Chapter 93- War of Equestria: Part II
Even without Nocturne's concerns, Dark didn't like the unexpected turn that this fight had taken. At first, he'd hoped that Light might've been bluffing when he said that he'd resurrected the dragons that he'd killed over the years, but as the tremors continued to grow more violent, so did the overwhelming stench of death and decay. Looking over at the direction of the old mining cave, Dark sighed and shook his head.
"I can't believe you, Light," he muttered under his breath.
"As you'll soon see for yourself, I now have the power to resurrect anything that's been dead for an extended period of time," Light said, not having heard Dark muttering to himself. "Now, why don't you do as our old stories said, and die?"
Dark turned to Light. "What?"
"Remember the stories mom would read to us? In them, the light would always vanquish the dark. Now, be a good boy and fall to my light."
"Your light?" Dark repeated with a tone of annoyance. "Your light, Light, is supposed to be a holy thing that's warming and welcoming to all, but is instead tainted and corrupted. As for my darkness, while it's normally associated as evil and accursed, with mine, it's more like a comforting and secure blanket for everypony, like the night that helps lull ponies to sleep every night."
Dark staggered as the tremors grew close, causing him to plant his sword into the ground to help balance himself as he stood.
"That's a matter of opinion," Light said dismissingly. "Your powers are seen as evil, where as mine are seen as holy and good."
"Maybe, but it also depends on how you use them that determines whether or not it's good or evil, and right now with the way you've been using your newfound powers, your light is an unholy, evil one."
"Says you, though I doubt that it'll matter in a little bit," he smirked, eyes glancing over to the mining entrance. "Tell you what. If you beat my undead army, then we'll talk some more. Until then, I'll be watching from up there."
Unfurling his wings, Light flew up to the storm clouds.
"Light! You get back down here! We're not done yet!" Dark shouted, not wanting to chase after Light into the clouds and make himself an easy target, due to him still being part pegasus and having control over the clouds and their lightning.
Grumbling under his breath, Dark poured more magic into his Healing Flame to prolong it, and refreshed his Fire Orbs. Hearing a low and gurgling growl, Dark readied himself as he faced the old mining entrance. Wincing at the stench hitting his nostrils, Dark covered his muzzle with his free claw as he saw the first of the undead dragons crawling out of the mine.
Despite them having been dead for months and packed down in the cave, there was still plenty of flesh and muscle clinging to them, along with some traces of blue magic flowing through them, most of which pooled and glowed brightly in their hollow eye sockets. Those who's heads Dark had blown off now had their heads back on thanks to Light, having been disposed of in the mines along with their severed heads. One by one, Dark watched as the undead dragons walked out of the cave, some having to crawl as they were missing their limbs, either by when Dark had fought them after Nocturne's attack, or due to the limbs having rotted away to the point where they simply couldn't remain attached and fell off.
As he watched them filing out of the mining entrance, Dark tightened his grip on his Death Reaver when he saw purple slime dripping from the undead dragons' maw.
"Dark, be extra careful with them," Nocturne warned, speaking through the sword instead of at Dark directly, now that Light was out of hearing range.
"Why? What's wrong?"
"Their fire sacs have degraded to the point where they no longer breathe fire, but a highly toxic miasma. If you or any other living thing gets caught in it, then it's all over."
"... how bad are you talking exactly?" Dark hesitantly asked, not liking the tone in which Nocturne spoke.
"The short version? Their miasma will melt away all organic tissue until only bones remain, and will whither any plants that are caught within until they're nothing more than a withered husk."
Dark snorted in annoyance. "Great. So now I not only have to deal with all of the dragons that I've killed here, but now I also have to watch out for a potentially lethal breath attack too."
"Yes, and I should also mention that they're immune to their miasma breath. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to use it."
"Well that's just great," Dark sarcastically huffed. A moment later, he held his sword up in front of him and looked directly at the glowing red gem. "Nocturne, I need for you to let me be able to Amplify shadows again so I can take them out safely."
"No," he immediately replied, earning him a surprised blink from Dark.
"'No'? Why not?!"
"Using your Amplify on the darkness is too much of a risk."
"But I was just fine when I used it during the Flutterbat and vampire fruit bat incident during last year's Nightmare Night, so what's the risk in using it now?" Dark countered.
