Chapter 17
Unleashed
Cross looked at the Changeling Queen with rage burning in his eyes. Fluttershy started to cry seeing him so beaten and worn out. Chrysalis stared at the stallion in fear, she noticed that he was wounded on his right side and his eyes were half lidded. She smirked at his appearance and began to laugh.
“My, my. How the mighty have fallen.” She said with a laugh.
“I am going to enjoy killing you.” He said as he withdrew his sword.
“Oh, this brings back memories. When you FLOODE MY HIVE!” She yelled as she shot a blast of green magic at the stallion. Cross blocked the blast with his blade, only to have it melt in his hooves. He return fired with a few spells of his own.
“I gave you a choice and you refused!” He bellowed. “What do you want from me?”
“WHY? Why did you spare me?” She asked in anger. The mares looked at the stallion in shock.
“I suppose I was feeling merciful that day.” He said as he created a dome shield around him. Chrysalis growled at him and began to chip away at the shield. Cross’ magic began to flicker and fade as the Queen continued to smash her magic against the dome. Cross could feel his wounds bleed and his muscles ache. His vision began to blur. Chrysalis sent out one final blast and shattered the stallions shield sending him flying against the wall. Cross coughed up blood and struggled t get to his hooves. Fluttershy let out a cry as he tried to get up. Chrysalis looked over at the yellow mare and smirked.
“Oh, I see. You have feelings for this thing don’t you?” She said as she levitated the stallion in front of the group. She levitated the knife that she had taken from Fluttershy and pointed it at the stallion. The ponies began to shout in anger as the Queen sent the knife forward, Cross closed his eyes and braced for the impact. In stead of feeling the cold blade he felt soft fur hit his side. He opened his eyes to see the large black wolf standing in front of him with the blade sticking through his stomach.
“Ace?” Cross looked at the wolf and let a tear escape. The Queen scoffed and twisted the knife inside of the wolf. Ace let out a cry of pain and was thrown against the far wall. “NO!” He yelled through the tears. The large wolfs’ vision began to blur, and an old memory came creeping back.
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Deep in the snow a small two foot white wolf cub was slowly making his way through a snow bank, he looked over the small hill to see nothing but snow. The small wolf’s tears turned to ice in the cold wind. The wolf found a nearby cave and wrapped it’s tail around its shivering body. He then felt a strong heat source coming from inside the cave. He slowly made his way inside and leaned against a warm rock. He let out a satisfied sigh at the temperature and slowly drifted off to sleep. His eyes snapped open when he felt the rock begging to move. He quickly got to his paws and saw that the surface had moved to reveal a massive red eye. The tiny wolf looked up in horror to see that the surface was bright green dragon. He had heard stories about the massive beats from other pack but never seen one in person.
The dragons eyes looked around the room to see a small white dot running towards the exit. The dragon breathed a gigantic fire ball as the wolf found the exit of the cave and forced him out into the cold again. The dragon looked out to see the white wolfs’ coat covered in ash. The small wolf looked in fear and closed his eyes waiting for the searing heat.
“HEY! What’s going on here?” The wolf and the dragon looked in the distance to see a cloaked figure fast approaching them. The hooded figure stepped in between the two and glared at the large dragon, who let out a massive roar. The figure removed his cloak to reveal that he was a grey unicorn stallion. “Scram!” Cross bellowed The dragon breathed flames around the stallion. The small cub covered it’s face in fear while the stallion didn’t move muscle as he looked at the dragon. The stallion reached for his own face and removed a bloodied bandage off of his face. The dragon suddenly reeled back in fear at the stallion and ran back inside the cave.
Cross looked down at the wolf and smiled at him, the wolf backed away from the pony with fear in his eyes. The stallion crouched down to the wolfs eye level and examined him. The wolf saw that the stallions right eye had a fresh scar over it which was bright blue and the pupil was spliced.
“You okay little guy?” The wolf didn’t move from his spot. “Are you alone?” The wolf gave a small nod. “So am I.” He said in a low tone. He noticed that the wolfs back paw was slightly burned. His horn flared and the wolf felt a small sensation around his damaged paw. “Better?” The small wolf nodded. As the stranger began to walk away from the small wolf he grabbed the strangers cloak between her teeth and lightly tugged. “What?” He said as he looked at the small wolf who looked down in sadness. “You...want to come with me?” The small wolfs’ tail began to wag at the words, a cold gust of wind ruffled the wolfs fur. The grey stallion withdrew a small scarf and wrapped it around the wolf who let out a satisfied bark. “Well, if you’re gonna stay with me then you’re gonna need a name.” The wolf tilted his head in confusion as he let out a series of loud barks. Cross looked behind him to see a massive wall of flames. The stallion grabbed the small wolf and jumped out of the way of the flames. The stallion turned and breathed out a wall of massive flames to match the dragons’.
