Kieran and Rainbow Dash

Kieran was on the bottom floor of the office building, Rainbow Dash on his shoulders. He was pressed against a wall, looking out the exit of the building. He looks up and sees the Banshees still circling overhead. He waits for the perfect opportunity like last time.

“Okay, when we have an opening, I will sprint across the road and back into cover. Hold on tight.” Kieran spoke quietly. He could feel Rainbow Dash tighten her grip on his shoulders.

“Alright, I won’t let go.” She assured him. He nods and keeps looking up.

When the Banshees are out of sight, the Spartan-III sprints hard. His heavy boots hit the asphalt. Thinking they had the perfect opportunity, Kieran’s blood ran cold when he heard the distinct sound of a plasma mortar.

“LOOK OUT!!! GO LEFT!!!” Rainbow shouted in a panic.

Kieran quickly dives for the left, the mortar landing where his feet once were. He tumbles onto his stomach, and Rainbow Dash falls off his shoulders and onto the ground. She yelps in pain as Kiearn quickly gets back to his feet. He looks behind him and sees a Wraith pulling out around the Office Building they were just in. He growls and picks Rainbow back up and onto his shoulders.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me you had a Wraith following you as well!?” He scolded while continuing to sprint down the road.

“You didn’t ask!” She responded before lifting up her SMG and fires at the Wraith, her bullets not even making a dent.

The grunt gunner on the front laughs at her pathetic gunfire and then unleashes his own plasma fire back at them. Some stray plasma hits Kieran, causing his shields to light up and stumble a bit. He sees an alleyway and quick darts inside. Another Plasma mortar struck the building next to the alleyway. It crumbles, and a part of it falls, blocking the alleyway from anyone entering.

Kieran continued to sprint down the alleyway without looking back until he got to the other side. When he reaches the exit on the other side, he looks back. The Spartan was huffing from the sprint, but they were not followed as the alley was blocked. He let out a sigh of relief and turned back around. To his disappointment, they were not out of the clear yet.

Standing at the exit of the alleyway was an Elite Ultra, glaring at Kieran with disdain.

Rhyko steps into the alleyway, stepping towards the demon. He appeared to be carrying a wounded native and stood in a defensive position. Rhyko, unlike most of his brethren, knew not to underestimate humans, especially demons. He recognized them as deadly and worthy opponents and kept his mind clear. Rhyko reaches for his hip and grabs an energy sword hilt. The Demon lowered himself down, preparing for an attack, but Rhyko tossed the hilt towards the demon, landing at his feet. The Demon looked down at it and then back at Rhyko, who was pulling out a second hilt.

“Face me, Demon, and I will give you an honorable death,” Rhyko spoke clearly and humbly.

The Demon stayed still, wary of Rhyko’s real intentions. Slowly, he lowered his body and set the injured native down, who was looking at Rhyko in some fear. The Demon then picked up the hilt and stood back up.

Rhyko lifts his fist up to his chest and activates his energy sword. It was longer and burned a brilliant green and purple instead of the regular blue. Kieran was a bit taken aback; he had never seen an energy sword with a green blade. Still, he flicks his wrist and activates his own, again, it was longer and had a green and purple hue.

They both stood still, waiting for the other to make the first move. The deadly silence was finally broken when Kieran took the first move, stepping forward and swinging the sword downwards. Rhyko blocks it, causing green sparks and purple mist to fizz from the strike. Rhyko took a step back as Kieran’s strike was much more powerful than he expected. As he took a step back, Kieran took another swing, swinging from Rhyko’s left.

Rhyko once again blocks and steps into it to brace for the power behind the swing. He twists his wrist and slides Kieran’s strike off his sword, causing his momentum to glide past Rhyko and expose his right side. Rhyko knees the Spartan-III hard in the gut. Kieran quickly recoils to avoid a counterattack. Rhyko now becomes offensive, delivering quick strikes of his own.

A slash from the left, followed by a quick stab center. Kieran surprisingly keeps up with Rhyko, demonstrating collectiveness and caution. Dare he say, the Ultra was impressed by this demon’s ability to duel, but he was clearly inexperienced in the ways of the blade. Rhyko’s quick step and shoulder check were enough to throw him off balance. With an upward swing, Kieran blocks it, but all the momentum going backward causes him to stumble and fall down onto his back. Rhyko stands to his full height victoriously.

