> A Calamity of Epic Proportions > by AvalonAva > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The Elementals of Tartarus > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Calamity of Epic Proportions Chapter 1 The Elementals of Tartarus This is a My Little Pony parody. All characters, places, things, and ideas belong to their rightful owners. Spartans belong to Halo, and to its owner. Only their armor, and some weapons, are used in this story. Blazeclaw, Jetfire, Frostbite, Starlight "Quin" Shadow, and the P.I.B. (Ponies In Black) belong to me. All, with the exception of Blazeclaw, are derived from Mlp. Many dangerous entities are kept locked away in Tartarus. Most are extremely destructive and dangerous. The Elementals were no exception. Before Princess Celestia, Luna, even Discord, the Elementals ruled. The consisted of six deities: Wind, Earth, Fire, Water, Plant, and Electricity. The Elementals are at least 100 feet tall. When Equestria was young, they were created with the idea to be kind and gentle souls to protect the living. But the creator did not see his folly. They became violent, hurting many and destroying lands and civilizations. The Elementals hungered for destruction. Equinox was the name of the creator. In an attempt to stop the Elementals, Equinox opened the gates of Tartarus, which rarely happened at the time. Equinox fought them, right into their prison cells. But the doors could not keep them shut in for long. In Equinox's last attempt, he used his soul energy to seal their doors. It worked, but in the process drained Equinox of almost all life. He left Tartarus, and made a home deep in the heart of a vast forest, which today is called the Everfree Forest. History became legend, legend became myth. Equinox faded away from the world, and the whole thing was passed off as an old wife's tale (or in this case, old mare's tale). XXXX "Twilight, you've been studying that valley for weeks now. You need to rest." She hardly heard the person, being so intent on her work. The person was Starlight "Quin" Shadow. She was visiting Ponyville after an expedition. The ponies believed that she was Rainbow Dash's older sister, because of her rainbow mane and tail. Except that she was a unicorn, and had a pelt color similar to Twilight. She also had a suit shirt, black leg warmers on each leg, wore shoes and glasses. Her cutie mark was a crystal. "Sorry, Quin, but I'm worried about the Gates of Tartarus. Strange anomalies have been reported all over Equestria. Odd weather, earthquakes, tsunamis, overgrowth of all kinds of plants, and a volcanic eruption. Something is going to happen, I just know it." She looked through a telescope. "I'm worried too, but you need to relax. Too much stress can be dangerous." "No, things like the Elementals are dangerous!" She started to read through a journal. "Well, I'm going out for a while. Try to relax at least some please?" Twilight nodded. Quin turned around and left her friend's house. She walked through town, passing by many ponies, exchanging hello's and good morning's. After a five minute walk, she left town, heading for the Everfree forest. After she entered, she found a small abandoned cabin. It had signs saying "keep out" and "danger". She ignored them and entered it. After she went in, Quin closed the door behind her. XXXX "Wake, brothers." Something uttered. Voices started to sound, and conversed with each other. "Soon. Soon we will be returned to full strength." "Will we take back what was ours?" "Is our creator ready for our vengeance?" "I can almost taste the destruction." "We will have our revenge!" XXXX Applejack and Rainbow dash met up at Aj's family farm. "Something's up with this "Quin" pony." Applejack said. "I know. I have never even heard of her before, and she just suddenly appears out of nowhere, claiming to be my sister? Something stinks, and it has Quin written all over it. She thinks she's alone when she goes off to Everfree forest every day. I've shadowed her to and old cabin, and I followed her into it, but she wasn't inside when I got there!" "Yea, I agree. We need to find out what she's doing." The ground shook again for the third day. This time though it was more aggressive. A few houses collapsed from the force. Inside a valley, the ground was slightly torn open from the tremor. This alarmed Twilight Sparkle, who saw this as it happened. "Spike! I need to send an urgent letter to Princess Celestia!" Spike came running to her with a quill and parchment. "Dear Princess Celestia: I need to inform you that I believe that the gates of Tartarus are weakening, and that all of Equestria needs to be ready for it. Twilight Sparkle." Spike rolled the letter up, tied it, and sent it off to Canterlot. A few moments later, a respond came to Twilight. She read it aloud. "Dear Twilight Sparkle: Have you and your five friends on standby to use the Elements of Harmony if necessary. Also, I'm aware of it. I have read the signs, and believe that the Elementals are attempting to escape. I alerted all cities, and they will alert their regions. Thank you for watching too. I have taught you well. Princess Celestia." Twilight turned around and excited her house. She ran to Rarity's house, since it was the closest. After a minute of running, she pounded on her door. "Twilight! What's wrong?" Rarity said, surprised and confused with the panting Twilight. "Need...to...get...everyone." She gasped. "What for?" "The Elements, just in case." Rarity closed her door. "Ok, I'll go get Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack. You get Pinkey Pie and Fluttershy." The two split up to gather their friends. Twilight went to Pinky's place first. Then, after collecting a bouncing Pinky Pie, they went to Fluttershy's house. Twilight knocked on her door. "Coming." her soft voice was hear through the door. Fluttershy opened her door. "Yes, Twilight?" "We need to be together in case we have to use the Elements of Harmony." She said quickly. "Ok." She said, shyly. Someone else came from inside her house. "Hi Quin." Twilight said. Quin nodded. "What's going on?" Quin asked. "We need to gather in case we need to use the Elements." Twilight said exhaustedly. "You seem like you have said it quite a bit." Quin replied. Twilight nodded. The four left Fluttershy's house and headed for Twilight's. As they made their way, the other three met up with them. Already up to date with current events, the seven moved into Twilight's house. "First of all, why is Quin here?" Rainbowdash demanded. Quin looked confused. "Yea, you might get in the way." Aj said. "Hey, I might not look like much, but I'm a formidable fighter when the occasion calls for it." She replied to them, with a slightly annoyed tone. "Ok, well just hang around if we need you." Twilight said. "As you all know, the valley which one of the Gates of Tartarus rests in, is weakening. I have consulted with Princess Celestia, and she wants us on standby in case the Elements of Harmony need to be used. For various reason, she wanted me to keep them here so they could be handy when they were needed. Got that?" They all nodded with recognition. Without warning, the whole place shook violently. Books and tables fell over. Twilight ran to one of her telescopes and looked through it. She saw an enormous fissure appear in the valley. "Girls! Outside, it's happening now!" Twilight used her magic and put on the five's necklaces, and her tiara. They all ran outside. The six went in the valley's direction, while Quin ran towards the Everfree forest. "What's she doin?" Applejack asked. "Probably running off to her cabin. Forget about it, let's go!" Rainbowdash yelled. XXXX As the six got closer to the valley, the Elementals broke free. "Fresh air!" "Freedom!" "Vengeance!" They yelled. All split up to cause their individual destruction. Plant headed in the Ponyville direction. "Alright, ready?" Twilight asked them. "Yes!" "Bring it!" "Let's do this!" "I guess so.." "Absolutly!" They took their positions around Twilight and readied their elements. Twilight activated them, and aimed the beam towards the Elemental, Plant. It hit, and the beam exploded into light. The six cheered. But it didn't last very long. Plant was virtually uninjured in any way. The only thing it did affect was its temper. It took its right hand and smashed the fingers into the ground, causing vines to come up and attack the six ponies. They were being bound by the vines. They struggled, but none prevailed. A blast of light hit Plant, and it stumbled. The vines lost their grip, and each broke free. They turned to see who saved them. "Quin?" Rainbowdash shouted. "Who were you expecting? Chuck Noris?" She replied, and remove what was apparently a wig. "Sorry for the crappy disguise." Her mane was actual cobalt, with two golden streaks. "Who in tarnation is Chuck Noris?" Applejack asked. "Remind me to hit you later. Anyways, the Elements of Harmony won't work because the Elementals arn't like Discord and Nightmare Moon. They are ancient behemoths from the early ages. They are impervious to most kinds of magics. Even some of the strongest, like what you tried." Plant roared and moved towards the seven ponies. "What do we do?" Fluttershy asked. "Wait for the lazy ass to show up..." Quin said offhandedly. "Lazy what?" Pinky asked. "Nothing, nothing." She said quickly. Plant came closer, and prepared to slam its fists on them. Suddenly, a flying object whooshed past the seven and hit Plant smack in the chest area. Plant stumbled, and fell back again. The flying object landed in front of the seven. He was an orange Pegasus, but was wearing a helmet. Not just any helmet, a spartan EVA helmet. He also had black protective cloth covering each leg, and spartan boots on. His armor color was light blue. He had a black mane and black tail. His cutie mark was a meteor on fire. "Um, who are you? Twilight asked. The Unknown pony took his helmet off. He was larger than most colts, but not as big as Princess Celesta. "A good question. And the answer is quite simple. I am...JET FIRE! S-358." "S-358? What's that suppose to mean?" Rainbowdash asked. "Spartan 358. I'm part of a Pegasus/spartan program. Very successful, if you ask me." "Which I tried to keep a secret, until now, that is." Quin said. "Wait, your in on this?" Twilight asked. Quin nodded. "In fact, I'm the head of the organization, the P.I.B., Ponies In Black. We came across the notes of somepony in a strange wreckage. Inside were all of the directions to utilize the Spartan program." "Not to be rude, or anything, but aren't we suppose to do something?" Fluttershy asked. Plant slammed his fists onto the ledge they were standing on. They all managed to doge it at the last moment. "That was too close." Quin said. "Yea, we have to watch what were doing." Jetfire said. A low, roaring sound was heard. Three pegasuses flew high above them, heading for Plant. "It's the Wonder Bolts!" Rainbowdash yelled. "What can they possibly do?" Jetfire asked. They circled around Plant, and planted blows on it. Rainbowdash jumped up and took off after them. "No! You fool!" Jetfire yelled after her. He tried to go and stop her, but but Quin stopped him. "Wait for Frostbite. You can't fight this alone." She told him. Plant swung its arms around, and took out each of the Wonder Bolts. Rainbowdash came up by its head and smashed hooves on it. Vines shot up and grabbed at her. She deftly dogged them, but was blindsided by a punch from Plant. She was sent flying into a nearby mountain. "No!" Jetfire shoved his helmet on, and took off towards the place she crashed. He came up to her side. "Ugh! That hurts..." Rainbowdash grunted. Jetfire helped her up. "You'll be alright kid." He said. Out of nowhere, Twilight and Quin appeared. "How did-" "Don't ask." Twilight said. They got on either side of Rainbowdash, and teleported her to safety. Jetfire was left by himself. "Ok, Elemental. Time to send you back to Tartarus!" Jetfire jumped up, and shot towards Plant. He came at it faster and faster. Soon, he managed to break the sound barrier. "I. Am. JETFIRE!" He yelled. His entire body was surrounded with flames. He came to Plant in a split second. Jetfire hit plant, made it fall back, and blew out from its back. Plant managed to stay up though. Jetfire made a come-around, and blasted through Plant a second time. He landed on the ledge, and the fire ceased. Plant stumbled around, and fell to the ground. "What was that?" Applejack asked. "I don't know." Jetfire huffed. Twilight thought for a moment. Then she got an idea. "I think I know what it is! I read in a book once of legendary heroes using a technique called "Soul Attack". It was an element related to their personality. Jetfire is kinda a hot head-" "Hey!" Jetfire yelled. "Sorry, but it's true. You have a fierce and fiery personality. So your soul attack is fire." Twilight finished. The someone else landed near them. "Frostbite. Where the hell have you been?" Quin asked. The newcomer had blue fur, black and grey mane and tail, and snowflake as a cutie mark. He had a spartan Gungnir helmet, with the leg covers and boots. The armor color was black. "Relax, Ma'am. I was just on my way when-" "When what? You got caught up by a pretty face?" Quin demanded. He shrugged. "Well, in my books, not so pretty. When the Elementals broke free, someone left the valley in a hurry. I didn't have time to tell you, so I went to see who it was. And you'll never believe who it was." Yet again, another new person showed up. "It was the notorious Queen Chrysalis." They all turned to this newcomer. "Princess Celestia!" Twilight shouted. They all bowed. Quin instead walked up to her. "Celestia, this is a very serious matter. I am glad that you have personally got involved in this." The others, except for Jetfire, Frostbite, and the Princess seemed surprised at her ignorance to authority. "Hey! That is Princess Celestia! You should show some respect, Quin!" Twilight yelled. Quin turned to her. "I know who she is, Twilight. I'm a close friend of hers, so she doesn't expect me to. She already knows I respect her." Quin snapped. Jetfire walked towards the ledge. He looked into the valley, but something was missing. "Plant! It's gone!" He shouted. The others looked. Jetfire was right. "I guess it buggered off when we were talking." Frostbite said. They all headed back to Ponyville. The group came to the old, condemned cabin that Quin kept disappearing into. "Step inside, if you would please." Quin said to them all. They moved into the cabin, and once everyone got in, it seemed cramped. "What are we doing in this unsanitary, horrid cabin?" Rarity demanded. Jetfire chuckled. "You'll see." Jetfire said. Quin moved to the far wall, and moved a wooden panel on the wall. A mechanical device activated. "-Retinal scans, please.