//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 - A serious defeat // Story: Serious Sam: The equestrian encounter // by marielity //------------------------------// Chapter 7 – A serious defeat The human warrior and his six pony companions watched in awe as their massive opponent started moving. The huge necromantic creation was taller then any building known to the ponies and more grotesq then any creature Sam ever met before. It was a horse made of bones, flesh and blood from both Mental's minions and fallen ponies. While most of the surface was grey from bones and red from flesh, they could clearly see streams of different bright colors pulsating underneath its skin. Again Khenubaal's voice echoed trough their minds: „Impressed? Then you'll love this.“ A terrifying scream filled the air as the huge beast opened its skeletal maw. The back of the gigantic skeletal being began to glow in different colors...until new bones and flesh grew out of them, forming huge wings that darkened the sky above them. „That would be a pegasus,“ Khenubaal continued, „but there is still missing something.“ On the forehead of the huge horse formed a long bone, curved in spirals and ending with a pointy end. „This can't be real“, Twilight stammered. „Believe it Ms. Sparkle, it is real“, Khenubaal said. „This might be just for appearance, but with all the magical powers gathered inside me I'll easily surpass every power opposing me.“ „You can talk as big as you want, bone-head“, Sam called. „but it ain't the size that matters, it's how you use it.“ At this the girls looked at him with a blushed and shocked expression. „What do you possibly mean by that, Mr. Stone?“, Rarity exclaimed. He ignored them and raised his rocketlauncher. „Everything has a weak point, even you...and I'm going to find it!“ At this Khenubaal's emitted a diabolical laughter. „Try your best, Mr. Stone, but your efforts will be in vain. I on the other hand think I know exactly what your weakness is.“ Sam had enough. With an angry battlecry he jumped forward the beast and fired several rockets from his rocketlauncher, each rocket hitting a different body part. Khenubaal didn't even bother to move. Instead he unfolded his new wings. Dozens of orbs crushed next to him and behind Sam's group into the ground. Suddenly the place was filled with an army of Kleers, a green mass of marsh-hoppers (small, suciadal frogs that over inflate themself on contact and spray toxic slime on their victims) and several magma golems of different sizes. Enough is enough. Even if your name is Sam... And like a signal suddenly dozens of spawn sounds were heard. All scattered over the place was ammonition. Sam smirked at the good timing of the Sirians. „You know what that calls for Netty?“, Sam asked. „I shot, you count.“ „With great pleasure“, Netricia answered in his head. „Girls. It's time to get serious!“, Sam called, „Prepare for a real fight!“ Fight...fight...fight...echoed over the plains and for a moment there was silence. "Waaaaaarrrrrr!!" After Sam's battlecry everyone and everything began to move and the fight began. While the girls evaded as many of Khenubaal's minions as possible to collect ammo, Sam took on as many of his foes as possible while distracting Khenubaal. „Need some help there, big guy?“, Twilight called to Sam while grabbing a Kleer skeleton with her magic. She tossed it into a nearby magma golem, burning the Kleer and crushing the golem at the same time. „“But of course“, Sam answered, sending a rocket into a group marshhoppers. The bellowing frogs turned into a green mess in an instant. „There are quite a lot of uglies here,“ Sam continued, „but the real problem is Khenubaal. As long as he is here, there will be more enemies. And I have to distract him or else he'll get us with an direct hit.“ „So there is no hope for us?“, Twilight asked. „Hey. I never said anything about giving up“, Sam grunted. „At least we'll have a good time blowing up some scumbags; unless you got any idea?“ „Well...,“ Twilight began, raising a forcefield to block several magma bolts, „there are still the elements of harmony; our most powerful weapon.“ „Sounds more like some kind of fancy accesoires instead of a weapon“, Sam said with an raised eyebrown. „Actually it's both. We used several times in the past to get rid of evil beings“, Twilight answered. „Useful accesoires? Figures.“, Sam exclaimed. „Women. They are suckers for anything shiny! Then gets those helmets of armory as fast as possible!