//------------------------------//
// The Eternal Flame 
// Story: Night Patrol 2: Awakening 
// by Foxgear 
//------------------------------//

Night Patrol 2 Chapter 40
By Foxgear



Applejack and the rest of the VIP group made a mad dash toward the enemy lines. The way forward was clear, and they met hardly any enemy soldiers. What few they did were quietly taken out by her escorts boot blades. That’s not to say they weren’t taking any casualties. Sadly, seven of the soldiers protecting her had fallen. For every single enemy they killed, the enemy managed to take one or two with them. If they had been able to use their hoof blasters things wouldn’t be so bad, but the sound of the weapon would attract more enemies. No matter the cost they couldn’t bring more attention to themselves. Otherwise, Shining Armor’s sacrifice would be for nothing. 
“We’re almost there! Lady Dash, Lady Fluttershy, please fly on ahead!” Ordered Far Reach. 
The only two pegasi of the group looked beside themselves, she could feel RD’s and Fluttershy’s gaze on her. Applejack smiled, “Go, I’ll be fine with these gentlecolts.”
“But we could carry you, maybe…” Fluttershy meekly suggested. This wasn’t the first time it was brought up; the topic had been hotly debated as they made their escape. 
The plan was logical. If Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy carry her, which they could do, then all three of them could escape, which was the mission objective. However, it was all or nothing. Carrying her would slow the two of them down, and even though Fluttershy could fly at a level close to Rainbow Dash’s when it really counts. Like when critters were in danger, her stamina wasn’t on par of the Wonderbolt hopeful. 
That didn’t mean the two of them flying off ahead was a perfect plan either. It basically meant sacrificing Applejack and the escorts. This plan. Their original primary method would allow two of the three of them to escape. If Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy could get back the frontlines undetected, they were home free. Somepony would see them though, it was impossible not to and even if they managed to escape the enemy would sure come to investigate the area they come from. That would leave her and the other earth ponies in a severe bind. 
In the deepest darkest part of her mind, Applejack preferred that her friends escaped. Even if it meant she and the others might get captured and killed. Well, the stallions were dead either way. She was fearful of what her fate maybe be at the enemy’s hooves. Her imagination probably wasn’t good enough to flush it out thoroughly. Not that she wanted to imagine such things. 
“Go, I’ll be fine.” She told the pegasi again. They were nearing the edge of the city. The time to debate was over. 
“I can’t leave you! It would go against everything I stand for!” Rainbow Dash protested. 
Applejack couldn’t help but snicker to herself. Rainbow Dash’s loyalty, while substantial, wasn’t as stalwart as the bearer of the Element of Loyalty would lead on, but Rainbow has always been there when the chips were down. Which is why her steadfast loyalty was a bit of hindrance right now. 
“And leave Fluttershy to fly off alone? You can’t let that fly, can you?” 
“Well… I… that’s not fair, AJ!”
Using Fluttershy was low. Really low. But everypony knew keeping her in the war zone was like chaining their legs with one-ton iron balls. She couldn’t fight, could barely fly, and while she knew first aid, it was all vet stuff, and she didn’t have any medical supplies. The soldiers had first aid kits, but that only added to Fluttershy’s redundancy. It’s not like she was combat medic. Applejack didn’t know if Fluttershy could even stand the sight of blood. Given she bandages animals so she should be used to blood, one would think, but this wasn’t the place to find out. 
“Get going already!” Applejack barked. Dash being stubborn would try to stick her ground, but with Fluttershy shaking like a leaf, they thankfully didn’t devolve into one of their fights. 
“FINE! I’m going! Let’s go Fluttershy, as fast as we can so we can get help!” 
Applejack breathed a sigh of relief, resigned to whatever may come next. “We’re changing course!” Far Reach shouted, leading them to a different street. Getting off Rainbow Dash’s and Fluttershy’s path might increase their chances of getting out themselves. If only a little. 
Fate, destiny, or whatever controlled the cosmic universe decided differently. A building ahead of RD and Fluttershy split in half as if cut by a knife. The top half of the building fell into the street in front of them, the dust cloud obscuring everything, bringing their frantic run to a crawl. 
When the dust cleared, they were all surprised to see a familiar pony standing on what remained, yet they didn’t feel friendly. 
“Commander Topaz Slicer!” Far Reach shouted with surprise and hope. “Commander have you broke through? Are reinforcements on their way?”
Topaz didn’t answer as the enemy’s shield crumbled behind him in the distance as the roar of the Rinin battling at the edge of the city reached their ears. All this should have brought the beleaguered group hope, but even Applejack knew the shield falling came at the worst possible time. Now the enemy army would be retreating towards them. 
