Wherever the Light Shines: Part 2

by MLPSolarDash1907

Chapter 49 - Battle for Equestria

Mystic sat behind bushes just outside the walls to Canterlot. Beyond the city walls, Mystic could see the flying birds and beefy looking orcs standing guard on various balconies of the city’s skyscrapers.

“It’s nearly time,” said Twilight, lighting her horn. “Starlight, please put up your invisibility spell.”

Starlight nodded, lighting her horn. A small surge of magic exerted from both ponies and Mystic swore she felt the air around her change.

“Did it work?” Mystic asked.

“Yes,” replied Twilight, “We’re invisible now.”

Even though Mystic could still see herself, she took Twilight’s word for it.

Mystic’s gaze went towards the sky. The clouds above seemed more intimidating and blacker than ever as they occasionally had crackles of red lightning.

Looking up at them gave her a deep chill. They looked impenetrable. Poisonous and filled with malice.

“What is he up to?” she wondered aloud.

The unicorn shuddered, looking back at the ground.

“Are the other teams in position?” asked Sunset.

“Momentarily,” replied Twilight. “Hong will send up a flare when everycreature is in place.”

“I hope they weren’t spotted...” Starlight murmured.

“Try to think positive,” Sunset said.

Starlight only bit her lower lip in response.

“Let’s get with each other’s partner,” said Twilight, standing up as quietly as she could. “Mystic, with me.”

“Yes, your Highness,” replied Mystic, also standing and getting to the alicorn’s side.

“Are you sure about this?” Starlight asked as she and Sunset followed their lead.

“We have to do this, or all of Equestria’s doomed,” said Twilight.

Starlight weakly nodded.

“Things will be okay, Starlight,” Sunset said softly. “Just do your best.”

She wrapped her foreleg around Starlight and patted her back.

Twilight looked out onto the landscape of Equestria, as did Mystic. Then, roughly half a mile away, a blue flare of magic shot up into the air.

“That’s it,” said Twilight. She turned to Mystic whose heart began racing in excitement.

“Remember the plan to expose and break his wristbands,” Twilight said to the team. She turned to Mystic and outstretched a hoof. “Let’s go.” Mystic took it.

---

Mystic felt somewhat disorientated as she and Twilight came out of the teleportation and appeared inside what appeared to be a tower and there was a large hourglass next to a large window. Books aligned the nearby walls.

“Eeeshh...” Mystic groaned, withholding the urge to hold her stomach as she spotted a descending staircase.

“Sorry,” Twilight apologized.

“Forget about it,” replied Mystic. “Let’s get our flanks moving.”

The alicorn made her way over to the staircase.

“Stay close,” Twilight advised, “It only stretches so far.”

“Got it.”

Mystic followed the alicorn down the flight of stairs. Twilight reached the door, gently opening it and both ponies emerged outside.

Mystic’s eyes widened at what she saw. Down on the ground were orcs running down the roads, gremlins scampering in the luscious green grass and hellhounds sniffing around for presumably any intruders. Mystic could see the castle in the distance. She glanced at Twilight, who looked shell shocked to see this. But Twilight shook her head and gained a determined look.

“Stick to the plan,” she said, Mystic assumed she was talking to herself.

Mystic began to think about how they would cross without being detected, unable to help but feel a little nervous about the hellhounds. Who knew how well their noses were? Her gaze went down to Twilight’s wings and an idea struck her.

“Hey,” she said, gaining Twilight’s attention. “How about you fly and carry me on your back?”

Twilight fluffed up her wings and her eyes widened. “Why, I wish I thought of that sooner.”

Mystic smirked. “Well, let’s go.” Without another word, she climbed onto Twilight’s back.

“Oomph!” Twilight grunted. She smiled sheepishly at Mystic, flapped her wings and both were on their way towards the castle.

---

Starlight watched Nightfall’s hellhounds scampering across the streets, soon followed by gremlins. A few seconds passed and they were gone.

“Okay,” Sunset whispered.

Sunset began to move, forcing Starlight to stay close by.

“Sunset, the spell only stretches so far,” Starlight said meekly.

“We’re on a mission and we need to move, Starlight,” said Sunset as she broke into a trot followed by Starlight.

“I-I know...” Starlight frowned, lacking her confidence.

