//------------------------------//
// 11: Assault 
// Story: To Hunt a Beast 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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	The Frigid North, a harsh environment with winds that could literally freeze the skin off of a pony's bones and leave them buried until another lost soul came along. Resting in the dead center of the area was a circular mountain range, the center of that area being a hollowed out area that was thirty miles long in each direction. The mountain range was protected by a magical barrier, a barrier that reduced the wind chill to almost nothing and warmed everything to the point of not needing any sort of protection. It was in this pocket that a fortress rested, one that almost nopony had ever laid eyes on during their travels.

It was well past the border between the Frigid North and the fortress that Discord, Chrysalis, and Sombra made their camp on a hill that overlooked the fortress.

"Are you sure he's there?" Chrysalis asked, munching on one of the donuts they had brought with them, "I really don't want us to be wasting our time if he's roaming the land elsewhere."

"He's in the fortress," Discord repeated for what must have been the hundredth time since they made their camp, "I have been keeping watch on the fortress for the last two hours and I have seen only one pony the entire time. If Sombra would finally return we might actually attack the fortress and take him down before he realizes we're even here."

Sombra was supposed to be communicating with the crystal that Copper had given him three years ago, right after their immediate defeat at the hooves of Eclipse. And that was what he was doing, the only problem was that he couldn't understand what Copper was trying to tell him because Pinkie and Peachy were both talking at the same time. The only thing he could figure out was that they were on their way to the camp and they were bringing an army with them.

"We've got an army coming to help us," Sombra finally announced, slamming the crystal into the group and taking a seat across from Chrysalis, "From what I gathered Princesses Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Twilight Sparkle, along with the advisers Inner Wisdom, Tick Tock, and Peachy Keen. Joining them are fourteen vampires, nineteen werewolves, Celestia's old student and her even stranger friend, our mechanical genius, two of Wisdom's strange friends, the remaining Bearers of Harmony, and two special bystanders."

"Oh for Faust's sake," Chrysalis moaned, "Please tell me that my daughter and granddaughter are not on that train."

"All I was given were the names 'Viscarias' and 'Northern Sky'," Sombra replied, surprised that the former queen was upset by who was on their way, "At this point it doesn't matter if they're on that train or not. If they are then they won't be helping, but if they are then they can see us blow this entire fortress sky high. Though I heard Discord found our quarry!"

"He's standing on the top of the fortress," Discord said, eying the stallion with a pair of binoculars, "If he knows that we were coming then why isn't he more observant? If it was me that everypony was after I would be on the lookout almost all the time, staring at every dark corner and suspicious camp I saw around me. And then...wait a minute, somethings happening."

Discord watched Eclipse, who had been munching on what appeared to be a sweetroll, turn to face their general location, posted just west of the fortress, and waved a hoof at them. It wasn't a gesture of anger or hate, nor was it a gesture that welcomed the upcoming battle between them and Eclipse. It was merely a friendly gesture that let them know that he was on to them already and was willing to wait as long as he deemed necessary. He even mouthed something to them, which Discord told his partners.

"He's mouthing 'Let me guess. Somepony stole your sweetroll?'," Discord said out loud, scratching his head in wonder, "What ever could he mean by that?"

"WHAT!?" Chrysalis shouted, running over to their supplies and finding that the crate of delicious sweet buns was missing, "That fiend, he stole our crate of sweetrolls."

"How could he have gotten past us AND walk off with the crate without us noticing?" Sombra asked, though even if he didn't admit it he still liked the treats as much as the ex queen did, "That tears it. I'm going to summon a storm of darkness and plunge this entire place into the realm of darkness. Let's see how he likes having his heart feasted on by the dwellers of this vile and cruel world."

When Sombra got angry his mood would darken, he'd lose whatever happy thoughts he had, the ground would darken, and even the very area around him almost seemed sick. When he got mad he would revert to the tyrant King Sombra, the stallion who would do whatever he wanted, even if it meant that he had to force his way through something to do it. He would never lose the lingering haze from all the black magic, but in his maddened state his eyes would glow brighter than ever. Chrysalis, who was used to feeling emotions, felt the anger coursing through Sombra and it made her woozy.

"Wow now, take it easy Sombra," Discord said, tossing the binoculars aside as he focused on the stallion, "So he snuck past us and stole a crate full of a delicious snack that the three of us share, but that is so not an excuse for you yo go all crazy on us. Look at Chrysalis; all your anger for having the crate stolen is making her sick. If you want revenge then forget about the crate for a few seconds and we'll get Eclipse for this."

Sombra eyed Discord, wondering if he should just toss the draconequus aside and storm the fortress by himself, but when he faced the deteriorating former queen he faltered. She had family, a daughter who was coming, a granddaughter who wanted to see her father, and a son-in-law who was a monster in his own right. If she died it would be his fault.

"Fine..." Sombra finally said, the anger and darkness receding as quickly as they had leaked out of his body, "I'm sorry, I let my anger get the best of me."

"You controlled it and that's the important thing," said a voice as Princess Celestia, fully decked out in golden armor, appeared behind the former queen, "Right now we can afford to have another beast running rampart around the camp and I am grateful that you managed to hold it back in this time of need."

Resting behind Celestia was the same dragon train that Copper rode everywhere, but even Sombra couldn't figure out how the tracks had appeared when there hadn't been any before Eclipse had messed with their heads just a few moments ago. He noticed Princess Luna, wearing her silver nightmarish armor, Princess Cadence and her husband, both wearing crystal armor, and the young Princess Twilight, who wore a robe and her royal jewelry. Walking off the train was Copper, whose metallic leg was unveiled, clawed, and ready to go. He even saw the vampires and werewolves hanging on the sides of the camp, while the royal advisers stared across the abyss at the fortress.