-" a computerized voice said. Quin got close to it, and it scanned both of her eyes. "-Scan complete. Welcome, Quin.-" The floor suddenly started to descend. Except for Jetfire, Quin, and Frostbite, they all seemed startled by it. It slightly picked up speed, and sank deeper. Lights activated when it got too dark in the shaft. After a minute of a long descent, the lift came to a stop. A sliding door opened, and they all stepped out. The door closed behind, and the lift returned to its point of origin. "What is this?" Twilight asked. Quin smiled. "This is the Headquarters of the Ponies in Black." > The Ponies In Black (P.i.B.) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Calamity of Epic Proportions Chapter 2 The Ponies In Black (PiB) The walls were lined with numerous amounts of technologies and weapons. The Railgun, Spartan Laser, Surpressor, and Scattershot were just a few of the arsenal. Several other ponies, many background ones like Lyra and Vinyl Scratch were working in the underground base, and all had black suits on. On a far wall, there was three jet-like vehicles. One was larger than the other two. "What're those?" Twilight asked about the three. Quin walked towards them. "The largest is called Crucible Fire." Quin replied. It was similar in structure to the civilian transports in halo reach (Level: New Alexandria), but smaller, had what appeared to be an energy cannon attached to its belly. It had two forward mounted chain guns, and one inside it's nose. "The other two are The Claymore and The Masamune 100." The other two were exactly the same, with two forward mounted chain guns, energy cannons on the end of each wing, and the cabin was an open canopy. A single, large gauss cannon was coming out of the nose of the fighters. Their only difference was that the Claymore had orange on the energy cannons, and the other had light-blue on its energy cannons. "The Claymore is specifically designed to be used by JetFire. The Masamune 100 is the same with Frostbite." Twilight closely examined the three technological marvels. All except JetFire, Frostbite, Quin, Celestia, and Twilight stayed by the three jets. The others were given tours by PIB scientists. "How could you even get funds for this stuff?" Twilight asked. Princess Celestia smiled. "They didn't actually believe that I needed 4,000 dollars on a hammer, 12,000 on a toilet seat, did they?" The group laughed. "But, in all seriousness, I personally funded this organization so that when a crisis emerged, they could easily help out." Twilight look confused. "But then why didn't they stop Queen Chrysalis when she attacked?" Twilight asked. Quin sighed. "We would have, but the spartans weren't ready for it. We still had to get the armor and weapons out of the final stage. By the time we were done, Cadence had already stopped her." JetFire straightened up. "But, now that she's shown her face around here again, we get to have our chance at stopping her." He said, with a hint of excitement. An alarm suddenly started to blare. Quin ran to a monitor, while the other PIB's went to computer stations. It showed a video feed of a harbor. The Wind, Water, and Electricity Elementals were shown entering the water. Electricity jumped into the air, same as Wind, and Water began to channel water into the air. In moments, a storm cloud started to form. it grew and grew, until it was at least a category 5 hurricane. The combined force moved out of the harbor, and headed towards Ponyville. "Quin, send me out. I can take them." JetFire said. She looked at him, sternly. "No. You won't stand a chance." "That's what you said to me about Plant!" "But that was one Elemental, and this is three. Plus, they've combined powers. I'm sending Frostbite, and that's my final say." Quin turned away from JetFire, and walked to Frostbite. "Frostbite, do you think that you can handle this?" She asked. "Yes ma'am. I'll try beyond my hardest." The Pegasus left them, and headed for the lift. He left within a few seconds. JetFire was upset about this. "Why didn't you send JetFire?" Rainbowdash asked. "Because, I have a theory." Quin said. A separate monitor showed the dark-blue Pegasus flying off towards the harbor's direction. "The only thing we can do is wait. If thing get bad, we'll send JetFire in the Claymore to assist." XXXX Frostbite landed on the end of the longest pier. A massive storm, similar to a hurricane, yet taller and larger. "Wind, Water, and Electricity." He said to himself. The wind started to pick up. Water dropped out from the storm, but it's absence made no alterations to the storm. It moved towards Frostbite. It dived under the bay, and in a fem short seconds, a tsunami at least 100 feet high was launched at Frostbite. It roared as it rushed towards him. He jumped up, an shot into the wave. It slowed, and where he entered, it froze. The rest of the massive wave halted, and a tall, icy wall was now in between the shore and the Elementals. Frostbite shot out from the top, and landed on the frozen wave. Water emerged from the bay, literally steaming from anger. "You spoiled my attack!" it shouted. "Yes. I did what I deemed necessary to stop it. Now, you need to be taken out." Frostbite jumped into the air, and launched himself towards Water. "Oh no you don't!" Water yelled. It slammed a arm into the water, and a liquid wall emerged. Frostbite hit the wall, passed through, and went strait to Water. Ice formed around his body, and he looked like a ice missile. frostbite hit Water, and it screamed. Water stumbled and bellowed, eventually collapsing onto the ice wall, and the beach. Water convulsed, fell still, and froze. Frostbite broke out of the frozen behemoth, and stepped out onto the beach. At that moment, a lightning bolt hit him. His Pegesus class MJOLNIR armor took the hit, but his shields were taken down. He was also slightly dazed from it. Frost shook his head, and looked back out to the bay. Wind and Electricity stood on the water, preparing to attack. Frost activated his com. " S-813 to Alpha base, S-813 to Alpha base. I am in need of back up. Sent S-358 to rendezvous immediately." He waited for a response. For a minute, only static. He wondered if the lighting attack had fried his com. "~S-358 to S-813. I'm on my way.~" (~= com voice) Frost looked back to the other two Elementals. They had begun to move in his direction. Frost quickly moved into the bay, just enough that his legs were cover half-way up. He froze parts of the water to be formed into ice spikes. At least a hundred were formed. Electricity blasted another bolt towards Frost, destroying the part of the frozen wave that was between him and the other two Elementals. With an upward motion, Frost launched the ice spikes at them. They gouged Wind, tearing holes and rips in it's b ody, but they melted on contact with Electricity's body. Wind fell, defeated by the attack. Electricity lunged forward in anger and rage. It jumped up into the air, preparing to slam fists of electricity onto the pegasus, when a blast of energy, followed by two fire balls and a barrage of bullets, hit Electricity. The Elemental stumbled backwards and fell into the bay. Frostbite unleashed a fury of energy, so powerful that ice particles hovered just above his body. The water rapidly froze, and the two downed Elementals were frozen, just like their brother, Water. Frostbite walked out of the bay, and collapsed onto the beach, panting. He had never had to use his Soul Attack so furiously before. A jet-like craft landed on the ground next to him. "Have fun there?" JetFire teased. "Shut it, JetFire, and help me up." Jetfire helped a wobbly Frostbite to his feet. "Here, get in the Claymore. I'll fly back to base." JetFire said. The two Spartan Pegasi left the harbor while PIB agents took controll of the scene. XXXX "Well, everything checks out. You're as fit as a fiddle, Frostbite. Just be careful out there in battle." The base medic said to Frostbite. "I will, sir." He slid off the examining table, and left the medical bay. JetFire walked up to Quin. "Frostbite did one hell of a job out there." He said to here. She nodded. "I agree. I think I'll send request to the commander for promotions for you both from Major to Lt. Colonel. You both well exceeded any of our expectations in combat." She said with some excitement. JetFire nodded. "Thank you, Quin." JetFire said. Someone walked up to them from behind. "Hey, Frostbite. You all fixed up?" He asked. He nodded to him. Twilight walked up to the group of three. "This place is amazing! I could learn so much from this place." She said. "Yea, too bad we'll have to erase your memory after this." Quin said. "Say what?" Applejack said from a few feet away. "Just kidding, we don't do that." Quin smiled. Suddenly the lift began to descend. Everyone's attention moved to it. "The Commander is here." Quin said. As it reached the bottom, a pony was revealed. They were a Pegasus, and wore a CQB MJOLNIR helmet with a black leather jacket bearing the PIB insignia, an eagle surrounded by a crescent, holding a rifle in the left talon, and a rose in the right. a five point star was in the background, and was the base for the patch. The lift stopped, and the person stepped off of it, heading strait for Quin, Twilight, and the two spartans. They stopped, and something about this pony was familiar to Twilight Sparkle. They had blond hair, and a grey pelt. The person removed the helmet, and it showed that they wore an eye patch over the left eye, it was black, and had a silver sheild with two crossed swords and an Elite skull on it. (the universal Halo symbol for legendary difficulty). The uncovered eye was amber colored. Everyone's jaw dropped, except for the PIB members, Quin, and the two Spartans. This was a pony Twilight least expected to be in a commanding position. "Derpy Hooves?!" Twilight shouted. She nodded with Acknowledgment. "But how did you become-" "-a commander? Well, it's because I'm the best undercover and covert operative in Equestria and possibly all history. I blended into the background, acting derpy, when in fact I'm a very intelligent pony." Quin walked up to Commander Hooves. "We need to wake the other Spartans." She whispered to Derpy. "Something evil is at work here. I think the Elementals are just a ploy, a distraction." Derpy nodded. "Permission granted." Quin and the two Spartans left. Rainbowdash walked to Derpy. "I thought Quin was in charge here." She said to Derpy. "She may be when I'm gone, but I have the overall say in decisions." Commander Hooves replied. "There are more of these spartans?" Rarity asked. "Yes. We'll need all the force we can muster. A war is coming, and we have to be ready for it when it does." > Phoenix Team > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Calamity of Epic Proportions Chapter 3 Phoenix Team 4 cryro pods rested in an empty room. A lock clicked, and the far left pod depressurized. Cold air rushed out, and the door swung upward, letting an earth pony fall out. Frost clung to his dark, brown blackish flank and messy dark green hair. He stood up, managing to keep balance. He stretched, and walked to a table on the other side of his room. On it were several weapons and armor variants. The weapons were put in for sections, and he went to the far right one with the name tag "Havok". He grabbed a leather helmet and put it on. Since he was a sniper, he chose to use that kind of helmet instead of a MJOLNIR helmet. Always travel light, don't take what you don't need was what his father told him years ago. He vaguely remembers him though. He put his boots on, slung his rifle on his back, holstered his 3.57 special, and put his knife on a strap that went around his neck, so that it rested on his chest. Extra ammunition was also on the strap. He double checked his equipment, and nodded. "I wonder why they woke me up." Havok said to himself. He was about to leave the room when another cryro pod depressurized. It was next to the one he exited moments ago. It opened up, and a female pegasus fell out. She sat up. "verdammt noch mal ich hasse cryro Schlaf." she said. "Sleep well Dredd?" Havok asked. She glared at him. Dredd had a white pelt, but a black mane. She stood up and briskly walked to the table. She grabbed a blue colored, fully upgraded Military Police MJOLNIR helmet (at its final upgrade) and put it on. She put on boots, and grabbed a Dmr. She put it on her back, and also put a grenade launcher on her back. She also had a belt like Havok, but her knife was a butterfly knife. She had a few extra grenades on the belt too. "You gona wait for the others to wake?" Havok asked. "Sicher, ich denke." Dredd wasn't like most ponies. For one, she speaks German, but understands English. The spartan team could understand her, and so could Quin and the commander. Her past life is really a mystery. The third pod depressurized, and another earth pony fell out. He was large, and quiet. At first, the team thought that he wasn't very bright. That was until they found out that he was their demolitions expert. He had saved their lives on multiple occasions. He had red hair and brown pelt. His helmet, for various reasons, was the Grenadier helmet, fully upgraded. The color was forest green. He put his boots on, and slung a rocket launcher on his back, and put two SMGs on his right and left side. "You feeling ok Terry?" Havok asked. He nodded to him. Terry almost never spoke. Finally, the fourth pod depressurized and this time, they landed on their feet. She was another girl pegasus. Her pelt was red, and she had black hair with blue highlights. She walked to the table and grabbed he last objects on it: a dark orange ODST MJOLNIR helmet, a grenade launcher, and a silenced SMG. "Wie geht es dir Emily?" Dredd asked. The other girl smiled. "I'm feeling pretty good, Dredd." Emily said. A voice sounded from overhead speakers. "~Spartan Phoenix Team report to the command center immediately.