Forgotten Legacy

I glided over the city, the wind in my face strangely comforting. Dash had been telling the truth when she and Hot Shot had suggested this. I felt the updraft die slightly and pumped my wings again, lifting up a little and closing my eyes as my stress faded for a second.

I sensed rather than saw an approaching pony. This far inside the perimeter it had to be a friend. I opened my eyes to see Sunshine glide into formation next to me.

“Couldn’t sleep?” she asked.

I shook my head. “Too many things going through my head,” I said. “Troop reports, patrols, supply inventories.” I sighed. “What happened to us settling down?”

“Well,” she said. “We haven’t set a date yet.”

I smiled at the joke. “Fair enough,” I said, spreading my wings a little wider, eyes drifting closed again.

We flew in silence for a few moments, turning to follow the curve of the shield wall that Cadence, Twilight, and Starlight had been keeping up. I frowned, wishing I could relive some of that burden, but shields of this size I couldn’t maintain for long, let alone a full rotation. I had talent in abjuration, but this was something far beyond my capabilities.

We began a slow bank to return to the palace when something caught my eye. I pulled up, hovering in place as I looked down, spying six cloaked forms walking down the street in a hurry.

Sunshine saw it too. “Is that what I think it is?” she asked.

I nodded grimly, horn lighting up as I tucked into a dive. I unfurled my wings as the ground rushed up, slowing my dive as I landed on the street ten yards away from the cloaked forms. Even from here I could make out the red glow of the undead beneath all the hoods but one. That one I spied the metal artificial hoof on the left side.

My heart clenched. Go for backup! I forced through the bond, every bit of urgency I could pack into it. I threw up a shield as I saw a thaumaturgic circle appear, bracing for the attack. But instead of an attack, a red-blue glow appeared and Sunshine cried out, suddenly appearing on the ground between us.

I leaped forward, extending my shield around us both as black bolts of energy fired forth from the undead Unicorns, cloaks flapping wildly in the displacement of the magic circle. Neighlin looked on with a look of sheer madness, the black crystals in place of her horn crackling with stored mana. Sunshine struggled to her feet and glared across the way at our opponents.

“You sure about this?” I asked as I saw the image in her mind.

“Got a better idea?” she asked, her horn lighting with dark purple magic.

“Not at the moment,” I replied, charging my horn and firing a flare into the sky, assuring that one of the patrolling units at least would spy it and come running.

Sunshine flared out her spectral wings again, rising slowly into the air as a dark aura surrounded her, wings spreading out and becoming filled with dark, midnight blue feathers. Her horn extended, the spiral groove becoming slightly deeper and a bright aura of light flared into being around her eyes, glasses vanishing.

Midnight Sparkle hovered in the air, beauty and menace blended together. She threw down a shield and I mimicked her transformation, my Daydream form not much different besides the longer horn and the glowing iridescence it added to my feathers. I saw Neighlin pause for a second, confused.

Thats when Midnight fired a bolt of fire forward, incinerating one of the Unicorns.

And all Tartarus broke loose. Behind the six forms, the air wavered, revealing ten more undead ponies, a mix of Unicorns and Earth Ponies. I hopped into the air, eyes narrowing.

Applejack’s crying face flashed in my mind as I summoned fire, drawing a line in the street. Neighlin smiled and one of the transmutation circles on her barrel flared, appearing on the ground beneath her. The mark on her body disappeared as the circle she stood on flared, blue light leaping up in arcs of light. The circle shifted to red as tentacles lashed out and grabbed each of the unicorns by the horns, turning them all jet black.

The first shot fired then shattered my shield, sending me tumbling in the air. The next missed, and a third was barely ablated by Midnight’s shield. I got my balance and ripped a crate out of a compost heap to take the brunt of the last bolt of the barrage.

Midnight looked at me to confirm that I was all right when she suddenly stiffened. Through the bond, I saw the Earth Ponies that had slipped by us while we were trying to survive the salvo of enhanced magic bolts. I kept my eye on Neighlin and the remaining Unicorns.

Don’t get cocky, I thought to her. We stay in pairs at all times.

They’re getting away, and the patrols won’t be able catch up unless we slow them down!

She bolted away, gaining some altitude as she did. I glanced at her as she did, worry rising. Light flashed behind me and I returned to face my opponent just in time to see Neighlin and two of the Unicorns ripple and disappear, the other Unicorns crumbling into the street, the lights in their eyes fading.

