An elite minor, followed by a team of four grunt minors, and a jackal armed with a carbine, was marching through the Crystal Empire, searching for any still living marines, human or otherwise so they could put an end to their wretched lives. His major had ordered it before the Shipmaster, their brothers, and the native king Sombra moved in to eliminate something called the Crystal Heart. The low-ranking Sangheili was also confused that he had to refrain from killing any of the Empire’s civilians, but he never dared question an order from Shipmaster Khota. Besides, that command did not extend to any human or pony refugees, and it was easy to differentiate crystal ponies from regular ponies.

Eventually, the Covenant squad approached a rather large, crystal greenhouse located at the edge of the Crystal Empire. They saw the entrance had been left wide open with a padlock and broken chains lying on the ground, meaning somebody was inside. The Sangheili Minor gestured to his subordinates, who followed him into the garden. Since they had their backs turned and couldn’t see the front end of the doors, the Covies didn’t see the warning sign that read, “RESTRICTED AREA DO NOT ENTER”, nor the figure watching them from the alleyway they came.

Once inside, the aliens looked around this greenhouse garden. The interior appeared to have enough space to fit an entire 400m running track inside; the Jackal had seen one of those during their invasion of Reach. The structure itself was made entirely out of crystal, like all the other buildings in this city, but interestingly, the garden was full of plants. Not crystal plants, actual plants; flowers, ferns, shrubs, trees, etc.

One of the Unggoy minors, Wawhack, complained that he hated plants on this world, with the second remarking that he never liked plants at all. The Sangheili ordered them to shut up as he listened very carefully. He heard a quiet noise coming from nearby, and so did the others, and they started looking for the source. Wawhack walked into a small tree as his team began moving, then got agitated and fired an overcharged shot from his plasma pistol at it, causing the small tree trunk to snap and fall over. The Unggoy linked back up with his squad, who found the source of the noise, not hearing the growling underneath the fallen tree, someone had watched the scenario unfold.

The Covenant squad discovered it was a human that was making the sound, lying supine on one of the grass patches. They approached it and realized it was a civilian male in his early twenties. The second Unggoy minor noticed he was afflicted with Sombra’s fear magic, noting the green glow and purple miasma in his eyes and his constant trembles and whimpers. The Sangheili huffed in amusement at the refugee they were surrounding, then ordered the Kig-Yar to put a hole in his head. The avian-like alien complied and aimed his carbine, but before he could pull the trigger, something above lunged down and bit his entire torso off, leaving his legs standing where they were before dropping. Wawhack and the other unggoy cried out while the Sangheili flinched, startled by the unexpected attack, but what they saw was even more surprising.

Several feet close to where they were standing a few moments ago was…a plant. A large, animate plant with a green bulb almost as big as a Rizvum-pattern Swift Tank, containing a mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth. The bulb was connected to a thick green stem sprouting from the ground, right where the fallen tree was. It must’ve been awakened by the tree landing on it.

The large plant spat out the corpse onto the road before turning and facing the rest of the Covenant squad, emitting a low growling sound. Wawhack and the other three unggoy were paralyzed in fear. The Sangheili Minor, however, tightened his mandibles while keeping his plasma rifle aimed, his unarmed hand grabbing a plasma grenade from his waist. The monster plant roared as it lunged towards the Sangheili with its mouth opened, but he rolled out of the way while priming and tossing the plasma grenade. The ball stuck to the roof of its mouth, and after a few seconds, it exploded, turning its head into burnt pieces and scattering them around its corpse.

The Unggoys cheered for their leader as he got back on his feet and roared victoriously. It wasn’t much of a challenge, but he still won. As they turned their attention back to the defenseless human, the Sangheili was deep in thought. Who would’ve thought there would be a plant in this world similar to the G’lul’g trees of Sanghelios? Which begged the question… What was it doing here in an Empire made entirely out of crystal?

He got his answer when something pulled him down before his mind could comprehend what happened. His cries of pain were heard by the four grunts and they turned to see the Elite on his knees with multiple thick vines wrapped around his legs, wrists, and torso, rendering him trapped. There was also a large sharp spike that had impaled him through the roof of his mouth, coming out from the top of his head. The Unggoys screamed and started to panic; their leader was dead, and they needed to get out of this place. However, they realized that would never happen.

