//------------------------------// // The Little Sea Pony Returns To The Sea Part 5: The Battle For Seaquestria // Story: Dragonfire 🐲 Enter The Dragon Hero 🐲 // by Phantom-Dragon //------------------------------// [Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - Mermaids OST] The Wailing Condor was flying over Seaquestria, with the Cerulean Hunters arming themselves for another hunt of magical creatures. This time, Sea Ponies are the main course for them. "Oh, I can just taste those delicious sea ponies now!" One of the hunters licked his chops, hungrily. "It'll be so much better than all those disgusting fishes we've been forced to eat for the past weeks!" "Don't forget soldier," Kale began, making his presence known. "The majority of these precious sea creatures are for our client. But if we're successful, then he just might leave us a few for dinner." The hunter nodded his head, "Understood." Looking back at all of the hunters onboard the ship, Kale shouted, "Ready the mines! We'll blast these Sea Ponies out of hiding!" With that, the hunters all activated some huge metal balls with spikes, causing them to flash red lights before hurling them down into the waters of Seaquestria, and all around Mt. Aris. Up on the surface, the surviving civilians from Klugetown who had just taken residence in Mt. Aris, all looked up with dread, "No, not again!" One of them moaned. Meanwhile, beneath the waters, and hidden among the cliffs of Mt. Aris, Queen Novo's soldiers were all in position. The soldiers under the water have armed themselves with spears and tridents of sorts, while the ones in the mountain were changed into hippogriffs, and were armed with an array of cannons, and crossbows. Stationing with them in the cliffs are Spike and his group of heroes. As the Cerulean Hunters rained several storms of missiles and mines from the Wailing Condor, the soldiers beneath the water were all swimming in a zig-zagging and circle-like pattern, in an attempt to throw the hunters' aims off, though a few were a little too close. "Ready. Aim...." General Seaspray began, raising his talon up, before slashing forward, "FIRE!!!" With that, the hippogriffs all fired their cannons and arrows, up at the Wailing Condor, and striking down some of its surrounding air fleets. Many of the hunters who fell overboard plunged into the water, where they were skewered by the sea ponies armed with their spears and tridents. Sour Sweet readied her arrow, carefully taking aim, before at the last second she released her grip on her arrow's tip, letting it fly. However, this particular arrow she fired was equipped with a homing technology, allowing it to make a smooth upward turn, straight towards a hunter. Furthermore, with the power and strength from her arm, the arrow flew at a blinding speed that was too fast for a naked eye, as the hunter was caught off guard and fell from the deck of the airship. "Nice shot, Sour!" Indigo complimented as she and the girl shared a quick high-five. But the worst has yet to pass, "So, these magical creatures want to play rough, eh?" Kale asked. "Air fighters! Away!" With that, the hunters who were equipped jetpacks, along with those on hover bikes, all leapt off from the Wailing Condor, blasting into the fray, "Get them out of the waters!" Kale commanded. "Magical sea creatures are powerless out of their watery domain!" With that, most of the flying hunters quickly hurled several powerful explosives that sent many of the sea ponies into the air, where they were quickly captured by most of the hunters. "I don't think so!" Sour Sweet snarled, taking another aim, and shot an arrow at the hunters, forcing them to release the sea ponies back into the water. "YEAH!! TAKE THAT SEA WORLD!!!" Button Mash cheered. "It's revenge of the sea!" "Fire on the cliffs!" Kale ordered. With that, many of the hunters who were behind the cannons all shot some missiles towards the armies on the cliffs, exploding upon impact. Kale laughed crudely, before he took a closer look. When the smokes cleared up, the hunters were shocked to see Mt. Aris was still standing, and completely clean of craters made from explosives. Instead, a sudden flash of green fire and the hunters were thrown off by the sudden appearance of a purple serpentine winged dragon, clad in a suit of armor, wearing a red cape, leading a whole flock of hippogriff guards. 