A New Tale In Equestria.

by Sylif Daring Doo

The empire of Crystals, Part five 2/2: Obtaining a trump card/Invasion.

____*Five minutes after Fang and the others left.*____

Gwen looked around the strike team she was in, she noticed the nervous looks and the terrified expression of Fluttershy, she sighed and flew up a little to get a look of the city, she could only wince at the sight of the black crystals and the broken crystal ponies that mined it, she saw the black crystals that rose out from the buildings of the city, she looked at the castle and saw that the entire top half of the castle had been replaced by a spire of black crystals. 'Times like this....I wish I could be sure my element was working.' She thought grimly.

Gwen flew down to the ground and landed next to Twilight, who simply glanced over at her before signing in relief. "Oh...its you Gwen." She said calmly.

"Yea.....so Twilight, can I ask you something real quick?" She asked.

Twilight nodded and looked at Gwen. "Sure." She replied.

Gwen looked at the castle and then at Twilight. "What are the chances of the elements working?....in your opinion?" She asked.

The question made Twilight pause and think on it for a moment. "Honestly?.....I couldn't tell you, they SHOULD work just fine, but actually hitting Sombra is another matter, if someone can restrain him it's a definite hit." She replied.

Gwen nodded and looked at the city. 'I wonder how Fang and the others are doing....' She wondered.

____*one minute later.*____

Shining Armor sighed as he looked to his sergeant. 'The city changed from a beautiful sight, to this monstrosity we see now.' He shook his head.

"Sergeant, give the order to attack." He ordered the man.

The sergeant nodded and levitated a war horn out, he took a deep breath and unleashed the war horns call.

At that, all of the soldiers in Shining's group charged, including him and Cadence, as Shining charged he watched as a battalion of undead minions formed ranks with spear wielding skeletons in the front, ghoul's right behind them and skeleton archers in the back, the archers soon unleashed a volley of deadly arrows at them as they charged, Shining quickly threw up a magical shield which repelled the arrows, Cadence did something similar but instead of shielding herself from the arrows, she fired a volley of magical missiles at the arrows, sadly not all of the arrows were destroyed and some hit their target, killing off two of the soldiers.

As the strike team reached the undead ranks, Shining immediately unleashed a barrage of magical blasts on the archers, he then conjured a magical sword and began fighting the undead.

____*meanwhile*____

Gwen and the other Elements of Harmony charged alongside the soldiers and engaged the undead, Gwen flew up to one of the archers and grabbed it, she then knocked its head off and threw it at another archer, she then began to repeat this process until it would stop working, but seeing as they were mindless undead, she did not expect it to stop working.

Twilight had decided to get Fluttershy and Rarity behind herself, she attempted to do the same with Pinkie Pie but the mare had pulled a confetti machine gun out and began blasting away, Applejack had simply put on some armor and charged the lines. [1]

Gwen slammed down on a skeleton archer and rammed a nearby ghoul, she glanced over her shoulder and noticed a Minotaur like ghoul charging after her, she braced herself and jumped out of its warpath, she then flew up to it and landed on its head, she then slammed her elbow down on its head.

The ghoul roared in pain but simply grabbed Gwen with one arm and threw her off.

Gwen crashed on the ground fiercely, she crashed through the crystal street for a few more inches but eventually stopped, she could feel the immense pain jolting through her body, she gritted her teeth and forced her way through the pain, the result was her shakily standing up.

The ghoul roared and charged Gwen again, but this time, Gwen could not move, and as such, was unable to fight back.....the ghoul lunged at Gwen fiercely but only received a large magical blast to the face, the ghoul was knocked back by the blast and almost immediately slain by a soldier charging by with a sword.

Gwen was breathing heavily and with wide eyes and ringing ears, all sounds were a blur and she could hardly see....she was actually surprised that she wasn't killed, she heard a blurred voice next to her and turned to face it.....she saw Twilight looking at her with concern, she couldn't make out what she was saying however with her ears still ringing, but to her relief, she felt a calm and warm sensation fill her mind as she fell over unconscious.

'Wake me when I'm not dead.....' She mumbled.

____*unknown time, unknown place.*____

Gwen groaned as she felt a throbbing in her head, she moved her hoof there and started rubbing the spot gently, she opened her eyes and looked around, all she saw however was darkness and dim torches.

