Night Patrol 2: Chapter 64
By Foxgear
“Yes, what is going on?”
No pony was sure how to reply to the Kaiser. It was a loaded question with plenty of uncertain answers.
Titania situated herself protectively by her father, keeping an eye out for Shaka, while Fury did the same for Celestia. The red Rinin vigilant, looking in places most wouldn’t think to. Leaving the task of answering the Germane leader’s question to Celestia. Who gave it her best shot.
“This is basically what’s happening.” She detailed Shaka’s attack on his daughter and her exploitable weakness, but when it came to the Zebra’s motives. Titania had to fill in the gaps. After that, it was Fury’s turn to explain.
Which he refused to do.
“Because of something blank, we were reluctantly forced to ask Shaka for help with, blank. Mind you, we never trusted her, but after the success of blank, she ran off. I gave chase, leaving my team to deal with blank.”
“And what is ‘Blank’?” Titania inquired.
Fury replied with a not so gentle, “None of your fucking business.”
“You will not speak to my daughter in such a manner!” The Kaiser fumed but was restrained by Titania, who shook off the red rinin’s rudeness.
“Let’s drop the matter of ‘Blank’ for now. As it seems irrelevant to this conversation. What’s more important is how did you get in here? This building is heavily guarded.”
Fury licked his chops, “Well, despite being a natural 20 in stealth, Shaka is not subtle.”
“Meaning?”
“She killed every Germane guard on the way in, including some other random nationals. I’m not sure how she knew, but they were all your allies. Then again, that Zebra spent five years playing the fool while looking at our record vaults. She knows more than she lets on.” Fury fiddled with a loose tooth, ripping it free with a wince and tossing it aside. “That club hits like a brick, by the way.”
“Why aren’t you healing?” Celestia inquired, casting a minor healing spell on the red rinin. “Your injuries are minor, but they are debilitating.”
Fury raised his left foreleg, jabbed in between his shoulder joint was a menacing black spike. “I don’t know what this thing is, but it’s messing with my magic, and I haven’t had the time to pull it out. The damn thing is barbed too.”
He lightly pulled on the stake to illustrate his point, the barbs pulling at his flesh, threatening to tear it open in a bloody mess.
“Normally, you just push… oh, I see.” Titania trailed off, following the outline of the barbed spike. It was a lot longer than she initially thought. Trying to push it through would only result in stabbing Fury in the heart. As the tip had entered from the top of his rib cage. “Here.”
With her limited field first aid, Titania tied a string around the spike and then tied the other end to a piece of Fury’s armor, to hopefully stop it from going any further.
“Best I can do right now,” Titania said, wiping her brow. She retook her place by her father’s side, cursing herself when she turned to Celestia. “I don’t know what you two plan to do, but I’m getting my father out of here. Talks be damned. What are you going to do, Princess Celestia?”
“Fury, do you have any teammates with you?” Celestia asked the Rinin, who replied with a shake of the head. “I see. My options are limited. If I might suggest if you’re going to leave, why not take as many other leaders with you? Friend or foe. Perhaps this strife could lead to some bonding?”
Titania looked uncertainly to her father, who tapped his chin at the idea. “I will offer my protection and transportation to any willing to accept it. But I will not strong-arm them into taking it. Their fates are in their own hooves.”
“I can accept that. Fury, we will chase after Shaka. Since Titania is her target, we’ll escort them to their ship. After they depart, we’ll investigate the source of that roar.”
“As good a plan as any.” He replied, taking point. “Take up the rear Celestia, Miss Titania behind me, and then Sir Kaiser. Let’s go.”
“This is certainly a turn of events.” Kaiser Hades mumbled, only his daughter heard him, his statement-making her tilt her head. Wondering what he meant. Somehow, she thought he wasn’t talking about Shaka’s attack.
“See something you like? Your burning holes in my ass,” Fury snarled, giving the Kaiser the stink eye.
“I just find it ironic that you are giving me an escort and protecting me. Given… the Geological alliances and all. You can understand my shock, 1337.”
“What was that?” Fury whipped around, baring his fangs.
“1337, is that not the number on your armor?” The Kaiser pointed to the yellow numbers etched on Fury’s pauldron. “I know Celestia said your name, but I didn’t quite catch it in all the commotion. So, I was trying to save face.”
“It’s Commander Fierce Fury.”
“Noted, Commander Fury.”
Fury grumbled something to himself, pushing ahead of the group to scout the area. “This way to the docks?” He asked, not familiar with the building’s layout.
Titania ran up to him, peering down the hall. “This will take us through the central chamber. Our ship is on the other side. That was another security measure. They placed every nation’s ship opposite of their lodging to discourage surprise attacks.”
