Bringing Balance

by Shumiry

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Anger pulsed through his mind as he stood where Celestia had fallen. There were no more tears in his yellow eyes, as his own runes flared with power, illuminating the room. Whatever spell she'd cast, his gaze on the black splotch on the wall, had been powerful. As he stood in the center of the blast, he could hear the screams and cries echoing up from Canterlot. Through the doorway to the balcony, he could see the griffins striking from above.

With a step, he was out there, looking down on the burning city. The avian creatures lobbed pitchers of burning oil, starting fires that clung even to stone, and spread when water fed them. Most of the inhabitants couldn't be bothered to worry about that though, as they ran for their lives through the streets.

Wait a minute... he leaned over the balcony, squinting to see closer. Suddenly, his HUD lit up, as his mage's sight caught the tell-tale signs of necromancy. Now he could see the life among the dead. Scores of the risen galloped through the streets, and his hatred burned brighter. Time to take off the kid gloves, he thought, expanding his consciousness to activate the golem stored near Sweet Apple Acres.

After giving it explicit instructions to seek out, gather and protect the six Bearers, he jumped off the balcony, his dual sets of wings snapping open. In his right hand a rifle appeared, forged of lightning, mostly black with traces of green. He pulled up short of the battlefield where the griffins were regrouping after their attacks, a shield in place that would allow them through, but stopped the occasional bolt of magic that struck it.

Within his weapon, he summoned chunks of singularis, the stone he had created, implanting detonating magic charges within. The griffins saw him, and pointed their talons, confused by the bizarre creature. Their hesitation only further ensured their demise.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The rifle fired off three shots, the void-inducing bullets piercing through the shield like tissue paper. When they were inside, their charges detonated, triggered by the nearby life force. The shrapnel ripped through the creatures, bone and sinew and flesh alike were torn asunder. The plates of their armor did nothing to slow the wicked shards of stone, and they fell from the sky in droves, shredded and bleeding. With another distortion, he stood in the streets of Canterlot.

The rifle vanished, and the spear returned, its tip warping and elongating into a vicious scythe, the end in the shape of an alicorn skull, the jaw sharpened to a blade. Ponies that saw him stuttered to a halt, unsure if he, who looked like the hero from that village nearby, was the real deal, or another simulacrum.

“Legion,” he said, activating the rune structure he'd devised several months ago. An overlay appeared on his HUD, and the undead were highlighted, and marked for a return to the eternal sleep. With piercing, psychotic laughter, he warped, in rapid succession, appearing mid-strike, cutting the dead down where they stood. When the weapon connected, it absorbed chunks of flesh and bone, leaving mangled half-corpses behind. With wicked glee he moved through the crowds, as ponies stared in awe and horror. Purple flashes, mimics of Twilight's incredibly cost effective teleportation, heralded his appearance, and a split-second later, the chosen victim lay severed.

The golem awoke, its mission clear as a chunk of its master's power poured into it. With the power, came a helping of his hate. Burning inside, the mimic erupted from the earth, standing beside the barn at Sweet Apple Acres. The undead were numerous, and a hoofful of griffins flew lazily over the orchard, watching the chaos. When he'd burst forth, they'd shrugged it off as the arrival of some new weapon of their masters'.

BOOM! BOOM! Twin shots of singularis exploded beside them, rending their bodies. As he watched the limp forms fall, he saw several of the dead turn and rush towards him. A wicked sword fashioned of the stone appeared in his hand, and he met their charge, cutting them down mercilessly. With grim determination, he moved, bursts of magic powering his steps, launching him across the landscape.

The Apple family stood together, makeshift weapons in their mouths, fending off the abominations. Applebloom screamed as one of the dead burst from the earth behind her, its hooves reaching out to ensnare the little filly. It was met with four and a half feet of solid stone.

“Sheker!” Applejack slurred, the broom in her mouth disrupting her speech.

