• 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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127. March on the Crystal Empire

The sun rises high above the frozen hills surrounding the Crystal Empire, shedding its rays upon the glistening snow drifts. In the distance, the twisted and blackened spires of what used to be beautiful crystal buildings are clearly visible, towering over the surrounding landscapes. Any grass that used to be there has long since died away, to be replaced with by sick, blackened ground. It's as if Sombra's magic tainted the very land around the city.

I, along with the rest of my team, am standing atop a large hill. From here, we can see the whole city, as well as the imposing black walls that have been erected around its perimeter. Even all the way over here, I can tell that the city is teeming with a massive amount of undead, consisting of Oppressed and other undead of multiple species; such as wolves, manticores, and normal ponies. I even see the occasional Mega Oppressed prowling among their ranks. We have our work cut out for us.

The entirety of the Equestrian forces are situated around me. They are arranged into orderly ranks, with the unicorns and earth ponies forming the bulk of the army. At the head of the First Regiment, near where I'm positioned, Shining Armor and Cadance are standing, each of them armored and ready for battle. Pinkie is here as well, wielding a variety of ridiculous weapons that don’t make a lick a sense...as per usual.

Blades and Rose are with the Second Division on the leftmost flank of our army, accompanied by Princess Luna, Mist, and Twilight. All of them are fully armored in preparation for the hard battle to come, determined expressions stamped on their faces. Luna is wielding her sickle sword, spinning the lethal weapon occasionally to test its balance.

Flying high in the air above us are the Griffon and Equestrian airships, teeming with griffon technicians. The cannons of the armored airships are extended, armed, and manned by griffons. I can tell that anything on the receiving end of a volley from a broadside by one of those things won't last for very long.

Gilded Skies has his own fleet of airships. Surprisingly, despite the fact that he isn't military and therefore not obligated to help us, he's here as well with everything he has. The ballistae are oiled and loaded, and Gilded Skies himself is at the wheel of the flagship with his crossbow close beside him.

Spitfire and the Wonderbolts are flying in the air at the head of the Pegasus Corps, along with Gale and the Stealth Corps. Hundreds of pegasi fly in the air around us, the sound of their wings filling the air.

Formed up on the right flank of our army are the Bleak Island forces, led by Warlords Salamul and Iron. Even Crimson is amongst them, wielding a hammer in one of her hooves. Considering my proximity to the right flank, they're actually not that far away from us.

Lastly, arrayed behind the Equestrian forces in orderly ranks is the changeling horde, consisting of hundreds upon hundreds of drones and infiltrators. Chrysalis herself is flying in the air high above them, her jaw set with determination and her eyes fixed upon the city ahead.

Princess Celestia stands at the head of the army, fully suited up in her red and golden armor and wielding her shield and sword. Standing beside her is a soldier carrying the Equestrian flag, which waves proudly in the breeze, raising the morale of all who gaze upon it.

The princess stares grimly at the Crystal Empire. Once, the Crystal Tower used to be a beautiful building, the highlight of a once glorious empire. But now, it looks nothing like it used to. Gone are the serene crystalline colors and smooth angles, to be replaced with sick and twisted black crystal. The edges are jagged and sharp like a guillotine, and its spires jutting up into the air like twisted pikes, their tops burning with a sickly purple fire. The spire itself shoots up into the air like a pillar of darkness, widening out into a platform up top.

Dark clouds swirl around the top of the tower, covering the land in darkness. Lightning flashes from within the clouds, causing faint thunder to peal through the air. If King Sombra's going to be anywhere, it's up there. I can just feel it.

Celestia turns around, meeting the eyes of each and every one of her soldiers assembled before her. This is the final battle, and everypony knows it. “My dear and most loyal subjects,” Celestia begins, somehow projecting her voice loud enough so that the whole army can hear it. I can hear her loud and clear even from where I'm standing. “Sombra, usurper king of the Crystal Empire, lies in wait ahead. He and his army of undead pose the greatest threat to Equestria; greater than any crisis that we have ever faced before.”

