The Great Equestrian War
The Final Battle
Previous ChapterThe Great Equestrian War
Chapter 6 - The Final Battle
"We are now heading to the origin at approximately 60km/h. All non-gunner crew are prohibited from heading to the upper deck without sanctioned permission from the Admiral." The comm rang out in Rarity's voice, and Dash let out a disappointed sigh.
"What's up, sugarcube?"
"I'm not allowed up deck to fly."
Applejack chuckled, provoking a response from Dash. "You can get permission from Rarity ta go out. Yer faster than this thing anyway."
"Good point. But I'm actually fine here."
"Really? Ah thought ya would have wanted ta stretch your wings."
"I need to rest with that mishap with Pinkie." Dash turned over, and stretched her wings out. "By the way, why are you in my cabin?"
"It's our cabin. Rarity assigned it."
"Wait, Rari-" Dash sat up quickly. "She's the only one that knows what happened up deck, so she must be taunting us."
"Maybe." She picked up some lint, and rolled it in her fingers. "Wanna finish that off?"
"Eh?"
"What happened up deck. Ya know, you were comin' on to me, before Rarity stopped us."
"Oh, that." Dash lay back down, facing Applejack. "Later, maybe. I'm tired."
"Darnit." Applejack stood up, and stretched her arms. "Well, I'm gonna look around then. Wanna know where everything is before we hit something."
"You do that. I'm gonna nap." Dash closed her eyes, and heard her companion's footsteps as she left the room. She sighed, and turned to her other side. She found that uncomfortable, and turned around again. Still restless, she turned to her back, but her wings felt as if they were jolting into her back. This wasn't uncommon in avians, and usually happened in stressful situations. It was even harder when aroused, as the wings tended to fold out then become stiff, so lying on your back would be impossible, or at least painful.
"Why the heck can't I sleep?" She muttered to herself and sat up. "Seraphim damnit..." She walked over to the window, and saw the land slowly passing by, seeming darker the closer to the front of the ship it was.
"Well, might as well get some practise in."
* * *
Twilight slammed her head on the desk. Paperwork was so stressful, but she was the only one that could actually send it while they were moving at this speed into that dangerous an area. She didn't even know if she had to do this, but it was regulation, in fact something she set up since the War hit.
"I'm just shooting myself in the foot now." She pulled back, and checked the desk for whether her horn had damaged it. It hadn't, fortunately, so she picked the quill up, and pressed it to the blank sheet for the seventh time. As if it was on cue, there was a soft yet noticeable knock on the door. "Come in."
Rarity pushed the door open, looking a little frazzled. "Hello, Twilight."
"Hey. How's it going?"
"Trying to direct an entire airship can get the better of me, particularly with Pinkie running amok and investigating the ins and out of technology."
"Well, she's spent five years away from technological advancements. She's got as far as jet propulsion, but not centrifugal lift generators."
Rarity slumped on the bed, and let out a sigh. "I've ordered the crew to keep her away from the engines, but she's close to breaking their defence."
"Well, I bet I can hold her back some more."
"Thanks, Twilight." She looked to the floor, avoiding Twilight's gaze. "Can I tell you something? A kind of secret."
"Uh... Sure. Anything for a friend." Her heart pounded faster for some reason.
"Promise me you won't overreact."
"Where is this going?" She became flushed and lightheaded.
Rarity swallowed. "I-"
A klaxon blasted before Rarity could finish. A voice echoed over it.
"Incoming contacts to our bow. Head to your battle stations. Admiral to the bridge."
"Uh..."
Twilight still felt flustered. "You were saying?"
"It is going to have to wait, I'm afraid."
* * *
Pinkie was already at the bridge with Fluttershy when Rarity and Twilight rushed in. Within seconds, Rainbow and Applejack entered too.
"What's going on?" Dash grabbed Rarity, looking panicked.
"We've got incoming enemies. No idea who."
"It's the Chaos Army."
"Well, what do we expect?"
"Human-sized misshapen black constructs. These ones are likely to fly as well."
"Likely?"
"They could be carrying Grounded Ones. An attack pattern I came up with."
"I hope you made major errors, then." Twilight stated bluntly. "We don't want to be overwhelmed."
"Then maybe I shouldn't tell you what they do, then."
"Any information can help us."
"They're designed to overwhelm opponents, failing that, terrify them before they can attack properly. Of course, we haven't met overwhelming resistance before, so I can't say how good they will be against a fully-crewed airship with the Elements of Harmony at our helm."
"So we basically have to not get scared, and fight hard, then."
"That'll work."
Fluttershy shrieked, making the rest look to the window. A black swarm was materialising in front of them, and slowly approaching. Twilight cursed, and pulled her Magika Rifle from her back. The rest followed, the crew looking at Pinkie as she pulled out her blade.
"I think they'll head for the engines, guys." She leaped to the door, and placed her hand on the handle. "We'd better head there."
She yanked the door open, only to have a Chaos One, marked with a square face and one circular eye and another triangular one, finish forming from black energy.
"Discord sends his regard." It pointed an arm out, and blasts of red energy swarmed out, hitting the crew, but missing the Element users, who had dodged. Suddenly, more Chaos ones formed in the bridge, and surrounded the survivors. Fluttershy screamed, just as one reached for her, only to have its arm cut off by Pinkie's blade. It recoiled, and Pinkie struck its face. It emitted an inhuman scream, and dissolved into nothing. The rest started to move, only to be hit by the others, dissolving with similar but somehow different screams. The first one looked shocked, as much as it could with that misshapen metal plate as a face.
"Lady Diane?! When did you side with the enemy?"
