Freedom Through Harmony

by Electricut

Chapter Eighty

Chapter Eighty
City of Dawn
Rarity

Only a few moments after Tug had fired the first shot, the enemy across the ravine exploded into action, as did the comparatively scrappy soldiers of New Dawn. Arrows and magic sailed back and forth between the two sides, the crashes of thunder, cackle of fire and whoosh of light, plus the occasional roar of the three naval canons, failing to drown out the yelps and screams of the stricken soldiers on both sides. Rarity was nearly deafened by the noise, and the sky above her hiding place was cluttered with arrows sailing just overhead and spells arcing back and forth. A jolt of lightning struck just beyond the edge of the ancient stone barricade, causing the grass to be immediately scorched and nearly making one of the other soldiers jump in surprise. Luckily he did not, as it surely would have ended his life.

Rarity gripped her rapier tightly, suddenly regretting volunteering to join the frontline troops, but knew there was no way she could pull back now. Any movement that gave away her position would have her shot. Instead, she charged the medium powered spell Ellight on the steel of her sword, squeezed her eyes shut, and thrust it backward over her head, in the general direction of the enemy. The spell shot forth from the blade like a beam, though she had no way of knowing and no desire to check if it had hit anything. She pulled her hands and sword back behind the cover quickly, heart pounding, and began to charge another.

This was surely a very inefficient way of fighting, but Rarity felt powerless to do more. Beside her, and indeed all around, the soldiers of New Dawn were in similar predicaments, crouching behind their cover with scowls on their faces, waiting for an opportunity to return fire. Celestia’s troops had them pinned down, but every once in a while their covering fire lapsed, and the volunteer soldiers were given a few precious seconds to launch a counter-attack, striking several soldiers at a time before they had to duck back down again. Tug continued to lead the soldiers bravely, never letting up on his own assault and filling those around him with hope.

“Hey, are you gonna actually do anything?” One of the soldiers beside Rarity asked gruffly, nocking another arrow in his bow. “You aren’t hitting much besides the cliff face behind you that way.” In one rushed move he stood and turned around, fired his arrow, then ducked back down with hands over his head. On her other side, a mage was reading under his breath from a spell book, the ancient language conveying a fire spell. For simple convenience, most mages now simply memorized the ancient words for one or two spells, never needing to use another, but for new users of the craft and those who needed a wide array of spells, tomes such as these were still in use. Rarity only knew the two most basic light spells, as that was all she ever needed to use, and Twilight seemed to be able to remember four or five potent spells off the top of her head, but this mage still needed to read straight from the book, once again demonstrating the novice level of skill throughout the troops of New Dawn.

Rarity shook her head. “I apologize. I’ve... I’ve never been in a fight this large scale, nor under such heavy fire, or needing to fight at long range...”

“Hey, you think any of us have?” The archer responded. “Most of us’ve never been in a fight in our lives. You just gotta understand that our very way of existence is at stake, and adrenaline’ll take over for you.” After a moment’s hesitation, Rarity nodded, and the soldier went back to firing the occasional arrow over the line at Eclipse’s soldiers. Rarity continued as she was, charging magic along the blade of her rapier, but now she took a split second to peek around the edge of the barricade and do a little more to aim her shot. She didn’t know if this was actually making a difference, but it certainly felt better.

“Blast, they’re still pushing through!” Tug yelled over the din of battle. Rarity chanced another look at the enemy line, and saw that several large wheeled wooden structures were being pushed into position. Bridges... “Alright men, keep going! Kill as many as you can manage! The lumber is probably enhanced with magic, making it difficult to burn... But that doesn’t mean we can’t try!”

Tug’s continued words of confidence boosted the morale of the troops, and with a mighty battle cry, New Dawn continued to fight even harder than before. With every opening available, mages launched fire-based attacks at the enemy bridges, hoping to burn and disable them, but as Tug had feared, a magic resonance made their attempts all but useless. The wheels creaked ominously as the bridges moved forward, then stopped as they met air. They were on the way over the gap, and no amount of fire seemed able to set them ablaze. The covering fire from the soldiers of Eclipse seemed to slow, and that of New Dawn only intensified.

