//------------------------------// // Chapter Forty-five: You Have Already Lost // Story: A Rather Large Adventure // by BradyBunch //------------------------------// The whole group was all gathered around the center of a table, where the ancient yellow map was laid bare for all to see. Twelve inches across and down, it was not a conventional map in that towns were labelled. There was instead a small black-inked circle around the base of a mountain northwest of Canterlot. Twilight, when she saw it, recalled everything she knew about it from her history lessons. Maretania was hugging the shore of the Celestial Sea, near an inland channel, and was the original city to openly trade with the griffons on the opposite end of the Celestial Sea. It was a ruin now. Maretania had been abandoned for four hundred years, ever since Griffonstone had first shut off relations with Equestria. Griffons had comprised a major part of the economic power, and when they left, so did the merchants, and so did the citizens when taxes got too high, and within years it had became completely uninhabited. People were pointing at the map and asking questions that the Ten Souls answered, depending on the question. Twilight was analyzing the location of Maretania and the best path from Ponyville to take when Twilight heard a small pinging noise. Noble Blade perked his ears up as well and began to revolve in place. “Did you hear that?” “Hear what?” Applejack asked. “That pinging noise. I thought I heard…” After a bit of time, he shook his head and sat back down. “It might just be the building settling.” Star Swirl the Bearded was sitting alone on a stool, quietly and happily observing the girls and the Guardians conversing softly. All except Freedom Fighter, who was standing apart from the rest of the group with his arms folded. Star Swirl noticed this and beckoned with his mottled hand. “Come, Unforgiven.” Freedom Fighter looked sullen at being called Unforgiven and gave Star Swirl a sideways glance, then stared at the ground. “Come to me, my boy. No need to fear me.” Freedom Fighter made a dismissive sign with his fingers at being called boy, but he trudged over in front of Star Swirl, clenching his fists. Star Swirl did not seem afraid of him, however; he only appeared to be warm and open in his sagging complexion. “You brave, brave man.” Freedom Fighter noticed the warmth in his tone and nodded slowly without making any other motion. Star Swirl looked him over, scanning him with a pale eye. “You are irritated,” Star Swirl noted softly. “And conflicted.” Freedom Fighter folded his arms and nodded again. Star Swirl opened one of his arms to the side. “I know of your struggles, Unforgiven. The voices you have, constantly at opposition with each other. The pain it takes to move onward.” That open arm laid itself on Freedom Fighter’s shoulder, and he flinched away coldly. “My son. Peace be unto you. Your suffering and afflictions shall be a small moment. And if you endure it well, you shall be exalted by the Goddess, and you shall triumph over all your foes.” There was an underlying tone to his words that resonated in the air and made Freedom Fighter jerk in place involuntarily. It was as though another person was in the room speaking those words. It was uncomfortable for him to bear, but it was uncomfortable in the best way imaginable. “But that day is not this day,” Star Swirl continued, and his voice grew deeper. “Our foes even now close in from every direction.” Freedom Fighter reached for the staves at his hips and took them off the clips holding them there. “Prepare,” Star Swirl confided with him. “When you return to Equestria, remember your power, and it shall come to you.” Freedom Fighter nodded curtly and snapped both of his staves out, then conjoined them and twisted it to lock them in place. “Um...Freedom?” the other Applejack said upon hearing the noise. “Whatcha doin’?” “He’s sensing something!” Pinkie Pie claimed. “Wait a second! I’m getting a Combo!” She suddenly shivered in place like she was standing in a cold shower. Then her hair stood up on end like a tower of pink cotton candy. Finally, she mechanically swiped her foot up to land in Firestorm’s crotch. The unfortunate man howled and dropped to his knees, cradling his pained genitals tenderly. “What does it mean?” the other Rarity gasped at Pinkie’s behavior. “It means there’s danger nearby,” Pinkie clarified gravely. “I can't get any more specific than that.” "You don't say!" Rainbow irritably exclaimed, patting her boyfriend on the back. “Are you okay?” Twilight asked Firestorm in concern, who was still cradling his balls. “That looked bad.” “Och, man,” Firestorm whimpered. “Ai took a boot rrright in th’ Locky Charrrms.” “Firestorm gets hit in the balls, example three hundred and eighty-seven,” Noble