Tales of the Battle Foals

by Sirdubya

The Final Countdown

“Is everypony ready?” Celestia asked the crowd of townsfolk, all of whom were packed and prepared for the harrowing road ahead. Some were confident, other expressed more trepidation, but seemed willing otherwise. “Good. Then let us waste no more time.”

“Battle Foals…” Luna said turning to the young squad. “We will escort the civilians to safety. You must be the ones to confront Snowdrop head on.”

“Once the townsfolk are safe, we’ll come right back over to help you.” Twilight said.

Fire Fight nodded. “Sounds like a plan!” He turned to his comrades. “Who’s ready!?”

“YEAH!!!” The Battle Foals all cheered.

Content, Fire Fight turned back to the princesses and their Bladerunner allies. “We’ll hold our own until then.”

“Just don’t be disappointed if you arrive too late for us to steal the show from you.” Valkyrie remarked.

Celestia chuckled. “With confidence like that, I’m positive you’ll be fine.” She said. “That said, let us make haste. Take nothing for granted.”

Without any further delay, the respective groups of warriors headed out, the citizens following them. When they opened the castle doors, they were met with the frigid, consuming cold they’d expected to brave, marching through it with their heads held high. The silence of the ruined town was as deafening as the harsh, whistling wind abrading throughout; they knew this was the calm before the fast-approaching storm.

As the Princesses and Bladerunners led the townsfolk into the forests, Luna looked back at them for a moment. “Good luck, Battle Foals.”

Fire Fight nodded. “You too.” And the disappeared into the frozen woodlands.

Now, all the Battle Foals could do was wait, wait for their final encounter. They could see a massive cloud of icy mist raging towards Ponyville like an avalanche- they knew who was it was. They had to make sure they were ready.

“Alright guys, this is it!” Fire Fight said. “Snowdrop is coming, and we know that we can’t just beat her head on. Being in a town like this gives us an opportunity for a defensive strategy, so I suggest we do that. We’re buying time for the princesses and the Elements to get back here anyway.”

“I concur.” Quantum Tech said. “Though, let us bear in mind that we theoretically have two targets: Snowdrop herself, and her horde of ice monsters. As we’ve observed, the monsters are extensions of her power, so subduing them is sure to diminish her stamina, leaving her more vulnerable to an offensive.”

“But she gonna be throwin’ down too.” Turf War said. “We gonna have to split into two teams: One bashin’ the b****, the other bashin’ her b****es.” He then nervously eyed over at Quantum Tech, expecting reprimand, but he instead received a slightly annoyed nod from her.

“At least let me handle the monsters. I can vaporize them pretty easily if I focus my magic well enough.” Spiral Galaxy said.

“Ice magic doesn’t bother me one bit, so I’ll volunteer to have a crack at Snowy.” Frostbite said.

“That’s all well and good, but please don’t forget about the possessed ponies.” Greensprout said. “We have to be careful to cause them as little harm as possible, preferrable none at all.”

“I mean… is she just gonna carry those glaciers though?” Bullseye asked.

“Ain’t no reason why she can’t just grow new ones.” Kickback said.

“Huh… Good point.” Bullseye said. “You know, there kind of are glaciers here already. She might just transfer the signal here unless we wreck ‘em first.”

Frostbite grinned as he looked out at said glaciers. “Say no more.” He said before rocketing off and started smashing the formations into dust.

“Well, I suppose that’s step one.” Shadow Shroud said. “Still, she might try to mix the monsters and the zombies into the same group to try and muddle our focus. We’ll need a way to separate them before using the appropriate level of force.”

“Either that, or she’ll send in the zombies first as meat shields, maybe even a sacrifice play…” Tidal Wave said. “If that happens, I can sweep them away with a wave, but I’d have to have a lot of this snow melted- it’s all technically under Snowdrop’s control.”

“Then I’ll blast fire over a wide area. That ought to help you.” Fire Fight said. “But that’s only Plan B. As for Plan A…”

“Leave this to me!” Zebota said. “I will have to focus with great intensity, but as long as Snowdrop is distracted, I should be able to overpower her control over the frozen ones. I will guide them away to a safe area.”

