39 - Devotion, Part 12 of 16
Pixyglitter was startled by a loud bang on the roof of the farmhouse. Her heart began pounding again.
"What in Equestria was that?" Rarity asked.
Fluttershy was nervously repeating, "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!"
“Deep breaths, Fluttershy.”
From the window, Cloud Blazer said, "It was an EUP soldier. I can’t get a better view, but it looks like their fighting directly overhead. They’re all over outside, changelings too."
It was not a favorable turn of events.
"Is it safe to stay here?"
"I don’t know, Rarity," Cloud Blazer answered. He then sighed, "No, not really. But the way bodies and arrows are falling from the sky, it might be safer than going out there."
"What about a cellar?" Pixyglitter suggested.
Cloud Blazer took a breath, "Yeah, if we can get to one. The closest one is at the back of the house."
Fluttershy began to take deeper breaths. It sounded like she was calming down.
"Rarity, can you teleport us to the castle?" Cloud Blazer asked.
"Darling, I may be a unicorn, but we’re not all gifted in that kind of magic. Not without a great deal of training at any rate. I’m afraid my talents are more honed for the creation of art."
"Fabulous," Pixyglitter let out some sarcasm to lighten the mood.
"Granted, that does seem lacking in our present circumstance," the fancy mare admitted.
"It doesn’t matter," Cloud Blazer said. "The point is, we’re here..." another loud bang on the roof startled everypony. "We’re here and it’s not safe. But it might be safer than out there. At least we’re not targets right now."
Pixyglitter didn’t like being at the mercy of anypony else, but she was least equipped to offer tactical advice in this situation. Then a thought occurred to her.
"Where is Cloudsdale?"
Cloud Blazer shuffled over to another window, "It’ll be overhead soon. The edge of the city, I mean."
"That should alleviate most of the bodies falling," she suggested.
"Yeah, good thinking."
"What do you say, Fluttershy? Are you up for a walk as soon as we have some cover?"
The nervous pegasus took a deep breath, but her voice trembled as she spoke, "Just like old times, huh Rarity?"
The fancy unicorn let out a giggle, "So it would seem."
Pixyglitter was suddenly in awe of the pair. She knew they had been old friends; just about everypony had heard of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s group. But it made her wonder just what sort of adventures they used to have to call this situation ‘just like old times’. She, for one, had never put too much stock in the stories that she had heard about the elements of harmony, but it gave her a little more respect for the frightened pegasus to think that some of them might be true.
...
Scootaloo began shouting, "Pull back! Fall back to Cloudsdale!"
Her pegasus force was on the verge of becoming overwhelmed by the numbers of changelings that were coming out to fight them, not to mention their magical talents. In the city, they would have the advantage of their own unicorn magic to help. Not to mention that they could resupply their spent complement of arrows.
It wasn’t a total loss by any means. They had bought a little time and inflicted heavy casualties on the changelings. That was the one factor that operated in their favor: the changelings were many, but they weren’t all battle-hardened as the ponies had become, and they didn’t wear armor. Still, their ferocity was not to be underestimated.
As they achieved the city, nopony even had to give the order. The unicorns opened up a barrage of cover-fire that filled the sky. In hot pursuit of their prey, the changelings flew headlong into the lethal bolts of energy.
Scootaloo attempted a quick head-count, and it looked like she’d lost nearly a third of her force, not counting the casualties that Lightning Dust may have suffered. She was quickly organizing a new group of recruits that had arrived from Las Pegasus to assist. The orange mare wasted no time in retrieving more arrows from a weapons cache and preparing herself to fight in the city. They would have to let the changelings have the sky above for now. If she flew up, her own unicorns might shoot her down by mistake.
...
Duster had stopped pushing, but held his crossbow at the ready while ducked behind one of Jewel’s energy shields. Similar prepared positions were taken up all over Cloudsdale, as pockets of unicorns were ready to defend the civilians that were still pushing the city southward.
“Hold,” Locknload said, his voice an anticipated whisper.
Their own regiments of pegasi that had gone out were returning, hotly pursued by a growing force of changelings in the air. Moments later, the pegasi were all clear, and Locknload roared with delight.
“Open fire!”
Unicorns all over Cloudsdale opened up with raw energy as arrows also sped from crossbows, filling the air with a lethal curtain of fire. The front line of changelings scattered in death and disarray, but the coming wave didn’t even flinch. Soon they were swarming all over the city, sending their own lethal magic at the ponies.
Duster loaded, aimed, and fired in rapid succession. He could barely process what was unfolding. It was impossible for him to miss as the air was so thick with targets. Several strafing runs ripped through the cloud floor and impacted into the defensive shield. There was no debris to spray around, but the noise was deafening.
Rolling Thunder, Gunnysack, and Jewel had stern expressions, not unlike Duster’s as they engaged nearby targets. Locknload and LD appeared to be enjoying themselves.
Seemingly unprompted, Locknload turned to their rear, a wild grin on his face as he let some concussion magic fly. He burst into thin air, teleporting away as hostile magic ripped through the position in which he’d been standing.
Duster turned to the rear to see a squad of changelings, some falling in death, coming up behind them. He and Gunnysack fired, striking two of them. That’s when they spotted Locknload.
The unicorn stallion was free-falling above the changelings. He let out an insane cry and blasted away rapidly at the changelings, shredding their wings. They all fell in horror, and Locknload burst again, teleporting back to his squad.
Duster saw another changeling that had taken interest in them on the left. He aimed and fired just as Rolling Thunder did the same to the right.
Duster couldn’t believe how fast and true LD was firing his crossbow. He was moving with machine-like efficiency.
Jewel renewed the shields, adding a few overhead. She looked weary.
Shouts and screams filled the air as the battle over Cloudsdale grew more desperate.
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This scene is cute.
And this scene is bad-ass
8760758
1) thanks.
2) and Thanks!!!
Fluttershy is probably thinking she's been through close death enough times before as an Element of Harmony. One more won't make a difference (unless she dies this time of course). Rarity, of course, is a silly pony who would probably be unfazed and is more worried about her cat than herself!
Locknload certainly sounds like he's having a lot of fun all of a sudden. It's a good thing that when he teleports he apparently doesn't retain his momentum, because teleporting back to the ground cloud after freefalling for a few seconds might hurt him otherwise
8802851
It's true that Flutters and Rares have been through a lot. It maybe silly, but I liked the idea that even though Pixyglitter had heard of them, she didn't really put much stock in the stories from when she was little. It sort of touches that legend vs history idea. So long as Rarity doesn't get icky, she's good to go.
Locknload is doing what he was born to do. He's one of the few in this story whose special talent is for combat. Momentum, huh? Maybe... as a talented soldier with offensive and defensive magic... he knows... to... magically arrest his momentum as he teleports back down?