Wherein the Battle is Joined
The magitek armor stepped down with an earth shaking stomp.
It toppled over when its metallic hoof fell into a sinkhole hidden by the snow.
Gilda gave a surprised squawk as she was thrown from her perch and landed in an undignified heap in the snow below. She lifted herself up and was about to chew out the pilot for being so clumsy when the sound of metal screeching against metal reached her ears. The pilots following right behind the lead mech couldn’t react fast enough and crashed into the disabled walker. The entire Imperial force, over five hundred strong, came to a sudden stop.
“You idiots!” Gilda roared. She rushed up to the jumble of flailing mechanical limbs and slapped her forehead with a claw. “Tell me you morons can get out of this mess.”
“Ma’am!” a soldier called to her from the base of the first magitek armor. “A ditch was dug here. This was no accident.”
“I don’t care!” Gilda turned and pointed at the magitek armor pilots that had managed to stop before colliding with the others. “Go around and step lightly. Looks like these lame miners think they can stop us with a few weak traps. Get in there and make them wish they were never born!”
The pilots saluted and maneuvered their mechs around the pile up, heading down the main street of Neighshe. The magitek armor filed in one after the other, as the roadways of the mining town were too narrow for the mechs to walk side-by-side. The pilots took each step carefully, placing their metallic hooves down where the ground looked the most stable. The pacing was slow but they made steady progress, reaching the center of town within minutes. Nopony had yet to come out to face them, a fact that didn’t go unnoticed by the pilots who swept their gaze over the streets in search of any hostiles.
“Now!”
The sudden cry was followed by a series of explosions. A line of heating furnaces placed on the side of the street burst into flaming clouds of shrapnel, raining coal and bits of sharp metal. The blasts did little to the sturdy magitek armor, but the pilots were forced to dive under their consoles to avoid being pelted by falling debris. Confused by the sudden turn of events, they were unprepared for an attack from above. Returner pegasi with swords and knives clenched firmly in their teeth flew down from the rooftops and dove straight for the ponies operating the terror vehicles. Two pilots died within seconds of the assault. The others quickly reached for their side weapons stashed in the magitek armors’ cockpits and met the Returners steel for steel.
“Hurry up!” Raindrops yelled. She bucked a pilot squarely in the head, sending the Imperial tumbling down his mech. “Before reinforce—”
The shrill cry of an eagle ready to descend reached her ears. Raindrops looked up and grimaced. A flock of griffons and pegasi descended from above, claws and other sharp weapons ready to rend soft pony flesh.
Raindrops gripped her dagger tightly in her mouth, spread her wings wide, and sprang up to meet them.
.o.O.o.
“Units six through ten are encountering heavy resistance,” an Imperial said over the comlink of his console. “One, two, and three are still working their way out of the ditch. That leaves us to secure the mines. Move out!” The pilot flipped the comlink off and marched his magitek armor forwards. Behind him, a second mech followed, the pilot sweeping his gaze for any potential threats.
The soldiers made their way through the allies on the outskirts of Neighshe, hoping the fighting in the center of town would let them slip through unimpeded. With luck, they would enter the mines, find the esper, and leave without anypony being the wiser.
That hope ended when a light-blue unicorn stepped boldly in their path.
The lead pilot gasped and pointed a trembling hoof towards the lone pony. “Y-You’re General Trixie! The traitor!”
Trixie smirked and flipped her mane. “That’s the Great and Powerful Trixie. Remember it.”
“Torch her, quick!” the rear pilot called.
The pilot in front didn’t need to be told twice. A quick tap of a button opened the front panel of his magitek armor, revealing a sparkling lightning rod, seconds away from letting loose its terrible payload of electricity.
Trixie was quicker.
A red glyph burst around Trixie’s horn, who then fired multiple balls of ice right for the open port of the mech. The ice balls shattered against the crackling rod, bending it from the shear force of the impacts. A moment later, the Elec Beam released its built up power.
The entire front end of the magitek armor exploded.
The mech staggered and crashed into a building surrounding the alley, where it slid down and landed in a heap on the pavement. A giant hole of smoking and twisted metal was all that was left of the beam port. The soldier piloting the magitek armor coughed and stumbled out of the ruined machine and slowly began limping towards his comrade.
“The Fire Beam!” the injured pony shouted. “Hit her with that!”
The second mech was already opening its weapons port before the order was finished. A red hot beam shot out, aimed directly for the unicorn standing nonchalantly before them. A grin spread across Trixie’s muzzle as she lifted her sword into the air, its steel surface gleaming with a light of its own. To the Imperials’ horror, the beam curved off course and struck the sword instead of the pony, Trixie’s blade absorbing the energy as though it were a drain at the bottom of a sink. Red tendrils of magic arced off the sword to strike Trixie’s horn, her eyes glowing pure white.
“Oh ye of little talent,” Trixie said, her voice taking on a distorted echo. “Let Trixie show you how it’s done!”
