Night Patrol 2 Chapter 71
By Foxgear
“This is not a ship! It’s a death trap!” Celestia screamed from within the high-velocity Aircraft the Kaiser flew them in. He promised to give them access to his fastest ship. She supposed he kept his word.
Only the ship in question was a box with rockets bolted to it. When Celestia asked if he planned to find space ponies, the Kaiser merely shrugged and said it was possible.
After healing and equipping themselves with every artifact, the Kaiser had available, the team of seven. Including herself, Sixes, Fierce Fury, Essex, Titania, Zeppelin, and the Kaiser boarded the strange ship, much to Celestia’s worry.
Obara returned home, called by the power of the Dragonlord.
Thus, with their team assembled, they rocketed off towards Equestria.
“It’s not going to explode, is it?” She asked worriedly as the stars suddenly got a lot closer.
“No, no,” The Kaiser assured her, but after a moment, he continued with, “Well, the last two prototypes did, but I’m sure this one will be fine. I’m flying it, after all. Well, flying is relative. We’re more like a loosed arrow. Hopefully, we’re going in the right direction.”
Celestia dared to peek out the window and saw the ocean whiz by. “How fast are we going?”
“25,000 mph.” The Kaiser causally answered, as if it wasn’t a big deal.
“What?! How will we stop?”
The Kaiser laughed, “Stop? Well… hum… huh... that’s a good question. Hopefully, we’ll run out of fuel at just the right point to where we start to slow down, and we can jump out.”
“Dad,” Titania said, concerned, “How long until we bail?”
“Right, um… now.”
“What? It’s only been fifteen minutes!”
The Kaiser didn’t bother to answer. Instead, he shouted, “Teleport us outside now, or we’ll be on the other side of the world!”
Celestia’s horn flashed, and all of them were now free-falling outside. Good thing they all wore their goggles. That said, they were falling incredibly fast.
“Where’s Canterlot! There’s only a huge ass… canyon… oh…” Fury trailed off, recognizing other landmarks and was able to piece everything together.
They all did.
Canterlot was gone! The entire mountain, and then some were wiped off the map! From the sky, a massive ashen scar appeared in the middle of the green terrain.
“I’m sensing… a lot of magic over there.” Celestia pointed, leading the way down to where her castle had once stood. On the way, they passed Alicorns amid battle. It was a gory sight as they slaughtered each other, but what caught Celestia’s attention was what looked like their souls being sucked towards the pit that once was the Crystal caverns.
An entire herd of ponies gathered in the ash-covered plains. Among them was Shamrock and other rinin, standing side by side with ponies that Celestia thought long dead. Memories came flooding back from her childhood, and she remembered each pony they passed.
She held fond memories of some and not so fond of others, but there was no doubt any of them would be happy to see her—the Daughter of Solaris.
“Mother, give me strength.” Entering her Flare mode, Celestia felt her power rise with the burning heat of her body as wisps of golden fire hair entered her vision. But, thanks to the armor given by the Kaiser, her flames wouldn’t affect her allies.
Landing dramatically, Celestia held every ponies’ attention.
“I’ve come to finish my mother’s work. I am Celestia Solaris! Alicorn of the Sun and Ruler of Equestria! Expect no mercy or quarter for your transgression against my ponies! Let twilight fall upon you gods of old!”
Minerva nearly gagged at the child’s declaration, “You? A mere welp when compared to the cosmic force that was Solaris? You’ve barely stopped drinking from her teat, young Celestia!”
The fact somepony was calling her young was… bizarre for Celestia. Yet gratifying strangely. It was kind of nice not being the oldest thing alive anymore.
Celestia took up her mother’s spear, pointing at the mother of magic’s throat. “Feel free to test this…welp… yourself, you old nag!”
Minerva’s smile was unnerving. It was the smile of one far too gone in her own madness. “I will, Hassan, Ibaraki! I rescind my do not kill order. If they will do nothing but get in our way, then so be it! Let them die standing if they so choose!”
Spear and ax loft, Celestia charged the ancient Queen of Equestria, kick-starting the war once more.
“Let’s do this, Lucky!” Essex enthusiastically leaped at Ibaraki while her husband, still worn out from fighting, kept up the best he could.
“Sweet Luna’s teats lass, I only got so many rounds in me!” He complained, but nothing would prevent him from making sure his sweetheart came out alive.
While they engaged Ibaraki, Sixes and Fury went after Hassan, Shamrock knew that would probably be the more brutal fight.
“Where are the other lasses with ya?”
He recognized the two Aces of Germane. How could he not? After memorizing their profiles for his retrieval mission, it was a great boon to have Titania and Zeppelin fighting alongside them, yet he couldn’t spy them. Nor the Kaiser.
“Don’t worry about them!”
“Alright!”
His wife had a point, now was not the time to be looking at other mares. Besides, there were enough enemies around for everypony to sink their teeth into.
Such as the annoying little mini pony they were facing. What made Ibaraki so annoying, besides her childish taunts and demeanor, was the fact she looked like a foal or a teenager at the very least. Making it hard to really want to go hard on her.
That was not what made her so dangerous.
No, that small stature combined with that ungodly fortitude and strength made her a small and nearly unbreakable target. Even hitting her at full force did little. In a twisted way, Shamrock suspected his own attacks were hurting him more.
“You got any tricks, love!” He asked, clutching his bloody claw. Blood poured from the spikes on his knuckles. His appendages were more than likely broken. It took some guts and insane pain tolerance. But Shamrock was able to bash his fingers into a usable fist, tying his talons together with a scrap of cloth.
“I do,” Essex’s hair turned silver, bright shining veins spread along her body in a way Shamrock seen happen to Sixes.
“Sweet Luna, where do you find these fucking things?”
Chest ballooning Essex spewed molten silver at Ibaraki. The yellow Alirin was quick to dodge the glop of metal, but that wasn’t enough. The silver molded into chains that entangled around the Alirin.
“Lucky! Catch!” Essex threw the other end of the chain to her husband, who immediately went to work spinning like a top and smashing the Alirin into the ground!
Spitting more silver, Essex went to work on crafting her favorite weapon, metal talons. The hot metal produced a stinging sensation as it molded to her will, becoming nine-inch metal nails on her claws. Carved into the shining blades were curse runes.
Diving, Essex brandished her weapons, carving deep into Ibaraki’s flesh as the Alirin struggled to untangle herself from the chains.
“What is this thing!” Ibaraki screamed, struggling to shake the chain off, but every time she tried, it would wrap itself around her once more like a snake constricting its prey.
