League 10
The arrival of the Lost Generals
Castle of Friendship, conference room:
This was a place where secret identities could be revealed without fear of disclosure, where heroes did not have to worry about revealing their feet of clay. Everypony and every dragon had removed their masks. This was a place where they could meet as people, not super heroes. This was a place where one baby dragon could let everypony know how badly he had failed.
“It was my fault! Dang it, all my fault!” shouted Spike, hitting the wall. “How could I be so stupid? I was supposed to protect every dragon, and I threw Garble where no one could help him.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Spikey-Wikey,” said Rarity in a comforting tone. "I dare say that Garble would test anypony's patience."
"That doesn't matter! Tomar-Re taught me to look at the full picture, but I only paid attention to what was in front of my face."
Diamond Tiara said, "It's not your fault, Spike. It's just a lot like chess; we just didn't identify the right princess. We all forgot that the title Dragon Lord is earned, not inherited."
"I should have known better! I won the last contest!" With that last declaration, Spike shot a burst from his ring.
Just as quickly a green force field intercepted the blast and circulated it along the walls, gradually converting the energy to heat. Sweetie Belle, said, "Careful, Spike! This is your home, remember?"
Spike ignored her as he sat on the floor and moped. "I could have saved him." Bitterly, he took the ring from his finger and flung it.
Blue Blood caught the ring with his magic and tossed it back at Spike. The baby dragon ignored it as it bounced off his head and landed in his lap."
“Put it on, Spike,” said the former prince. “This isn’t over yet.”
Spike glared at him. “Are you joking?! Can you imagine what would happen if Celestia and Luna went bad at the same time? Their parents are a million times worse!"
Scootaloo cuffed him on the back of the head. "You can't quit on us now, Spike. We need every pony, or dragon, we can get."
The dragon sighed. "Beware my power." The ring flew back onto his finger. "Seriously, though, you saw what Forest Thing could do. How can we even stand a chance against his parents?"
"We fight as a team," said Diamond Tiara. "We just need to figure out what weaknesses they might have."
Blue Blood said, “I have an idea. It’s simple, but it’s our best shot.”
Canterlot Castle, throne room:
The waiting was the hardest part. Celestia and Luna knew that their parents would arrive soon. Pegasus patrols had sent word of their impending arrival, and the princesses had ordered the Guard to allow them to pass. Every few minutes, another update would arrive; the escapees seemed to be in no particular hurry. The sisters could only hope that their parents would have mercy on their subjects.
After what seemed like forever, their parents entered the throne room. The much-feared explosive entrance had not come to pass. The pair had simply walked in as if they owned the place, patiently allowing the guards to get their names and announce them as they went from guard station to guard station. They did, however draw the line at the fanfare the heralds attempted to play at the entrance to the throne room; the flugelhorns didn't look quite right when worn as necklaces.
Celestia and Luna stared as their parents entered. All images of the generals had been destroyed long before either sister had reached the age of majority. What descriptions there were in the surviving literature did not do the pair justice. The sisters descended from their thrones. Luna stopped at the base of the stairs while Celestia walked up to her doppelganger, her mother.
The two white alicorns stared at each other for a moment, mirroring each other's actions. Luna moved to view the pair from the side while her father took the position across from her. As tears fell from White Nightmare, Dark Moon began to smile. Finally, the mother broke the silence. "Tia! Lulu! My foals! How I missed you."
The sisters tensed as their mother embraced them with forehooves and wings. “It’s been so long since I held you in my hooves. Look at you now! So beautiful . . . so powerful.”
"We missed watching you grow up. We missed raising you to be the mares you were meant to be," said Dark Moon calmly. "That doesn't matter anymore. Our family is finally reunited."
"We have all the time in the world," added White Nightmare as she finally released her daughters. "Only your little brother is missing, but he's earned some time alone with his pets."
“Besides, this is our moment,” said Dark Moon. “We were able to raise your little brother for a few years, and we've been talking with him over the centuries. They tore you from us before you could even talk.”
"We only got to have you for a heartbeat; we missed almost your entire lives. That will change, I promise," said White Nightmare.
Luna choked out, "Mother . . . father . . ."
Dark Moon stepped back. "You're afraid of us, aren't you?"
“Don’t be ashamed,” said Nightmare, stroking her daughters’ manes with the tip of her new wings. “This was to be expected. You grew up believing those lies the other races keep telling about us.”
Celestia sagged. "That's a relief. We thought you had hunted the other races almost to extinction.”
White Nightmare replied, "That was our biggest regret."
Luna also relaxed.
Dark Moon continued. "Your mother is right. We should have exterminated those pests when we had the chance."
The sisters drew back. The mother said, "Dear hearts, don't you understand? It's just like a garden. You have get rid of the weeds and vermin if you want it to grow up healthy."
