49. Battle for Canterlot
Holy fuck, this is nuts. I can't stop running, because if I do, I'll get run over by the mass of ponies behind me. I wonder if this is what it's like to be part of an army. Adrenaline rushes through my veins like a river, and it only gets worse the closer we get to the changeling forces.
I don't think they've noticed us yet. They're pretty focused on Luna and the others up there. They're still pretty far from us, but that doesn't mean we can't strike first.
As we get closer, the unicorns behind me lower their heads and fire beams of differently colored magic, so that it seems like a deadly light show is taking place behind me. The changelings heading toward the diversionary team are suddenly taken by surprise when a barrage of magic collides with their lines. Changelings fall from the sky like raindrops, but there's just so many of them it doesn't really matter.
Just as we approach the area where Luna is fighting, a swarm of changelings surge out of an alley without warning. Fuck, they anticipated us and brought reinforcements. This is going to be harder than we thought. “Ambush! Brace yourselves!” Iron shouts. I tense up, since I'm on the front lines, and therefore there's a fucking wall of changelings approaching me. This is it. Oh god, there's no time to think.
I'd like to say that I shouted some battle cry or something. No. It was more along the lines of, “JESUS FUUUUCK!” And then the changelings reach us, colliding with our lines like a torrent of water.
I place my rifle on my back and lash out at the first changeling I see, knocking it to the ground with a single punch. But almost immediately afterward, a beam of green magic impacts me in the chest, stinging me sharply. What the...fuck that changeling! I blow the offending enemy to pieces with a blast of concentrated magic, but even then I don't get a breather. I have to duck underneath three or four changelings that dive-bomb me all at the same time.
This isn't like the dungeon. I don't get a breather in between every fight. This is nonstop. Every time I take down an enemy, there's five more to take its place. They're around and above me, using a ground and air assault to surround us on three sides.
Rainbow, along with our pegasus allies, rush the flying changelings, picking their targets and tangling with them roughly, intent on keeping them from harrying the troops fighting on the ground, like me.
The guards behind me swarm forward, filling any gaps made by the guards that fall. The guards that hit the ground, injured, are pulled back by other guards to be treated, and are quickly replaced. The discipline showed by these guards is ridiculous; not even losses can slow them down.
Commander Iron is unstoppable. He's up there at the very forefront of our army, standing in the thick of the changeling forces. Changeling magic zooms through the air towards him, but it all just impacts his shield. And the craziest thing is, every time magic strikes that shield, the golden eagle flashes and the offending magic appears to be absorbed into it. The absorbed magic then streams into his trident, which explodes with the stolen magic every time Iron strikes an enemy with it.
Iron slashes and stabs into the enemy, his trident whirling around in a tornado of silver steel. He's ridiculous. Even as strong as I am, I feel like I'm falling behind him. This spurs me on to fight harder. I power up and fight my way through a group of changelings, striking them with my fists or my feet, remembering what Rose trained me.
“Nailed one!” Rainbow declares, and a changeling hits the ground next to me, unconscious. I dispatch the enemies threatening me and glance up at her. Rainbow grins down at me, but that only lasts a second before she spins around and promptly decks another changeling that threatens her. Okay, so she's doing all right. I need to focus on myself.
Turning my attention back to the changelings in front of me, I blink with shock when I realize that the changeling forces opposing us are so thick, I can barely see through them. It's like...what was that one anime...whatever, I can't remember it. All I know is that it feels like there's a wall of enemies between us an our destination. And that doesn't bode well for the plan.
Suddenly, I'm knocked forward by two hooves ramming into my back, my spine aching from the impact. “What the fuck?” I demand, turning around. There's a changeling behind me, hissing furiously at me. I easily kill it with a roundhouse kick, but where did it come from?
As I'm looking, I notice some of the guards in our army flashing green and revealing themselves to be changelings. My eyes widen, and multiple curses leave my mouth when I realize what's going on. “Watch your six! They're amongst us!” I roar, raising my voice loud enough to be heard over the sounds of battle.
The guard nearest to me turns and swings his hoof at me, which I dodge out of reflex. He transforms, revealing his true form as our enemy. He has time to hiss once before I fire my pistol in his face. Shit, this is really bad.
From there, it becomes chaos. Our ranks fall apart as more changelings show themselves in our midst, and now it turns into less of a group fight and more of an deadly individual conflict, where even the guards in the back of our army are forced to fight three or four changelings at once.
Okay, if we don't do something, we're gonna get screwed. I could just power up and use my rifle in its original form, but that would drain a lot of power, and I need every drop if I'm going to fight Chrysalis.