~" XXXX The 4 spartan ponies arrived at the Command center. Quin, Commander Hooves, JetFire and Frostbite waited for them there. "Well, you four got here faster than I expected." Commander said. "Usually ponies that wake from cryro sleep take several minutes to recoup, and even longer to move around." The spartan team formed up. "Ok, here's what's been going on: Chrysalis is back." JetFire said. They all exchanged glances. "But what's worse is that she helped the Elementals of Tartarus escape. Plant, Water, Wind, and Electricity have been defeated, but Fire and Earth are nowhere to be found-" An alarm sounded. One of the workers pulled up a camera onto the main screen. It showed all six Elementals gathering. "What are they doing?" Commander Hooves asked. "Whatever it is, it can't be anything good." Quin said anxiously. XXXX The six brothers gathered. They agreed that the spartan ponies were too much for any of them, even if they combined attacks. So, each grabbed a hand and formed a circle. Beams of energy jumped from them into the center of the circle. Eventually, a golden sword formed. The six disappeared, and the sword fell to earth. It landed, and a cloud of dust appears from its landing. XXXX "So much for the Elementals." Quin said. Night was coming fast. The Princess, along with Twilight and her friends, had left for Canterlot. One of the cameras caught a glimpse of a black vehicle fly by. It was like a helicopter, but it's main propeller was inside the vehicle. It looked like a stealth drop ship. It was seen heading in Canterlot's direction when it was detected. "Commander, orders?" Quin asked. Derpy looked to her. "Send spartans #3-6 to Canterlot. It's their time to prove if this program was successful." said the Commander. The team headed towards the hanger. JetFire and Frostbite stayed at the base, as ordered. They left the command room and entered another lift. This one took them up, and into a hanger. The lift came to a stop, and the doors slid open. They walked out, and spotted a falcon already prepped for their mission. They entered the falcon, and the pilot flew it into the night. XXXX The stealth drop ship reached the edge of Canterlot. A group of ten, bipedal figures jumped out. They wore black armor made for stealth. The ship left, and the group sneaked their way to Canterlot. As they reached the gates, two armored unicorn guards stood at the entrance, each holding a royal guard spear. The ten, not wanting to draw too much attention, moved to the left side of the gate. One of them, as a distraction, threw a rock to the other side. When the guards heard the clatter sound from the rock, they diverted their attention to it. The ten rushed the wall, got to it, scaled up it silently, and landed on the other side softly and quietly. They lurked in the shadows, dodged patrols, and made their way to the castle. XXXX After 15 minutes, they made it to Canterlot Castle. Instead of barging into the front gate, they moved to the side of the castle. It was a drop-off to the bottom of a canyon, but they managed to climb onto the side. They shot small grappling hooks up at a high, open window hallway. They zipped up, and moved through the windows. After detaching, their leader spoke. "Alright," he said in a whisper,"three of us will move on. The rest will stay guard." they all nodded. The leader and two of his men moved on, right up to a large door. He silently opened it, and found that this was Princess Celestia's room. "We've got the right one. Move in, quietly." The three slowly walked into the room. They approached the Princess's bed. She lay asleep, unaware of the danger so close and menacing. The leader pulled out a sharp and curved dagger. He began to think about what would happen after this. 'Hehe, all of these ponies would become slave work. I will be rewarded for this, maybe even promoted.' He stopped right next to her bed. He raised his dagger, preparing to deal the fatal blow. At that moment, the Princess woke with a start. She looked at the stealth team leader and screamed. He quickly tried to silence her screams, but then a loud Clang! noise sounded. The leaders helmet hit the far wall, and he fell to the ground. The other two, without a chance to register what had happened, also met the same fate. A fourth one ran inside the room, and he too was taken out. The remaining six assassins chose to remain in the hallway. From the end of the hallway, auto, silenced, and burst fire rounds flew at them. They attempted to fight back, but it was all over when one threw a grenade at the assassins. The doors fell down from the blast, and all assassins were defeated. Princess Celestia walked out into the hallway. "Nice throw with that grenade, Dredd." Emily said. Inside her helmet, Dredd blushed. "Danke." Dredd said. Princess Celestia went ridged. "There's more of them, behind you!" She yelled. Terry turned around and opened fire from his SMG. Dredd fired her Dmr, and Emily used her Silenced SMG. From outside, someone kept sniping the attackers. "Who's outside?" Celestia asked Emily, the only one that she could get an answer from. She talked, but kelt firing. "Havok. He's the one that saved you from the first four." Emily said. XXXX Outside, Havok sat on top of a castle turret, taking out enemy targets. He made each and every round count. As he was shooting, he noticed some scaling the wall, trying to flank the other three Spartans. "Not if I have anything to say about it." He whipped out his 3.57 special and blew holes into the unaware attackers. He ran out, and the attackers had all been wiped out. Havok reloaded his revolver, and holstered it. At that moment an advance heilo chopper flew by and hovered near Havok. "~Need a ride, spartan?~" the pilot asked. He nodded to the pilot, and entered the belly of the helicopter. XXXX The three spartans and the princess walked out into the courtyard. A helicopter was hovering nearby. "Havok, is that you up there?" Emily asked while she took her helmet off. "~Yea, I'm up here. We're helping provide som air support. Also, it seems like they're launching a counterattack.~" Emily smiled. "More fun. What time is it?" Emily asked. "~12:30~" Havok replied. Emily turned to the other two spartans. "We will help hold Canterlot. The unknown enemy is launching a counterattack. Our only support is the Royal Guard. You two with me?" Emily asked. "Ya, I am with you." Dredd said. Emily had a look of surprise on her face. "You learned English?" Emily asked. "Slowly, still learning." Dredd said back to her. "~Ok! Enough chatter! They are almost upon us!~" Havok yelled over the comms. > The Battle for Canterlot: Part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Calamity of Epic Proportions Chapter 4 The Battle for Canterlot: Part 1 Havok picked up a pair of night vision binoculars. He looked out towards the Canterlot gates, and saw three more of those stealth ships and six others that looked like an Apache helicopter with two propellers, side by side. They were similar to the Falcon, but didn't have an open passenger cabin. The helicopters had an array of weapons ranging from missile launchers to machine guns. "I hope we can hold them off." Havok said. He put away the binoculars and readied his sniper rifle. XXXX On the ground, Terry switched to his rocket launcher. He and five Royal Guards were positioned on the wall left of the gate. "Who is this guy?" One guard asked another. "Not sure, I haven't seen him around." the other said. Terry lifted up a booted hoof, pointed to where his eyes were behind the visor, and pointed out in front of them. The guards snapped to attention and kept their eyes forward. XXXX Dredd had been assigned to the right side of the wall with five other Royal Guards. They stood still, and silently, waiting for the attack. She was prepared for it. She'd welcome fate here... XXXX Emily had ten Royal guards position themselves right outside the gate, along with the two that were already guarding it. She switched her silenced SMG with her grenade launcher. "~Spartans! We have company!~" Havok yelled over the com. The nine unidentified craft came closer to Canterlot. The spartans readied their defence. Terry fired a rocket, Emily shot a grenade at the enemy vehicles, Dredd fired her battle rifle at the propellers of the twin rotor helicopters, and Havok aimed for pilot cabins. They fired their volley. One dropship turned into a fireball from Terry's rocket. Dredd's battle rifle rounds tore at the propellers of a helicopter, causing it to crash into another one. Emily aimed her grenade launcher at the lead copter, and fired. It hit, and exploded, tearing a hole into the pilots cabin. It crashed moments later. A drioship was getting ready to let troops off when one of Havoks sniper rounds hit the pilot, and it spun out of control. The left side hit the ground, caused it to flip over, and landed on its back. It exploded two seconds later. Four of the copters and one dropship still remained. The copters rushed the the gates, but one was hit with a blast of blue energy. A second one met the same fate. Then a third, larger, energy blast hit the dropship. The three blossomed into bright flames and crashed into the ground. Emily looked to see who had helped, and saw the Claymore, Masamune, and Crucible Fire fly by. The Claymore set down, while the other two finished off the stragglers. JetFire jumped out of the Claymore and walked over to Emily. "What's the status, Emily?" JetFire asked. She took her ODST helmet off and put it under her left leg. "Well, we had intercepted an attempt at assassination on Princess Celestia, and then these guys showed up. They looks similar to Dr. Halsey's race, humans." The two walked over to one of the attackers, on the verge of death. JetFire crouched down by him. "Who and what are you?" He asked the armored body. The person turned their head to him. "Soul encased in shadow and anger. A Shadow Knight. Just one of billions under the command of our great leader, Deathshadow, who one day hopes to rule all of existence. Soon you all will be slaves for his greatness." The Shadow Knight fell limp, and his armor collapsed into individual pieces. "What happened?" Emily asked. JetFire examined the like of armor. "Either his body disintegrated, or he was a reanimated soul put in this body." JetFire said. Emily raised a brow. "How could you tell from all that?" She asked. He smiled. "We've been studying them, at least Frostbite and I have. Reports came from Halsey about a organized force bigger and stronger than the Covenant, called the United Enemies." as the two were talking, one dot the Shadow Knights slowly stood up. He unsheathed a sword, and ran towards JetFire. He turned around, and saw him coming. He rammed JetFire, and both of them rolled through the gates. The knight quickly stood up, and kicked JetFire. He retaliated by jumping onto his forelegs and kicking the knight in the chest with his hind legs. He fell back, and attempted to punch JetFire. He dogged, and windmill kicked the knight. He flipped back, ran to JetFire, and crashed into him. XXXX JetFire and the Shadow Knight kept running until they got to the edge of a cliff. They tumbled, and the knight fell off the edge. But as an attempt to avoid this fate, he grabbed one of JetFire's legs. They both slid off, but the spartan managed to hold onto the ledge, with the knight gripping his left hind leg tightly. He struggled to get up, but couldn't manage to. "Wait, what am I doing? I'm a pegesus!" He launched high into the air. The knight had let go. JetFire put his front legs on the knights chest, and launched back down, covered with flames. The ground made contact, and the Shadow Knight was horribly smashed into the ground. He fell limp, and his armor collapsed into individual pieces. "Hmph. He was almost too good...I've go to watch my back." JetFire ran back to the gate. XXXX JetFire stopped near the Princess. "Do you know where Shining Armor is?" He asked. She looked around. She found him talking to another royal guard. "Over there." She said. JetFire ran towards him. "Shining Armor!" He yelled. The colt turned around. "Yes?" he asked. JetFire stopped. "You remember when Queen Chrysalis's changelings tried to swarm Canterlot, but were unable to get past your force field?" He nodded. "Good. Can you do it, like right now? Were going to need it." Shining Armor nodded. He charged the spell, fired a beam up into he sky, and suddenly, an explosion of light lit up the midnight sky. A spherical bubble surrounded the city of Canterlot. A dozen vehicles rolled up a hill, and were about 1000 feet away from the Canterlot gates. Two of the twelve looked like UNSC cobras, while the others were tanks. The each had six big wheels, a main turret, and a machine gun turret. A Shadow Knight was standing on one of the tanks. "Have the Vipers lock down, and aim at that city. Have the tanks fire rounds at the city as well." All of the tanks aimed at Canterlot. The Knight unsheathed his sword, and held it high. "On my command." he paused for a few seconds, then swiped his sword down. "FIRE!" Loud booming sounds and high pitched pirrr! sounds echoed through the night air. The tank rounds hit Shining Armor's force field, and it held. The Viper rounds impacted the field, and it quivered. A sudden jet of flames came from the side of the far right tank, and crashed into it, smashing it into other tanks. The fire jet got under one of the tanks, shot up, flipped it over, and smashed it into the ground. " Take them out JetFire!" Frostbite yelled. Someone walked up to his side. "What do you mean? I'm right here." He said. The blue pegesus jumped. "But then who is out there?" Frostbite asked JetFire. A sudden plume of flame erupted under one of the Vipers, sending it flying. A second later a flame tornado picked up three of the tanks, threw them at random places, and disappeared. One of he tanks hi the force field and bounced off, landing nearby. The area where the tanks and Vipers were was coverd in thick smoke. An upright figure was walking out of the smoke, heading towards the city. They approached, and Quin first mistook them for a human. She looked again, and found that they looked like a tall cat. The person was wearing armor over all of their body, except for their head. They had orange colored fur, and green eyes. They stopped about 10 feet away from the gates. "Who are you?" Princess Celestia demanded. The looked at her. "Who am I? Who is a question to find out what a person is, and obviously I am a Calito, cat-like race. But you desire my name, don't you? You are in luck, for I will tell you. My name is Blazeclaw. I am a warrior for the United Allies. One of the strongest in existence. But my being must only mean one thing." Everyone was silent, intent on listening to this stranger. "And what does that mean? " Frostbite asked. Blazeclaw looked at Frostbite. "It means that the barriers between my world and yours are breaking, just like I has with others numerous times. But not this time. I won't allow it." > The Battle for Canterlot: Part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Calamity of Epic Proportions Chapter 5 The Battle for Canterlot (Part 2) Blazeclaw walked through the gates. Many of the Royal Guards stared at him. He stopped and looked around. "Who's in charge here?" He demanded. They all looked around, shrugging. Another Falcon came from the southeast, and Derpy Hooves stepped out. "I'm in charge of this operation." she said. Blazeclaw looked at her. "Well, I'm taking over now." He said. Derpy raised an eyebrow. "Like hell you are! What gives you the right?" She yelled. Blaze sighed. "Look, I'm not one to pull rank in a battle, but..." Blaze held out a disc. A holographic image appeared, and it showed 5 conjoined