Tex just sat on the ground, his back against the crystal barrier as his eyes pulsed with a sickly green color, his pupils red as a purple vaporous aura was bleeding out of the corners of his eyes. Marcus knelt by his side, confused and concerned for his sergeant and closest friend.

“I need a medic!” Marcus shouted above the gunfire. “Tammy! Get over here now!”

“I’m coming!” Tammy shouted back from a few feet away, ducking down below a few sandbags making up her cover. She keeps down before somersaulting from her cover towards Marcus. “Who’s hurt!?”

“Nobody! Something’s wrong with Tex!” Marcus replied as Tammy kneeled down on the Sergeant’s other side. “Look at his eyes! Have you ever seen this before!?”

A hard explosion lands near their position, to give Tammy some Covering Fire, Marcus peeks back out and fires a barrage of grenades from his launcher. Tammy however took a close look at Tex’s face and analyzed him. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw his eye’s bizarre coloration. His pupils darted all around him as if he was seeing something. She reaches out and places a hand on his cheek, no reaction. She moved her hand down to his neck to check his pulse, his heart rate was accelerated beyond the normal rate.

“High heart rate, no reaction to physical stimuli… Tex, what’s wrong with you?” Tammy asked mostly to herself, having no idea what was afflicting her sergeant. Whatever it was, it must be magic-related.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw a body collapse next to her, she quickly glanced over and saw her fellow squadmate Marcus had collapsed on his back. Shocked, Tammy changed her attention to him, thinking he was just hit. She looked him over, double checking but no sign of plasma burns or needles.

“Marcus! Talk to me, what’s wrong!?” She shook him, but no response came. She reached for his head and removed his helmet. She gasped upon seeing the look of horror plastered on his face, his eyes the same hue as Tex’s. Tammy begins to panic, having no idea what was afflicting her teammates. She needed to get them away from the fighting. Her only options were into one of the crystal houses that spiraled around the castle. But she couldn’t drag both of them at the same time.

“I need help! Someone! I need someone to help me!” She cried out, beginning to feel overwhelmed. Tammy felt a firm hand on her shoulder, and looking up, she found the Adam kneeling down to her.

“I’m here, Tammy. What’s going on?” Adam spoke calmly despite the battle around them. She felt some at his presence.

“Marcus and Tex are incapacitated, help me get them away from the battlefield.” She yelled over the gunfire. “The blue house to the left! Help me get them in there!”

Adam gave her a quick nod, getting to his feet but staying in a crouching position. He approached Tex and slung his gun onto his back. He grabbed Tex by the wrist and hoisted him onto his shoulders. Adam then stood to his feet, holding Tex in a fireman’s carry. Tammy got above Marcus’s head and grabbed him under the arms. She began to pull him away as following after Adam. She passed a few bodies on the ground as some screams of her fellow marines rang out on the battlefield. She tried to drown it out when she backed up into something.

Whatever it was fell forward, she quickly looked behind her to see Adam on his knees, Tex rolling off his shoulders and onto his back. Adam was silent and then began to claw at his helmet.

“Adam!” Tammy yelled out, disturbed by Adam’s behavior. Finally, Adam ripped off his helmet, his eyes glowing green. Tammy gasped hard and collapsed to her rear as she watched Adam collapse fully to the ground, going into the fetal position. Tammy’s heart began thumping loudly as she watched all her squadmates afflicted with whatever magic was taking hold of them. She could feel her hands going a bit numb and her stomach clenched hard enough to make her feel a bit nauseous. She removed her own helmet feeling like she was going to throw up.

Sweat poured off her face as she set her helmet down. Tammy looked down at her hands and saw them shaking. She was having a panic attack, and she recognized it. The ODST medic hadn’t had one since her home planet was glassed, but she recognized the symptoms. She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down, controlling her breathing. As she tried to regain her focus, all Tammy could hear were the screams of the other marines, loud screaming. Screams of fear, not pain.

“They’re eating me alive!”

“Snakes!? I’m covered in fucking snakes!”

Tammy’s eyes snapped open and she looked all around her. She saw more and more marines dropping their guns and collapsing, all of their eyes glowing the same green color as her squadmates. Then she suddenly felt a looming presence over her. Looking down at the ground, a large shadow cascaded over her own, dwarfing her. She slowly turned and was met with large green eyes, and then darkness.