Celestia starts to stride purposefully past the ranks of the Equestrian forces so that it seems like she's addressing each one of us individually. “I know how you all must be feeling. These creatures are unlike anything that you have ever faced. You have trained to fight monsters and to keep Equestria safe, but never did you expect to handle a threat of this nature. I understand,” Celestia assures them all. “That is why King Sombra takes us lightly; he believes that because we value peace, harmony, and friendship above all else, he can brush us aside as though we pose no threat to him. He has not taken Equestria seriously from the moment he set hoof in our time!”

Around me, I can hear the sounds of the soldiers' ire rising. The different ponies are snorting and pounding their weapons against the ground. Even I am a little angry; I feel Celestia has nailed Sombra's thoughts exactly. While we were fighting to save our home, he has been holding goddamn banquets and other frivolous shit, as if we didn't even matter. I open my hand, allowing my sword to materialize and fall into my grasp. I waste no time in allowing my magic to course through it, turning the blade to emerald.

“This complacency will be his downfall! No matter our ideals, we are willing to stand up and fight for the sake of the peace that we have fought so hard to maintain for hundreds of years! It matters not what manner of creatures attempt to keep us from this goal...we will not stop until the land is safe once more!” Celestia continues, her eyes narrowing. She gives a smile after that. “I am proud of each and every one of you for coming this far with me. In our fight to keep Equestria free from those who would oppress it, we have lost friends...loved ones...family members. We all feel the pain of these losses. Hold them close to your hearts, everypony, and remember just what it is we are fighting for.”

“Will you let King Sombra inflict the pain we have felt upon other innocent ponies? Will you let the sacrifices of all of those ponies that have fallen so far be in vain?” Celestia calls out to the allied forces. From the ponies surrounding us, a chorus of angry shouts and cries rise up. Her words make me think about those that have died in the fight against Sombra. My family...Amaryllis...Maka...the human race...this is the one thing that I can still do for them. With that in mind, I can't help but shout out myself, my blood starting to boil. “Come with me, ponies of Equestria! Come with me, Griffons of Griffonstone! Come with me, soldiers of Bleak Island! Come with me, changelings! Come with me, Seth Rogers!”

Chills run down my spine as Celestia utters my name personally, turning to gaze directly at me. Lastly, she regards her army one more time. “Come with me, my dear friends. Let us bring peace to Equestria once and for all...and freedom to all those King Sombra has enslaved! For Equestria!”

Without another word, Celestia turns around and breaks into a gallop, heading directly for the Crystal Empire. Her horn lights up with a bright golden light, and with an almighty crash, a colossal beam of powerful magic blows a hole in the black gates of the capital.

With a rousing battle cry, the front ranks of the army start their final charge. I break into a run myself, forming my rifle into a pistol form in my remaining hand. Beside me is Rainbow Dash and Applejack, each one of them easily keeping up with the front lines. Pterax and Trixie are just behind us, as well as Swift.

“I didn't realize I was suddenly your friend, princess,” Chrysalis spits from her position in the air above us. She shakes her head in exasperation, and then she grins wolfishly. “You certainly talk a good game, though, I'll give you that. Let's go, my changelings. Let's show these ponies what we're really capable of.”

The air fills with the sound of buzzing insectoid wings as the entire changeling horde lifts off of the ground and takes to the skies alongside the pegasus corps. There are so many of them that they form a black cloud of swarming changelings that seemingly block out the sun.

“Open fire!” Gilded Skies roars out from above. Ballista bolts fire from the Equestrian airships repeatedly, raining down into the ranks of undead that are now streaming out of the hole in the wall. Not long after their assault begins, Zythe's voice cracks out like a whip, and the sound of booming cannons fills the air. The fleet of airships advances on the city, firing relentlessly into the enemy.

The undead are mobilizing now, forming themselves up into organized ranks as well and flowing across the plains like the tide. From the city itself, trebuchets located on the ramparts and on some of the buildings inside unload volleys of flaming boulders over at our lines. One of the Equestrian airships is hit head on by a boulder, tearing it right in half and detonating the engine.