"He already knows we're here," Viscarias said, stopping next to her husband's friends as Northern joined her, "He will not remain idle for long, so if you all are going to attack him then you might want to do it before he moves again."

Celestia nodded and the entire group began to march on the fortress, leaving three changelings behind by the train and the camp that had waited for them.

"Why?" Chrysalis asked, her daughter turning to look at her, "Why have you come here? Why did you bring your own daughter to a soon to be war zone?"

"I came to see my husband fight." Viscarias replied, "And I brought my daughter along because of the same reason. As long as there are no spells thrown in this direction then we'll be okay."

Chrysalis shook her head and flew off to join the marching ponies, choosing to hover in the air as she wondered if they even stood a chance at beating Eclipse. The stallion could beat even the gods and goddesses themselves with his bare hooves, but that was with receiving wounds that could kill any lesser being. She knew that Eclipse's powers were amazing and she was silently shaking in fear for the coming battle. When she was far away from the stallion she had the courage to face her fear and fight him, but now that they were this close she remembered why she didn't want to fight him.

But she was determined to cure Peachy and Tick, which meant she had to swallow her fear and try her best in the fight.

"This is a bad idea," Peachy said, the darkness seeping into reality as they neared the fortress, "Its not like Eclipse is just going to invite us into his fort and let us attack him without doing something."

"Do come in," a voice said as Eclipse appeared in front of them all, the gates of the fortress wide open, "I will skip the pleasantries and get to the good part, which is what you all came here to do. Shall we get started?"

In response to the question a werewolf jumped out of the group and tackled Eclipse, who smiled, threw up his metal clad hooves in defense, and was pushed backwards in seconds. Before either combatant made a move the group scattered, the werewolves crowding the area while their vampiric allies covered the air around them. Celestia and the others waited, conserving their energy while they looked for any openings that could deal a decisive blow to Eclipse. Then, without any sort or warning, the group that surrounded Eclipse were blasted right into the air, knocking their allies to the ground in the process.

Eclipse spread his wings and lifted himself into the air, flipping around in time to punch one of the vampires in the face with his hoof and likely cracking some teeth in the process. He noticed Wisdom pull out the spear from earlier, the unbroken one, drop a saddlebag onto the ground, and then burst into the air. Wisdom's spear met his metal bound hoof, sparks flying as the two passed each other, their eyes locking for a second.

"THIS IS MY!" Tick shouted, his bass cannon primed and locked on to Eclipse.

Sound ripped out of the cannon within seconds, breaking open a gigantic hole in the fortress walls as it flung Eclipse into the sky directly above the fortress. While he was in the air his enemies gathered on the top of the fortress, weapons and spells held at the ready while they waited for the effects of the noise to wear off. But Copper was not one to wait as she teleported into the air behind Eclipse and slammed her metallic hoof into his back as hard as she could. She succeeded in pushing him back towards the waiting ponies, but even her metallic leg couldn't crack the aquamarine colored steel armor he wore.

The same armor that he had worn when he had changed three years ago.

Eclipse corrected himself immediately and his horn flashed as he held his hoof up to Copper, energy beginning to gather into a small sphere in front of his hoof. Chrysalis recognized the attack and leapt into the air, her horn already charged with the same spell, though a much weaker version of it. Before Eclipse fired his Chrysalis moved between him and Copper and fired it square into his chest, scorching his armor and forcing his hoof to point north in time for his spell to discharge. He may not have blown anything up, but she knew he was going to be pissed with her.

"That was a good hit," Eclipse remarked, turning to face his mother-in-law, "but you, of all the ponies I have fought, should understand what it means when you piss me off."

He flipped around and bounced off of thin air, soaring right for Chrysalis at speeds that might have made Rainbow just a tad bit jealous. But before he could even reach her Celestia suddenly appeared between them and cut open his chest armor with her solar charged sword. Without a pause she kicked him backwards and he was barraged by missiles from both Twilight and Cadence, while Luna wrapped a magical collar around his neck and dragged him back to the ground.

There was no pause in attacks as Discord, Sombra, Chrysalis, Peachy, and every other pony that knew magic literally rained spell after spell on the stallion. The part of the fortress Luna locked him on quickly shattered and he fell into the depths, the spells following and breaking the area apart. Tick gave him one last blast with his cannon, tearing even more of the already falling apart fortress apart, before they even allowed the smoke to clear. Some of the ponies were already exhausted, seeing how most could fire five or six spells in succession before tiring, but the majority were still raring to go in case Eclipse could still fight after all that.

"Is that all?" Tick asked, heaving his cannon onto his back, "I guess we can pack it in then."

A pillar of energy shot out of the giant hole in the ground, energy that had the same eerie feelings to it like the one that had appeared when Eclipse had changed forms. The snow suddenly stopped as the sky darkened, lightning flashing and thunder booming as the very wind itself seemed to spin around the energy. Celestia covered her face as those who were airborne landed on the top of the fortress, wondering what level of power Eclipse was ascending to this time. Then it dawned on her; Eclipse had been hiding his true form and his true power then entire time.

When the energy subsided Eclipse emerged from the hole, but this time he looked completely different. Now he had large bat wings, the limbs of the werewolves, and a small pair of fangs coming out of his mouth. His armor had changed as well this time, changing to suit his new claws and the color deepening to a dark red color, the same red as his crimson eyes. The other thing that had changed was the fact that his horn was now like Chrysalis', long and extremely dangerous. He was even standing upright, using his werewolf legs and without any sort of pain at all.

"That feels so much better," Eclipse said, stretching his wings as he twisted around, "One last thing before we start this over. You mad Celestia?"