“Flawless logic,” Fury snorted. He could understand the idea. A nation wasn’t going to endanger their leader if their means for the escape were out of reach. That kind of thinking only worked if the leader was beloved and not on the way out. Regardless, it was a pain in the ass right now. “There should be Freiberger guards watching the central junction, right?”
Titania replied, “Of course. It wouldn’t be effective to catch any trying to flee if there weren’t.”
Fury’s ears twitched, “It’s strangely quiet down this way.” He noted, taking point. Setting the pace to a gallop. Along the way, they passed gruesome amounts of blood splatter. The hall caked with it. Coming to a stop before the exit, Fury inspected the disembodied troops. By their uniforms, they were Freiberger peacekeepers.
“Face half phased through a wall, one of Shadow’s favorites.” He whistled. It was a horrible way to die. Sometimes the body kept living for a few minutes, even if half of the brain was gone. “Definitely Shaka’s work, unless Zecora tagged along, but doubtful. The problem is the way these guys were killed.”
“You mean besides horribly?” Titania cringed while Celestia watched the rear, and the Kaiser watched the ceiling and floor.
“Look at the way their bodies are positioned. See?” Fury pointed to corpses lining the wall. “Given their position, they were facing this way, towards us. Shaka came here ahead of us.”
“Couldn’t this just be from earlier?”
“No, I stuck to her like glue. Besides, we entered from the Southeast section. This is a ways from there. Bodies are still warm, and the blood is still wet. She went through here less than five minutes ago.” Fury all but pressed his muzzle to the floor like a hound dog. “She wasn’t alone, either. Tracks in the blood indicate two other ponies. Wearing capes.”
Fury pointed out the nearly erased prints, the dragging capes intentionally or unintentionally hiding them. “Be on guard,” he warned. Slowly leading the way to the central chamber.
In the grand junction, which led to every part of the circular building, many bodies lay thrown about. They were of a variety of nationalities. Save for one. None of them were Prench. This could be expected as the only ponies alive were the Prench. Queen D’Arcy herself and her guard La Hire barred their path forward. With Shaka by their side.
“And what is the meaning of this, D’Arcy?” The Kaiser asked, addressing the other world leader in a calm manner. He didn’t venture far from his ad hoc guards. “Am I to take this display that talks have officially failed?”
D’Arcy adorned in battle gear, items she wasn’t supposed to have. Peered out with reddish eyes and a seething glare. “Your troops have attacked my line. And now my supposed ally stands by you, rather than me. No matter, I have found a kindred spirit in Miz Shaka here. I will end this war, here and now! Your daughter’s head as my trophy!”
The Kaiser’s lips curled back, “We’ll see about that, Titania, let her have it! All restrictions are removed!”
“Happy to hear that!” Horn clicking up a storm, pulsing with power, metal wings materialized on Titania’s implants. “Link-up successful, wings equipped successfully, equipment operating a 100%! Spell restrictions removed! Fairy 01, engaging enemies!”
“Fury!” Celestia pleaded.
“I know!” He barked, charging alongside the Germane Princess, while Celestia protected the Kaiser.
These were the kind of battles Fury hated. Unknown enemies and uncoordinated allies. This is how ponies get killed. “Which one you taking?”
“Queen Bitch herself!” Titania replied with a cackling laugh that was just opposed to her previous calm demur. The earth pony’s eyes had changed to a goldish color and expelled power like it was nothing.
As La Hire moved in front of Queen D’Arcy, Fury muttered, “Good luck with that,” and broke off to go after Shaka. However, the big Prench pony brandished his sword and jumped to the Zebra’s defense.
Fury, not expecting this, improvised by going to bipedal and igniting two fire swords. Burning flame met cold steel. Fury’s weapons exploded on contact with La Hire’s longsword. He barreled through the explosion, socking the Prench stallion in the jaw. Dancing on his hind claws, Fury delivered a one-two punch to the bigger pony. Finishing with a sweeping right hook!
La Hire stumbled but did not fall, forcing himself to stay upright by sheer will. Bringing his sword to bear, a sinister red aura covering the blade.
Igniting another fire blade, Fury noticed blood traveling across the floor from nearly every hallway. The blood congealed around La Hire, crawling up his body and hardening. Forming a horrific red-dyed armor, with rusted spikes seemingly everywhere.
That wasn’t all.
Excess blood molded and crystalized into menacing spikes, like some kind of torture tool.
With a shout of, “Artellerie!” The blood spikes flew at Fury. Swiftly the rinin dodged the first volley, taking a moment to measure the strength of the attack. A three-foot crater in the marble floor was proof enough of its lethality.
(It’s weaker than Hazel’s Gungnir.) It was nice to have something to compare it to. If he had to more specific, Fury would equate La Hire’s attack to a small cannon.
“Still not something I want to get hit with,” Forming two spheres of fire, Fury flew closer to La Hire, crushing the orange orbs in his claws. An explosion in the form of two intersecting X’s ravaged the chamber.
