*Crack*
He spun, and hit the ground hard, bleeding from a large wound in his chest.
"I know where you are!" She shouted into the filthy wind.
A dark figure fell from the sky, slamming in front of the steadfast mare with a bang that cracked the pavment underneath his hooves, and brought the black dust of a ruined city clouding into the air. He had a long rifle laid acrost his shoulder. The dust swirled about his solidly planted hooves, and curled under his outstretched wings. His dark glasses reflecting the clouded and dull sun.
Behind the strong mare, the stricken stallion stirred. He raised his head, and met the guarded gaze of the dark stallion standing past the purple mare with the six pointed starburst cutie mark.
"Why don't you finish what you started!" the wounded stallion spat. "We all know that you could kill me now."
"No! I won't let you! Or him!" she screamed, first at her companion, than to her enemy.
The offending pony faced his prone enemy, dark glasses making his impassive expression illegible. He turned back to the mare.
"Ms. Sparkle. It would be better if you left. You are not my reason for being here."
"Over my dead body!"
She turned her back to the dying unicorn who lay behind her.
"You do not want to take this path. You will pay, ultimately."
"DON'T HURT HER!" the broken stallion shouted.
The midnight pegasus growled into his throat mike
"Moondancer, this is Astrum. I need a four on my position."
He shot one look at the suddenly rigid purple unicorn.
"Ms. Sparkle. Jeremy."
He turned, and launched himself into the air with an impact that rattled her frame.
The mare's eyes widened. She had no idea what he had asked for, but if he was running, it was going to be bad. Even more concerning was the name Moondancer. If the legendary mercenary was working with Moondancer...
"Jeremy." She addressed the barely breathing unicorn prone at her hooves. "Jeremy."
No response.
No sooner had she begun charging her horn to heal her companion's bullet wound than there was an ungodly scream, and the dust and grime was lit with a burning glow about the two ponies. She glared into the sky, and saw the streak of two-score air to surface missiles. With a fervor born only from desperation, her horn glow brighter with a completely new magic. The air congealed about her, and time outside literally slowed, such was the power of the mare. Her hooves smoked at the already scortched tarmac as she began pulling bits of the ruined buildings from the once great Manehattan City Hall. The stallion, lay barely concious, and marveled at his companion's power. A slab of concrete meters thick slammed centimeters away from his head, he flinched, and squeezed his eyes shut against the dust clouds. More thumping. He waited until the smashing abated somewhat, and reopened his eyes. There were giant lumps of concrete, brick, stone, and asphalt drifting gracefully through the air. A terrified bird had slown to a crawl in the midst of the massive chunks of what was once offices of power and prestige, now being used as a makeshift bunker against the air strike that was making its collective way steadily towards what was quickly becoming a sizable defense against even the most advanced weaponry. As the last chunk of stone blocked the last chink of dirty light, the purple unicorn's glow began to fade. Things grew darker, and a dull roar began outside the artificial cave, growing louder as her power ebbed away. She stepped gingerly out of the ankle deep cups of bubbling tar, and walked next to him, an indivisible great weight dragging at her hooves, forcing her head down.
"I've done all I can."
She sat down next to him, and let her head sag. The last of her magic faded away, and the roar grew into a scream. He felt her head hit his chest, than everything shook, and went white.
A sour smell assulted the prone pegasus. He cracked an eye, and quckly shut it. It was everywhere. Everything. Burning. Fire. Everywhere. He lay still, hiding from the beast raging all about him.
Eventually he opened both his eyes. He needed help. He could feel the blood pooling underneath him.
"I need to find Twi."
Flames danced amongst the piles of what once were towering structures, designed to last through floods and earthquakes. The ponies then had no notion of Moondancer. The disgusting warm wind spun papers and dirt around the bases of the only two towers still standing. They were leaning on each other, threatening to collapse at any moment, like two ponies on the walk home after a long night at the bar. He was choked out of his depressing reverie by a change in the wind sending a cloud of smothering, greasy black smoke into his eyes. He scrambled away, hacking and retching, still halfway laying down. The ground underneath him collapsed suddenly, sending him tumbling into a crater left by one of the many missiles that had sepperated him from his only hope of seeing another sunset. The stony slope was not kind to him. He landed on a rock, breaking several of his ribs, blood sputring from his open wound. He came to a sudden stop, smashing into a hunk of concrete. He fought inefectively against his wrecked frame to stand. His panicked gaze recognized a shape, obscured partially by smoke.
"Twi..?"
He could not muster any more than a whisper. With a herculan effort, he scraped his hooves at the rubble, pushed himself onto his hooves. He wobbled unsteadily, than stumbled towards the pony-shape.
He neared, and the smoke cleared.
The struggling pony fell to his knees, finally giving up. He fell to the ground and looked at the pegasus standing gloatingly over him.
"She brought this upon you."
He looked up at Shadus Astrum from the ground. All he saw was his own ruined reflection in the black lenses that the bounty hunter always wore.
"No."
