Chapter 17. Faceoffs and Showdowns and Duels, Oh My!
Pilum growled angrily as he slid on his hooves across the floor, barely dodging the spikes of crystal as they erupted around him. Finally, he wheeled around to face the minotaur that was attacking him, utterly unscathed.
The same however, could not be said of the soldiers that had followed him.
Everywhere the General looked, their corpses lay strewn about the cavern, either whole or in multiple pieces. Some were impaled on crystal spikes and fallen stalactites while others had portions of their bodies either caved in or simply ripped off.
“Credit given where credit’s due,” Pilum snarled. “You’re more skilled than you look.”
Iron Will snorted as he tapped the club in his hand. “Please. Iron Will and his friends were the ones who busted Scholar out of Tartarus. Do you really think you can beat me?”
“Who knows...” The General muttered. Slowly, he reached a hoof into his armor and withdrew a foot-long cylinder. Then with a flick of his hoof, the cylinder extended in both directions so that it transformed into six feet of rune-engraved metal. Topped at both ends with glowing magical blades.
With an expertise only achievable through years of practice, the Earth Pony swung the staff around his body in a precise controlled manner, carving a path of light through the air before finally slamming the blade into the ground before him. “Let’s find out.”
Iron Will gave a roar of fury as he and Pilum charged at each other. The minotaur swung his club in from the left, intent on taking his opponent’s head clean off his shoulders. However, the plan failed when his weapon was halted dead in its tracks by the spear.
The bronze-armored minotaur snorted furiously as he leaned in until he was face-to-face with the pony. “That’s... impressive...” He grunted as he struggled to overcome his adversary.
Pilum grit his teeth as he pushed back with his spear. “Runes... don’t underestimate them...”
Iron Will growled as he grit his teeth. “Well... in that case... don’t... underestimate... Iron Will!” He raised his hoof and slammed it hard into the ground, shaking the whole of the cavern.
Pilum’s eyes shot wide open in shock before he jerked backwards, a falling stalactite suddenly entering the space he once occupied and obscuring him from sight.
Iron Will breathed heavily as he leaned forwards and rested on his mace. “How’s that?” He asked himself quietly.
“You’re not bad.”
Iron Will’s eyes shot wide open in shock upon receiving an answer. He tried to move in any direction, to dodge...
SHNKT!
In vain.
“But I’m better.”
“RAGH!” Iron Will roared in pain as he whipped his free hand to his left shoulder, where the General’s spear had torn through his armor and punctured his flesh, right after thrusting straight through the stalactite.
“Y-you-!”
“You put up a hell of a fight,” Pilum admitted begrudgingly through the barrier of crystal. “But at the end of the day, all it takes is one unlucky move. I respect you Iron Will, and that’s why I’m not asking for your surrender. That answer’s obvious enough. Any final words?”
The minotaur panted heavily, his breath labored from the pain, before he glared at Pilum straight in the eyes through the semi-translucent stalactite. “Yes...”
Before the general could react, he jerked his left hand, passing his club’s handle from his left to his right.
“Iron Will is not left-handed.”
Pilum reacted instantly, hastily withdrawing his spear from Iron Will and backpedaling, narrowly missing the backhanded swing of the club that reduced the stalactite to slivers of crystal.
“That gambit was old a thousand years ago!” The pony general shot back, hastily dodging left and right as he narrowly avoided the flurry of mace swings that dogged him wherever he went.
“Iron! Will! Decided! To! Bring! It! BACK!” The minotaur bellowed, punctuating each word with a quake-inducing smash of his club. “Now! Hold! STI-GAH!”
Iron Will’s rampage was cut off by Pilum suddenly dodging to the side, resulting in the Magister slamming head long into a hitherto unnoticed wall. He tried to push off it, but...
SHIRK!
“GAH! STOP DOING THAT!”
Pilum panted heavily as he stood behind Iron Will, pinning him to the wall with his lance through his right shoulder. “Thousand years and things barely change. Once a minotaur gets going, he never stops. That was true then, and it’s still true now. Well, enough playing around.” He tensed, preparing to swing his weapon and cleave his opponent to pieces. “Time to die.”
The Mountain Shaker twisted his head around, just enough to glance back at Pilum and shoot him a blood-thirsty smirk. “Iron Will agrees!”
“Wh-!?”
CRASH!
Time seemed to freeze for Pilum as he tried in vain to process what had just happened. Slowly, it started to dawn on him as blood began to fill his mouth and pain radiated from his abdomen.
“B-b-but...” The general slowly turned his head and stared in numb horror at the spike of crystal that had run him through. “H-how...” He let his grip on his weapon go slack, allowing its butt to slip from his hooves and clatter to the ground as he looked back at Iron Will.
All Pilum could do was stare at the hand that was buried in the crystal wall.
The left hand.
“Y-you said... that you weren’t... left-handed...”
“Iron Will did say that,” The minotaur grunted as he removed his hand from the wall and reached over his back to wrench the weapon from his shoulder. “And Iron Will didn’t lie. Iron Will isn’t left-handed. Iron Will is ambidextrous.”
Pilum blinked slowly before giving out a slow, bloody chuckle. “Heh... heh heh heh... I guess... things really have changed... I’m just... behind the times... heh heh... heh...”
And with that, Pilum, the great Earth Pony General died.
Iron Will gave the pony a final nod of respect as he walked away. “It’s like you said general.” He looked ahead, gazing grimly into the expanse of crystals before him.
“All it takes is one unlucky move.”
And with that, Iron Will left the caverns.