"That was only for an instant and you weren't nearly as strong as you are now," Nocturne rebuked. "I know you don't like it, but I'm keeping the seal that I put on you using your Amplify when it comes to shadows and darkness."
"That should be my call to make, Nocturne, not yours."
"I've been lenient and cooperative with you so far, Dark, but I will not allow for you to use it. Remember, we are one, so I know what your limits are. With your unique power to Amplify shadows and darkness, and the night basically being just the planet's shadow, you could easily have the power to make you godlike. Not to mention the vast and infinite darkness of space. However, in doing so, I'm confident that you'd become overwhelmed with the power and go mad."
Dark growled and gripped his sword with both claws as he readied himself.
"From the way you said that, it sounds like I won't be Amplifying using the darkness again."
"Not without more training you won't. Until such a time does come, you'll just have to fight these things the old fashion way."
With a small, reluctant sigh, Dark looked back at the small horde of undead dragons and charged his word with power, causing a thin layer of shadows to shroud the sword's blade.
"Your brother's holy rain had dampered you sword's power, but this should be enough to slay those undead fairly quickly," Nocturne informed Dark.
Dark nodded. "In that case, let's get this over with."
Spreading his wings, Dark launched himself forward and flew towards the lead undead dragon. His sword ready to strike, Dark flew up to the undead dragon before giving a powerful flap, avoiding the giant maw that tried to snap at him and flying above its head. Making it above it, Dark landed on top of its head and plunged his word down in its skull, causing the wound his sword created to start dissolving as the swords power ate away at it. Removing his sword from the undead dragon's skull, Dark flew off it and onto the next one, not bothering to turn back and watch as its decaying body dissolved into a black mist.
Moving onto the next one, Dark flew down to duck beneath a claw swiping at him. A moment later, he saw that the undead dragon to the side of him was taking in a deep breath. Knowing what it was planning, Dark sent his six Fire Orbs towards it while he went for the one in front of him. Slicing though its neck and decapitating it, Dark turned back just in time to see his Fire Orbs burn through the undead dragon's neck, severing its head before the orbs returned to Dark and resumed orbiting him.
With another two down, Dark allowed for a small smirk to form before he turned his attention back to the line of undead dragons that continued to pour out from the mine entrance. Getting an idea, Dark started to unloaded all of his Explosive Fire Needles just above the mine entrance. As the needles continued to explode against the rock face, more and more of it was destroyed, causing the loose rock to collapse down and block the cave.
"That should buy me some time," Dark said to himself.
"But not much," Nocturne spoke. "While they may be slower than they were when they were alive, and even though they are literally falling apart, since they're undead, they don't feel pain, so they'll try to burrow through the cave-in despite any damage they may receive while doing so."
"Okay, so until then, we've got..." Dark paused as he tried to count, but started to lose track when he got above fifty. "... a lot."
"Do what you can to take them out," Nocturne told Dark. "While you're doing that, I'll look out for any traces of Light and warn you if he's coming."
Nodding, Dark conjured another six Fire Orbs and launched himself with his wings towards the undead dragon horde.
The battle by Canterlot Mountain was still going strong as both sides were pushing for supremacy. While the ponies were sorely outnumbered, and the timberwolves were being burnt to cinders by the opposing forces' fire breath, they were still holding strong in this battle. Though the unicorns continued to hold the line with the others behind them continued to shoot their magic and crossbows, it also helped that the Applebreaker and Pinkie's Hammer would also provide support from above. This support also included both airships flying through the enemy's fleet and above Inferno's ground forces, allowing for the Applebreaker to drop its bomb into the heart of Inferno's army, killing hundreds of salamanders with the initial explosion, and leaving more injured with both the concussive blast and the debris that was kicked up from the explosion.
While the army and fleet of ponies and Everfree creatures were busy with that, Discord and Luna were having their own battle off to the side as the two of them were dealing with the two hellions. Though Luna and Discord were both powerful in their own rights, they were finding themselves having a small problem with the fact that the hellions were resistant to magic.
"Well this is getting rather annoying," Discord said as he floated beside Luna. "If I could, I would've turned both of them into harmless earthworms and fed them to some bird or fish by now."
Luna shot him a brief sideward smirk before turning stoic again. "As entertaining as that would be, I'm not so sure that Fluttershy would appreciate you changing them like that and feeding them."
