“What the hell was the explosion?” Goodnight screeched, hugging the wall for support as the castle shook. Smokey Haze hoovered as a cloud of smoke above the floor unaffected. The Rinin clamped his claw over Goodnight’s muzzle to keep him quiet as a gaggle of guards rushed past. In a whiff of smoke Haze chased after them, Goodnight cringed at the guards' short, panicked gargles of death before going silent. Smokey returned and dropped the three bodies in a random room. “You know somepony is going to find these bodies at some point, right?”
Smokey Haze looked disinterested in his commentary. “It’s not worth the time to incinerate them. Check their packs for a map or something.”
“Right…” Goodnight rifled through the dead guards’ saddlebags. He didn’t bother keeping an eye out for enemies. The sound of booted hooves barely reached his ears, the guard’s demand of ‘who are you?’ didn’t even make him turn his head. Smokey Haze already engulfed the poor guard strangling him in a cloud of toxic smoke. The unfortunate bastard fell dead to the ground as Goodnight finished his search. “Nothing, we might just have to grab a guard and interrogate him.”
The Monster Pony growled with displeasure and craned his neck around the corner in search of more guards. “Bastards have been showing up like they’re on sale, and now they’re gone. Must have killed most of them in this area. That explosion probably has them running around like headless chickens.”
Goodnight silently agreed as he trotted into the hall, Smokey turned to smoke to travel on the ceiling. With no map and no signs to show him the way he just started picking random hallways and stairs. He seemed to still be in the east part of the castle if his sense of direction was right.
“Can’t you find ponies with sonar?” Smokey asked as they came to a highly decorative hallway. Lots of silk tapestries and banners.
(Maybe that’s a good sign?)
Goodnight answered, “I could try, but that would involve using a sonic shriek, it’s not quiet.”
“No risk, no reward as they say.”
The bat pony braced himself, “Well, I can’t say how well it’ll work since this isn’t a cave, but here we go!” Inhaling deeply, Goodnight held his breath and then let loose a sonic shriek that bounced off the walls, with his eyes closed, his ears twitched violently reading the sonic vibrations showing Goodnight a vague image in his mind. It was a lot harder to ‘see’ since the walls were crystal, the noise was all over the place, but if the walls had been made of brick, this might have been even harder.
“I got something,” He announced. The returning echoes told him everything it found. “The room up head, third door down, on the south side. There are ponies inside, two or more.”
Haze materialized on the ground retaking the lead. The door in question was a thick iron braced wooden door with a sophisticated combination lock, and key held it shut with runes boldly inscribed on the metal to alert ponies if it was opened improperly.
“Can you read those?” Goodnight asked Smokey Haze as the rinin peered at the runes. He pulled a small pocketbook from his saddlebag, flipping through it until he came to a section with what looked like an alphabet. “Smokey?”
“Quiet, keep watch, I’ll decipher these runes. Let’s see this symbol means this… there don’t seem to be any variants from the standard rune codex. This rune means… to warn… and this, according to Commander Sixes' side notes, means… umm… maybe slave lock? Ok, ok… so the complete formula is read as ‘Keep thy slave bound, within, warn master of escape lock… the lock override code is…”
Smokey Haze reached into his saddlebag again and retrieved a brush and ink. He dabbed brush, and drew what looked two U’s turned on their sides and interlocked, and then added a bolt of lightning between them. The numbers on the padlock spun landing on 1,9,5,2,4, the keyhole turned and made a loud ‘click!’ noise as the lock fell off the door.
“Wow, how’d you know to do that?”
“Sixes taught a class on basic rune function. This lock was pretty simple really, it’s mostly for keeping the ponies inside. ‘In’ is the keyword here. Opening the door from the outside if relatively easy.”
Goodnight was starstruck, “Still, that’s really cool. Will I get to learn stuff like that?”
“Most likely, I’m sure Commander Sixes will have it in the Commando course.” Smokey Haze pushed open the door, the first thing they saw was a large bed with red silk sheets and a fireplace crackling off to the side. The room seemed empty at first glance, and Haze looked to Goodnight for confirmation, which he gave. So the rinin took a closer look, stepping further into the room and noticed a budge in the blankets and the swooning of a mare. A mop of navy-blue hair on lavender popped out of the sheets, the owner trying and utterly failing to pull off alluring.
“Twilight?”
“Goody?” Twilight replied surprised as she twisted her neck to look at them. She smiled with relief, and then her eyes widened in horror. “Wait, GET BACK!”
Lucky for Goodnight, he was still in the hall, Smokey, however, was halfway in the room, so when Trifecta and the thunder brothers landed on him and ripped into the top of his neck… well, it was a good thing, it was Smokey. When the three stallions fell on top of him, he just dissipated into a cloud of smoke and rematerialized several feet away.
“Smokey?” Trifecta looked puzzled from his position on the floor. “What are you doing here?”
“Saving you.”
“Well… you're doing a good job.” The triplet laughed at his assassination attempt, throwing Shock and Jockey off him. “The rest of the team with you?”
Smokey shook his head. “You and are the only ones from B-team in the castle, Commander.”
“B-team? What team?” Goodnight asked and was ignored.
“Shock, Jockey, back inside.” The twins saluted, and turned into their energy ball forms and flew into Trifecta’s open jaws. The gray rinin swallowed hard, a glowing blue light shining through his throat as the brothers traveled down into his stomach.
Twilight and Goodnight were stupefied. Even though the former knew they could do that, she hadn’t expected to bear witness to the process. Goodnight, having no warning, was understandably confused.
“What the hell! You ate them!”
Trifecta burped, electric sparks arced between his teeth. “Yeah, it’s better to keep a trump card at the ready. Now, if you can shut that door, we need to plan our next move.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to move to a different room?” Twilight suggested.
Trifecta already pulled Goodnight into the room, cleaned up the lock, and shut the door. He gestured for them all to sit in the north left corner of the room so the door would face them when opened. Twilight sat beside Trifecta, while Goodnight and Smokey sat across from them. The two rinin began discussing the castle layout, Smokey provided a blank notebook from his saddlebag for Twilight, who quickly and precisely drew a quick map based on their description. She added a few corrections to Trifecta’s observations. When they finished, they had a basic layout of the castle from the dungeons to the throne room, to their current location, and a rough draft of the east hallways.
Now the bigger question, What to do now?
“That explosion had to be Fierce Fury. He must have finally decided to make his escape. It worked out great that I was taken from my cell. Fury must have blown the place sky-high. I assume he’s looking for other prisoners.” Trifecta theorized. “We have several options to choose from to proceed forward.”
The first plan Trifecta proposed was a follow up on his assassination idea. They were already deep in enemy territory, left to their own devices while Sombra’s forces dealt with Fierce Fury. In the chaos, they could get to the throne room and kill the king. According to Twilight’s report from her interrogation, the king was not in excellent shape. Killing Sombra would be a huge moral blow to the enemy. However, it might not matter. Given the number of Sombra’s sons ready to take over. The percentage that killing their father could lead to a power struggle, the brothers and sisters fighting each other for control, was dismally low.
“That’s being too hopeful, I think, Commander Trifecta,” Smokey Haze interjected. “A Sibling rivalry and power struggle might very well exist, but if they have any intelligence, they will put that aside, and rallying behind the mysterious first son, until the war is over.”
Twilight nodded and said, “I have to agree. I know I’m out of my depth when it comes to stuff like this, but Celestia did teach me history. She showed me plenty of books of this very thing, nine times out of ten as long as there’s an outside enemy to fight, the royals in charge will rally behind the current leader until that threat is taken care of. Plus, while we are technically invading them, they plan to go out and conquer the outside world, they’ll have plenty of lands to give away if we fail here.”
“Alright, alright, I get it! Fuck, I’m not writing this shit in stone and proclaiming it from the mountain tops!” Trifecta barked. “Alright, the second option is simpler, and it’s probably what we should do, but there are a lot of caveats. Recusing the VIPs, AKA Twilight, and getting her back to base. And before any pony speaks up, I know logistics are a nightmare. Frankly, it would almost be easier to wait for our forces to breach the city and rescue us.”
Much to Twilight’s resentment, everypony around her gave the idea serious thought. “I’m not useless! I can help! I know a ton of support magic!”
“Could you teleport out of the city if we bought you time to charge up?” Goodnight asked, seemingly ignoring her protests.
“I could, but I’d still only make it halfway, probably, either way, I’d completely hopeless after casting such a spell. If I bungled it, I’d just be captured again.”
“She’s got the point,” Smokey nodded. “plus, it would leave us up shit’s creek defending her in a place with a good field of vision. We’d be overwhelmed in under a minute, maybe two. There’s also a chance there are other ponies from outside captured. If they have Fierce Fury, that means they might have Princess Cadence somewhere. Have either of you seen her?”
Twilight and Trifecta shook their heads.
“Fury was already in the cell when I got there. He didn’t try to signal me or anything, so they might not have Cadence. That was a few hours ago, though.” He admitted thumping foot excitedly while glancing at the door. “We should wrap this up quick, I’m getting worried about how long they’ve left us alone. Here are my final proposals.”
His next idea involved splitting the team. Trifecta, Goodnight, and the Thunder Brothers would stay and wreak havoc behind enemy lines, while Haze escorted Twilight to safety. The monster pony was the lavender unicorn’s best shot of getting out. Haze’s smoke ability made him deadly to the oomph degree, Trifecta was sure even Sombra’s kids would have a hard time with him.
The final plan was like the first, but instead all of them forgot about trying to escape, and for better or for worse they do as much damage as possible to the enemy, whether that meant killing Sombra or any of his children if they could manage or simply just distract them so the frontlines could have an easier time. Tactically it was the best and most useful plan if they ignored Twilight’s VIP status that is.
“I vote for the fourth plan!” Twilight boldly declared.
“This wasn’t up for a vote, I’m the highest-ranked pony here, I’ll make the call. But I’ll take note of your answer.” Trifecta turned to Smokey. “What do you think? Any chance Bixin can make it back?”
Smokey shook his head. “We didn’t discuss that, we only planned on the way to get in. He’s being chased as we speak, and Bixin most likely won’t come back to the castle, it would make the enemy suspect something is up if they don’t already. Whatever you decide, Vice-Commander, I will follow you.”
“Thanks, Smokey,” Trifecta looked at Twilight, looking deep into her innocent purple eyes. Seeing the spark of resolve, but how powerful was it? “Twilight, if you stay here, there’s a chance you’ll be safe for a while, but if you come with us, you’ll be put at great risk. Furthermore, whatever the enemy was planning will be ten times worse if they capture you again. They probably won’t wait either, especially if we do a lot of damage.”
“You're making it sound like we’ll fail.” She replied softly.
“I’m only planning for the most likely outcome. We’re outnumbered, no chance of back up, this is basically a suicide mission. If you come with us, you have to be ready to kill. Can you do it?”
Twilight licked her lips and gulped audibility. The three stallions looked doubtful. “Y-yes… YES, I can! I will!” She swore. “VeeVee has been teaching me!”
Trifecta inwardly raised a brow at the mention of the raspberry medic, but let the slip slid and ruffled Twilight’s hair with a sad smile. Twilight had no idea what she just signed up for, but then again, if she had, she wouldn’t be here in the first place. If they survived, Celestia was going to be cross with him.