“We’re close, Starlight,” said Sunset, pointing towards something in the distance. Starlight saw the reddish electric looking beam shooting into the sky, creating the shield above. “Just trust your instincts.”

I don’t know if I can... Starlight thought.

---

Meanwhile, in Canterlot’s partially destroyed throne room, Nightfall observes his minions heading towards the city limits to counter against the pitiful resistance. He smirked, having expected this from the outside kingdoms but nothing will get past his shield.

“Sir!” came a voice from his communicator.

“What is it?” he cried.

“Some of the ponies you said you’d exhausted are outside the city!”

Nightfall whirled around to his communicator to see a gremlin. “What?! How?”

“I don’t know! But we’re sending a lot of our enforcements to take them out!”

“The generator and the prisoners...” Nightfall growled in realization. “Let them know we have the alicorn baby in bonds!”

“That’s another thing I needed to tell you about.”

Nightfall stomped over to the communicator, causing the gremlin to flinch in fear. “What?”

“The... the baby’s gone!”

“What?! How the heck did that happen?!”

“The mother got free and some Crystal soldiers were able to take out the pawns near the Crystal Heart! It’s a full uprising in the Crystal Empire now!”

Nightfall let out a shout. “Get them under control! Get the best of the army to defend the generator!”

He slammed his huge claw onto the communicator destroying it, crouched on all fours and bolted out of the throne room.

---

Mystic held onto Twilight’s back as the alicorn descended next to the castle.

Suddenly, the alicorn stumbled and both tumbled towards the ground. Mystic landed on her stomach.

“Sorry,” she heard Twilight. “I’m not used to carrying a pony on my back.”

Mystic stood up. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s get to the dungeons.”

“Hey! You!” cried an orc, causing Mystic to freeze.

“Shoot!” Twilight hissed and Mystic realized she’d landed too far from Twilight.

“What’re you all doing here?”

“Oh, um we’re just looking for some bad guys,” replied Mystic as she turned around. When she faced him, she magically threw a knife at the orc’s head. It went through his skull and he fell down dead. “Never mind, found one.”

She saw Twilight’s surprised look, but the alicorn shook her head. “Plan B!” Then, she turned towards the castle wall, charged up her horn, and shot her magic at it, creating a big hole that revealed a corridor.

“Wow,” Mystic smirked. “Taking after me, huh?”

“Just get inside!”

---

Starlight levitated Sunset onto the roof of the building that held the generator. The nervous unicorn flew up using her magic and landed right next to Sunset.

There, in the center of the large, flat roof, was a red cube with pinkish magic pulsing through vein-like pipes into the center, shooting up the energy creating the shield. But there was also a shield around the generator, created by the pillar-like structures at its four corners.

Sunset began shooting her magic at it, startling Starlight. However, the moment she began doing so, Starlight gasped and saw about ten orcs had climbed on the opposite side of the roof.

“I’ll deal with them!” said Sunset, charging up her magic, “You destroy the generator!”

Then, Sunset unleashed fire upon the orcs, setting some of them ablaze. Starlight turned her attention to the generator.

Okay, Starlight, she thought. You can do this! You can do this!

Lighting up her horn, trying to gather her scattered brain, Starlight aimed it at her target.

“Look out!” Sunset cried.

Starlight turned around to see a few hellhounds charging towards her. Out of instinct, Starlight let out a magic barrier, knocking them off the roof.

Immediately, scared and wanting this to be over, Starlight let loose several blasts of her magic, focusing on the pillars around the generator.

One glance at Sunset, and she saw the unicorn had her own shield up as she kept more orcs and gremlins at bay. Starlight turned back to the generator, destroying one of the pillars.

Starlight felt her stomach sink as chills ran up her spine. Oh, no...

She looked over her shoulder to see the unmistakable werehyena.

“Foolish ponies! There’s no stopping the inevitable!” Nightfall hissed.

“There always is!” said Sunset, shooting magic at him.

Sunset teleported away and reappeared in front of Nightfall, firing at point-blank range. Starlight turned her attention back towards the generator and began blasting at it again destroying the second pillar. Without even looking, she let out her magic barrier again to keep Nightfall’s minions at bay.

Desperation built within her on top of her fear. One glance at Sunset, and she could see her struggling against the monster. Starlight let out a scream and took out the next to last pillar keeping the generator safe.

“One more,” she said to herself.