said while gesturing at him with an open hand and addressing Twilight. “It’s been more than that, right?” Firestorm asked him, still on his knees and clutching his groin. “I dunno. It’s at least in the triple digits so far.” “Wait a sec,” Sunset interrupted. “This has happened before?” “More often than you might think, yeah.” Firestorm went back onto two feet and drew his swords, revolving in place cautiously. “Testicular cancer's an occupational hazard of being a warrior.” His eyes flickered to Freedom Fighter and he hissed. “Are the Noxxa here already?” Fluttershy whispered in fright, tiptoeing backward with tiny footsteps. “How’d they get here so quickly?” Applejack wondered. And now the noises were louder and louder, echoing all around them as footfalls sounded in other rooms in the observatory. It was still faint, but it was at least discernible enough to warrant concern, and it was encircling them like a rattling snake about to strike. “I thought that…” Rainbow shook her head, sending her rainbow hair flying behind her. “How many Noxxa came through the portal again?” “How should I know?” Firestorm asked in exasperation. He looked at Rainbow Dash for a contemplative second, then tapped her on the shoulder and offered her one of his swords. Rainbow shrunk away at the sight of it. Firestorm looked surprised initially, then he widened his eyes as he remembered what she had done in the house and her first kill there. His eyes flickered over to Flash Sentry, and he sighed and offered him one of his swords. Flash, for his part, looked surprised. “You’re giving-” “Yeah, yeah, I am. You’re the one asking if you can’t be useless anymore, yunnow. D’ya want it or not?” Firestorm demanded. Flash, taken aback, took the wooden sword hilt without another question and held it in front of him with both hands. “There’s a little switch on the front,” Firestorm instructed him, pointing a finger. “Flick it.” Flash did, and with a snap-hiss he was now holding a sharpened bar of flickering flame in both hands. Flash reared back as it happened and almost dropped the sword. “Yeah, it does that,” Twilight said, steadying him with a hand. “Just go along with it.” Flash barely had time to rearrange his stance before the doors to the observatory burst open. The three Guardians and Flash all fell into corners of a diagonal box, closing all the girls within, as ten burly, black-shelled men barged in, holding short blades and wicked pikes in all four of their arms. At the rear, coming in last, was a four-armed man taller than the rest, naked except for a skin girded on his loins and holding a long, thin sword that glinted black in the white light of the observatory. Star Swirl the Bearded affixed them with a steely glare. “Captain Slath. The underling of the Pale Rider. Depart now, ere the Seer’s power be unleashed upon you.” Captain Slath, for his part, looked taken aback by his address. Then he shook his head again and smiled, displaying his long rows of fangs. “Let. Me. Guess. You’ve told the ponies about the Element’s locations, haven't you?” “You made an oath by Faust that you would behead me before I told the Ten Souls anything about the Elements. It appears to me that the oath failed.” “How did you-” Captain Slath stopped himself, and nodded understandably. “The Seer, of course. Ah, well. All the better for me that I now have dozens of people to interrogate.” “Not if we have anything to say about it!” came the other Twilight, and the human girls all assembled in front of Freedom Fighter. All of them had their necklaces out and ready for display. Star Swirl leveled the Staff of Sacanas at him. “You’ll never get your claws on the Elements!” “That, I know. Marshal Malice wants the Elements to wield, not me. And with them, we’ll destroy Equestria and break our master loose from the hell your princesses imprisoned him in!” Star Swirl raised the staff above his head like he was about to throw a javelin. “Then go to your master yourself, and tell him you’ve failed!” And a lance of blue electricity launched out of the staff. The beam surged toward the Noxxa, deflected on the sweeping edge of Captain Slath’s Black Blade, and ricocheted into the ceiling high above them and exploded, showering steel upon them all. Star Swirl, using the staff, enveloped the falling debris in white energy and, with a twisting face, shot them all at the captain. The Noxxa scattered as shards peppered the marble floor, and spread out all around the boxed-in captives. “Make them suffer!” the captain bellowed, wheeling his sword like a windmill. The ten special troops gave guttural shouts and charged at them from every direction. The staff glowed once again, and a white, domed shield materialized around the group. The charging forces stopped abruptly as soon as it was erected. One