As the first of the bridges connected to the other side of the ravine, Rarity felt a sudden rush of warm air brush past. Confused, she looked to the sky, and gasped. Above, completely dominating the once cloudy horizon, a brilliant shockwave of rainbow energy was rending through the sky, rippling behind itself like a multicolor flame. All the clouds in the sky were torn to pieces, and a sudden gush of rainwater poured down upon the troops, ending as soon as it had begun. This caused anyone who hadn’t noticed the spectacle before to look up at it, virtually ending the crossfire for a precious moment.

Could that have been the Sonic Rainboom again? Rarity wondered. I can’t imagine it could be anything else, but I only barely saw the first one... I guess Rainbow Dash did it again. Though as soon as all the soldiers of Eclipse were preoccupied with gawking at the sight, Tug stood and frantically waved back the troops of New Dawn. He needed not say anything, as they were ready. As one they stood, released whatever they had loaded or charged upon the enemy front, and made a beeline back for the Castle of Dawn.

After a few seconds of clarity, the troops of Eclipse got their wits back about them and opened fire upon the retreating mass of scrappy soldiers. Rarity practically squeezed her eyes shut to avoid having to see what happened next, but she could still hear the tortured and quickly silenced screams of several soldiers as the fell where they stood. She nearly tripped multiple times, but was always able to merely pour on the speed and recover herself. At last, she and several others turned the corner behind the once mighty stone walls of the castle. She stopped next to Tug, who was leaning up against the wall to catch his breath, but with eyes still locked on the door as more New Dawn soldiers rushed in.

“Be honest...” Rarity breathed, also out of breath. “How bad are we doing...?”

“Well... I’ve seen better. Of the eighty-some troops we came up here with... We’ve lost at least thirty. Maybe forty.”

“Half our men, already?!” Rarity exclaimed. “How can that be...? How can we win now...”

“We’re not finished yet.” Tug insisted. “We’ve got a lot more troops waiting down below. Plus, I’d say that thanks to that surprise attack, we may have taken out as many as a hundred of their troops already. Just keep your head on straight, and we could still walk away from this alive. It’s just a shame we had to leave the canons behind... But at the very least, we managed to set off all the detonation spheres before we left. They’ll be all but useless to the enemy, meaning we at least haven’t gained another disadvantage.”

Rarity nodded, unable to find her voice and do more. Things looked absolutely abysmal, but Tug still seemed so sure that they could pull through. Rarity was having difficulty sharing in his optimism, but made no move to flee as the remaining troops poured into the castle to catch their breath. Tug gave her a reassuring nod and moved to address the men. “Alright, as soon as you catch your breath, get into position at the western wall. The Eclipse army will be marching on us with no cover to speak of, and this is our best window of opportunity to really smash their numbers. You! Run down to the lower city and alert the commander of the second wave of troops that Eclipse has breached the ravine!”

The troops remained relatively silent, but as one nodded in fierce determination. Rarity was amazed at these incredibly brave men and women, who were not willing to give up even in the face of almost certain demise. They had very little else to live for, and were willing to give their whole beings into fighting Eclipse back from this last stronghold of hope. A smile broke out on her face, as she felt utterly inspired by this determination, and she gripped her weapon and turned to the opposite wall to prepare for the next phase of the defense.

However, as she made an about-face to find a hole in the west wall to fire from, her eye caught something atop the grand entryway gate. She couldn’t say what it was she thought she saw, but something made her take another look. When she did, it didn’t matter how far away she was, she knew exactly what it was she was looking at. Atop the great stone archway, standing like an ancient sentinel to her dead city, was a lone statue facing inward to the castle, seeming to be looking right at Rarity. She didn’t need to question it further. She knew that she had found her ancestor, but at the absolute worst time imaginable.

As she looked, unable to wrench her gaze from it, a hazy lilac-colored light began to shine from around the statue, then clicked back off after a few seconds. As though everything had snapped into focus, the statue sprang to life and leapt from its perch, slamming powerfully into the ground and rushing forward to meet Rarity head on. She raised her rapier before her in a desperate attempt at defending herself. The statue came to a skidding halt just a few feet from her, and she was able to use a few seconds to get a good look at her ancestor.

She hardly needed to. This was a statue that could have been found anywhere. The high-rank Dawn armor, the abnormally long katana, her right arm in a sling... No question about it, it was none other than General Madeline. Rarity couldn’t help but grin smugly, satisfied immensely that her ancestor was a person of such fame. The thrill faded when she realized Madeline was still swinging her stone katana, still razor-sharp, mere inches from her face.

