//------------------------------// // Endgame // Story: Sunset Eclipsed // by EldritchNexus //------------------------------// "Come on, you ugly son of a--!" said Craw, cocking his pistols. Craw fired at the Maul-Ra, which dodged every shot. "Come on, hold still!" shouted Craw. "Craw, behind us!" yelled Sunset. Craw turned around, and saw another Maul-Ra approaching them, leaping from wall to wall and banging on lockers as it went. "Well, I guess the stairs would be out of the question." said Craw. "We need to escape this building, and fast." said Sunset. "Before those things kill us." Craw looked around. He saw a classroom door that had apparently been left ajar. "Looks like I just found our way out." said Craw. "C'mon!" He grabbed Sunset by the wrist, and hauled her through the door just as the two Maul-Ras pounced at them. Craw forced the door open and ran across the classroom. Craw tried opening the window, but it was mysterious jammed...and glowing with a red aura. "Nelphyn's trying to keep us shut in!" said Sunset. "Not for long." said Craw, turning his head. "Do you trust me?" "What?" asked Sunset. "Do you trust me?!" repeated Craw. "No." "Then too bad!" Craw grabbed Sunset and made her cling to his back as he leapt through the closed window, shattering the glass as they went. The two were falling down to the front lawn, with Sunset screaming as they went. Craw's powered armor managed to absorb the shock that would have surely broken his legs as he landed atop one of the Canterbury Police's paddy wagons. several police officers turned around and pointed their guns at them. "Put your hands up!" shouted Lt. Soarin'. "You're both under arrest." "Don't worry about us, worry about them!" yelled Sunset Shimmer, pointed at the broken window. The three Maul-Ras all crawled out from the window, and leapt down after Sunset and Craw, who both jumped off the truck and ran across the front lawn, to where the rest of the Chrysalis Syndicate was holed up. "Good work, sergeant." said Captain Umbriel. "You have successfully captured Sunset Shimmer, I see." "No time, captain." said Craw. "Those things are coming right for us!" The Maul-Ras were knocking aside police officers as they rushed towards them. Chrysalis activated her headset: "Proxy Squad, pull out of the building!" she yelled. "The targets are outside on the front lawn!" "That wouldn't be the only thing!" said Sunset Shimmer, pointing at the roof. "Look!" There was a flash of red light on the roof, and King Nelphyn disappeared. Then there was another flash of red light, and Nelphyn reappeared right in front of the school's main entrance. Between the Canterbury Police, the Maul-Ras, and Nelphyn, Sunset and the Chrysalis Syndicate were surrounded. "Pathetic humans of this world!" shouted King Nelphyn. "May you all remember the might and terror that I, King Nelphyn, have brought you! What you have seen here is but a shred of my power! But as much as I would enjoy exterminating your entire degenerate species from this derelict realm, I'm afraid I must make up for much lost time elsewhere. Farewell, vermin!" "No! He's going to cross back to Equestria!" shouted Sunset Shimmer. "If that happens...who knows what will happen." Nelphyn teleported right in front of Sunset. "You are correct, my little pony." he said. "And unlike you when you tried to do this two months ago...I have no way to fail." "Wanna bet?!" shouted a familiar voice. Sunset turned, and saw Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were standing at the opposite end of the front lawn. "I will already have a harem waiting for me in Saddle Arabia." said King Nelphyn. "So I'm afraid that if you five came to offer your services, they won't be needed." "Harem?!" repeated Rainbow Dash, angrily. "Why, I'd never!" yelled Rarity. The five girls were then enveloped in a multicolored aura, and developed equine features similar to those they had two months ago. "What...what happened to them?!" yelled Craw. "I don't know." said Sunset. "I think that maybe their close proximity to the portal may have reawakened their dormant magic. That's exactly what happened at the Fall Formal." Rainbow Dash and the others rocketed towards King Nelphyn in five streaks of light. But the Maul-Ras intercepted them and engaged them in battle. One of them tackled Fluttershy to the ground, who was whimpering very audibly. Applejack rushed to her assistance, and threw herself at the Maul-Ra, punching and kicking it with all her might. Rarity and Pinkie Pie teamed up against the second Maul-Ra, with Rarity conjuring diamond-like magical barriers around the Maul-Ra, and then grabbed it and hurled it into a nearby patty wagon. "Oh, dear!" she gasped, yelling to the policemen. "Sorry about that!" Pinkie Pie found a heavy machine gun on the