With the Covenant forces once again faced with a wall of resistance, bullets flying at them, Sombra glared in anger and his horn glowed a dark red color. His body slowly faded into a black mist and weaved through the bodies of dead and alive Covenant before reaching the front of the regiment. Regaining his physical form, his eyes glow. Some marines who looked at him directly began to cease fire and drop to the ground. He smirked at this before noticing a fireball darting towards him. He quickly jumped out of the way, but then an ice ball quickly followed. He pulled up a shield before it hit and it blocked it. He scowled as two of the battlemages approached him, one wearing a blue cloak, the other wearing yellow. The one in blue channeled cryo magic through his horn, frost & ice grew from it as the one in yellow summoned fire from his. Sombra narrowed his eyes before dropping his shield, taunting both of them into a fight.

“Get over here.” Sombra spoke with a devilish grin.

Both battlemages charged him as Sombra stood up on his hind legs. Ice grew on the blue battlemage’s hoof as he went in for a punch. Sombra blocked the punch with a quick summon of a black crystal. The mage winced as the ice shattered against the crystal, giving Sombra time to twist and buck him under the chin. Stunning the mage before summoning a black crystal underneath him, skewering him in the stomach. The yellow mage bellowed a large flame from his horn that Sombra sidestepped. The yellow mage began throwing punches that Sombra easily blocked before charging up a spell and blasting the mage back on his back. The dark king quickly charged up a new spell, causing a black crystal to summon from the ground where the yellow mage lay, it penetrated his back and out his chest. The mage let out a pained gurgle as blood oozed around the crystal and out of his mouth. Both battlemages went limp and were no longer a threat.

Sombra smirked and looked back at the line of UNSC and Equestrians, recasting his fear spell. More succumbed to his magic, allowing the Covenant to continue their advancements and fire upon the dwindling resistance. Khota walked past Sombra, leading the advancing army. A loud battle cry was heard coming from the UNSC side that quickly caught his attention. Khota stopped in his tracks and narrowed his eyes, stepping out from behind his cover was a large yak, huffing loudly at the massive elite.

“Yngol done running! Yak no like running! Yak will smash bad aliens!” The yak yells as he digs his front hoof into the ground.

Khota growled under his breath and braced himself for an attack, lowering his body down in a combat stance. Yngol snorted, steam exiting his nose before he reared back and charged the alien. Lowering his head down to where his sharp horns were aimed directly at the golden elite. Khota took one step forward and extended his arms forward, catching Yngol by the horns. The momentum of Yngol’s charge scooted Khota back quite away as he pressed hard against the massive yak. Huffing hard to resist the strength of Yngol, they both eventually screech to a stop. Yngol gritted his teeth as he continued to try and overpower Khota, but the Elite’s strength was impressive. They continued to push hard against each other, trying to overpower each other.

Khota took a defiant step forward, pushing Yngol back as the yak continued to dig into the ground to gain traction. Khota smirked as he watched the yak continue to struggle against his own strength. He strengthened his grip on Yngol’s horns, and in a swift motion, twisted Yngol’s head to the side. A thunderous crack echoed all around, and suddenly the large yak went limp, falling to the ground. Khota stood up to his full height, towering over the body of the yak. Khota placed his foot on the body of the yak, and threw his arms outward, letting out a ferocious roar of victory. Roars of approval from his fellow elites behind him, impressed with his kill. Without a second thought, Khota stepped over the body of Yngol and advanced forward. Sombra quickly joined him, walking next to him.

Kieran hid behind one of the houses, waiting for the two to get close enough so he and Clara could jump them. With Clara’s hand firmly on his shoulder, she turned his head to speak to her, to give her a warning.

“Be careful of Sombra,” Kieran whispered. “I don’t know how he does it, but he can induce your worst fear. Be cautious of him.”

Clara gave him a nod of confirmation. The duo looked to the corner of the crystal building, waiting to see the shadows of Khota and Sombra. They saw them, and they grew taller with each step they made. Finally, upon the first sight of Sombra’s hoof, they both jumped out, Clara tackled Sombra while Kieran shoulder-checked Khota. Clara easily wrestled Sombra to the ground, knocking off his crown. Kieran continued to drive his shoulder into Khota’s gut, ramming him into the building next to them. Khota let out a small grunt as he was rammed into the building, but quickly wrapped his arms around the back of the Spartan. A few of the Covenant infantry aimed their weapons at the spartans, but Khota held up his hand to signify them to hold their fire.

