Our Equestria

by Nonagon

Battle 4: Dream

Whether by design or through some skillful teleporting on Cicada's part, the running foals lost all of their momentum as they reappeared in their respective chairs. This didn't stop several of them from continuing to dash in place for a few more paces, resulting in a few tumbling over and landing heavily on the cockpit's floor. Once the panic had died down, however, none of them showed any inclination to go back to their seats, instead running across the darkened room and crowding around Peachy Pie.

"Peachy, we're sorry!" Tornado Bolt started, as though oblivious to the change in location.

"We are," Archer added, nudging her way to the front of the group. She sat down and clung tightly to the package that she carried with her, relieved that it had made the journey alongside them.

"After you left, we felt really bad-" Tornado added.

"-and we know there's no way we can make things okay-" Archer continued for her.

"-so we got everyone together-"

"-at least, as many as we could find-"

"-and they agreed we had to do something-"

"-but they couldn't think of anything either-"

"-so I thought we should ask Pinkie Pie for advice-"

"-but then Sweetie Belle pointed out that we already knew she'd just tell us to throw a party-"

"-and we realized that none of us had any better ideas-"

"-so we got all the supplies we could-"

"-and the Cakes gave us a discount on a cake, 'cause it was an emergency-"

"-and then we came to get you-"

"-but the guards had already found you by then-"

"-so we started running, and then we... ended up..." Archer paused for breath and looked around, finally seeming to notice the room they were in. "Here," she finished.

Cicada floated in the middle of the room. He slowly rocked back and forth, tilting and bobbing his head slightly, as though to unheard music. As more and more pairs of eyes landed on him, he looked around and the rocking came to a stop. He coughed awkwardly. “You know what?” he said. “You’ve got another minute before the battle starts. I’ll let you have your moment.” He vanished.

Peachy Pie watched the spot where he’d been for a moment longer, then stared down at the others in numb surprise. The entire group was watching her, breaths held; meanwhile, those who'd remained in their seats - Spike, Silver Spoon, and Dinky Doo, the latter of whom had turned up wearing saddlebags - were looking at them in bafflement. Now!? her brain screamed. I could have had weeks! Why now? Why now!? Her body did nothing but turn pale and tremble, however, and she swallowed the thoughts by focusing on the offerings in front of her. "Why are you doing this?" she eventually croaked out. "I already said I'll fight."

"We... we know." Tornado gulped. "But this... isn't about that. We're not here because you're the pilot. We're here because you're our friend."

Archer started to mumble to herself. "Well, technically we're 'here' because Cicada..." She caught herself and shook her head, looking back at Peachy. "The point is, we know this isn't okay, and nothing we say is ever going to stop it being not okay. But this could be our last chance to do something nice for you, and..." She choked, and quickly wiped her eyes before continuing. "And we just wanted you to know that... even if we can't do anything... that we're here for you." She nodded and gestured around. "All of us."

The others mumbled their assent, even the ones who weren't quite able to look Peachy in the eyes. Those who hadn't been in the party already slipped from their seats and joined them. They banded together, some holding hooves, other sitting in silence. Rumble blew a noisemaker. With shaky legs, Archer lifted up the present she'd been carrying towards Peachy Pie. "Here," she said. "This is from all of us."

Peachy took the gift. She started to unwrap it in silence, tearing off the shoddy taping in large sheets. Then she opened the box and looked inside. She had to look at the rounded objects within for a few seconds before their nature clicked. "Knee pads."

"Y-yeah." Archer put on a shaky smile. "We thought you might need them."

Peachy Pie looked down at her. Slowly and precisely, she put the box aside. They others all stared up at her, watching for her response. Watching her.

Responsible.

A few thoughts, which had been collecting in her mind as of late, made themselves known like pebbles in a jelly sandwich. Aside from maybe Spike, who seemed to age differently than ponies did, Peachy was fairly sure that she was the oldest in the group. Maybe it was only fair that she went first. But more importantly, she was first - not the first to die, but the first to go out knowing what was going to happen. They were all watching her, looking up to her for her reaction, and they all knew that someday soon, each of them was going to be where she was.