Commander Iron strikes the ground with the butt of his trident, and a dome of silver magic erupts from the ground for a short distance. It's the weirdest thing: every changeling that's hit by it is practically disintegrated, while when it passes over me, it fucking makes me feel fresh and ready to fight again.
He's not done. Swords made of his magic form around him and shoot in every direction, impaling many changelings within our ranks, freeing the guards to group together and support one another again.
“Focus! Rally to me and watch each other's backs!” Iron calls to us. Okay, this is a guy I can respect. He seems capable, and his techniques are more useful than mine. Hell, he's like a tank, with support abilities and everything, except with that enchanted trident and shield combo, he has the damage to hold his own on the front lines.
Thus encouraged, I take out my rifle, deciding to use another technique that I haven't really had cause to try out yet. The rifle disintegrates in my hand like water, streaming into both hands and reconstituting itself into a set of dual submachine guns with thick ammunition drums, all made of black crystal. I orient the muzzles on the veritable wall of changelings in front of me and pull the trigger.
Holy fuck, I forgot how bad the kick on these things were, especially since I'm trying to dual wield them. The barrels emit scores of projectiles a second all traveling the speed of sound, so they cut through the changelings like ninepins before a strike. It feels so exhilarating to see them drop, that I can't help but whoop.
I stop firing after a few seconds though, because I realize it drains more power than I can really afford. I transform my rifle in a bulky heavy machine gun, but I use it as a club to batter changelings aside. It's rather effective, especially if I augment my strength with a light stream of magic.
It's working. Between Iron's support and precision spells, my weapon versatility, and Rainbow's quick surgical strikes, we start making progress through the streets. It's very slow progress, but with every step we take, we get closer to Luna.
“Seth, are you versed in combination spells?” Iron asks, the two of us having migrated closer together as the two of us push the changeling lines back.
“I remember learning about them, but...” I say, and then cut off to duck beneath a beam of magic. I return the attack with a blast of magic from my fist, taking out the offending changeling. Before I can finish my sentence to Iron, I have to deal with several more changelings threatening both me or the soldiers behind me. “...no clue how to actually do them.”
“Consider this field training then,” Iron asserts, ramming his trident through a changeling and causing it to explode, taking out two more changelings behind it. “Give me your hand, and channel magic to me. You'll know what to do after that.”
“I'm not sure that would be a good idea,” I say cautiously. I'm not out of breath yet, but I keep taking hits from changeling magic, hooves, or teeth. I'm getting cut, burned and bruised, because I can't watch everything. It's a good thing I'm so magically adept, because I can keep most of the damage to a minimum. Other guards aren't as lucky. We're getting a lot of wounded, and I'm not sure if any have died yet, nor am I willing to check. “My magic isn't exactly something other ponies can handle.”
“It isn't a permanent transfer. Whatever properties your magic may possess, it will not linger in my reservoir,” Iron assures me, extending a hoof to me. “Quickly now. We are losing valuable time and ponies.”
“I hope you know what you're doing,” I say after a moment's hesitation, and take his offered hoof. A weird feeling encompasses my hand, as foreign magic streams into my body, combining with the dark magic already there. I give some of my magic to him as well, and thankfully Iron's eyes remain the same color.
Iron's right. I do know what to do. I lift up my hands, and two orbs of magic appear there. One is black and sparks with electricity, while the other is a shining silver.
Iron lifts his trident, showing me that at the tip of the weapon, an orb consisting of a roiling mixture of both of our magics has formed. With a roar, he brings the weapon to the ground into a group of changelings, and the orb detonates, sending a plume of black and silver light into the air and scattering the burned bodies of changelings in all directions.
I follow his example, doing what comes naturally to me. I hurl the black orb into a cluster of changelings, followed by the silver orb. Like Iron told me, the moment I toss the silver orb, I no longer feel his magic in my body. The explosion that ensues is similar to the one Iron just caused, and holy shit, it makes me feel powerful.
Iron and I rush into the gap left behind by the changelings we just wrecked. We're immediately confronted with more changelings, which makes me huff in exasperation. Goddamn, how many changelings did Chrysalis even bring? When I see a gap in the changelings, I peer through and see more of them streaming from windows and doors of the castle, flying down to join the fight. Christ, I'm not sure how much longer we can keep this up.
“Heads up!” Rainbow announces, giving me just enough time to duck under a beam of magic. She's flying above me, knocking changelings out of the sky left and right. She doesn't look like she's taken too much damage, except for some minor burns on her coat and mane.
I wonder if this is how all battles are. I feel like I'm flailing at the tide. I'm crushing so many of them, but there's always more. I look over at Iron, but he doesn't seem to be tiring in the least. Then again, I can't tell because I can't see his face through that silver visor he's wearing.