As the troops lowered their weapons, Khota lifted his hand up into the air, balling it into a fist, and bringing it down hard onto Kieran’s back. The blow had enough force to make the Spartan instantly drop down to one knee. Sombra glared up and snarled at Clara who straddled his body and pinned him down. She tried pinning his hooves down when she noticed his horn begin to glow. The Lieutenant-Commander had to roll off of him, dodging a blast of his magic. She got into a crouching position, and got ready to pounce on him again when she was suddenly surrounded in a red aura. Clara felt as if she was being held in place, unable to move her body. She looked up and watched Sombra rise to his hooves, placing his crown back on his head.

He brushed some dirt off him before glaring at the maroon spartan. He slowly walked up to her, a scowl on his face. He looked her up and down, seeming to analyze her, and his scowl turned into a smirk.

“So you are one of the infamous ‘demons’ I’ve heard so much about. The mention of you alone strikes fear among the lesser races of the Covenant.” Sombra chuckled at her. The sound of his laugh sounded like nails on a chalkboard to Clara.

She heard Kieran grunting in pain and looked over. Clara watched as Khota threw him like a ragdoll towards her. He rolled on the ground until he was on his stomach, lying next to her. Khota approached him again, stepping behind him. He grabbed Kieran by the back of the neck, and lifted him up onto his knees, making Kieran look at Sombra to which the Dark King continued his chuckle.

“And now, let’s see what you fear most.” Sombra’s eyes began to glow a bright sickly green color that Clara tried her best to look away from. She closed her eyes tight, trying to resist Sombra’s magic. But it was a losing fight. Her eyes were forced open by his magic and only a small glimpse was enough for her to be snared by his gaze. In her peripherals, she watched as Kieran collapsed to all fours before her vision went completely black.

Kieran opened his eyes and was staring at the ground, the rough stone roads of the Crystal Empire beneath his metal hands. However, when he raised his head, the castle was nowhere in sight. Just an endless road, for miles. Slowly, he got to his feet and looked around. There was nothing in all directions as if everything around him vanished. Feeling a bit disoriented, he slowly took a few steps backward. He jolted a bit as he suddenly felt his back hit something. He quickly turned and saw a white door, a door leading to nowhere. However, his eyes widen at the fact his name was scratched into the wood. It reminded him of his bedroom door in his old house in New Constantinople.

His eyes were locked onto the door, nostalgia and fear staying at his feet. He slowly reached for it, grabbing the nob and twisting it. Expecting nothing on the other side, he was shocked it led to his old room. The Second Lieutenant cautiously stepped through and began looking around. His old bed, toys, and posters of his favorite bands as a kid still adorned his walls. He heard the door close behind him, causing him to quickly turn and grab the nob again. But this time, as he opened it, Kieran swore he saw a ghost. His father was standing at the door in front of him, towering over him.

Kieran took a few steps back as he craned his neck back to look up at the panicked face of his father.

“Come on, Kieran. We need to leave.” His father spoke cryptically as he reached out and took Kieran’s hand.

“Leave?… D-dad?” Kieran was unable to process what he was hearing or seeing when his dad suddenly yanked him out of his room, leading him out of the bedroom where he saw both his older brother and mother packing a few suitcases.

The sight of his family in front of him was bringing back old memories. In fact, he felt a massive amount of Deja vu. Like he had already experienced what was happening in front of him the day his family—

“Kieran, sweetie.” His mother’s voice broke through his thoughts. He looked up at her, and he could tell she had been recently crying. “We are going away for a while. We are going to see the men in uniforms. We’ll be okay.”

Kieran watched as his mother forced a half smile, trying to stay calm for him. He remembered that smile; it was the same one she gave him when they attempted to evacuate from the Covenant invasion on his home planet near the beginning of the war.

“This is all we have room for, we need to leave now!” Kieran’s father spoke before him and his elder brother left with a few suitcases in hand.

Kieran was very confused. They were all so much taller than him, but that wasn’t right. He was much older now and augmented. But as his father passed in front of him, he caught a glimpse of himself in his mother’s vanity mirror. His armor was gone, as were his augments. The second lieutenant looked just like he did when he was only ten years old. He looked down at his own hands, seeing his bare skin. It was then his mother took a firm hold on one of his wrists and led him out of the bedroom and outside where the family car was. He watched his brother and father trying to cram the suitcases into the trunk.

He was brought to the back doors of the car by his mother who opened the door and helped him in. Kieran tried to protest but the door was slammed shut after he was in. He looked out the window and watched both his parents and older brother get into the vehicle. His father started the car, backed out of the driveway, and drove away from his old home. He turned and looked back to see both of his parents going back and forth with each other. He looked to his older brother who looked back at him. He was wearing a white hoodie, and gently smiled at him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you sure we are heading in the right direction?” Kieran’s mother asked his father.