Her horn bursting with light, Trixie reared up and spread her hooves to the sky. Before the soldiers knew what was happening, a cascade of ice rained down on them and stuck to their bodies. Within seconds both they and their magitek armor were frozen solid by the magical ice storm.
Trixie’s horn dimmed and the mare fell back to all four hooves. She regarded the new sculptures of ice decorating the alley and scoffed. “Pathetic. They’re really letting the training slip if they can’t put up more of a fight than that. This will be easier than Trixie thought.” With that, Trixie turned away from her hoofwork and galloped towards the center of town.
.o.O.o.
The clang of steel, hooves beating against armor, and wings flapping filled Rainbow Dash’s ears from all directions. She flitted from point to point, striking out at enemy griffons and pegasi with hooves and her dagger whenever she got an open shot, then darting away before any retaliation could be had. Blood dripped down her dagger and more would be added before the day was done. Rainbow Dash could see hordes of Imperials still waiting in reserve before Neighshe’s gates. She wasn’t much for strategy, but Rainbow Dash knew that the invading army only had to wear out the defenders before pushing in to finish them off. Even having taken out the first line of magitek armor, the Empire was still a formidable force.
“C’mon, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said through gritted teeth. She banked low to zip under an Imperial pegasus, twisted, and kicked out. She caught the pony in the stomach, doubling him over. He coughed and held his stomach even as he plummeted out of the air. Rainbow Dash turned away, quickly darting past two griffons attempting to closepin her. The griffons recovered quickly and gave chase, nipping and clawing at the adventurer’s coronets. “We could really use that esper’s help right about now.”
She climbed higher, her powerful wings putting more distance between her and the griffons chasing her. A bright flash of red and green light caught her attention on a snowy cliff to her side. Rainbow Dash chanced a quick peek to see a pair of tiny dragons spitting fire at a group of soldiers making their way up the slopes. She snapped her gaze back and flipped backwards in the air. The sudden change in direction caught the griffons off guard, allowing Rainbow Dash to zip by them. A flick of her dagger later and a thin red line appeared on the back of one of the griffons. A cry of rage and pain echoed behind her.
Rainbow Dash smirked around her weapon, the intoxicating feel of battle coursing through her. No pony or griffon was going to be matching her in the sky!
She continued her decent, seeking a new target to hit and run, when her sights fell upon a large griffon barking orders on top of a disabled magitek armor.
“Gilda.”
Rainbow Dash flapped her wings harder and adjusted her course.
.o.O.o.
“Argh!”
Raindrops landed on the pavement in an awkward heap. Her cry of pain loosened her grip on her sword, sending it clattering on the street next to her. She let out a groan and twisted her head towards her weapon. Her side burned, her vision swam but Raindrops clenched her teeth and reached a hoof out to her blade.
A sharp set of talons slammed down on her, pinning her hoof to the ground. Raindrops gasped as new sensations of pain rocked her body. She heard the griffon above her give a roar and knew that her time had come. She closed her eyes and waited.
Two heavy thunks were heard, followed by a piercing screech of pain. The pressure keeping Raindrops down lessened. With a grunt of effort, Raindrops pushed the griffon off of her, snatched her sword in her teeth, twirled, and buried it into her flailing assailant’s neck. The griffon gurgled once and then lay still.
Raindrops stepped back and took stock of the dead Imperial. Two crossbolts were lodged in the griffon’s side, just below the wing. The pegasus looked up and saw a large red stallion give her a nod from a rooftop across from her. She nodded back, recognizing the newest member of their band before he turned and headed off.
Heaving a deep sigh, Raindrops reached down to retrieve her sword only to let out a squeak of pain at the burning in her side. She gritted her teeth, pushing through the pain and trying to keep her eyes off of whatever wound was causing such agony. There was a war to fight and there weren’t enough ponies on her side to replace her if she quit now. She tried picking up her sword again, only to fall to her knees as the pain continued to worsen.
She heard steps of something running up to her. Her body tensed, ready to spring into action regardless of if her body would respond. Whatever it was stopped short of her and then the rustling of feathers and a soft thud was heard.
“Hold still. I’ve got a potion here to help.”
The voice sounded familiar. There had been so many new members signing up with the Returners that it was hard to keep track of all the bodies coming in. She managed to crane her neck and caught a flash of silver feathers just before an orange beak holding a potion bottle entered her view.
“This will probably sting...”
He was right.
Raindrops let out a gasp as the healing liquid was poured over her wound. It felt like fire was being spread over her. Tears ran unbidden down her face but she did not move. Something wrapped around her, covering over the wound and keeping the potion from running down her coat.
“There. That’s about all I can do for ya.”
Slowly and carefully, Raindrops rose to a standing position. She noticed a white bandaged wrapped around her, taking note that it appeared to be a proper medical dress. Her side still burned, but it was an ache she could deal with. She looked up at the chocobo standing next to her and said, “Thanks. I owe ya. Sorry, but I didn’t catch your name.”
