//------------------------------// // 111. The Cloudsdale Ambush // Story: Tales of the Oppressed // by Terran34 //------------------------------// Cloudsdale looms over the horizon just as the sun is passing its zenith. This is my first time seeing it, and it takes my breath away. It's basically a city where everything is made of clouds, complete with rainbows spanning the rooftops and rivers of every color surging alongside the streets made of ice that pour over the edge of the clouds. To sum it up, it's every fantasy writer's dream. The only stain on its beauty is the fact that a battle between our forces and the enemy's is raging over the rooftops. The Cloudsdale city guard, consisting of all pegasi dressed in their city's colors, are clashing in midair with Sombra's undead. They consists of hundreds of undead pegasi with webbed wings, rather than feathered like they should be. There's also what looks like undead griffons flying around as well, with their wings made out of that same webbed material. It doesn't make any sense considering that griffons are part bird rather than part bat. The defenders are far limited in number and experience, and are clearly struggling. If we don't get there soon, there's no way they'll be able to hold the city. Even now, some of the pegasi are ducking down into the city to take cover, only to be chased by the undead. “Spitfire,” I address the captain, having a sudden idea. When I make sure I've got her attention, I continue. “Can we use the weather factory against them? Wouldn't a tornado or storm rip their army apart?” “Not an option. Once we create a group of clouds, it needs time to be prepared into a storm. How do you think we get storms anywhere if they're already raining by the time we produce them?” Spitfire returns. She doesn't give me a chance to argue back, however. “That aside, there's also the fact that once we unleash them, we only have limited control over them. If we make a storm the size it would take to do any real damage, we'll no doubt lose control over it and it'll destroy all of us indiscriminately. No, it's too much of a risk.” “Ugh, and let me guess, Sombra's just willing to use it because he doesn't give a shit how many undead die as collateral,” I complain, even though I understand her reasoning well enough. A powerful super-cell storm is impractical to set up, and dangerous to all of us. I guess I didn't really think that through. “That's right. Even if we were to pull out all of our ponies and do it anyway, the storm would no doubt drift towards Canterlot, what with the way the wind's blowing,” Spitfire finishes. I hang my head, disappointed. So it's just a bad idea all the way around. “We'll just have to hope that we can handle the enemy with the forces we've got now. It looks like we're still outnumbered, however.” “What I'd like to know is how Sombra whipped up an army this massive in such a short time,” I state, eyeing the huge cloud of undead fliers that we're about to go up against. It's true. Even with the forces we're bringing, they still outnumber us four to one. But this time...there's no Oppressed. That means there's absolutely nothing they can do to hurt me. I grin a bit at that thought. I'm going to absolutely annihilate them. “Me too. But worry about that later. We're getting close,” Spitfire tells me. I nod, turning my gaze forward again. From the way things are going, we're going to him them right from the flank. If we keep our momentum, we could do some real damage. Once I get in the thick of them, I'll go on a rampage and find their leader. I just hope it isn't Hawke. Next to me, Spitfire raises her hoof and addresses the rest of the Pegasus Corps. “Get ready, everypony! These unliving monsters thought they could pull a fast one on us and steal Cloudsdale right from under our noses! Now are we going to take that?!” The resounding negative is enough to make my ears ring, especially with Rainbow joining in from her position next to me. “That's right! Now let's show them what we pegasi are made of! This is for Cloudsdale!” Spitfire roars, and then she picks up speed, leading the charge into the enemy forces. The front of our army measures a score and a half wide, with Pterax, Rainbow, Spitfire, and me up front. The undead pegasi on the flank facing us don't even know what hit them when our front lines burst out from concealment in a cloud bank and crash right into them, knocking them aside like ninepins. Spitfire lays into the first undead she sees with her hooves, beating it to a pulp within seconds. Rainbow is right next to her, showing similar treatment to another undead nearby. All along our front lines, our pegasi collide with the enemy. Leaving my sword sheathed, I fly into the enemy as well, my body wreathed with green magic. I tear through the enemy like a knife through warm butter. My magic empowered fists completely disintegrate any undead I target, and my aura badly burns any undead in my path. I'm like an unstoppable juggernaut, power emanating from my body in waves. “Stay back!” I shout loudly to alert any pegasi near me. Once I'm clear, I rush into a group of enemies, forming two