99. While I Still Stand.
The situation in the Crystal Empire is only getting worse. The sounds of battle in the streets are heating up as King Sombra's undead army clash with Equestria's forces. Battle cries and the sounds of hacking and slashing fill the air.
In the air high above the city, Sombra is facing off against Celestia and Luna in a battle so destructive and fast paced that I can't keep up with what's going on at all. All I can see are flashes of light and massive explosions, which are accompanied with sounds akin to thunder.
I cower against the wall, as if trying to sink through it. Hawke strides ever closer to me, taking his sweet time. The closer he gets, the more his expression twists with hatred. I've never had someone look at me like this, as if the one sole vexation on his existence is right in front of him. Just like in the ruins, I can practically feel his hatred.
“Don't come any closer!” Rainbow snaps at Hawke, hovering just beside me. Rainbow is the only one of the Elements that stuck around, despite Celestia's orders. The others took Twilight and Spike, then split and ran, which I'm not sure if I should be relieved or pissed off about. At the very least, the undead are leaving Rainbow and I alone.
“You were the one in the ruins, weren't you?” I have to ask, even though I'm sure I already know the answer. “The one who controlled the Oppressed?”
Hawke's eyes narrow, as if bringing that up was a personal affront to him. “You killed Vanta,” he accuses me, coming to a halt just in front of me. That doesn't answer my question, but the way he said that makes it sound as if he's holding a grudge against me for it.
“Of course I did! Do you know what he did to our kind?” I demand. Despite my helplessness, I take a step forward and jab a finger at Hawke. “The better question is: why didn't you kill him? Why do you even work for this bastard? He condemned our entire race to undeath!”
Hawke's teeth visibly grind together, and that's all the warning I have before he thrusts a magically charged fist directly for my face. I yelp and quickly jump out of the way, though I'm much slower now that I don't have any magic.
His fist instead rams into the building that I'd been pressed against. The entire wall shatters into pieces from the impact, littering the interior as well as the terrified crystal pony inside with bits of crystal. The mare promptly rushes out of the hole and sprints away down the street. Interestingly enough, the undead don't bother her.
“Hey! Take this!” Rainbow yells out with fury, flying right around Hawke and ramming both hooves into the back of his head. Hawke stumbles forward, not expecting an attack from that angle. Rainbow pushes her luck, beating on the man with everything she's got. “You stay away from Seth!”
Hawke irritably shrugs her off, and then his whole body dissipates into black smoke. He reforms directly in front of me as I'm struggling to rise. I nearly fall back over from his sudden presence. “I don't care,” Hawke growls, staring down at me with his demonic green eyes. I'm confused by that response for a moment until I realize that he is talking about my question. Before I can process that, he knocks me clear into another house with the back of his gloved hand. “It's not over yet. Not until you die.”
My body slides across a carpet and into a couch, breaking a table and a set of chairs along the way. I cough and hoist myself to my feet. My cheek is stinging extremely painfully from that one hit, and my neck aches from the strain. Shit, he might actually break my neck with another hit like that.
“What are you talking about? I'm human! I'm just like you! Why serve the one who fucking murdered us all!?” I yell at him angrily, climbing out of the building to where Hawke is waiting. My eyes bug out when a beam of shadow streaks from Hawke's outstretched finger, aiming directly for the ground where I'm standing. “Shit!”
I break into a sprint, barely dodging the first beam. Upon impact, the beam explodes violently, kicking up debris and forming a crater beneath it. Hawke's not finished. He continues to fire beams at me, until finally one hits me in the ribs, knocking me clear off my feet.
“Aaggh....this is....” I groan, holding a hand to my burnt skin where I was hit. Without magic to defend myself, the skin is charred and peeling away in the place where I was hit. Judging from the pain I get every time I take in a breath, I think some of my ribs are broken.
As Hawke moves his finger to orient on me once more, Rainbow swoops in from the sky and rams right into his arm, knocking it off course and causing him to miss. The beam shoots over my head and blows a hole in what I think used to be a tavern of sorts. “I said, stop it!” Rainbow demands, and then she plants her hoof into Hawke's cheek. “You're like Seth, right? You should be happy he's alive!”
