Glade quickly rushed for cover as the thestral golems flew down assaulting Flint’s position. Even with the constant firing of his weapons he was barely keeping his enemies off his back. The thestral golems began using the buildings for cover forcing Flint to stop firing with reckless abandon as he traipsed up to Glade and led her to the next hiding spot.
“Do you know what you're doing!?” Glade cried out as several crystal spears shot past her face.
“Only slightly!” Flint answered as he mentally commanded the auto cannons atop his back to return fire. He got lucky and incinerated the crystal spears before they got too close.
“What!?” Glade cried out loud enough to gain the attention of the golems who immediately found the sound grating. With practiced precision of their former lives they dove upon her hiding spot firing crystal spears from their mouth.
“Faust damn it all…” Flint growled put under his breath as he took advantage of their fevered pursuit of the helpless mare and jumped atop some of the debris that had been blown away from their fight.
Taking aim Flint felt power well up into his front hoof and jumped to the first thestral golem he could reach. Too distracted by their target to rise back up he drove his hoof into the golem releasing a wave of green energy that crackled through its body. The second golem broke off forgetting about the mare as the golem burst apart into shards which littered the ground. Flint landed moments later grinding the crystal he landed upon into dust.
The third golem was slightly incensed as it immediately flew towards Flint with what could have passed as abject fury… only to dive into the shards that had been left behind. With a eerie glow within the being all the shards were absorbed into its body making it bigger… stronger… and much sharper than it was.
“Oh… well that's something they do…” Flint snarked out up until the golem tackled him through the building startling the family that had hidden within. Glade followed through stopping only to look at the family.
“I'm so sorry for your home… it's quite lovely and now you have two new doors, right?” Glade nervously chuckled as she wrung her hooves before racing out of that awkwardness for Flint who was busy trying to wail upon the golem with his armored hooves. He was doing a better job than he did against X that was certain.
Glade flapped her wings but kept low as to make certain that nopony else was following her. As Countess Primrose’s Minister of Information, she was the one who kept tabs on everything that needed to be done for the town… including paying the ponies who would need to fix this mess, if they were allowed to survive that long.
The larger golem was flung back as Flint charged back through the building, rage built up in his soul, smashing the golem with his bare hooves channeling how Fefnir would act when annoyed. Fefnir recorded the energy readings for later because even though he didn't know anything about magic or that crap that those equinoids were spouting out but Nana probably would. The least he could do was keep track of information and on the plus side he would beat the everloving crap out of anyone in his way.
Flint charged his auto cannons and fired a stream of flames straight through the golem as it melted into slag. The puddle of gem goo saturated into the ground before leaving nothing but ashes. As the final golems he fought fell Flint turned back to Glade grabbing her hoof.
“Now that those are taken care of… you're going to answer some questions of mine.” Flint growled out fully in control of the situation… finally.
“Uh… yes. I understand.” Glade managed out intimidated by the armored unicorn.
“Where would your boss keep prisoners?” Flint stated bluntly pulling the mare in so he could stare her down in case she tried to lie.
“Well…“ Glade started.
Shears felt a part of her body crack while she was focused on the golems around her. Three had been destroyed from the three dozen or so that she had purposely made. The Soul Link between bodies was powerful but also came with a deadly double edge. The links made them one… with her main body being the transceiver. Regardless of distance the golems were her eyes, ears, voice, and hooves. With three destroyed it created a feedback loop into his very soul.
Corundum immediately broke those links allowing his body to repair itself with his magic… albeit extremely slowly. He needed to plan this out more carefully… and now he needed to make sure Arum’s body wasn't shattered either.
Stand was having trouble keeping away from the thestral golems. For as speedy as the armor he wore was, the thestrals golems used their past knowledge of the buildings to their advantage. How they knew where to go still was beyond his understanding of golems in general. The fact that they used to be ponies was abhorrent to his senses. It was made worse because he could still see the viscera left from their transformation due to his freaky pegasus vision as his fellow pegasi centurions had quoted.
