Chapter Nineteen: He Who Tolls the Bells of War - Part Three
The Draconequus of Notre Mare.
By Inkquill.
Chapter Nineteen: He Who Tolls the Bells of War - Part Three.
Being as swift and careful as a dove, a limp and almost lifeless Fluttershy laid unconscious in his arms as he rushed through the inner chambers of the bell tower; he could barely feel her heart beat as he listened to every struggled and raspy breath that escaped her lips as he cradled her against his chest. He turned into the secluded chamber where a bench covered in soft fabric resided.
Gently, he settled her down upon it, laying her on her side and propping her head up with a straw pillow. He caught his breath for a moment before turning to leave, but before he did, he hesitated, stealing one last glance as he ran his knuckles over her brow.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be safe here.” He said to her. “... I won’t let them take you.”
“Darn tootin’ they aren’t!” Applejack exclaimed as she and the others stood by the doorway.
“What’s the plan, Discord?” Rainbow asked, thumping her hoof against her chest.
Discord looked to them with a smile, happy that his friends were here to help. “Follow my lead!” He exclaimed, rushing past them.
Gallivanting across the catwalk with his friends quick behind him, Discord flung himself over the railing on onto an overhanging gargoyle, swinging his way down to the lower walkway where a large wooden column lay.
Springing to action, the slender draconequus grabbed it in his claws and lifted the heavy lumber up, moving over to the ledge and letting gravity take its toll, sending the massive log down to the Grand Plaza below, directly onto the iron carriage of the Marisian monarch; bits of metal and splintered wood flying everywhere as nearby guards ducked for cover.
Meanwhile, as the guards scattered, Twilight and Spike, who had been standing by, dashed past the panicking guards. “Spike, come on!” Twilight exclaimed as she galloped, not wanting to wait until they could recollect themselves.
“Where are we going?!” Spike called back as he tried to keep pace with the excited mare.
“To get reinforcements!” She answered, darting through the crowd towards the cages where Flash and the gypsies were being held.
Flash watched from his cell as the guards picked up the beam that had been thrown down at them and carried it to the cathedral door, using it as a battering ram to try and break into the holy hall. Momentarily, his eyes darted up as a bright flash of purple light flared, followed by a boisterous crackle of thunder reverberated through the air as those strange, pink clouds swirled overhead.
“Psst!”
His ears perked up as the sound hit his eardrums. Glancing behind himself, he was surprised and filled with joy to see the lovely figure of his beloved Twilight standing among the crowd.
“Twilight?” He exclaimed softly.
“Shh!” Twilight replied. “No time, Flash, we need to rally the people. We have to help.”
Flash nodded almost instantly. “I think I have an idea.”
Reaching through the bars, he carefully grabbed hold of Twilight’s horn, causing her to jump a little in surprise.
“Flash?! What are you~” A strange, almost alien sensation struck her; the sensation of being naked in public mixed with a feeling of freedom as Flash held her horn’s brace in his hoof.
With slow, steady breaths, she reached up to her horn and for the first time in years, she felt the bare service of her horn, unconstrained or bounded, magic filtering out from its core and radiating with a dim, violet aura.
“F-flash…?”
“Take it easy, Twilight.” Flash said steadily. “Just… I need you to use your magic to get the keys. We have to do stop this!”
Collecting herself, she nodded in acknowledgment, turning the attention to the guard nearby. Nervously, she approached him, trying to keep herself undetected. She had never used her magic to any great extent beforehand. Before she received her horn brace, she had played with it slightly, but was only reprimanded for it… but now?
Celestia, please let her not mess up!
Igniting her horn, she, Flash and Spike held their breath as she focused her attention on the set of keys attached to the back of the soldiers belt, watching on anxiously as they began to levitate.
By some miracle of fate, she managed to quietly remove the key chain and levitate it over to them, with Spike jumping up and snatching it out of the air quickly before handing it to Flash.
“Wonderful!” Flash exclaimed quietly as he unlocked his cage and handed the keys back to Twilight. “Go help the others, I’ll take it from here.”
