The Fall of the Anoian

by bookhorse125

Chapter Twenty-Three - Starlight

The Anoians had taken the Equestrian forces by surprise. Starlight Glimmer would give them that. They did one thing right. But they made a very stupid decision by making her angry.

Starlight had done some… questionable things in her past. She’d stolen a whole village of ponies’ cutie marks, as well as Twilight Sparkle and her friends’ marks. She’d tried to run off with Twilight and her friends’ marks, and although she lost the cutie marks, she’d gotten away. Then she’d spied on Twilight for a while, trying to figure out what she could do to Twilight that would hit her where it hurts. She’d changed one of Starswirl the Bearded’s spells so that she could go back in time to prevent the first Sonic Rainboom from happening, leading to a bunch of alternate futures where villains reigned supreme. And she’d made a bunch of other mistakes she regretted. But she’d also reformed the entire changeling tribe, helped stop the Pony of Shadows, and fought Queen Chrysalis by herself. She’d almost won, but Chrysalis was super-powered, yadda, yah. Starlight had an insane magical ability, and if you made her mad, you were going to end up on the wrong side of that magic.

Which is exactly what the Anoians decided to do.

When the barrier first collapsed, Starlight had accompanied the rulers of the surrounding lands to go meet with the leaders of the army to try a diplomatic approach. It didn’t go as planned.

Celestia had asked them to not invade Canterlot, to give them back all the territory they had stolen, and to go back home so that they could cool off for a bit. Then they could try this again. They said no. Luna and King Thorax had joined Celestia’s side and again pleaded for their surrender. They said no again. Queen Novo and Princess Skystar had also joined Celestia and they tried asking the Anoians to surrender one more time. They once again refused. Then Dragon Lord Ember made the mistake of angering the Anoians.

“Can we get on with this?” she’d shouted. “I want to actually fight for my land and my kingdom, not sit around debating with these ridiculous creatures!”

Which made the Anoians pretty pissed. Then they pulled out swords and explosives and nets and other weapons. And tried to capture them. They grabbed Thorax first and tied his ankles together and were about to drag him off when Starlight finally snapped. See, Thorax was her friend. And she really liked him alive. And not a captive of some evil ponies who wanted to take over the world. So she let out a roar and blasted those ponies with her magic.

Luckily, they put up shields just in time. Unluckily, Starlight’s magic was still so strong that it pushed them and their entire army to the edge of Canterlot. While Ember helped Thorax get untied (the two of them were definitely avoiding each other’s eyes and were definitely blushing. Starlight suspected that there was something going on between the two of them), Shining Armor did the logical thing: he sent a burst of magic into the sky that exploded like a firework and spelled out the words Help they’re attacking in pink sparkly letters. Hopefully, the guards and military forces down at Ponyville could see that and would come to their aid.

Starlight should have known better than to put her faith in those guards who did absolutely nothing when a crisis came up, and if they did, then it was usually small, insignificant, and did absolutely nothing except further prove their uselessness.

The Anoians charged, and the little forces that were in the city joined the leaders on the streets to start fighting. Celestia and Luna looked uncertain yet ferocious (how does one look uncertain and ferocious at the same time? Starlight wasn’t sure, but Celestia and Luna managed it), Ember and Prince Rutherford looked murderous, Novo and Skystar looked determined, and Thorax looked like he’d rather be doing anything else. He shook himself and put on what he probably thought was a scary face, but it really just made him look cute.

About a half-hour later, the guards down in Ponyville finally decided to show up. They really just pushed the Anoians further into Canterlot, but they killed a couple dozen ponies by the time they got to Starlight and the others, so they did all right. Starlight was a whirl, blasting ponies with her magic or kicking them down with her hooves when they got too close or ducking explosives or spears. Then the doors of the castle burst open and at least a hundred creatures poured out onto the blood-soaked streets of Canterlot. Leading the charge was Flurry Heart. Starlight’s heart soared upon seeing the young alicorn. It meant that Twilight was back, and those other creatures were the missing ponies! They were alright! Starlight leaped back into battle with renewed energy. She lit her horn to blast another Anoian when her magic suddenly sputtered out and died. Starlight gasped and whirled around. An Anoian had clamped an iron cuff around her back ankle, blocking her magic. His coat was the color of sand and was splattered with blood and mud. His mane was a similar style to that of the guards: cropped close to his head. His eyes were an unsettling shade of white, like cream, and his face was twisted into a malicious snarl.

“Let's see you fight without your precious magic,” he snarled. Starlight roared and tackled him with her bare hooves. She pushed him into the broken fountain and his mane and coat were soaked. Starlight slammed her hooves into his chest and pinned him down while he struggled. He lit up his own horn and would have blasted Starlight’s face off if she hadn’t dodged it.

“Take. It. Off,” Starlight growled in a threatening voice. The Anoian freed one of his hooves and suddenly shoved her off him. He stood up, shaking with anger. Then a magical blast out of nowhere shoved him off the fountain and through a window. A Canterlot pony glanced up from the book he was reading, wondering why there was a pony-shaped hole in his window. Starlight turned in the direction of the blast, wondering where it had come from. She was shocked to see Sunburst running up to her, his horn and his eyes blazing with fury.

