From The Gates

by Dirty Bit

Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Dwarf in the Flask

Everypony beheld the new sight in front of them with shock. What was once a pale alicorn with delusions of merging with Celestia became a blackened beast devoid of feelings other than ambition of obtaining power. Fluttershy hid behind Sloth when Father began to shift his several eyes around.

Wrath gritted his teeth "So this is Father in his true form..." He uttered with aggression.

Father directed all of his eyes onto Wrath and they all squinted as his grin widened "Surprised? I supposed you have not noticed me in this form throughout your life, Wrath. But I suppose it is my fault for not paying much attention to you..." The furious pony narrowed his eyes and flared his swordlike wings, to which the black beast laughed "You would still attack me, Wrath!?"

The rest of the group prepared themselves as Celestia spoke "We all shall do whatever it takes to bring you down!! You're a plight unto our world, and you must be stopped!!"

Luna chimed in with anger in her eyes "Yes! Thou hath caused destruction to our precious city, and have dispatched loyal soldiers in the mix!! Thou shalt harm our ponies no more!!"

Father grinned as he conjured his horn. It glowed with the same threatening red in his previous form, and it wrapped the shriveled and gasping form of Chrysalis in a magic aura that lifted her up "Then what do you make of her, hm? Clearly she was another threat to you, and yet you focus on me..."

Twilight glared "Even if she was a threat, she didn't deserve what you've done to her!!"

Father barked out in laughter "That's another reason why I loathe you ponies! A vast majority of you are so naive and sympathetic, even towards your enemies!!" He then tossed Chrysalis onto Celestia's ruined throne as she gasped for more air "I think I just might teach you some lessons before you become more of my stones!" He flared his own wings to reveal eyes large and small dotted over the inner span. The pupils in his wings began to glow brightly.

Shining Armor perked up at their glow and shouted "Everypony, shield yourselves!!" The guard captain, along with the three alicorns, shielded themselves in seperate groups as rapid-fire beams shot out of the many pupils from Father's wings.

The black beast laughed as more beams shot from his wings without pause. Sooner or later, the shields would have to crack...
_____

Gluttony sniffed around a hedged corner of the maze and buried his muzzle into the bursh before he drew it back and called over behind him "I found another one, Greed! Over here!"

Greed, now carrying a larger pile of shards with his magic, rooted out the shard that Gluttony was referring to and added it to his towering collection "Good work! We're almost done out here! Did we miss anything else around this place?" Gluttony took the time to whiff at the air before he shook his head at Greed. The avaricious pony grinned "Excellent!! Let's meet back with Blueblood and see how far he's come himself!!" The two former homunculi then galloped out of the maze with the shards in tow.

Blueblood had a large shard collection of his own as he looked around for more "This is getting frustrating! Unless I've actually covered every inch of the gardens, I cannot find more of the shards anywhere!" He then noticed Greed and Gluttony and perked up "You two! Is your search for the elements' shards faring well?"

Greed and Gluttony approached Blueblood with their own smiles as the avaricious pony spoke "Judging by the size of your pile, I'd say we're both drawing this little scavenger hunt to a close!"

Blueblood gave a heaved sigh "If only you were correct in that statement. I fear we may not be looking hard enough for the rest of the shards!"

Greed frowned "The hell are you talking about!? We did a good rundown on where the shards would end up! What makes you say we aren't doing well in our search?"

Blueblood winced and looked away "I'm just severely nervous, okay!? It's too much to think about what is currently going on up in the throne room!" The trio heard loud noises as they looked up and noticed several flashes and the faint sound of crazed laughter. Blueblood grimaced as the sound flooded his ears "Oh dear..."

Greed sneered "Doesn't sound good..." He turned to Blueblood "Let's just tally up the shards while Gluttony looks for the rest of them if we missed any!" He jerked his head to the voracious pony with a tense glance "Can you do that, Gluttony? You have to be fast about this!! This is for Lust and Pinkie!!"

Gluttony paused when he heard the name Lust and Pinkie, and he snapped to attention with a salute and a determined glare as he galloped around the garden once more.

Greed and Blueblood watched them leave, and the two unicorns nodded before they made an accurate inspection of the shards they collected. The avaricious pony grunted as he sorted through his findings 'God, it's like a freaking jigsaw puzzle!!' As much as it annoyed him, he had come so far and he couldn't stop now.
_____

The beams grew worse, and the four shields were beginning to crack under the pressure of Father's unrelenting force.

Celestia gritted her teeth while she held her own alongside her group, but even she knew that it was pointless to continue shielding. She called out to the others "Everypony! On my signal, drop your shields!!"