Discord folded his arms with a huff. "No, I suppose she wouldn't."
A pair of shrieks redirected their attention back to the two hellions that were now breathing a torrent of fire at them. Thinking quickly, Luna tossed up a barrier around her and Discord before the fires could reach them. Not wanting to stay inside and deal with the burning heat, Discord teleported him and Luna out of her barrier and up above the hellions' heads. Pleased to see that they didn't notice them hovering above their heads, Luna flew up high above the battlefield before giving a powerful flap downward, sending her diving down as she held her sword out in front of her.
Seeing her dive-bombing with a cone of fire starting to form at the tip of her sword, Discord chucked as he got an idea. Still unseen by the two hellions who were still breathing fire at the spot where they though they still were at, Discord snapped his claw and conjured himself another ridiculously-sized mallet. Waiting until she got closer, Discord brought his mallet back and was ready to swing. Once Luna was close enough, Discord floated to the right side of the right hellion and swung his mallet upward. Just as Discord struck the bottom of the hellion's mouth, Luna came diving down, impacting the top of the hellion's head, causing both blows to meet and crush the hellion's head.
However, the hellion wasn't the only thing that was injured by their plan. Thanks to the impact from Discord's mallet, the force of it traveled through the hellion and clipped Luna, sending her tumbling as her blade, after enough force had been applied and the hellion's hide gave out, cut through the hellion with Luna following behind it, and slicing deeply through Discord's right upper-arm.
Both crying out briefly from their respective wounds, Luna regained control of herself before she could hit the ground. Wincing, she looked to her side to see her right foreleg had been broken from the impact of Discord's swing. Thankfully for her, though it hung limply at her side, no bone stuck through her skin. Taking in a shuddering breath, Luna gritted her teeth and pushed through the pain as she flew up to Discord, who was cradling his injured arm while his other one was held over the bleeding wound.
"What the Tartarus were you thinking?!" Luna shouted.
"Well it seemed like a good idea at the time," Discord defended himself. "By the way, what's up with that sword of yours? I can't seem to use my magic to regenerate or heal that cut you gave me!"
"My apologies, Discord," she apologized, "but my sword is enchanted to negate any outside healing effects of any wound cut with it. I had planned on using this when my sister and I first confronted you, but she wouldn't allow for it, saying that it was too brutal of a punishment."
"I can see why," he muttered displeasingly.
"You're not off the hook either, Discord. Thanks to you and your stupid hammer, my foreleg is broken and my magic is sputtering thanks to the pain its causing me!"
"Then why don't you just heal it?"
"Because I'm not very efficient when it comes to healing spells."
"Then go back get Tia or somepony else to heal it for you. At least my weapon isn't stopping you from getting magically healed."
There as a sudden screech before Discord and Luna found themselves met with the hard hide of the last hellion knocking the two of them with its tail. Though surprised by the hit and mentally berating themselves for forgetting about it, Discord and Luna both grunted in pain as the hellion's tail smashed them down into the ground. But, thanks to her broken leg, Luna yelped as her leg flared in pain. A few seconds later, the two of them were released when the hellion lifted its tail, readying itself for another strike.
Groaning, Discord continued to nurse his right arm while his eyes narrowed and a red boxing glove appeared on his claw. Ready for it, Discord waited until the hellion brought its tail down to slam on them. But, just as it was coming down on them, Discord brought his left glove back and uppercut the tail, stopping it in its tracks as he strained to hold it.
"You better get going," he grunted, struggling to hold the hellion's tail up while having to deal with the pain in his right arm.
Though reluctant to do so, Luna gave a begrudging nod before she sheathed her sword and flew out from beneath the hellion's tail towards Celestia and the others. With her gone and out of the way, Discord, with a grunt of force, pushed the hellion's tail to the side and let it crash against the ground a few feet away from him. Having a moment, Discord then flew up to the hellion's face and uppercut it's jaw, snapping its head back before the hellion moved with the motion of its head and fell backwards before burrowing back under ground.
"Fine then," Discord scornfully said, "if that's how you want to do it, then let's try something a little different.
