Of course, while everyone, and everypony else was all wrapped up in being shocked about this new development, I was still racing to the rescue with my soldiers, Shining, and his soldiers were still right behind me, even though they were still a ways back.

"We have to make it there Argus", I muttered as I continued to ride, "We just HAVE TO!!!"

"And we WILL!!!" He seemed to say. We continued on our way to the Imperial Palace.

When I arrived close to it a minute or so later, I stopped Argus, and took a good hard minute to examine it. Unlike the Imperial Palace in Zebrica, which resembled a palace from Ancient Babylon or Persia, this one looked more like a fortress from Medieval Europe. It was big, it was fortified, and it had visible Gothic-style architecture as well. It looked like a combination of a castle, a Medieval fortress, a Gothic-styled church, an Ancient Roman palace, and the Reichstag Parliament Building in Berlin, Germany!

"Wow", I muttered, "Now THAT'S a palace to be proud of!"

I also saw that the Palace itself was surrounded by high walls, and metal gates, in addition to a number of guard houses as well.

"Huh, so it has some security measures in place. Great. Nothing I can't handle!"

I then decided to work my magic once more. With Sombra's direction, I cooked up a massive fireball with my gauntlet covered hands.

I smirked. "FUS RO DAH!!!" I yelled, before releasing the fireball. Let's just say that I may have SLIGHTLY miscalculated just how big that fireball needed to be! I meant for it to just knock a hole in the front gates. Instead, I took out the front gates, the walls up to 10 feet away from the gates, a number of soldiers stationed on the palace grounds, the front lawn fountain, (I have a tendency to be a real dick to fountains during battles. #FountainLivesMatter!) parts of the columns close to the front doors, and finally, the front doors themselves!

When I saw the destruction that I had just wrought, I was shocked beyond belief! "HOLY.....!!!! THIS IS INSANE!!!"

"Yeah, I know! This is what I was able to do while I was still alive Sweetheart! Enjoy it while you still can!" Sombra then clamped a spirit hand over his mouth, and prayed that I didn't catch on to what he'd just said. Fortunately for him, I either didn't, or I chose to ignore him for the time being. At any rate, I was through the front gates, as well as most of its defenses, and I had a marefriend to save!

For the time being, I dismounted from Argus, although he did follow along behind me. I then picked up my trusty fire-ax, and calmly began to walk inside of the palace grounds.

"HEY, SOMEBODY STOP HIM!!!" A soldier yelled.

I just smirked. "Heh, this is going to be so much FUN!!!"

The Caribou that tried to stop me never even knew what hit them. Thanks to Sombra's Magic, as well as my ability to fly, I was too fast for them. Almost as fast as they could blink, I was flying circles around them, and then, one by one, they all fell down with their throats slashed. Several others were chopped up with my ax, and one even got my hatchet to his face! Just like the Caribou Commander Marks, the blow killed him. Pretty soon, I ran out of enemies to kill on the palace grounds, and although a few did linger behind, the rest fled inside of the Palace.

"Ok, so I'll leave those for Shining when he gets here, but in the meantime," I whistled for Argus. "I have a job to do!" I then proceeded across the rest of the grounds, before climbing up the palace front stairs, and I entered through what was left of the front doors.

I looked inside. The interior was lined with intervals by columns, and the walls were painted a mixture of blue and gray. Great tapestries, paintings, and other works of art adorned the walls, and there were also torches at intervals as well. The floor was made of white and black tile, and was covered in the center by a long red carpet. Between the columns were rows of what appeared to be suits of armor.

I watched all of them warily. "One can never be too sure in a place like this", I muttered. I poked each and every suit, just to make sure that it was empty. For the most part, they were.

"Empty, empty, empty, just contains the metal frame supporting it....." Suddenly though, one of the suits grabbed my wrist! "And....THAT'S what I was afraid of!" Several other suits began to move as well. I counted 5 in total. After blasting the one who grabbed me in the face with my trusty Glock, I left him in a pool of blood.

I then turned to the others. "Alright tin cans, let's dance!"

They tried to fight me, but just like before, I felt Sombra's Magic surge through me once again. I began to learn how to control it better. This time, I used his Magic to first disarm the armored Caribou, before basically tossing them around the corridor like rag dolls. Eventually, when I was bored, I let them fall, and then one by one, I picked them up with my magic, and flung them towards me before swinging my ax at them, usually taking their heads off!

"Here's the wind-up, and the pitch!" *Slash* "It's another home run!"

I could also feel the Magic flowing through my ax as well. I was also carrying Sombra's staff with me, although I hadn't used it yet. I was planning on using it for my fight with Danin.

"Now then, which way is it to the throne room?" Looking over to one of the walls to my left, I noticed a map. I found where I was standing close to the main entrance, and then I saw the throne room up on Level 3. "Ok, so there's 6 levels here in total, and the Throne Room is up on Level 3. I'm on Level 1, so that just leaves 2 levels to go!"