La Hire came skidding out from the smoke, his sword glowing a demonic red, hardened blood made the weapon a twisted version of itself, with bards and saw teeth running along the blade. The Prench knight bared his teeth like a predator.
Fury responded in kind, showing off his own, sharper teeth. Like he was about to devour the other pony for a meal. Rising his fire sword, Fury swung downwards, launching a blazing trail of fire at the Prench stallion. La Hire responded with an earth style attack creating stone spikes from the ground.
When both attacks failed to reach their intended target, the two charged once more. La Hire firing blood spikes while Fury nimbly dodged, flames covering his entire body.
“You’re not worth this! But you’re in my way! Supernova!” Fury burst into tiny flaming spheres encapsulated by an even more giant sphere that La Hire found himself in the middle of. Before the Prench pony could figure out what was happening, he was engulfed in fire, boiling from the inside out.
Celestia looked on for Fury’s patent revival when the debris cleared, yet, even after several minutes. The scattered ashes didn’t regroup. It was then she noticed the barb that had been inside Fury by Shaka. The spike was driven deep into the marble floor, with some strange ruins glowing on it.
Faintly she could make out Fury’s ashes, whirling around the spike, trying to reform his body. Every time it tried, the runes would create a mysterious wind that would scatter the ashes again, preventing Fury from reviving.
Chewing her lip, Celestia focused on keeping the Kaiser safe while Titania held her own against D’Arcy and Shaka. Though she was worried about her descendant, she was very impressed by her combat skills.
The Kaiser, usually so composed, was cheering like a sports fan for his favorite player. “Get them, Tina!”
Was there anything more heartwarming than a parent’s pride in their child?
Titania vaguely took note of Fury’s defeat of D’Arcy’s bodyguard. Given Celestia’s lack of concern, she chose to not make a fuss about it either. As much as she loathed the Alicorn, even she knew that Celestia wouldn’t be so nonplus about the death of one of her soldiers.
In fact, she vaguely recalled the Sun Princess mentioning a healing ability the red rinin possessed. She did remember reading the file they had on record for Fierce Fury. He was rather tough to kill from the reports. And believed to be Semi-immortal.
(He must be temporarily disposed of then. At least he took out La Hire. It’s scary how easily he did it too.)
La Hire was or had been legendary. He was the Queen’s bodyguard. Being powerful was a prerequisite. There were plenty of times he managed to fend off Zeppelin and several others of her unit by himself. It almost made Titania laugh at how easily he was brought down in the end.
What made his defeat all the juicier was while their side was still stalwart. The death of her father figure and long-time companion popped another screw loose in D’Arcy’s already deranged head. It might have even been the last one.
“You murderous little bitch!” The Queen screamed, letting out a powerful wailing scream infused with magic. The sound was enough to make Titania’s ears bleed while she dodged the Prench mare’s haphazard magic bullet barrage.
Each shot was powerful and could probably blow right through her, but random and unfocused. Titania held little fear of being hit. Compared to their previous matches, D’Arcy was fighting at subpar levels at best. She had been a bit of a berserker before, but she was full berserk now. Foaming at the mouth, sobbing, and screaming while unleashing everything she had in an uncoordinated attack.
It was a blessing compared to an actual thinking opponent.
“Wit Hek!” Screamed Shaka, who wasn’t faring much better than her newly minted partner. The Zebra was falling from the ceiling, gaining a few seconds of air to fight. With her wings equip, Titania enjoyed a comfortable advantage over the Zebra.
In an aerial match, maneuverability was a massive plus over just freefalling. Even if Titania couldn’t hurt Shaka whenever she tried to attack from above. It wasn’t hard to fly out of the Zebra’s range of attack, wait for her to hit the floor, and then count the seconds until the next one.
It was excellent that the central chamber was so tall. Shaka had to climb three stories to get to the ceiling, and it was wearing her out. It probably wouldn’t be long until the Zebra wouldn’t have the energy to activate her phase ability.
Dodging another of D’Arcy’s barrages. Titania couldn’t help but adore how easy this battle was, compared to what she expected. Shaka and D’Arcy had no teamwork what’s so ever. And given both of their states of minds, it was unlikely they could begin to coordinate in any capacity.
All her advantages aside, she was fighting in her mind two wild animals. And that made both of her opponents very dangerous. There was no telling what craziness they would employ with no rationale.
(The question is, which one is the weaker link?)
Shaka was challenging to fight because of her ability. A battle of attrition would be the most likely path to victory. D’Arcy was more dangerous for the fact she was her equal and knew how she fought.
(Shaka will probably flee if I kill D’Arcy first. It’ll be a pain to deal with her later, but if that’s how it goes, beggars can’t be choosers.)
