Gladiator

by Not_A_Hat

32 - Pitched

"Ready?" Twilight asked. Nods went round. Everypony had their Element. Rarity had the gun; we'd started calling it Arglefraster, although I didn't like my secret key word being used openly. She could feed it power, and had the finesse to use it well. The plan was simple. One team would distract Shadow while the other made for the Heart.

"Okay, he should arrive soon. Let's move out."

The 'home' team, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, and I, waited patiently by the gap in the golem horde. The 'away' team, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Twilight, were hidden in the caboose. After considerable searching, we found a spot mostly out of sight, but with a clear view of a good teleport landing. Twilight would lift the team out once our diversion started.

And here came our target. Shadow was looking just as sinister today.

"Good morning, guests. You wanted to see me?" He stopped just before the barrier, posing for dramatic intimidation, cloak carefully draped. Rarity rolled her eyes.

"We had a question." Applejack stepped forward.

"Proceed."

"What do you plan for the Crystal Ponies?"

"They are subject to my Lord, King Sombra; their fate is his decision."

"Say what? King Sombra? Sombra's a no-good, dirty, rotten scoundrel. He ain't king of nopony. You'd best be letting them go, hear?" Antagonism was the plan, but Applejack's anger was no act.

"My!" He gasped, throwing his short cape back with a flourish. Rainbow snorted. "Harsh words. If I refuse?"

I stepped forward, hammer swinging loosely from my wrist.

"Then we have a problem." I twirled it lazily. "You won't like that."

"You hardly frighten me, Mister Kilmer."

"Maybe I need to be scarier." The shaft landed in my palm and I stepped out of the shield, momentum and posture focusing every ounce of power on my hammerhead. It hit a golem on the chest, and sank in with a loud crunch. The defenseless construct disintegrated.

"Really." Shadow quirked an eyebrow. "Simply terrifying." He stomped a hoof and magic swirled, gathering and re-assembling the golem. The animating windigo was quickly re-embodied. I hid a wince. That could be real trouble, but it was too late to stop the plan. We had to gamble on Arglefraster and our shields.

"I've tried being civil. I've tried being kind." He tapped the shield. It rang dully. "Do you really think this can stop me? Ha!" He threw his head back, laughing theatrically. "Only my better nature keeps me from crushing you as you deserve. You invade my territory, you insult and threaten me! I - "

"You're a coward." Rainbow stepped forward. "You're a fluffsucker who puffs and postures. My friend Fluttershy is twice the pony you are; she, at least, won't lie about her feelings."

Shadow's eyes flared as Rainbow started. He swelled visibly with anger while she spoke, and when she stopped, he looked ready to chew iron and spit nails.

I nodded approvingly. The plan was progressing nicely.

Shadow was packing serious magical chops. We only had one shot at the Crystal Heart, and we were depending on Twilight acting without interference. We needed to occupy Shadow, which meant being a threat he couldn't ignore.

We were picking a fight.

"I-"

"Shut up." I spat on him. The shield let it out to splatter his shiny shoes. "Could you please stop waving your stupid cape? Your infantile ranting and raving sickens me. Can't you hear yourself?" I rolled my eyes.

"You-" He was practically frothing at the mouth.

"Right, right. Look, buddy, you think you're hot stuff, but I scrape nastier things off my boots." Applejack yawned.

"Sombra-"

"Oh, puh-lease!" Rarity scoffed. "You don't think we care about that ruffian-" Shadow visibly snapped. He reared back, pointing and yelling.

"Windigolems, get them!"

He was literally dancing with rage. I stepped back, momentarily intimidated as the golems rose as one and hammered against our shield.

"Hold hold hold hold!" I muttered, watching the azure defense field thicken and flow, the minarchistic tessellation flashing as power was reallocated for efficiency. I sighed with relief when simple weight of numbers couldn't push through.

"Hah! Is this the best Sombra can do? We thought you might actually be a threat!" I laughed, loudly and clearly.

"GRAAAH!"

Shadow's tantrum was reaching epic proportions. His horn fizzled and arced; if he actually managed to release that spell, it could be trouble.

Do I look that dumb when I'm angry? I wondered idly, motioning for Rarity to deploy Arglefraster. We had the initiative, and intended to hold it.