Spitting gold fire, Ibaraki spun, tossing Essex from her back and whipped her Spear Banner around with her magic to sock Shamrock on the left side of his face. Cutting it open. Blood gushed out of the shallow cut, the green rinin roared and charged with a bloody eye to deliver a one-two combo to Ibaraki.
The attack did little but to annoy the Alirin, but it was all he had. Shamrock reared back, putting his entire body into the punch and managing to cock Ibaraki’s head sideways. She glared with her yellow cat-like eyes, and suddenly Shamrock found himself flung far away. Ibaraki’s spear chasing him.
He rolled, dived, and dodged for all he was worth, with no way to counterattack as Ibaraki controlled the weapon remotely.
Essex charged in with her silver talons but was blocked by Ibaraki’s Kanabo, the silver claws sparking against the spiked iron club. They were all fighting upright, Essex being taller, used her greater height and weight to her advantage, or so she tried.
Being much shorter, Ibaraki used the taller Essex’s height against her by crouching and sending the Rinin toppling over her back. The short pony flung her Kanabo at Essex, controlling it remotely to keep the female rinin at bay.
With both of her opponents held at bay by her weapons. Each one controlled by one of her two horns. Ibaraki calmly examined the chains constricting her, grabbed a length of it, and then broke the weak link with a tremendous amount of strength.
“Serpent’s Revenge, clever.” Ibaraki wasn’t much for Curses or Hexes, finding them distasteful and too complicated. That didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate Essex’s craft. Using a curse to bring a chain alive was rather clever. “I believe this was primarily used in tombs to kill grave robbers. Traditionally ropes were used.”
“Thanks for the history lesson!” Essex grunted, spitting lava onto the Kanabo, trying to fuse the weapon to the ground. “My brother went on and on about that when he was teaching me! He also taught me this!”
Essex spat a considerable amount of silver on the ground, creating ten more chains, but with bear traps at one end that chattered like hungry beasts.
“Go!”
The Chain Snappers, as she called them, were like fake familiars. Or maybe automata? She didn’t really understand the principle or background behind the terms but understood how to do it. And that was enough.
From Sixes’ crash course, he told her silver was more durable than gold and was used in many or if not more magical weapons than gold. The downside was it didn’t produce as much raw power but made up for durability and versatility.
She argued that making massive explosions was better until he explained how she could make these wicked little things like this with her curses. Which was preceded by a lecture on ancient Tomb traps and torture tools.
Fun sibling bonding time.
The Snappers were designed to bite a pony’s leg and pull them apart or restrain them for even more heinous devices.
“Your a sick little pony,” Ibaraki said with what almost sounded like praise as she swatted the Snappers away, but they kept coming, unable to feel pain. Hungerly pursuing her like a starved beast, except they wouldn’t get any nutrition, as they had no stomachs to fill.
One Snapper bit onto Ibaraki’s left foreleg, sinking deep into her flesh and hitting bone. The other end of the Snapper was fixed with a long spike. Stretching its chain body taut, it buried the stake deep into the ground.
“Oh, I know your tricks!” Ibaraki said, running towards the spike to make slack in the chain. When another Snapper bit into her tail of all things. The pain was enough to make her dizzy as she looked down at her new draconic appendage. Resenting it for being made of flesh, rather than hair, like her old one. “I guess these bodies do have some downsides.”
“Hey, love!” Shamrock was back and ready to go, but Essex signaled him to stay back as she created another five Snappers. The effort brought Essex to her knees, struggling to coordinate the fifteen metal creatures.
The strain didn’t come from magic. Being made of silver, each Snapper produced its own by absorbing magic from the ground. No, it was the mental strain. The Snappers moved independently and could function on autopilot or premade orders, making them stupid and predictable.
By taking manual control, Essex could, by her will, control the Snappers as if they were her own body. Biting Ibaraki’s tail was such an action. From there, she let the Snappers programming take over and bury its tail into the earth to restrain the Alirin.
That left her with thirteen Snappers to control, and it wasn’t easy.
“Essex… you’re bleeding….” Shamrock said, horrified as blood seeped from his wife’s eyes and nose.
“Just… keep me… safe… I’ll finish this soon….” She struggled to speak, using all available brainpower to control the Snappers. “Get her…”
“You think this is enough to stop me!”
Ibaraki was raging like an Oni, smacking the Snappers wither Kanabo and using her spear to pin down as many as she could. The chattering bear traps chewed at her spear, ebbing away at the wooden shaft. She bashed another with her Kanabo, getting bit in the shoulder by another. Her right foreleg was pulled out of the socket by the force of the chain going taut.
Worse of all, the bear traps continued to chew at her, not enough to let her go, but enough that their teeth sank deeper and deeper. The one on her left claw ate halfway through the bone and stopped, keeping her hooked like a fish.
Rather than suffer, Ibaraki chose to bite off her own claw instead of being chained. With her horns burning brightly with magic, she commanded recalled her weapons, wielding them with precise control as she swatted the Snappers aside, her target, Essex.
“Come on! Come on! Let’s have more fun!” She cackled.
Essex, unable to move, willed two snappers to bite Ibaraki’s rear legs, the jaws snapping down so hard they nearly severed them completely. The Alirin flew upwards to keep the chains from grounding themselves and burned her feet with fire to seal the wounds. The Snappers melted to her flesh, but their curses were removed.
“How!” Essex demanded. “Only White or Holy magic can….and you need to be… Oh….”
Ibaraki smirked, “Yes, only pure maidens can use it. I happen to be one. I was never one for stallions, all I need is my precious Shuten, and I am content. Now…” Ibaraki’s chest expanded as the divine fire raged within her. “Let’s keep the fun going!”
Golden divine flames hit the ground and spread like wildfire. Only instead of harming the land further, it left green grass in its wake. When the fire hit the Snapper, they twisted as if in agony, their bear trap teeth chattering frantically as they were remade into actual living snakes that slithered away into the grass.
This display of power made the Rinin couple realize they were dealing with something beyond their understanding.
“What in the fuck was that!” Shamrock couldn’t process the sight before him as the flames continued to spread and burn life back into the ash-covered land.
“It’s like she’s… a god….” Essex whispered, trying to stand back up. Her entire body was shaking, and she had a horrible migraine.
“I’m glad you’re catching on,” Ibaraki said, still strangely cheery, even though she was a claw short and now clattered when she walked. “Really, it’s fun watching you mortals struggle. You’re always so… passionate about your destruction, fighting with everything you have! It’s wonderful, really breaks my boredom. And this is my favorite part, will you bow down and worship me? Or resist until the end?”
Essex and Shamrock intertwined their claws looking longingly into each other’s eyes. It was inappropriate for the situation, but they kissed for what was perhaps the last time.