orbs of lime green magic in either palm. As I fly, these orbs stream behind pure energy as if tearing the sky. I come to a swift halt, orienting my arms in a spiral pattern. A quick turn of my body causes a circle of searing magic to surround me. As I spin again and again in midair, a tornado of magic forms. Then, I become completely still, just before I thrust out my arms to either side of me, sending the tornado exploding outwards in a wave of destructive force. Any undead within several meters of me is incinerated in the storm of magical power. Even as the wave eventually dissipates and the undead start to swarm back in, I've cleared enough room for Spitfire and the Pegasus Corps to swoop in and join with the rest of the Cloudsdale city guard, who cheer loudly at their arrival. “Nice job, Seth. Thanks for coming along with us,” Spitfire compliments me, even as she looks a little taken aback by my power. “You've gotten a lot stronger since the last time I saw you.” “Oh please, that was nothing. Twilight could have done that,” I boast as I face the enemy, feeling a little full of myself. Just to reassure myself that it's still there, I touch upon the well of magical energy hidden deep within me, hinting at the presence of my transformation. If things keep going as well as they are, I won't even need to use it. “You haven't seen anything yet.” As the Pegasus Corps and I engage the undead pegasi rushing towards us, Spitfire turns to address the nearest city guard, who I assume is their leader due to his embellished uniform. Because this fight isn't challenging me in the slightest, I listen in on what they're saying. “Corporal, what's the situation? How many casualties?” Spitfire demands. “Captain, I'm so glad you're here. They came right at dawn and hit us when we weren't expecting it. We lost everypony on duty at the front of the city in the first assault. They even tried to attack the civilians!” the corporal responds frantically, looking as if he wanted to hug Spitfire. “The ones on guard...sacrificed themselves so that the civilians could escape.” “Where are the civilians now?” Spitfire follows up, her voice hard. “We've fortified the central hub and hid them inside. Now, everypony we've got is out here fighting,” is the corporal's response. “Good thinking. Do you know where the enemy is coming from?” Spitfire presses, trying to get as much information as she can. “They came out of holes in the hillside down below, near the gorge! They're still coming!” The corporal finishes. Spitfire nods and turns to me. “Seth!” She calls just as I take down a full score of undead that were attempting to make for the city. This is way too easy for me, so I turn around to look at Spitfire, nailing a griffon in the face with the back of my fist as I do so. The hapless creature's face is demolished just from that simple hit. “Your orders are to locate the tunnels and collapse them. With your power, that should be easy for you.” “Okay. Where are they?” I respond, looking around. “Head to the west. It'll likely be near a huge gorge in the ground. If in doubt, just look for the swarms of undead,” Spitfire clarifies, indicating the right direction. “Got it,” I respond simply, then beat my way through a crowd of undead while searching the ground for any sign of the tunnels. The source is easy to spot, because there's a seemingly never-ending stream of undead flying out of a hillside. Now I just have to fight my way through it. Pterax and Rainbow are fighting with the rest of the Pegasus Corps, the former blasting undead with beams of changeling magic and the latter laying into them with her hooves. At Rainbow's speed, she's easily flying circles around the enemy. To outmaneuver the enemy, Pterax changes form frequently. Without waiting for help, I charge into the enemy ranks with a grin stamped upon my face. As I am right now, I feel unstoppable. Compared to how I felt during the siege of Trotsdale, it's a very welcome feeling. Plus, if I can end this quickly, we can get back to Trotsdale, where we're needed the most. I turn and kick an undead pegasi with my right foot, obliterating it, and then I reach behind me and grab the talon of the griffon trying to slash me with my bare hands. With it, I hurl it over my shoulder into a group of three undead pegasi, who I then quickly obliterate with a blast of magic. Reaching my arms out, I grab the necks of two more pegasi and smash them together, before proceeding to use them to bludgeon several other undead to pieces. That entire exchange took place in only five seconds. Now that I've cleared some space, I fly towards the gorge where the undead are coming from. I don't get very far. I hear a guttural roar from beside me, and then suddenly a massive set of jaws clamps down around me, courtesy of a large undead dragon. “Now, that would hurt...if I was normal,” I retort, holding the creature's jaws open with both hands. It's easy to pry them apart and slide out. Then, just because I'm pissed that it tried to eat me, my fist barrels into its chin in a vicious uppercut, sending the dragon flying. To finish it off, I unsheathe my sword and execute a series