Dark Moon laughed heartily. "It's all about survival of the fittest. We can't have inferior beings taking space away from us ponies, now can we? Besides, there's nothing that's quite as much fun as tearing your enemy's head from their neck with your bare hooves."
White Nightmare added, "That's what we wanted, a paradise for the worthy, a paradise for our little ponies. There's no room for vermin in paradise. There's no harm in enjoying your work."
"Enough about us," said Dark Moon. "Why don't you show us around and tell us what you've been doing for the last thousand years."
The sisters nodded. They still had a glimmer of hope, but, somehow, they didn't think their parents would share modern sensibilities.
The tour started in the royal guest suite, the one that Cadence and Shining Armor used when they visited. Luna was quick to point out the modern conveniences and demonstrated their operation. Thankfully, showing the controls for the toilet and the bidet were enough to get the point across.
The next stop was the private dining room. Delicacies for all three races were set on the table. Hearty oatcakes, an earth pony staple, were piled high on a platter. Freshly-roasted pistachios, a unicorn treat, were arranged in a pattern with other nuts. A tureen of ceviche, a pegasus treat, was the parents' favorite; despite their need for protein, such fresh fish was normally reserved only for the most special of occasions.
Refreshed, alicorns walked to the hall of history. Celestia and Luna took turns pointing out the stained glass windows that depicted the highlights: wendigos and unification, the fall of Lady Catrina, the capture of Tirek, the petrification of Discord, the banishment of Sombra, the banishment of Nightmare Moon, and so on.
Stopping before they reached the modern era, Dark Moon said, "Where did you put that cat's head? That must be a magnificent trophy."
Celestia replied, "She's rather attached to it. We're keeping her in Tartarus."
White Nightmare asked, "What about Discord's head? Surely, you smashed it to smithereens when you had the chance."
“We would never kill anyone. Not even him!” protested Celestia.
Frowning, Dark Moon said, "No good can come from leaving that sort of enemy alive. He's sure to attack the instant he senses weakness."
The parents listened politely as their daughters led them through the modern era. Luna concluded with, "And that brings us up to today.”
White Nightmare said, "You poor, poor dears. Relying on this 'harmony' has made you weak. Just look at all of the enemies who came to attack a second time, and how could you even let a filthy dragon live among you?"
Dark Moon added, "You don't have to kill all your enemies; you just hurt them so much that everyone else will know the price of defiance."
"I know you were too young to remember," started White Nightmare, "but your grandfather always said, 'Kill an enemy, and you'll make him a martyr. Cripple an enemy, and you'll make him an example.'"
"We still think our way works better," said Dark Moon. "Kill an enemy, and you never have to worry about him again."
The sisters shrank back, shocked by the sincerity of their parents' words.
White Nightmare moved to hug her daughters. "I know this is a lot to take in, but we'll go slowly. We'll take care of the realm while you learn the right way to rule."
"Take care of Equestria?" Celestia gulped. "You?"
"Only until you're ready," replied Dark Moon. "Our place is on the battlefield, not in the throne room."
As the family continued its walk, White Nightmare said, "We really need to get your hooves dirty. We should track down that changeling that attacked you. Then, you can let her children watch as you pull her apart piece by piece."
Suddenly the generals stopped. Their ears swiveled, and the pair then looked to a beam running across the ceiling. A dark hump was barely visible in the dim light. White Nightmare asked, "Who are you, and what are you doing here, my little pony?"
The figure dropped into the light, revealing that he was a pony in a blue hood.
Luna and Celestia gasped; this could not end well.
"Who am I? I'm just a nopony. What am I doing? I'm listening to some bigots who can't see beyond their own noses.
Dark Moon said, "So, colt, tell us what it is we don't see."
"The galloping plague, the Great Fescue Famine, the parasprite superswarm. Each of those catastrophes could have wiped all the ponies off the face of the planet. All of those were averted because our former enemies helped us in our time of need, just as we had helped them. If we had killed everyone like you wanted, there would be nopony left."
White Nightmare snorted. "I know your type, all talk. Go away; the big ponies are busy."
The figure stood his ground. "No. You will lead us to ruin."
White Nightmare laughed. "Let's see you sto. . . " Without pausing to the complete the sentence, she shot a powerful bolt of magic at the figure. In one fluid motion, he dodged to his left, raised the bow that had been covered by his cloak, and fired a single arrow, straight at White Nightmare's face.
The alicorn's reflexes had been honed by countless battles. It was child's play for her to catch the projectile, millimeters from her forehead. Smiling, she turned to her daughters. "Is this your bodyguard? I like him; he has some small skills."
A soft click drew White Nightmare's attention back to the arrow she was holding. It exploded in her face. Her eye twitched as her smile faded. Her once-pristine face was now coated in soot.
Celestia interjected, "Wait! He's my nephew! We've been trying to get him locked up in an insane asylum for months!"
