Chapter 9

Sorry for the wait, finals took up a lot of time! Ah well, here's the new chapter!

Blurry figures filled her vision, confusing her already unsettled mind. Her eyes slowly moved from one edge of the hazy scene to the other, trying to figure out what was happening. Gradually, as her senses returned, The Great and Powerful Trixie began to remember.

"Hey look, she's waking up!" Rainbow Dash said as she fluttered over Trixie.

Trixie's eyes darted up to look at the rainbow pegasus, whose face was now mere inches away from her own.

"Rainbow, give her some space!" Twilight said, quickly walking over to Trixie's bed.

Rainbow Dash complied, and dropped to the ground beside Twilight. A few seconds later, the rest of the group joined them.

"Uhh…what happened? Am I dead?" Trixie asked blearily, her mind still sluggish.

"You were attacked by gargoyles, and no, you're not dead, but you got very close." Twilight answered. "You were dehydrated, and probably wouldn't have lasted another hour without our help."

Trixie shook her head as her wits began to return as well.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie did not nee-"

"Consarn it, Trixie, if you start that "great and powerful" stuff again, Ah'll hogtie you and feed ya to the gargoyles m'self!"

Applejack's interruption silenced Trixie completely. She looked around at the group, before seeing that no one was protesting what Applejack said. With a snotty grunt, Trixie fell even deeper into her pillows, while glaring at Applejack.

"Good. Now, Trixie, you're going to have to tell us some things. First off, where did you bump into the gargoyles?"

Twilights question went unanswered. With a sigh, the purple unicorn walked over and pulled back the curtain, revealing Princess Celestia. Trixie gasped at the sight of the princess, who quickly approached Trixie.

"My little pony, it is good to see that you are alright. However, if you don't answer the questions given to you, we may have to go through with Miss Applejack's threat."

Trixie gaped at the princess, who in return smiled warmly.

"Bu—but you cant do that! It's illegal!"

"Trixie, I make the laws, and I have the ability to be above them. Also remember, we are at war, and I will not put up with some selfish little pony who may have important information on the enemy. Now, answer the question."

The princess never broke her smile at Trixie, who, if it was even possible, sank further into the pillows. She sheepishly looked over at Twilight, who sat waiting.

"The Gre…I…was walking near Trottingham. I was looking for food….then they just showed up. I'd heard about them on the news, but I'd never seen one until then. They chased me for hours, but I held them back with my magic. I just kept running, I didn't really even now where I was headed. I guess it's lucky that I ended up here."

Princess Celestia frowned, and her brow furrowed.

"Trottingham? That means they're advancing…and if any followed you out west, other than the ones that we disposed of…"

Princess Celestia turned sharply and began to walk out the door. She stopped in the frame of the door, and looked back at Twilight.

"Keep asking questions. I shall return shortly."

Twilight nodded as the princess left. Her gaze once again fell on Trixie, who was looking rather distraught.

"Why did she leave? What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing, you just may have led a gargoyle army to here, nothing big." Rainbow Dash said nonchalantly.

Trixie made a strange noise and became one with the pillows while Twilight shot Rainbow Dash a look.

"What? She asked!"

Twilight rolled her eyes, and returned to Trixie.

"Did you see anymore gargoyles besides the ones that were chasing you?"

Trixie shook her head no, before suddenly bursting into tears. Twilight just sighed, and looked over at the rest of the group.

"You all can go, I just need Spike to write down what she says."

After a quick murmur, the others slowly shuffled out of the room, leaving just Twilight and Spike to deal with the sobbing unicorn.

"This is gonna take a while." Spike sighed as he sat down in a comfy chair. Twilight couldn't agree more.

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Derek sat on the porch of the doctor's office, his eyes scanning the desert town. Appaloosa was much busier than normal due to the population increase, and was bustling with life as ponies went from store front to store front.

With a sigh, he returned to what he had been trying to do ever since they had brought Trixie to the doctor's. His mind focused on the image in his head, and he let the magic flow through him. Sparks flew from his hand as his magic tried to create the object.