Sweet Dreams was not in a very comfortable position, correction, she was in a lovely bed with silk sheets, wearing black silk pajamas that would cost her entire military salary for the year to buy. It was jarring really, being put in clothes that only royalty/nobles would be able to wear. She was raised in a literal cave, it was a large cave with a town inside, but still a cave. Honestly, it almost felt like she was on paid leave.
The only problem? She wasn’t on leave, she was captured by the enemy, and the said enemy was juvenile filly currently hugging her like plushie and cold as the snow she marched through to get to this Celestia forsaken place!
With a violent shiver, Sweet Dreams felt Skaggi nuzzle against her back and tighten her grip around her, mumbling soft sleepy gibberish. While laying in bed was better than standing against the wall or drinking hot tea without being able to cool it first. All the heavy fur blankets didn’t amount for crap when she was forced to lay next to a pony with the warmth of iceberg!
(Oh, how did this happen? Really how? How did I end up psycho child’s plaything? I mean, there could be worse things happening to me, but at least I would be warm! Also, if I die from frostbite, I don’t want this to be how they find me!)
If Sweet Dreams could cry, she would, but she couldn’t. Her orders from her frosty little master were to cuddle until suppertime. Apparently, being an ice pony meant having low blood pressure, which meant being sleepy and being very hard to wake up.
Now Sweet Dreams could move, she discovered. She had full movement of her legs and free-range to go as far as the edge of the bed as long as Skaggi was touching her. Once she wriggled free from Skaggi, and she promptly became unable to move at all until the ice princess reached out and snuggled her again. Naturally, Sweet Dreams couldn’t, say, strangle Skaggi or do anything that might hurt her, but Sweet Dreams did discover she could pet her. It wasn’t useful, but it helped her understand the limits of her control collar more.
However, her escape plans were still in the development stages. When the castle shook, and Skaggi’s maids put her down for a nap to go investigate. She thought that would give her the chance to trick Skaggi into letting her move freely. That plan was dashed as soon as Skaggi mumbled sleepily for her to join her, and things haven’t progressed far since then.
Time kept ticking away, and if she was right, it’s been at least maybe an hour and a half since the explosion happened? It was hard to tell since there were no clocks in the room. And to be honest, she did fall asleep before the bed became a frozen ice sheet. She didn’t know if that was because she was exhausted from all the fighting or if her command collar could just make her sleep, but it didn’t matter.
A yawn escaped her lips as the cold began lulling her to sleep again. Fear of dying from the frost in her sleep was there, but Sweet Dreams couldn’t gather the energy to fight it. As her eyes closed, the door open, and Sweet Dreams remained still as the intruder walked beside the bed.
Cracking her eyelids open a touch, Sweet Dreams saw the light blue coat belonging to Tundra standing by the bed, the ice queen maid gazed at Skaggi as if in a trance. The maid reached out and began to brush Skaggi’s hair singing in a soft, mournful wailing tone. It was beautiful.

Little one, little one, rest your eyes
Mother’s here to sing you a lullaby
Dream, dream, my little child
Of frozen fields and artic wilds
The whistling wails of ponies’ cries
As we snicker and watch them die
Hatred feeds our eternal storm
Frigid, bitter, piercing winds
Turn all warmth to an eternal Winter!

The motherly scene took a very dark twist as Tundra sang her frankly disturbing song. Yet for the watchful thestral, it reminded her of something. An old story. One all ponies knew. Tundra’s red iris vanished into white voids as cold mist poured from her body, the temperature dropped even further.
“When the time comes, my child, you will know my love. When this curse put upon me is broken, you will know me, and you will be free as well. I promise.” Tundra resumed her haunting song, her deathly wails filling the room as snowflakes fluttered down from the ceiling.