Hawke finally turns his attention to Rainbow, finally tired of being interfered with. “This doesn't concern you,” he states in an dangerously soft voice. He pushes Rainbow aside with enough force to send her reeling backwards through the air. “Leave, and I won't kill you.”
Hawke attempts to move towards me again, but Rainbow soon returns, unleashing a furious array of punches with her hooves all over the man's face and chest. “Like hay it doesn't!” Rainbow retorts. “I'll never leave Seth behind!”
Without another word, Hawke arms pummels into Rainbow's body, knocking her clear across the street and into the wall of one of the taller buildings. My mouth drops open in horror as Rainbow slumps down to the ground, out cold.
“That's it!” I snap, and then I dash past Hawke and slide across the crystal street until I reach the spot where Vanta's scythe is still lying on the ground. I pick it up and charge at Hawke, grasping the weapon in both hands. Even without my magic, I've still got some physical strength, and I put all of it into a heavy swing aimed for Hawke's midsection.
The scythe blade passes through Hawke's body as he dissipates into black smoke again, reforming instantly a few feet to the right. I continue the assault, slashing again and again at Hawke in an attempt to deal some damage, but each time he dissipates and reforms away from the blade, his expression stone cold and unchanging.
Finally, Hawke catches the edge of the weapon with his hand, his magic making it so that the blade doesn't pierce him. No matter how hard I push down on him, he doesn't budge. “I owe everything to the king,” Hawke reveals. His free fist then barrels into my stomach with no warning. The pain is so great that I release a gasp, saliva and flecks of blood flying from my mouth. “My life, my power, and my revenge.”
“Revenge...revenge for what?” I cough weakly, slumping over on Hawke's fist. The man tosses me aside roughly, such that I roll across the street, shards of debris digging into my skin painfully. “What...did we...do to you?”
Hawke remains still for a moment, discarding the scythe and letting it fall back to the street. Just looking at his eyes and seeing that he has my magic lets me know that Sombra must have given it to him, just like he gave it to me. That green spell, back in the staircase several thousand years ago...it wasn't just some stasis spell. Somehow Sombra must have given me some of his magic at the same time...and then used it to power himself up after being weakened from the seal. Why didn't I see this coming?
Hawke suddenly appears in front of me in a split second, giving me barely any time to react. I act fast and swing a punch directly at his face. Hawke doesn't try to dodge, but it turns out he doesn't need to. I cry out in agony as my knuckle bones break, because it feels like I just punched a brick wall. When I try to withdraw my arm, Hawke grabs it, and then my screams grow exponentially in volume when he twists my arm until the bones shatter.
Fuck...it hurts...it hurts so fucking bad. My ribs, knuckles, and arm...Hawke is relentless. Nothing I can do hurts him...he's every bit as strong as I was just before fighting Vanta, though he shows no signs of being insane. I hope to god that he can't transform like I could.
Suddenly, I can't breathe. Hawke's fingers are clasped firmly around my throat. I reach up with my one good arm in an attempt to pry his fingers away, but his fingers are like steel. My feet kick at the ground as Hawke lifts me up into the air so that I'm raised above his head.
“Your sin is turning your eyes away from the injustices of the world,” Hawke snarls, but it's hard to focus on his words; I'm running out of air. My vision seems to flash red as another burst of hellish pain wracks my body from another punch in the chest. Tears of agony start to leak from my eyes as he punches me again and again, more ribs cracking with every hit. I even think he's damaged one of my organs, because blood is seeping up my throat.
Finally, Hawke releases my throat and plants me face down into the ground, splitting the skin on my nose and busting my lip. I feel my nose break when his foot stamps down on the back of my head and grinds down on me. I cough out blood weakly onto the crystal street, unable to move at all due to the sheer agony I'm feeling.
“You and the rest of our kind could care less about the troubles plaguing the world, as long as your needs are met,” Hawke criticizes me, not a hint of mercy in his cold, dead eyes. “You probably believed your life was miserable, never truly understanding how lucky you were. Just like the other humans, I will bring your life to an end, and my vengeance will be complete.”
Hawke...isn't just serving Sombra despite the extermination...it seems like from what he's saying that he was actually a part of it! He aided in the extermination himself?
