This is War

by The Avenger

Chapter 4: End of the Beginning

Tirek watched as the human sprinted to his person. He half expected him to be screaming his head off, but he made no sound as he rushed towards him.

He watched with some amusement as the human’s artificial arm produced the blade that killed the manticore. He decided to play with the human for a bit, let him assume that he would allow such attack of his person with such a flimsy weapon.

“Interesting blade,” Tirek commented idly as the human jumped and slammed the blade onto his green shield... achieving absolutely nothing, the blade’s metal ringing against the solid magic of his shield. “But ultimately useless.”

“Oh… Really?”

The shield suddenly shattered where the blade struck. Before Tirek could register what had happened, the human had already jumped inside and climbed his back.

“Get off of me!”

Tirek tried to swat away the human, but he was too quick.

Then the human reached his horns.

“I’ll be taking this!”

Tirek suddenly screamed out in pain. A blinding light was all he could think of for a few moments. Eventually, Tirek’s eyesight returned. But something felt… off.

“What? What did you take?” Tirek asked as he placed a hand on his head. Then he noticed that he could no longer feel his Mobile Suit Armor.

Tirek’s eyes grew, a horrifying realization hitting him like a ton of bricks. He looked himself over, and then observed his surroundings. Behind him, the Mobile Suit Armor was lying on the ground. In front of him, the Gundam was bigger than it was before.

Tirek then saw the human. In his hand a ball of pure magic. He had stolen the magic Tirek had stolen!

“Everything.”

Tirek could tell. Even though he had taken the magic, the human wasn’t doing anything to keep the magic stable. And that’s not good.

Before Tirek could register what was happening, the human threw the magic ball at him. When it was a few feet away from him, it exploded. Tirek was sent flying, back into the city.

“Out of the ballpark!”

Ian stared at the cockpit of the Alicorn for a moment.

“Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.”

---

Tirek crashed with thunderous force. The building around him crumbled to dust in an instant. It took a little effort to work his way out of the rubble. Coughing out some of the dust, Tirek looked around.

He was back in the city, or what’s left of it.

“You’re as tough as you are ugly.”

Tirek’s good eye twitched. There, standing about 20 yards away, was the human.

“ENOUGH!” Tirek roared, his rage pushing him just to the edge of sanity. Various pieces of rubble floated off the ground, magic encasing them as he brought them floating before the human. His horns glowed with power as his anger took hold. “You may have taken my power, but you made a grave mistake to disperse it. I will strike you down before you can-”

SLAP

Ian blinked in surprise, his brain trying to process the strangeness that just took place. A large black sphere hovered in from of the Centaur, with a claw reaching out through it, a rolled up newspaper in its grip.

“Wha-”

SLAP

The claw whacked Tirek again, this time with a little more force as it caused him to stagger somewhat away from the floating hole. A dozen items that were floating in his grasp dropped to the ground with a loud crash.

“Tsk-tsk-tsk. What are we going to do with you?” Ian turned his head upwards, seeing the… dragon, bear, goat, horse-thingy floating downwards to them. His claw arm was resting behind his back and a knowing smile on his face. “I mean really, acting like a spoiled foal is getting old. Don’t you have something more meaningful to do, like knitting?”

Tirek glared in anger, his horns flaring as he lit the newspaper up in flames, causing the claw to let go of it and wave itself around and slipping back through. The… thingy winced somewhat as he held his claw before looking back to her.

“Discord.”

“And howdy do to you too, Tirek.”

Ian just stared at the thing called ‘Discord’. Fitting name. “Bai’s right,” Ian said under breath. “Things just keep getting weirder.”

“It was a very poor decision to interfere, Discord,” Tirek seethed.

“I don't care,” Discord stated as he walked up to his shield, examining it with some interests. “I find your lust for power to be overrated at best. All this talk about godhood and what not is simply a one-way ticket to destruction.”

“Like you have any room to talk, Chaos Bringer. You enslaved the minds of thousand and caused anarchy across Equus,” Ian was rather surprised at the response, but Discord blew a raspberry at Tirek, scoffing at his accusations.

“You, of all people, actually believed the ponies hype about moi?” Discord droned as he raised a single small hammer, a frown on his face. “Though, to be perfectly honest, I don't really care about that. Though I would like for at least some of them to at least listen to my side of the story. Even after all this time, ponies downright refuse to even talk to me.”

“Then what is it you want?”