“Wouldn’t she just smash her own glaciers if you did that though?” Valkyrie asked.

Zebota smiled. “It would free them of their control, would it not?”

“Yeah, I guess it would.” Valkyrie said.

“Ok. Then if we have to do that, then that’s what we do first- civilian safety will be priority one. After that, it’s an all-out fire fight… No pun intended.” Fire Fight said.

“Now as for everyone else…” Shadow Shroud said.

Fire Fight cleared his throat. “Spiral, Kickback, and Quantum, stay in the back and fire on the monster horde unless Snowdrop gets too close; in that case, wail on her. Turf War, attack the horde, but I want you, Bullseye, and Air Slash to focus on bigger monster. Valkyrie, I want you with me and Frostbite going up against Snowdrop directly. Crazylocks, Zebota, Tidal Wave, and Shroud, keep the horde busy. Greensprout, go wherever you’re needed.”

The Battle Foals all answered with a resounding, “Yes, sir!”.

“Awesome! Then let’s go ahead and get into position.” Fire Fight said, and they did.

“Actually, before we do…” Bullseye said.

“What’s up?” Fire Fight asked.

Bullseye turned towards Greensprout. The little monk herself noticed an unfamiliar glint in the archer’s eye. “Do me a solid, would you, hippie? A long overdue solid.” She said as she lifted her mane, revealing her swollen eye, softly smiling.”

Greensprout eyes glistened as she joyously smiled back. “Oh, of course, sister!!” And she happily channeled her Gaia Root into Bullseye’s injured eye.

Having been swollen for so long, it took a little longer for it to fully heal; but when all was said and done, Bullseye, for the first time in what felt like forever, open both of her eyes. “Awesome.”

Greensprout hugged her. “Oh, sister! Do you at last feel healed? Does love once more have a place in your heart!?”

Bullseye shrugged. “Not totally, but… We’re about to save Equestria and hopefully gain its respect. If they’re gonna see us for who we are, I figure it’s time I saw it for what it is… with both my eyes.”

“Speakin’ o’ which…” Kickback said as he picked up a large mirror shard and present to Bullseye.

To her surprise and to everyone who only now noticed, her once swollen eye gleamed a bright blue, a stark contrast to the deep crimson eye they’d always known. “Whoa…!”

“Yo! That’s dope!” Turf War said.

“How come you didn’t tell us about that?” Spiral asked.

“It’s been so long, I… I guess I just forgot.” Bullseye said, marveling at her reborn vision. “Okay, now I’m freaking ready!”

“Alright then. Battle Foals, BATTLE STATIONS!” Fire Fight ordered.

Kickback went over a decent distance and camped inside a dilapidated house while Quantum and Spiral stood not too far from him out in the open, the former having a force field erected. The monster squad stood on the front lines with Shadow Shroud hiding behind mounds of snow. Having smashed all possible glaciers, Frostbite regrouped with Fire Fight and Valkyrie; the fiery captain went ahead and melted a sizable amount of snow for Tidal Wave in case Plan B had to be executed. Afterwards, he joined his two flying comrades behind the front lines… and they all waited.

The driving snow seemed to tick like a clock- a doomsday clock, and all they could do was wait for it to strike at the fated hour. Between their combined might as hardened warriors of Equestria and beyond, and the raw rage and hatred of a troubled filly with the power to crush her foes, this was sure to be a finale for one side… or all.

At long last, time suddenly felt like it had frozen in its tracks, and the Battle Foals could see a pair of blue eyes gleaming ferociously through the icy mist, high above the ground where a vast amount of footsteps could be heard marching towards the hamlet. The foals had their hooves on their weapons, ready to draw.

The shroud of driving mist burst clear, revealing Snowdrop in her draconic, frozen armor. She menacingly hung in the air above an army of ice monsters and ice zombies, as was expected. To their mild surprise, the zombies were all out in the front lines, their abominable allies all behind them.