“L-listen, my lady!” Rarity stuttered, trying her best to win the attention of what may or may not have been the conscious spirit of her ancestor. “I cannot fight you right now. We’re in a war zone, against the soldiers of Eclipse! I know you want to help me grow stronger to fight them, but if I stop fighting now I’ll never get that chance!”

Oddly enough, the statue stopped in its tracks, and jerked its head to the side so it could see the oncoming troops. It took a look back at Rarity, then another glance at the men under the flag of Eclipse. It then simply shook its head in dismay, then did an about-face and marched straight out the gateway to the castle.

“W-wait!” said Rarity, running after the statue. “Please, don’t leave! Just give me some time to make sure New Dawn is safe!” She came to a stop just beyond the gates, much to the protest of Tug and several other soldiers, but could only stop and stare when she emerged. The statue had also come to a stop a few meters away, her stone katana raised high over her head in her left had, with her back to Rarity. Before her was the whole of Eclipse’s army.

“Wha...” Tug started, but trailed off. He approached quickly behind her, and tried to pull her back into cover as soon as he got his wits back about him. “Is... Is that your ancestor? The famed heroine of Dawn? And is her statue about to face off against the whole army by herself?”

“Yes.” Rarity beamed, already getting a chance to tout her new family fame. “And... yes, it seems she is going to do just that. You think they have any weapons that can destroy a statue like that, especially one that can move so fast?”

Tug’s face lit up a moment later when he fully grasped what was happening. “By the gods, we’ve got an invincible soldier who’s going to win this battle for us... But in terms of morale, the troops need to think they won, not got saved. I’ll let your ancestor severely weaken them, then we can send in the whole army to mop up the resistance. If we’re lucky, we may even rout them and buy us a whole lot more time to prepare for a future attack.”

He dashed back further into the castle to round up the long range troops who remained, while Rarity was left to watch in wonder as the statue of Madeline stalked forward towards the charging troops, without a trace of fear. The soldiers of Eclipse kept up their charge for several more seconds, then began to slow as the front lines caught a look at her. Out of sheer confusion, most froze when they saw a figure made of rock moving slowly toward them. Rarity could imagine the statue of Madeline issuing a fierce war cry, though no such thing came from the silent effigy, and it launched forward in a venomous spinning arc.

The stone katana, sharp as any steel, crashed into the very front line of troops, cutting through their armor like butter and dropping the soldiers to the ground. A wave of panic and anger spread through the army, and even from where she stood Rarity could make out their cries, as they referred to this strange new enemy simply as ‘the golem’ and tried to concentrate their fire upon it. Their efforts all amounted to nothing, though. It was Rarity’s ancestor, and only Rarity could defeat it, so anything it decided to just ‘clean up’ was helpless to do anything about it.

“Open fire!” Tug yelled from atop the castle wall, though Rarity had no idea how he managed to get up there. A battle cry issued from the troops of New Dawn, and the barrage of magic and arrows resumed from their side alone. Rarity scrambled away from the courtyard where the virtual slaughter was taking place and found a perch on one of the broken walls to view the carnage better. Her heart was set aflutter, as the chaos caused by Madeline’s sudden attack had thrown the soldiers of Eclipse into a major, spiraling disadvantage. Plus, without a leader that hadn’t been shot by Tug’s arrows already, they had very little keeping them under one course of action. Everyone was trying to focus their fire to stop the possessed rock slaughtering their own, and their efforts came to nothing.

“Charge!” A second voice sounded from elsewhere on the battlefield, and Rarity spun around to see the other side of the castle. From the lower city, the second wave of troops had already arrived, led by the wolf girl Winona, Lord Blake, and Applejack. With another mighty battle cry, then charged forward as one towards the enemy ranks. Still being bombarded by the New Dawn long-range troops and the avatar of Madeline, the front lines crumbled like paper under the weight of the emotionally charged soldiers. Elsewhere in the charge, the blurry white form of Opal in beast form could be seen darting about, rending through the Eclipse armor with her fangs and claws, and Blake, using the Leo Charm, fought with much the same ferocity. Winona had transformed as well, rushing around the enemies’ blades and using her superior canine fangs to punch painful holes in their leggings, and Applejack smashed through any armor she encountered with her now icy battle axe.