of horizontal and vertical slashes, each one sending a cutting arc of magic downwards towards the dragon. Every single one finds its mark, slicing the dragon into pieces. “You guys really shouldn't have wasted something as strong as a dragon on me. Better stick to Oppressed, assholes.” Thus unimpeded, I sheathe my sword again and halt in midair above the tunnel entrances, which are in the walls of the gorge down below. I lift my hand, forming an orb of magic there. One quick blast should cave in all the tunnels at once...and likely widen the gorge a bit in the process. If we do this, we can crush their reinforcements in fallen earth, and thus win the battle. As strong as I am, I can't be everywhere. “This'll take care of...” I start to say, but I don't get to finish. Just as I'm starting to fire my readied blast, I'm completely blindsided from the right. Something hard slams right into my center of gravity, cutting right through my magical protection as if it isn't even there. The force behind the attack is so strong that I'm sent careening through the air, my hand flying up and releasing my attack harmlessly up towards the sky. So great is my momentum, I streak through our allied forces and pass into Cloudsdale, finally coming to a stop when I slam into the icy streets and slide several meters. “What the fuck was that?!” I groan, pressing against the street to lift myself up. If I hadn't cast my cloudwalking spell, I probably would have gone right through the street; I doubt this ice is that thick. I leap to my feet and take a moment to get my bearings. Judging from the wide open space I'm in, this must be the central portion of Cloudsdale. In the center of the plaza is a raised circular platform upon which an elaborate fountain is set up. Instead of spewing water, however, a vibrant liquid rainbow gently pours from the top and cascades down the multiple levels. On the other side of the plaza are residential buildings, if the draped windows and balconies are anything to go by. Behind me, there's large circular structure with a domed surface, complete with pillars reminiscent of Greek design supporting the roof. All of the above is made out of carefully sculpted clouds. Further beyond is a strange building that's so large, I can see it from here, even as far away as it is. It looks almost like a factory...with lots of free clouds surrounding it. If I had to guess, I'd say that's the weather factory. The domed building must be the central hub...which means the civilians are inside. But first and foremost, who the fuck just hit me? Rubbing the side of my head, I feel a tender area where a painful lump is forming. What the hell...I had my magic focused around my body to make damage from all sources practically negligible, and whatever that was cut through it like it was nothing...just like what an Oppressed does. But that's impossible...they can't fly. The fluttering of wings brings my attention up to the sky, where a single pegasus stallion is flying down from the battle above to the icy street just across the way from me. A single crimson eye stares down at me from the left side of his face, letting me know that this pegasus is in no way allied to us. I ignite my magical aura in preparation for a fight. “Seth Rogers....I was hoping to meet you,” the pegasus says, his voice silky smooth and wholly unpleasant to listen to, as if his lips were emitting nothing but pure poison. He folds his wings and steps forward so I can get a closer look at him. The pegasus is of an abnormally larger build, standing taller than Rainbow or Spitfire, but remaining proportional otherwise. His coat is an orange so light that it almost appears tan, but is too dark to be so. As for his mane, it's as black as night with large streaks of white passing through it, and it’s pulled back around his head and tied into a long ponytail. His right eye, as well as the majority of the right side of his face, is covered by his mane, revealing only his nose and mouth. Unlike General Mist, this pegasus is wearing a set of tight fitting robes, colored mostly white with accents of black and gold, complete with a reddish collar that matches the crimson of his single visible eye. Attached to his two front hooves are two metal braces that cling tightly to his legs. Lastly, a glimmering ruby pendant hangs around his neck, from which I can sense a hint of magic. “Who are you? A general, I presume?” I challenge, clenching my fists. This must be their leader, considering how tough he is. However, that doesn't make much sense, because he isn't a unicorn. How the hell does he control the undead? The pegasus gives me a brief, polite bow, though I feel like he's mocking me. “I am General Silent Shatter, of his Majesty's King Sombra's forces, at your service,” he reveals, taking a few steps closer to me. “I must say, I was hoping I would be the one assigned to deal with you.” “What are you talking about?” Assigned to deal with me? They way he said that almost makes it seem like they knew I was going to be here. “Oh, come now. Surely you didn't think your arrival was unexpected?” Shatter responds, one side of his mouth