“It’s Stardust. That bossy boss of yours has got me going around helping out where I can.”
“Thanks. We need all the help we can get.” Raindrops gave a flap of her wings and smiled as they responded to her commands. “I need to get back up there. Who knows how things are going without me.”
Stardust rolled his eyes. “That rainbow one is doing all sorts of crazy things. It’s a wonder I haven’t had to pour a hundred potions down her throat by now.”
“Well, can’t let her steal all the glory!” Raindrops lightly bobbed her hoof on Stardust’s chest and bent down to pick up her sword in her mouth. “Y’r take care of y’rself!” She then took off and back into the melee. Behind her, Stardust waved a wing then quickly packed up his supplies and headed off to find his next patient.
.o.O.o.
“What is taking so long?!”
“Sorry, ma’am!” the Imperial said even as he cringed back from Gilda’s furious face. “But we’re encountering more resistance than we thought. Reports are coming in that all the mine entrances that we’ve tried going into have been booby trapped. Snow, rocks, and wood keep falling and blocking the entrances.”
Gilda slapped a claw against her forehead. “Then blow it out of the way! That’s why we got magitek here.”
The soldier looked down at the three magitek armor they were standing on that were just now being lifted out of the ditch. “That might still be a while...”
A second claw met the first. “You lameos are killing me here.”
“Hey Gilda! Think fast!”
Gilda snapped her head up just in time to see a blue hoof fill up her vision. The next moment, pain blossomed all over her face. The griffoness tumbled end over end and only stopped when she landed in a heap on the snow covered ground. Shouts and orders were heard above but all Gilda could do was hold her head and groan. However, one voice cut through the fogginess of her brain.
“Get up here and face me, ya pussycat! Or are those sissy wings of yours not up to it?”
Gilda’s eyes snapped open. Her pain forgotten, Gilda raised her head and fixed the pegasus with the multicolored mane with a glare that made her troops back up. “What did you say?”
The hovering pegasus crossed her forelegs and smirked. “I said, you couldn’t fly your way through wet tissue paper!”
The Imperials, holding their weapons ready to strike on command, turned their attention to their eerily quiet and calm leader. Gilda snorted and waved them off. “Excuse me. I need to deal with this one personally.” The soldiers gulped and backed off, putting as much distance between themselves and the general as they could.
Gilda made a show of inspecting her claws as she said, “I only have one thing to say to you, Returner.”
“Oh?” the pegasus said, quirking an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
The griffon lifted her talons to the sky, each covered by a red, pulsating light. “DIE!”
.o.O.o.
Twilight Sparkle yelped and flinched as the cave was rocked by an unseen force. A distant and muffled explosion reached her ears seconds later. She gulped and continued her trek down the mine shaft.
“Sounds like it’s getting pretty intense up there,” Spike said, his grip around Twilight’s neck tightening. “I hope everyone’s okay.”
“Me too, Spike,” Twilight replied, a deep frown marring her muzzle. “This is just awful.”
“You’ll find that esper and it’ll make things alright again. I just know it.”
“I hope so.”
The two lapsed into silence, the only sounds Twilight’s hooves on the ground and the occasional rumblings of faroff explosions. They traveled deeper in the tunnels, Twilight stopping every few minutes to raise her horn and close her eyes. Once she started moving again, she would choose a passage seemingly at random.
After a few more times of this, Spike asked, “Do you know where you’re going?”
“I think so,” Twilight said. “I... I can feeling something almost guiding me. I don’t know if it’s the esper, but it’s the only thing I have to go on.” She fell silent again, concentrating on feeling the force that seemed to pull on her horn. A minute later her eyes widened and her pace quickened to a run. “I think we’re getting close. Just a little more...”
She turned a bend and came upon an entranceway that was bordered up with two-by-fours. The work on covering up the entrance appeared to be haphazard, with beams that were only partially hammered in and piles of discarded nails littering the ground. A simple application of levitation from Twilight cleared the mess and ripped off the wooden beams with ease. With the entrance now free of obstruction, Twilight firmed up her features and walked in.
The chamber beyond was like all the other rooms of the mine. Dank and dark walls marked with pickaxe strikes circled the room and buckets of collected coal lay strewn across the rocky floor. However, it was the glowing ice set at the back of the chamber that drew Twilight's and Spike’s attention.
“There it is,” Spike said, his gaze locked onto the frozen esper. “This... this is my first time seeing it. Whoa.”
Twilight said nothing. She stood where she was, staring at the ancient creature before her.
“Twilight?” Spike gently shook the unicorn beneath him. “Hey. You alright?”
“I...,” Twilight said barely above a whisper. “I can feel it. I can feel its mind.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She let it out slowly, reopened her eyes, and began to walk forward. “Only one way to find out.”