I can see the Oppressed and the other normal undead getting closer and closer. We're on the front lines, so it's me that's going to meet them first, along with the ponies on either side of me. I lift my left hand and squeeze the trigger of my pistol, firing several shots into the enemy ranks. My shots dissipate harmlessly against any Oppressed they hit, but any normal undead are obliterated when the crystalline bullets explode violently with magic and shrapnel, tearing their bodies apart.

Above us, the pegasi and changelings fire down upon the enemy with arrows and beams of emerald magic. Chrysalis herself charges ahead, meeting the enemy head on and plowing them aside like a bulldozer. The whole time, she's laughing happily. “Come to me, wretched creatures! Let the Queen of the Changelings show you her true power!” Chrysalis taunts, tearing an Oppressed limb from limb with her bare hooves.

With a yell, our lines reach the undead. I let my pistol disappear and duck underneath the first rank of undead as they leap towards us. Holding the hilt of my blade tightly, I cut through a whole line of them, using my magic to boost my movement speed and momentum. Now that I've mastered the ability, it's easy to weave around the undead's attacks and slice them to pieces.

Shining Armor and Cadance soon join me, laying waste with their weapons and magical prowess. Shining Armor's bardiche dances in and out of the enemy like a deadly hornet, prioritizing the Oppressed. Any normal undead that get too close to the captain are incinerated by Cadance's powerful magic.

Applejack and Rainbow tear into the enemy themselves, letting out cries of their own as they lay flat any undead in their way with their powerful hooves. Together, the two of them easily intercept an undead manticore and beat it into submission with their superior speed. “Let's see if ah kin take down more o' these varmints than you, Rainbow Dash!” Applejack challenges her friend as the two fight side by side.

“Oh, you're so on!” Rainbow shoots back with a grin.

Behind them, Swift Lance and Trixie wade into the fray themselves. “Watch my back, Trixie. If your illusions can help keep the enemy off of my flank, I'll be very grateful,” Swift requests. She grunts and points her lance forward, halting a large undead pony's assault by using its own momentum against it.

“Trixie will protect you; have no fear!” Trixie proclaims. With her illusions, she distracts the undead by forming false images of herself and several soldiers around her. This causes the undead to flail harmlessly at the images and allow the other soldiers and I to mop them up without much trouble at all.

“I'll fight with you,” Pterax says from his position beside me. He transforms into another version of me and unsheathes a sword similar to mine. He envelops the sword in his own sickly green magic, and then the two of us slice into the enemy, fighting side by side to deadly effect.

Despite the sheer amount of undead pouring out of the gates, we're killing them faster them they can emerge. With all of us fighting together, we're slowly but surely pushing them back towards the gates. Celestia is at the front of the battle, annihilating anything to stand in her way. Not even the Oppressed are a match for her; a single punch from her hooves causes their entire bodies to buckle inwards.

“Remember the plan, Rogers!” Shining Armor reminds me as he and I work together to take down a particularly nasty wave of Oppressed, supplemented by wolves. More often than not, I find his barriers helping to keep the undead from latching onto me. If they're not Oppressed, they can't harm me, but they can immobilize me, and that would spell the end for me. “As soon as we reach the walls, get moving!”

“I haven't forgotten,” I grunt in response. I hold out my free hand and reform my sword into a set of large shurikens, a new weapon that I've learned to make since the last time I was in battle. Using my magic to control them, I send them both out into the enemy lines. Even the Oppressed are eviscerated by the very physical objects. I'm taking a page out of Twilight's book. I remember how I was told that she helped fight Shatter with magic propelled rocks...and the shurikens here are using the same concept. “Stay close to me, team! It's about time for us to split off!”

“Understood, commander!” Swift responds.

“You got it, sugarcube!” Applejack chimes in as well. My team forms up around me not long after that. Supported by the soldiers around us as well as the Islanders attacking from the right flank, we're practically unstoppable.

As our forces near the wall, we start to put the plan in motion. I hear an explosion from the left flank that shakes the ground, letting me know that Luna has destroyed the wall on her side, making two holes in the enemy defenses.

