109. The Siege of Trotsdale
I summon my magic and go straight to my base form. As strong as I am, my lowest form is enough to shroud me in a haze of lime green energy. The power even runs down the length of my sword, similar to how I used to handle the scythe I got from Vanta. I clutch the weapon tightly in my hand, listening intently to the thundering sound of the approaching horde.
Next to me is Pterax, who has shifted into my form to give him a wider range of movement, as well as mobility. He's also glowing with green magic, though his is a darker shade, more akin to emerald, and is much more sickly looking. On my other side is Rainbow and Applejack. The former is hovering in midair, her face set with determination, while the latter is on the ground next to me, staring intently at the wooden gates in front of us. Luna is at another of the gates, assuming command there and keeping morale high.
On top of the building behind us is Captain Shining Armor, the breeze rifling through his mane as he surveys the battlefield beyond the walls. “Steady, ponies!” he directs. He looks down at me and the other ponies surrounding the gate in front of me, and then casts his gaze around to the different gates. “Back away from the gates! Form perimeters and prepare to intercept any intruders!”
We do as we're told, forming a small open circle around the gate. Similar maneuvers happen at the other gates. There's no doubt in my mind that the undead will breach them; it's smart of Shining Armor to order us to keep our distance. I don't want to be in front of them when they fall.
“Get ready!” Shining Armor orders, lifting his hoof. Around him, and on every rooftop, the archers drop lit matches into barrels filled with oil, wood, and dried grass. With a crackling whoosh, fires erupt from each of the barrels, casting an eerie orange glare down on the rest of us. The archers dip their cloth-wrapped arrows into the flames to ignite them, and nock them to their bows, pulling back the strings with their teeth or their hooves. Finally, Shining Armor slashes his hoof forward emphatically. “Fire!”
Hundreds of arrows whistle through the air, released from hundreds of bows all at once. A cloud of deadly flaming arrows surges over my head, trailing behind black smoke in the air. I can't see what happens, but I can tell when the arrows land. The sound of the lethal wooden shafts impacting with rotten flesh can be heard even from here.
Next, a colossal stream of bright golden magic streaks through the air, colliding with the enemy forces and exploding violently. It came from the clifftops near the waterfall, where Celestia is standing with Captain Blades, Twilight, Rarity, and the rest of the 2nd Regiment. Immediately after Celestia released her attack, the other groups of unicorns follow suit, and soon the air is filled not only with flaming arrows, but also differently colored streams of magic surging towards the enemy.
The trebuchets are loaded, and it isn't long before the weights are dropped and the siege engines are catapulting flaming boulders the size of several ponies through the skies. The massive boulders arc through the air in an almost lazy fashion before finally slamming into the enemy army and rolling for several meters before stopping.
“Don't let up! Fire at will!” Shining Armor orders. The ballistae hidden in the walls and in the windows of the taller buildings release volley after volley of deadly bolts into the enemy. With all of this deadly weaponry firing at once, I have to screw my eyes shut and force myself to breathe. This waiting is the worst.
Suddenly, Shining Armor grits his teeth and lifts up a thick pole, which I assume is his weapon. On either end, a crescent shaped blade is attached, similar in style to that of a polesword, bardiche, or glaive. “Heads up, everypony! They're climbing up the walls!” He warns us, twirling the weapon and narrowing his eyes. My eyes shoot to the wall and my grip tightens on my weapon. “Show them what you're made of, 1st Regiment! Make me proud! Make yourselves proud!”
Just after Shining Armor's announcement, the first grisly head of an undead pony peers over the top of the wall...and is immediately nailed with a well placed javelin that pierces right through its face and sticks out the other side. “Nice throw!” A pony calls from somewhere behind me. The triumph doesn't last long. “Look out!”
To my horror, scores of Oppressed hurtle over the walls at every location, roars ripping from their mutilated throats. They're amongst us in seconds, laying into our forces with their lethal claws. The ponies around me let out their battle cries and surge forward to meet them, carrying me along with them.
“Let's go, Seth!” Rainbow declares, she then surges ahead, catching an Oppressed as it hurdles over the wall. She expertly twirls it around her leg and throws it on the ground to Applejack, who obliterates it with a buck right to its head. “One down!”