ground, presumably dropped by one of the Chrysalis Syndicate soldiers. She picked it up, and everyone present felt their jaw drop in unison. She started to glow, as did the gun. An emblem shaped like a cluster of balloons appeared on the side of the gun. The third Maul-Ra came charging towards her, but she cocked her weapon and fired. But instead of the intended projectiles, a hail of confetti, balloons, and fireworks erupted from the barrel, sending the Maul-Ra crashing against the wall of a nearby house. "Not exactly a party cannon, but it'll do." said Pinkie. "Right, guys?" The remaining Chrysalis Syndicate soldiers just stared blankly at her through their helmets. "Now if you don't wanna party tonight..." she said, adopting a tough voice. "You better get away from my friend Sunset Shi--" But the second Maul-Ra charged at her and knocked the Party MG out of Pinkie's hands. The third recuperated and switched its focus to Rarity. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was speeding around while unleashing a flurry of karate moves on King Nelphyn, who stood there unfazed, protected by his armored form,. "You five may have the powers of the Elements..." Nelphyn noted, analyzing the other girls' battle with the Maul-Ras. "But you lack the knowledge required to have them actually harm me...pathetic!" "But...why not?" Rainbow Dash paused for breath, backing away as she did so. "It worked before..." "Unfortunately for you, the Elements themselves have ceased to exist." said Nelphyn, turning his head. "I'm not even back in Equestria, and I can already sense that their power has forsaken your counterparts in Equestria. Maul-Ras! Back through the portal!" The three creatures that were standing by, awaiting Nelphyn's command, suddenly bolted towards the statue, beating down Chrysalis Syndicate soldiers as they went. They disappeared into the base of the statue, and into Equestria. "I admire your efforts, all of you." said Nelphyn. "But they were all for nothing. But you five!"--he turned towards the human counterparts of Twilight's friends--"What was the point of you?! You can't do anything against me! Away with you all!" He lifted his hand and unleashed a powerful shockwave that knocked down everyone that was on the front lawn, even throwing the Hydra tank skywards and pulling out the cables that held the portal open. The portal was now sealed once more. The five human girls lost their equine features. "Sunset?" said Craw, weakly as he lay on the ground. "Yeah, Craw?" replied Sunset, sad by the portal closing. "I'm sorry about what I did last month." said Craw, slowly getting up to sit. "I was just freaked-out about what happened, that...I know, there's nothing I can say that can show how..." Then Sunset crawled over to Craw, and climbed herself up to put her arms around his chest. She kissed him, and he kissed her back...slowly. When he stopped, Craw stopped to speak. "Sunset Shimmer, you are by far the most beautiful woman I have ever met, even if you aren't really human." he said. "I love you, Craw." said Sunset. "I really do. Even after the horrible things you did, I really do." "If I'm going to die tonight, I'm glad that my girlfriend will be with me when it happens." Sunset blushed and hugged him even harder, her eyes beginning to water. She opened her mouth, extended her tongue, and licked around Craw's lips. Craw extended his own tongue, which connected with Sunset's, and the two began to tongue-kiss while embracing each other as hard they could. They didn't care who was watching, or what would happen now. They wanted this moment to last while it still could. The remaining Chrysalis Syndicate members found themselves looking back and forth between them and King Nelphyn, flabbergasted at what they saw. "Pathetic." said King Nelphyn, who apparently saw this exchange. "Tell me about it." said Captain Umbriel. Nelphyn contemplated whether he should smite the whole lot of them, but then he decided that the portal was of greater importance. He turned around and approached the statue. He lifted up a hand, which started to glow. "Ladies and gentlemen watching at home, I don't know what to make of this!" said Pressure Point. "It seems that--" his cell phone started to beep. He opened it and read the text message. "I...got my Ph. D?!?! Well, guess what? I got some good news, viewers at home: I quit!" Pressure dropped his microphone and had an overjoyed expression on his face. "Bye-bye, Channel 15! I'm a doctor now! Whoooooooo!!" he shouted, running like a maniac into the night. The cameraman picked up the microphone, and faced the camera. "Umm...back to you?" he said nervously. A red beam of energy shot from the Alicorn Amulet, and struck the statue. The base began to shimmer once more; The portal was reactivated