His spell broke the moment the door to the doctor's burst open. Derek clenched his fists angrily and snorted, before looking over. He watched as everypony, minus Twilight and Spike, exited the building.

Rarity looked over at Derek, and after saying a few words to every one else, headed over in his direction.

"How is she?" He asked once she sat down beside him.

"Alive and awake. Started out acting like her normal self, but it only took a threat from Applejack and the princess to break through that beastly demeanor."

Derek laughed, and shook out his dirty hair. It was much longer than it had been when he had arrived, and now went down his back. He remembered how that drill instructor had told him to cut it, but he had no intention of doing so, mostly because it felt good flying with long hair.

"Did she tell you anything?"

"Not much. Gargoyle may be heading for here as we speak, and we know that they are starting to advance, but besides that, nothing. Twilight's going to keep questioning her. May Celestia help Trixie survive that."

Derek keeled over laughing, and his eyes began to water.

"Jeez, Rarity!" he sputtered through guffaws.

"What?" she said incredulously, a sly smile on her face. "Just because I'm a lady doesn't mean I wont get dirty, physically or verbally!"

Derek laughed again.

"Oh, you have no idea how bad that sounded, but whatever!"

Rarity grinned, before suddenly looking at Derek's hands.

"My word, Derek, what ever happened to your hands? You look like you've been cooking them!"

Derek shot a glance down to his hands, and saw that they were charred black. He grinned, and shrugged at Rarity.

"I've been trying to use my magic for something new: creation. I know unicorns can do it, so I'm assuming I can too, but its really hard. Besides, I don't think creating is my magic's forte."

"Hmm. Well, Twilight is much better suited to answer this question, but I do know a bit about creation magic. You can't create anything living, and nothing too complex, most of the time the ting you create can only have 3 or 4 parts to it. But then again, no unicorn has ever had an entire dimensions worth of magic in them, the rules may be different with you."

Derek nodded, but still seemed uncertain.

"Yeah, but how do I get it to work? I have the picture in my mind, but it's not working!"

Rarity frowned.

"Well, darling, you have to not just imagine what it looks like! You have to actually believe you're holding it! Feel it, taste it, hear it, whatever else you need to do! To create something, that thing needs to exist fully in your mind first."

Derek nodded. He closed his eyes, and summoned the image again, only this time, he followed what Rarity said. He smelled its smell, felt its touch, and channeled his magic into his mind. The image within him became wrapped in a glow, and he felt his hands begin to spark.

A few seconds later, the sparking stopped. Derek closed his hands, and felt the object of his desire. With a smile, he opened his eyes, and lifted the white cylinder to his mouth. With a snap of his fingers, the end caught on fire, and a smoke began to emit from it.

Rarity wrinkled her nose at the smell.

"What in Celestia's name is that foul thing?" she asked, as if she were offended at it.

"Its called a cigarette. They're very bad for you, though they sometimes help when you're nervous or edgy."

"Yes, but, what would inspire you to even think about doing that! I'm not sure about how well it was accepted in your world, but this is Equestria!"

Derek removed the cigarette, and looked at the smoking item.

"I got the idea from a fanfic I was reading. I never was much of a smoker on Earth, but hell, since Earth is gone, why not?"

Rarity shook her head.

"What fanfic? I thought these fanfics were about ponies! We don't have those ghastly things as far as I know!"

"It was a human in Equestria fic. One of the better ones."

Derek suddenly shuddered, which cause Rarity to look at him in concern.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

Derek nodded. "I don't know what that was. Sort of like I learned something forbidden, broke the fourth wall or something."

Derek paused at that, before shrugging.

"Anyway, thanks for the advice Rarity!"

Rarity watched as he walked away, puffing on his cigarette. Shaking her head, she tossed her mane back into place.

"I swear, sometimes he seems as crazy as Pinkie."

"Nah, he's not crazy, he just needs practice."