Knocked from the air, Stand tumbled down onto a thatch roof breaking through it and the second floor. One thestral dove through the newly made hole before the shing of a laser blade rang out followed by the falling of crystals to the ground. Stand rose back up using the jet engines of his armor to hover in place while rotating as the thestral golems remaining tried to get the drop on him.
“Damn golems… does this thing have anything long range…?” Stand muttered as he felt the armor trying to force his front hooves together.
A little freaked out he decided to follow through with the pose. When his hooves touched a small rotating drill bit appeared from between his hooves. He did the maneuver again created two more. They each sparked with electricity and spun beyond anything he had ever seen.
The thestral golems immediately flew straight for him only for the drill bits to strike at their wings and discharge a large amount of electricity. The wings shattered from the sudden impact and they fell to the ground. The golems broke apart into pieces letting Stand finally get a breather.
He couldn't enjoy it for long as the pieces skittered back towards each other but instead of converging on their individual body they wound up collecting into a pile. For a second the crystals shuddered and writhed as the viscera left over from the transformation took hold and started to melt the pieces of crystal together forcing the misshapen pile into a chimeric entity of several heads in odd places and six wings at odd angles. The limbs either extended from a previous one or jutted off the body at a strange angle.
“You've got to be kidding me…” Stand muttered as the shape got back to its hooves and through some strange application of magic managed to get back into the air. It resembled a serpent of some sort at that point… only with three pony heads, four thestral wings and eight limbs of various lengths. Magic courses through the blood that still clung on the trio of corpses.
Stand grunted as he managed to get the two pulse blades to form charging forward at the thing. It's grotesque form made him cringe. The blades swung out… only to get stopped by the sudden formation of two crystal blades covered in dried blood. The magic that flowed through the body hardened the blood enough to actually give it enough staying power against the pulse blades.
The sudden clashing of blades tossed the two figures out of each other's range leaving Stand surprised that that had occurred. Diving back into the creature the sudden clanging of blades sent sparks flying as blade met blade in a cacophony of burning light and boiling blood.
“Come on! You're nothing but a monstrosity that needs to die!” Stand yelled out as he finally got a lucky strike sending the second blade through the golem’s own crystal blades. The magic powering it started to fail.
Stand swung his blades in an X shaped pattern and a wave of energy flew out slicing through the serpent like thestral golem leaving the golem to fall from the sky returning back to an unmoving chunk of crystals. Stand breathed in heavily trying to regain the feeling in his forehooves. The constant barrage of attacks from the golems, even with the armor, strained his hooves to the limit with how hard he had to strike just to keep his position in the air.
He growled slightly because he managed to soar out of the trouble relatively unscathed. That was unnatural enough for whom they were facing… especially after that voice of legion ploy that he overheard before flying away from X. That was the kind of thing only demons did. The fact that Corundum had gone to that level and infested his vile soul within other bodies just made it worse.
Setting the jet engines that helped cover his wings, both hiding and protecting them, he peered around for his… reluctantly accepted partner. He didn't like working with a known combative of his country, a pony who worked explicitly for Corundum before. But… X held the yoke on him due to circumstance. Since Hurricane trusted that yoke to be held taut Stand felt he had no choice but to follow through with his own.
The sight of Flint dragging a thestral alongside him caught his eye and he quickly flew off to join them. There was no telling what horrible sort of thing would occur when they went to find Luna.
More cracks appeared along Crystal Shears body forcing her to cut even more connections before it could spread further. This time the cracks didn't degrade her body as badly due to her paying attention to the situation and cutting off the flow of magic from her body.
“Mrgh… need stronger bodies. Much stronger.” Corundum sneered to himself as he was forced to focus on the ones battling X.
I dashed underneath the ones that had lunged at me before letting the charged shot I had held onto go. It felt as though they were unfocused and relatively suicidal in their charging. The large thestral that Corundum had used as his avatar remained always out of reach and constantly on the move to keep from being targeted right away.
I was forced to punch enemies instead of using my buster because the smaller thestrals would throw off my aim and the first shot I fired nearly hit the city. From that point on I was forced to use my limited boxing skills to whatever effect I could do. While I could have used one of my special weapons I hadn't used many on Corundum and I didn't need him to know everything I was capable of. With him being comparable to a cockroach I didn't need to give him too many more ideas. The armor system was a necessity if he planned to kill Luna before we got to her.
