Our small party of players walked into the boss room, weapons drawn at the ready for anything that Discord put before us. And just like all of the other Boss Battles I've fought in, the giant wooden doors that served as the only exit slammed shut with an ominous thud. The room in front of us was a giant dome made out of clouds, but it was dimly lit compared to the part of the dungeon we passed through.
Eclipse sighed, "Well, looks like there's no turning back now."
Comet rolled her eyes, "Over dramatic much? Seriously, haven't you guys fought in at least 3 boss battles each?"
I chuckled a bit, "Actually, I've only been in two. But stepping inside a place where the chances of you getting killed are very large is still unsettling no matter what."
Comet paused, "Okay, but where is this boss anyways?"
Neon shrugged, "Usually the bosses in these games make some kind of big entrance. If anything, we'll see it before it can attack us."
Suddenly, an eagle's screech pierced the air as a flash of light illuminated one point in the dim lighting of the dome. Not a second later, a crack of lightning struck the air and long bolt of white lightning arced from the light and straight towards our group.
"Look out!" Violet yelled as he leaped forward with his hammer. He was not a moment too late, and the lightning struck his hammer like it was a lightning rod and the bolt petered out on the weapon. However, it was stronger than Violet had anticipated, throwing the unicorn back against the ground from its sheer force.
I quickly stooped down to help Violet up, and just as I did so, the dome illuminated itself, revealing the boss that stood in the middle of the room. There stood a giant, blue feathered eagle, with wing tips that shined silver like razor blades. Its wingspan stretched from one end of the dome to the other, measuring about the length of two school buses. Sparks of white lightning continued to jolt out of the bird's beak, indicating that was the place where it had fired lightning from.
A health bar floated above the boss' head, along with its name: Thunder Bird Osiris.
"Whoa, that thing is huge!" Dylan exclaimed.
Lexus shouted, "Quick, everyone, spread out before it can fire lightning again! It won't be able to take more than one opponent at a time."
I nodded as we spread out across the whole of the dome, "Right. Cross, Violet, keep that bird's focus on you. You two are the only ones who'll be able to deflect his lightning attacks. Cloud, use your bombs on its wings, but try not to use any lightning base attacks. I have a feeling that'd only help it." I looked to everyone else, "Everyone with wings, come down from above and look for its weak spot! Everyone else, do the same from below!"
"You got it!" Swift shouted as he was the first one to dive down from the sky with his hoof claws outstretched. With a few wing flaps and a jab or two, he dragged his claws through the bird's feathers, leaving scars of red code.
With the first attack, Osiris flapped its wing in an effort to brush off Swift, causing him, as well as Lexus who flew nearby to sprawl backwards from the force.
Lexus grunted as he recovered from the blow, a few red pricks of red code dotting his skin, "Gah, its wingtips are sharp. They're almost like iron."
Just then, Cloud came down from the sky, two bombs held in his claws. With a single motion, he flung both of the bombs on top of the bird's wings. The projectiles exploded and the boss shrieked in fury, pin pointing out the tiny dragon as he flew in the air. Osiris opened its beak and bolt of lightning struck out of it, right towards Cloud.
But then, just before the bolt struck, Violet leaped into the air and caught the lightning with his hammer, saving his team mate from an electrifying experience.
"Thanks!" Cloud shouted out as he flew up for another round of bomb drops.
Violet yelled back, "No problem!" As he then ran forward towards the bird with his hammer, fully charged with lightning. Cross ran forward and joined up with Violet, the two of them running side by side.
Violet glanced towards Cross, "Give me a boost."
Cross nodded as he sprinted ahead and then stopped just in front of the boss. As Violet approached him, his horn glowed red and his magic threw Violet up towards Osiris, and the Paladin unicorn struck up under the bird's beak with his electric hammer. Osiris' head was thrown back, and its underbelly was then exposed.
Sky surged forward, Soul joining up beside him. Soul glanced towards Sky with a small grin, "I bet I can cut faster than you."
Sky returned the grin likewise, "Is that a challenge?"
Both of their dual swords were drawn at the ready and they both leaped at the exposed belly of the bird. Quicker than a
flash, the two of them hacked away at Osiris' belly. The intense speed of their combined strikes ripped through a fairly large portion of the boss' health bar before the bird struck its beak down towards the two dual wielding unicorns.