Except Piña Colada. Peachy mentally edited her out of the scene in front of her.

But intrusive as she was, the filly had been right. Everyone needed her now, in more ways than one. Her friends were watching her because they were scared, for themselves as well as her. Whatever became of her, it would happen to them as well. Whatever steps she took, they would follow. Being the first to walk down this path meant that it was her responsibility to light their way.

It was time for the winner of Ponyville’s “Best Dramatic Performance” award two years running to do her thing.

I'm going to be responsible.

Carefully as she could, she shuffled up to the edge of the bench. "You guys spent your own money on these, didn't you?" she asked.

"Yeah." Tornado Bolt looked down. "We... had to take up a collection, but... yeah."

Peachy watched a moment longer. All at once, she broke into a broad smile and threw herself forwards, knocking her two friends down and wrapping them in the tightest of hugs. "You guys are the best friends ever!" she yelled.

"Whoa." Bolt grinned as well. Careful not to dislodge Peachy's injured leg, she fluttered her wings and pushed them all back up to a sitting position.

Archer was more reserved. "We're sorry, Peachy," she said. "We're all really, really sorry."

"It's okay," Peachy said, nestling between them both. “I’m sorry too. I know you don’t think of me as a walking purse. I was just angry because I was scared. But that doesn’t matter now. All that matters is you’re here.”

Inside, she was screaming.

She felt a moment of panic as Archer pulled away from her. No, don’t go! she cried silently, tightening her unbending leg as one of the last sources of warmth in her life slipped out of her grasp. She was, however, only moving aside so that Apple Bloom could take her place. “We’re a family now,” the farm filly said, gently grasping her outstretched hoof. “All sixteen of us. We look out for each other.”

They crept in one by one, passing briefly by and then slipping away like ghosts. Peachy’s only constant was Tornado Bolt, who shifted for better access but remained by her side. “I wish we could’ve had more time,” Sweetie Belle whispered, her sweet voice sliding through the fog of bodies around her.

“You know any of us would trade places with you,” Rumble told her. She almost believed him.

Dinky Doo gave her the most painful little smile. “I hope I’m as brave as you,” she said.

Silver Spoon was the last in the makeshift line. She was perhaps the most hesitant, only reaching out far enough to tentatively shake Peachy’s hoof. She gulped and started to edge a little closer, but froze when Tornado Bolt shifted. The pegasus turned her head just enough to give Silver Spoon a glare, invisible to the ponies who stretched out behind her. There was a pause, and Silver Spoon spoke, almost too quietly to be heard. “I...”

Cicada reappeared overhead with a flash. “You’re still going?” he exclaimed. “Your enemy is waiting! Into your chairs, chop-chop!”

The herd dispersed. The crowd of bodies scattered back to their seats, eyes wide. Tornado Bolt started to pull away, but hesitated as Peachy Pie’s grip tightened around her. For a second, the pair locked eyes. Don’t go, Peachy pleaded silently, ever so subtly shaking her head. Tornado paused just a second longer before breaking away and galloping back to her cloud on the far side.

Peachy was on her own. Feeling impossibly heavy, she reached back and started to pull herself up into her bench, but stopped halfway. “Cicada?” she said, looking back. “One more thing before I start.”

“What?” the mouse tsked.

“When this is over... don’t send me back to my family.” She looked down. “I can’t do that to them. Just... make me disappear. Put me somewhere they can’t find me. At least until all this is over.”

“Easily done,” Cicada said briskly. “This robot has a lot of hidden spaces in it. I’ll just stuff you in a little corner somewhere. A pony could search a hundred years and never find you.” Peachy winced. “Anything else?”

“Yeah,” she said flatly. “I want you to leave. And I never want to see you again.”

Without so much as a goodbye, Cicada vanished. Peachy glanced up at the place where he’d been once more before finishing her climb and settling into her spot on the bench. Almost as soon as she was stable, the circle lifted and the walls changed colour.