Rarity flew a few feet into the air at the voice. She whirled around, and saw Pinkie Pie standing there, seemingly waving randomly into the air.

"Pinkie…what are you doing?"

"Trying to repair the fourth wall! Only professionals should break it, and he's an amateur at it, though I think I can teach him."

Rarity stared at the rambling pink pony, before turning around and muttering "I stand corrected."

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Twilight Sparkle and Spike slowly left the doctor's office, both mentally exhausted. They slowly trudged through the town, before stopping when Princess Celestia approached them.

"Ahh, Twilight, I see you've finished with Trixie. What did she tell you?"

Twilight sighed. "Not much princess. She doesn't remember a whole lot since she was dehydrated, and what she does remember is pretty useless. The only useful things she knew were what she told you."

Spike, seeing that this would take a while, hopped off of Twilight's back and continued walking towards the hotel.

Celestia nodded. "I see. How is she now?"

"She's asleep. Princess, you weren't really going to follow through with Applejack's threat if she didn't tell you, right?"

Celestia paused, before chuckling a bit. "Of course not Twilight, though it would be best if we kept that information from her. I'm willing to punish ponies, but I'm not a barbarian."

Twilight laughed a bit as well, before looking around as she realized how late it was. She yawned, and prepared to go to the hotel where she was staying. Before she left however, she remembered something.

"Hey, Princess? When you left the room today, you seemed worried. I think I know why, so do you know any news?"

Celestia nodded slowly, and bit her lip.

"I'm afraid not, Twilight. I sent out the recon team a few hours ago, and they should be back by morning. Until then, I know as much as you do."

Twilight sighed, before looking back up at the princess.

"Well, goodnight Princess."

"Goodnight, Twilight Sparkle."

The two ponies quickly nuzzled, then walked their separate ways. Celestia looked back, and saw Twilight enter the hotel. She smiled, then turned and continued to walk through the town. A flash of lightening brightened up the night sky, and soon, rain began to fall, forcing the princess into her place of stay.

Celestia walked into her room, and shook out her wet coat, sending droplets all over the floor. She flipped on the light, and walked over to her bed, before noticing something odd; the rain was brown.

Frowning, she knelt down, and examined a small puddle of rain. After a few seconds of thought, she slowly licked the puddle.

Chocolate rain. She thought grimly. Discord's breaking free again.

"Indeed I am!" a gleeful voice said from above.

Celestia looked up, and saw a hazy image of Discord floating above her. The God of Chaos was grinning like a maniac, though Celestia could see the hate and anger within his eyes.

"Discord, now is really not the time for your silly games."

"Oh, relax Celestia, I'm not out yet. Besides, shouldn't you be asking how I'm escaping in the first place?"

The princess sighed. "How are you escaping?"

Discord laughed again, and did a little flip in mid-air.

"When that thing came into this world, it briefly dislodged the magical alignment of the spell that imprisoned me! I suspect I'll be free within a few days or so!"

"And when you are free? What do you plan on doing? In case you haven't noticed, there is a massive, dimension eating beast attacking not just ponies, but everything!"

"That's why I'm here. As much as I enjoy seeing everything you stand for crumble, I have come to offer an alliance."

The princess was taken back.

"What? An alliance? In case you have forgotten, Discord, I'm part of the reason you're imprisoned in stone."

"Believe me, I know. I hate saying this as much as you hate hearing it, but if that thing wins, we all die, and I'm not quite ready for that. There is still so much chaos to be had!"

Celestia sighed. "So, you're saying we should allow you to break free unharmed, and in return, you'll help us?"

The form of Discord nodded.

"And what about when this war is over? You've already proven that you cannot lead Equestria! We'll be forced to lock you away again!"

Discord's smile vanished from his face, and for a second, Celestia saw through the goofy looking appearance, and witnessed his true, horrifying form. A second later, the vision vanished, and Discord was smiling again.

"We'll deal with that when the time comes, Celestia. So, do you accept?"