The black pony smirked.
"I am here. Lets end this."
Jeremy's eyes widened.
The pegasus whirled around and reeled in shock, for behind him stood the purple mare.
She stomped one hoof forward, breaking a chunk of concrete.
Astrum laughed.
"Alright."
He turned, and snatched Jeremy up, before launching himself into the air, trading places with a storm of atilery rounds plumiting from the bellies of huge craft like rats abandoning a sinking ship.
The mare said nothing. She just stood, watching the dissapearing form of her broken friend, slung over a shoulder like a bag of apples.
A lone tear traced itself down her face.
"NO!"
"This is no longer your battle."
The lavender unicorn sprang into action, her horn glowing. The earth around her looked as though it was liquifying, even as the air solidified.
The shells screamed closer, tearing the dirty atmosphere.
She grimaced, and the ground around her began to boil. Her eyes flicked up to the artillary, calculating the time she had to live.
Her magical cloud was shredded, certain destruction drawing ever closer.
She opened her mouth in a wordless scream, and flung herself around in a circle, horn shining. The liquid earth about her surged up, flowing quickly over the powerful unicorn, and solidified in an instant.
"Where are you taking me?!"
"Away."
The pegasus stopped flying as an explosion shook the air about them.
Shadus grinned in satisfaction.
The smoke dissapated slowly, flames licking the ground, the acrid smell of cordite hung in the air, snaking into everything.
In the aftermath stood a lone pony.
Smoke drew its eathreal tendrils though her mane, and curled about her hooves.
She looked to the sky.
Twilight grinned in satisfaction.
Back in the sky, Shadus Astrum fled. The jet black pegasus was nothing more than a blur against the dirty grey sky, the wind whipped against his face, and dragged on the wounded unicorn slung over his shoulder.
"This one, at least, must not die."
"Yet."
He had lost time watching the explosion that destroyed his last true enemy: Twilight Sparkle. Formerly the most powerful unicorn in existance, she was the one last hope for her race. The poor fellow dragging Shadus down was just a doctor, able to do nothing beyond binding bones and curing coughs.
She was the real reason for this battle. Shadus Astrum had no idea why Moondancer wanted the extermination of the unicorn race, but she was powerful... and wealthy. And she had rockets. Shadus liked rockets. But, more important wats that it is always better to side with the winner: you are less likely to die. It also helps that the winner usually has more money. And more rockets.
He chuckled at himself, untill a chunk of earth larger than he was shot past him. He closed his mouth, and flew.
He couldn't breath. There was something in his face, and something holding him down, and something pushing him from behind. He felt weak, his chest hurt, and his fur was sticky. His eyes shot open as he remebered. Fire. Shells. Shadus taking him. Twilight.
"Twilight!"
As the last of the smoke cleared, and the black smear of her enemy grew less, she looked to the sky. The grimy breeze blew her mane around her eyes, and swished her tail about her hooves. Her ears twitched, catching a ragged noise, drifting on the wind.
Her name.
It was Jeremy. She knew it. Her eyes narrowed. A ruby of blood splashed on her snout. Blood belonging to Jeremy
He is done!
She crouched low to the ground, horn beginning to glow.
A small group of earth ponies, the last ones in miles probably, began to run towards her disturbance, saddlebags jingling. As they grew near, it became apparent to even the least inteligent of them that it was magic. Magic, these days, meant Moondancer. Moondancer meant food, and shelter (if you had what she wanted), but to the few who themselves could conjure, trouble. These were but simple earth ponies, disaster survivers. There was a small tornado of stones and dust around the magical glow. As they grew closer, one got hit on the flank with a stone, and stumbled with a shout. All the rest danced away from the magical aura showing through the tearing dirt, afraid that they would be the next victim of chance. The air about the powerful magician grew heated and heavy. A once tawny yellow pony pulled a net out of his friend's bag, and dashed into the heavy air, with hopes of capturing the powerful pony. Power such as this would get him all he wanted! It was as though his legs were made of lead, and he was running through mollases. The closer he got to his target, the worse it got. He flung his net, and slid, slowly, to a halt. The net took its time flying through the air. A sudden pressure radiating from the apex of all the magic caused the stupefied stallion to slide back on the dirt several meters. A growing roar came from around the barely visible mare, the net still floating slowly towards her. The shimmering air tinted blue, radiating from the mare. The few smart ponies turned and fled. The others sat, and watched the blue travel outwards, untill it seemed to hit an invisible wall. The stallion who threw the net was among the running. He slid to a halt as he realized that his friend wasn't there with him. He spun, and sat down hard on his haunches, shout dying in his throat, and friend completely forgotten. A blue bubble shone around the mare. It slowly began to expand, stretching, almost reaching the runnung stallion's friend. Just before it looked as though the bubble was going to explode, it collapsed. In a split second, the blue field condensed into a single, white glowing dot. A wanted poster for the "Extremely Elusive and Dangerous Twilight Sparkle" hung in front of the stallion's friend, frozen like all the rest of the trash that had swirled about the unicorn. All was quiet, and still. Than, without warning, it exploded. There was no fire, or smoke. Just a shockwave that blew everything within a half-click away. Those unfortunate ponies that were too close were flung hundreds of yards away, to land beyond their kin. Miles away, a mother and her filly started at the shower of dirt and rocks that fell from nowhere. A small home, less than fifty yards away from the epicenter was torn apart like a hurricane victim.