Unseen to him, a faint light was glowing from within Pilum’s chestplate.
-o-
Seath tilted his head slightly, staring blindly at nothing. “Well, that’s that then, isn’t it?”
“Hm?” Scholar glanced up from the Lexicon at his draconic ally. “What is it?”
“Oh, nothing, nothing...” The dragon scholar waved him off idly. “It’s just that Iron Will dispatched Pilum is all, it’s not important. What is important...” He jabbed a finger at a part of the page Scholar had opened up to. “Is fixing that!”
“That!?” Scholar protested indignantly, taking in the line indicated. “What’s wrong with that!?”
Chrysalis looked over his shoulder and snorted in disgust. “What isn’t?! The tone is atrocious, far too pompous, the vocabulary is most definitely archaic, most likely because you’ve been skipping my reports again, and as for the pacing... eurgh!” She covered her mouth with her hoof. “I think I might be sick.”
The Rune Keeper gave the insectoid matriarch a scathing look. “Alright then, Windy Churchill! What would you suggest!?”
“Well, for starters...”
And with that, the Oligarchs and Duke started debating back and forth over the offending passage.
Meanwhile, sealed in their runic prisons, six ponies tried their best to keep their spirits up.
Pinkie Pie’s cell was filled with a flurry of paper that she had pulled from somewhere, the party pony’s view of the battle obscured by her hastily written out plans for a citywide victory party. Judging from the half-manic way she was scribbling and muttering to herself, her heart just wasn’t in it. If anything, she was just doing it so as to have anything else to do, other than watch the fight. “Buffet table here, fireworks here, dance party over there... Wait, would the Princesses prefer three cakes, each their own flavor, or one giant uber cake all mixed up? Hmm...”
Rarity was a bit more... frantic, flipping between lamenting and sobbing over the Crystal Heart’s destruction and exulting over the city’s revival as a whole. She seemed to be refusing to acknowledge that any violence was taking place anywhere near her. “Oh, the Heart, the Heart! Such a beautiful thing! Gone! Gone! Oh, but how that spire just seems to glisten in the sunlight!” Rarity’s eye twitched violently as what appeared to be the remains of a severed wing slammed into the side of her cage. “Yes... it just... glistens.”
Rainbow Dash growled furiously as she rammed her shoulder into her cage’s wall repeatedly. “Come on, let me out, let me out!” She repeated over and over, panting from the strain.
“Settle down, Dashie.” Applejack groused from her cage next to the Pegasus’s. She was leaning against the side of her prison, her hat tilted down over her eyes as though she was simply snoozing against an apple tree. “Besides, what do ya think ya’ll do once you get out?”
Dash snorted and pawed at the crystal ground restlessly with her hoof. “I-I’ll fight! I-!”
“You’ll die.” Applejack froze her friend with a simple statement. “Look around. We’re outclassed. The only reason we ain’t bit the big one yet is ‘cause Scholar’s protectin’ us. If it weren’t fer that, we’d be cooked worse than a snowmare on a summer beach.”
“But...!” The blue Pegasus grimaced and ruffled her feathers uneasily, watching the dogfight going on above the plaza. “I... I want... I need to do something! I can’t just sit around doing nothing!”
“We ain’t doin’ nothin’, Dash.” Applejack muttered as she shifted her shoulders a bit. “We’re restin’. Conservin’ our strength. Gotta wait for the right time. ‘Till then... we just wait.”
Rainbow Dash bit her lip uneasily before folding her legs and sitting down, her wings twitching nervously. “I... ergh... don’t know if I’ll be able to stay like this. I’m not used to waiting.”
“Speak for yourself. I’m a farmer. Waitin’ for the harvest is second nature.”
The Pegasus grumbled as she adjusted her position, trying to get comfortable.
Fluttershy was in a similar position as Applejack, her wings wrapped around her body. Her eyes were scrunched shut and her hooves were kneading her temples ceaselessly. “It’s just feeding day, there’s no need to panic, it’s just feeding day, there’s no need to panic, it’s just feeding day, there’s no need to panic...” She muttered to herself calmly and consistently. The wet slam of a body landing mere feet from her caused her to shudder and curl in on herself a bit. “Feeding day, feeding day, feeding day, feeding day!”
And finally, the last of the Elements was flashing her horn, trying desperately to teleport, disrupt the cage’s walls, anything and everything she could conceive of to escape. But to no avail. “Come on, come on...” She pleaded helplessly, her horn erratically sparking out flashes of magic. “Please work, please!”
“Enough, Twilight...”
Twilight’s eyes snapped open as she jerked her head to the side in shock. “Cadance!” She cried, pressing herself up against the side of her prison closest to her old foalsitter. “You’re alright!”
The pink Alicorn flashed her a shaky smile. “Barely,” she turned her head and glared tiredly at Chrysalis. “Seeing how she isn’t focusing on me right now, the effects of the mindset she set up are being... lessened. I... I can’t concentrate enough to use my magic, but at least I’m coherent now. Ergh...” Cadance kneaded her forehead in frustration. “I should have searched my psyche the second I was alone even for an instant with her, it was a rookie mistake. But... then again...” She let out a shaky laugh. “I suppose she would have blocked any notion of that as well. Classic Chrysalis, always playing her enemies like puppets.”
“C-Cadance!” Twilight protested. “We need to get out of here, Shining-!”
