Copper Warhawk

-The Crystal Empire-

"Lord Pitch," Princess Mi Amore Cadenza started, her horn taking up a sky blue glow as she leered up at him, this following the destruction of the catacombs and her rescue. "You... you. I don't know where to even start!" she shouted, flying up and staring eye level with the black dragon.

"A 'thank you' would probably be the least likely to cause unwanted conflict," Pitch said matter-of-factly. "Besides, I didn't do it for you. I did it because I want to turn a new leaf, as you ponies call it," he snorted.

Princess Cadence furrowed a brow, one of her ears flicking sideways in obvious confusion. "I don't know what your game is, but I trust you no more than I trust that miserable tyrant who took my kingdom in the first place!" she shouted in his face. "And I am in no mood for games to begin with!"

"No games," Pitch nodded. "But if you won't trust me, trust the ones who convinced me to involve myself in you rather than letting you figure out how to escape on your own," he grunted, shifting his head so that Cadence could see the battered and bruised forms of Steam Shock and Wolf Heart on his back.

"Oh my," the alicorn whispered worriedly, lifting a hoof to her muzzle at Shock's missing limb and wing, and Wolf's missing wings, which she could see were once there through the aura that surrounded the mare. "Come with me, young ones," she beckoned, using her telekinesis to gently lift the duo off of Pitch's shoulders."I will get you fixed up proper."

Pitch rolled his eyes as she turned. "Don't forget the earth stallion," he grumbled, lifting his claws and revealing Abacus.

"Of course," she acknowledged, taking the unconscious pony with her.

The black dragon snorted as Cadence flew away with the equines in tow. "Fucking ponies," he grumbled, letting himself slip into a resting position, much like a cat, and lowering his skull between his jaws.

-A Couple Hours Later

Steam Shock flexed his new arm, looking down at the piece with a mixture of fascination. He'd been without an arm for almost seven years, having grown accustomed to walking on his wing, which had also been replaced. The metal that made up the prosthetics were largely copper still, with a few crystal and iron elements mixed in that looked and felt much less clunky than his wing.

Wolf Heart, in turn, had recovered in a short amount of time, having been healed with a small amount of magic via Princess Cadence, who watched on with a smile as she flexed her crystal and iron wings with a starry-eyed expression. "This is... This is amazing," Wolf exclaimed, unfurling one of her new wings and gazing intently at the crystal substances lining the metal frame.

Abacus had recovered too, but bearing no loss of limbs, he did not receive any crystal prosthetics. "That's... beautiful," he exclaimed, gently touching Wolf Heart's wing. "Dapper, come look at this," he said, beckoning the pegasus over to them.

The stallion looked over. "Hm? Oh, yeah... It's nice," he shrugged, wearing a slightly melancholy expression upon his muzzle.

Wolf Heart frowned at seeing his ears flat and head low, leaning back on his haunches. Slowly, she approached, placing a hoof on her friend's shoulder with a concerned expression. "What's wrong?" she asked, tucking in her wing and looking into his eyes.

"If that wing was from my father... then I lost the only thing that I had to remember him by," he muttered sorrowfully. In an attempt to shrug it off though, he spoke again. "Plus, I'd grown used to walking on it anyway. It had personality, y'know?" Shock asked.

Wolf shook her head. "Dapper, you can try to make yourself out to be a tough guy, but even after the war, you're still sensitive," she exclaimed. "We both know that at this point."

Steam Shock nodded. "Yeah," he muttered, lifting his new left leg and gazing at it. "I miss my father, mother... My sisters," he whispered, a tear touching the corner of his eye. "I never tried to make amends for how I treated my father as a kid."

The mare sighed, hugging her friend. "You'll get the chance, but first..." Wolf Heart gently pulled away and walked over to Cadence, saying something in her ear that was inaudible to the stallion.

Shock saw Cadence smile and nod, looking over at Wolf Heart.

-Later-

Princess Cadence approached Steam Shock, followed by Wolf Heart and Abacus, who both worked to carry something across their back. "Kind Sir," she started with a soft smile, drawing his attention to her face. "It is my understanding that your name is not Steam Alan Shock? But Dapper Alan Jolt?" she queried.

"Yeah... it is," he responded, turning and standing upright, though stumbling for a moment over his new limb.