The other shieldbearers reluctantly complied and awaited the order. Celestia gave a strained grunt before she yelled "Now! Scatter!" At that, the shields were pierced, but the group were lucky enough to dodge away from the beams. However, Sloth grunted several times as he took some beams to his midsection while he moved at his sluggish pace. He was then knocked onto his side and moaned in pain as he laid down.

Fluttershy gasped and went to tend to the indolent pony "Sloth!" She was unaware that she was now being targeted by Father as he grinned at her approaching Sloth with eyes of concern.

Rainbow Dash noticed that Fluttershy was being targeted, and she flew in on Father and slammed her forehooves into the side of his face. His eyes widened with shock and he gave a toothy frown at first when his gaze shifted to Rainbow Dash, but it was quickly replaced with a grin and squinted eyes as the cyan pegasus felt herself being pulled into the black beast's face "Gah!! My hooves!" She struggled, but she kept getting sucked in "Darn it! I need help!"

Envy widened its eyes and flew in "Rainbow!" It then grasped Rainbow Dash's sides and yanked furiously while she was being sucked in. Sadly, the jealous pony was unsuccessful as over half of Rainbow Dash's body was pulled in along with both its forelegs. Envy growled and bared its teeth while it continued trying to pull the cyan pegasus out.

To Fluttershy's surprise, Sloth slowly got up and stumbled to face Father while he was close to absorbing Rainbow Dash completely "What a pain..." He took a step forward before he broke into a destructive blur towards Father.

The black beast did not anticipate Sloth to come in like this, and he was knocked away harshly into the wall, dropping his hold of Rainbow Dash and Envy in the mix. He quickly recovered and flashed a sadistic grin at Sloth and the others "An impressive shot, child! But your moves, along with the rest of you ponies, only prove to be futile!"

Twilight narrowed her eyes "You'd be surprised just how far friendship between ponies can take you in the heart of battle, Father! We may be weak by ourselves, but together, I'd say we're strong enough to take you down!"

Father laughed at Twilight "A heartwarming speech! Perhaps I should hold you to it while I take each of you down one-by-one!" His horn crackled with red static, and he began to charge at Twilight with his horn pointed forward. Twilight followed suit with her horn glowing as well. When they closed the distance, Father hoped to unleash a head-on beam capable of piercing Twilight's shield, but he did not anticipate the lavender bookworm to teleport. This left Father in a state of confusion as he looked around.

Wrath saw this and turned to Shining Armor with a curt nod, signalling him to join for a surprise attack. With their weapons drawn, both Shining Armor and Wrath rushed towards Father without a word. They got close, but the eyes along the black beast's midsection landed on them. Wrath's eyes widened in alarm "Jump back!" At his words, both ponies jumped away from Father's attempt to harm them with his wing.

When they were at a safe distance, Shining Armor decided to toss his spear at Father like a javelin in hopes of harming him. He was successful in impaling the black beast's chest, but it was absorbed inside of Father's body as he grinned "I'll bet you want it back, don't you?" Shining Armor grunted and sneered as Father squinted his eyes "Well, here you go!!" He opened his mouth wide to reveal a larger version of Shining Armor's spear fly out towards him.

Wrath pushed Shining Armor out of the way as the spear went through the wall behind them and soared out of the castle. The guard captain watched in shock "This can't be right! It's as if nothing we have could make a dent in him!" He turned to Wrath "We need a plan!"

The furious pony shifted his eyes around "I would be as concerned your sister's whereabouts rather than a concise strategy for this battle, Mustang..."

Shining Armor looked around "You're right...Where is she?" The two ponies perked up when they noticed Father shoot a beam towards them and dodged out of the way. Their time to ponder Twilight's location would have to wait.
_____

Outside in the gardens, Greed and Blueblood had just finished up counting out the shards they had found. The avaricious pony heaved a sigh "Damn it! So close, but we've missed some! Good thing we sent Gluttony to sniff out the rest of them!"

Blueblood winced as he looked up at the throne room "Oh, I hope he wouldn't be too long!" Both unicorns were startled when they noticed a shining light a few feet away from them. It then subsided to show Twilight in her Ultimate Shield form looking around. Blueblood was instantly frightened by her appearance "AAAAH!! Another monster has breeched our walls!! We're doomed!!"

Greed spotted the form in front of him and grinned "Twi! Is that you!?"

Twilight's ears perked up at the sound of Greed's voice, and she canceled out her form as she turned to face him "Greed?" The avaricious pony nodded in response, and his eyes widened when Twilight galloped over and crushed Greed into a hug "Greed! You're alive!! Oh, thank Celestia!! I didn't think you would make it!"

Greed chuckled and lightly returned the embrace "Truth be told, I was on my last legs while I was out here!" He then pointed to Blueblood with a smirk "Then this guy came along and made me better!"