“Shiny will be fine, Twilight.” Cadance reassured hastily. “I know it seems like hell out there, but Shiny will be just fine. I... Celestia and I taught him a lot of old moves from Concordia, old magic, and if I remember that soldier that saved him correctly, he has a good amount of help. Factor in the Twins and, well...” She shrugged casually. “He might as well be untouchable.”
The lavender Unicorn frowned dryly at Cadance. “You think it’s safe to trust the two psychotic golems who have threatened to cook me alive twice in the past with my brother and your husband’s safety?”
The Princess snorted lightly and waved her concerns away. “These are two entirely different situations.”
“How?!”
“The difference is their orders. Right now? Scholar ordered them to protect Shining Armor. And the fact is? They weren’t kidding when they called themselves the Right Hands of God. Any orders Scholar gave, they followed them both to the letter and to the spirit of it straight to the end, regardless of their personal feelings. Once Scholar gives them a mission, they’ll complete it come hell or high water.”
“Oh... so the reason that they threatened me like that-”
“They just flat out didn’t like you.”
“Well that’s reassuring.”
“Still, they wouldn’t have really done it.” Cadance cast a longing look at Scholar, Chrysalis and Seath. “None of them would have. When you get right down to it, Twilight? You and your friends and most other Equestrians are innocent. None of you have blood on your hooves. But the rest of us...” She sighed heavily. “We aren’t that lucky. You’re safe. We’re doomed.” She gave Twilight a pleading look. “Twilight... there’s no way out. Just... follow your friend’s examples. Rest. We’re going to need our energy for whatever comes next.”
Twilight worked her jaw silently for a second before bowing her head and sitting down. Pressing herself as close to Cadance as she could, a move which her sister-in-law reciprocated.
While all this was happening, Scholar’s final prisoner was staring silently through the runic walls of his prison, watching the battle play out before him.
Spike was afraid. Actually, afraid was an understatement. As he watched the blood fly, ponies falling on each other and ruthlessly kill one another, Spike was terrified.
But not by the fighting. No, Spike had read plenty of mature fantasy novels while he lived in Canterlot, he’d watched the Guard train. To an extent, he was desensitized to violence. The fighting didn’t necessarily scare him.
What scared him was that as Spike watched the battle play out, as he watched weapons clash and soldiers fight for their lives, he felt something.
A feeling, a tiny niggly feeling, right in the pit of his stomach.
It was a feeling he’d felt multiple times over his life, all about very specific things. And the fact that he was feeling it now?
It meant that his mind was processing the fierce combat in front of him, taking it all in...
And finding that he liked it.
-o-
Trixie huffed tiredly, her shoulders and legs shaking from exhaustion.
“Come on!”
The blue Unicorn’s head snapped up, her face set in a scowl.
“Is that the best you got?” Gladia taunted casually, flipping a pair of curving, mirrored scimitars with rune-encrusted blades around in her mint-green magic’s grip.
Trixie let out a feral growl before charging straight at the General. As she ran, her horn flared briefly with her magic, a shining blue rapier materializing directly above her.
The Unicorn General snorted dispassionately at her approaching enemy. “Obviously it is.” And with finely trained ease and grace, she sidestepped the haphazard charge. She then went into action with her swords. One of the scimitars caught the descending rapier mid-swing, slicing straight through it and shattering it to pieces. The other...
“GAH!” Trixie grunted in pain, stumbling as the blade nicked her rear leg, matching the numerous other gashes and injuries she was sporting. She tried to stop herself, but ended up running into the ring of soldiers surrounding her and Gladia. Two of them caught her on the flats of their blades before roughly tossing her back into middle of the clearing.
The white-coated Unicorn snorted despondently at her blue counterpart. “Honestly, now I’ve been using swords since before you were- er... For longer than you’ve been alive. Did you honestly think that you could beat me in a straight up fight?”
Trixie gave her a scathing look before lighting up her horn. The air around her started to shimmer with a silver mist...
Right up until Gladia’s own horn flashed in a pulse of green light, dispersing the mist and causing Trixie to cry out in pain.
“And that won’t work either.” She continued in a bored voice. “Your skills with magic are admirable, but my ability to cut through anything, even magic, far surpasses your own. So, no tricking my men, to tricking me. The only magic you can use is that semi-passable conjuration trick. Other than that...”
Trixie gave a shriek of rage before charging at Gladia once more, her rapier rematerializing as she launched a flurry of jabbing strikes at the General.
Gladia dodged every one of them, weaving back and forth between the stabs as though she herself were made of water. “See, let me explain a bit about my past to you.” She stated casually. “My whole life, I trained to be a guard. I joined up when I was sixteen and served as per usual. I was trained by the elite of not only the Equestrian military, but Concordian in general. I went from swordmaster to swordmaster, learning their arts, their skills, and whatever else they had to offer. I am the epitome of that era’s warriors could achieve. That is what I am capable of. The fact that you’re still alive?”
She suddenly moved, her scimitars both becoming blurs of green and silver. Moments later, The rapier shattered and Trixie was sporting a slash straight across her muzzle.
“It’s because I’ve let you live. After all, I needed to do something to pass the time.”
Gladia rolled her neck, blades twirling around her in a complicated dance, circling the other unicorn with a cool expression on her face, “But then, your death is inevitable. Just like the failing of your group’s little rebellion. Celestia and Luna won, and the last gasp of a dead empire isn’t going to change a thing. Honestly...” She trotted up to the illusionist’s prone form. “I can appreciate conviction, but right now? Give up. I’m sure that the Princesses would be lenient towards- GAH!”
