The Final Battle for Equestria

by Songbrony

Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Luna and Linus were quietly walking through the camp. Most of the soldiers were either going to bed or being briefed by Shining Armor. They walked to Luna's tent and sat at a small table at the center of the room. "What do you think will happen tomorrow?" Linus asked.

"I don't know. It'll be a close battle, considering we don't have Hex here to help us strategize. But we have Blaze, Rainbow Dash, and you that can help. But..." she trailed off.

"What is it?" Linus asked.

"I fear we may lose them. There is a high chance that you all are going to die tomorrow, myself included. And...I don't know if I could handle having you all die. You all have become really close friends of mine, something I haven't really had. I mean, I've had friends, but none who I felt I could trust with every-" she was interrupted by Linus' kiss. He held her close and didn't let her go. She blushed, but didn't pull away. When he let the kiss go, he stared into her eyes.

"We'll be fine. Listen." he said as he held her. "No matter what happens, we need you. Equestria needs you. I need you." Luna nuzzled her head in his soft mane.

"But what if I lose you?" she whispered.

"You won't." he said, unsure if he was saying this because he believed it, or because he didn't want to trouble her further. "I'll stay and fight. Remember all those years ago? When you revived me from the freezing spell? You wouldn't leave me. Whether it be because of what I did or because of how you felt, it doesn't matter. You stayed. And I plan to do the same." he said, speaking truthfully this time.

Luna bit her lip. "Linus..." she said hesitantly. "How will we-" Linus cut her off.

"Luna please. Not now. We'll figure out the future when we get there." he said and gave her a kiss on her head. He released her from his embrace. "Get some sleep. We need you on your hooves tomorrow." he said and left the tent.

Luna sighed and walked over to her bed. I live for centuries...He'll grow old and die...How will it work out? She shook the thought out of her head. Linus was right. They'd cross that bridge when they came to it. She crawled into her bed and tried to clear her mind of everything but the sounds of the night.

***

Linus walked back to his tent in the cold night air. As he passed the tents with soldiers he heard some laughing, some praying to Celestia, and others just giving mindless chatter. As he continued his walk, he couldn't help but think about his future with Luna, or even if he would have one. He didn't know what the outcome of the next days battle would be, only that one side was going to win. He stopped outside his tent and sighed. Rook, what should I do? He opened the tent and was surprised to see who was sitting there.

"Iron Will? What are you doing here? I thought you would've gone back to Ponyville." Linus said as he closed the tent flap.

"There's nothing there for me. I'm staying to fight. You ponies could use me." he said.

"What do you mean?" Linus asked as he took a seat. "There had to be some pony, or minotaur, that you had back in Ponyville for you to stay there."

Iron Will glared at him. "There was. Not anymore." he turned his head and snorted. "So whether you like it or not, I'm staying." He got up and started to leave the tent.

"Wait. Why did you come here to my tent and not to Luna's?" Linus asked.

Iron Will turned his head. "Because you knew Rook better than Luna. I wanted to tell someone who was close to him." he said and opened the flap.

"It was Starbolt wasn't it?" Linus said without looking at Iron Will. He stopped at the flap. "I'm glad for what you did to help Blaze. Even if it meant...you know."

Iron Will stood there for a second, absorbing what Linus said, and walked out. Linus sighed and walked over to his bed. I swear Rook, you choose the strangest creatures to form friends with. he thought to himself. He fell onto his bed and closed his eyes. "Well Linus, tomorrow is the day we finish this mess. Tomorrow is when harmony will reign again."

***

"Move! She's just behind this door!" Luna ordered. Rainbow Dash and the others rushed next to her panting, bloodied by the battle they have been fighting in.

"This is it. We'll finally end this." Blaze said through his raspy breaths. Rainbow could tell by his weary eyes and hunched body that he was exhausted.

"On three!" Linus shouted. "One, two, three!" he exclaimed and bucked the door down. It slammed against the ground with a loud thud and the rushed inside. The throne room wasn't full of bright and beautiful colors anymore. The usual glass paintings were destroyed and replaced with the dark views of the Changelings.

Chrysalis sat propped up on her throne. She had a smug on her face that disgusted Rainbow Dash. "Stand down Chrysalis! End this!" Luna shouted. Chrysalis just chuckled. Linus charged at her and was shot back against the wall where he hung, unable to move.

