Golden Dawn: Dusk of an Empire

"My Princess, what are we going to do?"

"There's too many of them! We're completely surrounded!"

"Hold the door, we're casting a Distress Spell right now!"

Rael'ia looked at the sorry sight all around her. Her legion had been ambushed in the dead of night, caught completely unaware. Most of the remaining soldiers hadn't even had the time to grab their armor before they had regrouped inside the tower fortress in the center of their camp. The few soldiers that did were busy setting the long wooden beam in place to barricade the only entrance. The Battlemages were joining their efforts to cast a spell that would let the next closest legion know they needed assistance, while the medics among them were scrambling from wounded soldier to wounded soldier. She should have known their victory earlier in the day had come too easily. If she survived this, she was going to have quite the talk with her Void-seers.

A male Elf clad in pale green sleeping robes, enhanced by a makeshift set of transparent Arcane armor stood beside her. "My Lady, many of our remaining forces are defenseless, almost half of them without weapons. This is bad..."

"I know. Hopefully our Nature magic can perhaps keep the tower together until help arrives-"

Suddenly there was a massive, heavy thud against the thick, wooden door, soon accompanied by a muffled hiss. Far too heavy for a Human, or even one of their siege engines. It seemed to reverberate throughout the entire tower.

"No... no!"

"Is that an Angel?!"

"Gods, no, not like this..."

"I don't want to die!"

Rael'ia's blood ran cold. Only that accursed... thing... could make that kind of noise. Only that thing could cause so much panic among her legion, only that thing could slice through her men as quickly as they had fallen. Green light glowed from her fists as they tightened.

The Elf beside her sighed. "We're not making it out of this one, I'm afraid."

"No," she replied with cold finality. "...We are not. Prepare yourselves, men, this may be our final stand. Know that it has been an honor to serve beside you all."

Her forces shakily rose to their feet, backing away from the pounding door. As the pounding grew louder, the wooden beam keeping them safe began to splinter and separate down the middle. The Elven Princess readied her magic, gracefully levitating her arms in a circle to begin her final attack. Her strongest spell might buy them a few moments, but the Angel they were to face initially would end those moments as quickly as they came. Everything slowed to a crawl in her eyes, the rhythmic pounding on the door matching the pounding of her heart. She didn't even hear the sound of magic behind her.

"Forgive me, my Princess."

The Elf beside her suddenly pulled Rael'ia backwards, shoving her into a swirling tear between space. She screamed as she felt unknown forces grasping at every bit of her body and soul, the final image of the door rapidly shrinking farther and farther away. Colors that didn't exist flashed before her eyes, slowly fading to black. Sensations that had no description flooded her body, eventually dulling into nothingness. A thousand voices hissed into her ears, soon growing silent.

She could no longer hear herself scream. She could no longer move. She could no longer breathe. A single tear fell from her cheek as she became one with nothing.

~

"Forgive me, my Princess."

CRUNCH

The portal behind the Elf closed, but to his surprise, a new one opened beside him. Heralded by a rippling in space itself, two blurs, orange and blue, shot out from the portal to meet the looming, metal creature before them as the door holding it back shattered into splinters.

"Yee-haw!"

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings mightily as Applejack swiveled her hind legs forward mid-leap, and the two ponies crashed into the Angel with the force of a sonic boom. There was a noise like an explosion as the heap of metal flew backwards into the Human army, crushing those unfortunate enough to be behind it with it's sheer weight. The two ponies had only been pushed back a few feet on their end of the impact, and Rael'ia and the others quickly appeared behind them, the rippling of space disappearing.

"Great job, you two!" the Elven Princess cheered. "That worked even better than I had hoped!" Meanwhile, the Elf to her side stared in utter disbelief.

"...P-Princess?" Before he could speak another word, Rael'ia shot her hand in front of his face.

"Hold that thought, Archmage," she spoke coldly before making her presence known to the other combatants once again. "The tide of battle has turned, my friends! Go! Reclaim your gear while we hold them off! Applejack, Rainbow, do not let that Angel get back up! The rest of you, attack!"

Nature magic surged throughout her body as Rael'ia focused on the tower's stone bricks. Her hands pulsed with energy as every brick glowed in response and began separating themselves from their foundation; slowly at first, then flinging themselves outwards in all directions into the army that surrounded them. A storm of grunts and moans erupted all around them as bricks connected with armored bodies. Her spell hadn't even finished before she grasped at more rubble with her magic and shot them at her enemies, denting armor, spattering blood. She let her mind relax for a brief moment, suddenly realizing she felt a foreign-yet-familiar sensation at the ends of her arms.

