A/N: Sorry for the last chapter. I should have warned about character death.
Chapter 10
Unknown Enemy
I had spent the next few days reading the forbidden spell book Ravena gave me, and I had learned some crazy shit. Almost every spell in the book was combat magic. The power required to activate each spell was immense, and I vowed I would never use them unless it was absolutely necessary. I was interrupted from my reading by a sudden teleport to Canterlot castle.
Celestia was standing above me, a look of disappointment in her face. Jack and Sara had both attended the funeral, but I hadn't seen them since then, but there they were, looking sheepish.
"You disobeyed a direct order," She scolded.
"Did you guys tell her?" I asked my friends.
"Truth spell," The said simultaneously.
"Jeez. Why does it matter so much?" I asked.
"An order is an order."
"Fine. Punish me. But just know, a little filly named Dinky never would have been found," I supplied.
"You found the missing filly?" Celestia inquired.
"She was tortured by the humans. They cut her horn off, which in turn killed her. I did pick up a little info off of her, though. They did it for intel. She told them everything she knows about how the kingdom works."
Celestia's eyes widened. "This is bad. So very bad. They'll probably be in Ponyville any day now! And who knows, they might have even banded together with the other groups!"
I shook my head. " I doubt it. They hated each other in my dimension, they'll still hate each other until it becomes a full-war."
"Good, good, but we still need to draft and train. Take this." She levitated a clipboard off of her throne. "This has the drafted names. We've already been to the other cities, and we're trying to get the griffons on our side, but go to Ponyville. Also, we need to meet on casual terms sometime," Celestia joked.
"Agreed. Guys, you're coming with me. Jack, train the new recruits. Endurance, or if you can figure out how to train them for combat, better. Sara, We're taking a little share of the castle's armory," Celestia opened her mouth, "Celestia, don't you dare object. Arm the ponies."
I raised my arms, and concentrated on a section of the armory. It had enough weapons and armor for the draft list, so I enveloped them in magic, then took those and the three of us the town hall. "Guys, gather the ponies. We need to get this done."
My two friends nodded, and ran out the door. Within the hour, the entire town had gathered, and I gave the bad news once again. "The time is upon us. The drafting list has come in, and we're here to arm and train those of you who are going along. First up: Big-" Sara took the clipboard.
"No need. They all volunteered when we told them. The young ones even wanted to come, but we stopped them."
I turned to the crowd. "You all feel the need to fight?"
The entire crowd nodded. This had to be the bravest thing I'd ever seen. Even Fluttershy wanted to go.
"Well, don't just stand there?" Jack roused. "Line up! You've all just entered the force!" He really had a way with words, but it worked. The entire crowd cheered, and we almost had to stop them from getting out of hand. We got them lined up and armored (me having to make a few extra sets,) And Jack took them away. Me and Sara followed, if just to make sure he didn't go to far.
He led them out to the nearest field in a lock-step, which was hilarious. Several untrained soldiers in lockstep? Funny, but if these soldiers happened to be quadrupeds, it amps it up. I decided it might be a better idea to take the unicorns aside with me and Sara, and give them a little battle magic training.
I separated the Unicorn population from the group, and lined them up. I went all drill-sergeant on them while Sara stood to the side.
"Listen up! Anypony who thinks you have the magical power for battle, step forward!" About half of them stepped forward. "Wrong!" I pulled them all forward with magic. "Every single one of you has enough magic for this, and if you don't, too bad! You'll get there! Now, any of you who would like to use a weapon, go with my friend here! The rest, you stay with me!" The group split about half-and-half. There were some familiar faces in my group.
Of course Twilight had stayed with me, but I didn't expect Lyra. Rarity was also there. Those were the only ones I'd ever met, but I knew the rest by name. "So, you all want to battle magi? Then let's get started! I'm gonna transmit the knowledge for a basic magic bolt right into your frickin' heads!" I raised my hand, and shot out a a beam for each Unicorn, each one containing the knowledge of the basic spell.
"That's how we're gonna do it from here! We don't have time for books, so I'll just magically teach you all I know!"