“Hey! Sun ass!” Celestia looked her way, her brow cocked at the insulting nickname. “Do you have one of you know what’s ready?”
“They’re not something I can just carry around!”
(So much for that, then. It was worth a try.) “Alright! Well, sorry, but I can’t uphold our deal then! This bitch is mine!”
Power surged from Titania’s body, her mane taking the appearance of golden fire, while her eyes turned a burning gold. The temperature of the room suddenly spiked. All the moisture was instantly evaporated, any items made of cloth or easily flammable materials spontaneously combusted!
“You two might want to get out of here!” She warned her father and Celestia. “Try teleporting or something!”
“The building is designed to prevent teleporting magic!” Her father reminded her. This was a peace summit building. They couldn’t block all magic in the entire building. Hence the battle taking place right now. But there were certain spells Freiberger wouldn’t allow no matter what. Teleportation at the top of the list.
(Yet they’ll let me become a miniature sun, such wonky standards.) Titania mused, fully powered up to her Blessed form. It disgusted her, relying on Celestia’s inherited power, but it was convenient. Now, if only Celestia would wipe that prideful smile off her face!
“Don’t look so proud, dammit!” She snarled, blasting towards D’Arcy. Even enraged, D’Arcy was only at three quarters… strength… why was she retreating? “Get back here bitch!”
Shaka ran interference while D’Arcy fled to the entrance of the hall that led towards her ship. To greet her was a gaggle of ponies from both Hispania and Prance. Most notably, members of the Holy Survivantes and Calaveras Inquisitors. Elite units.
Three Survivantes carried D’Arcy’s mystic armor, which would allow her to fly, as well as her sword and shield. Legendary magic weapons of Prance, the Sword of Saint Catharine, and Martha’s Buckler. Both items were made of silver and engraved with glowing blue runes filled with ancient power.
It was just another thing that pissed Titania off, “You lying bitch! I leave my gear at home! Send away my unit, and you have all your shit here! I guess peace was never on the table then?”
D’Arcy made no objections. Of the two of them, the Queen of Prance was considered the honorable one, bound by the knight’s chivalry. While Titania followed the international rules of engagement and Laws of War.
They were mares of two different minds and eras.
“Fine then! Get ready for total WAR!” Two of the inquisitors flew at her. In her blind rage, Titania incinerated the two elites with but a glance. Three of the Survivantes fired flak to keep her away while D’Arcy donned her armor. Given the risk posed, she charged through, creating a supercharged, heated mana blade that cleaved them in seconds.
They barely bought a second with their lives, yet another second might as well be a minute in a fight. D’Arcy’s armor-bearers frantically fiddled with the straps, the pressure rising on them to complete their task. Yet no more Prench or Hispania knights rose to stop her, which saved Titania’s life as she broke off her attack, taking a hard right in the nick of time. Shaka phased through the floor with a look of frustration.
“Dammit!” Having lost all of her momentum, Titania had no choice but to break off her attack completely. To make matters worse, Shaka changed her tactics. Now popping out of the floor like a gopher or a shark to attack. This had Celestia hoisting her father off the ground for safety.
Stioongg pint
“You can’t teleport, fine! Fly him out!” She barked at the Princess.
“I will not leave you behind!” Her father retorted. He could be so softhearted.
“You have to get home! To lead our ponies and take care of mom and the baby! Your family!”
“You are my family too!” The Kaiser shouted with tears in his eyes. “You may not be mine, but you are my daughter!”
She smiled and said, “I know.” Then looked to a conflicted Celestia. “If you only do one thing for me, I’ll ask for nothing else! Save my father, please, Grandmother!”
Referring to Celestia in any familial way made Titania want to vomit. But in this instance, she was willing to sink to any level. Not just for her country, but because she genuinely wanted her father to live so her half-sibling could have the wonderful father she had growing up.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Celestia vowed, taking off down one of the many hallways. It wasn’t a direct route, but she could get to the air docks in due time. A few of the ponies that came to help D’Arcy broke away to chase them. Leveling the playing field, a bit in her favor.
“Now it’s, one on… two five, six? Better than twelve, I guess.” Titania said confidently, though that was mostly a façade. Her magic was already beginning to wane, and the heat bothered her too. Her Blessed form only lasted a few minutes. Seconds depending on how much power she used.
(Should I just incinerate the entire hall?) An attack such as that would probably kill all the normal ponies, but she was sure D’Arcy and Shaka would survive. Which would still leave her outnumbered and in a weakened state.
As the Hispania and Prench Elites encircled her in the air and ground, she quickly realized what their plan was.
(They going to knock me to the ground so Shaka can grab me. No, that’s too simple. I should be wary of the walls and maybe the ceiling.) It was hard to keep track of the Zebra. She could be lying in wait anywhere. Making her all the more dangerous. It was like fighting in a tournament ring. Only if she goes out of bounds, she dies. (Should I fly down the hallways? They can’t block them all? But there could be more waiting for me or traps. My best bet is to stay here.)