“Yes. We keep heading north till we meet up with the evacuation convoy heading for the shipyard.” Kieran’s father replied.

“Have the aliens already taken the capital?” His mother spoke with some worry in her voice. His father just remained silent at that question. On the left side, a speeding vehicle passed them.

“Whoa~ Was that a warthog that just passed us?” Kieran’s brother asked as he looked out the back window.

“Yes it was.” Kieran’s dad responded as another one passed, then another.”

“…Why are they going the wrong way?” Kieran’s mom asked again as more and more military vehicles sped past them. Explosions were heard in front of them before they all soon fell silent. A large purple airship flew overhead, flying faster than the warthogs were driving.

“Oh my god! Everyone brace!” Kieran’s father was heard yelling as he tried to screech to a stop, but a green explosion erupted in front of them, causing the car to careen off the road and begin rolling. Kieran and his family were tossed around as the vehicle rolled, slowly coming to a stop in the ditch.

Kieran opened his eyes and was horrified to see the car had flipped upside down. His head throbbed as the groans of his father were heard in front of him, then his mother’s voice.

“Mark! Mark! Oh my god, Mark, you’re bleeding!” His mother panicked.

“Mom! Are you okay!?” Kieran heard his brother shout out.

“Your father’s hurt, stay here! I’m going to flag down one of the military cars!”

Kieran watched as his mom crawled out of the passenger window and exited the car. His brother was kneeling on the roof of the car while Kieran himself hung upside down because of his seatbelt. His brother carefully unbuckled him and helped him flip right-side up, laying him down.

“You okay, little bro?” he asked, which Kieran nodded to.

Suddenly, a humming sound was heard outside and Kieran tried to peek out through his window to see what was happening. In the sky was a Covenant phantom hovering over his mom, who looked up at it in horror.

“MOM!!!” Kieran yelled out, his eyes beginning to water, remembering this very moment in his childhood. The hatch on the phantom opened, and a swarm of drones began crawling out of it and flying. Kieran watched his mom try to run back to the car but was shot in the back with plasma. He shouted out in anguish, “MOMMY!!!”

He heard the drones landing on the bottom of the car above him, their wings buzzing like attack hornets. He watched as his father’s broken body was ripped out of the driver’s window with bug appendages all over him. He heard a panicked yell and looked next to him to see his brother being grabbed by one of the bugs. He tried fighting back with his fists, but it was a losing battle. He watched as his brother looked at him, the look in his eyes being burned into his mind forever. Kieran tried to say something as tears rolled down his cheeks, but his brother placed a hand over his mouth.

His brother was yanked hard and was halfway out of the car. In one last effort, Kieran’s brother pulled off his white hoodie and threw it over Kieran, trying his best to conceal him.

“Don’t move! Don’t make a single noise! I love you, little bro!” Kieran’s brother told him just before he was yanked out fully.

Kieran hid under his brother’s hoodie as he could hear his screams outside the car. He was trying his best not to make a sound, but all he wanted to was cry out to mask the sound of his brother’s screams.

Sombra and Khota looked down at the two spartans as they curled into balls, experiencing their worst nightmares. Khota huffed in amusement, seeing the demons reduced to pathetic sniveling welts. He could just kill them right here and now, but where was the fun in that? He called his second-in-command, N’thoka, over to speak with him.

“Yes, Shipmaster?” N’thoka bowed his head in respect.

“Slaughter the humans and their allies. But the demons, keep them alive until their commander is captured. I want him to see them perish.” He chuckled as he stepped over the trembling bodies of the spartans.

“The Heart is within reach, Shipmaster Khota.” Sombra trotted next to the massive Elite. “Expect resistance.”

“Shipmaster!” N’thoka’s voice was heard from behind. Before Khota could turn around, he was tackled from behind faceplanting as a sniper shot rang out. Sombra’s eyes darted upward at the large Crystal tower, seeing the slight glint of a sniper scope. His eyes narrowed and began to glow.

Carlito kept watching through his sniper scope, keeping his squad on the ground protected, all while Spike called out targets. He was having a hard time as at the same time, he was dealing with the drones and banshees flying around the tower. Thankfully, with the aid of the Pegasi, dragons, and changedlings, he could focus on sniping ground forces.

“Carlito!” Spike used his binoculars to pick off important targets, being Carlito’s spotter. “Elites in golden armor in the middle of the street!”