Hands. Hands. She was an Elf-kin again! Quickly she looked down at herself. Rarity's armor had magically warped through the fabrics of time and space to fit her body perfectly. She would have to ponder how it happened later, she had her people to save. As she began charging up more magic spells, she was sure to keep an eye on Fluttershy, who had predictably sunk to the ground and was trying to make herself as tiny as possible. Meanwhile, Twilight and Spike behind her guarded the Sapling of Harmony closely. The lavender Alicorn noticed a few humans rushing towards the two of them menacingly. Though hesitant at first, her eyes narrowed and her horn sparked with intense pink light. Rearing her head back, she then flicked her horn forwards, unleashing a beam of pure, raw magic at her attackers. At first they did not falter but soon found themselves slowing, then being pushed back as their Nullium armor began to crack in weakened places. A few white crystals suddenly shot past Twilight and pierced the weak spots, felling the men as the crystals returned to their owner, stained red.

"Ohoho! How invigorating!" Rarity laughed haughtily. She then turned towards another group of attackers, her eyes darting back and forth, quickly surveying the situation. With a smug smirk, her horn glowed an icy blue, heralding the swarm of crystals surrounding her as they suddenly fired towards them. One of the humans raised his shield to block; the crystals broke from their perfectly straight trajectory and scattered wildly. Rarity raised a confident eyebrow and barely flicked her head; her crystals responded and found their targets, striking the humans in the joints of their nigh-impenetrable armor. They seemed to disappear for a few seconds longer than necessary before darting out of the same holes they had produced, the humans falling dead moments later.

"Wow, Rarity... I didn't know you had it in you," Spike quivered in mostly awe, with a touch of fear.

"Oh, but that was nothing," she replied as her crystals spent a rotation around their master burrowing into the dirt to remove the blood. "I've told you, I've taken some self-defense classes before... I paid good money to learn this spell."

"Whee! This is much more fun than I thought it would be!" Baffled, Spike and the two ponies glanced over to Pinkie Pie. She was surrounded by humans, dodging every sword swing by quite literally bending and twisting her body like a ribbon, giggling as if dancing. As they were distracted, they were caught off guard by the ground directly beneath them suddenly extending about ten feet into the air.

"Clearly, you lot were holding back on me the other day!" Rael'ia yelled over the chorus of battle, her hands quickly but steadily channeling Nature magic into nearby rocks, bricks and various parts of the ground. Her body faintly glowed purple as she rose into the air for a better view. "Again, I am deeply impressed by your affinity for combat!" Below her, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had made a game out of smacking the Angel around the battlefield. It's armor was deeply dented in the chest and back areas, and some of it's armored hoses had been torn open, emitting steam and a dark liquid.

"Ha! I thought you said these things were supposed to be tough!" Rainbow sneered as she flapped her wings and rammed her shoulder into the great metal beast. It stumbled over towards Applejack, who simply planted her hooves square in the ground and let it tumble over her back. Before it could get up, she set her weight upon her front limbs and bucked with all her might. The Angel was sent rolling along the ground, crushing a few humans as it finally crashed and came to rest in a heap against a pile of rubble. It weakly raised an arm, desperately grasping for aid until finally, the arm fell and the metal ceased to move. Awestruck, Rael'ia floated gracefully towards the heap of muddy-green metal, a pool of dark liquid beginning to form beneath it. Cautiously she poked at the metal corpse with her foot, finding it completely lifeless.

"I... I don't believe it... you actually defeated an Angel!" Other Elven soldiers took notice after Rael'ia's outburst and gasped in awe, while the humans they had been fighting allowed themselves to become distracted. Some could only stare in disbelief, while the voices of others began to quiver, and a few began to run away.

"They... they killed it?"

"Are those... Pony-kin? I thought they were all dead!"

"The Angels... they can be killed! They killed it!"

"Amazing! Not only are you able to penetrate Nullium armor, but you've accomplished what we thought impossible! With you on our side, we'll bring peace to my home-"

She cut her thought short as she sensed an incoming attack. Her left arm shot out to her side and her hand pulsed purple; in an instant there was a distant staccato, and the ponies' eyes widened as a swarm of small metal balls suddenly appeared, caught in the field of magic. Rael'ia turned her head in the direction they had come from, and her face softened into one of concern. Human reinforcements had arrived, and slowly making it's way through them was a second Angel. It stood as tall as a man with a child on his shoulders, and was coated head to toe in thick plates of muddy-green Nullium. It's armored joints concealed the ends of armored tubes that connected themselves to the outer portions of it's limbs. With every step it took, steam hissed out of vents on it's back. It held a massive sword on it's shoulder, also crafted from Nullium and as tall as the metal beast that wielded it. It reached the forefront of the human reinforcements, lifted it's sword and sank it into the ground in front of it. Eerily, it stood perfectly still, as if becoming a statue.