again. "Sunset..." said Craw, slowly. "Go after him." "What?" asked Sunset. "You're the only one that can stop this guy! I know it!" said Craw. "I can tell that your world's gonna need you more than I or anyone in this world ever could. This may also be your last chance to go back to Equestria, so go! Go now!" "I'll never forget you, Craw." said Sunset. "I know." said Craw, flatly. Sunset quickly got up, just as King Nelphyn was about to step through the concealed portal, and leapt onto him. "What--?!" Nelphyn shouted as the two tumbled back through the multicolored vortex. They both came out into the Canterlot palace, where Radiant Dawn and what looked like the entire Night Guard were all waiting for them. Sunset wound up rolling forward on the ground, but King Nelphyn stood on his hooves flawlessly. "Look, I have no idea who or what you're supposed to be, but I can only assume you're not supposed to be here." said Radiant Dawn. Nelphyn examined Radiant, the guards in the room, and then Sunset Shimmer, who was slowly getting herself back up. "None of you are any threat to me. None of you!" bellowed King Nelphyn. "I possess the Alicorn Amulet! Now stand aside, for I wish to return to my kingdom!" He disappeared in a flash of red light, and away from Canterlot. Radiant Dawn looked around. "Does anypony here have any idea what the heck that was about?!" he shouted at the other guards. "I have an inkling." said Sunset Shimmer, getting back up. "We need to tell the princesses right away!" The members of the Chrysalis Syndicate, along with the five human friends of Twilight Sparkle, and several Canterbury police officers stood on the front lawn of the school. "I would say that we absolutely humiliated ourselves, sister." said Captain Umbriel. "We blew our cover, lost Sunset Shimmer...again, and had half our organization's fighting force wiped out in the past hour alone." "I'm calling in choppers to pick us up." said Major Canopy, activating the built-in headset on her helmet. "You know, this all could've been easily avoided, right?" Applejack asked Captain Umbriel and Supreme Commander Chrysalis. "If y'all didn't come here in the first place, this wouldn't have happened." "Awfully blunt, wouldn't you say?" asked Supreme Commander Chrysalis. "Honesty's pretty much Applejack's cup of tea, as it were." said Rarity. Star Shield, the Chief of Police, approached the two leaders of the Chrysalis Syndicate. "All right, speak up." he said. "All of you have a lot of explaining to do, in regards to what just happened here. Why did we receive reports that you were holding one of my men captive? Where is Shining Armor?" "Present!" said Shining Armor, walking up to meet his superior. "Sir, I wasn't really taken captive. I was having a chat with Sergeant Craw here, who was explaining what was going on." "Then why did you not report back saying you were alright?" asked Star Shield. "Well, I was accidentally knocked out when Sunset Shimmer started fighting the Chrysalis Syndicate, specifically when they tried to subdue her with their Mirrorwall tactic. One of their men landed right on top of me, and I lost consciousness. If I could, I'd like to see a doctor, in case I fractured anything." "Permitted, captain." said Police Chief Star Shield, before turning to Umbriel and Chrysalis. "Also, what was that...creature that was attacking you, and what of those other ones that emerged shortly afterwards? Where did they come from, and where did they--and Sunset Shimmer--go?" "Chief, I believe these five girls--" Captain Umbriel pointed them out. "--can tell you where they--and Sunset Shimmer--came from." "Girls, is this true?" asked Star Shield. "Yes, we can explain as best we can." said Pinkie Pie. "So it all started two months ago, when..." As the five girls approached the police, taking turns offering their own sides of the story, Chrysalis activated her headset, which promptly buzzed a message into her ear: "Supreme Commander, this is Corporal Aggro." said the voice that called. "Requesting pick-up!" "Aggro, where are you now?" asked Chrysalis. "You won't believe this, ma'am..." Aggro said, hesitantly. "But Sunset Shimmer sent me flying all the way to a cul-de-sac in the middle of Peach Creek!" Chrysalis paused, her eyes widened with surprise. "What?!" she said after fifteen seconds. "Yeah, I didn't believe it, either." said Aggro. " Good thing I've got this ballistic armor, or--never mind. Hey, if you aren't too busy catching Sunset Shimmer, could you send a chopper to come get me?!" Chrysalis looked at the people around her for a moment, then rolled her eyes. "That depends how long you're willing to wait." said Chrysalis. "Because it looks like I'm going to be having my hands tied--in probably more ways than one--for a while. Try a week...at the minimum."