Where My Captain Lies...
Rogers dug his heels in as best he could as the twin horns of the Frankenpony slammed into his shield. He strained against them with his might, but the twin-headed alicorn flapped its wing with a bellow before starting to push the Captain back. Pushing himself even harder, Rogers slammed his shoulder into the shield and managed to bring the struggle to a halt...until both alicorn heads unleashed a blast of magic point blank into his shield.
"Quite the creation, isn't it?" Sombra chuckled with mirth as he and Sweetie Belle watched Rogers fly across the crystal roof and slam into one of the pillars that jutted out from the side. "Those two were always inseparable, except for the whole Nightmare Moon thing, so I decided to keep them that way--on a level that they never would have dreamed of."
"You...twisted...bastard!" Belle seethed at Sombra as her horn began to glow, getting Sombra to roll his eyes.
"Do you really not remember how this fight ended for you last time? Sit down Belle, before I decide to kill you early." Belle's whole body shook as she wished nothing more than to kill him then and there, but his words pierced her will and she ceased her magic. "And I'll have you know that my mother agreed to marry my father before they had me, so your statement is invalid."
"But yes, I figured that death was too good for those two fools, especially after all they had made me endure," Sombra continued on as Captain America bounced his shield off of Celestia's face before kicking Luna in the jaw. "So I spliced the two of them together, after ripping apart their minds and destroying any trace of self they had. Now they serve me, as one of my most powerful weapons. And yet the Captain still fights. He amazes me, do you know that?"
"And why's that?" Belle dared to ask the tyrant, keeping a close eye on him for any sign of movement.
"Because he is a human with no magic, no wings and only a shield that can't be broken. And yet with barely anything going for him, he brought down far more of us than any of those alicorns or supposed 'destined' heroes did. It is truly fascinating," Sombra remarked. In that moment Belle saw her chance and with a bellow of fury she fired a blast of magic into Sombra...only for it to be deflected by a barrier that she hadn't seen. Sombra rolled his eyes once more at the mare before unleashing a blast of darkness into her chest that sent her sprawling across the roof of crystals.
"Does stupidity run in your family? Because that was the very same trick your sister tried on me before I killed her, except with less flirting," Sombra revealed with a smirk as Belle weakly pushed herself back up. "And to be perfectly honest dear, you're nowhere near as attractive as she was. Six at best." Sombra would have gone on, but at that moment a vibranium disc slammed into the side of his head and dropped him.
"Belle!" Rogers called out as he rolled under a blast of corrupted solar magic and slid over to the mare, shielding her with both body and shield as he helped her back up. "Can you stand?" Belle didn't respond, choosing instead to gaze out from behind the shield at the Frankenpony that was advancing towards them while its body twitched in an unnerving way.
"That creature...it's Celestia and Luna," she revealed to the Captain, who kept his surprise and horror inside as he braced against the shield. Two blasts of magic that rivaled the gods slammed into his defense, nearly hurling he Captain away from the mare. "Sombra...did this to them. Made them twisted. Fused them together."
"So how do we beat them?" Rogers asked as another salvo unloaded onto his shield, which still managed to hold out. He glanced down at Sweetie once the attack had ceased to find her staring off into the distance, the same hopeless look on her face that he had seen on many soldiers before. "Belle, listen to me. Things may seem bad, but when things are at their worst is when we need to fight the hardest. Now I can fight the monster or I can fight the princesses, but I can't fight both and expect to win. Do you have my back?"
Belle looked out from behind the shield at the twin-headed monster that was stalking towards them, before shifting her gaze towards the Dark King. The king raised an eyebrow back at her as a grin filled with both malice and teeth spread across his face. In the face of both of those foes, she didn't know how they were supposed to win. But then she glanced up at the Captain and saw that there was no despair or signs of defeat in his eyes. There was only his resolve and his concern for her.
'Even against these creatures, he still has hope. That's why he's the hero,' Belle remembered as she forced herself to stand back up, forcing the pain into the back of her mind. 'And that's why he has to get out of this alive.' She then glared at King Sombra and began to march towards him. Rogers nodded at her choice before he spun on his heels and charged towards the Frankenpony, shield up and eyes focused.
"So, you've chosen to actually fight me?" Sombra asked with his toothy grin. Belle's response was to spit into the crystal next to her before her horn glowed with a crimson light, drawing the king's eye to it. "And I see that you've gotten an upgrade since our last battle. How'd I miss that? Oh well, let us hope that this time you will actually be a challenge. Come on Belle, time to avenge your dear sister."