curling up in a smug smile. “Though I must say, we expected it to be one of the princesses that came here. We were under the impression that your magic was gone.” Okay, that makes a little more sense. This must have been a trap to lure the princesses out, but I'm the one that took the bait instead. Once again, I'm taken aback by Sombra's planning. Not only did he use Trotsdale as a trap for our forces, but he was also intending to take out one of the princesses when they came to save Cloudsdale. But that still leaves one detail that I don't quite understand. “So, this was a trap then?” I ask, wanting to hear him say it for myself. Shatter's smile widens. “But of course. In the end, it doesn't matter who takes the bait. Either way, we will be rid of one of Equestria's strongest defenders and gain control of the weather factory, all at the same time,” Shatter responds. I can't help but notice that he moves one of his front hooves to emphasize his words as he talks. “Though, I'm glad it was you that came. You see, I didn't get to go back in time with my King. Only Governor-General Vanta had that honor. I never had the chance to see your kind for myself.” “Take a good look then. You're stupider than I thought if you think you can handle me on your own,” I tell him confidently, forming an orb of magic in my right hand. He's just a pegasus. There's no way he can take a hit from me head on. “Oh? You're sure you want to waste time fighting me?” Shatter asks innocently, tapping his chest with his hoof. “You're alright with watching your pegasus allies die in battle against our unstoppable army?” “Unstoppable? Please. I'll just beat the shit out of you and then wipe out your army next. It was a big mistake coming here with just normal undead,” I snap back at him, getting more annoyed with everything this guy says. He's just so confident...I want to wipe that smirk off of his face. “Even if I told you there's a separate undead force coming from the west?” Shatter offers. That gets me to freeze. Wait, what? Another...but...Spitfire and the others will get overwhelmed if they're attacked from both sides! I need to take this guy out as fast as I can. “That's it! Go to hell!” I yell at the general. I finally go on the offensive, hurling orb after orb of scalding green magic at him. Shatter doesn't even try to dodge, standing there grinning even as the first attack impacts him right in the chest and explodes. The blast is so great, the street around his hooves shatters, sending shards of ice and puffs of cloud into the air. Each subsequent blast only increases the destruction at that single point, to the point where it gets the attention of the ponies hiding in the central hub, who are now peering out of the windows at us with hints of fright in their faces. I stare at the explosion, allowing myself to relax. Well, that takes care of...what the fuck!? Before I can react, Shatter zooms out of the explosion, completely unharmed, and knocks me back several feet with a hammer blow to my jaw with his front hoof. His assault cleaves right through my magical protection, such that I can feel a bruise forming at the point of impact. “How...?” I try to say, holding my jaw, but Silent is already flying at me once more, his wings keeping him in the air. Deciding to worry about the details later, I go on the defensive, watching his hooves closely. When he attacks, I move my body around his hooves, dodging each one that he sends at me. However, he's just as fast. When I try to counter attack with a punch of my own, Shatter swiftly moves aside then ducks inside of my effective range. In the split second I have before his hoof hits my ribs, I knock him upwards with a magically empowered knee to his chest. Shatter grunts and retreats, hovering a short ways away from me. I gape at him in shock. An attack like the one I just hit him with should have broken several ribs, if not defeated him outright. What the hell is up with this guy? “You look surprised,” Shatter observes, his smirk returning. He lowers himself back to the street, brushing the ice shards off of his robes with a hoof. “Shall I explain it to you?” Something's not right with this general. His attacks cut through my magical protection like nothing, and even my own magic can't harm him. It's almost as if he's one of the Oppressed...but how is that possible? “What are you? You're not Oppressed, so you can't be resistant to magic!” I shout at him with frustration. I can't waste time here...I need to beat him down and warn Spitfire about the reinforcements from the west before it's too late. Shatter gives an amused laugh. “You call them 'Oppressed,' do you? Tell me, dear Seth. Just how do you think they get that immunity in the first place?” That gets me to freeze. Oh shit...I have a feeling I'm not going to like what I'm about to hear. “They...I thought it was just intrinsic to them, because they used to be humans,” I respond, but judging by Shatter's chilling laugh, that must not be the right answer. “Not quite. Though that is part of it,” Shatter corrects me. “You see, Vanta wasn't just wasting his time poking and prodding at dead bodies, you