Sky and Soul leaped back just in time as the thunderbird's beak pierced through the clouds of the floor. Suddenly, Dylan hopped up onto Sky's back, "Sky, base me up!"
With a single kick of his back hooves, Sky bucked his little brother off of his back and the small earth pony was sent flying right on top of the bird's neck. As Dylan landed, he stabbed his staff into the back of the bird's neck.
With a single flap of its wings, Osiris righted itself back up, sending Dylan flying off of its neck. But Dylan was quickly caught in midair by Siren. Seeing the two ponies flying nearby, Osiris opened its mouth to release another bolt of lightning. But then it was suddenly stopped as an arrow pierced through its eye, having come from Eclipse who stood off to a distance.
Meanwhile, I ran around to Osiris' talons, drawing Almighty and my shield. Also, there is something that I should explain. Apparently, my ability Apotheosis also allowed me to hold more than one "two handed" weapon. Almighty was a two handed weapon, which meant that I couldn't normally use my shield. But ever since I became an alicorn, I've been able to use both at once. For the past month, I was able to keep my team thinking that Almighty was a one handed weapon, just to keep them from suspecting anything.
"Blaze!" I shouted, causing my sword to erupt with flames. I galloped underneath Osiris, right towards the bird's talons. With two single slashes, I sliced two flaming scars into each of the boss' legs. And then, right behind me, Neon ran with her horn aglow. Her magic flared and Osiris' whole midsection was consumed in neon green flames.
Osiris' cry rang out as it felt its body be burned alive, but its cry was quickly magnified as Comet flew right under its neck with her knives drawn. With just he two tiny, single edged knives, she flew twice around the birds' neck, dragging the tips of her weapons in the boss' flesh in an effort to decapitate it.
Suddenly, the thunderbird flapped its wings down towards the ground in anger, lightning flashed and cracked through the clouds all beneath the floor beneath it. The wind and power from the single wing flap threw our entire group back against the walls of the giant dome, causing us all to collapse to the floor as well.
A bit short of breath, I glanced up towards the boss, noticing that his health bar was still at 2/3rd’s of the way full. But then, before anyone could react, Osiris raised its beak towards the ceiling of the dome, and with a bright bolt of lightning, it destroyed the roof of the dome.
Even with the brightness of the dome, but the sunlight at this altitude was even brighter. We all had to cover our eyes from the direct rays of sunlight, but the boss didn’t seem to notice as it flapped its wings and took off to the open sky outside of the dome, sending more bolts of lightning downward with each flap of its giant wings.
I grunted in frustration, “Crap, it’s getting away!”
Lexus quickly lighted off the ground and through the hole in the roof of the dome, looking around to see where the thunderbird was going.
Cross shouted up to Lexus, “Where is it going?”
Lexus frowned as he spotted the thunderbird flying away, “It’s heading due south. I think it might be running away, but it doesn’t look like…” His eyes suddenly went wide, “Uh, oh.”
Even from where I stood far below him, I could see the signs of worry on his face, “What is it?”
Lexus quickly lighted down back inside the dome, shouting to all of us, “It’s heading towards Canterlot!”
Everyone let out a short gasp. “Did you see the lightning bolts it fired from its wings?” Soul asked, “With that power, it could destroy the whole city.”
Eclipse cringed, “It’s going to destroy our home, along with everyone there.”
Sky frowned, “We need to stop it before it can reach the city.”
I nodded in agreement, “Yeah,” I looked towards Lexus, “How long do you think it’ll take Osiris to reach Canterlot?”
“A little under an hour, I’d guess.” The gray Pegasus replied, “It was flying pretty fast, but if we’re going to stop it, we need to get moving now if we're going to catch up to it.”
I nodded, “Right. Lexus, Cloud, Siren, Swift, and Comet, fly after the boss and do what you can to slow it down. We’ll be right on your tail to help.”
Everyone with wings nodded and took off to the sky, flying after Osiris.
Dylan cringed a bit, “You think they’ll be able to hold off that bird on their own?”
His question roused a pang of worry in me, Maybe they won’t be enough. What if they get wiped out before we can even get there. I felt my wings shuffle underneath my cloak, I could have flown after them to help, but then everyone would see. But, what if keeping my secret costs my friends their lives?