On the other side of the roof, Rogers slid underneath of a blast of magic before tightening his fist into a knot. He then swung that fist right under the jaw of what had once been the lunar princess, snapping her head back and causing her half of the body to stagger. Celestia's half of the body failed to flinch and the next moment Rogers had to bring up his shield to deflect the blast of magic that she unleashed upon him, sending him skidding across the rooftop.
'The two of them are forced to share the same body, but it doesn't look like they share the same nervous system,' Captain America guessed as he got back up. Celestia and Luna both unleashed their magic upon him at the same time, forcing the Cap to vault into the air over the blasts. While airborne, he let his shield fly on an arc that sent it flying right into the side of Celestia's head. Cap narrowed his eyes as only she cried out in pain and ceased her spell, while what had once been her sister failed to notice.
'Same body, different minds and different set of nerves. Means I've got to take them both down if I want to end this fight,' Rogers pieced together as the pair covered their entire body with magic before hurling themselves towards the Captain. Rogers flipped over their attack and caught his shield at the same time, bringing the shield up as the two whipped their heads around and fired upon him once more.
'Do you really think you can save them all?' The sudden voice in his head caught the Captain off guard, giving the Frankenpony a chance to drive their heads into his shield and send him skidding backwards. Cap shook his head as the pair resumed their attack. Snarling to himself, Cap let Luna get a taste of the old gal as he drove the star on the shield right into her nose.
'You have no magic. No wings. Nothing that can hope to give you an edge over us!' Rogers recognized the condescending tone as King Sombra, but he didn't know how the pony managed to get into his mind and at the moment he couldn't dwell on it. Celestia whipped her horn towards the Captain and stabbed over his shield, causing her horn to slice through his suit and pierce the Captain's shoulder. Rogers grunted in pain before driving the edge of the shield into Celestia's face, getting both her attitude and the horn away from him.
'I have experience. I have the skill. And you are evil. That's all I need,' Rogers retorted as he swung his boot into Celestia's face and snapped her head to the side, before flipping around in the air and dropping the back of his heel onto Luna's skull. The Frankenpony staggered back under the Cap's assault, giving him a moment of rest.
'Skilled as you may be, you are in this fight alone. And do you truly believe that you can best us by yourself?'
'I am not alone. I have the Crusade with me and all those who are counting on us. And we won't fail them.' The Frankenpony let out a screech as it charged at the Captain once more, but then to the Captain's surprise it came to a dead halt feet away from him.
'The Crusade? Captain, they are foals trying to fight against gods. See for yourself.' Backing up slightly so that he could keep his eyes on both the princesses and whatever Sombra was planning, he slowly shifted his gaze over to Sombra...and then immediately focused onto the bloody and beaten Sweetie Belle that lay broken twenty feet away from Sombra.
"Allow me to make this painfully obvious if I haven't already, Captain. You are the only threat to me and my plans," Sombra said in a quiet voice. "The Crusade is only around because I wanted something to fight, something I could pit my mind against. They are no threat to me and she," he said as he blasted Belle in the side, causing her to weakly cry out. "Is not the hero you are. Now face my princess, Captain America. And if you can overcome that, then you can face me."
"Why not face me yourself? Are you afraid?" Captain America asked, but Sombra let out a small chuckle before blasting Belle again.
"I did not become the only surviving member of my allies by being a fool. You will fight the princess or I will kill her before you can react. Now fight."
"Fine Sombra, I'll play your game for now," Rogers said before spinning towards the Frakenpony and slamming the edge of his shield right in-between the heads. This time both heads cried out in a ghostly pain as they staggered back, giving the Captain a chance to glare at Sombra. "But none of these ponies die today. Not on my watch."
Rogers then hurled himself back into the fight, planting both boots firmly into the side of Celestia's body and knocking the princesses off of their hooves. He rolled the moment he landed before letting his shield fly, angling it perfectly so that it bounced off the two princesses' heads multiple times before finally returning to him. With the creature dazed and confused, Rogers leapt into the air above it and came crashing down, boots first, into the parts of their bodies that had been fused together.
