Clash of the Bolts: Battle for the Skies

by Whooves235

Chapter 8

As the group walked outside the cave, they could see that the battle that was going on outside wasn't getting any better. More and more Shadowbolts kept coming, and Equestria was running out of soldiers.

"We need to help them out as much as we can," Rainbow said.

"What can we do? We're too outnumbered—the more soldiers we defeat, the more just take their place. They’re like a regenerating shield," Sunset said.

"Something just doesn't seem right. Soldiers don’t just pop out of nowhere!" Applejack said.

̈”Then we just need to continue fighting until there are none left!” Rainbow said.

"Dashie, take this," Applejack said as she handed Rainbow Dash what appeared to be a broken helmet. "I know it's not much, but please just protect yourself.”

"Thanks, Applejack," Rainbow said as she put on the helmet. “Now let’s kick some Shadowbolt Flank!” Then she went to soar into the air along with her fellow soldiers dived right into the remaining Shadowbolt troops. Rainbow Dash knew that if she was going to win this battle, she needed to use all the strength she could. She flew left and right, using all the aerial skills she had learned with the Wonderbolts, dodging every single attack from the enemy. Punching and kicking the soldiers, she knew that this was going to be one of the finest battles she would ever participate in. Then a couple of soldiers started tackling Rainbow Dash, knocking her helmet off. She used all her strength to knock back all the enemies she could.

"Commander Dash, we are losing ground! We need backup!" one of the soldiers said.

"We need to hold our position!" Dash demanded. "Stay your ground until Shining Armor arrives!"

"Yes, ma’am!" the soldiers replied.

“Where is Shining Armor?!̈” Rainbow said to another soldier.

̈”Ma’am, he and the Crystal Empire division were the first soldiers to enter the field. He is up ahead,” the soldier replied.

̈”Who is in charge of the Equestrian Division?” Rainbow shouted.

̈”That would be me, ma’am!̈” a white pegasus soldier replied, then he slashed at some of the upcoming Shadowbolts with his sword. “Ma’am, you need to find Prince Shining Armor. He needs backup, his entire division is outnumbered.”

”But what about the Equestrian Division!!̈” Rainbow shouted. “They need the backup as well.”

“With all due respect ma’am, we can handle ourselves. Now go and help the prince!!” the soldier said, and with that Rainbow Dash took off into the sky.

“Commander Orion sir, we need backup on the Left Division!!̈” one of the soldiers replied. “We are almost completely outnumbered.”

“I am on my way!!̈” Orion shouted.

---

As Rainbow flew through the air she could finally see The Crystal Division, and just as the soldier had said, they were severely outnumbered.

̈”Hold your ground, men!!!” Shining Armor said.

̈”Shining Armor!!̈” Rainbow shouted, then speed to the battle and knocked a few Shadowbolts out of the sky. “Shining Armor, I was told you needed some backup?”

̈”Just in time, Rainbow Dash,” Shining Armor said. “I need you to take on the Shadowbolts coming from on top of the cave entrance. It seems that’s where most of them are coming from.”

̈”I'm on it!̈” Rainbow said, then started running to the cave entrance. As she did so she noticed three Shadowbolt soldiers get up onto a cliff, then three more came out and tackled her. She managed to push them off, but the three on the cliff pushed a large rock down right towards Rainbow Dash.

"Oh shit!" Rainbow said.

Before the rock could hit her, Pinkie Pie and Maud came and punched the boulder until it was just a pebble. Then Pinkie and Maud saluted Dash.

"Hey, Rainbow!" Pinkie Pie said. "Some party, huh?"

"Pinkie Pie, I owe you one," Rainbow Dash said, smiling.

"Now how about we finish this?"

"Let's do it!" Rainbow Dash said. She continued to hit and punch the Shadowbolt soldiers.

̈”How in Celestia's name am I going to stop them? They’re coming out of literally nowhere!!”

̈”Rainbow Dash!!!” a soldier shouted. “̈Prince Shining Armor is down, he was just impaled through the chest!!”

̈”NO!!!̈” Like a bullet, Rainbow flew right to where Shining Armor was, only to see him bleeding out with a sword sticking out of his chest. “̈Shining Armor!!!”

Shining struggled to speak, and as he tried to get up he only fell down.

“Your Majesty, please don't move, you’re making it worse!̈” one of the soldiers said.

̈”Rainbow Dash,” Shining Armor said, then started to cough up blood. “Please...tell Twily and Cadence, I tried, I really did.”

“Of course, I promise,” Rainbow said, crying a bit.

̈”Now go,” Shining said. “Finish this!” as if Shining had fueled her, Rainbow got up and sped right back into the Shadowbolt Army. She punched a Shadowbolt right in the face, causing it to fly into a rock. Rainbow heard a crack and the Shadowbolt lay dead, but as she walked past the corpse, she noticed something was popping out of the helmet. She took the helmet off and saw what appeared to be some kind of mechanism.

