Before I gather the courage to pull the trigger a nomad punches the gun away and two other jump straight at me. Unable to move under the pile of bodies, I spot a hilt of a sword rapidly getting closer.
Darkness.
Dizzy.
Getting carried.
Can't move.
Desert all around.
Parched.
Head hurts.
Night again.
Too cold.
Whip noises.
Drinking.
Poison or something.
Sleep.
Dizzy.
Warmer.
Fires.
Cold floor.
Real sleep.
Voices.
"I'm telling you the new guys are weird," whispers someone.
"I know but we're not supposed to ask questions," is a hushed answer.
"Well yeah, we get paid crazy money for a super easy job, the guys return confused and keep staring at walls, and some soldiers join us."
"Don't think about it too much. I asked the boss and if anything goes wrong we're getting out via the back tunnel. That goes only for us who stayed here."
"Phew, that's a relief. What about the prisoners?"
"Aside from the weird mare and the big griffon they'll be ransomed out. Those two are supposed to stay here. Don't know anything else."
"Thanks. I'm now pissing myself whenever I go through the barracks."
"Don't worry. When we get the money we can scram and join some other group. Emperor knows there are tons of wannabe warlords out there."
In the light of recent events there is only one thing I can and want to do right now. I sit down in the corner, hug myself, and cry. I'm sure Blaze isn't dead otherwise the voice wouldn't want me alive, I just can't handle what I did. I believed Darky hurt him over and over and deep down I hated her for it and now I'm the same.
I sleep and sleep and sleep. I train till I feel like throwing up. I eat the scraps they feed the prisoners.
Unlike Darky I won't run. I will find him again and I will face a god if that's what I have to do. Love will prevail, love and sharp weapons.
Pain means nothing. Broken bones mean nothing. Soldiers around you are everything.
The mantra of Imperial Legion comes to mind as a griffon holding a plate of food in one hand opens the door and a second one behind him aims a gun at me.
You want to keep me alive? Well then...
Punching the plate into the griffon's face, I twitch to the right and feel a bullet graze my shoulder. The shocked jailor can't react as I effortlessly pick him up and throw him at the armed one.
"I don't care if you are alive or undead, you aren't standing between me and Blaze!" I slit the throat of one griffon with the claws on my hind paw and the other one with talons on my arm.
Black smoke swirls around them.
"Not this time!"
Few swings of a stolen sword is enough to dismember and decapitate the jailors.
I'd like to look around but there's no time as the fortified door leading into the large hall with doors on the sides where I'm now explodes.
Jumping backwards, I raise my sword just to see a group of well armed griffons enter the room in a pattern I know very well. One blows the door up and hides on the side. At the same time a different one throws a flashbang inside which should blind anyone unprepared. My reflexes save me the use of my eyes when the remaining griffons charge inside.
"Beta to delta! Primary target A found. Moving in to secure him. Getting him on comms. Over," a griffon soldier says sharply into his earpiece, waves at me, and hands me a spare headset.
The coordination of these griffons is way beyond Legion standard and the equipment proves it.
"Alright," I say as I put the headset on, "whoever is there, listen up! You gotta get out or you're fucked. The thing spreads either if you're near death or if you lose your head. It's a magical influence. As for this place, there's an escape tunnel leading east behind the leader's suite. Are you here to kill the nomads or save the townsfolk?"
[Delta here. Cromach, I suppose?]
"Yeah. Equestrian Royal Guard."
[We know who you are. We're here to secure you, Choking Darkness, and Mistake and get you to the Holy City.]
"The Emperor and the Black Ops want to see us? I hate to break it to you but unless you really want to piss princess Luna off I wouldn't try to force anything."
[Let me be straight for a while, soldier to soldier. I don't give a fuck about you and the others, especially after my guys turned against me. Let the diplomats sort all that nonsense out later and let's all get out of here as fast as we can.]
"Sounds cool. What about the villagers though?"
[They are already out and being led by a group of my soldiers back to Golden Sands.]