The General gave a shriek of pain as the rapier once again reappeared, this time slicing straight across her eye and leaving a nasty gash before she could react. Her reaction was swift and sudden as she took ahold of Trixie’s throat and slammed her into the ground.
Gladia huffed angrily, swiping a forehoof across her brow. She stared at the blood on her fur numbly for a moment before sending an acidic glare at the blue Unicorn. “I... on the other hand... am feeling no such leniency. In fact... I’m feeling rather... acrimonious.”
Before Trixie could get to her hooves, Gladia held her up by her throat with magic. “Trixie... Lulamoon, did you say it was? Under my authority as a General of the Equestrian State, I hereby charge you with High Treason against the crown. The punishment is death, may you find peace in the afterlife.”
And with that, both the scimitars swung, blood sprayed into the air, and a head thumped against the ground.
Gladia breathed heavily for a moment before sighing despondently. She brushed away a strand of her mane before turning around and starting to walk away. “That’s that. Too bad, she was fairly competent too. Ah well. What’s done is done. Come on men let’s hurry, we’ve only got about thirty minutes left until Scholar blows us all to kingdom c-!”
SCHLICK!
“-URK!” Gladia blinked blearily, coughing up a glob of saliva and blood, trying to come to terms with what had just happened. Her magic flickered out, causing her scimitars to drop to the ground in a clatter of metal. She slowly looked around, taking in the unbelievable facts.
Namely, the fact that her men had all approached her and proceeded to stab her in multiple painful, yet not immediately lethal areas.
“Wh-why...?” Gladia trailed off in horror as she caught sight of their eyes.
Of the silver sheen within.
She slowly turned her eyes, gasping in horror when she saw that the illusionist’s body had disappeared, blood pool and all. “I-imp-”
“Impossible? Pah! Fool!”
Gladia whipped her head around and stared in shock at the Prim and Pristine Trixie as she smirked confidently at the General.
“Honestly now...” Trixie shook her head in disappointment. “Trixie is surprised at you, Gladia! You, who lived in the world of Concordia, still see that word as having any form of meaning? Truly, truly shocking.”
“B-but...” Gladia coughed up another burst of blood. “How? T-there was no magic o-or...”
Trixie snorted in disgust. “Please. Trixie managed to fool Cerberus, do you really think you can surpass him? Essentially, you can’t cut what you can’t see, so Trixie was able to ensorcel both you and your remaining soldiers with ease.”
“But...” Gladia wheezed, wincing as she felt what had to be a punctured lung. “H-how... how did... I cut you... I-I-I cut you... I felt it...”
“Oh, yes, that.” Trixie waved her hoof airily. “See, there are three kinds of illusions: mental illusions which affect one’s mind, mirage illusions which are the basic smoke and mirrors... and conjured illusions. Meaning the sword spell I used, only far more refined. Observe!”
Trixie’s horn glowed blue for a minute. Then the space next to her erupted in silver light and an exact duplicate of her was standing beside her, wearing the exact same cocky grin.
“You see?” The doppelganger asked, flourishing her cape.
“It’s easy!” The original flourished her own in a mirror move.
The two then threw their hooves over each other’s shoulders and threw their heads back in a hearty laugh. “HAHAHA!”
“I...” Gladia worked her jaw uselessly. “W-why? Y-y-you could have... have killed me... at any time... why... why just... play this charade?”
Almost instantly, the Trixie’s moods sobered and the duplicate was dispelled. “Why?” She asked with a sickly sweet false smile. “I’ll tell you why. You see... even after you disappeared along with Vitrum, the legends of your prowess became quite renowned. So many old tales and rumors of Gladia the swordsmistress. So Trixie thought to herself, why not put her in a situation to show off? A way Trixie could just sit back, relax, and take in your moves.”
Suddenly, she dashed up to Gladia, grabbing her by the throat with her hoof. “Because you see...” She snarled darkly. “That is what Trixie’s past was like. Trixie never had any masters, or disciplines to teach her. No, Trixie had to scrimp and scratch by. She had to learn through observation alone, through what she could pick up here and there. You might think that yours was a hard life that you did a lot to earn your strength, and who knows? You might even be right. But you are nothing, nothing! Compared to the Academia!”
Gladia’s only response was a gurgle of pain.
Trixie dropped her hoof and looked away solemnly. Then her eyes landed on the scimitars lying on the crystal floor. She slowly reached a hoof out towards them... then hissed in pain when a spark of magic leapt out to greet her. She muttered vehemently, flashing her horn several shades of silver before finally picking them up with her magic and examining them closely. “Impressive...” Trixie muttered begrudgingly. “Runes to enhance the edge, resist wear and tear... truly works of art. Trixie will be keeping them. Now then...”
She slowly turned her head to stare coldly at Gladia. “How did it go again?”
The Unicorn General shook and shuddered, trying in vain to escape her soldier’s swords before finally hanging her head in despair.
“Ah yes...” Slowly, the scimitars rose up above her. “Gladia Steelblade, under my authority as a Magister of the the Academia Arcana, I hereby charge you with High Treason against the Concordian Empire and crimes against sapient life. The punishment is death.”
The blades fell, blood sprayed, and a head hit the ground.
“May you burn in hell.”
Trixie stared morosely at the General’s headless corpse for a moment before turning around and trotting away.
She went a few yards before stopping and slapping her forehead with her hoof. “Almost forgot!” She turned around and gave the remaining soldiers a cocky grin. “At ease, boys!”
The Equestrians saluted her wordlessly with their swords across their throats.