“Ready… love?”
Essex buried her head into her husband’s barrel, “Yes….”
Shamrock untangled himself from Essex, standing defiantly before Ibaraki and shielding his wife. He raised his spiked fists. Spitting green fire onto them. His muscles bulged as steam rolled off his body.
“Do you think yer, tough?” he asked Ibaraki. The Alirin just cocked her head to the side, wondering where this was going. “I’ve brought a Dragonlord to its knees with a blow, ye think ya can tank it?”
“I don’t back down from a challenge if that’s what you’re offering. However, this is your last free shot.” Ibaraki warned as she popped her shoulder back in. “I’ll be very cross if you don’t manage to impress me.”
“Aye, I bet,” Shamrock reared back his fist, coiling his body as he prepared a flame burst. With one last look at his wife, he said, “I love you….”
Shamrock delivered his most powerful blow to Ibaraki in a burst of speed that rivaled Topaz’s haste. This time, she moved, his spikes burrowing into her cheek and breaking teeth. Her feet skidded across the earth, her claws digging deep to slow her down. When she finally stopped, she and Shamrock remained fixed in place, with his fist buried into her muzzle.
She tried to speak, but her jaw was broken, blood poured out of her mouth with each failed word. Instead, she chose to smile. It was painful, but she thought it was the best reward she could offer: that and quick death.
Quick for her, at least.
Shamrock felt the last of his strength drain, feeling pride that his attack had an effect but disappointed that it was all he could do. Well, there was a bit more he could do, but it wasn’t much. Knowing what was coming he, crossed his forelegs in an X over his face.
He didn’t have to wait long.
True to her word, Ibaraki wasn’t playing anymore. She swung her iron club at full force, the hit breaking Shamrock’s guard, his right foreleg flopping in the wind, completely shattered! Screaming in pain, he tucked his body tighter, bracing for the second hit. This one, too, broke his other foreleg.
He didn’t waver. He kicked with his hind legs, breathed fire, and even bit Ibaraki in the shoulder.
She bashed his legs, shattered his shoulder, and then impaled him with her Spear Banner to keep him standing as she wailed on his head with her club. The strikes were painful, but she was toying with him, like a cat toying with a mouse.
“I’ll only smack you around for a few minutes! You were so fun! But I don’t like playing with broken toys! What was your plan anyway? Were you trying to give your mate time to run away?”
“No…” Shamrock rasped, blood pouring from his mouth and many other places. “She’s… kind of slow… at….” He began to laugh. “Oops, I was about to spoil the surprise….”
“What?” Ibaraki cocked her head sideways, she got tunnel vision when she was enjoying herself, and Shamrock was blocking her view of Essex. So, what was the rinin mare doing?
Knocking Shamrock’s lifeless body to the ground, she retrieved her spear just in time to see Essex crying with a bright shining silver spear in her claw.
The spear was of a familiar shape and pattern, though a different color.
“SPEAR OF SOLARIS, NOVA STELLA II!”
Ibaraki didn’t have time to react. The silver spear shot from Essex’s grasp so fast that it didn’t even appear as a glimmer in the eye. The Alirin touched her chest and fell to her knees. She still has lives left, but ever since the Kira fight, her wounds healed much slower.
“You haven’t… won yet….” She said as Essex stood over her.
Essex spat enough silver to make five more Snappers. Incapacitated, Ibaraki could only watch with bemused horror at the metal monsters that were set upon her. Literally eating her alive. She didn’t cry out but merely laughed at her own fate.
“What a cruel mare you are… as cruel as me… you’re even watching…until the end….”
A Snapper bit into Ibaraki’s neck, ending her life. Her body began to crystalize and then shattered, leaving diamond bones behind, a banana yellow orb flying away towards the dark pit in the middle of the battlefield.
Essex didn’t react to this. Instead, she went to her husband, laying his head on her lap as she hugged him close.
Up above the sky was ablaze with exploding shells from the battleships and the flash of Alicorn spells.
“They kind of look like fireworks,” Essex said while staring blankly at the sky. Running her claws through Shamrock’s mane. “It would have been nice… to see them again, just you and me….”
Titania and Zeppelin were tag-teaming the Alicorns Venus and Mercury. Both Alicorns were mares and the pinnacle of beauty. So, it was a surprise when it turned out they could fight and fight well.
Both Germane ponies utilized their blessed states, punching far outside their weight class and pushing their mechanical horns and wings to their limits. They rapidly fired their horns, the metal smoking hot against their skulls while their wings threatened to snap several times from their high-speed maneuvers.
This was indeed a test of their science and the power of earth ponies.
Now, if they’d only stop losing ground against the two alicorns.
“Ma’am! We’re almost to the ships!” Zeppelin said as they fainted retreat.
“Good! Get them close, and we’ll let the Evernight ponies blast them out of the sky!” Titania said in their native tongue. Given the thousands of years between them and their opponents, there was little chance the Alicorns could understand their language. It was their only real advantage over the Alicorns.
As proud as she was of their R&D department, Titania wasn’t going to risk her life to prove it was better than the real thing. No, she’d instead let the Airships and their arsenal of cannons and blasters do that.
“Here’s to hoping they don’t shoot us down first!” Titania grinned in a way that was described as gleeful or maybe even psychotic. Really it was just a nervous tick to cover her own fear and scare her enemies. It didn’t make for good first impressions, though.
Such as now, as they barreled into the gap of an Equestrian Airship’s Anti-flyer fire. When they hit the deck, the ponies aboard didn’t seem to know how to treat them. In their stupor, Titania tried to take advantage of their uncertainty.
“Concentrate fire on those two Alicorns!” She ordered with authority. Some ponies twitched, almost reacting to the order instinctively, but these ponies were well trained enough not to follow orders from just any random pony, to their benefit and detriment. “Come on! Before they get too close! Hurry!”
“You heard her! Blow them out of the sky!” A voice barked, snapping the deck crew into action. The full force of a flying battleship was focused on the two incoming Alicorns. The ancient ponies thought some simple yet powerful shields would be enough.
Their ignorance was their undoing as the two Alicorns were reduced to a fine red mist.
“Well,” A red pony with mechanical wings said, approaching the two Germane mares. “This is a surprise.”
Zeppelin knowing the mare, could say the same, “Indeed….”
“AppleJazz is my real name, Lady Zeppelin?”
“Just Zeppelin is fine.”
Titania looked between her subordinate and Jazz, “How the hell do you two know each other?”
“Long story,” Both Jazz and Zeppelin replied in unison.
“Right… well…” The trio looked out over the battlefield. It looked like hell on earth with the constant falling of shells, fire, and ash whirling in the air. “War’s not over yet, ladies. Let’s get back in there!”