“Somepony get help!” Was the last thing an unsuspecting guard heard before being eviscerated by Fierce Fury’s flames. The red rinin was normal, using his fire breath to smite the enemies in his way. As soon as the one guard fell, he pounced on the next and ripped into the flesh of Equinox’s neck, gouging a mouth-sized chunk from the black pony’s body. His comrade screamed in terror, backing frantically against the wall, his mind broken by horror before him.
Fury spat the chunk of meat out and stalked towards the trembling pony, extended his claw, and slowly dug his talons into poor soul’s neck and ripped a clawful of flesh out. The Equinox gasped, holding the wound before bleeding out seconds later. No guards remained.
“Which way next?” Fury asked the three mare’s peeking around the corner.
“To the right,” Ms. Green answered. “That will lead to the southern hall, which will take us away from the third Princess’s chambers. She is the youngest of Sombra’s children.”
Fury cocked his head walking to the intersection of the hall. A persuasive cold draft bellowed forth, further down he could see frost creeping across the crystal walls.
“How young?”
“What?”
“How young is the third princess?” He reiterated.
The three mares, now behind him, looked at one another, whispering for a bit and answered. “About… fourteen maybe sixteen years? I don’t think she’s reached the age of marriage, at least.” Ms. Blue answered for the group. “I’ve only seen her once, she’s quite reclusive. Only her Nanny Tundra and Lady Cien’s Maid, Gleam, enter her room on a regular bias. Lady Zil and Lady Cien will visit her the most, often when they have a new ‘doll’ for. Doll referring to a pony of our status.”
“So, a slave, what does she do with you them?” Fury inquired.
The three mares sported shared looks of terror. Ms. Yellow was the first to recover, her voice trembled when she spoke. “She treats them as dolls, her toys, she doesn’t even seem to recognize them as living beings with thoughts. I’ve heard rumors… that many ‘dolls’ died of neglect, dehydration, or starvation, were the most common way to go under her care if she lost interest and left you on the shelf to collect dust.”
“Hmm, I can’t hardly believe she’s a filly on the verge of marehood.”
Ms. Yellow nodded, “She’s very sheltered. Lord Sombra dots on her and all her sibling’s spoiled her.”
“Is she strong?” Fury asked, looking down the other halls. The three mares looked beside themselves as they struggled to answer.
“We don’t know,” Ms. Blue answered.
Ms. Green continued, “I’ve never heard anything of her studies or training. Her upbringing was very different from her siblings. One could almost call it normal as far as I know.”
“I don’t know anything, either,” Added Ms. Yellow when he looked at her.
Fury tapped his chin as the ice expanded. “What’s to the… left, I mean north?”
“That will take us closer to the throne room. It’s shorter to go that way to get to where your friends might be, but like I said, the throne room is that way.” Ms. Green explained, glancing nervously in the direction of Fury’s gaze. “You’re not actually planning on going there, are you?”
“Sounds like it will be fun, better than fighting an immature teenager, you three can come with me or go the other way. Either way, I think I’ll jump to the final boss. I got a score to settle with Sombra anyway.”
“I don’t think that’s wise, Mr. Fury!” Ms. Green shouted; Fury was already halfway down the northern hallway. With an uncertain glance at her companions and their other options not much better, they raced after the red rinin.