̈”What in Celestia's name?!” Rainbow said, dumbfounded. “What is this?” Rainbow walked over to another Shadowbolt and noticed that it too had the same thing: gears and metal in the skull, and all around the body. “The Shadowbolts, they’re not alive!!” Rainbow grabbed the head of one of the Shadowbolts and took off into the sky. As soon as she found Celestia she landed next to her.

“Princess Celestia, it's the Shadowbolts. Look!” Rainbow handed her the skull piece.

“What is this?” Celestia asked.

“I don't know, but it looks like every single shadowbolt has them, and that means they’re not real ponies!̈” Rainbow said.

Sunset ran over to Rainbow and saw the skull piece. “Since when did Equestria have Robots?”

“What are Robots?” Rainbow asked.

“They are non-living things that can move, talk, and fight,” Sunset said. “However I didn’t think that Equestria had them.”

“Cinch must have brought them to our world when she returned,” Celestia said, “because according to Rainbow Dash these robots you speak of make up 100% of the army.”

“Then that means all we have to do is short circuit their systems with an EMP!!̈” Sunset said. Rainbow and Celestia just stared at her with a look. “We need to create an electrical surge to make them turn off.”

“How are we going to make an electrical surge?!” Rainbow said.

“I believe that I can handle that part,” Celestia said. “Rainbow Dash, I need you to go and collect as many storm clouds as possible.”

“On it, Princess.” Rainbow sped up into the sky. She sped around and got as many storm clouds as she could find. “̈Princess, what do you want me to do with them?”

“Keep them above me,” Celestia said. “I will do the rest.” She started to charge her horn up with a yellow electrical surge, then shot a beam of magic into the sky, causing the storm clouds to activate, and one by one the Shadowbots started to fall.

“It’s working!!̈” Rainbow said.

“We did it!!̈” Applejack said.

Rainbow flew up to Nightmare Moon, who was guarding the unconscious Twilight and Lightning Dust.

“What do we do with these two?” Rainbow said.

“I will personally escort Lightning to a cell in the Canterlot dungeon,” Nightmare Moon said. “As for Twilight Sparkle, she will be taken to the Crystal Empire infirmary, but we must hurry, my magic cannot hold her in this state for long.”

“Then let's go!” Rainbow said.

Two Hours Later: The Royal Throne Room - Crystal Empire

"With Sombra in Tartarus and Lightning Dust locked up, the only criminal of war that remains at large is Princess Cinch, and we have no idea how to track her," Celestia said.

"The bright side is that the eighth Element is in our possession, so it is not in danger," Nightmare Moon said.

“Sunset, we would request that you take the Element back with you through the mirror, as to avoid other ponies getting ahold of it,” Celestia said.

“Of course, Princess,” Sunset said.

“Sunset, you may always call me Celestia,” Celestia said, smiling.

“Yes, of course, Celestia,” Sunset said.

"So, uh, not be the one to break up this moment, but I do have to ask: why is Nightmare Moon still here?”

"My sister and I have gone over it, and she feels that since I have full control over my Nightmare mode, I may stay in it for a while until the time is right, of course… but please call me Luna," Princess Luna said.

"On to happier matters," Princess Cadence said. "Twilight has woken up, and she is ready to see you girls."

"Really?!" Pinkie Pie said.

"That's awesome!" Dash said.

"Follow me to the medical wing. She should be in there reading some of her books," Cadence said. She slowly walked to the door, however falling behind the ponies, sunset slowly walked up to the Princess.

"Princess Cadence, I'm sorry to hear about what happened to Shining Armor," Sunset said.

"Shining Armor will be remembered for his brave sacrifice, and I will make sure that Flurry Heart knows her dad was a hero," Cadence said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s gone.”

“A wise pony once told me, a pony is never really dead, as long as his memories live on,” Sunset said. “̈As long as people remember his sacrifice, he will always be alive.”

“Thank you, Sunset Shimmer,”̈ Cadence said.

“Now how about we go check on Twilight?” Sunset said.

---

As Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Sunset, Cadence, Fluttershy, and Rarity walked to the medical wing, they could see that Twilight was sitting patiently inside her hospital bed reading a book titled "How to Heal Bad Wounds." She noticed her guests and immediately was stricken with a giant smile.

"Hey girls!" Twilight said.

"We're so glad you're okay, darling," Rarity said. "We thought that you had..."

"It's okay, I'm here," Twilight said.

"How are you holding up?" Rainbow said.

"It's going well. The doctor said that I will make a full recovery by next month," Twilight said.