"When Discord hurt my friend!" She thrust Cakecutter in its 'mouth', and emitted a gagging scream as it dissolved.
"Wow, they weren't hard to defeat." Dash looked around, and smiled. "Let's go-"
The ship rumbled, and an alert flashed on a nearby panel. Rarity shifted the body lying on the console gently, and looked at the reading.
"The upper front left engine has been hit." Her eyes widened as more alerts flashed. "And the right side just got hit- and the- wait, no-" She looked up at them in horror. "The entire engine array has been hit."
"So, what you're saying is that we're going to crash." Applejack said bluntly.
"I'm afraid so-" She turned to the console. "All the guns have been destroyed."
Twilight yelled. "WE'RE GOING TO CRASH!"
Rarity ignored the panicking unicorn, and held a button down. "All surviving crew, evacuate immediately. Hooves, make sure that any non-avian humans that can't escape are taken by some of your crew. Good luck. And don't be a hero, Trixie. Just get out of there, you'll be forgotten if you get killed here."
A reply sparked from the console, in Trixie's voice. "I'm not stupid, Admiral! Self-preservation overrides my sense of superiority. Is that Twilight carrying on?"
"Yes, it is." She turned. "I think Trixie wants to speak to you."
Twilight calmed down enough, and approached the console. "Yes, Captain?"
"Firstly, we have no times to address ranks, and secondly calm down. You're the Element of Magic; you'll survive better than me." She remained silent for a second. "Good luck."
"You too, Trixie."
"We have no time for ranks- wait. Did you just call me...?"
"Yes I did. Get out of here before a Chaos One kills you."
"So that's what they're called. Well, see you later." The comm flickered out.
"I think she likes you." Applejack bluntly announced. "Let's go. How do we get off?"
"I have glider packs, so we can glide over to the origin."
"Wait a sec!" Dash stopped her. "We're heading over there?"
"We've still got a mission to complete." Twilight pointed out.
"Besides, we've got the Elements protecting us." Pinkie added. "They can't hurt us."
"Oh." Dash looked at Rarity. "Where are the gliders?"
"Over there." She pointed to a cabinet in the room. Dash walked up and opened it.
"There's only two here!"
"Well, you can fly faster than the ship anyway. And Pinkie has one too."
"And if Fluttershy can't fly, I can carry her."
"That still leaves someone without a pack."
Rarity looked to the console, hands firmly planted on the desk. "Twilight and Applejack can take them."
"But what about you?!" Twilight blurted out. "What will you do?!"
"I can try to stop the Dauntless from crashing too badly."
"What's the point? Can't one of us carry you?"
"I'll just slow Dash down, and those packs can only go faster that the ship with one person, meaning that the ship will crash into us."
"Can't Pinkie take you too?"
"I won't be able to take off with two people, not at this speed." Pinkie said, looking down sadly. Her hair, still straight, appeared to darken.
"So it looks like I'll have to stay here."
"But-" Rarity placed her finger on Twilight's lips, halting her completely.
"I'll be fine, dear. I can control this ship easily." She pulled back, and pulled out a gun. She aimed to the windows, and blasted them open. "Go now. Before the ship crashes."
The group headed to the window, Dash unfurling her wings as she leapt out, followed by Applejack swinging on her pack, then Pinkie holding Fluttershy, screaming the glider out. Twilight headed to the window, and halted.
"Back at the cabin, what were you going to say?"
"I'll tell you when I meet up with you. And I think you already know." She flashed her a cheeky grin, then pointed out. "Now, go before we both die, because you were distracting me from controlling the ship."
"Don't you have a glider?"
"They were all used up during evacuation. The console has links to them. Now go."
Twilight looked to the slowly approaching ground, the sadly back at Rarity, before leaping off, her glider unfurling and firing off its jets. Rarity looked at them with sad joy, and then flipped a switch. A wheel, similar to the ones on old water-based ships, sprung out, accompanied by a few levers of similar design. Just because this was a military ship, one didn't need to drop style.
"Well," She said to herself as she manned the wheel. "Good luck, Rarity."
* * *
Applejack's glider cut out first. It glided, as it should, sending her to a slow descent to the ground. She landed softly, with Dash landing next to her, then Pinkie nearly crashing.
"Howdy."
"Hey, AJ." Dash said, panting. "Where's Twilight?"
"Probably sayin' final words to Rarity. Ah don't think she's gonna make it, personally."
"She's an Element user!" Pinkie yelled as she tossed the glider off, which smashed into the ground, then dissolved. Fluttershy dusted herself off. "She'll be fine."
"Probably. But I still have a bad feeling."
"We shouldn't tell Twilight about that, though."
"Agreed." A scream of terror started growing into hearing. "Speaking of which, here she is."
Twilight attempted landing, but botched it, tumbling over herself several times. When she eventually stopped, the glider was in pieces.
"Did I make it?"
Dash suppressed her laughter. "Yes, but I'd give you a 1 out of 10."
"It wasn't that bad." Pinkie jutted in. "At least a 4."
"Uh, we don't need to make this a debate." Applejack stated, and ripped the harness off Twilight. "There ya go, sugarcube."
"Thanks, Applejack." She stood up, and dusted her uniform. Her eyes suddenly focussed intently on the crashing airship, which suddenly had wings sprouting from it, angling it slowly to a safe level.
Almost.
The Dauntless hit the ground, tearing up several square kilometres under its entire bulk. It tilted slightly, and one of its wings clipped a mountain that wasn't there a few hours earlier. It went into a slow spin, and then it flipped up, crashing on its top before bouncing back and impaling its left wing through its body. The sheer mass of the thing kept it going, and the other wing broke into the hull.