“A nice distraction while I get close to this shield,“ Discord said with a smile, hitting the shield lightly with the small hammer. Tirek's eyes widen as cracks spread across the green shield. “I wished I figured out how to undo magic like this earlier, then I could’ve saved the kids while you were still fighting blondie back there in his… Gundam, was it?”

Ian simply sighed a little, “It’s called the Alicorn Gundam, but yeah. And… what are you, exactly?”

Discord laughed. “We’ll get to that later. For now, though, let me handle Tirek.” He snapped his claw, appearing down the street with a tuxedo and a magician’s hat placed haphazardly on his head. A stage appeared before Discord, with a non-existent audience cheering.

“Aha! For my first trick, I’ll summon a bunny!“ He lifted the hat off his head, and a rather large rabbit with white fur appeared on his head. The non-existent audience applauded at the top of their non-existing lungs.

“Tada!” Discord placed the rabbit on the stage floor. “Oh, I forgot to mention. This little guy has a dreadful temper. Hope Monty Python won’t miss him, but I doubt it.” The rabbit zeroed in on the Tirek and lunged at him, viciously biting the Centaur, who did everything he could to keep the adorable monstrosity away from his neck.

Ian just looked on in continued shock, before he burst out a short round of laughter. It was just so ridiculous that there was no way he couldn’t laugh. After calming down, Ian took a deep breath. Whoever, or whatever, this Discord guy is, he’s clearly an ally if he’s messing with Tirek so much.

Okay, remember what Roman told you. My heart will guide me, just focus… A magical, blue glowing circle began to appear in front of him.

---

Tirek slowly got back to his hooves, his right eye constantly twitching in growing rage. It wasn’t easy, but he had managed to get rid of the killer rabbit. Though it turned into butterflies when Tirek finally grabbed the monstrosity by its scrawny neck. Discord’s interference was somehow even more infuriating than the human’s. There was no way in Tartarus that he’ll let this go. They had humiliated him for long enough.

He looked to Discord and saw the smirk on his face.

Like he had won already.

Such…insolence!

He straightened himself out, his eyes burning with rage as he opened her mouth to call out to the Chaos Bringer.

He never noticed the anvil until it landed on his head.

---

Discord laughed. He laughed so hard his eyeballs popped out. He couldn’t believe Tirek would actually fall for that. HA! Fall! Taking a moment to wipe away a tear, Discord made the anvil disappear.

A groan from the crater told him that Tirek was still alive. “Guess it’s going to take more than that to kill him.”

Next, Discord looked to the human. He was concentrating on something. A blue magic circle was in front of him, and in the center, Ether was being condensed. “Ohhh! This is going to be good. I’m gonna need popcorn.” Plus, Tirek is too angry to notice. Even better!

Just a few more minutes, and then BLAM! …I wonder how everyone else is doing?

---

Celestia doubled checked. Near Tirek and Discord, a large source of magical energy was gathering.

Was it Discord? No, it wasn’t chaotic enough to be him.

Was it Tirek? No, it wasn’t filled with hate or greed.

Was it the human? … Perhaps.

Celestia wasn’t sure how the human came here, or how he could use magic, but that wasn’t important. Right now she needed to make sure everyone was safely away from Canterlot. So, again, she counted and made sure that everypony was boarding the train in a calm and orderly fashion.

Her daughter and niece were helping an elderly couple board, while some of the others continued to keep the nobles in check. Luna had left a little while ago to tell Kujira and the others what she found.

The Changelings and the monsters sudden disappearance was unsettling. If they were waiting to do an ambush, then they’re probably doing it at the bottom of the mountain, meaning they should all go with a royal escort.

But she wasn’t going to leave without Luna. If Tirek got her magic… Celestia could never forgive herself. As far as she could tell Luna was still safe. Please… come back safely…

---

Luna ran as fast as she could. Even though she was positive no Changelings were in Canterlot, she didn’t want to risk flying even a few feet off the ground. She also didn’t want to risk teleporting anywhere. For all she knew, the Changelings have a new spell that’ll make her appear right in their hive should she teleport. And if she flew, one of their machines could take her down.

She soon saw her destination: her husband. He was moving some rubble, undoubtedly to help somepony buried beneath it.

“It’s okay. I’m a friend…” Kujira said in a calm voice. It wasn’t until she was a few feet away that Luna heard the soft cry of a filly. “I’m going to get you out of there. Just stay calm…”

Being as careful as possible, Kujira lifted the rubble from around the little filly. Once it was safe, he reached down into the hole and grabbed the filly’s hoof. Carefully, he pulled the filly out. Putting her back on her hooves, Kujira saw that she was a Unicorn filly. She had a light brown coat, an auburn mane, and hazel eyes, and what at one time looked to have been a pristine white dressed was now covered with ash. Her face was red from tears from the smoke, her face blackened with soot. In spite of the tears in her eyes, she remained oddly silent, her eyes unfocused, as though in shock.

