Lonely Among Us

“Finally, some peace and quiet…” I said as I pulled his blade out of my body. In the meantime, three alicorns approached me.

BAM!

Suddenly, as I got up - I had felt a shot of energy and was sent flying through the air. “LUNA! What are you doing?!” Celestia shouted to Princess of the Night.

When I got up again, I could see that Luna was still glancing at me with hatred, Cadance and Celestia, on the other hand, looked a bit confused. “Seriously?! What the hell? I restored your power so you can shoot me?!” I shouted with an angry voice.

The expression on Luna's face quickly turned from anger to embarrassment. “We are sorry, we… I couldn’t control myself...”

“I guess that after that unfortunate 'business' we had earlier you have the right to be angry..." I said with embarrassing voice, "although... It's good to know I’m not the only one with anger management issues,” I smiled, trying to lighten the mood, and it worked - only then I realized someone was missing. “Wait… where's… TWILIGHT?!”

She was still lying unconscious on the floor. Fortunately, those idiots left her saddlebag on her. “What are you doing?” Cadance asked, seeing me snooping through Twilight’s bag.

“Looking for... This,” I responded and shown her the hypo gun. “We were using this to temporarily restore magic on ponies, but it can be used to heal as well.” With that - I quickly adjusted the nano-probes and injected some of them into Twilight’s flank. A minute later, her body started to emit a light glow, from where the wounds were.

“Wakie, wakie…” I said calmly.

Twilight slowly opened her eyes. “Ugh… my head.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling...”

“What… happ… Celestia, Luna, Cadance! You are all right?!” Twilight shouted with excitement.

Cadance responded with a smile. “We’re fine Twi, thanks to your friend.”

“I'm so glad you're all OK, but... What is this?” Twilight shouted, pointing at the Cadance’s chest wound. “BLOOD?”

An awkward silence filled the room. “Um, yeah, about that,” I responded with an embarrassed voice again, “I kinda had to kill all of them for a few minutes - sorry...”

“You stabbed them?!”

“Um... Not only them…” I said, pointing to Twilight own chest, “you were unconscious, so you don’t remember. Hey! Don’t give me that look! No harm was done, they got their magic back, and nano-probes fixed the wounds. No pain, no gain-” my speech was interrupted when we heard a loud banging on the door.

BAM! ... BAM! ... BAM!

“Speaking of pain - some is about to break through the door, prepare yourself!” I said with ordering voice, then quickly injected myself with all the nano-probes we had left. “Damn… daddy could still use some more medicine... APE, systems check.”

“Power at 28%, environmental adaptation at 87%, all primary systems regenerated and functioning within normal parameters.”

BAM! … BAM! … CRACK!

The doors felled to the ground and about a hundred Shadowforce soldiers rushed through. They were standing with their horns charged, trying to intimidate us. “Now… what do we do…?” Cadance asked with a concerned voice.

“Protocol OMEGA.”

"What does that mean?"

I put a grin on my face and clenched my fist, producing audible ‘CRACK!’ sound. "Kill everything! Every-THING! Kill. Kill! KILL!” then it started.

***

Cadance put up a shield - Luna, and Twilight were shooting everything they’ve got from behind it. Celestia and I, on the other hand, took the front line - she took the sky, I took the ground.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

I set my particle cannon into the rapid mode and was firing at every bastard in front, while Celestia was using her charged attacks - constantly charging and discharging her horn, with devastating effect - sending enemies flying through the air.

Of course Shadowforce troops were also shielding themselves and firing frantically - first, they tried to penetrate Cadance shield, but she stood her ground, then they tried concentrating on me, but I just used my speed to jump out of the way (mostly anyway), and shoot back with a vengeance. Finally, they concentrated their fire on Celestia. Using her magic she established a shield for herself, but I could see that fighting and defending at the same time was wearing her down quickly. Suddenly some of the shots penetrated her defenses hitting her wing in the process. She crashlanded… in the middle of the Clan of Shadow forces.

“CELESTIA! NO!” Twilight shouted with a frightened voice, I could see she wanted to help, but her hooves were full at the moment. Without thinking much, I jumped to the rescue, only to notice Celestia lying on her back, in the corner of the room - fighting about a dozen unicorns with the rests of her strength.