And so, an unlikely trio of mechanically enhanced earth mares flew back into the fray.
“Get back here!”
“He’s over there! Don’t let him out of your sight!”
“Shit! He disappeared again! Fucker!”
Sixes swung his golden chains and hooks, trying to ensnare Hassan. The Bicorn vanished via a shadowy type of teleportation that seemed to merge with the shadows. Fury was snorting fire, blasting the earth with scorching hot flames that would have incinerated everything if everything wasn’t already ash.
“I’ll lure him out!” Fury dived to the ground, waiting for Hassan to strike. The hairs on his neck stood up. Signaling the Alirin’s presence. Fury, being Fury, didn’t bother to dodge. Losing his head for the fifth time this fight. He could see his own decapitated body burst into flames as Sixes’ chains encircled Hassan.
It seemed like the Bicorn would escape once more until Sixes brought the pain with a Spear of Solaris. Both Hassan and Fury were engulfed by the blazing light, and seconds later, both were rebuilt from their own ashes.
“You’re both such fucking cheaters,” Sixes panted as the gold faded from his body. Yellow steam rose from his body as his claws trembled. He clenched them tight to stop the shaking, but it did little.
“Rest up. I’ll hold the bastard for a few rounds!” Fury said, knowing Sixes was tiring. It was expected after blowing Hassan away over five times already. He’d knock a few lives off the Alirin while Sixes recovered.
Still, it was frustrating to fight a pony with the same ability. Fury almost felt sorry for all his past opponents. This was annoying. Fighting a pony that wouldn’t die.
Creating a flame sword in each claw, Fury charged right in swinging wildly, opposed to Hassan’s careful and precise strikes.
The Alirin was clearly the better swords pony. That was blatantly clear.
Fury, however, was much more accustomed to reckless fighting. His forearm got lobbed off. So, what! He’d grow a new one!
Smashing his other flame sword into Hassan’s head, Fury tanked the explosion from the attack and pressed on. Grabbing Hassan by the neck, and ripped it out as the other pony’s face regenerated.
He didn’t know what counted as a death, but Hassan’s regeneration was slightly different. In fact, it seemed to be slowing down. With each revival, Hassan looked thinner and thinner and a lot less buff. Each death was slowly eating away at him.
The question, now, was how many more times did they have to kill him? And that same question bothered Fury. Having lost track of the number of times he’s died himself. Briefly touching the golden feathers in his mane, they probably had something to do with it. He always lost one when he died.
“Fuck it!” He created flame swords, one after another, each exploding on contact that ripped his own body apart with each attack. Fury roared savagely, his blackened skull exposed as his own skin burned away to ash. His claws couldn’t keep up, leaving him with stubs, so he bit down on Hassan’s neck, sinking his teeth as far as he could.
“Troublesome Berserker!” Hassan clubbed Fury with the pommel of his sword, trying to shake the rinin off, but he was still healing. Fury’s relentless attacks left him in a near decaying state, making them appear as two burnt corpses duking it out.
Azure flames shined from Hassan’s empty sockets. He called upon the power of his old foe, Dragonlord Azazel. Even if his limbs lacked their impressive mass, he managed to force Fury off. Rising to upright, Hassan grabbed the hilt of his mighty sword for a finishing blow when his chest exploded!
He staggered, falling to his knees as wisps of gold danced around him. Next, a golden chain and hook ensnared Hassan, pulling taut.
“I’m tagging in!” Sixes said, wielding three golden spears, two chains, three golden axes, and three golden swords with his antlers. He was bringing out the full arsenal. Each weapon was made prior and stored away, and these weren’t the crude, one and done. No, they were exquisitely crafted fakes.
Since growing antlers and unlocking the ability to use unicorn magic, Sixes only learned two spells, levitation and summon object. With just those two simple spells, he gained tremendous power.
“Spear of Solaris, Ax of Apollo, Sword of Gram!”
The triple attack was overwhelming. The piercing power of Solaris’s spear, the hacking ability of Apollo’s ax, combined with Gram’s magic spell, created a perfect storm. Hassan was blown to pieces.
His heart eviscerated. Next, his head was cut off with Sixes wielding Gram to blast him again with a mighty slash of magic. The sword cracked but did not explode like usual, giving Sixes another chance to attack as Hassan regenerated.
The second blast of magic wasn’t as powerful as the first, maybe half if Sixes was generous to the fake sword. Still, he thought it an improvement over the usual one-and-done method. What the sword was not good for was, being an actual sword.
Blocking Hassan’s great sword was a very hairy ordeal, and Sixes being the furthest thing from a sword pony, was quick to admit his lack of skill and gain some distance away from the black Alirin. Tossing the nearly shattered Gram for its final and mild attack. The resulting exploding from the scrapped weapon was little better than a standard gem rocket.
Meaning it could still level a small building, but that was barely a love tap in this fight.
Still armed with his other six weapons, Sixes fired an ax to block Hassan’s sweeping strike. Taking to the sky to gain the advantage of mobility and height, he fired another spear at the Alirin, who battered it aside with his sword.
“The tolling bell calleth thy name!” Hassan raised his massive weapon, a ghostly blue flame engulfing the edge. With a mighty swing, he unleashed a Magic slash that seemed to cut across the entire sky!
Sixes grabbed his remaining Fake Grams in his claws and countered with a giant X slash negating Hassan’s attack with little regard to his supply. The two Grams crumbled in his grasp, having used all their might to block the incoming strike.
Feeling a chill run down his spine, Sixes willed his chains to move behind him, just in time to block Hassan’s follow-up strike from behind. Sixes maneuvered quickly to face his opponent pulling the chain tight while twirling the other with his claw.
“You fight like an assassin.”
“It’s my profession,” Hassan answered proudly. “Observe.”
The Alirin became a ball of black shadow that quickly moved around Sixes’ chain. Sixes tried to ensnare Hassan once more, but the golden chains passed through the Alirin. He fired his last spear in a bit of a panic, putting a little spin on it to increase its firepower.
This did little to slow Hassan down.
With only an ax left. Sixes wielded the unruly weapon in a meager defense. With every swing, a flash of light fired from the ax. The burst of sunlight caused Hassan to suddenly veer off, making Sixes wonder why the spear didn’t work. As he swung the ax again, Hassan blocked with his sword, but Sixes found minor victory in this, as the blade of his ax split.
“Cheap knock-offs will always be inferior to the originals.”
“Yeah, but they still have a use.” Sixes let go of the ax, willing it to overload and explode. Going gold, he spits up more lengths of chain, craving an anti-magic rune on each link. The massive weight of gold landed on the regenerating Hassan.
