Dactyl looked out over what lay beyond his city. Both Carlon and Danton had fallen. From Stuggs's fortress in Carlon, the flag of the Americans flew high and proud in the pre-dawn light. From Rodin's fortress in Danton, the flag of Equestria flew high and proud as well.

Dactyl then took his communicator, and flipped it to a pre-set channel. "Danin, come in. I need to have a little 'chat' with you!"

Eventually, Danin did pick up. "What's going on? Did something happen?"

Dactyl turned his communicator until it faced out of the window at the area around Donneth. "Is THAT enough 'did something happen' for you?!"

"So, I take it that you were unable to stop the Undead Harbingers? However, you are still communicating with me, and it does appear that Donneth is still standing, so I take it that you DID stop them?"

"No, we haven't stopped them yet. They took Carlon and Danton, and just stopped on their own. Most likely, they're just waiting for another moment to strike. This is just a lull in the battle. They WILL hit Donneth!"

"Which is why you HAVE to hold that city! It CANNOT be allowed to fall!"

Dactyl sighed. He was getting tired of his brother's rigmarole. "Danin, I'm about to ask you a question, and I want you to answer it truthfully. Was the only reason that you released me from prison was so that you could have someone else to throw under the bus while you ran to save your own sorry ass?!"

Danin was taken aback. He had never suspected that his brother would catch on to his plan so quickly. Danin didn't say anything.

"It was a simple question Danin. Is my only purpose to take the fall for YOUR crimes?"

"Um.....well......you see Dactyl....."

"YOU TRAITOR!!!!!" Dactyl screamed. "YOU LEFT ME BEHIND TO BE CANNON FODDER, WHILE YOU RAN TO SAVE YOUR OWN SORRY ASS!!!! YOU COWARD!!!!"

Danin glared back at his brother. "You would be very wise to stop screaming at me Brother. You wouldn't want another bout of 'mental disorder', would you?"

Dactyl narrowed his eyes. "I'm done with this Danin!!! You WILL NOT be telling me what to do anymore. I'M DONE!!!!"

"Oh, but I don't think that you are."

Dactyl then dropped his communicator, and screamed in agony. When he finally stopped screaming a few minutes later, he grabbed his communicator again.

"There, now that you're done screaming at me, will you defend my city for me?"

Dactyl looked like he was going to throw up. He didn't answer, but he did glare at Danin. Finally, he said, "Fine. I'll defend your city from the Humans."

"Good! I will be awaiting any news from the attack. Good luck Brother!" Danin then terminated the call.

Dactyl then sat back on the throne. His mind was in turmoil. Deep down, he knew that Danin was lying to him, and wanted him to die, but yet, he still complied with his orders.

Next to the throne, Pinkie and Dash overheard every word of the conversation.

"So, the Harbingers get closer and closer all of the time. They've already wiped out those cities, and now it seems like only a matter of time before they come for Donneth."

"Um, Dashie, I just thought of something. What of those scary Harbingers are actually our coltfriends? I mean, their bodies, and the wreckage of the train STILL were never found, so is it possible that they're the ones out there, instead of some creepy-scary Harbingers?"

Dash thought about that. She'd seen us fight at Ponyville and Las Pegasus, as well as heard reports of our fighting in the Zebra Empire, and the Caribou Empire. She smirked. "Heh, if it really is them, then they may not be 'Undead', but they sure are Harbingers! Harbingers of destruction!"

"Exactly!"

They both jumped. Dactyl was looking down at them again. "Humanity is the greatest plague to have EVER existed! They're FOUL, they're MONSTERS, they're TWISTED, they're DANGEROUS, they're INSANE!!!! They even destroyed their own planet just to prove that the cause that they were fighting for was right!" Dactyl paused. "And now, they're right at my doorstep, ready to destroy us all. But my question is though, WHY?!?!?! WHY ARE THEY THE WAY THAT THEY ARE!?!?!?! WHY ARE HUMANS SO IMPOSSIBLE TO UNDERSTAND?!?!?!?!"

"They do what they do, because they love us to no end, and they want what's best for us." Dash answered slowly. "We were held captive by the Zebras, and then myself, Pinkie, and Private Cole, were taken here by King Danin. Now they're here, because they want us back! If you just surrender right now, and give us back to them, then they may let you live. You won't have an empire anymore, but you'll still be alive! That's something, right?"