Snapping his paw, Discord got rid of the boxing glove on his claw and replaced it with a tin water bucket. Holding the handle with his claw, he then began to tilt it with his tail and pour the water down into the hole that the hellion retreated into. But, instead of a small trickle of water from the bucket, what came instead was more equivalent to that of a waterfall of infinite water. Floating idly above the tunnel, Discord continued to pour water down into it with the intent of flooding it and forcing the hellion to resurface above ground. It didn't take too long as the gurgled shrieks of the hellion were soon heard. Seconds later, the hellion resurfaced again, but not where Discord had expected.
Taken by surprise, Discord watched in slow motion as the hellion came from the same tunnel it had disappeared into, fighting the flow of water all the way. Before he knew it, Discord found himself groaning in pain as the hellion's tendrils wrapped themselves around his body tightly, including the wound on his arm, which was being torn wider as two of the tendrils running against it were going in two separate directions. Shouting as he felt the bones in his injured arm give out and break, along with his gaping wound being torn wider, Discord tried to get his claw free so he could snap his fingers and teleport out of the hellion's grip. But, before he could, Discord was met with the rows of razor-sharp teeth as the hellion opened hits mouth where an increasing glow could be seen.
Knowing what was coming and not wanting to be on the receiving end of it, Discord struggled again to free either his claw or paw, but quickly found that the tendrils were too tight to move. Seeing the light growing brighter, Discord began to rapidly think of a way to escape this situation and defeat the hellion in his state. A few second later, Discord mentally facepalmed as he got an idea, one that was obvious to him, and another that he actually got from seeing Dark's memories, one of which included how he fought with dragons. Doing his best in ignoring the pain for a moment, Discord calmed himself and waited for the hellion to start using its fire breath. When it did, Discord used the tuff of fur on the end of his still-free tail like a hand and snapped its 'fingers', causing a giant zipper to appear on the hellion's mouth before it zipped itself shut. With it's mouth closed and nowhere for the fire to escape, Discord was suddenly freed as the panicking hellion's tendrils released it. Floating away to put a safe distance between them, Discord watched as the pressure of the hellion's fire breath increased until it became too much for it to take. With no place for the compressed and growing fires to grow, the hellion's body could no longer contain it, causing it's head to loudly explode into a red mist.
Snapping his claw, Discord conjured an umbrella in his claw and held it above his head as the bloody rain and hellion bits rained down around him. Keeping his eyes on the twitching body of the headless hellion, Discord watched it continue to spasm until it finally stopped moving.
"Huh. Now I see why Dark liked doing that so much with those dragons. It's easy and efficient... and kinda feels like cheating," Discord mused out loud to himself before shrugging his left shoulder. "Then again, I am the Lord of Chaos, so playing fair doesn't really necessarily apply to me."
With his opponent defeated, Discord turned around and was ready to return to Celestia and Fluttershy's side up on the side of the mountain when he cringed and held his claw over his bleeding and broken arm. Noticing that the wound had deepened, was starting to bleed profusely, and was now barely staying attached to him, Discord snapped his claw and placed his injured arm in a sling while also magically wrapping his wound in gauze. But, while it did stop him from bleeding everywhere, it wouldn't hold for very long as it rapidly started turning a dark-red. Having done what he could for himself for now, Discord flew off towards the mountain to where Fluttershy or somepony else could properly attend to him before he could bleed out.
Over on the other side of the battle field, Inferno stood with his giant warhammer, waiting with his general and fellow dragons as they watched the battle going on. Hearing the explosion off to the side of the battlefield where he saw his hellions, Inferno gave a flaming snort when he saw that the second one's head had blown up with blood spraying up from it. Upset with how this was turning out, he turned his head to look at Gunter, who was sitting on a saddle strapped to a flaming manticore that was hovering beside his head.
"The hellions are dead and these lesser creatures are taking too long," Inferno said disappointingly.
"Trust me, King Inferno, this plan of mine will work," Gunter told him with a cocky grin. "You just need to be patient and wait a while. We'll wear their forces down with the fodder before sending in the-"
"No! I want them all dead now!" he shouted, his eyes burning with anger. "Send in the rest of the dragons and slaughter them."
"Fine."
Inferno raised an eyebrow. "That includes you too."
Gunter's head snapped towards him. "What?!"
"You heard me. I want for you to join them in slaughtering those ponies. Prove to me that keeping you alive and making you my general wasn't a mistake."
There was a long pause before Gunter gave an annoyed snort and looked away. "... fine."
"Good. Also, don't you even think about returning if you fail me, because either way, you'll be dead either by them, or me."
