//------------------------------// // 38. Confrontation // Story: The Red Sun Rises: Homefront // by The Atlantean //------------------------------// “My lord! Intruders in the castle!” a guard cried, running into the throne room. “Explain.” Sombra glared. “Those sudden bangs, sir. Guards from the dungeon say they heard gunshots, and some of them have bleeding ears. Others - well, my lord, they haven’t come up to the surface.” He trembled. “Go and keep them from breaching the upper levels. I shall overlook the battle from the top of the spire, and I will bring young Andromeda with me.” Sombra cast his teleportation spell and vanished from the chamber with Andromeda. No sooner had he done so did several gunshots rang out down the hall. The terrified guard quickly ran to the great double doors and began pushing hard against them. Four others hurried to help him while the rest in the room stood transfixed to their spots in fear. The massive entrance shut slowly, the doors closing to form a wall of two-foot-thick crystal-infused wood. Crimson and Clockwork saw the virtual wall that should be the entrance to the throne room. Along their path lay a dozen scattered Crystal Guards, all with bullet holes in their skulls. A thirteenth still oozed blood from against the crystalline corridor. Even more came in trickles, backing the two Pegasi to the doors. They emptied their repeaters, covering the other’s flank. “Clockwork, part of your training back home was demolitions, right?” Crimson asked. “Yeah. It was mostly not making bombs out of everyday shit, but I know how. I mean, it’s mandatory, isn’t it?” “Forgot. You build the bomb, I’ll cover your ass. Get it done quickly.” “Sir, couldn’t we plant some of your frag grenades on the door and set them off?” “No. The explosion may be small, but I’d rather not risk a piece of metal slicing my head off.” “Yes, sir.” Clockwork unslung his saddlebag and poured out its contents: some table sugar, gunpowder, plywood, sparks, ignition plugs, and adhesive. He built a box from the plywood and carefully eyeballed the measurements of sugar and powder. It was an odd explosive he liked to make; it had quite a kick, but was ridiculously easy to make if you did it right. He mixed the two powders into a single pile in the box, making sure to leave just the tiniest bit of air in it before sealing the box shut and configuring the ignitor, placing the entire apparatus up against the doors. He trailed the thin rope to a covering corner and signaled for Crimson to do the same. “Fire in the hole!” he screamed. His lit latch set the rope ablaze, causing the fire to eat away at it down the trail its fuel set for it. The fire reached the ignition and set it off. A fairly loud BOOM echoed off the sound-reflecting crystal corridor, increasing its magnitude threefold. The great crystal-infused wood doors shook violently, but stayed on their hinges. The bottom of said doors was charred and a shallow dent showed the site of the explosion. “Damn,” Crimson commented. Then he fluttered his wings. “Oh, shit! I completely neglected our wings! We’ll just fly around them!” They took flight and flew through a shattered stained-glass window, turning around immediately and going through another that lead into the throne room. Each fired off a shot each as they landed, Crimson facing the throne and Clockwork watching the door. They rolled and skidded a foot when they hit the floor and fired more rounds into the guards. “I don’t see Sombra, sir.” Clockwork said unnecessarily. “Where is he?” Crimson growled. “The coward should be here!” Clockwork looked up. “Sir, I think I know what that lever back in the library did. There’s a message on the ceiling.” Crimson followed his comrade’s gaze, reading the magical inscription: For those who run, for those who flee Face every eventuality. We stand as one, our home long gone Or far across the sea. With hero’s call and Royal Creed, We charged and fought for each other in the war to last thee. The end of the line, the top of the mount It means nothing but the finale. In our absence we create the Gem To house our rulers for eternity. But in the end, the top is it We hit the peak and win. “What do you think it means, sir?” the junior Pegasus asked. “It’s a riddle. A final task puzzle. For those who flee… I don’t get it. Sombra, maybe? Our home long gone… The Dominion used to be here. As for across the sea, our home is Atlantis. The other side of the Celestial Sea. With hero’s call and