"Um... Hello?" I turned to face a blue mare with a light blue mane. Unicorn, obviously. She had a cape and wizard hat on, both decorated in stars. "The great and powerful Trixie had been told you're the magic instructor!"
"And who's Trixie?" I asked.
"You're looking at her!" She said confidently.
I looked at Twilight. "You know this bitch?" I said rudely. Trixie gasped at my language.
"Not well. She came to Ponyville a while ago, claiming she had beaten an Ursa Major, then Snips and Snails brought one to town. I put it to sleep, but it was only an Ursa Minor. She left the town in shame, then came back later. She had an amulet that amplified her power, and she used it to banish me from Ponyville. I tricked her in addition, and got her to take it off."
"Wow. How messed up are you?" I asked.
"I... Uh..."
"Get in the line," I ordered.
"Trixie obliges!" She said happily.
"If you don't stop that, I'll throw you," I threatened.
"How?" You aren't that much taller than me!"
"Like this." I picked her up with magic, then dropped her.
"Ouch." I shot the info beam at her too, then we began. I transformed a few piles of sticks into targets, and the Unicorn squad started firing. Twilight stayed by my side.
"Well? Get over there!" I ordered.
"I already know this spell. I was studying combat magic for the last week."
"Then show me your strongest spell!"
"Already?" Twilight confirmed.
"Damn right. I need to know this stuff for the strategy!"
"Alright then." Twilight trotted to the nearest target, and her horn began to glow. Her next move was actually pretty impressive.
She shot out a tri-beam attack, made of fire, ice, and lightning. The target exploded, and she trotted back. "That was in the book you gave me six months ago."
"Starswirl was good. Just keep practicing that! I want you able to blow up a tree by nightfall, so that mean eight hours!" I checked. It was about ten.
"What will you be doing?" Twilight inquired.
"Reading this." I pulled out my gilded spell tome of ungodly destruction.
"What? A spell tome?" Twilight confirmed.
"No normal spell tome. It was given to me by the late Raven Queen, and it's the collection of forbidden Raven tribe spells, deemed too powerful to be used. She entrusted it to me, but don't worry. Some of these spell could level a mountain at full power, but I won't use them unless something's gone horribly wrong."
"Are you gonna stop getting stronger anytime soon?" Twilight questioned.
"My new aim's to beat Discord!"
"You met him?"
"Yeah. I know chaos magic now. It's quite fun."
"You're almost as dangerous as a dragon," Twilight observed.
"Naw, I lost my last fight with a dragon." I walked away to where Jack had somehow found a way to train them in combat. Some of the stronger ones had warhammers in their mouths, the rest had either a double sided sword, or a regular one.
"How are things going with the Unicorns?" Jack asked.
"Fine. One of them destroyed a target."
"The librarian?" Jack guessed.
"How'd you know?"
"Met her while you were out a few days ago. Strong magic."
"She has something on you, that's for sure. How are things over here?" I asked.
"Fine." He looked back to the trainees. The other four mares that I knew so well were training with different weapons. Applejack had a warhammer, Dash had a twin sword, and Pinkie and Fluttershy both had knives. Pinkie had two of them, which she had somehow figured out how to attach to her back hooves. She managed to stab a target ten times in eleven seconds. Her knives into holsters as she set them back down.
"Where'd you get something like those?" I asked.
"Found 'em in the pile! Aren't they nifty?"
"Sure are. How's it going?"
"You just watched me, silly!" She lifted her hind legs again, and the knives came out. She resumed stabbing, and I walked over to Applejack, who didn't seem to be faring too well with her hammer.
She swung, missed, and dropped it. "Consarn it! Ah'm useless!" She whined.
"I've seen your strength. Here, kick me in the stomach," I offered.
"Are ya'll nuts?" The farmer asked.
"Come on!" I urged.
"Fine." She faced away from me, and sent a kick directly into my abdomen.
I expected it to hurt, but I didn't expect it to send me flying ten feet through the air. I landed roughly on a dummy, then stood back up. I ran back over.
"That was hellishly powerful!" I complimented.