"Good. Let's get Darky and leave. Mistake wasn't captured with us, no clue where he is,"
The leading griffon curses.
"Alright, let's set this place ablaze and get out."
"YYYYYYYYYYAAARGIEEEEE!" a nomad screams and gets gunned down by the soldiers outside.
I can hear a voice in my headset.
[Moving in to dismember.]
"Guess you know what you're doing then?" I ask the leader.
"A survivor of the attack on Golden Sands told us what happened. Agent Smith sent us to find and secure this base."
"Okay," I turn to the empty room and yell, "DARKY? DARKY!"
"In here!" comes from behind one of the doors but I can't tell which one.
"Good, got anything to open those?" I ask the leader.
"Acid, explosives, or a crowbar."
I examine the nearest door. The design is simple but durable. Forcing it open would take too much time and I'm not gonna use acid or, even worse, try to blow it up.
"I'll check the nomads for a key."
"We'll hold anyone incoming off."
Fortunately, there's a keyring on one of the dead nomads and there seems to be a universal key for all the cells.
[Multiple hostiles approaching.]
The doorway bursts in flames and the soldiers get away to douse the fires on their armor. Too slow. The burst from fireboms hits a large bag on the back of one of the griffons.
The explosion shakes the entire place and deafens me. Shaking away the ringing in my ears, I open another door and feel a blade on my neck. Darky bares her fangs and pushes me away, hidden blade sliding back into her horseshoe. The entrance is burnt black but the fires are dying unnaturally fast including the torches on the walls.
Darky says something.
"CAN'T HEAR YOU!" I tap my ears and she points towards the entrance where someone seems to be moving.
Sure that no soldier could have survived the short-lived hellfire, I walk over, ready to cut anyone to bits. Darky disappears into the shadows.
A griffon with charred face drags himself up and grins at me. His head falls to the floor instantly. Now completely positive about noone surviving, I start hacking the undead to bits before they can get up but there's too many of them.
Darky kicks one revived soldier or nomad away from me, it's too difficult to recognize in the dark, but a different one grabs her and throws her face first into the nearest cell, a still locked one. Let's say I wasn't too systematic in opening them.
"Ow! Bucking door!" she curses and rubs her muzzle.
"HEY, MOM!" yells an unknown but happy voice from the outside.
The zombies' lack of attention gives me a second to get my bearings and start thoughtlessly swinging my sword around again.
A snarling shadow smaller than me jumps through the entrance and I reflexively swing at it. The impact sends a tremor though my arms as if I hit something made of metal and the shower of sparks only solidifies the guess.
The shadow jumps away and I can hear it sniffing the air.
New light shines through the entrance, revealing a tall minotaur carrying a warhammer and few faces that are very familiar. The minotaur looks sharply at me but doesn't seem unfriendly.
The unicorn walking into the hall after him makes me jump backwards. He looks exactly like Searing Light, only much older - broad shoulders, blindingly white coat, and a long, blonde mane. Also, a sword levitating next to him surrounded in golden glow which is also the light illuminating the area and reflecting off his blue eyes.
The third pony walking inside is a familiar pegasus whom I met aboard the Lightbringer when Blaze saved me from being executed by Jones. What was his name? Chilly Look or something. All I know is that Darky can't stand him. Icy Gaze, right.
The last unicorn, completely black with glowing yellow eyes makes me breathe out in relief.
"Void? The hell are you doing here?"
"Apparently doing what Luna could not - saving you, Cromach," the black 'unicorn' smiles, "Where is miss Darkness?"
"Right here," a blade slides out of Darky's horseshoe as she steps out of the shadows and puts it to Icy Gaze's neck, "and she's pretty curious what this sack of crap is doing here."
Icy freezes. Heh.
"MOM!" the shadow sniffing around is revealed to be a nightmare changeling and waves his hoof at Darky. He is smaller than Three and doesn't emit the crazy pressure she does but still, he's dangerous.
"I'm not that good at recognizing your bunch. Which one are ya?" Darky slides her blade back again.
