Little Lyra and You

This is War Pt: 3

Everypony In the room quickly whirled around to face the owner of the voice, including Lyra who's blood turned to ice when she met the disapproving glare of the princess of the night, Luna had returned. Lyra felt like fainting but kept herself on her hooves though she swayed a little, some I her ponies in the tent weren't as good at controlling themselves as she was though.

"Princess." The General said dropping into a kneeling position and within a few moments everypony in the room was crouched down, everypony except Lyra, still frozen in place.

"Gentlecolts, can you give us some privacy." Luna said, her tone icy as she glared at Lyra through a slits. The officers in the room all stood up, bowed and then exited the tent leaving Lyra and the princess alone, she was beginning to feel incredibly uncomfortable.

"It's good to see you aga-"

"You killed that pony without a purpose. If we had taken them up on the deal it would have given us more time to make our forces even stronger." Luna said skipping the pleasantries.

"What's the purpose of waiting when we have everything and everypony we need to fight. We could win this war tomorrow." Lyra said. Few dared to even look Luna in the eye let alone talk back to her and challenge her authority.

"Oh yeah, and who told you that? The generals, the scouts, they don't know everything Lyra." Luna said angrily. She paused angrily and sighed. Her shoulders sagged making her look tired and defeated. "You are not the same Lyra that I knew, and Michael used to speak so highly of you. Has losing him made you so blind to what will actually happen if we fight tomorrow?" Luna asked, her tone more even now which inadvertently scare Lyra more than when she was angry. But as the tears filled her eyes the pent up sadness in her turned into a boiling rage in her chest.

"I haven't lost him, he didn't just vanish out of thin air." Lyra paused, that's actually exactly what he had done in her dream. "I know where he is and it's just a matter of getting to him." Lyra said, a tear fell down her face and hit the cold ground beneath her hooves.

"And do you think it's gonna be as easy as that. You just fight tomorrow and you get him back, do you know what he's doing over there?" Luna asked angrily.

"He's just a prisoner of war, a casualty. He's not going anything for Sombra, he wouldn't." Lyra challenged.

"Oh no, he is a vessel for Sombra. He chose to be controlled by him, his evil spirit. He chose to let Sombra lead his armies through him. He wanted to be apart of this war, and he wanted to be powerful." Luna said angrily. "Your little colt friend chose the loosing side and he's going to die for it." Luna spat.

Lyra didn't want to hear anymore and ran out of the ten, she accidentally shoved Luna out of her way in the process and ran off into the cold air. She didn't know where to go so she just stormed off into the woods and didn't look back.

After a few moments Luna stepped out of the tent after composing herself and was quickly surrounded by the officers of her army asking all sorts of questions. She raised her hoof for silence and quickly a hush fell over the group. "I want a search party to follow her and bring her back to camp. She can't be allowed to participate in tomorrow's battle. Confine her to one of the tents and post a guard." Luna ordered.

"Princess, if I may, she is one of the best fighters we've got here. She could prove to be crucial tomorrow." One of the officers spoke up and his words were followed. Y several head nods from his peers.

"Did I call for a vote?" Luna said, the frustration back in her voice. "Now get a move on." She said and the officers around her walked away to gather some ponies together for a search.

About three hours later Lyra found herself sitting in a small tent. Despite the window flaps being open and her sitting in the small shafts of sunlight she was still freezing. They had confiscated her armor and her blades so all she had now was a thin shirt and leggings.

"Hey!" Lyra called outside the tent knowing that there would be guards posted to keep and eye on her. "Can I get a blanket or something? It's freezing in here." She said. There was a bit of shuffling outside before one of the guards, a small mare with a dagger clipped to her belt, undid the tent flap and set a lit lantern on the ground in front of her. The mare mouthed sorry to her as she pulled her head out of the tent flap and did it up again. Lyra sighed and turned up the small flame on the lantern and held her hooves next to it, it was better than nothing.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside of the tent and Lyra looked out of the window flaps to see what was going on. One of the scouts was breathing hard like he had run all the way back here from his position. He was surrounded by several other ponies so she couldn't see or hear what he was saying but judging by the grim looks of the ponies around him it wasn't good.