"How are ya still movin' afta that?" She asked.
"I probably shouldn't be, I think you liquified my pancreas!" I shouted enthusiastically. "But that was amazing! Try this!" I had recently developed a spell for strengthening one's blows permanently, and I used it on Applejack. I wasn't a large increase, but I would still do some damage.
"Kick me again!" I ordered.
"Ah really shouldn't."
"Applejack, as your commanding officer, I order you to-" I was cut off my a swift kick to the nuts. I grasped my crotch and fell to the ground.
"Uups. Aimed a bit low, pard'ner." She winked.
"I hate you so much."
"Ya'll asked me ta kick ya, so ah did," She reiterated.
"Fine." I stood up slowly. Apple went to kicking the air, and I walked over to Dash. She was naturally skilled at the sword, it seemed. In the time I stood next to her, she took of the heads of five dummies with her twin blade in ten seconds. I left her to it, jogging over to Fluttershy.
She was swinging weakly at a target with her knife. She was barely leaving a dent. "Flutters?" I interrupted.
"Yes?" She replied after putting her knife down.
"You might do better as a medic for this one," I suggested. I put my hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll get your chance."
"Alright," Fluttershy sighed. I teleported over to where Sara was, where the other Unicorns were firing bows with telekinesis.
"Sara, I'm going for a while, make sure they get some rest every now and then, alright?" She nodded, and I teleported straight to the camp of the Northern Americans. I landed a safe distance away with the long distance teleport, then got closer with a regular one. The camp was closer to town than it was awhile ago, and there were smiths littering the encampment, meaning they had figured out metalworking, too. I sprinted to the most extravagant tent, right in the center. I tried to go in, but two armored guards grabbed my arms. They roughly pulled me inside.
"Lord, what should we do with him?" He asked. Tanner was sitting on his throne, which was a fucking toilet. What was this, Fallout?
"It's okay, I know 'im. Let him be." The guards obeyed, and went back to their posts.
"Hey, Tanner. How are things on this side?" I asked.
"I dunno. As I said, I'm just a figurehead. I don't actually know their plans, I just go along with them. I do know that we're gonna conquer anything we come across, it's gonna be badass. You can be a general," he proposed.
"This is gonna hurt. I'm ambassadoring for the other side. They want peace."
"The parliament already told me that if anyone came here with a peace accord, turn them away. Sorry," He apologized.
"Here's the part that'll hurt. I'm on other side, and Jack and Sara are with me. And I'm afraid you don't stand a chance," I threatened.
"Leave. You may be on the wrong side, but we're still friends, and I don't want to execute you, so you have to go," Tanner advised.
"Fine. Just know that if we meet again, it will be on the battlefield. Tanner, in light of the friendship we once had, I'll let you live." I stepped behind a curtain, and teleported out of camp, to intimidate him. I teleported back to Jack, who was still training the ponies. "Bad news. The humans won't even consider peace, and I told Tanner you guys are with me, and that I'd kill him if we meet again. So yeah, you won't be able to see another human without having to kill him."
"Meh. Kind of expected it. Have any fun over there?" He asked.
"Let's just say the Appleloosa group isn't the only group to get back to smithing," I said.
"Crap. C'mon guys! Step it up!" Jack yelled at the trainees.
To skip some time, I'll just skip all the boring training stuff I know whoever's reading this doesn't like, Alright? Tartarus, I'm writing this, I'll do what I want.
Three days later, Jack had turned the ground units and Pegasi into battle ready soldiers. Gotta hand it to him, the guy works fast. Sara had gotten the archer squadron ready, and I had managed to set up a decent group of magi. Overall, I think the numbers were around 800, with the reinforcements Celestia had sent us. I decided it would be a good idea to check on the battalion Tanner was sending out. After a quick invisibility spell and a teleport, I determined that their numbers were about 300 stronger than ours.
I cursed our luck as I as I returned to the barracks set up in the direction of the enemy, and took my place next to my two human friends, and the Element bearers.
"We're outnumbered," I stated, "But not horribly."
