A New Purpose

by Sparky Brony

Chapter 11.

“Push them back!” Cadance shouts. And her troops, along with the Griffon army, are struggling to comply. With the reinforcements, they are pushing the bugs back, step by laborious step. But more bugs are showing up. Cadance moans at the new reinforcements.

“Princess, we cannot win this. There are too many of them.” General Snow says quietly.

Cadance takes to the air, minding her wing injury, she surveys the battlefield. Corpses, both pony and bug, litter the landscape, to advance, her forces are having to climb over the dead to keep fighting. The ponies haven’t broken, she smiles grimly, they won’t break so long as they have leadership. They keep position, using their weapons as effectively as they can. She risks a glance back into the shield, from time to time, as Shining Armor has been able to get them outfitted, more crystal ponies have been joining the fight. But this time, what she sees has her streaking through the shield.

She slams to the ground. “I got a letter back from your king. Saying you were staying neutral in this.”

The large yak tosses his head, “I am here because the Princess of Friendship went out of her way to help us be friends. We will help because of her,” Prince Rutherford says, “My father is against us doing this. All of my fighters here are volunteers because of Princess Twilight.”

Cadance looks at the thousands of yaks marching towards the shield boundary, many are towing heavy weapons from the Crystal Empire armory. She lowers her head, “Thank you, Prince.”

He smiles, “Yaks are friends with ponies. Ponies need help, we will help. Let’s smash the bugs.”

He looks at the army he’s brought, “Let’s go.” He calls out. The yaks surge forward through the shield.

Cadance watches as the bugs react to the yaks. Their thick fur keeps them safe from the wicked hooked appendages of the bugs. Their great strength smashing the hard carapace’s of the bugs. The front lines of the bugs breaks immediately.

Prince Rutherford screams, “Yaks smash!” As he wades in with his fellow yaks.

***

“Twilight. I’m scared.” I moan as we get through the portal. I look back at the portal we’ve just walked through. There’s nothing there. I look at Twilight.

She giggles, “Nick, I can feel the portal, we won’t get lost here.”

I nod and look around, no vegetation, just bare rocks. The rocky ground seems pretty easy to walk on. The air feels different than Equestria. I shake my head, “This is so weird.”

Twilight looks up at the sky, “No sun.” She murmurs.

She’s right, the entire sky is full of dark, roiling clouds, “This is their world. And if you can feel it, bereft of magic. They’ve consumed it all.” Chrysalis intones slowly.

Twilight shakes her head, “I feel magic. But not like Equestria, where magic is everywhere. But little spots, little bits of brightness in the dark.”

Chrysalis sighs, “That would be the ponies they’ve brought over here to feed on. You can feel the magic of those ponies.”

Twilight growls and stalks forward, “Then they are our first order of business.”

“You can’t!” Chrysalis screams, Twilight lifts a hoof, looking at the Changeling queen, she sighs, “Those ponies are their spoils of war, don’t you think they will be well guarded?”

Twilight’s magic drags the changeling over to her, “They are my ponies, I’m not leaving them here.”

Chrysalis shrugs, “It’s your funeral if you go there.”

Twilight spreads her wings, then pulls back, “I don’t want to focus on keeping you in check. I have two choices, I can leave you here.” That gets a shudder from the changeling queen. “Or, I can have you come with us, under your own power, but if you betray me, just one little bit. I will kill you, without hesitation or remorse.” Her hard glare is directed at the changeling, getting her to wilt, “Understood?”

The changeling queen wilts in defeat, “I will not betray you, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Now, I’m going to save those ponies, the reason I’m here is to save lives. Understood?”

Chrysalis hangs her head, “Yes, Twilight.”

I smile and spread my wings, “We get to fly?”

Twilight comes over and nuzzles me, “The reason you can’t fly is because she was feeding off of you, it’ll be a little bit before you can fly. We are ground bound for now, love. Let’s find the ponies.”

Hours pass as we walk, though finally we get close to a large penned area. The moans and cries of the ponies inside those pens tears at my heart. Apparently it’s the same for Twilight. She opens a pen and talks to a few of the ponies, directing them back to the portal. The ponies streak off as fast as they can, carrying those unable to move on their own.

Twilight smiles grimly as she watches the first of the ponies head back towards her portal, “We will save as many as possible, here, Nick.” She perks her ears forward, her horn lighting, “And the fighting starts.”

Twilight takes to the air, a dozen of the bugs heading towards her, I don’t know what I was expecting, but she fires a green lightning bolt, which arcs between the bugs, causing them to vanish. Twilight lands next to me, “Well, that was easier than I expected.”

I cock my head to the side, “Was that balefire?”

She giggles, “No, I will probably use it, but not yet, not while other methods are effective. Sparkler was right, it is dangerous to use. But I will not hesitate to use it when it’s needed. Chrysalis!”

The changeling queen steps forward, her ears down, her head low, “Yes, Princess?”

“Where is the bug queen?”

Chrysalis sighs and points to the top of a nearby mountain, “She has a citadel there. I would expect you to find her there.”

“Let us free the ponies, they are now aware that we are here, so we must hurry. Then we must get to the Citadel.”

***

Princess Luna powers up into the sky, the battle is actually looking good. The Dragon Corps have been very effective, the pegasi in the corps have been working with the dragons, fighting effectively, and pushing the bugs back up the mountain. Luna lands at the castle, kneeling down to her sister.

“Sister, we just might win the day.”

Celestia moans a bit, “I know sister. But that is this day, what about tomorrow, the next day? Weeks, months, years of lives given to keep our kingdom.” She looks down, “How can we stop this? Not the battle, but the war.”

Princess Luna looks down, finally making her decision, she gathers up her sister’s hooves and looks into her eyes, “If I am successful, you must stop me after.”

Confusion clouds Celestia’s eyes for a long moment, then clears as realization hits, “No, Sister, the risk is too great.”

Luna moves forward and kisses her sister on the forehead, “I don’t do it for myself this time, I do it for the ponies. Perhaps that will be good enough, and allow me to control the Nightmare.”

The horror on Celestia’s face is obvious, “No.” She whispers.

Luna smiles, "I must stop this threat, the Nightmare has enough power, perhaps I can seal up their portals, for all time. I was able to find Nick’s dimension, I was able to find other worlds, perhaps I can do something helpful.”

She turns from her sister and directs her attention inward. The power has been trying to surge inside her, and ruthlessly suppressed every time. It’s time to let that power out. As she meets the power in her mind, her coat darkens, her armor changes shape. Her eyes turn into slits as her teeth turn into jagged fangs, “The Nightmare is awakened.” Nightmare moon intones as she surveys the bugs fighting against the ponies, “And I will end this.”

She takes to the sky. The moon coming out, blotting out the sun, enhancing her power, her strength. She streaks down to the battle, bypassing the fighting, she must stop more of these vile creatures coming through.

Comments

[harts fire]

WOW just WOW that is how to wright a battle.
this is one rock solid chapter.
Harts Fire

[alfaomega]

Good good

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Dang dude, you are just rocking with the fight scenes!