“Bring it, you losers! Zero times anything is still zero!”
“Your arrogance will be your undoing, Devil!” Titania cut him down the loudmouth down first. He was one of the Hispania ponies. His skull-shaped helm hid his face, so she couldn’t even see his dying expression. She hoped it was something stupid.
“Jamon!” One of his allies cried out, Titania let out a demonic cackle!
“That was Blazing Sky Jamon! That stupid bastard had forty kills! What a joke! I’ll show you what separates an Ace from an Ace of Aces!” Smiling like a manic Titania shredded through the remaining Hispania pegasus in record time. Blowing a hole through one and bisecting the other with her wing blades.
As they fell in a bloody mess, she saw their insignias, Paella, named Ace, with 14 kills, and Albondigas, named with 49 kills. Albondigas was Zeppelin’s Hispania counterpart.
Titania continued to cackle madly, more so to up her imitation factor and scar the remaining Prench pawns. When in reality, she was close to running on fumes.
“Hell yeah! That’s the difference of 63 kills to 49, you bastards! Oops, I guess I need to make that 66! How do you like that your holiness? Another bunch of fools you led to their deaths!”
“By the Alicorns of Light and Hope! I will end you, Devil!” D’Arcy finally entered the fray, flying via her mystic armor. A pair of translucent blue wings propelling her forward. Her three unicorn flunkies provided support from the ground, shooting magical flak to impede Titania’s movements.
Neither mare were natural flyers, Titania being an earth pony, and D’Arcy being a unicorn. Both their means of flying were unnatural. One flying by the force of will and ingenuity and the other relying on ancient relics. Which was stronger who was to say. It would be down to the skill of the user in the end.
Titania dash dodged and feinted to the max. The flak cover from the three unicorns below was proving to be more than a minor annoyance. D’Arcy seemed fixed on running her through with her sword. That was one benefit when the Prench Queen equipped the flying armor. She had to choose to either levitate her sword and shield or fire her horn. To do the latter would require to her sheath her melee weapons.
The flying armor took too much power and mental strain to allow for any more than a stunning shot. It was a testament to D’Arcy’s strength that she could wield both sword and shield while flying.
“Die!” D’Arcy screamed, slashing with her sword. A blue arc flew from the weapon, prompting Titania to take a turn too soon. Folding her wings, she spun through magical flak, receiving minor burns.
“I forgot that sword could do that.” The sword of Saint Catharine could store energy and fire energy blasts. Since the runes filled over time naturally, D’Arcy could, by Titania calculations, fire a moderately lethal slash attack every minute. She could always shoot in less time, but its power could be compared to a papercut. “What did the bucker do… shit, we don’t fight that often.”
The number of times she and D’Arcy actually fought on the field of battle was less than what the newspaper claimed. It was defiantly less than six, and only one or two of those battles her or D’Arcy have their full armament.
Legendary artifacts were precious resources and couldn’t be brought out for every little skirmish. They needed to be maintained and recharged like any other magic weapon. Their age only added to limited use. Titania was sure the Sword of Catharine would not fare well in an actual sword fight.
(If I remember right, that thing is from the early iron age… what a useless tidbit to be thinking about right now.)
Titania leveled out, making sure to keep her distance from the walls. In almost no time, she lapped the circular chamber and was on top of D’Arcy again. Clicking through her preset spells, she selected AP (Armor Piercing), firing a dense golden blast at the Queen.
As predicted, D’Arcy raised Martha’s Buckler, the AP spell hit the small round shield with enough force to send D’Arcy spiraling but failed to punch through. While dodging more flak. Titania observed the Bucker. The surface was a rough, scaly texture.
(Dragon scales, more than likely.)
Instead of going after D’Arcy, Titania set her sights on the three unicorns below. If possible, she wanted to kill all three at once, but even one less would be a boon. So long as these three were here, she’d never get a follow-up attack on D’Arcy.
“Better pray to your gods! Cause you’re going to meet them!” Titania landed in the middle of the three unicorns, spinning to slash them with her wing blades. Her attack faltered; her footing compromised. She looked down to see Shaka’s leg coming out of the floor wrapped around one of hers. “Fuck you!”
Risking to herself, Titania fired a HE (High Explosive) spell at the ground. It blew a crater in the floor, knocked the three Survivantes aside, and got Shaka off her. That said, she inflicted a lot of damage to herself.
She had all her limbs, but her sight was very fuzz and cut in half. Her right eye swollen shut and hopefully still there. On top of that, her right-wing wasn’t responding correctly. She managed to fly, but the metal limb felt loose like it would fall apart any second. High-speed maneuvers were out of the question if she wanted to stay in the air.