Nothing happened for a second, except for it still scraping along the ground. Without warning, an explosion tore the hull open, followed by several more, as the engines and missile pods detonated. The ship splintered apart like glass hit with a hammer, and what was left was sent into a blaze which tore it down in moments. A large splinter, the size of two humans, landed mere metres from them, with several shards raining down over the remaining stretch of land.
"Oh my Seraphim..." Fluttershy squeaked. Twilight dropped to her knees, blankly staring over the wreckage. Applejack doffed her hat, and the others lowered their heads. Twilight slammed her palms into the ground, her head low.
"Why..." She said quietly, and her shoulders started spasming. She broke out into loud sobbing, and fell to the ground. The rest were hit with a sudden wave of sadness, most likely literally generated by Twilight, and in their own way felt sorrow.
Without any warning save for a slight twisting of reality, several Chaos Ones surrounded them. They were larger than previously encountered ones, and had a third arm each. Pinkie was the only one that noticed, and reached for her blade just as the Chaos Ones raised their bladed arms to strike. One of their heads suddenly violently erupted in a spray of black liquid which quickly dissolved, as well as the Chaos One itself. The others looked up to the direction of the strike, and another was hit in the head from another angle. The remaining four Chaos Ones raised their arms, which changed to some sort of twisted gun, and pointed at both areas. Pinkie leaped up and slashed one of them through the body and head, then used her momentum to stun another. Dash and Applejack recovered by this time, and they took on one each. Dash flapped up and stormed one of them with plasma, while Applejack grabbed another's face and yanked it off. The last one only got one shot off, when it was blasted from the second angle, which it wasn't aiming at, and broke down. All of them looked over to where the blasts had come from, except Twilight, who was still trapped in sorrow. Energy started coiling in the area in front of her, and she looked up, eyes blurry. The energy formed into a human shape, then flashed. The person standing there smiled.
"I said that I would make it."
Twilight rubbed her eyes and saw Rarity, hair uncurled and damp, holding a long sniper rifle and an unusual backpack which had four energy coils sparking randomly. She slipped the backpack off, and slung the rifle on her shoulder. "Sorry I'm late, darling."
"R... Rarity?!" Twilight outburst, leaping up. "How did you-"
"Teleporter pack. Found it somewhere. Forgot completely about it until a minute ago."
"Couldn't you already teleport?" Dash inquired.
"I'm afraid not."
"Yer hair is not all fancy as it was a minute ago." Applejack added.
"A pipe broke above me. And we don't have time to style our hair."
"Ya got a point. Let's go."
"Give me a moment." She dropped to the ground. "I just survived near death, and the teleports aren't very comfortable."
Twilight dropped next to her. "So, Rarity..."
"Yes, dear?" She thought for a second. "Oh yes, I was going to tell you that I-"
She was halted by Twilight. Twilight's lips pressed on hers, her eyes closed. Over the sound of her heartbeat, she heard gasps and two wings bursting open. Twilight eventually pulled back, and looked at her with embarrassment.
She chuckled quietly. "I like you."
Rarity looked at her with wide eyes. She stuttered for words, but couldn't form anything.
"I'm sorry if I upset you..."
Rarity's shocked expression changed to a huge grin. "Why would I be upset? You just caught me by surprise, that's all."
"So you like me t-"
Applejack cleared her throat loudly. "Sorry ta intterupt ya lovebirds, but we've gotta save Equestria. Make out later."
The two of them giggled. "Sorry. Got carried away."
"Darn right ya did."
Rarity got up first, and then helped Twilight up. "Well, shall we get going?"
"Of course!" Dash yelled, annoyed. "We're losing daylight as we speak!"
"It's 9 in the morning. We've got a whole day of light."
Dash hovered, speechless. "Well, it's certainly darker here."
"I guess it is. Come on."
* * *
The Chaos One's head ruptured, and ragdolled as it was dissolving. Pinkie shifted her Plasma Cannon to her shoulder, and grinned.
"That's one for me."
"This sucks!" Dash wailed, obviously tired. "That's the twelfth group today, and we've only half way there!"
"He must be desperate to get us." Twilight stated. "At least we've been good enough so far."
A black mass started forming in front of them, growing into an object at least ten times the size of a normal Chaos One. It loomed over the six girls, a misshapen face glaring at Pinkie mostly.
"Lady Diane."
"Tlarnex?"
Fluttershy, who had been hiding behind Pinkie the whole time, looked at her. "T-Tlarnex?"
"He's the head of the Chaos Army, at least now he is." Pinkie gently pushed her aside, and looked up to the massive construct. "Can I help you?"
"Discord is very disappointed, and has sent me to stop you."
"Not gonna happen!" Dash said, flew up and blasted him in the faceplate with her rifle. To her surprise, the storm had hardly dinted him, let alone killed him outright. He pulled his arm back and smashed her to the ground.
"You have two options, Lady Diane. Return to the army, or die with these weaklings."
Pinkie glared at him, and raised her rifle to his head. "Don't insult my friends."
"Hmm..." He grinned evilly. "I see you have mostly reverted back to your pre-war state. Ah well." A swirl of dark energy surrounded him and he started laughing. "I've got a technique that will stop you immediately." He suddenly shattered, the energy creating a circle between his gears and pistons.
"What are you-" Twilight started, but her sentence was halted by the sight of five figures emerging from the swirling black energy, looking very grey. What surprised her most is that they took the forms of her friends. Once the figures had fully emerged, the construct reformed himself, smaller than normal, but no less threatening. He turned to the first figure, a grey version of Rarity.
"Rarity, that version of you-" It pointed to the original Rarity, who was in utter shock. "-has colour, which belongs to you." He shifted over to a duplicate of Rainbow, who turned her head away from him as he approached.