"Well, Dapper Jolt... I have something for you. It wasn't easy, we salvaged as much as we could," she explained, standing aside so that Wolf and Abacus could step forward. "Your friend only thought it fitting that you should have that which you literally hold closest to you," Princess Cadence smiled as his friends slipped a large cloth wrapping object off of their back.

Dapper Jolt... approached the object with a confused expression, looking back and forth between Abacus and Wolf whilst cocking a brow. Slowly, he reached down towards the item, lifting a flap of cloth and tossing it aside, catching a glimpse of familiarly hued metal that gleamed in the light around them. Shock's jaw lowered an inch as he slowly lifted another fold of the cloth, revealing a large, copper-laden wing that gleamed, lacking any form of rust altogether. The imitation feathers were a metallic blue and gleamed, and a fair amount of the copper frame was highlighted with some silver. The plate, he could see, was padded with fresh cushioning and the leather straps were no longer stretched and falling apart.

The stallion leaned back in his haunches, seeing a small etching in the metal. Leaning down, he saw a name. "Rivet Alan Blitz," he read to himself before he fell dead silent, his eyes wide. "My father," Steam Shock muttered. The pegasus sat upright, dipping his head to where his eyes were shadowed by his bangs.

Wolf Heart smiled and walked towards him, placing a gentle hoof on his shoulder. Gingerly, she lifted a hoof to his cheek and shifted his chin up slightly. "It's okay, Dapper... You'll see him again," she whispered reassuringly.

-Moments Later-

Pitch snored softly, his nostrils flaring as his ribcage lifted and fell with each of his deep breaths. Shifting slightly, the dragon subconsciously curled his tail around to partially hide his hind legs, ushering a heavy sigh in his sleep. After a few more moments, Pitch slowly stirred, his eyelids fluttering slightly as he yawned noisily, lifting his horn-caped skull. Shaking his head, the dragon looked over to his right, noticing his current cargo approaching him, looking clean, healed and reequipped with their armor and prosthetics.

"Finally," he grumbled to himself, moving his forearms forward in a long stretch and flexing his jaws.

As the group of four, which included Cadence, approached, Pitch turned and looked down.

"Lord Pitch," Princess Cadence nodded, beating her wings and flying up to look eye level with the dragon. "I appreciate you rescuing me, even if it was against your typical line of judgment. For doing so, I would like to offer my hoof in an allegiance," she explained, holding out her hoof for the Dragon Lord.

Pitch wordlessly looked down at her hoof, which looked tiny in comparison to his large talons. The black dragon looked back up. "Once I make things right with my mother, my allegiances will lie with nopony. Not you, not Celestia, not even the other dragons. I'll no longer fight wars for others," he retorted.

"That's what I hoped you'd say," Cadence smiled softly before an egg materialized into her hoof. "King Sombra hadn't just enslaved my people, Pitch... He was going to make a dragon army with you as the commander and this was the first egg he stole. He stole from your kind and was using you... I am no substitute parent to a dragon chick, and want you to have this," she explained, eliciting wide-eyed expressions from Wolf Heart and Steam Shock.

"You want me to take care of a dragon chick?" he said with doubt as clear as day on his voice.

Cadence nodded. "Be the father it needs," she explained. "I cannot, for my duties rest here, putting things back into order."

Pitch sighed before he opened his jaws slightly and leaned forward, taking the egg from her grasp and positioning the egg beneath his tongue. "Let's go," he said to the three on the ground, grasping Abacus and lifting him onto his back. Shock and Wolf simply flew up, positioning themselves between his spines.

"Princess," Steam Shock said, looking over at Cadence. "Thank you."

"Thank me not, Mister Jolt... It was your friend who suggested it."

With that, Pitch walked away, where Cadence smiled softly and waved.

As the dragon exited the empire after a short time, he unfolded his wings and flapped once, kicking off of the ground and stirring up gales of dust as he took to the sky. Whilst Pitch flew, rarely beating his powerful wings upon the wind, Wolf Heart hugged Steam Shock as she had initially, her mane blowing back into Abacus Oak's face as he deadpanned.

Shock smiled softly as he flexed his left forelimb, which was now simply a copper, prosthetic wing. Swiveling his head, the pegasus looked over his shoulder to see Wolf Heart smiling up at him. Steam brought back his right limb, gently positioning his hoof on her knee.

Even in the cold air of the higher elevation that Pitch preferred to fly at, Wolf Heart's cheeks flushed slightly as she turned her head to avoid looking at the stallion.