I reach the enemy with a battle cry of my own, though I sound more like a scared teenager than a battle ready warrior. Holding my sword tightly with both hands, I cleave through the first Oppressed I come into contact with. My blade manages to get halfway through before it stops, and I have to kick the struggling monster off of the blade with my foot. Even with that, it's not dead. It growls and rushes forward, only for another pony near me to finish the job with a sweep of a broadsword. Okay, note to self: don't waste time trying to cut one in half. Just kill it and move to the next.
I find myself hacking endlessly at a wall of undead flesh as Oppressed leap over the walls in a seemingly endless wave. It looks like they are buying time for the regular undead ponies to climb over, along with what look like minotaurs and other assorted beasts. Thanks to the soldiers flanking me on either side, my back and sides are protected, allowing me to use my sword to block each claw or bite heading my way, and retaliate with lethal force.
“Hold them! Archers, provide covering fire! I'm going in!” Shining Armor commands. With a yell, he leaps right off of the roof top and right into the thick of the enemy, clearing a bloody swath of destruction around him with his double ended bardiche. He quickly discovers that his barriers are useless against the Oppressed. He retreats to our lines, easily taking out any enemies in his way. “Damn...they negate even magical protection?”
“They negate magical everything, Captain!” I call to Shining Armor as I ram my blade through the skull of an undead pony, having to raise my voice over the sounds of battle. The captain nods and joins Pterax in rescuing a group of beleaguered soldiers from a powerful undead minotaur.
The other ponies around us take our advice. They choose to forgo magical attacks in favor of blades, and for a time, we seem to be holding our own. If they keep coming at this pace though, I'm not sure how long we'll be able to hold them back.
“Watch out!” A pony cries from the rooftops, and then a huge boulder soars over the wall and demolishes a building in which a ballista is housed. More boulders fly over the walls as well, landing inside the city and dealing destruction wherever they land.
“Fuck, they have trebuchets too...” I groan in dismay, even as I push down my blade against the teeth of an attacking Oppressed. I manage to push him back long enough for another soldier to dispatch him for me.
“Somepony get a message to the princess! We need those siege engines taken out!” Shining Armor barks. A nearby pegasus turns and flies for the cliffs, flying low to avoid the magical and physical barrages. Shining Armor yelps and forms a quick barrier just in time to block the fist of a minotaur. “Heh...at least I can block you!”
Soon enough, another beam of golden energy zooms overhead, though headed in a different direction. Celestia must have gotten the message, because soon I see the volleys of boulders decreasing in number with every concentrated beam of magic.
A minotaur, its unearthly eyes blazing crimson, shoves its way through the Oppressed and assaults me and the other soldiers nearby with a snarl ripping from its decomposing throat. With one sweep of its fist, it knocks several soldiers away, rendering some of them unconscious. I leap back just in time to avoid it, but then I realize something.
“Hold on, you're not an Oppressed,” I observe. A grin streaks across my face. When the minotaur roars again and brings its fist down on me, I raise my arm and catch it on my forearm. The force behind its attack is great enough to force my feet into the ground, but it doesn't hurt me whatsoever. “Mistake.”
Much to the surprise and happiness of the soldiers near me, I stick my sword in the ground next to me and grab the minotaur with both hands, hurling it clear off of its feet and into a group of clustered undead behind it. I quickly finish it off with a quick blast of magic. The display raises the morale of the soldiers around me, and together we rush back into the fray.
“Don't hesitate to blast the ones that aren't mangled and hunched over! They're the only ones that are immune to magic!” I call out as loud as I can, hoping that the other soldiers will benefit from that information.
“Good to know!” Pterax responds, still in my form. He then tears an undead pony apart with his bare hands. When an Oppressed reaches him, he manages to dodge it, but not before cursing. “Ugh. Somepony pass me a weapon!”
“Who needs a weapon!?” Applejack declares brazenly, laying an Oppressed flat with her front hooves. However, another soldier hears Pterax and tosses a spear to him. With it, he and Applejack tear their way through a group of Oppressed. “Dash, send that one yer tangling with ta me!”
“No need, I got this!” Rainbow responds, lifting an Oppressed up in the air and hurtling it down onto the palisade wall, where it becomes impaled on the spiked top. “How come none of them can fly?”
“Brace for impact!” A pony cries out just as a boulder hurtles over the walls. The archers standing on the very building where Shining Armor had been not too long ago look up in shock as the shadow falls upon them. The ponies panic and throw themselves from the rooftops into the streets, seconds before the boulder collides with the building and completely reduces it to rubble. Some of the rubble falls down upon me and the other ponies, but thankfully it isn't enough to hurt us.