Rhyko slowly approaches the downed demon, about to give them a quick and honorable death, when he feels his shields light up. He turns to find the injured native firing her SMG at him. He growls at her interference and quickly slashes his sword at her, the blade easily slicing through the gun and destroying it. Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened and her jaw slacked as the gun fell apart in her hooves.

Her eyes then slowly go upward to see Rhyko standing over her. His Ultra mask staring down at her as his anger rises because she interfered with his duel with the demon. Despite how little damage she did, it was still the perfect distraction for Keiran to return to his feet. He stood back up and ignited the sword again. Its distinct sound caused Rhyko to quickly look back at him. He reacted with just barely enough time to block Kieran’s attack. With his mind no longer clear, Rhyko remained unfocused, allowing Kieran to get a slight upper hand as his attacks came quick, hard and rapid. Rhyko was able to block the incoming attacks but kept taking a few steps back as he did.

Kieran was able to press into Rhyko so much that he finally gave the Elite a hard kick to his chestplate. Rhyko stumbles a bit but keeps his footing, But he is knocked out of the darkness of the alleyway. He stood in the middle of the street as Kieran also stepped out and into the sunlight. Rhyko narrows his eyes under his helmet and clenches his fist. Angry that he allowed this human to get the upper hand on him.

His attention on the demon was cut short when he heard the sound of a human shotgun being pumped. He turned to his right side from where he heard the noise and sees a human imp. The ODST had his shotgun aimed right at him, Rhyko looks back at the demon to see the injured native stepping out from behind him. Kieran recognizes the ODST as Whiskey-7 leader Sergeant Tex. Dash now had a sidearm in her grasp, and she pulls back the slider with her hoof. Seeing he was now outnumbered, Rhyko was in no position to continue fighting. Rhyko deactivates his sword and then stands tall.

Tex looked a bit confused, thinking maybe the Elite was surrendering. But that wasn’t the case as the elite quickly grabbed a plasma grenade off his belt and threw it at Kieran. With some quick thinking, Kieran grabbed Dash and quickly did an evasive roll. The grenade lands where they used to be and explodes. Tex shields his eyes from the blast, allowing Rhyko to make a quick escape in the opposite direction. Tex unshields his eyes and sees the ultra make a break for it.

“Sir! Tangos getting away!” Tex called out, looking to Kieran who was on a knee.

“Let him go. He’s not important right now.” Kieran responded as he looked down at Dash who was in his arms. “You okay, Sergeant?”

“Yeah, just be gentle next time, you big metal oaf!” Rainbow Dash winces as she tries to stretch out her hurt wing. Kieran rolls his eyes under his helmet before letting her go and standing up. He then looks at Tex, confused on why he was here.

“Where’s the rest of your squad, Sergeant?” Keiran asked.

“At the LZ, sir. I was checking a pelican crash for survivors. I heard your duel with that Elite and came over to help out. Anyway, What kind of energy sword was that? I never seen a green and purple one before.” Tex asked as he slung his Shotgun onto his back. Kieran looks down at the Energy sword hilt still in his hand.

“I don’t know; perhaps we should take it back to be examined.” Kieran suggested. He felt something was dangerously off about the sword. Their conversation was briefly inputted when the ground began to shake. The shaking gets more intense, causing Tex to take a knee, and Dash to fall back on her haunches. Kieran looks up and he can see one of the buildings being cut in half by a green beam and now collapsing.

All three watch in awe as the building folds in on itself and collapses throwing up large amounts of dust and debris. When the debris falls all around the building, a large dust cloud shoots towards the trio in a wave-like motion.

“Shit! Everyone, back into the alleyway!” Kieran commanded, as they all dart back into the dark alleyway. A large wave of dust and debris consumed the area where they once stood.

Spike and Carlito

Carlito and Spike were still on top of the tall skyscraper. Spike was calling out targets with his binoculars while Carlito would take them out. So far, the two were able to take down a few officers, including a zealot. The two high-five each other as they witness a few more pelicans lift off from the LZ.

“Hell yeah, Amigo! That’s another bunch of lives saved! We need to keep watching the LZ like a mother hen. Then we can meet up with the rest of the squad.” Carlito spoke cheerfully to Spike.

“Being up here is so much easier than down there.” Spike chuckled as he lifted his binoculars again. Carlito also raises his sniper again and peers through the scope. He watches as the crowd of civilians gets smaller at the LZ with each pelican lift off. He smiles at that, but his smile disappears as he hears Spike gasps next to him.