'Boosted dragon!' Spike shouted mentally, releasing a powerful fireball that exploded and took out many of the hunters, while the hippogriffs around him all screeched angrily as they slashed their claws, and viciously snapped their beaks, tearing the hunters off of their hover bikes, and ripping their jet packs off. "A dragon?!" Kale shouted, before he looked through his binoculars and spotted Spike flying among the hippogriff guards. "Wait a minute...that's the dragon Jason described!" Kale cracked a wicked grin. "Well then, looks like it's high time for a little payback!" "Commander!" One of his men shouted. Kale turns to him, "What is it?" "We're getting some strange readings of that dragon, sir." The hunter explained, showing his commander the scanning device, which displays the levels of magic from Spike. Kale raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?" "I-I don't know, sir. It's not like any other dragons we scanned." The hunter explained. Kale was in deep thought about this, 'There's no way we could get a reading like that from a dragon' He thought inwardly to himself, 'Unless...' He then turns to the hunter, "Order all hunters to capture that dragonalive! I don't care how, just as long as they bring him back breathing!" The hunter saluted, "Yes sir!" Turning to his comrades, the hunter shouted, "Hunters! Forget the sea ponies!! Target the dragon! Make sure he's captured alive!" This didn't go unheard, as Spike looked around him to see the hunters were all turning their attentions on him, aiming their guns with red dots projected on his whole body, "Aw, man...." Spike moaned. "Not this again..." With a pull of a trigger, the hunters all fired a storm of nerve bullets, only for Spike to swiftly and skillfully caught them all as he spins himself into a tornado, before launching them back at the hunters. Unfortunately, the hunters were armored with thick bullet proof jumpsuits, "This one's got an attitude!" One of the hunters exclaimed. "And a badass one!" "Well then, give him an MPG!" Another shouted, as they got out the said anti-magic grenades. "Not this time!" Spike said to himself, remembering his magic defense lessons with Twilight. At the last second, the grenades were thrown, and Spike disappeared in a flash of green fire, just as the bombs made impact. "What! Where'd it go?!" One of the hunters asked in bewilderment. "I'm right here, Dog Face!" Spike announced, in dog form as he jumps at one of the hunters, and bit him on the nose. "OW!! GET IT OFF!!" The hunter cried out, before he and Spike fell off the hover bike and plunged towards the waters below. Concentrating into his powers, Spike sprouted his wings, and flew off, while narrowly evading the hunters' fires. In the meantime, the rest of the hippogriff guards tried to help their dragon comrade, but were all ensnared by electric nets and bolas, causing them to plunge from the sky. Luckily, the hippogriffs were rescued by the combined efforts of both Spike and the Sea Pony Guards, before the Dragon Prince flew back into the crossfires. The rest of his friends all anxiously watch from the cliffs, "He's not gonna last much longer," Sugarcoat said bluntly. "At this rate, it's only a matter of time before Spike gets shot down and taken away by those magic poachers." "Geez, no kiddin' Miss Obvious," Indigo grumbled. Sour Sweet quickly readied her arrows, "I'll save him!" "No!" Sunny Flare shouted, stopping the Shadowbolt archer in time. "It's too risky, even with your skills and arrows, dearie. You could hit Spike." "Then what'll we do?" Sour asked. "We go in!" Rumble shouted, as flapped his wings and charged into the fray, wielding the Sword of Honor in hand. "Rumble! NO!!" Celaeno shouted, but to no avail. Rumble charging headfirst into the fray didn’t go unnoticed, “Sir! We got a bogey! It’s one of those Equestrian ponies!” A hunter reported. “It appears to be aiding the dragon!” “Then it’s just one more of our enemies,” Kale noted. “GET THE PONY AS WELL!!” Locking eyes on Rumble, many of the flying hunters all projected blades of pure energies, slashing at Rumble who quickly parry with his sword. “We gotta get in on the actions!” Pipsqueak said. “We just got to help Spike and Rumble!” “And how do we do that?” Featherweight asked. “We can’t all fly up there. And I’m not strong enough to carry all of you guys.” “Argh! If only we had gotten our hands on one of their hover bikes,” Indigo grumbled. Just then, a missile came flying and it struck the mountain, blasting a hippogriff guard off his perch. “AAAAHHHH!!!” The guard screamed. “FATHER!!” A younger hippogriff screeched, lunging forward and caught his father by the talon. “I’ve got you!” Unfortunately, the cliff beneath them suddenly gave way and the two hippogriffs plunged towards the water below. "Hang on!" Button Mash shouted as he and Celaeno jumped after the hippogriffs, catching them by the neck, before Button hurled a long chain with a block at the end towards a cliff, snaring a branch, catching themselves in time, and swinging back up to the cliffs. “You guys okay?” Button asked. “Yeah, I think so,” The hippogriff answered, while on behalf of his father. "Thanks for saving us back there," The hippogriff smiled. "Name's Terramar. And this is my dad, Sky Beak." “Pleased to meet you all,” Sky Beak bowed gratefully. In appearance, Terramar has moderate cyan eyes that matched with his mane and tail with streaks of pale turquoise, and fluffy apple greenish white feathers and fur. Sky Beak is taller than his son, with piercing brilliant gamboge eyes, light azureish and sapphire bluish gray mane, with pale, light grayish sapphire blue coat of feathers and fur. He was clad from head to