The short distance to the esper was crossed in silence. As they drew closer, Twilight and Spike began to make out tiny details of the esper through the transparent ice. What appeared to be feathers were spread all over the esper’s body, each seemingly as sharp as daggers and colored a dull green and brown. Large wings could be seen, tucked tightly against the esper’s body as though they were being used to protect the trapped creature. Twilight couldn’t make out a head, though she had a good approximation as to where it was located and set her gaze towards the top of the ice block.
One thing that was hard to miss were the waves of magical pressure that spread from the esper every few seconds.
Twilight stopped a few hooves away and tried to swallow through her suddenly dry mouth. “Um, hello?” she called out.
No response came, though the constant pulses of magic continued.
“H-H-Hello. My... my name’s Twilight. Twilight Sparkle. I... hope you can hear me. I need your help. I have friends... friends who are in trouble. If you can hear me, please help them.”
The esper remained as it was.
Spike stroked his chin, observing the frozen creature with narrowed eyes. “You know, this thing might be sleeping. Maybe you have to wake it up first.”
“How?” Twilight asked.
The dragon’s answer came when he flicked her horn with a claw.
“Oh,” Twilight said, a blush coloring her cheeks. “Right.”
Twilight concentrated and the familiar feeling of power welled within herself. When she felt ready, Twilight thrust her head forward, letting loose a stream of fire from her horn. Her aim was true and the magical flame struck against the block of ice that was her target. Twilight willed her fire spell to hold for a full minute, then pulled back and fell on her haunches. Spike yelped and grabbed hold of the unicorn’s neck to keep himself from being thrown off. Once the two had recovered their bearings, they looked up and took stock of Twilight’s efforts.
A small round indent of melted ice, no more than an inch deep, could be seen on the ice.
“Well, that was a bust,” Spike said with a sigh.
He nearly lost his seat a second time when Twilight jerked without warning.
“Whoa! Twi, what’s the matter?”
“What am I?” Twilight muttered under her breath. She sat up fully and took a step forward. “I... I don’t know. I don’t know who I am.”
“Uh, Twilight, who are you talking to?”
Twilight ignored him. Her focus remained fixed on the esper. “Then tell me who I am!” she yelled.
“Twilight, what’s going—”
A blue light pulsed from the esper, flinging Spike off of Twilight’s back and across the room. Spike groaned and pushed himself to his feet on wobbly arms. He shook his head and gazed up. Twilight’s back was facing him, her cape flapping wildly in an unnatural wind.
She took another step forward.
“Please! Tell me!”
“Twi,” Spike mumbled. He reached out to her even though he was far away. “Twilight, don’t go near it.”
“What... What’s this feeling? What are you doing?”
“Twilight! Get away from it!” Forcing past his dizziness, Spike ran forward, summoning his spear with a breath of fire.
Another blue light pulsed from the esper, filling the entire cave. Spike shielded his eyes with an arm to block out the light but a scream from Twilight made him wrench it away. There, in the center of the cave, Twilight hovered above the ground. Blue lightning streaked their way from the frozen esper and arched over the unicorn’s body. Her open eyes were a solid white. Her body arched and spasmed in the throes of intense pain. Twilight opened her mouth as if to scream only for light to spill out.
“Twilight!”
Spike leapt up and made a grasp for Twilight’s struggling form. A blue bolt lanced out and struck him in the chest, sending him back to the ground. He coughed and held his smoking chest, his other claw still gripped around his spear. Light filled the cavern, though this time it took on a reddish glow. Intense heat beat down on Spike from above. He looked up and his eyes widened.
Twilight’s body still hovered in place, but everything else had changed. Her violet coat was now a blazing orange and her mane and tail flowed of red and yellow fire. The cloak that had protected her from the elements was gone, bunt to a cinder. In its place were two large wings, spread out and covered in glorious flaming feathers. Twilight’s eyes were now closed and her head was tilted back, her earlier agony gone to be replaced with a serene expression.
Then her eyes snapped open, revealing red pupils shrunk back in terror.
The last thing Spike remembered was the screech of a pony tortured beyond the brink of despair and the sound of falling rocks.
.o.O.o.
Two wind blades sliced through the space Rainbow Dash had occupied only moments before, cleaving the air with a buzzsaw like sound. Rainbow corkscrewed past another set of blades, a few hairs on her mane drifting away from the close shave. She then spread her wings wide to come to a complete stop to avoid a small tornado that threatened to suck her up.
It was all rather unfair, in Rainbow Dash’s humble opinion.
“Darn you!” she cried out as she launched herself up in the air to avoid a flurry of snowflakes directed her way by the unnatural winds. “Quit with the freaky magic already and fight me fair and square!”
“I’m doing well enough right here, ya loser,” Gilda said with a smirk. The griffon hadn’t moved from her spot since their fight began, other than to swipe her claws to direct where her magic went. “It’s your fault for picking a fight you can’t win.”
“We’ll see about that!” Rainbow Dash twisted and descended down, aiming straight for Gilda. Rainbow pushed her body through the winds buffeting her, forcing herself to remain on target despite the strain on her wings. She flipped her dagger in her mouth, ready to use it for when an opening presented itself.