Twilight turned to Blueblood with confusion "You chose to help us after all, Blueblood?"

Blueblood nodded with a smile "But of course! Canterlot, along with the rest of Equestria, is my home!! And though it is most unsettling, I must fight to uphold my honor and ensure the safety of my subjects!"

Greed then turned to Twilight "But enough about that! What are you doing out here? What's it looking like up in the throne room?" He asked with a tensed tone of voice.

Twilight looked sad "Father absorbed Chrysalis' power and has taken on a new form! But I was able to free Celestia and the others before that! I only came out here because he's grown too powerful, and I know that we would be eventually outmatched!" She looked around "I just have to figure out where the element shards were scattered..."

Greed laughed as he pointed to the pile of shards he and Blueblood combined "One step ahead of you!!"

Twilight gasped in awe, but then snapped out of it with another question "But if you're alive...then where's-"

Greed flashed his cocky smirk "Gluttony? He should be here in a second..." He looked over to see the voracious pony in question gallop towards them with a wide grin on his face "Speak of the devil!" Greed shouted with joy.

Twilight smiled and forgot Gluttony's nature to give him a hug as well "You're both okay!"

Greed raised an eyebrow "Where are the rest of the shards, Gluttony? You didn't put them in your mouth, did you?"

Gluttony shook his head and pointed to his back to show a small pile of shards "Pinkie taught me some tricks while we were in Ponyville! This was one of them!!"

Greed gave a triumphant grin "This is great!! We got all the shards now! All that's left is to go back up there and wrap this up before things get worse!!" He then looked up with a scowl "If only I knew how to teleport..."

Twilight gave Greed a cocky smirk of her own as her horn glowed "One step ahead of you! Everypony, gather around!!" The quartet of ponies, with the shards in tow, winked out in a flash of light.
_____

The three princesses all focused their own beams on Father while they hovered in the air, and all he did was laugh as he absorbed each one and directed it back at them into a large super beam out of his mouth. They all dodged out of the way as it caused a massive hole in the ceiling.

Envy growled in anger and frustration "Dammit!! Nothing's working!! All he's doing is throwing whatever we have back at us!!"

Applejack backed away as she kept a defensive stance "Ah don't know what else t' do, everypony! We need a ringer fer this one!"

Sloth groaned as he stood "Dying is a pain..."

Applejack jerked her head to Sloth as she glared in annoyance "How in the hay can you be so dang calm about this, Sloth!?"

Lust shook her head "Nevermind that! We need to press on and hope for a miracle!"

Fluttershy whimpered as she drew herself back and cowered "I just wish we had our elements for this fight..."

"Wish granted!!!"

Everypony present, even Father, turned to see Twilight, Greed, Gluttony, and Blueblood stand at the throne room doors with the shards at their side.

Pinkie gasped and beamed "Twilight!! Greedy and Gluttony, too!! And there's Prince Blueblood!!" She then tilted his head "But wait, can't he not fight?"

Blueblood flinched and looked hurt "H-Hey!!"

Twilight smiled "He won't have to! C'mon, girls! Fall into formation, and quickly!"

Greed grinned "Do what she says, girls..." His horn glowed as he went into his Ultimate Shield form and narrowed his piercing red eyes "I got a score to settle with pops..." He spoke in his metallic tone.

Blueblood jumped at Greed's transformation "You, too!? Why didn't you tell me you could do that sooner!?"

Greed shifted his eyes to Blueblood "Cuz I knew you'd scream and run if I did!! Now take a seat, pansy!! Let me show you how it's done!!" He galloped into battle as the other element bearers galloped to Twilight's side.

Father's many eyes leered upon Greed's approach "No matter how many times I smash you, you just keep coming back like the filthy cockroach that you are!! It was a mistake to give birth to a worthless peon like you, Greed!"

Greed laughed as he approached "The feeling's mutual about being born from the likes of you, bastard!! Let's finish this!!"

Cadence saw Greed close the distance and gasped "Greed! Get back! It's what he wants!!"

Greed heard Cadence's call and halted his advance until he was in front of Father. He noticed his wings become several sharp tendrils similar to Pride and he began dodging every attempt of hitting him "Twilight! Any time now!!"

Twilight and her friends stood as the shards began to glow and surround each of the mares to reform into their pristine state. The element bearers then began to float with their elements and built up power.

Father saw this and stopped attacking Greed as he focused his tendrils onto them "I refuse to have you take away my power!!" He then felt a jab in his chest and saw Greed jab his horn into Father's chest to halt his attack. He grinned as he began to suck a surprised Greed into his body

Twilight saw with fear in her eyes "Greed!! No!!"

Father cackled as Greed struggled "You fool! I'll only add you to my power along with God!! I shall-Rgh!!"