“But now...it'll all be over soon,” Hawke assures me, and then he kicks me over viciously, until I'm lying on my side. Then, he looks up into the air to where Sombra is still fighting the princesses.
To my shock, Luna slams into the streets nearby with a tremendous crash, her body covered with burns and bruises from her battle with Sombra. She's a wreck, looking even worse than the time she and I fought Chrysalis. Luna attempts to rise through sheer force of will, to the point where I can see every muscle in her body straining. At last, she falls unconscious, lying on her side in the middle of a crater.
In the sky, Celestia and Sombra are still fighting, but it's clear Sombra is winning. My weak eyes watch them with disbelief. I can't believe that there's something out there than can overpower Celestia to this degree. Celestia is fighting Sombra with everything she has, but it looks to me like she's tiring fast. Sombra only looks slightly injured, despite all of the incredibly powerful techniques Celestia is employing.
Their battle soon takes them to the ground, alongside where Luna has fallen. Celestia looks between her sister and me, alarm and despair forming on her face. “Luna! Seth!” Celestia cries out, breathing hard. Sombra lands across from her, his face set in a frown. He's not even out of breath, which is unbelievable, considering Celestia's sheer power.
“I am almost finished here,” Sombra states casually, angling his head slightly to look at Hawke. “I will require thy services in securing the remainder of the city. Finish thy...”
Suddenly, Sombra is cut off by a colossal beam of golden white magic slamming into his whole body. Celestia stands nearby, her legs shaking from fatigue and her horn faintly glowing. “Not...while I still...stand...” she swears, stepping closer to Sombra.
Sombra growls and flares his crushing aura, blowing away Celestia's magic around him. “As thou wishes,” he growls, his body sparking with electricity. Despair is slowly starting to settle in my mind, Sombra is above all of us. There's no point in fighting somepony that strong, especially when I don't have any magic. “Hawke, finish thy business and attend to me. I shalt bring this farce to an end.”
Heh, it's a little funny. I've gone through so much shit since getting to Equestria. Between discovering my magic, the royal wedding, and even falling in love, I feel like I've lived many more lives here than I ever did back in my time. However, it turns out I was never intended to live here...I was just a tool for Sombra to regain his power. I can't do anything now. I can't protect Rainbow, nor even protect myself.
“As you command,” Hawke responds. I look up at him just in time to see his hand become sheathed in electricity. In fact, it looks almost like a blade is extending from his fist, made entirely of magic. As he lifts his fist, I close my eyes. I can't move, so there's nothing I can do except just accept it. “Goodbye, Seth Rogers.”
Hawke's fist sails down through the air at a painfully slow speed. The sounds of battle fade around me, such that all I can hear or feel is the whistling of my death hurtling the air. Seconds pass, and I never feel his attack land. Confused, I open my eyes despite the pain to see why Hawke hasn't killed me.
It's only then that I notice the humming magenta barrier hovering just above me. Hawke's fist is resting securely on it, preventing him from attacking me any further. Both Hawke and I look around for the source...and then a single, serene cherry blossom drifts across my vision. My eyes widen. That's...
“Back away from him, monster!” Hold on a minute, that isn't Rose's voice. My eyes then register the two ponies standing just behind me, both of their bodies alight with their magical auras.
Cadance and Shining Armor are standing together behind me, the latter's horn glowing with magenta light, revealing it to be him who saved me from death. Cadance's mane is flowing upwards from her own incredible magic, making this the first time I've ever seen her use it. What the hell are they doing here?
“Top of the evening to ya, princess,” Captain Blades's cheerful voice sounds out just to my right, where Celestia is still standing, albeit shakily. He's standing directly in front of her, forming a barrier between her and a curious Sombra. A veritable storm of daggers surrounds his armored body, each one glowing with his own unique magic. Celestia looks beyond surprised at his presence, likely because she told them to retreat if the worst case scenario occurred. “Sorry about this, but I'm disobeyin' yer orders. Court martial me later, okay?”
It's not just him. There's three more figures standing with Blades. The first one I notice is Commander Rose, her appearance wreathed in cherry blossoms as it always is during battle. She remains silent, glancing between her captain and Sombra.