“Pull the wounded out now! Get them to the medical tent!” Shining Armor orders, directing ponies to the archers that wounded themselves in the fall. He soon turns his attention back to the front, where he's being threatened by several undead. “Come on! I'm the captain of the 1st Regiment! Come get me!”
“Ugh, would you fuck off!?” I grunt, nearly tumbling over as an undead wolf clamps its jaws down on my arm. It can't pierce my skin, but it does unbalance me enough for an Oppressed to knock me over and gallop towards me, intending to rip me apart.“Shit!”
Thankfully, the soldiers on either side of me intervene, forcing the Oppressed back with swift jabs of their spears. This buys me enough time to kick the wolf away from me and obliterate it with a follow up punch. With a quick leap, I'm back on my feet. I rush back into the battle to plug up the hole in the formation left by my absence.
So far, the line seems to be holding. The amount of enemies coming over the walls is staggering, and we are being forced to take steps back to avoid being overwhelmed, but our formation is holding strong.
“Clear the gate!” A pony shouts in a panicked voice from atop a nearby building that's taken some damage from an enemy barrage. I see the soldier who yelled rush up to the edge of the gate and point towards something on the other side of the gate. “Move! Incoming!”
I cut an Oppressed in front of me to pieces and look towards the gate, where soldiers are throwing themselves out of the way. Then, with no further warning, the gate shatters to pieces. A Mega Oppressed charges right through as if the gate hadn't even been there. Shards of reinforced wood and other debris flies in every direction as the beast gallops right into the thick of our forces, laying waste to everything in its way with its flailing fists.
“The gate is breached! Group up and get ready!” Shining Armor orders. Sure enough, a horde of undead surges through the opening left by the hole in the wall, pushing us back even further. Our line threatens to break with the intervention of the Mega Oppressed that's seemingly unstoppable. It's taken multiple injuries on its arms and torso, and arrows stick out from its thickened hide, but that doesn't even seem to be slowing it down at all. “Back away from the big guy! Leave him to me!”
The other gates in the distance shatter as well with a loud crash, and more Mega Oppressed batter their way through, leaving multiple breaches in our defenses. Fuck, we're going to get overwhelmed at this rate. Shining Armor moves to confront the Mega Oppressed, twirling his bardiche. He leaps out of the way of the monster's initial fist, and then slices into it, but to little effect. Yeah, there's no way he's going to be able to take that thing down on his own.
“Rainbow! Applejack! Pterax! To me!” I call over the sounds of battle, breaking formation and heading for the Mega Oppressed. The horde is pressing hard at our lines, so I have to hack my way through several undead before even reaching the clearing where Shining Armor is fighting. The ponies and the changeling that I called for soon rush to assist me, allowing for fresh soldiers from behind ours lines to move forward and occupy the spaces left by our absence.
I see Shining Armor fighting with the monster, managing to dodge most of its attacks. However, the captain takes a risk and slices at the Oppressed's torso, putting him right within range of its attacks. The Mega Oppressed raises both fists and swings them down at once. “Get down!” I yell at Shining Armor, rushing forward. I unconsciously call upon my magic as I do so, and I find myself approaching Shining Armor at an incredible rate. Just in time, I knock the captain aside, the both of us narrowly avoiding its attack, which ruptures the ground where we'd just been standing.
“Does nothing kill this thing?” Shining Armor demands, spitting out blood from where his lip had impacted with the ground. I help him stand, and together with Rainbow, Applejack, and Pterax, we get ready to face the monster. Last time I faced one of these things, it easily knocked me around like I was nothing, and now there's more than one of them. I only hope that Luna can handle the one over by her gate.
“Trust me, this thing's like indestructible. Magic doesn't hurt it, and it can take nearly everything we throw at it,” I warn him, gulping. “Move! Here it comes again!”
The Oppressed roars and charges all of us, swinging its fists with wild abandon, not even caring that it bowls over a few of its fellow Oppressed as it does so. The five of us scatter in every direction...only to be met with more normal Oppressed. I curse and hack my way through them, barely ducking beneath one of the giant Oppressed's attacks. “Damn, we can't fight this thing and its minions!” I curse.
“Soldiers! Keep us covered and hold that breach!” Shining Armor orders. To my relief, several soldiers push forward and engage the Oppressed threatening us, giving us a little breathing room to fight the Mega Oppressed. “Seth! We have to take this thing down, or it'll tear our line apart!”
