Knight of Equestria - On Distant Shores

by SupraMacPringles

Chapter 42: Hatred's Right Arm

Nearly an hour before Matt and the others reached the castle, Gabriel observed the group moving through the city from the telescope mounted on one of the castle's towers. He found their struggle rather amusing, but knew he shouldn't waste any more time watching them. He retreated back into the castle and began to make his way to Celestia's chambers. As he stopped at the door, he took a deep breath before opening it.

He strode inside to find a still awake Celestia who met him with a glare.

"What do you want?" she asked.

He chuckled at her bluntness before responding. "I just thought I'd inform you that some of your subjects are on the way here."

"They are...? Who?" she asked, climbing off of her bed.

"Don't act like you don't know. You sent the letter, did you not expect Twilight and her friends to come running to try and save you?"

"Y-you knew about the letter?" Celestia asked.

"Of course I did. Looks like they're being led here by the Doctor... A shepherd leading his sheep right into the jaws of a wolf. They even brought their human with them." Gabriel said, running a clawed hand through his hair.

Celestia looked distraught as she tried to come up with some way, any way to warn Twilight and her friends. Or at the very least, some way to beg Gabriel to spare their lives.

"Twilight certainly is following in your hoofsteps..." Gabriel said, regaining the princess' attention. "Much like you, her life is about to be defined by her failure."

"Please; have mercy on them. Your anger is with me." Celestia said, ignoring his taunts.

"My anger is with the entire world!" he shouted, getting closer to the magical bars that separated them. "My hatred for this damned dimension I'm a prisoner of stretches far and wide. The people, the nations, the rulers; all of them! That's why I'm going to tear it down, starting with you. You failed Luna one thousand years ago, you failed me a decade ago, and now you're going to fail Twilight and the rest of Equestria."

Gabriel began to walk through the magical prison bars, being merely a meter away from the princess.

"And yet even knowing all that... Despite everything I've waited so long for being within my grasp...!" Gabriel said, his hand trembling as he raised his claws against her.

He lunged at her suddenly, the princess flinching and shutting her eyes in anticipation for the attack. Instead, she found herself wrapped in an embrace by the tall human. His clawed right hand gently gripped the back of her head.

In an instant, Celestia began to see a series of visions. She saw Gabriel marching towards Canterlot castle with Amethyst. She saw great battles that he was in the center of, using his blade to cut down both sides. She saw his marriage to Amethyst. She saw somepony she didn't know dying in his embrace. She saw a poison in his left arm, slowly creeping up higher and higher. Left with no choice, she saw him remove his own arm to cut the venom off.

Then she saw herself, banishing him from Equestria forever. As the events of his life unfolded in reverse before her eyes, she saw his friendships with ponies of Ponyville, his first love, and even the event that brought him there. As the visions began to fade, Celestia felt tears roll down her cheeks. The shock of what she had just witnessed left her silent.

Gabriel leaned in to her ear to whisper one last message.

"I forgive you."

He pulled away from the embrace and made his way out of her chambers, leaving the princess still stunned at the clarity presented to her.

…...

"Is it just me, or did they tear down all the curtains?" Rarity asked.

The group moved cautiously through the castle, carefully making their way to the throne room. They passed several broken stained glass windows and ruined drapery. As they got closer, a voice began to boom throughout the castle.

"I swore to myself that day to get as strong as I could. My strength would tear the borders of this world down and plunge it into a world-wide hatred. But before all of that, I knew I had to deal with Celestia."

The voice was clearly Gabriel's, and it's point of origin seemed to be the throne room they were inching towards.

"Her cowardice is the center of all of this; everything I have done, she is the one to answer for."

"Blaming the princess for his cruelty... unbelievable." Twilight said.

"His delusion is what led him here in the first place. He must think he's justified." Matt added.

Gabriel's voice continued, almost as if reading off a script. "All these years, the only thing pushing me forward was my lust for revenge. I know better than anyone that it has consumed me. Should I ever make my way home... Should I ever find myself back in Equestria..."

They reluctantly opened the door to the throne room and spotted the usurper King sitting on the throne, holding a charred black book.

"May my hand forget its skill." he finished, closing the book and setting it down on one of the throne's arms.

After a moment of hesitation, the group all entered the room. Gabriel crossed his legs and smiled his toothy smile at them.

"So, I'm going to assume you're here to discuss my offers? One at a time, please." Gabriel said.

"Pfft, as if we'd change our minds!" Rainbow Dash said.

