The sky was beginning to darken considerably as I trudged back.

Ponies were furiously digging trenches in the dirt as I walked past with my cart.

I made it back to the tree I had given my orders at, and unhitched myself.

"Prepare for battle, we've all heard the stories about Pegasopolis." I ordered as soon as I saw my council. It was blunt, but now wasn't the time for niceties.

They barely gave me a coherent answer, they were off like shots towards their own commands.

They knew I was right.

I glanced up to the floating city.

It was already starting to rotate.

"Come on! Move!" I exclaimed at a group of Ponies, jumping into their trench. "We're bucked if we can't get down!" I began grabbing clumps of dirt in my magic and tossing them up over the edge.

Ponies bustled to and fro around me, all doing the same thing I was doing.

"Make room to get the carts down here! They're exposed up there!" I ordered pointing at our supply carts.

Ponies were busy unloading whatever they could, fire brigade style, passing what they could to each other. For the larger crates, teams were busy taking them off, hauling them away, and returning as fast as they could in an endless stream to get it all secured.

I glanced back up towards the city.

The cloudbank that Pegasopolis was slate grey, and now moving at a concerning pace.

To understand what Pegasopolis was, what it really was. You needed to know three things.

One. It holds the majority of the Pegasus tribe at any given time. But while it is indeed a city, that is its tertiary function.

Two. Pegasopolis was the home of all the Pegasi weather workshops. Something akin to the Unicornian Colleges of Magic, it was there where they mixed alchemy and magic to produce their weapons.

Three. Pegasopolis, first and foremost, was a fortress. It was designed by warriors, for war. The outer walls protected the population, and the workshops. But due to its mobile nature as cloud based structure, it was unlike any fortress the world had ever known.

If one were to combine all of these facts, you begin to realize one very important detail.

What would was the natural evolution of weather based magic, needing to fight, and house the entire tribe all in a single structure?

The ring of clouds around Pegasopolis continued to spin faster and faster.

Pegasopolis... Was a manufactured hurricane.

Pegasi swarmed above the spinning cloud bank, taking their positions for the coming onslaught.

"Unicorns at the ready! Keep them off our supplies!" I shouted as loudly as I could. "Pegasi keep on the ground! Spears up! Earth Ponies! Keep digging like your lives depend on it!"

The wheel shaped cloud structure above split into four curved lengths.

The wind was howling like ghosts in the night as Pegasopolis unfurled its arms like a blooming flower.

Stars above... I hope everypony got to their places...

"Here they come!" A Pony off to my left screamed.

I looked up at the oncoming arm above.

A V-formation of Pegasoplian armor glinted in the fading light, diving towards the ground.

Towards us.

I felt the first drops of rain on my face.

"Unicorns fire! Keep them scattered!" I screamed.

My voice wasn't loud enough for everypony across the whole lake to hear, but what few Unicorns that had heard me were too happy to comply, and that started off a chain reaction, as rays of magic of all colors shot upward all across the lake.

My magic joined them.

FREEEEEEEEEM!

The formation of diving Pegasi split as the beams passed by them, yet still they flew in synchronized flight.

A Pegasus dove at me, spear in his hooves, raised to strike.

I whipped the sword from my scabbard and caught the spear before it impaled me.

His momentum forced him into a tackle, sending us both sprawling.

Memories of how Sapphire and Emerald would beat me rose to my mind.

I stole their technique.

Me and the stallion rolled in the mud as we fought for dominance.

I ended up on top and started to pummel his face with both hooves.

Lightning cracked above.

ZzRACK!

BOOOOOOOOM!

The stallion's face was bloody beneath my hooves, unable to defend himself without letting go of his spear.

He fell still.

If he was dead or unconscious I didn't know. But similar fights had erupted all around me.

I had no time to breathe.

Lightning flashed again, making me pin my ears against my skull.

ZzRACK!

BOOOOOOOOM!

The rain pounded the dirt around me, blocking much of the sunlight.

But the lightning revealed the still image of a chaotic brawl in the trench.

I drew my knife, leveled my sword, and advanced.

Something in the dim light flopped in front of me.

I saw a gleam of Pegasoplian armor by the glow of my lit horn.