Dactyl didn't answer. Instead, he seemed to be slipping deeper and deeper into the depths of insanity. "No." He muttered, "No, NO!!!! The Humans will NEVER take my empire away from me!!!! And Come to think of it, NEITHER WILL DANIN!!!!! He can stay at Bryerton, but he ain't comin' back down here! I will fight to keep WHAT SHOULD HAVE RIGHTFULLY BELONGED TO ME!!!!"

Dash could see that Dactyl was beginning to become dangerously unhinged. He seemed like he could be ready to snap at any moment. She looked up towards the windows of the throne room. "Please Stud", She whispered. "Hurry! Before this maniac KILLS US!!!"

Meanwhile, elsewhere, while we were trying to plan out our final attack, we kept getting interrupted. Streams of slaves, POW's, and the Caribou defectors who helped them escape, as well as surrendering Caribou, kept popping up out of nowhere.

"Ugh, this is getting NUTS!!! Where are all of these guys even coming from?!?!?!"

Jim shrugged. "Well, from Donneth obviously! I guess that they don't want to die, so they surrendered to us. Others seem to have wanted to do the right thing, so they decided to help some slaves and POW's escape to our lines."

Don sighed. "Yeah, maybe so Jim, but with this constant stream of Caribou, slaves, and POW's, we CANNOT get our attack underway! The sun will be up any minute, and we HAVE WORK TO DO!!!!!"

Next to where he was standing, a large War Beast grunted in response. "Yeah, I agree with you Don, and so does Argus!"

Don glared in my direction. "You, my good Sir, will be standing trial after this little adventure is over! I've had it with you pulling stunts like this! And you ARE NOT keeping that beast!"

Argus growled angrily, and looked in Don's direction.

I shrugged. "Says who? I'm a fully-grown adult, and I'm fully capable of making my own decisions. Plus, once the war's over, I'm most likely going to retire from the military, and maybe build a house, before settling down with Dash and Sp......er, *cough* Dash, and raising a family. I won't be under your jurisdiction anymore, and most likely, I'll still keep Argus here!"

Don just put his hands over his face. "One year, and one rank separates us Leopard, or whatever your real name is! How did I come out ok, while you didn't?"

I was maybe about to answer, but then Don remembered how my service in the previous world wars went, as well as being tortured by the Futas for a time, and how much death and destruction I witnessed.

"Actually, on second thought, don't answer that! I've hard the stories about your past, and yeah, I didn't have to experience it the way that you did. So, I'm sorry."

I shifted a bit on Argus's saddle, before climbing down to the ground. "Apology accepted."

"Also, please tell me that the armor you're wearing under that tattered robe ISN'T Sombra's!"

"Um, would you be mad if I said yes?"

"Would you be mad if I said that I AM going to court-martial you?"

I knew where that conversation was going. I sighed. "Yeah, and I think that I see where you're going with this."

Before I could finish my explanation though, a lookout spotted something. "Um, Sir? The flow of refugees and POW's has stopped! I think that all of those who wanted to get out have, so I think that we can begin the attack now!"

Don looked through his binoculars. Sure enough, the flow had indeed stopped. "Most likely though, there are those in there who are unable to escape! Be they chained up, or in prison, or in labor camps. Which is why this battle will be the MOST CRITICAL BATTLE that we've ever fought!"

He then sighed, and turned to face the rest of the troops. He also got on the radio so that those on the Battleship Express could hear him as well.

"Ok people, listen up! This battle, will be the MOST CRITICAL battle that we have EVER fought! According to our Intel from the stream of refugees, the only ones left inside Donneth now are the fanatics, crazies, and slaves and POW's who were unable to escape. It is IMPERATIVE that we save them, all while destroying the remaining Caribou! This battle will be like the Battle of Vegas in WW6, crossed with the Battle of Berlin in WW2. This city is their second to last stronghold, and once it falls, MAYBE it will convince the rest of the holdouts to surrender!" Don then sighed. "It's been a long and hard road that we've taken together. From the run around Ponyville, to the Battle of Ponyville, to the Battle of Las Pegasus, to the defense of Dodge City, the Battle of Appaloosa, the conquest of the Zebra Empire, and now, our campaign in the Caribou Empire. This war is drawing to a close, and we will HOPEFULLY emerge victorious! The Caribou are almost out of places to run, but that brings me to how this battle will go down."