We're still making progress, though. And suddenly, things finally change. We run into a much larger group of changelings that are focusing on another force. Hold on, another force? It's true, I can see more members of the guard on the other side of the changeling swarm we're fighting, and that's not all.
“Take it!” A determined male voice cries, and I look up just in time to see several changelings fall from the sky, courtesy of a few powerful punches executed by a grayish blue stallion with a dark blue mane. Hang on...he looks familiar. “Yeah! Whoa!”
After his exclamation, he's hit on the wing by a beam of magic, and he spins around a few times, cursing and holding his wing. He retaliates by ramming the changeling who shot him with his head “Ow! That hurt!”
Suddenly, a huge group of changelings are scattered every which way by a bright yellow pegasus with a fiery mane. I recognize that mane. “Watch yourself, Soarin. I'm not buying you any more food if you end up in the hospital, you know,” Spitfire teases her teammate. She then dashes through the changeling army like wildfire. She's like deadly whirlwind of swinging hooves. She's untouchable; she just uses all those fancy tricks I remember seeing at the airshow to keep from being hit.
“It's the Wonderbolts!” Rainbow exclaims in sheer joy, and she fucking annihilates any changeling between her and Spitfire. Her yell proceeds to rally the guards behind me to fight harder, because they know we're meeting up with the other forces. Which means that the enemy are about to get fucked from all sides.
“Hey there, Rainbow! Come to join the fun?” Spitfire greets her fan, and then the two of them fly back to back, whacking any changeling that gets too close. Rainbow looks happier than ever. Spitfire then looks down. “Iron! We're here with the Pegasus Corps and the Second Regiment.”
“Affirmative. We'll crush them between us,” Iron replies in a determined tone. Together, he and I continue the fight, as the Wonderbolts crush the aerial resistance beneath their hooves. I can see all of the Wonderbolts I recognize, though its harder to name them at first because the only time I've seen them was in those blue suits of theirs. I guess this invasion came while they were ohanging? Or maybe they lost them somehow. Hell, I don't know or care. Anyway, I see Fleetfoot, Rapidfire, Surprise, Soarin, and of course, Spitfire, who is very strong.
Two more ponies stand out to me during the fight, because they're wrecking everything in their path. The first is Rose, and holy shit, I can see why they call her the Blossom Wind. There's literally a whirlwind surrounding her, carrying cherry blossoms with it. Any changeling that tries to attack her from the air is blown off course and destroyed by a pegasus or one of the Wonderbolts, and any changeling on the ground is completely helpless before her materialized weapons and spells.
The other one I haven't seen before, but from the way he's just plowing through the enemies with a storm of levitating daggers, I'm assuming its Captain Blades. I don't have enough time to really take in his features now. If I stop focusing for more than a second, I get hit again, and it pisses me off.
I can see Rarity, with Spike on her back, and Pinkie on the other end as well, though they're not in the thick of things. They're behind Rose, Blades, and a few other guards. In the former's case, she's firing beams of magic at the changelings. She's not that magically strong, as every time she hits something, it mostly staggers them, unless she hits them in the head.
Pinkie...I don't even fucking know. She has what looks like a Gatling gun, except its colored every fucking color combination possible and it's firing out streamers at such a high speed it's knocking changelings everywhere. Where the fuck did she get one of those, and why is it working?
I ram my shoulder into a changeling, knocking it back and into a group of its friends. Following up that assault, I shift my rifle into its original form and fire a beam of darkness into the recoiling changelings, wiping them all out. Behind them...I see even more of them coming. Holy fuck, how do I deal with them all, I mean there's...OH MY GOD.
All of the changelings heading towards me are annihilated by two soaring comets of light, both of them spinning around one another. One of the comets is midnight blue, and the other is magenta. They come to a stop in the center of the field, emitting a shockwave from the point where they hit the ground, tossing changelings in all direction, their pained hissing grating on my ears.
Luna and Twilight are revealed, their auras clearing away the dust like pollen before a storm. Changelings near them immediately concentrate their fire on the both of them. Twilight summons a barrier spell, though I can tell it's difficult for to keep a spell like that maintained. As for Luna, she just stands there and tanks it, the beams dissolving on contact with her aura.
With a yell, Luna stomps the ground with her hooves, her aura surging up even higher. The resulting explosion of magic tears up the ground around her, along with any changelings near her. “Come! The Sovereign of the Night will render judgment upon thee!” Luna shouts in an extremely loud voice that I swear all of Canterlot can hear.