Minutes later, Moondancer's agents arrived. All they could find was a rope net.
Shadus had begun slowing down. Normally, he could fly the distance of Equestria without letting up, but he was carrying that fat pony.
"Celestia! You are heavy!"
Shadus glided down towards the earth to take a break in one of the tall buildings that made up the reminants of Manehattan. He glided into orbit around the tallest skyscraper he could find. There was a gust of hot wind, and a small bit of turbulance in the otherwise still air. He banked around the top floor of his building. As he came around the corner, he was met with a flash, and a purple hoof to the face. Shadus Astrum spun, stunned. He bucked Jeremy off his back, sending him slamming into the wall of his building, screaming. He righted himself, and tried to focus on his assailant.
There was nothing there.
He looked around and saw nothing. He looked down, and saw his enemy streaking towards the ground in pursuit of her friend. He dived towards the mare.
She could barely see. Her eyes were squinted against the wind tearing at her body and mane. His pained scream echoed in her ears. She had to reach him.
She neared him, and finally clapped her hooves around his middle. The pair flipped over, wind ripping at the new, unfamilliar shape. They spun, twisting and flipping towards the hard, unfriendly ground.
Shadus forced himself downwards towards the pair of unicorns, trying to catch them before they marred the ground. If Jeremy wasn't about to die, he would be able to stop their fall. But he was about to die. The other one, she was useless. How she got in front of him, he had no idea. There was no way she could be powerful enought to teleport that far.
All of this passed through his head in the seconds it took him to get near enough to the ponies to see that her horn was glowing.
What is she doing?!?
He stopped when he had to close his eyes and look away from the bright glow.
They are going to die.
A few moments later.
Moondancer is going to kill me.
There was a dull thud from below him. He pointed his gaze down at the pavement.
And Twilight grinned up at him, safe, un-splattered, with Jeremy lying acrost her back. Her mane was dishevled, and she was soaked with Jeremy's blood. She turned, as Shadus watched, and laid Jeremy on the ground. Her horn charged in preperation to heal him.
Above, Shadus' eyes widened. He had floated closer to see what the purple unicorn was capable of. He began to doubt that Jeremy was really the one Moondancer wanted. His fears were proven true when she tenderly drew the bullet from her companion's chest, and staunched the bleeding with magic. His eyes widened when she melded his skin back together, leaving no scar. Not even Moondancer could do that. Forget Jeremy, she was his new prey. The mare had apparently finished her task, as she turned to look at Shadus, horn still lit.
It was far away, but he thought she smiled at him.
She bared her teeth in a vicious smile. He had no idea how much she hated him for hurting Jeremy. She took a step forward, horn glowing. The air around her shimmered, and tinted slightly blue. Space around her emploded, and suddenly she was falling onto Shadus.
The mare dissapeared with a concussive bang. He looked in confusion for her. A sudden and disturbing weight took him out of the sky. He whipped his head around, and saw it was the purple mare.
"He is not fat."
He felt his fall slowing down, and the air shimmered, than turned blue.
Oh no.
His surroundings dissapeared.
Everything was dark. He felt as though he was being crushed. A suck of air, but his lungs filled with liquid. He opened his eyes, which had instinctively closed against the salty ocean. Everything was dark, save for a small orb of light around the purple mare's face. The water around her began to boil, and distort further as her magic grew stronger. She winked at him with a smile, than dissapeared with a suck, leaving him floating meters above the ocean floor.
He floated in the dark for a manner of seconds, holding his breath. Something bumped into him in the dark.
Twilight reappeared near Jeremy. Water fell about her as she landed, soaking, on her hooves. She dashed to Jeremy.
"Jeremy!"
Nothing happened.
"Jeremy?"
A look of knowing dawned on her face.
"JEREMY!"
She lit her horn, and hurled a bolt of magic at Jeremy.
"Don't die here... Not now..."
She hit him again.
"You have too much..."
She hit him again, tears pooling at the corners of her eyes.
Something thumped down behind her.
"You are going to have to try harder to get rid of me, you know."
She gasped, and whirled around, horn still glowing.
Shadus stood, dripping wet, but standing tall, and breathing evenly.
She glared at him for a minute from Jeremy's side, than looked down.
"Fine."
"What?" Shadus was baffled.
"You can have him."
"Oh."
She looked up, a look of pure rage on her face.
Shadus took a step back.
"In the afterlife!" She screamed at him, horn still glowing.
A massive pile of rubble flew out of nowhere, towards Twilight. Right before she crushed herself, she looked into Shadus' eyes.
Regret.