“Crème Brulee, Pain Au, Piperade!”
Those must have been the names of the three. Not that Titania cared, though she did wonder if their deaths would finally push D’Arcy beyond cognitive thought. A blind charge would be helpful.
Unfortunately, D’Arcy was perhaps becoming desensitized to the death of her comrades. Her movements became much sharper and faster. It was only thanks to precise timing did Titania narrowly avoid the Prench Queen’s sword. Keeping her actions tight and smooth to not aggravate her damaged wing to total malfunction.
“When will your blood lust be satisfied!” D’Arcy used a speed enhancement spell to get in close, managing to grapple with the Germane warrior as they both hit the marble floor. Her sword skidding away as Titania clubbed her with her hoof.
“Says the fucking bitch that started all this! How much blood needs to be spilled before it’s enough for you!” SMACK! “You didn’t take war seriously, and it bit you in the ass!” Crunch! “This isn’t the fucking age of knights and castles; it’s the industrial age!”
Titania reared back, delivering a decisive blow to the Queen while continuing her rant. “We have bombs the world has never seen before! Flying metal ships! Weapons that kill hundreds of thousands in record time! War is a machine! Not a noble past time! Your fucking ignorance and selfishness did this!”
Titania knocked D’Arcy to the ground with one final swing, blood pooling around the Queen’s head. Yet she still breathed.
Standing over her long-time enemy, Titania had the chance to end it all. No one could claim either throne of Prance or Hispania. None that could keep the countries united. All she had to do was stop the Prench mare from taking another breath. It wouldn’t be hard. D’Arcy was already choking on her own blood.
Without a thought to honor or morality, Titania pressed her hoof to the Queen’s neck.
“Shaka has you!”
(Shit!) Titania internally screamed as she was suddenly airborne, tumbling across the hard marble floor. Tunnel vision had gotten the better of her. She had forgotten about the Zebra!
“You’re a sneaky bitch, you know that?” Titania spat as Shaka loomed over her with a club. “You used D’Arcy as bait, just for this?”
“Shaka agreed to the Queen’s proposal but did not promise to be loyal. I finish what she started, so Miss D’Arcy will not be broken-hearted! She’ll see her lover, and I’ll seize your head!”
Titania growled defiantly, but that was all she could manage. Her magic long since depleted, her equipment was inoperable. Her horn was damaged in the crash. That was the problem with prototypes; they’re too fragile!
“For my clan!” Titania didn’t flinch when Shaka readied her club for the final strike, which was why she was able to see what happened next.
A chain, one of gold, with a hook dug into Shaka’s shoulder. The Zebra let out a scream as she was reeled in like a fish, shouting in her native tongue.
“Why? Why can’t I walk between planes?” Shaka screamed as another chain latched onto her.
From the shadows came a black antlered figure. Titania knew who it was merely by the personal file they had on him.
Duke Sixes of Evernight. His photo did him little justice. He was big, tall as the Princess, with a hundred times more bulk and malice. Rising to bipedal, he tugged the chains binding the Zebra, dragging Shaka across the ground. He then picked her up by the neck, his expression sad.
“I’m sorry, Shadow Spector.” With his mighty talons, he ripped into Shaka’s throat, nearly beheading her. “You there,” He addressed her. “Where’s Celestia?”
Titania didn’t respond right away, too put-on edge by the display of power and the three others that joined the Duke. Celestia’s former pupil, and Vice-Commander of Night Patrol, Twilight Sparkle, was easy enough to recognize. The other black rinin looked eerily similar to Sixes, but she didn’t remember seeing or reading a file on her. Lastly, there was a dragon with them. A small one, with green coloring, so she was most likely from Clydesdale. She was also missing an arm.
“I’d like to think I can trust you since you’re her brother-in-law, but you got quite the crowd with you, Lord Sixes.”
“Never mind my party’s composition. I’d say you’re the more suspicious one, Titania Von Blunt, Kaiser Hades stepdaughter.”
“So, you know me? I feel honored.”
Sixes eyed the scene warily. “I know of you. By the looks of things, your reputation is well earned.” He sauntered over to D’Arcy, the Prench Queen still alive somehow. “Twilight, Essex tend to her.” Sixes ordered dismissively, much more interesting in Titania than the Queen. “Now, where is my sister in law?”
He was close enough now that if Titania had the energy or will, she could strike at him. Just once before she was torn to shreds, she bet. “Come look at this one too, when you’re done with her. Essex, apply first aid until Twilight is freed up.” Sixes proceeded to pat her on the head. “Your banged up, but better off than everypony else in here. Besides late arrivals.” He joked, standing up.