"We'll do fine," Jack said nonchalantly.
I turned to the Bearers. "Do you guys have your Elements?" I asked.
"Why would we?" Twilight inquired.
"Because I kind of figured you might want them for the fight."
"We wouldn't want to damage them," Rarity explained.
I laughed. "Bullshit. Those are the most powerful artifacts in existence. I'm sure they can take a few hits. Let me go and get them." I teleported back to the library, then chose that moment to remember that it was locked by magical signature. I tried anyway, but it didn't open.
I summoned my scythe and hit the glass, but it harmlessly bounced off. I then proceeded to begin whacking the case repeatedly with my weapon. Fantastic way to use the most powerful blade in existence.
The case still didn't open, so I got mad, then attempted to incinerate it. The case only warmed up, and didn't melt. After putting out a few fires, I grew tired and ripped the pedestal out of the ground with magic, and teleported myself back with it.
"You broke the case," Twilight scolded.
"I know. Just open it already," I ordered. Her horn glowed a little, and the mechanism clicked, causing the case to open. She levitated the necklaces out, put them on her friends' necks, then placed her tiara on her own head.
"There, much better. And I believe it may be your duty to lead the army into battle? I heard that you guys pretty much play some part in almost everything political," I stated.
"Ah think that sounds mighty nice," Applejack agreed.
"Let's do it!" Rainbow Dash cheered.
"Will you come with us?" Fluttershy asked quietly.
"If my friends can come too," I requested.
"Why not?" Twilight agreed. "The more the merrier."
"Let's go kick some ass," Jack suggested.
Sara spoke up. "I just want to help out. Put my on the archer squad, and I'll do just fine."
"We already discussed the strategy, but let's review anyway. Fluttershy, did you get the medics trained?" She nodded. "Good. Jack, you'll be leading the front line with Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy will stay behind with the medical team." I pointed to a little ridge. "Sara, you'll be up there with the other archers. I'll be with the magi. Any of you, if you're needed elsewhere, I will telepathically signal you. Understood?"
"Yes!" They all said.
"Fantastic. Now, judging on the position of the enemy, they'll be here in few minutes. Prepare yourselves. This isn't gonna be pretty." I hopped of the raised ledge I was on, and ran over to where Ditzy Doo was conversing with Lyra.
"Ditzy? Can I talk to you?" I asked.
"Sure. Lyra, I'll catch you later." Lyra trotted off.
"Ditzy, are you ready?" I asked. "Mentally?"
"Of course I am! Those Tartarus-damned bastards killed my daughter!"
"Listen. I know you want revenge, but don't endanger anypony else to get it, or I'll court-marshall you."
"I won't. You can count on that," She informed, then trotted back to Lyra. I climbed the structure where my friends were standing.
"Just had to tell Ditzy not to go crazy," I stated.
"I feel sorry for her. The death of her daughter must have taken quite the tool," Rarity observed.
"I'm not sure how he feels. But something inside me... Broke," I confessed. "Like it put me further off the edge than ever before. The chaos magic isn't helping."
"Twilight told us about that," Fluttershy said quietly.
"Don't ask me to show you. I happen to enjoy what inklings of sanity I have left," I informed.
"We won't!" Dash assured.
"Uh... Guys?" Sara interrupted. "Might wanna get ready."
We all looked towards the hill, and lo and behold, there was the army. Looking back, I probably overestimated their numbers. There were probably only about one hundred stronger than us.
"Ready?" I asked.
"As ah'll eva be!" Applejack exclaimed.
"Time for magic!" Twilight stated.
"Here we go!" Rainbow Dash cheered.
"I guess so," Fluttershy said.
"Let's beat the baddies!" Pinkie pie yelled.
"Onward!" Rarity exclaimed.
"Never thought I'd be fighting with a bunch of talking horses," Jack stated.
"Ponies," Twilight corrected.
"Whatever."
"I just never thought this world actually existed. Funny," Sara said.
"Well, think again. We're teleporting to the front lines." I then proceeded to do so, and placed my hands on the ground. I raised the earth we stood on.