of the Noxxa prodded the shield with the tip of his spear, and it halted as it touched the dome as if it ran into a brick wall. It was absolutely impenetrable by sword or spear. The sound of gasping girls, however, came through the shield perfectly clear. Slath, upon realizing this, raised his sword. “Now, Dazzlings! Our swords cannot pass through, but your voices shall! Unleash the power of the sirens against them!” The natives of the human world gaped as three silhouetted beings came out of the hallway that led to the observatory. They were all recognizable in the worst kind of way. “Why, hello... Twilight,” Adiago snarled, coming into the light with her two friends emerging behind her. All of them had evil grins, though Aria’s and Sonata’s were pulled. “It’s you!” Twilight whispered in shock, taking a step backwards. She discreetly slipped the yellowed old map into her skirt pocket. “You're working with them?” Sunset Shimmer asked in absolute shock. “How could you stoop so low?” “We’ve all come back for one thing, Sunset Shimmer,” Adiago said softly. Then her tone hardened as her eyes seemed to brighten like the sheen of pinpricks. “Revenge.” “OH MA GAAAAAAAASH!” Firestorm yelled out of nowhere, leaning away from the three Dazzlings. “Th-th-this isn't real! This isn't right!” He pointed directly at Adiago in disbelief and stared Rainbow Dash in the face. “Another girl with an orange color scheme?” Adiago’s initially triumphant smile turned to a perplexed look of incredulity. "What?" “Sunset! Did you notice this?!” Firestorm was saying. “Well, yeah, I noticed,” Sunset numbly replied. “So?” Aria tapped Adiago’s shoulder. “Um... are there supposed to be two Twilights?” “Two-” she started, then spotted the two purple girls rippling behind the shimmering pale shield. Adiago scrunched her eyebrows and leaned back in shock. “Dah!” Sonata peered over Adiago’s left shoulder and spotted the double copies of everyone else. “I’m seeing double. Do I need glasses?” “No, Sonata,” Aria muttered. “I see two of everyone as well!” She squinted at the four men holding weapons. “Except for them.” “Who are you?” Adiago demanded, pointing a finger at the man in ragged maroon armor. “Nun of yer dern beznuess, that’s what!” Firestorm responded, contorting his mouth unnecessarily. “Are you always like this?” she followed up in confusion. “Oh my gosh!” Firestorm threw his hand up in exasperation. “Yes! I am always like this! Okay? Okay, glad we cleared that up!” “Adiago?” Sonata asked, poking her on the shoulder. “What are we supposed to be doing again?” “Unleashing the power of the sirens upon them,” Adiago muttered angrily to her. She outstretched a hand as if she was about to touch the white dome, and Aria and Sonata followed her action dubiously. “Sing, my devils of music!” Captain Slath ordered triumphantly. “Turn them against each other!” “Cover your ears!” Noble cried out. “No matter how tantalizingly they sing, you must resist them!” And after a pregnant pause where all three of the Dazzlings looked conflicted but resolute, they burst into song. The sound that came out of their mouths couldn't technically be qualified as music, unless elderly, hoarse cats on a heroin withdrawal meowing at each other qualified as music. “Cover your ears!” Rarity ordered, pressing her palms to the side of her head. “It sounds horrible!” “It actually sounds tantalizing to me!” Firestorm remarked, giving Noble Blade a sideways glance. “Okay, look-” Noble started, before a particularly off-pitch note sounded from Sonata and he began to break into laughter. Captain Slath gave all of the Dazzlings a cruel stare, and the girls fell silent and fearful. The Noxxa around him slowly redirected their spears to aim at the girl’s throats. “Perhaps the sirens have had their voice of gold turned to lead,” he snarled, hefting his long thin blade in one hand. Out of the doors all around the circumference of the observatory, forty more Noxxa stalked in with hooked spears and angled blades. Weapons long and short, thick and thin, angled and straight were all carried by them, oozing forward in a collective motion like the shadows of nightmares. The girls revolved in place to see them all come out of nowhere, and they all gathered together in fright. “It was worth a shot,” Sonata whispered. “Look! Captain! I can explain-” Adiago started. Captain Slath cut her off with a swish of his hand. “I have no need of an explanation or apology,” he harshly spoke. All six of his eyes narrowed to thin slits. “You shall pay the price for misleading me.” He lifted his sword above his head and swung at her neck. Before his sword could strike true, a bolt of violet energy smashed into the wall in front of him, disrupting his cut and making him stumble back. The other Twilight had a sparking ball of