"I'll be back in a moment." The stallion that was guarding her said to his female counterpart before trotting over to the now small mob of ponies. Once he was out of earshot the mare in front of the tent poked her head in. Lyra jumped back slightly surprised.

But the mare didn't miss a beat, she inclined the dagger from her belt and dropped it on the ground in front of Lyra. "Sombra's army is lining up earlier than we expected, they think that the battle is going to kick off very soon." She paused and took a deep breath realizing that she was about to commit treason against her princess. "It'd be a massacre without you there. Use this to cut the canvas and get out the back when the sun starts to go down, your equipment is in the armory tent with a few other goodies you might find useful." The mare said nudging the dagger towards her.

"Thank you." Lyra said picking it up and putting it under her shirt. The mare nodded and backed out of the tent just as her stallion companion turned around and began making his way back to the tent.

Five hours later

The sun was beginning to go down just after the last rank of ponies began to leave camp. They were betting on a double envelopment strategy by hiding ponies in the woods and using them to pick off Sombra's soldiers that they lured in, a strategy that Lyra had come up with.

Lyra picked her head up and looked out of the tent flap, the sun was just beginning to get low over the trees casting massive shadows over the camp. Lyra figured it was now or never and pulled the dagger out from under her shirt and moved to the back of the tent. She realized her hoof was shaking slightly, she had learned that it was stupid not to be nervous before a major battle of which she could die in; but she wasn't going to let that bother her. She sliced open the canvas silently and slipped out.

The camp was virtually unguarded with almost all of the ponies being gone so she made it to the armorer's tent without any problems, though once she got there she realized that it wasn't going to be as easy as she thought to get her stuff back, the quartermaster was sitting in a chair, a crossbow resting in his lap as he stared at the tent flaps waiting for it to open,con doubt waiting for Lyra. She considered cutting her way into the back but she knew he would hear her, the only way in was the front door. Lyra picked up a small rock and threw it a few feet away from the entrance before checking inside again. The pony's ear flicked but otherwise he remained motionless. Lyra cursed him silently walking to the front of the tent. At least the flaps were thick so he couldn't see her shadow from his side, or maybe she wanted him to see her.

Lyra smiled to herself as she thought up a new plan. "I'm brilliant," she whispered to herself. She took a deep breath before poking her head into the flap. "Toodaloo!" She said. The quartermaster whipped the crossbow up in one quick motion and fired a bolt at her; but Lyra pulled her head out of the flap just as it went wishing by. Now she was in the clear. She launched herself into the tent with the quartermaster who was hastily reloading. She flipped the dagger around and slammed the hard wood handle into his head. He wavered for a second before collapsing into a heap on the ground. The bolt he was loading clattered down next to him.

Lyra mentally high fived herself as she readied her gear. Her standard armor two long blades and buckled the dagger onto her held but just as she was leaving she noticed something on the the quartermaster's armor. There was a small cloth bound package tucked into his armor. Lyra reached down, plucked it out, and undid the wrapping to find Sombra's horn tip. It hummed with power, though not nearly as much as when she had first found it, but enough for her. Lyra's magic had never been very strong but this could really help her.

Suddenly she heard the clashing of steel in the distance and she bound the horn back in cloth and tucked it info her armor before rushing out of the tent and making her way to the battlefield.

It was the most terrible bloodbath she had never even seen in her worst nightmares with both sides' dead littering the ground. Several ponies stood up in the trees picking off any pony in blue armor every time they finished reloading their long rifles, while Lyra stood in shock staring out at the battlefield.

