Lunaverse: Galaxy Rangers - The White Raven

by Rixizu

Chapter 26

Lunaverse: Galaxy Rangers - The White Raven
Chapter 26
by Rixizu

Sleuth carefully surveyed the rubble and fought back the wave of irritation. The entire alley and surrounding buildings were blown into rubble. Nopony was hurt, but this seriously hindered his investigation. Sparkle used her magic to scan the scene for any clues careful not to move or disturb anything. She had been doing this for the last half an hour terrified that Lulamoon might have been buried when the alley exploded. Thankfully, there was no sign of the mare. Lulamoon’s friends watched from the sidelines with trepidation.

Still, why was the alley destroyed? He supposed the obvious answer was that they were getting close, and somepony was getting desperate. Which was good in Sleuth’s opinion. Desperate ponies make mistakes. He wished that it would involve less property damage.

Sparkle let out a sigh. “This is hopeless. It will be impossible to find anything with the street and building collapsed into the sewer." The alley wasn’t much more than a hole in the ground filled with sewer water from broken pipes. It smelled something fierce, but Sparkle was too worried about her friend to notice.

"At least Trixie wasn't caught up in the destruction," Ditzy said lightening the mood a little.

“Then where the heck is she?!” Heartstrings demanded. “We just found her and now she's gone and disappeared on us again! Twilight, you need to put a tracking spell on her the next time you see her!" They laughed all at this, but it had a hint of worry with it.

“She obviously isn’t here.” Heartstrings declared. “We need to start looking for her. Something must have happened!”

“No.” Sleuth said rejecting the idea outright.

“What, why?” Heartstrings glared at him with suspension. The mare had never been too trusting of him. This whole Night Court debacle making it hard to decided who she should trust.

"He doesn't want us running off and losing us again," Ditzy explained quickly, "We don't really know what happened to Trixie."

“That, and we have no idea where to start looking.” Sleuth said finishing the thought. “Running around at random looking for your friends hasn’t been working.”

“Fine.” Heartstrings said crossing her legs.

“Best let the grunts do all the work.” Sleuth had the royal guard and police working overtime trying to find Lulamoon. He knew he would get grief for this later, but Lulamoon’s safety was his number one concern at the moment.

“Let’s go to the station.” Sleuth said. “I’ll have some unicorns dig through the rubble. Perhaps they’ll find something.” They would do a more thorough search than they ever could. He had the suspicion that the pony that did this hadn’t done as good of a job of hiding the evidence as they hoped. He gave his orders to some officers that had arrived on the scene earlier and they nodded.

“Sir.” A royal guard ran up to they as they trotted towards the station. “We found Trixie Lulamoon!” The whole group brightened up at this.

“Where?!” Heartstrings demanded getting face to face with the guard.

“At D-duke Greengrass’s mansion.” The guard stuttered backing away from Heartstrings’s glare. “She’s attacking it right now!”

Heartstrings’s jaw dropped. “Why the hay would she do that?”

“She’s Lulamoon," the Guard replied like it answered everything.

“Explain. What is the situation.?” Sleuth asked.

“Ten minutes ago, she came out of nowhere and destroyed the gate. She’s fighting Duke Greengrass and his Rangers right now.” The guard shuttered. “I didn’t see it myself. I can only imagine the amount of bodies.”

“Wait, what?” Heartstrings asked baffled. Ditzy and Sparkle groaned. Sleuth facehoofed.

“You know how Lulamoon is like.” The guard said. “I just hope Duke Greengrass stops her before too many ponies die! She's probably painting the ground red with blood right now!”

“Trixie isn’t a murderer!” Heartstrings proclaimed with absolute certainty.

The guard looked at Heartstrings like she was a naïve foal. “How well do you really know Trixie Lulamoon? Serial killers often hide behind friendly smiling mask pretending to be the sweetest most loving pony alive.”

“That doesn’t describe Trixie at all.” Heartstrings countered.

The guard floundered for a moment. “Well, she’s still hiding behind a mask of some kind.”

“Enough.” Sleuth said with stern resolution. “We don’t have time for this.”

“Yeah!” Sparkle proclaimed. “Trixie is in danger!”

“And you.” Sleuth glared at the guard and he wilted at his stare. “I am going to have a long long talk with your superior. We deal with facts and evidence. We are officers of the law, not gossiping midwives. You best remember that.” The guard gulped and nodded.

“Yeah, so shut your pie hole!” Heartstrings stomped her hoof for emphasis. The guard replied with an indignant huff but did as he was instructed.