“I know that!” I snap back, leaping out of the way to narrowly avoid the monster charging past us. Rainbow and Applejack attack it from behind, the former flying around its head like an annoying hornet while battering it with hooves, while the latter kicks at its legs in an attempt to unbalance it. “It's almost invincible!”
“Tell me you've got something more than that!” Shining Armor shoots back, his teeth gritted as ducks underneath the monster's fist, slicing its arm with his polesword as he does so.
“The last one I killed, I impaled right through the middle with a giant spike!” I answer, even though I know that's not nearly good enough. There's no giant spikes around here that we can make use of as far as I know.
“How about this!?” Pterax yells, leaping onto the Mega Oppressed's back and slamming his spear deep into the creature's back. As the monster roars, he grins and starts digging in the weapon...only to yelp and hold on for dear life as the Oppressed starts attempting to buck him off, seemingly unaffected by the spear in its back. Eventually, the spear haft breaks and Pterax is sent hurtling away. The changeling quickly transforms into a bird and flutters back to the ground before turning back into my form.
“I have an idea! Rally to me and lead it this way!” Shining Armor orders us. As we rush to meet up with him, the captain lowers his head and blasts the side of the Oppressed's head with a beam of magic. Of course, it does absolutely nothing, but it does get its attention.
“This way, you son of a bitch!” I yell at the monster, blasting it as well with a weak orb of magic to enrage it. The Oppressed doesn't even take a moment to think. The moment it sees us grouped together, it charges without hesitation, lowering its head and lifting its fists in preparation for a mighty attack.
“Run!” Shining Armor yells, turning the other direction and breaking into a sprint. I don't need to be told twice. I turn tail as well and rush to keep up with the captain, distancing ourselves away from the broken gate. In the process, we free up the rest of the 1st Regiment to push forward and meet the swarm of undead surging in through the breach in an attempt to hold them back.
A sense of deja vu falls over me as the five of us lead the Mega Oppressed through the street that runs the perimeter of the city. I got really lucky to take down one of these things in the first place. I sure hope Shining Armor knows what he's doing.
Just ahead, there's a clearing that extends inwards away from the wall, where it looks like a market was once located. However, the stalls are all collapsed or burning now, leaving a wide open space, where soldiers are clashing with the undead. At the far end of the clearing is a tall building...in which a large ballista is garrisoned. It starts to dawn on me exactly what Shining Armor is trying to do.
“Here! Hold him here!” Shining Armor demands, coming to a halt and motioning for us all to scatter. We do so without question, narrowly avoiding the monster as it speeds past us. It doesn't take the Oppressed long to reorient itself on us, stomping towards the five of us angrily. “Buy me some time!”
“How long do you need?” Rainbow answers, swooping down on the Mega Oppressed and raining blows down on its face.
“As long as you can give me! Do not let it leave this clearing!” Shining Armor finishes. The captain turns and sprints towards the building where the ballista is, leaving the four of us to battle the monster.
“What in tarnation does it take to hurt this thing?” Applejack grunts, bucking the creature in the chest. The attack has little effect other than forcing the monster back a few inches. She then yelps as Rainbow swoops in and saves her from the Oppressed's counter assault.
I rush forward to meet the monster, slicing at its arms and legs alongside Pterax, who seems to have picked up a sword and shield from one of our fallen soldiers. The Oppressed heaves a roar and slams a fist down onto Pterax, who attempts to block it with his shield. Even as I cry out, his shield shatters beneath the impact and sends Pterax skidding backwards until he tumbles over.
I gasp as the monster's fist plows into me next, bypassing my magical protection and sending me flying backwards, completely winded. Thankfully, Rainbow catches me from behind, cushioning the impact. “I got you. I uh...don't suppose you've got another elevator you want to drop on it?” Rainbow whispers in my ear, panting from the exertion. I give a breathy chuckle, but I don't say anything more, instead getting up to return to the fight. My eyes bug out when I see that the monster seems to be retreating to fight some of the other soldiers now that we're a good distance away from it. Oh...that's not good.
“Somepony stop him!” I cry out desperately, rushing back and firing blasts at the monster in an attempt to draw its attention back to us. Pterax rushes past me, his body wreathed with magical energy. He starts shifting even as I try to catch up to him.
