A Forgotten Trooper

by TheIronPone035

Chapter 9: Showdown

“Whoa, talk about creepy.” Rainbow Dash stated, taking in the sight of the ruined castle.

“Indeed, this place definitely needs some new decor.” Rarity added.

"We’re not looking to repair the castle, we need to find the elements of harmony.” Twilight exclaimed, eyeing something in the middle of the room.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flew over to the structure and gently removed five stone spheres from their spots on outstretched podiums. They set them down in a makeshift circle, which Twilight trotted over towards and ignited her horn.

"Alright, everypony stand back." Twilight instructed.

"What's she doing?" Strider asked.

"She's trying to ignite a spark to reveal the sixth element." Fluttershy explained.

"Hmm, is mist supposed to surround her when she's doing that?" Strider pointed to the smoke that was gathering around Twilight and the elements.

"Uh oh... " The group muttered, watching as the mist formed into the shape of a pony.

The pony's fur was black as night, while her mane and tail were formed out of the mist that she had been a few seconds earlier. She had dark blue armor on. as well as slitted eyes and pointed teeth. The pony also seemed to not only have a horn, but also a pair of wings that matched her fur in color.

Strider was quick to draw the DC-15A, pointing the barrel at the shadowy mares head. He was ready to pull the trigger, but hesitated when the pony’s shadowy mane and tail began to form a makeshift tornado. Each of what Strider assumed were the elements were sucked into the tornado, making Twilight’s eyes widen.

Right as the tornado seemed to dematerialize, Twilight jumped into it and vanished, along with the elements and what he believed to be the so called Nightmare Moon. The group quickly began looking around the area for any signs of the two ponies or the elements, but they were nowhere to be found.

"Where'd they go?" Rainbow Dash questioned out loud, doing a full loop around the room as she searched for the missing ponies.

Applejack glanced out a broken window to see a light brewing in a tower outside. "Over there! Come on!"

Strider followed the group of ponies out of the main room, doubling their pace until they reached the base of the tower. However, what used to be the entrance was now blocked off by debris from the crumbling walls, keeping them from entering. From above, Strider heard haunting laughter, announcing that time was running low.

“You five find another way inside, i’ll keep that pony busy.” Strider stated, removing the flashlight attachment to his blaster and replaced it with a cable one.

Strider took aim at one of the windows, before pulling the trigger. A steel cable shot from the attachment and struck the area just below the window, anchoring itself in the somewhat stable wall.

Strider gave the cable a quick tug to see if it would stay, and once he was satisfied, he took off the attachment and disconnected the cable. Before the ponies could say anything, Strider took hold of the cable and began climbing up the wall, hooking the blaster to his back so he could use both hands.

“Alright, let’s see what’s going on in there.” Strider muttered to himself, reaching the top of the cable and grabbed onto the window sill.

The trooper hoisted himself through the opening and landed on his feet inside the tower. The room he now stood in looked very similar to the one holding the elements, minus the podium in the middle. There were a few pillars scattered about, each one having various sizes of cracks and moss on them. A few windows were placed around the walls but most of them lacked any glass, letting the outside wind flow freely within.

Nightmare Moon stood proudly atop a small circular area against the back wall, the five stone elements in shattered pieces below her hooves. Twilight Sparkle was laying against the broken remains of a pillar, most likely thrown into it with enough force to break the already brittle stone.

Nightmare Moon broke her gaze away from the defeated unicorn, slitted eyes locking onto Strider who was once again aiming his weapon at her. Instead of the fear Strider had been expecting with a blaster aimed directly at her, the mare laughed again.

“And who ar’t you supposed to be?” Nightmare Moon inquired, her voice cold and dark.

“Clone Trooper Strider of the Galactic Republic, and i’m ordering you to stand down or i’ll be forced to fire.” Strider stated.

“We are Nightmare Moon clone trooper Strider, we don’t take orders from anypony else!” Nightmare Moon stated.

“Then i’ll have to take you down.” That line earned another round of laughter from the shadowy mare.

“You? Take down us? Never, not even in your dreams!”

Strider pulled the trigger, making a blue bolt of plasma launch from the blaster and towards Nightmare. She dodged it easily, a grin spreading across her face.

"Just as foolish as the rest." Nightmare Moon claimed.

Strider fired another two shots, these ones bounced off of a barrier Nightmare Moon created out of thin air. She then charged her horn and fired a bolt of what looked like shadow electricity, which soared towards Strider. He rolled to the right, dodging the attack and fired again.