stars. "General of-?" All of the spartans, and Derpy, straitened up. Blaze frowned. "That's why I don't like to pull rank. I want to be respected because of myself, not a rank." He turned to Quin. "Are you Quin?" he asked. "Yes, but how did you know?" She said. He smiled. "I heard about it earlier,one of them addressed you by it. Anyways, are there defenses in this city that we can use?" She smiled. "Yea, there is." Quin pulled out a remote and pushed a button. Suddenly, over 100 APDT's (automated point-defense turrets) deployed from panels on the floor. They appeared in a defensive grid around Canterlot. Close to the edge of Canterlot, near the castle, a massive tower rose from the ground, and a large cannon unfolded from the top. "A Mass Driver. Nice touch, Quin." Blaze said. "Wait. Why weren't these used against the changelings?!" A Royal Guard yelled. "Because they weren't installed till just recently." Quin retorted, giving the pony a look that could petrify a basilisk. The Phoenix Team formed up, along with Blaze, Quin, and the Commander. "What's our status, Frostbite?" Derpy asked. He removed his helmet. "Well, as I was chasing one of the enemy helicopters when a massive ship materialized out of nowhere. I left to come report immediately." Frostbite said. Blazeclaw nodded. "That was a smart move, they would have easily overpowered you. Now, what's our plan?" Blaze asked. "Ok, Terry." Quin said. "You will man the Mass Driver. JetFire and Frostbite, you two will be in the Claymore and Masamune 100. The rest of you, and all of the Royal Guard, will go to the cliff side. All unicorns need to know how to use energy beam blasts. Let's move!" XXXX All ponies and the calito Blazeclaw had moved into positions. The massive ship that Frostbite had talked about moved into view. "A Shadow Corsair? This will be too easy." Blaze said. He raised his hand up into the air, and an orb of blue energy appeared in it. "Prepare to fire on my mark." All turrets, Unicorns, Spartans, and the Mass Driver aimed at the Shadow Corsair. He aimed his and at the enemy ship. "FIRE!" Blazeclaw yelled. Bullets, energy beams, and Mass Deriver slugs fired at the Shadow Corsair. Blaze blasted energy at the Corsair. At that moment hundreds of Shadow Fighters flew from the Corsair, towards Canterlot. The blasts hit the fighters, but never made it to the Corsair. Only Blazeclaw's blast and the Mass Driver slugs hit it. A few of the fighters aimed missiles at Canterlot. They fired, and flew towards the castle. They made contact with Shining Armor's force field and detonated harmlessly. XXXX The Claymore dodged missiles and bullets. JetFire took out several of the fighters in a matter of minutes. "Either this is a distraction, or we're just that good." He said over the com. "~Blazeclaw to JetFire.~" "I hear ya." "~We need to concentrate our attacks to a single point on that Corsair. Got that?~" "Yes, I do." JetFire charged the Claymore gauss cannon, and so did Frostbite with the Massmune 100. XXXX Back at Canterlot, Quin was repeating Blaze's order to the unicorns. "We need to concentrate our attacks on a single point on that Corsair. Ready?" She said. They nodded. Blaze raised his hand up into the air again. A orb of energy materialized in his hand. It grew in size, and started to spiral in his hand. All of the APDT's, unicorns, and Mass Driver aimed at the Shadow Corsair again. "On my mark!" Blaze yelled. He put his hand out towards the Corsair. For a moment, silence tool over. "FIRE!" Blaze yelled. The silence was broken by the sounds of the attacks. The attacks flew over the battle area, and all made contact on the port side of the Corsair. An explosion rippled through it, and panels on the starboard side were flung off. But after all of that, the Shadow Corsair still survived. XXXX Terry aimed the Mass Driver at the damaged Corsair. He powered it up, and fired a final slug it. It hit the command bridge, and blew half of the ship apart. It's fuel cells and power core detonated, and the whole Corsair exploded. The sky was light up for a minute, and the remains landed in the valley below. Terry sighed. XXXX The spartan team, Quin, Princess Celestia, the Commander, and Blazeclaw gathered up. Frostbite was holding a disc similar to what Blaze had earlier. It was displaying a mountain with a metal dome built into the side of it, with a few towers rising from the dome. "What is that?" Princess Celestia asked. Frostbite nodded. "I'm not sure yet, but whatever it is, it's been hidden from our radars until the Shadow Corsair attacked." He turned to Blazeclaw. "What's our plan of attack, sir?" Frostbite asked. Blaze sighed. "Don't call me 'sir', call me Blazeclaw. Alright, listen up. Spartans S-358, S-813, Quin, and I will fly to the unknown enemy area and attack them. Is there a weak point?" Blaze asked. Frostbite scanned the hologram. "Yes, there is. A small tunnel under the dome area leads strait into the structure. We could try to enter through there." Blaze nodded. "But we're not trying, we're doing. The rest of the Spartans will protect the Princess while we're gone. Everyone understand?" They all nodded. "Good. We'll attack at dawn. Get ready, guys." > Phoenix Strikes Back > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Calamity of Epic Proportions Chapter 6 Phoenix Strikes Back A Shadow Knight was walking by himself. All of his teammates, friends, and everyone else was defeated by the ponies and Blazeclaw, with the exception of him. He managed to survive the explosion of the Shadow Corsair by escaping in a Shadow Fighter, only to have crashed from the shockwave. He walked with a slight limp, and had his right hand on his left arm, which had a horrid and bloody gash in it. "Can anyone hear me? Someone, please respond!" He said over their radio. The only sound he heard was the crackling of static. He hailed the base, but got no response. "Damnit! Figures. They couldn't make this too easy for me." He kept moving forward. The Knight was walking when he tripped over something. He fell on his face. "Damn, that hurt." He turned see what he tripped on. He caught a glimmer of gold, and he stood up. He bent over the golden thing, and saw that it was a sword. It had six colors engraved into the hilt: blue, red, green, yellow, white, and brown. The Knight picked the sword up, and examined it. The blade started to glow. He tried to let it go, but for some reason his grip only tightened. He tried to move his body, but found that he was paralyzed. "Why can't I move?" he asked himself. His armor began to change. On the left side of his helmet, a plate formed from the bottom of his chin, up and extended towards the back of his helmet. His armor became less bulky, and made him more agile. When the armor stopped moving, he regained control. "What was that?" headed himself. Suddenly he heard voices. "We are now one." "We're entrusting you with our power." "Avenge us, the fallen." "Wreak havoc on his world." "You now have incredible strength an near unlimited powers." "Go fourth, champion, and fulfill your destiny." The voices stopped as suddenly as they started. He unsheathed his other sword, dropped it, and sheathed the new blade. He laughed. "By the might of Deathshadow, I, Cursed Orthanik, will use this power for his great cause of conquest across the known universe and dimensions." He said. Cursed turned around and a vehicle appeared before him. It it resembled the Shadow Fighters, which looked similar to UNSC Sabers. But the wings were angled forward, and the jets on the side of the jet instead of the rear. It had one word stamped onto it. "Wrath. Cursed said. He loaded onto the jet and fired up the engine. "Now it's time to have some real fun." XXXX Blazeclaw, Phoenix team, Quin, and Princess Celestia stood in the outskirts of Canterlot. The Crucible Fire, Masamune 100, and Claymore rested before them. JetFire and Frostbite jumped into their vehicles, and Quin turned to Blazeclaw. "What are you using?" She asked him. Quin looked around, but saw no sign of another craft. Blaze reached into a side pouch on his left leg. He pulled out a case, and opened it up. A small capsule rested inside it. He pressed a button on it, and threw the capsule away from him. With an explosion of smoke, a ship materialized. "How-?" Emily said. "We work with others. Only people who know Dbz would get the reference." Blaze said. "Dbz?" The Princess asked. "Exactly." they all examined the vehicle. It had two forward machine guns, energy cannons, and the canopy looked similar to that of a y-wing. "What is it called?" Quin asked. "The Marauder. I came up with its design, but my friend, Felix, built it for me. He's the leader of the United Allies, the only force standing up against the United Enemies." Blaze said. Quin walked to the Crucible Fire and entered the cabin. Blaze grabbed onto the side of the Marauder and swung himself up into the cockpit. He buckled straps around himself and closed the canopy. He pressed a button, and the engines started to hum. Two cables came out from the sides and attached themselves to his gauntlets. The ships systems turned on and recognized him. The Marauder, Crucible Fire, Claymore, and Masamune 100 all lifted off the ground. "Good luck. You're gona need it." Someone said. Blaze turned to see who it was. Terry nodded to him. He returned the nod. The 4 jets launched off. XXXX "Ok. We're infiltrating a small access port near the base of the mountain. Thermal scans reported a huge amount of radiation towards the center. That should be a power core. If we blast that, the whole place is put out of commission." Blaze said. They passed by a mountain, and their target came into view. The metal dome on the side was huge, and it had what looked like smokestacks and towers protruding from the top. "I still don't see how you guys didn't notice this." "~They had a signal jammer.~" Quin's voice sounded over the coms. "~We figured that since it was a mountain that our signals couldn't penetrate it. We figured wrong.~" The four came closer to the mountain. They sped up, and moved down. The small access port came into view. "~We can't enter all at once.~" JetFire said. "~Of course we can't.~" Frostbite said. "~Cut the chatter, you two. Blaze, what's your course of action?~" Quin said. They came closer to the access port. "Quin, you take the lead. Frostbite, JetFire, take the center. I'll hold the rear. Move into position now." The four jets moved around. The Crucible Fire jumped up to the lead, the Masamune 100 and Claymore trailed behind, JetFire on the right, Frostbite on the left. The Marauder followed in the back. They entered the access port, and it got darker. The only light was green lights lined along the walls. Defense turrets fired rounds at the intruders. But because they were moving so fast that the turrets couldn't hit them. They dogged columns, all had walkways wrapped around them and more green lights. A small black winged creature latched itself onto the Masamune 100. It started to crawl across the jet, moving towards Frostbite. Blaze aimed one of his chain guns at the creature and fired. It went ridged, and let go of the Masamune 100. "What the hell was that?" Blaze demanded. "~A changeling. This must be a damn hatchery.~" Quin said. "~Another good reason to blow his place to kingdom come.~" Jetfire replied. A sudden explosion almost caused Blaze to crash into a column. He did a barrel roll and straightened back out. He looked into his rear camera display and saw a jet behind him. "Who the hell is this guy?" Blaze asked. A voice sounded on his com. "~You don't remember me? We fought on your home world right before we took it over. Shadow General Cursed Orthanik.~" The voice said. Blazeclaw tightly gripped the Marauder's controls. Three shadow fighters came up behind Wrath. Up ahead, the passage split into two directions: left and right. On Blaze's gps display the route showed that the right passage headed towards the core room. "Guys, take the right passage. I'll take the left and get this guy off your tail. Good luck guys." He had 3 green lights wink on for a few seconds. The group split up. XXXX The Crucible Fire, Masamune 100, and Claymore took the passage to the right. JetFire looked back, and saw that Wrath and all of the Shadow Fighters followed Blazeclaw. "I hope he'll be ok." JetFire said. The passage started to ascend. After a minute of it rising, the tunnel seemed to end. The three jets excited the passage and entered a huge room. The ceiling was metal. "~I think that's the metal dome above us.~" Quin said. They looked around, and JetFire spotted something. "Oh no!" He shouted. "~What is it, JetFire?~" Frostbite asked. JetFire pointed down. They all looked, and saw a horrible sight. Shadow Corsairs were being built and assembled. Quin looked out in front of them, and saw a balcony built out from the rock. Two people stood there. On the left was Queen Chrysalis. But on the right was a person who stood upright. They had black armor, twin axes, and wore a round black helmet. White cat-like ears poked out from the helmet. They also had a white colored tail. "~Well, we found out this place's purpose. It's a hatchery AND a shipyard.~" Quin said. Three of the Shadow Corsairs were already finished, but there was a fourth that looked completely different. It was rectangular, had a massive cannon protruding from the front, a smaller one inside its belly pointing down, and on its top, near the rear, a tower on it similar to the separatist cruisers in star wars. The corsairs and this new threat moved towards the three ponies. "Destroy them, even though they arn't a real danger." Queen Chrysalis said confidently. The other sighed. "Don't get too cocky. I've learned that one the hard way. Death Cruiser, eliminate those three contacts." "Soon well take over Equestria!" Chrysalis said gleefully. The corsairs and Death Cruiser fired at the three jets. "~Ignore them. Head strait for the core room.~" Quin shouted over the com. The three dogged blasts of energy. Quin powered through the salvo since the Crucible Fire had energy shields. On her view screen, a arrow pointed to a passage heading down. "~Head for that tunnel. It'll take us to the core room!~" She said. They curved up, swan dived, and shot down, heading for the passage. As they entered, Shadow Fighters chased after them. They fired rounds at the three, but they manger to evade them. Frostbite fired a blue missile at the part of he tunnel underneath him, and it explode into ice. Two of the chasers were frozen in the blast. The rest managed to survive it, and kept on their tail. JetFire did something similar, but instead of ice, it exploded into napalm. More of the Shadow Fighters were taken down, yet the survivors trailed after them. "Damn! These guys are persistent!" JetFire yelled. A secondary passage came into view. "~Take that passage!