hooves, talons, and wings, in a suit of gold armor plates with symbol of an underwater plant imprinted on the chest. Before the pleasant meet and greet could go on any further, another explosion sounded off, and the heroes looked out to see the battle that was still raging on outside. "What's it gonna take to drive these hooligans off?" Sky Beak muttered. "I've asked myself that question many times," Capper muttered. Terramar anxiously watched the battle raging on outside, before he noticed some of the hunters who managed to slip past the front lines of the sea ponies and hippogriffs' defenses, "Oh no! Dad! They got through!" He squawked in alert. "WHAT?!!" Sky Beak's eyes zoomed in on the hunters who got through, before he squawked. "Cliff Squad D, defense maneuver! Go! Go! Go!" With that, several armored hippogriff guards quickly picked up some shields and lances, which they used to protect themselves from the hunters' bullets, as well as their anti-magic grenades while driving them off with their lances. "Look!" Rumble shouted, pointing everyone's attention to show more flying hunters were coming in, together with a whole flock of robotic vultures. "They just don't quit!" "This is terrible!" Terramar whimpered. "At this rate, we'll be outnumbered, and we'll lose more than just our home!" "Not if we can help it!" Button declared, Helmet of Wisdom flashing a golden aura. "Terra! Can you give me and Pip a lift?" "Sure," Terra replied, as he got down to allow both boys to get on. "Ow! Easy with the mane!" Terra replied, when Pip took a strong grip on the hippogriff's mane. "Wait a minute!" Celaeno exclaimed when she took notice of the boys' action. "What are ya scalawags doing?" "Let's ride!" Button shouted, with a kick to Terramar's side, and the hippogriff thrusted himself into the air, flapping away with the boys on his back. "GET BACK HERE!!!" Celaeno squawked, before she jumped onto Sky Beak and ordered. "Follow those boys!" Terra was flapping his wings, before he and the two Knights on his back met up with Rumble, "Hey guys!" Rumble greeted his comrades before he noticed their new hippogriff friend. "Who's this?" "No time for meet and greet!" Button interrupted. "We gotta take out these hunters and give them a good fashion kick to their damn ass!" Before the boys can continue their conversations, Celestia's sun was blocked out momentarily, beckoning the boys to look up and saw several Cerulean Hunters descending upon them. "Get 'em boys!" One of them shouted. With that, Terramar quickly beats his wings, frantically flying away from the hunters who didn't hesitate to give chase. Many of the hunters lunged after Terramar, who quickly spins to the sides, with Button and Pip on board ducking their hides, narrowly evading slashes from their energy blades. Rumble too was evading from every strikes from the hunters, before he was hit in the chest by an energy blade, protected by his armor, while losing a few feathers from his wings, "Yikes! These guys mean business!" Rumble yelped, just as his wings were pierced by two nerve bullets, causing him to plummet towards the water, had Terra not caught him in time. "Phew, that was close!" Rumble breathed a sigh of relief, before he turned to his fellow Knights. "Okay, so what's the plan now?" Rumble asked. Button opened his mouth to answer, and his helmet's glow died down. "You didn't think this through, did you?" Rumble frowned. "Well, um...." Button stammered. Thinking fast, Pip reached into his backpack, "Quick! Use these!" Pip instructed, handing some of the stolen grenades he got from Celaeno, together with a bow, and a whole stock of arrows. "Good thinking, Pip!" Rumble complimented, sheathing hiss sword while equipping himself with the bow and arrows. "Just what I was thinking," Button grinned, which Pip, Rumble, and their new friend Terra all responded with equal disdains. Button and Rumble quickly took aim, with Rumble readying a bow and an arrow, tipped with a grenade. "Bogey at three o'clock!" Button instructed to which Rumble takes aim. "FIRE!!" With that, Rumble lets loose of his arrow, striking one of the hunters, blasting them off their air vehicle. The other hunters continue in their pursuit after the boys and their new hippogriff friend. Some of the hunters got hit and plummeted into the sea, while more were able to dodge the boys' fires. In the meantime, Button Mash continues to provide some aims, with Rumble taking shots, while Pipsqueak steers Terramar through the air, in a series of quick and sharp aerial maneuvers, including the famous barrel roll, throwing some of the hunters off their tracks. "This! Is! AWESOME!!!!" Rumble cheered, enjoying the adrenaline and the excitement of a real live aerial fight. Soon, the boys came down to their last arrow. One of the hunter made a desperate lunge at Terramar on his hover bike, readying a cannon to shoot the hippogriff down. "Light 'em, up!" Button shouted, in which Rumble quickly shot the last arrow, cleanly into the barrel of the cannon, causing an explosive