The opportunity arrived when the winds suddenly died out, leaving her with an open shot.
“Eat this!” Rainbow Dash flung her dagger, the unexpected move causing Gilda’s eyes to widen in surprise.
The surprised look didn’t last. Gilda swiftly lifted a claw and the dagger stopped a mere inch in front of her. Gilda rotated the weapon in the air lazily on a small current of wind, smirking at the shocked look upon Rainbow Dash’s muzzle. “You just don’t get it, do you? Magic is the new power in this world and if you don’t have it, well, you’re just a moron waiting to be run over.” She twirled the dagger, making its bladed end point at Rainbow Dash. “Let’s see if this will help sink it in for ya.” With that, Gilda sent the dagger sailing towards the pegasus faster than it had been thrown.
It covered half the distance when a pink aura surrounded it and stopped it in midair.
Gilda’s eyes narrowed and looked to see a familiar unicorn stride onto the battlefield, her horn alight with the same pink as that held the dagger. “Trixie.”
“Gilda,” Trixie responded. She tossed her head, sending the dagger back into Rainbow Dash’s grasp. Behind Trixie, Big Macintosh was busy keeping any Imperials from interfering with his auto-crossbow by firing a few rounds whenever somepony thought to make a move. This allowed Trixie to walk up to her fellow general unchallenged. “Trixie is surprised that Blueblood would let a buffoon such as you in charge. What, did Trixie’s absence leave such a hole that he was desperate enough to fill it with the likes of you?”
“Better than the utter failure you turned out to be,” Gilda shot back, her beak morphing into a sneer. “And now you’re with the enemy. Heh, guess that means I don’t have to feel bad about killing you. Not that I would have before.”
Trixie unsheathed her sword with her magic and held it at the ready. “You’re welcomed to try. And the feeling’s mutual.”
No more words were said. Gilda swiped her claws, creating a set of wind blades that streaked towards Trixie. Trixie hopped out of the way and sent an icicle spear back. Gilda slashed again, her wind sending the icicle off course to cash against the ground. She didn’t have time to follow up as Trixie charged in, sword held out to pierce her heart. The griffon stood fast and met Trixie’s charge, grabbing the blade with her talons before it could reach her chest. Gilda strained her arms, even as blood dribbled down the sword, and pushed back. Trixie grunted to keep her sword in control as Gilda’s strength proved enough to counter her levitation.
“Yah!”
A blue hoof collided with Gilda’s head, making her lose her grip on the sword and sending her tumbling in the snow.
“Forget about me?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Big mistake.”
“One I’ll be correcting now,” Gilda said. She jumped to her hind legs and raised her claws. Soon, a powerful wind developed around the entire battlefield, whipping the manes and tails of all the combatants nearby. The winds swirled around, creating a vortex of spinning magic with Gilda at the center. “Let’s see you fly through this.” Gilda thrust her claws forward and the summoned tornado was sent on a path of destruction towards Rainbow Dash.
“Oh, boy.” Rainbow Dash leapt into the air and flapped as hard as she could to get out of the way, but the oncoming twister was too close. With a cry of despair, Rainbow Dash was sent spinning backwards and sucked towards the tornado.
A flash of light came from Trixie’s sword and the turbulent winds died down. Rainbow Dash managed to regain her bearings and flew away from the magical twister. She looked back to see the tornado rip apart, the winds being redirected towards Trixie’s blade.
“Oh, yeah,” Rainbow Dash said. “Forgot she could do that.”
“Attack her now!” Trixie called out.
“Got it!” Rainbow Dash banked hard and zeroed in on the befuddled Gilda. With her dagger ready, she dove down to finish the griffon off.
Somewhere behind her, the mountain exploded.
Rocks and boulders rained down, crushing houses and scattering friend and foe alike. Debris fell everywhere, dusting the pristine white snow that coated Neighshe in a thick layer of blasted coal. Once all the rocks had fallen, a profound silence came to be. For a moment, ponies, chocobos, griffons, and dragons stopped fighting. They all gazed up at the large, dark hole that had been blown out of the side of the mountain, each wondering what could have caused such a thing to happen.
They didn’t have to wonder long.
From within the hole, a glowing red light rocketed out. It flew around with no apparent flight plan while letting off a scream that caused many to cover their ears. It veered downwards, skimming over the homes of Neighshe and leaving behind a trail of fire. The heat was so intense that the roofs and metal sidings melted before they could catch aflame and forced those closest to take cover or be burned to death. Those brave enough to follow the screeching light caught sight of a pony with both wings and a horn covered in flames. She appeared to be writhing in agony, with no sense of what was happening. The flaming creature then shot straight up into the sky and was lost within the clouds.
Gilda was first to recover. She shook her head and whistled through her claws. “Get to the hole! That’s where the esper is.” Further taking advantage of the lull in the action, Gilda balled up her claws and planted a fist in Rainbow Dash’s belly. The pegasus let out a whoosh of air and fell to the ground, clutching her stomach. With Rainbow Dash down, Gilda made a break for the three magitek armour that had finally been pulled from the ditch.