Just as the Mega Oppressed starts to leave the clearing, Pterax meets it head on, his body expanding massively into that of a black dragon, green flames emitting from his toothed mouth. That gets the Oppressed's attention. It turns to combat Pterax immediately, giving out a roar of challenge. Pterax roars in return, and fist meets armored claw in a colossal impact.
“Go Pterax! Bring it back this way!” I call out, standing back and choosing to assist some of the other soldiers here, I don't want to get near that battle of titans.
“Kick his flank, changeling!” Rainbow cheers, before she and Applejack move to assist me against some of the other undead.
Pterax struggles with the Oppressed, who seems to have the advantage in terms of overall strength. Yes, Pterax may be a little stronger and bigger now that he's in the form of a dragon, but he's not as strong as a real dragon would be. However, Pterax seems to know that. With a guttural grunt, the dragon uses the Oppressed's strength against it, grabbing the monster's arm and throwing it to the ground.
When the Mega Oppressed rises...it's right in the middle of the clearing. Almost immediately after it gets up, the ballista fires from the building. The Mega Oppressed staggers forward as a massive ballista bolt rams right into its middle. Its body shudders, but it doesn't fall. The bolt hasn't gone all the way through.
The sound of somepony galloping behind me causes me to turn my head. Shining Armor is sprinting towards me, his horn glowing and his brow set with determination. “Seth! Get ready to fly!” He orders me. I'm confused at first, but then I see a barrier forming in the air in front of him.
Just as the Mega Oppressed is starting to turn, I leap into the air and fly towards it. Shining Armor's barrier presses against my feet and propels me forward at a much faster rate, giving me an incredible amount of momentum.
Switching my sword to my left hand, I pivot my right fist back, lime green magic surging from around it like flames. I let out a yell, and then slam the back of the ballista bolt with everything I can muster. The Oppressed shudders and spasms as the impact forces the bolt right through it, forming a gaping hole right through its torso.
I leap back to the ground and step back, watching the monster roar and flail around in pain, knocking aside any poor soldier or undead that gets in its way. “Are you kidding me? What else does it take to kill this thing?” Rainbow demands with exasperation.
Just as the Oppressed moves towards a cluster of fighting soldiers with its mindless flailing, Pterax is there. “I'll have you die!” The changeling turned dragon roared. He then hooked both of his large claws into the hole in the Mega Oppressed's chest, holding it still. Another ballista bolt thuds into the back of the monster's neck around the same time.
Pterax lets out a loud growl of exertion, the muscles in his arms straining as it pulls outward on the hole. All of us watch in shock and awe as the changeling puts all of his strength into his efforts. Until finally...the Mega Oppressed is torn apart, an entire section of its torso, including its head, ripping right off. Our jaws collectively drop as the monster falls on the ground in two pieces, twitching, until it finally falls motionless.
Shining Armor doesn't stare for long. “Good job, you four! Let's get back to the main gate! They need us!” he orders, wiping the sweat from his brow. With a motion, he indicates that the rest of us should follow him. I nod breathlessly and readjust my grip on my sword, following him through the street. Applejack and Rainbow are just behind us, along with Pterax, who has returned to using my form. “By the way, Seth...I take back what I said before.”
“Wait, what thing did you say?” I ask in confusion as the five us fight our way through a group of undead blocking our way back to the main gate.
Shining Armor looks back at me with a grin, despite the situation. “I'm definitely buying you that meal now.”
The five of us return to the main gate, and what we see isn't good. The undead are pushing back our lines, and we're taking casualties. Even when we return to the front lines and carve our way through any undead in our way, there's still a flood of them charging in through the hole in the wall. There's just no fucking end to them. When I hazard a glance out the gate, my spirits drop like a stone. I see an endless ocean of rotting flesh surging towards us.
Rainbow flies to an Oppressed climbing over the wall and hurtles it down into a group of undead ponies, knocking them over and allowing the nearby soldiers to make quick work of them. Applejack backs up the soldiers. Nothing gets back up after a single kick from the strong mare. Pterax has lost his weapon again, so he shifts into a massive mountain bear, laying waste to the undead by battering them with powerful claws.
Shining Armor grits his teeth, slicing several enemies to bits with his bardiche. Even he is starting to recognize that we're getting pushed back. Finally, he calls it. “Fall back! All soldiers fall back to the corridor!” Shining Armor commands. Without question, the soldiers of the 1st Regiment start to retreat, walking backwards as quickly as possible while still harrying the enemy with everything they have. I go with them, trusting Shining Armor's combat judgment more than mine.