Their location wasn’t Ponyville. A dark snowscape stretched out in all directions, covering the uneven landscape in unbroken whiteness. In the distance on all sides were steep, toothlike mountains that a few of the foals guessed belonged to the Crystal Empire. Snow was falling; dark clouds obscured the sky as far as the eye could see, and rivers of white whipped around the dark robot that had appeared in their midst. Peachy could already feel the negligible weight of the snow build up on her metal back, could see the dusting of whiteness collecting in the grooves in her armour. Then she raised her head and looked her death in the face.

Her opponent was a pony, like her, but that was about as far as the similarities went. This robot lacked a horn and was made from rounded white armour, almost as pale as the snow that swirled around it. Unlike Equus’ sleek, bladed design, the large, curved plates that made up this enemy bulged out along its legs and sides, as though it was packed with muscles. While the unicorn had seemed bulky compared to their previous opponents, the earth pony they faced now was massive.

Peachy Pie took a few deep, shaky breaths. The white pony didn’t move. “Don’t freak out,” Piña Colada said, unhelpfully. “Remember, all the friends in the world won’t mean anything if you can’t win now.”

“I get that,” Peachy snapped. She eyed the white pony up and down, searching for any potential weaknesses or any signs of movement. She came up blank on both. “What’s it doing?” she muttered to herself. “What’s it waiting for? The others did this too. Do they wait for us to make the first move?”

Rumble squinted into the storm. “I think that’s your cutie mark,” he said, pointing towards the opponent’s sides. In the air, he traced the shape of one of the larger plates near its shoulder, puffed and rounded like a hoofball player’s jersey. “You see those grooves? I think that pattern runs all along the sides.”

“Is this like your thing now?” Archer asked. “Just pointing out what everyone’s cutie mark means?”

“It can be,” Rumble muttered defensively, shifting in his seat.

“Quiet,” Peachy Pie ordered. To her surprise, the others obeyed; nopony seemed as keen on battle chatter as before. Steadying herself one last time, she forced herself to glare at her opponent and settled her gaze on its single, lidless blue eye. It’s not here for me, she reminded herself. It’s after Equestria. It’s here for my world of flowers.

This was all the prompting she needed. “So, you wanna take our world?” she muttered under her breath. “You wanna crush our homes? You wanna break our mountains?” All coldness left her; her breath ran hot. She continued, growing louder with every word. “You wanna kill my friends? You wanna steal our souls?” She sat bolt upright, shouting. “You wanna break our spirits? You wanna see us in chains? You wanna make us your toys? You want Equestria?”

She screamed. “BRING IT ON, MONSTER!”

With a roar of metal scraping against metal, Equus reared up. It kicked threateningly at the air, and an orb of searing yellow light appeared at the tip of its horn before bursting apart into snaking tendrils that lit up the sky. She stayed in this position for as long as she could before bringing both hooves down onto the permafrost with a crash that sent plumes of ice and snow into the air and echoed around the valley like the thunder of the gods.

The white pony stared on impassively. Then, once the last vestiges of the noise had died away, it raised a leg and stomped as well. A much lower, meatier thud sounded. Then it raised both front hooves and stomped again, easily doubling its own volume, before rearing up to its full height – even taller than Equus had been – and bringing the full weight of its legs down.

The crash that followed made Peachy’s attempt sound like the popping of a balloon. The group had to cover their ears as a shockwave of force and sound rattled Equus and an explosion of snow momentarily obscured the battlefield. The ground beneath the earth pony cracked and split, leaving a chasm where once there had been ice and stone. Having made its point, the robot lowered its head and settled into a fighting stance, ready to charge.

Peachy Pie let out a low growl. Matching its cue, she pointed her horn towards it and pawed at the ground. The wind whipped between them for a few seconds more. Simultaneously, both robots lunged at each other.

Apple Bloom let out a small gasp. “Peachy, wait!” she cried, raising a hoof in warning. “Don’t charge it!”

It was too late. The two ponies met in the middle of the valley with another explosion of snow, but not with equal force. As their breastplates collided Peachy Pie was thrown back like a leaf, her dark frame being flung fully into the air and landing heavily on her back. She groaned in pain and rolled onto her side, accidentally skidding out of the way mere seconds before the pale robot’s continuing charge nearly trampled her into the dirt. As it slid to a halt and quickly turned, she clambered to her hooves and charged again, managing to hit it at an angle and pierce the back of its neck with her horn. Without hesitating, it raised a hoof and punched her away.