“My turn,” I grunt. Pterax and Swift move in to cover me as I call back my shurikens and dismiss them, replacing them with a new form of my rifle. The weapon thickens and elongates into the unmistakeable form of a rocket launcher. I rest it on my shoulder and aim briefly down the scope just long enough to ensure that the wall is firmly within my sights. “Take this, motherfuckers!”

The rocket launcher roars to life and fires a green crystalline rocket that trails behind a plume of white smoke. The backdraft scatters the earth behind me as I fire it. Damn, I need to be careful firing this around my allies.

The rocket soars through the air in a spiral pattern, zooming over the heads of undead and soldiers alike. It slams into the wall a moment later and blows a huge hole it in, sending pieces of black stone raining down into the twisted black streets of the capital. Cracks spider away from the hole, and eventually the whole thing comes down, leaving a huge opening for our forces to exploit.

“Good job, Roge...oh ponyfeathers,” Shining Armor starts to compliment me, but then he looks beyond the hole to see a Mega Oppressed climbing over the rubble and shoving its way through its undead allies. “Incoming! Spread out and surround it! Don't let it break our formation!”

“Son of a bitch,” I curse, reforming my shurikens and letting the rocket launcher disappear. I look around at my team. “You heard him...spread out so it can't charge us as effectively!”

Just as my team starts to do as I commanded, the Mega Oppressed charges, roaring loudly and clenching its thick hands into fists. Our soldiers attempt to meet it, but it bowls them aside easily, laying several of them low.

Before it can go any further, Shining Armor and I are there. Shining Armor hurls his bardiche and slams a powerful barrier against one side of the weapon to propel it right into the monster's torso, impaling it. Despite that, the monster keeps coming. I step ahead and hurl my shurikens at it one at a time, using as much magic as I can get away with to keep the Mega Oppressed at bay.

At first it seems to be working, as the shurikens cut deeply into its skin and hold it back. However, after each hit, it takes a step forward, pushing forward against the assault. Just as it's about to reach me, a deafening boom fills the air, and the entire right arm of the monster is blown clean off by a steel cannonball.

“Indestructible my tail! Nothing stands up after a round of griffon cannons!” Zythe boasts from the top of his flagship. He grins viciously and hurls a javelin down at the undead, skewering one of the Oppressed. “Let em' have it, griffons!”

The flagships's cannons roar to life, obliterating the Mega Oppressed in a few well placed shots, leaving our path open. Now that the path is clear, our forces surge forward towards the hole in the wall.

“Get going, Rogers! You know what you have to do,” Shining Armor orders me, retrieving his bardiche and wading back into the fray. “Cadance and I will support the right flank with the Islanders!”

“You got it. Let's go everypony!” I call to my team. Applejack, Rainbow, and the others nod and trail after me as I leap over the bodies of fallen Oppressed and infiltrate the city. I look around cautiously, my feet clicking on the black crystalline streets. It feels surreal to be inside the city now that it's been transformed. At the same time, it disgusts me, because I know how beautiful it used to look. “Stick to the ground, everypony. Don't fly too high, or you'll just come hurtling back down.”

“Ugh, these defenses are a pain,” Rainbow complains, landing on the street. She gazes up at the skies, where the dark clouds are slowly rotating about the spire of the tower. As revealed by Hawke, Sombra has an airborne defense system to keep anyone from approaching the tower from the air, in the form of high speed winds. No, the only way to reach the top of the tower is from within.

I lead my team through the streets, cutting around the right side of the main conflict. Behind us are a separate division of soldiers that have been assigned to my command for the time being. With them behind us, we move as far as we can towards the Crystal Tower.

It isn't long before we meet heavy resistance. Undead swarm out from the gaps between buildings, breaking away from the main horde in an attempt to keep them from being flanked. Whoever is controlling the undead seems to have a good measure of tactics.

“Here they come!” I alert the soldiers following us. A chorus of acknowledgment rises from their ranks not long after that. Thus assured, I clench my hands around the grip of my sword and charge right into the enemy lines. With my new magical prowess, I dash through them like a whirlwind, carving up any enemy in my way. I work from within to disrupt their ranks and create gaps for my team and the other soldiers to exploit.