Luna pointed to an ear with a forehoof and twirled the appendage in circles. "He needs help."
White Nightmare flared her wings, pushing her daughters aside. "Idiot or not, he will pay."
With a sadistic smile, the alicorn charged toward her tormentor. She had already played all of the possibilities in her mind. If he tried another arrow, she could counter with a fusillade of magic bolts. If he tried to retreat, she would stop him with a stasis spell. If he stayed still, she would spank him as if he was a foal.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl. The archer seemed to be frozen in fear. Suddenly, he ducked. Once underneath his opponent, he used his magic-enhanced strength to spring upward, catching White Nightmare's hindquarters and throwing her flank over teakettle. He caught her posterior with a buck that propelled him into his aunts.
Celestia facehoofed. "Blue Blood," she groaned.
The masked vigilante smiled at her. “I told you, Auntie. Blue Blood is dead. Now, there’s only the Arrow.
Dark Moon watched with a grim smile as his wife stalked toward the vigilante. The Arrow glared back without a hint of fear.
White Nightmare lifted Arrow with her magic, raising him by his tail until they were face to face. “What do we have here? A brave little pony. Stupid, but brave.”
The Arrow didn’t answer.
"What's under that hood," asked White Nightmare.
“Not your business,” answered the Arrow coldly.
White Nightmare exchanged a look with her husband and then tore at the hood with her magic. The offending piece of cloth did not budge.
"It's enchanted to prevent any moron from removing it," said the Arrow.
"Then who takes it off for you?" countered White Nightmare.
"Someone with more brains than you."
Dark Moon chuckled. “Can you believe the nerve of this pony?”
“I know, right?” said White Nightmare, with a twisted smile. She turned to her daughters. “This is your nephew, you say?”
Celestia nodded weakly. “And my adopted son. Please don’t hurt him.”
White Nightmare’s smile grew wider, examining the vigilante minutely as the held him in a cocoon of magic. Nodding at her husband she said, "By the time we're done with him, he won't be able to see straight. This calls for droit du seigneur."
Nostalgically, Dark Moon smiled. "I thought the age of warriors had ended. We shall give him a proper initiation."
Enthusiastically, White Nightmare said, "Congratulations, colt. You are worthy of us."
The Arrow snorted. “Yeah, right!”
Nightmare’s eyes sparkled with a hint of menace. “I promise we won’t hurt you . . . too much. We just need to convince you where your loyalties should lie.”
As White Nightmare continued her examination, the Arrow gave his aunts a wink and touched behind his ear with a forehoof. Curious, the sisters repeated the gesture. To their surprise, they each found a pair of earplugs. Arrow had done more than just run into them.
Exchanging a meaningful look, the two sisters put on the earplugs.
Defiantly, the Arrow said, "You can torture me all you want. I’m used to it.”
“So much spirit! I'm going to enjoy breaking you in,” said White Nightmare with a laugh. "You'll just love working for us."
The Arrow shook his head. “I'll pass. The only reason I'm here is that I failed to stop your son. Now, I have to keep you from destroying Equestria. Fight as one!"
An ultrasonic shriek reverberated through the hall of history, reducing all the stained glass windows to dust. The generals bent over in pain as their sense of balance was destroyed.
The Arrow broke free from Nightmare's magic grip. Whipping his bow, he struck with all his might. Back, neck, and face were attacked without mercy. The alicorn reacted marginally.
Incensed, Dark Moon grabbed Arrow in his magic and drew him into his punch. Abruptly, Arrow looked to one side. Dark Moon turned his head to follow. A shadow came from his blind side and shrieked directly into his ear.
As Dark Moon screamed in pain, Canary struck the alicorn with her bo staff while Arrow went to White Nightmare. The white general directed a fusillade against the vigilantes, but both easily evaded her attacks.
White Nightmare paused as she prepared an attack that couldn't be dodged. She screamed in anger as an arrow struck her flank and discharged its full charge of electricity.
The vigilantes stood back to back for mutual protection, eyeing their opponents warily. They could see that the effects of the Canary's cry were wearing off.
Celestia and Luna stood, casting a force field between the vigilantes and their parents.
Dark Moon glared at his daughters. “Are you truly defying us?”
“Sorry father, but you are wrong; this is not the way” said Luna.
“And our nephew is right. We should fight as one.”
White Nightmare sighed dramatically. “Oh, two against four. Isn’t this a bit unfair?”
Dark Moon laughed. "It doesn't matter. These foals need a good spanking."
Arrow turned to his aunts. "Stay out of this; children shouldn't be fighting their parents." The turned back to his opponents. "Parents shouldn't be fighting their children."
"Are you out of your mind?" asked Luna.
Arrow nodded. "I went crazy on that island."