Father turned to his right to see Wrath lodge himself onto his midsection with conviction in his eyes "Then I shall join him if it means giving the elements time to work!!"

Shining Armor called out "Bradley!! What the hay do you think you're doing!?"

Wrath grunted as he turned to the guard captain with a friendly smile as he was pulled in "Carrying out my duty as a member of the Royal Guard...You were an amazing soldier, Mustang. I probably won't be able to give you that rematch we promised on..."

Father glared his many eyes at Wrath "You would act this foolish knowing you'll die!? You disgust me!!" He then felt a jab on his left side and noticed Lust latch her horn through Father's left side "What is the meaning of this!?"

Lust narrowed her eyes "If it costs me my life, I'll keep you still for the others!! This has gone on long enough, Father!"

Another jab on the left was felt by Father, and he shifted his eyes to see Gluttony at Lust's side with his teeth sunk into
Father's body. He muffled some words, but he guessed that he valued Lust and his siblings for their choice and wished to join them "You're making a mistake!! This is by far the most foolish move you all have made as my children!!" He grunted as he felt yet another hit onto his right side.

Father noticed Envy with a final taunting grin "Looks like I'm stuck with you and the rest of these assholes after all, huh, Father!?" The jealous pony kept its grin despite it being absorbed by the black beast.

Rainbow Dash noticed and widened her eyes "Envy!! What are you doing!?"

Envy called out to the cyan pegasus "Don't worry about me, you prismatic prick!! Just keep up your power already!!!" It spoke in a harsh tone, but Rainbow Dash knew that the jealous pony was doing this for the better. She nodded as she fought back tears in her eyes.

Father roared as he shook himself "You vexatious worms!! You're only delaying the inevitable!!" He felt something large seep into his back, and he could only guess who would do such a thing.

Sloth slowly struggled while he groaned "You're noisy...The elements will shut you up...permanently..."

Father shook himself more while the former homunculi were being absorbed. Twilight saw Greed and yelled "Greed!! I can't do this with you and the others surrounding him!!"

Greed turned to Twilight and yelled back to her "You don't have much of a choice!! He won't hesitate to attack you!! This is the only way we can make sure you girls do your thing!! Don't worry about us! Just do what you have to do!!"

Twilight looked frightened, worried, and sad all at once "But-...But what about you and your siblings!?"

Greed managed smirked "I think we'll be fine, Twi! Trust me! Forget about us for a moment and use the elements!!" He grunted as more of his body was pulled in "Go on!!"

Twilight shuddered, but she shut her eyes and gathered with her friends to activate the elements. Her eyes shot open to reveal glowing irises, but they were flooded with tears as the rainbow stream shot out and flew at Father and his children.

While they were inside of the rainbow, Father yelled in anguish as the darkness around him gradually vanished to reveal his previous form. The former homunculi were floating around him while being overwhelmed by the elements' power. Father then felt his body crackled red static on his own, and he gasped in confusion before he roared in immense pain. Out of his mouth, several red souls flew out in an enlarging funnel pattern before they vanished into thin air. His body then began to wither away as the rainbow stream transformed into a blinding light that surrounded the throne room.

End of Chapter 47

Comments

[jar'o'mayo]

Whoa...

[Grado]

Well that was awsome

[BaconHazard]

FIRST!

[Ralfil]

I saw this had updated before it even showed up in my tracked section. Nice Chapter.

[AlTheDragon]

imagine if they end up back in amestris. wouldn't that be weird? like if you die there, you go to tartarus in equestria.

[DavidPony]

dayum!
[img] http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d188/brunetxsurfr_/dayum.jpg [/img]

[frapers]

I swear to god if greed ends up dyeing again to save others im just gonna lose it....... in the cry myself to sleep kind of way

[Leo Archon]

That was intense. Perhaps when the rainbow's gone, the ex-homonculi will each have their own individual cutie marks?

So, is the next chapter the last, or have you got a couple more planned?

[Dirty Bit]

935437 couple more

[LeJokstereerre]

God so help me if you end this with the cliche 'they died and saved everyone' I will be really pissed! But so far so good.

[EpicSmiley13]

...Well, that was AWESOME!
Just hope nopony dies

[Dirty Bit]

936293>>936387 ... I'm not telling

[DaveTheBrony]

And then they all break into the hammer dance and start chanting trololololololol, thus ends the longest troll fic in history, and we never saw it comimg.

[Dirty Bit]

936651 Replace hammer with chicken

[Genesis1212]

and now the conclusion to this fight!!

[Kingofthecouch]

TASTE THE RAINBOW MOTHER BUCKER

[Waifu Crossbreed]

4934620 so this is how far humanity has come. It's not as cool as "taste the rainbow, motherfucker!" But i guess it'll have to do