“It was this way right, Twilight?” Trifecta asked the lavender unicorn as they navigated the hallways back to the throne room. It was a long shot, but killing Sombra and any of his military leaders and children should help the front, if not outright cause the Sombra forces to collapse. The real snag in the plan was they needed princess level power, and they maybe had half a princess collectively. He didn’t know how to actually scale that.
“It’s just another left up ahead.” She replied. He could barely hear the nerves in her voice, this young mare was made of harder stuff then he initially thought. Still, she was far to green to be doing this kind of mission.
He nodded, signaling for Smokey to do his thing and scout ahead, while they waited by the corner, Goodnight watched the rear. It was quiet. While he peered around the corner, Twilight pressed up beside him to get a better look.
“You should get back,” Trifecta told her. “You’re blocking me.”
“Sorry,” Twilight whispered, moving back a bit. Now her head was just behind his neck. She was still trying to sneak a peek. The sound of somepony gurgling on their own blood come from down the hall, Haze pulled some poor sap up by the neck and crushed their head against the ceiling. Twilight made a meek sound and closed her eyes, she flinched when squishy brain matter splattered to the floor.
(Gods Haze, you carving him up for Hearth’s warming feast?) Thought Trifecta as he watched Haze twist, the guards head off and toss the head into the next hall. There was as startled scream that was quickly cut short.
“Is it ok to open my eyes?” Twilight meekly asked.
“Ahh… no…” He answered flatly. “Stay here.”
Running down the hall, Trifecta puffed his chest with silver fire and burned the corpse to a crispy black. He didn’t have the time to waste burning it to ashes, so this was the next best thing.
“Clear, come here, you two.” He ordered. Twilight and Goodnight rejoined them. The unicorn cringed at the charred body and gagged as the smell of cooked pony meat filled the hall, but it was better than before. Better being marginal.
Around the corner, they found Haze with two more charred bodies standing in the broader hallway with a big red door halfway down. Another hall just before the door. The other rinin caught on that Trifecta wanted to keep Twilight’s exposure to gore to a minimum and disposed of the carnage best he could.
“This is it.” Goodnight gulped nervously as they formed a line and approached the throne room door. The hall was eerily quiet. There were no other guards. In fact, this place was horribly understaffed from the looks of it.
“This feels like a fucking trap,” Trifecta said warily. His eyes darted side to side. How many times had he walked into a similar set up like this? It was a named strategy. The empty castle, if he remembered Kira’s lesson, it was where the enemy makes it easy to enter, but hard to escape.
As the group approached the adjoining hall, they heard a noise. The rhythmic thumb of trotting hooves drew closer. Smokey looked at Trifecta, who nodded. The smoke rinin did his thing and rushed into the hall as a cloud. For several seconds they waited. There were sounds of a struggle followed by an angry guttural roar and a copper-colored flash zoomed across their vision as Smokey Haze slammed into the wall!
“Sweet fucking moon…” Trifecta gasped. It was not easy to toss Smokey Haze, a monster pony, like that, it had to be one of the siblings! Building up the fire, Trifecta’s barrel swelled, and he leaped around the corner, ready to engulf the hall in flames, but before he could open his mouth, a red claw clamped it close. He whimpered as razor-sharp talons dug into his muzzle, and the blazing gold eyes of a pissed off Fierce Fury bore into him.
“Trifecta! That’s a fucked-up way to greet a superior officer!” Fury shoved him back and slapped him across the face, making Trifecta cough smoke and fire as he staggered back towards the others. The red Rinin Commander strode into the hall like he owned the place. “Goodnight, at attention! Or were you asleep during my training?”
“No, sir!” Goodnight said quickly with fear, his body rigid as a post.
Fury snorted fire as his gaze fell on Smokey Haze, “Stand up, Junior Lieutenant Smokey Haze, your embarrassing yourself.”
Smokey was on his feet in a flash, saluting, “Yes, sir, sorry, sir!”
The Red Rinin Commander panned the hall, his brow frowned when he saw Twilight but didn’t say anything to her. “Where is Bixin and Vani Lu?”
“They made a distraction so Commando Goodnight and I could infiltrate the castle, their current location is unknown. As is the frontlines, sir.”
Fury nodded and waved behind him; three different colored mares joined them. “Alright, I won’t ask why you brought a VIP towards the enemy, but Trifecta, Smokey, and Goodnight take these three with Ms. Twilight and get them to safety.”
“Now, hold on!” Twilight objected. “We already decided we were going to take on Sombra, you can’t just show up and change… that…” Twilight trailed off under Fury’s golden-eyed scowl. “Um… ha…haha… what was I saying again?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing! Right! That’s exactly right! I was saying nothing…” She sighed while Goodnight patted her on the shoulder. It was tough to speak up to Commander Fury.
“You tried Twilight.”
“Yeah, sure I did.”
“I have to object to that order, sir.” Trifecta boldly declared, much to everyponies shock, Fury looked indifferent. “We already went over the risks, our time is better spent taking out the enemy hierarchy, and with you here, our chances just went up. Our team is in the best position possible for a decapitation strike, VIP, or no.”
Fury stared into Trifecta’s eyes, the gray rinin held his ground, and the red rinin chuckled. “Here I thought you only got pissy when it was Sixes calling the shots. Alright, Trifecta, it’s probably against my better judgment, but I do agree. Tactically we are in the best position to trigger this obvious trap. So, if we do and shit goes south, are you ready to take responsibility?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am.”
Fury nodded, “Alright. Well, if shit goes south, I guess I get blamed anyway, but know your ass will be in the fire with me. Whether it be hells or Celestia’s.” He chuckled, taking point.
“Of course, sir.”
“Alright, ladies, this is your last chance to try and escape.” The commander said to his three mare companions.
“We’ll take our chances with you, Mr. Fury, our fate is the same either way.” Ms. Green said for the group.
Fury nodded his understanding. They gathered before the wide double doors, a mix-matched and cobbled together task force with more than enough dead weight to drag along for the ride. A buy the books pony would have suggested they get the VIP and Civilians out of here ASAP, that was the logical thing to do.
(Normally I’d agree with that logic, but we’re too close to the heart of the enemy command. Ms. Green, Yellow, and Blue will most likely be unfortunate causalities, but their grown mares that made their own chances. As for Twilight Sparkle… well, her fate is unclear, but worse case, it’s not like Celestia hasn’t buried her foolish students before. Honestly, even I’m getting curious how the hell they end up in situations like this. It’s like death is offering them candy or something.) Fury monologed as he opened the throne room door.
In an instant, he, Trifecta, and Smokey Haze formed a three-point guard in front of the others, Trifecta to his left and Haze on his right, with Goodnight covering the mares. Twilight formed a dome shield over their group, which was good on her. The last student they had to babysit got an arrow through the head before they could even do that.
(I guess that’s an improvement.) Fury thought as he observed the throne room. The room was made of shiny black marble with a red carpet lead up to a large throne with three blood-red crystal sprouted behind it. The gems arranged to resemble a crown.
There were three key things to note. One, there were no guards, two Sombra was on his throne flanked by two mares. One was the one that got away from him earlier. She must be a daughter, he could see the resemblance in their horns and coat now, and the other was a slightly smaller mare, her horn, and hair a lavender color. If Fury were taking bets, he would say she was also Sombra’s daughter. Both wore armor that was way too fancy for the battlefield, yet it didn’t look flimsy either. The third note was Sombra himself, and Fury couldn’t help but smile.
“Look who got old,” He grinned at the dark king, who bit back a growl as they locked eyes.
“The Red Rinin, the one who took my wing, Fierce Fury. I’m almost happy my son failed to kill you, it saves me the pleasure of doing it myself.” The dark King spoke boldly, his voice boomed off the black walls.
Fury remained unimpressed. “I don’t see any windows in here, probably for the best, I imagine a stiff breeze would shatter your fragile old bones. I mean that wing I broke off was pretty brittle, and you were what, forty back then?”
Sombra coughed, struggling to keep himself composed. “Late thirties, honestly, I barely remember that.”
“Going senile too must be hard for the kids. Having to deal with a pigheaded, arrogant piece of shit who wailed like a child in time out and sucked and entire kingdom into a void when he was beaten. By the way, just want did you do? I’ve always been curious.”
“Father, your blood pressure,” Zil whispered as the blood vessel on Sombra’s forehead threatened to pop. She floated a small bottle of purple elixir, which he drank bitterly before his enemies. Fury’s smile only widened at the display of weakness.
“So, was the COLT that had his leg hacked off by Topaz your heir or what? Must be hard having a son like that, but what can you do, look at the gene pool he’s working with. Did your daughter tell you how she sat against the wall trembling like scared filly while I walked past her?”
“You hold your tongue!” Zil shouted, embarrassed, though tears were building under eyes.
Fury was taken aback, or he fainted being taken aback. “Wow, you must have found your spine after you ran away, Princess.”
Zil bristled at Fury’s mocking of her title. “Dare to profane me while you can! Know that it was I that captured Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and defeated her in combat to boot!”
He blinked and looked to Trifecta, “Who the hell is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?”
“She means Princess Cadence,” Twilight whispered.
“Oh… right, right, I guess that’s impressive? Is it? I honestly don’t know.” Fury looked to his Rinin brethren, both of whom shrugged. “Um… yeah, this is awkward… Twilight, how strong is Princess Cadence? I’ve never seen her fight or seen her train, I think Princess Luna mentioned training her for a week? I don’t know. Look, Princess… what’s your name?”
“Zil.”
“Princess Zil, I’m not trying to take away your gold star here, but we’re comparing apples to watermelons. Cadence is the apple in this metaphor. Personally, I find watermelons disgusting, though, but the size difference is obvious. I know this must be hard to follow, given your probably inbred.”
Zil, Cien, and Sombra all growled at the Red Rinin while his companions gave him an enormous breadth. Fearful, one of the dark royals would lash out in a moment of rage. However, in a surprise show of extreme self-control, the three royals managed to constrain their wrath if only slightly as to not fall for Fury’s ploy. Their tolerance for Fury’s banter has been rendered fully nulled.
Cien stepped forth, her smirk devious and off-putting, especially how it lingered on Twilight in particular. “And so, the tragic heroine hath made her escape, but in her hubris, she walked back into the hooves of her capturers once more and now must face a heart-wrenching trial that will shatter her pour innocent virgin mind.”
“What are you…” Twilight roared, but Fury pushed her back, only to be too late. A magic circle appeared under the group and froze them in place. The magic patterns spun as Cien continued to speak, adding in theatrical dance moves as she hopped towards them gracefully. “Chant magic!” Twilight informed the group too late.
“And so, the Tragic heroine with her brave but foolish companions are sent to face the coming trial beneath in the very pits of hell! Whisked away by the winds of fate and at the mercy of destiny!” Cien reared up on her hind legs and threw her forelegs into the air as the magic reached its zenith, banishing the entire group from the throne room.
Twirling in a curtsy, Cien bowed to her father and elder sister. “Care to join me in my fun, Father, Elder Sister?”
Sombra’s baritone chuckle thundered through the throne room as he stepped down from his seat of power. “I shall indulge you Cien, Zil tend to matters until I return.”
“Me? Father?” Zil gasped, eyeing the empty throne her father has just thrust upon her.
“Yes, you, should things get out off, send for me.” Were Sombra’s only instructions as he and Cien vanished in a flash.
The eldest daughter of Sombra took the seat of power, the officers and generals of the army which had remained hidden marched out before her and awaited her command. “It’s time for us to turn this battle around! Let’s show these Equestrians our strength! The Obsidian Empire will reign forever!”
“Yeah!” The officers cheered, envigored by the Princess’s speech as she regally sat above them.
“Now, what is the current situation?”
The General’s and Commander’s mood took a severe downturn. “What?” Zil inquired, General Steele, whispered the situation to her. The unfortunate Princess’s eyes nearly bulged out of her skull.
“They’re halfway to where?!”