"So... those dreams really were you?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"Of course. Had to siphon a little power from Luna, but it surely saved me some time." Gabriel responded.

…...

Princess Luna lay in bed, gazing listlessly out the window. It was late into the night, and normally she'd be up and about doing her duties. For some reason she felt as if getting up would take too much energy. On top of that, the loneliness of her isolation had begun to take hold of her. Her eyes glanced around from her window and noticed a bouquet of silver-white flowers on the stand nearby her door, just within the magic suppression field, with what looked like a note attached to them.

She willed herself out of bed to go over and inspect them. The flowers glimmered when touched by the moonlight coming in from outside. She picked up the note attached, which was folded in half with the words 'Thank you for everything' on it. She unfolded the note.

"Dearest Luna,

We didn't get much time to catch up, which I deeply regret. I say that, and yet I never had the courage to come and see you. No matter what, however, my ambitions could not be reached without you. What I hope to accomplish tonight will change the world. You're a part of that, so you are owed a thanks.

The flowers are Lunar Orchids; a strain that feeds on moonlight as opposed to sunlight. I think they reflect the beauty of your night as much as anything could."

That's where the note ended, although she didn't know what she was being thanked for. She placed down the flowers in an empty vase nearby her window, assuring they get plenty of moonlight. She read the note again, resting on her bed once more.

…...

"Siphon? You stole her power?" Rarity asked.

"Well, her and Celestia. Amethyst may be a powerful mage on her own, but her magic suppression field can sap the magical strength of any within it. Her power, and by extension mine, has only grown since we've been here." Gabriel explained.

"I-In any case, we're here to stop your war." Twilight said, opting to not think about the idea that the princesses were being drained of energy.

"And to save the princesses!" Pinkie Pie added.

Gabriel's eyes swept over them, noticing the accessories that they each wore as well as the sword at the other human's hip.

"Those... are the Elements of Harmony, right? How... interesting." Gabriel said as he rose from the throne.

Matt stood by as the ponies moved forward, the magical relics that adorned them glowing faintly.

"If you know what these are, you should know what they can do against the forces of evil." Twilight said. "We'll ask you once to stand down."

The scarlet King stared back at her, meeting her determined gaze with one of amusement. He began to laugh uproariously. "If only I could clap, I'd give you a round of applause my dear." he said as his laughter subsided. "Very well." He said, extending his arm and beckoning. "If you think you can subdue me, then do it. Give me your best shot."

"You asked for it... ready, girls?" Twilight asked her friends.

The bearers of the Elements responded enthusiastically. They all closed their eyes as the relics began to glow and they all started floating, just off the ground. The light coming off of them was intense, Matt had to squint as he watched them. Twilight's eyes opened, revealing two glowing orbs as the magical energy flowed through her.

A large wave of brightly colored energy erupted from the mares and the artifacts they wore. Gabriel was swallowed up by the light, seeming to completely disappear within it. The force coming from them was intense enough for Matt to brace himself, lest he be sent flying.

As the magic kept flowing from the ponies, they had begun to notice that not much else was happening.

"Does it usually take this long?! I feel like this is taking longer!" Rainbow Dash shouted over the roar of magical energy.

"Um... I don't remember, honestly..." Fluttershy said, barely audibly.

"I can feel it!" Twilight said. "Something's definitely happening!"

"You've got that right." said someone unknown as the sound of something cracking could be heard.

A shadow could be seen in the stream of magic, moving closer to Twilight. The stream of magic solidified, causing it to stop erupting from the Elements and breaking apart, knocking all the mares back. Twilight Sparkle was caught in midair by her throat as her tiara went flying behind her.

"Well, so much for that." Gabriel said, his clutch around the princess's neck causing her to squirm. "Even magic that ancient can't punch through the human body. Probably helps that the resistance is based on willpower."

Gabriel held the princess up higher, his clawed gauntlet beginning to draw small amounts of blood. "What will you do now, Twilight? Perhaps my offer is looking much better now." he chuckled. "I'm done asking for your fealty." he said, rearing back his arm to toss her. "I demand it!" he declared as she went flying through the air.

Twilight's vision spun as she herself did, bracing for an impact with the ground that didn't happen. Instead, she was caught from her fall, wrapped in the arms of her human partner. Matt had been blown back by the blast earlier, but not to the extent of the other ponies. He was able to recover in time to catch Twilight.

He sent her down gently, examining the small cuts around her neck.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Don't worry about me... we need to get out of here, quickly." she replied.