“I stand ready to defend you, princesses.” Commander Iron stands beside Rose, clad in his unique armor with the eagle motif, his shield and trident hovering just in front of him. His eyes are narrowed to slits and are focused directly on Sombra.
“Don't blame us, princess,” Captain Spitfire remarks, flashing the shocked Celestia a cheeky grin. But...where did they all come from? This is practically every captain and commander here in the city! How did they know where we were? “Blame your little Element friends that are far braver than we give them credit for.”
“Yeehaw! Bring it on, y'all nasty varmints!” To my shock, Applejack gallops into the clearing, ramming a hoof through the jaw of an Oppressed that attempts to prevent her. Behind her are Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie, each one moving to engage the undead in the clearing that look to menace the officers.
“You poor foals...didn't I tell you...that I'd...” Celestia grunts, struggling just to stay upright.
A second after she starts talking, she's cut off by an explosion and the sound of party buzzers as Pinkie unloads a lethal payload from her streamer cannon into a mass of undead. “Yeah, we heard you. Let's hold the high treason party later, okay?” Pinkie responds cheekily.
“You can't...you can't hold us for treason if you're not...not alive,” Fluttershy adds, despite looking as if she'd rather be anywhere else. When an undead threatens Applejack's flank, she fucking floors it with her hoof, while wearing a glare that I've never seen her wear. “That's for Twilight, you monster!”
“A lady cannot simply turn tail and run when her friends are in danger,” Rarity declares, I notice with surprise that she has the unconscious Rainbow grasped with her magic. I can't help but let out a sigh of relief, despite the situation. At the very least, she'll get away.
“You can't...Sombra is too strong...he'll...” Celestia tries to warn the four officers in front of her, but they don't seem to pay her much attention.
“Yeah, we know. We could feel it from the airships,” Blades reassures her, looking grim. With that, the captain turned to Sombra, who had been watching them with veiled annoyance the whole time. “Sorry to keep ya waitin' big guy. Ya know, I'd ask for yer autograph if ya weren't such a total creep.”
Sombra regards the officers for a few moments, and then he turns to Hawke. “New orders, Hawke. Kill the alicorn and the captain. Do not hold...” he starts to say, but then suddenly his head snaps back from Spitfire ramming both front hooves into his jaw. With an annoyed grunt, Sombra swings a hoof wreathed in powerful magic at her, only for her to fly a circle around him and attack him from the rear. “Kill them!”
“Understood,” Hawke declares, and then he approaches Cadance and Shining Armor...but they don't let him get the first move. The both of them are suddenly directly in Hawke's face, unleashing a flurry of vicious punches front their front hooves, empowered by their magic.
Hawke grunts and retreats backwards under the onslaught, but I can see him blocking everything that heads his way. I notice that he keeps trying to phase into smoke like he did with me, but Cadance and Shining Armor are moving too fast for him to do so.
Suddenly, I feel a pony nosing at my fallen form. I look weakly to see Fluttershy crouching down beside me, looking horrified at my current state. “I'll help you, Seth. Hang in there,” she whispers to me, her hooves wriggling beneath me to get a decent grip. “This is for everything you've done for us.”
When Cadance lowers her head to blast Hawke with her magic, he finally phases away and reforms behind Shining Armor, attempting to counter attack with a double fisted blow. However, his attack is halted by another barrier, which buys Shining Armor enough time to deal Hawke a powerful buck in the chest. “You owe me for this, honey!” the captain calls to Cadance, who giggles despite the situation.
“Trust me, I'll definitely repay you!” Cadance responds, and then she hurls several orbs of pink magic towards the recovering Hawke.
“Ngh...so this is an alicorn,” Hawke observes, deflecting her attacks with his palms. “You're strong.”
“Why, thank you. I'm still going to buck you into next season, though,” Cadance replies sweetly, causing her husband to chuckle next to her. Hawke's response is to scoff. “You know, I have the worst luck. I meet the first human in three thousand years, and he won't tell me anything. Now I meet you, and you're our enemy.”
“I have no quarrel with you,” Hawke reveals, shifting into a combat stance. He starts to power up to a level further than what he's already shown. “Yet, I am the enemy of all who make themselves King Sombra's enemy.”