“Sixes!” Fury rejoined the fray, the two Rinin on either side of the Alirin, their chests swelling and glowing with fire. On an unknown signal, the two-spit streams of hot flame on Hassan. Both panted as the Alirin fell to earth in flames, both knowing it wasn’t the end but needed to catch their breath. “Did we get him?” Fury asked with a bit of hope.
Sixes’ response was to craft another spear and summon three more. He didn’t wait to find out and fired all four spears with some extra spin at Hassan. The resulting explosion would have sunk a battleship.
“Huff… huff… huff….” Sixes was panting even harder now, gold steam rising from his body from the overuse of his ability.
“You better slow down, buddy.” Fury said as Sixes waved him off, already trying to craft another weapon. “Hey, that’s enough!”
Fury reached out to shake Sixes of his battle trance when a shadow appeared behind the black Rinin. He screamed to look out, grabbing Sixes’ foreleg and pulled him away. Hot blood splattered onto Fury’s face as he flew his best friend to safety.
“Sixes!” Fury didn’t know how far or fast he flew, but he was well enough away from Hassan to set Sixes down. His best friend, his brother in arms, was in bad shape. Sixes was barely breathing, half of his right foreleg was missing, and there was a nasty gash in his barrel. Exposing bones and possibly Sixes’ beating heart.
“The bell tolls for him,” Hassan said solemnly, appearing behind Fury but not attacking. Was it out of a sense of Honor? Fury didn’t know. Maybe he just likes to watch his victims die.
Fury stared at his dying friend, the rage he’s managed to control for so many years came rising back to the surface, causing his veins to pop and his teeth to ache with unrestrained Fury.
Blue light pulsed slowly from within his body. Gradually the power of the Lapis amulet spread across his body, turning his bright red coat blue. That wasn’t all. His body twisted and grew, changing shape. Changing into that of a mighty blue phoenix.
With an angry squawk! Fury lashed out his with talons, his hindlegs, now his only legs. Were that of bird of prey, large enough to grab even a pony of Hassan’s size.
“Foul creature!” Hassan swung his sword, but it bounced off the steel-like talons. He aimed higher, cutting Fury’s skin, which only resulted in a burst of flames exploding from the firebird’s body instead of blood.
Fury snatched Hassan in his talons and carried the Alirin into the sky with speed seemingly unsuited for a creature as tall as a two-story house. Far above the clouds, to where even the stars seemed in reach.
Fury coiled his body around Hassan, projecting a barrier around them as his body broke down into tiny blue spheres.
“SHINING NOVA!”
An explosion, not so different from Kira’s final attack, filled the sphere. Hassan, having regenerated, found his legs regrown in reversed positions. Before he could even worry about fixing this, Fury once again:
“SHINING NOVA!”
The ordinarily stoic Hassan began to sweat, or he would if his brain could keep up with being destroyed every minute.
“You… can’t… keep this up… your life….”
From the void, Fury’s voice said, “I have more lives than you do. SHINING NOVA!”
And so, Hassan and Fury continued the cycle of death and regeneration. Fury repeatedly exploding with the force of a nuke, ending Hassan’s life over and over again.
How many times has either of them died? They both lost count by now. It was a matter of who had more extra lives to see who would come out on top. Who could endure the pain of death over and over?
Was it a dozen? Fifty? A hundred times? He’s died? Hassan didn’t know. He, once known as the Alicorn of Death, now longed for its embrace. And so, when his body regenerated for what was undoubtedly the hundredth time, he gave a small smile as he was obliterated once more.
This time Hassan did not come back. Bringing an end to his suffering.
Fury reformed his physical body, feeling completely drained as he caught Hassan’s remains in his talons. He was still a giant blue phoenix. Mildly concerning, but he was thankful for the extra speed as he dived down to snatch up Sixes in his talons.
His friend needed help, and there was only one pony who could, with great reluctance. Fury took Sixes to the only Doctor who could save him.
Kaiser Hades, formerly Doctor Hoofenstien.
Kaiser Hades, leader of Germane, Alchemist, and grandchild of Gaia herself. Bore witness to the battle playing out before him. An epic clash of the old gods versus the new age. A fight he’s anticipated since his first experiment. Though his creations loath him, he was proud of his work.
The alicorns were being kept at bay. He made the gods bleed!
“No…” he said, star gazed. “It wasn’t just me.”
Regular ponies around him wielded the weapons of science put forth by the legendary Starwind the Beardless. His airships have changed the world in more ways than one. Hades was somewhat jealous a unicorn managed to show him up.
A pony screamed, “Incoming!”
Hades looked to the sky to see a giant blue phoenix approaching the ship he was on. Though he lacked any authority over the Evernight ponies, he spoke with confidence. “Stay your fire. They are allies!”
There was only one blue phoenix he could imagine existing. But, once more, his test subjects exceeded his expectations. To think Fury could become such a beast was awe-inspiring. He genuinely wanted to examine the rinin to find the secret behind these radical transformations.
Fury would probably kill him, so he kept that to himself.
Hovering over the deck, Fury dropped two things from his talons. Some charred bones looked to be from a bicorn if the skull was any indication and Sixes.
“Can you heal him?” Fury asked. His voice boomed like thunder, but that was due to his size.
Hades examined Sixes closely, he was missing half of his foreleg, and the wound in his barrel was terrible. He didn’t know how the Rinin was legally still alive. One of the chambers of his heart was just gone.
The fact he could see the damage through Sixes’ ribcage did not point to Sixes’ survival. By any medical metric, Sixes should be dead. So how?
It was against surgery procedure, but Hades peeled back a bit more of Sixes’ flesh to find wisps of gold magic spiraling around Sixes’ heart. He was uncertain of how Sixes was doing this, but he used his magic to pump blood, bypassing the organ.
“You never cease to amaze me,” Hades said sadly. Knowing the magic was only prolonging Sixes’ life for a bit longer. “I could… remake him with alchemy, but I lack the materials.”
“What about these?” Fury pushed the Bicorn bones closers, making Hades scoff.
“Of for… what good are bones going to do me? He’s missing muscle! Flesh! Yes, the bones will help restore his foreleg, but I need more material! Do you see a lab stock full of organs and muscle tissue? Because you blew up mine! TWICE!”
“What about… them….” Fury pointed to the slain bodies littering the ground.
“Hmm, like the thought, but no, even freshly killed the organ begin to decay without proper preservation. Besides, we’d need a dragon or rinin heart. Any regular pony heart would burst into flames when he tried to breathe fire. Or it might not even survive his normal body temperature. What temperature do you usually run compared to the average pony?”