Blaze and Rainbow flew up into the air in order to flank her while Luna charged her on the ground. Chrysalis shot deadly bolts at them as they rushed toward her. One of the bolts hit Rainbow's wing and she plummeted to the ground, shrieking in pain. She slammed her head into the ground, skidding next to Chrysalis, knocking her unconscious.

Rainbow Dash slowly opened her eyes. There was a sudden stab pain in her head as she lifted it. "You thought you could kill me, the Queen of the Changelings?" Chrysalis hissed. Rainbow Dash winced as Chrysalis kicked her face. "How foalish of you. Now, watch as your friends die by my hoof!"

Rainbow awoke with a gasp. She frantically looked for Blaze. She was still wrapped in his arms and sighed with relief. It was just a nightmare. She could see the sun's beams of light shine through the bottom of their tent. She flipped around on the bed so she could see him face to face. She rubbed her hoof gently across his face and through his mane. She gave him a kiss, waking him up.

"Good morning." she said with a smile on her face, happy that he was here. "You sleep well?"

Blaze rubbed his eyes groggily. "Not really." he said with a yawn. "Was up half the night. You were very restless last night. You sleep okay?"

"Sorta. I had a nightmare." she said. "But it's fine. Nothing that I can't handle." She tried to fake a smile to show him she was alright.

"What happened?" Blaze asked.

"Just a dream about Manehatten. It's a dream I have before I venture into a fight." she lied. "I'm fine Blaze." she said adding a smile to show her sincerity.

Blaze looked at her quizzically. "Alright. If you say so." he said. They got off the bed and walked outside the tent. They weren't the only ones up. In fact, it looked like they were the last to be up. Many of the soldiers were walking around, talking quietly to each other. Others were writing letters to friends and family about the upcoming battle.

Blaze and Rainbow walked quietly to Luna's tent. Just as they were about to enter they could hear somepony crying inside. They looked at each other worried and walked in. They found Luna holding a sobbing Derpy in her arms. "Shh shh. It'll be alright. We'll save her." Luna said trying to comfort the distraught pegasus.

"They have her...my muffin..." Derpy cried in between sobs. Luna saw Blaze and Rainbow Dash standing by the entrance to the tent. With a flick of her head she motioned for them to come next to them.

"Is everything okay? What's wrong Derpy?" Rainbow Dash asked as they walked over to them.

The wall-eyed pegasus looked up to her with wet eyes. "My muffin. She has her. She has Dinky!" Derpy wailed and buried face into Luna's mane.

"Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry." Rainbow said as she rubbed Derpy's back reassuringly.

"How did you find out?" Blaze whispered to Luna.

"About ten minutes ago. I sent a few of Linus' scouts out to see the defenses and if there were any back ways in. We didn't find anything we didn't already know about Canterlot, but we did find something more horrific." Luna whispered back. "Chrysalis is having all the fillies she has captured standing out front of the gates. One of the scouts recognized Dinky and told Derpy and I about what they found. There aren't any guards to make sure they stay there, so the only rational thing I could think of would be that they are hypnotized in the same way Shining Armor was."

Blaze's mouth was agape. "Fillies? She's using kids as a pony shield?" He couldn't believe it. What kind of sick creature does that? he thought "We can't go through the front gate. It's too risky."

"I know. I'm trying to figure out a way to get through the gate without harming a filly. If we can't get through the gate you, Rainbow Dash and your troops will be fighting the entire Leasath army without help from the rest of the army." Luna said.

"Priority one needs to be getting those fillies away from the fight. Rainbow Dash, myself and a few others could fly by and grab a few of them and drop them back at the army." Blaze suggested. "Do you know any spells that might work against the hypnosis?"

Luna thought for a moment. "Maybe. But it's risky. It's a variation of the memory spell I learned centuries ago, before I was sent to the moon. There weren't many hospitals with Unicorns who knew and studied magic well. When ever somepony lost their memory, whether it be from a fall or a fight, they would come to me and my sister to bring them back. It didn't always end up in the best of ways." Luna explained. "Since I don't know their memories I can use this spell to "reawaken" their old memories. I can use it on a group of ponies too if need be. However, if I make a small mistake, they could lose all of their memories. They'll forget who they are, who they're friends and family are, everything." she said in earnest. "They'll be safe and alive, but they won't be themselves."

"Is there any other spell that's safer?" Rainbow Dash asked. She had been listening quietly to them as she sat there comforting the still weeping pegasus.

"None that I know of. Right now it's our best option." Luna replied. Rainbow nodded her head.

Derpy lifted her head and wiped her eyes. "I'm going too!" she exclaimed.