“Can you teleport all of us?” Ditzy asked Sparkle.

“Sure, but it would be difficult.” Sparkle replied. “The Duke’s mansion is a little far away. I don’t think it would be very safe with so many ponies.”

“Perhaps only Ms. Sparkle should go.” Sleuth suggested.

“And why is that?” Heartstrings huffed.

“Both you and Ditzy are in no shape to fight.” Sleuth replied. He knew the bug queen gave Ditzy quite the beating when they fought and Heartstrings looked so tired that she was about to pass out right then and there.

“No way.” Heartstrings refuted refusing to back down even a little.

“Sleuth is right.” Sparkle said with no argument in her voice. “I am the freshest Ranger right now.”

Heartstrings looked about ready to argue again, but Ditzy held up a hoof. “No, Twilight is right. Lyra, you are in no shape at all to fight. Yes, I mean what I say. You can barely stand.”

“But.” Heartstrings gave a pained expression. “Fine.” She visibly deflated and her ears dropped. She looked down dejected.

“Go on.” Ditzy motioned with her head. “Save your energy. I’ll catch up later.” She spread her wings for emphasis.

“It’s morphing time! Corvus!” Sparkle transformed and everypony watched her amazed.

“That’s pretty cool Twilight.” Ditzy complimented. Heartstrings smiled with approval.

Twilight nodded and lit up her horn. “I’ll make sure she’s safe.” Right before Sparkle started her teleport, Sleuth grabbed on to Sparkle’s neck who gasped in surprise. Sleuth wasn’t going to be left behind. He wanted to survey the scene for himself. Plus, all the fighting created a perfect atmosphere for a little snooping around the Duke’s manor.

“Hey! Wait a minute you son of a…” Heartstrings yelled furious as Sparkle teleported away.

---

Fisher snorted in derision as Greengrass fled from the battlefield with Cheerilee nipping at his hooves. Trixie, on the other hoof, dropped her jaw almost to the ground. How was this possible? The Duke won’t just run like this, would he? Trixie could hardly believe her own eyes.

"I expected as much," Fisher said nonplus. He seemed to notice Trixie’s expression of bafflement. “Are you so surprised? He’s always been a rat hiding and scheming in the corner never getting his paws dirty himself.”

Trixie considered that maybe she misjudged Duke Greengrass all along. This was the pony she feared and dreaded the entire time?

"Forget about him." Fisher interrupted her thoughts. "Don't you have more pressing matters to contend with?" This put Trixie's mind back in order and she put 100 percent of her focus of her opponent. It was time to finish things, no more distractions.

"Right," Trixie said twirling her sword, "I still need to kick your flank."

“That’s the spirit!” Fisher congratulated and charged holding his hammer in his aura. The next attack pushed Trixie back digging her deep into the ground as she blocked the attack with her sword holding both sides with a hoof. Fisher unleashed a barrage of wild unpredictable swings that forced Trixie to either dodge or block. He left no room for a counter attack. In one of Fisher’s swings, Trixie lost her hoofing with a bad step and the blow caused her to crash into Greengrass’s manor. Kitchen staff screamed when she smashed into and bent a stainless-steel oven.

Trixie winced and got back on her hooves. She ignored a chef that was yelling at her and jumped back outside to a waiting Fisher. This time Trixie went on the offensive and slashed at Fisher who dodged keeping his distance. Fisher deftly avoided Trixie's attacks and batted her away with a powerful blow to the back. Trixie recovered in the air and landed on her hooves. She could not believe how fast he was.

Once again Trixie cursed not having her magic. Summoning some illusions would be pretty helpful right now. She hadn’t expected him to still be this powerful after seeing how damaged his morpher was. His whole body radiated power and might and he towered over her. Fisher wailed at her with his hammer and she dodged, but Fisher hit every blind spot with a hoof. She panted as she struggled to her hooves after a nasty punch to the gut.

Trixie scowled. She was overmatched, and they both knew it. Instead of gloating, however, Fisher watched over her waiting. She pawed at the ground ready for another round. She would not let this jerk get his way. Outmatched or not, she would win this. She took a battle pose and readied herself for the next attack.

Fisher charged and assaulted Trixie with heavy overwhelming blows from his hammer. This time Trixie watched Fisher’s hooves and avoided any cheap hits. She caught a blow with a hoof and pulled him in and delivered a headbutt to the face. Fisher winced stunned for the moment and Trixie took advantage of this and cut him across the chest.