Gwen stood up and looked around, she saw that there seemed to be old stone walls and pathways, there were also iron bars that blocked off exit to small rooms, it was then that Gwen's eyes widened. "Oh no....I'm in the dungeon....not good." She whispered quietly.

Gwen looked around and started to walk around, seeing as she had no chains or shackles to bind her, she also noticed a strange color on her legs and back but thought nothing of it, she could hear faint voices echo throughout the halls, so she made her way to them as quietly as she could, but as she got closer she could hear voices.

"Ten years.....ten years since that day......and I am still no closer to my goal.....but perhaps i can find a more permanent host....if only to keep alive until then." Mumbled a voice.

"No, no no no.....be cautious, you can't be discovered or your dead.....we don't have much time." Said a smiliar voice.

Gwen turned a corner and almost gasped at the sight of a tall bipedal figure, she quickly hid behind the corner and peeked out. "Wait!.....I've got it, I don't need a host in THIS world!.....I can just as easily hop worlds!" Said the figure.

The figure then slapped itself in the face. "Don't be a fool!....I know what you are thinking, and if you believe you can use that ability of yours without consequence.....remember the price for that kind of magic!?" The figure seemed to ask itself.

The figure then laughed quietly and looked at a small cauldron. "Of course!....but I will already be dead!....I can't lose this way, all I need to do is a bit of.....rearranging." The figure said to the cauldron.

Gwen watched the figure closely but was soon caught off guard as the figure snapped to face her direction. "Who's there?.....show yourself!" The figure demanded.

Gwen's eyes widened, she was struggling to simply keep her breath under control.....she soon sighed and went to walk away when a large shadowed figure approached the bipedal figure from the shadows of the room. "I've finally found you traitor.....what's left of you anyway." Said the shadow.

The figure growled but screamed in pain from the dim torches suddenly brightening to high levels.

Gwen covered her eyes for a moment as she let them adjust, when the light no longer blinded her, she looked into the room and gasped at the sight before her.

The shadowed figure was a rather large unicorn stallion who was all brown in color, his cutie mark was that of a pair of shackles, he seemed to be staring down the bipedal figure who hid in a slightly dim corner.

The bipedal creature seemed to be a large artic wolf, the wolf was missing all of its fur on its legs and arms, It's chest barely had any fur on it, only the head seemed normal if not for the blood soaked fur on its left ear and neck, the blood was also all over its arms, legs and chest, the wolf was also missing most of its right ear, Gwen could also just barely make out a torn up tail.

The unicorn scoffed. "Pathetic....you used to be one of the mightiest creatures in existence, but here you are.....hiding like a rat from the same people that you once terrorized." The unicorn's horn lit up in a small blaze of fire.

The wolf-like creature held it's head and rocked back and forth. "Pesky ponies.....pesky ponies, always meddling, always paranoid, always hating, always fearing, always hunting." The wolf then seemed to repeat this pattern over and over.

The unicorn seemed sighed and fired a small fireball at the wolf. "Just die." He said blankly.

Gwen could only watch in horror and the flames engulfed the wolf.

The unicorn sighed and turned away from the flames, but he soon paused and glanced back, his eyes widened at the sight.

Gwen looked at where the wolf was, her own eyes widened as she watched the wolf simply walk out of the flames. "Silly ponies....so stupid, so trusting, so cowardly, so....weak." The wolf then looked at the unicorn and held its hand out....shadows then swarmed around the wolf's arm and spread out to the torches....completely blacking out the room, a scream was heard soon after and the room lit back up.....it took all of the strength Gwen had to avoid passing out.

The unicorn's body was lying dead on the floor, while the head was in the wolf's hand. "He thought he killed me......but I wonder, how long until more come looking for him?" The wolf then looked at Gwen's direction with a concerned expression. "How long until the same happens to your kind little one?" It asked, dropping the head.

Gwen's eyes widened and she said nothing....hoping that the wolf was speaking to another.

The sound of footsteps filled the room, and soon enough, when Gwen peeked around the corner, a hand had grabbed and dragged her into the room. "I am talking to you little one." The wolf said calmly.

Gwen grunted and attempted to break free from the wolf's grasp, but it was pointless as the wolf simply set her down. "Do not be afraid, I will not harm a child." The wolf said reassuringly.