When Fury and the others rematerialized, the first thing the red rinin noticed was they were underground. He couldn’t prove that for a fact as it was just his sixth sense, but living caves for months had made him and most of the other rinin sensitive about this sort of thing. A quick glance told him he was in an arena, not too different from the Crystal Colosseum, really. Only here everything was made out of black obsidian crystal with spooky and evil-looking décor like skulls and pointy menacing torches, the usual villain motif. Rusted and broken chains littered the ground with half-buried collared skeletons in the sand.
The stands were smaller and higher, a hundred ponies at best could fit down here to watch the fights. There was, of course, a royal suite, where Sombra and Cien were sitting looking down at him from on high.
“Fierce Fury, how do you like my children’s playground?” Sombra’s voice boomed over the large area, more touches ignited to reveal Trifecta, Goodnight, and Smokey Haze and the three mares inside what looked glass cages, no they were in hourglasses with the tops full of sand. On the opposite side of the arena, Twilight Sparkle and another pony. He had to squint because the other pony was nearly beaten to death. From the tuffs of white fur and the dirty blue mane, the Rinin commander safely concluded that it was Shining Armor. Twilight’s horrified face and silent screams also helped.
“Looks like a fun place.” Fury answered warily. He had a good idea of what was going on. Overused Villain trope number two hundred and thirty-six, making the good guys fight each other. “So, where is she?”
“My, my, aren’t you perceptive?” Cien sang joyfully.
(I feel like she’s getting off on this.)
“It doesn’t take a detective to figure out if you got Shining Armor, who CLEARLY failed at his one job! Then it’s safe to say you have Princess Cadence.”
Cien looked even more thrilled by Fury’s seething glare, “No mercy even for your defeated subordinate? My, you make our officers seem kind in comparison. Sure, this stallion and his friends were easily subdued by my elder brother Scath, but give him credit, he was holding off three platoons of soldiers with only a dozen or fewer soldiers. Is that not worthy of praise?”
“I’ll make sure to give him a fucking cookie and gold star. The rest are dead, right?”
“Of course,” Cien chirped, “Why waste the prison space for riff-raff? But we’ve bantered enough, you must be excited to see your opponent! Let us introduce you to the new and improved Princess Mi Amore Cadenza!”
A black boot with blue ascents comes into the right, followed by a pink horn with a similar colored helm. Princess Cadence stepped into the light, and he recognized her armor and weapons.
“Queen Symphony’s armor,” Fury muttered under his breath. They changed the color scheme, but he could never forget the ill-fitting armor Luna wore in the crystal war. The original color had been pink, and he was no fashioner, but pink and midnight blue didn’t mix well. Doubtless, the color wasn’t the only change Sombra made to the dead Alicorn’s battle attire. He could make out several new unknown runes, and the lances sported a visible upgrade with slots or holes traveling around the flare of the joisting lances. A night blue visor covered Cadence’s face so he couldn’t tell if she was being controlled or not. Brainwashing usually affected the eyes in some way.
What really caught Fury’s eye was the black pulsing gem embedded in her breastplate. It was an alicorn amulet for sure.
Cadence readied her lances, pointing them forward with her teeth clenched tight. Her breathing was steady and controlled like an experienced warrior. He expected it to be more erratic.
“So, are you going to explain the rules of this game, or do I get to guess? I mean obvious is obvious, but please make your villain’s speech. I know how much your type loves that kind of shit.”
Giddily Cien leaned over the edge of the balcony, creepily admiring him. “My, my, just how many villains you vanquished, Sir Hero?”
“Give me a change for a coin, and I’ll tell you a hundred stories for each silver.”
“Impressive.”
“Not really. Two-bit tin horned tyrants were a bargain deal, kill one, get another free. Your father disappearing was more trouble then it was worth getting rid of him.” Fury remarked.
There were plenty of missions in those ten years after Luna’s fall, where every third-rate villain thought they were next Sombra or Nightmare Moon and rose up to challenge Celestia or take over the world. Shame for them, they never stacked up.
“So, just hurry up and explain this bullshit death game!”

Cien sighed, slouching on the railing. “Fine, take all my fun away. You are going to fight her, and while you do, sand will trickle into the bottom of the hourglasses. There’s one hour’s worth of sand, if you kill Cadence your friends get to live, if she kills you, you’re her husband and cute little sister in law lives. Easy peas, right?”

Fury crouched low baring his fangs at the princess, Cadence copied his stance, baring her dull teeth at him with more emotion than someone under mind control should be able to produce. Behind her, the glass began to fill in Twilight’s and Shining Armor’s cages. He guessed there were other ways to control a pony.

Cadence roared, willing her lances to spin and fire blue-tinted blasts from the bases like a Gatling gun. The barrage of magic blasts tore through the red Rinin’s body, severing his left foreleg with a spray of hot blood splatter raining onto the gray sand. The sight was so horrid Cadence stopped her attack.

“You’re an idiot!” Fury barked at her, tackling her by the neck with his remaining foreleg, he whipped her around, switching to bipedal in an instant to slam her against the bone littered ground. In a harsh whisper, he said, “How much autonomy do you have?”

Beneath her visor, Cadence’s eyes widened. A faint spark of hope ignited in her irises. “I can fight and move freely as long as I don’t attack Sombra, Cien, or try to leave the arena or break the others out. This black jewel…” Cadence suddenly headbutted him, snarling like a feral animal a black aura outlined her body while the amulet pulsed with magic.

Fury tackled her pressing her against the wall and knocked her head against the stone to break the gems hold. “Use your wing to knock me back, make it look good, follow up with another barrage, kick up a lot of dust!”

Cadence used her wing blade to cut Fury across the barrel, she grimaced as hot blood sprayed on her breastplate, but the Rinin grinned, as if proud of her. She didn’t get a lot of time to analyze his expression as his chest ballooned. She knew what that meant!

In a mad dash, Cadence scurried away from the stream of fire that turned the sand she had been standing on into glass. Fury’s hardened gaze followed, another breath attack already primed.

(Tell me! Tell me how we’re going to save everypony!) She begged as she fired another barrage of magic bullets from her lances. With a scream, she focused her magic to the tip of her spears, creating a shining light that turned into a laser that ripped up the ground and filled the air with dust.

Taking flight, Cadence flew above the cloud and fired blindly into the smoke to keep appearances for Sombra and Cien. A part of her thought the two dark royals already knew they were comprising and just wanted to see what they come up with. On a chance she stole a glance at Sombra, who grinned with excitement, while Cien looked more calculating, she was even taking notes.

From the cloud, Fury shouted, “Staub!” There was a faint flash of light and snap, followed by the entire dust cloud exploding! Cadence could only gape as flames filled the whole arena activating the barrier to protect the onlookers. The runes on her breastplate glowed, absorbing the fire, but the shock wave sent her hurdling against the ceiling. There was no rune to protect her from the G-Force pressing against her body. A strangled cry escaped her lips as her ribs cracked.

