• Published 28th Feb 2014
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Tales of the Oppressed - Terran34



Follow the journey of a young cynical man as his world is turned upside down. Without anywhere to turn, can he learn to set aside his preconceptions and learn to accept friendship for what it truly is?

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119. The Everwinter Crisis

Exchanging glances with Rainbow and the others, we do as we're directed and move into the dining room to wait for Mist. Inside the room is a large circular table, with fancy table mats set up in front of each of the chairs. Some other undead are already sitting at the table, including that one undead that Mist named back in the streets. They hardly stir at our arrival; all they're doing is just sitting there listlessly, waiting for their master to return.

There are several Oppressed guards standing at the doors and windows, making me wince. There's too many of them for me to fight while dealing with Mist at the same time. Ideally, Swift, Applejack, and Rainbow could help me take care of them, but there's only three of them, and six Oppressed. Okay, so we'll bide our time. We'll sit through this twisted tea party or whatever, and then attack her when she's on her own, or when there's a manageable number of Oppressed around.

I sit down at the table across from a more decorated chair, where I assume Mist is going to sit. Rainbow and Applejack sit on either side of me, with Swift and Trixie on the exterior. With our, arrival, the table is filled, apart from Mist's empty seat.

“Here I am. I'm sorry I took so long.” Mist soon enters the room, carrying a steaming kettle filled with tea in her magic. She sets it on the table, and then retrieves a fancy set of teacups, passing one to each of us around the table. Naturally though, the other undead don't make a move to accept it; instead they just stare blankly at the table. That's what undead do. So we five emulate those undead, staring at the teacups without actually making a move to accept them. “Let's get started! I brewed a rare brew of Everwinter tea. Did you know that this town makes a living by exporting this tea?”

As Mist sits down across from me, I remember what Rainbow said about how Mist had been pacing around in here, talking to someone. Heh, I guess she really was talking to herself. Just looking at her, she has this fragile smile on her face that's fake as fake can be, and she doesn't seem to care that the undead can't answer her back.

Mist directs the kettle around the table, filling each cup with a decent amount of hot tea. When my cup is filled, I catch a hint of a balmy herbal fragrance...which then causes me to get a little thirsty. “This might be our last tea party together,” Mist declares sadly to us, setting the kettle back down on the tabletop, though she makes sure to place it on a cloth so as to not harm the wood. “The Equestrians will be here soon...and then it will be over...for all of us.”

What the hell...? I'd say she was being cocky, but that's not a confident voice. She sounds resigned, almost defeated.. She sounds like she's already given up. Mist gives an unsettling giggle at that. “I can't wait. This nightmare will finally be over, and then we can have all the tea parties we want, up in the sky.” She then takes a delicate sip from her cup, while I process the words coming out of her mouth. The more she talks, the more uncertain I feel. At this point...killing her would make me feel like shit, especially if these are her true feelings.

“Emmie...we'll finally be able to go on those walks together, that we always dreamed about,” Mist says to that undead pony, using her magic to lift its teacup to its mouth, forcing it to drink. Of course, it doesn't have any control over its swallowing reflex, some of the tea dribbles out of its mouth and patters onto the table. Mist giggles and cleans up the mess with a cloth. “You're so messy. But it's okay. I'm here.”

On the other hand...she's fucking crazy. Being this close to her, it's easy to see the way her eyes are darting around. It makes me wonder how she can focus on any one thing for too long.

Mist goes around the table, addressing the different undead as if they're her close friends, calling each one of them by a name. However, interestingly enough, when she's at the point on the table where there's an Oppressed, nearby, she glares at the monster balefully. “You don't get any tea, monster. You're not my friends,” Mist snaps at the Oppressed. The undead human of course, doesn't give a single fuck about Mist's words, because it's dead and can't process words that aren't commands.

Eventually, Mist reaches Trixie. Now, Mist actually gets up from her seat and climbs on top of the table, flopping herself down on her belly in front of Trixie. “Hm, but you're a new face to me. I don't think you're one of my friends...but that can change,” Mist addresses her. Trixie, bless her, is likely uncomfortable as hell right now, but she manages to keep from showing it, knowing how important it is that we don't get caught. “Are you one of Hawke's creations? Or maybe Earthen's? Or...are you Silent's?