“ „It's elements...never mind“, Twlight said with a shrug. She moved away from Sam and checked for her friends. Pinkie Pie was still busy searching for ammonition for her cannon, while Applejack and Rarity gave their best with grenades and sniper bullets. Fluttershy managed to collect several clawdowics and hid them near a stone. Obviously she was taking care of the green explosives parrots. Rainbow Dash hovered over the battlefield, trying to distract Khenubaal with her Laser and easily outmanouvering him with her speed. The Laser didn't seem to have any effect at all though. „Rainbow Dash,“ Twilight called,“ come here quickly.“ In a splitsecond she was next to Twilight. „Can't you see I'm busy?“ she snapped angrily. „He's soon as flat as a piece of toast.“ Twilight surpressed a sarcastic remark. „Rainbow, you need to get the elements immediately. The princesses need to be informed about the situation right away!“ „I'm on it!“. Rainbow Dash made a firm salute, dropped her Lasergun and flew off to Canterlot. Khenubaal noticed that. „A secret weapon, hum?“ he hummed. „Probably strong magic.“ He grinned evily. „I can't wait to taste it!“ He no longer focused on the battle. Instead he slowly turned for Canterlot and trotted in its direction. „Hey, where are you going?“ Sam called. „Don't have a party without me!“ Khenubaal just ignored him and continued his way...until he felt a strong impact on his head, followed by a loud explosion and shattering bones. He shook his head and turned around. Sam had hanged to his cannon, which still fumed from the devastating shot. „Did you think I was kidding?“ Sam shouted angrily. „You are not even worth my time“, Khenubaal spat back. „Whatever magic there is will be mine!“ Sam's answer: A ball to the head. Another loud explosion and the sound of shattering bones filled the air. Khenubaal's eyes glowed in a diabolic red as he turned for Sam. The shattered bones on his face slowly returned to their place and shortly after nothing of the heavy blow was left. He opened his vast wings and made a strong sweep, causing a sudden gale. Sam was caught offguard as the wind suddenly lifted him from the ground and tossed him away several hundred meters. With a grunt Sam came back to his feet. „Tz. I know a certain wind god who'd laugh right now at such a lousy storm!“ Sam taunted loudly. But Khenubaal had turned back towards Canterlot again. Sam readied his weapon and ran back to catch up with Khenubaal again. The battlefield slowly became more clear. Khenubaal only focused on moving to Canterlot, so the girls were able to make a stand against the enemy's hordes. But there were still dozens of foes left. And time was pressing. „We need more time“, Twilight called, while shielding Rarity and Applejack from magma bolts. „He mustn't reach Canterlot!“ „We are on it, but he ain't stop at all“, Applejack answered. She ran out of ammo and carefully sidestepped attacking kleer skeletons and bucket them to pieces. „Where in tarnation is Rainbow Dash?“ „Eeep. Take those ugly beasts away from me. They'll ruin my outfit!“. Rarity was out of ammo as well and did her best to shield herself from a horde of marsh-hoppers. Most of the magma golems were reduced to fuming puddles of molten stone, many kleers had trotted into their demise, but the toxic mass of marsh-hoppers seemed to be endless. Twilight hurried over to her unicorn friend and raised a magical wall as well. The tides of green frogs crushed against it like waves on a shore. Sweat poured from both unicorn's faces as they concentrated to keep them back, but it became more and more difficult. Applejack could only step back. It was too dangerous to attack those beasts in melee combat. As brave as the girls fought, the wall became weaker, the frogs came closer and closer. Only on meter seperated them from an acid death. That's when they heard a strange sound. In fact all seemed to notice as the girls, monsters Sam and even Khenubaal turned for the source of the strange noise. It was music. Polka-like music. „Do ponies even know 'Oktoberfest'?“ Sam pondered. „Where is the beer?