I then began to marched off to find some stairs, with Argus following right behind me. What I didn't know were 2 things; first, my presence there didn't go unnoticed, and indeed, a large group of soldiers were heading my way. And secondly, the harem chamber, where Cole, Winston, Missy, and the others were, was actually there on Level 1 as well. If I had gone to my right, walked to the end of the hallway, turned left, then right, and walked a little bit further, I would have found them.

However, I had already picked up Dash's scent by that point, and I was going to follow it. The harem chamber would be liberated by others.

While all of this was happening, somewhere out in the streets of Donneth, General Stuggs was suddenly coming around again. His ears were ringing, and his vision was blurry, and then he realized that he was lying face down on the ground.

"Huh.....what......?" He mumbled as he struggled to roll over and sit up. When he did, he looked down at himself. He was bloodied, bruised, his uniform was in tatters, and he felt like he'd just gotten run over by a train. All around him lay the corpses of his troops.

Then he remembered what had happened. "The......missile blast......" His forces had been attacking Don's forces, until Don called for a missile strike. Now, as far as Stuggs could see, he was the only survivor of that.

"S-S-Stugs......" A voice muttered. "H-h-help....me...."

Stuggs looked around, but he didn't see anyone. "Um, h-hello? Who's there?"

"O-over.....here. Under the.....beams...."

Stuggs looked, and to his shock and horror, there lay Rodin! He was lying on his back, and was partially buried in fallen debris. He had been blasted out of the second floor of a nearby building, and landed in the street. Falling debris from the same building then fell on him.

"RODIN!!!" He then crawled over to his friend and comrade. "Are....you ok?"

Rodin looked pretty bad. He was burned, bleeding, and his uniform was all in tatters as well. From his waist down, his lower body was hidden by fallen debris.

"N-no....I c-c-can't.....FEEL MY LEGS!!!!"

"J-just, hold still Rodin. You may have damaged your spine." Stuggs then shakily made it back to his hooves, and after reaching Rodin, managed to partially dig him out.

"OUGH, OUCH!!!!" He yelled, "I CAN FEEL THAT!!!"

"Um....ok, then that means that maybe you just broke your back." He finished getting Rodin out, and once he was clear, he pulled him free of the wreckage.

Rodin continued to groan in pain, and Stuggs did what he could for his old friend. They were the only survivors of their entire units.

Stuggs then sighed. "Rodin, I think that you know what we have to do now." He began to get up.

"N-no, what....???"

Stuggs then picked his comrade up gently, and began to walk with him towards the enemy lines!

"NO!!!! STUGSS, WHAT THE F@#K ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!"

"Two things Rodin. Firstly, I'm saving your life. You need medical help, and there really aren't any facilities left in Donneth that can help you. Secondly, I'm saving BOTH of our lives! I'm surrendering us both to the Humans. Danin left us both to die, which clearly shows that he doesn't care about us. Let's defy the odds, and survive."

"This is treason! High treason! You've just defected!"

Stuggs sighed. Rodin had always been much more hard-core than he was. "Rodin, please listen to me very carefully. I know that you're upset with me right now, but trust me. One day, you will look back on this moment, and thank me for saving your life!" Rodin continued to struggle a bit. Stuggs sighed. "Rodin, you have the right to remain silent. If you give that up, anything that you say may be used against you in a military court......." Stuggs then continued to give Rodin his rights before finally reaching Don's lines, and surrendering the both of them to them.

Rodin was picked up on a stretcher, while Stuggs was tied up. "Well", He thought as he was being led away, "Even though we're both screwed Rodin, at least we live to die another day."

Meanwhile, at around this time, Shining and the others reached the palace grounds.

"Oh gosh! If I had to guess, I'd say that Leopard was already here!"

"Yeah, no kidding!" Dan agreed. He and the others looked all around at the twisted wreckage, and the dead bodies. They cautiously entered the palace grounds. They did spot a few Caribou soldiers, but they were quickly able to put them down.

"Any idea where Leopard could have gone?"

Dan shrugged. "Well, to go find Dash would be my guess. However, it's anyone's guess as to where he is right now!"

Shining sighed. "Yeah, I know, so how do we find him?!"

Dan was about to shrug as well, but the, he had an idea. "Hey, wait a minute! Where's his wolf? Where's Aurora?"

"Right here Dan!" She trotted up to him.

Dan looked down at her. "Ok, great. Now then Aurora, I need you to find Leopard! Find your master! Most likely, he's going to run into trouble at some point, and we have to find him!"

Aurora nodded. "Sure thing Dan!" She then put her nose to the ground. "Ok, I've got his scent, follow me!" She then bounded off towards the palace. Just before the others could follow her though, there suddenly came loud shouting from the palace, before a number of bodies suddenly got thrown through the windows up on the second level!

"WHOA, LOOK OUT!!!!" Shining yelled. The groups scattered.

Once the avalanche of bodies stopped, they cautiously crept forwards to see what had just happened. On the palace grounds in front of them, were a number of bodies of Caribou. All of them were soldiers, and they appeared to have been either hit with an ax, or shot.

"Is this.....Leopard's doing?" Dan asked nervously.

"It HAS to be!" Shining said worriedly, "Which is why we have to get to him now!" They all then charged into the palace.