Canary added. "I'm following his lead; if he's crazy, what does that say about me?" Her expression turned serious. "Arrow is right. You should not be fighting your parents."
Reluctantly, the sisters dropped their shield. As Dark Moon prepared another magical attack, a swarm of bats flooded into the chamber, causing him to stumble into a wall.
With great annoyance, he spat out some blood. "What now? If there's another clown in costume, I swear I'll . . ."
“You swear you’ll what?” asked a voice above him
Dark Moon looked up, and, as he thought, it was another pony in costume. This one was dressed as a giant bat. On a harness near her collarbone, she held a bat-shaped blade.
The warrior sighed. “Okay, you have my attention. Why a bat?”
“What's the matter? Afraid?” mocked Batmare.
Before Dark Moon could answer, she grabbed the blade with her mouth and flung is at him. With minimal effort, the alicorn caught it with his teeth. He grinned at the filly. This would be no contest.
Batmare simply shrugged and looked Dark Moon in the mouth. The alicorn glanced down. A red light on the side of the projectile was blinking at a progressively slower rate. It turned on solidly. In a cloud of smoke, the batarang detonated.
Batmare dropped from the rafters and caught Dark Moon on the head with the edges of her hooves. She landed gracefully and then bucked him in the chin. As she transitioned to another attack, the general caught her in a foreleg bar.
He forced the leg past where it was meant to move, but she didn't make a sound. He mused, "No mare is that flexible; you're nothing but a little filly, aren't you?"
As she dropped a smoke bomb on the ground, she angrily snarled, "I'm Batmare!"
Dark Moon was unimpressed as the flung her against a wall. Before she could recover, he blasted her with multiple stun beams. Dark Moon said, "That's what happens to naughty fillies when they play too rough."
A sharp pain drew his attention. Canary struck pressure point after pressure point with her bo staff. With unexpected quickness, he clamped Canary's mouth shut between his forehooves. "Oh yeah, I forgot about you." He grabbed her in his magic and threw her against Batmare.
Grinning triumphantly, he turned to his wife. He ducked just in time to avoid the Arrow. White Nightmare had just flung him to join his cohorts.
Growling, Dark Moon said, "Why are you smiling? They shouldn't be giving us this much trouble."
"Come on honey! We were afraid that our daughters had spoiled our little ponies. We have true warriors. Once we turn them to our side, we'll have the generals for our new army."
Dark Moon raised an eyebrow. “Are you serious? I just want to hurt them!”
"Don't let your anger blind you! Can't you see they're terrified? They're not ignoring their fear; they're using it to give them strength." White Nightmare beamed. "This is priceless! These are the sorts of ponies we can use to build our future."
Batmare stood, facing them.
“Sorry, but I already have planned my future!”
With a flick of her forehoof, the filly scattered three small metal balls under the generals. The balls detonated with a bright flash, temporarily blinding the two.
White Nightmare felt something hard gripping her foreleg. "What?!" she exclaimed.
A whirring sound came closer. Batmare rode her ascender, using its speed boost to give extra power to the punch she landed on White Nightmare's nose. Almost casually, the alicorn batted her away with her other foreleg, smashing the filly against the wall. She slumped to the floor, unconscious.
In the meantime, Dark Moon smirked as a couple of Arrow's shots fell short. His smile faded when his hooves were covered in a coating of fast-drying foam. He tried to block the Canary's flying kick, only to find that his hooves were glued to the floor.
As the Canary passed, she attacked Dark Moon with yet another shriek. Arrow followed up the attack with broadheads to the alicorn's wings.
A dome of magic radiated out from Dark Moon. "I'm tired of this!" he shouted. He sent a magic blast toward Canary. Arrow intercepted the attack and fell to the ground, unconscious.
“NO, ARROW!” cried Canary.
White Nightmare caught the mare with a sleeping spell. All three vigilantes were now helpless.
Angrily, Dark Moon strode over with a dagger in his magical grip. Sharply, White Nightmare said, "Remember, Dark Moon, we need them alive."
Dark Moon said, "Don't worry; they'll live. They'll just wish they hadn't."
Stats
Page generated in 0.02 seconds
Total duration
625 users online
989,803 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Hmmm... if they are nightmare-type alicorns. Won't the Elements have any effect on them too?
Well dang, here's hoping seeing another Alicorn will give them pause. Plus if Dash really kick it up I'm thinking the Brainiac-Luthor fight moment of ripping them away from the world.
Did nopony notice the epic Avengers reference where White Nightmare caught an arrow that she was meant to catch, and then it blew up in her face!
8893912
Green Arrow does that trick too. It's why a skills duel between Green Arrow & Hawkeye ends in a draw.
8893953
Ahhhhh... so Marvel and DC are really twins?
8893953
Screw attack has done a death battle between Hawkeye and green arrow it’s pretty good.
Where are the others? I understand they're slow but Rainbow's not!