“Gotcha, amigo.” Carlito centered his scope towards the middle of the street and aimed his cross-hair directly at the two elites. The young sniper froze, recognizing one of them as the Shipmaster by his helmet. Knowing Khota was a high-valued target, this could be his opportunity to eliminate the ship’s leader, striking a deadly blow to the Covenant. He had one chance. He could not afford to miss his shot.

Without wasting a second, Carlito pulled the trigger and fired the armor-piercing bullet. However, the Zealot nearby must have noticed him and shoved Khota out of the way. The bullet just struck the crystalline wall behind where the Shipmaster once stood.

“Dammit!” The young sniper cursed to himself before looking back through the scope. Instead of seeing the Shipmaster, his crosshair was lined directly in between the eyes of Sombra, who glared at him in disdain.

Before a follow-up shot could be made, Sombra’s eyes flashed their putrid green color, causing Carlito to seize up. Spike flinched from the sound of Carlito’s sniper falling to the ground. He looked over and saw him taking a few steps back, his hands covering his visor.

“Carlito? Carlito, what’s wrong?” He called out to his human friend. He didn’t receive a reply as the Lance Corporal dropped to his knees, tearing off his helmet. Spike’s eyes widened as he watched Carlito’s eyes turn green for a second time.

“Please lord… Not again…” Carlito whimpered to himself. Spike rushed to his side, but he gently pushed him away. “No, Amigo… Take…the shot!”

Carlito, with the last of his clear consciousness, pointed towards his fallen sniper. Spike looked at it with a look of shock and fear. He glanced at Carlito one last time before taking a daring step towards the rifle. Taking it in his claws, he placed the barrel back on the ledge and looked through the scope, his crosshair landing on the incapacitated soldiers still affected by the fear magic. He watched as Covenant troops begin to execute the marines, unable for them to fight back. A fire is lit in the young Drake’s gut, one of anger. He took in a deep breath and lined up the crosshair over the head of an elite who was preparing to stab a downed ODST before pulling the trigger.

The rifle kicked hard, but Spike kept his grip stiff and watched through the scope as the bullet struck the Elite in the neck, the other side of his head exploding as the bullet exited. The dead Elite collapsed hard, saving the down trooper. Spike felt his chest ache a bit, but the fire in his stomach was stronger as he panned to the next target. BLAM! Another target down. BLAM! Then a third.

He popped the spent mag out and began looking for a replacement. He looked back at Carlito who was now fully on the ground, a look of horror plastered on his face. Spike’s throat tightened as he approached the young sniper before removing a few mags from his pouches.

“Don’t worry buddy, I got them,” Spike promised before hardening his expression and returning to the rifle.

Crystal ponies around the Crystal Heart gasped in shock and looked on in horror as they watched the last pony they ever wished to see again trot closer towards them. King Sombra stood tall and smirked devilishly as his former subject scurried out of his way as he trotted up to the Heart. Behind him, almost like an escort, was Shipmaster Khota ‘Mutamee. He glared down at the whimpering crystal ponies as he followed closely behind the Dark King as he approached the Heart. Sombra licked his lips as he approached the Heart, but a voice rang out behind him.

“Sombra!” Came the defiant voice of Twilight. Both Sombra and Khota stopped and turned to face the lavender Alicorn. Twilight was covered horn to hoof in green slime from the drones and glared at the Dark King who chuckled in response.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle.” Sombra smirked. Hearing the Dark King confirm that the Alicorn in front of them was in fact Princess Twilight, Khota huffed and crossed his arms.

“Princess. At last, I finally meet you face to face.” he spoke to which Twilight hardened her gaze at the Elite.

“You, you are the one responsible for all the death, all the destruction of my home!” Twilight gritted her teeth as the Elite remained unmoving.

“I gave you a warning, and you chose to ignore it.” Khota uncrossed his arms and pointed his massive finger at her. “All of this could have been avoided, if you kept to yourself, and did not interfere with our holy deed!”

“Holy!? You call all of this holy!?” Twilight dug at the ground with her hoof. “What kind of monsters do you worship that would be pleased with any of this!?”

“You will watch your tongue!” Khota roared as he grabbed his energy sword hilt off his hip. “Your heresy will be the death of you, Princess, and I will be your executioner!”

“Allow me, Shipmaster.” Sombra stepped past the furious Elite as his horn began to grow. “You are powerless to stop us, Princess. Without the Elements giving you an unfair clutch, I could end your life effortlessly.”