“Rally to the Princess! Form up around us and move on to the next phase of the plan!” Twilight yells as loud as she can, zapping a changeling near her at the same time.
Finally, we crush the last of the changelings between us and the other teams. But that still leaves the hundreds of changelings flying through the air from the castle, coming from an unknown source. Fortunately, we have some time to breathe as the changeling forces regroup back at the castle and prepare to assault us anew.
“You heard her, Rainbow,” I call up to my friend, who lands next to me along with Spitfire, panting slightly. “Time for you to meet up with Twilight and get going.”
“Yeah, I know,” Rainbow replies, taking a moment to catch her breath. Spitfire nods at me in acknowledgment.
“Didn't think we'd be meeting like this, Seth,” Spitfire remarks casually, the two of us following Rainbow's example. We have a little bit of time before the next wave of changelings hit us. But this time, we can fight them with a unified front. “How have you been?”
“I've been better. Also, don't I recall you saying there wasn't much cause for a military?” I respond to her in a teasing manner. Spitfire facehoofs, groaning slightly.
“I should have kept my confounded mouth shut. I must have jinxed it or something,” she complains. She looks up, watching the changelings alertly. “They're coming. Can you handle yourself?”
“Why are you even asking? I've made it this far on the front lines, haven't I?” I pant, bending over and resting my hands on my knees. “Hurry and take down your pylon. Spike told you the plan, right?”
“Yeah, I know what I have to do. You ready to go, Rainbow?” Spitfire says, even as Twilight approaches the two of them. She's a mess: her mane is soaked with sweat, whether from exertion or fear, I don't know. She's also somewhat injured, because I can see a few burns and bruises. She'll be fine though, because I'm hurt worse than her. That's what I get for being such a large target.
“You bet! We're gonna knock that pylon down, and save Princess Celestia!” Rainbow exclaims, somehow managing to keep up that enthusiasm despite the hell that they're no doubt about to fly into. “Wheres Twilight?”
“Right here. Let's go, we don't have much time,” Twilight responds after catching her breath. She takes a glance at me, and then smiles. “How are you holding up, Seth?”
“You just said you didn't have much time. Quit worrying about me and go,” I snap at her, irritated. The longer you take, the longer I have to wait and fight these changelings. Twilight frowns, but she does realize how important time is right now, so she turns away.
“All right. We're headed below. Twilight, Rainbow, follow me. I'll take point,” Spitfire commands the both of them, and she takes off, keeping low to the ground so Twilight can follow.
Rainbow's about to leave. A strange feeling strikes me. It just doesn't feel right to let her go just yet. Before Rainbow can fully take off, I reach out on a whim and grab her back hoof. “What the...” Rainbow reacts, but when she sees that it's me, she looks confused. “Something the matter?”
“Sort of...” I begin. Fuck, how do I even say what I'm feeling right now? Actually, you know what, it's too much trouble. “Oh, forget it.”
“No, tell me,” Rainbow presses. Spitfire turns to look at us, wondering what's taking so long. Should I...oh hell. She might die down there, so it's worth sounding a little cheesy.
“Just...come back. You hear me?” I say after a short pause. Rainbow's eyes widen slightly, because something like this is entirely unlike me, and she knows it. Still, this is a life or death situation. In case one of us doesn't make it, I'd rather she know. “You're the reason I'm still alive...and the reason I'm gonna keep living. Don't you fucking die.”
Rainbow stares at me for a second that seems like it takes forever. She colors slightly, her mouth slightly open. She must realize how meaningful that is, coming from me. I don't think I've ever said something like that to anyone. Not even Amaryllis.
Rainbow floats down closer to me, to the point where her muzzle is practically in my face. She slowly and solemnly nods. “I'll come back. I promise you that I will. Just make sure you're still here when I do, got it?” she says, speaking softer than she usually does. When she sees me nod, she waves once to me and zooms off to Spitfire. “I'm off. Good luck!”
I watch her go, but only for a moment. That next wave of changelings is bearing down on us hard. I think we have less than five minutes before they get here.
“Seth Rogers, report to us!” Luna's authoritative voice sounds out, bringing me back to reality. Right, it's time to do this. I turn around and walk through the soldiers of the First and Second Regiments, along with the hovering members of the Pegasus Corps. I pass Soarin and Fleetfoot, who are treating an injured Rapidfire, while Surprise looks on, concerned. Everywhere I look, I see wounded and dying from both sides. It makes me feel somber. Battles always seemed epic in the animes, but being part of one...it's not as fun as it seems. This is hell.
I pass the members of the other two pylon teams. Applejack, Rarity, and Rose are walking together, heading towards another pylon. All of them give me an acknowledging glance, except for Rose.