“You know… I have to thank you.” Corundum chuckled as the collection of thestrals all started to circle me. I had good chance to use my buster… but I needed information and he still seemed creepily obsessed with me. Why not make him talk?
“For what? I'm pretty sure I shot you in the head multiple times.” I muttered as the shadows of the golems started to melt together.
“You showed me there is more. Life is not in the hands of the gods that live amongst us. They are mere beings that figured out that spark to life. But you! You, you are a shining example of what we could be. What we can aspire to be. No hunger! No fatigue! No emotional baggage that clings to every single worthless sack of meat! You and me are one of a kind, truly survivors of a new age! We shall usher in what it means to be a citizen of this world. No race! No species! All we are, are what we are. Superior! Transcendent! Godlike!” Corundum’s voice bellowed from the conglomeration of golems releasing their cacophonous wails as one.
“Legion like aren't you? But no. You will never reach what I am. You will forever be that pathetic pony who never could create true life on their own.” I stated in no uncertain terms. I needed him to get angry but..
“How true. How true you speak. I am just that pony you fought back in the Crystal Empire. But I will be more. I will be all. All shall share my glorious views and my ideals shall spread throughout the world. We shall be one, all in my image and peace shall reign across my land.” Corundum answered almost serenely before his tone started a feverish climb up in zealotry.
“You and I will never share viewpoints. You are a madman and I will stop you every time.” I mentioned as I decided which weapon to switch to.
“That's fine. Your cooperation is negligible. All we need is your body. Nothing more. Whatever powers you whether through magic or souls will be snuffed out to give what this world really needs. The Age of Corundum!” Corundum let out a bellowing laugh as the large collection of thestral golems dove down after me.
I switched over to Goo Shaver and let the cubes of slush rain down around me. Every thestral that hit those cubes were frozen in mid air. Gravity took effect forcing them all to shatter upon impact. The one I was aiming for, the large thestral, hadn't even moved close enough to be hit.
The large collection of growls, diminished to a certain degree, rang out and started their assault once more. The remnants of the crystals that made up the golems spread across the ground leaving a certain crunch every time I took a step. I switched back to my buster and took potshots at whatever thestral was out of the way. It was during this time I noticed that the golems I was fighting seemed a bit more durable.
While almost nothing could withstand being punched by a metal fist I needed three or so uncharged buster shots just to take out one thestral golem. I didn't know why they were sturdier but Nana seemed to be scanning them much more thoroughly at this point. The fact that the first set of golems were taken out easily left me worried about what this all meant. Corundum had started to grow more intelligent on his creations. While they were still borderline stupid in their tactics that didn't mean much when they were being controlled by one being.
The golems soon fell into a rhythmic pattern of shattering and screaming whenever I managed to shoot them. The screams were unsettling mostly because I couldn't tell who was screaming. Whether it was Corundum or those who were transformed and had their souls eviscerated from their original bodies didn't really change that I needed to fight back against them. I had no way to restore their flesh and for all intents and purposes those thestrals were dead. Corundum had seen to that personally each and every time.
As the last thestral golem finally fell I aimed for the larger thestral… only to get dragged through the ground and through several trees. The thestral golem with the red tendrils pulsing through its body had had enough time to watch me. It dove down and from the lowest angle it could get managed to catch me off guard while I was dealing with the small fry. There were still active blips on my motion sensors most likely from the golems that while shattered were still relatively mobile.
I punched the thestral only to reel back. There was no pain but the golem didn't flinch or reel back. It was hardened to a point that it felt as though I was punching metal. Corundum started laughing maniacally as I forced him off me. Even if he had a tougher body it didn't mean much to someone like me.
Cracks webbed throughout Crystal Shears body leaving her writhing in pain. The act of keeping up the collection in her mind had been too taxing and the shattering of each part of his soul affected her body. The shadows were all that managed to keep him together now. Even with the main soul housed within Shears body was whole it still was subject to the ravages of damage from the other bodies he decided to link to.