Twilight stood up straight, glaring at Sombra and showing no fear or intimidation. She was not going to back down.

Having had enough, Sombra powered up his horn and shot a beam of magic at Twilight, who continued to stand defiantly, not moving an inch. Right before the spell would strike her, a magic shield is summoned in front of her, blocking the spell. Sombra hardened his gaze as he noticed Twilight’s horn was not lit, meaning she did not summon the shield. Sombra sneered as he knew who was responsible.

“Prince Armor.” He muttered aloud. From the crowd of Crystal Ponies, a white stallion stood at full height. Sombra glared at him as the Stallion put on a gold & purple helmet with a plume on top. Shining Armor stepped out of the crowd and eyed the dark king and Elite with a glare.

“If you want the Heart, Sombra, you’ll have to go through me first.” Shining declared as he stood next to his sister and fellow monarch. Sombra narrows his eyes as he uses his magic to remove his crown and red cape.

“If you really desire to perish this day, then so be it,” Sombra spoke in a deep dark tone as his horn continued to glow. Before him, he manifested a scythe that was as black as the night.

Shining Armor hardened his gaze as he used his magic to remove a golden rod from his side. With a flick, it extended, and the tip of a spear popped out the top. Shining pointed his spear directly at Sombra who returned the gesture with a devilish grin. The latter then charged the Dark King, thrusting his spear forward. Sombra easily blocked it all while not losing his smirk.

Twilight watched her brother engage Sombra with widened eyes and her jaw slightly agape. In her peripherals, however, she sees a bright blue light. She quickly turned to see a plasma grenade being tossed at her. With only seconds to react, she spread her wings and flew upwards, the grenade landing where she stood previously. She quickly looked and glared at the Shipmaster as he took a few steps towards her. To her surprise, Khota tossed the energy sword hilt in his hand up to her. Twilight caught it in her aura before looking down at Khota with a confused look.

“Face me, Princess, so I can be rid of you and your interference in my mission. For you, will not see the end of this day!” Khota grabbed the second energy sword hilt off his hips and ignited it, revealing it to be a dark magi-enhanced blade.

Twilight hardened her expression and gently floated to the ground, igniting the energy sword in her aura, showing it too was enhanced by dark magic. The blade was longer, green with the tip of the sword being a deep purple color. Khota huffed and began stomping his way towards Twilight as the lavender princess matched his speed. They quickened their pace slightly as Khota raised his sword in the air and brought it down, just in time for Twilight to block the strike.

Sparks flew as Twilight blocked Khota’s strike, she could feel his strength as his blade pressed down on her sword. As the swords locked together, Twilight stared directly into the face of Khota. The face of the one who had ordered all the attacks on her homeworld. The face of the one, responsible for all the deaths of her kind in the past month. As she stared into the face of this monster, she only felt one thing… Anger.

Gritting her teeth, Twilight pushed back against Khota’s strength. The Shipmaster’s eyes widen slightly at seeing the alicorn’s magical strength slowly beginning to overpower him. He took an evasive step back as Twilight pushed his sword away with a hard slash, and advanced forward. She swung the plasma blade at Khota’s right side, but he quickly blocked it, following up with a slash of his own. Swinging downward, Twilight deflected the blade and parried it, immediately following it with a quick center stab. Unable to block it in time, Khota had to jump back quickly to avoid the strike. Admittedly, the Princess of Friendship showed more skills than he thought.

Shining Armor kept up on the defensive in his duel with Sombra. With each slash of dark king’s scythe, Shining would conjure a magical shield to protect him, standing as a phalanx till given the opportunity, and then thrusting his spear forward. Sombra just barely dodged it, the tip of the spear going right past his right cheek. Still, the dark unicorn pressed forward, lifting the scythe up and bringing it down with an overhead swing. Shining Armor brought up his magical shield just above his head and blocked the blade, it was only inches from his head.

Shining Armor gritted his teeth and uses his magic to hold Sombra’s scythe firm, the Dark King tugging to free his scythe as the Crystal Prince reared his spear back and thrusts it forward, directly into Sombra’s chest. However, there was no resistance to the thrust. Shining’s eyes widened as he saw the tip of his spear going through Sombra’s chest, but the spot where it hit was vaporous. Sombra chuckled as his horn was glowing, making part of his chest transparent and mist-like. Still frozen from the realization his strike did nothing, Shining was then bashed in the face with the snath of Sombra’s scythe, causing him to take a few steps back and wince in pain.

