//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: Turning Point // by ZachTheBrony //------------------------------// Twilight panicked. She didn't know what to do. The Ghost of Sparta was in there with her mentor. The mare curled up on the floor, her friends accompanying her as she hyperventilated nervously. Twilight let out many whimpers, holding her head in her hooves. "Twi', don't worry. Ah'll figure somethin' out!" Applejack promised, the hat-wearing mare looking around. She turned to Pinkie Pie and the rest of her friends. "Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy? Y'all're gonna help me, y'hear?" The farm-pony ordered. Fluttershy gave a rather disapproving glance at Applejack. "O-oh, b-but I don't-" AJ groaned. "T'ain't no time fer' arguin', Fluttershy! Princess Celestia's life is on the line! D'ya understand!" She sternly demanded. "Rarity, y'all go see if'n 'ya can find anything large. Somethin' that can bust through this here door. Somethin' real, real heavy that'd need help to lift. Just gimme ah call when 'ya find somethin'! Now!" Rarity nodded with vigor, and hurriedly rushed off to inspect room by room. "Pinkie Pie, Ah need y'all 'ta go get Princess Luna! She can surely help! Go, go, go!" "Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie Pie replied, saluting Applejack as she hopped down one of the halls. "Fluttershy, as fer' you, Ah need ya' ta' go gather-up any guards who're either Earth Ponies or Unicorns, and bring 'em back 'ere. We need as much stallionpower as we can get, y'hear!?" AJ ordered the timid pegasus. With a meek nod, Fluttershy began to walk down the halls as well. "Now Twiligh'," Applejack began, laying next to the sniffling unicorn. "Ah understand that yer' worried. Nervous. All'a that hooey, but we need ya'. Princess Celestia needs ya', Twilight." She placed a comforting hoof on her friend's shaky shoulder, before embracing her with both as she began to softly sob. "There there, now, 'Twi. Let it all out. Let it all out, Ah'm here. It's okay..." The farmpony repeated these words as she cradled Twilight. - - - - Celestia and Kratos stood silently, many meters away from each other. Kratos held his blades in his hands, ready and in a purely-offensive stance. But Kratos did not expect Celestia to have a weapon of her own. As her horn lit up, a light shone up in the form of a small pillar from the ground, and out from it came a greatsword. Its hilt and handle were fashioned with fine materials like gold and silver, made with impeccable craftsmanship. Its blade seemed to be of tampered, sharpened steel, ending in a point. "Very well then, warrior," She stepped forth, and grasped the blade in her divine magical grasp. "if you truly wish my death... then it will not come as easy as you think." The beautiful deity said, going into what looked to be a defensive stance as she watched Kratos studiously. Watching his every movement. "We'll see about that..." Kratos spat, before he let out a battle cry. He charged at Celestia, and jumped into the air. He swung his blades over and behind his head, and attempted to slam the two of them down to strike Celestia from overhead. But this went wrong, as Kratos was smacked off balance before he pulled his blades back- the alicorn had batted him in the side of his left knee with the flat side of her blade. Quite hard, too. Kratos's blades trailed down as he collapsed onto his side. He rolled to his feet, seeing Celestia back in her stance. Completely unfaltering, she was focused. The demigod roared ferociously as he charged once again, letting his blades fly backward to his right, before he pivoted, shifting his weight onto his left leg. He then twisted to the left, to send his blades flying towards Celestia's right side in a sweep attack! But the Spartan's attack was parried when Celestia used her blade to lift up into the chains as the blades flew, making the blades flop downward. She wrapped the chains around her blade like spaghetti onto a fork, and took advantage of Kratos's imprisonment by lifting him off of his feet. The quadrupedal battlemaiden then swung Kratos around effortlessly above her head as he yelled. Celestia timed it, and pulled her straight sword free of the chains, sending Kratos flying into the wall at the opposite end of the throne room. Cracking it generously from the sheer amount of the impact's momentum-boosted force. Peeling off of the wall like a sticker, Kratos fell to the ground. Still experiencing the shock from his spine being brutally cracked against the solid-stone wall. But he did not give up there, oh hell no he did not! The brutal gladiator returned to his feet, and studied Celestia's stance from afar. 'Her defensive techniques are impenetrable... how would I get around this? Come now... you've faced gods. This princess is a grain of sand to them all! The Olympians are petty and weak, and this four-legged annoyance is even weaker!' He thought with determination. Before he, with said determination behind him, ran towards Celestia, who waited gracefully. Suddenly, her stance changed from a defensive stance, to one of offense. Her blade was held high. Kratos had her now! What a fool! Kratos sent out his blades, and they were soaring for Celestia's head! - - - - Applejack had been forced to move her still-crying friend out of the way. Rarity had found something large enough to bust-through the door. An enormous boulder, removed from the ground of the castle gardens with help from the Royal Guard, and Princess Luna. The rock was being lined up with the door. "Good job everypony!" Applejack congratulated. "Twilight, 