"Rainbow Dash, that clone is weaker than you. Prove that you are better than her on your own than she is." He went to the Fluttershy duplicate, who was brandishing a knife.
"Fluttershy, see that version of yourself?" He pointed to Fluttershy, who cowered behind Pinkie. "She's far too weak to exist. Deal with her." It leapt next to the Applejack duplicate.
"Applejack, I want you to fight your other version. Use any trick necessary." He grinned, and then turned to the Pinkie duplicate.
"Pinkamena... Well, you know. Just fight your other version. She laughed at you." He took to the air, and then crashed in front of Twilight. "I'll deal with you."
The first to head off from the greyed forms was Fluttershy, who attempted to tackle the real one, only to be knocked back by Pinkie. Before Pinkie could strike ChaosFluttershy, ChaosPinkie kicked her in the gut, sending her flying. ChaosDash went at full speed to Dash, who dodged it easily.
"You'll never be as fast as me!" Dash said, and took off high, landing on a floating rock. ChaosDash skidded to a halt, and took off after her. ChaosRarity ran blade-first at Rarity, who masterfully blocked it with her own sword.
"Give me your colour!" ChaosRarity screeched, and swing wildly, but to no avail. Rarity raised her sword up, but stopped as she recognised the face on her attacker. ChaosRarity took a swing across Rarity's torso, making her drop her sword and recoiling. She grabbed Rarity's sword, and wildly slashed at her duplicate, only to have it blocked by magic every time. Applejack swung a huge punch at ChaosApplejack, who leant back and kicked her in the leg. Applejack hardly budged, and grabbed her by the back-mounted motor. Before she could drive her into the ground, ChaosApplejack grabbed Applejack by her long hair and pulled hard. Applejack yelled in pain, and dropped ChaosApplejack, who kicked her in the unarmoured stomach. Applejack recoiled, and clutched her gut, only to be uppercut, hit in the stomach, then uppercut again, starting a vicious cycle. Applejack broke the pattern when she blocked one of uppercuts, and twisted her duplicate's arm, sounds of metal crunching and bone straining mixing with the scream of ChaosApplejack. ChaosApplejack swung her free arm at Applejack's head, stunning her and starting a new cycle.
Elsewhere, Twilight fired a bolt of magic from her hand, only to have it blocked by Tlarnex's own, sending them into a lock. Fluttershy, meanwhile, was desperately trying to dodge ChaosFluttershy's backhand knife swings, a twisted, cruel grin on her face. Pinkie and ChaosPinkie were bladelocked, ChaosPinkie's sword a dark, twisted version of Pinkie's. Pinkie grinned as she gained the upper hand, only to be pushed back by ChaosPinkie.
"Stop smiling!" Chaos Pinkie screamed, obviously angry.
"Nah, I'm good." Pinkie flipped the bladelock out, and leapt back, only to land on ChaosFluttershy. An idea sparked in her head a moment after.
"Guys! Don't attack your duplicates! Attack another's!" She leapt off ChaosFluttershy, and kicked her away from Fluttershy.
Rarity looked away from her attacker, still blocking with a shield spell. "I'll take Fluttershy!"
Dash soared down, and crashed into ChaosPinkie. Applejack tossed her duplicate away, and ran into the falling ChaosDash, smashing her into the ground. Rarity pushed ChaosRarity back, and grabbed her sword. She ran to Fluttershy's evil version, and struck across her shoulder. ChaosFluttershy screamed in agony, and dissolved into darkness. Twilight broke her duel, dodged the resulting blast, and pulled her rifle out. She aimed at ChaosRarity, and pulled the trigger, a stream of magic energy dissolving her into nothing. Rainbow pulled her combat knife out, and thrust it into ChaosPinkie's throat, then pulled back as she started dissolving. ChaosDash struggled to get up from under Applejack's immense weight, and Applejack smiled.
"Ah, sugarcube. I've always wanted ta hit ya this hard!" She pulled her arm back, and smashed it down on ChaosDash's head with the force of a freight train. It would have made a huge, gory, grey mess, but instead black smoke took its place. Pinkie pulled her flamethrower out, and ignited ChaosApplejack. The fuel tanks ignited as the almost-sentient fire worked its way through the armoured case, and ChaosApplejack almost literally exploded into gas. Tlarnex looked over, shocked.
"What- how did- That wasn't supposed to happen!"
Fluttershy stood up, and looked at the construct, standing at three times her height, and about seven of her width. She glared at him, and he almost literally cowered from her gaze.
"Don't. EVER! Hurt my friends!" She yelled, and flicked a hidden knife from her wrist. She walked up to Tlarnex, who seemed to shrink as she got closer.
"No, wait! I'm sorry! I-I-I was ordered to!"
Pinkie grinned sadistically. "Actually, he wasn't. He only took it as a suggestion."
"She lies! Don't believe her!"
Fluttershy still glared at him, and pulled her arm over her shoulder. She was in range for striking, and Tlarnex had seemed to pick on this.
"Hey, relax, Tlarnex. Your mind will dissolve back into the Chaos One's energy source." Pinkie said, picking earwax from her ear while leaning on her flamethrower.
"I AM THE ENERGY SOURCE! FOR DISCORD AND THE SERAPHIM SISTER'S SAKE, DON'T KILL ME!"
"You're a machine." Fluttershy said darkly, and slashed him right across his misshapen faceplate. He screamed through the entire audio range, and started burning intensely. He slumped down, as his form literally burned into nothing, leaving only a real metal version of his faceplate. Fluttershy breathed deeply, and flicked her knife back into her sweater's sleeve.
