MiE: Divided Path

The walk up to the castle wasn't very exciting, other than a few screams as the extermination squads found a target.

"They're waiting for us, aren't they?" Blake voiced out, walking alongside me. I sighed for a moment, seeing as we were about ten blocks away from storming the castle.

"God, I hope not." I muttered. "But yes, they are. Hopefully Celestia's doing a Hitler and won't be here."

"Doing a Hitler?" Blake asked in confusion.

"Hitler was hiding in a bunker during the last few weeks of WWII." I answered. "Found with his lover, both dead through suicide."

"Oh. Suicide was too good for that bastard." He sighed, before looking around. "It's too goddamn quiet..."

"Normally, I'd slap you for saying that." I said. "Right now, I'm inclined to agree with you. Think they're planning an ambush on us as soon as we hit the gates?"

"Hope to god they're not." Blake sighed. "I'd rather face them in the throne room. Close quarters, so magic would be all but useless."

"For both sides." I pointed out. "And I bet Sunbutt ordered them to fire upon their own if they need to."

"We've reached the gate; I don't see any guards around." A scout reported.

"Think they've holed up?" I asked.

"I got Shining Armor, that dolt from the wedding, in my sights." Duffy said. "All of them are in the throne room, and they just shut the doors."

"Good work Duffy, keep in touch for further orders." I said, before nodding to everyone behind me. We broke out into a jog and ran through the opened gates, rifles and crossbows aiming everywhere. Nobody.

"Recon team, proceed through the halls to the throne room, but do not engage unless necessary." I ordered, before turning to the giant ass machine. "Micheal, I want you to remain here to help Luna provide an escape route."

"Roger that." Black's voice said.

"Everyone not assigned to Luna or the Valkyrians, follow me!" I shouted. "Oh, and leave the goddamn vehicles here." I added after a thought. About half of the remaining forces followed me as I trudged into the castle as if I owned it, cocking my LMG.

Still nobody around, and it was irking the fuck outta me.

"Alright, I want C-4 placed along wherever you can put it." I called out upon seeing the fuckmassive doors.

"I need two changelings!" Another EOD technician, by the name of Romero, called out, grabbing bricks off of a wagon dubbed 'Rusty'. As the SEALs changelings floated over to him, he passed the bricks out and told them where to put them for maximum 'splosion.

After they did, I had the honor of pressing the big red button after everyone got to cover a hallway down.

"Alright! The throne room's been breached!" I shouted as an explosion rocked the foundations, sending marble, stone, and burning wood outwards very fast. As soon as the dust settled, we swarmed in like ants upon a Dorito's chip.

Celestia was indeed waiting for us. Goddammit I just wanted to fight her guards, not the white bitch herself!

"Take care of the unicorn guards!" I shouted, pointing at a group of unicorns that were targeting the .30 Cal. squad as they were getting set up, while unhooking a potato masher from my belt, pulling the string pin, and tossing it.

"GRENADE!" Gallan shouted, diving behind a fallen marble arch. To Schmidt, Dusk, and Dawn's credit, they took whatever cover they could, while I kept firing, my bomb suit more than enough to protect me from a grenade at thirty feet away. A pegasus picked up the stick end in confusion, right before it went off in his face, sending his burnt and ripped to shreds body flying backwards. Several earth ponies were caught in the blast, most losing their lives while a few simply lost a leg or two.

As they were paying attention to the .30 cal squad, I set up my MG42 on top of a fallen column and started firing. The day guards didn't even know what was cutting them down until they saw me, but by then it was too late. I was cutting down waves of them as they swarmed towards us, being rather accurate against the unicorns. Bullets from me and the squad ripped through the bodies of the day guards, supported by M16s, M4A1s, M1 Garands, a BAR, and an MP40.

"INCOMING!" Schmidt screamed as a golden laser singed past my face, missing by millimeters. Burnt off half of my hair, through my helmet.

"Mark! It's you she's targeting! You've pissed her off even more than I did!" Dawn shouted at me. "Get out of there!"

"Fall back! We can't take on Celestia without Luna's help!" I shouted, firing a long burst of MG42 fire and doing my best to not let it overheat. The unicorns and changelings grabbed whoever they could and teleported the fuck out, while the pegasi flew out of a broken window (Duffy probably shot it out) and the German earth ponies tactfully retreated through our entrance, firing their quickly made firearms. Our two gryphons, Ryan and the night guard one, stayed behind to help us cover their retreat.

About two-thirds through their retreat, Callum was hit by one of Celestia's lasers. I was extremely surprised that he didn't just turn into ash on the spot.

Instead, his right arm and weapon melted into goo not unlike that one unfortunate soldier off of Starship Troopers in the scene with the tanker bug thing.

"You!" I pointed at a SEALs changeling, then at Callum. "Get him out safely!"

"Yes sir!" He shouted, nodded to his squad mate, and together they dragged Callum's black ass out to be evac'd. The rest of the retreat went without too many casualties; I only had to shoot a few guards off of injured changelings.

A minute later, I spared a glance behind me, and did some hand movements to Dawn.

"Alright! The rest of us, FALL BACK!" Dawn shouted, letting off a laser of his own. "Luna's outside waiting on us!"

"I'll cover you all! JUST MOVE!" I shouted, throwing a pineapple grenade and getting some more screams of pain in response. The rest of them nodded and ran to the blown open doorway, covering for me as I went to run.

"WATCH OUT!" Schimdt screamed, but it was in vain as I felt pain erupt from my chest, blood spraying in front of me.

A slender white horn slid from my chest and I was pushed forward. Instead of hitting the ground, I turned around, glaring at Celestia right before she stabbed me again, this time in my left lung. Instead of collapsing, I dropped the MG42 and grabbed the back of her head as firmly as I could, pushing down on it. I felt the shaft of her horn slide even further out of my back, while I evilly grinned.

"You want to know something, bitch?" I coughed out, splattering the inside of my helmet with blood. Couldn't grab my energy sword, so I had to do it the brutal way. Reaching up, I grabbed the base of her horn and twisted my entire body, earning a shriek of pain and a sharp crack, alongside a bunch of gasps. Coughing up more blood, I slid the newly acquired horn out of my mortal wound, and flipped it so I would use the least amount of energy possible.

"You were wrong; and for this, you took 'your little ponies' mates." I coughed out while she whimpered and clutched at her horn nub. Slipping off my helmet, I dropped it to my feet and glared at her for a final time.

"And you've committed a war crime that is punishable by execution." I grunted, standing to my full height. "I AM THE MONUMENT TO ALL YOUR SINS!" I shouted at the groups on both sides. "AND I WILL TAKE THIS SINNER WITH ME TO HELL!" I was surprised I could yell that.

With that out of the way, I swung my arm down using the last of my strength, and impaled her with her own horn. It went straight through where it used to be, and a searing pain went through my body for a split second as a magical explosion ripped through the both of us.