkboard. He would do anything to keep his goddess safe and a smile upon her face. She gave him everything and he would do his best to ensure her victory. ‘Even if I must give up my life.’
The days of the Shining Sun were over.
The age of the Glimmering Moon had just begun.
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Keep them coming
5315595
, but it might be a little late. I have three other stories to juggle. Still, I'll try and finish it before the year is out...or in January, if I'm not that lucky.
I will
What did you like about this chapter?
5315619
Princess Sunset Shimmer
Nuff said
5315783
What? Are you asking if I'll make a sequel by New Years?...Might be a while before I can get back to another episode, since I wanted to focus on some of my other current stories a little bit. (I have a couple story ideas for some episodes.) At the latest, possibly sometime up to March of next year. More likely late January/Feb if I get this done soon.
Actually, once I finish this, I'm going to open it up like the 'Lunaverse' and such. So other writers can come in and add their own tales and episodes, morals into this universe. (They'll have to run it by me first though.)
5315812
Nope. I already have the next episode in mind. It's going to be this world's version of 'Boast Busters'. (With another in mind kind of like 'Bridle Gossip') As I said before, I'm going to take a breather, in an attempt to finish one (more likely Love Needs No Reason) story, but yeah. I don't want to leave it hanging. So, early next year, not long after this is done, and if I can find an artist to do a cover piece like this one for it.
5315812
So, what did you like about this chapter?
OHHH, soon the epic battle scene shall comence!
Good chapter, mostly about raising the stakes and increasing the drama, on both sides. I like the relatively logical decision of NMM to use most of her guards on the Elements, with the consequence that the rest of the castle is very lightly guarded, it seems realistic. I also appreciate the scene with Apostle and NMM, where he explains where he found all these cultists, and indicates his own origins as well (I guess advanced Warlocks don't age, like Sombra). I'm excited to see the action, what Sunset has planned for the bulk of the guards around the Elements.
I really hope this story does not end when or (if) they defeat nightmare moon
How Steven Magnet imagines himself assaulting the guards:
How he really looks doing it:
D'aww, not wanting to kill makes you a pacifist, Coco, not a coward.
And there is no shame in that.
Some of the greatest war heroes in history are remembered not for fighting, but for saving lives afterall.