Steam Shock chuckled to himself before shifting his gaze forward, seeing, in the distance, a large area of trees far below. At seeing how high they really were, the stallion went pale, his eyes wide with fear. In spite of his winged heritage, Shock possessed an immense fear of heights. "Uuuh, Pitch?!" he called out over the wind gales. "Can you maybe fly a little lower?!"

"Not unless you'd like to be killed by the ponies who fear my kind," Pitch replied flatly.

"Fantastic," Shock grumbled under his breath.

-An Hour Later-

Pitch slowly circled over the Everfree forest, allowing himself to be pulled down by the force of gravity on his immense, multi-ton weight. After a few minutes of circling, Pitch ducked below the tree-line and landed in a small clearing near the edge of the forest.

Steam Shock slowly looked over his shoulder, feeling a comforting weight between his shoulder blades. Wolf Heart's head was nuzzled against his back and she was asleep, eyes closed to indicate this as such. The mare had subconsciously clutched the softer feathers of Shock's right wing in her sleep and her breath was acting as a warm, gentle breeze against his wing. The stallion smiled to himself, looking up and seeing Abacus with a goofy grin on his face that elicited pure deadpan to replace his own smile.

"Get off," Pitch's gruff voice ordered, almost instantly startling Wolf Heart into waking as she yelped, jerking to attention.

Steam Shock frowned and turned his head before his ears flattened slightly. "You're a good guy now, Pitch. Be a little nicer," he grumbled as he slid off of the dragon's back and lifted his arm and wing for Wolf Heart.

"You mistake me not being a villain for being a hero," Pitch snorted with an eye roll as the mare sheepishly slipped into Shock's arms, where he gently set her down.

Shifting, the stallion moved to Abacus. "Well still, try to at least pretend you're not an ass," he said as Abacus merely jumped off of the dragon, face planting into the dirt. Steam Shock looked down at the earth stallion with a flat expression. "Abacus... are you retarded?" he chastised as said stallion stumbled to his hooves.

As Oak reacquired his bearings, Pitch growled softly at Shock. "No, just stupid," Abacus acknowledged with a grin.

"This is where I leave you," Pitch's voice interjected.

"What? Pitch, you need to go see Luna," Wolf Heart chided, pressing a hoof against his heavily muscled forelimb. "She needs to know that you're okay."

The dragon looked down with a flat look crossing his scarred snout before he simply lifted his leg, where Wolf Heart fell to the ground with a yelp. "No," he grumbled. "All she needs to know is that I won't be of any threat to her or her subjects anymore," Pitch said, turning to walk away.

Steam Shock glared over at the dragon as he helped Wolf Heart back to her hooves. "Then you are turning your back on the ones you cared about!" the pegasus shouted at him as he walked away, stopping the dragon in his tracks.

Pitch turned and squinted over at Steam. "And what made you the almighty ruler of my mind, pony?" he snarled back. "I may not be with the villain anymore, but as I stated previously, I don't like your kind. They hunt and kill my kind merely because we are a potential threat to them. They treat us like the dirt under their hooves, like we are unintelligent animals!" the dragon growled, looming over Shock and casting a shadow over him. "There is nothing left for me here anymore, so... this is where I leave you." With that, the dragon turned and trudged away.

"Dingus," Wolf Heart chided her friend. "You could've just gotten yourself killed because he moved his leg and made me fall," she said with a deadpan expression. "If he doesn't want to make things right with his family, then that's his problem, not yours."

Steam Shock sighed. "Well, let's go find the others, I guess," he suggested through a shrug, turning to face Ponyville.

"Agreed," Wolf nodded as Abacus trotted up beside them.

Pitch slowed to a stop, turning his head to look over his shoulder at the trio of friends as they advanced towards Ponyville. The dragon looked down at his feet, careful not to drop the egg in his partially opened jaws. For the first time in decades, the most infamous dragon known to Equestria felt sorrow and he felt guilty.

-Moments Later-

Wolf Heart walked alongside her friends, flexing her new wings with a soft smile upon her face. If she had to admit, she would indeed miss the more organic feel of her own wings, but she found that these were equally beautiful. After a couple of moments of walking carried out amongst the trio, the winged unicorn's expression dulled in a manner that was all too noticeable to Steam Shock and Abacus.

"Wolf?" the pegasus stallion queried, looking over at her with a worrisome expression. "You alright?"