Our troops surge into the corridor that leads to the second tier of the city, while blasting horns to let the troops at the other gates know to fall back as well. I can see a tornado of dark blue magic swirling into the air from another gate, so I assume that's where Luna is. I sure hope she's taken care of the Mega Oppressed over there.
Once we're in position on the far side of the corridor, Shining Armor snaps a few orders, some of which don't make any sense...at least until I see the pony moving up the corridor by herself.
When the undead turn the corner and rush down the corridor towards us, they find that the area is mostly empty, except for a single pink pony standing behind a row of organ cannons, each one colored bright obnoxious colors with stripes and polka dots all over them.
“Surprise!” Pinkie Pie exclaims enthusiastically. All of the organ cannons start to fire at once. An unending stream of powerful shells burst from the individual barrels, tearing through the undead ranks and causing massive destruction. Each of the shells trails behind ridiculous looking streamers and confetti, but they do enough damage that I don't even give a fuck how ridiculous they look. Pinkie manages to even keep them firing nonstop, because she's bouncing all over the place, reloading them from a basket she's carrying on her back. “I never leave home without my party organ cannon!”
“How does she...?” A soldier starts to ask from behind me with a bewildered tone.
“Dude, just don't ask,” another soldier answers for him. That small exchange makes me chuckle a little.
“Don't just stand there! Give her fire support!” Shining Armor orders. The soldiers chorus in affirmation, and then they start to hurl javelins over the cannons into the ranks of the enemy dealing even more damage.
Even with all of the damage Pinkie is doing with those cannons, the undead are creeping steadily closer, overcoming the opposition with sheer numbers. Whoever is controlling them is being smart, because they're sending the undead that aren't Oppressed first, such as the minotaurs, to soak up damage from the cannons and allow the undead behind them to push forward.
“Get ready to fight them! This street is a natural choke point! We can hold them here for a while!” Shining Armor commands, setting aside his own javelins and picking up the bardiche again. I straighten up, as I'd been resting my hands on my knees in an attempt to catch my breath. Shining Armor then turns to Pinkie. “Pinkie, can you pull those cannons back? We can't afford to lose them!”
“Yessiree! Make way, the Pinkie is coming through!” Pinkie replies, moving back with the cannons while still managing to keep them firing at a high rate. Our ranks part to let her through, though we have to cover our ears from the earsplitting sound of the cannons firing repeatedly.
The cannons cease firing once they're behind our lines. However, now that they're unobstructed, the undead rush towards us, their gnashing teeth and claws eager for blood. “Let's meet them head on! Charge!” Shining Armor roars.
Together, with a rousing battle cry spurring us on, I charge with my friends and the rest of the 1st Regiment to meet the undead in deadly combat. With my sword held over my head, I reach the enemy forces and cut down upon the first undead I see, which happens to be a wolf.
Side by side with Rainbow and Applejack, I give everything I have to keep the undead from pushing us back. However, because the street is on an incline, I can see the mass of undead charging up to us. Once again, I can't prevent a hint of despair falling over me when I see just how many we have to fight. No doubt those undead are pouring through the gates even now.
“Yo, did you miss us?” Suddenly, scores of pegasi fly overhead, lead by Commander Fleetfoot and Rapidfire of the Wonderbolts. Clenched in their hooves are large pony sized boulders. As they reach the ranks of the undead, they fly overhead and drop the boulders down on top of the enemy, crushing any unlucky enough to be caught underneath one. “We're here to support you. Captain Spitfire is combating one of those big guys by the waterfront gate!”
“One of those things? How's she doing? Does she need support?” Shining Armor asks anxiously, even as he cleaves through the enemy alongside me. Fleetfoot waits to reply, instead flying out and dropping her own payload down on the enemy.
“Nah, she's got Soarin with her. They're planning on pushing it over the waterfall. It's like, indestructible otherwise,” Fleetfoot informs the captain, flying back to the rooftops in the back, where there's a large stack of boulders that they've collected. No doubt that's why they took so long to get here.
“Good. Glad that you're here. We can't hold out forever. I'm losing ponies, and I don't like it!” Shining Armor grunts, deflecting a thrust from an undead Oppressed and shoving it back with the haft of his bardiche.
A white beam of magic suddenly streaks from the wall and strikes one of the pegasi carrying a boulder. The mare gives a yelp and falls to the ground, dropping the boulder in the process. The boulder falls amongst our lines, causing some damage and disarray. Outraged, we look up to see General Mist standing atop a platform on the walls, her eyes narrowed and her horn glowing.