Gwen backed up and soon hit a wall, she then looked around frantically trying to find an exit, but the only one was behind the wolf. "Please calm down.....it will do neither of us any good.....my name is Lyaroa, what is yours?"

Gwen went to say her name but instead of her name, another came out. "V.....Verdant." Said a shaky voice.

Lyaroa gave a soft smile and patted the pegasus' head. "It's nice to meet you Verdant.....are you lost?" She asked with concern.

Gwen's head shook involuntarily, it was now that realized that she wasn't in her own body. "N...no, my parents said that I needed to stay here and wait for them to come back, but that was two days ago." She replied quietly.

Lyaroa sighed and stood up before walking to the cauldron, the wolf grabbed a small bowl and scooped up something from the cauldron.

Gwen watched through Verdant's eyes as Lyaroa walked over with the bowl and set it down in front of Verdant, it seemed to be water, which Verdant cautiously approached. "Go ahead and clean up.....I need to get some stuff from the surface, stay here if you wouldn't mind." Lyaroa said quietly.

Verdant stared at the water with a parched expression and waited until she could no longer hear footsteps, she then sipped up a small amount of the water and swallowed, she then soaked the tip of her hoof and started to wash herself with what little she had.

Gwen could feel the world fade away as Lyaroa returned with a barrel and a large water jug. "Well then Verdant, I probably should have mentioned this, but.....I'm a sentinel." She said before setting the barrel down and filling a water pouch with water.

_____*Crystal Empire.*_____

Gwen groaned as she opened her eyes, she could feel herself being carried through the fighting, she looked around and saw that she was being carried by Applejack, she attempted to move her wings but found that they did not respond, she looked but saw that her wings were bound by a strangely soothing lavender magic.

"Gwen! you with us!?" Shouted Twilight's voice.

Gwen looked in the voices direction and saw Twilight blasting skeletons left and right. "Ugh....Applejack, let me down." She mumbled.

Applejack stopped moving and allowed Gwen off her back. "Take it easy Sugarcube." She replied.

Gwen rubbed her head and looked around, she immediately noticed that they had double their previous forces, and they all seemed to be making a slow but steady push. "What did I miss?" She asked.

Twilight ran up to Gwen and dispelled the binding magic. "We joined up with Fang's strike team, but he and the others are all missing, even Talon....we made one big push through the undead lines but we seem to have hit a stalemate." She pointed at the skeleton archers on the roof, along with large Minotaur ghoul's nearby them.

"They made a blockade like that all around this area, we can't get close enough to deal with the minotuars because of the archers, and we can't deal with the archers because the Minotaurs are taking all the shots we throw at them, if Fang and Roxanne were here, we would be able to break through easily, but as it is, we are waiting on Pinkie to handle this." Twilight explained.

Gwen nodded and quickly flew up and shattered a skeletal Pegasus. "Copycat." She said simply.

The fight at the front continued for several minutes until Pinkie climbed up the roof.

Pinkie looked around for anyone watching, she then snuck up on the skeletal archers and planted some bombs behind them, she then made a trail of oil from the bombs to the edge of the building, she then lit a match and dropped it on the oil and then ran off to the next building.

Twilight blasted a ghoul in the chest before moving to engage a small group of skeletal warriors, that was when a ghoul roared.....and soon a Minotaur ghoul went flying right into the group of undead and crashing into the wall of a random house.

Twilight looked over at Pinkie with a shocked and confused expression. "Pinkie.....what exactly is that?" She asked out of confusion.

Pinkie blew on a strange mechanical device which was smoking and looked at Twilight. "I don't know." She said with a slight french accent. [2]

Twilight sighed and ran back to the combined strike teams, and up to Applejack. "Anything different?" She asked.

Applejack nodded and kicked a skeleton in the face. "Yea, with that blockade smashed we were able to move up, got to hand it to Pinkie, she can pull some weird stuff off." She said before charging.

Twilight chased after Applejack and the others, she looked at the castle and a look of determination appeared on her face. 'We will stop you Sombra.' She thought with confidence.

____*four minutes later, outside the castle*____

Twilight blasted a skeleton and looked around, the soldiers had just finished off the remnants of undead defenders at the castle entrance, which seemed too easy in her opinion. 'Why was the defense so weak here?' She wondered.