The magic streaming up from around Hawke's body suddenly grows in intensity and strength, tearing the ground apart around his feet. To my shock, his hair suddenly starts to flow upwards, and a strange black substance appears on his face, shooting through his right eye. His skin starts to crumble away around his eye, giving that side of his face a demonic cracked appearance. Oh shit, he can transform just like I could.
“Cadance,” Shining Armor warns his wife simply, understanding exactly what's going on.
“I know,” she responds, and then the two of them power themselves up as much as they can, even though I know Hawke should be far above them now.
Fluttershy finally manages to lift me off of the ground, and she flies me over to where the other three Elements are fighting their way through the undead. Near them, Blades, Iron, Spitfire, and Rose are all attacking Sombra at once, but it doesn't look like they've dealt any true damage to him.
Sombra stomps the ground, blowing away the stinging swarm of Blades's daggers with a shockwave of darkness. Then, he rears up and catches Roses's massive pink hammer on his cannon bone as it swings down on him from above. With a grunt, Sombra knocks it away, and then he retaliates by materializing several shards of sharp crystal above him and sending them at Rose. She manages to dodge most of them, but one of them catches her in the side, leaving a nasty gash behind. She winces, but returns to the assault.
“Do not make light of me!” Sombra roars, leaping up in the air and turning around just in time to block a flurry of lightning fast punches from Spitfire. However, in the act of doing so, he leaves himself open to Blades and Rose, who are clasping hooves for some reason. It suddenly strikes me when I see the magic flowing between the two of them.
All of Blades's daggers surround Sombra, each one glowing with a pink light and emitting cherry blossoms, courtesy of Rose's magic within him. Above the king, a cloud of daggers made of pink magic form as well. “Spitfire! Move!” Blades warns, and then without waiting a moment longer, he and Rose release their combination attack, raining daggers down upon Sombra in a hail of deadly magical steel.
Spitfire swerves away just in time to avoid the explosion that ensues. She grins at the sight and moves to aid Cadance and Shining Armor, who are fighting hard against the transformed Hawke. The demonic looking human is pushing them hard with his new strength, but the power of Cadance and the ingenuity of Shining Armor's barriers are managing to keep him at bay for the time being, despite the gap in power between them.
“I have him! Can we please please pleeaaase go now?” Fluttershy pleads when she reaches the other ponies. Rarity is still holding on to Rainbow, Applejack is escorting the wounded Celestia, and Pinkie is moving Luna along a cart that she had promptly pulled from nowhere, even as she keeps the undead away from her with a fucking streamer Gatling gun.
“Captain!” Applejack calls to Blades tellingly. Blades shows that he understands what she's trying to say with a terse nod. “Yes, Fluttershy. Let's git to the airships. Mr. Skies is waitin'.”
Suddenly, Sombra emerges from the explosion, looking nothing if not irritated. He swerves his body to face Rose and Blades, his horn sparking with powerful magic. With a feral roar, the king lowers his head and fires forth a beam of destructive magic that promises to wipe out anyone and everything before it...including us.
Then, Iron is there. He throws himself right in front of the beam and takes cover behind his shield. The beam hits him head on, pushing the commander back several feet, his hooves gouging into the crystal street. The shield is glowing brightly, absorbing the magic to the best of its ability. Despite this, Iron looks to be struggling. His brow is wrinkled, and he's putting everything he can just to stay upright.
A crack appears in the shield as Iron holds steadfast against the beam, protecting me and everyone behind him. Iron grunts as he absorbs more and more magic, his body bulking up with the sheer amount that's running through him.
“Iron, stop! You can't possibly hold that much energy!” Blades orders him, but Iron doesn't move. “It's gonna kill you!”
“If...I don't do it...then who will!?” Iron demands, blood leaking from his nose. He skids back several more feet behind the beam. Finally, as the beam finally starts to dissipate, the shield shatters into pieces, unable to absorb any more power. The amount of magic that hits Iron has been reduced so much that it only knocks him off of his hooves.
Sombra looks honestly surprised when he sees that his beam hadn't damaged any of us. His gaze travels down to the pieces of the shield, his expression turning to one of interest. “That artifact...what manner of magic be this?” Sombra questions. However, he pauses when he sees Iron rising to his hooves once more.