“Guys…” Applejack whispered as she stared at the orange Rinin. She didn’t know what was going on, but when she looked at Topaz, she saw this silver aura surrounding him. With silver rings around his irises. (That’s not normal.)
“Lady Applejack… why are your eyes glowing?”
“The hell if I know, but I think we should stay away from him.” She pointed to Topaz and everypony else seemed to at least sense the same unease as her. The strange aura and his eyes aside, Topaz’s bloody and slashed body had her questioning if he was even alive.
 (Is he a zombie?)
“Hey, buddy stop staring!” Rainbow Dash growled, antagonizing the orange killing machine instead of flying away. 
(Like she supposed to!)
Topaz’s gaze narrowed, and when he spoke, there was a distortion in his voice, like two ponies were talking. “Activate Protocol 7-Alpha 2 Delta 7, Project Double Rainbow, Series white.” 
Rainbow Dash’s body went rigged, her eyes whited out, her hair stood on end turn ethereal with bursts of lightning arcing between the waving strands. Her blue coat turned white, and a crackling horn of white lightning emerged from her head. 
“What… Rainbow Dash!” Applejack screamed, but her friend didn’t even look her way. Instead, Rainbow flew before Topaz and spoke in a creepy robotic way. 
“Protocol 7, acknowledged, Rainbow model White, ready for orders.” 
Topaz looked down at them, regarding them with a cold, calculating look before addressing the transformed Rainbow Dash. “I order you to help me save your sister, Rainbow model Black, you can sense her, right?” Topaz asked. 
Rainbow nodded, still acting robotic. “Rainbow Black found, Lightning teleportation not viable, recalculating route… most efficient route found, ready to lead when ordered.”
Topaz nodded, “Good, lead the way.”
Applejack screamed, “Rainbow, wait!” Her plea went unanswered Rainbow did a one-eighty towards the enemy castle, Topaz flying beside her, apparently just leaving them to the whims of fate.  
Fluttershy landed beside her, the yellow pegasus equally as shocked as her. “Applejack…”
The street began to rumble, the rubble blocking their path was blown away as Sombra’s army made their retreat. The two groups could only stare at each other, one in horror and confusion. 
“Capture them!” The leader of the enemy forces screamed, and they charged. A black wall of bodies charging at them. 
Fluttershy clung to her crying while the stallions formed a protective line in front, Far Reach screaming at them to run. Applejack with Fluttershy in her forelegs could only look up at Topaz, no, the entity controlling Topaz and beg silently for it to help. He looked back with conflicting emotions, raised his right claw, and snapped them. 
The entire world went black and white, her and Fluttershy the only ones with color. An intense pain filled her stomach, and Applejack threw up her guts, the pain increasing as time dragged on slowly. Fluttershy was doing no better as she cried, hacking up blood and withering on the ground. Applejack tried to stand but found it too painful to even try, so she fell beside her pegasus friend as the scene around them slowly changed. Far Reach and the others fought against the horde of enemies like they were in molasses. She could only watch as every single one of them was killed, Far Reach fell beside her and was trembled beneath the fleeing enemy hooves, yet she and Fluttershy remained removed from it all.
“Wha…” Speaking hurt, it felt like gravity was crushing her body when she tried to talk, she coughed, and she coughed, blood flew out her mouth. 
Then suddenly it happened, the color returned to the world, and Applejack could breathe again. Her body still hurt, but she was alive at least. 
“Are ye alright lasses?” A Green Rinin carrying claymore inquired. “I’m Highlander, we’ve been looking for ye two, why are you lying on the ground?”
“Ah… Ah, don’t know…” She answered looking around, Applejack covered her mouth, tears falling down her cheeks when she saw Far Reach’s body. “Are they all…”
“I’m afraid so, lass. Come on, let’s get you two out here and to a medic tent. I don’t see any injuries, but you have a lot of blood coming from your mouth. Do you know why?”
She shook her head, “No, I don’t…”
Under the protection of Highlander and the other Rinin, Applejack and Fluttershy were brought back to the FOB, where they reunited with Rarity and Pinkie Pie. There, Applejack told Highlander what she could recall, but was having a hard time remembering what happened. She just knew Rainbow Dash was Topaz. They asked if they knew where they went, but she only shook her head, saying she didn’t know. When all their questioned were answered, Highlander left them in the care of Dr. BlueCross. 
“Like in the report, you don’t have any visible injuries, but a scan shows both of you have some internal damage, can you tell me what happened?”
“I don’t know.” Applejack answered blankly. “I really don’t know. I just want to go home.”
The doctor laughed humorlessly, “Don’t we all. Well, first chance you and your friends will be the first to get out of here.” She scribbled something on her clipboard and moved to leave, but Applejack stopped her with a question.
“What about Twilight? Is she alright?” 