But then she was knocked off her hooves, landing hard on her back. Dazed, she saw Nightfall stomping over towards the generator, his claws glowing.

Then, he began to repair the damage Starlight had done.

Out of instinct, Starlight teleported over to him, knocking him aside with her barrier and destroyed the final pillar. The shield around the generator dissipated, exposing it.

Before Starlight could finish it, Nightfall suddenly grabbed her by the tail, pulled her into the air, and slammed her onto her stomach. The wind was knocked out of Starlight’s lungs, dazing her.

Coughing, Starlight weakly looked over her shoulder to see Nightfall standing there, holding Sunset with his dark aura. To make things worse, there were a lot of gremlins and orcs climbing up.

Starlight squeezed her eyes shut as Nightfall stomped closer. “No!”

Magic escaped from Starlight’s body. She felt as if it were a giant wave. Cracking open an eye, she saw Nightfall had been blown towards the opposite side of the roof and his minions were destroyed.

As Nightfall recovered, Sunset shot her fire magic at the generator. But Nightfall leaped over and punched her away. Starlight teleported to the other side of him and slammed both forehooves into the generator, ignoring the heat of the flames. One more slam dunk and with a burst of magic, it was destroyed.

“No!” Nightfall cried.

“Looks like your shield is down!” Sunset taunted. Starlight looked up and saw the shield above evaporated.

Starlight felt hooves wrap around her and she was teleported away from the enraged werehyena. She reappeared with Sunset on the opposite side of the roof.

“Get ready!” Sunset warned, her horn glowing red.

Starlight looked out onto the city of Canterlot. All of his minions from the sky to the ground are moving as hard as they could. But dragons, hippogriffs, and pegasi with white and red armor attacked the skrees and yaks charged through the streets at the hellhounds.

Then, she heard Sunset shooting her magic at Nightfall.

Slapping herself, Starlight focused back on him but he out a surge of dark magic. The unicorn managed to dodge it but Sunset was knocked over the edge.

“Sunset!” Starlight cried.

She nearly fainted when Nightfall turned to face her.

He began stomping right over to her.

A desperate scream escaped from Starlight as she let out a huge beam of magic. But Nightfall disappeared in a flash of dark purple.

“What?!” Starlight screeched.

Then, he appeared right in front of her. Starlight’s only response was to teleport away.

She reappeared on the streets and saw Sunset had managed to come out unscathed.

A loud boom echoed through the streets, Nightfall charged at the two unicorns and more of his minions were coming their way, too.

Starlight threw up a shield around herself and cowered as Sunset avoided his attacks by teleporting away.

I should be angry at him! Trying to defeat him! Starlight thought, straining to keep her shield up. No matter what, even after he’d used her emotions and mother against her, she couldn’t find herself to find the fire within her to fight as she should.

She barely had time to react as Nightfall approached her, his angered expression was just separated from the shield, his face just mere inches from hers.

---

Mystic knocked out a couple of orcs and kicked aside a hellhound. She heard Twilight zapping her magic behind her until Mystic couldn’t hear any more resistance coming from their enemies.

“Any more coming?” Mystic asked.

“Clear for now,” said Twilight.

Mystic nodded and searched the orcs for the keys. A few seconds passed and she saw that they’d fallen to the floor during the scuffle. She levitated them up and faced the dungeon doors.

“I found this,” said Twilight. Mystic turned and saw the alicorn had what looked like a small key but it was glowing. “I think this could be an enchanted key.”

“Okay,” said Mystic, turning back to the door and kicking it down.

Mystic made her way down the stairs and was met with a dingy, cold dungeon lined with cells. She was met with a lot of ponies dressed up in fine clothing and soldiers wearing golden armor. She could see some of them were unicorns and have magic enchanters on their horns.

Towards the back, Mystic spotted what looked like larger figures. She trotted over in that direction and reached the back of the dungeon to be met with two tall ponies with wavy manes. Mystic paused, eyes widening at the sight.

“Twilight!” the white alicorn cried, her voice full of relief.

“Princesses!” Twilight cried as Mystic busted the lock open.

“Twilight!” came a familiar voice. It was Spike, and behind him looked to be a strange, tall creature that was sickly green.

“Let’s get you out of here so you can help us,” said Twilight.

“I’m afraid we can’t,” the blue alicorn frowned. “It appears Nightfall has plugged up our magic aside from raising the sun and moon.”