Royal Creed? All of our armies, perhaps? We charged and fought for each other in the war to last thee. Royal voice uses ‘thee,’ and the war must be this one or one before it. The end of the line, the top of the mount means nothing but the finale. The final battle at the top of the heap. In our absence we create the Gem to house our rulers for eternity - the Dominion! But in the end, the top is it; we hit the peak and win. All this points to the Dominion except the ‘top,’” Crimson mused. A flash of shadow magic flashed before them, shaking the floor and blasting a hole in it. “The peak! The top of the castle! Of course!” Crimson cried, the blast having given him an epiphany. “I’ll go, sir. I might be able to drive him down here.” Clockwork suggested. Crimson nodded his consent. The younger Pegasus, his shiny bronze coat glimmering in the mid-afternoon light, took off and zipped to the top of the castle. Going past his target, he was able to get an impressive view of the surrounding battle. Most of Crystal City was ablaze from Atlantean incendiary shot, with the rest either in ruins like the southern side or smoking from the incoming armies. He saw that the American Marines were coming in now, streaming through the tiny gap Colonel Flintstone’s Dazzleflash Rangers had made, followed by Midnight Shadow’s 1st Manehattan. The 4th Manehattan and 7th Los Pegasus, led by Silver Comet and Crystal Snow, respectively, weaved their way around the fiery north end of the city. His own AREA and the Domination Army remnants were bowling balls, with the Crystal Imperials the pins and the streets their lane. Clockwork held a grenade in one hoof, popping it right at Sombra’s hooves and pulling the pin. The King of Shadows noticed this at the last second and, without contemplating his target, teleported back to the throne room, dragging Andromeda with him. At the same time, he released almost enough shadow magic to literally shred a pony. It slammed into Clockwork and took his wings from him. As he fell to his death, he reflected on his life and knew it was his time. ---------------------- “Sombra, King of Shadows. I have been waiting to to do this for a damn long time,” Crimson announced. “Too long has your tyrannical rule threatened Equestria and the rest of the known world. I’ve seen pretty bad in the Dominion, but you are downright evil.” “Colonel Crimson Sunsteel Dawn, Second Coastal Regiment, Atlantean Reserve Emergency Army. You have fought valiantly for both your country and Celestia’s. Had you not joined Celestia’s pitiful resistance, this confrontation would never have happened. Needless numbers of ponies have died, and for what purpose? Princess Celestia believes in an Equestria that can never exist in this world, nor any world. Her sister embraces this as well, and she has poisoned the minds of her citizens with a false hope that war, pain, and famine are things found only in fantasy.” Sombra held his calm with an evil grace. His voice never rose as he continued: “My only wish is to open the eyes of Celestia and her little ponies to the real world. In doing so, this wasteful war erupted and here we are.” “You want to just open her already seeing eyes?” Crimson asked. He held his own as well. “Trust me, they’re open. They’ve been open. She wants to keep her citizens from experiencing the pain. That I can understand. Yes, she has failed in that regard. Yes, she could have done better. But she did what she could to prevent the very thing you have brought to this part of the world. “Princess Celestia knew that she could never possibly keep war from Equestria forever, yet she tried - and for more than a thousand years, she succeeded! That in itself is accomplishment.” “Your precious Princess is nothing more than a pony who is no longer able to wield the Elements of Harmony. She allowed them to collect dust for a millennium, and when the time came for them to be used, she was powerless and had to rely on her subjects to protect Equestria for her. Celestia is a coward; that much is clearly seen.” “Says the Unicorn who hid from a Pegasus wandering through his own halls. Celestia is my cousin by marriage many times removed. You’ll do well to remember that next time you decide to pick a fight with Equestria.” Crimson held his repeater with his right wing. He aimed down the barrel and fired a single round. Sombra pulled Andromeda between them at the same moment Crimson pulled the trigger. She cried as the bullet pierced her chest and burrowed