KRAKATHOOM!

I winced; our comms had muffling systems, but they took a moment to activate. Shadow visibly reeled from the aural impact as Rarity opened fire. One drawback of physical projectiles was the sonic boom. I heard her laugh through my comm just as the dampening magic kicked in, bringing blessed silence. She looked like she was enjoying herself.

Arglefraster hovered slightly above and behind her, a thin cord of energy running from the gun's capacitor to her horn's tip. The barrel blurred as it auto-targeted, centering shots on nearby golems. It pulsed gently as Rarity fed it power. The propellant fields were nearly a meter long, and the spread of fire was small enough, a pretty silver stream rippled from the muzzle. The rate of fire was moderately low for a squad automatic weapon, only ten rounds per second, but the effect of the onslaught was impressive.

The press of golems literally disintegrated. They were soft enough for my hammer to crush. These bullets were smaller, but much, much faster. Arglefraster was programmed to place shots in the center of mass, though Rarity guided the general direction. It wouldn't shoot anything flesh-and-blood; even jumping into the fire zone would cause it to turn away. Rainbow - at full speed - might intercept a bullet. The rest of us were safe from friendly fire. It should even scan through walls, though the crystal buildings were tougher than golems.

Unfortunately, this also meant Shadow was safe. I don't think he realized it; he was too mad to think straight. He stormed straight at the shield, head down, horn alight. The golems drew back, running from the sleeting fusillade. Rarity followed, giggling hysterically. They circled sideways, leaving a trail of crushed glass. It looked nearly as fun as bubble-wrap.

I hope Twilight's on her way. I don't think he'll get more distracted. Shadow hit the shield with a brilliant flash. I whistled softly as his spell peeled the barrier back. Penetrating military-grade protection was no small potatoes.

"We can't let him in!" I waved Rainbow and Applejack forward. "Let's push back!"

He stood in an empty space, the golems leaving him room. Another reformed as I watched. If we wanted a decisive win, we needed to disable that repair spell, which meant putting Shadow out of commission. Willing to take that challenge, the three of us stepped up and threw down.

We didn't expect an easy fight. Sombra had wiped the floor with Twilight and I; Shadow was his lieutenant, and if he was half the mage his boss was, we would be hard-pressed. Magic was a great leveler. Twilight could probably reach orbit with the right spell. Rarity could horn-power a machine gun. Rainbow regularly broke the sound barrier. It wasn't just energy density, but also conversion speed. I could cross town the same as Scootaloo, but she was nearly seven times faster on flat ground. Unicorns cast spells, pegasi flew, and earth ponies were ridiculously strong and tough.

I had a hammer.

Still, training counted for a lot. I aimed a blow at Shadow's horn, and nearly finished the battle right there.

He pulled back, letting his shield-cutting spell dissipate. It looked like he was yelling. My earpiece was still muffling noises, but he surely wasn't complimenting me.

"And the same to you." I smirked, stepping back as he retaliated. He howled impotently as his hooves bounced off the shield. I made a note to thank Celestia; her defenses were no slouch. "Now, Rainbow!"

The comms picked up skull vibration. I would have liked to hear my surroundings, but at least we could still communicate. Rainbow swooped in as Shadow retreated, trying to deny us the shield. Once again, we surprised him. Her flying kick literally sent him sprawling. I frowned as he bounced back, barely shaken. He should have felt that.

Applejack didn't hesitate. As he stood, she moved in and loosed one of her signature kicks, catching him right on the knee. I whistled; that was an excellent choice, but far more brutal than I'd expected from the compassionate mare. My surprise redoubled when Shadow's leg literally fell off. All three of us froze in shock as fractures traced the rust-red limb, and it crumbled to dust. Shadow gnashed his teeth, eyes rolling in wrath.

"I thought we were overestimating him!" I yelped. The windigolem repair spell encased the limb, repairing it. "Looks like we've got a serious fight here, mares. Let's kick it up a notch." We dove back in, but our momentary hesitation had cost us the initiative; our opponent was ready.