purple magic in her left palm, and a small hole had opened in the white shield enclosing all of them. “Not. Them. They’re powerless girls that were tricked into following you! Don’t you lay a claw on them!” And she pushed her way out of the shield and fired two more balls of condensed energy at the captain. “What’s she doin’?” Applejack gasped, jolting forward involuntarily. “Wait, are we attacking them?” Flash asked, gazing at the other Twilight running in between the Dazzlings and the captain. “Uh... yeah,” Noble said after a moment. He rushed to the edge of the shield and was about to put his foot through when a soft voice stopped him. “Noble…” Noble Blade turned to Fluttershy, reserved and humble, with a wavering frown on her face and with her arms clasped in front of her, squishing her chest together, with a strand of hair trailing down her front and curving over her chest. To Noble Blade, it was paralyzing beauty. And he knew exactly what her concern was. The silent promise they made was all that needed to be said. Then he turned around with mustered resolve, ignited his sword into a cross of blue energy, and ran through the bubble into battle alongside the other Twilight. “Storm! Flash! Stay and protect them! Freedom, with me!” Yellow flashed in the air as the staff activated its enchantments, and Freedom Fighter sprinted through the bubble, charged at the nearest monster, and swiped through the shaft of his spear, then through the Noxxa’s head. As Noble Blade and Freedom Fighter sped directly into the fray, the girls native to the human world all gave apprehensive looks at each other, doubtful of rushing to the siren’s aid. After only a moment, however, they all steeled their resolve, clutched the geodes around their necks, and a ball of bright light surrounded all of them. When it dissipated, it revealed all of them in new, crystallized outfits, coated in auras of power. As the light finally died, all of the human girls, powered up and ready to fight, passed through the shield to come to their friend’s help. The next few minutes were so chaotic that no particular part of the battle could be focused on. Fans of blue and yellow light swept through the air in long, powerful circles, cleaving through swords, arms, heads, and tables, gouging gashes into the floor on particularly savage strikes. Blasts of purple energy sought out their targets and exploded. Turquoise shields popped up around the human allies and rammed Noxxa back into the wall. Punches and kicks by an enhanced Applejack sent bodies flying back into table edges and instrument panels. A rainbow streak sped around the Noxxa everywhere, keeping the Noxxa on the perimeter from reaching the shield. And those few Noxxa that did manage to reach the shimmering shield were cut down instantly by Flash and Firestorm. Noble Blade, after slashing through three Noxxa with one motion, stepped in front of the three stupified Dazzlings and swirled his sword to the side, staring Captain Slath in the eyes. “Get out of my way,” Captain Slath lowly growled, sweeping a black fan in front of him with his sword. Noble Blade only gripped the hilt of his sword tighter and crouched. His brown cape was swept to the side, and his feet were apart and bent. Captain Slath roared, charged forward, lifted his sword above his head, and threw his black sword down on Noble’s blue one with the force of a meteorite strike. A bright flash of white erupted from the impact, bouncing both blades off each other. Noble aimed his next cut at his legs, which the captain caught, and he drew Noble’s blade to vertical with ease. The captain then ended the contact between blades and swiped at Noble’s head hard. Noble ducked under the black fan and swiped his sword up at his face. The captain leaned back from the vertical sword stroke, then kicked Noble hard in the chest. Noble staggered back a few steps, allowing for Captain Slath to make a run for the shimmering white shield. “Stop him!” Noble cried as two heavily armed Noxxa cut him off and pushed him backwards. He slashed cleanly through their shafts and swept both of their heads off, but as they disintegrated, five more took their place, and Noble was driven back even more. The rainbow streak running around the white dome collided with the captain abruptly, but it ended up with the other Rainbow Dash’s throat being held tightly in Captain Slath’s fist. She tried to pull vainly at the black claws peeling apart the skin on her throat, but his grip was inexorable. “Filthy pest,” he growled, and he wheeled around and cast her aside with all his force. Her head hit the edge of a stool and she collapsed with the chair to the ground. Firestorm was instantly at the inside edge of the white shield, staring the captain in the eyes with knit eyebrows. His flaming sword