//------------------------------//
// Retaliation, Part II 
// Story: The Tale of Coltypt 
// by Rakoon1 
//------------------------------//

	Those who belonged to the army of Coltypt became speechless, seeing what happened to Shu, the mechanical warrior who should be invincible.

"I don't believe..." Apis said.

"Shu, what happened?!" Monthu asked.

"We say what happened" Rothbart said. "It was the Lord of Chaos who caused this."

"Your robot feeds off of the energy of the order there are around, focusing it and channeling it" Pandora explained. "That's why it's so powerful."

"But if that energy is disturbed by an opposing force, as the energy of chaos, then he becomes useless" Rothbart said.

The Coltypt army was stunned to see that Pandora and Rothbart had cancelled their most powerful weapon. Seeing his demoralized soldiers, Apis told them:

"Don't be like that!" he exclaimed. "I'm sure Shu’s current state lasts only during this eclipse. As soon as it passes, he will be activated."

"Don't forget that we can still fight them" Montu continued. "We've done it many times. We just have to hold on until Shu regain his energy."

"Yeah!" the soldiers exclaimed, gaining their motivation back.

And they continued to fight bravely against the dark ponies.

"They may be fools, but they're right" Pandora said. "The eclipse won't last forever. The Lord of Order controls this area. He will repair what our master did."

"So we just have to enjoy the time we have to cause some serious damage" Rothbart said.

And, having said this, he took off and flew in Montu’s direction, asking:

"Ready for round two?"

Montu took flight to avoid Rothbart’s the attack and the two resumed their aerial combat.

Apis saw them to back off, but then he noticed a new attack from Pandora coming. He turned to it and, spinning his staff to form a kind of shield, he managed to stop it, as he was dragged a few inches.

"Don't get distracted from the fight, Apis" Pandora said, carrying her horn with magic. "Didn't they teach you that in the minotaur school?"

"Of course they taught, Pandora, but do you want to know what more they taught?" Apis asked. "This! Sun and Moon!"

And he pointed his staff to Pandora, releasing a beam of pure light. Seeing it, Pandora had to act quickly and she created an energy shield with her magic in time to defend herself from the attack and, like her attack did to Apis, pushed her, but a few hooves. After the attack, Pandora undid the shield and exclaimed:

"Are you crazy?! Aren't you ashamed to use an attack like that against a filly?!"

"What's the matter, Pandora?" Apis asked. "You don't have the will to fight against the grown-ups?"

That angered Pandora that launched a new attack.

The fight between Rothbart and Monthu was still quite close. None of the two wanted to give no advantage to the other.

"You know, what I think, Rothbart?" Montu asked as he turned to avoid the attacks of his opponent. "You should stick to your nature and stay on earth as the earth pony you are. Wings of Power."

And Montu’s golden wings became sharp and he tried to attack Rothbart with them. He managed to avoid them, stepping back a little, and then said:

"You say that I should stick to my nature, but you are the one who has a son who is a freak hybrid."

Hearing him speaking like that about his dear son, Montu’s anger grew exponentially, such that he couldn't think of anything else besides making Rothbart pay for what he had said. But that was a fatal mistake. With that, his movements become increasingly predictable and less coordinated and so Rothbart started to swerve easily, smiling before Montu’s anger. 

Then, during a blow from Montu, Rothbart caught his attack and lift one of his claws and, making it even sharper with dark magic, stabbed it in Montu’s chest, at the place of the heart, making through the golden armor that the Golden Power in his golden bracelet gave him, making him give a huge groan of pain. Hearing him, Apis turned and saw what was happening.

"NO, MONTU!" Apis shouted.

Wanting to do something to help his friend, Apis pointed his staff to Pandora and said:

"Shot of the Labyrinth."

From his staff, he launched a wave of energy that reached Pandora. When she was hit, she felt herself so confused that lost balance. Without Pandora not getting in the way and putting his staff aside, he took his bow and then three arrows whose tips started to burn. He pointed them to Rothbart and fired. Repairing the arrows, Rothbart managed to swerve, dropping Monthu that fell to the ground, but, to his great surprise, they changed their direction and returned to go against him.

"What?!" he asked.

And the arrows shot him on the wings and that made Rothbart lose balance in the air and fall with a big impact. Hitting the ground, he was dwarfed by his dark aura and returned to his pony form.

"Damn minotaur..." he said.

Once he hit Rothbart, Apis turned his attention to look to Montu, exclaiming:

"Monthu, talk to me! Say something!"

Pandora, when recovered from the confusion, took advantage of this distraction to use her magic to bring Apis down and, after he fell, she put herself on top of him, carrying her horn.

"It seems today those who have the Golden Power will die."

And she prepared to deal the final attack, but suddenly the sun appeared with the end of the eclipse the Lord of Chaos created. Seeing this, Pandora began to get worried.

"Oh no..." she said.

She turned to Shu and saw him coming around, standing up and saying:

“Shu is back and full of energy."

Pandora contorted her face in anger and said to Apis:

"You're really lucky."