"There's no way he'd let us go so easily. You pick up the girls, I'll try to hold him off." Matt said, shocking Twilight.

"Matt, you can't! He shrugged off the Elements of Harmony, he'll... he'll ki-" Twilight stammered in protest.

"Even if he does, the Doctor is saving the princesses. If all of you make it out alright, I know you'll think of something." he said.

"I can't just leave you here... you said you didn't want to watch anypony you love die, well neither do I! We'll try again, we have to try something." Twilight replied.

Matt sighed in frustration, knowing he was unlikely to change her mind. "If anything does happen to me, promise me you'll get the others out safely." he said.

Twilight was about to protest again, but decided against it. "I promise." she said.

Matt stood up and began to draw his sword, turning to face the King. Gabriel didn't hide his amusement as the other human began approaching him.

"Oh? You're coming right at me? And is that a sword you're brandishing?" Gabriel said jovially.

"It is. Dealing with you should be my responsibility, anyway." Matt replied.

"You think so? And why would it fall to you, boy?" Gabriel asked.

"You're from the same dimension as me, and we're both humans. Your sins feel like my sins." Matt explained. "You need to be stopped, and my resolve is to do everything I can to stop you."

"Very well, then. Nothing's stopping you, go on and stop me." Gabriel said, beckoning the younger man.

Matt rushed forward, swinging his sword down at the king who caught the blade. Gabriel examined the sword caught in his clutch.

"It's a very lovely blade, although it seems to have the slightest of imperfections riiiiiight..." Gabriel twisted his wrist and closed his palm, breaking the sword nearly in half. "... here!" Gabriel looked closely at the blade half still in his hand before tossing it aside.

Matt was shocked by the ease of crushing his weapon, but still held it up in a defensive stance. When he refocused, he saw that Gabriel was no longer in front of him. He looked around for the mad King, panicking at losing sight of him. He felt someone tap his shoulder and when he turned to see who it was, he was met with a punch to the gut. The air was knocked out of him and he dropped his half of a sword, doubling over in pain.

"Huh? Was that it?" Gabriel asked. "Your brave final stand is over already?" Matt was still trying to stand despite his pain. "Fate may have been kinder to you since arriving on these distant shores, but my anger is what fuels me. Hatred fuels my blood. But what fuels you? 'Friendship'? Perhaps, 'love'?" he taunted. Gabriel let fly another blow, this one hitting Matt in the chest, pushing him back substantially. "You have the nerve to preach to me with words like 'resolve' and 'responsibility' and yet here you are."

Twilight cringed at the sight of Matt being attacked, but had successfully helped all of her friends back to their hooves, and now were trying to gather the Elements of Harmony that got scattered around the throne room.

Gabriel had began swinging at Matt more frequently now, his anger clearly growing. "My 'resolve' is revenge. Not just on Celestia, but on this whole damn world. My only 'responsibility' is to myself and my path. I'm going to rip this planet apart with my bare hand and no one as weak as you will stand in my way." Despite the blows he sustained, Matt still stood. "You, who reject what you are in favor of pretending to be righteous. You're a human! Without us, there is no hate. There is no anger, no vengeance, and no destruction." he said, using his fist to knock Matt skyward. "We disguise our true selves with false truths and empty words, and yet we prosper." he caught the young man by an ankle on his way up and dangled him upside down, watching as the blood from his wounds began to drip. "We are destined to repeat the sins of the past until it no longer matters. Until it's too late. This is what it means to be human!" he reeled back and threw the younger human much the same as he did Twilight Sparkle earlier, watching as he landed hard, face-down. "... what it has always meant."

Twilight and her friends had finally found the last of the Elements, and Twilight had told them of her plan to try and use them again against Gabriel. Her and her friends began charging them again.

Gabriel noticed and laughed again. "Really? Again? Be my guest, I'll make fools of you twice!"

Matt lay there, on the ground, feeling the most pain he'd ever felt. Despite his state, he could hear the Elements being charged again, meaning Twilight and the others had decided to try again instead of escape. He wanted to yell at them to run, but he knew they wouldn't listen. Gabriel had said it himself; the Elements, nor any other kind of magic could work on a human if their willpower resisted it. He knew what would happen after they let loose the next blast. They would be reduced to the same state as him, maybe even worse. An idea began to form in his mind, but he had no idea if it would work, or what the consequences would be.

Matt moved his broken body, trying desperately to stand again, much to the surprise of Gabriel and the ponies. Crimson dripped from his wounds and the slashes in his clothes from Gabriel's claws.