“Darling, she wasn’t just talking about your injuries,” Rarity said. Twilight looked down, and quietly said, “I miss him.” She started to cry, and slowly tears started to fall onto her book.

“Come here, darling,” Rarity said, then the Mane Six hugged Twilight, and all she could do was cry.

“It should have been me,” Twilight said.

“Twilight, don't you ever say that,” Applejack said. “Listen here, sugarcube, after I lost my parents, I was the same as you: I blamed myself, I wanted to take their place, but it only made things worse.”

“Then what can I do?̈” Twilight said.

“You can remember him, for everything he has ever done for you, for everything he did to protect you,” Applejack said.

“Thank you, girls, thank you so much,” Twilight said, then wiped away her tears.

"You should stay in bed," Cadence said. “̈You’re still badly hurt.”

"I know, Cadence," Twilight said. "It's just, with Cinch still at large, I feel that I should be helping to find her."

"Sugarcube, with your injury you ain’t fit to go out like this," Applejack said.

"Besides, if we do run into Cinch, we’ll kick her sorry flank," Rainbow said.

"Do we know where she might have gone?" Sunset asked.

"All we do know is that she’s still somewhere in the Crystal Empire, so I’ve asked the guards to double the guard near the palace," Cadence said. “I’ve also sent for guards to search the Shadowbolt cave, to see if we can find anything there.”

“Then all we can do is wait,” Twilight said.

Two Months Later: Twilight’s Castle

As Rainbow entered the room, she was immediately surprised by confetti being blasted in her face.

"Surprise!" Pinkie said.

"What’s this for?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"It’s an engagement party, silly," Pinkie said. "You never had one, so here it is!"

"Aww, thanks, Pinkie!"

"I was just as surprised as you are, Dashie," Applejack said.

"Darling, we are so happy for you," Rarity said.

"Hey, where’s Princess Sunset?" Fluttershy asked.

"She went back through the mirror," Twilight said. "With her becoming a princess, she now needs to maintain the magic contained in her world. Celestia herself said that she wanted her to do that.”

"Well, hopefully, she’s doing good," Applejack said. Then, as she noticed Dash walking up to the buffet, Twilight gestured to Dash, and Applejack knew what she had to say to her fiancé.

"Hey, Dash," Applejack said. "I have to tell you something."

"What is it?" Dash asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing’s wrong, Dashie," Applejack said.

"Then what is it?"

"Dashie," Applejack said, "I'm pregnant."

Then everything went crazy; Pinkie Pie fainted, Rarity froze in place, Fluttershy was screaming happily, and Twilight was smiling.

"But...But how? I’m not a stallion!" Rainbow asked in shock.

"You can thank Twilight for that," Applejack said. "She found a spell for it. All I needed to do was give her a piece of DNA, so I gave her a lock of your mane."

"So you’re telling me," Rainbow said, "I’m going to be a mother?!"

"Yes!"

"Ohmigoshohmigoshohmigosh!" Dash said. "This Is awesome!"

"Congrats, guys," Twilight said. "I knew you would be happy about this."

"Thank you so much, Twi!" Rainbow said.

"Yes, thank you, Twi. You just made our lives better," Applejack said.

"So what’s next for you two?" Twilight asked.

"Well, I guess it is just get married, have kids, and live an awesome life," Rainbow said. Then as she hugged her wife she looked out to the horizon and knew nothing could get any better.

The Crystal Empire Alleyway

As Cinch walked through the alleyway, she thought about what had become of herself. She had gone from a princess to a principal, and now a pegasus with an ugly stump on her head.

“I have become nothing but rabble. I swear someday, I will have my revenge on those ponies!” Cinch shouted.

As she walked deeper into the alleyway she could hear that she was not alone.

“Wh-Who is there?” Cinch asked.

“Somepony like you who wants revenge on the Element Bearers,” the voice said.

“Really?” Cinch said. “And who, might I ask, wants revenge on them as much as me?”

“Somepony who was long thought to be captured and defeated.” As the figure walked out of the shadows, Cinch saw he had a dark robe on and shackles. He was a gray color with a hint of red, with four hooves and hands. “I believe you know who I am, Cinch,” Lord Tirek said. “I believe you and I are going to accomplish much together,” he said, smiling wickedly.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

9889952
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you angry. What I meant was that the synopsis made it seem like it'd be well over eight chapters long.

[Whooves235]

9950801
No need to apologize, and I was not angry. To Answer your question tho, this was a Fic I had posted a long time ago, and I had resently gone back, gave it a better title and then made some edits to make it better. The reason it's so short is because past me was bad at writing (lol)

[Star love]

I love this series is there any more?

[Whooves235]

11024417
There is still a series yes, this is a prequel to another fic of mine called Equestria vs Tartatus