“It's good to see you fighting for the country you live in, Seth,” Rose addresses me without stopping. I fall in step beside her, since I'm going to pass by Luna if I walk with her.
“I'm not fighting for Equestria. I have my own reasons, that I'm not exactly inclined to share,” I tell her flatly. I don't care what anyone says. I said nothing to Rainbow, and I will never admit otherwise. Rose looks troubled, but then she sighs and chuckles somewhat.
“It seems you still have your spirit. Keep your reasons close to your heart, and remember the lessons I taught you. I won't forgive you if you end up on the casualty list,” Rose advises me, being surprisingly sentimental for once. I guess situations like these bring out a side of individuals that isn't usually shown.
“Yeah...try not to die before taking down the pylon, please? That would be an inconvenience,” I retort, causing Rose to groan.
“I'm not going to...oh, confound it. Good luck, Seth,” Rose says, and then she along with Applejack and Rarity, leave the main force, heading for the second pylon.
Pinkie and the pony who I assume is Captain Blades leave as well, just as I reach Luna's side. Luna, along with Commander Iron, are standing at the head of what's left of our army. When I reach her, Luna checks me over. “Art thou injured?” she demands, obviously knowing nothing about human physiology.
“Nothing worth healing. Just a few scrapes and burns; nothing serious,” I reply, watching the changelings coming. “So what next? Do we hold out here until the field is down?”
“Nay. We shall lead an assault through our enemy and to the castle, where we shalt make our stand,” Luna corrects me, looking grim. “Once the field falls, our final task begins. We hope thou hath been conserving thine power. Thou shalt need it.”
“I have. I say the same to you. I don't want to go in there without backup,” I return. Luna turns and gives me a withering stare. “What?”
“We think thou hast been hiding something from us,” Luna accuses me, rather accurately. My blood runs cold. Does she know what I did? I mean, she'll find out eventually, but right now would be a really bad time. “Rainbow Dash is not here. Tell me, how didst thou cause this invasion?”
“Like Twilight said, I fucked up. But now's not the best time. I'll tell you once we win. Then you can deal with me along with your sister,” I say firmly. Luna looks unsure, but she seems to accept that answer.
“We've got incoming,” Iron interrupts us, lowering his visor once more and hefting his trident. “Some of them look different than the others.”
“Shit, really?” I respond in alarm. Looking at the changelings that are just about to reach us, I notice several of them that are larger than the others. Which means... “Watch out, they have Infiltrators! They pack some serious damage!”
“Noted. All soldiers, prioritize damage on the larger changelings, and make sure to watch your back at all times!” Iron says, addressing the other soldiers. “Here they come. Unicorns, begin the barrage! This is for Canterlot, Celestia, and for Equestria!”
The soldiers roar out their approval of Iron's words, and then scores of magical beams fire up from our army, striking the changeling lines and downing several of them. It doesn't look like there's any changelings approaching us from the ground just yet, so I should probably take to the air.
Luna summons her power, shrouding her body in an aura of starry darkness. Since I'm right next to her, I feel the full magical pressure she's exerting, and damn, it is strong. It's not crushing like Celestia's, but still more than me.
I flare my magic once more, reaching base form quickly and lifting my rifle, changing it to the long ranged form. Just as I aim my rifle and fire, Luna fires a beam of magic as well. My shot passes right through a changeling's body, while Luna's explodes on contact with another. “Let us fly, Seth!” Luna orders. Yeah, that's a good idea. Together, we leave the ground, Luna with her wings and me with my magic. Behind us is the Pegasus Corps, with the Wonderbolts at their head.
I guess I'm leading the charge again. Once again yelling a random expletive, I hit the changeling lines, my fist slamming into a changeling's snout. I make the decision to dissolve my rifle for now, because a situation like this is only good for close quarters combat.
I'm quickly surrounded by changelings, but thankfully the Wonderbolts come to my rescue, striking at the changelings threatening me from behind with their hooves. I end up flying back to back with Fleetfoot as our armies collide, changelings rushing at us with magic and hoof.
I duck under a changeling's hoof and retaliate with an uppercut, causing it to choke. While it's recoiling, I turn and take out a changeling coming at me from the right with a quick jab, and then grab it by the leg and use it as a projectile, nailing two changelings rushing at me.
Behind me, Fleetfoot shows her fighting skill by deterring the attacking changelings with her hooves, taking down any that get too close. “Move!” Fleetfoot hisses, and the two of us break apart just as a large stream of changeling zooms through the area where we'd just been standing.