Meanwhile, in the actual harem chamber itself, everyone was still waiting. Suddenly however, the sounds of battle became VERY loud.

"Hey, did you guys hear that?" Cole put his ear close to the door.

"Do you hear something?" Missy asked.

Cole's eyes got very wide. "Yeah, I can hear my comrades! THEY'RE HERE!!!"

That was all it took. As soon as Cole had said that, all of the Black Collar slaves, as well as him, Missy, and Winston, all began to pound on the door, as well as the metal frame next to it.

"HEY!!! WE'RE IN HERE!!!! CAN ANYONE OUT THERE HEAR US?!?!?!?!"

They kept banging and shouting, hoping that someone would hear them.

Back in the main entrance hallway, the rest of the guys were really shocked by my path of destruction.

"Wow, Leopard sure did a number in here!"

"Yeah, no kidding!"

They all then looked at Aurora, who suddenly stopped.

Dan walked over to her. "Huh? What is it Aurora? Why did you stop?"

She pointed to the right with a paw. "Even though Master's scent goes to the left, I'm hearing a lot of shouting and banging coming from the right down there. I think that there's a lot of somebodies down there who need help!"

Dan listened, and sure enough, she was right. "Hey! I think that somebody else knows that we're here, and they're trying to signal us!"

Shining and the others raced over to him. "Are you sure Dan?" Then they heard the banging and shouting too.

"Yeah, you're right! Ok, we split up. Half of us continue to follow Leopard with Aurora, while the rest of us go and see what all the noise is!"

In the end, Shining took a group to go and investigate the banging ans shouting, while the rest went with Dan to continue to follow me.

"What could all of that noise even be?" Someone asked.

Shining shrugged. "I don't know. Most likely, it's some slaves who need to be rescued, or maybe it's some POW's."

"Could.....it be the hostages?"

"Eh, possible, but not likely. I think that if it was the hostages, then Leopard most likely would have already found them by now."

They continued to press onward. Every now and again, they did meet some Caribou resistance, but for the most part, their path towards the noises was clear. Eventually, they reached their target, which was a large metal door.

Shining then began to bang on his end of it. "HEY IN THERE!!!! IS ANYPONY HOME?!?!"

For a moment, there was silence. Then, a voice answered. "Hey! Who's out there?! Have you come to rescue us?!"

To the surprise of Shining and the others, the voice was male. "Yes, we're here to help you! I'm General Shining Armor from the Equestrian Army! Who are you?"

"GENERAL SHINING?!?! This is Private Cole of Battalion 4009!"

"PRIVATE COLE?!?!?! And is anypony else in there with you?! What's behind this door?!"

"Yes, I'm here! And I'm here with my Caribou girlfriend Missy, a Caribou servant named Winston, as well as a ton of other slaves! This whole room is a harem chamber!"

"WHAT?!?!?! A HAREM CHAMBER?!?!"

"Yes, so please get us out! The only way out is on your end! There's no hardware on this side!"

"OK, just stay calm, we'll get this door open as fast as we can!"

Cole shrugged. "No hurries, take your time! We're in no immediate danger, so take your time and do the job right!"

"And are Dash and Pinkie in there with you?"

Cole shook his head. "They were, but unfortunately a day or so ago, they were taken up to the throne room. I was left behind, and Winston, who's the servant who cares for all of us, and is a good friend of mine, was locked in here as well! That door was not going to be opened again until the battle was over!"

"Ok Cole, and get away from the door! We can't figure out how this locking system works, so we're just going to have to blast it!"

"Right!" Cole then turned to the others. "EVERYPONY GET BACK, THEY'RE GONNA BLOW THE LOCK!!!"

There was a sound of hooves scurrying to get away from the door. Winston also lay face down on the floor with his hands over his head, just in case somepony got the wrong idea, and shot him!

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!" Shining yelled.

Then, moments later, the door's lock got blasted in, and after using other tools, they finally managed to get the door open. Once they were inside though, what they found almost made them want to throw up. Somewhat close to the door on their right, they saw a weary looking Human who was holding a Caribou cow, both of whom were naked. Next to them on the floor was another Caribou who had his hands over his head. Beyond them though, was an entire room full of slaves. Like Cole had said, the whole room was indeed a harem chamber.

"My god! Is this what it was like liberating a concentration camp in Futa-held territory?" Someone asked.

Shining then looked down at the Human. "Um, Private Cole, I presume?"

He nodded. "In the flesh. And this is my girlfriend, Missy, that's Winston", He pointed to the Caribou male on the floor, "And please don't hurt him! He's not like the others! He took care of all of us, and told us news of the war! He's a traitor to Danin's regime!"

"Is this true, Winston?" Shining asked.

Winston raised his head up just enough to look Shining in the eyes. "Yes Sir! I fed the slaves, gave them water, comforted them, and even helped to shield them from those who would do them harm. I even have the keys right here to unlock the rest of the slaves from their restraints." He held up a set of keys, which Shining took.

Shining then looked over the rest of the room. "Secure this room, and start moving these slaves out of here! Get them to the Safe Zone, and the rest of you start taking pictures for evidence!"