I'd meditated thoroughly that morning, and it showed. I could calmly evaluate events, reacting rationally instead of emotionally. My reflexes were fast and smooth. I pushed hard, trying to pull pressure off Applejack, the fighter we'd worked with least. Shadow showed his skill, managing to cast several support spells. We obstructed, but he was tougher than a golem or a flesh-and-blood pony. We pounded him hard, but he slowly wore us down. Thankfully, the other team moved fast. A few long minutes in, Twilight reached the Crystal Palace.

I could tell because I got a moment of static on my comm, and then the ground shook. Shadow and the golems whipped their heads towards the source.

"Seriously, more explosions!" Rainbow grumbled. "And I don't even get to watch!"

"Come on, Rainbow." I sidestepped a kick. "Cool ponies don't look at explosions."

"Sorry, mares." Twilight broke radio silence, abandoning stealth. "The door was stuck."

"Now it's ajar!" Pinkie added.

"I bet." Applejack stepped in, trying to exploit Shadow's hesitation. I followed.

"This was a trap?" His eyes were wide in disbelief.

"Duh." Rainbow swooped in, clocking him upside the head. "You think we're kicking your flank just because it's hilarious? We have objectives too."

"To Tartarus with you. To Tartarus with your objectives!" He whipped around, searching for a gap in our defense.

"Eenope." Applejack, Rainbow and I closed ranks, backing him towards the shield. "Can't let you do that." His eyes narrowed as he realized our true motives. He lowered his head, and charged.

We hit him together. He turned a complete flip sideways in midair before slamming into the wall. Those three full-power strikes, coordinated as one, would kill a normal pony. We needed him here; beating his stuffing out through his nose was merely a bonus. This time, he actually looked disoriented as he staggered to his feet. A second later he was back in the fight.

I was picking myself off the ground, trying to keep broken golem out of my face, when the next report came.

"I'm at the Crystal Heart. Rainbow was right; it's heavily defended. I'll do my best to disarm the system before using the elements. Everypony ready? Wesley, sure you'll be alright?" I glanced at the shield; it was still standing firm.

"Yeah." I sprang to my feet, and charged back into the fray just as a sizzling bolt of power flung Rainbow back. I barely intercepted a strike aimed to shorten Applejack by a head, and devoted myself to frantically surviving a brawl with a battlemage several ranks above my pay grade. "Be fast. This is quickly going south." We were barely holding our own, and time wasn't our ally.

Once the Elements charged, their power should protect the wielders. I would get behind the shield, and after they were done with the Heart, Shadow would get his due. I hope it hurts him, I thought, as Applejack took a crushing blow to the side.

"Where'd you learn to fight like that?" I gasped.

"School of hard knocks." She shook the blow off, and stepped back in. "And a few tricks from the rodeo circuit." She was holding her own much better than I expected; I didn't think her soft, but strong and effective were different.

Suddenly, a gasp came over the comm.

"Trouble, mares!" Twilight was frantic. "The trap activated; spells inbound! They're weakened and won't hold us long, just try and-AAAAAAAAA!" I winced as her shriek cut off.

"Get back!" I yelled, taking a risky strike at Shadow's horn. "Rarity, cover us!" He dodged, retreating enough we could disengage. Our withdrawal surprised him; he couldn't hear our voices. Maybe deafening noise wasn't all bad. The golems behind us crumbled, and we dashed for the shield. The exclusion matrix let us through easily, but Shadow bounced with an audible clang. The sudden return of noise surprised me. Rarity was panting, a wild look in her eye, but Arglefraster dissolved as we gathered. She passed me the horseshoe.

"You might need this." The mares gathered in a knot, facing every way at once.

"Watch our backs, Wes." Rainbow landed, and put her shoulder alongside her friends.

"Always."

Suddenly, three glittering missiles slammed through the shield. Jagged holes gaped for a split second. My friends froze, caught in a silvery field, expressions twisted into horror, shock, and surprise. They were trapped, caught like flies in amber.

I stood before them, breath suddenly loud in my ears. The surroundings were shockingly still at the sudden cessation of battle.

"Ha!" Shadow was panting too. I wondered if that was simply habit, or if his crystal body actually needed oxygen. "Hah, hah ahah! Fools! Sombra's magic is not to be toyed with!" He lowered his horn, and it sparkled. I thought desperately as he prepared his assault. I was suddenly alone, but there was no way Twilight had given up. She'd seen the spell coming. She'd be working something out. I just needed to hold.