"Well, just don't stand there," I told Twilight, "Give your speech!"
"Oh... Alright." She stood proud as she prepared herself. "Ponies of Ponyville! This is what we trained for! The time of battle is at hand!" She stepped back. "That's all I got."
"Wow. That's pathetic," I insulted. "I'll take it from here." I stepped forward. "Twilight has spoken, now lend me your ears! There is not a single one of you here that I'm not proud of, as you have all worked hard to become the soldiers you stand as today!"
A few cheers came from the crowd. "Just know one thing! I offer you the chance to turn back now, as there is no greater price than your own life! Many of you may not return with me today, but will that stop you?!"
"No, sir!" Echoed from the crowd.
"Good, I expected nothing less! Now, follow me, for the time for action is now!" The crowd cheered again, and I couldn't have stopped them from getting by me. They ran right out, and took their positions.
"Jack, Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie. Go take your position on the front lines. Sara, go with the archers. Twilight and Rarity, you're coming with me and the magi."
No more words were spoken. The three groups left to take their positions, and I took my own with the two unicorn mares.
"This is it. Are you both ready?" I asked.
"I believe we've already clarified this," Mentioned Rarity.
"Yeah, but still."
"Just stop talking," Twilight commanded. "We have enough stress already."
"Fine," I shrugged. Then it happened. I felt a strange presence from the enemy, one that disturbed me. "It's definitely magic. But what could it be? Have they found an artifact of sorts?"
It all happened in an instant. The human army started their charge, while Jack and the others started theirs. The first thing I noticed is that the Pegasi had a definite advantage, as they were swooping down and cutting up the army. They seemed to be out best advantage until a rain of arrows came from the ridge on the side of the battle. The arrows only took out a few enemies, but it was effective nonetheless.
Now was out time. I gave the signal to fire the first volley, and my group responded by sending off a series of magical bolts, all built to kill. A good portion of them missed, but any that struck a target killed instantly. All was going well.
Everything changed in seconds.
A wave of power echoed from a point in the human army, and every single Pegasus fell to the ground. They weren't dead, but the area had been gravitized somehow. The pegasus portion had been rendered back to normality. Then, a few arrows soared from the crowd, and struck a few archers to the ground.
The magical presence I had felt earlier was much more prominent by then. It was intense, and an obvious problem. I instructed Twilight and Rarity to lead, cast a cloaking spell, and took off. It was a terrible idea, as I had forgotten about the gravitation. I fell to the ground, but remained cloaked. I snuck around the battlefield, delivering a few pressure points to the human soldiers.
I located the source of the magical energy. There was nothing that looked like an artifact, only a man who looked about nineteen, sitting on a raised platform.
The energy was radiating from him.
I had no choice. I grabbed the man's shoulder, and teleported us away from the battlefield. He pulled away, obviously surprised.
"What the hell just happened?!"
I was still cloaked, which I stepped behind a tree to undo, then stepped out. "Were you the one with the magic?"
"Of course I was, soldier! Who the hell do you think you are!" He squinted his eyes. "Ah. You're the traitor. You stumped us back at the camp when you disappeared. I'll just kill you now, before you get away." He raised his hand, and fired a bolt of magic at me.
I raised my own hand and deflected it. "You look surprised."
"What the- how the hell did you-"
"Yep, surprised. Surely you didn't think you were the only magic user?"
"Of course not! I was sent to deal with the first siege, because of the freaking horses!"
"There are others?"
"Of course there are?" He stopped. "I just basically gave you everything, didn't I?"
"Pretty much. Tanner needs to work on choosing his generals."
"It doesn't matter. I'll be killing you soon anyway. Have a nice afterlife!" He congratulated sarcastically.
Then I noticed the power level he presented. It had to be almost as high as mine. "Whoa, hold up there. How are you that powerful?" Believe it or not, this wasn't the first time I've had a casual conversation with my enemy.
"Oh, we're going to do it like this? Very well. You can have your answers before your death. I got this powerful by absorbing weaklings. I can take the life force of whatever I choose. Gives me a hell of a boost."