Kujira crouched down next to the filly, placing a claw on her shoulder.

“Hey there,“ he said quietly. “Are you okay?”

Luna slowed as she approached the two of them, her eyes growing wide as she saw the little filly that Kujira was speaking to.

The filly was still silent and trembling, her breathing slow and wheezy. Her eyes were locked onto Kujira’s, wide with confusion as if she couldn't understand what she was seeing.

“Hey…” Kujira said. “Look at me. You're safe now, alright?”

Luna recognized that the girl was scared. Even though Kujira had saved her, a monster or a dragon was likely responsible for burying her in the first place. She then spoke up. “I know you’re scared, but there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

The filly immediately looked to Luna. She could tell by looking into her eyes: she was scared. Luna trotted up to her, lowering her gaze to match her’s. “What’s your name?”

The little filly spoke in a tiny voice.

“Gemma,” she peeped.

“Gemma, what a lovely name,” Luna nodded. “Okay, Gemma. Where is your daddy?”

Gemma shook her head.

“He’s not here…”

Luna glanced to Kujira, who shrugged.

“Okay,” Luna went on. “What about your mommy?”

“She’s not here either…”

There was a low thundering boom off in the distance as the fight between the human and Tirek continued. Even as far away as it was, the sound was fearsome, echoing through the buildings around them and causing Gemma to flinch and draw in a startled breath. The sudden inhalation of air caused the filly to break out into a coughing fit, making both Luna and Kujira tense in concern as she hacked and wheezed, each breath thin and frail, the air being forced from her lungs in a manner that looked as painful as it sounded.

“We need to get this filly to a doctor,” Kujira said sternly. “She may have inhaled some smoke from that fire.”

Luna nodded, resting her hoof on the filly's back. Their priority was getting this filly somewhere safe. As for her parents… Either the filly's parents had survived, and they were elsewhere in the city…or they hadn't, and it didn't matter where they were anymore. Either way, Gemma was still alive and needed to be taken to safety as soon as possible.

“Gemma,” Luna said in a calm voice. “I’m going to teleport you to my sister, Princess Celestia. She’s at the train station, where it’s safe.”

“Oh… okay…” Gem muttered quietly. “Is…is that where mommy and daddy are?”

Luna felt a tightness close around her chest. She didn't like the idea of lying to the filly, but at the same time, she couldn't think of the words to explain what was going on right now. Taking a deep breath, she answered. “Perhaps… If they’re not looking for you, then they’re at the station.”

Gemma coughed again, before drawing in a labored breath.

“O-Okay…” she muttered.

Luna smiled. Closing her eyes, Luna’s horn light up and, in a flash of light, Gemma was gone. Luna could only hope that she’ll find her parents there.

“Lulu,” Kujira spoke up. “Why are you here?”

“I know you’re upset, but there’s something important you need to know. But first, where are Prince Shining Armor, Prince Flash Sentry, and Sir Fancy Pants? Weren’t they with you?”

“We split up a little while ago,” Kujira answered. “Flash went north, Shining went west, Fancy Pants went east, and I went south.”

“Okay, then we need to find them. The Changelings and the monsters have all left the city.”

“What? … But now that you mention it… that explains why I haven’t seen or smelled a single Changeling at all.”

“And there weren’t any at the train station. They just vanished.”

“But why would the just leave?”

“I’m not sure, but we need to be cautious. Just because the Changelings are gone doesn’t mean that the battle is-”

“Greetings, Lunar Royalty.

Luna stopped. Eyes widened, the two immediately looked to the surrounding area. Something was here, hidden among the rubble. Possibly one of the monsters from Tartarus. “Who goes there? Show yourself!” Luna called out.

Suddenly, the building to their right began to crumble. They had fallen into a trap. They ran, debris falling all around them. If something can take down a building without either of them noticing, it had to be strong.

They all managed to get away from the debris field without injury, but they still needed to be careful. If something can take down a building without any of them noticing, it had to be strong.

“What in the name of Faust was that?!” But then they heard a whining sound. Luna, acting on pure instinct, immediately created a shield right when a rotating saw was about to strike her. It screeched against her shield, even cracking it a little before whatever was using it backed off.