"Stop." I activated my gun and took aim. It couldn't fire at a flesh-and-blood pony, but he was closer to the windigolems. Maybe the next step in whatever twisted scheme Sombra abandoned his body for.

"That won't hurt me." He paused his casting, and the gleam of a personnel shield shimmered on his barrel. "I could shrug those silly little pellets off all day." He eyed me for a second. "Did you help construct that? It's quite intriguing." Satisfied he could attack at will, he took a moment to inspect his cape, face darkening at every rent and rip.

"I worked on it." I tried to regulate my breathing. Any time bought for my friends escape was worth it. "Want a closer look?"

"Don't worry; I'll have my chance after taking it from your corpse."

"Think it will be that easy?"

"Pish, yes." He found one of his black horseshoes and slipped it on, buffing it carefully. "I'll section this shield like an orange, once my minions recover." I glanced around; sure enough, the windigolem ranks were almost rebuilt. If he penetrated the shield, I couldn't dream of resisting. Our lives would be forfeit. I grit my teeth and resolved to gamble on one last shot, screw the consequences.

"Tell me, why do you work for Celestia the tyrant?"

"What?" I was honestly confused. "Have you even met her?"

"Of course! A more overbearing, pompous, arrogant pony I have never seen!"

"Ever look in the mirror?"

"Hah! No, you will not push me to recklessness again. Come now, Wesley, right? Sombra mentioned you. You have something of his, a soul crystal. He'd like it back, but might accept you in his service. It would be worth much to me if you'd consider joining us. We pay more than the Sun Alicorn, I promise." He smirked, dark delights gleaming in his eyes. "Really, the benefits are delicious. Haven't you felt the world is too small for you? Join us. You will have power!" I shuddered, revulsion wracking me.

"We're not so different, you and I? Are you serious?" I didn't bother hiding my scorn. He thought I was in this for money? Power?

"Deadly." His horn sparked to life, and he leveled it on the shield with a screech. The defense again peeled back under his pressure.

"You understand nothing." Disgust welled in me, and I locked him in my crosshairs. "You think I'm here for pay?" His eyes widened in puzzlement and I continued, the volume of my voice increasing. "Is money and power all you creeps understand? Is that all you want from life?" I was screaming now, anger coursing through my body.

"What else is there?" He yelled back. "I'm about to prove my superiority on your body. Try not to regret your decision." He smirked.

"Regret? Hah! Over the past year, I learned there is evil!" I ran my hands frantically over Arglefraster's controls. Enough! This was the end. He watched with detached bemusement. "I don't know everything I've become, or am becoming! But I'm realizing one thing; I don't hate fighting. I might actually like it. I'm good at it, even if it hurts! That's part of what was so confusing. What I hate is murder. Being forced to kill innocents, even shaped like bugs, tore me up! But sometimes, sometimes my opponents aren't innocent." I smiled beatifically, the heat of anger transmuting into cold, righteous rage. The gun dissolved, the crystals rearranged, hair-thin whispers of power re-routed controls. "I'm starting to see. To people like you, murder and execution are indistinguishable. Not me. I'm not a killer. I. Am. A. Warrior! Don't whine when I turn your 'might makes right' back at you!"

"Oh, please. I've seen what that can do, and-"

I tapped the targeting stud, and the rebuilt gun snapped into shape. His eyes widened and he jerked away, but his horn was deep in the shield, and the energy matrix held him firmly.

"I didn't come this far without a trump in reserve!" Arglefraster was basically, a railgun. At its core was a very, very over-complicated function; it cast one spell, accelerate, on one thing, ice. Each and every extra made it more efficient, user-friendly, and safe...er.

Each and every one could be disabled.

The reconfigured system was stripped of every safety. It was jagged and vicious, a paean to brutal violence. The vortex crystals quivered, barely restraining the horrendous potential focused on an icicle as long as my arm. I spat the second safety phrase, and loosed it.

<"Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker.">

---

My ears were ringing when I regained consciousness. The shockwave had actually thrown me several feet. I muzzily sat up, trying to gather my scattered thoughts.