And she teleported herself to the edge of Rothbart, who tried to stand up, and said:

"We're leaving. We can't win this battle now that Shu is back."

"I agree" Rothbart said.

And, being covered by black smoke for a few moments, the two disappeared and the dark ponies were next. Seeing the enemy retreating, the soldiers of the Coltypt army began to celebrate, but Apis didn't have time for that. He stood up and advanced to where Montu was. Realizing what was happening, the ponies have fallen silent. Once Apis got there, he looked at the wound caused by Rothbart. It seemed to be quite deep and the blood kept getting out.

"Wake up, Montu!" Apis exclaimed. "Come on, wake up!"

The griffon then opened his eyes slowly and said, seeing the general:

"Apis..."

"Don't talk" Apis said. "Save your strength."

Monthu giggled nervously and weakly and then said:

"We both know that I no longer have salvation."

"Don't say that" Apis said. "Think about Isis and your son. This will keep you alive until you are treated."

"Rothbart has reached the heart, Apis" Montu said. "There's nothing we can do."

"There has to be" Apis said.

He then turned to Shu and said:

"Shu, you gotta do something or he dies!"

"I'm sorry, but my energy can only be used to fight" he said. "I can't cure."

"Damn..." Apis said, trying to find some way to save Montu.

"It's okay, Apis" Montu said. "If I have to die, at least I know I died... protecting those I love. Just promise me one thing, Apis. Promise me that you will make my son a warrior who I... I can be proud of."

Despite still wanting to continue trying to find a way to save Montu, Apis was unable to refuse attend to his request.

"I promise" he promised.

A faint smile appeared on Montu’s face.

"Thank you... Apis. Say to Isis and Horus... I love them."

And, having said this, he died. The Golden Power that covered his body disappeared as soon as the last piece of Montu’s life abandoned his body.

In the Council of Coltypt room, all waited for results. Hathor also was there, having left a maid to take care of the kids. Amun went in, asking:

"Did you noticed the eclipse that happened earlier?" Amun asked, while approaching.

"Even if we hadn't seen it, I'm sure we'd sense it" Maat said, while Amun sat on his chair. "The negative energy released was incredible."

"Yeah, he even gave me the creeps" Bes said.

"But what was that?" Hathor asked.

"For sure it's the work of the Lord of Chaos" Seth said. "Probably he used the little influence that he still has here to create that eclipse."

"And I bet it's not with good intentions" Isis said, getting even more worried. "And Apis and Montu who never arrive. Just when this is happening is that the battle is being delayed."

It was then that the door of the room opened and Apis and Shu entered. They entered in the circle of the Council, they knelt down in front of Amun and Shu said:

"Pharaoh, we have news from the battlefield."

"Very well" he said. "Speek."

"Let be General Apis the one to communicate everything, Your Highness" Shu said.

Despite knowing that Shu was a machine, Apis knew he had given him the word as he would know better how to communicate the death of Montu.

"We came out victorious in the battle, Your Highness, all thanks to Shu. He managed to scare the villains of the Lord of Chaos."

"I'm glad to hear that" Amun said, looking satisfied. 

"However, this victory cost us a lot" Apis said.

"What do you mean, Apis?" Seth asked.

"What I mean is that Rothbart managed to cause some damage" Apis said.

He then approached of Isis, which had become even more nervous, and said to her:

"I’m sorry, Isis…"

And he showed her Montu’s bracelet. Seeing it, Isis was petrified, as the shock of knowing that her husband had died was immense. But she wasn't the only one to be affected by the news. Amun also couldn't believe that his best friend had died.

"Montu's dead?" Seth asked, also surprised. "But he was a great warrior, the only one to have been able to pass the test of your labyrinth and deserve a golden bracelet. How did this happen?"

"That eclipse the Lord of Chaos created prevented Shu from battling" Apis revealed.

"But how is that possible if Shu is the most powerful weapon that the Lord of Order sent to us?" Bes asked.

"That eclipse prevented me to absorb the positive energy that was around me and this led to my deactivation" Shu explained.

"It seems that the Lord of Chaos managed to find out what makes our champion walk" Maat said. "However, I think we can all relax. I don't think he's going to try something like this again, now that we know his little trick."

"After Shu have been disabled, the battle became more intense, with the enemy trying to end the battle before the end of the eclipse. That's when Rothbart killed Montu. And I just was also about to be killed by Pandora. Fortunately for me, the eclipse ended and Shu came back to life, making those bastards get away."

Amun and Isis remained silent, not looking or even listening. The shock of knowing about the lost of Monthu was quite large.

"But I'm sure we will be able to do justice to his death and, in the meantime, I'm going to do what Montu certainly would want me to do as a general" Apis continued. "I will keep the bracelet until somepony else shows to be worthy as he was."

It was then that Amun got up and headed to the exit.

"Pharaoh?" Apis asked. "Is something wrong?"

But he didn't say anything and just walked out. Hathor, worried about her husband, followed him.

"It seems that Isis is not the only one suffering with what happened" Bes noted.