was at his side, flickering up the edge of the blade. “You shouldn't have done that.” “I can do anything I want,” Captain Slath easily answered. And he reared back and pierced the shield with the evil power of the Black Blade. Electricity surged around the broken shield’s wound as the blade wormed its way deeper inside. Star Swirl increased the staff’s output of energy with an elderly groan, and the white shield reformed around the blade. Captain Slath squealed in rage and slashed the black sword up, and that part of the dome unzipped and split apart. The rest of the white shield dissipated as well in wisps of magic. As soon as the shield was down, Firestorm delivered a savage strike to the captain’s face, which was blocked and swept aside. The Noxxa captain used the three unoccupied fists he had to slam three heavy blows to Firestorm’s face, beating three ripe bruises into him, before he lifted his leg up and kicked him solidly in the breastbone, knocking his back into the corner of a wooden table. “All right,” Firestorm snarled after wiping his face. “You’re gonna die! You, sir, just signed a warrant-” Captain Slath wordlessly uppercutted him with the pommel of his sword, and the action smashed his head onto the wooden desk. Firestorm slid off the desk and collapsed to the ground with his sword scattering on the floor next to him. Flash Sentry ran at him next, screaming and raising the flaming sword above his head. Captain Slath allowed him to come closer, then he ducked under his wild swing, lifted his foot again, and shot it into Flash’s trachea. Flash coughed heavily as he stumbled back, grabbing at his throat and gasping. Captain Slath casually strode forward to the stumbling man, grabbed him by his blue hair, bashed his forehead down on the edge of a thick wooden table, and threw him back on the ground to have the back of his skull hit the concrete. “No!” Twilight cried in anguish, lunging for his inert body. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash managed to restrain her arms and pull her back. That left only Star Swirl the Bearded as the last line of defense between the captain and the girls. Star Swirl didn't bother with words this time. The staff, now coated with glowing white magic, swung at the captain and collided with his head. As the captain went reeling, Star Swirl spun the staff around, pointed the end at him, and fired a blast of magic at him. The terrible Black Blade deflected the heavy bolt back at Star Swirl, who leaned his head to the side to avoid the streak. Captain Slath slashed savagely at the magician, who leaned away and batted his sword aside callously. A pulse of white energy radiated out of the blue crystal at the top, skidding him back into the edge of a table. Star Swirl then sent a dozen streams of pale magical beams out of the crystal nudged at the top of the staff. They latched onto his face and wrists and neck and pinned them to the wooden table. The filthy black demon writhed and wrenched against his restraints with an almighty roar, but they tightened all the closer against the black shell covering his face. “Get him!” Noble bellowed from afar, surrounded by monsters thrusting at him. “Get him, Freedom! This is the chance!” Freedom Fighter leaped away from the Noxxa forces jabbing at him from every angle and converted his staff into a bow with a flick of his arm. Speeding along the circumference of the observatory, he pulled back on the yellow string, aiming directly at Captain Slath’s head, and fired the arrow of pure energy at him. Just before it struck him, Captain Slath broke his arm free from a restraint and whipped the sword arm up, and the yellow arrow deflected off the Black Blade. And it was instead sent directly into the blue crystal of the Staff of Sacanas. The crystal did not implode, but Star Swirl gave a gasp of abrupt pain and doubled over, and the white restraints holding Captain Slath down dissipated. The Nox in question leaped up from his spot and charged at Star Swirl, sweeping his Black Blade in a wide fan that gouged the floor. “Swirly!” Firestorm cried, picking himself off the floor. Star Swirl tried to meet the following strikes, but Captain Slath moved at a respectable fraction of the speed of sound. After a few feints, he slashed his sword upward and delivered a hard overhead strike on the head of the staff, and the Black Blade shattered the blue crystal of the Staff of Sacanas. The shockwave that followed blew away everyone and everything in a twenty-foot radius, except for Captain Slath. Star Swirl was thrown like a ragdoll as the frail wood of the stick shattered into splinters. Captain Slath pounced upon him before he even hit the ground. As the frail wizard hit the marble floor and slid for only a few feet, Captain Slath raised the black sword