Fools and Drunks

by Jordan179

Chapter 39: To the Last of Her Strength

The gates had slammed shut, and the five living equines were once again prisoners of the Wraiths of Sunney Towne.

Grey Hoof gave Ruby Gift no time to contemplate her defeat. Directly upon closing the doors, he leaped at his rebellious daughter, pounding at her with a series of bolts of black-and-crimson energies and a series of brutal hoof-strikes. Most missed, but only becaue of Ruby's frantic deflection and dodging. Those which hit knocked her back, sending her reeling. She had no time, no window of opportunity in which to fight back.

As for Glittershell and her friends, Roneo and Starlet quickly caught up with them.

"Do not fight," Zecora said to the others, "the time's not right."

"Okay," said Apple Bloom, "but Ah sure hope you know what you're doing!"

Snips and Glittershell both relaxed slightly, though Ermine was still huffing angrily.

"Ah'm not gonna let them hurt you, sweetie-colt," she promised Glittershell. "They'll have to get through me first!"

Having seen Ermie fight, Glittershell did not discount her in action, though -- remembering how summarily Grey Hoof had swept the moonshiner aside before, and watching as Grey Hoof body-slammed Ruby into a trestle-table, causing the table to flare out of existence and Ruby to crash through it to the earth below with enough force to dig out a small crater -- the transmare was not sure that even Ermie's most berserk frenzy would be enough to let her stand against the might of the Master-Wraith. Especially did she doubt that Ermie could do so now, when she was exhausted by her earlier fighting.

No, there was nothing for it but to await the outcome.

---

It was not as if any of them had much fight in them any more. Glittershell was wobbly on her legs: merely making for the gates with Ermine on her back had exhausted her, so that she had to let Ermine dismount and then lie down to rest, panting hard. Ermine, herself, was barely able to stand unassisted: when Glittershell put her down, the cream-coated filly flopped down on her belly beside her, in the process contriving to roll toward Glittershell, leaning rather intimately against her.

Glittershell admired Ermine's spirit. If she'd liked fillies that way, it would have made her very happy, despite the fact that they were both doomed. For sure, it was very romantic, and Glittershell was a strongly-sentimental soul.

As things were, it made her feel a bit guilty. Ermine did not know that Glittershell was really a mare, and one who was attracted to stallions.

There was no good way for her to explain it to Ermie now. This was not the time or place for a long emotional conversation, and it would be cruel in any case to let the younger filly know that she was about to die because she'd made a mistake. If she were doomed anyway, better that she died imagining that her affections were returned.

Thus far, and no further, did Glittershell's reasoning reach, and it was an impressive act of cogitation by her standards. It did not occur to her that, if Ermine died, she would be raised again as an undead thrall, at which point she would see souls directly and be immediately aware that Snails was in truth no stallion. And then, Ermine might be really mad at her.

It is an interesting psychological question whether Glittershell failed to perceive this because she did not want to do so, or simply because she was too dim to follow such a chain of reasoning to its logical conclusion. On the one hoof, Glitttershell really was rather stupid. On the other one, had she been as stupid as she somtimes seemed, she never would have lived as long as she had already, given her rather dangerous habit of exploration.

What was certainly true was that this was a bad time to attempt such a revelation.

---

The gate now closed, Starlet and Roneo had once again relaxed, and popped down near the living equines with no further display of animosity. The attentions of all were riveted on Grey Hoof and Ruby Gift.

Grey Hoof attacked relentlessly; Ruby doged bolt after bolt, strike after strike. She did not seem to have much energy left to counterattack, though once or twice she tried to blast holes in the walls. These attempts were promptly countered by Grey Hoof, who immediately sealed the breaches, so that all this accomplished was to temporarily divert his attention from directly fighting his daughter.

The one-sided battle progressed relentlessly toward its inevitable conclusion. Dodge and block as Ruby might, she could not actually land a blow on her father, and in the process he was slowly wearing her down.

The moment came when Ruby made the inevitable error. A black-and-crimson bolt of Grey Hoof's anti-life force struck her full in her front, right to the chest. Ruby's shield flared all the way up from gold to blue to eye-searing bright violet, then briefly shed the force in some invisible part of the spectrum before the remainder of Grey Hoof's energy penetrated to directly strike the ghost girl.