“Unknown, she was captured. All efforts are being made to save her, now get some rest, Miss Apple.” Dr. BlueCross walked outside the tent, calling out to the other medics. “Has anyone seen VeeVee yet?” She shouted the chatter faded into the background as Applejack laid her head down on her cot and tipped her hat over her eyes and fell asleep. 



“What are we going to do? What am I going to do? What should I do?” 
“Try sitting down and taking a deep breath.” Trifecta droned tiredly; his eyes drooping low from exhaustion. He didn’t think it was possible to be so mentally exhausted from watching a pony have a several-hour long panic attack. Really it had been fun, amusing even, watching Twilight freak out in the beginning. After the first half-hour, it lost its charm, her frets, valid as they are, and repeated questions continually chipped away at his physique.  
“I can’t sit down! I can’t calm down! I get to make the wonderful choice of sleeping with you or getting…” Twilight’s face turned a deep shade a green, unable to utter the vile word. “How come you so calm? I know! You calm because you might get lucky as ponies say.”
Black smoke rose from his nostril, his throat reverberating a deep growl as he stared the wild mare down. “If I wanted you, I’d court you, sweet talk you off your hooves and have you in the bed before you even knew what happened.” Trifecta tugged at his collar. “I don’t need this crap to do that either. That said, I see why you’re still a virgin.”
Twilight turned red. “What do you mean by that!” She demanded fiercely. 
(Having her angry beats panicking, I guess. She looks cute when she’s upset. Really puffs out those cheeks adorably.)
“You're fucking exhausting!” Trifecta stated bluntly, disregarding his inner thoughts, it was probably just his libido anyway. “Gods, just make a decision and go with it. Keep in mind, I retain my right to reject you.” 
Twilight’s face became a pantheon of different emotions, anger, confusion, thoughtful, back to angry and then exhaustion and finally, embarrassment. She leaned against the bed looking at the silky red sheets and then him. Her face burning bright pink. 
“So…” She began tapping her hooves together. “I’m not saying I want to, but… would you? Me? I don’t know how this works. I spent all my time studying, I didn’t even have any friends until… just a few months ago. I… I never even thought about… mare and colt relationships. Unless you think I’m too annoying…”
Trifecta haggard and feeling a little bad walked over and ruffled Twilight’s hair. Twilight’s blush deepened as she looked up at him with expecting yet, fearful eyes. “Don’t worry.” He told her. “You don’t have to make that stupid choice now or ever.”
“But Cien… these collars… I… we don’t have a choice.”
He smiled reassuringly. “I have an ace in the hole. I’m just waiting for the right time.”
“You’ve had a plan to get out of here this whole time! Why didn’t you tell me!”
He booed her on the nose. “Because it was fun watching you freak out.”
“That’s mean! No cruel!”  
Trifecta laughed at Twilight’s weak attempts to hit him. “Ok, the real reason is I didn’t want them to use that truth ring to spill the beans. Since my truth ring is pierced in my ear, its effect is weakened on me, that and most of us rinin have higher magic resistance than regular ponies. I can tell when I can lie and when I can’t. The damn thing itches when I can’t.”
Twilight went through another mix of emotions and landed on awe, which was cute. “That’s amazing! You have to let me study you when we get out this?”
“Jeez,” Trifecta snorted. “At least let me take you out to lunch first.” Twilight turned pink again, and he pressed on. “And what exactly do you want to study, hmm?”
“E-e-verything,” Fumbled Twilight, looking away. 
Trifecta cocked a brow leaning close and whispered in her ear, “Everything? Including that?”
“That?” Twilight eeped. “What’s that?”
He laughed and leaned away. “Gods, you are a virgin.”
Twilight fumed. “Why you-!”
Suddenly the entire castle shook from the bottom to the top. Twilight and Trifecta lost their footing and fell against each other. Twilight quietly apologized as she removed herself, but Trifecta ignored it, his eyes stern as he glared at the chair in the room. 
“It’s time.” He grumbled. Walking to the center of the room, Trifecta took a deep breath and sighed. He had to do this, every time. “Ugh this is going to suck.”
“What are…”
Twilight didn’t get to finish as Trifecta took off sprinting, jumped into the air, and slammed his belly down on the top of the chair. The rinin let out a loud painful hack, making vomiting noises, Twilight gaped expecting a pile of vile to come out of the Rinin’s mouth, but instead of puke two glowing blue balls floated out of his mouth. 
The two balls zigzagged around the room, a trail of electricity sparked following in their wake until they landed between her and Trifecta. The lightning balls arced and transformed into two identical blue rinin. 
“Night Patroller Shock!”
“Night Patroller Jockey!” 
“Together we’re the thunder brothers!” 
Twilight could only gape. “Those two were inside you this whole time? How?”