The battle had reached its peak soon after it started it seemed. Both sides had lost a lot of ponies and the ones still alive were locked in a stalemate. About a hundred ponies from each side matched each other blow for blow. But there was one pony that stood out to her, the general stood his ground against several ponies but he wasn't going to hold out much longer. One of them tripped him and he fell to the ground. Lyra snapped out of her shock and teleported behind the three ponies. She drew her blades with a terrible hiss but none of them heard it except Lyra, the clashing of steel was too loud.

The general looked up at the ponies standing over him, he hadn't felt fear like is in a very long time. The fear of quick, but absolute death. But just as one of his attackers raised his blade to end his life the end of a blade shot through his chest and prof feuded out of the other side. His savior withdrew the blade and the body collapsed to the ground in a heap and before the ponies could react two more lay dead, their blood staining the snow crimson, his savior was standing clearly next to him.

Lyra lashed out at the final pony with her right blade which the pony tried to deflect with his own, but Lyra had been trained to use two blades efficiently and her opponent only had one. Lyra chopped him down with a single thrust to the stomach and the pony collapsed. "Might I say you're a sight for sore eyes." The General said. Lyra turned and offered him her hoof after sheathing one of her swords.

"You can thank me later, where's Luna?" She asked scanning the battlefield.

"As soon as Sombra charged us she disappeared." The General said. "Didn't say where she was going."

"Figures." Lyra said.

"So, what's the plan?" The General asked picking up one of his dead assailant's swords.

"We round up what's left of us and waltz right up to Sombra's camp." Lyra said grinning.

"That's just, no offense, but that's a terrible plan. We'll be massacred!" The General exclaimed.

"That's the idea, he'd never expect it. He'd expect us to be setting up a flanking position in the woods and he'd have ponies combing the woods, so we knock at the front door."

"And then we kick it in." The general finished thinking the plan over. "You're a genius you know." He said.

"I know." She responded drawing her blade and teleporting over to were what was left of the forces fought valiantly against the rest of Sombra's forces, but it was an uphill battle, and unfortunately for her whenever she appeared every pony in the crowd noticed her and they all turned away and froze, including the ponies fighting on her side, but the pause wasn't for long.

A few ponies whipped around and cut down their opponents that were stunned by the sudden appearance before moving to her. At this the rest of the ponies put their guards back up and continued fighting. One of the ponies tried to bring his blade down on her with a wide overhead arch but Lyra was quicker than he was. She quickly brought up her swords and blocked the strike. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a pony about to jab her in the ribs with their short blade. Lyra pulled one of her blades out for the cross and parried the strike, successfully disarming her opponent, she then turned her attention back to the piny in front of her who was still trying to break through her sword barrier but to no avail. Lyra raised a hind hoof and kicked him back a foot, throwing him off balance a s stumbling back and falling into the snow. Lyra ran her sword through his chest, ending his life quickly and with as little pain as possible.

Call it instinct but Lyra sidestepped quickly away and a pony came past her who had planned to run her through but hadn't expected her to move. Lyra kicked her leg out from from underneath her and she fell to the ground but before Lyra could end it a magic bolt shot out from the pony's horn and sent her blade spiraling away from her left hoof and soon her right hoof was the same. The pony grabbed Lyra's hoof and yanked it out from under her and Lyra toppled to the ground and into the blood stained snow. Her attacker was on her in seconds, slamming her hooves against her face. Each blow sent bolts of pain through her body and her vision was beginning to get cloudy, but she couldn't let a pony best her in hoof to hoof combat, something she had trained the hardest at. She felt a new resolve flow through her body and she readied herself to catch the next strike.

The pony threw another blow an Lyra brought up her hooves and caught it. She twisted the hoof forcing the pony to roll off of her and Lyra pressed her face into the snow. The pony tried to lash out at her again but Lyra pressed her face down into the snow harder and twisted the foreleg a little more until it made a sicken ending crunch and the pony howled in agony. Lyra then picked the pony's face up by her mane and slammed it into the ground with all of her might and then the piny went limp.