"Twilight!" he shouted. "Everyone! Blast me!" he continued.

Twilight was taken aback by his request, but trusted that he had some sort of plan. "Are you sure?!" she asked.

"No, but we're out of options!" Matt yelled back. His eyes were locked with Gabriel's, who stared back at him with disgust in his eyes.

Twilight shared a glance and a confident nod with her friends, deciding to go along with Matt's impromptu plan. Now that the Elements had charged, they began to project the energy at the human who had requested it. As the light washed over him, he relaxed his mind and let the Elements into his body. Gabriel used his hand to shield his eyes from the blinding light. As the light subsided, the Elements returned to their default state.

Matt still stood there, but now it seemed as if he was giving off light of his own. His wounds had appeared to heal, his hair was lighter in color and was flowing freely, much like Luna and Celestia's. His eyes glowed white with energy, like Twilight's did as she focused the Elements.

Matt extended his left arm and opened his hand. The broken half of the Blade of Harmony flew into his hand, the sword beginning to overflow with energy as well. In another flash of light, the blade extended and became curved where it was broken, creating a jagged edge. The golden hand guard expanded and resembled Twilight's tiara, complete with a large star-shaped jewel. The once pink cloth dangling from the handle was now multicolored, resembling Princess Celestia's mane and defied gravity just the same.

"Well, well, well!" Gabriel said. "It seems like we hav-" before he could continue, Matt had made his way across the room and landed a strong punch right to his face, sending the King spiraling away. Now, it was Gabriel laying face down on the throne room floor.

"Whoa..." Rainbow Dash said.

"Anypony know what's goin' on over there?" Applejack asked, receiving several head shakes in response.

Gabriel picked himself up, laughing quite hard the whole time. "Impressive!" he said between laughs. "I felt it, in that punch." he said, rubbing his jaw. "I felt your resolve. Now you're worthy of my attention. The rest of you, however..." he trailed off, snapping his fingers.

Amethyst appeared in a flash next to him. "I expected you to call earlier. We could've been done already if you had." she said.

"Now, now, Ammy. Why don't you go distract our other guests while I deal with this one?" Gabriel asked.

"Understood." she replied, warping over in front of the group. Flames from the torches within the room began to glow purple with magical power, being guided to create a wall of flame between the ponies and the humans.

Gabriel reached behind his left shoulder, unhooking his dragon wing cloak and throwing it aside. The cloak's color began to distort from brownish-red to an off white color. Where Gabriel's left arm should've been was a small pauldron like piece of armor.

"Surely you must've known that humans are naturally sinful creatures." Gabriel said, drawing his sword, Wrath. "The Elements will attack that evil within you, you're unlikely to survive unscathed."

"I know." Matt replied. His voice was distorted yet controlled. "But that doesn't matter. I'm dealing with you first."

"Ah, so he says. Fine then, let me taste of your power." Gabriel responded, sprinting forward.

Upon seeing this, Matt rushed forward as well and the two humans clashed. Stopped by their swords, mere inches apart. Even then, Gabriel was grinning.

…...

"I thought I told you all earlier, Canterlot is closed." Amethyst said.

"Please, stand down. We need to help Matt and we don't want to hurt you." Twilight said.

"Well, that's a shame." Amethyst said, as some of the flames began to creep up her cloak. "Because I don't mind hurting you." The purple fire burned away her cloak, revealing a light set of black armor underneath. Her hairband separated and half slid down, covering her eyes like a visor. "You won't be getting in our way, not when we're so close."

"If that's how you wanna be, we have no problem kicking your flank first!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"Um, actually I..." Fluttershy began before being cut off.

"What she said!" said Applejack in agreement.

"Numbers won't help you. Then again, I hardly expected you Equestrian ponies to know how to anything on your own." Amethyst said. Magic flew from her horn, spreading out into the air and form small spheres. "Let's begin." she said, causing the spheres of magic to all simultaneously fly at them.

Twilight produced a magical barricade to cover herself, not realizing that some of the orbs weren't aimed at her. Dozens of them flew at the other members of her group. Rainbow Dash dodged them easily, as did Applejack. Rarity had some trouble until she did as Twilight did. Pinkie Pie was enamored by how pretty the balls were as they flew past her. Fluttershy, however, panicked and flew away terrified, which worked in her favor as it caused the magic to miss.

As a second volley of shots were launched by Amethyst, the group all moved forward behind Twilight.