“Go to the hole in the ground near your barn. The room there is spelled to protect you, you will be safe,” he told the gathered family. Turning to Applejack he said,

“We need to go, the Elements will be instrumental in winning this fight.” With a determined nod, she barked orders to the family, who dutifully headed towards the shelter. With a distortion, the two beings vanished.

In a cavern under Cloudsdale, the golem's eyes opened, awakened by its master's call. Its hand glowed as runes were fashioned, vanishing the moment they appeared. As it wove, the runes came faster, and soon both hands danced in a blur as hundreds of shapes were crafted each second. A tear rolled down the creature's cheek, as its master's fear was confirmed. The sun-harvesting rune sphere was sticking. Celestia was gone.

Fluttershy was curled up in a ball in the upstairs closet of her cottage. The dead pounded on her door, and, with a shudder, she heard the sound of windows being shattered as they forced their way in. Shivering in fear, she struggled to pull herself together and fight, but her body simply wouldn't obey. They came up the stairs, ransacking the room, overturning her bed and knocking her furniture down.

She could feel their gaze on the closet door, as the steps came closer. Swickt! Like the last vestiges of water down a drain, the sound came, and the two creatures stood in the cottage. For a moment, nobody moved. Applejack leapt forward, spinning in midair to land on her forehooves, hind legs bucking the creature, sending it flying into the others. Before they could rise, Seeker appeared, and cut them down.

“Come on out sugarcube, we got work to do,” AJ said to the closet door. After a few seconds, it slowly opened, and Fluttershy's brilliant teal eye peeked around the edge.

“Ok...” she said in a very small voice. With another distortion, the three of them vanished, making for Ponyville. Seeker hoped they would arrive in time, fear gripping his heart as he pictured Twilight and the others fighting a desperate battle against the horde.

Twilight and the others were fighting a desperate battle against the horde. Many of Ponyville's citizens had gathered inside the town hall, and now it was up to the four friends to keep them safe. Pinkie Pie was outfitted in a black mesh suit, the tight weave composed of some material Seeker had called “kevlar”. Within it were hundreds of tiny ceramic discs, etched with runes, which would activate whenever a strike broke them, deflecting the force of the blow, allowing the pony to attack through even the most vicious assaults.

She'd hesitated at first, not wanting to hurt anypony, until Twilight had informed her that their opponents were already dead, and that she'd be doing them a favor by releasing them from their bondage.

“You're welcome!” she shouted, as she gave the stallion's neck a mighty twist, eliciting a series of loud pops. For Rarity, the sight was decidedly unsettling. Still, their combat suits were simply outstanding, as she took a moment to admire her reflection in a puddle on the ground. A pegasus loomed beside her, and she looked up, irritated at the interruption.

“Never bother a lady when she's checking her appearance!” she hissed, a violet burst erupting from her horn, burning a hole through the creature's head. It collapsed at her hooves, and she gingerly took a step back, not wanting to get the thing's blood on her.

Rainbow was a blur, streaking around the town, scooping up beleaguered ponies and dropping them off at the town hall before returning to the fray. The blades affixed to the fronts of her wings made tangling with the pegasus a hazardous affair. Those that tried quickly found themselves in pieces, as they watched her dash away.

A silver coated mare none of the ponies recognized galloped out from between two buildings. She was heading for the town hall, a look of fear on her face. When she got within reach of the light of the torches, it seemed as if the world stood still.

She was gorgeous. The light sparkled across her coat, like glittering diamonds. Her eyes were a brilliant gold, the pattern making it look like the iris was composed of flakes of the precious metal. The ponies stared, momentarily stunned by the creature's elegance and grace as she approached. Her every move screamed temptation. Her cutie mark was a heart made of fire.

“Thank Celestia you're here!” she said in a breathless whisper. Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie Pie blushed at the sound, as if somepony had told an inappropriate joke. Her voice sounded like the satisfied whisper of an exhausted lover. Dash was too far away to hear, and was engaged in another brawl, her deadly wings making short work of the risen ponies.