Twilight gasped.

Getting back to the mission, Mystic turned to Twilight. “Start freeing them. I’ll start with the others.” Without another word, she walked over to the next occupied cell.

Her eyes widened when she saw several creatures chained to the ground and wall. There was a blue dragon, a changeling, a couple of hippogriffs, and a large yak that nearly hid an elderly griffon.

Wow, they really did unite all of these creatures, Mystic thought. Without a moment to lose, Mystic busted open the lock and made her way into the cell.

“I’ve never seen you before,” the changeling pointed at her.

“Well, I’m part of the calvary and rescue team,” replied Mystic as she began unlocking his chains.

“Excellent!” said the blue dragoness, “I’m eager to deliver payback!”

Mystic smirked, feeling the energetic spirit from her.

---

Soon, everypony and everycreature were freed from the cells. All of them reunited in the middle of the dungeon around Twilight and Mystic. “Thorax needs the enchanted key as do the hippogriffs,” said Mystic, having learned the Leaders’ names.

“I’m on it,” said Twilight, levitating the key to Thorax’s enchanted locks.

Mystic turned to the leaders. “We need to move all of you out of the city along with everycreature else.”

“Yak prince angry!” Rutherford shouted. “Yak prince want to smash enemies!” Mystic heard nearby shouts of agreement from the other creatures.

Smoke escaped from Ember’s nostrils as she looked at Mystic.

“Get them all to safety!” Ember ordered. “It’s time for some smackdown!” She flew off.

“Wait!” Thorax called and flew off after her, taking the enchanted key from Twilight.

Soon, the hippogriffs, griffon, and yak along with all the non-ponies were all following Ember and Thorax and left the dungeon before Mystic or Twilight could stop them.

“Okay then,” said Mystic.

“Well, enough about that,” said Twilight. “Mystic, this is Princesses Celestia and Luna, the rulers of Equestria. And Discord.” Twilight motioned to the sickly green creature.

“Lovely,” said Mystic, “But you need to go help your friends fight Nightfall.”

“What I need to do is get them out,” said Twilight. “And it appears Nightfall might’ve put a spell on them to keep the Princesses from fighting.”

“Twilight! Go help your friends!” cried Mystic.

The unicorn could see the alicorn’s eyes widen, and she realized she called the Twilight by her name for the first time.

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked.

“Go Twilight! I’ve got this. The soldiers will help, too.”

The young princess nodded and galloped out soon followed by her dragon. Mystic turned to the Gala guests, soldiers, princesses, and Discord.

“So, who wants to run as fast as they can?” she smirked.

---

Starlight screamed as she jumped out of the way, Nightfall’s attack destroying something behind her.

Nightfall laughed, stomping down the street. “Wow, you really are broken, little filly!” Starlight shuddered, trying to pull herself to her hooves. “Are you hiding from the shadows that creep upon you? Scared of what could happen to you if you do make it on the other side?”

His words struck Starlight’s heart like a hot knife. She could see her mother’s disappointed look along with her friends’. The unicorn managed to force herself to look up at his towering figure, growing ever closer, his claws glowing dark purple.

“Over here ya goon!” a country accented voice shouted.

A wave of relief washed over Starlight as Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie showed up. Rainbow flew circles around their enemy and Applejack kicked him, followed by Pinkie blasting him with her party cannon.

The three ponies scattered as he tried to lay a hit on them. He growled in annoyance and went after Applejack.

Starlight picked herself up, mentally slapping herself to focus.

Not wanting her friends to get hurt, Starlight galloped off in the direction Nightfall went. She spotted him trying to hit Applejack with his claws, the werehyena right on her heels.

“Surprise attack!” Starlight heard Pinkie.

Nightfall turned to Pinkie behind him but was immediately getting bombarded by a bunch of pink cupcakes.

“Agh! Are you seriously throwing cupcakes at me right now?!” he shouted.

Pinkie crazily laughed as she continued her attack. She pulled out her party cannon, but Nightfall grabbed and crushed it in both claws.

Starlight paused for a beat, looking at Pinkie.

The pink mare was gone in a flash.

Nightfall turned his attention back towards Starlight. But paused and looked up. He teleported away and a blast of purple magic hit where he was. Starlight looked into the sky, spotting Twilight and Spike descending.