"Twilight!" Shouted a familiar voice.

Twilight turned to face the voice and let out a sigh of relief at the sight of Shining Armor and Cadence.. "Oh good, your alright." She said thankfully.

Shining nodded and looked back at his team, which now consisted of ten from the original fifteen. "How's interior defenses holding?" He asked.

Twilight shrugged. "I don't know, we only just got here ourselves." She replied simply.

Shining nodded and looked back as Cadence began healing the injured soldiers. "Well then....I'll stay out here with Cadence and hold the line, while you and your friends go inside and deal with Sombra. He said as he approached the soldiers while an army of undead advanced.

Twilight nodded and sighed. "Be safe Shining." She said quietly before gathering her friends and heading inside the castle.

____*inside the castle.*____

Twilight and her friends ran through the empty halls and reached the stairway, they ran up the stairway but just as they reached the top they were knocked back down to the bottom by an unknown force.

Twilight rubbed her head and looked up the stairs, she saw a figure appear at the top, the figure was a brown earth pony stallion with orange eyes and no cutie mark, he smirked and looked down at the group. "I am Fracture, If you wish to enter the masters sanctum....you will have to go through me." He stated calmly.

Gwen growled and charged Fracture swiftly, but soon found herself being held by the throat and thrown to the ground. "As I said, you must go through me." He repeated calmly.

Applejack sighed and approached the stairs, she looked up at Fracture with a determined expression. "You all get going, I'll take care of this guy." She told her friends.

Twilight tried to object but Pinkie silenced her. "She's right Twilight, I'll stay behind with her and fight this guy, you all get going." Pinkie said before walking up to Applejack.

Twilight looked at the others and saw that they had grim expressions on their faces, she sighed. "Come on girls, we need to keep moving, Applejack and Pinkie will be alright." She assured them before igniting her horn.

Fracture looked down at the two mares and sighed when he heard a spell go off, he glanced to his left and saw the other four mares run off and towards the spire, he smirked. "Regardless if they make it or not, if one of you falls, your trinkets are useless.....which means that I simply need to kill you both." He said to the mares at the bottom of the stairs.

Applejack and Pinkie braced themselves as Fracture leapt down the stairs and slammed into the floor causing it to shatter. "Prepare to die insolent whelps!" Fracture shouted as he charged the two.

Fracture charged at Applejack attempted to ram her, when the mare dodged to the right he slammed his front hooves into the ground and spun around with his back legs and hit Applejack in the jaw.

Pinkie jumped back and pulled out her party cannon, she quickly fired at Fracture sending a cannonball flying at the stallion.

Fracture glanced over his shoulder and saw the cannonball flying at him, he smirked and snapped around swiftly. "Shatter!" He shouted.

As if on cue, the cannonball exploded mid flight and the shards fell to the ground.

Fracture saw Pinkie's shocked expression and quickly rushed the mare, he moved with great speed and when he reached Pinkie he threw a punch at the mare's stomach.

Pinkie attempted to dodge the attack but a second one appeared out of nowhere and she went flying from the force of the punch.

Fracture jumped back and looked over at Applejack and saw that she was charging at him, he quickly sidestepped the charged and allowed Applejack to finish her charge, he turned to face the mare but quickly glanced over to Pinkie and saw that she was still alive but unable to stand up at the present time, he chuckled and looked directly at Applejack, he could tell the mare was beaten up and fatigued but she seemed to have more stamina then it seemed. "Tell me.....what is your last request?" He asked calmly.

The question caught Applejack completely off guard but she said nothing.

Fracture shook his head and looked over at Pinkie, who had barely managed to look up at them. "I take it you have none then?....as you wish." He said before charging Applejack with great speed.

Applejack did the only thing that came to mind....she braced as Fracture slammed into her, after the clash, Applejack quickly threw a punch at Fracture's chest, but to her surprise, the stallion took the blow head on and held his stomach in pain, allowing Applejack a moment to back off and recover.

Fracture disengaged and backed up, he chuckled and looked at Applejack. "Well.....this should be an interesting fight.

____*meanwhile*____

Twilight and the rest of the group ran through a door and towards the spire, but to their surprise, it led them out onto a pathway that was exposed to the outside world, Twilight walked out onto the pathway and gazed down, she couldn't sense any magical barriers to prevent falling, and saw the soldiers fighting the undead. "We need to hurry, be careful on these pathways." She told the group before walking along the path.