Interestingly enough, Mist doesn't seem too fond of any of those names, especially Shatter's. Then again, Shatter's a bit of a disloyal fuck, so I can't blame her for hating him. “No matter. You're with me now, so you can rest easy. I can take care of you,” Mist croons, lifting the teacup to Trixie's mouth. Trixie, having not expected to drink just yet, coughs and expels some of the tea, causing Mist to raise an eyebrow. I freeze in my seat, watching with baited breath to see Mist's reaction. “Oh, is there something in your throat? Let me help you.”

Before anyone can stop her, Mist reaches for Trixie with her hoof. Trixie tries to retreat, but it's too late. Mist presses her hoof to Trixie's jaw and levers her mouth open. “There, and now we can...” Mist starts to say, but just as she's lifting the teacup, she pauses...her eyes widening. “Fur? But...you're dead, you shouldn't...”

Mist's eyes narrow, and she tosses the teacup aside, where it shatters on the floor, its contents soaking into the rug. “You shouldn't have fur,” Mist states, her tone turning from that of a doting mother to a cold general once again. To my horror, Mist's horn lights up, and she orients a ray of white light over Trixie's body. Trixie's illusion shifts and withers away like sand in a stream, revealing a very nervous and panicking blue unicorn, now exposed to Mist's scrutiny. Mist freezes, looking honestly surprised to see something living here.

“Uh...Trixie can explain,” Trixie says hastily, laughing nervously. To her credit, she manages to keep the rest of our illusions up, even though hers has been dispelled. Mist's expression turns into an angry glare, and she bares her teeth, grinding them audibly.

“You...how dare you...!?” Mist growls, her voice rising. My mind races, trying to think of a way to handle this situation without getting any of us killed. Mist's horn lights up, and this time I notice a slight pressure in the air, telling me that Mist is getting ready to kill Trixie. “You're not going to be my friend....you're a filthy liar! I'll hurt...”

“Fuck it,” I grunt, shooting up in my seat and shedding the illusion with a powerful burst of emerald magic that incinerates the chair beneath me. Before Mist can react, I lunge forward and plant my blazing fist into her cheek. Mist yelps and hurtles right off of the table, slamming into the wall. “Okay, everypony, plan B. Take them all down!”

“You got it!” Rainbow declares, her illusion fading as well. Even the camouflage spell from before is gone, revealing her in her true technicolor glory. As one of the Oppressed roars and charges her, she wheels around its attack and rams both forehooves into the back of its neck, such that a resounding crack fills the air.

“Yes, commander!” Swift acknowledges, hefting her lance. All of our illusions fade away at once, and the room quickly devolves into a frantic melee. Applejack and Swift stand together and intercept the undead heading for them, laying them low with vicious punches and ruthless jabs of a lance.

“You....you're all....after I was going to do for you...and you're Equestrian...?” Mist expresses, getting to her hooves and glaring at me. Her snowy white aura explodes up from around her, standing in stark contrast to my green aura and Trixie's blue aura. Her horn flashes, and she unleashes a powerful beam of white magic towards me...but I'm already powering up even further. I bat her magic aside like it's nothing, causing it to drill right through the wall on the other side of the room. “You're all liars...”

“You're fucking insane,” I express to her face. God, it feels so good to finally say that to her after listening to all of this crap. Mist's mouth opens, offended, and she gets even angrier than before.

“You're just like Shatter! Who are you to judge how I feel!?” Mist screams, and then she rushes me head on, using her magic to propel her entire body into my torso. Taken by surprise, I'm knocked right off of the table and into a group of undead, slightly winded. I quickly turn and slice the undead to pieces with a combination of magic and swordplay. When I turn to face Mist again, that one pony that she called Emmie is now rushing towards me with a snarl. Mist sees that and her mouth opens in horror. “Emmie, wait!”