"Another one, eh?" Rainbow snorted and rubbed her nose, then lowered her body to pounce. "C'mon AJ, we'll wreck this one, too!"

"Rainbow, wait!" Rael'ia called out soon enough for Applejack to have only galloped a few feet but the blue pegasus was already flying like a bullet towards the Angel. It seemed to not notice at first, remaining still as she flew towards it. Just as she was about to make contact, it shifted to the right faster than anyone could see. Rainbow grunted in confusion as she arced around and rushed it again, only for it to shift again at the last second. She grunted again, now annoyed, and pushed herself to fly even faster. She spun around and streaked towards her enemy, preparing to create a Sonic Rainboom. But suddenly, the Angel gripped it's sword and unsheathed it from the ground.

"Foolish Pony-kin," a voice cried out behind Rael'ia. The Archmage, body alight with Arcane and hands glowing with Nature, flew through the air towards Rael'ia and the other ponies, swinging his right fist in an uppercut. In an instant, a wall of stone suddenly appeared between the Angel and Rainbow Dash, who came to a frantic halt as she realized the great sword of the Angel was pointed less than a foot from her face. Only the stone wall encasing the sword separated her from death. The humans immediately went back on the offensive, and laid siege to the wall with their gunfire, slowly but surely chipping it away. The Angel broke it's sword free and stood for a moment before it seemed to vanish.

"Oh no, you don't," Rael'ia concentrated her magic into the ground, opening up a large pit. The Angel reappeared within, crashing into the wall closest to the Princess. She quickly brought her open hands together, entombing the Angel below. But only moments later did the tip of it's sword sprout from the earth. It would not be held for long. Rael'ia quickly considered her options; Applejack and Rainbow's assault on the first Angel had only worked because they took it by surprise. They would need many more forces to take one head on. Besides, they had finally managed to defeat an Angel! This was a monumental feat, a good blow to the enemy morale. If they could somehow bring it back to be taken apart and studied, perhaps flaws could be found, and with them, ways to defeat them more easily.

Her mind was made up. "All units, fall back! Fall back and prepare to port back to home base! Everyone, follow me!" The handful of Elves still standing began to fight their way back to the floor where the tower fortress once stood. Rael'ia motioned to the other ponies, Spike and the Archmage. With haste they joined the group of soldiers, forming a perimeter around them as Rael'ia quickly scooped Fluttershy off the ground and placed her in the center. She counted how many Battlemages were left... not enough. She would need to assist them in the Emergency Teleportation spell, as well as figure out how to drag a one-ton hunk of broken Nullium with them. In the distance, the sword arm of the buried Angel angrily rose from beneath the ground.

"Archmage, assist the Battlemages! Twilight, help me focus on the fallen Angel, we're going to try to take it with us!"

"A-Are you sure that's a good idea?! What if it's not dead?!" the Alicorn shouted. Wordlessly, Spike gripped the Sapling of Harmony so Twilight wouldn't have to.

"We must try! This is our chance to finally find out what they really are!" Twilight shakily agreed, and her magic joined Rael'ia's as she concentrated on grasping the dead Angel. It was... heavy. Very heavy. Dead weight. It wouldn't budge. She strained to funnel more magic into her hands, her mind burning with pain. The buried Angel's other arm now appeared.

"Princess, the spell is nearly complete!" the Archmage yelled over his shoulder. "We must leave now!"

"Almost... almost..." She could feel their combined magic snaking its way around the lifeless husk. Very heavy. So very heavy.

"Princess!"

The husk shifted. The Angel crawled out of the earth, dust and dark liquid dripping down it's metallic body.

"Go! Now!"

"Evaporate," the Archmage grunted. In that moment, every Elf-kin, Pony-kin and Dragon-kin in that area morphed to become a flash of purest white light, which shimmered away into the wind as the Angel darted forth and slashed at the final sparkling bits. The bodies of their fallen comrades soon afterwards disappeared in the same fashion. Though the fort was lost, the battle had - only just - been won.