Raison D'être

by mechafone

43 - Battle In The Trees Part 2

Warning: This chapter contains a scene that may be disturbing for younger readers.

Spark Storm, atop Turbid's golem, were quickly approaching the sound of wood splintering and an unearthly howl of pain. Soon enough they encountered the source. Spark looked on in horror as White Tail stood hunched over the taller red dryad, his old ragged limbs ending in jagged bits of wood as they tore into the younger dryad's body and tore away at his body. Large puddles of greenish liquid poured from the red dryad's body, as he did all he could just to keep his sire from killing him faster.

Spark let out a roar of indescribable fury as he leapt from Turbid's golem, his wings burning brighter than they ever had before. The dark forest lit up as in one shot, Spark blew a hole straight through White Tail's back, leaving a smoldering hole that easily could've fit a full grown pony through it. White Tail fell forward onto the dryad before him before Turbid's golem grabbed him neatly by the head and dragged him up to his hooves.

White Tail wasn't finished yet. Though the golem towered over him by at least 20 feet, his age and power was not lost. He pushed against the taller monster. Turbid hadn't been expecting such a smaller frame to be so powerful, and her puppet toppled backwards. White Tail pressed forward, throwing several wooden spikes from his chest, all piercing the golem's body. The golem let out a horrible scream as it's entire foundation started to crumble. It fell backwards, the mud and logs holding it together all falling apart. Turbid's form lay prone and revealed after a moment, one of the long spikes sticking out of her shoulder.

Spark let out a shout of dismay at seeing his teacher impaled upon the long, broken splinter. He leapt at White Tail, hitting the dryad with everything he had in his wings. White Tail staggered backwards with a hollow scream as his face burned, embers drifting into the darkening evening sky. Spark sailed through the air from the dryad's fallen body to Turbid's side. She had been impaled through the shoulder and out her back, the long wooden splinter holding her up as it lay embedded in the mess that was Turbid's blood and the remains of the golem.

Spark didn't know how he would be getting his mentor down from her painful position, and he was starting to panic. He had no other help; he'd sent Rarity and the younger dryad away from the battle. He only hoped that they had gotten away to safety. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he looked up at Turbid. He felt helpless to help her, helpless to stop all this bloodshed. He was too immersed in his own emotions to notice White Tail getting to his hooves. Neither of them noticed when the dark figure came down from above. It landed on the remains of White Tail's head and screamed, it's talons gripping both sides of his head until it began to split.

The scream did the rest as White Tail's head exploded in a shower of green blood, sloppy bits of wood and bone. Spark watched as the insane White Tail finally fell over, lifeless. Spark watched with wide, horrified eyes as the figure dropped down right next to him and stood, dripping the remains of what was White Tail down its thin body. It took Spark a moment to recognize Sohl.

In the short time that he'd known her, he figured she might relish taking a bath in her enemy's blood, but the look in her eyes was distant. The two of them were silent as they looked into each other's eyes, and both knew that they had lost someone close to them. Sohl was the first to break eye contact. She looked Turbid over, and her eyes lit up. She reached over, touching a clawed hand to Turbid's chest. She chuckled mirthlessly and looked back at Spark, an ironic smile on her face. "Looks like you got lucky today, Sparky." She returned her attention to Turbid and very carefully eased the pony, stake and all, out of the dirt and set her carefully onto her belly so that the stake wouldn't twist her flesh.

Spark let out an emotional sigh. It had been a short day. A short battle, yet so much had happened. His ears perked up. It wasn't over yet. There were still dozens of Changelings in the area searching for the dryads. Speaking of which...he thought as he scampered over to the large red dryad. He scanned the giant over, but...it looked like he had bled out. The whole area around the dryad was soaked with his greenish blood. His body had been nearly torn in half by the elder dryad in his madness.

Spark returned to Sohl's side as the buzzing of Changelings got ever closer. Spark raised his wings, readying the energies for within for what would surely be the last time. With just the two of them left, it would only be a matter of time. Spark chanced a glance at Sohl. She, too, was ready for battle, but the look in her eyes told him that she wasn't expecting to come out of it alive. As she stared into the coming darkness, she reached over to the side and casually brushed a clawed hand through Spark's mane. He didn't care that it was covered in dryad blood. It was to be the last comforting thought he would have, and he was grateful for it.