Right in front of Mist's eyes, I pivot on one hell and slam the flat of my palm into Emmie's face. My magic is so strong, it completely obliterates the undead pony, bits of its body scattering across the table. Mist's scream of anguish is so pronounced that I almost want to cover my ears. To my shock, Mist gets even stronger, her aura widening in radius and erupting further upwards, rupturing the stony ceiling. Rubble falls down around her, and snow from the outside starts to fall within, a chill filling the air.

Mist turns and intercepts Trixie, who has been trying to attack her. With one quick sweep of her hooves, she knocks Trixie aside, and then fires a beam of magic after her. Trixie thankfully manages to land on her hooves in time to block the attack, but she's pressing a hoof to the place where Mist hit her, a bruise already forming. However, Mist is already turning her attention back towards me.

“You were going to be my friend!” Mist shrieks at me, and then the two of us meet on top of the table in a roiling melee of hooves and fists, the sturdy furniture crumbling beneath us. “I thought you were like me...but you lied! Lied, lied, LIED!” Mist punctuates each of her repetitions with a powerful blast of magic from her horn, which courses of my aura and stings my skin. However, she's hardly stronger than Twilight, even as enraged as she is.

“Who gives a shit!?” I finally shout back at her, blocking one of her punches on my arm and then pounding her downwards into the table with a fist to the top of her head. Mist recovers quickly and rolls over to dodge my follow up attack. The table shatters entirely beneath my fists, sending Mist tumbling to the ground. She can't fly like I can. “Give up! We've outsmarted you, and now you've nowhere to run.”

Mist snarls and reveals another amulet similar to what Shatter wore back during Cloudsdale...which causes me to panic. “Oh no, you fucking don't!” I yell, moving towards her. Time seems to move in slow motion, as Mist's hoof moves towards her amulet, and I try my best to reach her before she activates it. Mist's lip turns up in a smirk as the amulet starts to glow...

“Not this time! Hyaaaah!” Swift's yell fills the room, and her lance soars across the room and nails Mist right in the throat, piercing the amulet and shattering it before its teleportation spell can activate. Mist yells and is borne to the wall by the impact, but the lance doesn't actually hurt her, due to her magical protection. “You're staying right here!”

Mist looks around at all of in panic and anguish, deprived of her only escape. She watches as my team systematically finishes off the other undead in the room. Swift, her lance broken against Mist's protection, is now using a smaller javelin to deadly effect. It isn't long before the five of us are surrounding her, closing in on her with our respective weapons pointing directly at her.

“Trixie suggests you surrender. You have lost,” Trixie advises the fallen general, a confident little half smirk on her muzzle. I have to mirror her expression, because my sword is pointing at Mist too. “She is sure the princesses will treat you well.”

Mist is silent, her eyes widened and filled with tears over the loss of her undead “friends.” Remembering her earlier words, I wonder if it would be better to kill her. It seems to be what she wants, after all. “No...I won't let it be over,” Mist growls, her sadness quickly turning to rage. She gets back up again, her magic far from depleted. “Not until you pay for the deaths of my friends!”

“They were already dead, you fucking psycho!” I snap back at her. I take a step towards, her, but then to our shock and horror, her horn flashes, and she disappears from the room with a pop. “What? Are you fucking kidding me? How did she...?”

“She must have teleported! I can sense her nearby!” Swift informs me, whirling around and storming towards the door. We follow her as quickly as we can in an attempt to catch Mist before she can escape...but just as we open the door, we are greeted by the growls of hundreds upon hundreds of undead, swarming through the streets towards us. And most of them are Oppressed. “Commander, we're in trouble!”

“There's so many of 'em! How can we take 'em all on our own?” Applejack yells, backing away from the door and shutting it. With that, we're trapped in here, surrounded by thirteen hundred undead, most of whom are immune to magic. Shit, we went from victory to almost certain defeat...and it's all my goddamn fault for thinking I could take down Mist so easily.

“Seth, what do we do?” Rainbow demands. Fuck, there's no way out. There has to be something we can do...I'm not going to die here if I can help it. There's always a way out.

