Zack pushed as hard as he could, forcing Chrysalis back into the air. As she went flying back, she launched a ball of fire down onto Zack, the heat nearly singeing his eyebrows.
After guarding the attack, he turned around for a second to see how Rainbow and Twilight were doing. He was surprised to see the room empty of any sort of life. He turned around to block another ball of fire from the still hovering Chrysalis.
"Zack, this is Twilight," a voice spoke in his head.
"Twilight? Is that really you?" asked Zack out loud, confused. "How are you talking to me?"
"It's a basic communication spell. It helps unicorns speak to each other over long distances," she explained. "I've lured the changelings outside so that none of them will attack you while you're dealing with Chrysalis. Rainbow and I are fine. Just focus on your fight." That was all he needed to hear.
Chrysalis was shocked at how quickly Zack stopped blocking and started attacking, landing blow after blow against her copy of the Buster Sword. She back away, then jumped over him to land at the exit doors of the long chamber. Now, Zack stood on one end while Chrysalis stood at the exit of the castle.
They rushed towards each other, arms braced for the impact of the swords. Sparks flew as metal struck fake metal, the two forces grinding against each other. Zack broke away, then dove forward again, unleashing strike after strike against Chrysalis and weakening the changeling queen.
Noticing her rapidly decreasing strength, she discharged a bolt of lightning into Zack's chest, launching him back and stunning him.
He stood as straight as possible, he could barely move his arms which seemed to be stuck in their positions. He was helpless as Chrysalis charged at him, her fake buster sword surrounded in fire by application of a well placed fire spell at the base of the massive blade. Zack made a mental note of the technique.
"Limit Break!" she screamed. "Inferno Sword!" She did her best to unleash a killing move in the same style as Zack, hoping to copy his full power.
In a flash, Chrysalis was behind Zack, her fake sword outstretched with the fire missing. A few seconds passed with nothing happening.
Suddenly, Zack's shoulder split like a cherry, his blood flying in all directions. He fell to the ground, his skin charred from the sword's fiery cloak. He barely managed to pull himself back up, only to be knocked into the air by the blunt edge of Chrysalis' blade.
In mid air, he spun around in time to block another wave of strikes from the copy of his sword, still shaking inwardly after taking the large blow to his shoulder.
Both combatants fell back to the ground, Zack regretting not asking Twilight about healing items such as potions. "Man, do I wish Aerith were here right now," he said to himself. "I could really use her healing spells." Then, he remembered something. It felt more like a gut feeling than an actual memory, as if he was remembering a skill subconsciously.
"Limit Break!" he yelled with the strength he had left. He could see Chrysalis flinch, showing her fear that Zack could still use a limit break in his condition. "Healing Wave!"
Without any control, the words flowed from his mouth as if it were natural instinct. Suddenly, he felt his shoulder sealing itself as magic flowed around him from the technique. "What..?" he said to himself, surprised that he was using his variation of Aerith's skill.
In no time, he was back to full strength, ready to continue the fight with Chrysalis. He decided to debate the recovery of the move later. "But-but that's impossible," stuttered Chrysalis. "You shouldn't have been able to stand after that blow, much less unleash a limit break."
"Oh, I think you'll find I'm full of surprises," he said as confidence filled him. With that, the two forces collided again, this time with Zack taking the upper hand and forcing Chrysalis onto the defensive. Before she knew it, Chrysalis was pushed to the defensive as she tried desperately to block Zack's quick and effortless strokes which were quickly increasing in force.
After a few more blows, Zack finally broke through Chrysalis' guard. Taking one final burst of energy, Zack did something that no sane SOLDIER member would do if he valued his life. "Limit Break!" he called out once again, already feeling the drain on his body increase to dangerous levels. "Chain Slash!"
He charged toward Chrysalis who had staggered backwards, swinging his sword with perfect stokes. The first four landed in the same place on Chrysalis' body, all across her midsection with the final one following suit. However, the final blow ended it for good, completely removing the top half of the changeling queen, the majority of her body flying behind Zack with black and green blood trailing through mid air.
As Zack stood straight up from his finishing position not two yards away, he turned his head to the right ever so slightly. "Game over," he said slyly before staggering toward the castle doors. He couldn't help but inwardly cringe. It sounded good in his head, but as soon as it came out of his mouth, he realized how strange it sounded.
As he stepped into the sunlight in front of the castle, or at least what passed for sunlight in the Everfree Forest, he saw a scene of death in front of him. Rainbow Dash and Twilight had spared none of the changelings, though they had killed the creatures without staining the grass with gore. It seemed that they had all been simply bludgeoned to death, either from hooves or some other force.
Twilight looked up from the final dead changeling to see Zack standing there, his body covered in black and green blood. She rushed over to him to check on him. "Oh Celestia," she said as she looked him up and down. "Are you okay?"
"No, not at all," he said, a grim look on his face from the deed he had just committed. He had killed a ruler of some sort, and a powerful one at that. It wasn't just some weak foot soldier.
"What's wrong?" asked the purple alicorn.
"For starters, I could very easily die in the next few hours, but that's not important. Where's Spike? Did you get to him?" groaned Zack.
"Thankfully, yes. While I held off the changelings for a few minutes, Rainbow flew up to the tower to save Spike." Zack finally noticed the purple dragon sitting behind Rainbow, a ghost of a stare on his face.
"Good. Then we should probably get back to the library now," said Zack, visibly trembling with sweat pouring from his head.
"Why's that?"
"Because I pushed myself too far in my battle. Way more than even a SOLDIER's body can take, and that means I could collapse at any minute." He suddenly gripped his side and gritted his teeth in pain. "We have to hurry," he managed.
Twilight simply nodded, instructing Rainbow Dash to carry Spike while she carried Zack with her magic. They soon took to the skies, Spike holding on for dear life to Rainbow and Twilight using her levitation magic to carry Zack next to her in flight.
In a matter of minutes, the group arrived back in Ponyville, flying as fast as possible to the library to put Zack quickly to bed, his body already radiating heat from a fever.
Rainbow arrived first at Twilight's balcony, opening the glass doors for the alicorn and her cargo. Before long, Zack lay in Twilight's bed with an ice pack on his forehead, breathing heavily and in short bursts.
"What do you think's wrong with him?" asked Rainbow Dash, concerned for her new friend.
"I don't know," replied the alicorn honestly. "My guess is that something happened to him during the battle with Chrysalis and he's feeling the side effects now."
"If that rotten cheater poisoned him, I'm gonna buck her in the face!" shouted the pegasus. Twilight nodded in agreement.
"That would work if we could leave Zack here unattended. However, his condition is rapidly worsening and I don't think I can take care of him on my own. Are you willing to stay here with me in the library for the next few days to help me watch him?" asked Twilight as she glanced at Zack again.
"Sure. Anything to help out, Twi," responded Rainbow with a salute.
"Then it's settled." said Twilight as she turned toward the stairs. "I'll go grab the sleeping bags. He'll be using my bed for now." With that, Rainbow Dash and Twilight headed back downstairs to prepare a sleeping area for the next few nights. They had a feeling that there would be a long set of days ahead of them.