Don then sighed again, and after wiping the sweat off of his face, he continued. "The truth is people, we honestly don't know how many enemy soldiers we're facing here. According to our estimates, it could be as high as 8 million! We also have no idea of their mental states. They could be like the Japanese in the closing days of WW2, completely suicidal fanatics! They could have been brainwashed by Danin's propaganda to do terrible things when cornered!"

"But what's the plan of attack Don?" Jim asked.

"Well, first of all, we HAVE to surround the city on all sides! NOBODY will be escaping justice! We've also used our scanners to identify a handful of underground tunnels leading out of the city. While Captain Leopard, General Shining and their men were busy fighting in Carlon and Danton, my troops were busy diverting the tunnels to heavily guarded exit points. There will be NO ESCAPING THIS TIME!!!!"

We all cheered.

"Next, We knock down the walls. We suspect that it'll take more than just the railguns to knock them down, so our 16in. guns will be getting in on the act as well. Next, we hit them from the air. Lt. Hughes will be working with the gunship, and we will have our drones in the air as well.

Lastly, as always, we'll be sending in the ground forces. We will hit them from all sides, so that they will have no way to escape. Our primary objective is to get to the Imperial Palace, and rescue the hostages. After that, clear out any and all resistance, and then we tend to the refugees."

Don then turned to his communicator. "Does that sound like a good plan Princesses?"

Celestia nodded. "Affirmative Major! It sounds like a good plan!"

"I agree!" Luna added. "Just get the job done Major, and save the hostages! We'll be watching on this end, just like we were last time, so make it count!"

Don nodded. "Affirmative Princesses, we'll do our best!" Don then looked at his watch. "Ok, the time is now 5:55am. The sun will be up within minutes, and we all have to get into position. The attack will begin at 6am, and will play out from there."

"Good luck Major. We'll all be watching, and praying for you."

"Thank your for your support Princesses. And we won't let you down!"

"Roger that Major, and good luck!" The call then ended for the time being, although the video and audio feed continued.

Don then turned to the rest of us. "Ok people, we have 5 minutes, so get into your positions!"

We all complied. We all began to scurry around. I remounted Argus, and moved him over a few yards to the right, so as to be in range of attacking the front gates from the South. My men were with me, as was Aurora. Taking the city from the West were Jim and the Battleship Express. To the East were Shining and his troops. Lastly, coming down from the North were Don and his forces. All of us were well entrenched, and we were waiting for the final signal to attack. Our first target was going to be the outside of the city, where a number of Caribou were entrenched.

At 5:59, Don radioed Jim. "Are you there Jim?"

"Yeah, I'm here Don, is it time yet?"

Don nodded. "Affirmative Jim. Target the walls on all 4 sides, and then knock them down. Do whatever it takes to get them down."

"Roger that Don. We're all loaded up, and we're firing now!"

Jim then put down the radio, and gave the orders to fire.

Once again, from the train that all of our enemies feared more than anything, came more bursts of death. All of the walls were hit, and like it was previously predicted, it took rounds from both the railguns, and the 16in guns, as well as even a few missiles to cause them to collapse.

When they did though, Don gave the orders to charge. "EVERYBODY, CHARGE!!!! GET INSIDE THE CITY, AND GET TO THE HOSTAGES!!!!"

"SIR, YES SIR!!!!!"

From all directions, we all swarmed the city.

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When the holes were opened up, we all charged forwards. Leading the way on Argus, with others of my team on War Beasts and on foot and hoof following behind us, we all headed to our targets. My group's targets were the trenches that protected the city gates, which we had to clear out before the rest of our forces could come and help.

"GET TO THE TRENCHES!!!! CLEAR THEM OUT!!!!!"

"SIR, YES SIR!!!!"

It was a slaughter-fest. Our enemies never even stood a chance. Those in the trenches tried to put up a defense, but there were not enough of them, and they didn't have the weapons needed to repel us. We shot down at them, dropped grenades down there, and we even used our War Beasts to hose them down with flames! Pretty soon, all of the trenches were clear.

"Trenches clear Don! Bring on the CAT's and Deere's!!!"

"Roger that!"

From behind our forces, they once more rumbled towards their targets. The large bulldozers, loaders, and tractors carrying trailers full of more soldiers came as fast as they could across the snowy ground. Their objective? Get to the holes in the city walls and gates, and clear out the rubble for us. They would also provide cover, and some fire support with their weapons.

