CHAPTER 11
I've returned with chapter eleven, loyal readers, and much more quickly than I'd hoped too. I hope you have all enjoyed the story so far. I know you all can't wait to see what's going to happen, so I won't keep you. Please enjoy the chapter, everypony. Please review.
Looking at the approaching horde of trees, my heart dropped. This situation had just gone from bad to worse. I could see that there were at least a dozen of the titan tree monsters, and dozens of smaller trees all advancing in a solid formation. Whether under their own power, or that of the unicorn that had brought them to life, they had apparently stopped attacking piecemeal, one at a time, and had decided to mass their forces and mount a mass assault. Unicorns blasted them with bolts of energy, and guards launched spears and arrows into their wooden hides, but the evil trees kept coming. They were coming, and I was fresh out of fire, and all out of ideas.
"Bubby..." My sister quaked, pressing up against me in fear. I nuzzled her comfortingly and let out a defeated sigh.
"Alright..." I said stoically. "Run. Go hide somewhere, sis."
"No..." She choked out.
"This is it, sis..." I muttered, staring at the approaching horde of arboreal enemies. "Run."
"N...NO!" She exclaimed, obviously fighting tears. "I'm NOT leaving you!" I exhaled sharply and nodded.
"I know." I admitted. I reached to my right side and drew my light cavalry saber, getting a good grasp on the grip of the curved sword, ready to fight to the last. Budder pulled her dagger, and I straightened what was left of my uniform. I looked to my left to see Shining Armor standing beside me, his gaze fixed on the enemy.
"Well Drake?" He asked, all of his high breeding and aristocracy gone from his voice, now replaced with the sound of grim, solid, dignified determination a soldier gets when confronted with what could be his last battle. I nodded.
"Ready to do this, Captain sir?" I muttered.
"Heh. Ready when you are, lieutenant." He replied. "You have my right of line. Nopony I trust more."
"Yessir. I'll watch 'em, Captain." I replied. "Good luck."
"And to you, Drake."
"Budder." I called. My sister and I hurried to the right of the massed body of guards and soldiers. "Stay close. No matter what happens...stay close to me." I ordered her.
"I ain't leaving your side...ever." She replied seriously.
"I love you, Budder." I said.
"I love you, Drake." She whispered. "Best big brother ever."
"Right..." I sighed. I took a deep breath. "Alright! Soldiers! Conserve your arrows! Archers and unicorns to the rear, pikes to the front, swordsponies in the second rank!" I ordered. "That's it boys...keep it tight! Do NOT break formation! Wait until they get to you, then cut 'em down to size. Carve 'em all into splinters!" I yelled, trying to get the troops ready for what was coming. The moment was bittersweet to me. Here I was, once again commanding troops in combat, something I thought I'd never do again, and it felt great in its own way. I couldn't help but feel the exhilaration and anxiety, and the adrenaline rush of this. But then...there was Budder. I felt awful that she was standing beside me in battle, but I had never been prouder of my little sister at the same time. This was the bravest thing she had ever done. At least she was happy knowing we were gonna go down together. Dashie...oh Rainbow Dash...I wished that I could hold her and kiss her one more time. Stop thinking Drake. It's time for battle now. Time to die in battle. I don't care what anypony says...dying in battle...now that's euthanasia...it beats dying of old age or falling down the cellar stairs.
"Okay troops..." I announced, pacing at the rear of the line, my saber held high. The trees were upon us. "This is it! Hold! HOLD!" Just as the first tree, a large maple, was about to kick at the soldiers in the front rank, it flew backwards, swelling up as what looked like a bolt of blue lightning surged into it. With a loud boom, the tree exploded, showering us all with splinters and bits of bark.
"ADVANCE NO FURTHER THOU ENCHANTED BEINGS!" A thunderous voice bellowed. I looked up to the roof of a nearby building, and suddenly felt a new surge of hope. Atop the building stood princess Luna, back-lit dramatically by the full moon behind her, she wore an armored breastplate, and a helmet of dark steel. The trees all paused for a moment.
"WE TIRE OF THY DESTRUCTION OF OUR ROYAL CITY! FOR THY HAVOC...NOW YE SHALL FACE THE FULL POWER OF THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT!"
"Look, it's Princess Luna!" A guard called.
"The Princess of the Night! We're saved!" A soldier cheered.
The trees began to stomp toward us again, but Luna dove from atop the building, her dark wings outspread. The firelight glinted off of her armor as she halted mid-air, and fired a long burst of powerful magic energy, cutting three of the trees in half with her single attack. Now, the small trees and saplings broke against our line like a wave. Without their larger brethren, they weren't as strong. Their line clashed against ours, meeting the shields of the pikeponies in the front rank. Our formation was pushed back a few steps, then locked in place as the trees met the force of dozens of ponies pushing forward. The line suddenly sprang forward, shoving the small trees back, and the storm of battle broke as the soldiers began hacking and cutting the attacking plants to pieces with their swords, spears and halberds.