backfire. "YEAH!!" "Asta la vista, baby!" Rumble blew a raspberry. "Wait to go, Terra!" Pipsqueak smiled, patting the hippogriff on the neck. "Thanks," Terra smiled, before his eyes widened when a Cerulean vulture flew up to him at blinding speed, sharp talons unsheathed and struck the hippogriff, scratching by the shoulder. "AH!!" Terra screeched in pain. "We've been hit!" Pipsqueak shouted as Terramar plunged towards the sea. "Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!" "C'mon, Terra!" Rumble shouted, tugging onto the hippogriff's feathers. "Pull up!" "I can't!" Terra replied. "I'm hurt!" "They're down!" The hunters cheered, as they, together with their vultures, all dived after their preys. "We're gonna crash into the water!" Button screamed, before it dawns on him. "Wait a second. We're gonna crash into the water!" It didn't take long for the boys to realize what Button was getting at, "DUH!!" They smacked themselves. The boys held their breaths, as they braced themselves for a huge splash, while the hunters realized too late and crashed their air vehicles into the waters, rusting up in the process. Beneath the waters, the Knights and Terra quickly swam for shore. Of course, for Terramar, he wasn't swimming as fast as the sea ponies, considering he wasn't in sea pony form. "Don't worry Terra," Button grunted as he and his fellow Knights helped swam Terra to shores. "We got ya." Suddenly, the boys were picked up from behind by a pair of talons. "And we've got you lads," Celaeno said sternly, as she and Sky Beak brought the boys to shore. Meanwhile, back with General Seaspray, the authoritative hippogriff lets out a peculiar screech, signaling his men to flap their wings together, conjuring up a powerful gust of wind, together with the sea ponies who slapped their tail fins, sending globs of waters into the air, which quickly resulted in a powerful hurricane that blew many of the hunters out of the sky, together with their airships. "Yes! It's working!" Tender Taps cheered from the cliffs, with Featherweight snapping some pictures for the moment. "Uh huh," Featherweight replied in agreement. Back on the Wailing Condor, Kale finally had enough, "Playtime's over!" He turned to his canine companions, Wing Diver the Fox and Rotor the Husky, both in their newly repaired mech suits. "Go get 'em boys!" With that, the two mech-driving-canines jumped from the airship, activating their weapons. Rotor fired several taser bullets at the hippogriffs, cleanly shooting them at their wings through the exposed gaps in their suits of armor. The hippogriffs plunged out of the sky, before they were set upon by several Cerulean Robotic Vultures, together with Wing Diver who viciously slashed his swords, hacking at the guards. Some of the sea pony guards whipped out some seaweed whips, all which appeared to stretch a seemingly endless mile, ensnaring many of the hunters and vultures out of the sky. Unfortunately, the vultures were proven to be just as strong, as they reeled the sea ponies out of the water, before they met a quick demise at the hands of the hunters. "Good work boys!" Kale grinned. "Now let's get 'em onboard!" The hunters complied, as they all strapped their fresh kills with some chains as they hauled their catches onboard. "No!" General Seaspray exclaimed, as he watched many of his men being taken by the hunters. Without some of his best men, and their whole formation being broken, they are unable to maintain the hurricane needed to literally turn the tides of war. Spike quickly flapped his wings, "Oh no you don't!" Kale said. "FIRE!!" With that, the hunters all opened fire on Spike, who quickly draped his cape over himself, shielding himself from the hunters' bullets, before he was gone in a flash of fire. "What the-" Before the hunters could react, Spike reappeared, slashing his fire katanas, hurling his shurikens, cutting the chains, dropping the downed hippogriffs and sea ponies into their waters where they were retrieved by their living comrades, leaving behind trails of bloods. "Why that no good....." Kale snarled angrily as he and his men continue to fire after Spike. Wing Diver and Rotor soon flew up to Spike, both snarling viciously at Spike, "Bring it!" Spike challenged. Rotor was the first to act, as the husky charged headfirst, with a pair of shocker gauntlets activated. Spike quickly flapped his wings, swiftly evading the strike, before he returns with a quick jab to the husky's stomach. The husky throws out another punch, which Spike dodged again, before the dragon counters with a quick side kick to the dog's head, protected by his mech's helmet. Wing Diver quickly lunged forward, effectively catching Spike off guard, landing on impact on the young dragon's wing with an energy blade, "AAAAAAHHH!!!" Spike screamed, before he disappears in a flash of fire, giving himself a distance between the two canines. Looking at his inflicted wings, Spike saw a large gash in his wing, courtesy of Wing's sneak attack. "Clever move, fox," Spike commented. "I'll give you