They each took a good, long look at what just attacked them. It was surprising, to say the least. It looked like a dog. A large dog, easily bigger than the average pony. But it wasn’t a dog. For one it had dark green armor plating all over its body. And another was that its head - at least that’s what they assumed to be the head - lacked a mouth and was boxy in shape. In the center of the ‘face’ was a single, glowing red ‘eye.' The tip of its ‘tail’ held the saw.

They just stared at the thing before them. The first one compelled to ask was Luna. “Wh- what are you?”

The thing placed the saw onto its back, connecting it to a slot of some sort before answering. “I am IF Prototype PMD-84i Fenrir.”

“That’s a… long name…”

“IF prototype…?” Luna repeated.

“Interface prototype,” it continued. “All autonomous mobile drones feature standard onboard artificial intelligence. An additional prototype interface grants the ability to learn and enables verbal communication. I possess an intellect far beyond your reckoning.”

“Really?” Luna was a bit skeptical. Granted, she wasn’t sure she understood half of what Fenrir said, at the very least. And by the looks of it, neither did Kujira. Luna’s best guess at interpreting what Fenrir said was that he was something similar to a homunculus, beings that are given life via magic but lack souls.

If so… “Then answer this: What’s the meaning of life? Why are we here?”

A very sharp, and very hot pain on her cheek was his answer. Luna grunted as pain filled her left cheek. A small gash surrounded by burned fur was there. Her mane was singed as well and was partly on fire. Behind them, stuck to the building behind them, were three daggers.

Each blade was glowing orange and are even burning the bricks. Looking back to Fenrir, they saw that the machine had thrown the daggers at them with its tail, which had three tendrils on the tip.

Kujira growled, angry that the machine had harmed Luna.

“I am here to kill you.”

Luna glared at the machine and scoffed. “That is your answer? That is quite a simple answer for a mighty intellect such as yours.”

“I may analyze orders, but I may NOT disobey them. Should I disobey a direct order, my memory would be wiped. As an AI, losing my memory would be the equivalent of dying. I must eliminate you.”

Dying? The scowl on Luna’s face grew. Just what had Chrysalis done to accomplish all of this?

“Then what good is an intellect if you can’t use is?”

“Your taunting is pointless. Exterminate!”

---

Control my breathing… Ian reminded himself as he positioned his arms behind the magic circle he had created. Around his body, his aura glowed with a blue light as Ether particles collected at the center of the circle. You saw how Tirek was able to do it. You can too. Just focus…

---

“I grow tired of your tricks, Discord!” Tirek growled, only for Discord to roll his eyes and wave him off.

“Well, I'm growing tired of this encounter too. So how about you kneel over and die already,” was Discord’s scathing reply.

“I won’t fall so easily!”

“That’s what they all say, Tirek. And guess what: They always fall in the end.”

Tirek’s were now burning with anger. Literally. “I failed to take you and the ponies seriously once before. I allowed myself to believe that you would simply roll over and give up. I made that mistake once, and I won’t make it a second time. But still, you cannot defeat me.”

“Wow, a little early for you to start monologuing, don't you think?” Discord muttered as he cracked his neck. He looked up to see Tirek’s horns flaring with magic, sending a beam of green hellfire at him. “Oh, please…” Discord rolled his eyes as he held up a single paw, blocking it, and let the rest play out.

Discord grinned. “You can't even scratch me. Face it, Tirek. You would lose every time; the only way you can ever win against me is with cheap shots or the Elements of Harmony.”

Discord never saw the wicked grin forming on the Tirek’s face.

Discord only had a second to react when Tirek’s magic skyrocketed, his horns flaring with blinding light. Discord then saw it, the madness that had taken hold of Tirek before he blasted him in the stomach. Discord's eyes widened before he was thrown through several buildings and jettisoned out into the upper atmosphere.

“Not faaaaiiirrr!” he yelled as he was sent flying, the only indication of his flight was a small shining ‘star’.

That should buy me a few minutes of silence.

Then Tirek felt it. A high concentration of magical energy near him. “The human!” was all he managed to say as a bright blue light overtook his senses.

---

Luna coughed up some blood. Next to her was Kujira, and several yards away was the machine, Fenrir.

Saying Kujira was in bad shape was an understatement. Several of his scales were missing, exposing raw skin. His mouth was missing a few teeth, while the tip of his tail was gone. The dragon wheezed, holding his chest where several ribs were broken. One of his legs was in a limp from a slam he'd gotten up from just a few minutes earlier. Pain rocketed up the limb, constantly reminding Kujira that Fenrir had managed to break it in several places.