Suddenly, a dull creak of wooden doors resounded through the broken dome, causing everyone to look towards the pair of double doors that had locked us in here prior.
Violet inhaled sharply, “The doors opened again. Maybe they unlocked after the boss left.”
Sky ran forward towards the open doors, “Come on. We need to help the others.”
Everyone present ran to the double doors, except for me.
Sky frowned as he noticed that I wasn’t moving, “Shadow? You coming or what?”
Only one thought echoed through my mind, Make the choices you have to, so that everyone you fight alongside survives. I glanced up towards Sky, and everyone else who had stopped in the doorway from curiosity of me, a look of determination on my face.
“Everyone, get down to the airship and gather any Cloudsdale players you can on the way. Catch up to the thunderbird as soon as possible. Also, send a message to Jupiter and warn him of what’s coming.”
Cross frowned, “Wait, aren't you coming with us, Shadow?”
“I’m going after Osiris and helping the others.”
Dylan raised an eyebrow, “But wait, you can’t. You don’t even have wings to fly after them.”
I sighed, “No, Dylan, I do.” With one swift motion, I unfurled my wings from underneath my cloak and into plain sight, making everyone who saw recoil in shock.
Sky stared in pure disbelief, “Shadow… You’re an alicorn?”
I nodded, but Sky then asked, “How did that happen?”
“I’ll explain later. I have to help the others.” With a single flap of my wings, I took off through the broken roof of the dome, only glancing back to everyone to yell, “Get going!”
And then, trusting that everyone would carry out my orders, I drew my sword and shield and flew after the thunderbird at top speed, my cloak flapping rapidly in the fast winds behind me. My secret was out, and there was no going back now.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Lexus
The thunderbird shrieked in fury as another one of Comet's knives stabbed underneath its neck. With a rapid flash of its beak, Comet was knocked away with a blinding flash of lightning, electricity prickling from her body as she was knocked into the air.
"Comet!" Lexus shouted as he darted to her side, and using his hoof, he caught the crook of her arm, stabilizing her flight pattern.
Comet flapped her wings again, and let herself go from Lexus' hold, "Don't worry about me. Just focus on taking that bird down."
Lexus rolled his eyes, sarcastically, "You're welcome." He looked ahead to see Cloud, Siren, and Swift trying to take on Osiris, but it wasn't going well for any of them. After only about ten minutes, the five of them in their group had managed to only drop Osiris down to 1/3 health, but all of their health bars were down past half.
Swift suddenly swooped back next to Lexus, "This is bad. We haven't slowed it down at all. We need to regroup and think of a different strategy."
Lexus nodded, "Swift, Comet, go fetch Cloud and Siren. Let's regroup at 20 meters above Osiris."
"Right." The two of them sped forward to fetch their team mates, and Lexus flew upwards above the thunderbird. Within a minute, they were flying in a tight cluster, making sure to keep the same speed as the boss.
Lexus shouted to his group over the thunder that resounded from Osiris' wing beats, "What's everyone's status?"
Swift was first to speak, "Not good. That bird seems to be molting its feathers, and then growing back iron feathers all across its body." He gestured down to his hoof claws, "My claws can pierce through the feathers, but they wear on my endurance. If I keep this up, my claws will break."
Comet, "Same here. My knives can only take so much as well. And we're all down to our last bits of health as well, and it's difficult to access the player's menu while up in the air for healing potions."
Siren, "I've checked around the boss. It has metal feathers everywhere except for its head, talons, and underbelly. But if you go for the underbelly or the talons, you'll get hit by the lightning from its wings. I've tried shooting my crossbow bolts at its face, but then I have to get away after one hits, otherwise I'd get hit by the lightning from its beak."
Cloud, "The metal feathers don't seem to protect it from my bombs, but I don't have a lot left. I wouldn't be able to kill it before I ran out."
Lexus winced. They really were in trouble.
Comet groaned, "Some magical support would be great right now. I don't think those feathers will be able to protect that bird against magical attacks."
Lexus frowned again, "Then our best bet will be to focus all of our attacks at its head. Hopefully with our combined efforts on one point, we'll be able to slow it down long enough for the others to reach us."