~" Quin yelled to the two Spartans. They pulled up, and entered the next passage. Up ahead was a bright light. Frostbite looked back. A few of the pursues crashed, causing the others to lose control. He chuckled, and turned back around. The passage ended, and they were inside another large room. This time, though, it had only one, large structure in the center. It was two bases, one on the floor and one on the ceiling. A large metal cylinder was being suspended by energy fields from the two based. "~Ok, guys, connect.~" Quin said. The Claymore and Masamune 100 came closer to the Crucible Fire and set down on it, the Claymore on the Right, the Masamune on the left. They connected, and they flew towards the energy core. Lights began to glow on the jets, and Quin's energy canon began to charge. It power's up beyond its limit, and it was loosened from the cannon. The supercharged blast flew across and made contact with the core. It blasted a hole into the core, and the super jet went through the hole. They came out the other side, and the core collapsed. They Got to the other tunnel when the collapsed core detonated. The blast expanded and engulfed the core room. The three ponies flew through the tunnel, dogging minor explosions. Behind a wall of fire chased after them. A few Shadow Fighters managed to trail behind the super jet. "~We've got company!~" Frostbite yelled. Quin pulled up on a valve, and single barrel machine guns deployed from the back of Crucible Fire. They fired and punctured the Shadow Fighters. It slowed them down, and the wall of fire engulfed them. The super jet turned a corner, and JetFire saw something that made him shiver. "It's a dead end!" JetFire yelled. The passage had a metal plate in the way. Quin charged back up the energy cannon. They passed by a column while it exploded into flames. "~What are you doing?~" Frostbite asked. The cannon overcharged. "~It's like what Edward said.~" "And what is that?" JetFire demanded. Quin smiled. "~If you can't find a door, make one!~" She shouted. The energy blast escaped the cannon, and jumped ahead, on a collision course to the dead end. It made contact and blasted through, mealtime the metal plate. Sunlight flooded the tunnel. The jet blasted out of the opening, and the wall of fire blew through after them. "~Disconnect!~" Quin yelled. The three fighters separated, and they landed in the valley below. "Yea! We did it!" JetFire yelled. A sudden blast of energy, huge, hit one of the mountains. The Death Cruiser and the three Shadow Corsairs left the destroyed shipyard and moved into the valley. "~What are we going to do now?~" Frostbite asked. Quin smiled again. "~I think I have an idea...~" > Quin's Secret Weapon > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Calamity of Epic Proportions Chapter 7 Quin's Secret Weapon "~Well, whatever your idea is, Quin, you better tell us, and fast!~" Frostbite yelled. She nodded. "~Ok, you see that red lever on the right side of your control panel?~" she asked. Two acknowledgement lights winked on. "~Pull it.~" Quin said. "But you said it was a self-destruct lever!" JetFire yelled. Quin laughed. "~I only said that so you guys wouldn't mess with it. No, it lets you vehicle attain its full strength. Now, pull the lever.~" The two Spartans pulled the lever, and their jets began to move. The plates came up, and started to re-arrange. The weapons also moved out of place. The whole vehicle changed shape. Soon, want looked like arms and legs were visible. The chain guns formed into one on each's right arm, the energy cannon to the left. A missile launcher was moved onto the right shoulder, and a grenade launcher on the left. Twin blast cannons were put under the right arm. A panel moved out from the top, and encased the two into the vehicles. On the Claymore, the panel looked like JetFire's EVA helmet. On the Masamune 100, it was the GUNGINR helmet. Two mechs now stood where the jets once were. "What just happended?" JetFire asked. He looked at Frostbite, and his mech shrugged. They both turned towards the direction of the Shadow Corsairs and Death Cruiser. Drop ships carried Shadow Turbo Tanks and Cobras. Hundreds of the twin rotor helicopters moved onto JetFire and Frostbite's position. They both nodded. Their right arms turned into a chain gun, and they ran towards the impending doom. They fired at the tanks and copters. One of the helicopters came close to JetFire. He jumped up, and a blade came out of the plate above the left hand. He punched the copter, and it was torn in half. Frostbite aimed the twin blaster cannons at a tank, and fired blue spheres. They made contact with STT and exploded into ice. Half of the tank was frozen. He changed the right arm back into the chain gun, and JetFire landed behind him. "~Back to back!~" Frostbite yelled. They both raised their chain gun arms and fired at the tanks, Cobras, and helicopters. The bullets peppered the tanks and tore through the copters. Soon, though, they became surrounded. "Damn, we're surrounded!" JetFire yelled. A sudden blade slashed through the air, and destroyed the surrounding enemy vehicles. The two spartan ponies looked to see who saved them. It was another mech. It's head looked like a spartan Scout helmet with its second upgrade. The left arm was partly a chain gun, and the right arm wielded a long sword. "~...Quin?~" Frostbite asked. The mech nodded. "~Did you think I would make something like this only available to you two?~" She held up two of the mechs fingers and put them in front of her face. Every spartan, even the P. unit, knows that the gesture was the spartan sign for a smile. A nearby explosion caught their attention. The Death Cruiser started to change. It completely lost its form, and started to become what looked like a giant Shadow Knight. Its two massive canons morphed into one supermassive cannon in the chest. "~We have to stop them before they reach a populated area!~" The three mechs ran towards the onslaught. JetFire made a running jump, and jets on the back of his mech launched him into the air. Shadow Fighters headed in his direction. They neared him. He landed on the lead fighter, and buried the end of his chain gun into the fighter. He fired, and tore the fighter into pieces. He jumped from it while it exploded, and landed on another fighter. This time he aimed the energy cannon down and blasted through the fighter. The others scattered, and JetFire blasted forward toward the Death Cruiser. He locked in missiles and fired at the D.C. They made contact, but detonated harmlessly. "I guess I'll have to use something that packs a bigger punch!" he yelled. XXXX A walkway of ice formed. Frostbite, in his mech, was being propelled forward by jets while his mech was creating an ice walkway. It arched and dipped while he peppered helicopters and tanks with the chain gun. He came closer to the Death Cruiser. Frostbite made the walkway turn halfway to the left, and lowered it. He approached from the feet, showering the Death Cruiser with bullets. He made the ice walkway turn to the right, and arch. Frostbite was circling the giant mech while firing both bullets and energy blasts. He made the ice move upwards, and it arched in the air. Frostbite fell free, and his mech's arms retuned to normal. Two short blades came out from the wrists. He made contact with the metal behemoth, and slid down, blades penetrating its armor. He did it all the way down towards the knee, the fell off of it. The Death Cruiser mech attempted to kick Frostbite, but missed him. He landed a few feet away from it. "Try this one on for size..." Frostbite said. Both of the mechs arms faintly glowed an icy blue, and he slammed both of the mech's fists into the ground. "Snap freeze!" Frostbite yelled. Ice formed on the ground, and towers of ice sprouted from the ground. A giant one emerged nearby the Death Cruiser mech and tore part of its metal plates off. XXXX "~Come on you two. I need your help!~" Frostbite heard over the com. He looked towards Quin, and that's when the giant mech succeeded in kicking him. He flew and landed nearby Quin. Quin stood alone, facing the massive mech. She held both of her mech's arms outwards, palms facing the D.C.m. XXXX "Come on, you two. I need your help!" She yelled. She watched as Frostbite was kicked by the giant mech. He landed a few feet away from her position. JetFire flew high into the air. He clapped the mechs hands together. "Let's see what this'll do." He raised the mechs hands high into the air. He lowered them, and aimed them at the D.C.m. "Sonic firestorm!" He yelled. From behind JetFire, streaks of fire passed by, coming from the sky. The headed and made contact with the giant mech. One by one the fire balls exploded. Then a giant one rushed by, and smashed into the mech. It detonated, and dazed it. "~Come on you two. I need your help!~" JetFire heard Quin yell over the com. The giant mech overcame its daze and aimed a punch at JetFire. He tried to doge it, but didn't move quickly enough. He was knocked out of the air, and landed some feet away from Quin. XXXX Queen Chrysalis and her unnamed ally stood inside the Death Cruiser mech's command bridge, watching the three heroes attempt to defeat it. "This will certainly going to destroy those pesky ponies for destroying my precious hatchery!" she said gleefully. The other simply nodded. They turned to one of the Shadow Knights on the command bridge. "Enough toying with them. Prepare to fire the main energy cannon." they ordered. The knight nodded, and repeated the order to the rest of the knights. XXXX Quin saw the giant circular cannon glow green inside. JetFire and Frostbite made both of their mechs stand up. The looked at each other and nodded. The ran towards Quin, and JetFire got on her right, Frostbite to her left. The both put out their mech's arms, next to Quin's. The cannon on the Death Cruiser mech fired a beam of bright white energy. "~Now!~" Quin yelled. The three fired blasts of energy, which combined from three separate beams to one single beam which was bright blue. The two beams collided, and a earsplitting sound cracked through the air. The ground shook, and the damaged mountains nearby began to level out. The energy beams from both sides were equally matched. "~One last push!~" Quin yelled. The three ponies made a huge effort, and increased their beam's power by about 20%. It moved forward, crushing the Death Cruiser's energy beam. It move closer and closer to it. Soon, the pressure became too much, and its energy beam failed. The conquering beam lunged forward and hit the Death Cruiser mech dead in the chest. It blasted through it, and where the energy cannon once rested was now an enormous hole. Micro explosions rippled through the giant mech. It stumbled around, and at that point two figures jumped out. They both did a summer salt and landed on the ground. One was Chrysalis's unknown ally, and the other was another mech, taller like Quin's, except it had two saw blades on the left arm, and held a sword-like chainsaw in the right arm. "Chrysalis. We meet again. And who's your friend?" Quin asked. The new mech chuckled. "Starlight "Quin" Shadow. Always on the defensive side. Well, I'll just let her introduce herself." The person took off their black helmet. They looked like Blazeclaw, yet this person was a girl. Also, her fur was white with a black star surrounding her right eye. "Who are you?" JetFire asked. She looked at them. "I am Alice. I help Deathshadow take control over everything in the known universes and dimensions. Be prepared, ponies, because you are next in line." > The Attack of a Deadly Alliance > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Calamity of Epic Proportions Chapter 8 The Attack of a Deadly Alliance A suffocating silence took hold of the battlefield. Alice threw her helmet over her shoulder. It landed, and the sound echoed throughout the valley. Both JetFire and Frostbite readied their chain guns, and Quin drew her long sword. She pointed at Chrysalis with it. "You're mine, Chrysalis. You two, take her friend." Quin ran towards Chrysalis. She raised the long sword up high. The changeling drew her mech's chainsaw. She swung it upwards, and Quin swung her's downwards. The two weapons collided, sending sparks to fly almost everywhere. Any other blade would have been torn apart by Queen Chrysalis mech's chainsaw. "So, you choose deny the inevitable. It won't matter, you'll be finished soon!" Chrysalis yelled at Quin. She sweep-kicked Chrysalis, sending her to the ground. But as she went down, Chrysalis smashed her mech's elbow into Quin's mech's chest. Quin stumbled as Chrysalis got back on her feet. She charged at Quin, chainsaw sword pointed at her. Right before Chrysalis got to Quin, she jumped, sailed over the aggressor, and landed behind her. She changed her mech's left arm into the chain gun and battered Chrysalis's mech with bullets. XXXX While Quin was fighting Queen Chrysalis, JetFire and Frostbite confronted Alice. "Make you move." She said to the pair. The Spartans charged at the new foe, guns blazing. The bullets hit where she was, yet she herself was no longer there. She had jumped into the air. Two spheres of green energy appeared in each of her hands. She aimed them at the two ponies and fired beams of energy at them. Hundreds of the beams made contact with the ground, bombarding the two. The force of the attack tore apart the ground, causing them to lose their footing. Alice set back down in the ground and drew two axes that were her back. JetFire sat up, rock and rubble falling off of his mech as he did. Frostbite's situation was similar. "Have you two had enough yet?" Alice asked. They quickly activated their energy cannons and fired at her. The blasts hit, and exploded, causing dust co scatter into the air. The ground was also damaged by the blasts, causing it to split and crack. "How'd you like that one?" Frostbite taunted. The dust cloud was suddenly bursted, and cleared out. Alice stood there, smiling. "Oh, it was nice. Tickled a little." A sudden jet roared by. It lowered, and someone jumped out. The jet climbed, and soon went out of view. The person landed near the battling group. "Took you long enough, Cursed. How was Blaze?" Alice asked the newcomer. "Heh, he wasn't too bad. He didn't make it out of the shipyard when it exploded." Cursed reported to her. JetFire's mech stood up. "He's...gone?" JetFire asked. Cursed nodded. "Yes, as you will soon be too!" Alice shouted. She put out both of her hands, faced JetFire, and fired a blast of bright green energy that loosed an almighty roar. The impending doom rushed towards him within seconds. It almost hit him, but then Frostbite grabbed him and pulled him to safety. The blast of energy kept going, curved up, and sailed high into the sky. It