Princess Luna flew to and fro, blasting more of the huge trees as we on the ground fought the rest of the invading force. I cut down a rose bush with my saber as Budder bucked a sapling into a table. Three guards teamed up to bring down a four-meter walnut tree, hacking at it with their swords until they felled it. I saw Shining Armor take out a stump with a blast of magic that set it on fire. I saw our opportunity now to take advantage of our position and force.
"Push them back!" I yelled over the din of battle. The soldiers, in one dramatic surge, began to roll over the remaining small trees, saplings and bushes like a flood, hacking and trampling all of the enemy in their wake. Now we had the initiative, and it seemed that every soldier knew it. The mass of troops crushed what was left of the walking plants, before all attacking a huge dead tree. Cutting at its roots, the soldiers unbalanced the tree, which toppled over backwards, nearly splitting open as it crashed to the ground.
"Huzzah!" Princess Luna exclaimed, landing nearby. "Our enemies have fallen, and we are victorious!" The soldiers and guards began to cheer and relish in their conquest of the living trees as partiers began to emerge from their hiding places. Some of the troops, most of the officers, and a few of the wealthy ponies simply took stock off all the damage and destruction.
"You alright, sis?" I asked, hugging Budder.
"Yee..." She answered. "You?"
"Heh. Not a scratch...for once."
"Heehee."
"Drake!" Shining Armor called, trotting up to me. He stood before me, silent a moment, as if unsure what to say. "Um...heh...you're a strange pony, Drake...but you can fight." He looked down at the ground. "And...thanks...I suppose are in order, yes..."
"Well...you're welcome." I replied. "And I have to say...for a dandy, you sure can cut a few trees yourself, Captain."
"Hm...glad you were here, old boy." He said sheepishly. "I'll um...I will see about getting you a medal...for everything that you've done here...I suppose you earned it." With that, he smiled, and turned to walk away.
"You sayin' I'm a good soldier, Shining?" I called after him cheerfully.
"Well, you're certainly no aristocrat." He called back mockingly.
"I'll take that as a compliment." I said aloud.
"Greetings again, Drake." Princess Luna said in her normal voice as she bowed lightly. I returned a graceful bow to my friend the princess.
"Princess." I said courteously. "Good to see you again. And glad to see you in the heat of battle like that. You're a lifesaver, milady. Heheh." She smiled at me.
"Yes...my sister and I were whisked to safety as the battle began. I was advised to remain safe and secure, but was not content to run and hide from a noble fight."
"Glad you didn't honestly, you highness.. We were about to get wiped out before you showed up."
"Yes, I saw..." She muttered. "And I have told you already my dear Drake...countless times, to call me Luna." She stated, smiling. "Must we tell you again?" She added playfully.
"Always once more, my friend." I smiled back.
"YO!" My sister yelled. Luna and I looked to see her walking quickly toward the fallen tree that had been the last to go down. Apparently, Sunset Shimmer had made her command center inside the hollw trunk of the rotten tree. Now taking advantage of the crowd and the chaos, she had crawled out, and was attempting to slink off.
"Hey!" Budder called. Sunset Shimmer froze and looked back. "Where you think you're going, jack-hole?!" My sister called out, and charged the unicorn, tackling her to the ground hard.
"Welllll..." I said, amused as my sister pummeled the enemy mare mercilessly. "Nice goin', sis."
"I must say, Drake..." Luna commented. "Your sister certainly has many of your...finer qualities. A grin broke out across our faces, and we enjoyed a laugh as three Royal Guards rescued Sunset Shimmer from my sister, and dragged the unicorn off to the dungeon.
"Oh..." Luna said, "Did you get the sculpture of Dreamscape Rhombuses in Repose I sent to you?" A lightbulb went off in my head.
"THAT'S what that is!" I blurted out. Luna giggled.
"Oh Drake, I DO so love your eccentric candor." She sighed. "Why have we not gotten together for a nice dinner or a lovely vacation yet?" Okay...what to do with an overly friendly princess...need a quick distraction.
"Hey bub." Budder called, trotting up proudly. "See me totally own that Sunset Shimmer butt?" Perfect, that'll do nicely...
"Yep. I think everypony here saw it." I grinned. "Good job, angel. Now that everypony knows you're a hero, you'll be in high demand." I winked. "Just like me."
"You're so full of yourself." My sister giggled.
"Eh, Luna..." I said, looking back to the princess. "Between my family and all of the odd jobs I do for Princess Celestia, I hardly have time to sit down, heheh." I messed up Budder's mane affectionately. "Wouldn't trade it for the world, though."