Wolf Heart sighed. "I'd rather talk to you about it when we're alone," she whispered, eliciting the stallion to flick an ear before he turned to Abacus.

"You go on ahead, we'll catch up," Steam exclaimed to Abacus, nodding towards the ever-nearing Ponyville. "You don't mind, right?"

"Nah, that's fine," Abacus said with a shrug before trotting away.

Steam Shock turned to Wolf Heart, whose gaze was loosely trained upon the earth stallion as he moved away from them. "Talk to me," the pegasus insisted, coming to a stop and turning to face his first love with a slight frown edging across his lips.

Wolf Heart sighed and leaned back on her haunches. "Before Pitch took me... I... I really hurt you, didn't I?" she murmured guiltily. "I know something hit a nerve for you to have responded the way you did." Wolf Heart looked up to see a look of shame on Steam Shock's face. While she had been thinking upon the events mentioned since they happened, Wolf had been unable to discuss them until now.

Steam Shock sighed and dipped his head. "I was the one who lost my temper. I saw that it hurt you more than it did me anyway," he stated, his voice growing solemn as he gazed over at her. "I am sorry for what I did. The last thing that I would ever want is to lose you, especially to my own aggression," the stallion clarified.

Wolf's vision grew slightly blurry as she looked up at Steam Shock. "Dapper, this... this isn't your fault. None of it. I'm so sorry for upsetting you that way, for ruining what little time we've spent together in almost... in almost a decade..." Wolf Heart trailed off, lifting a hoof over her snout and ducking her head to where her bangs shadowed her eyes, tears trailing her cheeks. "I-I'm sorry-"

"Hey," Steam Shock cooed in a gentle, almost fatherly voice, pulling her into his arm and wing as she started to cry. "Please don't cry," he whispered, holding her tightly. As he spoke, he forced back tears of his own. In response to this strain, Shock's grip grew stronger, like he didn't want to let her go. "Please," he murmured.

Wolf Heart cried softly into his shoulder, though with the comfort of his strong hold and the soft feeling of his feathers against her, the winged unicorn calmed slowly. A lot may have changed about the pegasus over the years, but one of the constants was the comfort and support that Dapper provided simply through his touch. Namely through his hugs.

As her crying calmed, Wolf Heart sniffled and gently pulled away, looking up to see the stallion's cheeks streaked with tears of his own. His already slightly bloodshot eyes were even redder and his breath came heavy. Wolf smiled softly and gave the stallion a hug of her own, her arms around his neck. "You know something, Dapper?" she whispered into his ear. "I love you." With that, she gently leaned back, gently craning the stallion's head down to match her height before she pressed her lips to his.

At this, Steam Shock couldn't help shedding what tears he still had left, a smile spread across his muzzle at her sincerity as he graciously returned the gesture. "I love you too," he murmured. Gently, he pulled away and looked down, where ocean blue eyes met jade green as the two studied each other with warm feelings.

Wolf Heart flexed her silver and crystal wings with a soft smile, lifting a tender hoof to Shock's face and wiping away the tears that stained his cheeks.

Steam Shock leaned into her touch and closed his eyes, as he had done when they were first reunited, lifting his clawed wing and warmheartedly holding her hoof. "I don't deserve a mare like you," he whispered, softly kissing her hoof and looking at her.

The winged unicorn's cheeks flushed a slight red in hue as the stallion moved his claw away from her hoof so that she could lower it to the ground, a smile clad upon her face. "We should probably catch up before Abacus starts to get the wrong idea," she giggled sheepishly.

This elicited a slightly embarrassed chuckle from the stallion as he fell back on recent events involving the manner of their reuniting. "Agreed," he finally stated.

-Canterlot-

The large black dragon approached the gate, his expression quite mellow and placid as he advanced. Pitch's movement was little more than a lumbering trudge as his tail, held lower than one would deem normal for a dragon, swayed back and forth. As he approached, the two celestial armored guards at the gate lifted their weapons, horns glowing as they took up battle stances.

Pitch rolled his eyes as he approached, ushering an annoyed sigh before he stopped a short distance from the two, wordlessly shifting his gaze back and forth between each guard.

"Begone, beast!" the one right of Pitch shouted, lifting his spear. "You will not cause bloodshed here today!"

The dragon snorted, gently moving the egg gifted to him from his jaws and to the palm of his hand as he spoke. "Tell me, pony... Are you aware of what Dragonfear is?" he questioned the bold stallion, gazing down at him with a calm, relaxed expression.