"Yes Sir!"

"Um, do any of you guys have a spare uniform? The Caribou kinda stole mine. And if you would also have something for Missy, that would be great too."

Someone gave Cole a fresh uniform and underwear, which he put on, and they found a pair of sweatpants, and an over-sized T-shirt for Missy, even though they didn't fit her very well.

Shining then grabbed his radio. "Major Don, come in please!"

"I'm here General, what is it? Did you find something?"

"Yes Major, I did. We've manage to find and secure Private Cole, as well as a Caribou cow that he says is his girlfriend. Both of them are safe, in addition to a whole harem full of slaves, and their caretaker, who according to Cole and the few black-collar slaves, was a Caribou traitor."

Don was beside himself with joy. "YOU'VE FOUND PRIVATE COLE?!?!?! THAT'S GREAT GENERAL!!!!"

Shining nodded. He then explained the rest of the situation.

"Yes, collect all of the evidence that you all can find. Then get Cole, his girlfriend, and that caretaker to the train, and move the rest of the slaves to the Safe Zone! We have to get them to safety now!" (The Safe Zone was a refugee camp located well away from the battle in the town of Hilden where all of the the slaves that we'd liberated were currently being cared for by medical staff. They'd even found a way to reverse the Purple Collars's craziness!)

Shining nodded. "Ok, roger that Major, Shining out for now!"

"Oh, wait, General, before you go, we've made a good catch of our own out here!"

Shining was curious. "Oh, and what would that be Major?"

"Well, we've managed to capture both General Stuggs, as well as General Rodin!"

"WHAT?!?!?! REALLY?!?!?!"

Don nodded. "Yeah! We thought that they were killed, and Rodin's back does appear to be broken, but Stuggs brought him to us, and surrendered himself and Rodin."

"And where are they now?"

"Well, Stuggs is being held under guard, while Rodin's having his injuries tended to. His back may have to be operated on, but nevertheless, both of them WILL be standing trial for war-crimes when this all ends!"

Shining nodded. "Ok, roger that Major, we'll get back to work here!" Shining then terminated the call.

He then saw Cole, Missy, Winston, and the rest of the slaves on their way to safety as far as the palace grounds before other soldiers came to escort them the rest of the way.

"They're safe now", Shining thought to himself. "Now then, all that's left to be done is to get to Captain Leopard before he gets killed!"

Shining and his remaining soldiers then got back to following Dan and his troops once they had confirmation from Jim that the slaves, Cole, Missy, and Winston had all arrived safely.

Meanwhile, above them and slightly before Cole and the others had been liberated, Argus and I were fighting our way up to Level 2. I was eventually able to locate the stairs, which we then managed to get up as quickly as we could. Once we were up on Level 2 though, that was where the REAL challenge really began. Now I started meeting some of those soldiers that Dactyl sent my way. This time though, I decided to start taking cover. Using my Glock, I picked off some of the soldiers, before I quickly got bored of that, and decided to have a little more fun. After popping a fresh clip into my Glock, I then grabbed my ax again, and went to town. This time though, once I'd killed somebody, I tossed their bodies out of a nearby window! (This was what Shining and the others witnessed down below on the palace grounds.)

I turned that entire 2nd level into a killing field. Right and left Caribou soldiers were killed, and their bodies were either tossed out of a window, down a stairwell, or into a wall. The floors really began to run red with blood.

Inside of me, Sombra fully believed that his time was coming. "Enjoy my powers while you still have them Sweetheart!" he thought. "Because once you've killed Danin, then I'll be able to come back fully!" He then laughed to himself, seemingly completely unaware that not only had Danin left, leaving his brother Dactyl behind, but that his powers no longer answered to him. Instead, they answered to their new host, Yours Truly!

I paused on the 2nd level to take a quick breather. Killing Caribou really took a lot of energy. After taking a drink of water from my trusty canteen with the number “13” on it, I re-secured it to my waist, and prepared to press on.

"I should be a lot older than 24", I thought. "I should be in my early 50's, but yet I still have the body, mind, drive and physique of a 24 year old. I feel a lot more worn down than I should though, however, 3 world wars, and a cold war can really do that!"

Then, for whatever reason, my mind slipped back to a happier time. While I still lived with Demetria, I had her as a "mom", but I also had an "older sister". Her name was Carla, Carla Boudica. (Her younger sister, Stacy Rikker, was the one who initiated "Operation Fireball" back during the Battle of Vegas). She was 26 years old, 6'3”, 200lbs of muscle, ginger hair that she always kept hanging down her back, and really soft green eyes. She loved me dearly, and we would have been married, but alas, on the day of the wedding, that's when the coup against Demetria happened, and I was sold to the ranch in Kansas.

Carla also twice attempted to have offspring with me, but both tries sadly ended in miscarriages. She bitterly blamed me for what happened, and after one more round of angry-sex, she seemingly cut me off. We met in battle a few more times before she was believed to have been killed in the battle for Austin, TX, although her body was never found. "Mamma Demetria" never mentioned her again, so up until then, I still had no idea what had happened to her.