When they came within a stadium’s distance from the town’s border, Snowdrop and her horde stopped. With her blind, hateful eyes, she stared down the Battle Foals. The tension in the air felt frozen solid, yet brittle enough to be shattered by a thrown pebble. The howling winds blowing in the no-man’s land between screamed with the silenced cries of the zombified civilians.

“How fitting… how fitting that this is where we end this, the place where your hopeless field trip began!” Snowdrop said.

Fire Fight looked his frigid foe right in her faded eyes. “It wasn’t hopeless, Snowdrop!” he shouted. “We traveled across Equestria and saved it from lots of things, and there are plenty of foals here who have newfound strength because of it! We’re not gonna let you take any of it away!”

“TAKE IT AWAY!? HA! DON’T MAKE ME LAUGH! YOU KNOW WHAT EQUESTRIA IS FULL OF? I’LL TELL YOU: EMPTY WORDS AND EVEN EMPTIER PROMISES!!” Snowdrop bellowed. “THEY’LL TELL YOU THEY LOVE YOU, THAT THEY CARE ABOUT YOU, THAT OUR DIFFERENCES WON’T EVER MATTER! WHAT A JOKE!!! Ponies always fall back on fear when they’re faced with something they don’t understand, something they can’t love, and those ‘somethings’ ALWAYS get branded heathens for it!!”

“Then why aren’t you doing anything to help us!?” Fire Fight asked.

Snowdrop laughed maniacally. “What are you talking about? I’m doing PLENTY to help! I’M PUTTING THESE MISERBALE SNOWFLAKES OUT OF THEIR FEARFUL MISERY!!”

“That doesn’t solve anything, Snowdrop! You just want to punish everypony!” Fire Fight said. “Listen, I know why you’re so angry. You feel like all of Equestria just turned its back on you and Princess Luna. You feel like you were branded criminals over nothing.”

Snowdrop snarled. “Weren’t we? Weren’t you?”

Fire Fight sighed. “Maybe so, but… that’s no reason to commit mass genocide!”

“Fear and hate are two different things.” Shadow Shroud said. “Fear comes from simply not understanding something, and hate comes from fully understanding that you find that thing repulsive.”

“And yet one can easily stem from the other! Isn’t that what happened to Luna!? Ponies didn’t understand her night and began to revile it! IT’S THEIR FAULT SHE BECAME NIGHTMARE MOON!” Snowdrop said.

“But who’s fault was it that you decided to react with as much hostility? Who failed to understand why everypony feared their princess suddenly turning into a vengeful witch? Who fully understood that they hated everypony around them but chose not to resolve it?” Fire Fight asked. “Snowdrop, I don’t think you’re a bad filly deep down- you just tried too hard to have your pain heard. If you just stop speaking with your anger and start speaking with your heart, ponies will-”

“SHUT UP!!!!!!”

The air itself felt as if it flash froze. “IF IT WERE AS SIMPLE AS TALKING, THIS CYCLE WOULDN’T KEEP TURNING!! I’M GOING TO END IT!! I’M GOING TO END EVERYTHING!!!”

Fire Fight sighed. “If that’s really how you wanna play it…” He ignited his horn, his gauntlets, and his armor so that he was walking flame burning with courage. “Then you’d better be ready for a fight! I have been since I was born! We all have!” The Battle Foals all drew their weapons, fully ready for their final bout.

Snowdrop smirked evilly as her horde reared themselves to maul the small squad. “THEN YOU’RE READY TO DIE!!!!”

Comments

[Xarmar13]

So begins the final battle of "Tales of Equestria" (Yes I would call this story by that since this story continues to remind me of Namco Bandai's Tales series and most titles in that series end in 'ia'). Let's hope Snowdrop isn't packing any nasty mystic artes.

[Sirdubya]

10909820
I LOVE the Tales series!

[HB_DS2013]

OOoh, we're nearing the endgame now. Everyone's already promoted and done their prep for the final boss. That said, this fic is the reason why I don't suck at writing fight scenes as much.

[Sirdubya]

10911619
Glad I could help in that regard!

[Clopian26]

I’ve loved Every moment of the story and when it’s complete it’s more than likely going straight to the favorites bookshelf