The guard remained unmoving as he spoke. "It is a twisted sickness that neither myself nor my compatriot will be exposed to, now leave the premises and we will not call upon Princess Celestia to kill you, Demon!" he barked.

"No, you're right. You won't be exposed to it... if you simply let me in. Want conflict, I do not. I simply wish to speak with my adoptive mother, Princess Luna," Pitch explained with a nod to the guard.

The stallion cocked a brow before he turned and looked to his ally for support, only receiving a shrug and wide-eyed gaze. He looked back up at the dragon. "Who are you?" he questioned, cocking a slightly confused, but curious brow.

The dragon pridefully lifted his skull. "Once, I was a conqueror of the Badlands and the Lord of the Dragons. I was a commander in the Crystal War and, while I am not proud of it, I was once King Sombra's ally. But let it be known, King Sombra is dead, killed by my claws. My name is Pitch, and I have returned to the place I once could call home in the hopes of cleansing my scales of my bad deeds," he said loudly.

Slowly, the guard came to the realization, where he simply hefted his spear. "You are the dragon whom Celestia has been seeking to kill! We will not let you in today, or any other day! Now, die!" he shouted, hurling his spear with full force at Pitch with a shout.

The dragon rolled his eyes as the spear simply sparked slightly against his hide before it bounced off, clattering to the brick roadway. "I am not here to kill you," Pitch snorted. "But I must get in."

"Never!"

Before either could do anything more, a loud voice echoed out. "Enough!"

Pitch looked up and the guards whipped around to see a deep, navy blue winged unicorn flying just above the gate, a glare upon her face and blue energy slithering from her eyes.

"Your Majesty!" the two guards said in unison, falling into a bow as she slowly hovered down and acquainted her hooves with the roadway, looking up at Pitch.

"Rise," she said without looking away.

The dragon looked down. "Mother," he said, leaning back on his haunches.

Princess Luna dipped her head and sighed. "Tungsten," the mare said. "Why have you come here?" she questioned incredulously as she looked back up.

The dragon dipped his skull at hearing the name. It was one that he had not heard for decades, and it was one that Pitch had dreaded hearing again. "I came to make things right," the black dragon finally said, the soft, guilty tone in his voice defying the usual coarse, powerful visage that he was most often seen with.

Luna shook her head. "You can't just make things right by showing up, Tungsten," she chided in a gentle voice, flying up to look the dragon in the eyes. "It would take a lifetime of good deeds to erase all that you have done over the past few decades, and that breaks my heart," the alicorn exclaimed, grabbing his snout. "I will always be your mother, and you will always be my son, but you have done things that no mother should have to bear to know."

"I know," Pitch whispered, dipping his head with visible sorrow in how his large wings had fallen slightly and his tail was no longer elevated off of the ground. Slowly, he lifted the egg up. "I brought this for you... I can't be a father, but I know you can be a good mother to the chick," he exclaimed, gently placing it into her hooves before rising to his clawed feet. "Raise it as you did me," Pitch muttered, turning and spreading his wings.

"Tungsten," Princess Luna cooed, halting the dragon as he prepared to take off. "Do you know why I called you that?" she said, seeing him turn his head to look at her. "I called you Tungsten because I knew that you would have the strongest will of any dragon, the strongest scales. I knew you would be a great leader one day, perhaps even take the Bloodstone Scepter so that you would be hailed King of the Dragons. Tungsten is a strong element, one of the strongest... It never bends to the will of others under normal circumstances, but that will can be shattered. You let King Sombra shatter your will, Tungsten." Princess Luna looked down at the mottled, silver and black egg. "Please don't do that again. And please... come back when you can, I miss my son," she said, furrowing her brows with visible sadness.

Pitch sighed and dipped his large head. "I will," he replied before he beat his wings once, kicking off of the ground and lifting his heavy weight into the air. As he lifted into the air, flames erupted from his jaws and eye sockets, where they also rose from his vertebrae. The outline of his chest scales began to glow with a fiery orange as he rose higher into the air, and before long, every scale on his body was outlined with magma hues. The dragon turned and looked down to see Luna a quarter mile below him, and with his hawk-like vision, he could see her smiling. Unhinging his jaws, Pitch allowed a thunderous bellow to erupt from his jaws before a detonation of blinding red and orange discharged from his body, a shockwave of black exploding outward.