It was a full minute before her reply came.

"I accept, on the condition that you follow MY orders. Is that clear?"

The grinning Discord nodded. "Pleasure doing business with you, m'lady!"

As he prepared to leave, Celestia suddenly spoke again.

"Discord!"

The draconequus turned, and looked at the white alicorn.

"You weren't always like this. We were friends once…what happened to you?"

Discords smile vanished again, and for once, he was calm, showing neither anger nor joy, but sadness.

"I saw things, Celestia. Things you can't even imagine. I saw what the universe really is. When you've seen what I have, you try and stay sane."

As soon as it had come, Discord's sane moment left, and the God of Chaos flashed one more maniacal smile before vanishing into a white puff, leaving only Celestia in the quiet room. Celestia sat down on the bed, and looked out the window and into the town, where the rain had died down.

There, in that room, the Sun Goddess cried. She cried for Discord, her former friend gone astray, she cried for the ponies already lost, she cried for Derek, the last of his kind, and she cried for the death that had yet to come.

But most of all, she cried for Equestria, and the hell that it was about to go through.

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High above the clouds of Equestria, Phoenix Star flew with the rest of his squadron. His eyes scanned the dark and lonely looking plains as they went further east. Eventually, they would hit the midway point, and head southward until they hit the portals. It was a simple, easy recon mission.

With a sigh, Phoenix shot a look back at his squad to make sure they were still in formation. To his delight, he saw that the squad was high and tight on each other, forming a narrow and short V shape.

Excellent. Phoenix thought, before turning his head back towards the land ahead.

Something caught his eye. A dark shape, rather large, suddenly appeared in the corner of his eye. Turning his head to the south, Phoenix watched the shape as it appeared to move closer and closer to the squad.

"Attention! Possible contact at 2 o'clock!" he shouted, keeping his eyes on the object.

The group came to a halt, and waited there while the object continued to approach them.

"Pastel, hand me the binoculars." Phoenix said sharply, and a second later, he had a pair of binoculars in his hooves. He raised them to his eyes, and focused on the incoming thing.

"Sweet Celestia have mercy." He breathed, before tossing the binoculars back to Pastel.

"Company, listen up! We have a huge swarm of gargoyles incoming at 2 o'clock! Battle formation! We'll try and hold them off as long as we can! Pastel!"

The pale pony flew up next to Phoenix.

"Yessir?"

"Warn the princess. Tell her gargoyles are coming. These ones were headed in the direction of Appaloosa, so assume there are more on the way."

Pastel nodded, before pausing. "Sir, your extremely outnumbered."

"I know. Now get a move on, Private!"

Pastel nodded, before turning and zooming off in the direction of Appaloosa.

Phoenix waited a few seconds before addressing the remaining 15.

"We have got to give Pastel time to warn the princess. We do not retreat, we do not surrender! Yes, we are all probably going to die, but our deaths shall be glorious! FOR CELESTIA!"

The squad quickly picked up on the chant, and continued to chant as loud as they could while the gargoyles approached. With a final scream, Phoenix charged, and the squadron followed, head on into the swarm of gargoyles.

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Pastel flew against the wind, his wings flapping viciously. He could hear the battle unfolding behind him, or rather, the screams of the gargoyles, despite the fact that he had been flying for several minutes now. With a grunt, he continued on, his mind focused on one thing and one thing only: warn Celestia.

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Phoenix Star's head whirled around, his mind racing. All around him, gargoyles flew, filling his vision with sharp teeth and wicked wings. He had no idea how long he had been fighting, or if he was the last one left. His mind was operating at one level: fight.

Sharp talons ripped into his side, sending blood into the air. With a pained yell, Phoenix turned and delivered a sharp kick to the attacker, sending it to the ground far below. He then pulled out the knife he always carried, and began to swing at anything that moved.

He felt the knife's blade plunge and slice against flesh, and he was always answered with a howl of pain. This continued for several minutes, until Phoenix was hit from underneath by a large claw.