“What do you think you're doing? Huh? You think you can save them fighting halfheartedly like that?” Fury scolded her from the center of the blast, standing in a smoking crater of glass, fully recovered.

At first, she didn’t know what to think, but when she saw his gold eyes darting side to side, she did the same, looking for any damage to the arena walls. The glass cages were perfectly intact, but there were cracks in the wall.

(I think I get it! We need to make the fight so intense we destroy the arena!) Cadence reasoned, fighting to keep the smile off her face at first, then went with it.

Cadence visibly reacted to the jab, flinching as if Fury had smacked her across the nose. First came the hurt to her pride, next came all her anger and frustration from years of hearing that insult behind her back. The black Alicorn Amulet pulsed with dark magic Cadence willingly calling upon the curse jewels power. Two sharp vampiric fangs poked down from her top lip, and her coat took on a darker shade of pink.

“I’ll show you! I show everypony! I’m not third rate!” Cadence roared, her horn shined with magic, and shot a pink thread into Twilight. The barrier did nothing to stop it. With a gleeful tug, Cadance drew upon the young unicorn’s magic, combined with the dark magic already racing through her veins, her power went to the next level.

“I feel it! I can feel it! The feel the true power of love!” Cadence’s eyes whited out, her hair burst into pink/purple/gold ethereal fire, her coat a very dark, almost black, pink.

Meanwhile, inside her cell, Twilight was in a trance, her eyes whited out with a megaton of magic flowing through her body as she acted as a conduit for the Princess of Love. While all this happened, tears floated upward in the thick, energized atmosphere.

Fury stood composed watching Cadence titer on becoming whatever the Nightmare version of her would be called. He was unsure if this was an act or if the gem overtook her, but the third Princess certainly surprised him, having no idea she could ‘borrow’ power from others like this.

(I would hazard to say she’s about equal with Celestia in terms of raw power, maybe even just a little stronger, not counting Celestia’s flaming mane thing that is. Speaking of flaming manes.) Fury noted the ethereal fire now acting as the Princess’s hair. (I did wonder why she didn’t have the floaty hair, I guess she’s not mature enough yet.)

The Pink Alicorn flexed her wings, unleashing a wave of magic that activated the arena shield. He stole a glance at Sombra and found him unconcerned.

(I guess he anticipated having to keep Celestia in here, probably Luna too.) Fury bit back a curse he had hoped Cadence would be enough, but since that clearly wasn’t the case. He’d have to chip in.

Cadence felt like she was in pure ecstasy, even more then her honeymoon, the power felt so good! Her head was felt dizzy, merely floating. Just her wing flaps were enough to create waves of magic wind that hit with the power of hundred magic blasts! Sombra’s magical barrier sparked the runes burning bright.

(I need to keep control!) She scolded herself. It wouldn’t do for her to get high off borrowed magic, but she was at lost about what to do. In her current state, she would kill Fury for real by accident if she wasn’t careful, but would they be able to keep up the act anyway? From Sombra’s point of view, she should be able and can end the battle in an instant.

Heat began to distort the air. At first, Cadence thought her hair was the cause, but after second of thought, she realized she wouldn’t be able to see the distortion if it was. So, she looked down spied Fierce Fury with green veins all over his body.

She didn’t get to finish as Fury suddenly ignited his body, disintegrating like a false shell leaving only a fire in the shape of the rinin with a glowing green jewel at the center.

Sombra rose from his seat, his eyes wide with numerous emotions. “The Green Alicorn Amulet!” He shouted.

Spurts of green fire erupted and mixed with the red flames as if the two lights were competing for domination. The red fire suddenly exploded, swallowing the green and hiding the amulet let from view. The monster that tore through Sombra’s forces and traumatized Zil was back.

Cadence wisely was on guard, the fire being before her had no eyes or features, it was just a pony shaped bonfire.
“Attack already!” Cien ordered from the stands.

The collar around her neck squeezed tighter, and Cadence leveled her lances. “Gatling Barrage!” Spinning the lances with her magic, Cadence let loose hundreds of blue magic blasts in seconds. The attacks tore through the Fury with no chance to dodge. Or so it seemed. From a different point of view, perhaps he didn’t need to.

Cadence poured on the rain, but Fury did not budge. Every one of her attacks merely flew harmlessly through him. So she braked her lances, smoke rising from the barrels on the flare of the guard.

“Let’s try this!” She reared back, charging her wings with pegasus magic and released a mighty gust that kicked up abused amounts of sand. The fire that was Fury wavered for a second before flaring up, the wind fanning the flames rather than snuffing them out.

Cadence, with her limited freedom, glared at the dark Princess. “I don’t know ice magic or water magic, and I can’t make clouds here. The only elemental magic I know is earth.”

Annoyed for other reasons, Cadence shouted, “I’m not an Ogres and Oubliettes character!”

The dark Princess replied, “What the hell is Ogres and Oubliettes! Whatever snuff him out under a pile of dirt or something!”
Seething through her teeth with memories from some of the lower points in her dating years with Shining Armor fueling her anger. Cadence began circling the outer edge of the arena using one lance to lay down a constant Gatling Barrage on Fury, who wasn’t even bothering to follow her. It was kind of insulting, actually.

Here she was an alicorn, a powered-up one at that, and he still treated her like a nonthreat!

(Whoa, where is that coming from? Is that amulet or me?) Cadence disregarded that disturbing train of thought to try and reason while she could. What was Fury doing? Was this part of his plan? What should she be going?

In blink and miss moment, Fury shot at her and slammed her against the wall. His claw materialized and punched her in the face! When she swiped it with her lance, it burst into flames, and then his back legs appeared, and buck kicked her in the barrel!

“What the hell!” Cadence leveled her jousting lances, charged them with magic, and propelled forward at Wonderbolt speed with a small flap of her wings. She soared through the malleable firestorm and out the other side. Still flying backward, Cadence flipped upside down, aiming her spears only for Fury, now corporeal, about to fly kick her in the face!

Now bipedal Fury summoned two fire swords in his claws, his foot buried into Cadence’s muzzle and head into the ground. He swung both fire swords, each of them exploded on impact.

Firing a massive beam from her horn, Cadence wildly lashed out, unloading a Gatling Barrage while blood poured from the top of her helmet. Her eyes bled black as she pulled on the black gems powers. Her attacked went from blue to black, her magic aura flared wildly, and though she couldn’t hear it, Twilight screamed as more of her magic was siphoned.

Fury landed, holding another pair of swords and pointed one towards her, “All that power, and you’re still hesitating! Go wild already, or Dumbass and Twilight are dead ponies!”

Black balls of magic materialized and fired beams. Fury dodge weaving through them with ease. The runes powering the shield producing a constant glow under the rays relentless assault.

Screaming like a feral animal, Cadence leveled her lances and fired a thick beam blast that cut up the ground, leaving a five-foot deep trench, the attack severed Fury’s right foreleg and wing while he dodged the dark beams. Her satisfaction was cut short when they instantly grew back. Spinning her lances, she fired a Gatling barrage while chanting.

“Theia! Daughter of Gaia, bare your teeth and feast upon the blood of thy enemies, let their decaying corpse be your supper! Mother Earth’s Maul!”

Two massive stone jaws with gem-encrusted fangs rose from the ground and swallowed Fury whole, the gem shined overloaded with magic and then exploded! Shrapnel peppered the arena walls. The runes now began to smoke.

“How did you like that!” She bragged, proud of the spell that took her full month to learn.