As the light died, Princess Luna moved her hoof away from her face and looked up, seeing a cloud of black ash gently fluttering to the ground. Shifting her gaze a little further up, Luna smiled at seeing the sun reflecting off of a dragon whose scales glinted a beautiful silvery-black, with accents of deep, electric blue at the edges of the wing membranes.

Tungsten roared out again, an echoing, awe-inspiring sound that lasted for a good few seconds before the dragon fell into a dive, swooping low over Canterlot with a blast of wind that flowed through Luna's ethereal mane. Arching his back and curling his wings up slightly, the large dragon rushed upwards before he disappeared over the mountain that Equestria's capital was built into, his roar echoing out over the land.

Princess Luna smiled to herself, looking down at the egg that she cradled in her hooves. Holding it up to the sunlight, she could see, through the shell, an almost fully developed dragon chick with recurved horns and thicker jaws, a spiny tail curled up over itself. "I'll call you Platinum," the alicorn murmured to herself, lowering the egg as Princess Celestia emerged from the castle and rushed to her sister's side.

"Sister! What happened?! I heard the roar and saw the explosion, who is attacking?!" Celestia said with wide eyes before she paused, seeing the egg in her younger sibling's hooves. "Sister? What is this?"

"A gift from my son," Luna smiled, kissing the surface of the egg as a joyful tear slithered down her cheek.

-Ponyville-

Steam Alan Shock's gaze was trained up at the sky, his eyes wide and jaw lowered a couple of inches as ash fluttered to the ground. Wolf Heart was no less shocked, though her expression bore a bit more joy than surprise. It was then that confusion hit her. "He said his scales weren't always stained black," she exclaimed. "I didn't know they were silver though."

"I saw it when I was trying to negotiate with him, under his chin," Steam Shock noted.

Abacus looked up with awe etched across his face before the trio was approached by a familiar pegasus and unicorn. "So you didn't die," Falcon Wing exclaimed, chuckling as he approached them. "You're hard to kill, Jolt, I'll give you that."

Steam Shock grumbled before noticing the split second of disappointment on Falcon's face. "You hoped I would die," he noted as Jackpot Ace trotted towards them with a slight smile. "You wanted me to go after Wolf so that Sombra would kill me!" the pegasus shouted, eliciting mutual looks of doubt and concern on Wolf Heart and Abacus Oak's muzzles.

Falcon Wing rolled his eyes as Jackpot slowed to a stop, turning to face Falcon at the realization. "Finally!" Falcon groaned in exasperation, slapping a hoof to his face. "I may be a commander, but a commander's gotta do what a commanders gotta do. I never exactly wanted you dead, just decommissioned, y'know? 'Out of order', so to speak," he explained. "Why do you think Wolf Heart was wanted for striking a superior officer, Jolt? Because she found out just what was going on here." With the words, Falcon Wing lifted a folder whose tab was labeled "Dapper Alan Jolt".

"You, messed with the file?!" Steam Shock shouted with anger.

"Of course, I did," Falcon Wing snorted. "You weren't even supposed to make it out of that God-forsaken war in the first place! So, I decided to have you charged for leaving your post without permission, but when you were never found later, you were labeled MIA. All quite genius really," Falcon Wing said with a prideful smirk.

Steam Shock, at this point, was trembling with rage, Abacus and Wolf Heart wearing worried expressions as Jackpot took a few steps away from the pegasus. Abacus soon followed suit.

Wolf Heart refused to relent, however, seeing the wing-blades glinting in the feathers on Shock's right wing. "Dapper, don't... He's not worth it," she whispered in an attempt to calm the stallion.

Before she could stop him, however, Steam Shock surged forward, wings unfolded as he ushered a loud battle cry. "I'm going to kill you!" he roared in fury, throwing a hoof at Falcon Wing with eyes fuming. The golden-feathered pegasus rolled his eyes as he effortlessly dodged to the side, lifting a hoof and jabbing at Shock's ribs.

"You can try," he growled as Steam growled at the sudden jolt of pain that shot through his body.

Swinging around, Shock leered over at Falcon Wing fiercely.

Wolf Heart's expression transitioned to horror as the two circled each other before she shook away her surprise and moved forward. Before she was able, she felt Jackpot and Abacus grab her by the wings, holding her back. "Let me go!" she shouted.