"You okay there, sugarcube?" I jumped slightly as Applejack nudged me.

"Wha?" I turned, trying to focus on her. Rarity and Rainbow were nearby. "Made it?"

"Yeah, the trap was a memory spell. We mostly made it through Ok." Rainbow shot Applejack a telling glance, but the cowpony didn't notice. "Good job holding your own. The hay you do?"

"Arglefraster?" I asked. Rarity held out the gun. I accepted it, and inspected the vortex crystals; they were, shockingly, unburnt. I wondered briefly how our pocket battleship cannon would fare against a changeling queen. "I shot him." I handed the gun back. "Bang." I slumped, wincing as my head bounced off the pavement. "That gun has a second setting. All-in-one. Surprised it didn't destroy the load compensator. What's left of the fool?"

"Gravel and dust." Rarity gave the battleground a sober glance. "The windigolems are gone, too. Seems everything turned out OK."

"Alright." I gathered myself together. "Let's see about the Heart." I tapped my earpiece back into my ear. "Twilight, you there?"

"Huff. Huff. Yeah. I'm here." She was panting heavily. "What was that noise?"

"I went medieval on Shadow's flank. He's not going to bother us anymore, you're good to go."

"Fine. Good. Let's do this."

"Twilight..." I paused, unsettled. Something in her voice made me wonder what that memory magic had been, but I wasn't quite willing to speak. What if I made things worse? They didn't seem hurt.

"Here goes. Wes, brace yourself."

I scooted back against the train, leaning on a wheel and relaxing my muscles, concerns pushed aside. Choose to act and move forward. We'd work it out as we went. I bit my lip as the Elements activated. The three mares near me closed their eyes and started glowing, auras stretched towards the castle, but fading quickly into invisibility. I felt the pain wash over me. It seemed slightly less. Maybe distance had some effect?

I braced myself against the magical flow and tried centering my mind, activating the meditation patterns I was studiously practicing under Lyra's guidance.

Jedi's going to be mad, I thought, trying to distract myself as best I could. I really shouldn't have gotten that worked up over Shadow. I didn't really regret nuking the monster; he had it coming in spades. Holding four thousand hostages and impeding our rescue? That's all I knew he was guilty of. It would have been nice to drag him before the High Court, but his fate didn't bother me. If he really is dead. It had been ridiculously hard to hurt Sombra.

Wondering, I cracked an eye. It had easily been five minutes since the Elements activated; what was taking them so long?

I slid my gaze over Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow. They were still floating in the air, their nimbus of power gently pulsing. But something seemed...off to me.

I staggered over, peering closely into their faces. As I watched, Applejack's expression twisted, anguish showing slightly.

"Horsefeathers." I slapped my forehead, recalling my reservations from minutes earlier. "Something did go wrong. How long is Sombra going to outmaneuver us like that?" I slumped to the ground again; if they weren't defeated in the first moment, they could hold a bit longer. What should I do?

I dropped my head to my hands, and thought hard through the haze of pain. My brain was sluggish and unresponsive, but I cudgeled it into performing. Eventually, I forced myself to my feet and wandered off in the general direction of the castle. I had an idea but I needed to be near Twilight, and I wanted a better look at what was happening.

---

"Holy crow."

The castle had a gaping hole in the wall, easily meters across. The ward had a neat circle too, centered right in the middle of the gap. A small blue object held it open.

"What did Twilight do here?" It looked like she not only destroyed the wall, but also exploited a syntactic flaw in the ward design to completely bypass the magic defense. The shield made a clean half-circle around a perfectly ordinary Mason jar, held about three feet back all round by whatever phenomenotional keys decided access. I ducked through the hole, carefully not touching either the magic or the jar.

"Of course." I giggled incoherently as I traced the advance party's steps. "It's probably based on a pun. When is a door not a door?" The linguistic structure of magic gave me endless headaches. It was worse even than English; instead of simply borrowing words from other languages, new component words and spells were invented by magicians trying to define concepts with no clear meaning, or worse, concepts that changed meaning based on circumstance.