SWOOOSH! I landed impaling two soldiers in the process. “I just dropped by to say FUCK YOU!” I threw the bodies at the crowd, knocking several attackers to the ground.

I quickly turned to the Princess. “You defend, I attack!” she nodded in agreement and established another shield.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

“AAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!” I yelled with a crazy sounding voice, as I was shooting everything in front of us. The battle continued like that for another minute or two, we took out about one hundred bastards, but more and more just kept coming.

I quickly glanced around trying to assess the situation - Cadance looked exhausted and ready to pass out at any moment, Twilight and Luna were covered in sweat and panting heavily - with each discharge they needed more and more time to recharge their horns. Celestia and I were no better off - her shield was almost gone, and I was running out of power for my canon.

“Enough of this shit! Time to get personal!” I shouted as I jumped into the crowd extending my blades.

SWOOOSH! - one bastard down SWOOOSH! two down SWOOOSH! three…

CRACK! I felt a sharp hit to the head and lost my balance for a second - that was all they needed.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

This time it was them firing at me. Few were holding me with their magic, while the rest just kept discharging their horns. I wasn't going to go down that easily. “Is that all you’ve got? SWOOOSH!” I shouted as I impaled one of the bastards holding me, “you’ve got NOTHING! HAHA! SWOOOSH!”

But the fact was - I was running out of power and damage were multiplying. I stabbed the last of the unicorns holding me down, and with the rest of my strength, I pushed myself back to the corner where Celestia was - just in time to witness her shield collapsed.

Time slowed down, we were all injured and tired. I stood between Celestia and the rest of the Shadowforce desperately swinging my blades. In the corner of my eye, I could see that Cadance was lying unconscious on the floor in the opposite corner of the throne room, defended by bruised Twilight and Luna - themselves, surrounded by dozen angry attackers. Suddenly few unicorns knock me off my feet and were thrusting spears in my damaged body. “WHERE THE HELL, ARE THOSE REINFORCEMENTS!” I shouted in frustration as pain shot through my systems.

***

Suddenly I heard a sound of glass breaking, followed by a familiar voice, “Hey! Get off him you freak!” Rainbow shouted as she kicked one of the guards standing on top of me.

A moment later, a swarm of pegasi flown into the room, led by a mare with yellow fur and orange tail. Royal guards - led by Shining Armor - burst through the other door, a few seconds after that.

“OH YEAH! That’s what I’m talking about!” I shouted with a grin, as I threw myself into the disorganized crowd again. This time they didn’t know what hit them, with the joined forces of pegasi, royal guards and the alicorns - Shadowforce troops were dropping like flies. Even so, they didn’t want to surrender - which was fine by me, since I was having a ball.

SWOOOSH! “That stabbing chest pain - was me.”

SWOOOSH! SWOOOSH! SWOOOSH! “I could kill you with kindness, but the knife is faster.”

SWOOOSH! SWOOOSH! SWOOOSH! “Knife knowing you...”

SWOOOSH! SWOOOSH! SWOOOSH! SWOOOSH! SWOOOSH...

As I pulled my blade from the latest victim, I realized that was the last of them. “What… over already? Damn... Good time never lasts,” I said with disappointment.

The scene was a massacre - about 200 Clan of Shadow soldiers were lying dead, blood was all over the place. I looked like a butcher, after a full shift. “Whoa… um, you OK?” Rainbow asked with a concerned voice.

“Yeah, that’s not my blood... Not most of it anyway. What took you so long?” I asked with a hint of frustration.

“Long story - let's just say we had to kick some flanks on the way. Oh, and don’t worry, Fluttershy is OK, she is helping with the wounded outside,” I nodded with a happy face and then quickly went to the princesses who all gathered nearby.

The rest of the ‘gang’ - except Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash - was with them already. “...and then, a train full of earth ponies arrived! Shadowdancer's guards didn’t know what hit them,” Shining Armor was reporting the situation, “in any case, their forces are disorganized.”

“That’s good to hear captain, but one question remains - where is Shadowdancer?” Celestia asked calmly.

Shining Armor shook his head in frustration. “I’m afraid, we don’t know your Highness - we are looking for him but-”

Suddenly the dark figure teleported to the middle of the room. “Looking for me?!” Shadowdancer shouted as he discharged a sphere of energy, pushing everybody 10 meters away. Then he just stood there with a menacing smile.