"Shit. Shall we commence, then?" I inquired.
"We shall. May I know the name of my adversary?"
"You may. It's Bradford. I've never met anyone so polite."
"Connor. Now if you will, please die." He charged me, but rather than delivering a blow, he simply sunk into the ground.
"That is not a good sign."
In a flash, he shot from the ground, and struck me in the chin with a swift uppercut. He took a few steps back, and smirked at me.
"Still think you can win? I can manipulate anything in nature, and take myself into it for a variety of attacks," He informed.
"It certainly doesn't help that you have the power of tons of people inside you, but I still think I might stand a chance. Here's this." I proceeded to attempt to incinerate him. He, however, raised a flat of rock from the ground, and my spell harmlessly bounced off.
"Pathetic. Say your prayers." He drew a sword from his belt, and prepared to hack my head from my shoulders.
I never gave him that chance.
I conjured up my scythe, and blocked his strike. He jumped back. "Well, whaddaya know. That little horse wasn't lying about you."
My expression darkened. "What the hell did you have to do with that filly?"
"I didn't do anything to her, but you won't live to find out who did." He charged again. The reminding of the only thing that could force me to shed a tear brought out the very worst in me.
He swung his sword, but I ducked, and grabbed the hilt. "What are you-" He was cut off by me transforming the blade into a useless hunk of iron. "How the hell did you-" I cut him off again with a swing of the handle of my scythe, which caught him in the side of the knee.
He fell to the ground, and I kicked him. "You make me sick. If you mention anything about that filly again, I will make your death about one thousand times more painful than it already would be."
He stood up. "She screamed like a pig."
I fucking snapped.
I jumped into the air, and brought the back end of my scythe down on his head. He grabbed the back of his bleeding skull in pain, and I summoned the only spell in my arsenal that wasn't forbidden. In truth, it wasn't one spell, but a series of them.
Let me tell you one thing. If you ever need to kill someone with magic, don't try and do it like this.
I concentrated every bit of magic I had into my right arm, grabbed Connor, and threw him several yards into the air. I then concentrated my energy into my legs, and jumped straight at him.
"I'M GONNA TEAR YOUR ASS IN HALF!" I yelled as I rose into the air. Suddenly, he turned towards me, smirking.
"I don't think so." He pulled several little rocks out of his pocket, and chucked them at me.
"They're just rocks. What's he gonna do to me with rocks?" I wondered.
The rocks struck me, and exploded, sending me right into the ground. Yes, I landed on my feet, but it hurt like a bitch.
Connor landed safely, and walked over to where I barely stood, grabbed my hair, and tilted my head so I faced him. "I'll make you scream even more than the Unicorn."
"Don't you fucking say another word," I demanded.
"You aren't really in the position to give commands, now are you?" He drew back his fist, and threw the punch.
I stopped it.
"You sir, have made the biggest mistake of your motherfucking life." I broke away from his grip. "Do you have any idea what happens when you fuck with an insane man's emotions?" I straightened up casually. "Bad things. Insane people make the best murderers."
"You still think you can win? You haven't stood a chance this entire time."
"The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over, and expecting different results. I'm doing that right now." I once again concentrated all of my energy into my right arm, grabbed him, and threw him right into the air, higher this time.
He once again reached into his pocket, and took out more of the rock-bombs. He threw them, but I was ready, and I deflected them with a ward. I placed all of my power into my legs, and launched myself into the air. I impacted him with a kick, sending him further into the air with a cry of pain. I spread my wings, and flew up to meet him. I turned him to face me, and placed my palms against his face.
"Lunar Blitz, motherfucker."
I pumped all of my power into the point-blank shot, and fired. The beam had to be as wide as the damn town we were defending, and I managed to stay in the air while I fired. Not even a cry of death was heard from my adversary, and I fired it for at least ten seconds. I pulled back my hands.
"That's why you don't mess with the power of anger."
The spell took a shitload out of me, but the battle had fallen silent to watch the death of the leader. Naturally, they didn't know it was him, but still. I fell to the ground, weary from the spell I had just cast. I managed to teleport myself back to the archer squad before I blacked out, but I did right after.