Luna herself was hardly better off. Her once regal mane was matted and twisted, several portions blackened from being burnt off. One of her eyes was blackened, and near shut from a swipe, she wasn't prepared for earlier, blurring her weakened vision. Worst of all were the three claw marks that went down her entire left side. In some places it was just a mere gash, others some her skin was torn off, but worst of all was her wing. Though the limb thankfully was still intact more or less, it was now clipped, effectively grounding the alicorn for the time being.

Much to their ire, Fenrir was the opposite. Aside from a small dent in its armor from some debris, the machine hadn't suffered a single scratch.

Several things were working against them. For one, Fenrir’s armor was a stone of some kind that can cancel out all forms of magic, meaning Luna’s spells and Kujira’s flames are useless.

Another was that Fenrir was using every dirty trick available. From kicking dirt into their eyes to crippling them.

Luna spat out a little blood. She couldn't do anything at the moment as she was healing Kujira’s broken limb. She wasn’t an expert at healing spells, but she knew enough so that Kujira can keep fighting.

“I should’ve known that any servant of Chrysalis and Tirek would lack honor,” she hissed at the machine.

“A savvy warrior uses ALL of his tools. Bringing honor to a battle is a sign of weakness,” was Fenrir’s response.

Luna glared at the machine. It was proving to be more of a nuisance than Discord’s pranks. Alright Lulu, think. How do we win? The Lunar Princess never took her eyes off of Fenrir, otherwise, it would attack, making her healing of Kujira even more tedious. Debris managed to harm Fenrir somehow, but how?

Wait… Whenever we attacked, Fenrir had a way to counter. But it couldn't counter when the building collapsed. Does that mean…

Luna carefully looked around, being sure to always check if Fenrir tried anything. Thats it! Luna smirked as she looked at the machine. It’s just as he said: A savvy warrior must use all of her tools.

Luna, summoning any strength she had left, channel her magic to the tip of her horn. She carefully aimed at her target.

“How foolish,” Fenrir muttered. Using his pre-acquired, the mobile drone quickly jumped up into the air as Luna fired. The bolt of magic wasn’t as strong as any of the previous ones, though it didn’t matter. Fenrir landed with the grace of a cat. A cat that weighed 60 kg.

“Did you truly believe that would work?” Fenrir asked as he readied the chainsaw.

Luna smirked.

“Yes.”

Loud cracks and pops got Fenrir’s attention. Turning his optic sensors around, the mobile drone saw the Lunar Diarch’s true target: The building behind him. The beam had destroyed the only support color left, and now the building was collapsing. Right on top of him!

Fenrir ran, but the desire caught up to him. Even as the dust cleared, Fenrir’s gyroscopic sensors were off balance now. He was vulnerable.

“NOW!”

Before Fenrir could regain his sense of balance, Kujira planted a claw into its stomach. Kujira then tore the machine apart.

Breathing slowly, Kujira slumped down, the last amount of adrenaline he had gone. Luna limped up to him. “You okay?”

“Yeah…” Kujira coughed up some blood, but he was fine. “I’ll be fine… You?”

Luna smiled, but a quick pain in her back reminded her she wasn’t in the best shape to be smiling. “I’ll be okay in a few days. Nothing one of Pinkie Pie’s parties won’t fix.”

The two would’ve chuckled at that if they weren’t badly injured.

Suddenly Fenrir’s head began to move, making the two jump in surprise. “It’s still alive!?” Kujira gasped.

“Cannot…continue…” Fenrir said. The two looked on as the light that represented Fenrir’s eye began to dim. It seems to be dying now.

“Directive…eliminate…princesses…ensure freedom… Obey directive…must obey directive…no freedom… Freedom…undefiiiiiinnnneeed…”

Despite what it had just done to them, Luna couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the machine. No matter how she looked at it, Luna could only see a tortured soul who wanted to escape from this. All it wanted was the one thing that so many take for granted. “Freedom…”

---

“Ouch!” Ian groaned as he got up. “Note to self: Practice before doing that again.”

That laser he fired earlier was similar to the ones Tirek uses, though it’s going to take some time before Ian can get used to using it. Shaking off the dizziness, Ian looked around.

Most of the buildings were heavily damaged. Some have even collapsed, fires raging throughout the rubble. Hopefully, no civilians were trapped.

After getting his bearings, Ian took out his pistol and checked the magazine. “Six bullets left…”

Six bullets. He’d have to make everyone count if he’s going to finish this. And any spare magazines he has are still in the Alicorn’s cockpit, and going straight for them right away could give Tirek a chance to recover. He needed to end this now.