***

Celestia and Shadowdancer stood eye to eye. “Shadowdancer! It’s over! Surrender your forces and restore the power of the Tree of Harmony!” Celestia demanded with a stoic voice.

“You may have injured me… but I’m not beaten yet! Time for you to see my true form! HA HA HA!” as he spoke, a powerful beam of energy, from the Everfree forest, hit his body - charging it in the process. We could see him growing right in front of us!

“Captain! Catch!” Twilight shouted as she threw me another hypo gun - she must have packed some extra, without me knowing. "Good thinking, Twilight..."

Suddenly, the energy beam stopped… revealing Shadowdancer’s new form. He was twice the size of Celestia now, his body covered with a magical aura. He stood on his back legs, wielding two giant swords embedded into his hooves, both blades shining with energy. “Show me what you’ve got! En garde!” he shouted and then hell broke loose again.

Since I needed to regenerate - alicorns went first. They were discharging their horns, at the intruder - but he was just laughing it off. No visible damage could be seen. Pegasi joined quickly - Rainbow Dash and The Wonderbolts charged at him with maximum speed, but only bounced off his body with frustration. Royal guards were having no more luck - their spears and swords were unable to penetrate his magical aura.

“OK, playtime is over. Time for all of you to die!” Shadowdancer shouted as he discharged another spherical shockwave of energy. This time it was powerful - some guards were killed instantly, others were lying on the ground in agony. Celestia - who was closest to the blast - was thrown 10 meters back. When she stood up, burned skin, cuts and lacerations were visible on her body.

“Regeneration cycle complete,” finally the message I’ve been waiting for sounded in my head. “Damn this was slow,” I shouted with frustration, charging my weapons. “Hey! Why don't you pick up somebody your own size?!”

Shadowdancer turned around with the smile and just stood there - looking into my eyes, waiting for my move.

BAM! BAM!

I discharged my cannon, two times. “Direct hit, no damage,” APE reported.

“What? Power to maximum!”

“Ready.”

“Ha ha! Eat this!” I shouted with a grin.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

“Three hits, no damage.”

“Damn... What's going on?!”

APE responded with his analytic voice, "The shield around Shadowdancer's new body is apparently able to absorb incoming matter and energy, sir."

“Recommendations?” I asked, hoping for some pointers from APE, but I was shot down quickly, “None presently, sir.”

I just stood there shocked, while Shadowdancer was approaching my position. He was in no hurry, he took his time - looking into my eyes. "Err... All right, we'll call it a draw," I said just as Shadowdancer grabbed me by the neck.

“Little worm… your magic or technology or whatever is useless against me - I draw power directly from the Tree of Harmony now!”

Before I could say anything, I was sent flying through the air. I stopped on the nearby wall, cracking it in the process. “Damn… I really liked that rib-” GRAB “Oh shiii-” CRASH! Another flight, another wall cracked.

“How do you feel now?! Not so quickly anymore, eh?” Shadowdancer said, grabbing me again.

GRAB ... THROW! … CRACK! … GRAB ... THROW! … CRACK! That was the theme for the next few minutes, Shadowdancer concentrated on me alone, ignoring the others who desperately tried to inflict any damage - to no avail. Then he started his speech...

"For a thousand years I was planning all this,"

GRAB ... THROW! ... CRACK!

"Living only on hope, that one day - the Clan of Shadows will prevail,"

GRAB ... THROW! ... CRACK!

"I won't allow anything to stand in my way!"

GRAB ... THROW! ... CRACK!

"Least of all - some freak like you!"

GRAB ... THROW! ... CRACK!

The bastard was using my body as a sledgehammer, breaking everything there was to break in the throne room. When he was done, I was lying in the pool of my own blood. Most bones in my body were broken. HUD was red from the warnings.

“Ah, this was refreshing - however fun doesn’t last forever, does it? There is work to be done. And to think you could have joined me, and be by my side - I bet you regret your decision now.”

“F...uck you…”

“It is amazing that after all, I have done, there is still some fight in you! But it ends here, the elements can’t save this world - and with you out of the way,” he said calmly while raising his swords, “I won’t have any more troubles. Goodbye.”