Gwen quickly took flight and flew just above the group. "Come on Fluttershy, I know you have wings." She said, but since she noticed Fluttershy practically clinging to the door for her life, she simply sighed. "You guys better hurry up, I'll get Fluttershy out here." She told the group.

"Ha!...good luck with that." Taunted a voice.

The whole group stopped and looked around for the source of the voice, until Gwen looked up and saw a figure flying above them. "Girls....up there." She said.

The rest of the group looked up and watched as a flying figure flew down to them and landed on the path, blocking them from passing.

Gwen looked back at Fluttershy who had hid behind the door but was peeking out, she then looked at the figure and examined it.

The figure was a male griffon with brown and gold feathers, his eyes were golden with a scar running across his left eye, he wore silver armor and his talons were covered by metallic ones, his wings seemed to be stained in blood and his tail seemed to be missing. "I would forget about that crybaby back there, and worry about yourselves." He said as he flared his wings.

Twilight lit her horn and fired a magical blast at the griffon, who simply flew out of its way and charged at Twilight.

Gwen acted on instinct and flew quickly at the griffon to intercept, just as the griffon reached Twilight, Gwen kicked the griffon away and away from the group. "You girls get going!" She shouted back to them before looking at the griffon with a look of determination. "I'll deal with this guy." She added before getting into her fighting stance.

The griffon smirked. "You are not as hopeless as it seems, you do understand the situation." He praised.

Gwen growled. "I'm not an idiot, of course I get it.....one stays behind while the others continue on, basic strategy." She countered angrily.

The griffon chuckled and prepared for battle. "Then let us introduce ourselves, I am Misteye." He said.

Gwen grinned. "I'm Gwen Dash." She replied.

Misteye nodded and noticed the group running towards the spire. "I thank you for the honorable battle, but I fear Fracture or your friends will interfere....in that sense, in either case, I shall withdraw." He stated calmly.

Gwen raised an eyebrow at the words. "Why is that?" She asked.

Misteye sighed and looked at Gwen. "Because, I will not forsake my honor, and there is none to be found in a one sided battle." He replied.

Gwen could only let a small smile out and she soon grinned. "Then let's fight." She said before charging.

Misteye charged at Gwen and raised his talons in preparation for a strike, when the two combatants reached eachother they struck, Gwen with a uppercut and Misteye with a claw strike.

Both attacks made contact, and both fighters felt the impact, but they were already charging again readying another attack.

This stalemate lasted for about a minute until Misteye unleashed a deadly barrage of rapid claw strikes, forcing Gwen to defend from his fierce attacks.

At the end of the flurry, Misteye backed off and swiftly charged while Gwen recovered, he rammed into Gwen and then backed off again.

Gwen was forced into a flying roll from the knockback, when she finally stopped rolling, she charged at Misteye with insane speed, she kicked at his back and then flew around to his front at these speeds and delivered a strong punch to his stomach.

Misteye was forced back by the recoil of the punch and he reacted quickly to block a swift onslaught of attacks from Gwen, in the middle of the barrage, Misteye acted on a slim opportunity and punched Gwen away so he could recover, at this point, he chuckled to himself. "A one sided battle, that's what this is, might as well go all out." He mumbled before grinning.

____*meanwhile*____

Twilight ran up the steps with Rarity and Fluttershy until they reached a large circular room with a spiral staircase leading up, the three mares could only groan as they walked into the room.

Twilight looked around the room and noticed that the only thing of interest was the stairway and a window, so she started to walk to the stairs.

Rarity and Fluttershy started to follow Twilight, but a loud rumbling stopped them from moving, after a moment of silence, the two mare's continued walking.

Just as Twilight's hoof touched the first step a tripwire was revealed and the entire room shook, Twilight looked back and noticed some tiles were falling. "RUUN!" She shouted as she began running up the stairs quickly.

Rarity and Fluttershy ran as fast as their hooves could carry them, but when Rarity's hoof touched the steps, another tripwire sprung and the stairs began to fall, but just as she went to grab another, it came loose and fell right on her head, and when Fluttershy accidentally kicked her in the back of her head, she was knocked unconscious.