Rainbow Dash gasped for breath and tried getting back to her hooves. At that point, a green glow surrounded her body and all her fatigue and pains drained away. She blinked and saw Trixie standing next to her. “Uh, thanks.” Rainbow Dash spread her wings and faced the direction that Gilda had run off to. “That no good, featherless dodo!”
Trixie stepped in front of Rainbow Dash before the pegasus could take off. “Forget her. You need to get back up there and keep the Empire away from the esper.”
“Who cares about that? What about that weird flamy thing?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Twilight Sparkle.”
“That… that was Twilight?”
Trixie reached forward and forced Rainbow Dash’s head to face the mountain with the gaping hole. “Focus. We’ll deal with her later. Are you going to let the Empire win now after all of this?”
Rainbow Dash shrugged off Trixie’s grip and gave her a cross look. “Alright, alright. But don’t think I’m abandoning Twi!” With that, she took off to join her fellow Returners in the air.
Trixie didn’t remain idle, either. She ran off towards the town, muttering about finding the big red stallion again.
.o.O.o.
The Imperials got to the hole first.
With speed and precision of a well disciplined unit, pegasus ponies flew down the blown out mountainside while a unit of griffons stayed behind to set up a protective barrier. Returner pegasi rushed in, but a beam of intense heat shot past them and forced them to pull up short. Below, the remaining magitek armor angled their weapon ports upwards and fired on the Neighshe defenders.
Hundreds of hooves below the mountain, the Imperials quickly found the frozen esper. The blue glow that had surrounded it was gone, making it appear lifeless. The Imperials got to work wrapping ropes around the esper and securing the lines to themselves. It took a dozen pegasi to generate the wing power necessary to lift the dead weight of the ice off the ground and several underneath it to keep it steady. Slowly but surely, the Imperials soldiers moved the esper through the hole left by the being covered in fire.
None of them noticed a small figure crawl its way out from underneath some fallen rocks and gingerly make its way out of the cavern.
.o.O.o.
“Can’t you get us closer?”
“Nope.”
“What do you mean, no? Use that thingy that shoots all the arrows!”
“I ran out of ‘em.”
“Don’t you have anything else to use?”
“The Noise Blaster is busted, so nope.”
“Great. Just great,” Trixie said. She slashed at a unicorn Imperial with her sword, but was countered by his own levitating sword. The soldier stepped past her guard and managed to land a blow to Trixie’s chest with his forehoof, forcing her back. Trixie retaliated with a shower of small icicles, but the soldier was quicker and twirled his sword, creating a whirling barrier that knocked away the small projectiles. Rather than press his attack, he retreated back and regrouped with his fellow comrades. There, a line of ponies held their position in front of the magitek armor that were still firing on enemy pegasi. “They’re forming up.”
“What’s that mean?” Big Macintosh asked. Deprived of his ammunition, the stallion had been forced to rely on standard weaponry such as the sword he had clutched in his mouth at the handle. Despite the handicap, Big Macintosh’s great size allowed him to hold his own against any Imperials that challenged him.
“It means that they are getting ready to leave. They’re just stalling us now.”
Indeed, most of the forces at Gilda’s command had left the town and had formed a defensive ring around the general’s magitek armor. Over a hundred soldiers had remained in reserve on the snowy plains and were now fighting at full strength to keep the Returners and their Neighsheen allies away.
“Does that Returner leader of yours have any more tricks?” Trixie said. She sized up the remaining ponies on her side against that of the Empire’s and didn’t like the numbers that came up. “Because we could use a few more.”
“Don’t know.”
“Wonderful.”
“Look out, below!”
Trixie and Big Macintosh both flinched as Rainbow Dash crashed in the space between them. The pegasus had seen better days, as her clothes were ripped in several places and was sporting numerals black and blue welts across her body. She struggled to get up and looked expectantly to Trixie. “A little help…”
With a roll of her eyes, Trixie cast a healing spell over Rainbow Dash’s form. Rainbow Dash gave a large sigh of relief. “Thanks again. That spell is really something.”
“What happened to the esper?” Trixie asked.
Rainbow Dash growled and hung her head. “Can’t talk now. I’ve got to stop them.” She spread her wings and made to take off.
Big Macintosh clamped down on her tail with his teeth, bringing her to a halt.
“Mish Dash,” he said through clenched teeth. “Stap. You’re gonna get killed.”
“Leggo! They’re gonna get away with the esper!”
Trixie added her magic to Big Macintosh’s strength and yanked Rainbow Dash down by the ear. “What do you mean? What happened to it?”
“Look!” Rainbow Dash cried, pointing a hoof into the air.
The other two ponies did so. Their jaws dropped.