itself in her sternum. The bone splintered lightly and its pieces caused secondary wounds in her upper chest, with one cutting into one of her bronchial tubes. Sombra dropped her and she collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily and grasping at her throat. Her eyes were open wider than Reagan was long, her cut throat already affecting her. Crimson let the repeater fall to the floor. That wasn’t supposed to happen. He drew his short sword and his hazel eyes seemed to burn pure rage into Sombra’s soul. The jet-black mane with its single blue stripe atop the Pegasus’s head frizzled slightly; so much energy was radiating off the Atlantean. “One on one. No spells. Just swords.” Sombra immediately accepted the challenge without a word, not that one was necessary. He pulled a razor-sharp, jagged-edge longsword made of nightsteel out of a night-black shadow and charged. Crimson raised his sword with his right wing and clashed against Sombra’s blade. The grating of steel on nightsteel screeched with higher pitch than a train’s brakes. Fire burned brightly in both opponent’s eyes. Crimson switched to his left and spun into Sombra’s exposed side. The sword dug into his gut, slicing all the way to the spine before coming back out. Sombra healed himself quickly, which raised the Atlantean’s eyebrows. The Unicorn swung his own blade, its jagged edge slicing Crimson’s back like a whip. The Pegasus ducked as it shaved part of his mane and barely touched the fur on his head. Crimson dodged a second attack and parried Sombra’s blows. Since the King of Shadows used his magic to wield the weapon, Crimson would only wear himself down. The red Pegasus knew this and dove over his repeater, picking it up with his robotic left wing. Without a second thought, he fired it into Sombra’s horn, shattering it. Sombra dropped the longsword and Crimson fired again, this time hitting the king’s flank. The King of Shadows was not done yet, however. He pulled five small gems of four colors - pink, purple, yellow, and sky blue. He threw them with his hoof into Crimson, blinding his adversary in the right eye, slicing a metal feather, and burying them in his side. Crimson fired the last round in his repeater into Sombra’s face. The bullet penetrated the brain, and Sombra instantly fell dead. Crimson limped wearily to his choking daughter. She still clung to life, albeit barely, using her alicorn magic to hang on just enough. “Andromeda, take my hoof.” She did. “Dad, don’t leave me. You’ll be fine.” She coughed up blood. “Keep Aunt Crystal Shard safe.” “No,” Crimson replied. He took off his silver locket, the one that had been around his neck since he joined the Atlantean army. He unclasped the lock and placed it into his daughter’s hooves. “I’ve lived my time. Now it’s your turn.” As Andromeda took the locket, tears in her dying eyes, a magical aura enveloped them both. It was a deep crimson color, the same color that was Crimson’s coat. The aura spiraled into Andromeda and her wounds healed enough to cease her choking and blood loss. “Dad!” She held Crimson’s head in her hooves. “Your mother enchanted that locket. She placed my life force in it so that I could not die lest it be removed from me. It’s yours now.” He coughed weakly and his eyes looked on to infinity. “I… love… y…” His eyes lulled back and his head went limp. The neck muscles relaxed. Andromeda checked for a pulse and found none. She tilted her head back and wailed loudly into the mid-afternoon battle smoke now reaching the castle. “No, Dad, no…” She leaned on her father’s dead body and cried, waiting for the armies to finally reach the castle and enter. -------------------- Crystal Snow and Silver Comet broke into the throne room first. They had led their regiments through the flames faster than the American Marines did the ruins of the eastern city. Silver Comet looked around and saw Sombra lying dead near the center of the chamber. A young late-evening alicorn was over the body of a red Pegasus, his left wing replaced by a torn robotic counterpart. Several deep gashes showed his wounds in gory detail. Five crystals had been pulled out of his wounds, which Crystal Snow immediately recognized. She hurried to pick up the gems, but stopped as she realized who the Pegasus was. “Colonel!” she cried. Silver Comet also galloped to the filly’s side. “No, don’t go, don’t go, Father…” the filly whispered. “Andromeda.” The dusty-ice Earth pony sat next to the alicorn. “He’s gone.”