that." The two canines were about to attack again, when Peewee suddenly appeared in a brilliant blinding light that blinded the dogs. Spike was about to fight again, when several Cerulean Vultures all attacked him from every directions, moving too fast for him to evade and block at once. Soon, with a final strike to the face, Spike fell out of the sky and crashed into the red waters of Seaquestria. "Spike!" Skystar shouted as she swam over to carry the dragon behind some rocks, where the rest of their friends were waiting. "Spike, are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm okay," Spike groaned. "For now." “It's no use! There’s too many of them!” Capper muttered. “Obviously,” Sugarcoat said bluntly. "I hate to say it lads," Celaeno began. "But even if we stand together and fight, we never stand a chance." Pipsqueak turned to Celaeno, with a look of disbelief, "Are you saying we should surrender, captain?" He asked. "Never!" Celaeno replied, defiantly. "I will never be a prisoner to these Cerulean Scumbags again!" The anthro parrot looked down in defeat. "But I just can't think of any better options guaranteed for victory." Spike looked back at the fight. Seeing the hippogriffs and sea ponies giving their lives to secure their loved ones, as well as their homes, heck even the survivors of Klugetown were shown to at least put up some fights showed some defiance to the Cerulean Hunters. Closing his eyes, Spike struggled to find some answers, when Scorpan's voice echoed through his head, "Remember. Always be strong! Empty your mind. Focus!" Spike opened his eyes, knowing what he needs to do, "I'll lead them away!" Spike suggested. "What?!" His friends exclaimed. "If those hunters want some magic. Then I'll give them some magic. Dragon style!" Spike snarled. "Are you crazy, Spike?" Lemon exclaimed. "You're gonna get yourself killed out there!" "I've done crazier things than this," Spike replied. "Besides, they'll have to catch me first!" "Then let us come with you, bro!" Rumble offered, as he and the Knights all exchanged agreements. "No!" Spike replied. "You guys need to stay here and help the injured. I'll draw their fires away." "But Spike!" Sky pleaded, wrapping her fins around the young prince's cape, which he took off. "Spike!!" With a beat of his wings, Spike leapt into the air, flying as a blur of purple and green, startling some airborne hunters. "What the-" The hunters exclaimed in bewilderment, before they gave chase. Skystar wept as she held Spike's cape to her face, "Please come back," Skystar pleaded, as Queen Novo swam up to wrap the young sea pony close. In the meantime, the Knights and the Shadowbolts looked at each other. Button Mash's helmet glowed its golden aura as he looks to Sunny Flare, and they both exchange an equal nod of acknowledgement. "Shadowbolts! Disappear!" Sunny Flare shouted, as she and the girls all threw down several smoke bombs, dramatically covering their exits. [Cutscene - Opening - Sonic Unleashed] With the Cerulean Hunters following close behind, Spike's senses were on high alert as he flexibly weaves through the rocky formations around Mt. Aris to the mainlands, evading the missiles and bullets being fired on him. A smart homing missile was fired, which Spike's ears perked up to the sound of it, "Hi-YAH!!!" The dragon roared, spinning into a tornado, catching the missile in mid-air with a coil of his tail, before he skillfully hurled it back into the hunters. In retaliation, the hunters deployed more homing missiles at the dragon, who countered with a powerful blast of fireballs and fire shurikens, exploding upon impact with the missiles. Then, remembering a lesson he had with Rainbow Dash, Spike conjured a pair of fire katanas, held them in front as he spins his whole body into drill, flapping his wings for a burst of extra momentum, blasting his way through the hunters' fleet. Wing Diver and Rotor quickly opened fire on Spike with a whole barrel of nerve and taser bullets from their mechs. But Peewee intervened, emitting a blinding ray of light that blinded the fox and husky, allowing Spike to exploded upon the two mechs, before he unfurls himself, unscathed. "Arrrgh! What kind of dragon is it?!" One of the hunters grunted in frustration. "Never mind that! Look at this!" Another hunter panicked. "Its powers are off the chart!" Spike's whole body was coated in a fiery green aura, as he opened his mouth, 'Boosted Dragon!!' He mentally shouted, firing another powerful fireball at the Wailing Condor, exploding upon impact, causing the ship to catch on fire. "That was revenge for all the magical creatures you had slaughtered over the years!" Spike roared. "Yo, Spike!" Lemon called out as she and the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts made themselves known. "Save some for us!" With that, Sour Sweet pulled out three of her newly upgraded arrows, taking aim until she fired her arrows, all homing in on their selected targets, shooting the inflicted hunters out of the sky. Lemon Zest was hiding in a