Twilight stared at her in surprise. "When did you become that...?"
"Badflank." Dash said bluntly, checking her knife for damage.
"I was going to say skilled."
Fluttershy turned back, with a sweet, innocent smile. "I've been practicing. I honestly hoped that I would never have to use my knife."
"Well, either way, well done, darling." Rarity smiled, and checked her still-unstyled hair. "Oh, this is going to take forever to fix."
"We have more important matters, Rarity!" Dash yelled, almost directly in her face. "We've gotta defeat Discord!"
"We can take our time, dear. We just stopped the Chaos Army, so we'll be safe until we reach-"
"Actually, Tlarnex was part of Discord. We have to be there quick." Pinkie stated. She snapped her fingers. "Aha!"
"What?"
"Let's take a modified jet! I've got one ready to be altered."
"Why didn't you take one sooner?" Dash cried out. "We could've used it earlier!"
"Because we needed to defeat the Chaos Army, so we wouldn't be swamped when we got to Discord."
"BUT HE'S GETTING HIS POWER BACK!"
"He would've gotten his power back sooner with the Army there." Energy shot out of Pinkie's back, and shifted in front to her
"What is that Seraphim-awful noise?" Rarity said, watching the pink energy take form.
"It's kinda like the metal of the jet is scraping against reality. You haven't noticed before?"
"I haven't heard it before. The others, maybe, but I haven-"
The jet had finished forming, and hovered there as the six girls looked over it.
"Well, let's go."
* * *
A wave of energy woke Discord from his pleasant nap. He stretched his entire body, and looked around. Yes, the circular hall with the throne in the middle works much better than the square one with the throne close to the far end. He felt somewhat hollow, but knew that the girls would easily defeat Tlarnex. The energy would reach him before they got close enough, so he had nothing to worry abo-
Without warning, a large metal flying thing crashed through his nice hall's wall, and skidded along the ground in front of him. His smile dropped instantly.
"Oh dear."
The cockpit burst open, and Pinkie leapt out. The other five made their way out, and stood in some formation.
"Well hello, girls. How can I help-"
"Hold your tongue!" Dash yelled.
"Well, that's not very nice."
"Enough!" Twilight glared at him, and her canister glowed. "We have to stop you!"
"Alright then, ladies. Go ahead."
"Wait, are you giving up so easily?"
"As much as I hate being locked in stone, I'm weak at the moment, so you've got me at a perfect time."
"Are you stalling?"
"If you want me to. Regardless, you'll win, and I want to look good." He changed to a rather unnecessary pose. "How's this?"
"Uh..." Pinkie looked dumbfounded. "Aren't we going to have a battle? We were kinda expecting one."
"I don't like fighting. It's hardly fun. Besides, you already had a hard battle before, and I don't want to tire you."
"But what about a climax?"
"When you first defeated me, there was hardly any tension caused when you arrived, completely reset. It was all set before."
"Can someone make sense here?" Applejack interrupted.
"Look, never mind. I don't want to make too much fuss. Go ahead. Besides, being locked in stone only hurts when you are being changed."
"What if we don't lock you in stone? What if we kill you outright?"
"Oh, that's not possible. Some of my energy will survive, and regrow afterwards. You can't have order without chaos." He leaned closer. "And I'd return sooner."
"Enough of this!" Twilight started drawing energy, and a field of magic formed around her. The others lifted up, eyes closed. Their eyes opened, glowing with magic power, and a rainboom shattered the room completely. A rainbow, tipped with white fire, rose to the sky, and aimed down, and rushed to Discord. The lord of chaos merely grinned, and the rainbow crashed into the ground. Twilight stopped it immediately, and they fell to the ground slowly.
"Why did we stop early?" Fluttershy squeaked.
Dash suddenly screamed in pain, and fell from her flying state. An evil laugh burst out behind her, and the rest saw Discord, holding a staff of yellow energy.
"What the-"
"I lied. It's so much fun when you trust me, only to have it broken."
Pinkie pulled out her Plasma cannon, and held the trigger down. Discord blocked all the shots by spinning the staff, catching the thousands of bolts on it.
"Nice try." He swung his tail into Pinkie, who was sent flying. "You know, I think I like the idea of an epic battle. It'll be fun!" He swung the staff down hard onto Applejack, who blocked it with her arms.
"It seems yer fancy energy doesn't harm metal."
"I know." He thrust his clawed hand into Applejack, who was knocked back, crashing into rubble. He spun the staff around, and flicked it into Rarity's blade's path, to her surprise. He pushed her back, and flicked Fluttershy away. He approached Twilight, and bypassed her shield spell, knocking her away. He lifted himself to the air, and laughed.
Pinkie looked up at him, and scowled.
"I hate you!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.
"And I don't hate you." He hovered above her, and piledrived himself to the ground. Pinkie rolled, but the resulting shockwave hit her. She was sent crashing into the recovering Dash, knocking them both to the ground. Discord rose up, black smoke starting to coil around him, and he once again broke into laughter. "My lord, this is fun!"
Without him knowing, bolts of blue energy hit the energy coiling around him, trapping sections in glowing blue spheres. He held his laughter, and looked to the origin, only to be blasted in the face with white energy. He fell to the ground, and crashed uncomfortably close to Twilight. She and Discord looked up, and saw two large-winged figures descend from the broken roof.
"What gives?" Discord cried out, watching Celestia land softly, then Luna.
"We're trying to stop you, Discord."
"Oh come on." He stood back up, and cricked his neck. "That's not fun."
"WE DO NOT CARE ABOUT THY'S FUN! ONLY THAT OUR GLORI-"
"For our sake, stop yelling! I can hardly hear myself think!"