"If only I could know what happened to her." I muttered. "If only I could know!"

I then sighed, and knew that time was of the essence, so I pushed thoughts of Carla out of my mind, and moved on.

Inside the throne room, Dactyl knew that something was very wrong. For a good long while, he'd been trying to contact both General Stuggs and General Rodin, but he hadn't gotten any replies. The last thing that he'd heard from them was that they were attacking the Humans, although they were taking losses.

"Most likely by now, they've either been killed, were captured, or have committed suicide." He was very sad. He had always admired both of them for their skills as military commanders, even though his brother Danin hadn't really noticed it. "I was always the guy who saw everything, and forgot nothing", He muttered. "If only I had been able to hold against Danin's forces, then I would have been in charge!"

He then thought a bit more. "Yeah, but if I was in charge, then I would STILL be having to deal with this current situation! I just wish that there was a way out. But nevertheless, I'll go down swinging for the Caribou Empire, by doing what Danin never had the guts to do!"

He then continued to prepare for the inevitable attack on the throne room.

Next to him, Pinkie and Dash continued to wait as well. Periodically, from somewhere within the palace, the sounds of battle could be heard. It was difficult to tell, due to the palace's internal structure, but it sounded like it was getting closer.

"I don't know Pinkie", Dash whispered, "I wonder who'll get to us first. From what we've been hearing, there's 4 groups in total, but only 2 here in the palace."

"Um, what 2 groups again?"

Dash thought for a second. "Um, well, outside, there's Major Don, his forces, and Jim and the Battleship Express. In here though, there's General Shining and his forces, and most likely, Stud's in here, leading forces as well. King Sombra is in here too, so let's just hope that Stud gets to us before HE does!"

Pinkie nodded, but she didn't say anything. Suddenly though, the sounds of battle were VERY close to them! In fact, they sounded so close that they were seemingly right outside of the throne room doors!

Eventually, I was able to locate the stairs to get up to Level 3. Unfortunately, seemingly every last Caribou warrior that could be mustered was waiting for me when I reached those stairs.

"Great. MORE company!" I muttered. I then remounted Argus, and rode him up the stairs. "Do your thing Argus!" I told him. He seemed to be laughing a bit. Suddenly, from out of his mouth came streams of fire! The Caribou may have had the high-ground advantage, but they had inadequate shields and armor, and they were facing an alpha War-Beast, with the reborn King Sombra riding him!

"AUGH, FALL BACK, FALL BACK!!!!" They screamed, but most of them were too late. All of the ones on the stairs had already been incinerated, and I shot any who survived being burned. Argus trampled any that I'd missed. Eventually, I made it up to Level 3.

"Ok, now then, where's the throne room?" I remembered seeing it on the maps down below, but for some reason, I couldn't find any maps up here. "Great. Well, at any rate, at least there's only a handful of places that it could be up here, so I guess that I just keep looking until I find the right place!"

Unfortunately though, this would prove to be easier said than done. All over this level were some of the toughest Caribou warriors that I had ever faced. These must have been the best of the best, because they were REALLY not proving to be the easiest to kill! I had to shoot them multiple times, and some were shot, burned, trampled, and STILL had some fight left in them!

"OK then shitheads, time for some REAL fun!" I then dismounted Argus to use my magic, but one of the Caribou mages beat me to it.

"Alright Sombra, let's see if you're as fast as the wind!" He then conjured up a ball of green energy, and hurled it at me!

Without even missing a beat, I half turned, raised my wings, surged some of my Magic through them, and actually deflected the shots! They shot into the walls on either side of me.

"Wha....!?!?!?! HOW DID YOU!?!?!?!?"

I smirked. "Was that your best shot? Now let me show you MINE!!!" I then conjured up another fireball, (albeit, a smaller one than the first one!) and shot it in the direction of the mage, and all of the Caribou behind him. Even though some of them were able to dodge it, not all of them were. They were all packed so close together that it was proving to be VERY easy to hit them!

When the fireball finally slammed into the wall at the far end of the hallway, I had lost count of just how many Caribou it had killed. At this point though, I knew exactly where I was supposed to go, and I started walking down the hallway again. Every now and again, a Caribou, or a group of Caribous would try to stop me, however, they either got a bullet to the head, a hatchet to the face, their neck broken with Magic, or even, in at least one case, their chest punched through, their heart ripped out, and shown to them before having it shoved down their throat! I was like a killing-machine on high speed, but yet I felt no emotions at all. My only goal was to save Dash, and the more steps I took, the stronger her scent became.

Down below me, the rest of the guys, led by Dan and Aurora, had managed to make it up to Level 2. When they did, they were absolutely appalled by the sheer amount of death and destruction that I had been causing. There were burned and bloodied bodies everywhere.

"Dear God!" Dan muttered, "How was he even able to DO all of this?!"

Aurora shrugged. "I don't know Dan. Most likely though, he smelled Dash's scent, and there were Caribou between him, and her. What we're witnessing is the result of that!"

Shining looked around. "I heard from Major Don that Hell hath no fury like a Human-Wolf on the war-path, but I never believed it until now!"