“I’ll have you know. I may be small, but I’m in my twenties. Don’t treat me like a kid.” Sixes smiled in what she found to be an infuriating way, as his female look-alike tended to her eye. “So, did you and Luna have a kid or something already?”
“I’m his sister,” Essex answered while placing a patch over her eye.
“I’ll add that to the file. Celestia is escorting my father to our ship. I stayed behind to hold these bastards off, but I overdid it. Your friend Fury was here too, but that thing over there is stopping him from reviving or something.”
Sixes followed her hoof to the barbed stake and promptly destroyed the relic. In seconds Fierce Fury rematerialized better than before. Not retraining a single scratch. Though he was armorless now.
“Took you long enough… what the hell are you doing here, Sixes?” Fury asked while picking up this gear.
“I could ask you the same. You’re supposed to be at home by now, after…” Sixes glanced over at Titania, Fury did too. He knew who the girl was. “You know what.”
“I do, there was a snag… to say the least. Do you have a communicator?” Sixes padded down his saddlebag, finding a Gem com for Fury to use. “Thanks.”
Fury wondered to a quiet corner to make a call. Earning suspicious glances from all, but mostly Titania.
“What’s that about?” She asked Sixes when he walked back over to her.
“Don’t know,” He answered honestly. “Which way is your ship? I must find Celestia ASAP.”
“Down this hall, though she said she would be coming…” Titania trailed off as the pony herself entered the chamber, with her father in tow. General Cobalt and a gaggle of other nations’ representatives also entered. The room tense as the world leaders tried to make sense of the situation. Titania’s only relief was her father had guards with him, and… “Zeppelin? When did you get here?”
“Ma’am! Are you alright?” The peach pony admonished, Essex quickly got out of the way. “How’s your eye? Can you still see out of it?”
“Not at the moment,” Titania brushed off her subordinate’s concerns. “I’m in one piece, mostly. What’s happening? Why are you here?” Zeppelin could only stare. Her eyes were wide with visible unease. “Zeppelin, what’s wrong?”
Titania looked to her father, and Celestia, both leaders, looked away. She looked to Sixes, so was grimed faced, as Fury whispered in his ear.
“What the hell is going on?”
Her father was the one to break the secret. “Before this incident occurred before we even received Zeppelin’s report. A Germane unit attacked the Prench lines under the pretense of recusing a captured comrade. In their vigor, they broke through the frontlines to the rear and then were surrounded. To save them, ten Germane battalions and three air fleet taskforces committed to the rescue.”
Celestia then picked up the report. “In response, the Prench and Hispania armies committed to an overwhelming counter charge. With twelve battalions and a combined air fleet of twenty ships. The battle was as fiercer than any before. With both nations’ leaders occupied, and both sides Generals unwilling to back down, both sides suffered horrendous casualties.”
“Define horrendous.” Titania beckoned, everypony kept a tight lip, so she turned to Zeppelin. The one pony who never sugar coat bad news. “Define horrendous, Zeppelin.”
“Ninety percent.”
“Ninety percent…” Titania repeated, calculating the numbers. It was beyond anything she could imagine as she looked at the twisted, broken face of D’Arcy. “Did you hear that, D’Arcy? Ninety percent, both sides. Are you happy now?”
The Prench Queen couldn’t speak, but the light seemed to leave her blood-filled eyes as tears dripped down her face. Titania hoped they stung.
“Are we done?” Titania barked, “Do you surrender?”
D’Arcy nodded. Even such a small gesture looked painful. (Good.) Titania thought. (She deserves it.) “What’s the situation on the ground?”
“I can answer that,” Fury offered. Detaching his gemcom from his helmet, he projected an image of the Prance coastline. “After completing a mission, my cruiser, Clover the Clever, set course for home, while I chased after Shaka the Zebra, for those just arriving. Shaka was a vengeful Amazon Zebra looking to assassinate Princess Titania. From their report, while attempting to sneak along the channel, encountered a Prench patrol. Without verifying our nationality, the Prench ships fired upon the Clover.”
A short recording from the ship showed this scene. Radio chatter was played, with the Evernight ponies asking for the Prench disengage. The Prench, thinking it was Germane trick after the war resumed, pressed their attack.
“Because of this, Taskforce 444 sprang into action. Attacking the Prench rear. This resulted in the Prench HQ and communications being bombarded and destroyed. Thus, the Prench forces splintered and fell apart because of a lack of communication and a broken chain of command. Resulting in the Prench field army being nearly wiped out.”
The representatives muttered, shocked by the news. Only one was so bold to inquire the obvious. “Are you telling me, Evernight ended the war by accident?” Titania nearly screamed at the outrageous facts she was presented. “Are you kidding me?”
“It wasn’t our intent, but yes, we had a claw in ending the war. It was one of the worse endings, but an end at the very least.” Fury replied gravely. Honestly, this didn’t feel like much of a victory for any pony involved. How could it? The whole thing was a bloody mess. It might be the fact everypony was literally beaten and exhausted, but a ‘let’s just end this’ mentality took hold.