Up on the cliff of Canterlot Mountain, Celestia stood with her horn lowered as she casted her healing spell on Luna. Hearing the explosion, Luna glanced over to see a red mist forming before laying back down as she rested with Celestia, Twilight, and her friends gathered around her.
"So Discord did this to you?" Fluttershy asked once she and the others stopped gawking at the bloody mess that had formed from where had Luna come from.
"He did, though it was unintentional, just a simple accident," Luna replied. "Of course, this also goes both ways in this case, seeing as how I accidentally struck him in his arm rather badly with my sword."
Celestia's magic faltered for a moment upon hearing Luna's news. "You mean to tell me that you've struck Discord and blocked him from being healed magically?"
Knowing that Discord was heavily magic-reliant, everyone's eyes widened and returned to Luna.
"And you just left him there injured and alone?!" Rainbow reprimanded.
Luna winced. "I know how bad this sounds, but he told me to leave, and I couldn't focus with my foreleg broken like this."
"Though I personally don't like the though of leaving a pony, or draconequus in this case, behind while they're injured," Celestia began, "your injury isn't one to be taken lightly either. Your leg was broken in three separate places, and some of the skin had started to stretch over one of the areas. Had you stayed for much longer and taken another hit to it, it's more than likely that you would've lost your leg, Luna."
"... okay, maybe it was a good idea after all," Rainbow second-thought, earning her a disapproving look from Fluttershy.
"Rainbow Dash!" she firmly said in a scolding tone.
"What? He's Discord, the Lord of Chaos and Disharmony. I'm sure he'll be fine."
"Not this time, unfortunately."
Hearing his the pain in his voice, Fluttershy turned around and gasped when she saw Discord slumped up against the side of the mountain, his right arm hanging limply in a sling and his color a few shades paler. However, it was the hefty amount of blood leaking down his arm and starting to pool around him that had Fluttershy so horrified and worried for him.
"Discord! What happened to you?!" Fluttershy shouted, her voice laced with fear and panic as she, Twilight, and Rainbow ran over to his side, while Rarity stood by Luna's side and covered her mouth with a hoof. "Oh my gosh! Your arm!"
"That oversized worm managed to stretch open the cut Lulu gave me, break my arm, and almost sever it, but I got it in the end," he tiredly chuckled.
Fearfully and carefully, Fluttershy started to undo the reddened gauze wrapped around Discord's wound to get a better look at it. However, she suddenly stopped when she saw that the flow of blood started to increase and wrapped it back up.
"He can't stay here," Twilight said.
"But I can-"
"I'm sorry, Fluttershy, but he needs a doctor to look at and fix that." Twilight held a hoof up to the gem on her headset and spoke into it. "I need a medical team up at the command post immediately. We've got a potentially fatal injury up here that needs medical attention now!"
Hearing confirming replies on each of their headsets, they all turned their attention back to Fluttershy and Discord, the former putting pressure on the wound while the latter of the two hissed in pain as he laid up against the mountain side and panted for breath.
"It's going to be okay, help is coming," Fluttershy said, just as much to ensure herself as she was for Discord.
"Well this sucks," Discord said with a pained groan.
A moment later, that pained groan turned to a small yawn as his eyes started to become heavy. Seeing this, Fluttershy's eyes widened in fear of what was happening.
"No, Discord! You have to stay awake!" she shouted, putting a hoof on his good shoulder and lightly shaking him to keep him conscious.
"That's going to be a bit of a challenge, Fluttershy," he weakly said before a small smile formed. "Unless..."
"Unless...?" Fluttershy gently pressed.
"Unless I had some extra motivation."
"'Motivation'? Like what?"
Discord used his good arm to help sit himself up and look tiredly into Fluttershy's eyes. "I was thinking that after this war thing is over with, you and I..."
His voiced lowered as he leaned in and whispered the rest of it directly into Fluttershy's ear. As he continued, Fluttershy's eyes widened and her face reddened. When he was done telling her and pulled away to look at her, he saw that while Fluttershy's expression was one of utter shock, she also had tears forming in her eyes. However, they weren't tears of sadness, but tears of overwhelming joy. Managing a quivering smile, Fluttershy ignored the blood staining Discord's coat as she gently wrapped her forelegs around his neck and shared a long kiss with him.