The Rinin came flying out of the crater with two spheres of fire in his claws, landed right in front of her, and crushed them. The energy flew between his claws and exploded right in her face! The runes on her armor light up, but they couldn’t absorb it all. Her armor heated up and burned against her body, while the shockwave pummeled her insides. He wasn’t done. Fury grabbed her helmet, slammed her head against the wall, and proceeded to run grinding her helm against the wall. As they passed the prison with Trifecta, Fury shouted something that she couldn’t catch through the noise of scraping metal. He finished the move by tossing her back into the center, her lances lost long the way.

“Keep up, Princess!” He roared ramming into her. The fight suddenly went from feeling staged to real as Fury assaulted her with quick jabs and strikes. She had no chance of parrying. Her skill in hoof to hoof combat was nonexistent. Cadence jabbed blindly with her horn, Fury made her regret that by grabbing it and tossed her against the wall again.

Blindly she fired a magic beam only to get slammed from the side and run up against the wall again. This time with her entire body.

“When did we start playing hockey?” She mumbled deliriously. Her power was still wailing out of control, but she could feel it tampering off. Her power sources were about to reach the limit of what her body could handle.

(Come on! Just a little longer!) She begged, looking across the arena at the runes above the others. They were smoking fiercely, and cracks appeared in the stone. (We’re almost there!)

“Come on!” Cadence roared, catching Fury in the corner of her eye. Unleashing a three hundred sixty-degree blast of magic to keep him back, she kept blasting wave after wave to keep the rinin at bay. Her real target was the overworked shield. Fury skidded to a stop after the third blast opened his mouth a let lose a fire breath that looked more like beam hitting her shield and deflecting to the wall. She kept up the guard and unleashed a blast with everything she had until it all suddenly come to a stop.

The familiar burning pain that felt like her brain was going to melt out through her ears told her all she needed to now. Her horn was overheated. Cadence felt the tip of her horn and felt her blood run cold upon discovering overheating wasn’t her problem.

(Did Sombra do something?) She fretted tugging on her love lines and getting nothing, it was like a dam had suddenly been constructed in a raging river. Cadence turned around following her connections to Shining Armor and Twilight and found her answer. Twilight surrounded by swirling sand and crying a river with whited out eyes was somehow stopping the power from getting to her. (But why?) Cadence panicked as Fury’s attack waned, the runes were just about to give to!

Looking to Fury for guidance the rinin didn’t spare her a glance, he spun a complete one-eighty to Trifecta and the others and made a quick series of signs with his claws and roared at the top of his lungs.

Inside his cell Trifecta waited for Fury’s signal, the moment the red commander signed the go-ahead, adding an ear-ringing roar for good measure. The grey rinin tapped his belly three times in a specific pattern.
“Let’s do it! Time to play our ace, brothers!”

Shock and Jockey’s electricity surged from inside his stomach, but they didn’t try to escape. No, something else happened. Lightning arced around Trifecta’s body, blue tuffs of cloud-shaped fur spouted on the back of his knees, his scales glowed blue, more electricity danced across their surface., Two blue heads sprouted from his body on his left and right, the leaders were very draconic with wavy sparking hair and lightning-shaped horns atop their foreheads. Finally, Trifecta’s silver mane began stood on edge with lightning dancing between the spiked points.

“Monster Squad Bravo: Triple Thunder!” The three heads of Trifecta roared. His voice mixed with that of the Thunder brothers. A massive surge electrical power built up in Triple’s chest, ballooning it to near comic proportions as the three heads reared back in sync and let loose a triple breath attack! The attack pierced through the magic glass across the arena and hit the rune above Cadence. The barrier buckled, and the attack hit the engravings shattering the shield. Lifting his heads, Triple pointed his stream of raging thunder at the Dark King and Princess.

“Father, get back!” Cien screamed, summoning her weapon, and it was a really nasty one, a black barbed whip with an enlarged handle that housed some sort of broken jewel. With a crack and a witch’s cackle, she snapped her weapon at his attack. The entire length lit up with runes. The whip became electrified, and then darkness was added, turning the lightning black.

“Triple Thunder! Get the others out!” Fury ordered while he and Cadence flew up to meet Cien. Charging his tail with lightning, Triple quickly freed the others. Goodnight and Smokey Haze joined him.

One was utterly flabbergasted and the other steadfast and ready. “Let’s get in there!” Triple Thunder spurred the other two on as the three of them joined the fight. Independently his left head fired a thunderbolt at Shining and Twilight’s cells, but they either couldn’t or wouldn’t move despite being free. The left head paid it no mind as the three mares Fury found raced across the field to the siblings.

“Don’t you know you’re not supposed to gang up on a lady! It’s very unbecoming!” Cien shouted as she teleported throughout the entire arena. However, despite her gripes, she grinned like a mad pony. She appeared on the opposite side of the field, taking a second to double-check the secondary safety barrier protecting Sombra. The Unicorn King growled uselessly, pawing at the shield, keeping him contained. As she intended, her style of battle worked better when there were no allies around.

With a snap of her whip she caught Cadence in an exposed spot between her half-wrecked armor, the pink Princess let out a horrible, but delightful scream, as the barbed whip left a bloody long gash just below her neck. Most ponies discounted her as nonviable, saying the damage was all show. What most ponies didn’t know is the pain inflicted by a lash was sometimes so painful the body would sometimes just give up and die after only a few frogs. At least that what the torturer told her. He then proceeded to demonstrate his claim by whipping fresh prisoner six times, she had been ten at the time, the prisoner died after the fourth lash.

(And I’ve been in love with this weapon ever since!) She smirked, teleporting out of the way of Triple Thunder’s breath attack. When Goodnight tried to sonic shriek her from behind, she willed the whip to curve backward and strike him in the face. Satisfied when she heard a painful scream and the cluttering of a helmet bouncing down the stadium stairs.

“Try that on me, bitch!” Smokey Haze encircled her, trying to suffocate her.

“Easily,” Twirling her whip by the handle, the broken jewel glowed white, lighting up the runes on the length of the black strap. “Blessed Winds!” Smokey Haze became a solid once more captured by the whirlwind and sent careening into the opposing wall. Next, Cien summoned black lightning and swung her weapon in a long wide arc, firing a blade of electricity that covered the entire length of the arena.

“Tri-head strike!” Triple Thunder countered with another massive triple thunder breath.

Cien teleported away before the attack could even come close to harming her. Naturally, she positioned herself behind the heroes and readied for another attack when she felt a presence beside her.

“Your kind of predictable,” Fury whispered in her ear. Her blood chilled by how frighteningly close he was!

With a surprised eek! She vanished again and stood over the downed Cadence. “And you forgot I still have the Princess by the teats! Stand down, or I’ll command she stop breathing until she suffocates!”

Cien grinned viciously, willing to take the bluff. “Fine. Cadence, kill yourself.” The second daughter of Sombra waited with bated breath for the Third Princess to off herself, stealing quick glances to catch the show. Cadence had her hooves pressed against her neck, but she wasn’t choking herself. Both mares were confused until Fury dropped all control collars on the ground.

“How!” Cien demanded, only for the answer to come to her. When Fury tackled Cadence and was ruffling her up, he wasn’t attacking her, he was pulling the bonds off! “You bastard!”

“And you’re a bitch!” Cadence retorted her joisting Lances aloft and spinning. “Gatling Barrage!”

Cien did her usual runaway tactic, but some of the blasts were so close they were caught up in the spell, and she was peppered with seven magic blasts the instant she materialized.

