“I may be returning sooner than I originally thought,” Razka told Janet. They were dreaming and thanks to Luna, they were once again able to communicate with each other. “Sombra’s going to be attacking a small town not too far from the capital. If we’re able to stop him and kill him there, I’ll have ended this war before it even begins.”
Janet smiled at the good news. “That’s good to hear, Christopher. But I’m afraid I have some bad news with our war.”
“What is it?”
“The president managed to escape and now he’s somewhere on the other side of the world. We’ll find him eventually, but you know that this is going to be a significant setback.”
“Son of a bitch,” Razka groaned, running a hand through his hair. “What about the fronts? How are they doing?”
“We’ve hit a bit of a roadblock on the western front, but we’re still pushing through.”
The chairman nodded in confirmation. “Have Captain Allen and the 516 hunt down the president. Until anything else develops, I think we’re done for now.”
“Sir,” Janet started, putting a hand on the chairman’s shoulder. “Please be careful. Luna’s shown me what Sombra is capable of. I don’t want to have to hear Luna tell me that you’ve been killed.”
“You won’t. I promise. Now, I’d like a few moments with Luna, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course,” Janet replied as she began to dissipate.
“What is it?” Luna asked curiously, landing beside the chairman.
“I want to talk a bit about Nightmare Moon, if you’re willing to.”
The night princess shook slightly, hearing the name of her alter-ego. “If you feel you must,” she sighed.
“How did Nightmare Moon start?”
“She started as a tiny voice in my head. She fed on my bitterness and jealousy towards my sister. The more I fed her, the stronger her voice became until it eventually consumed me.” Luna gave Razka a curious glance. “Why do you ask?”
“I’d rather not say right now.”
Luna reached out and took his hand in her hoof. “Please talk to me, Christopher. Please let me help you.”
“I’ll tell you when I return to Canterlot,” Razka said, looking into Luna’s brilliant blue eyes. “I suppose there’s a few things you deserve to know.”
Razka was jolted awake by General Strike nudging him. “Chairman, we’re here.”
Looking out the window of the train, Christopher saw that they were indeed in Ponyville. The sun was just starting to rise, painting the sky a brilliant orange. Now was not the time to admire nature’s beauty though, there was work that needed to be done.
“Out of the abyss peer the eyes of a demon. Behold the Razgriz, its wings of black sheath,” Razka whispered, still remembering the old legend his dad told him. He turned his attention back to Swift. “Get all of the Elements of Harmony to Sparkle’s library and set up a defensive perimeter.”
“Right away sir,” Strike said with a quick salute.
Razka looked back out the window. “Let’s show him what a true demon looks like.”
For the next few hours Razka and Strike set up a defensive perimeter around the town. Razka had the soldiers of the 501st round up the Elements of Harmony and brought them to Twilight’s library.
“Our soldiers are all in position, Razka,” Strike informed as he entered the library.
Razka was checking his gun, the CHK-75 he had when he was dragged into the portal. He was glad the rifle had a built-in 3D printer, allowing it to automatically refill an empty magazine. “Good, Sombra should-” An explosion cut the chairman off as both of them ran out to find the cause. Razka turned to Swift. “How the hell did he get through?” Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. Sombra’s forces were in the town before they even got there. “Son of a bitch! Strike, stay with the Elements!”
“Aren’t you staying here too?”
“You’re job is protect those six. Mine is to end this war.”
It took only seconds for the once peaceful town to erupt into chaos and destruction. The soldiers of the 501st, clad in their glossy midnight blue armor, clashed with Sombra’s forces, wearing matte black armor. Razka’s assault rifle launched a barrage at everypony in his path. The .50 caliber bullets tore through flesh like it was paper. The perimeter the 501st set up was rendered useless, forcing them to fend off enemies that were coming at them from all sides. Through all of chaos, the lone human punched through every pony that tried to stop him finding Sombra. But after just a few minutes, the chairman laid eyes on his target.
“You know I was worried you wouldn’t show,” Razka sneered.