“I ate them.”
“I saw that, but… but… how are they alive?”
“We turn to pure magical energy, it’s no big deal,” said Shock.
“Yeah, yeah, don’t get so uptight about the specifics, so you go down on our bro or what?”
Twilight for what must have been the hundredth time turned a deep, deep shade of pink. “You heard that? Everything?”
The thunder brothers nodded. “Hey, we’re rooting for you just so you know.”
“Yeah, Tri-bro needs to catch up with his real bros.”
“Yeah, yeah, Thrice-bro holds the record of twenty.”
Twilight gulped, “Twenty what?”
“Twenty kids!” The two said in unison, which was followed by a quick smack to the head by Trifecta. 
“And that’s why you two will never breed, you’re too blunt and annoying.”
“Nah, bro we’re just waiting out for a pair of twins like ourselves.” 
“Yeah, we have certain tastes.” 
“Four ways.”
“All the way, bro!” 
Trifecta smacked them again. “Sorry about them… they’re weird, and they’ve only gotten weirder the longer they lived.”
Twilight smiled shakily. “Yeah… I see that…”
“Enough fooling around you two, get this crap off us.” 
Shock and Jockey saluted, “You got it, bro! Thunder Brother’s HO!”
The twins turned into balls of light and zoomed around the room faster then the eye could see, small lacerations appeared on the bonds holding Trifecta and Twilight, the latter was startled, a cut appeared on her right foreleg.  
“Don’t move, they can’t really see when they’re like that.” Trifecta informed her as the collar around his neck fell to the ground, next came the shackles. “I got the rest, get her free.” He told the brothers, using his claws to pull the truth ring and other small accessories off his body. 
Twilight trembled as the two thunder brothers zipped around her like electrified bees, her restraints falling off her body in pieces, allowing Twilight to breathe a sigh of relief as her sense of antonymy came back. Reaching for the Anti-Magic ring on her horn, Twilight was annoyed to find she couldn’t get it off with her hoof.
“Allow me.” Trifecta plucked the ring off her horn and chucked it behind him. In the corner the Thunder Bros materialized in their pony forms, grinning like idiots. 
“Usually you put the ring on the mare, bro.”
“That’s right, but I think Tri-Bro will want a different ring, this one is a little tacky.”
“Right, bro?
“Right, bro!”
Trifecta groaned, “For the love of the gods, will you do shut up!” 
“We’re just trying to be wing pony’s bro!
“That’s right bro, we’re behind you and Sis-Twi all the way!”
Baffled Twilight inquired, “Since when did I become your sister?”
“Since now!”
“You’re gonna be one day anyway, Sis, you and Bro, ya know?”
She chuckled awkwardly in a nervous sweat, “No, not really…” Twilight leaned towards Trifecta, the brother’s grins growing larger. “Are these two mentally stable?”
“Do they look and act like they are?” He commented, looking at her like the answer was obvious. Making Twilight frown her brow with thought before nodding. 
“Right, it’s kind of obvious, I guess.”
“Ah, Sis! That’s mean!”
“But that’s just like Tri-bro, so you’re proving our point!”
She ground her teeth, trying really, really hard not to scream at the two that just saved her. (But they're making it so hard! It’s like they want to be yelled at, they’re like children!) Twilight raged, not noticing Trifecta walking over to the door. When she did, she took a deep breath and wandered over to see what was up. He was looking curiously at the door, so she moved closer for a better look, sure enough, the door was rigged with spells that would probably alert Cien or somepony of their escape. 
“So, what’s the plan?” Twilight asked looking at alternate escape routes, such at the windows, but quick check of them yielded the same results, the room was completely sealed. “I can crack these runes with some time.”
Trifecta frowned, billowing smoke out his nostrils as he pondered the best way forward. “Whatever caused that explosion is sure to have drawn the enemy’s attention. Thrown them into a panic and disrupt their internal defenses, braking out would hypothetically be easy. That said, they don’t seem to know we escaped our bonds. We could be passing up an even better chance if we try to get out of here now.”
“A better chance for what?” Twilight asked. 
“A chance to assassinate one of Sombra’s Children. That satanic Princess Cien would be our most likely target, it could be a while with that explosion distracting them, but if we wait for someone to come here, they’ll open the door without triggering the alarm, and we can kill them, whoever it is that comes to check on us. Really it being Cien or one of the other siblings is just a bonus.” 
Twilight gulped, “Assassinate?”
He nodded, “As much as I would like to show off, I was captured. In a straight-up fight, I can’t beat Schatten, and if can’t beat him, I most likely can’t beat his siblings either. But if I were to drop in from the ceiling and get my fangs in their neck and sever their spinal cords. Well, they wouldn’t be much of a bother then.” 