The Frankenpony wailed with pain as it flapped its wings, trying to take to the sky to get some distance from the Captain. Rogers was quicker on the draw and let his shield fly once more, hearing bones break as the vibranium clipped the alicorn's wings and sent it crashing back into the crystal roof. It let out another weak groan as it tried to rise once more, but the Captain walked over to it and slammed both of his fists into its heads.
"Bravo, Captain. Once again you have proven yourself quite the adversary," Sombra cackled as Captain America lifted his shield above the monster, preparing to finish it off...before twirling around and letting his shield fly at Sombra. The Dark King was ready for the action and deflected the disc with a dark shield. Rogers then let himself fly at the king, but Sombra caught him out of the air with his magic and hurled him across the rooftop.
"Now then, Captain, while I would love nothing more than to battle you to the death...I am stuck on something that you said earlier. That no pony would die today on your watch. Cap, you should know better than anypony," Sombra cackled as he whistled a tune, a tune that caused the Frankenpony to rise once more with both eyes glowing a green color that was beyond sinister. "That heroes shouldn't lie."
Rogers grabbed his shield from beside him as he leapt to his feet, bracing himself as he saw both horns begin to glow with a power that shook the entire tower. The next moment a sphere as crimson as the sun had formed on the end of Celestia's horn, and she pointed it at the Captain...before moving it to the side slighty. Rogers dared a glance behind him to see she was aiming past the Crystal Empire and towards the snow-swept lands beyond its walls...where thousands of civilians were being evacuated.
"Like hell I'll let you kill them!" Rogers promised as he threw himself in the path and placed all of his strength into his shield...before realizing that the sphere as white as the moon on Luna's horn wasn't aimed at him...but instead at Sweetie Belle. "No..."
"Yes Captain. That is your choice!" Sombra cackled as the tower shook beneath the might of the alicorn's twin power. "You can either save all of those precious, innocent civilians and let this piece of trash die...or you can save Sweetie Belle and let all those innocents that look up to you die. The choice seems pretty obvious to me, but I love seeing what the hero will do. But no matter which you choose...somepony dies today."
Rogers' eyes switched back and forth between the ponies and Sweetie Belle, trying to figure out a plan. He then vaulted into the air and angled his shield at Celestia and Luna, but a bolt of black magic drilled through his leg and sent him crashing back to the roof in pain.
"None of that Captain, my eyes are peeled for any of your heroic actions," Sombra promised him. "I also have a barrier around my princess should your shield get by me." Rogers grunted as he pushed himself back, ignoring the pain as best he could. He glanced between the ponies behind him a Sweetie Belle, knowing that with his wound he would not be fast enough to get to her then deflect the other blast.
"Steve...no...don't let...down those who believe in you." All eyes turned towards Sweetie Belle, who was shakily pushing herself back up despite the bleeding and pain that was making her body shiver. She slowly lifted her eyes to glare at Sombra, eyes filled with the same resolve that she had seen within the Captain's. "Those ponies...the Crusade...they need you to save them. You're their hero. And to keep that...safe...I'm not afraid to die."
"But if I do die...then at the very least...I know I died standing up...knowing that Sombra didn't break me! That I fought till the bitter end," she snarled at the Dark King, wishing the she could shoot at him but knowing he would block it. So she focused that strength so she could remain standing. "That I made my sister proud."
"Truly, this must run in your family," Sombra cackled with a shake of his head. "Your sister said the very same thing to me right before I snapped her neck--about how she had died fighting even though it was hopeless. That her friends would be proud of her. But guess what? Her friends died too. And so will yours. So we will see how proud your sister is...when you go meet her. Fire."
The princess monster screamed as its power reached critical mass, taking perfect aim at the fleeing ponies with one head and Sweetie Belle with the other. Sweetie glanced over at the Captain one last time with a smile, but when she glanced at him he very quickly flashed his eyes towards Sombra. Sombra caught the motion and took aim at the Captain with his horn, only to be blasted in the stomach by Sweetie Belle. He snarled as he was sent hurling over the side of the castle, leaving the two alone with the beast.
"Cap! Throw your shield!" she called out to him as she weakly collapsed, but when he did so a barrier of solar magic crafted around the creature to defend it.
"No good! I can't get through the barrier!" he called back over to her.
"Then I guess...this is goodbye," she softly whispered as she closed her eyes, waiting for the end to come. "Steve...thank you, for helping me to be strong once more. To fight against a foe I didn't believe we could beat. To believe...in heroes again. Thank you...and good-"
Clang.