The one that had nearly hit me is an Infiltrator, much to my horror. It grins, and my horror increases as it quickly transforms into a fucking dragon, covered in red scales. It's smaller than a typical dragon, but still larger than me.
I have a split second to react, so I raise my arms to block just as it streaks in and hits me with the palm of a massive claw, sending me flying down and through the roof of a Canterlot house.
“Fuck!” I curse loudly. Pain shoots through my shoulder. When I look, my eyes widen in shock when I see a piece of debris sticking out of me. It's not that big, nor is the injury that deep, but it's enough to hurt like a bitch and piss me off.
The dragon slams into the hole it just made, roaring viscerally down at me. Reacting on instinct, I lift my arms again. The dragon opens its jaws and breathes a gout of green magic that resembles flames down at me, incinerating the furniture in the room and disintegrating the floor that I'm standing on. However, I remain airborne as the floor dissolves beneath me and the magic courses over me.
When the stream dissipates, I realize that my arms are only slightly burned from the attack. It stings, but not enough to impair my fighting ability. Once again, I'm surprised by my own strength. That last Infiltrator I fought hurt, but in the end it wasn't altogether that much of a match for me. If I remember that, I can take down this dragon wannabe.
The dragon snaps forward with its jaws, attempting to bite my head off. It certainly doesn't expect me to catch both of its jaws with my hands, holding it open and stretching it painfully. “Get out of my way,” I tell it, and then I lean back and kick the dragon right out of the hole in the ceiling, putting my magic behind my attack.
Before the dragon can react, I appear in the sky next to it thanks to a current in the air. A quick flare of my magic brings me back to full strength, and then I fucking whale on it. One fist swings into his lower jaw, sending it upwards. Another fist hits its side, cracking its ribs. Lastly, I clasp both fists together and crash them down on top of its head, cracking its skull. The Infiltrator returns to its original shape and hurtles down to the ground, dead.
Around me, other Infiltrators have taken combat forms as well, such as massive eagle like birds with crooked beaks, giant spiders, or even bears. Our soldiers are handling them well, grouping together and taking each one on with superior numbers.
Unless you're Luna. The princess takes on one of the large birds herself, shooting right through its body (and I mean through, like into its body) and out the other side, leaving it behind to perish in a midnight blue explosion.
Rapidfire and Surprise team together and break the wings of another of the large birds, to the point where its transformation fails, and they can dispatch it easily. I grin. We can still do this.
The castle gates loom in our path, the once proud golden gates now lying on the ground, having been hit by stray magical shots and even a fallen Infiltrator. The changelings crowd around the gates, hoping to keep the rest of us out.
One thing I notice from out here while I'm fighting is that I can physically see the magic cancellation field on the wedding hall from here. It appears as an undulating web of white lines of magic, covering its entire surface from top to bottom. At least we'll know when it goes down.
After taking down another Infiltrator that had been dumb enough to take my form (they seem to like doing that. Sheesh), I scan the area for my next target. Suddenly, I notice a disturbance in the street a little ways away from the main battle zone.
My jaw drops as cracks spider across the surface of the street, and then the entire fucking thing caves in to reveal a portion of the crystal mines. Now that I think about it, that's where one of the pylons is supposed to be. That must mean one of them is down. Sure enough, the field around the wedding hall starts to flicker, but it still stands strong.
As I'm thinking hard, I'm forced to contend with several changelings and an Infiltrator that once again takes my form. “Oh for fuck's sake, stop doing that! I'm just going to beat your ass every time!” I snap at it, and easily maneuver around its attacks so that I can retaliate with a right hook that explodes with my dark magic. But because I'm not careful, a beam of green magic strikes me in the same shoulder that got cut. Fucking...I turn around and kill the offending changeling, and then use its body to bludgeon the others into unconsciousness.
Whose team just succeeded? Are they still alive? They might have gotten trapped under that cave in, which would kill anypony, even a strong one.
In the distance, the weirdest fucking sight fills my vision. My right eye twitches as I spot Pinkie and Blades floating up from the chasm in the streets, tied to a bunch of fucking party balloons. “HIP HIP HOORAY!” I can hear Pinkie exclaim happily even from here. Captain Blades just looks 100% done with her shit.
“One pylon's down!” I announce to Luna as we get closer to the castle. I assume Pinkie and Blades will join us, so I can put them out of my mind for now. Luna turns and acknowledges me with a quick word after she eradicates the changelings nearest to her.
I get back into the thick of it, soaring through a gap in the changeling forces. I whip out my rifle and start wreaking havoc with a set of dual crystalline pistols, firing blasts of concentrated magic at each changeling I see.