"Wolf, this isn't your fight!" Jackpot ordered, giving her a strong, but gentle tug so that she was jerked back. "Also nice wings, but this isn't a fight that you need to involve yourself in. If Dapper wants to fight Falcon Wing, let him... I have hope that he can emerge on top."

"But, but!... He-you-" Wolf Heart spluttered with wide eyes. "Falcon Wing is a damn commander! Dapper hasn't fought anypony in seven years! Let alone a leader of armies!" she shouted. "I won't lose him again!"

Abacus sighed. "Jackpot is right, Wolf... I have confidence. Dapper is a fierce fighter and literally fought a dragon only a few hours ago," he agreed, eliciting a cockeyed confusion to cross Jackpot's muzzle. "We can fill you in later," Abacus acknowledged before he turned at the sound of metal clashing, that of which halted Wolf Heart's attempts to rush in and interfere.

Currently, Steam and Falcon were locked in combat, wing-blades sparking against each other as the two stallions engaged in a power struggle. Slowly, Falcon Wing began to push Steam Shock back, breathing heavy as he inched forward. His adversary struggled against him, mechanical clicks audible as his prosthetic wing locked to prevent him from sliding, the claw that he walked on digging into the dirt roadway.

Wolf Heart watched with clenched teeth and wide, worrisome eyes as Falcon Wing abruptly pulled away and whirled around before Shock could react, bucking him square in the jaw. As he staggered back, blood pooling in his mouth, Falcon whipped back around with surprising speed, bringing his blade down.

The winged unicorn shouted in fear, ready to see her best friend's head roll across the ground as his rival swung for the base of his neck. The mare turned away just in time to hear a metallic clang. Turning, the mare wore a confused expression before seeing Steam Shock leaning back, his wing lifted and deflecting the attack.

"Nasty world out there, Jolt," Falcon growled, pushing against the stallion with all the force that he could muster.

Steam Shock's wing locked, preventing him from moving any further as he slowly lifted his right wing and allowed a wing-blade to slide out of hiding.

Seeing this, Falcon pulled away from the pegasus before hurling his own wing-blade at the stallion as the whites of Shock's eyes melded into lime green and violet wisps of smoke slithered from the corners of his sockets. "And I think it's catching up with you."

Steam Shock was just too slow to avoid having the commander's blade slash across his face, blood running down his cheek as he threw his head back with a pained growl and dropped his blade. Glaring forward at his rival, the pegasi's nostrils flared. "Guess all I have left then is doubts... doubts and scars," he barked back. With that, he charged forward with a war-cry, lifting his metal-plated forehoof over his head and slamming it back down.

Falcon Wing lurched back just as it punched a hole in the dirt where he had been, throwing a hoof and striking Steam Shock in the face.

Wolf's expression transitioned to horror at noticing the crystal blue that usually made Shock's irises so appealing was now a deep, demonic crimson. She remembered what the stallion had said about King Sombra's scythe poisoning him with dark magic, and now the poison was taking effect, dark magic leaking from his eye sockets.

Before she could do anything to potentially stop the dark magic's effect, Steam Shock stumbled away from Falcon Wing and collapsed with a pain-filled shout, holding his snout with a hoof as he glared up at his adversary.

Falcon Wing slowly approached, a disappointed look spread across his muzzle. "You're not the fighter you used to be, Jolt," he said whilst shaking his head. "You've grown weak."

Steam Shock shifted his view down with a growl, steam rising from the joints of his mechanical wing as they worked overtime to remain cool. Just in front of him was a wing-blade whose edge was made red with blood. The pegasus glared up at Falcon Wing, who wore a smug expression.

"Go ahead and take it... You won't win," he smirked.

"I already have," Steam Shock barked snidely, grabbing the blade before hurling it at his rival, bearing a strength that was, in part, thanks to the dark magic pulsing through his veins and venting from his eyes.

The blade impaled the golden feathered stallion's shoulder with a crunch, nearly emerging through the other side of his arm. Abacus Oak sucked in a breath with a grimace as blood flowed freely from the wound and the commander cried out in pain.

Jackpot Ace smiled. "C'mon, Dapper, kill him," he muttered to himself.

Wolf Heart's expression was fear, however. Aerenth poisoning was no joke and Steam Shock had only managed to inflict so much damage on his rival because he himself was inflicted with dark magic.