They were then categorized by effect into 'schools', which had names that seemed generated by alphabet dice. The process seemed silly to me. Bizzanarchy, for instance, grouped spell-words used to change natural phenomena. The gravity spell we researched fell there. However, when I pointed out it could just also be part of Kinesthism, the magic of manipulating movement, Twilight told me that school was usually used for variations on the telekinesis spell.

The fact most magicians had no idea what magic actually did to the world wasn't helpful, either. They thought of magic as 'fields of reason', and very few considered how it actually changed reality. The way Twilight and I had successfully meshed spells from nine incompatible schools when we made Arglefraster was a deeper understanding of what the effects actually meant.

To be fair, magic was such high-level manipulation a magician usually didn't need to consider the lower-level reality. Turning an apple into an orange was difficult not because of rearranging atoms and energy, but the conceptual difference between the two fruits. Still; knowledge was power, and a deeper understanding of how reality worked was a definite edge.

Not that Twilight really needed much of an edge. For the magic language, she was a poet or lyricist. Her penetration of the wards showed just how far above 'average' her understanding of magic went; cracking a spell using conceptual logic alone showed a mastery of the basics that hinted at her truly prodigious talent. Still, she wasn't the only clever pony out there, and truly lacked experience compared to her opponents. Sombra had showed himself her better several times, and this looked like it might be another.

"What have you gotten your fuzzy self into now?" I mumbled, as I staggered into the central hall.

The Crystal Heart dominated the scene. It looked similar to last time; surprisingly small, bravely blue, and meshed in a spiny cage of evil black crystal. The mirrors and the 'magic clock' were gone; probably part of the trap.

This time, the cage hung from the ceiling. The artifact was suspended just above the dais. Three ponies were arrayed before it.

Twilight was, of course, on point. She stood, eyes white, expression lost and haunted, staring at her goal but unable to achieve it. To her left was Fluttershy, curled up into a nearly perfect sphere of shivering yellow feathers. Pinkie was on the left, standing strong, her expression stern and sad, but strangely beautiful. Her mane lay flat, and I stayed carefully away; I'd been warned about 'Pinkamena', and wasn't risking anything.

I finally stood before them, and took one last long look into the Heart. It's depths gleamed darkly deep, and I thought a green eye winked back. I braced myself and considered what I was doing.

I still was still unsure on the mind-link. Twilight claimed it wasn't causing problems. That seemed right, but I still had reservations. It was just so alien I had trouble trusting it, useful as it was. Also, it seemed caused by my crystal. Anything connected to that I wanted no part of.

It was useful though, and right now it seemed the only way for me to affect what was happening. Sombra's trap hadn't failed; that was becoming obvious. What the effect had been, I couldn't tell. But I refused to simply wait, leaving the load on my friends, not while I could help.

Even if this was going to hurt.

I took a few deep breaths, steeled myself, pulled out my horn and touched the tip of Twilight's. There was a snap, like a huge invisible spark, and she was in my mind.

"Twilight!" I yelled, teeth clenched. The pain pounded me; the power of the Elements washed through and around our mindlink, and shallow as it was, it burned.

"Huh?" Her thought was soft, confused. Was she crying?

"Twilight, pull yourself together!" I could feel, through the Elements, the connection to the crystal. Sombra's dark magic washed across, a foul effulgence that tainted their power and bound them.

"Who are you? How do you know me?"

"Snap out of it, Twilight! It's Wes, your friend! Focus!"

"I...I don't have friends." She sniffled, and an image crept across the link. The inside of...a book fort? A small, lonely purple foal huddled inside.

"HORSEAPPLES!" She recoiled from my profanity but I followed, deepening the link. "What about Fluttershy? Applejack? Pinkie, Rainbow, Rarity? What about Spike? Shining? Celestia?" I felt muted recognition of the names, although Shining brought bitterness and confusion.

"You...you're hurting." There was wonder in her voice as she glimpsed my mind, curiosity appearing as she saw my sensations and feelings. She lingered for a second on the Crystal Heart, but gasped in horror as a fraction of my torment crept in.

"For...me?"