“Barricade the door! We might be able to hold here if we can keep them from swarming us!” I command, motioning towards Applejack and Swift. The two of them nod and move to grab every piece of rubble and furniture that they can. “Rainbow, look for other exits. We might be able to slip out and make a break for it if we're lucky.”

“What should Trixie do?” Trixie asks frantically, looking panicked now that she's in a true life or death situation for the first time. I look around the room and notice a rack of weapons on the wall. I grab a shortsword and toss it to her. Trixie catches it out of reflex in her magic. “What...? Trixie doesn't know how to use this!”

“Maybe not, but it's better than flailing your hooves at the Oppressed!” I snap at her. Trixie blanches, but nods in understanding. “Get ready. The most we can do is hold here until we find an opportunity to escape.”

Just after Applejack and Swift push a heavy dresser against the front doors, the first wave of Oppressed slam against it, the resulting crash resounding through the room. Some of the Oppressed are throwing themselves against the windows as well, and it isn't long before one of them shatters and an undead manages to slip its way inside.

“I don't think so!” Rainbow declares, swooping out of the sky and flooring the creature with a swift uppercut. She finishes it off by slamming its head several times into the wall until it stops struggling. “Seth, we've got the windows and the front door. There's no other way out!”

“You've got to be kidding me!” I groan, tangling with an Oppressed over by another of the windows. They broke this one quickly as well, so now it's taking everything I have to keep them from piling through in droves.

“This door ain't gonna hold!” Applejack warns me, just as the door starts to splinter beneath the Oppressed's assault. Fuck, everything is going to hell fast. Come on, Seth, think. There has to be some way I can get us all out of here. I won't be able to live with myself if I get one of these ponies killed because of my poor decision. “Seth, they're comin' through!”

“I know!” I yell, slicing apart another Oppressed that's climbing in through the window. Behind me, Swift jabs her javelin through a hole opened in the front door, taking out an undead's eye in the process...though that does little more than slow it down. Trixie is at the window on the opposite side of the room, flailing around with her new shortsword in an attempt to fend off the undead coming in through that side. We're surrounded, and it's only a matter of time before we're overwhelmed.

As I blast the head of an undead away, an idea comes to me. This one is possibly foolish and could possibly fail, but it's better than standing here and waiting to get killed by magic-immune zombies. “Rainbow, can you lift Applejack?” I demand. Applejack blinks at that.

“Can she what now?” Applejack questions, but I ignore her, staring at Rainbow. Rainbow looks over at Applejack.

“Yeah, definitely. She's not that heavy,” Rainbow responds. “Why? Do you have an idea? Please tell me you do. I don't want to be dinner for these things.”

“I think so. It's dumb, but it shouldn't be dumber than getting ourselves trapped in here in the first place,” I answer her, and then I wince when the front door splinters further, and the upper half of the doors crumbles away, such that the Oppressed are starting to claw their way through. Applejack and Swift meet their assault, punching and stabbing away to buy as much time as possible. “I'm going to blow up the building. When I do, grab Applejack and escape through the rubble. I'll take Trixie and Swift and we'll fly for the walls. With luck, we might be able to escape to the Islanders for backup.”

“You're sure you can lift two ponies?” Swift questions me uncertainly. I give her an askance look, and then nod. I've lifted three before. Granted, one of them was a filly and I didn't last very long, it was at least something. With all my power now, I should be able to do this. Swift nods slowly and moves towards me, as does Trixie. “Okay. It's the best chance we've got, I suppose.”

“Trixie will not forgive you if you drop her,” Trixie asserts, backing away from the window. As an Oppressed starts to climb through, she tosses her shortsword at it, impaling it through the skull. “Well? What are we waiting for?”

“For them to get inside. I want to catch some of them in the destruction,” I say. The moment after I say that, the front door shatters into pieces and the Oppressed swarm through, tearing apart the dresser in their way with their razor sharp claws. “Fuck it, here goes! Get in the air!”

I power up one last time and slam the ground with a magically empowered fist. Lines of destructive emerald magic arcs out from the point of impact in a star like pattern, gouging through the ground and demolishing the walls and ceiling in one massive explosion.