"Any ideas on how much farther that he could have gone Aurora?" Dan asked nervously.

Aurora sniffed the ground a bit more. "It's hard to say. He seems to have gone on farther, and he could have even rescued the hostages by now. However, judging by the sounds of battle from both ahead of us, and above us, I'd say that he's not there yet!"

Moments after Aurora said this though, they almost made it to the stairwell leading up to Level 3. Unfortunately though, before they could make it any farther, from around the corner to their right, more Caribou soldiers appeared.

"Take cover!!!" Shining yelled.

The rest did so, and then they all drew their weapons, and did battle with the Caribou once again.

"WHEN WILL THIS GOD-FORSAKEN BATTLE EVER END?!?!?!" Dan cried out in frustration.

One level above this battle, I had finally managed to get close to my destination. I found myself outside of a large pair of wooden double doors. They were easily 12 feet tall, maybe 10 feet wide, and were covered with wrought iron decorations. I was still dealing with Caribou warriors, but now I knew where Dash was.

I could have just blasted through those doors and have been done with it, but I still wanted to have a little more fun.

"Heh", I said softly, "Time to make a REAL entrance!"

Unfortunately though, more Caribou decided to throw some wrenches in my gears, and attack Argus and I. "Why I outta....!!!!" I kept hacking, slicing, shooting, stabbing, while Argus was biting, chomping, stomping, breathing fire on, all while I came up with a plan. I knew that my plan involved some serious risk, and it would have to be timed absolutely PERFECTLY, but if it succeeded, then my entrance, would be one of the most bad-ass in World War history!

All while I was fighting the Caribou, I was also planting explosives close to the doors. I was just going to blast them, and send debris, as well as bodies, flying into the throne room. Finally, it was time for me to execute my plan.

"Time to 'Hail to the King' bitches!" I then blew the explosives.

Inside the throne room, everyone panicked as what sounded like a battle raged right outside. There was a constant sound of gunfire, slashing, stabbing, grunting, War-Beast sounds, and a lot of other commotion.

Behind their barricades, Dactyl's 30 Royal Guards, as well as their commanding officer stood by, and made ready to do battle with whoever, or whatever came through those doors. Sitting on his throne, Dactyl prepared for the end. Behind his throne, Dash and Pinkie were hugging each other, and preparing for their end as well. However, their curiosity got the better of them, and they peered out to see what they could see.

All of a sudden though, there was only the sound of silence.

"Huh?" One of the guards asked. "Is that it? Is it over? Did we win?"

Just as maybe one of the other guards was about to answer him, the sounds of battle increased tenfold!

"STAND YOUR GROUND!!!" The guard officer shouted. "PROTECT THE PRINCE AT ALL COSTS!!!"

Suddenly though, the doors to the throne room got blasted inwards!

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Dust, smoke, dead bodies, and debris filled the air, and the lights in the throne room went out. The only lights now came from the nearby windows, which were pretty bright.

When the dust cleared, the doors to the throne room were in pieces, and a number of bodies lay in the room. 11 Royal Guards had been killed in the blast, and a further 9 were injured. 10 royal guards remained, including their officer. Most of the 9 were able to return to their hooves, and take up their positions to face their foe(s).

At first, they could see nothing but the dark hallway outside. Suddenly though, from out of the darkness, 2 figures stepped. One of them was an alpha War-Beast. He looked mighty pissed off, and ready for a fight. It was the other figure though that made them all break out into a cold sweat. He seemed to be crouching when they first saw him, but then he rose to his full height.

"Hey! Who are you?!" One of the guards demanded. "Step into the light!"

"As you wish!" A voice replied. When the figure did so, their jaws hit the floor. There, standing in front of them, appeared to be King Sombra himself! He was dressed in his battle armor with his red cape, his horn was glowing with magic, and his eyes were glowing bright. This time however, they also noticed that not only did he have wings, but was also wearing a white fox mask as well. To make matters worse, aside from Sombra, and the War-Beast standing behind him, the hallway was completely empty!

"Wait, you mean that you stormed this entire facility, BY YOURSELF?!?!?!"

The figure laughed. "I'm King Sombra, aren't I? I did it before, so why couldn't I do it again?"

"You know that this is the end of the line, right? We CANNOT let you get any closer to our king!"

The figure paused for a moment. He looked behind the guards, and up at the throne. He saw what he thought was King Danin sitting up on the throne, and he seemed to be scowling. He then turned back to the guards.

"Step aside!" He growled, "I must deal with your 'king'! His voice now didn't sound so amused; now he sounded angry and hostile.

They all pointed their weapons at him. "I'm afraid that we cannot let you do that Sombra." The officer told him. "And now, we must deal with you."

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, all of a sudden, the guards were all thrown backwards by a violent force!

"FOOLS!!!" Sombra screamed with rage, "Do you DARE pit your pitiful strength against me?!?! You will all DIE!!!"

Then, before the guards could fully recover, Sombra and his War-Beast were on them in an instant. The guards did their best, but even though they were the best of the best, they were no match for the terrifying duo. Sombra used a large ax to do his killing. He slashed, chopped, hacked, and even stomped on his enemies, while his War-Beast often trampled them.