Up above, the trapped esper dangled from dozens of ropes tied around it. A flock of pegasi and griffons surrounded the frozen creature, either carrying or defending it from the remaining Returners trying to stop them. Cover fire from the magitek armors further separated the Returners from the esper they had come here to protect.
“See?” Rainbow Dash said. “They’re getting away with it!”
Before Trixie or Big Macintosh could respond, one of the magitek armor turned away from the battle above and fired a beam into Neighshe itself. The hot stream of magic burned through the wooden homes of the town like tissue paper and started several fires. More fire beams followed the first and soon half the town became engulfed in flame. Returner ponies broke off from the fighting to swoop down and gather water in buckets in an effort to staunch the raging inferno. With fewer fighters to deal with, the Imperial soldiers finished carrying the esper to an awaiting flatbed and got to work securing it for travel.
Rainbow Dash roared at the top of her lungs. She broke away from Trixie and Big Macintosh’s grasp in a flurry of movement and charged for the Imperial army.
Mayor Mare stepped into her path, bringing Rainbow Dash to a screeching halt.
“It’s over, Dash,” Mayor Mare said. She looked over her shoulder to the retreating army, sighed, and shook her head. “I’ve given orders for all Returners to return to Neighshe and help with the fires. That includes you too.”
“Forget it.” Rainbow Dash hopped over her leader and continued on her way.
“You’re only going to get killed, Rainbow,” Mayor Mare called to her. “You’ll never be able to help your partner if you’re dead.”
Rainbow Dash stopped in her tracks. Slowly, she turned her head to face Mayor Mare, her eyes narrowed in anger but were now filling with tears. “How could you say that?”
“If I didn’t, I’ll regret it forever, because it’s the only thing I could think of to stop you.”
“I can do this! Just give me a chance. I’ll get the esper—”
Mayor Mare stepped up to her and placed a hoof to Rainbow Dash’s lips. “It’s too late. We lost today. But we’re still alive, which means we can fight another time.
“Believe me, Rainbow, I hate this too. The Empire will pay for this, mark my words. Just… not today.” Mayor Mare looped her leg around Rainbow Dash’s neck and brought the younger pony in for a hug. The pegasus sniffed, her welled up tears falling to the snow covered ground to form a small puddle that would freeze later. After a few moments, Mayor Mare released her hold and said, “Now, go help with the fires. It’ll take your mind off of things for a while.”
Rainbow Dash viciously wiped her hoof against her face, clearing away her remaining tears, and looked towards the south. The Empire’s army could still be seen against the dull grey of the mountain sides, slowly making their way back to South Fillygaro. Somewhere in their ranks the esper lay, taken to be used to power the Empire’s growing magical force.
With a grunt, Rainbow Dash rose up into the air towards the smoldering buildings of Neighshe.
.o.O.o.
“Status report, ma’am.”
Mayor Mare looked up with a tired expression, catching sight of Raindrops saluting to her. Her right-hoof mare appeared just as battle weary as she felt and Mayor Mare winced at the sight of the bloody bandage wrapped around the pegasus’ torso. Placing down a wooden board meant to repair a damaged home, Mayor Mare indicated for Raindrops to continue.
“Twenty-five are confirmed dead. More than double that are wounded. I haven’t heard of anypony from Neighshe having been killed.
“All the fires have been contained. The dragons from the mines have been helping us put out some of the more stubborn ones. They seem to be fireproof so they can get into the hotter spots without much trouble.
“We’ve cleared out all of the Imperial soldiers’ bodies. Some of the magitek armor that was left behind still works and Big Macintosh says that he may be able to fix up the ones that are broken.
“That’s all I have.”
Mayor Mare rubbed a hoof over her eyes, blinking away the sleep that threatened to overtake her. “Any word on Twilight Sparkle?”
“Last I heard, she was spotted heading west. Orders, ma’am?”
The Returner leader sighed. “Keep helping with the reconstruction. And get some rest yourself.”
“Got it.” With that, Raindrops left Mayor Mare to her work.
She wasn’t alone for long.
“Trixie wants to know what you plan on doing next.”
Mayor Mare’s glare would have felled any other pony. Trixie appeared oblivious to it. The former Imperial marched up to Mayor Mare and fixed her with an expectant look. “Unless you want to wallow in this burned out pit, Trixie urges that we take action while we can.”
“And what do you suggest?” Mayor Mare asked. She swept her hoof, taking in the entirety of Neighshe. “If you hadn’t noticed, my ponies are tired and injured, the town needs fixing, and the Empire probably has that esper halfway to Vectorlot by now. We are not in any shape to do anything right now.”
“Getting the esper back would be a waste of time, Trixie assures you,” she replied. “What Trixie proposes is that we find Twilight Sparkle. After her little tantrum, the Empire will no doubt want that power back on their side, as meager as it is.”
Mayor Mare remained silent for a time. Finally, she nodded and said, “That’s actually a good idea. But let me make myself perfectly clear. I want Twilight back because she’s a nice pony and doesn’t deserve what’s been done to her. She’s a friend, got that?”