“ Pinkie Pie had finished collecting ammo for her cannon and was now wielding...10 instruments? Playing all instruments at once she walked close to the battlefield and catched everyones attention. Most of were confused about the fact that she was even able to perform such a feat. Some of the monsters watched in awe at the show she was giving and bobbed with the catching rythm. The frogs on the other hand seemed to have lost themselves. Like in hypnosis they formed two long lines and followed Pinkie Pie, always hopping in rythm. She moved further away from the battlefield, still performing her solo on 10 instruments. The wild mass of toxic toads turned into a straight line across the plains and still followed her. After a short time of walking Pinkie Pie stopped and marched on the spot finishing her song with a loud bang on her drums. Then she turned for the frogs. Still mesmerized the frogs just looked at her. Pinkie Pie grinned, drew her cannon, charged and fired. If you have ever seen a cannonball of the size of a human, smashing into into a group of smaller enemies then you surely know how effective it is. Everything is simply crushed under the weight and pressure of the gigantic cannonball. In this case it was hundreds of calmly waiting suicidal frogs. The marsh-hoppers didn't even realize what happened to them until they got rolled over something that felt like a truck. Like a long bowling area, the ball hit every frog in line, each one emitting a last bellow before splattering into green ooze. The landscape was painted in a darker green in a straight line and even the cannonball turned green before it hit the last frog and exploded in the distance. „Hihi,“ Pinkie Pie giggled, „how did the audience receive it? Smashing!“ Then she dropped on the floor laughing at her own pun. It took a moment before everyone realized what just happened. „Fascinating“, Khenubaal whispered, „There are more magic and wonders in this world then I ever imagined.“ He shook his head and turned for Canterlot again. Pinkie Pie's distraction worked well. Not only did it take out all of the marsh-hoppers at once, she bought enough time. Rainbow Dash had returned. „Twilight. I got them“, she shouted. She held a chest with golden ornaments on it and handed it over to Twilight. „The princesses are alarmed and are currently evacuating Canterlot.“ „Good job“, Twilight answered and put her golden Tiara on. A confident grin crossed her face. „Now we can finish this!“ „Princess Celestia said they'll need about 15 minutes to get everyone in safety“, Rainbow Dash continued while putting her golden necklace on. „Just in case.“ „That won't be neccessary“, Twilight said. She handed over Applejack's and Rarity's elements to them and waved for Pinkie Pie to come over to them. Fluttershy was still busy caring for the clawdovics. „Fluttershy! You need to come here at once. We got the elements!“ „Oh my“, Fluttershy whispered. She turned for the bunch of parrots. „It's alright little ones. I'll be back soon, just stay here and wait.“ Then she ran over to her friends. Pinkie Pie has joined with them as well. All of the mane six were equipped with their element of harmony, when Sam arrived next to them. „Girls, it's no time for a fashion show“, he said. „Just watch“, Twilight answered. „You'll be surprised.“ She turned for her friends. „Are you ready?“ They all replied with a nod and a confident look in their eyes. Twilight channeled the power to trigger the elements. Engulfed in a shining bright light the mane six began to levitate around Twilight as their charms began to glow in their respective colors. „Oh sailor moon...“, Sam hummed while shielding his eyes. Khenubaal noticed the bright light and turned back for the group. With a grin he moved towards them. „I feel strong magic. Yes!. Show me what you are capable of!“ The other monsters stood there in confusion and stayed as far away as possible from the lightshow. When Khenubaal was close enough, Twilight opened her eyes, which were only holes of white light and fired the rainbow colored beam. It made a great arc before flying directly towards Khenubaal. The blast of light hit his chest. Like a tornado the light began to spin around the gigantic bonemare until it was no longer visible. A loud cry was heard from inside. A cry of Joy. „Yes. Yes! This is the power I was looking for!“, Khenubaal's voice became more and more hysteric and his screams suddenly became wilder and deeper. „What? What's going on!?“ He stumbled inside the vortex of light. „No! It's too much power! I can't control my body! Wrrraaaahhhhhh!“ A loud scream filled the air, but Twilight and her friends kept firing. Until Khenubaal stepped through the vortex. He was no longer talking. Instead they could hear a heavy breathing. The whole bone horse was glowing in different colors. It raised it's head and emitted another monstrous yell. „Come on girls“, Twilight called over the noise. „We have to keep going! It's our only chance!“ „Sam!“, Netricsa called in his head. „This no good. They have to stop at once! He is absorbing their power!“ „What do you mean?“, he pondered. „He gets stronger the more they use this magic on them“, Netricsa answered. „In fact he seems to have lost control. Who knows what might happened if he get's even more fuel!“ „Got it. Leave it to me!