“Aye aye aye! What’s wrong, Amigo? Asked Carltio, still looking through his scope.

“Lord Tirek! He’s back! 2 o’clock!” Spike urgently spoke. Carlito spun his sniper in the correct position to see the giant centaur about to reign havoc on the LZ again. Carlito adjusted his shot and aimed.

“Not again, you big bastard. You should have known better than to do this a second time!” Carlito spoke as he fired his rifle. The bullet strike a magical shield around the Centaur, who quickly spins around again to see where the shot came from. He looks right at both Carlito and Spike.

“Uh… Carlito… There is something else coming down the road… ” Spike whimpered. “And it’s huge...”

Carlito fired another shot, barely paying attention to Spike . This time, it shatter’s Tirek’s shield. He snarls in anger and powers up another magical blast. Carlito had the perfect shot right between the Centaur's eyes.

“Buenas noches, pendejo.” Carlito whispers before pulling the trigger. Click!

Carlito’s eyes widen as he looks down at his gun. He was out of ammo. The centaur, now with some time to charge up, unleashes a strong beam of magic at the tall building Carlito and Spike were on. It grazes the side of the building they were on, destroying the ledge. Carlito is launched onto his back while Spike was knocked away even further. Carlito took some time getting to his knees. He popped out his spent cartridge and slammed a second one in. Cursing under his breath, he looked back over the side, and what he saw caused his heart to sink. Coming down the road where Tirek was was a scarab.

“Dios Mío... He brought back up this time…” Carlito could only watch in horror as he lacked any firepower to deter the Scarab. He watches the front cannon power up, and he closes his eyes, saying a silent prayer to himself. The Scarab fires its main gun and strikes the building. The long, continuous green beam struck the middle of the building and cut it in half. Carlito feels the ground beneath his feet begin to crumble, accepting that this was it.

“Carlito!” Came the voice of Spike. The Sniper opens his eyes and looks at the young Drake as he grasps his hand with both of his claws. Carlito then watches in awe as the dragon uses his wings to beat hard and lift him up into the air just as the ground below him fully crumbles.

Twilight Sparkle and the rest who were at the LZ could only watch as the Scarab Tank destroyed a large office building. Tirek lets out a loud laugh as he had his hands on his hips, facing the now defenseless LZ. Tirek had consumed so much magic that he was only a fourth of the Scarab’s full size.

Twilight slowly looks behind her and sees there are still civilians needing to be evacuated. She closes her eyes tight, feeling her anger beginning to rise once again. This was already beginning to look like Manehattan all over again. The Scarab charges it’s main gun and fires at the LZ, and Twilight could only watch as the beam strikes the Liberty Cowbell, destroying it and disintegrating any soldiers near it.

Twilight could only watch in horror of the display, all those lives lost and a piece of Equestrian history destroyed in a blink of an eye. She looks at Maverick in a panic, he was on a knee with his hand to the side of his helmet.

“What do we do!? We can’t hold back a weapon that big!” Twilight called out over the gunfire. Maverick just looks at her, his helmet hiding all emotions.

“Don’t worry. This time, we are prepared.” Maverick reassured her before going back to his coms. “This is Zeta leader Spartan Commander A776 calling for an aerial attack squad! Assume attack formation upon the LZ and open fire on Scarab.”

“Spartan Commander, this is aerial squad leader. Approaching the LZ over.” A voice came through the radio.

Within no time, the sound of engines could be heard overhead. Twilight looks up to see a group of about six hornets flying in formation. They fly over the LZ and begin to fire upon the Scarab. The Scarab uses its second gun on top to try and shoot down the hornets flying around it. Grunt gunners on the side also attempt to shoot down hornets.

The hornets were not lucky for long, as Tirek charged up more magic between his horns. He fires a fiery beam at one of the hornets and strikes it. The hornet bursts into a ball of flame right then and there.

“Fuck!” Maverick clenches his fist. Twilight, hearing his vulgar language, looks at Maverick again. “We need those hornets to fight the Scarab; we cannot let him shoot down anymore.”

Twilight changed her view onto Tirek. She watched him shoot down a second hornet with ease. If he isn’t dealt with, the Scarab will continue to fire on the LZ, and a bunch of civilians will be killed. She then looks down at her assault rifle. The battle field begins to deafen, and she could hear her own heartbeat get louder and faster. She narrows her eyes and throws her assault rifle on the ground. She spreads her wings and locks her eyes onto the devilish centaur.