Luna drew in a huge breath, and then released a shockwave that send Discord flying. He picked himself up, and glared at them.
"So you wanna do this the hard way? Fine!" He drew in an equally large breath, releasing an equally powerful shockwave that knocked Luna off her feet. Celestia watched her crash, and then glared at the laughing Discord. She gathered energy around her horn, and hit him with the intensity of a thousand suns. She stopped it after a few seconds, and Discord dusted off himself. He wrapped energy around his gloved hand, and blasted her with an equally chaotic energy. Celestia screamed in pain, before raising a shield, the black storm wrapping around it. Discord halted the flow, and scowled.
"Damn you, Princess. At least you're making this a challenge."
Luna picked herself up, and put her hand to her back. A black energy flashed from her back, and she pulled out a large, dark blue blade. Rising to full height, she swung it across the ground, breaking it in a display of power.
"THOU SHALT NOT SURVIVE THIS ENCOUNTER!" She yelled, and charged full-on. Discord flashed out of her sight, and her wide swing crashed into the remaining wall, shattering it into a million smoking pieces. Luna glanced back, and raised the massive sword to block the glowing staff slamming into it. Discord pulled back, and tried for a low swing, only to be blocked. He broke into turbo speed, only to be blocked every time, almost at an impossible speed.
Discord broke off. "When did you become so good?"
"We have been training. War prepares one for everything."
"Damn Seraph."
"You will never win, Discord." Celestia pulled her own blade with a flash of sunlight. "We've only provided a distraction."
"What?!"
Celestia glanced to the girls, who had recovered and were watching the battle. "Use the Elements now!" She turned to Discord again, who was grinning.
"I can just teleport again, you know."
She returned the grin, prompting a raised eyebrow. "Not with this." She yelled Luna's name, then said something in a language no one had heard for millennia. Luna took a second to register, but then nodded and raised her arm. Celestia pointed her finger at Discord, a yellow energy wrapping around it. Luna's arm, now in the same position, had a dark blue energy, only prompting Discord to laugh.
"What are you doing?"
The Seraph responded only by wrapping him in energy, binding him. He looked at the binds, and only laughed.
"These won't stop me!" He stopped laughing. "Just give me a-" He strained. "What the..."
"We've binded you in place. You can't move." Luna said, still holding a death glare.
"Oh, crap."
"Now!" Celestia turned to Twilight and her friends.
Twilight once again gathered energy around her body, and launched out to the others. They rose into the air, with Discord wide-eyed.
"Wait! Stop!"
The energy continued to spin around the six of them. A rainboom exploded from the centre, destroying what little remained of the slowly-regenerating hall. A rainbow arced from the outburst, rising straight into the pink cloud-filled sky, clearing it, then arced down and smashed into Discord. Discord screamed in agony, as his body slowly petrified, the sound of crumbling stone filling the air. His scream became muffled, and he crashed to the ground, as a statue.
The girls slowly dropped to the ground. Twilight ran to the Princess, in a full-on tackle hug. "Thank you! Without your help-"
"It's alright. We'll celebrate this back at Ponyville." Celestia unfurled her wings, and lifted off the ground. She gave her arm to Twilight. "Come with me."
Twilight grabbed Celestia's arm, and was hauled up.
"I assume that the rest of you can take yourself there. Meet me in the library."
Pinkie pushed aside the curtain to a massive crowd, cheering intensely, calling out their names between the sheer noise. The crowd had come from all over Equestria, and was larger than any other crowd she had seen. Celestia turned back, and waved them over, grinning like the sun she raised every day.
Twilight glanced at the others, and stepped forwards, past the curtains and onto the stage. The others moved next to her, and a chorus of cheers erupted from the crowd.
"Citizens of Equestria," Celestia started. "These brave women have saved our land from the rule of Chaos, from everlasting torment, and bring harmony to us all!" She unfurled her wings to look more imposing, an age-old Seraph reflex that had survived the Cataclysm. "And with harmony, the Empire and the Republic are now one, the Equestrian Kingdom!"
This was met with another chorus. Celestia glanced back to Luna. "Has the Army been sent to check the Chaos-controlled lands yet?"
Luna nodded. "The General himself wanted to go, so I let him."
Celestia smiled her reply, and turned back to the crowd. "Now, we can't ever stop conflict, nor minor chaotic events, but these girls have prevented Equestria from falling into utter chaos, and we have to thank them for that." She turned to Luna once again. "Do you have anything to add?"
Luna was about to speak, when a scroll formed in front of her. She snatched it out of the air, and yanked it open. "Actually, I do."
She walked up to the front, taking Celestia's place. She inhaled, and switched to the Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice. "WE HAVE RECIEVED WORD THAT YOUR TOWNS HAVE BEEN RETURNED TO THEIR NORMAL STATE, AND ARE FREE TO MOVE BACK INTO!" She closed her eyes, and lowered her tone. "And now, a minute silence for those that we've lost over the five years."
The bustling crowd dropped to absolute silence.
Twilight entered the library, and was greeted by a tackle hug from Spike.
"Twilight! You're ok!"
"Just a bruise or two. How's it been?"
Spike pulled back. "Until a week ago, terrible, but livable."
"A week ago?" Twilight glanced at Apple Bloom, who was looking at Spike in a... particular way.
"Me and Apple Bloom... Well... We-"
"No need to go on. What about your crush on Rarity?"
"Five years apart can break the spell of love, or amplify it." He leaned closer. Spike was nearly as tall as Twilight now, which kinda startled her. "I mean, she's still beautiful, but..."
"Well, that makes things easier for me."