We all knew the difficult task that was ahead of us. We had to take out all of the Caribou, while at the same time shielding slaves, POW's, and anyone else who is not a threat. This was going to be the fight of a lifetime.

Meanwhile, inside of the city, Dactyl saw the first signs of the battle getting underway. The sun was just beginning to peek out over the tops of the mountain valley that Donneth was located in. Dactyl knew that this was most likely going to be the last sunrise before he died, so he decided to make the most of it.

Soon though, the reports began to come in.

"SIR, THE ENEMY'S BREACHED THE WALLS!!! WE NEED TO SHORE THEM UP RIGHT NOW!!!!"

"SIR, WE'VE LOST THE TRENCHES SURROUNDING THE CITY!!! ALL DEFENDERS ARE DEAD!!!!"

Dactyl turned to one of his subordinates. "What kind of assets do we still have at our disposal?"

"By my count Sir, We still have 7 million troops, weapons emplacements along the undamaged city walls, as well as our remaining mercenary forces, but they cannot be fully relied upon, as some of them have surrendered, and they are not at their full strength. We also have our military garrisons, and of course, the Imperial Palace itself is a fortress, so we're covered there."

Dactyl nodded. "Send in our ground forces. Most likely by now, they know about the tunnels, and have either closed them off, or diverted them to points that are all heavily watched. We HAVE to defend this city! Remember, we STILL have the advantages of numbers, as well as home field advantage, plus, we do have bargaining chips!" He gestured towards Dash and Pinkie. "We can still win this fight!"

The officer nodded. "As you wish, My Prince!" He then left to go fulfill his prince's wishes.

When Dash heard that, she looked over at Dactyl. "Um, y-you weren't being serious about using us as bargaining chips.....were you?"

"Yes, I was being perfectly serious. The only thing that they will be getting back today, will be 2 body bags. However, that is only if they managed to get in here. Your deaths will only be a last resort, and I mean LAST RESORT!!! Even I will fight to keep them out of here if it comes to that. However, if I fail", He picked up a pistol, "Then we all die!"

Dash buried her face into her hands. Pinkie leaned against her to comfort her. They knew that time was of the essence for them now, and that that day, could very well be their last day alive.

Down below them in the harem chamber, Cole and Winston were STILL hard at work trying to come up with a plan. They could feel the vibrations of the battle, so they knew that it had begun.

"We have to hurry Cole! They could be on top of us at any moment!"

"I know, I KNOW!!!! However, I still think that we have a little bit of time, not that it really matters. We're stuck in here until they find us. However, I still think that we should be waiting closer to the door." He looked back down the room. "Hey Missy?"

"Yeah Cole?"

"Could you bring your bed up here? You're gonna want to be close at hand when they get here."

She nodded. "Sure!" She then went up with Cole and Winston to wait.

During their time over the past day or so, they had managed to free all of the slaves who had black collars, as they also wanted to be ready to escape as well. The Purples were left where they were, as were the Reds, as they weren't going to be of any help.

"So, what do we do now?"

Cole sighed. "There's not much that we can do. That door can only be unlocked from the outside, and we don't have anything that we can use to work with it to get it open from our end. We're stuck in here until we're rescued, which hopefully won't be too much longer."

Winston shook his head. "Well, at least this area is built like a bunker. It's heavily protected in the event of an attack, so I guess that we just wait it out. I would say that we bang on the walls, but that could just trigger someone coming down here to kill us all."

Cole thought about that. "Um, yeah, you're right. So I'd say that we only bang on the walls if we have confirmation that my comrades are inside."

Then, with Missy sitting in his lap, and Winston and the other black Collars sitting close by, they all continued to listen to the sounds of the battle playing out above them.

Meanwhile, back outside in the city itself, we were facing some of the stiffest resistance of the entire war. This time, the Caribou were ready for us, and had barricaded themselves behind piles of rubble, and inside buildings, some of which we later learned contained slaves. We literally had to clear out each individual building one at a time.

"Great!" I muttered. "Somehow, I KNEW that this was going to happen! They're using slaves as living shields, and now we have to keep using head shots!"

I had dismounted from Argus at this point, and was using my rifle while taking cover behind a barricade. Aurora was right next to me. Suddenly, I saw a large wave of Caribou heading straight towards us!

"Aurora, we've got incoming on our 12 O'clock! Can you get us some frag grenades over there please?"