"The Crystal Empire one!" the changeling answers cheerily.
Darky finally seems to notice the white unicorn and bares her fangs.
"We're not enemies, guys, at least compared to the rest of the griffons here," Icy Gaze raises his hooves, "Remember the Lightbringer? I've got a ship here ready to take you back to Equestria."
"There WILL be questions later," Darky hisses.
"Calm down, Darky," I nod towards the doorway, "Let's blow this joint."
"I will have words with you as well later, idiot," she growls.
"You can't tell me anything I haven't told myself while sitting here."
"Don't worry, I'll find something."
The rescuers seem to know their way around so I just follow them through the stone halls of the dungeon. Right before we take long stairs leading outside we pass an empty area that has to be some sort of guard room which is nonetheless slick with blood. Noone is inside though.
"Aw shit!" I raise my sword as we get out into the desert and spot the figures waiting for us at the edge of light cast by the white unicorn's horn.
Soldiers and bandits alike are standing around, smiling and watching us.
"Those two belong to me," every beak says at once, "They've helped me break him once already and will be his complete downfall soon."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I can't help screaming.
Choking growls again... at me, not at the horde of enemies. Everyone can hear the dark whisper floating over the sand dunes.
Get the two... kill the rest...
"Don't hold back," Icy commands, "They're already dead! Cut them to bits."
The enemies charge from all sides but this time I'm ready and immediately cut the arms of griffons holding weapons around. I don't bother with immobilizing them or anything, that can wait until they can't kill us. That proves a mistake as my legs get grabbed and I fall into the heap of bodies who start crawling over me.
I didn't realize how many of them there were. The Legion soldiers from Golden Sands, the nomads, the rescue unit, everyone is there and just the pressure is overwhelming. On top of that, Icy Gaze is armed with a freaking lance - very useful in this situation. The rest of the group is holding their own...
...until lights flash and most of them drop to the ground.
The rescue unit griffons reload their guns and shoot again, obliterating all our chances of winning. From what I can see while being held down by the undead Darky's suffering the same fate and the only one able to fight is the changeling who is facing impossible odds.
"You have intruded upon my realm for far too long," roars a deep voice and the desert lights up with blue glimmer, "Thankfully, you chose the wrong place to defy me!"
Pressure hits me and I feel something being torn out of my soul. It's getting harder and harder to breathe. The undead lose all grip on me and with my quickly fading strength I push myself up.
Void, the alicorn of Death is standing there in all his glory. Purple flames of his mane cast eerie light on the desert and his black wings burn with the same power.
The changeling looks at Void and collapses immediately.
Blue glimmer lights the desert and ethereal wisps escape out of every dead body around. The light bathes the undead who rot away and when they're gone the wisps gather around Void and turn into the spirit shapes of the dead. The keeper of the underworld protects his subjects against all those who would try to abuse them and in turn they give him power beyond the understanding of other alicorns. Here and now, there is nothing the dark god that has been haunting us can do.
Void shoots a golden flare out of his horn and looks at the leader of the group trying to rescue us who is gasping for breath and holding his gun wound.
"This is not over, Icy Gaze. You have one more pony to save."
You cannot win, Void... I have agents everywhere.
Void smiles and disappears. The oppressive presence of the unescapable end fades with him.
Rumbling comes from above as I struggle to stay conscious and soon I can see small dots of light getting closer.
Oh right, Icy said he had an airship with him.
Everyone around is out like a light, at least I hope they aren't dead but that depends on the wounds. Void's presence can't have helped as either. With my life not being unnaturally sapped away anymore I get up. A pegasus props me when my muscles, weak as strings, make me wobble.
A mixed group of ponies picks everyone up and fly or drag them up on a wooden deck of an airship built reminiscent of the Lightbringer but in slightly different shape. I can't see much in the dark of the night so I just follow a nearby crew member downstairs into the ship and through narrow halls in style of griffon submarines. As soon as we enter a large room with hammocks hanging everywhere I just climb into one and let the world fade. Complaints will be handled later.
