Capital. Invasion.

With a flash, the nine of us appear. Princess Celestia stumbles, holding her head.

"What was that?" She asks. "Where are we…" Celestia trails off as she looks around before she looks to her right. Following her vision, we see that we are at the outskirts of what looks like a large city attached to the side of a large mountain. Most of the city is inside what looks like a massive sickly yellow ball. "That's what happened." Celestia says.

"What is that?!" Rarity yells.

"A barrier. It must have been what stopped me from teleporting us straight to the castle. It felt like I walked straight into a brick wall." Celestia explains.

"Then we simply need to break it." Luna says, lighting her horn. Suddenly, she yells in pain, her magic fizzling out as she falls to the ground, clutching her head.

"Luna!" Celestia shouts, crouching next to her sister. "You have to be careful, your magic will still be weak from the purification. Let me handle this." Celestia says, standing up and lighting her horn. She then fires a beam of magic at the barrier, her spell bouncing off with barely a ripple. "What? I know my magic is weaker at night but it shouldn't be that weak!" She exclaims, shooting the barrier again.

"It seems we have some guests!" An amplified voice rings out. Looking to the castle, a large image of a face appears on the barrier. It seems to be of a man with blue skin, wearing a red and yellow sash across his shoulders. He also has two curving horns jutting out of the top of his head. He looks down and sees us. "Why if it isn't the princesses! I see you've come to see my kingdom?" He boasts.

"Your kingdom? This land belongs to us!" Celestia yells.

"You? Hmmmm. I guess you do wear the crown upon your head, don't you? Legion! Take their heads!!" He yells out, a horde of different monsters coming through the barrier and advancing towards us.

"Oh sh…" Rainbow trails off, before squaring off. "Looks like we've got fighting to do!" She yells, charging ahead.

"Rainbow, wait!" Twilight tries to yell but her friend doesn't hear her. I leap into action, boosting forward with my leg jets.

Grabbing Rainbow,

"Hey! What are you-?!" I toss her back to her friends and punch through a Chimera. Seeing me kill one of their comrades, more of the monsters charge at me. Thanks to my armour, flight and surprising strength, I am able to hold them off for a while, getting some assistance from Celestia and Twilight. Even with all this, the sheer number of them makes me eventually get overrun, the monsters pounding on my armour. From my thigh, a small klaxon sounds out, the lines on my thigh flashing.

~~You want to come out? Fine.~~ I reach for my thigh, grabbing my Bayard through the flash. ~~You better win. Now-~~
Engage.
Diego squeezes the Bayard as it transforms, shooting all the monsters around him as it becomes an energy rifle. Diego flies into the air with a burst from his jets, flying above most of the monsters, a few with wings still above him. Spinning on the spot, Diego begins shooting, hitting not only the monsters on the ground but also some in the air.

"What is that?!" Applejack shouts.

"I have no idea! He didn't have that before!" Twilight answers. The Bayard suddenly glows white as it transforms again, this time becoming a long sniper rifle. Diego aims and shoots at the barrier, surprisingly hitting a monster on the other side. The hole from his shot almost immediately closes though.

"Did that just go through the barrier?!" Pinkie shouts.

"It did. But how?" Celestia questions. Diego realises that his weapons are effective against the barrier and changes his Bayard again. This time, it becomes an energy cannon. He levels his weapon and shoots the barrier, immediately cracking it.

"WHAT IS THAT?!" Celestia shouts, baffled at the power of the cannon.

"That is impossible! How could any weapon be that powerful?!" A loud voice shouts. Looking to the barrier, Diego sees the man that was being projected earlier. "Who are you?!" He shouts.

"Wait, I recognize him now! That's Grogar!" Luna shouts.

"Who?" Everyone else questions.

"Grogar? The first emperor of Equestria? The Great Scourge?" Luna says. Everyone shakes their heads. "The Father of Monsters!" Luna shouts.

"The Father of Monsters?!" Celestia yells. "That's who he is?! He died millennia ago!"

"And yet I live! And I have come to reclaim what is rightfully-!" Grogar is cut off by Diego shooting the regenerating barrier again. "What is-!" Again. "What-!" And again. "Stop that!" Grogar shouts, lighting his horns in yellow and black magic, firing a large beam of magic at Diego. Diego blocks with a beam from his cannon, ripping through Grogar's magic easily and smashing against the barrier. Unlike before, Diego keeps shooting, stressing the barrier, making more cracks until finally, a large hole breaks open in the barrier. Unfortunately, the barrier regenerates, reforming to full in seconds.