Shears immediately took off through the open window of the church’s attic. She needed to keep her other body alive even if it meant leaving the church unguarded. She left enough behind to deal with whatever came… the shadows had beckoned and welcomed that change all too readily.
“Mine wish to leave this place…” Luna drawled out as she kicked the door. It had taken a bit for the three hostages to regain a modicum of strength but Luna managed to handle it well enough with her Alicorn physiology.
“I don't think this pony is looking too good.” Shard called out.
Both Shard and Clover had kept track of Countess Primrose who was still breathing but it was ragged and shallow. Her eyes had bled three times in the past half hour since Corundum had revealed himself… or herself depending on how they wanted to be referred to.
“Leave her be. We have not the means to heal her soul. Regardless of morality or her actions we have no magic to assist her.” Luna coldly stated detached from the pony who planned their abduction. Even if she spoke the truth the other two were a bit reluctant.
“I know Princess but shouldn't we do something? Anything at all?” Clover brought up but even he knew that there wasn't much they could actually do.
“At most keep her head to the side. She looks as though she could be violently ill at any moment. You need to not look Miss Shard. This will not be pretty…” Luna grimaced as she stepped up with Clover.
“I've seen worse… much worse… I think. While Corundum kept us I remember… hazy things… ponies screaming and more. I think. It's hard to remember and Big Brother Flint says to forget about it.” Shard innocently stated.
Luna and Clover made no attempt to correct her way of thinking. Neither were decent with dealing with foals and neither tried to remotely tell her advice due to not knowing what exactly to say at the moment. There was a modicum of respect for Flint for protecting his family even if he was formerly an enemy. Clover immediately got a good idea.
“Ah but see here we are being doctors and we need to give the patient some privacy. Plus you haven't finished getting your credentials.” Clover smiled at the filly trying to get her to bite.
“Cre-dent-ials? What are cre- those things?” Diamond Shard tilted her head confused. Luna picked up on Clover’s idea.
“Verily young one, you need proof of your skills and you haven't got them quite yet. Another day at the fortress and you would have earned it easily.” Luna agreed wholeheartedly making certain that she would believe her.
“Oh… okay. Oh gosh I'm not supposed to see her like this. Sorry! Sorry!” Diamond Shard cried out as she covered her eyes in a panic and hid behind the table in the room.
Sighing in relief the two made Primrose more comfortable as she writhed from whatever Shears had done to her. Honestly they had no way to heal her without their magic which still hadn't recovered in the intervening time and the magic restraining rings around their horns made it impossible to even attempt.
Countess Primrose, matriarch of the Thestrals of Hollow Shades, took her last shuddering breath that moment. The thestrals were now leaderless. Luna took a sobering breath while Clover averted his gaze.
It wasn't the first time that either had seen death. Luna had learned to accept it as something that just happened. She faced it with open eyes ready to handle whatever was to happen to them next. Clover, on the other hand, averted his gaze unable to process death just yet. He had not lived long enough to come and see this as an inevitability. It frightened him to the very core.
The two trotted over to the young filly unsure of what to say. Diamond Shard, meanwhile, merely frowned. She seemed to understand what had happened.
“Is she… sleeping?” Shard asked calmly though her frown persisted.
“Sleeping? What do you mean young one?” Luna asked ready to give her the talk which she never thought she would have to give. The one dealing with death.
“That's what I remember overheating Corundum say whenever one of the ponies were taken behind the curtain. Then there was screaming and a lot of water splashing around. That was followed by a lot of tearing.” Shard explained confusing the two.
Before either could process what they were being told something caught their ear. They turned to the freshly dead body as it convulsed on the spot and a large crystal tore through the chest cavity. Unlike the other crystals the two were familiar with this particular one seemed to throb and pulse, beating erratically like a living heart.
The crystal didn't shine or sparkle to the trio and instead continued to say like a heart beating in tandem with the world around it. Primrose was stuck in a lifeless scream from which no sound came out as her chest slowly started to turn into a crystalline shell.
“We do not have time.” Luna grimaced as she ran towards the door and started to bash away at it with her back hooves. It was tiring but if she didn't get the door open soon…
None of them would survive in the state that they were in.