arched back, and headed after the two Spartans. They both aimed their energy cannons at the beam and fired their own blasts, JetFire's orange, Frostbite's an icy blue. The three beams collided, but theirs was too weak compared to Alice's. It pushed forward with force, and they tried to hold it back. Their attempts caused them to be pushed back, causing the ground to tear in their wake. Alice's beam pushed through, and tore through the spartan's energy blasts. It neared them, moving at a supersonic speed. It almost hit them when a blast of dark blue energy intercepted it from the left. The diverted beam then crashed into the ground nearby. Something clad in black armor rushed by and landed with a loud thud. It was slightly crouching from its rough landing. Jets on it's back closed, and the person stood up. They had a heavy machine gun as it's right arm, a shield on it's left. What looked like another cannon was on it's right shoulder, and a missile launcher on its left. The head looked like an advanced MJOLNIR Mk. VI helmet. "Who's this tool?" Cursed shouted. The newcomer looked at him. "Oh, so soon you forget who I am? A simple explosion won't kill me." JetFire ran towards the person. "Blazeclaw?" He anxiously asked. They nodded. At that moment Chrysalis flew by, and crashed into Alice. Quin walked up to the battling group. "The Prototype Suit? But I thought that it was destroyed when Ghost activated the voice command to destroy itself." Quin said. Blaze nodded. "Yes, but like I said with my ship, the Marauder, my friend Felix is a master forger and creator. He watched video of it and literally built one just by looking at it. The only difference is that this one can be compressed to a small size when not in use." He turned and looked at Alice. "But only if the same could be said about you." Blazeclaw said bitterly. She closed her eyes and frowned. Her arms were crossed. "I told you before, I am no longer her. What happened years ago will never happen again. You know what Deathshadow did to me." Alice said coldly. Quin spoke up. "Well, what did he do to you?" She asked. She opened her eyes and looked at Quin. "Years ago, my former self was captured by Deathshadow. He did what he could to change me to evil. But she wouldn't submit to him. So he cloned her, infusing the clone with his DNA, and thus created me, the stronger version of Alice. The true one is locked away, sealed until needed." Alice said. Blazeclaw, though not seen because of the Prototype suit Mk. II, clenched his knuckles. "Enough of the formalities, now it's time for you all to get a crash course of the meaning of pain!" Blazeclaw yelled. He powered up the prototype's machine gun arm and fired at the three hostiles. The bullets, when made contact with them, exploded. Alice, Cursed, and Chrysalis were all knocked down. Blaze moved at a near impossible speed and kicked Cursed into the air, grabbed Chrysalis's mech, and slammed her into Alice. He threw Chrysalis back, and as she flew through the air, collided with Cursed with an loud smacking noise. Alice jumped back on her feet and pulled out one of her axes. She slammed it into the prototype's side, and Blaze grunted in pain. He grabbed her arm and smashed his left fist on the top of her head. Alice stumbled back, slightly dazed. When her vision returned to normal, she looked at Blaze. The missile launcher was aimed at her. It fired two of them, and they rushed for her. The first got close, and she kicked it away. It spun, tumbled, and exploded on a random tree. The other one came within inches of her face. She punched it, and it went back towards Blaze. He didn't move at all. Just before it hit him, a stasis shield stopped it, so it detonated harmlessly. The machine gun arm of the Prototype changed into normal arm. XXXX Cursed and Chrysalis snuck around behind Blaze. He took advantage of the opportunity Alice had provided for him. She distracted Blaze just long enough so that they could attack him from behind. The two ran towards the Prototype suit. Cursed jumped over its head and kicked it when he did. Chrysalis put Blaze in a full Nelson and drove her mech's right knee upwards into where his kidneys would be. Blaze went ridged for a moment, as it winded him. Dazed and unable to move, he tried to escape. "It's no use really, you can't get out from this hold!" Chrysalis boasted. Blaze stopped struggling and looked down. He sighed. "See?" He then lifted his head up fast, slamming the back of the prototype's head into the front of Chrysalis's mech's face. She fell back from the blow and landed on her back. Cursed drew his sword and charged at Blaze. Out of the part of the arm below the wrist, two beams of energy came out of each arm. They stopped at 4 feet, and resembled energy blades. His swords clashed with Cursed's, and sparks were sent flying. Cursed slashed at the feet, but Blaze stopped him. He gouged the knight's black armor, and kicked him off of the blade. A sudden burst of energy hit the Prototype's stasis shield and overloaded it. Blaze turned around, and saw Alice about ten feet away. The ran at each other, and Blaze lashed out with his energy blades. Alice dogged his attacks and kicked him in the side. Cursed slashed Blaze across the chest, and Chrysalis jammed her twin sawblade into the Prototype's stomach area. The three attackers then put out their arms, pointed at Blaze's direction. The blasted him with three beams of energy. It created a sphere around Blaze, and then exploded. The ground shattered and cracked. The Prototype suit stood there, panels battered and bent, paint chipped, and scorch marks all over. The energy blades still resonated from the arms though. "It's over, Blaze, just give up." Alice said with seriousness. The suit's head raised. "I'll never give up. I will not fail them. They don't deserve to be enslaved and conquered, to have their lives controlled by you. As long as they fight, I will stand by their side. Even if they believe all hope is lost, I will still fight for them. The power of righteousness resonates within me. I will not lose." Blaze said. He stood strait and flexed his arm outwards. The small debris on the ground started to bounce. A sudden aura of fire surrounded him (similar to the aura in Dbz). "HAAAAAAAAAH!" He yelled. Arcs of electricity jumped from him and hit the ground. The ground began to shake violently. Sudden light energy came from the ground underneath Blaze and rose to a foot higher than him. The Prototype suit dissolve by the light. On his shoulders, samurai like pauldrins appeared. He had armor covering his whole body except his head. A orange visor was on his face like sun glasses. And black bat-like wings came out from his back. A single Roman numeral I appeared on the right side of his chest. The electricity, shaking, and flame aura ceased almost as soon as it began. The energy blades were protruding from gauntlets on his arms. Alice frowned, Cursed and Chrysalis were confused. "So, you tap into your true power, Blaze. The Mystical Warrior form I." Alice said. Blaze had his eyes closed. "Yes, I am. Let's get this party started." > The Powers of a Mystical Warrior > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Calamity of Epic Proportions Chapter 9 The Powers of Mystical Warrior Except Alice, all stared in awe at Blazeclaw's sudden transformation. He had a look of seriousness in his face. "Are we just going to stand around here all day, or what?" Blazeclaw asked. Cursed readied his sword and charged at Blaze. He ran across the distance in just a few seconds and stabbed him with his sword. But it didn't even break the skin. He jumped back. "Chrysalis, attack him!" Cursed shouted. Queen Chrysalis lifted up her mech's left arm, and it turned into a cannon with surikens sticking out of it, similar to the needler. She fired the cannon, and hundreds of surikens flew out of it. They rushed passed Cursed and struck Blazeclaw. They simply bounced off of him, impacting against him harmlessly. Blaze smiled. "I'm sorry, did we start yet?" He asked. Cursed blinked, and Blaze had disappeared. "Where did he go?" Cursed demanded. Someone tapped him on his shoulder. He turned around, and Blazeclaw punched him in the face. He stumbled and fell down, holding his face. "Damn, that hurt!" Cursed yelled as he tried to stand up. Blaze grabbed his arm, pulled him up, and drove his fist into Cursed's stomach. The punch winded him. At that moment Chrysalis had snuck behind Blaze, and pulled her mech's left arm back, in normal form, and aimed a punch at him. Just before it made contact Blazeclaw jumped up and landed behind Chrysalis. She, unable to stop since it was too late, smashed her fist into Cursed. Blaze held a sphere of blue energy and aimed it at the two. "Hah!" Blaze yelled. A beam of blue energy jumped out from the sphere and launched itself after the two. It struck the mech in the back, and sent them flying. They stopped when they hit a mountain, and caused a new cave inside it. A sudden axe came around and struck Blaze in the face. He grabbed it, and swung around, hitting a dumbfound Alice with it. She was knocked back, but she quickly retaliated. "Here, have some of these!" She yelled. Two spheres of energy, one in each hand, and green, appeared. She threw them at Blaze, but he jumped up. The spheres curved upwards and followed him. Somehow Blaze managed to stay up in the air. He was suddenly surrounded with his flame aura and he shot off. The spheres followed behind, gaining on him. He climbed into the air, and burst through a cloud line. The spheres did a few seconds later. He dogged them as they attempted to hit him. Blaze dived, and went through the cloud line again. He picked up speed as he rushed towards the ground. Alice came into view. He approached her from behind. The spheres trailed behind, determined to hit him. He came closer to the unsuspecting Alice. He pulled up, and shot over her head, landing a few feet away from Alice. "How did-" Alice didn't get to finish her sentence. At that moment her spheres came from behind her and slammed into her back, and then they detonated. They caused the ground to crack and shatter, and created a small impact crater in the ground. Alice stood up slowly. "I have to admit, I didn't see that one coming." Something moved in the corner of Blaze's eye. Cursed and Chrysalis charged at him from both sides, weapons drawn and ready. But as Chrysalis got near Blaze, a blast of energy sent her flying off to the side. Frostbite appeared suddenly, in between Blaze and Cursed, some ice in his mech's body. He aimed his energy cannon at Cursed, and fired not energy, but what looked like a freeze ray. "Fury Freeze!" Frostbite yelled. Cursed was suddenly engulfed by a miniature blizzard. He was left frozen, and from the left a blast of fire hit the frozen body, followed by a beam of energy. Cursed was sent flying off to the side, and landed near Alice. "We've got your back, Blaze." JetFire said. Alice looked like she became furious. "Take this!" She started to throw spheres of green energy. Hundreds of them. They hit them all, causing all but Blaze to be thrown back. The ones that hit Blaze caused him to be surrounded by dust. The ground was torn even more by the brutal attack. JetFire stood up, only to be knocked back down By Frostbite. Quin drove her sword into the ground, and managed to hold herself there. "How can we stand up to this kind of power?" Frostbite asked. Quin was speechless. She swallowed, her throat feeling dry. "I don't think we can. Our only hope is that Blazeclaw stops Alice from destroying us all." Quin said. XXXX The dust cleared, and Blazeclaw was still standing. Suddenly two beams of energy leaped towards him and hit, causing a sphere to surround him. Cursed and Queen Chrysalis put more energy into it this time, and the sphere doubled in size. Alice put both hands out towards the sphere, and blasted a beam of bright, roaring light. It hit, and the sphere tripled in size. It was eating the ground, and soon there was no ground underneath it, so the sphere rested a few feet in the air. But something unexpected happened. The sphere changed from bright white to a dark red. They stopped feeding it energy. "What's happening?" Chrysalis asked. She looked from Cursed to Alice, both shrugging. The sphere them became surrounded by flames. Alice suddenly went ridged. "Oh shit." She said quietly. Cursed looked up at her. "Oh shit what?" He asked her. The ground suddenly shook violently. Rocks and rubble started to float into the air. Dark storm clouds gathered, and the battlefield became dark. Lightning hit the sphere, causing it to send of bolts of its own electricity. "He's skipping over form V, going strait to X!" Alice yelled. The sphere disappeared in a flash, and Blazeclaw stood there, but different. He had no orange visor. His bulky armor was now smaller and more fit for an agile person like he is. The black bar-like wings became energy wings, blue like his energy swords. The swords also changed. The one on the right was longer on the bottom blade, and curved inward. The upper one was shorter and also curved inward. The one on the left was strait on both sides, and looked similar to a small railgun. A X now rested where the I was on his chest earlier. "I'm through playing around. This ends now!" Blazeclaw yelled. He moved at an impossible speed. He got to Cursed first. He slashed upward with his right energy sword and uppercutted him into the air. Blaze jumped up and punched Cursed, sending him flying into the air. He then appeared at Chrysalis. He simply kicked her, making he soar into the air. He move in front of Alice. He deactivated his sword on the right and made a sphere of energy appear in his hand. He jammed his hand into her stomach area, and blasted her into he air. The three enemies collided in midair. Blaze aimed his left arm at the three. Energy charged up, and a brilliant bright blue beam of energy shot out of it, loosening an almighty roar. It rushed towards them with increasing speed. It hit, and kept going. The blast forced them out of the battlefield, and they disappeared into the distance. Blaze lowered his arm, and he returned to his normal state. He fell forward, and passed out. Silence gripped the valley once more. XXXX Blazeclaw awoke in the P.I.B. headquarter's infirmary. He had his eyes closed, listening to people talk. "Even if he's a different race, no body of life should be able to control and sustain that much power. It's unimaginable!" A P.I.B. doctor was talking to someone. "You weren't there, you didn't see it. It was mind blowing." Blaze heard Quin say. "Yea, but he's even stronger than that." A new person said. Blazeclaw was confused by this newcomer. "When he was Blazris, no one could stop them." "Them?" Quin asked. Blazeclaw decided to sit up. "Ah, you're awake!" The doctor said. He checked some X-rays and dat. "You have a very resilient body. Any normal person would be crippled from the beating you received." The new person walked up to Blazeclaw. They wore all black armor, similar to human spartan armor, and a helmet that had a black visor instead of eye holes. "Maelstrom." Blaze said. They nodded. "How did you get here?" "Temporal displacement. I was leading an attack on one of the United Enemies fortresses when a rigged slip-space drive detonated and engulfed me, my team, all of my soldiers, and my cruiser, A Razor's Edge of Oblivion. We ended up.....here, in Equestria. We appeared shortly after your battle with Alice. After that, we destroyed the lingering Shadow Corsairs." Maelstrom said. Blaze got on his feet, and popped his neck. "Well, any ideas on what to do next?" Blaze asked both Quin and Maelstrom. "I don't know, really." Maelstrom said. "Well, the Princess is holding a commemorating celebration tomorrow. It's honoring you, me, JetFire, and Frostbite." She said. Blaze nodded. "Alright, then we better get ready for it." Blaze said. The three walked out of the infirmary, and headed for the command center. XXXX Alice stood alone, wearing a small headset. "~So, Blazeclaw was sent here after the pseudo-world I created collapsed. How, after all the possible vectors to be sent to, he ended up here?