"Ha! You fool! My barrier is invincible! There is no way to destroy it!" Grogar says in his amplified voice. Diego then squeezes his Bayard again, making it glow and return to normal. However, the glow doesn't go away. The Bayard then becomes a wisp of white energy, spiraling up Diego's arm to his back, wrapping around his wings, making them glow white.

"What's going on?" Twilight asks.

"I have no idea but I have a feeling it isn't good." Luna responds. Diego's wings begin to change shape, shifting upward and melding together into a strange box with two prongs pointing upward.

"What is that thing?" Applejack asks. Diego angles his body to make the pronged thing on his back point at the barrier.

"Monsters! He's about to attack! Kill-" Grogar is cut off by a shrill wave of sound from Diego's weapon. Many off the monsters scream in pain as everyone else holds their ears.

"What is he doing?!" Pinkie shouts over the noise. Grogar's barrier begins to ripple in a strange way.

"What are you-?" Grogar tries to say before the pitch of Diego's attack changes, making the barrier vibrate before completely disintegrating. "What?!?! That's impossible! What did you do to my barrier?!" Grogar screams.

"I know what he did! That was magic disruption!" Twilight calls out.

"Magic disruption? W-what's that?" Fluttershy asks.

"Magic exists by mana being formed into complex formulas. However, some things can disrupt that formula, making it fall apart! Diego must've calibrated those sound waves to destroy Grogar's barrier!" Twilight explains.

"That's genius! But the amount of precision needed to disrupt a magic spell of that size would be-" Celestia is cut off.

"Impossible! There is no possible way to have completely disrupted my Greater Barrier!" Grogar shouts, firing a beam of magic at Diego. Diego retaliates with another sound wave, shattering Grogar's spell.

"Quickly, while he's on the defensive!" Celestia shouts, charging her horn. Twilight and Rarity also charge their horns and attack, firing shots of magic at Grogar and his army. Diego's wings glow again, returning to normal as his Bayard reappears in his hand. Grogar sees this and tries to attack but Diego simply holds his Bayard forward, making his massive shield appear again.

The shield completely blocks Grogar's magic as Diego advances. A few monsters try to stop him but Celestia shoots them first, only leaving one who dodged her spell. De-spelling his shield, Diego forms a blade from his Bayard that extends out perpendicular to his knuckles. He slashes the monster, killing it and rushes at Grogar. Grogar makes a small barrier around himself, blocking Diego's attack.

Diego forms his sniper rifle again, shooting Grogar through his barrier in the shoulder.

"Agh! Insolent pest!" Grogar cries out, using his magic to try to crush Diego. As Diego is distracted, Grogar readies another spell. "Come forth! My elemental Hydra!" He shouts, making a large white four headed beast rise out of the ground.

"The elemental Hydra?!" Luna calls out. "We have to kill it, quickly!" Diego takes aim with his Bayard, it now becoming his energy cannon again. He fires, completely taking off one of the four heads. "That's not going to work! Its heads grow back!" Luna shouts. And she was right. In seconds, the head grew back.

The Hydra then began to change. Its mouths opening up right down its necks, sections of its chest bulging and changing colour. It then opens one of its mouths, an orb of green light forming within.

"Watch out!" Luna calls but too late. A massive blast off wind rushes at Diego, although it has no effect against his armour. The other mouths open, each launching an attack. Fire, wind, ice and sand all fly at Diego. Reforming his shield, Diego blocks every attack. "Oh. Right." Luna says. Diego's weapon changes again, this time becoming an energy cannon as large as he is.

"Duck!" Pinkie yells, pushing her friends' heads down as Diego fires his super cannon, completely erasing every Hydra head. Grogar's jaw drops but he shuts his mouth and says.

"Fool! You only delay the inevita-!"

Diego's helmet, which appears to be the head of a lion with his face in its mouth, changes. The jaw of the helmet seems to open, Diego's face retracting into it as a barrel of a weapon extends out. From this barrel, a beam of red plasma fires, cauterising the necks of the Hydra, preventing them from regenerating. The Hydra struggles, trying to free its heads but to no avail. In less than a minute, the Hydra falls over, dead.

"He… he beat an elemental Hydra." Luna says, awed.