Twilight teleported to a higher flight of stairs, she looked down and her eyes widened at the sight, the entire floor had fallen out, and Rarity was falling unconsciously next to Fluttershy, whose wings were practically frozen to her sides, she went to save them but saw that the stairs were falling out behind her, she gritted her teeth and a tear dropped from her face before she ran off up the stairs. "I'm sorry." She said quietly.

____*two minutes later*____

Twilight jumped to the floor of the next room, she panted heavily as she looked back at the collapsed stairway, she pounded the floor out of frustration and stood up grimly, she lit her horn and stepped inside the next room, but what she saw was far from pleasant.

Standing at the far end of the room, looking out to the empire, was none other than Sombra himself, she growled and her horn flared. She fired a lethal barrage of magical blasts at Sombra but to her shock, a magic barrier blocked them all.

Twilight prepared to unleash another barrage when Sombra spoke. "Well now, it would seem that I have an uninvited guest.....no matter, I will deal with this quickly." He said before turning to face Twilight.

"Prepare yourself girl, you are out of your league." He stated before igniting his horn, soon enough several magic orbs surrounded Sombra.

Twilight gritted her teeth. "Your going to pay for everything you've done Sombra!" She stated before unleashing another volley.

Sombra shook his head and fired his own magical blasts, the explosion that followed the two pairs of blasts tore the roof clean off.

____*meanwhile.*____

Applejack rammed Fracture and quickly delivered a deadly kick to his side, but Fracture seemed to ignore the effects and headbutted her on the nose, he then threw a punch to Applejack's stomach and made her cough up blood.

Fracture then kicked the mare away, he heard grunting behind him and turned to face the other mare, his eyes glowed black for a moment and his wounds burnt away.

Pinkie stood up and pulled a strange contraption out of her mane and threw it on the ground, the contraption then started to expand and transform, it soon turned into a bigger version of the party cannon but with a longer and thinner barrel then before, it also had a chair and a trigger, Pinkie quickly jumped in and began to fire at Fracture.

Fracture was confused at Pinkie's choice of ammunition, there were streamer and confetti....and for some reason, candy canes, but when he saw that the 'ammunition' had demolished the floor and walls, he took all doubts about it's power away. 'A childish weapon to be sure, but if it hits me even once, I'm doomed.' He thought as he ran.

To Fracture's annoyance, the cannon was able to turn in all directions, but he assumed that it just needed one good strike and it would collapse.

Applejack attempted to stand but she simply collapsed, she shakily looked up and saw that Pinkie had unleashed some kind of weapon against Fracture but knew that it wouldn't hold him back for long, she forced herself to push through the pain and managed to stand up shakily. 'I need to get back into the fight, but if I get in the way, Pinkie could hit me by accident.' She thought before slowly moving towards the fight.

Fracture jumped at a pillar and then he jumped towards Pinkie's cannon, he landed on the ammunition store and kicked it off its hinge before lunging at Pinkie, knocking her off and silencing the cannon.

Applejack rushed in to the fight and charged at Fracture, who was attacking Pinkie.

Fracture punched Pinkie rapidly until he was kicked in the shin by Applejack, he slid across the floor for a moment before recovering and getting back up, only to be slammed back into the ground by Pinkie's party cannon blast.

Applejack and Pinkie continued their rush against Fracture, Applejack lunged at the stallion and rapidly punched him in the face, she was soon kicked off but Pinkie fired another round from her cannon at Fracture and ran up to Applejack.

Fracture crashed into the wall and he was now breathing heavily, he looked up at the two mares and smirked darkly, his eyes glowed black again and his wounds began to heal themselves again. "No matter how many times you beat me down.....I will ALWAYS recover!" He boasted as he stood up again with no visible signs of injury or fatigue.

Applejack and Pinkie were wide eyed and breathing heavily, they were both physically exhausted and weakened, they began to back up from Fracture who was slowly advancing.

____*meanwhile*____

Gwen unleashed a barrage of strikes at Misteye and he did the same, all strikes connected and they both suffered the recoil, Gwen swiftly recovered and looked at Misteye, she was breathing heavily and sweating all over from the exhaustion. 'Ever since his eyes changed to black, we've been equally matched, I'm going all out here but every time we attack, we both get hit....it's frustrating.' She thought before charging again.