~" Someone said in her mic. "Fate picks it's favorites. Only by chance, I'd assume." Alice said. The person on the other side sighed. "~I've also ran into the other one.~" They said. Alice clenched a fist. "We'll have to watch our backs. Did you talk to the others?" She asked. "~Yes, they agreed to join us. It's only a matter of time before they break out from their prisons.~" The person said. "Yes sir." She said. The conversation ended. "And now it begins." > The Return of an Old Foe... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Calamity of Epic Proportions Chapter 10 The Return of an Old Foe... Without one person, none of this would have happened. If he didn't hunger for power, and conquest, he would have not tainted Equestria with his presence. The war would not exist, and his family would still be together. Blazeclaw would have never met any of the ponies, and vice versa. Things would have been peaceful. But it did happen. He found ways around the barriers between dimensions, shattered them for his own personal gain. And because of his ignorance, the great war called Paradox Wars was kicked into full gear. There was already war within their own, but because of the barriers being destroyed, dimensions were engulfed by it. And with each new dimension, before it became one with theirs, he would strike a deal with the most evil and horrid villains and creatures that lived there. He created a deadly and destructive alliance called the United Enemies. This is how he enlisted Equestria's worst into his ranks. XXXX (3 days before the Elementals' Breakout) It was night. The stars twinkled like people flickering lights on and off. The cold air rushed past him, his cloak rippling in its wake. He flew through the air, moving fast. He passed over valleys and mountains, towns and forests. Rivers and lakes seemed like streams and ponds from his height. He slowed, and came to an eventual stop outside a dark cave. A slight green glow resonated from deeper in the cave. He walked it, unaware of any dangers that could be lurking around corners. The cave twisted and turned, raised and fell, and he entered a large room. In that room there were hundreds of changelings. One saw him come in, and hissed. Soon, all of their attention was on the unknown intruder. Someone else came into the room. They were a changeling, just taller. "Who are you, and what are you doing in my home?" Queen Chrysalis demanded. The stranger stood there. He wore a hood, so only his mouth was visible. "Well? Are you going to answer me?" "Apologies, madam. I would introduce myself, but for safety purposes, I can't. Although, I have a proposition for you." He said slyly. Chrysalis frowned. "What is your proposition?" she asked. "You remember you defeat at Canterlot? How all of those pesky ponies foiled your plans?" He said. Chrysalis nodded. "Well, how would you like to get revenge?" "How? I'm weaker than ever, and they have three alicorns with the most powerful magic in the world!" Chrysalis said, agitatedly. "Heh, it'll take a hell of a lot more that simple magic to stop me. Even hell couldn't keep me at bay. Pity I had to kill Lucifer, he would've done well at my side. So, I ask again. What say you?" He asked. Chrysalis nodded. "Good, I'll send one of my people to help you. Her name is Alice. She'll be here in 2 days. I take my leave now." He turned around and walked back out of the cave. The night was still young. He jumped into the air and took off, back towards the way he came. XXXX After a few short minutes, he came up to Canterlot. The cloaked stranger landed inside a courtyard. Statues littered the place. Statues of mares and colts of old ages past, old foes, and heroes. He walked through the courtyard, looking and examining each and every one. Out of all of them, one stood out. It was the petrified form of Discord. He looked the same as before. The cloaked person raised and eyebrow. "He's a villain here? Oh well, I've seen worse." He raised up his hand and pressed it against the statue. "Wales are not Barrie." He spoke softly. His entire body started to become blurred, and he turned into a black cloud. The cloud wrapped around the petrified Discord, and it then sank into it. XXXX Inside it was dark. He looked around, yet saw nothing. A bone-chilling laugh came from behind him, echoing throughout the dark void. Discord appeared behind him. "What do we have here? Somepony who's lost." The cloaked stranger smiled. "Oh, I'm not lost. I'm far from it, mon ami." He said cooly. Discord frowned. "Then why would you be here?" Discord asked. He turned around to look at him. "Do you want to escape your prison?" He asked. Discord scoffed. "Only if I could. I need to be in here for a long time for this spell to weaken enough so I could break out. Or have three annoying fillies argue over my name near me." Discord said to the stranger. "I have such ways to undo your bonds. The very reason how I'm here is because I've reached a certain level of power that not even a god could stop me. Only a spare few." The stranger flicked a coin at Discord. He caught it, and examined the metallic object. It had a Shadow Knight helmet on it, and sword and bow crossed on the other. "When the helmet's eyes glow red, rub your thumb around it three times." He said. Discord looked at him. "You are strange. I like it." Discord said. The stranger nodded. He closed his eyes. "Bonus norma." He uttered. He began to fade from view, and became a dark cloud again. The cloud dissipated. XXXX Back outside, the dark cloud oozed out of the Discord statue. The cloud collected into one place, and he returned to his natural state. He put his right index and middle fingertips on his forehead, the rest of his hand closed. His thoughts trailed off into the Canterlot Castle. His mind acted like a infrared camera, scanning the castle. He found a particular room that had a strong heat signature, but not the strongest. Satisfied that he had found the right room, his body completely disappeared. XXXX He appeared inside a bedroom. On the bed was a sleeping Princess Luna. He walked up to her. Luna's crown was on a bedside table, along with all of her other accessories. He stood over her, and watched the mare sleep. He bent over and put his hand on her forehead. He repeated the same thing he said earlier when he was in the courtyard. "Wales are not barrie." He turned into a cloud, and went inside Luna's body. XXXX Inside Luna's sleeping mind, he saw nothing but Luna asleep in a corner. Someone walked up to him. "An intruder? It is forbidden magic to invade one's mind!" Nightmare Moon shouted at him. Luna didn't wake. The cloaked strange smiled. "I have a proposition for you if you'd listen instead of shout." He said. Nightmare looked at him scornfully. "What is is, intruder?" She spat. "A way to get out of here, be separate from Luna. I ask you to join me, and together with all of our allies, we can take over Equestria." He said to Nightmare. He pulled a small metal coin out, just like the one he gave Discord. He flicked it to her, and it landed beside her. "When you want to get out, rub your hoof around it three times." He closed his eyes. "Bonus norma." XXXX He reappeared inside Luna's room. He walked away from her, and opened a window. He turned back and looked at her. "What a troubled young mind. But the more the merrier." He smiled. The stranger grabbed ahold of the edge of the window and pulled up, jumping out. He fell about 30 feet and landed on his feet. He landed on a small ledge, and underneath was the valley. He brushed some dust off his left shoulder. "Well that went off without a hitch." The hair on the back of his neck stood up. "Or not." He growled. He suddenly jumped up into the air, and a blast of energy hit where he was standing seconds ago. More blasts leaped towards him from an unknown attacker. He dogged them, and they made contact with the valley below. He landed on the ground. "I've been expecting you, Blazeclaw." The other landed behind him, and unsheathed a sword. "Wait. You're not-" The cloaked figure snapped around. The new person had long, black hair in a ponytail with two locks of hair in front of his face, blue eyes, a black shirt, light blue jean pants, and a black cape. They were probably in their twenties. His sword's sheath rested on his back. "How did you get here?" The stranger asked him. He looked at him with bitterness. "Same way you did. But you cannot take this world. I won't allow it." The strange scoffed. "Lyn, you are so foolish. You can't stop me." "Can't hurt to try." He rushed at the cloaked figure and slashed at him with his sword. He dogged, and drew one of his own swords from a sheath on his belt. The blade was black. He blocked another slash from Lyn, and sparks were sent flying as the swords grinded against one another. The stranger brought up his elbow and swung at Lyn with it. He hit him in the head, and the swords separated. He aimed his hand at Lyn. "Hah!" A blast of black energy hit Lyn, and sent him flying back. He moved as fast as light, and stopped above him. He put both hands down, and blasted a larger beam of black energy. Lyn looked up, and saw it come for him. He folded his arms over his chest, and tool the blow. It blew through the ground, and he was being forced underground. XXXX The ground above shattered, and Lyn fell out, and landed on his back. He had fallen into a large cavern, and there was a walkway that went off to the left. the bottom was dark. The stranger came out of the hole and landed next to him. "Bastard. Where are we?" Lyn asked. "Another psedo-world that I created." The stranger said. He took off running to the walkway to the left. Lyn jumped up to his feet and chased after him. The sound of running footsteps echoed throughout the cavern. As they ran, the walkway curved like a motionless drill head. They ran upwards, sideways, and upside down. The laws of physics didn't seem to apply here. Lynkept sending blasts of energy at the cloaked stranger. He dogged all of them, and turned around, still running. "Is that the best you've got?" He stranger taunted. Lyn blasted a large beam of energy at him. Mr. Stranger slid down under it, and it harmlessly passed over him. The stranger slowly slid while the other ran towards him, unaware that he missed. The cloaked figure pushed himself upwards and kicked Lyn in the jaw, causing him to stop. "Goddamnitsonofabitch!" He yelled out, holding the bottom part of his jaw. The stranger got up and pet running. Lyn followed suit. If this battle was watched by a spectator, they would be shown running strait upwards. The walkway ahead was going to turn into a tunnel. The stranger entered it, and jumped off to the right. Moments later, Lyn reached the entrance. He quickly looked at the tunnel. It was big, but it was three long corridors. Pillars speedster the three from each other. Lyn jumped to the left aisle and ran as fast as he could. He looked up ahead and saw a dim light. He ran fast, and soon saw the black cape of the stranger. He moved up further, and saw him across the corridor. He blasted energy at him, and the stranger did the same. The kept going at it for a few minutes. He looked ahead, and saw that the passage had ended, only allowing one person at a time. He ran through it, and landed on the ground. The hole was now underneath him. It closed, and it became quiet. And odd glass box surrounded him. What looked like sound waves were moving along the glass. They warped light, changing from every color imaginable. "What is this?" Lyn asked himself. He slowly walked to one of the sides. He heard a quiet sound, kind of like music. He lifted a hand up, and slowly touched the glass wall. It shattered from contact. The whole glass box collapsed, and massive sound waves resonated throughout the room. The passed through him, unnerving the youth. They reverberated against the walls, and suddenly it all stopped. The light was caused by the waves, so now it was dark. "Shadows won't hide you, I can still sense your energy." Lyn said. A snapping sound came from behind him. Small rays of light began rising from the floor at the edges of the room. The stranger drew one of his dark swords. He reached behind his back and gripped the handle of his sword, and quickly drew it. The stranger jumped at Lyn, blade ready. He slashed down at him, but the youth blocked it. Their blades collided many more times, causing the room to echo with the sounds of metal on metal. They broke away from each other, and Lyn jumped into the air. He flexed his arms backwards, and four beam of light at arched from his back and flew at the stranger. He aimed his hands towards him, and three outlines of five-pointed stars appeared in a row behind him. "Armageddon Star Cannon!" Lynyelled. A sudden object appeared behind the stars, and It looked like a small quasar. It shot a beam of energy though the stars, and into his body. Then a larger, much louder beam blasted from his hands. The stranger smiled at this. "Well, two can play at that game!" He clapped his hands, and put them together, wrist to wrist, aimed at the beam. "Shadow Death Beam!" A huge blast of dark energy emitted from his hands, and flew towards Lyn's beam. The air between the two sped up, and the heat rose in the cavern. They collided, and it sounded like two starships grinding against each other. Where they met, a sphere started to form. It kept growing from the energy building up. It was black on the stranger's side, and blue on Lyn's side. A line