Fury merely stared blankly at him.
“Right, I forgot you weren’t one of my lab assistances.” Hades looked beside himself. He didn’t want one of his finest creations to die. “So those are our options, either find a Rinin heart or Sixes dies.”
“No…” A weak voice said.
“You shouldn’t… be able to speak….” Hades was floored once more as Sixes regained consciousness, grabbing Hades by the scruff of his neck with his claw. “You won’t… desecrate their bodies… not for me or…” Sixes slipped back into unconsciousness.
“Well,” Hades said, rubbing his neck. “You heard him. Nothing I can do.”
Fury looked on, feeling the same as Sixes, so, “Use me.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I said, use me for the materials. I’ve lived enough lives.” Fury began to shrink, retaking his usual form, but his color remained blue. “He’s my best friend.”
Hades couldn’t keep the mad grin off his face. “Combine two of my greatest creations? Plus, add in Hassan… mother’s mane… I… can’t resist! The possibilities! This could achieve my ultimate dream! The birth of a new god! HAHAHA!”
“Get to it before I change my mind and rip out your heart instead.”
Hades coughed into his hoof, “Right, let me get to work.”
Utilizing his mechanical horn, Hades drew over twenty sticks of chalk from his saddlebag and began writing complex formula runes on the deck in a frenzy.
“Place Sixes, here you go there, and poor old Hassan goes here! Let’s do this! Witness the creation of a new god!” Hades laughed with the utmost joy! How couldn’t he? He was about to combine not just his creations but Hassan, who had been an Alirin. Plus, the Lapis and Gold Alicorn Amulets. “Including Hassan… three Alicorn Amulets. Plus, whatever dragonlord he absorbed….”
He truly would be creating a new god. If nothing went wrong.
Hades slammed his hooves against the deck, activating the circle. Lightning shot into the sky from the complex array to display the sheer power he was playing with! Sixes, Fury, and the remains of Hassan all disintegrated, rearranging into something new, something beyond the divine Alicorns.
“This is my magnum opus witness the arrival of a new age!” He declared as the light began to fade.
“RAGH!”
“UGH!”
Over the dark pit where Mount Canterlot once stood, Celestia and Minerva did battle. They were both the pinnacle of pony kind, each drawing upon the vast power of their elements. Celestia brought forth the raw power of the sun!
Minerva wielded the very essence of magic itself. Every spell, big or small, was stored away within her vast mind. So even if it was just invented, she would know it as well as the pony who developed it.
That was not to say she was a master of every spell, nor could she be. She had her favorites and affinity, but it was there for her to use if she needed it.
“Rainbow Bullets!”
There was no holding back anymore. Not against Celestia, not against the child of the one who brought her race to near extinction. Minerva blasted every element from fire to darkness at Celestia. To the younger Alicorn’s credit, she managed to block them all with a solar flare with a wave of Solaris’s spear. Creating a wall of miniature suns to stop the attack.
Summoning a glob of bubbling darkness, Minerva let the purple muck rain down, forcing Celestia to weave and dodge before resorting to another Solar Flare. Using the mini sun like an umbrella to block the muck.
Swinging her ax, Celestia let loose a wave of fire. Minerva quenched the flames by ripping open the sky and pouring seawater in front of her. Creating a waterfall out of literally thin air.
Clenching her teeth tightly, Celestia screamed, raising the power of her Solar Flare. She increased the temperature to insane degrees. Finally, the black muck dissipated, and the waterfall exploded into steam.
Minerva moved back, her heat resistance overtaxed by Celestia’s sheer power. “This is the trouble with you master of one types. You’re too damn good at one thing! You’re just as annoying as your mother!”
“I’ll take that as a compliment!” Celestia replied, feeling proud to be compared to her legendary mother. She pointed her spear at Minerva, grinning with confidence. “I’ll be sure to finish you off properly this time in her stead!”
“Foolish child! If you intended that, you’d done it by now!” It was Minera’s turn to grin. “Too afraid to die. To burn yourself up like your mother did. Even if you are, I bet you can’t bring yourself to burn them up as well.”
Minerva gestured to the ponies fighting below them. “It’s troublesome having so many allies. That’s why Solaris came by herself. Well, to be fair, Nexus was with her. It’s a shame your father doesn’t get as much credit. If not for him holding everypony back, Solaris wouldn’t have had the time to perform her final attack.”
“They did what they had to; I will do the same!”
The two were back at each other. Instead of spells, they let their weapons talk. Celestia wielded her ax and spear with decent skill. However, the ax was a very odd weapon, heavily off balance, and not great for defending. While the spear gave her reach and excellent piercing and slashing capabilities.
Her problem was she wasn’t used to using both at once. Performing combos was awkward when she was unused to the spear. The lighter weapon lacked the impact of her second ax. Primarily she used her mother’s spear to parry Minerva’s Gladius. Using it to keep the short sword at bay while she tried to crush the alirin’s head with the ax.
However, Minerva’s staff was outfitted with several annoying features, such as auto-shield. That wasn’t what it was called, but that’s what it did. The rod would produce a magical barrier whenever the ax came too close in proximity.
A very annoying feature.
Firing off some magic bullets, Celestia attempted to overwhelm Minerva’s auto defenses, charging up her ax with light magic for added power. She swung and was parried by the Gladius, kind of shocking considering its small size. Pressing her attack, Minerva buried her blade into the edge of the golden ax!
“Don’t look so shocked! I made this sword by condensing a meteor! Unlike your flimsy little ax, it’s got some weight to it!”
Minerva cocked the sword back and flung it with her magic. Celestia mirrored the action with her ax, both weapons clashing at full force! The results were as expected. The Gladius tore through the softer alloy of the ax, continuing towards Celestia.
Celestia fumbled in her movements, overcommitting to the attack, causing her to flail in the air as she tried to catch her balance. She avoided being decapitated right then and there but didn’t escape unscathed.
“GRAH!” The Sun Princess screamed as blood gushed from her right eye, her vision suddenly cut in half. There was no reprieve as Minerva took the advantage, wielding her sword around for another attack. Celestia did her best to dodge, spinning her spear to projecting barriers, but the pain made it hard to focus.
Suddenly her right foreleg was severed.
“Sorry, I was aiming for your head,” Minerva said, recalling her sword. “I guess I should offer you the chance to surrender. I mean, look at yourself.”
“Don’t take pity on me,” Celestia growled, casting a healing spell. She couldn’t replace her eye or regrow her leg, but it stopped the bleeding at the very least. “At least now, I can be a pirate. That sounds like a fun way to spend part of my retirement.”
“Funny, you think you’ll get out of this alive?” Minerva pulled her Gladius back, ready to throw it again.