Finally, it was down to just the wounded officer. "PLEASE!!!" He screamed as he tried to crawl away on a broken leg, "HAVE MERCY!!!"

"There is, no MERCY!!!" Sombra roared, before grabbing the officer with his Magic, and snapping his neck.

Sombra then turned to face the figure on the throne. "Now then, King Danin, it's YOUR turn!"

Dactyl was really beginning to sweat now. If the figure in front of him had just managed to flatten 31 of his best royal guards with EASE, then what chance did he stand? Before he could say anything though, the figure spoke.

"I've come here, to take back, what RIGHTFULLY belongs to me!"

"What? What in here belongs to you?!"

The figure pointed a gauntlet-covered hand right at Dash and Pinkie. "Those two hostages, right there! They RIGHTFULLY belong to me! Give them to me NOW!!!"

Instead of complying though, Dactyl decided to push his luck as far as it would go. His mind had become completely unhinged.

"NOTHING in this room belongs to you Sombra!" He spat. "Those hostages, are MINE!!!! I stole them from Zakia fair and square!"

From behind his cape, Sombra pulled out his staff, and attached his ax to it. His horn also began to glow dangerously.

"You will give the hostages to me now, or you will DIE!!!" Sombra then held his ax-staff in a fighting stance.

"If you want them so bad Sombra, THEN YOU'LL HAVE TO TAKE THEM FROM ME!!!" He then charged towards the figure, and engaged him in single combat.

I will admit, I had fought some pretty interesting duels in my time, but my fight against Dactyl was actually a little disappointing. Maybe some of this was because of his being unhinged, or maybe some of it was me thinking that he was Danin when he really wasn't. Or maybe it was because with my skills, coupled with Sombra's powers, I was just too OP for him. Whatever the case was though, it didn't take me much to get him right where I wanted him. Eventually, I disarmed him, and knocked him to the floor.

"This ends right here Danin!" I growled down at him, "Today, you DIE!!!"

My prey then began to laugh. "Come on then, kill me! I know that you wanna!"

"Go on, do it!" Sombra urged me.

I hesitated. “I really shouldn’t.”

"Come ON!!! We DO NOT have all day here Sweetheart! The others are just minutes away! KILL HIM NOW!!!"

My mind was in incredible turmoil. I wanted to kill Danin, but yet at the same time, I knew that he had to stand trial for his crimes. Unfortunately though, in a moment of anger at my remembering what he had done to Dash, I raised my ax, and with a fierce battle-cry, I brought it down on him.

However, Dactyl did see the danger, and in a final act of sanity, moved ever so slightly, and instead of my ax blow killing him, it only ended up cutting him deeply across his torso. The wounds could still be fatal, but for the time being at least, Dactyl still drew breath.

When Sombra saw what he thought was Danin's body go limp, he thought that his time had finally come.

"HA HA HA HA!!!" He cried. "FREEDOM AT LAST!!!!" I tried to stop him, but the exhaustion of over 24 hours of battle left me unable to resist him, but luckily for me, I didn't have to. With a mighty heave, and a painful jerk, Sombra tore himself free of me.

"YES!!!! NOW I'M FREE FROM YOU LEOPARD, AND I HAVE......." He suddenly stopped, and began to scream in agony! It was at that moment that he realized that he'd just jumped the gun! The body on the floor wasn't Danin's; it was Dactyl's, and he was still alive! He was still just a spirit, and now that he had torn himself free from his human host, Sombra had now lost all control of his powers as well. He had lost the way back to the physical world, and now in his moment of greed, he had just doomed himself to a life of misery. He was now forced to wander forever as a spirit.

"NNNOOOOO!!!!" He screamed as he flew away out of the window. "IT DOESN'T END LIKE THIS!!!! I WILL BE BACK LEOPARD!!!!! I WILL FIND YOU AGAIN SOME DAY!!!!" He then flew away before dropping out of sight.

I sighed. "Yeah, and I'll be right here waiting for you when you do come back Sombra. You cannot live without me, and the sooner that you realize that, the sooner you'll come back to me again."

I then realized that not only was I still wearing all of Sombra's armor, as well as his cape, but I also still had his staff, and all of his powers as well!

"Wow, so I really am Sombra reborn. Out of all the Humans that it could have been, I was chosen. Who would have ever guessed?"

I then shrugged it off for the time being, as there was a certain somepony that I was dying to see. I then looked over to Dash, and began to walk towards her. Once I was within maybe 2 feet or so of her, I stopped, before holding out my hand.

"Hey Dashie", I said in my usual gentle voice, "Did ya miss me?"

All while the fight in the throne room had been going on, Dash and Pinkie had been cowering in fear. Now that they believed Dactyl to be dead, there was nopony left to save them. Dash was looking at the floor, when all of a sudden, a dark shadow covered her. She looked up, and low and behold, her worst nightmare was standing right in front of her, looking right back at her. Both she and Pinkie were so scared that they literally peed themselves! (I'm not kidding, both of them peed. And since they were still naked, that pee went onto their tails, fur, and of course the floor.)

