//------------------------------// // The Final Confrontation // Story: Continuing the Dream // by Blue Breeze //------------------------------// Author's Note: Ah, here it finally is. The big climax to the Taurtarus arc. The big fight with the group going up against Grim Blade, the lord of the undead. This is sure to be an amazing fight(I hope. Please don't kill me if not.). Now, let's get this shit started! On with the story! After Celestia knows how long we've been down here, and after defeating countless monsters and enemies, we're finally ereaching the final circle where Grim Blade has Razor Graze held up. Even though we still have to climb back up on our own, the hardest part of our journey is nearly over. I can feel it. Soon we'll all be going back home to our friends and marefriends and go back to our... still crazy, but not as crazy, lives. After fighting Glare, we had continued our way through the cave, luckily nothing trying to attack us. Now all that's left is that flankhole Grim Blade. I don't care what kind of power he's supposed to have, we WILL win this fight no matter what. As we make our way through the cave, we find a staircase that leads down. We all exchange glances again. "Any of you who want to turn back now? Because ter this is the point of no return." I warn. Everypony is silent as I see the determination on each of their faces. I take one last look at the staircase before nodding. "Okay then, let's go." In Grim's throne room Grim looks the portal blankly. "Oh buck." he starts getting angry before throwing his hooves in the air. "NO! THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING!" Graze just smirks at him. "Oh, it's happening. And in just a few minutes, we're gonna tear you apart." Grim growls. "If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself. Though I hate to do so, I'll just have to kill you all myself." As we walk down the stairs, we can hear screaming becoming louder and louder. As we near the bottom, we see a a set of large, stone doors being guarded by a grey earth pony in a black cloak. He shakes in fear as we near the bottom. "S-Stop in the name of the Grave Ponies!" he yells nervously. Vine narrows her eyes at the pony. "A Grave Pony, huh?" "T-That's right! You b-better not mess with us!" he trembles, trying to look tough but utterly failing at it. Vine silently growls before summoning a vine that throws him against the celing, knocking him out cold and leaving a large bump on his head. "Wasn't that a bit harsh? Poor guy looked like he was about ready to wet himself." I say. "He looked like he was gonna faint to me." Rhino says. Vine shrugs. "He was in our way. And besides, you all already know my stance on Grave Ponies." "And I like it. They deserve it for what they've put us through." Dark says with annoyance. "Whatever. Can we just go in already? I'm getting antsy." Ice says. "Indeed." Zeph says. Again with that. "Yeah, I'm ready to go." Drax says. "Ready when you guys are." Orion joins in. "Alright, then let's do this!" I shout. We push open the heaving doors, making a creaking sound. As the doors open, we look inside to see a very upset looking Grim Blade sitting in his throne and a slightly beat up Razor Graze tied to a wall. Graze smiles as he sees us. "About time you guys showed up! It's literally been hell down here!" "You try going through nine floors of this place. It's not easy." I say. Grim sighs. "Idiots." he says quiet ly before jumping out of his throne. (Music for dramatic effect) Grim eyes all of us angrily, the hatred radiating from his eyes. "It really is mazing that not only you made it done here, but all eight of you made it down here in one piece." I stomp a hoof. "Yeah, and we;'re here to take Graze back, so hoof him over." Vine also stomps. "Yeah, you darn Grave Ponies. Or else I'm going to give you a permanent Grave." Grim smirks. "Ah, the Vine Pony. I could've swore we wiped you all out a long time ago." "Never! The Vine Ponies wil never fall to the likes of you! Death can never defeat life!" "Ah, that is true. We need both death and life to maintain balance in the universe. Without the other, one has no meaning." "Why is you're holding Graze anyway?! He was wrongfully put here!" I shout. "Yeah! This has been a load of buck!" Graze adds. "I'm simply doing my job." "What?" "Yes, it is the job of the Grave Ponies, especially myself to make sure no one leaves Taurtarus, wrongfully put here or not." "Well, buck your job! We're taking Graze back and that's all there is to it!" Dark shouts angrily. "For once you took the words right out of my mouth, Dark." I say. Grim growls. "If you fools wish to throw your lives away, then so be it!" Grim's horn starts to give off a glow. 'Skeletal Thralls!" out from the ground comes a back of skeletal diamond dogs holding weapons in their claws. Well, I knew this was coming. I say bring it on. (Last random battle to go) As a dog comes into rush me, I block its axe with a wing before pushing it back with my hooves. I charge up a hoof and hit it right in the ribcage, making it fly out into pieces. Zephyr gets ready to dodge as a dog comes at him. It flails a mace at him repeatedly, but he easily dodges the blows. As it swings again, Zephyr grabs the mace and twists the dog's arm off, taking the mace for himself. With one good swing he sends the head flying off, making the body go limp. Drax gets up close and usual against his as you'd expect. As he goes in for a punch, the dog uses a shield to block. Drax repeatedly punches the withered and rusty shield over and over again until it breaks. With nothing else to fight with, the dog gets a strong buck from Drax, breaking it into pieces. Dark wastes no time against his foe as he uses his blades to block the blade swings of the dog. When he sees an opportunity, he cleaves it to pieces, beating it effortlessly. Orion duck under a swing from a dog and grabs it by the leg. He flies around, holding it tightly. He flies close to a wall and drags it along it. Once done, he throws it down to the ground, breaking it up. Ice uses his ice slide to ram into a dog, holding onto it as he does so. He goes up a small ramp and jumps backward once reaching the top. He finishes with a huge piledriver to the dog, taking it out. Vine gets a dog using a bow, meaning she has to play it cautiously. The dog continuously fires arrows at her, making her dodge. As she dodges, keeping it busy, Ciel gets behind the dog and trips it up. With the dog on its back, Vine stomps, making a hard vine stab the dog straight through. While everyone else is busy fighting, Rhino sneaks over to Graze and uses his horn to pich the locks on his chains. After Graze is free, Rhino uses his friction magic to make the collar slide off of Graze's head, giving him full reign over his powers again. (End battle music) Grim's jaw drops as he witnesses all of his forces destroyed and his prisoner freed. We all just gather around across from him and glare, ready to end it. He growls. "You have not won yet! I refuse to let you win! Time that you all faced the true power of the Lord of Taurtarus!" I have a bad feeling about this. Author's Note: Pesky cliffhangers. Am I right?