“Tirek’s mine.” She said plainly as she took a step forward. Maverick stuck out his hand to block her path.

“You can’t take on that big bastard yourself.” Maverick looks down at her. She pushed his hand away and took a few more steps.

“I have before, and I almost beat him. Just worry about getting the civilians and the soldiers out of here.” She looks back at him.

“And the soldiers?” Maverick asked. “Are you saying we should retreat?”

Twilight shifted her eyes back towards the city; it was in complete ruin. Debris and bodies littered the streets, and buildings were either a wreck or on fire. She sees the collapsed building that the scarab destroyed. And finally, she looks back at the creator where the Liberty Cowbell once stood. There was little to no difference between how Fillydelphia looked compared to Manehattan. Defending it more would be a lost cause.

“Yes… The city is lost. We tried our best, but…” Twilight feels her eyes begin to water. “If we stay here, we’ll just be sitting ducks until something bigger comes along and kills us. We need to retreat, regroup, and prepare for what comes next.” Twilight said as she glared back at Tirek, who had just shot down his third hornet.

“I understand, Princess.” Maverick nodded his head. “I’ll relay the orders to retreat if you can hold off that beast and keep the LZ safe.”

“Thank you, Maverick.” Twilight said before finally spreading her wings and taking off.

“...Godspeed.” Maverick said before turning away and placing his hand on his coms.

Twilight flies directly towards the Centaur, her hooves stretching out before her. She grits her teeth and uses her magic to form a shield around herself. Just when the Centaur was charging up another magic attack, he is struck on the side of his face by a purple blur. He is knocked back and his beam instead is shot into the building next to him. He regains his footing, now with his cheek staring to bruise. He growls and looks for the source of whatever hit him, till floating down into view, was Twilight, who was glaring at him with a face of rage. Tirek’s anger subsides for a moment, and gives her an evil smirk.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle! At last, we meet again!” The Centaur announced with his arms outstretched.

“How the buck did you escape Tartarus!?” Twilight demanded to which Tirek broke into a hardy laugh.

“You can thank my new acquaintances for that.” He smiled his toothy grin at her.

“That doesn’t make sense! How do the Covenant know about you! They shouldn’t have!” Twilight was left with more questions than answers as she spoke with Tirek.

“Then it appears you don’t know everything when it comes to the Covenant. Once I finally feast on your magic, I will gain exponentially more power, and I, along with the Covenant, will crush every single little pony we come across!” Tirek roared his threat to the heavens. Again, Twilight feels her anger rise and her heart begins pumping faster.

“I’ll kill you before that happens!” Twilight growls. Her teeth clenched and her eyes flashing green for only a second. Tirek smirks at her in response.

“Come and try, Princess.” Tirek narrows his eyes as his smirk grew bigger, accepting the princess’s challenge.

As silence befell the two, Twilight would soon dart straight up into the air. Tirek watches her, narrowing his eyes. When Twilight was just above the tallest building, she folded her wings and darted straight down at the Centaur like a falcon. Tirek narrows his eyes and charges up his magic, then he fires a large continuous beam of magic. Twilight swishes to the side, just barely avoiding the beam. She charges her shield again, ready to strike Tirek again. Not allowing her to get another hit on him, Tirek charges up his own shield. The two collide, both shields hold up, but the impact was so grand that Twilight was able to push Tirek into the side of the adjacent building.

Tirek snarls as he feels glass fall on him, cutting him. He uses his magic to push his shield outward which causes Twilight to be flung away from him. Twilight adjusts herself and is able to see a large punch from Tirek coming her way just in time. She quickly reinforces her shield with the massive fist colliding with her, sending her straight through one side of a building and then out the other. She crash lands hard onto asphalt street on the other side. Tirek lets out a hard laugh in response to his attack.

“Without the extra Alicorn magic, you are no match for me, Princess!” Tirek quipped as he rounded the building Twilight was sent through.

From the ground, everyone was watching the fight ahead. Their collective stomachs wrench at the sight of Twilight getting launched through an entire building. Adam steps forward and places his hand on Maverick’s shoulder, prompting the spartan to turn and face him.

“Sir, tell one of the hornets to land. Let me pilot it to help out the princess.” Adam requested.

“Those hornets are the only thing keeping that scarab busy, Corporal.” Maverick stated plainly.