Shock rose to his hooves and proceeded to kick Falcon Wing away, where he fell with a dull thud. The pegasus advanced upon his rival, grabbing his wounded shoulder and flipping him onto his back with an enraged glare. Shock snatched Falcon by the scruff of his neck with the claws of his wings, lifting his hoof over the pegasi's face. With a shout, Steam swung his hoof, striking Falcon in the jaw with a spray of blood whilst knocking loose a few of his teeth.

All three who watched winced as Shock punched him again.

Falcon Wing coughed, blood spilling onto his chin as his rival held him.

"You were my friend!" Shock roared in his face as the pegasus stallion lifted his hoof, slowly and painfully removing the blue-maned pony's blade from his shoulder.

"Forgive me... brother," Falcon choked before he slowly buried the blade in Steam Shock's stomach.

Wolf Heart gasped in unbridled horror as Shock's eyes went wide and blood began to drip from the corner of his mouth. Looking down, the pegasus gazed upon the blade for a moment before the green and red enveloping his eyes transitioned back to ocean blue and white, the violet smoke dissipating as he struggled to breathe.

"NNOOOOOOO!" Wolf Heart screamed as tears stained her cheeks, lunging forward as Steam Shock fell onto his back and Falcon Wing rose to his hooves. Before Falcon could react any further, Wolf Heart revealed one of her wing-blades and swung with all of the force that she could muster before she landed with a plume of dust.

As the airborne dirt particles settled, the pegasus stallion turned to face her with a bloodied smirk before his head fell to the ground with a dull thud, crimson ichor spurting from the base of his neck before the headless body also fell.

Abacus Oak yelped as Falcon Wing's head rolled a short distance and brushed against his hoof, where he jumped a full three feet into the air and clung to Jackpot Ace, who wore a slightly disgusted expression upon his face.

Meanwhile, Wolf Heart had collapsed next to Steam Shock, where she cradled his head in her arms. "Dapper, don't you give up on me now," she choked as he gazed into her eyes with a weak smile. The mare stared into his eyes, her own watering as she stifled a sob.

"Well," the pegasus breathed weakly, looking down to see his stomach bleeding profusely, the blade still embedded in his body to slow the process of him bleeding. "That went poorly," he gasped with a soft, strained chuckle, his voice ragged.

"You... Why? Now you... you're. You're dying" Wolf Heart sobbed, holding his head upright and laying a hoof across his chest.

Steam Shock coughed, struggling to breathe. "This was n-never my story... to begin with," he gasped, lifting a shaking hoof and pressing it against Wolf Heart's cheek. "I... never wan-ted to be... the hero." The stallion struggled to talk, his eyes rolling back slightly as he fought to hang on to the last thread of life he had.

"Please... don't leave me," Wolf cried, burying her head in the crook of his neck. "I can't... I won't lose you again."

"H-hey," the stallion breathed. "Wolfie... l-look at me." The mare looked into his eyes. "Y-you have to... you have to let me go," he gasped with a weak smile, brushing his hoof through her mane before noticing the tears streaming from her eyes. "Your eyes... so beautiful... P-please don't cry," he asked.

Wolf Heart stifled a sob at his words. "Please, don't go," she whispered.

Abacus Oak and Jackpot Ace watched on with sorrowful expressions as Steam Shock kissed her snout.

"I-I love you... Wolfie," he choked before his head fell in the crook of her arm, the life in his eyes leaving him.

Wolf Heart stared down, a flurry of tears falling from her cheeks and rolling off of her chin as she cried, pulling Steam Shock's lifeless body into a tight hug and crying into his shoulder, her own shoulders shuddering with each sob. "I'm sorry," Wolf whimpered. "I'm so, so sorry."

Several minutes of sorrow carried out, Wolf Heart refusing to release Steam Shock's body as her tears stained the fur of his shoulder. The mare lifted her head slightly before, at seeing the lifelessness in the stallion's eyes, she broke, unrestrained crying audible as she screamed into the dead stallion's shoulder, a cry that was as much a shout as it was a sob.

After a while, Jackpot approached, leaning down and gently placing a hoof on Wolf Heart's back with a sorrowful expression crossing his face. The winged unicorn flinched to his touch, but remained in her position, hugging Steam Shock's body.

"I want to bury him," Wolf Heart's muffled voice whispered through a sniffle, gently running a hoof through the stallion's shoulder length, blue mane. With that, she gingerly leaned back slightly and kissed his cheek, her breath heavy and wavering.

Abacus slowly approached, looking down at Steam Shock's body whilst holding back tears of his own. "Then we bury him..."