“But bro…” Shock said hesitantly. 
“We could…” Jockey continued uncertainly as Trifecta glared at them. 
“That’s not an option right now,” Trifecta said moving over to the chair in the corner and sat down. “I’m still a little beat up, you know any healing magic Twilight?”
She nodded, “I do, but it’s only a Tier 3 spell.”
“Tier 3?”
“It’s one of the ways we measure how powerful a spell is, some books use Letter Classifications such as C, D, A. Most spells are categorized as common, Advanced, and Forbidden/Lost and then divided into subcategories like non-elemental, elemental, mental.” Twilight gushed with a twinkle in her eye, while Trifecta could only blink. “Right, I suppose Spell classification and ranking is bit of dry subject…” She continued awkwardly. 
“I rarely use magic or study it,” Trifecta explained as Twilight wondered over and began casting a faint green light form her horn. Instantly the pain from his fight with Schatten started to dull, the swelling going down. “That feels… nice… is Tier 3 a high rank?”
“No, it’s basically average. It’s actually the third lowest rank a spell can receive, at least by modern standards. There used to be only five, including Tier 0, but about four hundred years ago this pony did a thesis on why Tier 0 was redundant and made motion with the Mage Association to do away with it…” Twilight looked up her cheeks a deep rosy color. “This probably boring for you. Listening to me rambling about stuff like this.”
“I’m not an intellectual, but I’m not disinterested either,” Trifecta replied with a faint blush on his own. “Ramble on if you want to.”
Twilight beamed, her magic flaring with her swelling positive emotions, “Right, so anyway, they did away with Tier 0, but they added two new higher classes in the year…”
As the Gray Rinin and Lavender Unicorn engaged in conversation, the other two forgotten rinin in the room smiled gleefully from their position watching the door. Enjoying the smile on their usual grim brother’s muzzle. They knew this moment was fleeting, it would probably last only a few minutes at the very most, but they wanted their honoree brother to have every second of peace he could. They were still after all, in a war zone. 



“What’s going on?” Zil demanded as she brandished her saber, a crowd of soldiers shaking like leaves blocked her from proceeding any closer to the dungeons. She volunteered to see what the disturbance was, it irritated her that their soldiers were roadblocking her. “I order you to move at once!”
One guard his face half burned off sobbed as he fell to his belly before her. “Princess Zil! You must flee! It’s a monster! A creature from the depths of Tartarus! Nothing hurts it! Flee before it takes you too! It’s taken everypony else!”
Zil coughed as black smoke filled the hallway, “What are you babbling about? Where are the others? There well over fifty of you stationed here!”
“They’re gone!” The Guard screamed clinging to her leg. “They were taken by the flame!”
Frustrated Zil levitated the crazed guard off her and tossed him to his companions and readied her rapier. “Take him to the medical wing and send reinforcements. I’ll deal with whatever creature has you so frazzled.”
“My lady, no! You must not!” 
“Silence! You insult me, now go!”
With strong reluctance, the gaggle of guards stormed off leaving her alone in the hall. The heat was intense, the carpet and tapestries were ablaze, the rising heat waves caused her vision to blur. 
“Come out and fight coward!” Zil taunted. There was no reply save for the crackle of fire as the wood furniture burned. The smoke grew thicker, making her tense up as her sight was almost completely obscured. Suddenly the sound of rushing hooves caught her ear, she posed her rapier forward, the panicked gallop drawing closer.
“Somepony help ME!” A pony screamed, his cries for help quickly turned to painfilled horrible screams, the likes of which she’s never heard, even from the torture chamber. A gust of wind cleared a hole in the smoke, giving Zil a glimpse of the creature her soldiers were fleeing from. The red monster had an Equinox pinned against the wall, its claw sunk deep into the pony’s chest, the soldier was screaming as fire spewed from his eyes and mouth. The black pony’s body began to crumble as crackles formed across its body like lava rock before exploding into ashes! 
She could only stare, her mouth dry, real fear the likes she’s never felt before traveled down her spine. Beyond any rationale or sense of duty, Zil, first daughter of King Sombra, turned tail and ran. 
“Princess Zil we’ve come too…” The leader of the reinforcement trailed off, he looked in the direction the Princess came from and quickly found himself burned alive, the flaming monster grabbed him by the neck sending liquid fire straight into his body like an injection shot. Broiling him alive. 
“What the hell!” 
“Fire! Fire! Fire!”
One Equinox charged stabbing with his horn, the red monster grabbed him by the magic appendage snapped it and then stuck it into his eye socket before incinerating him. The one firing a barrage of magic bolts could only back away as their attacks passed right through the monster. 
“Somepony fire a water spell!” 
