//------------------------------// // Chapter 056: Imperfected Korsan // Story: Ultimate Equestria // by Leo Pachino //------------------------------// Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack remained to pressure Korsan. They continued towards the quarterdeck. If they could reach Korsan’s true body and attack it, his fusion with The Perfection will surely be broken. Korsan could not risk that, and would focus all of his power just to stop them. “Incoming!” Rainbow yelled out. The heroic trio looked forward and saw five of Korsan’s massive electric swords rise in front of Korsan, ready to strike. The swords swung into the mares, unleashing all of their electric might. The mares quickly dodged to the left and right of each swing, just fitting between the blades as they slammed down. The closer the mares go to the quarterdeck, the more frantic and random Korsan’s swings became. One of the blades skidded across the deck in a haphazard slam, destroying anything in its path. As this turned out, this was one of Korsan’s biggest mistake. Hollers in the distance echoed behind the three. It was Slasher, Cecil, Maurice, Jarvis, and Nitin. The rogue swing attack from before had smashed the crossbow-cannons, allowing the four of them to escape. The four galloped to Twilight and the others, hoping to rejoin with them. “Fear the wrath of The Perfection!” Korsan roared. The swords stacked together at the edge of the deck, their blades aimed at the ponies to the side. One of the swords slid across the deck towards the heroes. They jumped over the speeding sword. The sword pulled up and another swooped in. The mares ducked under it accordingly. As the second sword reached the other side, the last three swords swung at the mares once. The heroes jumped and snuck through the small gaps between the razor sharp blades. The swords returned from their natural stance at the head of Korsan. The heroes quickly took this time to recover and wipe sweat from their faces. Their break only lasted for a second before one of the swords set its attack. The sword rose high into the sky, preparing to slice this entire ship in two. “Already?” Dash gasped. “There’s just no stop to this!” Twilight exclaimed. “That’s it! I’ve had enough of this.” Applejack groaned, throwing her hat to the floor, odd, as the hat hadn’t flown off of her head throughout all of this, only sustaining a few burns and scratches. Slowly, Applejack walked to the center of the deck. She was aligned perfectly with the strip of charged metal above. “What are you doing?!” Twilight yelled out. “Three words for you, ‘Perfected’ Korsan; Rules of Nature…” The four other blades activated and dropped down first. Applejack steadily leapt over the first blade as it swept low. The other three swords slashed at Applejack from every direction at rampant speeds. They recklessly destroyed everything surrounding her. In the epicenter of the chaos was Applejack, dodging every attack and fragment of metal and energy hurled in her general direction. Like the eye of the hurricane, Applejack remained at peace while everything around her tore to shreds. Twilight and Dash flew away from the massive swings while they watched their friend on the sidelines. Applejack was practically dancing with the swords, utilizing her natural Earth pony talents to the fullest. Chunks of the airship broke off and reformed underneath Applejack. However, some sections fell beyond Korsan’s magical influence, for not even his magic could keep up with Applejack’s endurance. The four blades parted. The raised sword finally swung down at full force. It dove directly at Applejack, it’s blade melting with electric power. Applejack quickly returned to her hooves, ready. In a flash of electric light, Applejack grabbed the humongous sword by the sides of the blade. Sparks erupted from her hooves as they locked onto the sword tighter and tighter. The floor below cratered beneath the sheer mass and power of the sword and Applejack. This gargantuan sword was being held up by a pony only one third its height, all of its force concentrated in the two hooves Applejack had planted in the floor. Despite the electric burns of the molten blade, Applejack stood firm. Metal cables and structures that ran under the deck buckled and burst from the floor. With one mighty heave, Applejack yanks the blade forward. The joints of the robotic arm that held the sword screeched in pain. They buckled, bent, and snapped. The massive sword slowly pulled away from Korsan’s mechanical grip and into the hold of Applejack. The sword finally snapped off, launching high into the air and out of sight. Applejack leapt from the crater and backed a fair distance away from the quarterdeck. The electric sword dropped down from the red clouds and fell right towards Applejack. Applejack grabbed onto the back joint of the sword. Now, it was her weapon. Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped to the floor, lost in words of what she is seeing. This comparatively tiny pony was wielding a hundred-metre-long blade of electric power. Dash sputtered, “H-h-h-how-w are y-you-” “Dashy,” Twilight poked at Dash’s shoulder. Dash turned to Twilight. She saw that her horn was emitting a faint beam onto Applejack. Twilight was casting a boosting spell on Applejack. Regardless, it was Applejack doing the heavy lifting and Twilight’s spell was only a minor buff. “Oh.” Dash said. “Go help her! This strength boost won’t help without some precision.” Twilight said. “Got it!” Rainbow Dash quickly darted to the end of the blade’s back cover and tightly held it. The three mares raised the blade to Korsan’s floating metal head. Korsan roared with great fury. He engaged his four swords and attacked. Korsan swung a sword to the right. The mares turned their sword around and swing back. Upon collision, a thunderous boom detonated from the blades. Both sides were knocked back by the insane recoil. Korsan swung from the other side. Applejack and Dash quickly shifted their stance and struck back. On recoil, Korsan raised a sword from both sides dropped down. On the way down, a string of lightning struck the blades, turning them into hyper-electrified metal prongs. The mares turned their sword horizontal and parried. The force of the blow formed an even greater crater below Applejack. The two sides continued to clash their swords together, throwing all of their strength into each strike. Lightning struck Korsan’s metallic structure, turning the robotic patches of his ship into deathtraps. The rain didn’t make it any easier, spreading his electrocuting aura throughout the air. While it slowed down the ponies, they continued to cling to their lives. Finally, the mares got the upper hoof and stabbed one of Korsan’s swords, dislocating it from Korsan’s machine arm. They went in for the kill, swinging at the base of Korsan’s head on the quarterdeck. Two swords jumped in and held back the heroes’ sword. The three blades locked together. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle threw all of their might into pushing forward. Korsan went in for the flank and attempted to jab his third sword Applejack But before it hits, several unseen harpoons latch onto it and pull it away. From behind the quarterdeck rose one of the ships from below. Lifted by an army of pegasi, the ship was able to reach Korsan and fire harpoons at him. In a desperate attempt to free himself, Korsan lifted the sword Rarity, November, and Maria were fighting on and slashed at the ship. With one offhoof blow, the sword sliced the ship in two. Its halves split apart and plummeted into the ocean. But, unbeknownst to Korsan, Spike, Yin, and Yu were on that ship. When the sword cut through, the three boys jumped onto the sword and rode it back to The Perfection. From the tip of the sword, Spike, Yin, and Yu ran towards the quarterdeck along the metal cover of the sword. The stallions and Spike made their way across the whipping sword whilst avoiding the wreckage of their ship pouring on them. Two thirds of the way there, they saw Rarity, November, and Maria. However, it was now Rarity fighting the alone, as November had been taken over by Korsan as well. November couldn’t mentally endure the battle, and Korsan took advantage of her at her weakness. Outmatched two-to-one, Rarity was at the end of her rope. “Rarity!” Spike exclaimed. “We got this.” Yin told Spike. Yin and Yu pulled out their katanas and teleported in between Rarity and Korsan’s mind-controlled proxies. “Yin?! Yu?!” Rarity shouted, jumping back in surprise. “How did you boys get here?!” “One of the ships were being evacuated by Princess Celestia’s troops, something about a leaked hull or something, I don’t know-” Yu explained. Yin interrupted just as he entered a blade lock against Maria, “The point is that we hijacked it and, with the help of some pegasi, are now at your rescue.” “Hey Yin, how about asking her for a kiss? You deserve it for saving her life.” Yu slyly suggested. “What? No, you do it, you played an equal part.” Yin snapped back. “I got Slasher, it wouldn’t be right.” “Well what if Rarity has a special somepony?” “Touché… Hey, Yin, quick observation: Why are we fighting mind-controlled versions of November and Maria on top of a giant sword in the middle of a hurricane again?” “Huh, wha-Oh. Korsan entered some super-form and has possessed these two and now they’re evil or something, I guess.” Yin said. “…Makes sense.” As the two brothers continued to battle the mares, Rarity and Spike kept back. The two saw two small tentacles slithering across the sword towards Yin and Yu. The tentacles opened and an erratic stream of electric energy poured from their ends. It was what Rarity saw attacking Maria just before she was possessed. Rarity yelled out to the brothers, “Watch out!” But it was too late. The tentacles attacked the, searing them in electric shock. Yin and Yu hollered and screamed. They struggled to escape before suddenly dropping to the floor dead silent in front of the four ponies. Slowly, the two got back onto their hooves. A look of optimism sprouted on Spike’s and Rarity’s faces. However, they immediately turned to shock as the brothers turned around. They had fallen under Korsan’s control. They turned their weapons to Rarity and Spike. “No…” Rarity gasped. The four controlled ponies cackled in maniacal laugher as they forced their prey back towards the end of the sword. The blade suddenly jerked upward and swung over to the main deck. There, Rarity and Spike see their friends, still locked against Korsan. Rarity and Spike leapt down from the sword onto the deck. The four proxies followed suit and pursued their targets. The now free sword snuck behind the massive blade lock, preparing to stab Applejack. Rainbow Dash and Twilight saw this, but were powerless in her situation. “Twilight! We need to do something