“There are three of them still left in the air. I just need a few minutes with one of them please.” Adam requested one more time. Mavericks looks back at the Scarab; it was having a hard time shooting down the remaining hornets without Tirek protecting it. He sighs hard before putting a hand to his helmet.

“Aerial Squad leader, requesting the acquisition of one of your Hornets, over.” Maverick called over the coms.

“What!? What the hell for!? I’m already down three pilots!” Came the response to Maverick’s request.

“We need the firepower. Just lend us one is all I’m asking.” Maverick firmly ordered.

“…Very well. One of my pilots is approaching the LZ now.” The voice rang out one more time. Eventually, a lone hornet approaches the Lz and lands. The pilot hops out to allow Adam to climb inside. He revs the turbine engines and lifts off the ground.

Tirek approaches Twilight, who finally hovers back in the air again. She was breathing heavily, as had appeared to be bruising. Tirek chuckles as they stand off once again. Twilight grits her teeth and fires a purple ball of magic at Tirek who easily blocks it with the palm of his hand. He fires his red and orange beam at her again, striking her shield and forcing her back once more. Her shield cracks from the blast. Slowly, she begins to realize how in over her head she was. Without the extra magic she once had the last time she fought Tirek, she was vulnerable.

Tirek powers up his magic again, Twilight closes her eyes and waits for the impact. All that came was the sounds of explosions and the pain growls from Tirek. When she opened them again, she saw Tirek holding his shoulder with smoke all around him. Behind him she sees a Hornet coming at them quickly. Twilight regains her game face and fires another ball of magic. When he looks up he is hit in the face with it. He stumbles back quite a bit before growling like a demon. He fires quick shots of magic at her in a rage, that she dodges easily.

The Hornet began to lay down a steady stream of bullets upon the centaur. His shields were beginning to crack, which catches Tirek’s attention. He quickly turns to the hornet and fires a volley of magic at it. But Adam does some evasive maneuvers and also dodges the attacks. This gives Tirek enough time to mend his shields. Adam scowls at that, if only he could shoot and dodge at the same time. Tirek shifts his attention back to Twilight as he blocks a few more of her magical blasts. Even with it two-on-one, They were still outmatched. Adam was about to fire more bullets at the centaur when two green blips appeared on his radar. He was a bit confused until he heard his coms come to life.

“Hey hombre! Think you can let us hitch a ride?” Came a voice with a thick Mexican accent.

“Carlito!? What the hell are you doing in the air?” Adam exclaimed loudly in his cockpit.

“To your right, Amigo!” Carlito’s voice came through again. Adam shifts his gaze, and to his amazement, he sees Carlito hanging by his arm while being carried by Spike who was flapping his wings.

“Well, I’ll be damned! Swinging by to give your scalie friend a break.” Adam responded, flying his hornet close to the pair. Carlito plants his feet on the passenger side of the hornet, still holding onto his sniper. Spike lets go of Carlito, and lands on the other side. Spike pants hard as he wipes sweat from his forehead.

“Nice flying, dawg! We would have been dead meat if you hadn’t flown us off that building” Carlito spoke to Spike.

“Yeah, well you didn’t make it easy. You’re heavy!” Spike said back, earning a laugh from the sniper.

“That’s what your weight lifting is for Amigo!” Carlito quipped back.

“Glad you guys are safe, but if you’re still able to fight, I need your sharpshooting Carlito.” Adam spoke again over the coms.

“Sure thing! What do you need?” Carlito asked while checking his ammo count.

“I need you to laydown fire on that big bastard when I dodge his blasts.” Adam instructed.

“You got it! I’ve been making that big bastard my bitch every time he is in my sights!” Carlito chuckled. Adam then swarms in at the centaur again after he blocks another one of Twilight’s attacks. Adam begins firing his dual machine guns again, hitting Tirek’s shield. The Centaur turned and began firing at the hornet. While Adam dodges, Carlito looks through his scope and aims it at Tirek. With a masterfully made shot, he fires and strikes the shield. He fires again and again till the shield begins to crack. Twilight fires a beam of magic at Tirek, colliding with his shield. He focuses on her again and snarls.

Adam hovers close to Twilight as Carlito fires his fourth bullet. Tirek’s shields go down and Adam was not going to let this opportunity slip. He fires the dual rockets on his hornet. Tirek was defenseless as the Rockets blow up in his face. The centaur covers his face with his hand and lets out a pained roar. Twilight grits her teeth and powers up he shields again, She flies as fast as she can directly at Tirek. As soon as he uncovers his face, to reveal the burns. Twilight collides with him, hitting him between the eyes.