And it was then that the sounds of war all died out at once. Lyra turned around to see all of the bodies that had fallen that were clad in the blue armor were slowly turning from whatever color they were initially to a dark shade of black including the pony she was standing over, and then it started to get weird.

Lyra watched, her mouth agape as the oldies that were on the ground or still up fighting slowly dissolved into pools of black smoke and began floating around on the ground, leaving their armor behind. Lyra followed them as they traveled past her and up one of the snow covered hills . They would run into and absorb each other and just kept on going until they had all disappeared over the hill top. Some of the ponies behind her began to throw up a cry of victory but Lyra raised a hoof to shush them, she had a sick feeling stirring in her stomach.

Suddenly a burst of reddish light blew over the hill and down around the ponies, washing over them and then dissipating. Lyra had shielded her eyes from the blast and looked around behind her and saw that everypony was standing still. No, not standing still, frozen. Several of them stuck in mod dive for cover from the blast. But why would she be free? And her answer was in the folds of her armor, slowly being depleted of its magic. The horn had saved her from being frozen, but she wasn't out of the woods just yet.

She looked back up to the top of the hill and spotted a single figure standing there, silhouetted against the weak light. He appeared to be a stallion by the way his head was snapped and the build of his body. He spread his wings and flew down from the top of the hill to the bottom. As he came down she could see the color of his coat, it was a deep blue. 'But that could just be the armor,' she thought to herself, Luna's words echoing in her mind.

Lyra stared silently as the pony landed a few feet to her right, with a pony appearing at his side from the black smoke that had coalesced from the enemy.

"Brilliant plan sire." The black pony said.

"Isn't it though, and just at the right time." Lyra's heart froze and her blood turned to ice as cold as the snow underneath her hooves as she heads the voice. The voice of the pony she had come to love. She choked down a sob as she realized Luna was right about it all. "Seeing as we've got this one here." Michael said popping into the side of Lyra's vision and she had to keep from freaking out to make it seem like she was still frozen. He rested a hoof on her cheek and stared into her eyes with his, and that was when Lyra saw what lit the small spark of hope in the cold dread that had settled inside her. The bright blue eyes that she had stared into on many occasions had been washed over and covered by a dark red stain, but there was still a tinge of blue around the edges.

"Goodbye my dear, you had your chance to help me and you refused me for these pigs." He said motioning to the dead ponies around him. "Not a mistake you'll have the chance to make twice." He said drawing a wicked looking heavy dagger from his hip and holding it up to her neck. Suddenly Lyra drew her own dagger and shoved him back.

"Not quite yet, sweetie." She said bundling her muscles together for a lunge at him. She. Opulent kill him because that would kill Michael and she wasn't willing to do that, but she would have to hurt him enough to make him want to leave. Michael would probably feel it too but he would want to her do it.

"Not quite yet." He said to her. He flipped the dagger around in his hooves to wear it was pointing into his chest. I could kill him right mow and then what else would you have left to fight for?" He asked her with a sickening smile on his face. Lyra was disgusted with herself at not thinking of that detail and being thwarted so quickly. She spun the dagger around and dropped it into the snow, handle facing up.

Lyra sucked in air quickly as she felt her leg lock up and she stumbled forward before two hooves fastened around her head. Lyra tasted copper in her mouth from fear. She looked up at the red eyes, pleading silently but it got her nowhere. But she though she could see a little more blue than red.

He pressed the knife to her cheek and knocked her slightly. She felt a warm blood on her cheek now and her desperation turned back to anger. This pony had taken the one she loved away,and she could not forgive him for that.

"You think that he's going to save you, that somepony is just gonna bust out of no where and save you from me, save him from me." He said circling her, chuckling madly to himself. "You're all alone again, no one to save you, no one to look after you. The only pony that didn't leave you behind that never stopped is about to kill you." He paused looking back down to her, she let her eyes wander away from him. "How does it feel?" Lyra's eyes snapped back to him as he asked the question.