Before he could act, however, I tried one final desperate attack - with all the power I could muster, I thrust my right blade into his abdomen - causing a minor scratch. Shadowdancer didn't like that at all. "Arg... You little bastard - take this!"

SWOOSH!

"AAaaaaa!" I shouted from pain, as he sliced off my right hand.

That was it, I was done - my body was broken, my will to fight shattered and for the first time I could remember - I didn't know what to do. I was just lying there in pain. "You know - I was planning to cut your head off - but watching you helpless, is so much more fun," Shadowdancer said with amused voice, "let's do something else instead!"

SWOOSH! … SWOOSH!he made two deep cuts into my abdomen - slicing through my insides in the process. I tried to scream, but my lungs were filled with my own blood - only soft gurgle escaped my mouth. “Say hello to your friend!” Shadowdancer shouted, as he threw my body at the resigned crowd, which by this time stopped even shooting at him.

***

I landed with a splash… my innards spewed out onto the floor. I was bleeding badly, my blurred vision started to slowly fade away - but not before I realize the ‘gang’ gathered all around me - even Fluttershy, who joined earlier to treat the wounded. They all looked in horror at my mutilated body - Rarity was the first to puke, followed by Twilight and Rainbow Dash - I can only imagine how I looked from their perspective…

Ironically - the always timid Fluttershy was the first to approach me. She took some bandages out of the first aid kit she was carrying and started to patch me up sobbing softly in the process. At this moment I felt like a failure - everybody was counting on me, and I let them down, and now - one of the ponies who would probably die because of this, was trying to help me - I just couldn't bear it. "I... I'm sorry Fluttershy," I said with a distraught voice, "please... Leave me be - I don't... Deserve your help."

Ignoring my request - she responded softly, "We know you did your best to help us, captain - now, let me help you."

I couldn't stop her even if I wanted to. Watching her and the rest of the helpless ponies - made me analyze the situation again. "Damn it, man - you can't let it end like this... Think! There must be something you can do..."

Suddenly, I heard Shadowdancer talking in the distance. “I told you that the elements won’t save you Tia and now...”

“The elements… damn it - if we could only use that power-" suddenly a 'eureka moment' struck my mind. "Oh shit, how stupid I am.”

I could still hear Shadowdancer gloating over his victory, he kept telling Celestia and the others what he will do, how he will make them all suffer - this bought me some time.

“Twil..ight,” I managed to say with a fading voice.

She approached me slowly, still terrified by the look of my mutilated body. “Lay still, don’t move - you are… hurt,” she responded with a sobbing voice, trying to comfort me.

“There is no time… you must use the... Elements - that's the only way.”

"We can’t he is blocking-”

I interrupted her speech. “List..en you are all inoculated... With nano-tech - all the elem..ents are here, and he is constantly powering his bo..dy with the energy from the Tree..." I stopped for a moment trying to catch my breath, "I... Can adjust the na..no-tech to use that power against him - it should work, b..but I will have to inject you with my own nano-probes," I responded with struggling voice.

In an instant - Twilight's face went from apathetic to excited, but then returned to the former a second later. "But, what will happen to you? Don't you need them?" she asked with a concerned voice.

"I will be in pain - but... This is no..thing, compared to the pain of letting that b.. Bastard wing," I responded with a cracking voice. "There is no time to argue."

Twilight hesitated for a moment, but she knew that was our only chance. "What do you want me to do?"

I folded my left blade and moved my hand close to Twilight's chest. "Just give me the word - this will sting ‘a little.’" As she closed her eyes and nodded - my left blade pierced her rib cage pumping whatever nano-probes I had left in her bloodstream.

When others, saw what I was doing - they tried to pull her away, but Fluttershy - who heard our conversation - stopped them. “Trust… me…” I said with a weak smile as my blade popped out of her chest. She felt it, felt the pain - but embraced it, without making a sound.

As soon as my blade was out of her body, it started. With nano-probes way beyond the minimum level - I began to lose control over everything. My body was convulsing, my left side felt cold as ice, while the right felt like it was on fire. My vision started to fade away, but not before I noticed the change, my injection did to Twilight - her body was shining with new energy and her horn sparkled like a Christmas tree. “Go… get him…” I said to her as my power faded, and I passed out.

***

In the meantime, Shadowdancer was still talking with the rest of the princesses - gloating constantly. “We will find a way to stop you!” Celestia shouted angrily into his face.