fast!” Dash yelled. “I know!” Twilight groaned, focusing all of her energy into supporting Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “If only there was some way we can get Korsan to overwhelm himself… Gah…” In the corner of the eye, Twilight saw Rarity and Spike approaching her as well as the small army of Korsan’s proxies. Korsan seemed to be able to transmit his consciousness into his mind-controlled bodies. Perhaps it worked vice versa. An idea immediately sparked in her head. “Rarity! Strobe them!” She loudly commanded. Rarity instantly followed. She fired an extraordinary light from her horn. The light instantly blinded the incoming ponies. Korsan’s true body roared in pain, his swords immediately twitching and weakening. “Applejack! Rainbow Dash! He’s open! Let’s do this!” Twilight exclaimed. Dash and Applejack nodded and gave one final push with their mighty sword. Korsan’s swords were instantly shoved back, leaving Korsan’s head wide open. The mares launched their finishing blow. The blade sliced into Korsan’s floating head. The electric blade was pushed all the way through to the back of his metallic skull side. Korsan screamed in agony. His dying appendages flailed wildly. It was super effective! Despite his desperate efforts to keep stable, Korsan’s massive airship body shut down. His floating head slowly slumped forward and dropped onto the quarterdeck. His four mind-controlled proxies groaned in pain before Korsan’s connection snapped off. Yin, Yu, Maria, and November instantly snapped back to normal. “Huh, what happened?” Yin groaned, regaining his balance and memories. “Did we do something stupid?” Yu asked. “We did it!” Rainbow Dash cheered. As she, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Spike celebrated and Yin, Yu, November, and Maria recovered, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Maurice, Cecil, Jarvis, Nitin, and Slasher the other heroes rejoined their friends and celebrated over their victory. “I just had the weirdest dream. We were all fighting Rarity on top of a giant metal plank in the sky…” November muttered. “Well, that did happen. Korsan possessed you with magic.” Spike replied. “Damn him. I hope I didn’t cause too much trouble,” Maria moaned, rubbing her numb forehead. Walking in front of the stiff metal head, Twilight triumphantly announced to all, “What matters now is that we did it! We have saved the world from Korsan. Though tiny we were compared to his power, his size, his tongue, his fear, his ship, his unpredictable nature-” Korsan suddenly sprung alive. His giant metal head lunged forward and engulfed Twilight in one swift bite. “Twilight!” The ponies shrieked. They watched in horror as Korsan returned to his active state. It’s like what they just did was nothing. He was practically ignoring the massive blade that was still rammed in his head. “Spit Twilight out!” Spike yelled. “What the-” Rarity gasps. “-it’s still alive!” Applejack exclaimed. “Ha, that was close.” Korsan taunted. “If that sword moved just an inch move, you all might’ve got me. Regardless, you failed.” Korsan leaned his airship body forward to a vertical angle. He rapidly rose higher into the storming skies. The fifteen ponies on board tumbled down the face of the deck by the insane gravitational forces unleashed on them. They caught themselves on the edge of the destroyed bow. Another battleship was lifted by the army of pegasi and came to their rescue. The battleship slowly approached the ponies, keeping the deck directly below. “You aren’t getting away!” Korsan roared. A loud rumble erupted just below the ponies dangling on the bow. The insides of the bow reformed and gutted themselves out. A gigantic cannon emerged out from the hull and aimed at the floating battleship. Energy built up inside the cannon as it locked on, a blinding green light bursting from the opening. “Look out!” The heroes shrieked. All they could do is hold onto the crumbling wood mangle that was the deck and watch the destruction of the battleship. Anypony was on the ship and the pegasi below were doomed to die. However, just before the cannon fired, the entire remainder of the bow suddenly exploded in a massive fireball of magic. The cannon was obliterated into hundreds of pieces of scrap metal and magic fallout. Smoke quickly engulfed the area. The heroes were flung into the air from the shockwave. The floating ship quickly rose and caught the fifteen. They looked back over to the destroyed bow to see something incredible. Out of the smoke emerged Twilight, slightly beat up, but still fighting. “Twilight!” Her friends cheered. Twilight flew down to her friends on the ship, but they all motioned for her to go back to Korsan. “Finish him off! We’ll be fine.” Rainbow roared. The others cheered, “Yeah, go!” “I will!” Twilight proudly replied. With a flick of her wings, Twilight flipped around and flew back to Korsan. She landed onto the vertical deck edge. She looked at her target: Korsan’s electromagnetically lifted head. The sword was still jammed in it, just short of hitting his true body. If I can just reach that sword, I can finish this once and for all. Korsan is moving too quickly for me to fly, so I’m just going to have to run it. Twilight told herself as she pawed into her wood and metal floor. “Back for more?!” Korsan roared. “You ponies don’t give up!” “Yeah, it’s a bad habit.” Twilight replied. “Happens to all of us it seems.”