Now too close to each other to build up speed, the two robots circled around each other, rapidly trading blows. Peachy Pie was marginally faster, but the earth pony was much stronger; while she managed to land a lot more echoing kicks on its puffy armour, each of its retaliatory strikes left a visible dent on hers. Whenever she side-stepped and tried to raise up her hind legs for a buck, it would do the same, and she immediately jumped back into closer quarters, afraid of what a fully-powered kick from this monster would do to her. Faster and faster they went, trading blow for blow, only one side making any visible progress.

In a flurry of movement, both robots reared up and boxed at each other simultaneously, their forelegs fighting for dominance in the air. Peachy Pie finally managed to break through its defenses and knock loose two of the bulging scales that made up its breastplate. A second later, however, its head dropped down and butted her with enough force to make her stumble back and nearly topple over again.

“This isn’t working!” Archer yelled, clutching onto her stool tightly. “It’s got us beat at close range. You’ve got to try something else!”

“Yeah? Then what- am I supposed- to do?” Peachy grunted, dodging out of the way of two consecutive punches and a headbutt.

“Use your horn,” Snips blurted, sounding surprised that he’d spoken. “It’s the only thing you’ve got that it doesn’t. That’s gotta be its weakness!”

“Fine,” Peachy Pie said. She darted backwards, charging energy through herself, then fired a thick yellow beam point-blank at the opposing robot. Instead of punching right through its armour as she’d hoped, the magic bounced right off its front and hit her in her own face, throwing her even further back across the ice. “What?” she gasped, shaking her head clear and looking in horror at the small singe mark on the advancing enemy’s front. “Why didn’t it work?”

Before anyone could answer, the earth pony charged again. Peachy Pie darted to the side, then ducked as it passed her and bucked out with its hind legs, missing her by metres. “Maybe it’s the colour?” Dinky Doo offered as Peachy’s dodging continued. She gingerly touched the tip of her own horn. “Scootaloo’s opponent could reflect magic, too. Do you think it’s white armour that lets it do that?”

“Rrg...” Peachy was too busy to offer a response. The earth pony was now attacking relentlessly, swinging with its front hooves and lunging forward every time she dodged away. She had to put all her energy into blocking or dodging each blow, only with partial success; the front of her armour was starting to look like it had been through a threshing machine.

“That makes sense,” Archer answered for her, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “Both the white robots we’ve seen have been focused on physical attacks; it makes sense that they’d want to put ranged fighters at a disadvantage. It wants us to get as close as possible-”

“Hey, that’s real clever,” Piña Colada cut in, “but would you quit your yapping and say something that’s actually gonna help?”

“Will you all shut up!” Putting on a burst of agility, Peachy Pie launched herself into an uppercut that snapped the white robot’s head upwards and stunned it long enough for her to take a couple of safe leaps backwards. She was breathing heavily; even though she wasn’t herself physically moving, controlling Equus for even a few minutes was exhausting. “So you’re saying I can’t fight it from up close or far away?”

Spike gulped. “I think... I think that’s what we’re saying, yeah.”

Peachy growled again, but it died inside her throat. The enemy was already moving towards her, picking up speed, but in her mind it slowed down to a halt. It looked barely even scratched. The image of the pale pony unstoppably bearing down on her burned itself into her brain, plunging past her facade of bravado and into the depths of the dark things she stored at the back of her mind. One tiny spark of hopelessness was all it took to bring the inky flood of despair rushing forth, filling her up with the one thought that she had never been able to fully comprehend until now:

I’m going to die.

I’m going to die.

I’m going to die.

And all she had left, the only thing that kept the paralyzing fear from taking over her completely, was one last outpost of red in the front of her brain that simply said:

No I’m not.

This same redness filled her vision. The white robot thundered back up to full speed. Somepony was screaming, and Peachy only gradually realized it was her. All her energy flooded to her hooves and the middle of her forehead, and with one scrape and a quick sidestep, she lunged.