above his head, gave a shout of victory, and plunged the Black Blade into his chest like a stick into water. Every living being halted their movements--even the Noxxa. It was one of those moments where nothing seemed to move because nothing really made sense. Some of the girls gasped. Some of them squealed. Twilight gave a defiant and terrified shout of denial. But nothing could now be done. Star Swirl gave a final grimace at Captain Slath as the abomination of nature pushed the sword ever so deeper into his chest. Neither of them broke their eye contact. “You…” Star Swirl gasped softly, raising a shaking and knobbled finger. “You... have already... lost.” Captain Slath ripped the sword out of his chest, and with a single horizontal strike rid him of his head. It bounced away and rolled under a desk, his beard cut short near his chin. “You honored the oath you made,” Captain Slath spat at the withered corpse, which slumped like a discarded garment. “And now... so have I.” A scream of unbridled rage sounded like the herald of an army, and Captain Slath turned once more. Twilight, torn and scuffed and ripped, had launched herself at him with raised fists and a face of fury. She managed to land one punch on him before he latched onto her with his three remaining arms and held her in place. “Star Swirl gave you a map,” he stated without preamble. He rummaged all over Twilight’s struggling body with probing fingers. Once he found her skirt pocket, he withdrew the ancient map and nodded. “Thank you.” And he kneed her in the breastbone and hurled her to the ground in front if him. He slipped the map into a fold in his chitin and pressed directly on Twilight’s chest with a foot. “Marshal Malice still needs you,” he whispered sinisterly, bending his knee to amplify pressure. “It makes no difference to him if you happened to lose a few limbs along the way, so stop your struggling, or I’ll make an example of the Unforgiven out of you.” “All right, THAT’S IT!” Firestorm roared, picking up both of his swords and swishing them in front of his face. “You’re really going to die now! I’ll make a soup from your mother’s fat butt, and feed it to you through a needle!” Captain Slath just turned around while stepping on Twilight and leveled his longsword at him. “You bother me,” he slowly said. “Good to know!” Firestorm bellowed. “I’ll peel your butthole! I’ll shave your balls! I’ll squeeze every last drop from your d-” Captain Slath already rushed at him and had struck downward upon his head. Firestorm blocked it with the crossed blades he held himself, then snipped the tips together like a pair of scissors, which Captain Slath leaned his head away from. As Firestorm and Captain Slath fought with fury, and Noble Blade, Freedom Fighter, and the human natives returned to fighting the Noxxa all around the room, Twilight got up off the floor and crawled over to Star Swirl’s inert body. Everything seemed to slow to a crawl. The noises of the action, the sights of blue, yellow, orange, and purple light, the feel of the cold marble beneath her fingers--they all seemed to be dulled to her perception. “Star... Swirl,” she gasped, grabbing a fold of his robes helplessly. She tried not to look at the black stump of his neck. “You didn't have to go this way! You deserved better! Just show yourself, show yourself, please! You're hiding and this is an illusion, this is all fake, it can't be real, it...it can’t be…” And now the tears were coming, softly at first, then quickly turning into a steady dripping from her corneas onto her face. She gave a wheeze through her clenched teeth and clenched his body tightly. “You can't be gone, Star Swirl!” she whispered vehemently. “You’re the greatest of us all, you’re the best that’s ever lived, you can't just…” Her next words were drowned out by more sobbing, and she used the edge of his famous cloak to dry her eyes. Celestia needed to be told. And that fact made her shut her eyes even tighter and clench her thin fingers around his dark blue cloak even harder than before. As she ruffled his cloak, something hard scraped against her fingertips. Twilight, annoyed at anything and everything now, snapped open her eyes to see what it was that was disrupting the soft silk of his cloak. Resting on his frail chest, around a thin gold chain hooked limply around the base of his black-stumped neck, was a long golden key. Take it. The words weren't spoken aloud so much as they entered themselves into her head. Twilight didn’t know where they came from or what voice it had, but she knew that it would be better to act on it than neglect it. Twilight shakily removed the gold chain from his severed neck stump and tucked the key into her skirt pocket. Kneeling in despair, she bowed her head over the corpse of the greatest wizard who ever lived.