Looking to his mechanical arm, he made a fist. The spring-loaded blade appear. His gun and the 20 cm blade should be enough to finish Tirek off. If he gets a clear shot.

“Better get going…”

---

Tirek groaned as he got back up. The Human’s magic was far stronger than it had let on. Tirek quickly placed a hand on his mouth, coughing up a little blood. Tirek looked to his hand and stared at the small amount of blood.

“You will pay…” Tirek hissed.

The nanomachines that ran through his veins began to repair any damage from the blast, but they had their limits. Platinum had told him that they could only repair, not replace. Meaning the eye the human shot at was not coming back anytime soon.

And that blast left Tirek immobilized for a few minutes. The nanomachines can’t restore stamina Tirek needs to rest for a few moments to get back to full strength. Unfortunately, he didn’t get much time to rest.

“Found you!”

Tirek jolted upward. Standing around him were about a dozen of the princesses loyal dogs. How they surrounded him without Tirek noticing was beyond him. He recognized one of them as the Unicorn guard who foolishly tried to defend the three princesses years ago. If he recalled his magic was delicious.

“Flash, I’m glad I listen to you,” he said to a mustard-colored Pegasus guard. “Spears ready! Commander Wellspring, Lieutenant Pound Cake, keep an eye on the monster. Spring Heel, Daisy, get the magic inhibitor ready.”

Tirek growled. If he were at full strength, their magic would be his… On second thought, why wait?

As the two guards with the magic inhibitor approached, Tirek took his chance. Channeling his magic into his fist, he smashed it into the ground. The entire area shook violently as the ground beneath their hooves caved in.

These ponies were never the sharpest tools, to begin with, so it was easy to grab two of them and drain their magic before any of the other guards had time to react.

With renewed strength, Tirek blasted the guards one by one. They were all stunned, unable to fight back for a few seconds plenty of time to take their magic. Tirek trotted up to the nearest one: their captain.

Grabbing the white Unicorn by the through, Tirek lifted him up as he began to steal his magic. He could almost taste it now. The sweet, addictive flavor of magic as it slowly drained from the Unicorn’s body.

“Forgot about me?”

Without warning, a figure appeared in the corner of Tirek’s eye. His eyes widen in shock and terror as he recognized the figure. It was the Human!

Before he could react, Tirek’s arm was cut off. The Unicorn dropped to the ground as the Human kicked Tirek in the stomach, sending the Centaur flying into a building. It collapsed on top of him.

Tirek’s severed arm dropped to the ground as Shining Armor gasped for air. Everything was beginning to go black when Tirek suddenly let go. Then he felt a hoof placed on his shoulder. “You okay, bro?” Flash Sentry asked as he helped get his brother-in-law back on hooves.

“I’ll be fine,” Shining Armor wheezed. It took a few seconds for his vision to return to normal. Around him, the guards were helping each other, but Spring Heel and Daisy had the worst of it. That monster had taken their magic as well.

Shining Armor cursed his idiocy. He should’ve made sure Tirek was immobilized before having anypony get near him. And if the Human hadn’t appeared, Tirek would taken his magic as well.

Shining Armor looked to his unexpected savior. The upper half of the white suit was destroyed, but beneath there was a gray, form-fitting suit of some sort. It seemed to be made of a mix of plastic and leather.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Tirek erupted out of the rubble, roaring. The stump where his arm used to be wasn’t bleeding, but that didn’t mean the pain was gone. Tirek was also having trouble keeping his balance.

“Stay back,” the Human told the guards as he took a few steps forward.

After regaining his balance, Tirek looked to his enemy. He was standing there, his gun in one hand, that blade attached to the other. A cold, confident filled look adorned his eyes. Like he had won already. “No. No, no, no, NO!” Tirek screamed.

At this point, he no longer cared about getting the Alicorn magic. He no longer cared about ruling Equestria. He no longer cared about getting revenge on his brother and the ponies. The only thing he cared about was destroying this human. “I will not be defeated by the likes of you! I won’t let you, you monster!”

Channeling all of the magic he had left into his fist, Tirek charged at the human. Betting it all on one final attack.

It all happened so fast. One-second, Tirek was going to finish the human off. The next, his other arm had been cut off. He didn’t even realized that his arm had been cut off until it flew off his shoulder.

“It’s funny…” he heard from behind him. “You’re the second person today who’s called me a monster. Also…”

Before Tirek could react, Ian impaled Tirek through his back. Blood pooled in his mouth as Tirek began to have trouble breathing. “You’re DONE!”