Once, twice, three times her horn slashed against the enemy’s shoulder before it was able to stop and face her. Unlike her hooves, her horn cut through the puffy armour like butter, leaving wide gashes that bled milky white liquid. She didn’t slow down as a white hoof rattled against her side. They were too close together; neither side was able to get a good swing going as they spun around one another, their breastplates rubbing together as they butted heads. The ear-splitting noise of metal scraping against metal filled the room.

“This ain’t good,” Apple Bloom whispered, wide-eyed. “That’s too close!” she yelled over the noise. “You gotta calm down! Peachy, you gotta calm down!”

NoI'mnotnoI'mnotnoI'mnot.

Her horn flashed again, and she sheared off the enemy’s right ear with another scream before their faces slammed together. The other robot kept reaching up and towards her sides, but her constant movement prevented it from getting a solid hold. Peachy didn’t even know where her forelegs were any more; all she could do was keep punching, and keep screaming. If she stopped moving, the pale pony would get her. If she stopped moving, she would die.

Up close, the enemy’s blue eye wasn’t an eye at all, but a seemingly random cluster of individual lights set onto a sky-blue circle. She momentarily wondered whether Equus’ red eye looked the same before the tide of fury pulled her back under again.

Others were starting to shout as well. “Peachy, listen!” Tornado Bolt yelled in between her friend’s incoherent shrieks. “We’ll figure something out. We can beat this thing. But you have to get out of range!”

An opening presented itself. The white robot pushed itself far enough away to rear up, raising its front half into the air. Seeing the enemy’s exposed belly, Peachy let out a mad screech and dove for it. Everyone else gasped, and several things happened at once.

The tip of Peachy Pie’s horn pierced the white robot’s stomach. Tornado Bolt leaped from her cloud, her short wings extending to their fullest. The white robot’s front hooves landed heavily on the back of Equus’ neck.

A crash shook the cockpit like nothing that had ever shaken it before. The entire world lurched violently as Equus was flung downwards, its forelegs splaying out in front of it. Tornado Bolt rocketed upwards and hit the ceiling; Sweetie Belle fell out of her stool. Peachy Pie screamed again, this time in pain, as she felt metal plates cracking apart behind her head. The pain increased as she hit the ice, her body being driven into the landscape. The most resounding boom of all echoed across the mountains.

For a second or two, all was calm. Then the white pony started to rear up again. It moved slowly, perhaps taking its time, perhaps simply seeing if its prey would try to get away. Peachy couldn’t. Numbness overtook her and she simply stared upwards, open-mouthed, watching the unimaginably massive shape rise even higher above her.

Something struck her, and she thought the stomp had landed a second early before she realized Tornado Bolt had tackled her from above. “Peachy, listen to me,” her friend hissed, shaking her roughly. “You’ve gotta stay with us. You’ve gotta-”

The hooves descended. This time, when the larger robot landed on the smaller one, the dark armour gave way completely. Plates of thick black metal sheared away in all directions, exposing Equus’ grey, coiling innards. Tornado Bolt winced. With a series of glares and rapid head movements, she motioned to Archer, who took the hint and jumped over to Twist’s beanbag, then over onto the far side of the bench. “Listen,” Tornado continued to Peachy as they both embraced her, “we need you now. I know this is the hardest thing you’ve ever done, but you’ve gotta stay focused. You’re the only one who can save us now.”

“The Peachy Pie we know wouldn’t let herself get trampled on,” Archer added to no effect. Overhead, the white robot was starting to rise again, having to pry one of its hooves out of the indentation. Peachy Pie only continued to stare.

Tornado Bolt gritted her teeth. “Peachy Pie, look at me,” she ordered. This earned the faintest flicker of movement. “I said - look at me!” She roughly grabbed her friend’s head and twisted it towards her, glaring into her awestruck eyes. “We love you!” she yelled furiously. “And we are never, ever going to stop believing in you, understand? So you are not going to give up now! You’re going to get back up! You’re going to-” She pointed upwards, then winced as the robot reached the peak of its height. “Do something!”

Something sparked.