“Please, get inside-” Twilight started to say, when the bone knife slammed into her side. It slipped between her ribs, cutting her heart, and would have killed her within seconds were it not for the protective runes struggling to preserve her. Gasping as she fell to the ground, her head snapped around to get a look at her assailant.

The pegasus had a red coat, though it looked like his natural hair was blond, judging by the roots of his fur. With her mage sight, she could see the runes that had been etched into his skin. There were twelve different instances of the rune for “unseen” that she could see from this angle, and she knew now how the pony had slipped past unnoticed. Even now, as she lay dying, the runes unable to push the blade out because it too was shielded from their sight, she marveled at the lesson she'd just learned.

Swickt! With a distortion, Secret Seeker appeared, wearing his dual-winged human form, with Applejack and Fluttershy. When the two ponies saw her, they gasped in terror. When Secret Seeker saw her, he became terror. There was a flash of anguish before his gaze moved to the red pegasus, and his visage hardened into one of such malice and contempt that it stole her breath.

He leaned back, arms crooked before him, clutching at the sky, and howled.

The air grew cold.

For a moment, nothing else happened. Then, the sky over Canterlot exploded as a hundred thousand beams of energy came raining down, like a meteor shower, bringing death and destruction. For a second they heard nothing, then the rumble of thousands of explosions reached them, thundering through the earth.

Swickt! The real Secret Seeker appeared, the scythe of singularis held loosely in his right hand. When his gaze fell upon her, it flashed through the air, cleaving the golem in half. The thing's weapon vanished back from whence it came, and the essence bound to it returned to its master.

“You failed,” he said to the destroyed imitation, his voice hollow. For a moment, he continued staring into her eyes, and she felt again the warm glow that had been growing over the past few months. They had been studying together, and working to devise machinations and spells for the upcoming battle. It had taken time, but her disquiet in his presence had faded, and was then replaced. Too late now, she thought, as her vision started to dim, the preserving power of the runes beginning to run out.

His gaze flicked to the assassin.

“Legion,” he said, his voice cold, leaving no puff in the now frigid air. Rather than teleporting around to multiple targets, he repeatedly appeared around the pegasus. Each flash brought another strike, and in seconds, only a cut apart mess remained, most of the body having been absorbed by the blade's vortex.

The last teleport set him beside Temptation, kneeling. When she turned to look, his Sealing Sight fired, and she was pulled within, crushed into oblivion. Rainbow Dash hovered above the town, watching the spectacle unfold, as Seeker calmly walked up to the now unconscious, seemingly dead lavender unicorn.

Kneeling, he withdrew the blade, and placed his hands upon her. As he entered her mind, he became aware of a squealing sound, like a rusty wheel, and of the poison the blade had left within her, slowing her healing process.

Twi, I need you to lend me your power. She was silent.

With the strength of the two Lords I absorbed, and my sun-harvesting rune sphere in place, I should be able to defeat them. With your strength, I will defeat them. For a time she did nothing, as the implications of his rune sphere sank in. With a bitter sorrow in her heart, she consented, letting her strength flow into him. He was struck by the sense of loss, the pain that was swelling within her as she mourned her mentor. At the last moment, she included some of her knowledge, to help him in the coming conflict. He extricated himself from her psyche in the nick of time.

Mephistopheles and Carryion stood in the middle of the street. The undead collapsed, like puppets with their strings cut, as the two Lords collected their strength.

“Unshvsrou,” Mephistopheles said, pointing a claw at Seeker. He felt a dozen tugs at his soul, as all the golems he'd created, and all the fragments he'd split himself into, coalesced together. His eyes widened as he realized what had happened.

There's no fail safe this time. If I lose here, it's all over. He snarled in anger, as his fury burned brighter, Then there will be no failure!