Grabbing Swift and Trixie, I take to the skies beside Rainbow and Applejack. I hold the two ponies close to my with my arms hooked around their barrels. It's not ideal and they're no doubt uncomfortable, but it'll have to do for now. We manage to escape the rubble, the building collapsing beneath its own weight now that it has been destabilized so much. Any undead in the building are crushed by the debris. A cloud of dust and debris is thrown into the air, which we use as short term cover long enough to put some distance between us and the building.

“This is just crazy!” Applejack wails from her position in Rainbow's grip. Trixie is similarly crying out in panic as her hind legs dangle several scores of feet above the ground, promising imminent death should I drop her. But I won't drop her.

“Make for the mountains! We've got to get to the Islanders!” I order, flying as fast as I can while carrying the weight of two ponies. If it weren't for my magic, I'd never be able to carry these two for a long distance, much less fly with them. Rainbow nods, and the five of us fly as fast as we can towards the gates, with several undead pegasus in hot pursuit. The walls loom closer and closer, and I start to believe that we'll get out of this...

“You will not escape!” Mist shrieks from far below. Before any of us know what's happening, a beam of lethal white magic lances up from below...and hits Rainbow right beneath her right wingjoint. Rainbow cries out in pain and her flight pattern spirals out of control, taking her and Applejack down towards the ground.

“No!” I yell, and then I whirl around, looking for Mist. I find her standing atop the ruins of her old chambers, her white aura licking up around her like flames. Ignoring her angry expression, I immediately fly down towards Rainbow, as she can't seem to control her downward flight.

Rainbow slams into the ground, and she and Applejack tumble over one another, yelling out in pain as they do so. I land right beside them, setting down Trixie and Swift. “Rainbow! Are you okay? I swear to god, you better be okay, or I'll...” I start to say, my mouth running out of sheer worry and fright.

“Ow...I'm fine...but my wing...” Rainbow moans, managing to hoist herself to her hooves. She shows me her wing, and it's bent at an awkward angle, in addition to the burned fur and skin where Mist shot her. “Darn it, we were so close!”

“Applejack, are you hurt? Can you stand?” Swift expresses anxiously, extending a hoof to the farmer pony. Applejack groans and accepts the hoof.

“Yeah, but ah reckon ah'll be feelin' that in the morning,” Applejack grunts, rubbing at her bruised ribs. She moves to comfort Rainbow once she's standing again. “Hang in there, sugarcube. We can't do this without ya. Can you fly?”

Rainbow tries, but yells out in agony and falls back to the ground. She looks down at the snowy ground, looking dejected. “No, I can't. I'm useless now,” Rainbow moans. “Why did this have to happen now!?”

We were...the gates are right there. Literally all we needed was a few more seconds, and we would have been home free. Now, we're trapped inside the walls, with the undead quickly moving to surround us once more. This time, there's no structures nearby other than the gatehouse to hide in...the gatehouse.

“No time to stand around, the undead are coming!” I shout at the rest of them, indicating the hordes of undead charging towards us, even as we speak. “Get in the gatehouse, now!”

None of the other ponies argue with that. Swift immediately throws open the reinforced door to the gatehouse and slips inside, holding the portal open so the rest of us can follow her. Once we're all inside, she slams the door shut and slides the bolt closed, locking it for now. “That should buy us a few moments, at least,” Swift determines. “Commander, what are your orders? We won't be able to hold out here forever.”

“We won't have to,” I say, looking at the back of the room. Out of all the places we could have landed, this was probably the best. At the back of the room is a complicated apparatus, consisting of a large spool of chains that looks to be turned by a valve connected to the top of it. The chains feed up the wall into a slot high up on the wall, in the general direction of the gates. “This is our objective. If we can get those gates open, the Islanders can get in. If we can just hold out long enough for them to get here, we'll win.”

“What luck!” Trixie exclaims, moving over to the spool. I quickly join her, figuring that it'll take at least two of us to get this thing moving. She and I stand on either side of the wheel and grasp the handles together. “Let's get those gates open, Seth!”