Tirek crumbles to the ground, still roaring out in pain. He falls to the ground, cracking the cement with his impact. Twilight returns to her position in the sky, hovering next to Adam’s hornet as they all look down at Tirek. He glares up at them, his face burned and blood leaking from his mouth. He tries to stand, but he crumples back down to the ground.

“I don’t need extra Alicorn magic to beat you, Tirek! Not while I have friends on my side!” Twilight taunted the injured centaur. Tirek lets out a large angry huff and his horns begin to glow again. In a flash, he teleports away from the fight.

“That’s one problem down.” Adam said as they all shifted their gazes to the Scarab tank. “One to go.”

While Twilight and the others were focused on Tirek, the remaining hornets were not fairing too well. Another hornet was shot down, leaving only one in the air. It was having a lot of trouble dodging all the plasma fired at it, so the pilot called for help.

“This is Aerial Squad leader! I can’t fight this thing by myself, dammit!” The panicked voice of the pilot coming through the coms. Adam then shifts his eyes to Twilight.

“Hey, princess. You think you can destroy that thing?” Adam asks.

“I don’t know. I don’t fully know what it is, let alone how to destroy it.” Twilight looks at Adam with a worried look on her face.

“It’s power supply is on it’s ass. You land on it with Carlito and Spike as backup, go the back of it, and blow up the main power.” Adam instructed. After taking a minute to soak up that information, Twilight nods. Adam refocuses back on the Scarab and flew towards the tank at full throttle. Twilight flies next to him as Adam dips down near the head of the Scarab; Carlito and Spike jump off as Twilight lands down next to them. Adam takes off once again to assist the other hornet pilot.

Almost immediately, grunts and jackals flood in every direction, charging the intruders. Carlito and Spike begin to fire their weapons while Twilight assaults them with her magic. Adam tries to help draw the fire from the other hornet, but his attempts are in vain. A stray plasma bolt fired from the Scarab’s top gun strikes one of the turbine engines of the other hornet, and it begins to spiral.

“I’m hit! I’m hit! This is Aerial assault leader! I’m going dow–” The voice in the coms was cut when the hornet finally crash lands onto the ground and explodes.

“God no!” Yells Adam as he is now the only hornet flying. All the guns then shift to him. He gulped hard. Despite being a talented pilot, he knew he couldn’t dodge multiple plasma fires being shot at him. From the LZ, Maverick was watching all of it. The fight with Tirek and now the assault on the Scarab. He saw the last hornet in the air. He was hoping, praying for any amount of assistance that can come at this time. That’s when his coms start spark once again.

“This is Spartan B902. Mav, you got the LZ secured?” Came the voice of Maverick’s fellow Spartan-III.

“Kieran!? It’s good to hear from you. That’s a negative. We got a scarab on the loose with only one hornet keeping it from firing on the LZ.” Maverick responded into his coms.

“A Scarab? Then it sounds like you could use some backup.” Kieran’s voice then finally cut out. Before Maverick could respond, he sees a warthog coming down the main road. Maverick could see clearly that Kieran was on the chaingun while Tex drove with Rainbow Dash in the passenger seat. The Warthog drove directly underneath the Scarab while Kieran began to shoot at one of the legs with his chain gun. Seeing the new threat, the Scarab began to shift half of its guns to fire at the warthog. Maverick couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.

“Kieran, you’re one crazy son of a bitch. Keep it distracted, almost everyone has retreated and we are mopping up the rest of them.” Maverick said before turning to help the rest of the marines to retreat into the remaining pelicans.

Spike breathes in, and then out to unleash a large purple flame from his maw. Many grunts and jackals ignite in the fire, allowing Twilight to run past them and make her way to the rear of the scarab. Her eyes widen on when she sees the Scarabs power supply. It was a main console full of many many moving worms. She cringes hard when she sees it, but gets closer anyway. She was so distracted by the power supply that she failed to react in time before a metal boot kicked her in the flank. She yelps and falls to the ground, she looks up to see who kicked her and sees an elite standing over her with a helmet that covered his whole face with a large visor.

Ranger Zuza stands over Princess Twilight and scowls at her under his visor. He had watched her fight with Tirek and was impressed with her skills in magic, but he wasn’t about to just let her destroy the scarab.