“Please… your ‘hero’ is dead, who is going to save you now?” his speech was suddenly interrupted by a bright flash of light coming from behind.

FLASH!

“The Elements of Harmony!” Twilight shouted with an angry voice. She and the rest of the elements were floating in the air in battle formation - ready to kick Shadowdancer's ass.

“IMPOSSIBLE! NO! DIE!”

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Shadowdancer tried his magic, but shields around the mane six didn’t budge.

Twilight put a smile on her face, and said with intimidating voice, “You might have disrupted, the power of the elements - but you underestimated, the strongest magic of all - the magic of friendship! And with the help of our new friend, we shall defeat you!” then she and the rest of the elements, discharged their power.

“UGH… I WON’T LET YOU WIN!” Shadowdancer didn’t give up - instead, he established a shield, and discharged his magic against the elements. “ARGHHH!”

Somehow the power created by the battle was giving me strength, even with all the damage my body took, I not only regained my consciousness - I was actually able to get up and was quickly regenerating.

The battle was fierce - neither side was letting go, both alicorns were showing signs of fatigue. Suddenly Shadowdancer drew his swords and began to slowly approach the position of mane six. "It appears we are at an impasse," he said calmly. "Let's try something else!"

They tried to push him away, but their power was fading. “I… can’t hold it much longer girls… I’m sorry,” Twilight said with a weakening voice.

“Time to test your 'immortality' Princess! Any last words before I cut your head off?!” Shadowdancer said as he hung over Twilight with his sword, ready for the final strike. "No? Then, goodbye!"

In the desperate attempt to do anything - as he swung his sword, I fired the final charge remaining in my left cannon - hitting Shadowdancer in the right hand - creating a blinding flash and a cloud of dust in the process. A second later, I felt a wet sensation hitting my face. "Blood...? No..." I said to myself in a weak voice - imagining the worst.

The scene was still filled with dust - I could neither see Shadowdancer, nor the mane six, but I feared the worst - my mind was filled with images of Shadowdancer showing Twilight's bloody head to everybody. The mere thought was making me sick to what was left of my stomach.

Suddenly screams filled the chamber. "AAAgghh!" seconds later the cloud of dust settled, and the smile returned to my face. The one screaming was Shadowdancer - he was on his knees, holding his bloody head in pain.

I quickly realized why, and shouted with amused voice, “Haha… get a medic on the horn!” As luck would have it - my shot pushed his own sword against his horn - slicing through it like a hot knife through butter.

“No… NOOOOOOO!”

“Scream all you want, you son of a bitch! Twilight - finish him!” I shouted to the Princess - she didn’t have to be told twice. A second, later a flash of light filled the chambers blinding us all.

“Equestria wins… Fatality!” I shouted with a weak but amused voice - as a peaceful silence filled the room...

***

When the dust settled again, we heard the movement from the nearby pile of rubble. Shadowdancer was still alive, lying hornless - his body impaled in many places by pieces of metal, from the destroyed palace pillar. We all approached him slowly. Thanks to Fluttershy's earlier treatment, I managed to put my guts back inside, but I was still very weak. Twilight and Luna needed to help me move.

“Fools… you think you won?” he said calmly as he spat some blood, “no... You just doomed this world.”

“What are you talking about?” Celestia asked concerned.

Shadowdancer put a weak smile on his face. “Tia… without me the power of the Tree will collapse on itself,” Shadowdancer answered with weak but amused voice. “I did it on purpose - If the Clan of Shadows can’t be in charge of ponies, then there will be no ponies left! Haha *cough*.”

“Sir, I can confirm that the sensors we left near the Tree of Harmony, are reporting weird activity,” APE interrupted.

The expression on Celestia's face changed to a shocking gaze. “How do we stop it?! Answer me!” she asked with a demanding voice.

Shadowdancer responded with a weak grin. “You can’t... By killing me, you… kil...led… y..our...self...” those were his final words - he was gone.

For a moment we all looked at his lifeless body, but I quickly broke the silence. "What the hell are we waiting for? We need to get to the Everfree ASAP!" my shouting snapped everybody of the daydream. Without further ado, we jumped into the nearest chariots and flew towards the forest, hoping we get there in time.