Siren suddenly gasped as she glanced behind her shoulder, "Wait, who's that?"
Lexus turned his head around to see a silhouetted figure of a pegasus flying towards them at incredible speed. The figure was right in front of the sun, which made it hard to make out who it was. But then, Lexus spotted a few defining features about the figure. He had a cloak on, he held a sword and shield in front of him, and just above his mane stood..... a horn. Lexus gasped, An alicorn? It can't be! The figure raised his sword to the sky with his magic, a red aura surrounding the hilt of the weapon, Shadow!?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Shadowflame
I huffed loudly as my wings sped me through the sky high above the clouds. I pleaded with myself, "Please, don't let me be too late!"
But then, as I rose higher, I spotted my group. They were flying in close proximity of each other, right above Osiris.
I grinned to myself, "Good, I'm just in time." I noticed that they were all looking towards me. I smiled, "Well, my secret's out, so there's no need to hold back anymore. Time to put on a show." Glaring down at Osiris, I raised my sword, "Discord, now you get to see the full power of a fire alicorn."
I flared my magic, "BLAZE!" My ability activated, and thanks to my alicorn sub-ability, the fire spread from my sword and covered my entire body. In a single flap of my wings, I thrust forward and dropped into a dive, aiming right for the thunderbird's head with my sword outstretched in a giant fire ball.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Lexus
Lexus' eyes widened as his mouth spread into a wide grin as he saw Shadow's body become engulfed in flames.
Comet stammered in shock, "What is that?"
Lexus laughed in reply, "You asked for magical support. Well, here it comes. Get clear!"
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Shadowflame
I hurled myself down, sword point first with the speed of a rocket. I watched in a bit of amusement as my group suddenly flew away to avoid any rebound flames from my strike. I screamed at the top of my lungs as I pierced through the air, and then, my sword connected with Osiris' neck.
Time seemed to slow down as I felt my sword drive through the iron feathers that covered the bird's body. The inferno around me melted the area that my sword didn't touch, and I pierced deeper through the boss' flesh. In an instant, I ripped through Osiris' neck and emerged out from beneath the thunderbird's beak. After I passed through, I pulled up from my dive as the flames around me ceased.
Osiris shrieked in fury as I saw its health meter suddenly drop into the red zone, due to the giant red hole of code in its neck. In its anger, it suddenly fired lightning from its beak towards me. I quickly crossed my sword and shield in front of me, pulsing in a little bit of magic to help protect myself. The lightning struck the front of my shield and I was pushed backwards from the force.
I lowered my shield as the lightning ceased, and I suddenly found myself joined at the sides with the rest of my group as we faced the thunderbird head on.
Swift's eyes were still wide underneath his goggles, "YOU'RE AN ALICORN?!?!"
I grinned, "Yeah. I'll explain later. But first, let's fry this bird and get out of here. I'll focus all of my magic power and drop it to its last bit of health. Then, everyone who could possibly be an element bearer needs to deal the final blow. Got it?"
Everyone nodded, and I grinned. I pointed my sword towards Osiris, "Okay, leave it to me! Here I come!"
I flared my magic, gathering all of the energy I had into a VERY difficult spell that I had learned recently since I became an alicorn. I raised my sword to the sky, "INFERNO BLITZ!"
My sword suddenly began to glow bright red and a giant pillar of flame shot into the sky above me. Even wiIth the light of the sun, the fire was I conjured turned the whole sky red. As I finished chanelling all of my magic power, the pillar of flame branched out into smaller streaks of fire that pointed upwards as well. And then, with a single down stroke of my sword, I directed the branches that streaked out to fire into the air in every direction.
And with a single slash of my blade, the fire streaks arched around and converged on the thunderbird from all sides. The fire pierced into Osiris and the boss screeched as its feathers and flesh melted in a giant, airborne inferno. I watched as its health bar dropped all of the way until it only had a sliver of its remaining health left. Now it was time for someone else to finish it off.
But before I could react, in a desperate effort to live, the thunderbird suddenly fired a bolt of lightning from its beak. I gasped in shock as I tried to protect myself with my shield like before, but now I didn't have any magic to protect myself with. And as I blocked the lightning, I figured out that the thunderbird was going all out as well. I screamed as the lightning suddenly jumped from my shield and coursed through my whole body. I felt myself convulse painfully as electricity filled my whole body.