Iron pants heavily, his body filled with so much magical energy that it makes him look like he's on steroids. “Raaaagh!” Iron yells, and then he thrusts his trident forward. Sombra's eyes shoot wide open with shock as every bit of magic that he had fired only moments before shoots right back at him, in the form of Iron's own silvery magic. Iron's body returns to normal as all of the foreign magic inside of him is released.
“What...!?” Sombra cries out just before the blast hits him head on, causing a massive explosion to ensue. The street is utterly obliterated from the impact, shards of crystal flying in every direction. Over with Cadance and Shining Armor, Hawke actually turns to look at the explosion with shock and worry. Of course, his distraction then earns him a barrier in the face, courtesy of Shining Armor.
“Now, while we still can! Let's git the hay out o' dodge!” Blades orders, quickly retreating towards the Crystal Tower, where airships are already starting to leave, filled completely with retreating Equestrian soldiers.
Shining Armor seizes the opportunity to wrap a barrier around Hawke, restraining him in place. Cadance adds to the confusion by blasting Hawke head on, injuring him and kicking up a cloud of dust. Then, the two of them look at one another and retreat all at once, with Spitfire flying right behind them.
As Fluttershy carries me underneath the Crystal Tower, I spot the last airship waiting for us, its gangplank extended and waiting for us to board. Of course, because it's the last airship, that means there's no more soldiers in the city. Therefore, the undead are swarming the gangplank, attempting to climb aboard.
“Horseapples! I better get danger pay for this!” Gilded Skies curses as he sits right on the street in front of the gangplank, clutching a lethal looking crossbow in his front two hooves. He fires a bolt right into an oncoming Oppressed. The initial shot does nothing, but the head of the bolt explodes inside of the creature's head, blasting it apart. He quickly reloads, but the undead are getting closer. As we approach, he gestures us on board with a hasty jerk of his head. “Get on board already! I didn't sign up for a blasted undead invasion!”
“Just a little further, okay? Hold on...” Fluttershy whispers in my ear as she takes me up onto the airship. I want to respond, but my throat is sore and my body feels like it's on fire. “It's going to be okay, I promise.”
From the sides of the airship, more Equestrian soldiers are raining bolts of magic and arrows down on the undead below, keeping them away from the gangplank as the rest of us climb aboard. The ballista set up on the airship are firing constantly as well, pounding the undead with bolts the size of trees.
“All right, we've got the princesses! Get this hunk of wood moving!” Blades orders, the captain helping an injured Iron walk.
“You don't have to tell me twice!” Gilded Skies yells back, clambering up onto the deck and severing the line connecting the gangplank to the ship, not even bothering to retract it. He immediately passes his crossbow to Blades and then flies up to the balloon. He quickly lights up the burner and then flies to the wheel. He gives it a swift spin, which starts to turn the airship slowly away from the tower. “You better make sure I get a darn medal for this!”
“I'll make ya a life sized statue of yerself made out of gold if you shut up and get us the hay out o' here!” Blades snaps back, firing the crossbow over the edge of the airship, expertly nailing a shambling undead pony and blowing it apart. “Heh, I like this thing.”
The airship steadily rises into the air, leaving the undead on the ground and flying after the other airships. However, I can see the explosion caused by Iron's counterattack slowly fading away, revealing a slightly injured and very angry Sombra. Next to him is Hawke, who looks furious that I'm getting away.
“Watch out, that monster is going to fire again!” Rose calls out in warning as Sombra lowers his head. Blades's eyes widen at that, and I notice that he actually looks panicked.
“Darn! I'm not sure if we can handle another attack like that! Iron, you got another one of those shields?” Blades jokes, despite the severity of the situation. He looks over at the panting Iron, the shards of his former shield in front of him, which the commander had insisted on saving. “Eh, I thought not.”
“I'm running out of magical power, but I'll do my best to hold it off!” Shining Armor declares, galloping to the edge of the airship closest to Sombra. Sombra lets out a shout that I can hear even from here, and then another massive beam of destruction shoots from the streets up towards us. Shining Armor sees it coming, and he gapes in awe. “So much power! I don't think I can...”