In the skies…

Rainbow Dash fired her grenade launcher, striking one of the last banshees in the air, the EMP grenade frying its circuitry and causing it to crash into the hard crystal ground below. “That’s thirteen banshees scrapped!” Rainbow bragged, mostly to herself.

She flapped her wings to hover in the air when one of the drones swooped down over her head. She quickly ducked and glared at the insect before getting swiped in the back by a second. The Pegasus mare let out a pained cry, feeling the bug’s claws slash at her back. She tucked her wings and dived before a third one could land a follow-up attack. Rainbow looked back and saw she was getting swarmed by at least a dozen drones targeting her in the air.

“I’m really starting to dislike them bugs!” the rainbow-maned pegasus groaned as she continued to dodge some incoming plasma bolts. She quickly barrel-rolled and twisted her body elegantly in her attempt to dodge. She could feel the heat of the plasma bolts as they flew past her body. Rainbow was the best flier in Equestria, but even she knew she couldn’t dodge them forever. She placed a hoof to the side of her helmet and spoke into her coms.

“Carlito! Get some of these flankholes off me!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she continued her evasive flying. No response came, causing her to grit her teeth. “Carlito, are you hearing me?! Drones are swarming me big time! I need some help!”

Again, there was no response coming from Rainbow’s comms. Her expression softened as she took it as a bad sign. If the sniper wasn’t responding, then something bad had to have happened. But in mid-thought, the all-too-familiar sound of an SRS sniper firing rang out. Rainbow Dash looked back behind her just in time to see one of the drones exploding from the powerful gunshot. A look of confusion grew on her face. Carlito wasn’t answering her requests, yet he was still taking shots. The pegasus mare narrowed her eyes and turned towards the direction of the crystal tower for a flyby to check on him. When she did, the pegasus almost lost all concentration on where she was flying, as it wasn’t Carlito sniping; it was Spike. She only had a split second to dodge more plasma as her shock had completely thrown off her concentration.

“Spike!?” Rainbow Dash shouted loudly, regaining flight control.

The purple & green drake lined his scope onto another drone close behind the rainbow pegasus. He pulled the trigger, and the bullet flew right over its head. Spike gritted his teeth before recentering his crosshair again and fired once more. The drone moved at the last second, causing him to miss again. He tried to refocus his aim when a new mass entered his crosshair. He held his aim, recognizing who it was, fearing he would hit them.

A bright red and orange fireball filled the sky, scorching a dozen drones at once, causing the burnt husks to fall to the ground. Rainbow Dash felt the heat behind her and saw Dragon Lord Ember incinerating the drones on her tail. Ember flapped her wings hard and got right next to Rainbow Dash.

“I can handle the drones, you’re needed more on the ground. Covies have broken through our lines and are nearing the Crystal Heart!” Ember ordered.

Rainbow Dash saluted before veering off to the side and then towards the ground, leaving the dragon lord. Ember turned back to look at the swarm of drones before reloading her grenade launcher with an explosive round. She lets out a long breath, exhaling smoke out of her nostrils

Rainbow Dash could see from the sky a bunch of elites executing a few marines, causing her to sneer. She landed with a hard thud, near a few marines who were curled into fetal position. She gave them an odd look, reaching a hoof out to them. She tugged on one of their shoulders, causing them to jolt and look at her.

Rainbow let out a shocked gasp when she saw their eyes with the bright green hue. The rainbow pegasus closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, tossing aside her empty grenade launcher and picking up the SMG that lay next to the marine. She looked to the second and picked up their SMG as well. Turning towards the line of Covenant, and flapping her wings, the rainbow-maned pegasus darted for the elites, barely swooping above their heads as she fired her dual SMGs.

Shining blocked another incoming attack from Sombra’s scythe with his magical shields, gritting his teeth as the Dark King smirked at him, showing off his fangs. Sombra, bearing down a lot of weight with his scythe, almost causing Shining Armor’s knees to buckle, trotted forward as he pressed the weight of his weapon down, forcing the Unicorn prince backwards, his hooves dragging in the dirt. Shining closed his eyes as he retained his focus on keeping his shield up. Sombra’s smirk got wider as his horn lit up, sending a powerful shockwave outwards that disabled Shining’s shields and knocked him back a few feet.