see. His job was to develop and store an army superior to that of any other.” “Using the unique resources present in the human body as well as the raw potential of channeled electricity, Vanta managed to induce this immunity in his creations, which you call Oppressed,” Shatter continues. Hardly anything about what he said makes any real sense, however. “He spent the last years of his life...or rather, his unlife...attempting to create a prototype serum that would work on himself...but it seems he perished before he could fully perfect it.” “Get to the point,” I snap, getting impatient. I don't have the time to listen to a scientific explanation. “As you wish. Where do you think that serum went?” Shatter proceeds. Before the meaning of his words fully sinks it, he lifts a hoof and brushes his mane aside, revealing his right eye. I recoil in shock and revulsion as a truly grotesque sight is revealed. His right eye looks mostly normal, but the side of his head is covered by spidery veins of dim crimson light, forming some type of arcane scar the likes of which I've never seen. It doesn't look healthy, because the skin around the flowing magic looks to be deteriorating. “That's right. I was the test subject for this immunity serum. That is why I was sent here to Cloudsdale. You cannot harm me with your magic, human.” “What? Goddamn it, how many creatures am I going to come across that I can't fight with my magic!?” I demand, thoroughly worried now. That explains why Shatter was sent here. This really was a trap. If he completely ignores magic, any alicorn that may have been sent here would have been in very real danger, as they would have to fight him in purely physical combat. Suddenly, an even more chilling implication occurs to me. “Wait, 'test subject?' Does that mean...” “Relax. The serum will not be used on anypony else. As you can see, it's destroying my body. It won't be long before I'm living in a flesh construct myself,” Shatter admits, letting his mane fall back over his disfigured eye. “Now, are you satisfied? Perhaps you'd be willing to surrender. I know the Governor-General would like a word with you.” “Surrender? Get real,” I retort, feeling reassured by Shatter's words. That means that Sombra won't be immunizing himself to magic or anything like that. Plus, I have something here that'll make that serum of his totally useless. As Shatter watches, I reach to my side and unsheathe my sword with a screech of metal on metal. “If I can't destroy you with magic, I'll slice you to bits. Come on, Shatter. Enough talking.” Shatter narrows his eyes, watching my blade with the caution it deserves. The two of us start to circle one another, searching for any openings in the other's guard. We remain completely silent, all of our attention focused on the other's movements. We both attack at the exact same time. I propel myself forward with a blast of magic beneath my feet, and Shatter flies to meet me with his natural speed. I bring my sword down on him, but he blocks it with the metal brace on his right hoof. His other hoof swings forward, but I remove a hand from the hilt of my sword and redirect it with my wrist before retaliating with a swift kick. Shatter is faster. He leaps back to avoid my foot and then immediately moves his head out of the way of my follow up stab. I want to keep him on the defensive, so I slash at him repeatedly, aiming for any part of his body that I can reach. Shatter moves like smoke in the wind, twisting and turning his body every which way so that my blade whistles past him harmlessly. Anything he can't dodge, he blocks with his hoofbands, sparks emanating from the impacts, Finally, Shatter ducks beneath a horizontal slice and rams his head directly into my chest, knocking me up in the air while slightly winding me. He flies up to meet me, his hoof swinging in for a follow up attack before I can recover. Well, as far as he thinks. I right myself in midair with magic and block his attack with the flat of my blade, and then I grab his hoof with my other hand and hurl him clear across the street into one of the residential buildings. The wall gives way before the impact, sending Shatter into some poor pony's living room. Thankfully, the house is currently uninhabited. “Raagh!” My eyes widen as Shatter hurls an entire table through the hole at me. I easily cut the table into pieces to keep from being hit, but Shatter is there a second afterwards. He grabs my face painfully with his hooves and throws me into the street against the wall of the central hub, where the ice cracks beneath the impact. Before I can move, Shatter is in my face, pinning me against the wall with a swift punch to the stomach. As I'm coughing and wheezing from the hit, he slams a hoof into my wrist, causing me to drop my sword into the streets. Oh shit. Shatter quickly grabs the blade with his right hoof and swings it at my neck, forcing me to throw myself to the ground in order to keep my head where it is. I don't know if his magic immunity extends to the weapons he's holding, but I'm not going to take that chance. The general moves his hooves over his head to bring down a powerful