'ya need ta' stop cryin' right now! Suck it up. We got ah princess ta' save, y'hear?!" She yelled. "O-*hic*... o... k-kay..." Twilight muttered under her breath, before the Element of Honesty helped her to her hooves. "Wh... what can I do?" She asked weakly. "You're gonna have ta' help the unicorns, and our princess, Luna, breach the door with this here boulder." Applejack gestured to the rock. Suddenly, the wall cracked with a thundering bang to the left of the door. "What in the name'a Celestia!? Come on, there's no time ta' waste!" The sound of many horns igniting filled the air, the energies of magic filling it as well as the rock was lifted up. "3..." "2..." "1..." "HEAVE!!!" - - - - Just as Kratos's blades came within mere inches of Celestia's head, she disappeared out of thin air. Kratos's blades flew far, and he retracted them. The demigod growled angrily as he looked around, only to be tapped on the shoulder. Instinctively, Kratos sent out an elbow to hit whatever tapped him, but it only met thin air as he looked over again. "Show yourself, coward! A true warrior does not hide, Celestia! Leave the shadows, and face me!" He yelled. Before he was struck in the back by a powerful bolt of energy. "AGGGH!!!" Kratos dropped his blades as he fell to his knees, electricity crackling around the entirety of his form. He bent over as the light blinded him, hands to the ground. The Spartan staggered to his feet, only to be shocked again, this time with much more power. "AAAAAAUUUUUUGGGHHH!!!!!!" He began to spasm uncontrollably, and looked back to Celestia. Face filling with untamed wrath, the former God of War stepped forward, picking up his blades as he went. Celestia raised a brow in curiosity, and slight surprise. 'Such a brute creature... he's worn, battered... yet he still fights with a seemingly undying flame in his heart...' '... I'll take pleasure in snuffing it out!' Celestia thought, before she narrowed her eyes, focusing her magical energy even more. Kratos significantly slowed down, but he kept progressing. Suddenly, she released the spell, and Kratos fell forward. 'It is time to finish this.' The deity thought. Kratos was worn indeed. How long had it been, since he had eaten? How long had it been, since he had drank? How long had it been since he had rested last? He didn't know. He just didn't know. He was exhausted. Every ounce of his strength poured into getting here, fighting through guards just to get to an even bigger challenge. His body screamed for hydration, his gut beseeching him to get some form of sustenance. Now on his knees, Kratos's vision became blurry. He keeled over, and coughed up blood on the floor as Celestia approached him. "You seem sapped, warrior. Does something ail you?" Celestia asked solemnly. "Or has your flame burnt out?" Kratos got to one knee, panting as he picked his blades up. "You will never... defeat me... I am the God... of War!..." He shakily stood to his feet. The alicorn smirked, and grabbed Kratos with her magical grasp. Her face filled with rage. "You will never lay your hands on any of my subjects... as of this day FORTH!!!" With the sheer, unbridled might of her normally impeccably-contained anger, Celestia hurled the already injured demigod through the door with unspeakable power. The amount of strength put into the throw was so immense, that it shattered the wood and metal into oblivion, splintering and cutting large gashes into Kratos's skin. As though he were an airplane through air, a hot knife through butter. When he landed, Kratos was near the entrance to the castle, bleeding out heavy amounts. His coughs only added to his blood loss. Many gasps filled the air as their princess walked out of the throne room. "P... P-P-Princess..." The ponies who were about to breach the door stood in utter awe, some shaking in fear. Celestia ignored them all, even her student. "Get out of my way." She barked. Whimpering, the group hurriedly moved out of her way as the still-angered Celestia approached Kratos. Her blade had disappeared when the door broke. "K-Kratos! Celestia, what did you do to him!?!?" Twilight yelled. "Silence, Twilight Sparkle. This tyrant doesn't deserve your pity." Celestia ordered. Her unicorn student promptly shut her mouth as she continued forward. The fallen Spartan began to crawl away. This wasn't him. Once she neared, Celestia didn't hesitate to stomp on Kratos's leg as hard as she could. The injured one. "AUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! AGGGGGGHHHHH!..." "Get up, 'God of War'! If you are so mighty, if you are a deity of violence and cruelty, if you truly are the God of War, GET TO YOUR FEET, AND FIGHT LIKE ONE, COWARD!!!" This voice Celestia used was unlike anything Twilight had heard her use. She couldn't bear to watch. This was cruel. Too cruel. Even to Kratos. But the God of War was not yet through. He panted angrily as he began to shakily drag himself to his feet. Celestia kicked him down. "Get up." Kratos coughed up more blood, and tried again. He was kicked down. "I said get UP, God of War!" She paused for a moment. "Or shall I say... self-proclaimed God of War..." The brutal Celestia asked rhetorically. "You're nothing..." Kratos choked out. "... nothing but a worthless... leader... the Gods of Olympus would kill you... you are petty... and weak!... L-like... them..." The Spartan said, before his vision faded to black. All he could hear now was the slowly declining beat of his heart. "Princess Celestia, please! Don't let him die!" Twilight begged. Celestia looked her student dead in the eyes. "... But why would he deserve to live?"