She nodded. "Sure thing Master!" She then launched some over that way, and once they'd exploded, we picked off the survivors.

"Thanks Aurora!"

She smiled. "Anytime Master!"

We all continued to hold our ground.

For the other groups, they were only having slightly better luck. For Jim and the Battleship Express crew, they just had to shoot at anyone who came their way. For Don and Shining though, they were running into most of the same problems that my team and I were facing. The Caribou were using slaves as shields, and they were hiding themselves in buildings that were full of slaves. It was not a pretty situation.

"Are you guys seeing this?! This is INSANITY!!!!"

"Yeah, no kidding Don!" I agreed. "The sun's just barely up, we're just barely inside, and ALREADY they're acting like this!"

"And just imagine what could happen when we reach the Imperial Palace!" Shining warned.

"I....don't even want to think about that!" I feared for Dash's safety.

"Which is why we HAVE to keep pushing forwards!" Don interjected. "We're beginning to whittle their numbers down, and eventually, they could literally run out of soldiers to send us! Remember, Donneth is the only city here for 450 miles! All around us are mountains and farmland. They have no reinforcements!"

"Yeah, BUT NEITHER DO WE!!!"

"I know General Shining! However, that situation may change. I did get the word from Princess Celestia that her engineers have gotten to work on repairing the Highland Trestle Bridge, and that work was maybe 35% complete. There are also more reinforcements coming our way, and they should be here before long."

"Let's just hope so!" I yelled over the roar of the battle. "If this keeps up, we could be in SERIOUS trouble!"

"And how far are you away from the Imperial Palace?"

I laughed. "Was that a joke Don? Because if not, we're MAYBE 150 yards away from the front gates where we started from! THAT'S just how much resistance we're up against!"

Don sighed. "Just keep pushing Leopard! We're boxing them in from all sides. I know that this could turn into a dangerous situation, but the truth is, only two groups are going to storm the Palace, while the rest stay behind to mop up resistance. Normally, I would put you as FAR AWAY from the action as possible, given your current background, HOWEVER, since Dash is YOUR responsibility, and since Pinkie's is Dan's, you'll be the one leading the assault on the fortress. Shining and his forces will be the ones to back you up. Do you think that you can handle that?"

I nodded. "Sure thing Don! Provided of course that we could ever get even CLOSE to the objective! These Caribou REALLY have it out for us right now!"

"Just keep doing your best. The reinforcements are arriving now, and will hopefully be able to make a difference in this battle."

"Ok, roger that Don!" I then turned to the rest of my troops. "Ok guys, we push forwards to the Palace! Don said that we and General Shining's forces are going to be the ones to storm it!"

They all cheered, and then we all got back to fighting.

Meanwhile, back in the PCC, Twilight and Applejack were watching the battle unfold with Jim, as well as the Princesses.

"So how do you think that this will go Jim?" Twilight asked.

Jim shrugged. "According to the most recent reports, it's anyone's battle at this point. The lines are fighting back and forth, and nobody's really getting anywhere."

"And, what do y'all think are the chances of them rescuin' Dash n' Pinkie Pie?"

Jim sighed. "Alive and well, or in body bags?"

They both looked at each other with tears in their eyes. Then they looked at Jim, but they couldn't say anything. They just cried.

"It would take a miracle". Jim muttered. "We've been able to work them in the past, but I'd say that this time, it would take more than just a miracle. It would take......"

"Magic?" Twilight asked.

Jim shrugged. "Something like that. I wouldn't know anything about Magic, as I'm a Human-Earth Pony, but it would take something incredibly strong to pull off the magical miracle that we would need."

They all sighed, and continued to think about that, completely unaware of what was about to happen in Donneth.

Back in the streets, Shining and I had managed to link up, and with the new reinforcements, we continued our drive forwards.

"KEEP MOVING FORWARDS!!!!" I yelled. "THEY HAVE TO BE RUNNING LOW ON REINFORCEMENTS!!!!!"

We all kept shooting at them. Every now and again though, some of our guys would make "rescue runs", and save slaves, and other prisoners from buildings, before getting them to safety. The best in the business was 1st Sergeant Phil Collins and his squad.

"Keep it coming guys!" He yelled. "These slaves need saving, and we’re the best that there is!"

"Keep up the good work Phil! You guys are real slave-saving machines!"

"Just keep protecting us like you’re doing Captain Leopard, and we'll be fine!"