Just then, the door shudders and cracks as the Oppressed throw themselves against it. We dont' have much time to do this. “Sounds good to me. Swift! Barricade that door with whatever you can find! Buy us as much time as you can!” I order her, and then Trixie and I start to strain, the wheel only turning slowly despite our combined efforts. “Ugh....it's moving so slow...come on!”

“Trixie feels like...this gate...weighs at least a ton...” Trixie grunts, starting to use her magic to help turn the wheel. As the wheel slowly turns, I can feel something shifting in the walls. There's the sound of wood and and metal groaning from outside, telling me that the gates are opening at an agonizing pace.

Swift and Applejack are throwing everything can in front of the doors. Chairs, tables, and even end tables are being piled up at the base of the door in an attempt to put as much matter between the Oppressed and us. Thankfully, there's only one window that opens to the outside, and Rainbow is standing in front of it. She's grounded, but she doesn't look like she's going to be giving up any time soon.

The door splinters under repeated impacts, making it clear that it's not going to hold out for very long. However, Trixie and I are in full form right now. The wheel is steadily turning. I can't see the outside, but I'm sure the gates are partially open now. Pterax, I pray that you made it to the Islanders. I hope they can make it here in time.

Suddenly, there's the sound of magic sparking in the air from the far side of the room, opposite the door. I quickly turn my head. To my horror, a very angry Mist is standing there, having just teleported in. I then curse, remembering that the window was probably what allowed her to get in. Unicorns need a line of sight to teleport.

“Step away from that wheel,” Mist growls, her muzzle screwed into an expression of intense sorrow and hate. She summons her magic, cracking the floor beneath her. “You killed Emmie...and now I'm going to kill you.”

“Trixie, I'm gonna need you to keep turning the wheel,” I whisper to the blue unicorn, stepping away. Trixie groans in complaint at the extra weight she has to turn all on her own, but she doggedly keeps turning it. I turn my gaze onto Mist, summoning my own magic, such that the room is awash with white and green light. “You shouldn't have come here all on your own, general. You can't stand up to me.”

“I didn't come here on my own,” Mist replies ominously. As if on cue, the wall just in front of her explodes inwards with a thunderous crash. Chunks of debris and dust briefly flood the room...and then a powerful, hulking Mega Oppressed charges into the room, releasing a roar of challenge. My bravado evaporates instantly, my eyes widening with terror. Mist's horn flashes, and the monster orients on us, flexing its unnaturally swollen muscles. “Tear them apart!”

“Fuck! Fuck fuck!” I immediately, curse, throwing myself away from the Mega Oppressed's charge, narrowly avoiding it to the point where I can feel the disturbance in the air left in its wake. “Everypony scatter right now, or we're all screwed!”

Trixie yelps and dashes forward in time to avoid the monster's thick fingers as it reached out for her, intent to squeeze the life from her. Making a split second decision, I turn to the wheel and slice through the chain with my sword, effectively breaking the mechanism. Now, they won't be able to close the gates, no matter what happens. Even if we die, the battle will still be won.

“What in tarnation...!? Oh no, not one of these critters!” Applejack exclaims in horror as the Mega Oppressed charges right into the middle of us. There's no room to dodge, so one of its flailing arms rams into my stomach, knocking me into the wall. Shrugging off Swift and Applejack's combined attacks, it knocks the both of them aside with vicious punches.

“Back off, ugly!” Rainbow charges the creature bravely and foolishly, shoulder rushing its legs in an attempt to unbalance it. When Rainbow reaches it, it clamps its fingers around her barrel and starts to squeeze mercilessly, causing the pegasus to scream in agony. The sight causes me to see red, and I hurtle into the fight, slicing into the creature's fingers with my blade repeatedly until a finger is severed, loosening its grip long enough for me to pry Rainbow out. Immediately afterward, the Mega Oppressed roars in rage and rams the both of us with its mangled fist, causing us both to roll across the ground painfully.

“It's tearing us apart, commander! We have to flee!” Swift yells frantically, evading the monster's next charge and vainly attempting to inflict some kind of damage with her javelin. On the other side of the room, Trixie is engaging with Mist in an intense magical confrontation. The both of them seem to be evenly matched; with every collision between their magically enhanced hooves, an ethereal wind surges up from around them, and the room is further damaged. The floor boards are torn up and the surrounding furniture is disintegrated.