I'm not sure how long I was asleep and I don't want to get up but I have to in the face of an annoyed pegasus whose hammock I'm thoughtlessly using.
"Fine, fine," I grumble and untangle myself from the net.
The spacious room is undoubtedly the common area of the ship. The crew members are sitting around, drinking or eating, and in the back I can see Darky talking to the Searing Light lookalike and the changeling. Finding out about our situation seems like a good idea.
"Hi," I walk up to them and wave meekly.
"You..." Darky looks at me but doesn't continue.
"Don't bother, I know what I did."
"Well I hope ya do because-"
"Because it was the same thing you did to him for four years," I cut her off coldly.
She growls, her eyes bulge, she hisses, bares her fangs, takes a deep breath... shuts up.
"Don't talk to mom like that!" the changeling objects.
"He's right... a little," Darky grimaces.
"You're one of Guiding Light's nightmare folk, right?" I ask," My name is Cromach."
"Yeah, I'm Five and I'll tell the queen to try the name dreamlings."
"Better than nightmare changelings," I shrug, "I've met Three, she's serving as a Royal Guard and an official ambassador of Guiding's hive. She beat me up really hard once."
"Just once? She used to hit me few times every day. She's pretty short-tempered."
"Well, Five, what are you doing tagging alongside Icy Gaze?"
"Is that his real name? He's been using Frosty Stare in front of the crew. Similar enough."
"A prisoner, foalnapper, and a traitor not using his real name? What a novelty," Darky spits out.
"He's not THAT bad," Five mutters, "He promised me I could see the world with him and hey, now I'm in the Empire. The queen told us to bring information about different parts of this world anyway."
"No comment," Darky rolls her eyes.
"What about you?" I turn to the blonde-maned, white unicorn, "Forgive me if I'm not too ecstatic to see you. You look exactly like-"
"My younger brother? I get that a lot, especially from the thestral lady who tried to bite my head off when she woke up. Name's Holy Light," he stretches a hoof out which I promptly shake.
"Another member of the Light family?"
"Disowned, so not exactly. Me and Searing have our amazing looks after our father while little Blazing took after mother."
"Disowned is okay in my book," I shrug, nodding to Darky "Searing tried to kill us in Canterlot. Didn't work out well for him."
"She told me," he scratches his head and grins apologetically, "He took Blinding Light's racism too seriously. I think that after I got kicked out of home and joined Stalliongrad military Blinding tried to raise his second son 'properly'."
"You said little Blazing," Darky looks at him suspiciously, "I thought you lost contact with the rest of the family."
Holy thinks for a moment.
"With Blinding, to be precise. Mother kept sending me letters from time to time and I visited sometimes when Blinding was out of the mansion for longer."
"I wonder why Blaze never talked about you?"
"Did he talk about his family whatsoever?" he retorts smugly.
"Well, no," Darky admits.
"There you have it."
"Weird," Five sniffs around, "You don't smell like dad. Mom does, Cromach does... you don't."
"I, ehm, was away from the family for a long time."
"I guess," Five shrugs.
"We'll save some tales from his youth ya could use against Blaze for later, Crom. Go check this ship out just in case. I'm not exactly keen on a prisoner having an access to a weapon like this," Darky says in the most official voice I've ever heard.
"Sure," I nod. I'm positive she just wants to talk to Holy and Five by herself but her suggestion can't be bad.
Working from memory, I find my way to the captain's quarters which is locked and then to the bridge.
A strange duo is sitting in front of various levers, buttons, and screens. An old, greying unicorn is watching the screens on the sides and a grey batpony with silvery mane is holding the levers meaning he's probably the pilot.
"Huh, the interior is really exactly the same. Did our Equestria finally get some mirror world designs?"
"Hey, one of the guys we picked up! On top of that, one who knows about the mysterious mirror world," the old unicorn smiles widely, "I'm Cogwheel Ivan and I built this thing... based on somepony else's blueprints."