Spark's ears twitched as he thought he heard some crashing in the woods behind him. He paid it little mind as the first of the Changelings emerged from the darkness in front of him. The world seemed to slow as a bright orange light blew over his head like a slow moving ball of fire. He watched as the light, which actually was a ball of fire, engulfed the first few Changelings. At the same time, a wall of spiked ice met the next wave of Changelings, impaling many and crushing others as it fell onto that wave of dark creatures. The next object to crash into the Changelings was an enormous explosion that rocked the entire area and sent Changeling pieces everywhere. Spark grabbed Sohl and forced her down as fire, ice, explosions and quick-moving ponies coursed over the area.

Changelings screamed in anger, confusion and dismay at this change. They hadn't expected a small group of fighters with enormous offensive capabilities to come to their victim's defense. The clearing quickly became heavy chaos as the Changelings decided it would be better to flee and escape retribution. Some did, but most were not so fortunate. Fire, ice, explosions and heavy hits brought a great number of them down before the battle was finally over.

Spark slowly got to his hooves once the sounds of the battle were done. He reached down and helped Sohl into a sitting position. She looked around with wide eyes at the destruction, and at the ponies standing before her responsible for it. Eight ponies crowded around Turbid's prone body. Sohl sighed quietly and tugged herself into a ball, her knees drawn to her chest. The way things were going, she was still going to die today. She'd been deprived of her death twice today, she didn't think she'd make it past a third opportunity. But with the way that Spark stood in front of her, his wings spread defensively, she doubted that he'd let that happen. She had mixed feelings on the subject, to say the least.

As for Spark, he was having trouble putting into words on how he felt. For one, Rarity was among the ponies that had come to his rescue. For another, the Fighters were all gathered here, looking over poor Turbid as she laid there with the the six foot long spike stuck through her shoulder. Lastly, a second white pony stood there at Turbid's side, but her blue eyes were on Spark. Sapphire Snow, in all her glory, stood with horrified eyes afixed on Spark Storm. Spark could only imagine how he looked, his mane a mess, whole pools of blood covering his body, maybe some bits of Changeling stuck to him.

He let out a mirthless laugh as she approached him. There she was, the mare that he had been waiting for, sometimes fighting for his life just to see her again, for nearly two long years, and he was a mess. And yet she was nearly spotless, so much more grown up than he remembered, and the first thing he saw was the tears in her eyes. "Sapphire...It's...It's good to se-"

Right around the time that Sapphire's mouth closed over his, Spark lost any train of thought, not that there was a whole lot going on in his head before she kissed him. It took him a moment to realize that the love of his life was, in fact, right here. That she had saved his life just in the nick of time, and was kissing him. When he did realize this, he started kissing her back. The fact that Spark was covered in blood and probably guts did nothing to deter either of them as they wrapped their hooves around each other. The embrace was so intense that Sapphire fell backwards with Spark on top of her.

Seven ponies watched or looked away with embarrassed blushes until a strong, commanding voice cleared it's throat. Sapphire gasped for air as she came up from Spark's kiss and shot to her hooves. All nine ponies turned as Celestia herself stepped into the area, surveying the terrible loss of life that had occurred here. She frowned unhappily at the state of the dryads. Two of them, ripped apart and destroyed. It was a terrible shame, White Tail had been a close friend of hers in the beginning. Rarity had told her of his madness, and his refusal of Orea's presence.

Celestia looked down at the nine ponies before her. Gunslinger had done a great deal of damage with his weapons. Sweet Midnight had been tending to Turbid's wounds. Lovely Lightning and Lemon Pop had helped keep the Changelings from escaping. Rarity had helped Gunslinger, as she wielded similar weapons, though utilizing different tactics. Flash Fire, their newest recruit, had paired with Frostbite, and mixed their respective fire and ice powers to devastating results. Sapphire Snow had lead them, ordering their moves, and she had done so flawlessly.