“If you knew half of what Trixie knows, you wouldn’t be saying that,” Trixie said and scoffed. “But, whatever. I’ll be off—”
“Wait!”
The pair of ponies blinked and turned to see Spike limping his way over to them, his spear being used as a crutch. “I’m… going with you.”
Trixie let out a huff and approached the little dragon. “You can barely walk and you want to come? You should stay here and not get in the way.”
“I’m coming. She’s my pupil. I won’t let her down again.”
“Hold it!”
Rainbow Dash swooped down from above and landed in the center of the group.
Trixie facehoofed. “Let me guess, you want to come too?”
“Eeyup.”
“Ah!” Trixie whirled around, spotting Big Macintosh and Stardust standing beside her. “Don’t do that!”
“I hear you want to go west,” Big Macintosh said, ignoring Trixie’s glare. “I might know a way.”
“And west means my homeland,” Stardust added. “I want to check in on my remaining clan members.”
“Whoa. Hold it, time out!”
All eyes turned to Rainbow Dash, who blushed at all the sudden attention. “Um, what are you all talking about?”
“Finding Twilight, Rainbow,” Mayor Mare said. “Why, what are you here for?”
“Oh. Well of course I’m coming too. No way am I leaving Twilight hanging. But I came over here because of this!” Rainbow Dash reached into her pouch and pulled out a rolled up piece of paper. “This just came by carrier pigeon. It’s from Applejack!”
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2175533
Have you heard of/seen "Pony Fantasy 6"?
That drove me to smile in a goofy fashion
So you took a different route from the game and let the Empire capture the Esper. Interesting.
Sorry if I keep bringing this up again and again, but I'm really looking forward to the dancer flirting with Shining Armor if you plan on putting it up. If not, I understand, you have bigger ideas in mind.
Can we get a picture of esper-form twilight? For some reason she sounds different than the one from the game... But maybe it's just me.
3105008
You might yet get your wish.
3108252
I have no artistic ability whatsoever, so that might not happen. Just imagine Twilight in "Feeling Pinkie Keen" when she goes all fiery and now with wings.
3104603
Yep. From this point on, knowledge of the game goes out the window. Be prepared for more surprises!
3108265 O.K., that works!
Interesting to see another FF6/pony crossover. A cursory glance over your chapters reveals I have much to practice in descriptions, but that is why I'm writing, ahah. At any rate, it's cool to see all the neat stuff you're doing with the story. Keep it up.
3119554
Even after years of being on this site, I'm still finding stuff that I never thought I would.
Thanks for the comment! We wish you good luck with your own story. Little by little, we all improve.
3284358
Oh wow, thanks for the feedback! It's interesting to have a reader that hasn't played the game. You've given us plenty to think about in terms of explaining things to the audience. Especially since we plan on redoing these earlier chapters.
Glad you are enjoying!
A... carrier pigeon? So that's what Rarity sent back then... I hope. Still, an interesting development. The fight was good, but Twilight talking to the esper did not go well, it did not go well at all.
3287661
Once again, thanks for all the great comments!
I'm curious to know what we can do to fix the pacing issues you talked about. More instances of characters thinking over what happened or fleshing out a scene?
Just so you know, the battle at Neighshe did not go the way it does in the game. We changed it up so that the Empire won. This will have further implications as we go forth. We simply don't want to write out a "walk through" of the game, but make the story our own.
Also, that was not the letter that Rarity sent out...
3287735
Yeah, taking some time to explore what the character's are feeling, and trying to flesh out the scenes a bit hard. Its a little difficult to imagine the locations from time to time...
Oh? Well well well, that is interesting information. Taking it away from the game, and Rarity's letter.. I hope she isn't betraying the group...
3309216
Thanks for enjoying!
You'll get to see who we picked for Rachel fairly soon.
As for magic, in our story description we state that most magic is gone except for very week telekinesis for unicorns. The magic that Twilight is able to cast is a different kind and Rainbow was referring to this. We'll be clearing the distinction up in due time.
Since Twilight was revealed to be Terra, I knew what to expect when she transformed. Or so I thought. While the “Rapidash!Twi” was completely expected, the alicornification was not. Will that remain once she changes back, or is it strictly when she’s using Trance, I wonder.
I see what you did there you use her angry physically cartoon when she got angry she was on fire classic cartoon Angry and adding a wing
Well the battle was beginning glida and her Army on the attack the returners and the ponys of Neighshe are defending their home and also the esper meanwhile Twilight and Spike made it through the cave and stop to the Frozen esper but unfortunately Twilight interact with the Frozen creature inside and it looks like she reveal her true self while the battle was going on Gilda Rainbow dash and Trixie are fighting each other but all heck broke loose when Twilight flew up and out of control flew away but unfortunately it was a perfect distraction and the Empire finally got the esper and with that we have lost the battle but is another way they need to find Twilight but it looks like Applejack send out a letter something's wrong