“Twilight!” Starlight cried, very relieved.

“Are the princesses safe?” Sunset asked.

“Mystic and the soldiers are transporting them,” replied Twilight.

Before Starlight could ask anything else, Nightfall landed between the two, sending out a shockwave and blowing them away.

Starlight quickly recovered and lit her horn. She gasped when she saw Spike had begun flying around him, breathing his green fire. Nightfall swung at him as Twilight joined his side. But then, both were grabbed by Nightfall’s aura and he flicked Spike away like he was nothing and lunged for Twilight. The alicorn teleported away and appeared behind him, but Nightfall let out a barrier, sending all who were near careening away.

Remember the plan, Starlight thought, sweat pouring down her face. To get those wristbands exposed.

BOOM!

An explosion of colors filled the sky. Starlight no doubt knew it was the signature Sonic Rainboom. A familiar blue pegasus with a streak of color behind her dove towards Nightfall and impacted him with full force. Starlight watched with wide eyes as Rainbow zoomed down the street, Nightfall along for the ride. Then she zoomed up into the sky, allowing the werehyena to skid along the street and crash into a fountain.

Thinking fast, she teleported over to the impact site, and Twilight joined her side. Both ponies lit their horns, watching the dust settle to give them a view of their enemy.

Suddenly, two shots of dark magic came out towards them. Starlight gasped and teleported out of the way. When she reappeared behind nearby boxes, she saw Twilight had managed to fly high in the air. Starlight’s eyes widened in horror as Nightfall stepped out, cracking his neck.

“Ouch,” he said casually.

Then, a deep crashing sound echoed through the city. Starlight looked behind her to see huge chunks of material falling towards the city and she could see that one of the towers had begun to collapse.

“Is that one of them down?” Applejack asked.

“It looks like it!” said Sunset.

Suddenly, Starlight was blown off her hooves and into a fruit stand.

“It’s closer than what you think!” she heard Nightfall.

Starlight looked up and saw her friends scatter again.

Then, Starlight saw an eerie orange glow rise above the nearby apartment complexes. Her eyes widened. Sunset and Twilight appeared next to Starlight, teleporting them away and into one of Canterlot’s parks.

There, Starlight got a clearer view of the fire burning along the buildings close to the middle of the city.

“Twilight! Why is the city burning?!” Sunset cried.

“I don’t know!” cried Twilight.

Starlight cringed at the thought of all of Canterlot burning to the ground.

“I’ll tell some of the soldiers to tell the dragons to prevent as much damage as possible!” Twilight immediately flew off to relay the message.

Starlight watched in horror as one of Canterlot’s beautiful buildings collapsed and landed in the middle of the capital.

“Here he comes again!” Rainbow cried.

Nightfall had appeared out of a teleportation and stomped towards them.

Rainbow flew off as Pinkie took off towards him. The pink mare spun circles around him. Sunset lunged forward and sent out some of her fire magic. This time, it struck him, setting him ablaze. He howled in pain. Starlight ran forward as Pinkie knocked him to the ground.

Then, something on his right ankle caught Starlight's attention. It was one of the bands they needed to destroy.

Out of pure instinct, Starlight struck the band with her magic.

A loud shattering sound pierced the air. Nightfall grunted as the fire on him went out and he stood up. He gasped when he saw the remains of one of his brackets.

“Uh oh...” said Sunset.

Nightfall looked at them and let out a roar, sending the approaching Rainbow careening away. Starlight cowered and looked at him, biting her lower lip. His aura was like a fire pulsing from his body. To Starlight’s horror, chunks of surrounding buildings were pulled from their places and Nightfall held them high, orbiting around one another.

Way to screw up, Starlight! Now he knows that we know the source of his power! The unicorn hit herself several times.

---

Meanwhile, in the residential areas just outside the city, Mystic has managed to escort Celestia, Luna, and Discord, who Luna was levitating, out of the danger zone. Mystic turned around to see the city partially burning as creatures of all kinds fought Nightfall’s minions. It looked like a picture from the deepest depths of Tartarus.

“Our beloved ponies...” Celestia frowned.

Mystic mirrored her frown, not knowing how many ponies might be injured or dead because of this attack. But she composed herself and resolved to stop this before it got worse.

She heard a sickly sneeze.

“Excuse me,” said the green creature, Mystic now knew as a draconequus.