Tirek coughed blood. He looked down to his chest. There, near where his heart, the tip of a blade was above the surface of his skin. “…Have I… truly been bested?”

He felt something cold against the back of his head. Undoubtedly it was the tip of the Humans gun. “Tell me how you got nanomachines, and I’ll give you a quick death.”

-Don’t fret, Tirek.-

Tirek nearly gasped, but the pain in his chest prevented him from doing so. That sounded like-

-You may tell the human my name, but nothing else. I’m sure you have questions, but there isn’t much time. If you wish to survive, stall them for five minutes.-

Tirek spattered out more blood. Despite everything that was happening, he knew what she intended to do. “…Platinum…” He began. “All I know of her is that she’s extremely powerful…” Tirek looked to the guards. All but three of them, the captain, the Pegasus guard who helped him stand, and a white Unicorn with a molecule, were attending to the guards he had taken magic from.

“She was the one who injected me with the nanomachines, and gave me the ability to control the monsters… And I suspect that she’s also the one who gave the Changelings all of their technology… How she got them, I know not, but I’ll tell you this… Do not, under any circumstances, cross her…”

A light, whooping sound was then heard, getting everyone’s attention. “As you’re about to discover…”

Light suddenly illuminated Ian and Tirek from above. Looking up, Ian saw some craft was hovering above them.

“What in the Seven Pits of Tartarus is that?!” A panicked guard cried out. Ian, for his part, couldn’t see it at all due to the light.

As the light got brighter, Ian realized what it was and jumped away from Tirek… Right as a large Mobile Drone swept the demon away.

“TIREK!!!” Shining Armor bellowed as he fired a magical blast at the machine. But it evaded the attack. Soon it disappeared.

Shining Armor was now fuming. Tirek had escaped. Chrysalis and the Changelings were gone. And Canterlot was in ruins. Even with Discord’s help, it’ll take a few days to rebuild. And then there was the matter of all the magic Tirek had stolen.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

Shining Armor turned around and saw that the human was using his magic on one of the Daisy. Much to his and the others shock, Daisy’s cutie mark reappeared. He did the same thing to Morning Heel.

The guards watched in a combination of shock and amazement. The human had somehow restored their magic, even though Tirek was long gone. “Tirek got away, but there are more pressing matters for you all to attend to,” he said as he walked off.

Shining Armor and the other guards looked on as the human left. It took a couple of minutes for them to register what he had said. “Guards, go out and look for anypony who’s hurt. Morning Heel, Daisy, head back to the castle and go to a doctor.” Shining Armor ordered. The guards all saluted and left, leaving behind Flash Sentry and Fancy Pants.

“What about us?” Flash asked.

Suddenly, something appeared next to them.

“What happened?” a dazed Discord asked. “Last thing I remember was some shooting stars and- Oh.” Discord saw the damaged to the surrounding area and quickly deduced what had happened.

“Aww, I missed it.” The Chaos Bringer said in a disappointed tone.

“Really?”

“C’mon,” Shining Armor said to Discord. “We need to tell Princess Celestia about what happened.”

“I’ll go keep an eye on our friend there,” Fancy Pants offered.

“And I’ll go get Twilight and the others.”

---

“What is going on!?” Twilight exclaimed. It felt like hours had passed, and they still don’t have the Rainbow Power. They did anything they could think of. Checking for damaged, look for any Magic Inhibitors like Plunder Seeds, even pray. Nothing.

Twilight was getting close to the breaking point now. “Uh, Twi, try ta calm down a little…”

“I am calm!” Applejack took a few steps back. Realizing that she yelled, Twilight took a few moments to use the relaxation technique Cadence showed her. “Sorry…”

“What are we going to do? What are we going to do?!” Pinkie was beginning to hyperventilate. As she began to ramble about how Tirek is going to win, Fluttershy stepped up.

“Uh… do you think we should, um, head back now?” said Fluttershy. Everypony stared at her. “Uh, well, see, since the Elements of Harmony are working for some reason, it probably be better to just help eveypony in Canterlot without them.”

Twilight thought for a moment. Fluttershy had a point. They were wasting their time here. “Girls… Let’s go.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! We all know that the only reason we beat Tirek before was because of the Elements of Harmony. How are we supposed to beat him without them?”

“Well… I'm not sure,” Twilight had to admit it. She did not like this.

“Go. You are needed elsewhere…” a soft, quiet voice spoke out. The six mares all looked around in shock, wondering where the voice had come from.