"Mm...as dismayed as I may be, I want you to know that I am delighted that such a brave and intelligent stallion who has proven his mettle time and again in service of his country...could be so happy and have such a caring and wonderful family. You are an amazing stallion, Drake...and you deserve such happiness." She smiled warmly. I understood the meaning behind her words perfectly. I gave her a smile in return.
"But you know...I never forget about my wonderful, caring friends either..." I said. Luna blushed shyly. "Requesting permission to hug my princess?" I stated mock-seriously, a wry grin on my face.
"Heehee." Luna giggled daintily. "Oh, permission granted, lieutenant." I embraced her in a close, friendly hug, and the alicorn princess hugged me back, even more warmly.
"Thank you again...for your friendship, Drake." She said softly. There was a silent moment there, insinuating the 'but' or 'I wish' aspect of her statement.
"And you, milady." I returned. Breaking our embrace, we looked around and noticed that several wealthy ponies and guards were staring at us in confusion. I was glad no press ponies had arrived yet, or we'd ended up on the front page. I let out a laugh. "And thanks for pulling my fritters out of the fryin' pan...again."
"Heehee...oh you...I simply adore your colloquialisms, Drake." Said Luna. I smiled again.
"Wellll...I gotta go, milady." I sighed. "Still got duties to attend to."
"As the night is young, so do I as well." She muttered. "And my guards probably do not like me here, making myself such a visible target. I shall take my leave. Do not forget that you owe me that dinner, my dear friend." She spread her wings and levitated into the air. "Farewell for now, Drake. We shall meet again soon." With that, Princess Luna flew off into the night.
"Well come on, angel..." I said. "I guess we gotta go do something constructive."
"Like what?" She asked. "We have to clean up all these trees?"
"Naahhhhh...I figure we'll just post security while they get this mess cleaned up. I think the Gala's pretty much over now. I assume we'll be going home tomorrow."
"But...we stopped the tree attack thing..." Budder began, talking out her conundrum. "But the ponies behind the whole thing...like the terrorists and stuff...won't they attack again?"
"Prob'ly." I shrugged. "But unless Princess Celestia tellsme otherwise, our job was to protect the Gala. My guess is that Special Ops is gonna hunt down and take out the rest of those CRISIS idiots now."
"Yeaahhhh..." She droned. "I dunno though...it just doesn't feel like we really fixed or solved anything, you know?"
"Hm...I know what you mean." I said "If somepony wrote a book about this whole thing, the reader would be left kinda unfulfilled. There wouldn't really be a plot resolution at all, would there?
"I dunno." She said "I guess not."
"Ah well," I philosophized. "We did our job. Let's earn out pay and get back home. I'm looking forward to seeing how Dashie's case went."
"Think she had as much action as us?" My sister asked.
"Dunno. Doubt it though. Rainbow's probably ended up with the more boring mission this time."
"Lieutenant Drake?" A guard pony greeted, trotting up to us.
"Yes?"
"Captain Shining Armor sent me to you, sir. Sergeant Double Blade, sir. What sort of detail do you need us for, sir?"
"Ugh...first off sergeant, stop with the whole 'sir' thing, alright?" I said.
"Um...yessir...uh, I mean...yes, Lieutenant Drake."
"Heheh...better, I guess." I chuckled. "Now, secondly...we're securing the perimeter while this mess gets cleaned up and the Gala guests are evacuated. My orders are to look for anypony who doesn't belong here, watch everypony who comes and goes, and double check the identities of any engineers, cleanup crews or...gardeners who might show up. Got it?"
"Perfectly clear sir...um lieutenant." Double Blade saluted.
"Good. Report to me anything suspicious."
"Understood."
"Thank you sergeant. Post your guards." I nodded. He saluted and walked away to assign the guards in his squad.
"Ready to get back to work?" I asked Budder. She sighed wearily.
"I guess..." My sister replied glumly. "Oh, bub?"
"Hm?" I replied, walking toward a staircase leading up to a balcony from which I could have a pegasus-eye view of the veranda.
"What was up with you and Princess Luna?" She asked. I paused a moment.
"Ugh...nothing." I said. "She's just...Luna is just lonely, sis. I guess it gets that way when you're in a position like hers." I thought for a second. "OH...and the hug thing...don't tell Dashie."
"Most definitely." Budder quickly agreed. I grinned. That one would have to be our secret.
"She'd kill me." I added.
"Yup."
"Heheh...love you, sis."
"Love you too, bub."
Another case wrapped up nicely by Lieutenant Drake! What did you all think? Did you enjoy the little epic battle between pony and tree? And was there a little breaking of the fourth wall there toward the end? Oh, and of course the Luna/Drake moment was fun as always. Kinda makes you wonder if anything's gonna happen there, doesn't it? And another question I know you're all wondering is how Dashie's Ponyville case went during this story. Fortunately, all will be revealed in the next and last chapter. I will try to have the ending to this little novella up tomorrow evening. Until then. Thanks for reading, everypony.