Suddenly though, the figure spoke. "Hey Dashie", He said in a soft, gentle voice, "Did ya miss me?"

Dash froze. That voice, it was so familiar. She looked up at me. "S-S-STUD?!?!?!"

I then removed my Kitsune mask, as well as my helmet, and my gauntlets, and parts of Sombra's armor, revealing that yes, the figure underneath the Sombra guise, was indeed her faithful Stud. "Yep, in the flesh Dashie!"

Dash then leapt over and hugged me, and when I hugged her back, I broke down crying, as did she.

"Oh Stud!" She sobbed slightly. "I thought that I was never going to see you again!"

"I'm here Dash", I said softly, "I'm right here! You're safe now. Donneth is now in Human and Equestrian hands, and now that Danin is dead, as well as all of the others, there's nobody left who can hurt you. You're all mine again."

For the longest time, we just had the most tender heart-to-heart moments. Even though we had only been apart for 2 1/2 weeks, it had felt like an eternity. Pinkie also joined us as well. Also, using my Magic, I was able to free them from their chains and collars as well.

I then stood up. "Come on Girls, let's go!"

"Um, go where Stud?"

"Far away from here! Back to the train for starters, as I know that you and I have a lot to talk about."

Dash nodded, still holding onto me. "I know Stud, it's just......I still can't believe that you're here! They told us that you were never coming!"

I hugged her again, and kissed the top of her head gently. "Shh, it's ok Dash. I'm here now, and you're safe, so that's all that matters. But anyway, let's go." I then led the way back to Argus.

"Whoa, is that a REAL War-Beast?!"

I nodded. "Yep, this is Argus. He's an alpha War-Beast. I got him during the battle for Carlon last night. He's been a part of the battle ever since, and now, we're going to ride him back to the train." I then climbed back onto his back. I then reached out a hand for Dash and Pinkie. "Come on up girls! This'll be fun!"

Dash and Pinkie did look at each other, but in the end, Dash climbed up behind me, and then Pinkie climbed up behind her. Dash wrapped her arms around my torso, just as Pinkie wrapped her arms around Dash.

Just before we left though, I remembered something. "Oh wait, almost forgot!" I then pulled out my radio. "Don, Major Don! This is Captain Leopard! Do you read me?"

For a minute or so, there was only static. Suddenly though, I got an answer. "Wait, LEOPARD?!?!?! IS THAT YOU?!?!?!"

I nodded. "Yeah, it's me Don!"

"I THOUGHT THAT YOU WERE DEAD!!!!! I kept trying to contact you, but all I could get was static!"

"Um, yeah, sorry about that, I kinda got a little busy! But anyway, I have some good news to report."

"Oh? And what would that be Leopard?"

I sighed. "Mission accomplished Don, the hostages are safe! I say again, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, THE HOSTAGES ARE SAFE!!!!"

When I said that, for the longest time, the only thing that I heard from Don was silence. Then the call cut out. I tried to reach Don several more times after this, but he never picked up.

I shrugged. "Huh, well, that was a little weird. Well, anyway, you guys are safe, so that's what matters, so away we go!" I then nudged Argus with my heel, and he began to move forwards again.

Just as we reached the entrance to the throne room though, I suddenly heard loud barking, as well as a lot of running boots. I prepared myself for a fight, but instead of Caribou, from around the corner came Aurora! Behind her were Dan, Shining, and the others.

When they saw me, they were already shocked beyond belief. When they saw who I was with though, they were at the point of passing our from shock!

"W-w-wha.....??? What....do you have to say for yourself Leopard?" Shining finally managed to ask me.

After thinking it over for a second, I finally managed to come up with an answer that would later be forever memorialized in the history books.

"Hail to the King, Baby; Hail to the King!"

Author's Note

And thus, does Chapter 26 finally come to a close. One of, if not THE longest chapter that I've ever written! So now, the battle for Donneth is over, Sombra is in serious trouble now, Stuggs and Rodin were captured, all of the hostages were freed, and most importantly, I FINALLY GOT DASH BACK!!!!! However, don't let go of your seats just yet, as although most of the action is over now, the story isn't over quite yet! There's still maybe 2-3 more chapters, plus an epilogue to go!

These chapters will decide the fates of Bryerton, King Danin, Stuggs, Rodin, and the rest of the Caribou Empire as a whole. they will also reveal our reactions when we all realize that the "King Danin" that I killed was a fake, and that not only is the real King Danin still alive, but so is the fake one, (Dactyl). It's going to be interesting, so stay tuned.

Meanwhile, I'd like to hear your thoughts on this whole arc to get Dash back. How will our relationship play out from here? What'll happen when we have a long sit-down talk where I tell her about everything that I've done, and everything that's happened to me since I lost her, from Sombra, to my having sex with Aurora, to my "Playing" with Kylie? And what'll happen when I confront Dash about her not being fully honest to me about her little wager with Spitfire? Well, I'd like to hear from you. Tell me your thoughts on Dash and I, as well as what you thought about this chapter, and I'll see what I can do for the rest of this story.

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 27!

ScarFox out for now!