"For all of you." I ground out, frustrated and in pain. Why did I have to be the one to pull their flanks out of the fire? My bitterness faded a bit as an image of Fluttershy, soaking wet but searching the Everfree for me, came to mind; or Pinkie, who heard me whimper in my sleep from the next room and thought to help. Oh, right. Team. I pushed that thought over the link; the feelings of trust and comradeship I'd started to build on this trip, the way our talents all fit together and complemented each other. How we worked as one, forming a whole stronger and more able than any part, by covering our own shortcomings with another's strength. "For me, too." I admitted, showing my own unwillingness to give up, a stubborn pride that had hurt me in the past, but kept me going long past my limits when I needed strength beyond strength, even to the teeth of bitter despair.

"You're...Wesley." That caught her; my self-image of stubborn defiance cleared her mind a bit, and the mindlink wavered, a taste of reality flowing in. The image of loneliness, friendless anguish, and despair shook as Twilight threw her mental weight against the walls trapping her. With a stretching, bending feeling, she re-captured some of who she was.

"Sombra's trap had two parts." She threw the information at me all in a rush. "He's forcing us back to desperate spots in our life. He expected Shadow to fail, he expected us to reach the Heart. We didn't escape at all! He reversed his link to it, and struck back through our own power. He's trying to break our connections to each other, and cut our connections to our Elements."

"Well, fight!"

"Of course!" I felt her draw on my strength, borrowing a bit of my stubborn anger to fuel her fortitude. I saw her plan; rally the Elements, push Sombra back with a surge of power, crush him with the strength of her friends. I smiled; he'd never know what hit him. Finesse was great, but sometimes brute force was best. I lifted my horn, and gasped in relief as the link broke.

It still hurt, though. I leaned into the pain, striding away from the dais, and turning to watch the tableau. Soon, the Elemental nimbus around my friends pulsed and grew; as it expanded, I saw crackles of dark energy running through it, Sombra's attack. Twilight grit her teeth, and Fluttershy staggered to her feet. Pinkie strode a single step, and their power lashed out, crashing into the Heart.

The Heart flashed. The cage of crystal caught fire, the ghostly flame consuming it with frightening speed, burning back into the ceiling. I watched in fascination as glowing energy zipped through the translucent walls, excoriating the evil magic wherever it lay. The Heart gleamed softly and fell to the floor with a surprisingly loud clang. I saw a pain-filled eye wink from it's depths, anger and hate writ clear, and cheered.

"Yeah! Go team!" I threw my hands in the air as the power faded from around the three, taking the pain with. "Good job!" I strode forward, planning to join the inevitable group hug. My steps slowed as they looked around in confusion, blank stares obvious in their soft eyes.

"Huh?" Pinkie, hair still fairly flat, glanced around. "What...who...?" Fluttershy caught sight of me, gave an adorable "Eeep!" and curled back into a ball.

"I...Ow!" Twilight caught my gaze, curiosity evident in her face, but her blank expression returned as she clapped a hoof to her temple. "Ow, ow, ow! I've never had such a headache." She paused, curiosity again creeping into her expression. "Or have I? OW!"

Mind whirling, I calmly walked over to the dais and innocently collected the Crystal Heart. It was about fifteen inches across, and six thick; I slipped it casually into my pack, before turning to my friends.

"Twilight? Pinkie? Fluttershy? Are you OK?"

"I think I-Ow!" Pinkie started speaking, but clapped a hoof to her head. "Maybe? Thinking is really hard right now. Please don't ask me to do that again?" She gave me a soulful gaze.

"Oh. Um." I thought for a minute. "Ok, why don't you three just...stay here for a bit? I need to...check something."

Sombra seemed to be out of the picture. His link was well and truly cut. As best I knew, Shadow's defeat had disabled the windigolems, and the windigos themselves weren't much of a threat as long as you weren't actually fighting. Besides, there were much fewer with the swarm harassing Shining and Cadence.

My friends should be okay, but I needed to check on the three at the train. This...mental block, was a problem. I didn't have many options myself, but if I could get to Rarity, maybe her magic could help. Perhaps being further away from the Heart had insulated them from the backlash.

I sighed, and started trudging back, mentally tallying injuries and resources. My body hurt less, but my problems weren't gone; just different. This was going to be a very long day.