Those were his last words, the red monster opened it’s flaming jaw and unleashed a breath of fire that filled the entire hall, the enclosed space superheating the already blazing attack. Princess Zil just barely rounded the corner as flames shot past, the drawn-out screams of her subjects ringing in her ears as she pressed against the wall and cried. 
(What is that? What hell beast is that?) She shook with fear, taking deep strangled breaths to try and calm her nerves. Nothing! Not even her father’s wrath had frightened her so much in her entire life! She stared at her forelegs, her hooves trembling. When she heard slow methodical footstep drawing closer, Zil covered her mouth and held her breath, a red muzzle appeared around the corner. (Impossible!)
What came into view looking bored was Fierce Fury, the Red Rinin that Scath was supposed to have killed! He was alive. Not just that his body radiated with a power she couldn’t pin down, the heat rising off his body made the end of her hair singe and smoke. Clutched in the red Rinin’s claw was a blackened pony skull, which he crushed beneath his foot as he passed by. For a second it looked like he was going to overlook her when his blazing yellow eyes panned towards her. Glaring intensely as she sat frozen in place, wondering what he would do. He glanced at her weapon, discarded on the floor, and then to her. 
“Run.” He told her. 
Pressure like a rope tightening around her neck had her lacking for air, and before she even realized it, she was running away. She ran, and ran, and ran, never looking back once. When it became evident Fury wasn’t following her, she stopped, breathed and quickly felt shame for her actions. She whirled around, her own fury rising as she prepared to go back and face the Red Rinin, but her body wouldn’t move.
“He’s nothing special!” She screamed. “So, what if Scath failed to kill him! So, what if magic bolts didn’t work on him! Even if he’s made of fire, that just means I need to pour water on him! Easy!” Her self-pep talk had no effect on her courage. She remained rooted where she stood. 
Zil suddenly began to laugh, “Yes! It’s only natural to be afraid! Father’s stories are just getting the better of me! Right? Haha! Nothing but childhood fears rearing up is all!” 
Taking long deep breaths Zil calmed her mind and raced back to where she came, picking up her discarded rapier along the way. Swallowing all doubt and fear she followed the trail of fire, ice creeping up the length of her blade, she would get Fury from behind and bring the Red Rinin down and present his real corpse to her father. He could have no reservations of sending her to battle after that. 
Bounding around the next bend she saw Fury’s back, she dared not slow down, biting back her battle cry, her rapier spinning like a drill as Zil cocked it back. When she was sure, she wouldn’t miss she launched the ice infused sword fly. Zil braked hard watching her attack fly with anticipation the whole scene playing out in slow motion. 
The tip of the blade buried itself into Fierce Fury’s neck! Drilling deeper and deeper until it surely burrowed through, but Zil had to take pause as her weapon flew through Fury’s neck. Guard and all, with only a faint flick of flame exploding out of his neck before the rapier passed through his body and buried itself into the wall at the other end of the hall, the black steel smoking. 
“What… what are you!” She screamed, her panic returned with a vengeance. Out of perhaps misguided instinct she cast an anti-illusion spell just to be sure she wasn’t being tricked. Nothing happened. She scene before didn’t alter one bit, what stood before her was real. 
Fury shook his head, flames flaring up all over his body, nearly covering him entirely in fire. “You came back… how stupid. I don’t like killing mares, but since you clearly want to die in battle. I’ll honor your convictions.” Rising up on his hindlegs Fury’s spine popped several times as he stood upright and stretched out his claws. Holding two sphere’s of fire, one red, one green in his claws and smashed them together. “Hellroad Crossfire!” 
A mix of red and green flames engulfed the entire hallway the small passageway making the fire more intense as rushed towards Zil. She threw up a barrier, biting her lip as the attack raged against the force field. For a moment she thought she could hold it, but then the green flames began licking at the shield, creating small openings where ever they appeared. The fire started to escape and burn her. 
Her horn burning from overuse, Zil locked on her to rapier and called it toward her. The weapon flew back and embedded itself into the stone floor. She dropped her barrier and crouched behind the thin blade.
“Activate Heart’s protection!” The black rapier turned white with a transparent white heart-shaped shield appeared before her and sucked up all the flames. Zil breathed a sigh of relief, taking up her sword again and brandishing it defensively while Fury cocked his head with confusion. 
“Damn magic, so annoying. Always feeling like a one-trick pony.” He grumbled stepping towards her. Suddenly a ball and chain smashed through the wall and slammed into Fury, sending him through the parallel wall.  
Zil smiled with joy, “Ombre! Your…ick…” the relief of seeing her brother waned significantly when he hopped out of his room unarmored and still flaccid. He walked awkwardly on three legs observing the destruction of the hall. 
“Zil? What’s all the noise? I was just in the middle of…”
“I know! I can see you!” She screamed, squeezing her eyes shut. “At least clean up first before joining a fight.”