“You need to worry about getting the hay out of here,” said Mystic, looking at the princesses, “Just get all of your subjects and the creatures to safety.”

Celestia sighed. “Okay. Thank you.”

“Thank the others when we’re out of this mess,” replied Mystic.

Without anything else to say, she bolted off back in the direction of the battle.

---

Mystic galloped down the streets of the city. All around and above her, creatures of all kinds fought against the skrees, the orcs, and the hellhounds. But Mystic was looking for the ringleader and she was hoping that they had been sticking to the plan.

Suddenly, she heard a deep rumble, and in front of her on the other side of various buildings, she saw a taller skyscraper partially collapse.

She immediately began galloping off in that direction.

A loud screech rang through the air. Before Mystic could react, she felt herself lifted off the ground. Holding back a surprised yelp, she looked up to see that a skree had grabbed her.

It took her higher and higher above the city, making the unicorn almost lose her stomach’s contents.

Mystic felt the skree’s talons pierce through her clothing and scratched the skin under her coat.

“Not today!” she cried. The unicorn let out a blast of magic, destroying the beast’s head.

Realizing she’s high above the city, Mystic’s survival instincts kicked in. Quickly, she spotted one of the city’s tallest towers almost touching the clouds. She aimed for it, landing right on top of it. Her hooves dug right into the steep tip of the tower as she slid towards the edge. The unicorn narrowly came to a stop just before she went over.

The dizzying height nearly caused her to lose her grip, but she held strong. Using her strength, she pulled her body weight onto the steeple.

Then, she heard a loud crash, the tower suddenly shifted, causing her to almost fall over. The unicorn saw, below her, that the tower she was on had begun to lean.

“Oh, boy, this is trouble,” she said.

The tower wouldn’t stop and it was going to fall. Mystic saw the tower was heading towards another one of the city’s tall towers. An idea struck her.

Despite her trembling hooves, Mystic climbed across the steeple as it became something she could run across. Then, the unicorn galloped at full force towards the tip, lunged for a banner on the tower over, and grabbed the very edge just as the tower below her collapsed.

Letting out a rough breath, Mystic spotted a window close by. Creating a magical rope, she allowed it to get as long as she could.

The tearing of fabric hit Mystic’s ears. No need to look up. Mystic tossed the rope, breaking the window and grasping onto something inside. Mystic let go of the banner, grabbing the rope and caused it to shrink, pulling her inside to safety.

Shaking and heaving, Mystic stood back up. But when she did, she felt the room she was in shake with the tower.

She groaned, knowing this building was coming down, too. It began shifting towards Mystic’s right. The unicorn ran over to the opposite side of the room, shattering a window with her magic. Poking her head outside, Mystic grabbed the rim of the window as the tower fell. She climbed out and the side of the tower was now perpendicular to her [hooves.

Mystic galloped across the wall, the tower plummeting towards the streets below. She saw a sturdier-looking building, and thinking fast, she bolted over, leaped towards it, and narrowly caught the rim of the roof. She looked behind her to see the collapsing building crash onto the street below.

“Daaanngg...” she said.

Barely paying any attention to the creatures holding off Nightfall’s minions, she looked down at the streets for the werehyena himself. She could make out griffons, hippogriffs and some changelings fighting but... Then, about three blocks away, she saw red and purple magic shooting through the streets. Adrenaline flowed through Mystic’s body. She slid off the dome and jumped over towards the roof of another building. She landed firmly on her hooves and she galloped across it and jumped to another roof.

As she got closer, she saw Rainbow in the sky dodging blasts from Nightfall. Mystic galloped faster and reached another rooftop. She could clearly see Nightfall delivering a barrage of punches at Twilight but missing every time. Then, Mystic jumped off the rooftop, pulling out her machete.

“Yaaaaahhh!” Mystic screamed, aiming right at Nightfall. Then, she landed right on top of him, knocking him flat onto his stomach. Mystic raised her machete, but Nightfall stood up, forcing Mystic to do a backward somersault off him. She landed firmly on her hooves, weapon, and magic at the ready.

“Where have you been?” Twilight asked, a frantic look in her eyes.

“Jumping from one collapsing building to another!” said Mystic. “What the hay has been going on?!”

“Nightfall knows what we’re up to!”

Mystic saw the werehyena throwing various chunks of asphalt at Rainbow and Sunset. “Great.”