"Roger that!"

Our plan was for us to keep shooting to protect them, but unfortunately, that plan was about to go severely awry. Phil and his team had just completed clearing out a building on the street that we were on, saving 6 slaves in the process; 3 Black Collars, and 3 Red Collars. They thought that they had killed all of the Caribou, but unfortunately, they were wrong. One of the ones inside that building, Frandt, was only fatally wounded.

"If.....one dies......" He muttered as he lined up a missile shot at Phil and his group, "THEY.....ALL DIE!!!" He fired the missile.

All of us heard the missile discharge. A few of us spotted it incoming.

"PHIL, LOOK OUT!!!!" I screamed.

From what I could tell, Phil and his troops did see the missile, but they were unable to do anything about it, aside from tossing the slaves in our general direction.

Moments after they did, the rocket hit the ground next to them, and very close to the rest of us, and the last thing that I saw for a moment, was pure white.

I was blasted against a pile of rubble. Aurora was knocked next to me, as were a number of others. Shining landed across the street on a cart, and the rest of our troops were lying willy-nilly all over the place. A number had been hurt, some of them seriously.

When I finally managed to pick myself up from the rubble, I found a slave lying on top of me. At first, I thought that she was just unconscious, but then I saw a huge chunk of shrapnel sticking out of her back. She was dead. She had lost her life to save mine. I gently moved her off of myself, and laid her on the ground. "Rest now, my Dear." I whispered to her. "You're free now. Nobody can ever hurt you again." I then removed my helmet, and gave her a moment of silence. Then I turned to the others.

"Hey, Headcount. How many of you guys are still ok?!"

I saw a few of the guys get back up, followed by others. I then remembered who the missile had been aimed at. "Oh Celestia, PHIL!!!! PHIL, WHERE ARE YOU!!!"

I turned around, and all I could see was a pile of rubble, with a lot of bloodstains on it. "PHIL!!!" I ran over to it. Aurora was right behind me. What I found when I got there though, was worse than I could have possibly imagined. All I could see were pieces of bodies. I then spotted Phil's remains, as well as the remains of his men. I could only recognize them because of their helmets, as their bodies were burned and blasted beyond recognition.

"SIR, WE'VE GOT INCOMING!!!!" Someone yelled.

"THEY'RE RIGHT MASTER!!!" Aurora screamed. "THERE'S MORE COMING!!!!"

Sure enough, the Caribou had been lying in wait for just the right moment to strike. Now that they had an opening, with all of us disorganized, they took advantage of the opportunity, and charged straight towards us. They didn't know it yet, but what they were about to do would be the last mistake that any of them would ever make.

I was devastated. They had not only killed one of our best sergeants in cold blood, but also his men, and even 3 of the 6 unarmed slaves! (The other 3 would survive, although they were injured.) That was it. I. Was. DONE!

I turned to my troops. "Stand down. I've got this. Phil and his troops were MY responsibility, so now I WILL avenge them!!!" The most chilling thing was that I had just said that in a voice so cold that it seemingly had no emotions in it at all.

"Sir, what do you mean?!" Dan asked.

I didn't answer. Instead, I went over to Argus, and whispered something to him that sounded like I was summoning a demon. Argus seemed enraged, but he stayed where he was. I then stepped out into the middle of the road, facing towards the charging Caribou.

"You, killed some of my best soldiers, as well as UNARMED, DEFENSELESS SLAVES!!!!!" I roared. "THIS....IS THE LAST......GOSH-DAMN....STRAW!!!!"

Then, as those around me began to watch in shock and horror, I seemingly began to change. As Dan himself later described it, "The area around him seemingly got very dark. It was just like he was when he tamed the War Beast, but only this time, it was something much more intense. This was something not natural. When I looked at Leopard, I didn't see Leopard, instead, I saw something much, much worse!"

I then threw off my tattered cloak, revealing Sombra's armor that I was wearing underneath. In that moment, Sombra himself was so shocked by what had just happened that even he lost control of me. I was now my own man, with his powers!

"Oh shit!!! LEOPARD'S GOING SUPER-SAYAN!!!!!" Someone yelled.

"GET DOWN!!!" Shining screamed.

I then went completely ballistic.

(1:56-2:32)

Still to this day, I can barely remember anything at all from my rampage with Sombra's powers. It's all just a blur, like a distant dream. However, nobody else could forget what happened. From what they told me later, I was able to form a pretty clear picture.