The Princess gazed along Spark's side, to the harpy that had gone mostly unnoticed. Following her gaze, more than a few of the Fighters raised their weapons or readied attack spells. In the blink of an eye, Spark returned to his position to stand defensively before Sohl, his wings spread and a furious expression on his face. "No." he said. "I will fight every last one of you to defend this creature. I swear to all of you that she -"

"Can speak for herself, Spark Storm." Spark felt a clawed hand on his shoulder as Sohl stood to her full height slowly at his side. She walked past him slowly until she was several feet from Celestia. With the two of them standing so close, it was clear that Sohl was several inches taller. Spark hadn't yet seen the harpy stand at her full height, her long, usually bent legs now straight. She folded her arms in front of her, her wings modestly covering her front. They did nothing to cover her backside, though.

Celestia and the harpy stared at each other for the longest time, neither saying a word to each other. It was starting to get awkward, and there were injured ponies and a nymph to find. Spark nudged Sapphire, then slowly walked past the two. Sapphire followed him out, followed by Lemon Pop, Rarity and the new pony, who Spark would soon come to know as Flash Fire.

Spark wordlessly walked through the forest, his thoughts occupied by the sudden rescue and being reunited with Sapphire Snow. It just didn't feel right, it felt tainted with death and blood. He sighed, his head lowering to the ground as he walked. He felt angry, cheated almost, for having this potentially happy reunion reduced to this. He suddenly felt two bodies pressed against him from both sides. He looked up and saw a comforting smile from Lemon Pop. He glanced the other way and received a gentle kiss from Sapphire. "Spark...I know this probably isn't how you wanted to say hello to your friends again, but...well, let's just find your friend and go home, then we can relax. Please, just be strong. For me."

Spark stopped, then turned to face his friends. He caught Rarity's eyes, who returned his stare with a silent glare. He gave her the most apologetic smile he could muster. It seemed to do the trick as she went in to embrace him. She held her forehead against his for a moment before she stepped away, her eyes still glaring. "I'll forgive you for sending me from the battle this time, Spark. If you hadn't, Sohl would have met her end." Spark opened his mouth to speak, but he paused when Rarity shook her head and hoof'd the ground daintily. "She is avenged. That is all I shall say."

Spark only nodded. He didn't want to know what had happened, as he already had a good idea. He glanced at the new pony, the one that commanded fire. She gave him a kind smile, which he returned. He reached out with a hoof, a gesture that she readily returned. "I guess you know who I am. We didn't have a fire user before, I can only guess that impressive show of pyromancy was from you."

She grinned just a little. "Well, yes, it was me. My name's Flash Fire. I've heard a lot about you from Frostbite. He thinks very highly of you, you know."

Spark smiled a bit more broadly, and nodded. "Yeah, I know. I feel the same." He turned then to Lemon Pop, and instantly he was reminded of three and a half months spent with her on a boat and in Neippon. Memories of talking, getting closer as friends, fighting together. Dragons. Twilight Sparkle. War and conspiracies. The same things seemed to be going through Lemon's head as the two friends looked at each other, and then finally came together in a warm embrace.

"Good times, Sparky, good times," she whispered to him as she drew apart. Lemon grinned madly at the subtle jealous glare that Sapphire was giving her, then she gasped and hopped straight up into the air and behind Spark Storm as two large figures hobbled slowly into view. Spark let out a gasp of relief as the younger dryad approached, leading a limping Orea towards them. Aside from the wound on her shoulder and her limp, she seemed fine.

"Oh, thank Celestia. Orea!" Spark ran to her and hugged her as best as he could without hurting the huge nymph. She let out her own relieved sigh as she wrapped her forelegs around him.

"Oh thank the gods you are unhurt, my Storm." She hugged him tightly, then released him and glanced at the lone dryad. "Storm, friends, this is Picea." Spark took a step back to look up at the tall dryad.

Spark smiled gently at him, though he dreaded the hopeful look in Picea's eyes. Spark sat down on the hard ground as he prepared to tell the two what to expect just beyond the trees behind them. "Orea, Picea...my friends...White Tail is dead. As is your tall, red companion, Picea."

The horror and grief written on both their faces as they learned of their kin's fate was too much. Spark had to turn away as the two creatures turned to each other and embraced, releasing sounds of sorrow that gripped Spark's heart painfully, and from the looks on his friends' faces they felt the same. Spark's eyes filled with tears and he felt himself start to shudder with emotion until Sapphire pressed herself to his side and wrapped him in her hooves. More than once he heard Picea whisper 'brother' in his anguish.