"Of course, Discord. I would love to," she happily said, pulling back with a sniffle.
Happy with her answer, Discord brought his left arm around Fluttershy and held her close. But, while he would've liked for them to remain like that for a bit longer, the sound of wings flapping and hooves landing on the rocks nearby drew his and Fluttershy's attention to the medical pegasi that came for them.
"His arm is almost severed and he's bleeding very badly," Fluttershy informed them. "Please. You have to help him quickly."
"He also can't be healed by magical means," Luna added.
Nodding at them, the four pegasi unrolled the gurney that they'd brought with them and helped transfer Discord onto it. Once he was safely secured on it, they flew off to take him to one of the medical tents they'd set up down below. As they left, Fluttershy was about to follow after them, but was stopped when Celestia placed a hoof on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, Fluttershy," she told her assuredly, "he'll be alright."
Fluttershy gulped as she saw the pegasi taking Discord away. "But I should be there by his side. Even if I can't do anything to help heal his injury, I can at least still be there and support him."
"I know, but right now, I need for you to stay nearby."
It was then that Luna limped over by Fluttershy with her head hung low.
"My deepest apologies, Fluttershy," she apologized. "If it weren't for me, Discord wouldn't be in this situation."
Though she didn't like seeing Discord like that, Fluttershy shook he head with a heavy sigh.
"It was an accident like you said, Princess Luna," Fluttershy said. "I don't blame you for what happened to him. If anything, it's Inferno who's-"
"Your Highnesses, we've got a problem!" Spitfire shouted, unknowingly interrupted.
"Yes, Captain Spitfire, what is it?" Celestia replied.
"It looks like King Inferno has sent in the rest of his army, and his general appears to be leading them."
"Any information on who this new general of his is?" Luna asked over her crystal.
"I can't tell for sure, but by the looks of it..."
"Yes?"
"... it... looks like a... pony?"
"What?! Is it Light?" Twilight worriedly asked.
"No, it doesn't appear to be Dark's brother."
There was a collective sigh of relief before Rarity spoke up.
"Well then, if it's not Light Wing leading them, then who is it?" she asked.
"From what I can see, he's a white pegasus with... wait, is that metal plating on his skin?"
Rainbow's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Did you say 'metal plating', ma'am?"
"I did. Why?"
"Gunter," she seethed, the anger in her eyes clear for all to see.
"Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow stomped a hoof and flared her wings. "That's it! There's no way that he's getting away after this! I'm going after him!"
"Rainbow Dash, wait," Celestia calmly said, only for Rainbow to turn and glare at her heatedly.
"Hay, no! Not only did he betray Dark, but now he's betraying us ponies as well! I'm not letting that traitorous snake get away! Not this time!"
"I'm coming too."
Feeling a sudden chill from hearing that voice, everyone looked at Fluttershy, who's eyes were glowing red in fury as she'd changed into Flutterbat while nopony was looking.
"Flutters? Why would-"
"Inferno sent those things that hurt Discord," Flutterbat hissed, her fangs bared and eye glowing with a slight purple tint. "I'm not going to let him get away with this. Before this battle is over, I'll show him what happens when he tries to kill my new fiancé."
"Fiancé?!"
"Wait a second here! Did Ah just hear that right?!" Applejack shouted through her crystal. "Did Discord propose ta Fluttershy?! When did this happen?!"
"This is so amazing!" Pinkie shouted as well, though out of excitement rather than surprise and disbelief. "I get to plan another wedding for two of my bestest friends!"
So focused on her anger she was, Flutterbat didn't bother replying as she flew off straight towards Inferno's incoming army of dragons, leaving the others there to process what she'd said. A few seconds later, Rainbow shook her head clear before she flew off after her. To her surprise, however, as she got closer to Flutterbat, they were close enough to the battle where some of the flaming manticores were starting to go after her. Distracted by them suddenly going after her, Rainbow used her speed and agility to easily dodge their swipes and fire breath, while she in turn flew up behind their heads and planted a solid buck to the back of their heads, knocking them out and freeing herself to go back after Flutterbat.
Continuing her pursuit of Flutterbat, Rainbow was now flying over the last half of Inferno's army of salamanders, and was now starting to come awfully close to the dragons that he'd sent in. And there, just ahead of her flying towards them, was Flutterbat.