“ Sam turned to the girls. „Hey uhm. As much as I like your lightshow, but you are just powering him up right now“, Sam said calmly. „Just saying.“ Khenubaal stepped out of the vortex completly and roared again. The mane six stopped their harmonic assault. „This...this can't be real!“, Twilight stummered. „The elements don't work?“ „They only made him mad“, Sam continued. „Seems like he is no fan of accesoires either.“ Twilight turned to him with anger in her eyes. „These are no ordinary accessoires. They are filled with powerful magic“, she snapped. „Everyone is depending on us, but we failed.“ „Failed? You think it's over already?“, Sam spat back. „No. It's not over until I teabagged every last one of these alien motherfuckers!“ Twilight shook her head. „There is no time for this. We have to distract him as long as we can so Canterlot can be evacuated. It's the last thing we can do.“ „Distraction? That's what the girls used to call me at highschool“, Sam said with a smile. Twilight looked at him with confusion. „Eh...come again?“ „Leave him to me. Just keep the low-lifes away from me.“ Sam marched towards and fired his cannon. That got Khenubaals attention and he slowly moved towards Sam. While the girls recovered from using the elements of harmony, Twilight instructed them to deal with the last enemies to help Sam. The remaining groups of monsters started attacking again and some ran towards Sam. The girls ran over to him to assist him as good as possible. Except for Fluttershy. She suddenly stopped in her tracks and went to were the clawdovics had been waiting for her. They were dead. Just slaughtered by a bunch of Kleer skeletons that were still near the place and covered in blood. Only a mess of blood and green feathers were left. Fluttershy's eyes filled with tears as she buried her face in her hooves and started crying. Even though the parrots were trained for fighting, Fluttershy's kindness couldn't use them and instead tried to save them...but it was all in vain. She didn't notice the Kleer Skeletons that just killed her parrots, came closer to her. She raised her head, when the first Kleer pierced her side with a claw. „Fluttershy!“, Twilight called. „No!“ Fluttershy trembled before falling to the side...and kicking the Kleer's head off. Without hesitating she jumped to the next Kleer next to her and bucked it into pieces as well. Her eyes were still filled with tears, but also showed anger. She spotted Rainbow Dash's Lasergun in the grass and grabbed it. „Sam!“, she called with anger, aiming with her lasergun. „Go down!“ Sam turned in surprise and immediately dropped to the floor as the laser beams passed over him. He was about to scold at her, when he noticed the skeleton bones that fell next to him in the grass. „Nice shooting, Fluttershy“, he called back, but became a bit nervous, when he saw the state she was in. Still looking at him with angry eyes she didn't seem to notice the heavy wound she suffered at her shoulder. Her left part of the body was stained in blood and she left a trail in the grass. She fired at some more Kleers before she simply dropped to the side and passed out. The girls ran over to her immediately, calling out for her. Sam ran as well, but was distracted by a charging Khenubaal. Sam barely managed to dodge his giant hoof, but dropped his cannon. With a grunt he landed hard on the floor and looked up to see Khenubaal above him, raising his giant hoof again. „Only a wonder can help me now...“, Sam whispered to himself, slowly crawling backwards...until his hand met with something that was hidden in the grass. He checked for what he has found and smiled broadly. „Secret object has been found“, Netricsa called out in his head. „...or a handy secret“, Sam said with more confidence and stood up, smiling at the beast over him. „Hey Twilight“, he called with a smile. „You said we need some more time?“ Twilight was about to answer, when the smiling human vanished under a gigantic hoof. The impact caused a small gale to pass over the girls and they had to cover their eyes. The giant's hoof raised again and there was no trace from Sam. Khenubaal laughed diabolicly. „Oh no“, Applejack whispered. „This can't be happening.“ Twilight and Rarity still hold the unconscious Fluttershy in their hooves and tried to fight the tears. „I can't believe it“, Rainbow Dash exclaimed. „He was so cool. And now he died fighting for us.“ Even she started to sob about their lost companion. „Please stop it. It's heartbreaking.