Something gives, and the changelings start falling back under our onslaught. Nothing can stop Luna and I. We're tearing our way through the skies like a wave of destruction, while Commander Iron is leading the charge on the ground, his immunity to magic and enchanted trident serving him to great effect.
Luna and I burst through the enemy lines and hit the ground just in front of the wedding hall, where the field still flickers strongly. Iron soon joins us, as does the rest of our army. “What are your orders, Princess?” Iron asks grimly, leaning on his trident. He looks like he's starting to get a little tired. In fact, many of the other soldiers look similar. Which means we have to finish this quickly, or they'll overwhelm us with numbers. But the field isn't down yet. Come on, you ponies, quit being useless and follow the plan!
“We hold here, Commander. This is where we make our stand,” Luna declares, flapping her wings in preparation for more combat. “When the field falls, we shalt accompany Seth to distract the changeling queen. Thy job is to continue to hold this area and make sure no changelings follow us inside.”
“Understood,” Iron acknowledges. He looks up alertly when there's a cry from one of the soldiers on the front lines.
“We've got incoming! They're coming from the mines!” the soldier yells. Sure enough, there's another swarm of changelings, Just as large before, surging out of the hole in the streets after Pinkie and Blades. A thought strikes me. Has Chrysalis been down there long before this actual invasion, cultivating troops? If they're like insects, they're likely quick to mature. Which means...shit, she's planned for this more than we have. I only hope that once we free Celestia, she can take care of all of this.
“Hi everypony! Sorry, I may have brought company!” Pinkie exclaims, loosing balloons from her and Blades until they land in front of our force. “They didn't like that we broke their tower, so I tried offering them cake, but did you know changelings don't like cake? How can you not like...”
“Goddammit, Pinkie! Shut up and fall in!” I shout, cutting her off. Pinkie giggles and bounces into the army, joining Luna, Iron, and I. Blades also approaches, so I get a good look at him for the first time.
He's a grizzled, older unicorn stallion, his brown coat rippling with muscles. His mane is short, cropped, and black. He has facial hair as well (which is still dumb on a pony) in the form of a shaggy goatee. I also see why they call him Blades. He's wearing golden armor that terminates in jagged edges to damage melee attackers, and all over his body are clasped scores of sheathes, in which ornate daggers are placed.
“Good to see you again, Captain,” Iron greets him with a respectful nod. Blades grins in a jolly manner, clapping a hoof on Iron's shoulder plate in a brotherly manner, only for him to withdraw his hoof with a wince. Because those shoulder plates are sharp.
“Now you just call me Blades. I'm tellin' ya, we're brothers in battle. No need for that fancy talk,” Blades admonishes him lightly in an unrefined accent, though his grin remains. “Bet you're enjoyin' all this fightin,' since you're from that other place. What was it?”
“Bleak Island,” Iron reminds him with an annoyed expression. “But there's no time for reminiscing. They're coming.”
“Right. Well, let's get to it then,” Blades remarks, turning to face the oncoming horde. He spots me as he does so. “And you. Seth, right? I want to talk to you after all this is over.”
“Whatever. Let's focus on getting through this first,” I remind him, clenching my fists and flaring my magic again.
“We must hold here, loyal subjects!” Luna announces to the army. All of the soldiers seem to straighten up at her words, overcoming their fatigue. It seems the military really respects their royalty. “Stand thy ground and show thine enemy how we've kept Equestria save for over a thousand years!”
The changelings reach us seconds after that, and I launch into battle anew, letting out a wordless cry.
I'll bring an end to this conflict with my own two fists.
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So when is Seth going to kill Sombra? Would killing Sombra somehow cause his magic effects to dissipate and revert all of the ponies to humans?
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I'll be tying up all loose ends with Sombra in the next two arcs.
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Well that's good, Hopefully Seth will finally get something good to happen to him. Even if Sombra isn't killed, perhaps Seth can follow him back in Time and attempt to kill him before the Oppressed change.
with those magical constructs seth has, would it ever be possible to make a tank? or artillery or even badass armour?
it would be cool to have seth using one of those anti air tanks from battlefield to shred anyone he goes against or draving a tank, probably an abrams or challenger 2, and just running over enimies and demolishing things like dragons iwth the tank canon...
now that would be cool
I kind of want to see Seth pull some Gurren Lagann type shit at some point....
Or something like that
Silly Seth. A target rich environment like that calls for napalm and a flamethrower.