Misteye charged as well and they both unleashed another barrage of attacks, but when they disengaged, he lost his helmet and armor, his talons no longer had armor over them either and he was now without armor, his eyes were wide as he examined Gwen. 'This girl is amazing, no one has been able to dismantle my armor while I was empowered before.' He grinned and looked to the ground. "I am proud to call you my opponent, but I believe it is time to end this." He stated before charging again at super speeds.

Gwen countered with her own super speed and the two flyers engaged in a brutal battle, feathers flew and blood was drawn before they disengaged.

The fight went on for another minute until both of them were forced to back off a moment, Misteye was missing multiple feathers all across his body and blood dripped, he now had black and blue marks all over his face.

Gwen was missing feathers on both wings, her legs were dripping blood and her left eye was slightly bleeding, she grunted in pain and charged Misteye.

Misteye copied this action but this time he simply changed to a position that would allow him to shred Gwen to pieces.

When Gwen and Misteye clashed again, Gwen was immediately assaulted by Misteye's talons, but she quickly threw a punch at his neck and stomach, when Misteye's barrage stopped, Gwen rushed him and nearly beat him to death before disengaging.

Misteye's breathing was so hard, that it actually hurt, he growled and rushed at Gwen one last time, this time going for the kill.

Gwen braced herself but when she noticed that Misteye went into the position that normally you see when a bird goes to snatch something from the ground, she understood the message, she charged at Misteye with incredible speed and prepared to kick him right in the chest with all her might.

When the two were close enough, Misteye attacked with his claws and Gwen with her kick....both flew by eachother so fast that no one viewing the fight could have seen what happened.

Misteye's eyes were wide, Gwen's eyes were the same way, but a moment later, Misteye coughed up blood and looked back at Gwen. "How?....how did you do that?" He asked.

Gwen chuckled and she bled a little, she looked at her opponent and smiled softly. "Honestly?...I have no idea, it just happened." She replied through the pain.

Misteye chuckled and closed his eyes. "An honorable battle.....just how I wanted to die." He said before suddenly dropping from the air.

Gwen flew to the pathway and landed, she then collapsed to the floor out of exhaustion. 'I'm just going to rest a bit.' She thought before passing out.

_____*meanwhile*_____

Applejack dodged Fracture's slam and glanced over at Pinkie as she got back up. 'I can't hold him off forever, if something doesn't happen, we're toast.' She thought as she evaded Fracture's next series of attacks.

Fracture laughed maniacally as he attacked Applejack, his attacks showing his intent to break her bones, he leaped at Applejack and slammed his foot into the ground, causing the floor to break. "Shatter!" He shouted.

Applejack quickly jumped away from Fracture as the floor seemed to break apart after he spoke.

Fracture looked at Applejack and smirked. "Where did all that fight go?.....did you give up?" He taunted as he continued his attack.

"That's just about enough of this bullshit." Stated a voice.

Fracture paused and looked up, only to see a fireball fly straight at him, he quickly dodged it and he heard chuckling nearby, he quickly flipped around and looked in Applejack's direction, he saw that both Applejack and Pinkie had been moved to safety by a large fox like creature that stood upright. "Who the hell are you?" He asked.

The fox grinned and pulled out two swords. "Just your everyday mercenary, at your service." She said with a grin.

Fracture examined both of the swords and noticed something familiar about them. "If you are a mercenary, then who are you working for?" He asked.

The fox chuckled and soon two ghosts appeared from the swords. "I happen to be working for myself at the moment, if your looking to hire.....I'll have to pass, it's my day off." She replied simply.

Fracture sighed. "What a shame.....shatter!" He shouted.

The fox grinned and closed her eyes, she then charged at Fracture as the floor behind her exploded, when she reached Fracture she quickly jammed one sword into the ground and used it as leverage to spin and kick Fracture square in the jaw.

Fracture landed on the ground with a crash and he glared at the fox as he stood. 'Why didn't the swords break!?....no matter, if I can land one hit it with all be over.' He thought as he charged the fox.

The fox chuckled and glanced back at the ghosts. "Go crazy." She told them.

The female ghost grinned and laughed madly before unleashing waves of fire at Fracture. "Need a light!?" She taunted madly.

The male ghost simply sighed and released a wall of vines which took shape in front of the fox. "What did I say about overdoing it?" He asked the female ghost.