Celestia smiled, “If I was alone, no, not at all.”
“What…” Suddenly Minerva became keenly aware of the whooshing of wind. She acted, swinging her Gladius around to block an incoming projectile while her staff dealt with the other. She frowned when she saw the weapons that about ended her.
Two Star blades.
“Dammit! Why’d you have to warn her! Every time!” Luna fumed, retrieving her blades.
“It wouldn’t have worked, either way. It did give me the chance to do this….”
Minerva suddenly teleported away, a shower of fireballs rained down where she once been, falling from a Solar Flare that Celestia had created high above her.
“Will you stop announcing your attacks!” Luna barked, but her expression softened when she saw the state of her sister. “You’ve really taken a beating this time.”
Celestia grinned, “You should be happy. Now I have no choice but to retire after this. Where have you been, by the way… you feel different.”
“I’ll explain later. Let’s finish this bitch off!” Luna flashed her aura, creating her dark cloak, but there was something different about it. The mass of darkness was surrounded by a layer of gold. It wasn’t just that. Luna was also covered in the same golden aura.
“What… what is that magic!” Minerva screamed fearfully. She was the mother of magic! Why couldn’t she identify this strange aura? That was impossible!
The light surrounding Luna shown brighter, as did the stars above. “It’s a gift from some friends.” Luna’s starry blue mane began to change to a bright and vibrant starry gold one. If not for her blue coat, she’d be Celestia’s twin.
“So that’s what it is,” Celestia smiled. She’s seen that aura before. The Aura of Daydream Shimmer. “Thank you, Sunset.”
“Let’s do this! I’ll keep her busy. You do what you do best!”
“Right!”
Luna was off like a rocket. Of the two of them, she was always the better close-range fighter. The two-star blades spun like buzzsaws, flying faster than the eye could see, ripping through Minerva’s defenses, while Luna used her Dark Shroud to grab and slash at the Alirin, putting Minerva on the defensive.
“Alright, lacking a bit of depth perception, but I can still manage.” A complex magical array appeared around the Sun Princess, not just one, but seven. “Locked on! Ready for Magical artillery!”
Luna teleported away instantly, giving Celestia a clear shot at Minerva. She fired all seven spells, bombarding the Alirin with her most powerful attack.
Minerva merged from the smoke a bit charred and seriously burned. If not for Torch’s powers, she would have died. She charged, screaming madly, but Luna intercepted her, not giving her a chance to counter. Even with her raw strength, Minerva couldn’t overcome Luna.
Between fighting off Luna’s star blades, and black tendrils, Minerva was losing ground. Shooting a barrage of spells to get even a little breathing room, but Luna never let up! Then she disappeared again, letting Minerva get pelted by Celestia’s long-range attacks. They were nothing to scoff at.
Celestia’s bombardments might not be instant knockouts, but they weren’t fun either. She found herself panting, struggling to keep up with the constant barrage of attacks. It was then, Minerva realized how dangerous the sisters were. How they managed to overcome everything the world could throw at them.
“I have to separate them, two or three more of those, and I’m done!” Minerva let out a wave of raw magical energy to keep Luna at bay, buying her only a second. She swung her Gladius at one of the star blades while forming her own artillery spell.
Luna’s dark shroud grabbed for her, and she countered by creating a veil of light, it was really straining her brain to remember the counterspells, but she had to or die.
“Explosion!” Minerva chose to blow up the entire area rather than do anything fancy, taking some damage from her own attack, but that was fine. She breathed fire catching Luna by surprise, and rushed in, using Torch’s strength to wrangle the Night Princess.
Claws and thumbs were great.
“Got you!” She said triumphantly, digging her talons into Luna’s flesh.
“Think again!”
Minerva instantly let Luna go, feeling the effects of gravity magic. A distortion of space appeared around her, and Minerva was quick to sever her claw as it was suddenly pulled into the void and exploded into red mist.
She really missed her healing fire breath.
Another barrage pelted her, Minerva growled as bits of her body were blown away, one of the attacks taking a considerable chunk of her shoulder. Still, of the seven, only two had hit. Celestia was either out of range or tiring.
“Could be her missing eye too, I guess.”
Taking the chance to breathe, Minerva readied herself for Luna but found the Night Princess scarce. In fact, she wasn’t anywhere nearby.
She looked down. The sisters were side by side, with their mother’s spear encased in both of their magic.
“Oh no…”
“SPEAR OF SOLARIS!”
Together the sisters fired the spear. It was so much more impressive than the one’s Sixes tossed around. There was no comparison. Not when she was looking at what looked like the sun itself flying at her. It was a hundred, no, a million times more potent than anything Sixes could hope to create. She would know. She’s experienced it before.
The attack hit her, incinerating her instantly.
“We got her,” Luna beamed as she watched their mother’s spear continue to fly into the atmosphere. Becoming a new star in the night sky.
“Yes, now…GAGH!”
“Celestia!” Luna wheeled around, horrified to see Minerva alive, and running her Gladius through Celestia’s heart.
Minerva cackled, “I knew it was smart to keep my trump card a secret from you. All that effort, to only take away one of my lives! You fools!”
Having fought tooth and nail to stay alive all these years, Minerva wasn’t about to simply get careless just because she had a few extra lives now.
Pulling her sword free from Celestia, she let the Sun Princess drop, Luna, chasing after her sister. Minerva aimed to take her out too but was interrupted by Gaia, who tossed her hammer at her.
“Damn you!”
“I could say the same!”
Thus, the two ancient enemies resumed their battle once more.
“Celestia!” Luna managed to catch her sister and lay her gently on the ash-covered ground. She cast a healing spell, but the wounds wouldn’t close. “A curse? No…”
Luna stared in horror as Celestia’s body began to crystalize.
“Celestia, no don’t… don’t leave me… please.” She cried, hugging her sister close. “Please, I still need you….”
Celestia smiled as she patted Luna’s back and brushed her hair. “I will… always be with you… Luna. Always.”
Celestia’s body fully crystallized and then shattered! A pure white Alicorn Amulet floated in the air as Luna fell to the ground.
“CELESTIA! CELESTIA!” She cried, tears streaming down her face.
Suddenly something crashed nearby. Luna tore her eyes away from Celestia’s Amulet to see Gaia in the dirt, heavily injured.
“You need to… ‘cough’… grab her… before he steals her….” Gaia warned, spitting up more blood.
“Time to die!” Minerva came rushing in for the final blow.
“APPLEJACK!” Luna screamed as images of her and AJ the first flashed through her mind. “NO!”
A black blur tackled Minerva midair, sending the Alirin skipping across the ground. Luna blinked away her tears, uncertain of what or who she was looking at.