Fisher chuckled as he recovered. “Nice work.”

Trixie found herself under another storm of blows, but she was able to keep pace with it this time. She realized that Fisher had more power, but she more than made up for it in speed. Trixie reminded herself not to be intimidated by his speed and power and fight more carefully. If she could hit him once, she could do it again.

Fisher over swung one of his attacks and Trixie punished him for it with a slash across the face. Trixie found that she could get an attack in or two if she fought with patience and played defensively. She noticed that Fisher’s had to split his attention, both using his magic and attacking with hooves. It was something she found she could exploit. Using her speed, she moved between Fisher’s attacks or blocked them with her sword or hooves.

Fisher stopped and dropped his hammer from his aura to his hooves. Trixie cursed. It seems he noticed that she figured out how to exploit the weakness of his strategy.

“Not bad. You learn and adapt quickly.” Fisher complimented. He holstered his hammer behind his back. “It’s time to stop playing around.”

Trixie gasped at the speed of Fisher’s hammer and almost lost her head. She tried to block the next swing with her sword but Fisher’s next attack tore it out of her hooves. Trixie jumped back to a safe distance and summoned her weapon back. Fisher used this distraction and charged at her like a bull and Trixie gasped in surprise at the unexpected charge. She tried to jump to the side, but Fisher smashed his hammer into her midsection and Trixie crashed through a tree and into the little pond in the garden.

Trixie crawled out of the pond panting. Her whole body ached, and she knew she could not keep this up for much longer. She struggled to put herself back into battle position. Fisher approached with calm sure steps like the fight had already been decided. In a blur, he was on her with devastating strikes from his hammer that Trixie almost didn’t avoid. His attacks contained such power that the force of each swing tore and blew apart everything in its path causing the ground to be torn pieces despite the hammer never touching the ground. The force of one attack almost threw Trixie off her hooves when she tried to avoid it.

Trixie gritted her teeth and reminded herself that the fight wasn’t over yet. When one of Fisher's swing was too wide, Trixie dove in and jabbed into his chest. He howled in pain and tried to retaliate with a sudden jab, but Trixie saw this coming and dodged and responded with another cut her blade. Sparks flew and Fisher was almost knocked off his hooves.

“Nice job.” Fisher complimented. “I felt that one.”

"You aren't so bad yourself," Trixie said while smiling and getting her breath back. She saw that they were both getting pretty tired. They both knew this fight would end soon. She was so focused on their fight she jumped when Twilight in her white armor unexpectedly teleported in front of her. A dazed Sleuth next to her. He wobbled on his hooves. Trixie gave him a sympathetic look.

“Not doing that again.” Sleuth croaked.

"Yeah, that was a little dumb. You're lucky you made it in one piece. Teleportation has..." Twilight stopped her magic lecture when she saw Trixie.

“Trixie!” Twilight said in relief. “You’re alright!”

“Yes.” Trixie puffed a little annoyed. “I’m fine.”

“Thank goodness!” Twilight proclaimed. “When you vanished, we were so worried!”

“I’m happy to see you too, but do you mind?” Trixie said tapping her hoof with little patience. “I’m kinda in the middle of something.”

Twilight turned towards Fisher then back at Trixie with apparent confusion. “You won’t want my help?”

"No," Trixie replied simply.

"This is a personal duel Ms. Sparkle," Fisher said with some reproach in his voice.

"Oh," Twilight said downtrodden. Trixie felt a little bad she hurt Twilight's feelings. She felt there might be a way to fix that.

“If you really want to help,” Trixie said after a moment's thought, “backup Raindrops.” They turned towards the pegasus. From here, it was obvious the fight was not going well. Unlike Fisher, Notary was fighting at full strength from the start and it was too much for Raindrops.

"Got it," Twilight said with a nod. She teleported and blindsided Notary with a shot from her gun to the head.

“If you don’t mind, I think I am going to sit down somewhere over there.” Sleuth said pointing in a random direction. He looked about ready to vomit. “Please don’t blow me up.” He stumbled away in that direction.

Now that this distraction was out of the way and she had a much-needed break, Trixie refocused her attention back on Fisher who seemed to be waiting for her to make the next move. Trixie dove at him, sword in hoof, at blinding speed. He countered by trying to swat her away with his hammer. Trixie rolled under his swing and slashed the leg holding his hammer. He winced in pain and dropped his weapon. Trixie didn't have time to celebrate for Fisher kicked her in the stomach disarming her as well.