Nightmare Moon flapped her wings and rose into the air, the bolts flying right under her and striking the back wall. Her mane and tail seemed to engulf her, before a twister of pure mist launched towards the trooper. Strider fired a few times blankly at the twister, not trying to aim. He narrowly avoided the attack, taking cover behind a fallen pillar.

Nightmare Moon disbursed the twister and fired a few more shadowy bolts, each one striking the pillar. Strider poked his head out from the cover to aim, and let loose a wave of blue plasma. The alicorn had to scatter through the air to avoid the attack, but one lucky bolt struck part of her dark blue helmet, leaving part of it scorched.

Nightmare Moon landed on the ground, slightly shocked that she had been hit. But her shock vanished just as quickly as it came, her grin widening and exposing her sharp teeth which glistened in the moonlight.

"So, you are better than we originally assumed. But we don't have the time for games." Nightmare Moon boomed, lifting the pillar Strider was using as cover somehow and chucked it to the side.

Strider went to fire another round, but when he pulled the trigger, he realized that the DC-15A had been engulfed in a blue aura. Suddenly, it flew from his grasp and over to Nightmare Moon, who rotated it before her eyes.

"Strange piece of weaponry, We will have to replicate it for our army." Nightmare Moon muttered to herself, before lifting the blaster higher into the air.

Then, to Strider's horror, the blaster was snapped in half. The exposed Tibanna gas cartridge fell to the ground, it's power leaking onto the stone floor. The broken blaster was quickly discarded to the side, and Nightmare Moon appeared before the trooper in the blink of an eye.

"Let's see how well thou shalt do without their weapon." Nightmare Moon said, before smashing one of her four hooves against Strider's side.

The trooper grunted in pain at the attack, but stood his ground. He gripped his hand into a fist and swung it at Nightmare’s muzzle, only for it to get encased by the same aura from before. Suddenly, he was lifted into the air by his encase hand, the shadowy mare laughing directly in his face.

“Did you really think you had a chance?” Nightmare Moon asked, before chucking the clone into a wall.

Strider fell to the ground hard, the wind completely knocked out of him. He struggled to catch his breath but was greeted instead with a buck from Nightmare Moon. She lifted him up once again in a midnight blue aura, her eyes staring right through the trooper’s visor and into his own eyes.

"EQUESTRIA WILL FINALLY BE CONTROLLED BY IT'S TRUE RULER! ME!!!" Nightmare Moon shouted, before laughing maniacally.

She chucked Strider one last time with the equivalent amount of force from a Jedi’s force push, launching him through a pillar and into another wall. He fell limply to the ground, pain flowing through his entire body like water after a dam broke.

The trooper thought he heard something, but all his senses were beyond scrambled from the skirmish. Through his hazy vision he saw what seemed like a flash of multicolored light, followed by what sounded like Nightmare Moon screaming. He tried to focus on what had caused that light, but everything faded to black before he could make it out.

Author's Note:

If your wondering how Strider knew her name was Nightmare Moon, Fluttershy mentioned it when he found her under the table back at city hall.

Also, the story got featured again! Thanks again for all the support!

Comments

[Edguy0009]

This is similar to a scene in A Warhorse In Equestria.

[cobeoe]

Well this was a short chapter nice fight but so short short

[WolfLover]

Ok I am loving this story so far. Though I am sad that the dc-15a is now broke. Mabry he could find a dc-17 pistol in the gunship if he revisits it. Well you have earned my like and favorite so great job can't wait for the next chapters.

[Curtis LeMay]

I believe cast is already in the past tense.

[Xblaster]

9706376
Forgetting a drop ship full of them and other things bud

Yes I know I'm late

[Classy Fox]

"Let's see how well thi do without their weapon."

Two things. Thy is the correct spelling, and thy is possessive. What you want is thou

[Devildogg20]

.... vibroblade? No? Ok then.

[Wir sind verloren]

He raised a hand to shield his eyes from the light, but right before he could, a rainbow beam of light shot from the group and into Nightmare Moon, encasing the entire room in a wave of white. He could hear the screams of the midnight colored alicorn as the rainbow light wrapped around her, draining her dark energy.

Video file:

[Armageden]

Well nightmare moons gone.Atleast.

[ObsPerson]

I hope strider can salvage other DC-15As from the LAAT wreckage, as well as anything useful like ammo, bacta, etc.