Trixie chuckled morbidly to herself as she began trotting towards a nearby staircase, away from the bloody platform that the duel had taken place on. A once clear shining crystalline platform, now stained crimson.
She never noticed the glow that lit up Gladia’s armor.
-o-
Seath blinked in surprise, halting mid speech.
Scholar raised an eyebrow at the blind dragon. “Someone else bite it?”
“Hm? Oh, yes, yes. The unicorn, Lulamoon? She just liquidized Gladia.”
“Oh, good for her now! Now then, what about- wait, what the heck!?” Scholar blinked in shock as he whipped his head around and stared at the plaza around him.
What had once been a roaring battlefield was now practically a no man’s land, with bodies lying everywhere, some dead, others only just alive. A number of crystal ponies were picking through the plaza, some carting off the corpses, others administrating healing to those who needed it. And others...
“We got a runner!”
“Ten credits say I hit him.”
“Fifteen say you don’t.”
“Deal! And here... we... GO! Aaaaaaand...”
THUNK!
“YEARGH!”
“Yes!”
“Lucky shot.”
“Heeheehee! Nice goin’! That was fun! That was fun!”
“Indeed. Quite the admirable toss.”
Rotfang, Lacewing, Chitter and Priscilla were occupied with a... different form of clean-up duty.
“Where’d everyone go!?” Scholar demanded incredulously.
Chrysalis slapped him upside the back of his head with her hoof, her face set in a bored expression. “They left. The fighting spread out to the rest of the city. Try and look up once in a while, will you? After all, that’s how you got those train marks on your-”
“I keep telling you that was a deliberate act of sabotage!”
“Oh, like the time when somebody ‘sabotaged’ the month-old sandwich you swallowed without even looking at it?”
“Why you-!”
“Er... excuse me...?”
“WHAT!?” Scholar and Chrysalis screeched, whipping around towards the speaker and causing the Pegasus to flinch back in fear.
The two breathed heavily, staring down the unfortunate messenger and causing her to sweat fearfully...
SMASH!
Right until one of Seath’s crystal-encrusted tentacles slammed down on the two Oligarchs.
“Stop frightening my citizens.” The dragon growled.
“The pain...” The two groaned out simultaneously.
Seath gave out a rumbling mix of a sigh and a groan. “Ladies and gentlemen, the hope for a free world.” He refocused his attention on the Pegasus. “Amethyst Glitter. Report.”
The violet pony blinked blearily for a second before hastily snapping a salute. “Uhh... right! Report! So far we’ve managed to clear most of the central plaza of the enemy presence and our sweeping should remove any other stragglers-”
“Excuse me, traitor, but are you still alive?”
“...”
“He blinked!”
THWACK!
“Wow, Pricilla, that one got good air!”
“Why thank you, Rotfang.”
“Momentarily...” The Pegasus swallowed heavily as she tried to keep her disgust from showing on her face.
“Alright then!” Scholar jumped to his feet and clapped his hands together eagerly. “Now... gather up everyone you can and take them out into the city. Run support, gather up the dead, protect the civilians, so on and so forth.”
“ROTFANG! LACEWING! CHITTER!” An equally rejuvenated Chrysalis ordered.
“Priscilla!” Seath called out.
The four quickly ceased their games and snapped into a trio of salutes and a nod of acknowledgement.
“Ma’am yes ma’am!”
“Father.”
Scholar crossed his arms and gave them all serious looks. “Enough fun and games, head out into the city and coordinate our offensive forces. We’ve got about twenty minutes left, I want the mop-up to be a formality.”
The four all gave him nods of understanding before taking off, the changelings buzzing into the air and Priscilla vanishing into a flurry of snow.
Seath gave Amethyst Glitter a nod as well. “Follow them, do what you can.”
The Pegasus snapped out a salute and turned around to follow them. But before she did, she hesitated and glanced back at Seath hesitantly. “...Umm... sir... m-my lord...”
The Duke tilted his head in confusion. “Yes, Glitter?”
“I... er... well... i-it’s about...”
Almost instantly the dragon frowned to the extent he could. “Amethyst, we have talked about this-”
“I know, I know!” Amethyst Glitter said hastily. “B-but regardless of what she’s done, she still meant well and-and-and she tried, she really really tried and-”
“Peace, Amethyst, peace.” Seath held up a massive hand to silence her. “The discussion will be discussed at length at a later date. For now, we liberate our city. Judgement will be reserved for later.”
Amethyst nodded hesitantly before flaring her wings out and taking off after the changelings.
Seath watched her silently for a moment before speaking. “She did not lie. Many other citizens will agree with her. She did mean well, and she did do good. Not enough to make up for everything, nothing will ever be enough, but...”
“I’ll take it into consideration, Seath.” Scholar cut him off firmly. “A fair trial. That’s what I promised, that’s what we’ll deliver. Even after all this time and all that’s happened.”
Chrysalis snorted and flicked her mane back. “Either way, Scholar, you know what has to be done. We all made our vows. One way or another, they have to be honored. Mine especially.”
The Rune Keeper waved his hand absentmindedly. “Yes yes yes. We’ll deal with that when it becomes relevant. Right now, this is what’s relevant! Here, take a look, right here!”
The Queen and the Duke leaned in to observe the line indicated before groaning and shaking their heads in disgust.
“No! I- no, just no!”
“That is by far the most offending example of the printed word I have seen in a long time.”
“What!?” Scholar protested. “What’s wrong with it!?”
“Well, for starters, the body of it? Far too lengthy. You want to impress? Shorten it. A lot.”