Fisher moved in for a punch and Trixie caught it with her hooves. They exchanged blows matching each other blow for blow. Trixie repaid each punch and kick with a vicious one her own. Both combatants found themselves too tired to do much dodging anymore, so it was a contest of who could take the most punishment. Trixie screamed in pain when Fisher’s hoof cracked her helmet. Trixie made his pay for it with a kick that cracked his chest plate. They dove and hit each other in the head at the same time. They both stumbled back stunned for the moment.

The reprieve only lasted a moment, and they were on each other again. Trixie shuddered in pain when Fisher hit the cracked part of her helmet and she hit back at his cracked plate. Both attacks made the cracking spread even farther across their body. Trixie made an unintelligible sound of rage. The pain was not unlike what she felt when Night Light cut her horn, but she ignored it and fought on.

Trixie screamed and they began again. Trixie could feel that Fisher was losing power not unlike what happened to Night Light, but Fisher pushed on not deterred for even a moment. He held nothing back when he grappled with her and almost pushed her to the ground. Her hooves dove deep into the ground crushing through the cement under her like it was made of dead leaves and she held her ground. Fisher slammed his forehead into Trixie and she reeled back stunned for a moment, only to retaliate with a head-butt of her own. She hit him so hard the horn on Fisher’s helmet bent at an odd angle. He howled, an odd distorted sound, and let go of his grip and fell to one knee, his breathing ragged.

Fisher summoned his hammer back and held it with a shaky hoof and Trixie’s own sword wasn’t much steadier. They both seemed to know this would be the final blow. They stared each other down, waiting. Behind them, they heard Twilight's and Raindrop's fight with Notary rage on. There was a crash, and it sounded like part of the roof of Greengrass's mansion just collapsed. They used this as a signal to begin.

“Warrior’s Pride!” Fisher’s hammer slammed right into the cracked portion of Trixie’s helmet.

“Searing Blade!” Trixie stabbed directly into the crack in Fisher’s chest plate. There was an explosion and everything went black for a moment from the pain.

When she opened her eyes, Trixie saw she was on the street. Somehow, she hadn’t unmorphed, but she knew her powers were barely holding on and her armor had more cracks than she could ever count. There wasn’t much left of the street she was on, it had been torn to shreds by her impact. Ponies all around gaped at her. Trixie gaped as well when she saw that she had smashed through everything in her wake. The gate and wall surrounding Greengrass’s mansion hadn’t stood a chance. Trixie felt like crap and just wanted to sleep, but she limped back into the grounds of Greengrass’s manor. Nopony tried to stop her and shied away when she got close. She ignored them and focused only on moving her body forward.

Trixie wasn’t surprised when Fisher also limped towards her. There wasn’t much left of his armor either. They met in a batch of flowers and stared each other down. Fisher darted forward, but his charge was slow and sluggish. Trixie didn't even move and watched as Fisher's hoof rushed at her face. It stopped mid-air almost touching her. He fell forward and collapsed, unmorphing as he hit the ground. His morpher cracked and split apart and soon vanished into dust.

Fisher aged before her eyes losing any of the youth he had left. His coat became paler and his mane lost its shine. Much to Trixie's surprise, despite this he smiled up at her with his aged face. It looked genuine and pleased.

"I was right," Fisher said in a weak voice, "you are the pony we need." He grabbed Trixie’s hoof and stared into her visor with a stern gaze. “She is moving her plans forward. Don’t let her win.” He didn’t seem to have much energy left to even talk, and just these few sentences drained him.

“Corona.” Trixie knew this was the only one he could be talking about.

Fisher nodded. “The stars are vanishing. She’s amassing great power. She might become too powerful to fight. Promise me. Promise you will fight and win with the same ferocity as you did today. Otherwise, Equestria, no the world, might not survive. You are Equestria’s protector now.”

Trixie nodded. “I will.” Fisher gave her a wide smile and lost consciousness.

Trixie unmorphed and looked down as Fisher. He seemed contented and at peace. Trixie wasn’t sure what to think at the moment. She wanted to hate him for everything his plans put her and her friends through, but she couldn’t somehow. Maybe she was too tired right now. One thing she did know is that he was right about Corona.

“Corona will be stopped," Trixie said promised in a quiet voice.

Comments

[the other sans]

“Explain. What is the situation.?”

1. Extra fullstop.

[Prince Leviathan]

What an epic battle.