Twilight was on the defensive as Khota let out a flurry of strikes, with each swing of his sword being immediately followed by either a quick slash or a stab center. His full body towered over her as he brought down many overhead swings. Sparks from the blade flew and hit the lavender princess in the face, and yet she did not give in to his strength and brutality. Keeping her blocks and parries equal to his speed and agility, her focus only broke by the sound of a pained cry from her brother. She looked past Khota to see Shining being knocked a few feet away by Sombra’s magic. The Dark King now approached him like a predator.

“Shining!” She yelled as her wings spread open. With a hard flay, she bulldozed over Khota who had not expected her to rush forward. Lighting her horn, she blasted a powerful beam of magic at Sombra, hitting him in the side and knocking him to the ground. The umbral king quickly rolled and got back to his hooves, glaring at Twilight as she landed hard a few feet in front of him. Sombra eventually began to chuckle.

“I can feel a sliver of darkness in you, Princess.” Sombra stood up straight as he used his magic to dispel his scythe. “You’ve used a lot of dark magic in the past few weeks.”

“I’ll do what is necessary to protect my ponies and my home!” Twilight scowled at the king’s taunts.

“Then let’s see how far you will truly go.” Sombra’s expression turned wicked as his horn glowed a sickly green and black color.

Just before he could unleash his spell, Twilight summoned her own shield to block his magic. She then reconstituted her shield and sent it forward as a projectile. Sombra summoned a dark crystal in front of him that sliced the shields in half, both sides darting past him, leaving him unharmed.

Shining slowly got back to his hooves and looked back towards Sombra. His eyes widened as he now saw his little sister engaging the dark king. He gritted his teeth, picking his spear back up in his magic to aid her, when he saw a bright cyan ball being thrown in his direction. He quickly rolled to the side to avoid it and hunkered down as the plasma grenade exploded and glared at the one who threw it. Shipmaster Khota stepped forward, huffing loudly and pointing his corrupted sword at the prince in a challenge.

Shining steadied his spear and charged the massive Elite. Khota lowered his stance and reeled back his wrist. He thrusted it forward at Shining, who quickly blocked it with a ward before sending the spear forward. Khota only had a few seconds to react, twisting his upper body to the right side, the blade of the spear grazing and scratching the armor on one of his mandibles.

Khota quickly jumped back and placed his hand on the side of his head, feeling the scratch on his armor. His anger flared for allowing the puny native to get such a close shot at him. Shining pressed closer, not allowing the Shipmaster some breath room before thrusting his spear forward again. With his agility, Khota glid his body away from the spear and slashed his sword to Shining’s left side. Shining’s magical shield protected him, but a hard fist from Khota nailed the stallion in the jaw.

The crystal prince recoiled as he felt his teeth clack together and he shook his head to clear the dizziness. He raised his head again just in time to see Khota’s sword coming right at him again, this time raising his spear to block the strike. Khota’s energy sword sliced right through the metal, slicing the tip right off.

Shining’s eyes widened as he looked at his now useless spear. Not before Khota’s hand reached out and grabbed him by the throat. Shining gag as he is lifted into the air, and is met face to face with the shipmaster. Khota holds Shining Armor just inches from his face his orange eye and cloudy eye glaring at him in pure hate.

“You fought well, but it was in vain!” Khota gloats. Shining tried to light his horn, but Khota squeezed his throat harder, throwing off his concentration, and his magic fizzled out. Khota reeled his sword back, and without mercy, thrusted it into Shining’s abdomen, The blade burning all the way through and out his back. Shining Armor felt the burning blade go through his gut and burn him on the inside. He closed his eyes and let out a thunderous cry of pain.

Twilight had just summoned a large ball of unstable purple magic. She threw it forward at Sombra who quickly dematerialized his body into a mist. The vapor went around the magic ball as it flew past him and the fog came back together to reform his shape. Twilight sneered at the Dark King as her shot missed.

Then the scream of Shining rang out, causing the fur on her neck to stand on end. Her eyes widened and she slowly turned and saw her brother, being skewered by the Shipmaster. The burning blade went all the way through his body as he roared in pain. She felt her heart dart into her throat, and her whole body felt ice cold.

“Shiny!”

Author's Note

Hello everyone, k00l here with SCPEquis! The Crystal Empire seems to be on its last legs, and now, its Prince has just taken a mortal wound! Hope seems to be draining at every turn as most of our characters are now completely incapacitated.

What will our heroes do next? Will they find a way to push the Covenant back, or will they fail? Will Shinning Armor die? Will King Sombra corrupt the Crystal Heart?

All shall be revealed in the next chapter.

P.S. The next few chapters for “Ponies Read the SCP Foundation Database” are coming up soon.