Shining Armor prepares to lift the barrier. However, as the beam reaches the ship, it collides against a golden white barrier, which strains under the impact. Everypony looks to see Princess Celestia struggling to stand at the edge, her horn lighting up as she pours as much power as she can into protecting the ship and in turn, the ponies on it. “Not...while I still...stand...” Celestia states again, grunting as she struggles as hard as she can. The barrier starts to falter, however, and the beam is still strong. “No....”
“Princess!” Rarity exclaims, and then she's standing at Celestia's side, her hoof on the princess's shoulder. Rarity's horn glows, and I see her magic channeling into the Celestia, helping her keep the barrier strong. Blades and Iron approach as well, pumping as much power as possible into their ruler. Shining Armor, Rose, and Cadance do the same, filling Celestia with so much power that her barrier doubles in size and brilliance. Other unicorn guards contribute their own meager reserves as well, everypony intent on doing their part to aid her.
Finally, Sombra's attack dissipates, and Celestia lets the barrier crumble, the poor mare panting hard. With a grunt, she releases the rest of her accumulated power into one last attack, sending an arc of what looks like pure sunlight down towards Sombra, just as our airship speeds out and leaves their range.
“Thank you...all of you...I'm so...proud...” Celestia manages to get out before her legs finally give out and she collapses to the deck. She soon falls unconscious, and a silence falls across the deck.
“Hah...hah....I can't believe we're alive,” Blades admits with a disbelieving grin. Some of the other soldiers start to smile and congratulate one another, but it's mostly in subdued whispers. Even if we managed to escape without too many losses, the battle was lost. King Sombra defeated us, and the Crystal Empire is his again to do with as he pleases. “I thought we were dead a hundred times over.”
“Me too...do you see what that jerk did to me?” Spitfire responds next, holding out one of her front hooves. Judging by the awkward angle it's at, it's probably broken. Blades chuckles, shaking his head. Then, he gets serious and approaches the guards.
“All right, those of you with magic left, stay on board and keep watch for undead. I dunno if they've got any that can fly, but I'm not about to tempt fate,” Blades orders. He then turns to Rarity and the others. “Alright, Elements. You get Seth, the princesses, and your friends down to the medical bay. We don't have the princesses to heal ya, but our medics can at least get ya patched up.”
“Oh, is it over? Oh...dear,” Rarity responds almost deliriously, and then she slumps over on her side in a faint. Blades's eye twitches at the sight.
“That includes her too,” Blades adds. I feel Fluttershy nod, and then she takes me below deck. My eyes are barely open, but I can tell because it's much darker in here than out there.
“Don't worry. We'll take care of you,” Fluttershy promises as she walks down the halls with me. “Rainbow's okay too. We've got her.”
Fluttershy continues to try and comfort me with soft spoken words all the way until we reach the medical bay. Once we're inside, I can feel her lying me down on the bed and tucking me in in such a way that the blankets don't cover up any of my wounds. I hear her walk away for a few moments, before returning with a bucket filled with water. I can tell because I hear it sloshing around.
I suddenly feel a warm and damp rag press against the burn on my side. I shift and release a pained groan, but Fluttershy nuzzles my cheek and rests a hoof on my forehead. “Shh, shh. It's okay. I'm just cleaning it so it doesn't get infected. I'm sorry if it hurts...” she reassures me. I let out a pathetic sounding whimper as the rag sweeps across my skin. I don't think I've ever been hurt this much before. I feel like every part of me is broken.
Soon, the others arrive with the other injured, including Twilight, Spike, Rarity, Rainbow, Celestia, and Luna. “Whew, we got a lot ta deal with here,” Applejack comments, brushing the sweat off of her brow. “Ah feel like today lasted fer years. Pinkie, put Rainbow in the bed next to Fluttershy an' Seth. Ah'll take care o' the princesses.”
“Yupper-doo!” Pinkie responds, somehow managing to sound happy despite the situation.
Now that I realize that somehow, despite all of the odds, we're all alive, I close my eyes, finally allowing myself to fall unconscious.