Mystic turned back towards the target and lightly gasped when she saw a horde of charging orcs.

“I’m not sure how much longer we can hold against him!” cried Twilight.

Mystic grew worried. Would they not be able to destroy his wristbands?

Then, she saw shadows descending from the sky.

Changelings swooped down and attacked the hordes.

“This is for our kingdoms!” Ember cried.

Then, there were Accalia and Gunnolf with several members of the Pack and they aided the creatures in their assault.

Mystic couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

A few bright blue spears came from Mystic’s right, and to her surprise and disgust, it was General Hong. Nightfall deflected the spears as Hong stood his ground.

“Most of your minions are either trying to fight off the parties destroying your pathetic towers or are occupied with other creatures in the city!” said Hong. “It’s just you and us!”

Nightfall growled. “Then I’ll have to take you all on myself!”

Out of his aura, he generated a couple of swords and let out another surge of magic, but everypony had been ready for it. Hong charged towards Nightfall, followed by several of his troops. But the werehyena punched the general in the face and kicked him aside.

Mystic laughed again, satisfied at the sight.

But she couldn’t laugh for long, as everypony else charged to fight him. Mystic was about to jump into the fray but paused when she saw somepony hiding behind several boxes.

It was Starlight.

“Stand up and fight!” Mystic cried.

“I can’t face him!” replied Starlight.

“You can!” Mystic knelt and grabbed the unicorn by the cheeks.

“Starlight, they’re destroying your home! This is the creature who caused you and your friend so much harm!” Mystic said. “Don’t you want justice delivered?”

“Well, I...” Starlight began.

“Stop being hard on yourself, focus on the problem at hoof, and let your emotions out onto it!”

The nervous unicorn bit the bottom of her lip. Mystic saw Starlight’s horn light up.

“Dig deep, Starlight! As deep as you can!” Mystic encouraged, feeling a little bit of déjà vu.

Starlight stood up, facing the ongoing battle. Despite trembling lips, Starlight seemed to be trying to push past her insecurities.

Finally, Starlight let out her magic, destroying several orcs. Mystic saw the fire within her eyes. This caused her to proudly smile, knowing the unicorn had gotten her confidence back.

“Keep that spark alive, Starlight!” said Mystic. She charged onto the streets, followed by Starlight.

Down the streets, she saw a bunch of debris floating and being thrown towards the streets below. But several streams of fire emerged, destroying most of the debris.

A deep rumbling, crashing sound echoed through the city. Mystic looked up and saw that another tower was collapsing. But it was soon followed by flaming debris.

Mystic felt forelegs wrap around her torso and she barely had any time to react as she felt herself teleport and reappear close to where Twilight and the others were fighting Nightfall.

A loud shattering sound filled the air. Mystic looked down at Nightfall and he grabbed Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Applejack with his magic, slammed them into one another, and slung them to the street.

Mystic growled, hating how powerful he is. She jumped down towards the street.

Mystic ducked as Rutherford was thrown at her. She looked up and saw Ember and Queen Novo slammed into one another and they were shoved away by Nightfall’s dark magic. As he straightened himself up, she caught a glimpse of the last two wristbands.

But before she could do anything, Sunset and Gunnolf attacked next. Mystic immediately joined their side as Starlight let out a long-concentrated beam at the werehyena. He held up a claw and blocked it, focusing on Sunset and Gunnolf. The wolf jumped onto him and bit into his neck fur, but the werehyena grabbed and threw him off. Mystic barely dodged him as she readied her knives to strike him down.

But then, she felt herself shoved aside, losing her magical grasp on her knives as Hong charged forward.

Angered, Mystic picked herself, having half a mind to attack him. But before she could do anything, Nightfall punched Hong and Sunset hard, sending them careening away. Mystic stood up, Starlight appearing in front of her but she was grabbed and Nightfall teleported away.

Surprised, Mystic looked around vigorously for Nightfall. Only for him to reappear right in front of her.

He locked his gaze onto Mystic and snarled. Mystic returned it.

Deciding to use her words, Mystic spoke, “So, how’s it like living without a family? Lonely?”

Nightfall’s eyes widened, but then he gave a smile. “Doing your research, huh? Instead of giving her a beatdown as she’d expected, he spoke again. “Mystic, I presume?”