“And the opener. Dreary, no chance whatsoever of it grabbing attention. And need I say anything about the conclusion?”
“Everyone’s a critic. Hopefully Gilda’s having a better time than I am.”
-o-
“COME ON YOU DWEEBS!” Gilda cackled as she dodged out of the way of a flurry of arrows, sending a blast of electric magic back at her opponents. “IS THAT THE BEST YOU’VE GOT? MY GRANDMOTHER FLIES FASTER THAN YOU TWO, AND HER REMAINS HAVE BEEN IN TARTARUS FOR OVER A CENTURY!”
The Pegasus Generals huffed angrily as they barely twisted around the blast, glancing at each other ruefully. The two had been playing a game of cat and mouse all throughout the Overloft’s expanse with the aggravating griffon. All too many times the gold-clad warrior had effortlessly evaded their strikes while they, on the other hoof, had experienced multiple near-misses, resulting in a large amount of singed feathers.
“Just do yourself a favor!” Arcus growled, pulling his bow’s energy-string back and blasting out a large bolt of magic.
“And give up!” Sagitta shrieked, flapping her wings and letting loose a new volley of glowing arrow-shaped bolts of magic.
A bolt and volley which Gilda batted away easily with her wing.
“Oh come on.” She taunted. “That’s the best you’ve got? Ah well. In that case, fair’s fair.” A menacing grin played across her beak as she held her arms out to her side. “You show me yours...” She snapped her talons, engulfing her claws and gauntlets in lightning.
“I’ll show you mine!”
The Generals glanced at each other uneasily before hastily wheeling around and darting away.
“GET BACK HERE!”
And so the hunters became the hunted, with Arcus and Sagitta winding and weaving through the nigh interminable maze of the Overloft’s numerous floating constructs of crystal and stone and Gilda relentlessly pursuing them. They darted above, below, sometimes even through when possible, utilizing every trick they could think of to avoid the griffon.
Finally, they came to rest back to back on one of the smaller islets, their chests heaving violently.
“Do... you think... we lost her?” Arcus questioned tiredly.
“I... I think so...” Sagitta gulped, wiping her brow hastily.
SMASH!
The two jumped in shock when a larger island they’d just rounded exploded in a blast of smoke and crystal shards. A few seconds later their worst fears were confirmed.
“SKREEE!” A hawk-like screech pierced the air, punctuated by multiple bolts of lightning.
“Then again, I have been wrong in the past.” Sagitta whispered numbly.
“MOVE!” Arcus roared, shoving his sister off the rock and diving after her, the both of them very narrowly avoiding being cooked alive.
“FIGHT AND DIE WITH HONOR, SHITSTAINS!” Gilda screeched as she rocketed after them.
The griffon rampaged through the sky in her pursuit of the twins. Where the Pegasi had to avoid large solid structures, she simply blasted straight through them with her destructive magic. Intent on making them suffer for their crimes through any means possible.
Suddenly, she was forced to come to a sudden halt after rounding a blind corner.
Gilda snarled furiously as she whipped her head around, adjusting her goggles and flicking through varying settings on them as she tried to locate her prey. “Where the hell did those damn dweebs go!?”
Suddenly...
SLAM!
“GAH!”
Gilda screeched in surprise when a weight slammed into her back, nearly knocking her out of the sky as she flapped furiously to stay aloft.
The gold-clad griffon struggled violently to dislodge whatever was grappling with her. A flash of light before her eyes was the only warning she had but it was enough for her to whip a talon up in front of her throat, catching the runic bow before its heavily charged string could lacerate her trachea.
Arcus heaved back with his hooves, trying his best to take out his opponent. “Just... do yourself a favor... and give up!”
“How about a better option?” Gilda shot back. In a deft move, she reached over her shoulder with her free hand, gripped him by his mane. “TAKE A HIKE!” And with that, she flapped her wings and flipped herself over. The result was Arcus being sent smashing into a nearby piece of floating debris still held up by its enchantments before he plummeted out of sight, lost amongst the varying other islands and levitating structures.
Gilda huffed heavily for a second, flapping her way over to the rock and landing on it, clutching it with her talons. She took a moment to catch her breath, reorient herself...
CLANG!
Until she was forced to snap a wing up and block an arrow aimed straight at her head.
Gilda twisted her head around and smirked victoriously at the fuming Sagitta. “Awww, is somebody cwanky about the fact that I beat her brother’s ass? You wanna piece of me, huh birdy?”
“Yes, I do.” Sagitta grit out. She flicked her forehooves, producing an elongated pair of arrow-shaped constructs over them. “Preferably mounted over my mantlepiece!”
Gilda’s smirk became down-right predatory as lightning began to crackle along her wings and gauntlets, her goggles flashing eagerly. “Bring it on, gluestick.”
And with that, she peeled off the rock-face, tearing through the sky towards Sagitta, an ear-shattering screech emerging from her throat.
The Pegasus and the griffon clashed in midair, wing scraping against hoof, magic raging against magic, all in a mere instant before they came apart. They then flapped off a few feet before wheeling around and clashing once anew. Back and forth, back and forth, dancing through the sky in a duel of will and skill.
The two were complete and utter equals, the battle refusing to shift an inch in either of their favors.
But that was about to change.
‘Alright, let’s see...’ Arcus mused as he pulled back on his bow’s string. ‘Wind speed and direction optimal... elevation difference... distance is about... eh, quarter of a mile? Target speed and direction... seriously fast and just about everywhere. Still though...’ Arcus smirked a bit as he narrowed his eye behind his scope. ‘That should change soon enough.’