“Sunburst?” Sunburst shot another blast at the cuff on Starlight’s ankle, causing it to shatter. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I couldn’t let you have all the fun, could I?” he asked playfully. Starlight felt heat rising in her cheeks but didn’t know what it meant. “Also the students at the school wanted to join in the fighting and I couldn’t stop them. I figured, the least I could do was supervise them and fight some myself. And I could see you aga-.” Sunburst clamped his mouth shut, his own cheeks flushing. Starlight nudged him.

“Well, I’m not leaving until I kill at least another dozen ponies,” Starlight declared. “Care to join me?”

Sunburst nodded happily, and the two of them leaped into the fray. Whenever an Anoian tried to attack one of them, the other was quick to come in with a magical blast to save them. Starlight’s mane was matted and soaked with blood and mud. Her hooves were splashed with the blood of her enemies and the blood of her friends. Sunburst wasn’t faring much better. His cape was in shreds and flecks of blood were on his glasses, obscuring his vision. The dead bodies that littered the streets were so bloody that Starlight couldn’t tell if they were Anoian or Equestrian, but the numbers made her heart ache. This wasn’t going to be an easy battle.

The Anoians outnumbered the Equestrians by an outstanding amount. At least, in the military. Soon after the missing-and-now-returned-so-they’re-not-really-missing-anymore ponies came out of the castle, they joined in the battle, which was surprising but not really. Those ponies were just ordinary, everyday ponies. But they were determined to fight their kidnappers for their country. Their bravery spread like wildfire, and soon every single citizen of Canterlot had joined in the fighting. Not long after, the citizens of Ponyville came charging into the war-torn city to help, too. And most of those citizens weren’t even actual citizens of those towns. They were runaways of the Crystal Empire, Yakyakistan, Mount Aris, Fillydelphia, Manehattan, Griffonstone, the Dragonlands, the Changeling kingdom, and many others, coming to seek shelter from the war. And now they were fighting for their home alongside the soldiers and guards whose job was to fight. They weren’t asked to. They were doing it because they wanted to, because they couldn’t stand the thought of their home being ruled by these barbarians.

It was the Anoians who were outnumbered now.

The battle had been raging on for at least an hour, or so it felt to Starlight. Three Anoians attacked her from behind, pushing her to the mud-soaked ground. She looked around for Sunburst, but he was busy fighting another Anoian unicorn. A large blast knocked the guards off Starlight’s back, and she stood up, looking around gratefully for whoever had done that. Twilight flew in, her horn blazing. Her mane was also streaked with blood, but her hooves were clean since she was flying over the ground rather than running around in the mud.

“Thanks, Twilight!” Starlight cried, turning around and killing another pegasus.

“No prob,” Twilight muttered distractedly. “Have you seen Red?”

“No,” Starlight said, frowning. “Haven’t seen her. Then again, I’ve been a little distracted.”

“I haven’t seen her since I got into this battle.” Twilight spun in a circle, looking for the cherry red pegacorn. “I’m starting to worry about her…”

Starlight used her front legs to kick another Anoian away. He crashed into a brick wall and fell, unconscious.

“You shouldn’t be,” Starlight assured the stressed purple alicorn. “Why don’t you fly over everything? She’ll be much easier to spot from the air. Then again…” Starlight lifted one of her hooves out of the muck. “She’d probably blend right in with this stuff.”

Twilight glared at her. Starlight winced; she realized that her meaning had been taken wrong.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“EVERYPONY STOP!!!”

Twilight and Starlight’s heads jerked towards the source of the sound along with everyone else’s. Hovering in midair, her silhouette standing out against the sun behind her, was Red.

“Found her,” Starlight muttered under her breath.

A dark blue unicorn stepped forward. His grayish-white mane caught the sunlight, and Twilight gasped.

“Who’s that?” Starlight whispered.

“That’s Commander Lightning, one of Emperor Lupines’s most trusted generals,” Twilight replied. “My guards caught him, Red, and a pony named Lemon Lime trying to capture another pony. Red was innocent, but I locked him and Lemon Lime in my dungeons. They must have escaped during the chaos.”

“You traitor,” Lighting snarled at Red. “Get down here right now and fight for your country.”

“No, Father.” Red lifted her head high and glared at her father.

“What?” he growled. “Red Berry, what are you doing?”

“I’m fighting for my country.”

“No, you’re not. If you were, you would get down here immediately, and you would fight alongside us.” Lightning stepped back a step and six other Anoians stood next to him. Starlight assumed that they were the rest of Emperor Lupines’s trusted generals and commanders. She felt an overwhelming urge to kill them all.

“I’m fighting for my country in another way,” Red declared, her voice carrying across the silent battlefield. “You always said that your enemies always have more than one weakness, and therefore there are multiple ways to defeat them.”

“So? Are you going to kill the leader of this land and take it for Emperor Lupines?” Lightning was getting impatient, and his impatience was creeping into his voice.

“No.”