Twilight nodded, the keys hovering in her magical grip as she turned and dashed into the crowd.
“Twilight?!” Flash called, causing Twilight to pause momentarily. It took every ounce of courage in the stallion's body to say what he was about to say. But it had to be said. He knew it. “... Please come back to me.”
She felt as if her heart had skipped a beat, “I will.” She replied as she darted into the crowd with Spike on her heels.
Flash watched her as she disappeared into the sea of ponies before he took a breath and turned his attention to the task at hand. His eyes set on the cage door and the guards pony.
Scowling his brow, he raised himself on his hind legs, bringing his hooves down heavily on the iron door, sending it flying forwards. The guard, meanwhile, only had time to turn his head as the hard, cold metal smashed into his face, sending him flying back and unconscious.
Huffing in satisfaction and having caught the attention of many of the by-standing citizens, the former captain of the guard reached down and took the guard's spear in his hoof before swinging himself on top of the cage and holding it aloft.
“Citizens of Maris!” He called out in a booming, commanding voice with all eyes and ears set on him. “Chrysalis has persecuted our people! Ransacked our city! And now, she’s declared war on Notre Mare, Our Lady, Herself!”
Flash's words rang true among the denizens of Maris, his passion and outrage spurring their hearts with vengeful fire as the soldiers proceeded to bash at the cathedral doors with their crude battering ram. They shouted and jeered, stomping their hooves against the cobblestone as Flash cried out, “Will we allow it!?”
A great ensemble of riled voice rose up in response, “NO!!!” They cried, their hearts pumping, their muscles tensing, their righteous fury having reached its peak as the smoke-stained air heaved in and out of their convulsing lungs!
“Rise Maris!" Flash cheered, receiving back a wild bedlam of voices, all united to his calls, “RISE!!!”
Meanwhile in the bell tower, Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were all hard at work, all doing their part to rain hell down upon the soldiers below.
“Come on, girls! Let’s give them all we got!” Rainbow exclaimed, cheering her companions on.
The trio fought boldly and without fear, lobbing large stone down a top of them. “Look!” Rarity exclaimed, pointing her hoof down towards the Plaza. “The ponies are rallying!”
“Well I’ll be,” said Applejack. “Looks like the cavalry's arrived!”
In the Plaza below, they could see the citizens of Maris, allied with the gypsies who they had freed from their cages going up against the royal guards, with the entire courtyard enthralled in a heated battle; newly liberated unicorns also trying their hoof at a few magical blasts that sent the guards sailing backwards and honestly making a decent light show.
“Yeah, but they’re not going to get here in time!” Rainbow interjected, “Look!”
Far below, both the trio of gargoyles and Discord alike could see very well that the soldiers were making short of work of the giant door as the sounds of splintering wood and bending iron rang out in harsh, drumming thumps as they continued to batter at the door with the large wooden beam that Discord could feel as the sound waves assailed his deafened ear drums.
“What do we do now?” Rarity asked worriedly, all three of them looking too Discord.
Discord was silent as he stared back at them before looking back down at the conflict below. He felt so still inside, as something was there, but hidden from him at the same time. Slowly, he turned his head and looked back to the doorway that led into the room where he had deposited Fluttershy. That’s when he felt it… he knew it. He knew exactly what to do.
Slowly, his eyes traveled upwards towards the overcast sky; his knuckles barred as he stared up at the pink clouds above.
As quick as a flash, he leaped over the railing and grabbed hold of a nearby pillar, swinging himself upwards with unrivaled agility and soon coming to rest on the upper catwalk overlooking the Grand Plaza.
He stood atop it without being phased by the monstrous height, his mismatched hands outstretched as he let his emotion flow freely through his body. Suddenly, there came the harsh, booming crackle of violet lightning, arching down from the sky and striking where Discord stood, but it did not harm him, instead, the oddly colored bolts rippled over his body and fed into the stone of the cathedral as Discord’s eyes began glowing the same color as that of the lightning.