tree, waiting for a flying hunter to pass by. Then at the last second, Lemon hurled the iron ball end of her kusarigma chain, snaring the hunter, pulling him off his hover bike, where he crashed onto the ground. "Oh yeah!" Indigo cheered as she jumped onto the empty hover bike, instantly seizing control of it. "Whoo yeah! Let's take it for a spin!" Sugarcoat joined Indigo, taking a seat behind the athletic girl as she kicked the bike into overdrive. With that, Indigo and Sugar both unsheathed their swords and lessen claws, slashing many of the hunters out of the sky. Sour Sweet changed some of her arrows, before she fired them at some of the flying hunters. Many of the arrows she fired turned out to be ice arrows as they froze the hunters and their flying gears upon impact. A few more exploded upon impact, while the last ones exploded into electric nets, capturing the hunters they ensnare. Lastly, Sunny Flare unsheathed two tessen fans, which she used to deflect many of the Cerulean Hunters' taser, nerve, and regular bullets, protecting both herself and her teammates. Sunny Flare was forced back at the edge of a cliff. "AAAAHHH!!" Sunny screamed when she slipped and fell off the cliff. Fortunately, in a blur of purple, Spike caught the leading Shadowbolt, "You okay there?" Spike asked. "I am now dearie," Sunny smiled. "Then hang on," Spike advised, to which Sunny took a firm hold of his horns as the dragon flew circles around the hunters, with Sunny throwing storms of kunai blades, striking at both the hunters' flying gears, short circuiting and blasting the hunters out of the sky. "ARRRRRGGHH!!!" Kale grunted, before he ordered, "Quick! Let's get out of here!" With that, the Cerulean Hunters retreated to their airship, including Wing Diver and Rotor. The Crystal Prep Shadowbolts cheered in celebration, believing victory's theirs, "Yeah! Take that! Cerulean Blunders!" Indigo mocked, together with Lemon Zest. Sunny felt pleased with herself and her girls, when she noticed Spike looking unease, together with Peewee, "Dearie, what's the matter?" Sunny asked. "Shhhh," Spike hushed, to which the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts quickly became silent. Ears on high alert, whiskers blowing in the breeze, nose still smelling the fresh stench of ozone, gasoline littered from the fight, Spike carefully analyzed the surrounding. Spike's eyes quickly opened, "LOOK OUT!!" Spike shouted, slashing his fire katana, landing an impact on something invisible, which revealed itself to be another Cerulean Hunter. "AH!!" Sunny screamed as she and her Crystal Prep girls were quickly on high alert. Indigo was slashing her blades endlessly, before she was socked in the gut by something. Then she was picked up by the scruff of her collar and thrown into Lemon Zest, getting tangled in the rock girl's kusarigma's chain in the process. Sour Sweet furiously fired her arrows, before she quickly remembered, "I got it!" She quickly got out a scope, which she dons up. Upon activation, the archer was enabled thermal vision, allowing her to see the invisible hunters, "Got ya!" She smiled, firing a homing arrow upon her targets, before she sights her sights on some more, "Sugar! Duck!" Sugarcoat complied, as Sour fired an ice arrow to freeze another invisible hunter, which Sugar didn't hesitate to slice and dice with her shuko claws. Sour fired some more arrows at the other invisible hunters, only for them to deflect her arrows, slashing them in the process with their energy blades. Before long, some of the hunters tackled Sour, while disarming the girl of her bow and arrows, as well as her scope, which they broke to pieces. *CHOMP* Spike had shifted into dog form and managed to bit on one of the invisible hunters. The hunter jumped in surprise, before he was picked up by the strong dog and thrown into the rest of his comrades, getting them off of Sour. Suddenly, a set of small missiles were launched, to which Spike quickly grabbed Sour and they rolled out of the way, dodging the firearms. "Whoa, thanks," Sour gasped, before she looked down to see where Spike's paw was resting on. "Um, Spike?" "What?" Spike looked down, before he blushed, seeing where his paw was on. "Oh! Sorry!" Spike quickly apologized, before he shoved Sour again. "Look out!" They evaded, just as an invisible sword nearly slashed at them, cutting a tree that was behind them. "It's no use!" Indigo hissed, holding a bruised arm. "They're just too tough for all of us!" "We need help!" Lemon replied. "Already got that covered," Sugar said, pointing to where Sunny once stood. Canterlot Princess Celestia was walking down a hall, reviewing some important documents, while Princess Luna was seen restocking some lavender flowers in some vases, when Sunny Flare came running into the room, up to the night princess. "Princess Luna! Princess Luna!" Sunny Flare panted. "Hurry! You have to help! Spike's in trouble!" Upon hearing her son's name, Princess Celestia quickly dropped the papers, "WHAT?!! What happened?!" She asked, running up