“Payback is a bitch!” Goodnight screamed, biting into her exploded neck with his vampire-like fangs. He balked and spat out her blood while she reeled from getting chomped on. Black smoke rolled around, putting her on guard, but before she could do anything, claws materialized out of the smoke cloud, four of them. They grabbed, raked, and slashed at her striking with such speed she couldn’t tell where they were even coming from half the time.

With a growl, Cien unleashed a widespread attack to blow Haze back. Only to be met by Triple Thunder with a tri-head strike aimed at her. Hastily she threw up a shield, keeping the attack at bay, but much to her horror Fury was going for Father!
“Father!” She cried as Goodnight, and Haze chipped in, adding more fire and ear bleeding sonic shrieks.

“Fierce Fury,” Boomed the Dark King as he rose from his throne, his horn ablaze with bubbling black/green magic. His heckles reverberated, hot blood raced through his old veins the adrenaline of battle flooded his system. Fury created two green flame swords and threw them. Sombra fired a magic blast through the shield, Fury nimbly dodged twisting with skill and grace, his swords buried up to their sizzling hilts.

The crackling blade was mere inches from piercing Sombra’s skull. The Dark King smirked, but quickly frowned when he spied Fury’s own smirk as he snapped his claws.

“Hell Flare Cross,” said Fury, the flaming cross suddenly exploded, becoming a blazing plus sign the fire filled the inside of the shield. Had Sombra not teleported out, he would have been roasted alive.

“I’m glad I get this satisfaction!” Sombra roared conjuring another spell, he grinned with glee like a spry foal about to open a present. “How I missed the thrill of…gagh…ugh…” The Dark King placed his hoof over his chest, his body convulsed violently as he fell to the floor.

“Father!” Cien screamed again and appeared over the fallen king. “Father!” She threw up a shield as six breath attacks fell upon them, Princess Cadence laid down a Gatling barrage, and Goodnight unloaded with his hoof blaster. With no choice, Cien pulled on her whip, the broken gem inside glowing, the black weapon turned white, and she let loose a barrage of lashes. Each lash created a distortion that became a pure white shield of magic. Over fifty Interlocking layers now guarded her and Sombra.

The Second Princess bit her lip, the Equestrians were quickly blasting their way through. Fearful for her life and that of her father’s, Cien reached back into the saddlebag she had stolen from Daring and pulled the Violet Alicorn Amulet out.
“Cien… no…” Sombra pleaded as she held the cursed gem aloft, smiling sadly at him.

“And so, this tragic heroine does what she must for her beloved father.” She said before slamming the jewel into her chest. The Amulet released a bright lavender light, purple veins began to appear over Cien's body. She screamed as her back began to pop and stretch disturbingly, the sight so awful, her skin twisted her attacker could only stop to watch as two large black wings grew from her back.

“She compatible!” Shouted Fury with horror as Cien suddenly grew in size, standing somewhere between Celestia and Luna. Her horn lengthened as well, curving longer, almost looking like a sword jutted out of her head as magical power poured off her body. The last change was her eyes, her pupils changed to a dark orchid shade, and her mane and tail became a mass of dancing purple energy.

The shields holding them back crackled and exploded the shards, pelting them all. Several more massive shards cut Fury to ribbons, practically turning him into mincemeat. Smokey Haze turned into a cloud of smoke and charged, but was blasted back. Goodnight grabbed Cadence, and they both dropped to the ground out of the way. Triple Thunder unleashed a triple strike destroying most of the shrapnel coming at him. The center head breathed fire, the sides fired a barrage of lightning, but Cien’s whip lashed out and absorbed all the attacks. The whip cracked, sending black flame and thunder back at him. He weaved and dodged and dropped to the arena floor with the others.

“Hurry up and regenerate!” He yelled at Fury, who was taking a long time to put himself back to gather. The RedRinin crawled over to his separated limbs, turned them into fire, and absorbed them into his body. Instantly his legs regrew, but Fury looked ill. He swayed, gaggling on something in his throat. A budge traveled up the length of Rinin Commander’s neck, and spit out a green gem.

Fury clutched the Green Alicorn Amulet in his claw, short of breath. “Emerald…” And fell flat on his stomach unconscious.
Triple Thunder grimaced as Cien approached the edge of the top of the arena, a purple whirlwind of magic gathered around her horn, creating a miniature purple sun the size of a basketball.

Triple Thunder looked to Cadence, who was out cold. Goodnight and Smokey Haze were useless in this situation.
“Mr. Trifecta,” A quivering voice said, getting his attention. He turned to Ms. Green, Yellow, and Blue helping Twilight carry Shining Armor to him. The three mares smiled sadly as Ms. Green held up the Black Alicorn Amulet in her shaking magic. It must have been knocked off Cadence during the fight. “Tell Mr. Fury, thank you.”

He didn’t try to stop them. Ms. Green slammed the Black Amulet into her chest as Cien had before. Ms. Yellow and Ms. Blue linked their horns to their friend as the black gem quickly consumed Ms. Green, the power too much for her body to bare for even a few seconds. Even with all of them trying to control it, it was impossible. But they weren’t trying to control it, merely use it for one spell that could save them all.

“We’ll send you as far as we can!” Ms. Yellow screamed, her fur turning black, her horn began to crack, blood poured from her eyes, but she still smiled at him.

“Somewhere safe!” Ms. Blue declared as their horns flashed. Cien realized what they were doing and fired her spell. Triple Thunder reared back to counter, but a bright pinkish shield appeared over them. He quickly knew who it was.

“Twilight, no!” The Lavender Unicorn threw her brother and Cadence to Goodnight, and Smokey Haze. Her eyes whited her magic running full bore, and out of control. The purple unicorn linked with the other three and tapped into the power of the black gem, bolstering the shield.

“I need to do this! If you all can get away, then it’s worth it! In this state, I might interfere with the spell!” She cried, moving even further away from the group. Her smile sad as the three mares screamed finishing their calculations. “Please, save my brother and Cadence!”

“Don’t be an idiot-!” His rebuke was cut short as darkness swallowed them whole, and they were transported through space to somewhere else.

Trifecta started out at the fields of untouched green crystal grass, disorientated, Shock and Jockey, and the rest all behind him. Ahead black smoke rose from the battlefield, the Vice Commander blinked and shook his head to clear his vision. Not wanting to accept what his eyes were seeing.

“Fury…” He said monotone, violent memories flashed through his mind as the red Rinin stood beside him, his expression the same.

Two massive plumes of black smoke rose into the clouded sky, one in the middle of the city and the second at the edge. The roaring fire was all too familiar, they’ve both seen it before, the blaze of a crashed airship. The city was ablaze with magic flak, hoof blaster fire, and the roar of battle. The south was no better. The FOB was entirely overwhelmed by what looked like a black swarm of locus. It only took a second for the Commander and Vice Commander to realized what happened as a column of fire, lightning, and bright explosions of gold littered the ground and sky.

“Get up! Let’s go! Let’s go!” Fury spurred, pulling ponies to their feet and shoved them forward.
“What about Twilight!” Cadence yelled in a daze.

“We can’t save her if we don’t have an army!” Fury seethed flying ahead with Trifecta and Smokey on his tail.

What was once a contested battlefield was now completely one-sided, with the Equestrians on the verge of collapse as the black horde’s encirclement grew tighter and tighter.

Night Patrol 2: Awakening

by Foxgear

They come in threes