This caught Luna off guard. "Derpy, I can't allow you too. You are too distraught to go flying out into a battle zone. You'll get hurt." she said, avoiding the fact that Derpy was a very clumsy flier and would potentially do more harm than good.

"But I have too! They have my muffin!" she yelled. Rainbow Dash looked at Luna. She knew all to well why Luna didn't want her going out to help, but it seemed wrong to say no to her when her daughter was on the line.

"I'm sorry Derpy. I really am. But Blaze and Rainbow Dash are very trustworthy and very reliable. They'll get her." Luna said trying to calm her.

Derpy started to cry again and murmur, "muffin." Luna looked to Blaze. "You have ten minutes to gather some Pegasi and head over to the fillies. The scouts counted approximately 50 fillies." Luna said. Blaze nodded and rushed out the tent with Rainbow close behind. They were able to gather plenty of Pegasi who wanted to help get the fillies back.

The group took off and headed for the gates. "There aren't any guards from what we could see. But that doesn't mean that they aren't watching them. Keep an eye out for any thing suspicious." Blaze said as they drew closer to the gates.

"Grab as many fillies as you can before heading back to camp. Grab two in your arms and place one on your back if you have to. Don't leave any of them behind." Rainbow Dash ordered behind Blaze. She flew closer to him. "Something feels off. If they're just standing there doing nothing with no guards around, we could be flying into a trap." she whispered to Blaze.

"I doubt it. Chrysalis would sooner kill them in front of us as a surprise to lower our morale than to attack us with them. But if it is a trap, give 'em hell." he whispered. They could see the gates to the city and saw the fillies standing there, motionless. Blaze turned his head to rest of the group. "Here we go! Grab whoever you can and don't leave one behind!" he shouted and dove towards the fillies with the group close behind.

Right before Blaze was able to pick up a filly, there was a flash of purple light that shot past him, barely missing him but hitting the Pegasus behind him. Son of a-! he swore to himself.

"It's a trap!" he yelled and grabbed an orange filly off the ground. He put her underneath his right arm. There were multiple purple beams flying through the air hitting a few of the Pegasi as they tried to get to the fillies. The bolts were being fired from crevices, windows, and the crenals above the castle walls. Why can't things ever be easy! Blaze thought to himself as he evaded another bolt. He flew past the gate and turned around to grab another filly. He flung him onto his back and steadily flew up. He noticed Rainbow Dash and three other Pegasi distracting the Leasath that were firing at the others who had picked up some of the fillies and were heading back to camp.

He flew down low and grabbed a white filly who hadn't moved even after a Pegasus crashed in front of her. "Rainbow Dash! Grab a filly and lets get out of here!" he shouted to her. She flew to the top of the castle walls and picked up two of the Leasath and threw them off the side of the castle. She kicked another in his face and flew down to grab two of the remaining fillies that were left. She picked them up with one in each arm and flew off past Blaze.

"Let's go Blazey Boy!" she shouted at him. He caught up with the rest of the group and was shocked by what he was seeing up ahead. Pegasi were dropping out of the sky.

"Rainbow! Grab the fillies before they hit the ground!" he exclaimed and flew to try and catch them. When he got close, however, he realized they were Changelings instead of fillies.

"They're not fillies!" a Pegasus up ahead said. "Drop them!" he exclaimed and let go of the two fillies in his arms.

"No!" Blaze shouted."Don't drop them! Not all of them may be Changelings!" He flew towards the dropping fillies and caught them. He was heavily weighted down now and couldn't fly as fast. He tried to climb higher but couldn't carry five fillies and fly high enough to avoid crashing into the ground. Another Pegasus flew down and took the white filly off of his back and one of the fillies who had fallen out of his arms.

"They hid in with the fillies so they could take us down when we were away from the fight and diminish our troops." Rainbow Dash said. Blaze flew up next to her and surveyed the rest of the Pegasi they had with them.

"We lost half of them... Damnit!" Blaze exclaimed. "It was a trap we fell into way too easily. Luna isn't going to like this." They flew back and landed in the camp. He placed the fillies he was carrying with the others. Luna looked at him as she counted those that had returned. She gave Blaze a questioning look and he shook his head. She lowered head and started to cast the spell on the group of fillies that were there. The group of ponies who returned backed away from the fillies, leaving Rainbow and Blaze still with the group. Luna's horn glowed a dark blue as sparks started to shoot out from it.