He grunted, and the knife slipped from his grasp. He was launched upwards into the air, before another gargoyle latched itself onto him. With a scream, it bit into his flesh, and began to secrete a strange green liquid into him.

He kicked the gargoyle off, and prepared to attack again, but suddenly, he felt woozy. His mind faltered, as did his wings, and fear clenched his heart.

Poison. He thought grimly. Damn things have poison!

His wings failed, and Phoenix Star plunged to the ground, which met him with the hardness it was known for.

Phoenix lay there, his wings broken and torn, his body ripped and bleeding, his veins slowly filling up with poison, and he smiled. He looked back up, where the gargoyles were preparing to descend upon their broken prey. He could see none of his squadron in the skies above.

A sickly coughing caught his ears, and he looked over, to see one of his men, Twinkling Light, laying on the ground beside him.

"Twink? Is that you?" he whispered, his voice hoarse and weak.

"Yes sir." The reply came.

Phoenix nodded, and returned his gaze to the gargoyles, who were now diving after them.

"Weird way to die, huh Twink?"

"Yeah"

"Still got your crystal on you?"

"Yeah"

Phoenix grinned, before bursting out laughing. "Good. Lets bury these shitheads."

As the gargoyles descended upon the fallen squadron, the crystals each member wore around their neck started to light up. The crystals began to build up energy, and started to hum.

A group of gargoyles landed next to Phoenix, and he felt their fangs penetrate his torso, though he felt no pain. He heard the hum of the crystal, and felt the energy building inside.

"I shall see you soon, my love." He whispered to the air, and his vision began to cloud.

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Pastel flew hard, which allowed his body to ignore the cold. The amount of physical strain kept him warm, and for that he was grateful.

Perhaps a little too warm…around my neck…OH SHIT!

Pastel grabbed the necklace he wore, and ripped it off. A quick glance showed that the crystal was glowing. Pastel quickly detached the crystal from the chain, and smashed it within his hooves.

The failsafe worked, and the crystal stopped glowing. He put it back with the chain, and put the necklace back on, before realizing what that meant.

With tears in his eyes, Pastel turned, and looked back to where the battle was, and he waited for it. He was not disappointed.

A huge explosion burst into the night sky, sending light and fire in every direction. A few seconds past, before the sound of the bomb hit Pastel, and he was knocked back several yards. He righted himself, and looked towards the explosion, which was now just a large crystal shaped cloud.

Crystal bomb. A last stand sort of thing. Pastel remembered what Phoenix had told him when he joined the team. They could be set individually, or they could all be set to go off at once. Judging by the explosion and his own crystal, Pastel concluded that the latter was what had happened.

With a sigh, Pastel turned, and continued his flight towards Appaloosa.

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The morning sun blazed its way through the streets of Appaloosa, waking every pony in its place. Princess Celestia watched as the town came to life, and she smiled. She watched as Twilight and her friends walked through the streets of the town, distracted from the horrors of what was to come by each other. How Celestia wished she had that luxury.

A figure to the east caught her eye. After a long look, Celestia determined it was a pegasus from the squad she had sent out.

Pastel, I think.

Celestia watched as the pony shakily made his descent into the town, before crashing right in front of Twilight Sparkle. With a flap of her wings, Celestia descended to Pastel's side, and kneeled down next to him.

"What happened? Where is the rest of your squad?"

Pastel took a few deep breathes, before managing to speak.

"Dead. They're all dead. Gargoyles are on the way. My squad managed to take…most of them out *gasp* with the crystal bomb *gasp* but there will be more. Princess, *gasp* they have an army. What we saw was just a tiny portion, and it was bigger than any group we've encountered."

Princess Celestia slowly stood up, her mind racing.

"Princess, what are we going to do?"

Celestia looked over at Twilight, and her heart sank.

"We're going to run, Twilight. We cannot fight here, we have no weapons and no army. We'll go north, regroup, and face this army. Prepare yourself, Twilight. Today, the real war starts."

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