As if on cue, Gilda and Sagitta suddenly locked together in midair, talon against arrow, wings beating furiously as they tried to shove each other into submission. Face to face, teeth and beak grit furiously from their exertion.
‘It was a nice run, Gilda,’ Arcus begrudgingly admitted as he pumped energy into his bow, like he was preparing a cloud to disperse a bolt of lightning. ‘One of the best fights we’ve had in years. Sadly, all good things must come to an end. Goodbye, Gilda Behertz. Rest in peace.’
And with that, he loosed a silent yet powerful blast of energy, which streaked through the air like a comet.
Suddenly, time seemed to freeze, each second feeling like a minute.
Gilda turned her head around, and smirked at Arcus.
Arcus’s eyes widened in shock as he tried to process what he was seeing. How could she have seen him? How could she know where he-?
Gilda was encased in yellow light and suddenly disappeared.
Arcus was off his perch and moving before it even happened.
But happen it did.
THUNK!
Sagitta blinked in surprise, staring in shock at the magical projectile protruding from her chest.
She beat her wings weakly, trying to keep herself aloft, but both she and her brother knew it was in vain. Arcus’s bow was an anti-aerial weapon, its arrows designed to lock up the muscles of whoever it hit, outermost extremities first.
It had been Sagitta’s idea: let gravity ultimately be the death of their enemies.
And now, it would be hers.
Sagitta’s wings slowly froze in place, causing her to plummet towards the crystal city below.
Arcus pumped his wings mercilessly, desperate to reach his sister. Faster and faster, trying and trying to succeed in a race against time and nature.
Closer and closer to her, trying to catch her before she hit the crystals. His hoof was extended towards her, feet, mere feet from her. Just a few more instants. Just a few more...
“Come on...” Arcus muttered. “Don’t worry, Sis. I’ve got you, I’ve got you!”
A shadow fell over the two of them. Sagitta’s eyes widened in horror. Arcus’s heart skipped a beat.
“Say goodbye to your sister, General.”
A strong grip on the back of his cuirass yanked Arcus back, nearly snapping his neck. But the pain was nothing compared to watching his sister fall away.
He didn’t even try to struggle his way out of the griffon’s grip. He knew he wouldn’t be capable of reaching her in time. It was simple math and he had no choice but to accept it.
“Why?” He groaned, his eyes scrunched firmly shut. “Why do this? You were faster than us. Why... why just toy with us like that? Why delude us into thinking we could win?”
“You know why.” She whispered harshly in his ear. “All those years ago, during the wars. How many Storm Knights did you bring down, huh? How many Pillars did you collapse? You know what they say, Arcus: Turnabout is fair play. And besides...”
Gilda’s talons suddenly wrapped around the General’s head, wrenching his eyes open. “I’m part lion. And you know how we big cats are.” She forced his head down, forced him to watch as his sister drew ever nearer to the spires of crystal.
“We toy with our prey. We bat them around with our paws, let them scurry and run, think they have a chance to survive. And then, when their suffering is at its highest...”
Closer and closer, impending death drawing near.
“When their last dregs of hope have finally been extinguished, all chances of survival are absolutely nil...”
Less than a moment.
“We go in for the kill.”
SMASH!
Impact.
The scream that tore its way out of Arcus’s throat had nothing to do with the electricity running through his brain.
Gilda chuckled morosely as smoke wafted out of Arcus’s head. “Well, that’s that. Good game, you two. That was fun. Well, buh-bye!” She tossed the charred corpse away, letting it fall and join its twin. “Now then...” she wheeled around and smirked eagerly at the other dogfights going on throughout the Overloft. “It’s hunting time!”
As Gilda took off in a blast of electricity, the armor of both Sagitta and Arcus began to glow with hidden magic.
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I don't like that glow...
Dead man switch runes
I don't read incomplete stories, but at least you got the Latin right as far as I can tell. That's a lot more than I can say for most Latin-titled stories. Kudos for that.
Undeniably some of the best fighting scenes in this story, those traitors got what they deserved. Keep up the great work
in battle we all worship khorn
C'mon, zombie apocalypse!
Light comming from fresh corpses usally isn't good news.
gotta love gilda playing with them
>> Xomniac
That part about Spike. That part gave me biggest most ugly grin my face ever made. Something between Joker and Cheshire cat. But more in Cheshire territory. That part was start of something that twilight and others will not understand. Spike is no longer inhibited by disappearing harmony is he?
th05.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2012/131/9/a/cheshire_cat_by_touchko-d4zd5ab.jpg
4720275
Its gonna be a big boom or something worse just you see.
4720270 Neither do I
OH HAPPY DAY! this has updated!
I'm thinking there was some serious resuscitation magic happening after Gilda and her buddies turned their backs. Of course Luna and tia rigged the sun amd moon to their souls as a way to maintain their long lives as well as a deadman switch so who knows what attrotious stuff they did with their generals.
So Spike is finally beginning to feel life flowing through his veins? Good for him.
NEEDING MORE OF THIS!!
GG no RE
4720505
I just got mad idea... I bet they rigged the armors with dead man switch Harmony Bombs. Something like Dirty bomb but using Harmony!!!
BTW: Its weird using word Harmony as if its radioactive waste and deadly...
4720551 In Mundus, 'Harmony' IS deadly and it's FAR MORE insidious than ANY radioactive substance BUT your idea of dirty bombs in their armors actually makes sense
4720369
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD
SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE
KHORN FOR THE KHORN FLAKES
ALWAYS. CHECK. THE. CORPSES!