Mystic’s eyes widened. “How do you know my name?!”

Nightfall only chuckled. “I bet you know all about not living without a family.” Mystic froze and didn’t have time to react as Nightfall grabbed and tossed her. The unicorn landed hard on her back and rolled into the side of a building.

She barely had any time to react to Nightfall coming right at her. Mystic managed to shoot up to her hooves and dodge him. She ran into the middle of the street, the werehyena soon close by.

“I do have a little surprise for you!” he stated.

Nightfall slammed his glowing foot onto the ground. Mystic felt it beginning to shake under her hooves. Her eyes widened when she saw the street had begun to open up and is heading towards her. Thinking fast, Mystic lunged for a nearby building, grabbing the ledge of it, and pulling herself up. Sweating and heart racing, she climbed towards the top.

When she reached the roof, she fell onto her stomach. Looking up, she saw that the building was surrounded by a dark aura and heading towards Nightfall.

Mystic picked herself up and jumped towards an alleyway, almost crashing up against the wall.

Debris rained down nearby, Mystic shot a beam of magic into the opposite building and bolted inside as a loud crash echoed from outside.

Looking around, she spotted a window, galloped over, shattered it with her magic, and jumping out onto the street.

“Only one tower remains!” said Twilight, hovering above her.

Relieved she’s okay, Mystic nodded and galloped off towards Nightfall, who was currently trying to catch Pinkie with his magic.

As Mystic neared Nightfall, suddenly Ember, Thorax, and Rutherford showed up. The yak prince yelled and rammed right into the werehyena, sending him careening into a building. Ember breathed fire on him as Thorax turned into a bear and grabbed his right forearm.

Twilight appeared in front of Nightfall and destroyed one of his wristbands with her magic, causing it to shatter loudly.

Nightfall let out an angry shout. “You can’t stop me!” He teleported away. Mystic looked up into the sky and he was plummeting right towards them.

She let out a scream and galloped away, just as Nightfall landed in the street, letting out a shockwave of magic. Mystic ducked behind a bench, most of the force sailing over her.

Standing back up, she saw a ragged Nightfall making his way over to the yak prince and changeling king.

“Hey!” Mystic shouted, magically throwing a knife. Nightfall turned towards her and glared.

Then, a blast of purple magic came from Nightfall’s right, he turned his attention to Twilight. Mystic ran around Nightfall as Twilight continued to assault him. When she was close enough, Mystic lunged and grabbed Nightfall’s left arm.

He let out a surprised cry as Mystic pulled him to the ground. Letting out a shout, Mystic hit Nightfall’s final wristband with all her might. It loudly shattered, causing her to lose her grip on him.

“You!” he roared. Mystic rolled over onto her stomach, as she readied her machete.

A loud rumbling, crashing sound echoed throughout the city. Mystic looked up and saw the final tower collapsing. The dragons swooped towards the flaming debris above, knocking as much of it as they could away from the city.

But that didn’t stop some of it landing between Nightfall and Mystic, the fire cutting them off from one another.

Mystic tried to see Nightfall beyond the fire, but he was gone. Her eyes widened. Uh oh...

“The towers have been destroyed!” said Twilight.

“I still don’t know why the hay there’s fire everywhere!” said Sunset, approaching her and Mystic. “Where’s that monster?”

Mystic stood up and did take note that the fire seemed to be burning over some kind of liquid that was slowly spreading.

Maybe the towers had a failsafe to send fire onto the resistance below, she thought, thinking that was the answer.

“Where did Nightfall go?” Rainbow asked.

“Seems to have run off,” said Applejack.

Mystic narrowed her eyes. “We need to find him. Now.”

Author's Note:

Well, how about that? Like I said last week, I'll publish the next chapter this evening (CST the US) but I hope you all enjoyed!

Comments

[sonicfan05]

All I can say is: Epic!

They all managed to sneak in, rescued the prisoners, and fight Nightfall while destroying his wristbands.

It was a long and tough battle, but our heros finally have the upper hand. But something tells me that it's not over yet!

“What’re you all doing here?”

“Oh, um we’re just looking for some bad guys,” replied Mystic as she turned around. When she faced him, she magically threw a knife at the orc’s head. It went through his skull and he fell down dead. “Never mind, found one.”

I'll admit, despite that Mystic killed that Orc, that made me chuckle.

Can't wait for part two!