Peachy Pie could feel her friends’ heartbeats. She could sense the life energy of every pony in this room; every pony but herself. She felt the fire in them, the fire that soothed instead of seared, that healed instead of burned. They were at once outside and inside of her, warming her heart, holding her tightly. There was no darkness any more; there was no red. There was only...

Light.

One second left. She couldn’t move; her legs were splayed. As the white robot began to descend, she did the only thing she could think of and fired a beam of light upwards. It bounced off of the enemy’s armoured underside, slowing it only a little, and then passed between her forelegs and into the ice beneath her.

The ground exploded, hurling both robots away from each other and sending Equus bouncing and skidding over the ice. A rain of slush and snow fell down on her as she came to a halt, stunning her momentarily even further. In the middle distance, the enemy had landed on its back, flailing its legs as it tried to get its bulky form to roll over. “Wow,” Peachy Pie breathed, startling herself with the sound of her own voice.

Archer had tightly shut her eyes. “Are we dead?” she whispered.

“No,” Peachy answered. “No, we’re not.” She took a deep breath, feeling her heart rate start to slow. That, at least, she could still feel. Her eyes settled on the spot where she had been moments ago; her shot had blown a crater in the ground at least half her length and deeper than she could see from this angle. “You guys?” she said. “I think I have an idea.”

Experimentally, she flexed Equus’ legs and stood up. Her back had definitely been cracked open, but fortunately Equus didn’t seem to have a spine, and the rest of her seemed to be holding herself together. The joints in her legs felt looser, as though they’d been stretched out of place. With a faint crunch she popped her battered front breastplate off, as well as some of the smaller plates that ran along her side. The armour underneath was lighter and thinner, and already seemed to have taken a beating as well.

“What, are you crazy?” Spike yelled, breaking out of his stupor. “If we get hit without armour, we’re dead for sure!”

“We’re not gonna get hit again,” Peachy Pie answered confidently. “You can trust me on that. Besides...” She reached down beside her. Pressed against her flank, and slightly squashed by Archer accidentally landing on it, was her box. “I already have all the armour I need.”

She lifted the knee pads out of their casing and held them out. Taking their cue, her friends took one each and wrapped them onto her forelegs. She stretched; they fit perfectly. “You guys really are the best friends ever,” she said, and this time she meant it.

“We know you’d do the same for us,” Archer answered calmly. “But what’s the plan?”

“The plan is we go back in there and cut that beast to ribbons. But this time, we’re all gonna do it together.” She looked around. “Right?”

“Right!” Apple Bloom immediately piped up. The others joined in in twos and threes, but Peachy had stopped listening by that point. She’d heard enough. She held onto her friends’ hooves, Archer on her right, Tornado Bolt on her left, and looked ahead.

By this point, the larger robot had managed to pick itself up and was advancing again. It moved more cautiously, going around the new crater in the ground rather than charging directly ahead. Peachy Pie smiled at it. “You wanna dance, big guy?” she asked. “Let’s dance.” No longer as one soul, but as a vessel containing many, she charged once more.

Right away, the change was noticeable. Without its armour Equus was lighter, and noticeably faster. The enemy rounded the crater and galloped directly towards her again, but this time Peachy was ready. Staying nimble, she leaped to the side moments before they collided and slashed her horn along its side, gouging a deep wound in its armour and dodging away before its hind legs could swing around for a kick. She did this a second time as it turned towards her, slicing off half of one large shoulder pad and leaping away just as its foreleg swung up. Instead of immediately advancing again, the enemy stood still, taking a defensive stance as it recalculated its strategy. Rivers of white mixed with the snow as they ran down its sides. “Oh, you think that’s bad?” Peachy mocked. “Let’s see how you handle this!”

She twirled away and galloped across the battlefield, her horn lighting up. Raising her head high, she gathered a ball of energy at the tip of her horn and then released it in a dozen different directions at once. Magic struck the ground around her again and again as she ran, throwing up clusters of debris in all directions. Once she was around the same distance as she’d been when the battle had started, she turned back and fired off a few more shots in quick succession to fill in any gaps. What had once been a broad, flat field was now covered in rubble and unevenly-sized potholes, each around twice the width of a robot leg, already starting to be obscured by the snow.