I screamed as I felt my wings stop flapping and I plummeted downwards. But luckily, I dropped right on top of a cloud, and my fall was broken by the sweet, fluffy mass. I tried to stand back up on my hooves again, but I found it really hard to move. I glanced towards my health bar to see that my health was down by half, and a yellow lightning bolt had appeared as well: Paralysis.
I grunted as I tried to sit up, "Crap. I can't move." My body jerked up into a sitting position, just as somebody lighted down in front of me. I looked up to see Lexus standing there.
He held up a hoof, "Hey, you okay?"
I nodded, "Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm paralyzed, but I've got a potion to heal myself. Go back and help everyone else. I'll catch up."
Lexus nodded and took off towards the thunder bird again. I sighed as I opened up my player's menu with a shaking hoof, "Man, first time I go all out with my alicorn powers and I get paralyzed. This is embarrassing. I'll have to be more careful after this."
But then, as I opened up my menu, I heard hoof steps behind me. I tried to glance behind me, but I felt a huge screaming pain as I was struck in the back of my head. I fell face first onto the cloud, cringing from the pain. I was on my side now, and I couldn't move. I cursed, "Oh gosh, who are you?"
I glanced up at my attacker to see a silhouette in front of the sun. All I could make out of him was his orange fur and his big, red mane before he raised a hoof and struck me between the eyes, knocking me unconscious.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Siren
Siren screamed the most girlish horror cry she had ever done as she raced through the sky at top speed. She didn't even dare to look back because she knew that Osiris was right on her tail, more furious than ever. Even when Shadow had lowered its health to nothing, neither Comet or Cloud had been able to deal it the final blow. They had been knocked away by the angry thunderbird and now it was coming after her.
Cloud couldn't have done the final blow, because of his curse. Lexus and Shadow were both element bearers, so they couldn't have killed it either. So Siren knew that it all rested on her to finish the bird off. However, she couldn't even shoot properly because the enraged thunderbird had switched targets from Canterlot, to the tiny, purple, pegasus mare with the crossbow.
Right now, Siren was flying in circles, but Osiris wasn't letting up. Siren screamed, "Can I get some help here?! ANYBODY?!?!"
Far behind the bird, Comet, Cloud, and Swfit flew after her. Comet shouted out, "Just turn around and shoot it in the eye!"
"I can't! If I slow down, it'll get me!"
Swift, "Just do it. It'll die and drop when you kill it."
"But what if I can't kill it? What happens then?"
Cloud, "Well, then stop flying and drop down as fast as you can!"
Siren, not feeling all too confident, sighed, "Okay, here I go!"
With a single flap, her body rotated around. And in a singe second, Siren located Osiris' eye, aimed her crossbow, and fired. The crossbow bolt shot straight and true, right into the boss' eye. The thunderbird shrieked as its last bit of health ran dry and it burst into blue code, finally defeated.
As the boss disappeared, a large computer window opened up in the air,
Congratulations! You have defeated The Thunderbird Osiris!
Siren flew in midair, still breathing hard, but she now looked relieved. With a hoof pump to the air, she shouted, "We did it!"
Another window appeared in front of her,
You received a last hit bonus!
-Master Hunter's Crossbow
The rest of the group caught up to Siren, just in time for a bright light to appear right in the air above the thunderbird conqueror. Just like the other boss battles, the light descended and subsided in front of its bearer, revealing a clear jeweled, golden necklace: The next element of harmony.
Siren tapped a hoof to the element, and another window popped up:
Element of Kindness (Inactive)
Object Type: Item
Everyone began cheering!
"Way to go, Siren!"
"You're an element of Harmony."
"What do you know, the tomboy is the element of kindness."
Siren grinned widely, "Haha! This is amazing!" But then, her smile faded a tad, "Hey, wait. Where's Shadow?"
Little did they know, their leader was being dragged off from the skies above and back down to the land. The orange pegasus, with a red mane, chuckled as he smirked at Shadowflame, who laid unconscious on his back.
Ezekiel smiled evilly, "Oh, revenge will be sweet. I'm gonna enjoy this."