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While Seth got wrecked I felt physical pain, thats how hard it was for me to read it. I can't imagine how hard it was for you considering he is your character.
that...was epic...and heart wrenching at the same time. i agree with Galactic that i felt myself cringing
and my blood boiling
at the scenes and even scared for everyone's lives'. even though i already know they wouldn't die.
although i do see a bit of hope and possibly how the next part of this arc may go
i am assuming Seth and iron will reforge what they can of the shield and have Seth use it, as being the only one among them to be able to handle that much magic.
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fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2013/055/4/3/annoyed_spike_by_dipi11-d5vp882.png
Ohh, it hurt to read Seth getting wrecked, among everything else.
But despite that, good chapter.
Can't wait for the next! Lookin' forward to some silly.
Holy mother of crap that was epic!
Just the whole chapter and the music, you could just feel the desperation and fear as they struggled to fight back against Sombra and Hawke. Starting right off the bat Sombra and the Princesses are duking it out, and they are not going well against him. Then we have Hawke just beating the crap out of Seth. I knew Hawke would be backing some serious power if he could control an undead army, and with Seth's previous powers, and how badly Hawke beat up Twilight, I knew he was tough, but jesus. Rainbow managed to get a couple hits in, but it was like a fly buzzing around him. He took her out with one god damn punch, and she is far from weak and was covered in armour.
I gotta say though, for a guy with no powers, Seth put up a hell of a fight. He took getting backhanded through a wall and shot with darkness lasers and he still managed to grab a hold of his scythe and start hacking away. Still, it did fuck all against Hawke who just absolutely annihilated him. Breaking his arm, his ribs, his nose even damaging some internal organs. Seth is a fucking legend to take all that and still stay conscious, but he just had no friggin chance against Hawke. Evidently Hawke seems to have some serious issues with both Seth directly and the human race as a whole. While Seth just hated most of humanity, seeing them as worthless and pathetic until his revelation, Hawke seems to despise humanity like it's the most evil thing on the planet. Whatever his story is, it sure isn't going to be pretty. Either way though, I totally love this guy as a villain. He is completely baddass, and I hope we get to see more of him as the arc progresses.
Shinging Armour and Cadance's appearance, followed by the Commanders and the elements was a really epic moment. I mean, obviously something way going to show up to stop Seth dying, but the way they all just stepped in and took over the fight was awesome. Shining and Cadance just work so well as a team (shame Shining never used his signature wife throwing maneuverer) and the other commanders were completely in sink with each other. I am so glad you involved all of them here. They all got to show off their epicness against Sombra and Hawke. We also got to see Hawke's power up. If I ever saw him show up in front of me looking like how you described him, I'd probably wet myself. he is one god damn scary dude. Awesome.
All the elements were in full force here too, fighting off the undead. Applejack kicking ass and Pinkie blowing them to bits with her friggin canon. Even Rarity and Fluttershy got into it. What a fight scene dude, just amazing. Then Iron's magic absorption attack before they all bailed was awesome. Nailing Sombra back full force after he charged the attack up, brilliant.
Even the boarding of the ship was great. We had Gilded Skies firing an explosive crossbow and all the magic users form together to protect the ship as Sombra attacks. That is a hell of a lot of power. What a scene.
We leave off with Seth and the heavy hitters all in the medbay while the Commanders are all injured in some capacity and the rest of the elements are left to try and help take care of the injured. Next chapter is going to start off in a dark place for our heroes.
What a chapter dude, great work, I am so pumped to see what comes next.
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You're lucky this didn't happen
Seth finally gets to epic OP level . . . only to lose it within two minutes, and promptly get the s**t beat out of him. I swear that if you end this story with a magicless Seth, imma be pissed.
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Bro, have faith in me. I got this.
5814883static.fjcdn.com/pictures/Don_f15495_2484580.jpg
I know a very easy way to kill Sombra. So very, very easy.
5814883
Wow, you picture matches this so well.
6740690 poison joke smoke grenade followed by a pissed off Fluttershy leading a herd of cocatrice finished off with a hit-the-statue-with-a-hammer party?
Holy throne, that was intense!
Man sombra got all that power from an emo douche.
How much power would he have gotten if he used a human with actual reasons for hating everything.