"We have to fight back, we can't just defend the whole time." Twilight said, forming an idea. "Rarity, I need you hold the barrier up." she said.

Rarity did as she was asked, absorbing the shots as Twilight charged her counterattack. When the hits stopped coming and Amethyst began to charge another volley, the barrier dropped and Twilight's magical blast erupted from behind it. Amethyst was forced to move and stop her attack, which let her foes begin to close in.

…...

On the other side of the flames, sparks danced as blade clashed against blade. Matt's swings were fast and aggressive, contrasting Gabriel's slower, heavier hits. The power coursing through Matt's body gave him the strength to block the King's blows, something he knew he wouldn't be able to do otherwise. The sheer force from Gabriel's blows that Matt dodged created small fissures in the ground.

"The Elements seem to be enhancing your physical ability, I doubt someone like you could've withstood a blow from me otherwise." Gabriel said.

Gabriel's banter was ignored as Matt continued his attacks.

The older human blocked his swing, and in the same motion swung horizontally, something Matt had barely dodged. There was some distance between them now.

"Where's that bravado you spoke with?" Gabriel asked, pointing his sword at the other human. "Surely you're enjoying this, at least somewhat?" Matt continued to glare as his only response. "Perhaps I'm not even talking to you, just the Elements controlling your body."

"The Elements are raging inside me right now. I can hear them even though they don't speak. They cry out in anger over your actions. As for me?" Matt's gaze glanced down to the sword resting in his hand, glowing with magical energy. "I hate this. My body is burning up but it's the only way I can stop you. And I have to stop you. It's my responsibility to put you down."

"Well you should try to have some fun before the Elements kill you, or turn you to stone, whatever it is they do." Gabriel replied.

Matt raised his sword, mirroring the way Gabriel was holding Wrath. "It doesn't matter what happens to me, so long as you die first."

Gabriel smirked. "That's more like it. Let's have some fun!" Gabriel said, stabbing Wrath into the ground.

From beneath the tiles of the throne room, square pillars of stone began to rise, large enough to hide behind. Gabriel pulled his sword out of the earth and rushed into the new forest of pillars. Matt knew he would've had a hard time tracking him inside if he didn't go in as well, so he did.

Despite his best efforts, he lost sight of the madman. He looked around the pillars cautiously, not seeing or hearing anything. A slash came through one of the stone columns, cutting it in half and nearly cutting Matt as well. Gabriel was nowhere in sight behind the falling pillar. After a few more moments of silence, Matt cut through a pillar situated behind him, as Gabriel leapt from behind it to dodge his slash. The falling pillars began to knock over the standing ones. Swords were swung between the remaining columns, neither human landing any solid blows through them.

Gabriel stabbed through the stone, sure he had landed a hit. To his surprise, a cloud of sparkling dust was the only thing he hit. The cloud moved quickly, collapsing in on itself to reveal Matt.

"I guess physical ability isn't the only thing they changed." the younger human said, rushing back in to the fray.

…...

Twilight and her friends rushed Amethyst, quickly getting closer and forcing Amethyst to go on the defensive. Amethyst used her magic to float, gliding away in an attempt to avoid them. Rainbow Dash had already caught up to her and tried to tackle her. Amethyst shot a blast her way forcing Dash to dodge. Meanwhile, Applejack approached her from a lower angle, ready to buck with all her might. Her hooves were met by a small bubble shield, sparing Amethyst the blow.

"You've got the force, but not the speed!" Amethyst taunted as the shield repelled the earth pony. She had a smug look as the shield dropped.

"Wowie! How'd you get so good at magic?" said Pinkie Pie, suddenly behind Amethyst, startling her.

In this moment of distraction, Rainbow Dash homed in on the villainous unicorn and tackled her hard, landing her a few feet from the raging inferno.

"How's that for speed and force?" Rainbow asked, hiding that the hard impact against the armored mare hurt more than she expected it to.

"Why you little..." Amethyst said, picking herself up.

Before they could continue, stone pillars from the other side of the fire began to fall around them, forcing them all to dodge. Amethyst seized this opportunity, catching some of the pillars and levitating them using her magic. She launched the pillars like javelins at the opposing ponies. Fluttershy and Rarity didn't understand what was happening before the pillars collided near them, almost directly hitting them. They had been cut off from the rest of the group, but mostly unharmed.

Applejack saw the incoming pillar and leaped as high as she could, landing on the pillar she dodged.

"We need to finish this; she'll only get more dangerous as the fight goes on." Applejack said.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle had used their wings to avoid the pillar-missiles launched their way, flying close to Applejack.