I grin and tear an Oppressed to pieces by running around it in a circle. It's attacks seem sluggish and predictable compared to before, and as such it doesn't even pose a slight threat to me. Immune to magic they may be, but it doesn't mean anything if they can't hit me.

Together, we deal so much damage that the undead are forced to send more and more of their troops to intercept us, exactly as we'd planned. With Luna and the Second Division's efforts on the left flank, we're forcing the undead to spread out and battle us on our terms. We're essentially using their own walls against them and taking away their advantage in clustered groups.

“There's just so darn many of 'em!” Applejack exclaims, narrowly dodging the attacks of a minotaur and its Oppressed followers. She bucks one of the Oppressed backwards into the undead ranks, knocking several of them over. Seconds later, she's forced to throw herself to the side to avoid the minotaur's fist, which cracks the street right in the spot where she used to be.

I curse under my breath, realizing that she's right. I can't let the enemy hold us here, otherwise I'll be too drained of magic to fight Sombra when the time comes. Moving through the battlefield with ease, I zip through the enemy and target any undead that are pressuring my soldiers. I make sure to use as little magic as I can get away with, using it only to boost my speed.

“What about the airships? Can we get some air support?” Trixie demands, her horn glowing bright blue as she struggles to maintain the illusions protecting us.

“They can't come into the city, or they'll be pushed around by the winds!” Swift responds, as she's the closest to the blue unicorn. She's right too. Even if their sturdier ships can withstand the wind, it'll be impossible to fire accurately, which would raise the risk of friendly fire.

“This is so annoying! Quit trying, I'll just beat you!” Rainbow groans. She's flying circles around a group of undead predators such as manticores, wolves, and tigers, laying flat any of them that leave themselves open. However, she eventually makes a misjudgment, giving one of them an opening to counterattack. Despite a last minute dodge, Rainbow winces as one of the tigers rakes its claws down her side, scratching her painfully. “Yowch!”

“Careful, idiot! Be patient and don't get yourself hurt, or I swear to god I'll kill you!” I snap at her. Forming my sword into a chain knife, I flick my wrist and wrap the chain around the offending tiger. The knife cuts deeply into the tiger's belly, anchoring itself there. With the tiger attached to that end, I swing the chain around in a vicious arc, knocking over a swath of undead unlucky enough to take a hit from the tiger or the chain itself.

“Oh, calm down. It's just a scratch! I'm fine!” Rainbow retorts, shrugging off the injury and re-entering the fray. I do notice that she is being a little more cautious now. “Where's my illusions, Trixie?”

“Trixie is doing the best she can!” Trixie whines, wiping the sweat away from her brow. Keeping illusions up for the front lines is clearly tiring her out. “She is not sure she can keep this up!”

“Don't tire yourself out! If you need to take a rest, do it! We'll manage!” I tell her fervently, zooming past her in time to dispatch the undead unicorns menacing her. Trixie nods and lets some of the illusions dissipate. She lets out a sigh of relief now that she's not expending so much power at once.

Despite the amount of undead opposing us, our superior tactics and strength are starting to show. As we fight, we're steadily moving forward. None of the enemy prove capable enough to push past my team's excellent defense. Even as outnumbered as we are, we synergize so well together that it's difficult for the enemies to get close. With the addition of the soldiers supporting us, we're slowly making progress.

All around us, the sounds of battle can be heard. Multicolored explosions of magic rock the city and rise above the buildings, to the point where even we can see them. The most visible ones are the white gold of Celestia, the starry black of Luna, and the sickly green of Chrysalis. In addition, lightning strikes down from the heavens towards the streets on our left, where Salamul and Iron are destroying anything in their way without much trouble at all. As for us, we're now in the region of the city where Applejack and I once walked through in search of information.

“We've got incoming, Seth! Two big guys, coming in from ahead!” Rainbow warns us with a panicked tone, zooming away from the enemy lines. I immediately look ahead to see two Mega Oppressed barreling through the undead lines to reach us, their roars audible even over the sounds of combat. “What do we do?”