"Eh?" Spike glanced at Bloom, and then looked at Twilight.
"Rarity and I, we kinda fell in love."
Spike nearly incinerated something, he was in that much shock. "WHAT?!"
Twilight blushed, and looked at her feet. She glanced up at Spike, who stared at her with wide eyes.
"You... and-"
"Sorry if I upset you." She looked back up, looking very apologetic.
"No, no, it's fine, just that... Well, I didn't think you and Rarity would..."
Bloom walked up, and slapped her hand on Spike's left shoulderblade. "There's no understandin' human nature, Spike. It's like how you dropped your crush on Rarity."
Spike remained silent for a few seconds, scratching his chin in a thoughtful manner. "A valid point."
"Well, we've got a fair amount to catch up on, so why don't we do so?"
* * *
Sweetie Belle was kicking a stone outside Carousel Boutique, which had been closed since her sister joined the Empire's military. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye, halting her in mid swing. A familiar shape walked almost in silhouette up to her, the setting sun glinting off her polished boots, and through hair that had seen better. Sweetie dashed towards Rarity, the silhouette, and leapt into her arms. Rarity, after recoiling from the impact, returned it.
"Hello, sister." She said, on the brink of tearful joy. "I've missed you."
Sweetie let go, and stood a step back to get a larger view. "Why are you in uniform still?"
"Oh, this?" She held her cape up loosely. "I haven't had the time to change yet. In fact, I was on my way here to do just that."
"Sorry I couldn't look after the shop while you were away." She looked a mix between joy and shame. "But I had to avoid the army."
"I understand." She held her hand to her chin, in a thoughtful pose she often had when she was working. "May I ask what you did, all those years?"
Sweetie Belle jumped up, and proceeded to tell her of her adventures in the Everfree Village, how she discovered her talent in music (lifting her sleeve up to show her Cutie Mark), and how Scootaloo and her ended up liking each other.
"You and your avian friend?" She seemed fairly shocked. "And what of Apple Bloom?"
"Oh, she and Spike-"
"Spike? Last I remember, he had a crush on me..."
"It's been five years, sis."
"Well, either way, I have to get changed. I shall tell you what I did during the War afterwards."
* * *
"Hey, Big Mac!" Applejack called out, through the practically dead orchard. "Ya here?"
"AJ, I don't think he'd be there." Dash said, unimpressed. "The whole place has been empty for five damn years!"
"Oh." She looked underjoyed, cursing herself for not realising that sooner. "Let's check the barn-"
"Ya called?" McIntosh walked out of the barn, followed by an aged Granny Smith.
Applejack ran up to McIntosh, and ran into him with enough force to knock over a normal man. Of course, McIntosh was built like a truck, so he weathered the tackle hug easily. Dash merely hovered in place, slightly shocked at his sturdy nature.
"Oh Big Mac, Ah've missed you!" She pushed herself off him, and hugged Granny Smith in a massively softer way. She looked around for her sister, who was nowhere to be found. "Where's Apple Bloom?"
"She's with Spike."
"Why would she be with Spike? Doesn't she wanna greet her sister?"
"Dunno why. Maybe because they like each other now?"
Applejack stammered. "Wha- Bu- Uh... Spike has-" Dash merely laughed.
"Why ya so shocked, AJ?"
"Ah thought Spike liked Rarity." She seemed quite shocked, which only made it harder for Dash to take her seriously. "And he ain't even human!"
"He's a Draco! They're quite human-like, if I recall."
"But he's got fangs and scales!"
"I've got wings. I'm classified as human."
"But-"
"Look, AB likes him, and that's OK by me." She changed her look from annoyed to perverted. "Besides, you don't have to worry too much about her, just me."
McIntosh looked at her with wide eyes. "So, you and sis are-"
"NO!" Applejack blurted out, panicking a fair amount. "Well, yes, but- We ain't worked anything out yet!"
He dropped his eyes back to normal. "Ah see. Well, Ah've gotta go do some cleanin' now, so you two lovebirds-" He said, with a glint of humour in his voice. "-Go an' do somethin'. Barn's free." He prodded Granny Smith, who had somehow dropped into a sleep-like state. "C'mon, Gran."
The two of them walked off, leaving the flustered Applejack and the grinning Rainbow in the middle of the path.
"So..." Dash said, trailing off to the next sentence. "Barn?"
Applejack pulled her hat over her eyes, showing her embarrassment. "Why?"
"It's free. Besides..." She dropped next to her, and grabbed her arm. "I know you like me."
Applejack looked down, and scraped her boot in an arc on the dirt. "Alrighty then..."
* * *
Scootaloo soared in the sky, glad to be in safe air again. She spotted Sweetie Belle talking with her sister, and decided to come back later to say hi. She continued scanning the ground, spotting many people she recognised. When she flew over the farm, she saw her idol, Rainbow Dash, next to Applejack. She folded her arms to her side, and swooped down to the ground, landing with a natural agility she had worked over through her training as a Wonderbolt.
Dash barely heard Scootaloo, but felt the gust of wind as she landed close behind her. Scootaloo bounded over, using her wings to speed her up, and leapt onto Dash.
"Hey Dash!" She said, overjoyed. "Man, I missed you!"
"Scoots?" Dash seemed shocked to have the younger avian practically crawling over her. "Whatcha doin' here, and not with the Wonderbolts?"
"I've always liked you more that the rest of them." She let go, still holding her shoulders. "You're like the sister I never had, so yeah."
"Don't worry, we can catch up much later. I've got some..." She glanced at Applejack, who was further hiding herself from everyone else. "... Things I need to do."
"What, on AJ's farm?" Scootaloo crossed her arms and thought. Her wings suddenly burst open, after realising what she truly meant. "Oh."