"Fluttershy! Get back here!" Rainbow shouted, but fell of deaf ears as she watched her continuing forward.
Not wanting to see her out there all alone, Rainbow picked up the pace again and began pushing herself until she felt that familiar feeling of pressure against her front. Smirking, she continued pushing herself until she flew past Flutterbat and came face-to-face with the army of dragons flying towards them. Now close enough, Rainbow put in that little extra bit of speed she'd been holding back and exploded in a Sonic Rainbow, sending her rocketing between the gaps between the flying dragons while the shockwave threw them off, knocking them into each other and sending most of them plummeting towards the ground.
Satisfied that she'd managed to beat Flutterbat to them and knock most of them out, Rainbow turned back and came to a hovering stop a few feet away from her.
"You don't have to do this alone, Fluttershy-"
"It's Flutterbat," she corrected with a hint of irritation. "Besides, they hurt Discord, and I'm-"
"Not going alone," Rainbow interrupted, frowning for a moment before easing it up. "Look, I'm not happy with what happened to Discord either. And while he may be annoying at times, he can be a pretty cool guy, so believe me when I say that I want a piece of Inferno too."
Flutterbat gritted her teeth and looked away, but glanced back when she felt Rainbow's hoof on her shoulder.
"Listen, Flutters, just wait a little bit and we'll all get him together," Rainbow told her. "We still have a plan, and once he stops being a giant chicken and comes out to fight us, we'll use the Elements on him. Besides, he's too well guarded right now for you or any one of us to go after alone."
Though displeased, Flutterbat's eyes traced over Rainbow before she gave a small nod.
"Alright. I'll wait for now," she said, albeit with a bit of reluctance. A second later, she poked Rainbow's chest with her hoof. "But if he takes too long, then I'm coming for him. And with Celestia as my witness, if I ever get my hooves on him, I'll turn him into a newt!"
"Sure you will," Rainbow chuckled and lowered Flutterbat's hoof, just to get a serious look from Flutterbat. Noticing her expression, Rainbow's chuckle began to drift off. "Wait, you were kidding, right?"
"No, I wasn't," she told her, earning a surprised look from Rainbow. "Though it requires that I use the Stare, my chaotic powers can allow for me to change a creature's appearance. Thanks to some of my animal friends' volunteering, I learned that I can turn creatures into others that are similar to them, like a kitty cat into a lion, squirrels into a chipmunks, Angel Bunny into a kangaroo, and a dragon into a newt."
Rainbow as silent for a moment as she had several questions running through her head. That is, until she finally decided to pick one.
"Wait, how did you know you could turn dragons into newts?" she wondered. "Did you get Spike to volunteer?"
Flutterbat shook her head. "No. Discord was helping me train with my chaos magic in the Everfree Forest when a dragon found and attacked us. At least, it tried to. It was then that I learned that my magic also applied to dragons as well."
Rainbow was about to comment when she saw Flutterbat's eyes quickly widen and narrow before she zoomed past her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that the dragons had regained their flight and were now close behind her. And there, on the muzzle of the closest one, was Flutterbat staring directly into the dragon's eyes. Worried for her, Rainbow flew over to help her, but stopped when she saw a strange purple light radiating from Flutterbat's eyes. Second later, Rainbow gawked as the dragon Flutterbat had been standing on burst into a puff of smoke, having been turned into a newt the size of her hoof and now flailing its arms and legs as it fell hundreds of feet down to the ground below them.
"Now then," Flutterbat began, her voice sounding both silky and dangerous, "who would like to be next?"
As though to answer her, several dragons opened their maws and began breathing fire out at Flutterbat. But, before the flames could reach her, Rainbow swooped in and pulled her out of the way and back a safe distance.
"Let go of me, Rainbow," Flutterbat told her.
"Not now, Flutterbat," she answered, getting a displeased look from her. "You can't fight them all like this. If you do, very well may die."
"And what about your grudge with Gunter?"
"Oh, don't get me wrong. I have every intention of pummeling that jerk, but I know better than to go charging into an army of dragons to get to him. So, in the meantime, I'll wait for my chance to get him without getting myself killed."
Closing her eyes, Flutterbat took a calming breath and exhaled slowly.
"Okay. I'll do what you are and wait," she calmly said, earning her a smile from Rainbow.
"That's better."