I woke up, and Sara and the others of the archer squad were standing near me.
I stood up, and cringed a bit; I was still sore. "It looks like most of you are still alive."
"Most of the archers are. I can't say the same for the rest of us. Look at the battlefield," Sara recommended.
I looked over at the carnage before me. The archers may have survived, but a large portion of the front lines had been killed. Bodies littered the ground, about half of which I knew by name, which made it even harder. I teleported the archer squad and myself down to the area, and we began searching for survivors. I couldn't find Jack, Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie, so that meant they had either survived or been captured, but I decided to picture the positive side.
The found no bodies of close friends, but I did find several of the members of the archer squad crying hard. Me and Sara just stood awkwardly, not really doing anything. The front lines had left hours ago, according to Sara, but they didn't go back to a complete Ponyville.
A large portion of the town had been lost.
"Someone snuck into town and started a fire. It was lucky the medical team was there to put them out, but at least half the town went down," Sara regaled.
"Damn, first I had to fight a conduit, now this!"
"They have conduits?" Sara confirmed.
"Yep. This one was nearly as powerful as I was. He almost killed me, and according to him, he's not the only one."
"Wow. This is bad. Get us back to town, will you?" Sara asked. "The library didn't burn, and we need to meet there."
"Very well. I'll leave the rest of your squad here, though. They obviously need some time to themselves." I turned back to the weeping Unicorns behind me, then teleported to the library, where all of the Element bearers waited, as well as Princess Luna. Jack was there too.
"Good, you're back. We thought you both died!" Fluttershy said, exasperated.
"Can't kill me that easily," Sara mentioned.
"I almost died, which brings me to the bad news. We're not the only side with conduits. I take it you saw the Lunar Blitz?" I assumed.
"Why do you think I'm here?" Luna interjected. "We saw it from Canterlot."
"I assumed. It got pretty damn big when I annihilated the bastard. He was almost as powerful as I am, and I managed to get some facts out of him. He and the other army's conduits have been absorbing those unfit for battle, in order to increase their power."
"Damn," Luna cursed. "This is bad. I need to go back to Canterlot, but you all stay here and strategize. I'll let you know if another emergency." She teleported away.
Then I noticed something. Pinkie's hair had gone from puffy and curly to completely straight. "Um... Pinkie? You alright?" I asked.
She faced me, and without even hesitating, told me, "Mr. and Misses Cake died."
"Oh. Sorry." I couldn't imagine how hard that could have been. I'd never lost a family member of unnatural causes (besides the portal,) and due to a little subconscious mind reading, I had learned that her parents were dis joyful rock farmers, and she had moved to Ponyville, where the Cakes had taken her in like they had known her for years. I also knew that the now-deceased couple had children, or foals in this case, which were now orphaned.
"Who's going to take care of the foals?" I inquired.
"I was the godmother, so that falls to me," The pink mare replied.
"I'm sorry." Apparently her physical features were directly linked to her emotions. She still scares me today.
Rainbow Dash trotted over. "Just... Don't bother her. She can't take it right now."
"Yeah. You're right. I'll leave. There's something that has to be done," I said, turning towards the door.
Jack stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. "Brad, you can't just leave either. This is war we're in, and it can't be fixed. We have to strategize, so let's get to a city where we can get some reinforcements."
Sara spoke up. "How about Cloudsdale?"
"I can vouch for those guys. Almost every Pegasus in the place won't stop at anything until they've won," Dash supplied.
"Then they're the best option," Jack pointed out. "Brad, how do we get there?"
"Well, we can-" Then I had my best and worst idea yet. "Better idea. Twilight, get them going with a cloudwalking spell, and Teleport Dash and them to Cloudsdale. I might be able to get us some new allies."
"Which could be?" Twilight inquired.
"You'll see. I'll be back in a few hours, but get Spike to message me if anything comes up," I ordered, then ran out the door, raised my arms, and the black light shot down.
The Ravens were not sitting this one out.
A/N: More reviews!