“You want to destroy this mighty platform, then you’re gonna have to go through me, demon.” Zuza growled. Twilight slowly gets back onto her hooves. She only came to about the Elite’s waist. She gulps hard, recalling her last close encounter with an elite, Jykan. She takes in a deep breath and narrows her eyes, this time she was prepared for hoof-to-hoof combat.

She glares up at Zuza and gets down low into a fighting stance. Recognizing a challenge Zuza let out a small huff of admiration of her bravery. He wastes no time and tries to kick her again. Twilight quickly dodges to the right, getting up on her hind legs and punching Zuza in the gut. Her Alicorn strength doing enough damage to light up Zuza’s shield and to cause him to double over. He growls and then back hands her hard. She falls to the ground and Zuza lunges at her. She quickly rolls out of the way of Zuza’s punch which struck the metal floor where she once was. Twilight gets to her hooves quickly and bucks Zuza in his side. His shield breaks, and he falls to his back. He quickly recovers, somersaulting backwards til he was back on his feet in an instant.

Twilight huffs hard with her breath being seen exiting her nose. She charges him and Zuza goes in for another punch, but Twilight quickly uses a spell to teleport behind him. When his punch misses, looked side to side before turning around. Twilight uses her wing to launch herself up to eye level with Zuza and deliver a punch to the side of his helmet. With his shields down, he felt the full force of it. He growls and takes a few steps back, putting a hand to his head.

Twilight could feel the adrenaline pumping hard. She goes in for another punch to Zuza head, but left herself wide open as she reeled back. Zuza delivers a hard uppercut to Twilight’s jaw. She feels her teeth clack together and her vision blurs as she falls back down to the ground. Zuza walks over her and delivers a hard stomp to her chest, knocking all the wind out of her.

“Impressive. Perhaps your kind is not as weak as I thought.” Zuza muttered as he watched Twilight gasp for air. He then bends over a bit as he clarifies. “But you are still no match for me.”

Zuza reaches on his back and pulls out his gun. It was ovalish with purple highlights and a long gray barrel. Twilight feels her heart rise into her throat as she struggles under Zuza’s foot. She tries flapping her wings, anything to try and get away. Zuza points his weapon directly at her face. Twilight’s eyes go wide as a wave of emotions hit her, mostly anger and fear. She closes her eyes tight and lets out a loud ear piercing cry. Her horn began to leak a purple mist that Zuza recognized. She snapped her eyes open again and they were bright green and red. She narrows her eyes and grits her teeth.

“By the rings…” Zuza mutters, lowering his gun. Her horn glows brighter as he knew she was about to hit him with a beam of dark magic.

He ducks out the way as her horn fires a putrid green spell. It hit the ceiling and black crystals begin to sprout. Zuza backs away, allowing Twilight to get back to her hooves. Her glare is fixed on him as her horn continues to bleed the purple miasma. Zuza takes another few steps back in preparation of another attack. Twilight rears her head back and fires another blast of Dark magic at Zuza's feet. He kicks off hard, allowing his jump pack to ignite and boost him away. Where he once stood, a large crystal erects from the metal floor.

Twilight looks around for any trace of Zuza, but he was gone. Slowly, she turns back towards the Scarab’s power supply, her eyes still green and red. She stares at the power supply with hatred and malice before casting another spell directly at it. Crystals erupt from it, slicing through the worms and destroying all mechanics inside. The Scarab wilts and a loud alarm begins to ring out throughout it.

Satisfied with what she did, her eyes slowly turn to normal as she runs out to meet up with Spike and Carlito. Adam, seeing the Scarab go into a critical status, swoops back in to pick up Carlito. The sniper quickly hops on the Hornet as Twilight emerges. She had a determined looks on her face as she spread her wings.

Cyan fireballs explode out of the Scarab’s sides as it was moments from being destroyed. Spike sees Twilight and spreads his wings as well as the two take off from the Scarab. Carlito and Adam fly away as Twilight could see a single pelican at the LZ. She and Spike dive for the aircraft, landing only a few feet from it. Behind them, they can hear Kieran’s warthog screech to a halt.

Tex quickly hops out and darts for the Pelican as Kieran hops out the gunner seat and grabs Rainbow Dash. Kieran, Dash, Twilight, Spike, and Tex get inside the pelican. Maverick was inside and quickly ushers the pilot to take off. With everyone on, the pelican kicks off and ascends into the air. Twilight turns and looks out the back to see the Scarab. She watches as the huge walking fortress explodes in a giant cyan fireball, damaging all the buildings next to it. Never in her life has she seen such a brilliant explosion.