“Everypony spread out! Surround them and work together! Remember, no magic!” I call out to the other soldiers. I immediately flip out of the way of the first Mega to reach us. With my new speed, it's much easier to anticipate its moves...which means... “Focus on the second one! This one is mine!”

Remembering what I saw of Iron and Salamul, I tempt the monster into attacking me directly with its fists. The monster's fists slam into the crystalline ground, but I'm not there anymore. I'm running alongside the monster's legs, slicing into them with my blade. The monster whirls to counterattack, but it simply can't keep up with me anymore. As the astonished soldiers nearby watch, I dash around the Mega Oppressed's body. My blade strikes out again and again in a deadly dance of emerald, tearing the tendons in its legs until they physically can't support its weight anymore.

The Mega Oppressed roars loudly and topples over, giving me room to leap onto its back and stab its head and torso repeatedly. Eventually, the monster's body can't take anymore and it falls limp, its body a mangled mess. With a grunt, I hop off of the monster's back and into the fray once more. Holy shit, I can't believe I just took one of those things down on my own. It wasn't elegant, but it got the job done.

Over on the other side of the field, the rest of my team as well as several soldiers have surrounded the second Mega Oppressed and are taking it slower, baiting the monster's attacks and retaliating from its blind spot. Their individual attacks aren't doing much of anything, but they're slowly wearing the monster down.

Once the Mega is distracted with Applejack and Swift, Pterax transforms into a powerful grizzly bear and attacks the monster from behind. Wielding a sword in one paw, he uses all of that extra strength and mass to bring down the weapon on the Oppressed's left arm, chopping right through it. Without its arm, the soldiers move in on that side and step up their attacks, aiming for the legs and torso now.

With Pterax's help, it isn't long before that Mega Oppressed falls as well, taken down by the combined efforts of my team and the soldiers. With their absence, our group is given enough room to push forward down the street.

The Crystal Tower is just ahead, several meters forward. If we can break through this line of undead, we can rush right there and set up a defensive position while we wait for Celestia and the others to get there.

“Almost...almost...!” I grunt, carving through an Oppressed that lunges at me. There's a gap ahead of me, so I press my advantage, taking to the air and keeping low. If I can get around their lines and hit them from behind, we can crush them between us.

Just as I start to reach the other side, I hear Applejack cry out from behind me. “Seth, watch out!” That's the only warning I get before something slams right into me, completely halting my momentum. I cry out in pain as hooves latch around me, one of them hammering into my face and completely cutting through my magical protection as if it isn't even there.

My eyes narrow. That only means one thing. Rallying my magic, I tussle with the limber pegasus pony that is no doubt General Silent Shatter, one of our most fearsome enemies due to his ability to negate all magic. I grab onto his next hoof before he can hit me again, and then I lash out with my free hand, managing to catch the general on his cheek.

The two of us hurtle backwards through the air, refusing to let go of one another. Shatter's one visible crimson eye glares into mine, determination evident in his gaze. With a grunt, he lifts up a hind hoof and kicks me in the stomach, winding me and giving him an opportunity and lever me into a building. The crystal shatters beneath the impact and I'm sent into the upper floor of some poor pony's house.

Shatter flies in the air above the hole, staring down at me with his lips curled into a sneer. I can't help but notice that the degradation of his body seems to be more extensive than before. The dead and furless skin now stretches down the left side of his neck. “You won't get farther than here, human,” Shatter hisses at me, raising his hooves in a combat stance. “There will be no mistakes this time. Here, you die.”

“Not this time, you son of a bitch,” I snap at him, despite the fact that I'm very worried now that he's here. I'm nowhere near as good a fighter as he is, and I'm told he fought off Blades, Rose, and Twilight all at the same time. However, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. I immediately whip out my sword and reform it into double shurikens.

Shatter immediately understands the threat behind my new weapon and lithely twists his body to narrowly avoid the shurikens as I throw them one at a time at him. He lets out a mocking laugh as they both miss him...but he cuts off as I twist my arm back and bring the shurikens flying right back towards me...and he's right in their path.