“Dammit, that's their general!” I yell out. The only thing capable of magic out there is her as far as I know. No doubt that they've captured the walls, she's joining in the fight herself.
“Take evasive action!” Fleetfoot directs her pegasi as Mist fires more beams of magic towards our line.
“Return fire!” Shining Armor orders. Archers and other unicorns fire magic towards her, but she uses her magic to either deflect them or just outright block them.
Hold on, she's no Oppressed. And that means... I leap into the air and sheath my sword. I clasp my hands together, causing a green glow to leak out from the space between my palms. I withdraw my hands and fire stream after stream of magic towards where Mist is standing, holding nothing back. If she wants to fight me, she'll find I'm more than she's bargained for. “Suck it, you albino freak!” I yell, my arms and shoulders pivoting back and forth to shoot more streams at her.
Mist's eyes widen at the barrage of magic heading towards her. She attempts to block with her own magic, but her shield is quickly overwhelmed and she's forced to retreat back behind the wall to safety. Satisfied, I unsheathe my sword again and return to the front lines. I descend upon them like a whirlwind of deadly steel, rendering several unfortunate undead to bloody ribbons as I land.
“Good job. Make sure she can't interfere with us again,” Shining Armor ordered me. I nod and turn my attention forward, to the army of undead that's still running towards us, climbing over the inert and mangled bodies of the ones we've already killed.
This battle is far from over.
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Dayum. Just, dayum...
Woo wee, the battle finally starts, and is it fuckin' awesome.
Seriously, great job on this, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Can't wait for the changlings to come in and help! Am I assuming you're gonna wrap the battle up in the next chapter? Gonna have to be a big chapter if you do.
Ok, this is the first time I have commented on this book, and I have to say I read it all in one sitting. Dash you are amazing for writing this! I have not been so caught up in ANYPONYS book even actual celebrated authors, enough to where it causes me to cry, to cheer, to nearly break my computer screen at a few points...O///O anyhoof. Dont stop writing! I have to know what happens next!
When I read about the Mega Opressed it make me remember the colossus of God Of War 2... I don't know why but It make me think in that.
Whoo damn that was an awesome fight chapter!
I like that as the fight starts, Seth's team has assembled around him ready to fight. While all of the Equestrians are fighting together, Seth's team already backing him up an in position is just awesome. While in theory having Pterax take up Seth's form would allow for greater range of movement in a combat situation, that fact that there has never been a human besides Seth (and now Hawke) in Equestria would leave the changlings with no idea of how to us eth form efficiently. I don't understand how changling transformation works, but for the most part they take on quadrapedal form. They have turned into Minotaurs before, but that's really the only bipedal being in Equestria, so taking human form would probably be a little confusing for him until he learned how to use it effectively. Also if he intends to use the form further, he is probably going to need to equip himself with his own sword or something like Seth.
Anyway the first charge comes and Mist is smart, she sends in the Oppressed first since they not only the most vicious tough little fuckers, but their magic resistance means they can take all the magic heavy hits to protect the regular undead. Still, the Equestrians have been briefed on them and are ready for a fight. The group holds their own really well using all their natural talents to fight back. The unicorns use their magic to wield weapons better, the Earth ponies are already heavy hitting bastards and the pegasi can get airborne, which the undead cannot do (even if there are undead pegasi and griffins out there, being a rotting corpse tends to leave their wings featherless and therefore take away any ability to fly). Rainbow is using her speed to snatch the bastards so they can't fight back from the ground, then slam then from the air. Applejack just kicks the shit out of them, Pterax uses his human form to gain better flexibility and Seth uses his sword to slice and dice. Once the normal undead start getting involved, the magic users get back into the game. Seth's display of manhandling a Mintotaur trying to squash him would certainly raise a bit of morale after fighting against magic resistant Oppressed. All in all the Equestrians certainly put up a huge fight against the undead, probably more then what Sombra had been expecting.
