My Little Destroyermen: Walker on Water

by The Atlantean

Chapter 36

“Twilight Sparkle,” Sunset Shimmer frowned. “I should’ve known you’d protect such pitifully weak creatures.”

“How can you say that? Remember the Sirens? You changed for the better!” Twilight cried. She fought the tears welling up in the corner of her eyes. “This isn’t you!”

“I changed for the weaker, Twilight. Had only I realized how much Celestia was holding me back. How much you were holding me back!” Sunset sent a red bolt of crackling magical energy at Twilight, who cast a shield spell just before it hit. “I’ve seen true power, Twilight, and you can’t stop me from attaining it!”

“Nightmare Moon has corrupted you, Sunset. Remember our friendship!” Twilight dodged the second bolt before it hit where she stood, briefly noticing how the Grik kept their distance from both of them as she rolled to a loose stand.

“You’re weak, Twilight Sparkle. Will you only fight when you have the Elements of Harmony to cower behind?” Sunset sent a third bolt across the field.

This time, Twilight countered with her own, and the two collided in a bright ball of energy that burned a circle in the trampled grass. Violet flames licked the princess’s feet as she took to the sky, trailing behind her in a swirl of magic. Without stopping to think, she cast “Lightning”: a quick, easily manipulable spell based on pegasus weather magic.

Arcs of electricity rained down from a temporary cloud cover, showering Sunset in blinding white light. Twilight used the opportunity to teleport to a different angle behind Sunset without being detected.

Sunset cast “Shield” under the lightning, but she was almost too late. Smoke curled from her dark blue uniform, and her singed hair smelled crispy. Somewhat blinded, she cast “Fireball” several times at Twilight’s last known location, and for good measure, threw one behind her. A yelp of surprise and high-pitched poof confirmed her suspicions.

A few embers lit the ends of Twilight’s hair, and her own white uniform looked a little more worse for wear. She materialized a light-blue barrier in front of her--an advanced form of “Shield”, capable of protecting multiple people. It could block most ranged attacks with ease, and Twilight used the brief respite to cast "Rejuvenation".

“If I can’t save you, Sunset Shimmer, at least I can stop you from hurting others,” she called.

“You can try, Twilight Sparkle.” Sunset brandished two hand-battleaxes made of hardened magic--the preferred physicalized weapon of power-seeking unicorns. In response, Twilight unsheathed her rapiers and assumed a defensive stance.

The next few moments were a blur. Both cast “Speed Enhancement” and “Mental Acuity” simultaneously, and the magical weapons clashed and clanged faster than any non-mage could see. Their movements kicked up dust around them, creating a cloud that blocked sight anyway, but brief, bright flashes drew the attention of onlookers.

When the dust cleared, Twilight sported nearly a dozen cuts or gashes around her body, and Sunset bled from multiple piercing holes in her torso and cuts along her arms. Both of their chests heaved in exhaustion and pain.

Twilight blasted Sunset farther away with a burst of telekinesis to give herself a little time to heal. Sunset twisted her battleaxe blades to dig into the earth, slowing her down and keeping her from going as far as the spell would’ve sent her.

Fresh, healthy violet magic swirled around Twilight’s wounds, while a sickly, uncombined red-blue mix healed Sunset’s. As another contrast, Twilight looked rejuvenated by the spell, but Sunset had no such appearance. With a rejuvenation spell, however, she looked much better.

A beam of raw magic surged from Sunset’s hand. Twilight matched it with her own, then used her other hand to send a second beam with a matching magical signature. Predictably, Sunset caught it. Twilight then let herself act as a conductor, trying to short-circuit Sunset as she had with Nightmare Moon.

Sunset, however, had Nightmare Moon’s experience with the trick, and brought her hands together, combining the two independent beams into one larger beam that then rebounded off her hands. She added a standard bolt to the mix, and easily three times as much magical power as before was headed towards Twilight. A bolt slightly to the left and right finished the attack.

Twilight’s eyes widened in horror, and she dove. The combined magics flew past her to disintegrate part of the jungle across the river, just barely missing Walker’s bow, but one of the smaller bolts hit her square in the chest. Luckily, “Magic Bolt” wasn’t a very powerful spell, and at best, felt like a stallion’s kick to the gut. The wind knocked out of her, Twilight struggled to rise. A rod of solid magical energy came down from the heavens, and she instinctively teleported out of the way.

She looked where she’d been moments ago, and saw that the rod had split in three in case she rolled. There wasn't time to breathe, however: Sunset's next attack, a similar set of magical rods, was heading for her. One came right down the middle, while two others were directly to the side to crush her between them. She cast "Shield" again, recoiling as the center rod cracked her barrier, and backflipped over the other two. Her landing brought her to a crouch, which she used to launch herself forward before a fourth rod impaled her from above.

Twilight's own attacks were simple: a ray of sunshine (Princess Celestia's preferred offensive spell), followed by a couple bolts and another "Shield" to protect herself from retaliation. Sunset blocked the bolts mirrored the sunbeam back the way it came, and Twilight curled it around her with an extra dose. The resulting explosion of solar energy should've left Sunset badly burned, but she walked out of the dust with nothing beyond a couple scratches and bruises.

Twilight had thrown basically every offensive spell she knew, and they hadn't done enough. It was time for a different strategy. She wound up like a pitcher and threw a ball of magic, which Sunset simply sidestepped with a scornful look as it landed next to her. Counting on her non-reaction, Twilight set off her trap, and the terrifying image of Lord Tirek at his most powerful burst from the ground.

Not even Nightmare Moon could’ve anticipated Tirek’s appearance. Through Sunset, she beamed the image’s head. Surprisingly (at least to Nightmare Moon and Sunset), it wasn’t even fazed. It stomped, and coupled with an earth-shaker spell, convinced Nightmare Moon that staying was a bad idea. Sunset disappeared in a flash, and her presence left the battlefield.

Twilight, exhausted, dropped the hologram spell, and the image of Tirek dissipated. Her arms sagged, and her breathing came ragged.

Around her, the Grik broke, the apparent effect of Nightmare Moon’s presence gone. Combined with the “Grik Rout” theory Courtney Bradford had proposed after the capture of Revenge and Phoenix, and they didn’t stand a chance. The Allied and Aryaalan forces outside the city drove the remainder from the field.

Twilight looked back at her unit. Her timely arrival had apparently saved them and the Fourth Baalkpan Guard from complete destruction, but their losses were so significant, the number of survivors probably totaled a hundred at most. Out of the Royals’ square, Verun-Kanas came forward and saluted, her tiny hand shaking from both fear and relief.

“First Royal Guard, reporting for duty, ma’am.”

Author's Note:

I was going for power, but sometimes, you need a really good fear factor.

Thing is, magic is insanely powerful. Looking at the Season 4 finale, when it was literally all alicorn magic against all other magic, this is a candle. But to everyone else, this is huge because they don't know magic like Equestrians do.