“Annoying,” Shatter grunts, turning his body to face the oncoming weapons. With his metal braces, he fends the weapons off one at a time, giving me the opening I need. Seizing the opportunity, I leap up out of the building and grab hold of his neck, carrying him across the air. I keep going until I ram him into a building on the other side of the street.

The general isn't idle for long. The moment he hits the building, he grunts in pain and twists up his hind legs, levering them both into my chin and knocking me to the street behind the undead lines. “Not bad...you've learned a few new tricks,” Shatter compliments me in that silky smooth voice of his. Goddammit, he's still acting smug. “But you won't hit me like that again.”

Right after Shatter finishes speaking, beams of magic shoot up from the ground from the Equestrian forces. Some of them are from Trixie and Swift, judging from the color. However, none of them even leave a mark. The magic splashes across his skin like water, leaving him completely unharmed. Shatter's grin grows.

“Don't waste your magic! You can't hurt him with it!” I call down to the ponies...but that one moment of distraction gives Shatter enough time to unleash a furious assault of punches on me. One barrels into my jaw, and another hits my gut, almost causing me to double over.

By the third attack, I get my shit straight and boost my movement speed once more. With it, I weave in and out of his attacks with some difficulty until I see an opening. I immediately seize it and attack him head on with furious punches as well, but he's just as fast as I am. His grin never disappears as he easily dodges my attacks.

Shatter catches one of my attacks on his cannon bone and redirects my fist, giving him room to slip in and ram his shoulder into my chest. He doesn't let up. I gasp and choke as he continues his attack, raining punches on my stomach and chest. “You're still not good enough!” Shatter berates me in that condescending tone of his. He grasps my arm and hurls me right across the street into another building, my body breaking its supports and causing the whole thing to collapse down on me.

“Goddamn,” I curse under my breath, bursting out of the rubble and checking myself. I'm still mostly fine, but if I can't land any hits on him, it won't matter. I reform my shurikens and send them both at him, using my magic to control them in a never ending rain of attacks.

“Useless!” Shatter scoffs, using his braces to fend them off as before. It's like trying to hit smoke. His body twists around in ways that don't seem possible to dodge any shurikens I send at him, and those that he can't dodge, he just blocks with those braces of his. “Don't tell me this is all you've learned since...wha!?”

Shatter has to immediately distance himself from me in order to avoid Swift's lance as it soars through the air where he used to be. I turn my head to see that my team has broken through the enemy lines and is now moving to support me. Swift curses and takes out a javelin from where it's hooked into the other side of her armor.

“He's not alone this time, buster!” Rainbow yells, zooming through the air to meet Shatter in combat. Shatter scowls and doesn't hesitate, easily avoiding Rainbow's attack and bringing both forehooves upwards...only for them to pass right through Rainbow's image.

“Wait, wha...?” is all Shatter has time to say before the real Rainbow knocks Shatter to the ground with a somersault kick. On the ground, Trixie grins and flips back her mane egotistically, her horn shining with her unique magic.

“Let's do this, Seth! Leave the undead to the soldiers...this is the real threat!” Pterax says he flies past me in his original form. I nod, and together the three of us rush to assault Shatter all at once.

Shatter leaps to his feet and meets us without hesitation. When I reach him first, he weaves around my punches and knocks me away with his hoof just in time to fend off Pterax and Rainbow's attacks. Shatter easily avoids their punches and kicks, dealing out heavy punishing blows to both of them whenever he sees the opportunity.

I grunt in frustration, joining the assault once more. Even with the three of us here, how can we not land a single hit on him? I've said this before, but it's like trying to catch smoke.

“Now, allow Trixie to help!” Trixie announces, her horn lighting up again. Shatter hears her and knocks the three of us away by spinning in midair, all four of his hooves lashing out at once. I rub my aching jaw and curse, chasing him.

Shatter flies up and around us, heading right for Trixie. Thankfully, Applejack is there to protect her. “Oh no ya don't!” Applejack retorts, lashing out with her two hind legs. Shatter rolls his eyes, easily moving around the attack and tripping her up with a forehoof, causing the farm pony to land on her belly hard. “Oof!”