"Yeah, I wonder how you got your hooves on those."
"Details details."
"Icy somehow stole them, didn't he?" I comment with absolute certainty.
"Maaaaaybe?"
"Good, after seeing the mirror technology with my own eyes I'm pretty sure we need some of it in case our relationship goes sour."
"Hahaaa, that's the spirit! A bit of smuggling never hurt anypony."
"You're talking to an ex-Legion soldier and currently a Royal Guard recruit and a special agent of princess Luna. Care to say that again?"
"For Equestria and the sisters!" the unicorn salutes.
"Much better."
We come to a mutual understanding.
"You're being awfully quiet, Fail," Ivan turns the batpony's chair to face me.
The batpony looks very... VERY feminine but is definitely a stallion. After living with Blaze I'm trained enough to easily spot it.
"Eeeeeeeeerm," Fail gulps, looking at me.
"He's just shy," Ivan turns him back to the ship controls, "So, about the mirror world. Care to tell me more?"
I tell him about everything I've seen of the mirror world, the husks, the transport, the unified nations under Twilight Sparkle's hoof. He seems to love it, especially the explosives.
Fail, listening in horror, looks behind me and smiles.
"Hello, captain!" he breathes out in relief, "Feeling better?"
"Worse," Icy Gaze, entering the bridge, mumbles, "but that doesn't matter. How far is the signal, Ivan?"
"Huh? Oh yeah," says Ivan, obviously not too excited about the interruption, "At this speed we should be there by sunrise. I advise having a rest, kid."
"Same goes for you, grandpa."
"I'll have a nap soon. This young griffon has just been telling me about the husks he saw when he was in that mirror world you talked about. Do you know they sacrifice prisoners to create them and use them for law enforcement?"
"They do all sorts of useful tasks," I correct him, "but mostly they are used in the military."
"Heh, I should go there. Perhaps finally somepony might find use for me," Fail mumbles and I turn to him, "Eeerm, sorry."
He tries to look as small as possible as I examine him carefully. I seem to have a talent at meeting stallions with super low self-esteem. Well, it's not like I don't know what to do.
"You remind me of a very good... friend whom I have horribly failed. He said stupid things like that quite often too. Also, he was completely wrong and so are you. I think you just need the right pony to tell you."
"Exactly," Ivan grins, "You might be weird but you learned to fly this thing way faster than I expected so you can't be that dumb. That, or I'm an excellent teacher."
"Yeah," Icy adds, "Without you I wouldn't have found the cheapest crew I could in such a short time and I would now be lying in my bed covered in motor oil and duct tape because Ivan is better with machinery than ponies."
Fail chuckles despite being red as a tomato and his ears twitch when I scratch his head. He seems to have found his friends already even though they are bit of the shady sort.
"Trust yourself a little. Or if you can't, trust those around you and hope they don't fail you," I stand up to leave, "Sorry, Ivan, let's talk later. I need a bit of peace and quiet to think about things."
"Sure thing. Don't forget to think about bombs though! I need better BOMBS!"
Before I fall asleep in the common room again Icy walks in and tells us he's found a second group of Equestrians stuck in the Empire and he's going to need help getting them out of wherever they are.
Well, there's a chance it's Blaze so I don't complain and just close my eyes.
We're hovering hidden in the clouds over a small town on the edge of the desert and thinking about our next step.
"So?" I say, standing on the top deck and looking into the distance, as I hear hoofsteps behind me.
"Crom?" the hoofsteps stop. It's Darky, "Did ya mean what ya said yesterday?"
"Yes," is all I can say.
"I-"
"Stop right there, Darky. You may have screwed up for a short while but you have enough time to make it up to him if you want to. I will try. Subject closed."
"Heh," she leans over the railings on the edges of the ship next to me, "What if it isn't him down there? What if he's really... gone?"
"Somepony from Equestria taken by griffon Black Ops led by an agent investigating the Golden Sands raid, at least according to Icy? Is there anypony else unlucky enough? Plus, the enemy wanted to keep us alive to torture Blaze which means he is still alive and kicking."