"Aarrgh! What are you?! Who are you?! What is that blasted weapon?!" Grogar shouts, shooting at Diego with every sentence. He dodges and squeezes his Bayard again, merging it with his wings to form a new hidden weapon. This one looks almost like Diego's first energy cannon, only more streamlined and larger. He fires at Grogar but instead of hitting the evil sorcerer, the green beam of energy strikes the ground at Grogar's feet. "What? All that and you miss the final blow? Hahaha- huh?" Grogar is cut off by the ground underneath himself exploding outward, massive vines growing from the stone and trapping Grogar in their grip, wrapping around his body and horns. "Agh?! W-what are these?!" He yells. Diego lands in front of Grogar, reforming his Bayard into his energy rifle. He points it at Grogar's head and fires.

The princesses and the Elements all cry out in shock.

Grogar looks at Diego, a vine an inch to the left of his head smoking from the shot.

"W-what? You… why?" Grogar asks.

"He isn't like you, Grogar. He has compassion." Luna says, having come out of her shock.

Diego walks away.

Approaching the women, Diego puts his Bayard away.
Disengage.
Returning my control.

~~Phew. That was stressful. Let's hope I don't have to do that again for a while, that feels weird.~~

"Thank you, Diego. You saved us again." Celestia thanks me. I bow at her thanks.

~~You're welcome.~~ I say.

"Hraagh!" Grogar yells behind me. Turning around, I see him free one of his horns from the vines, sending a small shot of magic at us. I try and jump in the way but too late, the shot hits Luna in the chest.

"Princess Luna!" The Elements call out.

"SISTER!" Celestia shouts. Shooting a small blast of energy at Grogar, I knock him out and run to Luna's side. Her breathing is slowing down and she is bleeding immensely. "Nononononono! I only just got you back! I can't lose you again!" Celestia cries. She lights her horn, trying to heal her sister but a flash of yellow magic makes Luna cry out in pain. "W-w-why isn't this working?!" Celestia shouts.

"It must be that spell he used, it's a permanent wound." Twilight laments.

~~Permanent wound?! Well not if I can help it!~~ Reaching down, I pull out my Bayard again. ~~Now listen here! I don't care how you do it, HEAL HER!~~
...Engage.
Diego squeezes the Bayard again, reforming his nature cannon on his back.

"Diego, what are you doing?!" Twilight shouts. Diego pushes the Elements away from Luna and picks up Celestia.

"Unhand-" Celestia stops as she looks into Diego's white eyes.

She steps back.

Diego flies into the air, using his cannon to form a wide hedge of vines around Luna before landing next to her.

"What is he doing?" Rarity asks Twilight.

"I don't know! How am I supposed to know?!" She shouts, panicked. Diego's nature cannon glows white as it transforms, now becoming a massive pair of wings on his back, the 'feathers' almost blade like.

"Now those are some wings." Rainbow says. Crouching next to Luna, Diego puts his hands by the wound on her chest, Luna looking pale and weak. The blue feathers of Diego's wings begin to glow bright, energy from the air itself being drawn in.

The ground around the two of them begins to glow like his wings.

"It can't be… there's no way…" Twilight mutters.

"No. It is." Celestia says. "He's doing a Divine Nature Healing."

"A what what what?" Rainbow asks.

"A Divine Nature Healing. It heals the body by drawing in the natural energy around the caster. But if the caster isn't careful, their own energy will be used instead. It is both one of the greatest and one of the most dangerous healing spells there is." Celestia explains. Everyone looks on, wanting to stop him but also wanting to save their new princess.

The glow inside the vines grows stronger, Diego and Luna's bodies now starting to glow as well. The glow keeps rising, blinding everyone watching and flooding the capital.

A gasp is heard as the glow dies down. The vines have withered away and Luna is standing up, her hair flowing like water as she checks her body for injuries.

Nothing. Not a single blemish.

Celestia tackles her sister, crying her heart out.

"Don't worry Celestia. I'm fine now. He did it." Luna says. Diego stands up, his wings returning to normal and his Bayard disappearing.
Disengage.
I walk up to everyone, slightly off balance but okay.

~~Haah… let's hope I DON'T have to do that again any time soon. That felt VERY weird.~~ I say.

"Yes. Let's hope so." Luna responds.
.
..
…
~~Did you just hear me?~~

Author's Note

Another chapter!
Thank you, my co-author HeartfireFirebrand
Next chapter should be coming around in around three days, give or take then it's back to Seth, FINALLY!

If you want to see what weapons Diego's Bayard can become, check this link. ⬇️

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