Belle's words were cut off when she felt something hard strike her in the side slightly, causing her eyes to snap open and glance down to see...a metal disc with a white star in the center of it laying beside her. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as she gazed up at the Captain to see him smiling at her, giving her a thumbs up right as Celestia and Luna unleashed their magic upon the both of them.
'Why?' her eyes asked him.
"As I said. None of you are dying on my watch," he replied as he turned to face the blast of solar magic as it came barreling down upon him, crossing his arms as he prepared himself for what was to come. "So I leave it up to you and the Crusade. And remember, I was nothing special. I chose to stand up." The beam of solar magic then struck the Captain, who howled in pain as the magic tore his body apart. He could feel his muscles burning away, feel himself being turned to ash by the sheer volume of magic. His conscious nearly went black as he began to falter under the overwhelming magic.
'Stand up,' the voice of his mother echoed in the back of his mind. 'No matter what, you always stand up.'
And Rogers did just that. Despite being consumed by a power great enough to decimate the lands, to crush gods, to move the sun...Captain America did not fall. Under the crushing power of a magic that far exceeded what his body should have been able to take, the Captain did not fall cold or dead. He stood up.
Sweetie called out the Captain as he continued to take the onslaught of magic. Tears poured from her face as she lifted the shield and crouched behind it, bracing against the blast of lunar magic with all of her might. The blast nearly knocked her away, but the shield did not yield under the relentless magical assault. From behind the shield she dared a glance at the Captain, whose suit had been burned away and his body was horrifying to look at. Yet it remained standing, taking the solar magic without giving an inch. But she didn't know for how much longer he could.
'Sweetie...Belle...'
She nearly jumped as the voice spoke in her head, the voice of a princess that she had believed to have been long dead. "Luna?" she whispered in reply, unable to look at the princess due to the amounts of magic bombarding her.
'Please...he cannot hold out...much longer...you have to...kill us.' The tears came to a stop at the horror of what Luna was asking, but a quick glance at the Captain, who was now starting to fade away. Showed that there was no time. With a scream of rage that would have made the Hulk envious, she poured all of her strength into the shield. She then angled Luna's blast of magic back towards her and her sister, lining it up perfectly on the spot of their body where their two halves were merged.
Both princesses ceased their magic as they howled with pain, their shared body glowing with both lunar and solar magic. Cracks formed across their body as the magic overloaded them, before both halves erupted into a column of magic that pillared into the sky. Sweetie stayed crouched behind the shield the entire time, waiting until the shaking stopped, until she dared a glance outside.
All that was left of Celestia and Luna was two piles of ash that lay on the ground, one a pure white and the other a midnight blue. Yet she barely spared the two a thought before she raced over to the Captain, hardly noticing that she was still carrying his shield as she fell to her knees beside him.
He was horrifying to look at. His body looked like a corpse that had been burned away, with barely any of his skin or hair remaining. Most of his organs were visible and his face barely resembled the man she knew. Yet despite all of the horrific injuries that had been done to him, Sweetie could still faintly see his chest rising and lowering. She didn't know how he was alive, but she knew that it wouldn't last much longer if he didn't get some kind of help.
"Well, I'll be damned. He actually did it." Sweetie's head snapped around to see Sombra standing beside her, a wicked smile upon his face as he glared down at what remained of Rogers. "I honestly thought he was going to leave you to die and then I'd pick him off when he mourned. But to be able to take that much solar magic...I underestimated him. I doubt I was the first. But still, it seems that it was enough to finish the job"
'He thinks Steve's dead,' Sweetie realized, giving her a precious few seconds to think. She then let out an unholy scream as she swung the shield at Sombra, who caught it with a smirk.
"Sorry Belle, but you're not him," Sombra cackled as he kicked her in the knee and dropped her to the ground. He then stared out across the Empire, which was devoid of any ponies save for those that had been killed in battle. "And the Crusade even managed to completely evacuate the Empire. Excellent. Now the final play can begin. But first," he said with a snarl as he turned towards the mare, who still clutched at the shield as she struggled to get back up. "I believe it is time that I was rid of you."
Sombra's horn had just begun to glow before an orange blur slammed her hooves into the side of his head, sending Sombra flying right off the rooftop once more. Scootaloo then raced to Belle's side, taking a moment to see if she was alright before gazing down with sickening horror at the charred body that lay beside her.