"Stuff it!" The female ghost snapped while bombarding Fracture.

Fracture was trying desperately to avoid the waves of fire, but at one point he had jumped back and hit one of the pillars, he attempted to escape only for vines to constrict him and tie him against the pillar as the flames reached him, he could only scream in pain as the flames engulfed him.

The fox called off the ghosts and soon the fire and vines vanished, she then walked towards Fracture who was now burnt all over.

Fracture grunted, he shakily stood up and looked at the fox with flowing black eyes, his wounds seemed to disappear but he was none the less fatigued from the fight. "I will not be killed.....by the likes of you!" He shouted before charging again.

The fox said nothing as she simply raised a sword and swung it at Fracture, who was going too fast to avoid it, but instead of losing his head, he raised his hoof just enough to lose it instead of his head.

Fracture fell to the ground and screamed from the pain of losing his hoof, he paid no mind as the fox walked up to him and raised her sword.

The fox blinked before swinging down at Fracture's neck, severing his head from his body. "That guy blocked you six?....seriously?" She asked the two mares behind her.

Applejack and Pinkie could only stare in shock at the sight of Fracture's severed body.

Roxanne sighed and sheathed the swords, she noticed Life had returned to his sword but Death stayed out, she looked at her. "Can you burn the head and body?" She asked quietly.

Death nodded and walked to Fracture's body, she then unleashed a small wave of fire and began to burn the body.

Roxanne walked to the two mares and kneeled down. "Get some rest, you'll need your strength." She told them before heading to the stairs.

Applejack looked at Roxanne and nodded. "Thank you....for saving us." She said.

Roxanne flashed a thumbs up before walking up the steps.

____*meanwhile*____

Gwen groaned as she opened her eyes, she heard chuckling next to her and looked in that direction, she saw Skitter looking at her with a grin, she blinked a few times before her eyes snapped open and she quickly stood up. "Skitter!....what are you doing?" She asked in a panic.

Skitter chuckled and shrugged. "Waiting for you to wake up from your nap....honestly Gwen, there's a war on." She said before pointing to the city.

Gwen looked out at the city and her eyes widened, the streets and buildings were all demolished and there were fires everywhere, the soldiers at the castle entrance were just barely holding back the swarms of undead, she looked up and saw that most of the spire had collapsed, she then looked at Skitter. "Where are the others?" She asked.

Skitter pointed behind her and up the tower. "Roxanne is dealing with the asshole downstairs, Talon and Dark and working with the kids to help Rarity and Fluttershy, and Fang went all the way to the top to fight Sombra." She explained.

Gwen nodded and sighed as she collapsed again. "It's a shame I don't have any energy, I would kick Sombra right in the face if I did." She said to Skitter.

Skitter rolled her eyes and walked up next to Gwen and sat down. "Then let's wait on the others before moving on." She replied.

____*meanwhile*____

Sombra unleashed a lethal barrage of magical blasts at Twilight, who threw up a magical shield to block them.

Twilight countered with a magic spear and prepared another spell.

Sombra simply threw a magic blast before unleashing another barrage at Twilight, who threw a barrier up to block them, he then unleashed one of the magic orbs and flung it at Twilight.

Twilight threw up a barrier and fired a round at Sombra, but to her surprise, the orb simply punched through the barrier and went straight for her, she gasped and jumped out its way only for the orb to follow her.

Sombra chuckled and looked away, believing the fight over.....but when he heard no scream he turned around, he was started to say the least.

There, in front of Twilight and destroying the orb, was a large wolf like creature holding the two swords he hoped to never see again. "Impossible." He said out of shock.

The wolf grinned and looked directly at Sombra. "Alright.....now the fun starts." He said confidently.

Author's Note:

[1] Just to note, Applejack put the armor on BEFORE they left Snowgem.

[2] Do I need to explain this reference?

Alright, the plot is unraveling slowly, and more of the mystery is revealed, Gwen gets a visit to the past, Pinkie finally gets a scene, now Fang and the others arrive and things seem just that much brighter.

But I think it's almost time to let this part of the story end, just a few more things to clear up.

Pinkie: So what can we expect?...If anything?

Me: A big reveal into the history of....well, basically anything relevant.

Comments

[Wir sind verloren]

LOGIC!!!