With any amount of luck, they're wearing Guardian Angels...
Or they prepared Explosive Runes.
Seriously gruesome chapter, gg.
Maybe spike will join the dark/good side?
You might be doing a bit too much back and forth in this arc. First it looks like Scolar and his group are going to win, then Cadence and her group, then Scholar, then Cadence, then Scholar, and now these glowing suits of armor, which are probably going to tilt things back to Cadence.
Awesome chapter.
Why do I get the feeling that magic isn't just a life indicator.
What has Seath been thinking?
… Oh, hell, yes… I wanna see what the armor's for? Heartbeat bombs? Respawn points? Artificial decoys? Ooh, I feel all tingly just THINKING about it! Ah, well. until we find out, chao!
4720790
I'm gonna have to agree with that. It's nice that Scholar and his allies aren't utterly curbstomping the opposition, but this constant foreshadowing/back-and-forth is getting kinda irritating.
4721196
You just aren't looking underneath the underneath.
It becomes quite clear once you understand how proper court intrigue works.
We are seeing unfolding of plans and countermeasures made by 2 sides over the time that get triggered one after the other.
You know while everyone else is wondering what those glowing lights coming from the armor on the Generals are. Why is it that my brain is trying to figure out what exactly is in Scholar's book that he and Chrysalis are arguing about?!?!?!?
4721228
Obviously they're discussing this chapter.
I kind of had the silly vibe that that was how the editing process went.
4721412
Bravo. Bravo. You made me re-read the chapter to see if i get same vibe
4721648 If Shining Armor is Jar Jar, then Flash is Laurie Grimes.
gorestruly.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Lori-Grimes.jpg
They're both universally hated, and only exist to cause problems.
Martyrdom, Crystal Nuke variant.
Seath, Crystals and Priscilla = Dark Souls! Yay!
MC
4721873 I've never watched walking dead so I don't know who she is. I'm going to go on the assumption that, considering the setting and hate, she is a complete screw up damsel in distress that gets everyone killed or she is a complete manipulative bitch who gets everyone killed because she could care less about them than the dirt on her shoe. Considering the look she has, I'm leaning towards the second.
4722839 not the way it works.
4723185 I hear ya, I tried to tough it out hoping it would get better but it gets worse far far worse. At no point do the ponies seems like a threat to him. I had hopes that it would be good, concept was neat oppressed other races but he played the mage as his OC self and it's soo...bad just bad
4723201
What is this even supposed to be a crossover with? Every story with a generic mary sue protagonist?
4722965 She's both actually. Laurie was a conflict generator type character; her purpose was to generate friction between the characters and cause trouble.
When any other main character died fans got upset, when Laurie died everyone was like "Ugh, finally".
4723394 haha okay no crossover is happening, so he's got that going for him but yes scholar is just a mary sue OC who built all the good things in that entire planet cause reasons.
I was looking forward to a story about oppressed races struggling to make due under an oppressive single race superpower while trying to free an extremely powerful force to aid them in a long bloody struggle. But instead like other stories I've seen like griffon the griffon it's just one guys long wet dream about his OC and that's not fun or a good story.
4724753
Exactly.
Also haha wow so many butthurt kids downvoting us. It's adorable~
4725063
Adorable or not I'm not here to troll or instigate on them, they are as welcome to like it as I am to dislike it.
Maybe they like to place themselves in scholars shoes and like the idea of absolute power and nothing to fear. Again the fans I have no issue my issue is the story, like the inconsistencies ex: scholar says he burnt down a city cause someone made a girl cry, the later he fires magical projectiles at cities to distract the princesses who can't hurt him anyway but later informs us they were targeted at abandon prisons... really? He has been gone to long to know where these are let alone the state of local buildings never mind the aiming issues of a cross country shot.
4721412
You'd be supprised about how apt that comment is~
4723394
Well darks souls is the first thing with Seth the Scaleless, and his Daughter, and possibly maybe, maybe not more down the line~.
Guys, think like this: Seth is linked somewhat with the armor of the generals, Seth is fron Dark Souls, what made Seth famous in that game? Creating cristal undead...
4725670
I laughed. Harder.
So appearantly
EqueConcordia is in my hometown....scontent-b-fra.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10392385_10204615217525954_7511674313758419949_n.jpg?oh=675919d514a0409aa3e77e5bb7699fe2&oe=54346D86
Love it
For those traitorous Generals...
Get those heads and stick em on a pike!
Do da~
Do da~
Get those heads and stick em on a pike!
Yee da do da day~!
Fantastic story, really well written. Glad I stumbled upon it ^^
That was very good, and I especially liked the Trixie fight. Sure I saw the illusion coming from the beginning, but the reveal was great.
Also, I am very curious to see how the Spike thing plays out and what happens when Rainbow and Gilda get around to their long overdue conversation.
Yay, another set of predictable victories with transparently false promises of a balanced fight, with yet more false promises for the next chapter trying to hide the nth curb stomp by this point. Hoo-blooming-ray.
As has been said, Xomniac, the anti-Equestria side is so skilled and powerful and all-around invincible and Equestria itself is in essence so harmless as to be a dog without teeth, the conflict by this point is meaningless. Hell, there IS no conflict. The only thing that's preventing me from unfaving this and going for a fic with real battle tension and some kind of worth to the emotions it tries to invoke is that the Oligarchs are fucking great comedians. And that's it, literally nothing else.
I hope you take the hint from this criticism.
I really hope scholar wins
4720625
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