"It feels, blue." She said smirking to herself. As if the word was some kind of trigger the tattoo on his right foreleg slowly began to glow white. At first a dull glimmer that grew into something to rival the sun his arm shone.

"What is this, what did you do?" Michael roared staring at his arm. He tried to thrust the knife into Lyra's throat but he was frozen in place, or no longer in control. Michael threw his head back and a black fog crackling with electricity flew out of his mouth and coalesced next to him, and very soon there was a swirling lit of black fog next to Michael and Lyra. She felt the hooves on her temples disappear just as the last bit of fog left his knout and his body went slack, but he managed to catch himself.

Lyra tried to pick herself up but her leg was still locked up and she couldn't walk so she dragged herself to him. He was breathing hard but otherwise appeared to be fine. She put a hoof under his chin and lifted his eyes to meet hers and she found no red, only pure sparkling blue. She breathed a sigh of relief before she felt a hoof on the back of her neck and his lips pressed against hers. She kissed back and felt his other hoof trace it's way up her spine. The kiss only lasted for a few seconds until he pulled his lips away, still breathing heavily.

"I missed that.." He said between gasps. Lyra rested her forehead against his.

"I missed you," she whispered softly. She say his cheeks light up at that though he didn't look up. His arm was still glowing but it was a softer, cooler light rather than the blinding white she had seen a moment ago. Though still when she touched it it burned her hoof.

Suddenly she felt something slam into her side and lift her off of her hooves. She spiraled through the air for a moment before slamming down into the snow. She gasped from breath but her lungs wouldn't work and she began to panic. She felt a thin trickle of blood from her side and her ribs were on fire and she screamed in pain when she some massive slammed down onto her chest. She looked up and saw and old black pony with a weather wanted face and a mess of a white mane. His flank slowly became flecked with white until the entire latter half of his body was white. He wrapped his hooves around her throat and squeezed so hard that she could see the muscles clenching in, not just his hooves or forelegs, but he's neck.

The edges of Lyra's vision began to go black and she struggled as hard as she could but everything was slowing down. Her limbs felt tired and her entire body ached, maybe it would be easier to go to sleep than fight back. All it would be is closing her eyes right here and waking up somewhere else. But just as her vision was washed over in black she felt the weight lift up off of her chest and she inhaled sharply, sucking in all of the sweet cold air she could. She looked to her left and saw the stallion lying in the snow a few feet away, a burnt patch of white fur was visible on his flank but he was still breathing. Lyre looked to her left and saw Michael standing on his hind legs with his glowing foreleg extended and pointed at the burnt stallion. His eyes were alight with fury and all of his muscles were tensed.

As the stallion started to stir again a bolt of light shot out of Michael's foreleg and collided with the stallion,scenting him back another few feet. Michael began to advance forward and a pure white long sword appeared in on of his hooves. Lyra tried to get up but it hurt too much, all she could do was watch.

As he reached the stallion Michael was surprised to see that it was still breathing. He was sprawled out on his back and was staring up at the sky, a the ail of blood led from his mouth and stained the snow crimson. Michael pressed the sword against his neck and the eyes of the stallion affixed themselves on him.

"Go on, do it. I've lived long enough, and I've accomplished what needs to be done." Sombra said.

"What exactly do you mean 'Accomplished what needs to be done?" Michael croaked.

"I broke a good stallion. I took something pure and tainted him." He paused and pressed a hoof to Michael's chest. "I broke you." He said with a wicked smile. Michael frowned and leaned down until his mouth was right next to Sombra's ear.

"You didn't break me, you made me stronger." Michael said. Sombra looked confused, but he didn't have long to dwell on it before the sword went through his throat and ended his life. The end came quickly and with little pain, but for him, maybe too quickly.