The white robot started to move forward again, but hesitated, stopping just before its front hoof fell into a newly-created crevasse. It proceeded slowly, checking each of its clumsy hoofsteps before lurching on. Peachy Pie had no such inhibitions. She leaped right back into the field of traps she had created, sliding and weaving around every hole that came her way. She picked up speed rapidly, getting almost up to a full gallop as she angled across the valley, looping around before diving right for the sluggish earth pony from the side.

It almost worked. The enemy turned at the last second, not sluggish at all but simply waiting, and swung both forelegs up together as though swinging a bat. This two-hooved assault collided heavily with Equus’ cheek, knocking the unicorn to the side. Peachy reacted quickly, though, and swung her hind legs around as she fell, lashing out and catching a crack on the earth pony’s chin that knocked it off-balance as well. This gave her just enough time to slide back and get back to her hooves a second before a powerful stomp landed where her head had been.

The brawl continued, finally seeming evenly matched. The earth pony gave no ground, lunging forward and swinging high, aiming for Equus’ horn. Peachy Pie darted around it, always striking from the sides, ducking in to leave more nicks and scratches but never staying in range long enough to get hit. They danced in circles around the battlefield, avoiding holes and one another, getting closer and farther as the snow fell thicker. “Come on, come on,” Peachy mumbled. Exhaustion was starting to claim her again; she could feel her breath getting heavier. The grips of her friends tightened around her ankles. “Fall, you dumb beast,” she begged. “Fall!”

Seeming to sense her tiredness, the enemy turned and reared up, preparing a shove. Peachy’s eyes widened. Its rear right hoof was partially hanging over one of the holes she’d made. With what felt like instinct, she shot out another beam of light that glanced off its neck and to the side, blowing off the top of a distant mountain. This did no damage, but provided just enough force to slide the robot those last few crucial metres back and land it in the hole.

The robot lost its balance as one of its legs abruptly shot downwards. It flailed in the air, its other hind leg shooting out across the ice. Peachy Pie pushed the advantage and rammed it, sending it tumbling over backwards. Its hoof still trapped, it leaned forward, managing to only land on its haunches instead of its back, but all this did was aid Peachy Pie as she lunged forward a second time and, with a final scream, drove her horn deep into its exposed belly.

There was a resounding crunch; she could feel that she had finally pierced all the way through the white armour to the grey insides. The earth pony froze, as though realizing what was about to happen. Peachy Pie grinned. “Gotcha.” Then she built up energy in her horn and fired.

The enemy shook and spasmed. The beam of yellow light bounced around inside of it, wreaking havoc on its insides as the armour reflected it back and forth. Peachy Pie fired again, and again, until the sound of tearing and melting metal filled the cockpit. The enemy seemed to swell up even further, concussive blasts denting it from the inside, and searing yellow light shone through the cracks in its armour. The pressure built and built until the robot blew apart across the chest, sending multiple beams shooting up and blasting away the storm above. A ray of multi-hued sunlight shone down, illuminating the pair as Peachy Pie withdrew her horn, letting the enemy’s remains finish their tumble and crash backwards onto the ice. By this point, the lights on its face had already gone out.

Equus began to wind down. The brown walls returned, and the circle of chairs descended back to the ground. Sweetie Belle, who had spent the latter portion of the battle unable to return to her stool, was the first to run up to the bench and form the now customary semi-circle around the victor. The others joined her, but this time nopony said anything. Words lingered on their tongues, but none was willing to be the first to speak.

Peachy Pie rested her head on Tornado Bolt’s shoulder. Her heart was still beating rapidly, and even though the danger had passed, it didn’t seem to be slowing. Her eyes were closed; she wondered if the others thought she was already dead. She opened them, to faint gasps of relief. They were all watching her. Watching to see what she would do next. Her friends.

“Guys?” she said. She thought her voice sounded faint, but everypony seemed to hear her just fine. “I figured something out... back there.” She straightened up. “Equestria... it’s too big to fight for. And I’m too small. None of us can do this on our own. So instead of thinking of this as something we have to do... let’s all fight for each other.”