Flutterbat nodded before frowning. "But I'm still really upset."
"Hey, if you need something to take your anger out on, we can help Applejack and Pinkie with those flaming manticores flying around them?"
While Fluttershy wasn't really one for resorting to violence, as Flutterbat, she was a bit more lenient with it. That, and she was really mad about what happened to Discord and needed to vent some of her frustration.
"Alright," she sighed in resignation. "They may not be King Inferno, but at least it's something."
Grinning, Rainbow nodded in agreement before she and Flutterbat flew over to help Pinkie and Applejack in clearing the skies before the dragons arrived.
Back in Stonewall Village, Light looked down from the safety of the clouds, charging his horn for a spell as he watched Dark continuing to fight off the remaining undead dragons that weren't currently trying to break through the collapsed mining entrance.
"For having limited magic and me taking several measures against him, he's doing better than I'd though he would," Light muttered to himself. "And what the buck is up with this spell? It should've been done by now, so what's taking so long?"
Growling at it, Light took another look and saw that Dark had just finished up reducing the last of the undead dragons to black mist, and was now leaning up against his sword as he took a break. Snarling, Light's eyes shifted from Dark, over to where the stone pillar and graveyard stood.
"I was hoping to save this for later," he began with a dark smirk, "but I think that it's about time that I started screwing with his head."
Lighting his horn brighter, Light kept his attention focused on the graveyard until a white seal encompassing the area started to glow. Pouring a little more magic into his spell, he maintained it and grinned when he started to see the ground beneath the seal shift.
"You may be fine with fighting undead dragons, but let's see how you deal with this mindbuck."
Stats
Page generated in 0.038 seconds
Total duration
1,072 users online
1,690,523 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
tell me that Light isn t doing what i think he is doing please!!!!
Hymn... thought nocturne breath sorta boned the residents literally ... skeleton pun.... the dragons were killed by dark as a pony but wouldn't the darkness/death effect of nocturnes breath weapon prevent lights light/resurrection if it was aura using her version of the breath weapon? I could see it but I don't see light being stronger then dragon nocturne. I think I know we're this is going though...maybe....and I'll be happy for dark if by the end it turns out how I think it will.
7900624
I hope he doesn't do it either, but thats whats looking to happen
Light is gonna reanimate his and Dark's family? Maybe everyone in town? That's bucking dark.. and really awesome..
Geez... this has turned into a land of confusion...
I want to see Trotter and the stallion from Saddle Arabia enter the fight!!!!!
Light has just fucked up royally...
I want auroras egg to hatch and then she comes and rips light in half at the last second
Author if it does I'll fly u over it.
7900624
7900827
From the looks of it, he most certainly is.
.
.
.
My guess is that Nocty allows Dark to Amplify Shadows one last time.
The situation with Discord and Luna feels completely out of place, and destroyed any sense of seriousness about the "war", even more so than Pinkie Pies ability to create warships that would have normally taken years to develop never mind build. I feel that this climax really needs a bit more seriousness, like war isn't suppose to be fun, yet Pinkie Pie and the others sound as though it's a party and killing is fun. I really liked the story up until this arc.
Fighting family is extremely difficult for it affects your thoughts about them.
Fighting those you trusted that are now backstabbing you affects your emotions about them.
Fighting those who have no control over themselves and their actions affects your willingness, to kill or to save them.
These three things combined can severely affected your mentality. It motivates you to the point to kill or to save.
If you choose to kill, you save yourself from extreme physical pain, but you will suffer from mental pain.
If you choose to save, you will get hurt and will possibly kill yourself, but you will have your mind satisfied and your mental state will heal.
What will you choose?
KILL or SAVE
7902417
*Sighs* Unfortanly he IS gonna bring the village back.
Finally got through all the other chapters up to this one, and I just gotta say......
HOT DAMN IS THIS GOOD!
Keep up the great work Garuda!
7909227 Thank you. Glad that you're enjoying it so much.
7910316 You're much welcome
(Also, I got over half your references, you clever author you
)
Discord.... you're the God of Chaos... JUST USE YOUR MAGIC AND NUKE THEM ALL!
8179303
It wouldn't be much of a battle would it?
Light, you had better hope that Dark kills you because if you survive and flee, I will personally rip out your eyes and shove them down your throat so that you can see my claws tear YOUR CARCASS OPEN!!!