"Got a point there. Well, we'll be going down in a moment."
"You're coming as well? I mean if it was able to take the soldiers in the desert what's stopping it from taking the ones who will undoubtedly try to stop us?"
"I can still stop the living ones easily."
Before I can comment on her fighting prowess Icy Gaze, followed by the combat part of his crew, walks on the deck.
"Okay, the plan is so simple even Skully here won't mess it up," he slaps the minotaur on his back, well, waist, "We walk inside and wreck anypony trying to stop us. According to our scanner the signal is coming from the upper floor of the tavern so whoever the group down are they are in one of the guest rooms. Don't hesitate to crack some heads, you know what happened in the desert."
"NOT SURE-" the minotaur starts and shuts up when Icy kicks his leg.
"Get ready!" yells Icy when the ship starts going straight down. Just like the Lightbringer it's more a powerful hovercraft than a standard Equestrian zeppelin.
So...
...a pegasus, a minotaur, a griffon, a dreamling, a batpony, and a unicorn walk into a bar.
Inconspicuously.
It works for about three seconds before I notice a griffon wearing the same armor as the ones in the bandit base... and he notices me, reaching for an earpiece which I now know is a wireless headset.
"Five, get him!" I point.
The dreamling's reaction time and speed are godlike and he slams the soldier's head into the nearest table before a single word is said.
"Now, stay here, enjoy your drinks, and noone will get hurt," I say pleasantly while Icy, Holy, and Skully go up the stairs.
A different griffon tries to stand up and I greet him with an aimed gun. He sits back down.
The silence goes on and on until a loud crack comes from upstairs.
"I MEANT SEARCH THE GUARDS FOR THE DAMN KEY!" Icy's frustrated yell from above breaks the silence.
The guard kept at bay by Five suddenly hits the dreamling and gets his neck broken immediately. All hell breaks loose as the tavern patrons all get up and try to get to the door while some other griffons grab large wooden clubs and rush at us.
"THIS ONE'S GETTING BACK UP!" screams Darky over the sound of breaking furniture and general panic.
Golden beam from top of the stairs burns the rising soldier's head clean off and Holy Light trots down to help us.
"Cromach! Come help Skullbreaker with the stretcher. CAREFULLY!" yells Icy again.
Stretcher? Is Blaze hurt too badly?
I run upward and jump into a rather large room with five new ponies inside. A quick gaze makes my heart stop.
Heavy Hoof is standing there, entire chest bandaged, and judging the situation. The mechanical pony from Twilight's Canterlot laboratory is there as well, complete and staring at me. The third pony is a brown earthpony mare on the stretcher Icy was yelling about. The remaining two are the cause of my distress.
Mistake, the black, blue-maned unicorn is smiling at me. Next to him there's Blaze, the bronze-armored, blonde-maned part-changeling. Honestly, I have no clue what's going on.
"I-" I open my beak.
Blaze hesitantly takes a step towards me.
"No time, lovebirds," Icy breaks the frozen moment, "Get Dawn and there are other soldiers outside who need to be stopped."
Both Mistake and Blaze run past me into the hall. Guess I deserved that. Heavy walks up to me, raises his hoof, and I can see stars for a moment.
"That's just the first one, you pile of crap! Now grab the other end of the stretcher," he points to where the brown mare is lying and Skullbreaker is waiting, "and pull your head out of your ass. If a minotaur thinks faster than you I wonder how you're still alive."
Guess I deserved that one as well. Letting Skullbreaker fasten one end of the stretcher on my back and grab the other one, we follow Icy downstairs.
More soldiers must have come from outside as I see way more limbs on the floor than before I left the main room. I leave the low-grade horror movie scene and the light of the sun outside bathes me again. Icy's already there, giving orders to everyone. Two pegasi fly down from the ship and take the stretcher.
Something taps my side.