“Fuck me… You destroyed that thing yourself, Princess?” Came the voice of Tex as he and everyone else aboard watched the explosion.

“…I did what I had to.” Twilight said, as if trying to justify herself.

“Damn…” Tex said in astonishment. “You’re just as destructive as a Spartan, Princess.”

“Her? A Spartan? I can see it.” Came the voice of Kieran.

“Hell yeah! A whole Twilight of a Spartan.” Tex chuckled to himself. Twilight slowly turns, almost ignoring the praise. She looks at Maverick as only a few things are on her mind currently.

“Where are the rest of my friends?” She asked, voice cracking a bit as her adrenaline died down.

“They, along with the others, are in a separate pelican.” Maverick assured her before joining the praise. “You did an amazing job out there, Princess. You saved a whole bunch of lives.” Twilight only nods before turning around to look back at the destroyed remains of Fillydelphia.

“…At what cost?” She whispered to herself, a single tear running down her cheek. Her heart shattering at the once beautiful city now ruins.

Edge of the Crystal Empire…

Khota approaches the shield bubble that has the entire crystal city enclosed. He gives it a disapproving scowl as he looks down at the dark king standing next to him.

“How the hell are we supposed to get in?” Khota asked in a deep tone.

“Last time I laid siege, it took me days to breach. Even then, once I did, I was destroyed by the Crystal Heart. In my weakened state, it could take me weeks for my spell to break through.” Sombra announced to which Khota growled in anger.

“If it were not for what that castle hides, I would turn this whole empire into glass!” Khota yelled as he struck the shield with his fist. Khota huffs angrily as he turns to his two subordinates, Xala and N’Thoka.

“What are the results of our assault so far?” Khota demanded.

“The Wraiths and banshees haven’t even left a dent.” N’thoka informed.

“Not even the cannons of our scarabs and phantoms are yielding any results.” Xala filled in.

Khota growls in anger as he clenches his fists tight. It was then that Sombra began to gasp loudly. Khota quickly turns to see the dark king’s mane flow as if he was hit with a breeze. His eyes glow and his horn begins to pulse. Before their very eyes, Sombra slowly turns from transparent, to opaque, indicating the full return of his physical form. Sombra slowly looks down at his hooves, even raising one in front of his face to examine it. He began to smirk, his fangs poking from his lips.

“Once again, the foolish princess of Friendship has used Dark magic. I can feel its energy all the way here in the north. So delicious.” Sombra chuckled darkly before turning to see Khota crossing his arms. “Perhaps I now have enough dark magic in my reserves to power my spell up to break through…by tomorrow.”

Author's Note

Hello everyone, k00l here! First update in a long time, huh? Should be getting used to that by now, lol. That was my fault, if you haven’t seen my blog post, the reason for the delay on my end was because I was finishing up my semester at College. It paid off though as I have officially Graduated! WHOOOO!!!! Honestly, this project would’ve been delayed even more or even canceled if it wasn’t for my Co-Author, SCPEquis. You my friend have helped keep a lot of stress off my shoulders and I still can’t thank you enough for helping me out on this project.

You’re welcome, k00l! I couldn’t let your audience keep waiting for so long, thinking your crossover had died. Plus, I certainly enjoy writing with you. Also, congrats on your graduation, again!

So in this chapter, Fillydelphia has fallen to the Covenant, and it looks like the Crystal Empire is next. Twilight went head-to-head with Tirek without the extra alicorn magic to aid her. Not to mention, the crew of the Ad Meliora also have taken an energy sword that has been enhanced by dark magic. Soon will it be discovered by Twilight that the Dark King himself has returned. So much more is to come, stay tuned!
Oh, one more thing, another reason why there hasn’t been an update for a while is that I was working on the prologue for a fimfic of my own. It’s gonna be called “Ponies Read the SCP Foundation Database”. I haven’t posted it yet, but as the title implies, the girls, Spike, Princesses, and others will be reacting to the SCP entries courtesy of a powerful, extra dimensional A.I. sent by the Foundation. The setting takes place somewhere in Season 2.

I’m still working on the Prologue, and hopefully, I’ll get it uploaded.

P.S.: Did you spot the small reference we made in this chapter?