"Yeah, but what can we do? She's making it a huge pain to get close to her." Rainbow responded.

"Between the fight to get here and now... I'm feeling magically exhausted." Twilight said. "But I think I have a plan to finish this." she said, whispering her plan to her friends.

Applejack smirked. "Alright, Twilight. But you better not miss." she said, running up the length of the pillar she stood on and jumping toward the mare throwing them around.

Amethyst lined up her shot and charged her magic before shooting AJ down in midair.

"You really thought a frontal assault would work? You're dumber than you look." Amethyst said.

As Applejack fell backward, Twilight Sparkle zoomed past, using Applejack's attack to mask her own approach.

"What did I just say?" Amethyst said, charging another beam before being suddenly grabbed from behind. "What the hell?!"

"Twilight! Do it now!" Rainbow Dash yelled, holding the armored enemy tightly.

Twilight began charging a magical blast with all the magic strength she had left. Amethyst began discharging blasts, trying desperately to slow down the advancing princess. Twilight wasn't exactly skilled at flying yet, but with Rainbow messing up her aim she had an easy time dodging the incoming attacks.

Twilight pulled up, now face to face with the invader. "Sorry about this! Now!" she shouted.

Amethyst felt Rainbow Dash began to let go of her as a massive wave of energy hit her head on. She was sent flying into a wall, sliding down as the visor part of her hairband broke off and landed nearby. She tried to lift herself up one last time before collapsing, unconscious.

Twilight felt herself begin to fall like a brick, her energy spent. She was caught by Rainbow Dash who let her down gently.

"Did... did I hit you...?" Twilight asked between heavy breaths.

"Oh, uh, nah... I mean, not too much." Rainbow replied with a confident smile.

"And I..." said Pinkie Pie, carrying Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack. "Saved these three!" she added, gently letting them down.

"I really shoulda protested my part in the plan... I'm gonna be feelin' that one tomorrow." Applejack said.

"You did great, AJ! We couldn't have done it without you." Rainbow said reassuringly. "Though we're all pretty exhausted. Hope Matt can handle the rest."

…...

As the pillar separating them crumbled, Gabriel stood unamused on the other side.

"You're determined to make this not fun, aren't you? Fine." Gabriel stomped and the rest of the pillars, as well as the remains of the fallen pillars, crumbled and retreated into the ground. "Guess playtime's over." he added as he swung his sword at the other human.

Matt blocked his swing with his own sword as Gabriel began to swing faster. Matt had a hard time blocking so many powerful blows, looking for an opening to dodge.

Gabriel laughed as he noticed the heat generating between the swords. "Fun fact; Timberwolf breath is incredibly flammable." he said before exhaling a puff of green breath which ignited by the heat and sparks caused by the swords, creating a small explosion.

Gabriel used the force of the blast to jump into the wall of fire. He began to exhale, the trails of green breath become flames that Matt had to dodge with his newfound teleportation ability. Gabriel blew his breath along the length of his sword, and with a mighty swing, coating it with the fire from the wall and simultaneously extinguishing the blockade from the force of the swing alone.

The King rushed the younger human, his flaming sword creating swathes of flame in the air. Instead of blocking the next swing, Matt turned into sparkling dust again and began to reform behind Gabriel. He was surprised that Gabriel had already swung in his direction.

"You leave a trail when you do that, fool. You won't escape!" Gabriel said, pressing his advantage.

Matt blocked the blow, the heat from the fire burning his hands. He knew he had to back off somehow. He hopped back as Gabriel swung upwards, creating a small column of flame, obscuring Matt's vision of the man.

When the fire died off, Gabriel was nowhere to be seen. No trace of him was evident. Matt spun around, checking in every direction for a hint of red. He saw that since Gabriel had extinguished the wall of fire, he could see his friends on the other side. They looked tired and somewhat injured, but Amethyst was lying unconscious on the ground, meaning the threat to them was taken care of.

In this small moment of hesitation, a slashing sound was heard, like a blade ripping through something. Matt looked around for the source, any sort of trace of the mad King. He realized too late the one place he forgot to look as he just barely saw Gabriel falling from a tear in the space above him. He had no time to react. Gabriel brought Wrath down and landed a powerful slash to Matt's back as the younger human howled in pain.

Every nerve in Matt's body screamed in pain. He felt the blood begin to flow from his wound in ludicrous amounts. Despite this, his grip on the Blade of Harmony only tightened. He spun around, landing a strong two-handed slash to a surprised Gabriel's chest. His surge of adrenaline faded as he fell to one knee, using his sword to support himself.