I grabbed the soldier with a hoof and pulled them away from what they were doing, throwing them into the muddy wall I knew to be off to the side.

Clank!

"Motherbuck-!" My sword flashed towards the gap in their gorget. "-Hrk!"

The Pony fell still as black liquid spewed down their front.

I didn't have time to help the Pony I had saved to their hooves.

Lightning cracked above again.

ZzRACK!

BOOOOOOOOM!

I advanced.

A pair of Pegasi wrestled in the dirt before me.

I didn't know who was friendly, so I pushed both of them over in a mighty shove!

"Gah!" they both groaned as they hit the watery mud, the rain rapidly collecting in the bottom of the trench.

Both of them wore Pegasoplian armor, but one was dull from time spent in the wild.

The other was freshly polished.

I pushed the tip of my sword into the momentarily exposed gut of the one with the polished set.

Lightning flashed again.

ZzRACK!

BOOOOOOOOM!

The blue green eyes of the mare I had saved were wide in fear.

"How'd you kn-" she began.

"Unpolished." I said irritably.

I didn't have time for nonsense.

But the fighting in the trench seemed to have stopped.

The dim light of rain obscured horns lit up just enough to confirm that we had won the brawl.

"Earth Ponies keep digging! The higher above ground the more we're exposed!" I called out. "Somepony get buckets and start bailing water! We'll drown before long!"

Ponies jumped to obey.

I wanted to take a moment, simply to breathe, but the sounds of fighting all around us were more pressing.

Cautiously, I stuck my head over the edge of the trench.

Lightning flashed, grounding themselves purposefully in the dirt along the shore of the lake. Beams of colored light lit up the sky, as Unicorns on the opposite side shot at the swooping Pegasi that had suddenly filled the sky, riding on the gale winds that bent whatever trees had been growing in the area.

ZzRACK!

BOOOOOOOOM!

It was chaos.

Brutal chaos, that the Pegasoplians were well versed in.

Luna you fool... Coming here was a mistake.

Shifting shadows on top of the silhouettes of the carts drew my attention.

ZzRACK!

Another, distant lightning bolt illuminated the swarm of Pegasi that had landed on our carts, and were looting with impunity.

BOOOOOOOOM!

"Hey!" I shouted.

They obviously didn't hear me or didn't care, so I did the next best thing.

FREEEEEEEEEM!

My ray of magic raked over our own carts, catching a few of the Pegasi by surprise and sending them sprawling.

The swarm took to the air, realizing the game was up.

I could see several packages in their silhouettes against the sky.

"Oh no you don't!" I shifted my horn, sweeping the ray across the majority of the swarm as they tried to get away.

FREEEEEEEEEM!

Several shapes dropped to the ground.

They soon got far enough away, and spread out just enough, that anymore sweeps with my magic wouldn't have been effective.

I breathed heavily, the toll of my fighting taking effect.

We couldn't keep this up... This was a disaster. But how could I stop it? How could I-

Pegasopolis turned above me.

A flash of lightning, partially hidden behind an arm of the city, allowed me to see what was obscured inside the arm.

It looked mechanical...

BOOOOOOOOM!

... The Pegasi relied on their city for their weaponized weather right?

If... If those mechanisms were damaged... Then they wouldn't be able to keep this hurricane turning... Could they?

"Unicorns to me!" I called out. "Focus your fire on the city! Aim for the center of the base on the arms!"

I lowered my horn and led by example.

FREEEEEEEEEM!

My fatigued body made me sway as I narrowed in on my target... But I locked every joint I had when I found the sweet spot, and poured everything I had into the spell.

"RAAAAAAAAAAGH!" I screamed as power flowed from me.

The unicorns nearby followed my order, shakily at first, but narrowed in on my ray.

FREEEEEEEEEM!

FSSSSSSSH!

Something in the sky gave a worrying crunch.

I dropped the spell, falling to the ground in exhaustion.

Lightning flashed again, and by its light I saw all the Pegasi in the air pause.

ZzRACK!

BOOOOOOOOM!

The howling wind was suddenly softer.

A horn blew, echoing over the landscape.

"Retreat!" One of the Pegasi above called out.

Darkness claimed me.

The vibe! https://youtu.be/9WJOK7CJvtI?si=AKSE3GgHOom2dQxf