“Let’s end this like the gentlemen we are. No magic, no weapons. Just raw strength,” Sombra proposed.
Razka grinned as he threw his rifle to the ground. “Just remember, you wanted this.”
The two warlords charged each other, Sombra’s horn aimed at Razka’s heart. Razka side-stepped out of Sombra’s way and brought his fists down on the king’s skull. Sombra collapsed to the ground, but was quick to get back on his hooves. Sombra charged again, but Razka was unable to counter him. Sombra’s red horn cut the chairman deeply across his chest.
“That’s it,” a voice said in Razka’s head. “I’M dealing with him now.”
“You’re weaker than I thought, Christopher,” Sombra taunted.
“MY NAME IS GRIMM!” he shouted, grabbing Sombra’s horn with both hands. “AND I WILL NOT LET YOU GET IN OUR WAY!”
Sombra directed all his energy to his horn and zapped Razka with everything he had, but the chairman didn’t let go. Razka could feel all of his veins burning in pain as he kept a firm grasp on Sombra’s red horn. The king’s eyes widened in fear as Razka whipped out a knife. “What are you!?”
“I am the demon of Razgriz reborn!” Razka roared as he brought the knife down on Sombra’s horn. Then everything went black.
The first thing Razka noticed when he woke up was the pain. The burning pain that seemed to be going through his veins. Whatever Sombra did to him, he was definitely feeling it. He could barely remember the fight. Taking the time to look around he quickly determined that he was in a hospital. Turning his head to the side he saw Princess Luna sleeping on a couch just a foot away from his bed. The Princess looked disheveled, like she had been in the room for a few days.
“We’re running out of time,” Grimm said.
“What the hell happened?” Razka whispered.
“When you were fighting Sombra, it looked like you needed my help. So I did.”
“Did you kill him?”
“I don’t know. We passed out when I cut off his horn.”
“Then he’s not dead.”
“Agreed.” There was a pause, as if Grimm was thinking about what he wanted to say next. “You can’t tell her about me. Not yet at least.”
Razka’s eyes shifted to the sleeping mare. “She knows what it’s like to have a voice in her head. She might be able to help BOTH of us. And don’t take it the wrong way, but I’d rather not end up being consumed by you.”
“Everything I do, I do for us. And we still need each other.”
“Until our war ends.”
“Chris, our war will never end. It won’t stop with the United States, it will continue until the world destroys us or we conquer it.”
“I’m still going to tell her. She deserves to know.”
“Fine,” Grimm grunted. “But I am not going to talk to her.”
“Just don’t have another outburst like you did with Celestia. I’m still shocked that we got out of that.”
“That won’t happen again.”
“It had better not. Once I’ve explained what I need to and we’re out of this hospital, we need to get the operation moving.”
“I may have weakened Sombra significantly, but he’s still alive. And as long as he’s alive, he and his army are still a major threat.”
“Exactly.”
“I’ll respect your decision, as long as it doesn’t change anything between us. We’re still in this together. And I’m confident we always will be.”
“Christopher?” Luna said as she slowly woke up.
“I’m awake,” he replied.
The midnight mare quickly trotted to the bed and gave Razka a tight embrace. Christopher grunted in slight pain. “I thought you were going to die.”
“It was that bad?”
“When you were fighting Sombra, at some point he blasted you with as much dark magic as he could. Had we not acted as quickly as we did, you probably would have died.”
“Is there any still left in me?”
“No, the doctors were able to get all of it out of you, again because of our speed. But you need to stay in bed for a few more days.”
Razka frowned at that bit of information. “How long was I out?”
“Three days.”
“THREE DAYS!?” Razka shouted. “What’s happening on Earth? What happened to Sombra?” he angrily demanded.
Luna put a reassuring hoof on his shoulder. “Everything’s fine on Earth. I’ve been in contact with Janet for the past three days and kept her informed on how you’ve been doing. She said there isn’t anything new to report and that progress is being made, but it’s just been slow. Sombra is still alive unfortunately, but you did manage to sever his horn. Our troops are all in position and ready to engage Sombra’s forces. The 501st is also ready to launch their campaign to the Crystal Empire.”