Wow this was fucking intense
The whole chapter Seth is just in the thick of it beating the shit out of changling after changling, transforming his weapon into various forms for different damage. I really like the dual wielding submachine guns firing black crystal. The other shots I assumed were all just different strength levels of black energy shooting forward, but with black crystals, that shit would just slice enemies to ribbons, a really great weapon for such massive numbers. Hell I wonder what else it can be turned into, like a sword/scythe or a minigun or something. The possibilities
. While we haven't had much chance to get to know Iron on a personal level, he is a fucking badass on the battle field. I hope once the battle is done we see a little more of him, as I want to see what his opinion of Seth's actions will be.
I thought the brief break from the fighting where Seth and Spitfire traded banter was brilliant. As awesome as the fighting was (your best fight scenes to date dude
) having a brief moment to converse and ad some humour was a good call, it gives the reader a breather as well. It was at this point that two interesting things happened. The first was Twilight's arrival. Now while she has actively told Seth she won't forgive him until the battle is over, she came to him smiling and asking to make sure he was okay. Perhaps despite Seth's mistake and the repercussions it has had not only for Equestria but for her mentor and family in particular, she is willing to forgive and forget after seeing how hard he is trying to make up for his mistake, even if it's more to make it up to Rainbow then to really protect Canterlot. It will be interesting to see her opinion later once Chrysalis has been dealt with. The next interesting moment was Seth's moment of concern for Rainbow. Throughout the whole battle he had been worried about what would happen when they split up. While he was reassured several times since they left the cave that Rainbow is very capable and can take care of herself, not only is he more powerful then her and wanting to protect her, but he has been fretting over just how much danger she is really in despite her skill. While his message for her to stay alive and that it was her that has kept him going and will continue to keep him going, may not be such a touching moment in a battle like this, but for Seth to openly admit his fear and concern to her like that, just wow. Rainbow could tell just how much he cared by this and it actually struck her for a moment just how much he truly cared about her. Once again we see a blush forming after Seth admits how deep his feelings on the matter are, and we are once again left waiting patiently to see if the shipping stick has struck or not. Either way, this was a very heartfelt moment for them and once the battle is all said and done, I really hope they get that night of music and fun they had been planning.
Luna has worked out Seth likely had a hand in the invasion of the city and wants answers, but she is smart enough to know that now is not the time to be distracted. Once again I am left unsure as to how she will react. Her first reaction will more then likely be shouting, if not a blast of magic to his face, but after thinking logically about the situation, she may find some disturbing similarities. She once made a terrible mistake and betrayed the pony closest to her for her own sake and nearly caused eternal night (which if we stuck to real world phsyics would have likely caused all the plants to wither and die and the planet to freeze over. However being Equestria and all with all its magic, it may just have been a massive inconvenience rather then a planet killing mistake). She however didn't even choose to switch back to Luna later, she had it forced on her by the elements, while Seth had the strength of will and cared enough about his friend to give up his old home and switch sides. Even though his actions left Canterlot in serious danger (he didn't actually cause the attack, so much as let it happen. While the ponies hurt might not see the distinction, one move would be deliberately hurtful, the other was just him choosing not to act. He never outright plotted to hurt Equestria himself and hasn't hurt anypony but the enemy the whole conflict. While he did still commit treason by saying nothing, he didn't actually cause anything to happen. Hell the attack likely would have happened anyway, it just would have fucked up the timing and the advantage for Chrysalis as she would have to move far quicker and without everything in place. She still had the army though and still had a high level of magic, and the pylons ready to go. Really, all Seth did was make Chrysalis job slightly easier, rather then ensure it happened), could Luna truly hate him for being strong enough to admit to his mistake and try to help, when she wasn't strong enough to do the same and was forgiven anyway? Either way, we're in for a hell of a conclusion to the arc.
I can't wait to see Luna and Seth taking on Chrysalis, and getting to see her fate, as you implied this wouldn't end like the canon with her blasting out the window team rocket style. Great job dude
“And you. Seth, right? I want to talk to you after all this is over.”
"
I was expecting a "Get in line
Search the game Nier
Add Grimoire Weiss's spells
Add the Music
4929223 Yokos titstse3.explicit.bing.net/th?id=JN.hV5XV5cyOW3MCEqMnMLysw&w=202&h=165&c=7&rs=1&qlt=90&o=4&pid=1.1
Fists that now apparently shoot magical beams while in flight, transform matter into advanced magical weapons and grant him almost total immunity to any attacks. Does it sound OP to anyone? =\
Aww! That's one of the sweetest thing he has ever said!
Just wanted to say that these lines don't really work so well. The transition really was quite a bumpy one, or at least it was for me. I had to reread it to really understand it.
is not that a rifle not a pistol?
You know I’m predicting Luna will banish him from equestria and rd will probably follow