overhead chop, but I duck beneath him and shoulder rush his belly, knocking him off balance and hurling him away. Shatter quickly rights himself and swerves around me, hoping to hit me from the side where I'm unguarded. He speeds up to an incredible rate, so even as I turn, he's already moving. I let out a cry and move my body just in time to avoid his charge, the blade slicing through my shirt and nicking my skin, drawing blood and confirming my suspicion that the blade also nullifies my magic as long as he's holding it. As I'm recovering, Shatter maneuvers behind me and once again aims for my neck, so I have to duck once more. I turn around just in time to catch his fetlock as he's bringing the sword down again. My other hand catches his other hoof as he attempts to dislodge me. Suddenly the two of us are in a test of strength as we glare into one other's eyes and push against one another. Quickly, I'm reminded of the fact that ponies will always have stronger muscles than humans, especially ones that constantly fly all the time. Even as buffed up as I am now, Rainbow can still beat me in a test of physical strength. I let out a grunt of pain as Shatter breaks the stalemate by ramming his head directly into mine, causing me to disengage my hold on him. Even as disoriented as I am, I manage to ram both of my hands into the crook of his right leg, disarming him before he can seriously hurt me. Both of us watch as the blade tumbles down through the air and passes right through the clouds, falling down and down below the cloud layer, on its way down to the ground and out of reach. I got rid of his weapon, but also lost mine as well. Not to mention, disarming him cost me the initiative, and Shatter quickly goes on the counteroffensive, pummeling me with both hooves repeatedly. Finally, he turns and swiftly bucks me down to the street near the fountain. I feel a piercing pain in my chest from the impact, letting me know I've probably cracked a few ribs from that one hit. “And now you're weaponless. Quite convenient for me, don't you think?” Shatter gloats, zooming down towards where I'm resting on the ground. Acting on impulse, I dip my hand into the liquid rainbow and fling the scalding hot liquid onto Shatter's face, ignoring the burning pain on my hand. “Gah!” Shatter retreats, nursing his face from the burning rainbow on his face. I seize the moment and leap up at him, but he quickly recovers enough to dodge my punch and deal out one of his own, knocking me into the living room of the building behind me. “Shit, this is bad,” I whisper to myself, , my body aching all over. That nasty immunity to magic he's got has really put me in a bad spot. I'm basically trying to fight a pony without any magic; a pony that seems like he's been militarily trained. “Please, that was an amateurish mistake. It's almost as if you haven't been trained,” Shatter criticizes me, looking down at me with a sneer as I fly out of the building. Good, as long as he's talking, I'll take a moment to catch my breath. It doesn't help that I've been moving for almost a full twenty four hours now without rest. “I haven't...I taught myself how to fight,” I pant. I was magically trained, but not physically. That much I had to pick up on my own, because there's not a single pony that understands how to use a human body to its fullest potential. “And yet they still use you in a command position. Oh, how the Equestrian military has fallen,” Shatter jeers derisively. I growl and fly towards him, my fists at the ready. “You think you can beat me? I've been fighting for years. You're out of your depth, human!” Shatter easily dodges my assault, moving noticeably faster than before, as if he had been going easy on me earlier. I only barely manage to block his retaliatory punch with my forearm. I fall back before him as the general releases a flurry of lightning fast punches and kicks that I can barely block, and even when I do, they hurt like a bitch without my magical protection. I can't stay on the defensive, or he'll crush me. The moment I see an opening, I slide between his punches and plant an uppercut on his jaw, but it hardly seems to faze him. Shatter brings his head back down and grits his teeth. When I swing another punch towards his leg joint, he curls his hoof around my arm and slips beneath me, throwing me over top of him towards another building. This time, I'm more prepared. I plant my feet against the surface of the building and propel myself off of it, meeting Shatter as he zooms towards me as well, intending to follow up his attack. My fists meet his hooves again and again as we exchange attacks, trying to get past one another's guard. Each time our limbs meet, a painful vibration travels down my arms. He's physically stronger than I am and more skilled. If I keep fighting him, he's going to start breaking bones, and then it'll be over. “Give up!” Shatter growls, shoving me back into the wall of the building behind me with his two front hooves. “Fuck you!” I retort, lunging towards him and wrapping my arms around his barrel. With my momentum, I carry him towards the ground, holding to use him to