to Sunny Flare and Princess Luna. "WHERE IS HE?!!" She asked, in her Royal Canterlot Voice. Back in the fight Death Battle: Shredding Silver (ScrewAttack Series) Indigo, Sugarcoat, and Lemon were out of the fight, having been exhausted, and beaten by their invisible adversaries, leaving Spike, Sour, and Peewee on their own. Sour had reclaimed her bow and converted it into its battle staff form, equipped with large blades on both ends. Spike stood in battle stance, wielding his fire katanas, ready to anticipate for anything, together with Peewee, who perched on Spike's shoulder. Just then, the sound of a blade cuts through the air, which Spike quickly reacted with a swing of his blade, narrowly blocking an invisible slash, which Sour quickly thrusted her blade, impaling something, emitting a crack of electricity. It wasn't long before the invisible Cerulean Hunter became visible, revealing where the girl had impaled him. "Ah-ha!" Sour exclaimed. "Their cloaking controls are on the chest plates!" "Good to know," Spike replied. "If we can hit 'em, first. OOF!!" Spike grunted, receiving a punch to the face, and a slash at one of his armor plates. Peewee flapped his wings in the air, before he emitted a flash of light, illuminating the battle, resulting in the invisible hunters' shadows to be casted. "Now that's more like it," Spike mused, as he landed some impacts on the hunters, while effectively disabling their cloaking devices. Shade Stalker was no exception, "Now that the playing field is leveled, let's see how good you are," Spike challenged. With a furious snarl, Shade reached into his coat and pulled out a state of the art pistol, firing some bullets at Spike, who quickly shielded himself behind his wings. Spike listened as the bullets continue to bounce off his wings, 'Not a sound,' Spike thought. 'Guess this guy's guns are equipped with silencers then,' He recalled about the time Scorpan once reviewed the guns he had confiscated from a dangerous criminal, to Spike, while working on the police force in New York City. Rolling to the side, Spike breathed a powerful green fireball at Shade, who retaliated with a flamethrower equipped to his wrist, countering the dragon's fire. The hunter then activated another device on his other wrist, firing several mini-missiles at the Dragon Prince, who quickly slashed his fire katanas, cutting the missiles, resulting in an explosion of smokes. With that, Shade lunged forward, slashing his dark energy blades at Spike, who parries with his fire katanas before the stealthy hunter leapt away. Sour shot an arrow at Shade, but the hunter quickly caught the arrow, before he turns and opened fire on the girl with a pistol, which Spike quickly disarmed with a well-aimed fire shuriken. Sour pulled out three homing arrows which she fired upon Shade, who skillfully dodged two of them, before he fired another missile at the third, resulting another explosion of smokes. Sour entered a coughing fit, before she was caught in a tangle of nets and bolas. Peewee screeched as he dives down, but one of Shade's robotic ravens intercepted and attacked the phoenix. Spike inhaled before exhaling a long stream of green fire upon Shade, who dodged to the side, along with some of his other men. The remaining Cerulean Hunters all opened fire on Spike, who quickly weaved through the air, spinning, and dodging their nerve bullets, before he remembered, "Hey! I forgot about these!" He reached into a satchel located on the waist of his armor's suit, pulling out the nerve bullets he had saved earlier. Turning around, taking aim, while evading their fires, Spike puts the nerve bullets in his mouth, before he fired them all on the hunters. Some who were not so fortunate to evade were instantly paralyzed. All was going well when a missile was launched and it struck Spike's wing, causing the dragon to drop out of the sky, before he was set upon by the hunters. "Hold on, Spike!" A voice shouted, followed by a blast of powerful magic blasts, followed by a thrust of two legs that bucked a hunter through the air. Spike looked up, and was surprised to see his adopted mother, standing defensively before him, wings spread out protectively in front of him. "Your choices have clearly lead you here, as have mine," Celestia began, in a tone that's maternal, wise, all the while strict and authoritative. "I will give you a new choice. Leave now and live, or stay and face your destiny." One of the hunters started to make signs with their hands, which is translated as, "Ha! Big words, empty meaning from you alicorn! Our destiny is to sell your horn, wings, and skin!" With that, the hunters all charged after Princess Celestia, who didn't hesitate to fight back. "Keep your hands off MY BOY!!" Princess Celestia raised her voice, before she resumed fighting off the Cerulean Hunters. Spike watched in amazement, seeing his adopted mother fighting furiously to defend him from the magical poachers. Celestia had a look of determination written clearly on her face, as she skillfully shifted