Ombre laughed. “Fight? I hardly call that a fight. Barely worth my time.”
“You’re a fool if you think that’s all it takes! That’s the pony Scath was supposed to have killed! I hit him in the neck with my rapier, and he’s still alive!”
Ombre didn’t seem concerned as he casually approached the hole he made and summoned his weapon back. The mace came first, and he tried to pocket it in his storage dimension, but the chain snapped tight. He tugged with his magic, and the ball and chain pulled away from him! 
“Impossible!” He strained, digging his hooves and pulling with all his might. “No pony is this strong!”
“You’re right,” The mocking voice of Fury said as he materialized from flames beside Ombre. “I doubt any pony can pull chain out of that much rubble. Must be under several hundred tons!” He laughed, Ombre and Zil watching with horror as he summoned ball of fire in his claws with no chant or any indication of magic, it just appeared. He then crushed it in his claw, turning it into sword of fire.
Zil quickly reached a dreadful conclusion. (Body made of fire, regenerates with fire, that’s what… no way! How could he achieve that kind of power?)
“Ombre! He’s a fire spirit! Get away from him!”
He didn’t get away, there wasn’t time. Fury swung his flame sword right at the big three-legged stallion, burning the right side of Ombre’s face. Zil threw up when she saw the flesh melting off her brother’s muzzle. 
“You kids…” Fury said gruffly. “Are you done playing, or are we going to actually fight? I don’t have time for pretenders.” 
Zil’s lips trembled as her fear rose to new levels, it was like Fury was clutching her heart in his palm, “Pretenders?” 
Fury stalked closer, becoming the flaming demon she had first seen, what looked like green veins covered Fury’s body, something she hadn’t noticed the first time. That didn’t matter to her. Heart pounding out her chest Zil in a flash of panic she grabbed onto Ombre and teleported the both of them out of there. 
“Gods,” Fury sighed, the flames on his body extinguished. He swayed slightly dropping back on all fours, steamrolled off his body as he held his chest, the green veins disappearing. “Argh… how does Sixes deal with this? It’s so taxing.” 
The sound of whimpering caught his attention, and he looked into the hole Ombre had climbed out of to see a plethora of exhausted mares thrown around the room like rag dolls. They looked at him not with fear, nor with hope, but apathy. Their eyes were dull of any emotion. 
“Are you going to kill us?” One mare, a yellow one, asked him. 
“No.” 
“So, you aren’t here to release us from this hell? A spirit to answer our prayers?” A green mare begged desperately. 
That one made him blink. “I’m nothing that grand. I’m just a pony, not an angel, a devil, or a spirit, but I can get you out of here if you have the strength to move. Otherwise you’ll have to wait until the war is over. It would be safer if you all just stayed here and waited.”
One mare, a blue one, stood up, “Fuck that. Even if means death, I’m not staying in this room any longer!” 
“I can’t guarantee your safety, but if your feeling helpful, tell me where these guys put captured VIPs?”
The three mares looked at each other and nodded, the Yellow speaking for the group. “We know a place like that. Are any of them, female?”
“More than likely.”
“We know where they are. Follow us.” The mares walked towards him, but they froze when they reached the boundary of the room. Noticing their bonds Fury made a small torch flame on his index claw and held it close to their bounds. 
“You might get a little burned, but give me a second.” He warned them and then torched the control collars and other accessories off their bodies. Each of the mares sported a burn from where he cut the shackles, but they didn’t seem to mind. They happily leaped out of the room, dancing and crying for joy as they shouted. 
“I can move! I can move my body! I’m free! We’re all free!” 
Fury could only look on at the mares. They were smiling and sobbing as they held each other, wailing in grief. He left them briefly to check out the room, he found more mares, but they were not so lively. They were dead. He was no detective, but they looked like they had been used and then tossed against the wall like a toy, breaking their necks against the stone wall. 
“We know there won’t be time to bury them.” The green mare said from the hall as she wiped her tears. “They were like sisters to us. I know we can’t take them, but could you…” She covered her mouth holding in her words as she looked shamefully away. “Could you send them away from here?”
Fury looked up at the ceiling as his body became engulfed in flames. “Yeah, I’ll send them somewhere really nice. Better than here anyway.” The three mares moved a safe distance away, and he let loose an intense flame that reduced the dead mares to ashes, their remains swirled around him, he broke a nearby window to let them fly free. 
When he stepped outside the room, the mares bowed to him and said ‘thank you.’ He merely grunted and took point. “Which way?” He asked, and they pointed him forward. “Let’s go.”



King Sombra poured over the map of his city, he kept a level head as he watched the holographic images of his troops retreat play out before him. Panic was minimal, and everypony was making their way to fall back position. Recon mages hiding in the buildings observed the enemy formation. 