She shrieked, her form flicking rapidly through various Life and Death Aspects, to become a badly-battered, half-dead looking version of a stocky young gray-coated, blonde-and-orange haired mare, blood streaming from her head and coat smoking from some terribly hot fire. In this form she was flung back by the force of her father's arcane energies, and cast down to flop quite in-elegantly into the battle-churned earth of the village square.

Grey Hoof followed the line of attack, leaping almost directly on top of his daughter. One hoof pinned her to the ground, his own body preventing her from arising.

Ruby once again flared with golden energy, but with far less power than before -- and this time her father was ready for it. He countered with his own flare of crimson darkness from his mane, in a burst that engulfed and swallowed his daughter's force, dissipating harmlessly into the air around him.

There was a rumble of thunder overhead. Grey Hoof, and everypony else in the square, looked up for a moment, but there was no accompanying flash of lightning. Shrugging, Grey Hoof returned his attention to Ruby Gift.

"This time, I have truly defeated thee," he told his rebel daughter. "Yield, for thou hast in thee no more fight left."

Ruby -- astonishingly -- grinned at her father. "Thou hast defeated me," she agreed. "And yet I have triumphed!"

"What?" Grey Hoof asked. "Whyfore dost thou say that?"

"Because --" and she grinned wider, "this time, My Lady was in such a hurry to come here that she made a Moonboom."

For a moment, Grey Hoof's face was a study in confusion, as he struggled to make sense of what his daughter had told him. Then, realization dawned in his expression, and he gasped in fear.

But it was too late for any action on his part.

The lid of black clouds overhead burst asunder. Through it streamed -- not the sunlight Glittershell might have expected, since it was only afternoon -- but rather the cool blue radiance of bright moonlight, lovely and soft and infinitely cheering.

Glittershell, not being of a particularly analytical turn of mind, did not stop to question this strange astronomical phenomenon. It made little difference, anyway, since the Wraiths shrank back from the cool moonlight almost as if it had been burning sunlight, though less in pain than in evident fear.

A moment later, the source of this miraculous radiance became apparent, as she descended through the rift she had torn in the clouds. She was big and blue, winged and horned, and deadly-looking as she was clad for war in moonsilver helmet and peytral and sabatons, her harness hung about with weapons; but her presence was utterly-reassuring, because it meant to Glittershell that the terrors were about to end, that normality was about to be restored. Glittershell recognized her instantly, for no one else in Equestria looked at all like her: Luna, the Moon Princess.

On her back sat a small purple-and-green saurian creature whom Glittershell knew even better. Spike the Dragon glared in half-fear, half-defiance at the undead horrors cringing away from the Moon Princess, and thus also himself; glowing greenish-purple smokes wafted from his mouth and nostrils, showing that he, too, was ready for a fight.

HIs presence also heartened Glittershell, for Spike was one of the friends of herself and Snips. And, while he was young and small, his support was not to be scorned in battle, for Spike was still, well, a Dragon.

Luna descended. All four of her hooves touched the ground. Spike hopped off to guard her back, while Luna herself regarded the massed, mangled horde of the spectral and material undead alike with apparent concern.

She drew a pair of crescent shaped swords in her aura; twirled and spun them in a single smooth and well-rehearsed action. Every eye, living and spectral and material undead alike, followed the motion with varying degrees of fearful awe.

Finally, she spoke.

"I have not come desiring a fight," Luna said, "but I will do what I must to free your captives. Ye may make this easy or hard, as ye do desire. Though I would much prefer 'easy,' it shall leave not as much mess for the mopping."

Their salvation had come.

Author's Note:

Glittershell and her friends are all in.

---

Ruby is fighting a delaying action. And knows it.

Though she doesn't know if she'll be able to hold out long enough.

---

Luna makes a Presence Attack, in Champions terms.

It's very effective.

---

Short chapter this time. I decided to go with the natural break points rather than try to jam this one into either the preceding or succeeding chapters. Hope no one minds.

Comments

[The Wind King]

The gate now closed, Starlet and Roneo had once again relaxed, and popped own near the living equines with no further display of animosity. Their attention was riveted on Grey Hoof and Ruby Gift, as was that of the living equines.

1) - down (Missing the "d" here)

For a moment, Grey Hoof's face was a study ijn confusion, as he struggled to make sense of what his daughter had told him. Then, realization dawned in his expression, and he gasped in fear.