"I can't climb due to internal damage," says a raspy voice behind me. It's the mechanical pony whom I pick up and put on my back. Being the last flying member on the ground, I grin at Heavy Hoof climbing the rope ladder to the ship and land on the top deck.
"Ivan, get us out of here!" Icy yells to the stolen griffon soldier headset.
The airship starts humming loudly as Icy scowls and turns his head.
"How the heck should I know where... south... is..."
He recovers and screams.
"GET US OUT OF HERE!" he taps the earpiece again and looks at everpony around, "TO THE CANNONS, RIGHT NOW!"
I look into the distance where something black is rapidly coming towards us.
Just like the Lightbringer, there are small cannon station on the edges of the ship and I slip into one.
Aiming my cannon at the black cloud, I look around. Most of the artillery stations are primed and after Icy chats with the robopony for a second the machine slips into the last empty one.
I fire an experimental charge to check the alignment and timers on the cannon. It seems to be working fine as the charge detonates near the black cloud.
"The black smoke around the dragon shields it from all damage but the explosive charges still make it stumble and slow down!" the robot shouts.
A dragon? I squint but can't really make the rapidly growing shape out.
I shoot twice but fail to slow the approaching dragon. Yes, now I can see it well enough and it's flying much faster than we are.
"Everypony focus fire right under the dragon's left wing!" orders the robot again.
"LISTEN TO HIM!" Icy supports him and I refocus my aim.
"Four second timer. Fire!"
The chain explosion throws the dragon into a spiral but it recovers quickly. Someone tries that again but the dragon doesn't even twitch.
"Shoot a charge exploding behind the dragon! Bucket will give you the timer," Icy orders again.
...got you...
No! I've got Blaze back, Heavy is safe from Legion soldiers, and we're going home. YOU'RE NOT WINNING NOW!
"Two point five seconds. Fire!"
Aim, set the timed charge, push the button.
The explosion behind him only propels the dragon surrounded in black smoke towards us and it lands on the deck, sinking its talons into the wood.
An orange beam of light strikes the dragon that screeches and reels back. The shadow shroud disappears around the stricken spot and the scales of a limp red dragon become visible.
Blaze is standing there, bronze armor plates shimmering with reflection of his fire wings, and blonde mane slightly singed by the flames.
And so the champion himself stands up.
The massive taloned arm of the dragon moves with unexpected speed to squash the unicorn who doesn't seem to notice. He must be having vision problems up here.
"Swipe from the left!" the robopony shouts.
A long shard of black ice drops from above and pins the arm to the deck, ruining even more of the airship.
"Thank you for the sentiment," yells a shadow from above, "but it's unnecessary."
Mistake bombards the shadow dragon with a shower of ice. The dragon roars again and raises a wing, each icicle causing him to budge a little lower.
It's a trap though. With the dragon protecting himself from the assault from above, Blaze charges his horn again and blasts the wing as well. The shadows disperse.
Seeing his chance, Holy Light takes his place next to Blaze and his sword glows with golden aura. Making few practice swings in the air, the unicorn's horn burns, the sword seems to lengthen, and in a shower of golden sparks cuts the dragon's wing clean off.
"WOOO, BRO POWER, ACTIVATE!" cheers Darky hiding behind one of the cannon shields.
Mistake lands next to Holy and looks at him questioningly.
"Searing?" he tilts his head and leans closer, "You do look like Searing Light."
"Wrong!" the unicorn grins, "Holy Light's the name. I think there's a more pressing matter at hoof, right?"
Both Mistake and Blaze aim their horns at the dragon. Holy Light's sword glows again...
...and stabs Mistake cleanly through.
My mind stops.
Blaze screams in shared pain as Holy twists the weapon. Mistake's bones crack when Holy slams the unsuspecting unicorn with a shield fastened to his leg. Holy's blade continues in a fluid curve and shatters Mistake's wing. The blackfrost unicorn slams into the steel railings of the airship and slowly, too slowly, keels over into the clouds.
Blaze turns his head in utter disbelief towards Holy Light. A fatal mistake as the dragon pounces and slams my love into the floor with his hand.