The pony? No, the creature floating protectively over Applejack/Gaia looked like a rinin, but one she’s never seen before. He was large, larger than her, with familiar black scales but unfamiliar overly large black and gold phoenix wings. Two glistening black horns protruded from his head, like a Bicorn, and his mane was a strange mix of ethereal red and gold. Giving his hair a flame-like appearance.
In his claw formed a sphere of black fire that he crushed, creating a sword of flame, “Black Flame Blade!”
Luna watched with stunned amazement as that single attack engulfed the landscape in a sea of black fire. When Minerva emerged alive once again, the creature roared savagely, opening its jaws wide shooting a beam of blue magic from its mouth.
“ATOMIC FIRE!”
The Atomic breath blew Minerva away. She regenerated but wisely chose to flee, teleporting as far as she could in that instance.
Clutching Celestia’s amulet tightly, Luna approached the creature that had saved Applejack. When she was closer, she was startled.
“Sixes… is that you?”
The creature did indeed resemble her husband somewhat, but was it really him?
“Luna…” The creature said affectionately.
“It is you… right? Sixes?”
“Sixes… no… I’m Fierce Sixes now. Fury and I, now one.”
“You’ll have to forgive him for the slow speech. His brain is probably still trying to adjust.” Kaiser Hades, the last pony Luna expected to see, said. “He is a marvelous creation, my best work, really.”
“What did you do to them!” Luna raged, but Fierce Sixes blocked her path.
“I chose to save Sixes.”
“Hmm, I set it up so Sixes would be the dominant mind, but it seems Fury still lingers. I’m sure that will pass in time. Now, what are we to do about all this?” Hades said, looking sadly over Gaia’s vessel. “Hello, grandmother.”
“Clay, is that you?” Gaia wheezed weakly.
“Yes, it is.” Hades brushed Gaia’s mane, surprised that her vessel so closely resembled her original form. It wasn’t a stretch to think the Apples were a direct descendant of Gaia. He wondered which relative they came from but pushed the thought aside. “You’re dying. We need to get you a new vessel.”
“No!” Both Luna and Gaia said at the same time as more ponies gathered around them. One of them AppleJazz.
“Applejack!” The red filly screamed, rushing over to her cousin’s side. “Why… why are you here… and…” She was at a loss for words when she saw Applejack was now an Alicorn. “What the hell happened?”
“Young filly of my blood, could I borrow your body? If you agree, I can save this one.”
“Jazz don’t!” Luna tried to stop the red filly, but Jazz agreed readily before the first word left Luna’s lips. Applejack’s Alicorn features transferred over to Jazz, who smiled sadly as her ethereal green mane blew in the wind.
“Fear not, little Luna, I would never let one of my own die for my mistakes.” Levitating some dirt from the ground, Luna and the others bore witness to the miracle that created the Earth Ponies as Gaia turned the very earth itself into organic material. They all watched the flesh like mud burrowed into Applejack’s body, restoring and fixing her bones and organs.
It was genuinely divine power, but it was not one to use repeatedly by the way Gaia/Jazz panted.
Applejack awoke, alive, and perhaps better than before, “What…where am I? Luna… Jazz… what…”
“It is not safe for you here, Daughter of my First Blood. Return to where thy were taken.” In another divine display of power, Gaia Jazz sent Applejack home. To relative safety. Once more, it took a toll on her. Her ethereal mane flickering. “I only have one last gift. Luna, your sister, please.”
Reluctantly Luna gave Celestia’s Amulet to Gaia, who smiled thankfully as she pressed it to her barrel. “Clay… I trust you’ll follow through this time?”
Hades hung his head, “Yes, Grandmother, I promise I will.”
She smiled one last time, “Good, I’m glad to hear that.” Gaia’s aura separated from Jazz, leaving the filly unconscious as Gaia transferred over to Celestia’s white amulet, which now gained an orange spiral pattern.
Luna picked the amulet up, uncertain of what this meant. Then Hades started drawing a circle around her. “What are you doing?”
“Following through, you’re not strong enough, so I’ll make you stronger! Titania! Throw the Rose amulet in as well! We might as well make her the same as Sixes. In fact, go find the remains of one of the other Alirins. A female if possible.”
“What are you planning to do to me!” Luna tried to escape but found she couldn’t move. With Jazz unconscious, the only other pony around to stop the Kaiser was Zeppelin, so that wasn’t happening. “Hades! Don’t think you’ll get away with this!”
He laughed, “Get away with what? Saving the world? Sorry, but I think I will. If you still have ill feelings feel free to kill me afterward.”
“I have Ibaraki’s skull, father!” Titania said, tossing the skull into the circle.
“Perfect!” Hades took a deep breath. This would be his last transmutation. “Don’t worry, I did this successfully once before just a few minutes ago. The second time is much easier. Now once more, we witness the birth of a new god!”
“HADES!” Luna screamed as the light of transmutation enveloped her. Combining her with Celestia/Gaia’s Amulet, the Rose amulet, and Ibaraki’s remains.
That wasn’t all. The sky split open, with lightning being added to the mix by Odin, Zeus, and Jupiter. Their reasons were unknown as they willingly added themselves to the mix.
When the light faded, a vastly different Luna stood there. She was taller, taller than Celestia. Her coat was two-tone, brilliant pure white with a splotch of black on her rear and long feathered black hair on her feet, giving her a Clydesdale appearance. Her wings were draconic in nature and black as night. When she opened her mouth, draconic teeth were revealed, and her ethereal mane was a mix of starry blue with a wisp of blonde. Her eyes were a strange blend of orange, pink, and teal, with two curved horns to top off her new appearance.
“I present, Olympia Luna!” Hades theatrically introduced. Only to shrink back as Luna blew fire from her nostrils and the air crackled with electricity. He chose to bend the knee to the new goddess of Earth, Sun, Sky, and Moon.
“I’ll decide your fate upon my return.” Luna declared, taking to the sky. Lightning and thunder cracked and boomed with every beat of her wings.
“What happens now, father?” Titania asked as they watched Luna disappear, flying into the dark pit in the ground.
Hades sighed, tired from performing two groundbreaking transmutations in one day back-to-back. It was safe to say he’d probably be dead before Luna and Sixes could come back and finish the job. A small mercy, perhaps.
“Now, my dear? We wait. We wait and see if the old gods prevail or the new ones. Either way, all we can do is wait.”
All around, the souls of the defeated Alicorns were being drawn to the pit. What could a pony do with all that magical power? Maybe the better question was who was going to use it?
Who would command The power of the King of the Alicorns, Romulus Rex?