“We plan to make a broadcast to every major city on Europona to declare the end of hostilities, with a peace treaty signing to come.” The Kaiser said, looking at the pathetic form of D’Arcy. “Hopefully, the Queen will be presentable by then or at least officially transfer power to her successor. Either way, I’m glad you did not kill her, my daughter.”
“Um, excuse me?” Essex called for everyponies attention as she and Twilight tended to D’Arcy. “If you want to keep her from dying, we need to get her to a proper medical facility.”
“Right, right, as a sign of good faith. I will have Queen D’Arcy tended to by Germane’s best medical professionals. Until such time her country can reclaim her. Please take her to the medical wing.” Hades directed his guards. “If a few of your neutral observes would like to join her. For insurance and peace of mind?” He strongly suggested to the Freiberger representatives.
It was insurance for him. He didn’t want any pony to say anything unsavory about his taking of D’Arcy in her weakened state. The best defense for that was the Friebringers.
With the removal of the injured Prench Queen, the ponies reorganized themselves, dividing into three groups. One was the Germanians, The Kaiser at the front with Titania supported by Zeppelin, and their soldiers at rest behind them. Across from them were Equestria and Evernight. Sixes and Celestia side by side, with General Cobalt at Celestia’s right.
Sixes had Fury at his side, while Essex and Obara took to the rear with Twilight off on her own. The third group was the other world leaders and allies. They all made one big group but organized themselves with Prance’s partners closer to Celestia’s side and his Allies leaning towards him, but not outright standing beside him.
It could be inferred that the nations dragged into the war were stepping back. Perhaps hoping everything would just wrap itself up. Hades couldn’t blame them for that mentality. Whatever losses they incurred, continuing the war would only extend the recovery period.
“Since we’re all gathered, let’s formally put an end to hostiles. As stated, a peace treaty will need to be drafted and agreed upon. What’s important is that we get the word out, to all forces, that war is over. I will converse with Princess Celestia on the finer details of Prances reparations. Why don’t the rest of you go and spread the word?”
The other representatives followed his suggestions like orders and filed out of the room. Perhaps with peace in their hooves, they didn’t want to do anything that could cause things to derail. Or maybe they were still processing everything. Which was fine, because he was too.
With a keen eye, the Kaiser observed those across from him with interest. Things certainly have taken a turn. “The peace talks can be dealt with later. We’ll all have to make reports on what happened here for the press, but I think there is one matter that needs to be addressed first. Why are you here, Duke Sixes? And why do you have a dragon with you?”
“Well…” Sixes chuckled. “How long do you got?”
The black rinin proceeded to give an abridged report of his adventure in Clydesdale. Omitting specific details such as Obara being a Dragonlord’s daughter and discovering yet another alicorn amulet. He also left out the battle with the Levant to get to the heart of the matter.
“We received another message from Dusk.” Sixes announced, not clarifying who Dusk was. Merely mentioning her name was dangerous, but everypony in the know knew to keep quiet about the Alicorn of Time. “She dropped some intel on a possible assassination plot against you, Celestia. But it seems she was a bit off this time…”
There was a sudden flash of magic, a magic bullet, fired from a horn. Everypony in the room stood shell shocked to see pinkish smoke rising from Celestia’s barrel, her gold regalia blown to pieces. The Princess herself couldn’t believe what happened as she looked at her attacker.
“Twilight…” She sputtered blood flying from her mouth. “Why?”
Before any pony could react or call for the Unicorn to be detained, another shot rang out, this one winging the Kaiser. This time Cobalt was the attacker!
“What the hell!” Sixes lunched at the general, but a shot from Twilight made him break off. “Grab, Celestia!” He barked to Essex and Obara, spewing fire. Fury at his side, providing support.
“Father!” Titania cried as she tried to help her father stand, but she could barely move in her weakened state.
Sixes took it upon himself to grab the Germanians, hoisting them onto his shoulders. All the while, Twilight, and Cobalt fired magic blasts seemingly at random. As more ponies came to check out the commotion, they were fired upon.
Some of them, at least.
While they ran for the Germane ship, Sixes looked back as the two unicorns massacred everypony with shining violet eyes. More unicorns joined them without regard for nationality—all of them with the same violet eyes and chanting the same perturbing thing.
“For our mother, Queen of Magic, for the true ruler of us all!”
Faintly Sixes heard the Kaiser mutter, “No, it can’t be her. She can’t be back!”
Letting the matter lie, Sixes focused on getting out of alive. Hoping things weren’t as bad as he imagined. Yet as more and more unicorns showed up to bar their way, he dreaded what could be happening elsewhere.
“What the fuck is happening?”