2) - in (extraneous "j" here)
_______________________________________________________________________

Is it speciest or incorrect to say "the cavalry is here" when they're all equines...

[FanOfMostEverything]

Sometimes it's just a matter of stalling as long as you can and hoping you draw your win condition. The only life point that truly matters is the last one.
(Look, once I get into a card game mindset, it's hard for me to leave it. )

In any case, the cavalry has quite literally arrived. Now to see if Grey Hoof takes the better part of valor.

[skyace]

Huzzah! Tis best princess!

[Jordan179]

8968551

I agree. If you've ever noticed, a heck of a lot of my stories feature Luna in some prominent role.

[Jordan179]

8968183

Well, aside from Spike, who is a draconic archosaur rather than an equine mammal. Biologically, anyway -- culturally, he's an Equestrian Pony.

Luna brought Spike for two reasons -- one, so that she would have a way of easily communicating with Celestia if things went wrong; two, because unlike many who take him for granted, she knows he's really tough -- pretty much immune to anything most of the thralls could do to him. He's also magic-resistant, so the Wraith Life Drain would be of limited effectiveness against him. He is, of course, a Dragon.

[Jordan179]

8968267

That is exactly what Ruby meant. To win, she didn't have to beat up Grey Hoof. She doesn't even really want to hurt him too much, if she can avoid it. All she had to do was keep the fight going long enough for help to arrive.

She wasn't exactly sure what sort of help -- Princess Luna was better help than she expected -- but she figured that Zecora was counting on more than just two young mares for backup. And she was right.

[The Wind King]

8968693

And fire is a spiritul cleanser / purifier because it burns.

Doesn't matter if you're a nun who reads bedtime stories to orphans, or a dark demon lord who eats the souls of puppies, fire just burns.

[Ardashir]

Luna arrives to save the day! And Spike's with her. He seems a clown in the show, usually, but he can bite through gemstones and survive diving into molten lava. He's one tough little guy.

And a reference to a Champions-style Presence Attack? Heh, I used to play that game frequently but I never knew you liked it. Thumb-Up to a fellow Champs fan.

[The Great Derpsby]

8968693
I've never seen that magic-resistance in the show itself. In fact, I would've argued the wraiths are more dangerous to him than quite a number of things because Touch Attacks ignore natural armour. In turn, he's also dangerous to them, because his firebreath is magical.

Incidentally, there is one other dragon with an unusual firebreath—Ember. Bright pink, hers is. Even her father breathes regular fire.

[Jordan179]

8977328

I am, admittedly, cribbing from Dungeons & Dragons. Which is, of course, part of where the show gets its concept of dragons from. And both the game and the show derive their concept of dragons ultimately from Tolkien's dragons.

Both D&D and Tolkienian Dragons are magic resistant. This is for the same reason, to make them credible foes against forces who have magic users. Given how common magic is in Equestria, unless dragons are fairly magic resistant, they would not be a credible threat to the Equestrians.

It is true that Spike is a young and small dragon. But my theory is that he's from an elite Dragon lineage, and hence has superior magic resistance for his age and size. He has also been sparring from a very young age with Twilight Sparkle, even if she doesn't perceive it as sparring. His spirit is thus to some degree hardened against magical influences, and remember that Twilight Sparkle is an inherently very powerful mage.

There are only two Wraiths here who would have any real chance of life draining him, and one of them is on their side. Some of the thralls might have posed him a threat if they were intact: most particularly Bravesword and Rooftop, for different reasons. His dragon fire would be effective against every single opposing entity on the field.

[TitaniumTao]

8978228
I'm assuming that Spike has his wings here, but was riding with Luna cause she's faster? Still they need to keep their guards up, cause Grey Hoof could order a attack just to kill someone as sour grapes.

[Jordan179]

9002639

Actually this is Season Five.

But yes. They cannot simply assume that Luna will overawe them into honorable surrender and compliance. Even though that's their hope.

[TitaniumTao]

9002641
Oh. So is this before or after Apple Bloom got her mark? And for some reason thought it was later on.

[Replica Knight]

9002641
What am I reading!

[Hannah Nelson]

Awesome!

[Hannah Nelson]

This is one of my favorite stories!