Cursing, I tried to follow the mantic trail of the teleport when I felt it behind me. I spun in time to see them appear two hundred yards down the road, the black bolts of magic already firing up at Midnight.

“NO!” I screamed as one shear through her wing, severing it and sending her into a tumble.

I charged forward, hooves barely leaving the pavement as I barreled into Neighlin, disrupting the spell she was starting to call upon. I swung my right hoof into her face, feeling the jaw crack slightly under the impact. I was then bowled over by an Earth Pony, being shoved away and I felt a rib give slightly. I stood slightly, my horn beginning to glow brightly. I looked up to see Midnight struggle to stay aloft, losing altitude with every second. Then a blue blur shot by and grabbed her, turning and heading towards the Palace.

I blinked when more blurs flashed into view, but my attention was pulled back down as Neighlin growled and slammed her hooves into the ground, multiple thaumaturgic circles flaring to life, each taking the form of a pony. Soon the road was filled with raised bodies, and I no longer had time to focus on my love, despite what my heart said.

I charged my horn and snarled. I blasted apart the Earth Pony that had bull rushed me earlier as it tried to draw its sword. I bucked back as another came up from behind, but as I charged my horn again, a small part of my mind realized I was outnumbered. I spun around, sensing danger behind me, my Daydream form fading as my element flared, the armor we had gained from the geodes forming in time to ablate a spear thrust from a Pegasus with featherless wings. I stumbled from the force and watched as the spear drew back again.

There was a flash of light, and suddenly the Pegasus fell, its head rolling away. I stared for a second before a Unicorn stepped forward, rapier hanging in a cerulean aura. “Looks as though you had a wee bit of a bind,” the Unicorn said, a black vest with metal rings and studs on it around her barrel. She turned. “Suren you don’t mind the help.” Azure winked.

I smiled at the bard. “Not going to complain,” I said, turning to see EUP soldiers battling the risen zomponies. I recognized Gleam Star from his massive body, his hoof crushing both helm and skull of his opponent. I saw the blue blurs again and this time recognized them as the Wonderbolts as they performed a perfect formation strafe, the blades strapped to their sides shearing through horns, wings, and bodies before pulling up again.

“Go,” Azure said, her rapier cutting down another raised pony. “We’ll clean up this mess.”

I turned and saw Neighlin slip through another rip in the air. I leaped over and managed to slide through right behind her. I found myself in the blasting cold, my armor standing out against the white. I saw the Unicorn hobbling through the snow, her prosthetic obviously not made to handle deep snow drifts. I spread my wings and soared after her, tackling her and ramming a hoof into her side as we tumbled. I winced as my rib protested and stood, wings spread instinctively in an aggressive pose as we squared off.

“Little princess looks to get tough, does she?” Neighlin hissed in a rough voice. “Little princess wants to get her hooves dirty?” A small circle on her neck flashed, a glowing sword appearing. “Little princesses should remain safe in their beds.”

“I’ve never had a problem getting my hooves dirty,” I growled, blasting her in the face with a sudden force spell. I deliberately kept it weak, just enough to stagger her. I had the mobility advantage here and I pressed it. The spectral blade swiped out at me but I sidestepped it easily, hitting Neighlin with another force blast, this one to her prosthetic. She stumbled and I hit her again, hammering her over and over, my wrath starting to turn them from force to fire.

“You've made a number of mistakes,” I said, stalking forward, my next blast severing some of the crystal off from her head. “Raising undead to attack the Crystal Empire, brazen attacks using the same.”

She snarled and the blade flashed forward, narrowly missing my neck. I ignored it and continued forward, another blast taking the artificial leg clean off. She screeched and fell into the snow, blood beginning to seep from where the leg had been attached. She tried to activate another circle but a wave of fire scorched all the markings from her side, leaving her writhing.

I tried to force my anger to a small corner of my mind, but it was proving difficult.

She started laughing. “Little princess does indeed prove wrathful, doesn’t she? Angered her have we? Oh, but she is mistaken, yes, mistaken indeed.”

I frowned as she continued to rave to herself.

“Mistakes were made, yes,” she muttered, her wild eyes turning to me. “But raise the dead, that was not myself. Sombra, he and the heir did that.”

“You’re mad, and a murderer,” I snarled, stopping before her. “Worst of all, though?” I said, leaning down almost nose to nose with her.

“You hurt my wife.”

The fire blazed brightly in the arctic night, my unblinking gaze watching as it trickled down, leaving just melted snow and ash.