Comments

[JBL]

Guh. I hope this means this arc is coming to an end. Not that there was anything particularly wrong with it; it just felt kinda.... blaaah. I know you said that this story isn't grimdark (and I agreed with you there), but I do have to wonder how much mental and physical trauma Wes can keep going through in such a relatively short period of time. I don't expect him to start murdering ponies with a chainsaw or anything like that, but I keep feeling that something has got to give.

[Ninjahzzzz]

....Erm,So its a SAW,An auto-turret,AND a sniper rifle?.......Jeez,Add in shotgun mode and maybe a lock on explosive function and you made a one weapon full range of attack........Actually,Tia,Lulu,Why not just oh,I dont know,Get more of these damn things made?!

Also,the all in one thing came to mind as a blue reskin of the halo needler

[sjo3989]

thanks for the update. I enjoyed reading it.

[Not_A_Hat]

4174108 Fascinating. Could elaborate on blaaah? ;)

Well, I don't intend this story to be grimdark. It's entirely possible that I'm coming across as more depressing and dreary than I want to.

Do you think I'm being too hard on Wes? I put him in a world of giants to give him something to work towards, and to help combat The Sue. Given time, he may reach their level; I just want to be sure he earns it. If you think he could use a bit more luck, or even more downtime, I might throw that in; unfortunately, I didn't seem to do too well when I last tried.

Thing is, I actually intended this to be an uptick for him, mentally; he's got a reason to fight now, and actually manages to use his skills and abilities to fair effect. Not that I'm trying to explain how you should feel about my writing; if it doesn't support itself, the fault lies with me.

The cliffhanger probably isn't helping, either. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't update quickly. This is the lowest point, mood-wise, for the arc; his predicament gets rather better, in a fairly silly manner, next chapter. We will see; I hope that doesn't disgust you more. :P

Maybe I need a pre-reader. I could actually maybe work with one, now I have some idea what my workflow is. It might help with perspective, which is honestly one of the hardest parts of this. I'm trying to convey emotions, and it's very difficult for me to judge how well I'm doing, since I already feel it.

Anyways, thanks for the comment; hope my rambling doesn't bore you.

[Not_A_Hat]

4174564 Mass production is a no-go; Arglefraster costs more than the annual GDP of Ponyville. (Vortex crystals are not cheap.) Also, while it does hit harder than the tac cannon in one-shot mode, the bigger gun can do that every few minutes, as Twilight demonstrated. Since she is the only pony who could pull that off, and even then only with risk, that was thrown out of Arglefraster.

It's real advantage is size and the auto-target. The guard has weapons with similar capabilities, although maybe not all together, for much, much cheaper. R&D will probably be interested in the pseudo-matter shieldstuff, but the auto-target can't distinguish friendlies. It won't replace a trained gunner anytime soon. Academics, however, will proclaim it an abomination and declare it can't exist, because it violates at least seven rules of magic. Such as they are.

Ok, so maybe I went overboard. Hey, I did it because Wes and Twi hadn't really built anything super cool yet, despite having a sweet lab. Perhaps there will be more magitek later; I really like the idea, although restraining myself from adding everything may be difficult. If you start with "If I had magic, and infinite resources, how would I make this work?" you can get pretty dang far before you realize you're building a giant, unobtanium plot-hole.

Ooo, the blue needler. Pretty good! I didn't have a very clear picture of that myself; at least, not something I could point to.

[Not_A_Hat]

4167888 Is your avatar Dr. McNinja?

I don't play Mortal Kombat much, but there was a story around here which was basically Sub-Zero in Equestria. I don't think it's updated, unfortunately.

[Not_A_Hat]

4175512 You're welcome! I'm glad you liked it.

[damnaion]

dan dan dan hummmm

[Fluttershade5200]

I would have called the gun the B.F.F.G. for Big Fucking Friendship Gun

[GoldenCyclone4]

Best. Codephrase. Ever!

[StarChaser01]

It should have been "I'M A FIRRN MAH LAZZOR!!!"

[Xaerouzle]

I noticed that you mentioned "School of hard knocks". It's a great story.

[dargonax]

Twilight and wes are legion.

[ValenTino855]

<"Yippee-ki- yay , hijo de puta">

HAHAHAHAHAHA OH GOD!!