absorb the impact. What I don't account for are his legs. Shatter brings up his back leg to kick me in the stomach, causing me to loosen my grip on reflex. Shatter rotates us in midair such that I'm the one who hits the ground first, on my stomach.. The air once again leaves my lungs, and I wheeze and cough, saliva flying out of my mouth. Frustration overtakes me as I flip myself over and repel Shatter off of me with a few swift punches. It's just one general! If I can just beat him, we'll win the battle! The undead can't resist my magic like he can, after all. I get to my feet, and Shatter lands a few feet away. The two of us charge one another at the same time without missing a beat. The two of us clash together, fist meeting cannon bone and hoof meeting forearm. Briefly, we exchange swift attacks, neither of us managing to inflict any real damage. Eventually, Shatter reads through one of my moves and knocks me away with his head, and then sends me skidding backwards with an agile backflip kick. I stare over at Shatter, growling and wiping a trail of blood from my lip. Something's been bothering me ever since he revealed his immunity to magic. “With your ability, why don't you take on Sombra? He won't be able to touch you,” I demand, taking a moment to catch my breath. “The thought has occurred to me, of course,” Shatter admits, surprisingly enough. Since seeing Vanta, Hawke, and Mist, I've generally thought of all of Sombra's generals to be fiercely loyal to him. “But alas, this body won't last long. I need him to keep me alive.” “I see,” I respond, taken aback. That actually makes a surprising amount of sense. His body is dying from the serum, and he needs Sombra's necromancy to stay alive. “You're pretty forthcoming for an evil bastard.” “I've always liked conversing with my enemies. It's so I can watch the despair in their eyes as their last hopes drain away,” Shatter responds, and then he's flying at me again, forcing me to shift into a defensive stance just in time to intercept his assault. “I'll tell you one thing, however. I'm going to deal with that Hawke character.” “With Hawke? Isn't he your commanding officer?” I grunt, ducking beneath his punch lashing back at him with a two handed swing, which he dodges. “I will never accept his command,” Shatter snarls, his hooves meeting with my fists such that our faces are close together as we strain against one another's strength. “I was serving King Sombra long before he entered the picture. If anyone should have gained the position of Governor General, it should have been me!” Shatter cuts off when I manage to get in a lucky shot to his chest, winding him and causing him to cough. His eyes narrow and he quickly retaliates with a fierce headbutt that knocks me back and causes me to see stars. While I'm disoriented, he follows up by throwing me up into the air. Before I can right myself, he swerves around in front of me and kicks me right back down, completely reversing my momentum. I skid across the ground, my ribs certainly broken by now. I force myself to my feet, pressing my hand against my side. A sharp pain greets me, confirming my earlier suspicions. This isn't good. I don't think I've landed any satisfying hits on him. “Dammit, I'm sick of being on the losing end!” I shout angrily. When Shatter starts to fly down to me, I meet him halfway, speeding myself up with magic and hitting him head on. Immune to magic maybe, but not immune to pure momentum. “Get used to it!” Shatter snaps back, easily avoiding my angry rush. He quickly spins his body in midair and deals me a swift kick in the back, propelling me fair up in the air, the wind rushing past my face. When I right myself, I find myself high above Cloudsdale. Shatter quickly hovers to join me, though he pauses at first. “Look around at your army, human. It was a valiant effort, but all has gone as anticipated.” It doesn't look good. In front of me to the northeast, the Pegasus Corps is fighting with the Cloudsdale city guard against the steadily swelling mass of undead. While we had been doing really well before, they've lost their momentum now that I'm not there to support them. They're taking casualties, while the undead's numbers only swell. “We can still win...I just have to kill you and then wipe out your army,” I respond, sounding more confident than I feel. Shatter's smirk returns. “But can you do that before our reinforcements arrive?” Shatter challenges me in that cocky manner of his that makes me want to tear him limb from limb. I'm about to answer, but then he starts to laugh. “Oh, it seems the answer would be no. They're already here.” I quickly turn to the west in alarm, fearing the worst. Sure enough, there's a mass of greenish gray dots approaching in the distance, growing steadily closer. From here, I can make out hundreds upon hundreds of them, dwarfing the size of the army already fighting the Pegasus Corps. Dread fills my heart as I realize just what's going to happen. Shatter isn't going to let me help them, so they're going to get hit from both sides and annihilated...and Rainbow's with them! I can't believe this. We're all totally screwed.