“Well, whatever it is that you’re going to do, get on with it!” Lighting snapped. Red winced, but then she straightened and shook herself, as if she was done listening to him.

“Emperor Lupines is dead.” Red got straight to the point and paused so that every single Anoian in the crowd could gasp and whisper to their neighbors. “I killed him myself. And I also inherited the throne. And as the new ruler of Anoia, I declare our surrender. I renounce all the territories that we conquered in this war back to their original owners. And I announce Anoia’s official alliance with Equestria.”

Lightning narrowed his eyes at his daughter, staring daggers at her.

“Rrreally?” His voice dripped with venom. “And what makes you think that you can take the throne?”

“If the current emperor dies without declaring a proper heir, and he has no family to speak of, then the child of his most trusted advisor will assume the throne,” Red stated. “I believe Lupines’s most trusted advisor was you, Father.”

Lighting growled but didn’t deny it.

“Woah, woah, woah, wait!” A lime green unicorn with straight brown hair stepped forward from the crowd. “She can’t be our new emperor!”

“Why not, Kiwi Swirl?” Red challenged. Kiwi gestured behind her and a yellow pegasus with a lime green mane stepped forward. Twilight drew her breath in sharply; Starlight guessed that was Lemon Lime, the other Anoian Twilight had imprisoned. Lemon Lime produced a small box and Kiwi Swirl held the box with her magic.

“In the old days, when Anoia was a new country, there was a long line of bad and corrupt rulers,” Kiwi began. A few feet away, Rainbow Dash groaned.

“This is gonna be a history lesson, isn’t it?” she grumbled. “I HATE history.” Kiwi glared at her before continuing.

“One day, Cameron the Crafty came and enchanted the finest emerald in his possession that it would kill whoever touched it unless they were fit to rule. He got rid of all the corrupt rulers and finally found one who could assume the throne. Since then, the Emperor’s Emerald has been passed down from generation to generation to eliminate unfit rulers and to find the only ones who could rule the land.” Kiwi opened the box and showed the forest green emerald to everypony else within earshot who had heard the story. The Emperor’s Emerald was about the size of Twilight’s Element of Harmony, before it was destroyed. It was the most beautiful shade of green Starlight had ever seen, and she could have sworn that it was glowing.

Most of all, when Starlight glanced back at Red, she noticed that the Emerald was the same color as Red’s eyes, which also seemed to glow faintly when they landed on the Emerald. If that wasn’t a clear sign that Red was supposed to be the bearer of this gem and the true heir to the throne, then she didn’t know what was.

“Well, Red?” Lightning asked so quietly it was almost a whisper. “Are you willing to risk your life for a silly throne?”

Red glanced over at Twilight and took a deep breath before nodding.

“I am.”

Landing gently in front of Kiwi on what was possibly the only patch of dry land in all of Canterlot, Red approached the small black box holding the Emperor’s Emerald. Her hooves were shaking slightly, but she was determined. When she reached the box, she hesitated before taking the gem. Then she gently reached out a trembling hoof and touched the Emerald.

No doubt about it, the Emerald was definitely glowing now. Red jerked her hoof back, wary of what might happen next. The Emerald slowly rose out of the box and floated until it hovered in front of Red. Small orbs of white light began to swirl around the pony and the stone, lifting them both into the air. The Emerald began to glow brighter, and so did the white lights. They moved faster and faster, until Red wasn’t visible through the large ball of the brightest white light any of them had ever seen, even brighter than the sun. Then everything turned a blinding white for a moment, blinding everyone.

When the light cleared, Red was standing on the dry patch of land again, but she looked… different. She held herself with more authority than before, and every ounce of her being radiated power. Her wings were spread, and her chocolate brown mane glinted as the sunlight caught hidden strands of gold hidden in the brown. But the biggest difference was the crown on her head.

It was simple yet elegant. It was made up of silver wires forming arches, the largest in the middle and each arch after that smaller. All of the bases of the arches overlapped each other where they met the silver band at the base of the crown. The arches and the band were covered with small emeralds. The Emperor’s Emerald was at the base of the largest arch, glinting and glittering in the sunlight.

The first pony to do anything was surprisingly Kiwi Swirl. She fell to her knees and bowed before her new emperor. Like a wave, every creature behind her did the same, until only Lightning and the other generals were left standing, not wanting to accept this pony as their new leader.

“Fools!” Lightning roared. “She is a mere child! She cannot lead us! Lupines is still alive, and when he finds out how you all have betrayed him-”

“You’re fired,” Red said.

That shut him up. “I - what?”

“I’m firing you,” stated Red, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “I can do that now. I only wished I’d had the authority to do it sooner.”

Lightning ground his teeth and turned and fled through the crowd, his generals behind him. Twilight flew up to Red.

“I’ll send my guards after them,” she said.

“No.” Red was staring off after them.

Twilight blinked. “But-”

“Let them go.” Red’s mouth curved into a small, bittersweet smile. “They’ll try, but they won’t be any threat.”

As the sun set that night, the land that had been and once again was Equestria breathed a sigh of relief. The war was over, and a new era of peace could begin.

Author's Note:

Constructive criticism is appreciated.