They nodded, both at her, and to one another. Inwardly, Peachy Pie breathed a sigh of relief. She’d done it. She’d saved Equestria, and by uniting the other pilots, had ensured that they would be able to hold themselves up in the battles to come. Everything was as it should be.

All she had to do now was...

was...

Her mind hit a wall.

Equestria was too big. She was too small. But friends - and birthday parties, and schoolyards, and makeup sessions, and jump ropes, and sleepovers, and karaoke, and conspiring to cheat on quizzes, and fighting, and adventures, and being a little sister - those were things she understood. And now she was acutely, agonizingly aware of exactly what she was about to lose. Forever.

The pale pony hadn’t vanished. It was still there, burned into her mind, and closer than ever. But now, when she closed her eyes, it bore the impish and unrepentant grin of Cicada.

She shivered. “No...” she mumbled.

Archer leaned closer. “Peachy?”

“No... I’m not ready.” She lifted her head up and screamed it, feeling herself start to cry again. “I’m not ready!”

Tornado Bolt let go of her hoof. Peachy swiped at her in desperation, but the pegasus shrank away to the edge of the bench. Instead she clung tightly to Archer, who fearfully squirmed under her touch. “Peachy, you’re hurting me,” she gasped.

“I don’t wanna die,” Peachy shakily said, unheeding of her friend’s words. “I wanna go home. I don’t wanna die. I wanna go home. I don’t wanna die. Cicada, you pig!” she shouted at the ceiling. “I don’t wanna die!” There was no answer.

Apple Bloom gently touched her leg. Fear was visibly starting to fill her as well. “Peachy, it’s-”

“No!”

The room lurched. The bench shuddered, and the walls flickered. In the distance there was a groaning and grinding, like confused gears clashing together, and some hidden part of Equus stirred itself out of sleep. Peachy felt it inside herself, felt the conflicted churning as what little energy she had left burned itself out even faster in an effort to make that time matter.

“I wanna go home,” she ordered, ignoring how childish her quivering voice sounded. “I wanna see my sister again. Take me home!” Nothing happened. Somepony was trying to comfort her again, but she swatted them away, this one need driving everything else out. All that mattered was that she could go home, and she could be with her sister again, and everything would be okay. “I wanna see Sunny!” she wailed, thrashing. The others gasped. She opened her eyes; she hadn’t realized they’d been closed.

Filling the room were stars. Lights flickered across the walls, some near, some far, all equally bright. Except they weren’t lights, Peachy slowly realized, but ponies. When she touched one with her mind, she could feel that pony’s thoughts, and sense their presence as though they were right there in the room with her. She ignored these first few touches and moved on. She couldn’t feel her legs any more, but she could feel Sunny somewhere out there, and her mind dragged her on to the place where she knew she must be. The cascade of stars bent and swirled, and her view of the world zoomed in and in until finally, an image crackled on the wall in front of her.

Sunny Days was lying in the middle of their room, drawing in one of her sketchbooks. Her mane was messy; there was a faint smile on her face. “Sunny!” Peachy Pie screamed, reaching out.

Sunny Days looked up.

The light went out.

And everything went dark.

Comments

[Braininthejar]

This went more or less like I imagined.(at least as far as the battle goes. The whole "Who you are when facing death is who you really are" thing will probably keep surprising me in how it is executed.) New clues appear...

[scytho]

Sorry I'm a bit late in commenting. Had some catching up to do on my read list.

Excellent chapter. As always I very much enjoy how you write your fighting scenes. Can't wait to read more!

[ponybrony]

Poor Peachy...

Definitely one of the more dramatic fights.

[Dawn Flower]

1. I'm all caught up now. Great story. I can't wait for the next update.
2. I love how you work with background ponies who have no established personalities and made them so great. I discovered loads of background ponies because of you.
3. THEORY TIME: At the end, they will defeat all of the monsters and they will all die, but they will have saved Equestria, and be glad that they died heroes and that they finally got to be the ones who saved the world. Then years later, the battles will be scheduled to fight again, and Pina Colata, who was the only survivor will have the role of Pollinia in training the next group.