The enemy airship sat on the wings, laying down a heavy barrage of cannon fire. Each barrage was aimed slightly further from last. At first, it appeared they were wasting their ammo stores, but after some duration, a clear path could be seen. Two actually. They were knocking out the buildings to reduce the threat of ambush. 
“Hmm… I suppose it’s no surprise they’d have a tactic to counter the one I borrowed. I had planned for that, but I hadn’t expected such a brutal and barbaric answer.”
“Sir,” His General Black Steele drew his attention to the enemy’s center formation. Mages were bombarding another path, straight down the main road. “How should we respond?”
Sombra took a breath reading the situation, it was too soon to play his trump cards. “Have the center fall back, and focus on destroying or at the very least damaging those ships. They are key in our enemy’s strategy. Set up barriers here, and here to imped their progress, I’m sure the ships will cease their fire until ground units can clear out the shields.”
General Steele did a bit of calculating before countering his lord’s plan. “Do you intend to let them breach so far into the city, sire?”
He merely nodded, and the general held his tongue. “Now about the matter of that attack earlier, what reports are there from Zil?” 
“Nothing as of yet sire, perhaps it was so unnoteworthy the Princess thought not to waste your time with it.” 
Sombra looked at his General, who held doubt in his own words, “Yes, perhaps, but things are rarely so perfect. Find my daughter and have her report!”
“At once sir!” A random officer saluted and moved for the door when the runes inside the Throne room flashed, signaling magic was in use. Everypony stiffed charging their horn in anticipation of an enemy attack. The flash and noise of a teleport filled the room, and the massive body of Ombre crashed on top of the table with Zil atop her brother’s back, her face wet with sweat and her eyes dilated in panic. 
“We made it… we’re alive…” 
“Princess Zil! Prince Ombre! What is the meaning of this?” General Steele shouted, but the Princess ignored his question and ran for her father, clinging to the elderly king in a fashion much more becoming of a child than a grown mare. 
“Father! He’s a monster! A red devil in the guise of a pony!” 
Sombra used his cape to cover his shaking daughter, while the General and other officers gawked at Ombre’s face, he stole a glance and felt his blood run cold at the sight of his son’s half charred muzzle. 
“What… who did this.” He demanded in a deathly quiet tone. 
Composing herself, Zil answered, “The Red Rinin, Fierce Fury, he fanned defeat at Scath’s hoof to get inside the castle. I believe he is a Fire Spirit. His body is made of flames, our attacks do nothing to him, they either fly right threw him, or they regenerate as soon as their made.” 
“A fire Spirit,” Sombra closed his eyes with thought. The most known Spirit in the world was Discord, the Spirit or sometimes called God of Chaos. There were, of course, more spirits in the world other than Discord, Fire, water, wind, etc. but they were still rare and powerful creatures with powers from the cosmic plane. 
(The Spirit of Fire is… Ingis or is Ifrit? Doesn’t matter.) He concluded as he stroked Zil’s mane to calm her. (Zil would have no frame of reference other than my stories and textbooks. If the Red Rinin were indeed the Fire Spirit, Celestia would not need an army.)
“Trust your, king, when I say our enemy is not a Fire Spirit, though he could have the spirit’s blessing. Granting him incredible power, but he is not unbeatable.” Sombra told the room. 
“Then I will go hunt for him at once father! With Cien I’m sure we can bring him down!” Zil said with zeal. He shook his head, her pride getting the in the way of her intelligence. 
“No,” He rejected gently, turning his eye to the chained up Cadence against the wall. “I have a more effective way of dealing with that red menace. Bring me the relics Sanctus Armatura and the Saintess Hastams from the treasury.” 
“Oh father!” The sweet voice of his second daughter rang as she burst into the hall. A devious smile on her lips as she trotted to the strategy table. General Steele confronted her. 
“Princess Cien now is not the time for..” The General didn’t get to finish his sentence when Cien pulled something from the saddlebags she wore. It was a black gem, and from the ache in his chest, Sombra knew just what kind of jewel it was. The dark, ominous aura radiating off it was evident for the entire room to see as black aura oozed out of it. Polluting the air with darkness. 
Cien smiled as she nuzzled the gem lovingly, “Look what was in little Schatten’s bride to be was carrying on her. I thought it might be useful to you, father.”
With his magic trembling with barely contained excitement Sombra took the gem from his daughter, it’s power flowing into him. There was no doubt, it was an alicorn amulet! 
Cadence gulped as Sombra engulfed in shadow turned his menacing red eyes on her. “Oh yes my dear Cien, most defiantly. This…” He clutched the Amulet in his aura. “Will help me very much.”