"Is...is that...oh Faust," she whispered before Belle dragged herself over to the Captain.
"He's alive, but barely. We need to get him some aid!" she ordered, using whatever magic she could muster to lift the Captain. Scootaloo nodded as she wrapped her hooves around Belle's stomach, lifting her and, by extension the Captain, into the air before rocketing off as fast as she could towards Canterlot.
"Run, run, as fast as you can," Sombra cackled as he teleported back on top of the castle. He then stamped a hoof into the rooftop, resulting in a blast of magic being launched into the sky. Then the whole Empire began to shake as hundreds of crystals began to move at once. Slowly, the very Crystal Empire itself began rise out of the ground, before a massive hand erupted from the ground and shook the earth as it slammed into the ground. "Because with the hero dead, this is my world now."
The Empire rose higher and higher into the sky, revealing another arm and a gargantuan pair of crystal legs that supported the entire body that had once been the Crystal Empire. The land shook beneath its feet as it took a step, the clouds parted as they floated into its shoulders and all of the land fell under its shadow as its massive form blocked out the sun. And from atop his spire, which slowly slid down into a crystal skull, one that burned with green eyes, rested Sombra, who cackled with laughter as his plan finally fell into place.
"Onward, my crystal titan! Because now, there is nothing that can stop us!"
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Tactical Retreat! TACTICAL RETREAT!
Great chapter now we can see how evil Sombra actually is... Compared to the show one who just said crystals and then died or something.
6708209 Have you seen the season 5 finaly... he does more than say crystals
Man, he really is delusional, isn't he?
But I just have the feeling that he, and his so-called "crystal titan", are gonna fall like all the rest of the Tyrants before him. (Well, with the exception of that poor fool, Ahuizotl, who he killed himself.)
And that's hard.
Very, very, very hard.
He's just so self-deluded he doesn't know that yet.
And I, for one, cannot wait to see that happen!
That mental image of Cap is downright horrific!
We could use some Avengers and maybe Doctor Strange for back up right now!
Time to advance in the opposite direction!
You, Sombra, have a crystal titan. The Avengers have a Hulk.
I really love to hate this savvy, snarky Sombra. I do wonder why he hasn't used his smoke form, though.
"Yes, I'd like the Captain America burger, extra crispy if you will, and with a side of victory, please."
(That's King Sombra right now.)
you really like the idea of Titans I noticed several in your stories.
Two words: holy shit.
6708590 Burgers make you fat. That means you can bleed more before dying. With a dull, rusty spoon in your chest.(The viewers of this story)
he looks like a less worse version of deadpool?
Getting some FF4 vibes here
At this point I really would recommend calling in the Avengers. Sombra really is a threat no single hero can withstand. Unless Steve gets Mjolnir, a Nova Centurion's helmet, or some other power up this really isn't looking good for his survival. Apparently there a limiter on sheer heroic willpower when you get cooked to the point you start resembling you arch-nemesis
Now would be a really good time to find whoever sent the message to Cap in the first place.
6709725
Shining Armor did right before dying
Anyhow, the whole 'Sweetie, Kill Us' thing felt...off. Like, it was just a single sentence, out of nowhere, and for something that should have more gravity to it, it...didn't. It was just 'Save us by killing us' and...done. I dunno if you have a greater plan, but that part felt like it deserved more gravitas if it really is going for 'And now they are dead and gone, period'
6709423
This is as it should be though. If Steve solos this whole adventure I'd have to call bullshit.
6710067 Um, you lost that 10 bucks. Tirek got his butt kicked in one of the last chapters. (Can't remember which one atm, though.
)
A last minute miracle from the fallen princess. A well needed retreat to plan for the final battle. A great chapter that showcases sacrifice in such a powerful way.
Please do keep up the good work upon such a great tale like this one.
Oh man! Not Captain America!!!
Awwww , i was hoping that they could have saved Celestia and Luna.
and then....
"HULK SMASH PUNY SHINY THING!"
We. Need. The. Avengers. NOW! Or the entirety of the Marvel universe, either on works.
A Hero has fallen, but the thing about Cap is that he always gets back up. Can't wait to see round two with Cap and the Crusaders back in action and working together!
Welp, since I am familiar with that poem, I saw this coming a mile away. But that final line has not been said, so it's not over yet.
holy shit Steve is fukin dead
This story has the best one liners