I was using powers that even I didn't even know that I had! I blasted the Caribou with my Sombra's Magic, beat them with objects that should have been far too heavy for me to lift, took flight, grabbed several at once in a whirlwind tornado, bashed them all together, and then threw them in multiple directions.

None of the troops had ever seen ANYTHING like what they were witnessing right then. Up until that point, none of them, not even Shining, who had actually seen what Sombra was capable of, could believe that the magic that he had could even do anything even REMOTELY close to what I was pulling off right then!

However, even though what I was doing was absolutely insane, I was clearing a path for the rest of the troops. In the entire area that we were in, no Caribou were left alive.

Then, I stopped for a moment, and seemingly came to myself again. I turned back, and gave a shrill whistle. Argus was in front of me in an instant. "Good boy!" I said, climbing back up into his saddle.

I then turned back to the rest of the soldiers. "Well what are you guys waiting for, an INVITATION?!?!?!?! When life gives you lemons, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth, YOU MAKE LEMONADE!!!" I then turned Argus towards the direction of the Imperial Palace, and rode off towards it, Sombra's red cape flowing behind me.

Shining looked towards the others. "What he said! Now come on! He's just given us an opening! LET'S GO!!!!" He led the charge after me.

"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT GENERAL SHINING?!?!?!?" Dan asked. "WHAT HE DID WAS LITERALLY BORDERLINE DEMONIC!!!!"

Shining shrugged. "Maybe so, but yet, he did the right thing. If those Caribou were willing to literally kill unarmed slaves to keep us from killing them, then at least Leopard was able to stop them before they could do that ever again! He just saved us all for sure. Plus, if he WAS Sombra, he would have most likely killed ALL OF US as well! I think I'm finally beginning to see it now; Leopard isn't Sombra, he's Sombra reborn! Just a Human-Bat-Pony hybrid, with Sombra's powers!"

"YEAH, IT'S F@#KING INSANE, AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY!!!!"

Shining shrugged. "Maybe not, but it works!" They all kept coming.

Up ahead of them, I paused for a brief moment to collect my bearings. It was then though that my sensitive ears picked up a loud scream. I knew that scream.

"DASHIE!!!!!" I screamed back. "HANG ON, I'M COMING FOR YOU!!!!!"

I then continued my charge towards the Imperial Palace.

For Dactyl, the reports were at times grim, but at other times, they were at least somewhat promising.

"Sir, we have taken rather heavy losses, but we are holding the enemy back, at least for the time being!"

"Sir, we're beginning to run low on troops! The enemy is holding their positions, and they manage to slaughter most of the soldiers that we send their way! What do we do?!"

Dactyl sighed. "What we're supposed to do, we keep fighting, although now, we need to focus on breaking this stalemate. The enemy is holding their positions, but yet at the same time, they're also whittling our forces down as well. We need to figure out a way to drive them out of here for GOOD!!!"

However, when Dactyl began to hear the reports of warriors using slaves as shields, he was absolutely outraged. "How DARE they have the AUDACITY!!!! Those COWARDS!!!" He roared. He then threatened to kill those who used slaves as shields, or used them to protect themselves himself for their cowardly actions.

Suddenly though, Dactyl heard what sounded like a massive explosion outside in the city streets. "What in the world....???" He went over to see what it was. When he did, he got the shock of his life. There, flying in the sky above the city, dealing out death to the Caribou below, was the harbinger to end all harbingers. Dactyl recognized him all too well.

"S-S-SOMBRA!!!" He cried. "B-b-but it c-can't be!!!!" He'd heard all too many times the stories handed down to him from his father and grandfather about Sombra, and how much death and destruction that he had wrought on the first Caribou Empire so many years ago. He had also heard from his brother Danin that Sombra had returned through one of the Human Officers, but he had never believed it. Now, he was not so sure.

From where they were, when they heard the name 'Sombra', both Dash and Pinkie became extremely afraid.

"But, it can't be! Sombra died when Cadence and Shining Armor retook the Crystal Empire! He's DEAD!!!"

"Or is he?" Pinkie said with wide eyes. "Remember, we never CONFIRMED him to be dead! We just ASSUMED that he was! His horn and armor were shot off, but they were never found! What if somepony found them, and now THEY'RE Sombra?!"

