Major Scope took a slow breath as he peered around a corner pillar and into the throne room in Canterlot Castle. Just as he’d suspected, the enemy leader was here, and she had the Princesses with her. Scope took stock of Commander Tempest, examining her carefully. She moved with an assured grace and her eyes were sharp. Her horn was broken off halfway down its length, leaving a jagged edge that sparked with occasional aura discharge. He took note of the room’s set up as well, noting the position of the three princesses. Cadance, Luna, and… Celestia. Scope’s eyes lingered on his beloved regent for a moment, taking in her features frozen in a moment of terror, and he grimaced. “Don’t worry, Princess,” he muttered to himself, ducking back around the pillar and around the corner, through a doorway into a unobtrusive hidden hallway used by the castle staff. A dozen guards stood waiting for him, and he frowned at them. “It’s just her and seven of the yeti guards. She’s basically undefended. If there was ever a time, it’d be right now.”
Specialist Roads nodded, grinning a fanged Sarosian grin at him. “We’re with you, sir. What do you want us to do?”
“Draw away those guards. Try not to engage their commander. Once you pull them away, I’ll go in and take her down myself,” Scope said, gesturing to the group. “If you pull them down the hallway, that’ll leave me a clear path into the throne room. If she engages with her guard, then I’ll try to pull her away. Once you’ve mopped up those Yeti troopers, get to the throne room and secure the princesses. Even if I’m not done with Commander Tempest, you make sure to prioritize securing them and moving them down to the lower level where we’re still holding.”
“Yes, sir!” Corporal Sapphire said, looking over her shoulder. “We’ll get them separated. You go for the commander. Best of luck!”
Scope gave her a nod, and she and the rest of the troops slipped out of the side room. Sapphire herself led the group, and she was first around the corner. She pretended to panic upon seeing the room full of yeti guards, letting out a yell, and the Yetis and their commander turned as one, spotting her. Scope gave them a moment, sliding back into the side room and waiting. The sounds of his soldiers galloping away was soon followed by heavy footfalls of angry Yeti troopers, howling as they gave chase to the “fleeing” guards. Scope counted to ten, and then burst out of the hallway and rushed for the throne room.
Commander Tempest was waiting. Scope slid to a halt, drawing up short before her as she stared him down with a glower. “I was wondering if you’d show,” Tempest said, looking him over with curiosity, a cocky smirk on her face.
“Yeah, well, it might have taken a bit longer than expected, but I’m here,” Major Scope said with a snort of impatience.
“I’ve read the dossier on you. Expert unicorn fighter, specialty in beam attacks. Your reputation preceeds you,” Commander Tempest said with a chuckle, slowly stepping to the side, shifting her position to reveal more of the crystalized Princess Celestia, “... as does your weakness.”
“Weakness?” Scope replied, wondering what she was getting at. He shifted slightly as well, preparing for whatever tricks Tempest might have prepared.
“The dossier was very thorough. I do my homework. Ever-scowling, but you only smile around a certain Princess,” Tempest said, reaching with one hoof towards Princess Celestia’s frozen form.
“I don’t bucking think so,” Scope growled, and his horn lit up.
Tempest was fast, he’d have to give her that. His horn beam attacks, a line of green light, were fast, but she dodged nimbly to the side, closing the distance with a leaping dash as he shifted to track her movement. She shouldn’t have been able to be so evasive, but maybe he’d gotten slow, or maybe her implied threat towards Princess Celestia had gotten to him a bit more than he’d expected. The magical beam burned a line in the carpet and right over Tempest’s head as she dodged beneath the beam, getting on his other side.
Scope cut off his first shot, shifting his stance, and then Tempest was on him. A pirouette on her back hooves, and she struck out hard, hooves flying towards his side. He dodged, his chest armor just barely getting clipped and vibrating with the force of the glancing blow. He spun on his hoof and shot another burst right at her, only to find her leaping up and over him with an agility he didn’t anticipate.
Scope used a burst of magic to throw himself out of the way of a downward bicycle kick, the force of the blow cutting the air right next to him. He rolled to one side, sliding and kipping up to his hooves, and set a much shorter series of burst shots from his horn. Tempest dodged left-right-left, her evasiveness continuing to surprise him, but one shot got through, scorching her armor. She ignored the hit, growling and leaping again, her hooves catching him in the chest. He reared back and blocked with his forehooves, and suddenly both ponies were on their hind legs, balanced and boxing.
Tempest was fast, having adapted to fighting without nuanced spells or use of her horn. Scope realized that in a close combat fight, he’d be at a disadvantage, even with all of his various combat spells. He needed to keep her back and stay out of her reach. He grit his teeth and used another burst of telekinesis to launch himself back, sliding on his rear hooves for a few yards before dropping back to all fours and sending another concentrated beam at Tempest. She dodged low, and this time she launched one of those black orbs at him. He shifted the beam in the nick of time, destroying the orb and releasing the petrifying green magic inside with a puff like smoke.
She exploded through the green mist, catching him off guard. Scope had to duck a savage roundhouse kick that would have probably knocked him out cold and backpedal to create distance. Tempest didn’t give him much opportunity, and this time she managed a solid strike, a one-two hoof punch that sent Scope reeling as his armor literally dented. He snarled, and Tempest paused to grin a toothy grin. “Ready to give up, old stallion?”