Gabriel hadn't expected such a sudden counterattack. Blood had started flowing from the new crack in his chest-plate. He staggered back a few steps before regaining his balance.

"Now that... that felt like resolve." he said, stabbing Wrath into the ground before inspecting his wound. His clawed gauntlet felt around the damage area of armor. He held his hand up and marveled at the blood dripping from it. "Another blow like that and I may have to call it quits..." he said.

He grabbed the handle of Wrath as the runes on the blade and Gabriel's eyes began to glow. "Just kidding." Matt watched in horror as Gabriel's wound began to close. When the runes of the sword stopped glowing, his wound had entirely closed back up. "Alright... ready for round two?"

Matt brought himself back to his feet. He felt an intense burning from the wound in his back.

"Oh ho! It would seem that the Elements still have use for your body, they don't want you to bleed out."

Matt reached a hand back and discovered that Gabriel was right; his wound had mostly healed, assuredly from the magic coursing within his body.

"I've stopped having fun with this. And judging from what happened over there..." Gabriel said, gesturing to the group of ponies watching from across the throne room. "So has Amethyst." he picked up his sword and propped it up on his shoulder. "It's time to end this."

Matt pulled himself together into a combat stance and stared Gabriel down.

Gabriel's smile was gone. Matt could tell he was taking this seriously now. The mad King let out a war cry and advanced, prompting Matt to do the same.

…...

Princess Celestia's chamber door opened suddenly. She sprang up out of bed, hoping to not see Gabriel and his hate filled eyes. To her amazement, she found only a chestnut colored pony wearing a bow-tie.

"Doctor?" she asked, astonished.

"Sorry I'm late, princess. I had to wait for the time to be just right." he said, waving his sonic screwdriver in front of the magical bars keeping her imprisoned. The small purple stone on the end of the screwdriver began to glow bright and the bars began to shatter.

"Doctor, Gabriel, he's..." she started.

"I know, I know. But there's no time for that. We have to save Luna first." the Doctor replied. "Did he hurt you? Can you walk?"

"He often threatened to, but never did. I'm fine." she replied.

"Fantastic. Let's go." he said, taking off down the hall with Celestia in close pursuit.

"What did you mean, 'waiting for the time to be just right'?" she asked.

"I was told to wait a bit before rescuing you two. Keeping to the schedule, and all." he answered.

"By who?"

"Ah! Here we are!" the Doctor said as he threw open Luna's chamber door.

Luna jumped in surprise at the sudden entry. "What in the... Doctor? Sister?!" she said, instantly elated to see them. "Oh, I'm so relieved that you're alright!"

"As am I." Celestia replied as the Doctor began to destroy the bars with his screwdriver.

"Does this mean that the battle is over?" Luna asked, climbing off her bed and stretching her legs.

"I'm afraid not, but it should be soon." the Doctor answered.

"Where are they?" Celestia asked.

"They should be in the throne room still, unless... Oi! Where are you going?" the Doctor said, noticing Luna taking off down the hallway.

He and Celestia shared a glance before following after her.

…...

Twilight and the others watched as the two humans slashed at each other relentlessly. Fluttershy couldn't bear to watch it any longer and Rarity began to comfort her.

"There there, darling. Everything's going to be alright." she said.

"They're... they're ripping each other apart..." Fluttershy said quite sadly.

What they had seen could be described as 'ripping each other apart' and as such, Rarity couldn't really think of a way to reassure the yellow pegasus.

"I hate just sitting here, doing nothing." Rainbow Dash said, clearly frustrated.

"Not much we can do. Dealing with Amethyst drained all of us." Applejack replied. She noticed that Twilight was staring at the battle, near motionless. Applejack tried to watch, but couldn't help but wince at the sheer amount of blood being spilled. She then noticed something else.

"Are they talking?" she asked out loud.

Across the room, a flurry of cuts spread a tempest of blood around the two humans.

"Not too bad for being self-taught. Keep that stance a bit wider and you might be of some worth!" Gabriel said, thrusting forward with a powerful kick. Matt blocked the kick, though the force still sent him backward.

Gabriel began charging energy into his sword and Matt had recalled some advice the Doctor had given him beforehand.

"Another tip about sword-fighting; you should keep your body lowered!" Gabriel shouted as red energy extended the blade by several feet, long enough to hit the wall behind Matt. He swung the elongated sword horizontally and Matt had barely ducked the edge of the energy-blade.