"What's up?"
Scoots switched to a panicked state. "Nothing! Nothing's up!" She broke into false laughter. "I've gotta go!" She leapt up into the air, and fell on her face when her wings didn't work properly. She picked herself up, and laughed. "I meant to do that!" She took off properly on her second go, and flew off rather jerkily.
Dash waited for the orange-winged avian to fly off, before she spoke again.
"Well, that was odd..."
* * *
"Hi, Mr Cake!" Pinkie said, pushing the door open forcefully. "I'm back!"
Mr Cake walked from the kitchen, and dropped the tray of muffins he had in his hands. "Pinkie?"
"Hey!" She said with a wave. "How's it going?"
"I honestly didn't expect you to come back. And I'm good, thanks for asking."
"Who is it, dear?" Mrs Cake's voice rang out from the kitchen.
"It's Pinkie."
A sound of clattering rolled from the kitchen. "What, really?"
"Yeah. Oh, and that shy avian friend of hers."
"Fluttershy."
He snapped his fingers. "That's it! Always forget that name..."
"Well, I'm gonna head upstairs now, so..." Pinkie went up before anyone could stop her, and she approached her old room. What she saw caused her to stop in her tracks.
The whole room was empty. Her bookshelves, filled with obscure recipes and mechanics, were gone. Her party table was missing, as was her own bed. Her near-endless supply of party equipment was gone, along with her old blueprints of random things she was going to build. The only thing of hers that remained up there was a bucket, which was rusted and dinted beyond recognition. A layer of dust coated the entire floor, and the bed that had been placed there, almost directly where she had her own, was a plain white.
She ran part-way down the stairs, full of rage. "WHERE THE HELL IS MY STUFF?!"
"You left Ponyville years ago. We couldn't keep your stuff, so we... well..."
"Threw it out."
Pinkie yelled in rage, and kicked the railing. "I had recipes and plans and all sorts of stuff, and you just tossed it in the freakin' garbage?! What the hell sort of person wastes all that useful stuff!" She ran up back up the stairs, and leapt on the bed, sending a wave dust into the air. She turned the pillow over, and screamed loudly into it, muffling it enough to stop everyone in the town hearing it, but not the others in the store. She continued sobbing into it loudly, her avian friend with a look of concern on her face.
"I'm sorry, Mrs Cake." She said softly, somehow audible between Pinkie's moans of despair.
"What are you sorry for?" She inquired. "You weren't the one who threw her stuff out." Another scream, as if she heard her.
"For bringing her here before heading to my own place." She looked nervously at the ground.
"She would have overreacted either way." Mr Cake added. "But she is making quite the racket."
"Um..." She squeaked. "Maybe I can try and calm her down?"
"Be my guest, dearie. Just be careful."
* * *
After a quick steeling of her nerves, she slowly made her way up the stairs. She coughed as dust, which was floating in the air, made contact with her airway, but continued on through. Pinkie had calmed down enough to stop her loud wailing, but was still buried in the pillow, her body jerking with every sob. Fluttershy tried flying above the ground, but stopped as clouds of dust were thrown up into the air, so she continued on foot. She gently sat on the other side of the bed softly, and placed her hand on Pinkie's back. Her gesture of kindness was knocked back by a slap from Pinkie's hand, yet her face still remained in the pillow.
"Don't touch me!" She yelled, and for a moment her sobs gained a decibel or ten. Fluttershy ignored the short sting in her hand, but refrained from touching Pinkie.
"It's ok, Pin-"
Pinkie pulled her face from the pillow, and drew her own face close to hers. "It's NOT ok! My entire life before this freakin' war is gone! My books! My plans! Even my own bed-" She gestured to the bed the two of them were on. "- is gone! I have nothing anymore!"
Fluttershy grabbed Pinkie's shoulders. "That's not true! You have-"
"It is totally true! What could I have left, other than that... pitiful ghost of a bucket there?"
"Me."
Pinkie's eyes widened. "What do you me-"
Fluttershy interrupted her rant with a press of her lips to Pinkie's. She drew back slowly, and looked at the shocked look on her face.
"I love you, Pinkamena Diane Pie."
Pinkie couldn't bring herself to speak. A slight whine filled the air, as her hair started shaking. "Y-you... love me?"
Fluttershy looked away, sheepishly. "Um... Yes."
The whine grew in volume. It had been over five years since it had fallen flat, but the positive energy field was slowly restoring.
"Are you ok?"
Pinkie was still in a state of shock, trying to string words together faster than she could manage. Her hair suddenly burst out with a field of energy, coils of it flailing in the air and tangling with others. It soon became a tangled mess, and the energy subsided quickly. Fluttershy looked at the somewhat familiar shape of it, longer than she had remembered.
"Pinkie!" She grabbed a small tuft of it, which was tangled to the rest of it. "Your hair's back!"
Pinkie looked at Fluttershy, and grinned a smile larger than any she had in years. She wrapped her arms around the avian. "I can't thank you enough, Fluttershy!"
Fluttershy pulled herself from Pinkie's tight grasp with a small amount of effort, and grinned almost equally.
"And, for the record-" Pinkie continued. "I love you too, Fluttershy." She snapped her fingers. "We should have a party!"
"But what about your party gear?"
"I'll buy some more. But I was meaning something else." She placed her forehead on the avian's, and spoke softly. "A 'Private party'. Just us two, and this bed."
Fluttershy's wings burst open, and she squeaked.
"Don't worry, 'Shy. I'll be gentle." She placed her lips on the avian's, and the two of them lied down, arms around each other, in an impenetrable embrace.
THE END