He let out a sigh of relief. At least nothing had gone to shit while he was out. “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”
“What is it?” she asked, concern clear in her voice.
“You’ve seen my dreams, so I assume you know about Razgriz.” When the princess nodded, he continued. “There are two sides to the Razgriz: the demon and the hero. Shortly after my father died and I began building CHECKMATE, I started hearing this voice in my head. As time went on, the voice began… giving me advice on how to make my company successful and achieve mine and my father’s goal. I named him Grimm, after my middle name. After all, he is a part of me. Grimm is the darker side to me. He’s evil, ruthless and willing to do whatever it takes to achieve our goals.”
“Christopher, if this is true, then you need to get rid of that voice right away.”
“No, he’s not like Nightmare Moon. I need him and he needs me. This war I’m fighting would never have happened if it wasn’t for Grimm. He knows his place and he has no intentions of taking over my mind.”
Luna gave Razka a weary look. “He WILL consume eventually. I started listening to the Nightmare too much and in time she was able to consume me. The same will happen to you if you don’t do anything.”
“You can’t possibly compare me and Grimm to you and Nightmare,” he retorted. “Nightmare fed off of your jealousy and eventual hatred towards your sister. Grimm and I are working together because we want to make the world a better place. He is the demon and I am the hero. In the legend, when man wields a hallowed sabre, the demon is slain. That sabre is the end of the war. When the war ends, there will no longer be a need for Grimm; only me. And I will rebuild what was destroyed. I will be the hero.”
“I suppose I cannot convince you to heed my warning,” Luna sighed.
“No you can not.”
“So why did you tell me this?”
“Think of yourself as a contingency. If something does go wrong, you’ll know exactly what’s going on and how to fix it.”
“You don’t trust him, do you?”
“Grimm can be a bit of a wildcard sometimes. But he has yet to give me reason to seriously question my trust in him. Still, I want to minimize the risk as much as I can.”
Whatever Luna was going to say, it was interrupted by General Swift Strike entering the room. Strike gave Razka a relieved smile, clearly happy to see that the chairman was finally awake.
“It’s good to see you’re finally awake, Chris,” Swift said. “Luna here refused to leave the room. Had to send her meals directly to the room,” he added with a chuckle.
“Tell me, Strike, what exactly happened after I passed out?” Christopher asked, eager to know what had happened.
“You saved the Elements’ lives. After you cut off Sombra’s horn, he and his army went into a full retreat.”
“Casualties?”
“The 501st suffered minimal casualties, only about a hundred seriously injured or dead. Civilian losses were near one hundred dead or seriously injured.” Razka frowned hearing the civilian casualties. “Enemy losses were over three hundred dead or captured.”
“When does our operation begin?”
“Two days.”
“Well let’s hope this pain in my veins ends by that time. Is there anything else I need to know, Strike?”
“I’m sure Luna will say the same, but don’t rush your recovery. You saved a lot of lives in Ponyville and nearly gave your own in the process. All we need you to do right now is recover and be patient. We have your plan and we’re going to follow every little bit of it.”
Razka let out a heavy sigh. “I suppose I can afford to be bedridden for a little longer. Besides, when we begin the counterattack, my direct involvement in the fighting shouldn’t be crucial to our early success.” He turned towards Luna. “You and Celestia will be helping the 501st, right?”
“Of course,” Luna answered.
“Good, then we shouldn’t have any problems on that front at least.” A deep yawn escaped Razka’s lips. “Well, surprisingly I’m still tired.”
“I’ll come back tomorrow,” Swift said with a nod before leaving the room.
“I only have one more question, Christopher,” Luna said once Swift closed the door behind him.
“Shoot.”
“I’ve been in your dreams multiple times. How come I’ve never seen Grimm before?”
“Because I’ve spent a long time keeping him hidden. That’s all I wish to say and now if you don’t mind, I’d like to get some more rest.”