The castle's wall behind him was cut in half, most of it crumbling down as Matt used this opening to rush the older human.

Gabriel wasn't willing to let him get too much closer while he had the range advantage. He stopped his swing and swung again, once again horizontally although much lower this time. Matt had anticipated this, and instead of trying to duck the swing he had jumped over it.

Gabriel's extended blade was long enough to nearly hit the ponies watching, as well. They all ducked just to be safe, and a small snippet of Twilight's mane and been cut.

Gabriel knew he had almost no way of stopping Matt's next blow except for retracting his energy blade which he quickly did. He blocked the young mans aerial swing, albeit just barely.

The flurry of sword swings continued as Amethyst began to stir. The group of ponies prepared for another battle, but Amethyst merely watched the fight after getting back on her hooves.

"Hey, uh... you don't wanna fight anymore?" Rainbow Dash asked, surprised.

"There would be no point." Amethyst answered.

"Sure there isn't. I don't trust her." Applejack said.

Twilight studied the mare closely. She knew they couldn't trust her, but she didn't seem to have any ill-intent towards them anymore. She gasped as she noticed a tear drip off of her face. Almost silently, she had begun to cry as she watched the two humans fighting.

"It's almost over..." Amethyst said, almost as if a whisper.

Matt knew he couldn't defeat Gabriel with a mortal blow. He also knew that if he kept the Element's magic within him, it would only hurt him more. He truly couldn't think of a way to end the battle at all. Any wound they would inflict on the other would heal, meaning they would most likely fight until the Elements consumed him.

Only one idea came to mind. One last desperate move to put the human King down. If it failed, Gabriel's machinations for the future of Equestria were certain to happen.

He also knew that he would probably die either way.

In the middle of their storm of swords, Matt used the stance Gabriel had used earlier in their fight to block a swing from the King and immediately counter. Instead of a slash, Matt stabbed the Blade of Harmony into Gabriel's abdomen.

Gabriel was surprised at this maneuver, and even more surprised as Matt plunged the blade in deeper. He knew he would recover from this, he had recovered from much worse in the past. That's when Matt clutched the handle with both hands and began to release energy into the sword, and thus into Gabriel.

An overflowing amount of light began to leave Matt's body and enter Gabriel's, causing them both to scream in pain. Matt's hair and eyes began to return to normal. As the light began to die down, Gabriel dropped Wrath and placed his hand on Matt's shoulder.

"Forcing... the Elements... into my body... heheh..." Gabriel said, gasping for air. "You did great..." he added.

Matt didn't have the strength to move as Gabriel leaned forward and rested his forehead against the young man's.

Suddenly, Matt's mind was flooded by visions. What he saw he knew could only be from Gabriel's mind. Memories of great battles, scenes of unimaginable horror and grief. He saw he and Amethyst's treasured moments. Faces of friends long since passed flashed as well. Everything he saw, he saw from Gabriel's eyes. His crimes, his vile deeds, his slaughters. Matt could feel the crushing weight of every life Gabriel had ended.

His memories continued to rewind. Matt watched as he cut off his own arm, an attempt to stop poison spreading through him. He saw as he discovered Wrath for the first time, among a pile of treasure. He saw his sentencing by Princess Celestia to be exiled.

His saw his days of leisure with his best friends, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy.

He saw his blossoming romance with Twilight Sparkle.

He saw the accidental portal that had brought him there in the first place.

He saw the accident that robbed him of his parents.

As the visions stopped, Gabriel pulled his head back as the door to the throne room opened, and in walked Luna, Celestia, and the Doctor.

Gabriel's hair began to turn a lighter color as scars began to appear all over his body.

"It's in your hands, now."

He pushed himself off of the blade and fell backward onto the stone floor, a pool of crimson emerging from under him.

Celestia, one of the few people present who knew the truth of what had just happened, decided she could do one last thing. Although it was early, she began to raise the sun. Matt's shadow passed over Gabriel before sulight washed over the broken human, who struggled to block the sun from his eyes.

"Even after all I've done... you would embrace me one last time?" he said with a small laugh. "You sentimental old fool..." He closed his eyes and let his clawed gauntlet rest on his chest. "Still, I must admit... I've seen this world through the eyes of a nomad... It was great to be home."

He smiled as the life faded from him.

Matt watched all of this in quiet disbelief before he felt the toll the Elements had on his body.

He dropped his sword and fell back, watching as everything went black.