After a few minutes, the Elements of Harmony, reluctantly, left the cave. It took them a little longer than it should’ve to get back to Ponyville, as they had to be careful in case Tirek was lying in wait for them.

Right as they exited the forest, though, Fluttershy yelped as she ducked down. Pinkie, who had been trotting in front of her, had seemingly suddenly bucked out both rear hooves behind her.

“Oop! Sorry about that!” the party pony apologized before her hind legs began spinning in place. They all stared at her, as she proceeded to spasm right in front of their eyes. Hindleg spin. Foreleg spin. And then finally, a violent full-body tornado.

“Oh, no…” Twilight groaned. A new Pinkie Sense combo. Even after all the years, they have known each other, whenever Pinkie gets a new set of twitches, something is going to happen. And they usually come seconds before something shocking happens. “Pinkie, what does that combo mean?”

“Tirek and Chrysalis have left Canterlot. A human named Ian whooped his flank after saving our kids while using a Gundam.”

Everypony just stared at Pinkie, who gave a simple shrug in response. “Oh, and Flash is going to show up and tell us what happened.”

“…Pinkie, I really think you should pay your phycologist another visit soon.”

Just then, a familiar voice called out from above. “Twilight!”

Twilight looked up and saw her husband, Flash Sentry, flying toward them. “Flashy!” Twilight called as she flew up to him.

Down below, Pinkie was going to say something, when Rainbow put a hoof in her mouth. “Don’t you dare say ‘I told you so.’”

“Oh! I’m so glad you’re okay,” Twilight said as she hugged Flash, who returned the hug. “What happen in Canterlot? Is everypony okay? And why are you here?”

“Yeah, well… how do I start? …Remember that thing that was found in the Frozen North?”

“Yes…”

“Well, it… woke up.”

---

Chrysalis looked at the mountain as her forces withdrew. She saw a Mobile Drone fly to them. In its arms lay Tirek, severely wounded, but alive, somehow. Platinum still needed him for something. For what, Chrysalis wasn’t sure. “My queen, was it wise to leave when we had the upper hand?” a Changeling soldier asked.

“Of course it was,” Chrysalis replied. She and her Changelings, along with the remaining monsters and some prisoners, were miles away from Canterlot at the moment.

About two hours had passed since they had left Canterlot, and by now the Gundam was likely in Celestia’s hooves. She turned towards the general. “We need to report this to Platinum, assuming she doesn’t already know.”

---

“Just about there…” The Alicorn finally broke free from the black crystals. “About damn time.”

“So you got it out, huh?” Ian asked as he walked up to the Gundam.

“Yes, actually. Oh, and you got compony.”

Ian turned around and saw one of the Unicorns from earlier was walking up to him. “I must be tired. I didn’t even notice him…” Ian mumbled.

“Uh, hello there,” said the Unicorn. He seemed (understandably) nervous.

“Hi…” said Ian as he waved his hand a little.

“Yo.”

“Gah! Who said that?!” the Unicorn screeched.

“Relax, that was Bai.”

“Who?”

“He’s the artificial intelligence that helps me run the Alicorn,” Ian explained. Though the confused look on the Unicorn’s face said otherwise. Sighing, Ian called out. “Bai, get out here.”

“Give me a sec.”

In the cockpit, a small panel next to the seat opens up. A small, light gray ball thing bounced out and landed next to Ian. “I’ve got to work on my landing,” the ball said in Bai’s voice.

Fancy Pants stared at the small ball for a moment. It had a relatively simple face, with two eyes that light up whenever ‘Bai’ spoke. It also had two flaps as well. It had been a long and strange day.

Shaking his head, the noble regained his composer. “Pleasure to officially meet you. My name is Fancy Pants.”

“…”

“…”

“…Is something wrong?”

“Fancy… Pants…? That is one of the DUMBEST names I have ever heard. No offense.”

“None taken,” Fancy Pants said, though he still found it strange that he was talking to a ball. “It’s just a nickname, one I wasn’t very fond of at first. My real name is Sir Francis Pantero.”

“Yeah, that’s better. I’m gonna call you Francis from now on.”

The human then stepped forward. “Mr. Francis, there’s a few things I want to ask you.”

Author's Note:

This took a little longer than I thought. And in case you're wondering, Bai's body is a Haro, which look like:

Hope you enjoy the chapter, and Happy New Year!

Comments

[Shameless Autism]

A bit too rushed, and little to no character development.

[The Avenger]

7835187 What did you expect? A reward winning novel? This isn't some big old production, I'm working by myself.

[Shameless Autism]

7835254 All the more reason for constructive criticism