her magics fluently between offense to defenses, protecting herself from the hunters' bullets, while fighting back at the same time. Celestia reared up on her hind legs, before slamming her front hooves back down, resulting in a shockwave that shook the ground around her, sprouting pillars of rocks, knocking the hunters back. Several of the hunters hurled MPGs at her, but it was all futile, when Celestia disappeared in a flash of light, evading the blasts, before she reappeared, unharmed and resumes the fight. Having enough, Shade Stalker fired an electric net at Princess Celestia, ensnaring the princess. The hunters began to close in on her, "Hey! Hands off of my mom!" Spike shouted, as he jumps in front of Princess Celestia, conjuring his fire katanas in hands. Taking up the challenge, Shade conjured his dark energy blades form his wrists, before he and Spike both took a fighting stance. As part of a traditional start for a battle, the two fighters began with a long intensive stare down. Then, without warning, Shade fired a missile from his wrist, which Spike deflected with a swing of his katana. Shade lunged forward with a slash of his dark energy blades, but Spike quickly blocked the strike, before he swings his other katana, only to be blocked as well. Reacting fast, Spike used his tail for support as he thrusted his legs out and kicked Shade off. Landing on his back, Shade used the momentum to roll himself back up, before he held his wrist out and fired several more missiles at Spike, who quickly ran as a blur of purple, dodging from side-to-side, while slashing a few, before he reached Shade and breathed another explosive fireball at the silent man, who countered with a burst of flame, exploding upon impact, resulting another cloud of smokes. Using the cloud to his advantage, Shade zipped up to Spike, slashing his dark blades, while Spike quickly did the best he could to parry the attacks. However, one of the dark blade got through and slashed across Spike's cheek, leaving a small, but noticeable cut. "Ow!" Spike grunted. "That's smart!" Not giving Spike a chance to recover, Shade blasted a missile at Spike, exploding upon impact, and sent the young dragon over a cliff. "Spike!" Celestia screamed. Drums mentally beating, the horrors in Celestia's eyes darkened to pure rage, and something snapped. Before the hunters realized it, a burst of fire erupted, and the very air around them combusted into flames. One of the hunters looked up, and they realized they fucked up. Standing before them, was Princess Celestia with flaming mane and tail, don up in plates of armors with fiery designs, and eyes like that of a fiendish demon. Daybreaker was born. "HOW DARE YOU?!!" Daybreaker screamed in a demonic angry tone. With a loud shrill, the angry fiery alicorn slammed her hooves into the grounds, causing magmas to erupt from the cracks of the very foundations, followed by several fires that burned the unfortunate hunters. Frightened, the hunters in Shade's division took a step back, ready to make a hasty retreat. "NO!" Daybreaker snarled. "THERE IS NO ESCAPE!! RAAAARRRRRHHH!!!" The mad alicorn screamed, as the hunters were all consumed by the flames, and their weapons obliterated in a heartbeat. In a single hour, the entire squadron of Shade's men were destroyed. The only one still standing is Shade Stalker himself. "Hi-yah!" Daybreaker screamed, landing a kick to Shade Stalker. "Men Shao Ti Translation: Smoldering Kick!" The fiery alicorn screamed, doing a tremendous spinning kick, followed by a punch, sending Shade up in the air. "Ran Shau Feng Translation: Burning Wings!" With that, her wings exploded into flaming infernos that knocked Shade away. Seeing that he doesn't stand a chance against the enraged alicorn, Shade frantically pressed a button on the device on his wrist, as his whole body was coated in a flash of light. "COME BACK HERE!!!" Daybreaker screamed. "Princess Celestia! It's over now!" Sunny Flare exclaimed, after she and her girls recovered. "NEVER!!!" Daybreaker screamed. "They will pay for what they've done!" "And they will!" Sugarcoat explained. "We'll get the hunters next time. We've won the fight." "WON?!!" "Spike needs help!" Sour added. At the mention of her son, Daybreaker's gaze softened as she looked over the cliff, reverting back to Princess Celestia. With a look of concern on her face, Princess Celestia and the Shadowbolt girls climbed down from the cliff, where they found Spike, in human form, with his head covered in bloods. "No," Celestia cried, with tears flowing from her eyes, as the memories of the first tragedy flashed before her eyes, recalling how Spike was only five years old when it happened. "No, please, not again," She whimpered, as she got down to cradle her son in her forelegs, and sniffed him. "Spike..." Just then, a flock of hippogriffs arrived on the scene, "Princess Celestia," Queen Novo bowed her head in respect, before she walked over to Spike. Queen Novo bends down and puts her claw over his head, "We owe him a great debt."