Magic. Magic, he could feel it within him; coursing through his veins and feeding into the cathedral stone, which began to hum in low intervals. In his hands, a pulsating aura of the arcane energy glowed, a wellspring of power ready to be unleashed.
In one swift and powerful motion, he brought his hands down upon the stone railing and unleashed the magic that had been welling up inside him, sending brilliant volts of electricity coursing down the whole of the cathedral before Discord took a deep breath and let out a deafening roar that flooded the Plaza and caused previously fighting soldiers and towns folk to instantaneously halt dead in their tracks and turn their attention to the lofty towers of Notre Mare; even the soldiers batter away at the door paused, with Chrysalis staring upwards aghast.
“What in Faust’s name?” One of the soldier’s exclaimed under his breath.
Meanwhile, high above them, the gargoyle gutters overlooking the Plaza began to stir; their eyes illuminating with violet-white light with their jaws spread wide and gaping.
Suddenly and with violent fury, a deluge of scalding hot brown and frothing liquid erupted out of their stone maws, falling like waterfalls down upon the soldiers below. The liquid burned at their bodies, seeping into their armor, sending them into a panic and causing them to flee as the liquid condensed into a boiling defensive wall around the doorways.
Chrysalis had very nearly fallen directly under the heated concoction, but had managed to duck out of the way under the archway of the door as her soldiers fled. “Come back, you fools!” She screamed.
Curiously, she dipped her hoof into some of the partially cool liquid that had collected on the landing in front of the door and brought it to her lips, her eyes widening in confusion. “Chocolate milk?”
Snarling her lips, she turned her attention to the partially broken door, luckily, her soldiers had caused the harsh wood of the entrance way to shatter, allowing her to see into the cathedral properly. Looking around, she spotted a sword one of her soldiers had dropped during their panic and took it up in her hooves, hacking away at the gap until it was wide enough for her to squeeze through.
Rather unceremoniously, she tumbled in and landed on the tiled floor, but quickly rose to her hooves and regained her composure, the sword still gripped in her hooves as she made her way towards the spiral staircase that led to the bell tower.
However, she was met half way as the Archdeacon, Luna, appeared suddenly, a look of disbelief and anger plastered across her face.
“Chrysalis! Have you gone mad!?” Luna shouted, holding out her hoof to block the Queen’s passage. “I will not tolerate this assault upon the House of Faust!”
Chrysalis only gritted her teeth and grabbed the Archdeacon by the collar of her robes, aggressively pulling her off her hooves and throwing her down to the floor. “Out of my way, you old fool!” She snarled, proceeding up the stairs, throwing the wooden door at the top open.
“The draconequus and I have unfinished business.” She said, slamming the door shut and bolting it down with a wooden beam. “And this time… you will not interfere…”
~To Be Continued~
Edited by the lovely Alyssa Hartwick
Please leave your thoughts in the comments bellow. 
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oh now I can't wait to see how this ends
7534875 Same
Yay! You FINALLY updated! BUT NOW YOU"CE LEFT US HANGING!!!! UPDATE SOON PLEASE!!!!
Oh my sweet Celestia, this is SWEET!:D I don't mean the whole "daww that's sweet" but rather "Dang that's sweet son!:0"
nice new cover
7556205
Thx i made it myself
So I see that you have failed to update after that cliffhanger.
NOT *clap* ON *clap* MY *clap* WATCH *clap*
I wanna see what happened next!
7635078 I know.. I'm sorry...
I've been having trouble finding the time and energy to sit down and finish it...
derpicdn.net/img/2015/5/19/899818/full.gif
Honestly I was thinking of this roar when you described that...
but you went ahead and added
Chrysalis jackin' all the churches... chsh
derpicdn.net/img/2016/10/19/1276818/medium.gif
7658486
YES! i LOVE the Godzlla roar!
Now these are the type of changes I like to see. Discords powers rule!
I would have said the gargoyles could aid as well but they are sort of pigments of his imagination
Yes! CHAOS!! Who hoo!