“ The girls rubbed their eyes in disbelief. From the small crater raised a golden figure. „Calm down. I said I would deal with him,“ Sam called. „Just make sure the evacuation is successful. And bring her to a medic“ he added with a nod towards Fluttershy. They could just stare at Sam. He was the same like always, except his skin and clothes looked like they were made of gold. With a nod Twilight looked at her friends. „Let's leave it to him. We should help the princesses.“ With that said, Twilight focused and channeled some magic before they dissappeared in a magical light. He turned for Khenubaal. „Come on. Just try and hurt me, you stupid, ugly freak!“ And so Khenubaal stepped on him again. And again. But the result was the same: Sam was getting up again everytime. „Sam“, Netricsa called in Sam's head. „How long do you plan to do this? You invulnerability won't last for more then one minute.“ „I'll...give them...as much time...as possible“, Sam said in short breaks, everytime he gets up again from Khenubaal attacks. It didn't take long before Sam's golden Aura began to flimmer and eventually vanished. „Uh-oh.“ Again, Sam was hit by Khenubaal's hoof, this time sending him flying over the plains. Sam landed hard on the floor and coughed blood. „Damn it.“ Khenubaal went over to the injured human. The last few monsters accomoied him. „Well...guess that's it Netty,“ Sam coughed. „I hope the ponies could get away in time.“ „Sam...“, she replied in a sad voice. Sam stared up to Khenubaal. „At least make it quick you gigantic corpse whore!“ Khenubaal just grunted in a beastialic way and raised his hoof again. Sam only felt a sudden impact before it became dark around him. But strangely he could still feel the soft ground...he could hear the air passing around him...and smell the fur under his nose... „Wait what?“ Sam grunted. „That's not a very royal way of thanking you areth using,“ a female voice said below him. „We expected better from 'the one'.“ Sam shook his head and instinctly grabbed at the floating mane in front of him to hold his balance. „Holy cow, that's high!“ The last thing Sam expected to see before dying was seeing a strange world from above on the back of dark blue colored pony princess. „You areth welcome,“, Luna answered, „but would you be so kind and loosen your grip on our mane?“ „Oh. Yes sorry“, Sam said and loosened his grip. „But we need to get back and finish him off.“ „We just finished the evacuation“, Luna continued. „We should retreat for now.“ Sam looked below and saw that Khenubaal had reached Canterlot. He easily passed through the barrier and began wrecking the whole city, roaring in victory. Sam was about to protest, when both he and the princess were covered in a magical light and dissappeared. ------- „Well“, Princess Celestia began. „That certainly was a lot of information.“ Netricsa has stopped the projection of what happened in the battle and stood silently next to Sam. He on the other hand fell asleep while watching. He began snoring loudly. The ponies looked at him in bewilderment. „Never mind him“, Netrisca said to them. „We should just get over with what we can do.“ „As much as I hate to admit it“, Celestia said, „If even the elements of harmony cannot defeat this monster, then I don't see how we can deal with him at all. They all pondered for a while. Then Twilight raised her voice. „What happened to Khenubaal, after we hit him with the elements? How could he absorb this power...and why did he go berserk?“ „I can only assume, that Khenubaal's body is built in a way to regenerate from all damage it receives,“ Netricsa answered, „and that it's magical veins, that pass over it's body are able to absorb any kind of magic. But I think that the elements caused an overflow and Khenubaal lost some control over the body itself.“ „Can't we just pump him up with magic until he explodes, or something“, Rainbow Dash proposed. „I don't think that this will work“, Netricsa said with a shrug. „It'll probably just make him more powerful and even more dangerous.“ Silence filled the room again as they all pondered again. „Is there no way we can take the power from this brute again?“, Rarity asked. „I don't see how that is possible“, Twlight hummed. „He was guarded by strong magic. He would probably absorb that kind of power as well.“ „Uh. Uh. I know!“, Pinkie Pie called in excitement. „How about we take his power, and then give it back to him?“ They all looked at her puzzled. „Pinkie, that doesn't even make sense!“, Twilight scolded her. „There must be a other way.“ She rubbed her chin with a hoof. „Ah. How about we check the spellbook we found in the desert ruins?“ „Desert?“, Sam snapped, waking from his slumber in shock. „I had enough deserts for the rest of my life!“