"What are you doing, Holy?" Icy yells.
"Told you I had agents everywhere," the dragon laughs and the destroyed wing grows back.
"Don't tell me even you believed that bullshit lost brother story?" Holy snickers, "The smart mercenary though he could talk me into helping him basically for free by pretending he knew something about my 'long lost brother'. You were so easy to manipulate yourself. All I had to do was drop the name Blazing Light and you jumped at the opportunity to lie to me. Your changeling pet didn't trust me that fast but it was sooo much fun to listen to the idiotic batpony mare pour her heart out about Blazing."
Heavy charges Holy Light but a telekinetic blow sends him sliding back.
"You were a problem though, mudpony. Everypony was easy enough to fool but you wouldn't even entertain the though your friend was a corrupted monstrosity. Damn, the griffon was easier than you. Well, too late."
The dragon's talons squeeze Blaze and throw him into the air where the fire wings form a shield which stops the dragon's teeth... for a moment. In the next second the mouth slams shut just to stop again, this time much closer to Blaze's body.
"Stop struggling," Holy snorts, "Your death is a long time coming."
"NO!" I howl louder than the dragon roared and rush at Holy who, lack of interest in his face, just conjures a shield around him.
My vision goes blood red.
His amused expression turns to shock as I roar again, swipe with my arm, break the barrier, and rip his head clean off.
DIE!
DIE!
DIE!
The dragon's mouth drops open, leaving Blaze hanging between his teeth.
"Nice try," Holy's head smacks its lips and my crotch explodes with pain. Stumbling around for a second, the body picks the head up and screws it effortlessly back, "Gonna need to take a bath to clean the mess up."
"What?" I groan and look at Blaze hanging limply in the dragon's mouth, fire wings flopping around and fading. He catches my gaze and smiles.
"Sorry... that I wasn't strong enough... that I couldn't change back into the pony you... wanted."
No... take me, anyone, anything but him.
...oh I will, eventually...
"Touching," Holy kicks me again and the dragon finally bites down, "I forgot to thank you for your role in all this. Suffice to say, it wouldn't have been possible without you. It was so easy considering how you proclaimed your undying love over and over, pfff. All I had to do was to play your griffon instincts a bit."
"You... bastard," I growl and Holy's hoof sends me back down.
"Shhh, I have some parting words for all of you," Holy Light looks around at everypony hiding behind things or lying stunned on the deck, "So, I'm not one for long speeches but I have to practice my evil monologuing. Well, here it goes."
He clears his throat.
"Your champion is dead and your world will soon follow-"
"You're full of shit," I drag my talons over the wooden floor, "The princesses will-"
"The princesses can kiss my corrupted ass. Why do you think nopony cares about your little alicorn sisters? Luna has served the Nightmare and we know her every weakness, Celestia is too soft-hearted. On top of that her power can't even scratch a god. The only two capable of doing so were Void, whose power is returning quickly but that means his mere presence is killing the world, and your unicorn friend."
"Why Mistake... Blaze?" I look at the grinning dragon.
"You had no idea? You HONESTLY had no idea? That's rich! He had the potential to become the alicorn of Hope, too bad you managed to dash it just by yourself, griffon. I know hope doesn't sound too scary but when all hope dies, despair comes, and despair prevents even the slightest chance of success, bearing similar effects to Void's power."
Holy clears his throat again.
"So, mortals, let's try again. Your champion is dead and your world will soon follow. The Nightmare thrives on fear though so I'll let you go now so you have enough time to tremble, cower, and turn against each other," Holy Light jumps on the dragon's back, "The Element Bearers are weak, the hero is dead and our time is coming. Thank you, Cromach, murderer of Hope."
Holy Light laughs from the dragon's back and the shadow wings give the creature enough drag to get in the air again.
"Ivan," Icy says stunnedly into his headset as the dragon flies away, "We're going home."
I hear Holy Light's laughter over someone screaming, begging, and sobbing.
Oh... it's me.