Blaze's heart was beating out of his chest. What if it doesn't work? What if they forget everything? No idea who or what they are, what they are suppose to be? Luna's horn let out a low hum as she concentrated on the spell. Other than the low hum, it was silent. Nopony talked, coughed, some didn't even breath. Her horn suddenly let out a blue wave of energy that engulfed the entire campsite. The wave lasted five seconds after she released the spell and the group looked towards the fillies. Many of them were turning their heads, confused as to where they were or how they got there.

"Where...where are we?" the white filly Blaze had carried back asked.

"You are at Ponyville with the Aureolian army. Do you remember anything from the past few days?" Rainbow Dash asked.

The filly thought and frowned. "Yeah. I was in a dark room surrounded by stone. There were no windows and every night when we slept we had to worry about the rats gnawing on our hooves. I remember watching these creatures in dark armor walk in and dump our meals on the floors." the filly recollected. "The others would fight each other to get as much food as they could. Those of us who waited until after they finished the meager meal had to lick what was left off of the floor. They were animals..." she trailed off as a tear ran down her eye.

"It's okay sweetie. It's okay." Rainbow Dash said as she comforted the weeping filly. "What's your name?" Rainbow asked.

"White Dawn." she said through her tears. Luna gave a sigh of relief. The spell had worked.

"White Dawn!" the orange filly exclaimed. She ran up to her and hugged her tightly. Rainbow Dash was amazed at how similar the two ponies resembled Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. She hugged them both, giving them a comforting place to rest their heads and also to remind herself of what was lost. A small, light purple unicorn walked around looking into the crowd.

"Mommy? Mommy??" she cried out. She frantically ran up and down the group of ponies searching for her mother. "Mommy??" she cried out in anguish. She slumped onto the ground and buried her face into her hooves bawling.

"Muffin? Muffin is that you?!" Derpy asked as she heard her daughter's cries. Dinky lifted her head from her hooves and scanned the group of ponies for her mother.

"Mommy?!" Dinky shouted. The group of ponies that surrounded the fillies made way for the frantic grey pegasus that was barreling through them.

"Muffin! I'm here!" Derpy exclaimed. She saw her daughter, bruised and thin, and flew as fast as she could so she could hold her tightly and never let her go. Dinky saw her mother flying towards her and ran as fast as her little legs would let her.

"Mommy!" she cried in delight. Derpy closed the distance fast and swept her daughter up in her arms and cradled her. Dinky cried and cried as she clung to her mother's golden colored mane.

"Dinky! Dinky Dinky Dinky!" Derpy cried as she held her daughter close to her. "Oh my muffin. My poor sweet muffin."

The rest of the fillies began running around asking for their parents. Some found a family friend, others cried when they couldn't find them, others just sat on the ground, silently wallowing in their sadness. Blaze walked around to each of them and comforted the little fillies. He knew that most of their parent's were alive somewhere in Equestria, but he also knew that some of them would be dead. He didn't know if he could tell a filly about their parents. He kicked the idea out of his head. That didn't matter. What mattered is that the fillies were safe and alive.

He walked over to Luna who was talking to Linus. "Excuse me Luna. I hate to interrupt you, but there was a problem when we were taking the fillies back. There was a trap at the gates. It wasn't anything we couldn't handle. But once we were on our way back, it turned out that some of the fillies were actually Changelings. They took out half of our troops. We saved all the fillies, but one soldier decided to drop his two fillies because he saw some turning into Changelings. I haven't seen him since the incident." Blaze said.

"I see. Well, no matter. The fillies are safe and we can now move on with the original plan." she said. "Linus was just telling me that Iron Will has decided to stay and fight with us. Honestly, I'm glad he's here. We could use him to take down the doors. So your explosive work at the gate won't be necessary."

"He's staying? Why?" Blaze asked.

"He say's there's nothing for him here at Ponyville. Didn't really give much reason as to why." Linus replied.

"Whatever the reason it's good he's here. We are attacking at noon so be ready. I know we just saved these fillies, but we need to attack. We've come so close and we are not about to fall back because of that trap." Luna said. Blaze nodded his head and walked back to Rainbow Dash, who still embraced the two fillies.

Linus turned to Luna. "Are you sure about what you told me? About the mole?" he asked.

Luna bit her lip. "Sadly, yes. We both trusted him and he betrayed us." she said as she stared at Blaze.

Comments

[spymanx]

I will read this tommorow!

Looks good, but I love any fan-fiction focused on war/battle normally, but I always end up rooting for the normally conceived "bad guys" to win.