“There's nowhere to go! This fucker's in here, and the Oppressed are outside!” I lament. The moment I see the Mega Oppressed going for Applejack, I lunge forward and knock her out of the way, only to take the hit myself, which nearly sends me right through the barricade. I hold my no doubt broken ribs, panting and groaning from the pain. Through the splintered remains of the continuously degrading door, I can see the masses of undead outside...and the halfway opened gates just nearby.

“We have to take our chances! We can't fight this thang!” Applejack expresses, getting up from the ground. “Rainbow's hurt too! We gotta make a run fer the gates!”

“I guess we have no other choice. Let's go!” I order. With a nod, Swift knocks aside the barricade and bucks the door down, bowling over a few undead that were beating against the door not too long ago. She dashes outside and works to clear a way for us. Applejack joins her outside, quickly followed by Rainbow. “Trixie! Get your little blue ass over here!”

“Little...busy!” Trixie manages to get out as she ducks beneath Mist's hoof. She then stamps the ground with both hooves, releasing a wave of cyan light forward. Mist nimbly leaps out of the way and counterattacks with a destructive orb of snowy magic, which is then blocked by a hastily erected cyan barrier.

“Fucking...we don't have time!” I dive beneath the Mega Oppressed flailing fists and fire several blasts of magic towards Mist, forcing the general to back away from Trixie. “Come on! Get moving! I'll keep the big guy distracted!”

Trixie nods and dashes past the hulking Oppressed. It tries to swipe at her, but I step in front of its fist and block it on my forearm....but the force behind the attack is so great that I'm knocked clear through the front wall. If it weren't for my magic, that would have broken my back, no doubt.

I land right in the middle of a chaotic melee between my team and the undead. We're completely surrounded on three sides by the small fry, and behind us is a rampaging Mega Oppressed and general Mist herself. Because of my bad call, this has quickly gone from bad to worse.

“We can make it! Come on, fight harder!” Rainbow urges us on as she punches an Oppressed into the ground. Now that we're all together, we let out a collective battle cry and charge the undead lines that are blocking us from getting to the gates. Panic and adrenaline fuel my tired muscles as I cut my way into the wall of dead flesh between us and safety.

At first, it seems like we're going to make it. Swift is doing a marvelous job at watching our backs, despite the fact that we're all getting collectively overwhelmed by the sheer amount of enemies that we're fighting. More than once, I miss my guard, and an Oppressed claw slices into my skin painfully, leaving behind bleeding cuts on my arms and legs. I'm not the only one taking hits either. Applejack is favoring her left foreleg, and Trixie is sporting a cut on her forehead that's steadily oozing blood.

However, as we get closer, I notice with horror that the gates are starting to slowly close. What? How is that possible? I broke the mechanism myself, there's no way they should be able to close! I whirl around to look at the destroyed wall of the gatehouse, where the Mega Oppressed is steadily approaching us. However, what I see causes my hopes to sink like a stone. Mist is standing beside the broken mechanism, using her magic to control the severed chain and close the gates. Oh fuck...magic. I completely forgot about magic.

If she closes the gates, we're all screwed. We'll be completely annihilated here by all of these undead, and it will have been all my goddamn fault. I had to be so confident that we could win the battle without losing anypony. Because of that, we're going to lose everything.

Author's Note:

Yes, and here it is, the second part of the double update. When I finished the last chapter, I kinda kept writing, until I realized I had material for two chapters. So here it is! And while you're all reading this one, I'm rewriting the first chapter. I've been meaning to do it forever, but it's only now that I'm actually doing it. I want to take some time to expand the relationship between him and Amaryllis, while at the same time establishing that his jaded nature did NOT come from the fact that his race died. It was already there.

Anyway, that'll be done soon, so no worry about delays. Thanks to Schadenponi for showing back up and editing the past two chapters, so those changes will be shown. Don't forget to comment and tell me what you think!

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