Still when the Mega Oppressed gets involved, that really turns things bad. With its magic resistance and immense strength, it can shrug off basically every hit it takes, those pricks are probably Sombra's greatest asset besides his generals. Shining Armour attempts to fight one alone, but Seth and his team intercept before it can crush him. How well the group work together after only just being formed and not even really completed yet with missing members, is just amazing. Then again, aside from Pterax the group all know each other and even if prior to this Shining Armour and Seth weren't on good terms, the two can clearly work well together. After realising that they won't be able to fight it in basic hand to hand combat, Shining hatches a plan and Seth's A-Team hold it at bay while he gets a ballista. Pterax turning into a dragon to combat it at equal size was a good call. The Mega Oppressed might be far stronger, but when put on equal ground, Pterax has far better flexibility, movement and combat techniques. The Mega Oppressed is a centaur like bruiser who just smashes everything, so when faced against something that doesn't just fold over in its wake it loses its advantage somewhat. Still, while dealing with the dragon Pterax, the Mega Oppressed gets impaled with a ballista by Shining. The fucker still doesn't go down though, so not only Does Seth have use his magic, in conjuction with Shining's to smash the ballista all the way through its chest, but Pterax has to tear the thing apart. After that feat, I'd say Pterax has earned bit of respect from the Equestrian soliders, and at the very least, indicated that he'll have the rest of the teams back throughout this war. I doubt he's made himself appear any friendlier with Rainbow and Seth, but he'll certainly be trusted to have their backs on their missions.
After Shining decides to give Seth back his offer of a meal, the group get back to the fight. This indicates to me that for the most part, Shining is over the events of the wedding. For Shining, he took Seth's actions far more personally then most, since it wasn't just him betraying everypony, it was him putting his sister and fiancé in danger, and nothing pisses him off more then his family in danger. It's honestly the only reason I think he was still so pissed with Seth even after learning the reasoning behind his choice to betray them. Had Twilight and Cadance been safe, he likely would have sympathized with Seth for wanting to be back with his family. It seems that now that Shining has cooled off a bit since the wedding, and seen how hard Seth is fighting with all of them to stop Sombra, Seth has managed to regain his respect, at least a bit. I suspect further interaction between the two will show far less hostility in the future.
As the group get back to the fight, they are overwhelmed and forced back, only for heavy weapons specialist Pinkie Pie to blow them to pieces with her Pinkie Cannons. I figured Pinkie would be a valuable asset on the battlefield with her wackiness. Damn was she good, just absolutely tearing them apart. Still, the regular undead start protecting the Oppressed so they can retain their magic resistant advantage so Shining has her back the canons away and leave the fighting in the choke point. It gets tough, only for a few of the Wonderbolts to get involved. While Spitfire and Soarin deal with a Mega Oppressed (with a waterfall right behind them and the ability to fly and stay out of its range, they kind of have an unfair advantage fighting it. Mind you if they get to close they are dead, so yay wings!) so the rest have brought in some aerial assistance with boulders smashing through the undead waves. However Flowing Mist reveals herself. I honestly hadn't expected to see her yet, figuring she'd either be behind the lines or facing against the 1st regiment spellcasters. Still, she clearly isn't as powerful as Seth and the moment he starts throwing his magic around she is overwhelmed and runs for it. Having Seth in the fight certainly keeps her at bay, since he is mingled amongst the ground troopers, unlike Celestia, whom is on long range attack, and Luna whom is a walking army and having to deal with Mega Oppressed, means he is in a better position to target Flowing Mist should she try to get involved again.
Damn, next chapter is going to be so awesome
I'm literally bursting with excitement for the next chapter!
man i love your battle's they are so awesome.
Just wondering. The oppressed are resistant/immune to magic, but if Seth used magic to simulate a high powered laser, could it damage them? Since the actual laser would just be concentrated photons generated by magic?
That. Was. AWESOME.
Nice
6010573 Radiation vs. undead is an interesting concept but a cutting laser, now that would be fun.
6010573 I'm pretty sure that anything created by magic is inherently magical, including light, and therefore wouldn't have any effect. It's just obviously just a thought, but you'd think that, by now, somepony would have come up with a similar method of conjuring something and letting the effect kill the Oppressed.
Reading this reminds me of reading the final book of the Furies Of Calderon.
If i could i would drop my Valkyr into the battle. How's a long clawed immortal that can't be knocked down sound?
6713142 you too?! i love that series.
6741013 how about a rhino prime with a galatine? spin cycle of death anyone? hell, any warframe would work here. if i had to choose a favorite warframe, rhino would be one of them. although, a rainbow soma prime would be fun. imagine 200 bullets that burn, freeze, shock, and melt all at the same time...
6121649
Perhaps, but if he used a spell to shape and channel already existing light, I think it would work.
Reminds me of the Inheritance cycle.