“Stay away from...aah!” Trixie cries out in pain as Shatter reaches her next, his hooves ramming in her face and shoulders. Her spells are disrupted as she's sent skidding across the street due to Shatter hurling her away. She slams into a building and groans in agony.

“What does it take to stop you!?” Rainbow yells in frustration, meeting Shatter head on once more. The general's smirk returns and he redirects Rainbow's punches, knocking her right to the ground with a hard punch to the top of her head. “Gah!”

Pterax and I reach him at the same time, but Shatter is more than ready for us. He blocks a punch from Pterax on one of his braces and easily does the same to me with his remaining hoof. However, Shatter soon notices that I don't have my sword. He moves back the second I move my knee up, a shuriken attached to the join. Luckily, the tip of the shuriken skids across one of his legs, drawing blood.

“Ggh! Annoying,” Shatter grunts, retreating from us and landing on the crystalline street a few meters away from us. We land on the ground not too far from him. I'm still fine as far as fatigue goes, but I can see a few of the others panting. Shatter's one of the worst opponents we could have possibly run into...and judging from that necklace he's wearing, there's a very good chance that even if we do outsmart him, he'll just retreat to the tower.

“He's tough,” Pterax grunts, watching Shatter closely for signs of another offensive. Swift is over with Trixie, helping the poor unicorn get back on her hooves.

“Even with all of us, we can't hit him,” Rainbow pants, disbelief evident in his voice. “How is he so good?”

“We've got to defeat him. We can't be held here,” I express determinedly. The Crystal Tower is so close, but with Shatter here, we'll never reach it. Where's Celestia or Chrysalis? We really need their help right now. “We've just got to keep trying. He'll slip up eventually.”

“I think not,” Shatter responds, looking as confident as ever. He takes a moment to inspect his leg where I cut him. Unfortunately, I can see that it's a shallow wound. It won't do much other than annoy him. “Foals such as you should stick to less violent pursuits and leave the fighting to your superiors. Perhaps, if you surrender now, King Sombra will find a use for you in the mines.”

“Yeah, right. I'm going to beat you down and then take him down next,” I snap at the general, cracking my knuckles.

“That's right! You're toast, buddy!” Rainbow yells back at the general. Shatter reacts by bursting out into incredulous laughter.

“You? Take down Sombra? When you can't even land a hit on me? What a joke.” Shatter retorts, running a hoof through his mane. From here, I can see the eerie red glow of his dead eye from under his mane. He sighs, as if tired of this whole thing. He starts to walk towards one of the nearby buildings...which looks a little familiar to me for some reason. “I grow tired of this. I want to see your eyes as your last hopes are extinguished.”

“What are you...?” I try to ask, but then, just as Shatter slams open the door of the house, I recognize whose house that is. A squeak of fright sounds from inside, and my blood runs cold. “Don't! Stay away from them!”

Shatter emerges from the house carrying a very familiar crying crystal pony filly in one of his legs. He lifts up his other hoof, and a sharp dagger shoots out from one of his bracers, extending dangerously close to the poor filly's neck. “Now then...wouldn't you like to see me kill this poor filly? I think it would be fun, to see your faces when her life ebbs dry in front of you. What do you think?”

Clutched in Shatter's arms is none other than Amber, the frightened filly that Applejack and I encountered here not too long ago. And he's going to kill her unless one of us does something fast.

Author's Note:

Man, I am so psyched to write this part. This is the final battle, so everyone is fighting together on the same battlefield. It's times like this that I wish I wasn't limited to Seth's perspective, because there's so much more going on.

Also, THIS is the chapter that you can listen to Id(purpose) on. This is the chapter with the build up necessary for something as epic as that song...unlike the royal wedding like one commenter thought. (Looking at you, GoldenCyclone :trollestia:)

I hate to leave you all at such a cliffhanger, but rest assured, the next chapter is already written, and will come up as soon as it's edited. Thanks to Schadenponi for editing this, and don't forget to leave your comments and tell me what you think!

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