After a few moments, Spark looked up to see Celestia and the rest of the Fighters approaching. While Spark's friends and comrades gathered in a half circle around him, Celestia stepped carefully to Orea and Picea. The two nymphs slowly collected themselves, then bowed before the Alicorn, who mirrored the gesture. "My lord and lady...I am so sorry for not coming here sooner. My own promise to let nature rule nature has nearly destroyed you, and now..." Celestia paused as Orea raised her good hoof, a gentle smile on her face.

"My lady, worry not. Before my lord Monarch passed away, he..." She blushed at the implications, lightly hoofing the ground. Spark sputtered, his wings raising in indignation.

"What? You mean...during the battle? There wasn't time!" Several snickers broke out among the group.

Orea glared at Spark, an even darker blush crossing her cheeks. "I told you it wasn't sex." She shook her grassy mane, reaching a hoof up to show him the soft yellow coloring that had been dusted all over her body. "It is pollination. It only took a brief moment to ensure the future of our race."

Spark stared at her, a disbelieving look in his eyes. So for all that trouble, and all he had to do was shake some dust on her?

Orea and Celestia both watched Spark with interest, both for the same reason, though Celestia thought she'd just be quiet about it. No reason to spoil the surprise so early in the game. She glanced at Orea, who gave the Alicorn a coy smile. The nymph turned and wrapped her hooves around Picea, lightly kissing his cheek and whispered something to him. He nodded before stepping away from her and disappearing into the clearing where his brother's body lay.

Finally, Orea turned to Celestia, a sad smile on her face. "Princess Celestia, your presence here is no longer needed. Picea and I will stay here to shepard the future. Rest assured, the trees will live on. And thank you..." The nymph bowed much lower than before. Spark frowned as he approached her, his heart clenching once more. "My Storm...you have been..." She couldn't finish as she reached down and took him into her forelegs. He pressed his forehead to her chin, managing at least to keep his tears from spilling.

"Orea, I'm never going to see you again, am I?"

Orea shook her head wordlessly as she comfortingly stroked Spark's back. "No, Spark Storm. We shall part ways here. I...I owe you so much for bringing me this far, and for taking care of me. I promise, I will do no less for my children, who all have you to thank for their lives." She leaned down and kissed his forehead before releasing him. A glaring white pegasus told Orea she had held him too long.

Spark eased himself away from Orea. He glanced at Celestia, a question in his eyes. She smiled kindly and nuzzled him. "Don't fear. Turbid will live, though she'll be out of action for quite some time." Relief and joy stumbled it's way across Spark's face, but then he remembered the other question he'd been meaning to ask the Princess. She caught this also, and frowned disapprovingly. "As for your other...companion, she is unharmed. I don't want you associating yourself with her, Spark Storm. Her kind is not from Equestria, and does not belong in it." Spark made to argue when she cut him off with a stern glare. "...Although, she was invaluable in your rescue, and in defeating White Tail..."

She thought for a moment, then sighed heavily. She fixed Spark with so stern a glare that it made his bones shiver. "I don't trust her, but I do trust you. I suppose...if you can convince her to join us, there may be a place for her in my land. But not among my Fighters. I don't want her anywhere near Ponyville or Canterlot. If you could agree to help her find a place in Equestria, and if you can get her to come with us, I'd be willing to wait to return home. Decide quickly, Spark Storm."

Spark sighed as he looked down at his hooves in thought. After a moment, he looked over at Rarity. Catching his gaze, she seemed to lose herself in thought as well. After some deliberation, she gave him a single nod. That was all he needed. He smiled and glanced at Sapphire Snow, who's heart leaped at seeing such a look on his face. "Just give me ten minutes...I need to go talk to a harpy."

Comments

[Jacensolo43]

amazing chapter. I'm glad i found one of your more recent stories. Your stories are amazing, and i can't help but be amazed at every turn. i never gave one before but... have a moustache.

[mrmayortheiv]

Hmmmmm, the seed she put in his hair? A replacement flora sidekick?

[Melody Brush]

SOUL OF SONG!!! I have no owrds for this chapter! I'm deeply upset about little Orea, and that battle was just... Soul Of Songs, that was tence.

[Serpent_Underscore]

Actually... Pollination is sex. Just not the way ponies practice it.