As the Stallion was loosing ground the dragon felt a sharp pain, it looked back to see the small wolf biting it’s tail. The stallion let out a massive burst of magic from his horn that sent the dragon flying back into it’s cave. The grey stallion hurried over to the wolf who was hiding behind a rock. “Thanks, I’d have been toast if you hadn’t helped.” The small wolf smiled at the stallion when they heard a loud roar coming from inside the cave. “Uh-oh, let’s get out of here.” He said as he picked up the small wolf with his magic and ran away from the cave. After a few hours they found the edge of the seemingly never ending frozen wasteland and took cover underneath a tree. “Glad that’s over.” He said as he wiped his brow. He noticed that the small wolf was shivering in place. Cross collected some wood and breathed a few flames to get the fire going. Cross laid against a tree and let out a sigh, the small wolf walked up to him and rested his head in the stallions leg. “You really saved me back there little guy, I guess I could use an ace in the hole in case things get out of hoof....Hm..Ace. That sound good to you?” He asked as the wolf let out a satisfied bark. “Ace it is then!
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Time slowed down as the stallion saw the massive wolfs eyes close. Cross felt tears pouring down his face as he cried out in agony and glared back at the Changeling Queen who began to laugh at his state. Cross felt a burning hatred inside of him, his eyes began to glow and his mane and tail became a raging inferno. The ponies watched in shock as he charged at the Queen who easily dodged his attack and restrained him.
“Oh, did I kill your pet?” Cross tried to break free but felt his strength being sucked away. “This day has been just perfect! I conquered Equestria, rendered the elements useless and I’m about to remove a massive thorn in my side.” She said as she levitated the knife against Cross’s neck. “No....better idea.” She turned back to the yellow mare and levitated her over in front of the stallion. She wrapped the knife in the mares trembling hoofs with the same substance that stuck her to the wall. “I’m not going to kill you, she is.” Celestia looked up in shock at what she heard. The ponies eye shrank as Fluttershy felt her limbs stiffen and her hoof was outstretched with the knife facing the grey stallion. She tried to break free but the Queens magic was too strong.
Fluttershy cried out in agony as the blade entered the stallions chest cavity. Cross felt the blade pierce his heart, he tried to scream but the blood was preventing his cries from escaping his mouth. Chrysalis grabbed Fluttershy’s hoof and rammed the knife deeper into the stallions body. The Queen removed the glue that was holding Fluttershy’s hoof to the knife and threw the stallion against the wall. The ponies looked with tears flowing down their faces as the grey stallion laid on the floor motionless. The Queen started to laugh at her work, her Changeling army had spread through Canterlot and were starting to destroy it, building by building. As the Queen marveled in her victory she didn’t notice the grey stallions body beginning to glow.
“What the-” Twilight said as Everypony on the room felt a malevolent force come from the stallion. In a flash of light the stallions body vanished and turned into a jet black mass. Chrysalis fled the scene and took flight above the castle. A navy blue beam shot from the mass that disintegrated the nearby Changeling guards, while the other beam crystalized the goop that was keeping the mares at bay, the ponies quickly broke free from their restraint and looked in horror as the faces of Nightmare Moon and King Sombra took form. The small ball exploded to reveal thousands of souls starting to pour out of the tiny ball. The ponies were shining blue with a black tint to their outline. As more of the figures came pouring out a grey stallion as tall as Celestia with dragon wings and donning jet black armor with a blood red trim and cape stepped out. The ghosts’s looked at the stallion and bowed to him.
“Orders?” They asked in unison.
“Search and destroy! Leave no Changeling left standing, I want the streets of Canterlot painted green with the insects.” The stallion said in a merciless voice. The phantoms moved quickly as they funneled out into the city, killing every Changeling they came across. Cross took to the skies to see the Queen with a look of pure fear on her face.
Twilight hurried over to her mentor and helped her to her hooves. “Are you all right Princess?” She asked in a nervous tone.
“I’ll be fine.” She said as she looked down at the ponies. Her gaze then shifted to her former adversaries. “Where did he find you two?”
“When he was in that forest.” Nightmare Moon retorted.
“In the Empire.” The dark unicorn spat out.
“What’s going on?” Twilight asked
“Cross has unleashed his trump card.”
“His what?” Rainbow asked.
“That is his family’s secret. Cross is able to absorb the souls of the fallen and add their strength to his. Eleven years ago his father tried to achieve immortality by consuming dozens of pony souls at once. Cross was forced to stop him.”
“So Cross-”
“Yes, he was forced to kill his father.” She said in a flat tone. The ponies let out a gasp. “When he absorbed his fathers soul the ones that his father had already taken remained within him.” Celestia bit her lip at the information.
“Should we worry about them?” AJ asked as they looked at the dark Alicorn.
“No, they are under Cross’s control like puppets on strings.” Celestia said coldly.
“What happens now?”
“We hope that by the time this is over he is still the same Cross we all know.” Celestia said as she helped Luna to her hooves.
“What happens if he isn’t?” Rarity asked. Celestia’s horn glowed and the box containing the element shot open, she levitated them over to the mares who let out a gasp.
“I sill have more questions.” Twilight said as she looked at her mentor.
“Perhaps I can be of assistance.” The mares turned around to see a familiar white stallion with a monocle on his right eye.