However, New Dawn wasn’t without casualties either. While the soldiers of Eclipse were thoroughly disoriented and confused, they were far from helpless. Their blades cut and slashed at the hastily armored men and women of New Dawn, the ground becoming littered with the bodies of both parties. Rarity scowled, her hand shaking at the sheer scale of the bloodshed, and slid down from her perch. No one was on the central ground floor of the castle anymore. Everyone who could do long range combat was at or on the western wall, and anyone else was right up in the crowd, fighting back Eclipse tooth and nail. Rarity, though terrified, was determined to join them and help deal this powerful first blow against Celestia.

In one fluid movement, she removed the Icarus Charm from the pocket within her armor and slid it over her head, then readied her rapier at her side. The large crystalline butterfly’s wings sprouted from her back a moment later, and she launched into the air to dive into the fray. Below her, the statue of Madeline was still wreaking total havoc, and with a single rapid flutter of her wings to gather speed, she dove down with blade first to land beside her ancestor. Her sword sliced through a set of chain mail, and she spun around to trip up the second soldier who was getting ready to attack her with a heavy poleax.

Madeline’s stone sword and Rarity’s rapier cut in vicious circles around them, dropping the soldiers like flies. Rarity didn’t give it a second thought: she couldn’t, otherwise she would have frozen up right after the first kill. When this was over, she could worry about having blood on her hands, but for now she had to remain focused. The fire from overhead continued to cascade upon the ranks, and the soldiers of New Dawn were fighting with seemingly inhuman strength and rage. Soon it seemed that the gap between the numbers was beginning to shrink, causing the soldier to push yet harder.

Soon, the soldiers of Eclipse began to take notice of this, and poured on the offensive in turn. Rarity could feel the sheer weight of their numbers damaging New Dawn, but the troops did not give up easily. With Madeline rushing forth and slicing apart the lines, Eclipse hardly stood a chance. Almost an hour passed in which the numbers whittled themselves down, and soon both were on the verge of retreat. Neither would back down, but both would be destroyed before long.

At last, though, Eclipse began to show signs of panic, and some of the soldiers made a move to flee. They didn’t get far, though, as Tug’s practiced archery skills allowed him to stop them from escaping from quite a distance. Since it seemed they were going to win, Rarity knew they couldn’t afford to let a single soldier escape and bring word back to Celestia. Both sides seemed to be about at equal numbers, and with support from above on their side, New Dawn’s victory was now assured one way or another.

Rarity didn’t intend to let it be a close victory though. She wanted Eclipse’s army to be wiped off the face of the earth, and her ancestor seemed to agree. The two noblewomen hefted their swords once again and charged forward, slicing apart any opposition, and soon were fighting exclusively fleeing soldiers. Tug let out a harsh, brutal laugh, then gave another war cry that soon spread throughout the whole remaining company. As one, New Dawn surged forward, bombarding the fleeing troops with arrows, magic, and steel. Whenever any single soldier managed to get ahead of the pack, he was immediately put down by Tug, and the greater mass of troops remained a huge but rapidly shrinking target.

And just like that... It was over. A few more arrows flew, a few more blades fell, and that was it. Just like that, the battle was over, and the ground littered with the six hundred bodies of Eclipse’s forward army. A few moments of stunned silence hung in the air, then an uncontrollable cheer erupted from New Dawn. People cried out and shed literal tears of relief and joy. Rarity gave a weak smile, truly too stunned to do anything else. The first battle of the revolution, and they had won. She had a lot of blood now on her hands... but considering it was the blood of Eclipse, she was able to swallow it a little easier.

She made a move to turn back to the others and pat them on the back, but behind her was the statue of Madeline. Her guard had not lowered, and the stone katana was still held at the ready, her gaze leveled on Rarity. With a start, Rarity realized the battle was not yet over for her.

Comments

[LonelyChild]

I know this story is about humans, but I still imagine ponies while I read.

[Electricut]

601214

Completely understandable.

[badassgrunt]

FIRE EMBLEM RULES!

[flamehaze7461]

Statue turns to look at the battle.
Annihilates Eclipse soldiers
Turns back to Rarity, "Can we fight now?"

[Electricut]

601262

Indeed it does.

601481

Pretty much.