Dash was scared. She had thought about this being a possibility, but up until that moment, she had never believed it. "Yeah, but who? Who did Sombra attach himself to? Who's Sombra reborn?!"

Dactyl turned towards her, and was maybe about to answer, but then, due to some vibrations, a section of ceiling suddenly broke loose, and fell right towards Dash and Pinkie!

"LOOK OUT!!!" Dactyl screamed.

"AAAHHHH!!!!" Dash screamed. (The same scream that I heard from where I was.)

Both she and Pinkie were able to dodge the ceiling chunk, and it smashed to the floor harmlessly.

"Are you guys alright?!" Dactyl ran over to them.

"Yeah....we're.....fine." Dash said softly.

Suddenly, one of the guards came into the throne room. "MY PRINCE!!! KING SOMBRA, THE LEADER OF THE UNDEAD HARBINGERS, JUST MADE IT ONTO THE PALACE GROUNDS!!!! HE'S COMING FOR US ALL!!!"

Dash and Pinkie then screamed, and cowered in fear. Dactyl took charge. "Ok, and he DOES NOT get in here!!! SHUT, LOCK, BOLT, AND SECURE ALL DOORS AND WINDOWS, INCLUDING THESE THRONE ROOM DOORS!!!!"

"SIR, YES SIR!!!"

"AND STOP THAT MONSTER BY WHATEVER MEANS ARE NECESSARY!!! HE CANNOT GET IN HERE!!!"

"SIR, YES SIR!!!"

The guard then took his place by the throne room doors, which were then shut, locked, bolted, and secured. Then he and the guards in the room, totaling 31 of the best warriors that the Caribou Empire had to offer, all prepared themselves to lay down their lives for their prince.

Even Dactyl himself prepared. He gave Dash and Pinkie helmets, as well as shields to protect themselves. He then grabbed his own helmet, sword, and shield, and made ready to defend himself as well.

All of them silently waited in that throne room, waiting, to meet their destiny.

Meanwhile, outside of the city, Don and his forces were wholly perplexed when they suddenly saw what appeared to be a mass of shadow inside of the city.

"What the.....what?" Don then grabbed his radio. "Leopard, Leopard! Do you copy?! What's going on in there?!"

No answer.

"General Shining, are you there?!"

After a moment, a reply came. "Yeah, I'm here Major!"

"What's going on in there General, and where's Leopard?!"

"Um....yeah, about that.......do you want the long or the short version?"

"Um, why do I get the feeling that something really bad's just happened?"

"Um....well....." Shining then explained everything that just happened, from the death of Phil, his squad, and the slaves, to my going ballistic over that, and the amount of damage that caused. "....So that's where we all currently sit Major. We're all chasing after Leopard as fast as we can go, and we're RAPIDLY closing in on the Imperial Palace! We're almost to the end!"

Don looked down at his watch. The time was 11am. All of us had now been awake for nearly 24 hours. Some of us even longer than that! At the same time, he was also trying to keep from fainting. Time and time again I had pulled stunts like this, but yet, each time, the results were always positive for us.

"I.......Don't even know what to say right now General.....just, get the job done! Save the hostages!!!"

Shining saluted. "Sir, yes Sir!"

He then got back to following in my wake. All of the soldiers knew that the battle was drawing to a close, and whatever happened in the next few hours, would decide the fate of everything!

Author's Note

Whoa! I promised an action-packed chapter, and I SURE delivered, didn't I? So now the Battle of Donneth is nearing the end of the line, but it's not over yet! There's still MORE to go! I thought about just creating a part 2 for this, but then I realized, that that really didn't fit the mood, so instead, I created a new chapter, Chapter 26: Hour of Reckoning! It's going to maybe be a little bit shorter than a usual chapter, but don't worry, it will still be action-packed let me tell you!

So now, with the Battle for Donneth drawing to a close, what's going to happen? Will we be able to rescue the hostages, or will Dactyl just kill them? Will I ever be able to get a full handle on Sombra's powers, or am I really doomed to just follow down the same path that he took? And will Sombra ever get his full powers back, and what'll happen to him if and when he does? Well, you know the drill! Stay tuned for Chapter 26, (Which should HOPEFULLY be out later on tonight, or tomorrow morning sometime!) and I'll tell you!

As always, comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story, are always appreciated, and I'll see you all in Chapter 26! This is the chapter that decides the fate of everything, so DON'T YOU DARE MISS IT!!!!

ScarFox out for now!