divided the two, going strait through the middle. Then they both slipped. A massive amount of force and energy was released, and an explosion took the room. The pseudo-world collapsed, and the two were forced out of it, and were both sent flying through the rock. Lyn shot out of the ground, flew a mile away, and smacked his head on a boulder. He passed out from the force of the contact. The stranger was flung in the other direction, smacked into a mountain, and was knocked unconscious. The battle, while sort lived, postponed doom for a few days. XXXX "Come on, Blazeclaw, we're about to start!" Quin yelled. He just finished tying his tie. "I'm almost done!" He yelled back. She had insisted he wore something nice for the commemoration ceremony. Blaze tucked in his whited dress shirt, tightened his belt, and put a black dress jacket on. He looked in the mirror to check if be had everything right. "Heh, I look like a James Bond." Blaze said to himself. He walked away from the mirror and exited the room. Quin stood there in a dress Rarity made for her, similar to what she made for Rainbowdash for the Grand Galloping Galla, except for it being rainbow it had black, purple, and gold. "Hey hansom!" She said when she saw Blazeclaw. "I'll take that as a yes that I did this right." He replied. Only they were dressed up, wear as Frostbite and JetFire wore their spartan armor. "Are we ready?" JetFire asked. They all nodded. "Then let's go!" XXXX The four stood outside two large doors. They opened, and walked into Canterlot Castle's Great Hall (Same one where Cadence and Shining Armor got married). The whole city's residence's, and many more from the other towns and cities, we packed inside the Great Hall. Up ahead, at the end of the hall, was Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadence, Captain of the Guard Shining Armor, Mane 6: Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbowdash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and the rest of Phoenix team: Havok, Terry, Dredd, and Emily. The four walked down the hall, and all of the ponies cheered. They stopped in front of them all. The crowd went quiet, and Princess Celestia moved forward. "We've all gathered here to recognize these thee ponies and hero for acts of loyalty, valor, righteousness," When she said that last one, she looked at Blazeclaw,"and pure bravery. They put their own lives in the line without us asking them to. They, are all true heroes." A pony walked up with a pillow on her back, and four medals rested on the pillow. Princess Celestia used her magic to levitate all four of them, and moved them towards the four heroes. She put them nobler their heads, and took her magic off of the medals. "Congratulations. I thank all of you for your actions." Every pony cheered. Some stomped their hooves on the ground to make clapping sounds. It was a happy moment. And it would be swell to end this here. But I must pull a Lemony Snicket and say that it isn't the end to all bad things, but just the beginning. I have to tell the rest of the story. XXXX A loud thunderclap sounded. It became quiet in the Great Hall, and it grew darker. "Unnatural weather. This can't be a good sign, sister." Princess Luna said. Someone began to laugh. But it wasn't anyone in the room. "Who are you? Show yourself!" Princess Celestia yelled. "Oh, you would like that, wouldn't you Celestia?" A fell voice echoed throughout the halls. "I can't show myself because I'm still imprisoned, but I can use my powers, so its only a matter of time." A sudden bolt of electricity shot through a window, yet didn't destroy it. He bolt hit Luna, and she went ridged. She fell to the side, and passed out. "You've killed my sister!!!" Celestia yelled. A new voice was heard. "She isn't dead, just knocked out." A dark, purple and blue cloud escaped from Luna, and flew down the hall, and shot through the doors, causing them to fly open. Blazeclaw turned around and chased after the cloud, and exited the hall. It turned a corner and went down a long hallway. Blazeclaw followed behind, in hot pursuit. It picked up speed, and Blaze sped up. It turned left this time, the right, down a staircase, and into the large entrance room. It smashed its way through the doors, and out into the courtyard. Up ahead, the cloud stopped, and Nightmare Moon formed out of the cloud. "You don't give up, do you?" She asked Blaze. He stopped, and looked at her. Then a statue to her right began to spiderweb with cracks. Pieces fell of, and light shone out through holes. It started to move, and more of it fell out. "Muhuhuhuhahahaha!" Someone laughed. The statue shattered, and Discord was freed. "Nightmare, we must flee! This one is too powerful for us to deal with!" He said to her. She nodded, and they both flew off. "Oh no you don't!" Blazeclaw yelled. He jumped up into the air to chase after them, but a stasis field surrounded him, and he couldn't move. Blaze watched as the two flew away, and faded into the distance. Anger built up. "HAAAAAAAAAA!" The barrier shattered, and the clouds cleared. He landed on the ground. "So I guess the chase is on." > The Pursuit of Nightmare Moon and Discord > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Calamity of Epic Proportions Chapter 11 The Pursuit of Nightmare Moon and Discord "HAAAAAAA!" Blazeclaw yelled. The dress suit was torn to shreds as his armor appeared on his body. His energy blades activated from his gauntlets, and both radiated with bright blue energy. Blaze made fists and deactivated the blades. "Alright, I'm coming for you two." He said to himself as a dark, transparent blue aura surrounded him. Blaze jumped up, breaking some of the ground as he did, and flew off into the air. As he did, three metal behemoths flew near him: The Claymore, Masamune 100, and Crucible Fire, all in mech form. "~Did ya think we'd let you off that easy?~" JetFire asked Blaze. "You guys don't have to follow me." Blaze said. "~Yes, we do.~" Quin interjected. "~This is as much as our fight as it is yours.~" "~We're with you till the end, Blazeclaw. Get use to it.~" Frostbite said. "~By the way, how can you fly?~" he asked Blaze. "It's called chi. I'm focusing it to be able to fly. It's too complicated to explain right now, we have got to catch those two before they cause any more mayhem than Chrysalis and Alice already have." Blaze said. Up ahead, the two villains came into view. "~I see them!~" Quin shouted. XXXX "Those pesky ponies and tall creature are on our tail!" Nightmare said to Discord. "This fast? I figured my stasis barrier would've held him longer. Oh well." Discord sighed. "Anyways, this is our rally point." The two stopped in midair. The pursuers approached fast. "What are thou making us wait for?" Nightmare demanded. "Any second now." Discord told her. XXXX "~Why've they stopped?~" Frostbite asked. "I haven't the faintest idea, but you can ask them when we get there." Blazeclaw said. Suddenly a large, black object exploded nearby, and it enlarged, making a giant black circle in the sky, the edges swirling. Out of it, a large metallic object flew out of it, moving at a fast speed. "~Oh shit!~" JetFire yelled. The large object was a cruiser, but not just any kind: a U.E. Death Cruiser. Discord and Nitemare flew past it, and kept going in the same direction. "~Where are they going?~" Quin asked. The Death Cruiser approached them with menacing intent. All of its turrets and cannons fired at the four. A salvo of energy and tungsten sped towards them. "Take evasive maneuvers!" Blazeclaw yelled. The mechs managed to doge the salvo, but Blaze wasn't so lucky. The Death Cruiser fired its main cannon, and the blast hit him point-blank. It knocked him back, and he was enraged. "Bastard!" Blaze yelled. He flew to the D.C., and slammed into its front. He grabbed onto it, and pulled upwards and to the right, making it turn. The rear dipped down, and grinded against the ground. He spun it around, and it picked up speed. After a few turns, he threw it down while slamming it into the ground. The Death Cruiser was sent tumbling away, and as it did, it's form changed. Very clumsily as it rolled, it changed into mech form. "~Quick! Take it out while its down!~" Quin yelled. The four flew towards the Dc mech, energy attacks ready. But it got to its feet before they could attack. The mech round housed them all in one kick. The four made impact craters on a nearby mountain. The mech seemed like it was laughing at their failed attempt. The three ponies freed their mechs from the mountain, and shook of rubble that still clung to them. Blaze bent his arms forward and slammed them back. The stone surrounding his body was shattered. A blue aura surrounded him. "This one is persistent." Blaze said. A sphere of blue energy formed in his right hand. XXXX JetFire blasted his way towards the giant mech. He fired missiles and hailed bullets onto the colossus piece of machinery. He went down, and shot high above the Dc. He cut off his jets, and fell back. The short blade in his mech's left wrist popped out. JetFire fell down to the Dc's head. Blade ready, he made contact with it. The spartan slid down the side of the Dc, blade piercing through its hull. The giant mech noticed though, and JetFire was in arms reach. He mech raised one of it's arms, and was about to smash JetFire. But then Frostbite came into view, being propelled forward by the ice-walkway his mech was creating. He rained hell, bullets and missiles alike, onto the Death Cruiser. The mech, instead of smashing JetFire, raised up the arm and backhanded Frostbite out of the air. The ice-walkway collapsed. Frostbite tumbled in the air, and the regained his balance. "~Quin! Now, while he's distracted!!~" Frostbite yelled. XXXX A mech on the ground was running. It wielded a long sword, but in one hand. The right arm was crossed in front of it's body, so the sword pointed behind it. Then the mech jumped into the air. Jets took over, and now it picked up more speed, rocketing towards the Death Cruiser mech. Quin aimed for the mechs feet. The she quickly closed the gap between her and the mech. When she got to the feet, she aimed for the part just above the heel. "~Fury Strike!~" Quin yelled. She slashed through the the back of the foot, and scraps of metal were sent flying throughout the surrounding area. XXXX Blaze saw his opening. For a speed boost, he kicked off from the mountain, damaging it even more. He was launched towards the Death Cruiser. He got to the giant mech as it turned around. It couldn't have been more perfect. Blaze raised up his right hand, along with the energy sphere. He got to the mech, and smashed the sphere in between it eyes. A large beam of energy erupted from the back of its head, and the giant peril was no more. "~Yea! That's what I'm talking about!~" Frostbite shouted. Blaze frowned. "We've lost valuable time from this. Quin, can your mechs tap into their reserve power supplies?" Blaze asked. "~Of course they can! But why?~" she asked. Blaze looks off into the direction the two foes flew off to. "We need to close the gap between us as fast as possible." A sudden blue aura surrounded Blaze. The three ponies fired up their mechs reserve power couplings. "Go!" Blaze yelled. The four blasted off in the direction of their quarry. XXXX After a few minutes of hyper speed flying, the four passed a beachfront, and flew over an ocean. They had left Equestria, and traveled into the unknown. "What is on the other side of this ocean?" Blaze asked. "~No pony knows.~" Quin answered him. "~Voyages have been sent in the past, but none have returned. We've all assumed that the trip is just too perilous to pursue.~" The water reflected the sun, and whipped past them. Up ahead, eight small pinpricks became visible. "~What are those?~" Frostbite asked. Because of their speed, the objects quickly enlarged. "A fleet of Corsairs." Blazeclaw told them. And sure enough, they were. The fleet came into full view. XXXX "Commander! Four anomalies approaching our vector sir!" A shadow knight said. The commander stood in the bridge overseeing them. "Bring up the cameras on the screen." He ordered. "Right away sir!" In a few seconds, one of the camera's screens appeared, enlarged to fit the screen. It showed the four heroes approaching the fleet. "What fools. Only four of them attempt to attack us. Lieutenant, eradicate them with extreme prejudice." He told the knight. "Aye aye, sir. All cruisers, eliminate the oncoming anomalies." XXXX "~I think they're going to attack us.~" JetFire said. Blazeclaw suddenly stopped. He other three stopped seconds later. "~Blaze, why'd you-~" Quin began to say. "Get behind me, now!!" He yelled to them. Without question, the three moved behind him. "Get back!!" He ordered to them. Blaze clenched his fists and flexed his arms. Black clouds started to materialize above him. Lightning began to rapidly strike him, from above and strangely enough, from the ocean below. "Inferno Vortex!!" Blazeclaw yelled. It was as as if a million flame throwers were activated on a atmosphere of gasoline and propane fumes. A massive cyclone of fire surrounded Blazeclaw. It roared with mighty fury. "~Holy shit!~" Frostbite yelled. The three ponies stared in awe. "~His soul attack is way more powerful that any others that I've ever seen before!~" Quin said. The Vortex's roaring intensified, and it broke apart into eight separate tornados. They took off into the direction of the Shadow Corsair fleet. One ship was torn to pieces. Another was spun around, barely scathed. When each of the flame tornados hit, they dissipated. The attack left the fleet in total disarray. The Spartans and Quin flew into the fray, firing missiles and bullets at the ships. Some ships were still active, and they launched a counter assault onto them. The Shadow Corsairs changed course, and moved to surround the three mechs. "~What're we gona do now, Quin?~" Frostbite asked. "~Hold on. Where's Blazeclaw?~" Quin asked the two Spartans. "~He didn't leave us, did he?~" JetFire asked. The Corsairs fired rounds of plasma, energy, and tungsten. The three braced for the oncoming doom....but nothing happened. The next thing they knew was that the Shadow Corsairs were not surrounding them. Instead, they were outside of their range. "~What? How-~" Quin began. Blazeclaw was with them now. " A technique I learned from a friend. But look at the fleet." They all turned to the former fleet of Shadow Corsairs. The salvos each had put out, aimed at the ponies that no longer remained there, had nowhere else to go. So, because of their rashness, every single Corsair was torn apart by each other. "Wherever Discord and Nightmare went, I don't know. Seems like we lost them. For now." Blaze said. The four stared off toward the new land, and then took off, in pursuit of the two fiends. The End. For now.