“Old age and treachery beat youth and skill,” Scope spat back, launching his hastily prepared spell. This magical shot was a wide burst, meant to stun or drive back an opponent. Tempest tried to duck, realizing a moment too late that it was a wide area blast. She was driven back with a grunt, her horn sparking with magic overflow as her body shuddered.
Scope pressed the advantage, shooting a stronger beam at the enemy commander as she staggered. Another black orb was produced from that damn hip pouch, and launched to intercept the burst. The beam of magic struck the grenade and it broke apart with another chartreuse puff of smoke, but the particles contained within the orb dissipated the beam, rendering it useless. Two more orbs followed, and Scope had enough presence of mind to blast one and dodge the other. They kept coming, now, putting Scope on the defensive as he worked to take down the grenades. “Point defense… you won’t get through with something like that!” Scope growled, scowling.
“Won’t I?” Tempest’s voice came from his left flank, outside of where he’d expected based on the trajectory of the grenades.
Scope wheeled and launched a desperate burst of magic, a wide area that struck Tempest even as she leapt at him. Commander Tempest pushed through the pain, her horn flaring violently, and she delivered a solid kick to Scope’s hip.
Scope cried out as his leg buckled and he was sent flying by the force, sliding along the ground. He didn’t bother trying to stand as he slid, he just resumed firing bursts and blasts, every configuration he could think of. “Pattern Delta. Pattern Theta. Pattern Omega!”
Beams, bursts, and blasts of magic in different shapes and patterns shot from his horn, driving Tempest back as she was forced to dodge and dive away. Only when she took cover behind the statues of the captured Princesses did Scope’s barrage relent. “Ah ah, careful, Major. We wouldn’t want a friendly fire incident, would we?”
Scope snarled. “Cowardly.”
“Tactical,” Tempest countered with a laugh.
Scope got to his hooves carefully, limping slightly from the hit to the flank. “You can’t hide forever. I’ll get an angle on you,” he hissed, stepping to the side, tracking his opponent through the haze of green smoke and dissipating magical energy.
“Perhaps I underestimated you, Major Scope,” Tempest called out from behind the statues.
Scope scowled harder. “I hate it when bad guys say that.”
“Because I’m quite sure…” Tempest leapt up from over the statue of Princess Luna suddenly, high into the air, “...you’ve underestimated me!”
Scope wasn’t ready for the blast of magic that spat from her horn and slammed into his chest, the unstable mana overcharging and exploding like a firework. He let out a grunt as he was blown back as another strike hit him in the side, sending him crashing to the ground. He growled, shooting burst after burst at Tempest, striking her armor, her hooves, even her face once. The hornless unicorn mare let out a scream of anger and pain, pouncing on him.
He rolled to his side and managed to get his hooves under him, but she was on him. He moved to block, his forehoof greaves getting battered as he defended like a boxer, stepping back, retreating under her attacks. A hoof slipped through, striking his barrel, and he grunted. He lashed out, punching Tempest across her jaw, but she snarled through the hit and replied with a hop-step back and a roundhouse kick that slammed into his forehooves and literally shattered his armor.
Scope let out a grunt as the pain hit him, his forehooves going limp. He replied with a blast of full-power mana beam, cutting through Tempest’s chest plate. Tempest rolled to the side, her armor literally tearing off her as Scope’s magical beam cut it open like a tin can, and she jumped into a overhead bicycle kick that slammed, full-force, into the top of Scope’s head.
Scope felt more than heard his helmet crumple, because his ears were ringing and his vision was doubled. Tempest landed in front of him, unsteady on her hooves, her coat smoking where his beam had burnt her. Major Scope landed on his forelegs, which crumpled immediately, rendered totally numb from the strike they’d absorbed. He blinked hard, his vision stinging as blood trickled from his brow and into his eyes. Tempest straightened up slowly, staring at him as he lay on his side.
“The dossier didn’t lie. You were good,” she said, breathing hard.
Scope wanted very badly to say something witty in reply, but the ringing in his ears and the sparks in his vision were making it hard. “B-buck you,” was all he managed.
Tempest chuckled. “In another life, perhaps. But today?”
Her hoof lashed out, and Major Scope’s head snapped back from the force of the uppercut. His eyes rolled back and the scowl finally was replaced by a slack-jawed unconsciousness. Tempest caught the older unicorn before he hit his head on the stone floor, and lowered him to the ground. She reached up and pulled his helmet off, briefly inspecting the head wound, and casting a critical eye over his horn. It was a minor cut, just bleeding as head wounds were wont to do, and his horn was undamaged. She nodded to herself, satisfied she hadn’t accidentally killed the other unicorn.
“Sleep well, Major, and dream of sunny flanks.” She straightened up as two Yeti soldiers returned to the room, gargling their yeti language at her. “Escaped? I don’t want excuses, I want this resistance put down! Ugh, do I have to do everything myself?! Get this one into a cage, and fetch me some fresh armor! I’ve got rats to hunt.”