"After all, Pharaoh and Montu were best friends," Maat said.

"Actually, I think this is what the Lord of chaos wanted" Seth said.

"What do you mean by that, Seth?" Bes asked.

"It's because of the Pharaoh that the Lord of Chaos no longer controls Coltypt" Seth said. "So he wanted to cause him pain in retaliation."

The Lord of Chaos observed the scene through one of his mirrors, sitting on his throne, and said:

"It seems that Seth could see my intentions. Impressive."

Pandora and Rothbart also were there. The former asked:

"So you're not angry that we have not been able to invade Coltypt?"

"The reason for this invasion was to make Amun suffer for the great humiliation that he put me through before my brother" the Lord of Chaos said. "Despite not having gone as I expected, I dare say that we were successful, otherwise you wouldn't be breathing in front of me."

That made the two followers to swallow dry. The Lord of Chaos continued:

"Montu’s death caused a great impact in Amun. In the same way that I lost Coltypt, he lost his best friend. The difference, is that I can still recover what I lost. But Amun will never see his little friend as long as he lives. And that gives me a great pleasure. Good job, Rothbart. And you too, Pandora. Despite you didn’t kill Apis, I was impressed by your ability to manage the battlefield.

"Thank you, my lord" the two thanked at the same time, making a bow.

Hathor followed her husband to the throne room. Upon entering, she saw him supporting over one of the pillars.

"Amun…" Hathor said, approaching. "Are you all right?"

"It's my fault" he said. "Everything that happened... it's my fault."

"What are you talking about, my love?" Hathor asked, putting its hoof over Amun’s shoulder. "It wasn't your fault. It was the Lord of Chaos’."

"I should have known that he would not be quiet after I have taken Coltypt from him" Amun said. "I knew he would do anything to get back at me. And now he took my best friend."

"Amun..." Hathor started.

"Don't you understand, Hathor?!" Amun exclaimed, with tears in his eyes. "He won't give up until he takes from me everything I love! Today was Montu, but in the future it could be you, or Anubis, or Kefer. As Pharaoh, it is my duty to prevent things like this from happening."

''I understand what you're feeling, Amun" Hathor said. "I understand the pain you feel. He was also my friend."

There was a pause and then Hathor remembered something that could help Amun to overcome his pain.

"You know, I remember the day when Montu came into our lives" she said. "Like you, he was wandering in the desert. You found him and you gave him what to drink, even though he was a stranger and not a pony. He was so grateful that he decided to reward you in any way he could. And he did it anything. He stayed with us and helped us in everything he could. He even came with us free Coltypt. Montu did everything for us. He even gave up his own life to save, not only Coltypt, but all the effort and determination that you put in the recovery of this kingdom, Amun. So, I don't think he deserves that his memory is tainted with sadness and regret. Don't you think?"

Amun heard his wife’s words carefully and realized where she was getting at. She was right. Despite everything that's happened, Amun couldn't let himself going down. He had to keep his head up and honor Montu. A smile appeared on his face and he said to Hathor:

"Thank you, Hathor."

And the two exchanged a hug.

On a balcony of the castle, Isis was talking with Seth.

"I don't know what I'm going to tell Horus about his father" Isis said.

"I don't think you have much choice, dear sister" Seth said. "You'll have to tell him the truth. That his father died to save this kingdom."

"He's just a child, Seth" Isis said.

"And that’s the reason I’m saying this" Seth said. "The sooner he deals with the death of his father, the better. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about."

"Isis, Seth is right" a voice said and Apis appeared. "That boy deserves to know the whole truth. It's the only way for him to grow and overcome all the pain."

"Apis..." Isis said.

"I have to tell you one thing, Isis" Apis said. "Before he died, Montu expressed his desire to have his son trained by me so one day he could become a warrior who he could be proud of. I know that, after what happened, you have your reservations about this subject, but..."

Isis raised the hoof and he stopped talking. She said:

"Don't worry, Apis. I understand your need to fulfil the wishes of my husband and I am in full agreement. After all, the Lord of Chaos will always be an enemy in our lives and we must teach future warriors. Besides, I don't want my son to end up like his father, so I want him to be very well trained and you, Apis, are suitable for this task."

"I see you got more wise during these years, dear sister" Seth said. "That is a great choice."

"Pharaoh also agreed to let his sons also start training” Apis said. "We only hope that they become as much or more admirable than their parents."

After several days, the funeral ceremony of Montu began, after the mummification process. His body covered in bandages were placed in a sarcophagus where his face, wings and claws were represented. Horus watched with sadness the sarcophagus of his father being put in a place apart in the great Coltypt temple, where the image of the Lord of Chaos had been replaced by the image of the Lord of Order. His prince friends, Anubis and Kefer, also were there, accompanying their parents. 

When everypony started to leave the Montu’s tomb room, Amun also prepared to leave, but, before that, he turned to the coffin and said:

"Goodbye, my friend. I hope we shall meet again one day. Until that date, you can rest assured. We will take good care of your son and Isis."

And, having said that, he left the room to let his best friend rest in peace.