The plants inside the crystal greenhouse, the vines, the trees; they were all coming to life. Other monster plants arose and started slaughtering the grunts. A Venus flytrap hiding in the dirt bit into the first grunt’s leg when he stepped on it and tripped over, allowing a nearby vine to snap his neck. The second tried to run away but was stopped in his tracks by another monster plant that quickly lunged forward and bit his head off. The third reached for his plasma grenades, but the nearby trees developed a couple of sphincters on their trunks that spat out red thorn-like darts at high speeds, sticking into his forearms and legs. Some unknowable poison leeches from the darts and into the Grunt’s bloodstream, paralyzing him to death. Wawhack, having managed to get away from the carnage, sprinted towards the entrance like his life depended on it. He would’ve escaped the greenhouse had a thick vine not caught him by the ankles and pulled him away. He screamed in horror as the doors of his only exit slammed shut and were blocked by the nearby overgrowth.

Upon reaching the tree Wawhack broke, more vines erupted around the grunt and added to restricting his movement. He was on his knees with his fists in the dirt, only able to turn his head. Some of the vines were even gripping his neck and torso, the latter from inside his armor. He waited for the surrounding plant monsters to attack him, but not one of them made a single move.

Suddenly, Wawhack heard what sounded like hooves clopping against dirt in front of him. He lifted his head and saw a pony slowly trotting up to where he was facing him. They were wearing a dark green cloak that covered most of their body, with floral-like patterns sewn into the fabric. Their eyes were obscured underneath the hood, so only the chartreuse green snout was visible. Curiously, their legs seemed to fade down into a moderate green color at their hooves. Plant life seemed to spread where the cloaked pony was walking, and when they raised a hoof, the monster plants seemed to make way for them, responding to their command.

Wawhack was trembling as the strange plant-controlling pony who slowly approached and stopped just in front of him. They stared menacingly into his eyes, and the fact that he couldn’t see theirs only amplified the feeling. The pony turned their head away from him and he followed their gaze… to the tree he destroyed, the burn mark still fresh on the trunk. The pony turned back to him and he turned back to them fearfully.

“So you hate plants, hmm?” The pony questioned the Grunt, anger seething in their feminine voice.

Before Wawhack could say anything, the vines that bound him grabbed his mask and ripped it off, exposing him to the planet’s natural air. He desperately tried to hold his breath, but the vines around his torso squeezed tightly, forcing the methane out of his lungs. He choked on the oxygen as he watched his mask being crushed by the plants, the pony standing before him being the last thing he saw.

The cloaked mare watched as the small, simian-like alien took his last breath before expiring, his lifeless eyes staring at her. The vines and other plants released the Covenant and retreated into the soil, allowing the fresh corpse to hit the ground. She looked around and saw no more of those aliens nearby, then looked back at the fallen tree, a frown forming on her muzzle.

Her attention was drawn to the only living trespasser left in her greenhouse; the human still curled up and lying on the grass, the one she spotted being surrounded by the other aliens when she followed the Covies, the one who first broke into her visiting place of residence. She trotted over and took a closer look at him. He had blond hair and cream-colored skin, a few small cuts and bruises on his face and arms. She’d seen many of these humans, both soldiers and civilians, while sneaking through the Crystal Empire, either dead or lying on the ground and waiting to be killed for some reason. The mare figured out why when she realized the human was under the influence of fear magic, indicated by his corrupted eyes shooting in all directions, constant whimpering, and inability to sense her presence.

The mare was about to trot toward the exit before stopping and turning her head to look back at the human. She may have a mission to complete, but she couldn’t just leave this human behind, not while the Covenant were searching for survivors. That must’ve been why he broke into her visiting place of residence in the Empire; he was trying to hide. At first, the mare thought she could just leave him where he is and have plants seal the greenhouse from inside, but wouldn’t be enough to stop the Covenant from breaking in.

Figuring it was time to use one of her little projects, the cloaked pony swiftly sank into the dirt and disappeared without a trace. Shortly after, an enormous, unblossomed flower slowly emerged a yard away from the incapacitated human up to its sepal, surrounded by six long vines, two of which gently lifted him in their grasp. At that moment, the mega flower’s large and thick orange petals peeled open, revealing the cloaked mare standing on a flat surface at the bottom, surrounded by several smaller vines. The young human was then placed into the large flower by the vine, with the smaller ones ensuring every part of him was inside. The mare placed a forest-green hoof onto the human’s cheek, revealing several tiny vines going up her foreleg.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be safe here.” the mare promised her guest, her hood concealing her rarely displayed sympathetic side before jumping out of the plant. She knew he couldn’t hear her in his current state, but it was something she needed to say.

As the mare galloped out of the greenhouse, the enormous pod-like flower began closing its petals, sealing themselves around the young man, leaving enough interior space so he wouldn’t be crushed. Now confirming nothing could get in or out, the entire flower started sinking back into the ground, its vines dragging in the surrounding dirt to cover the hole and bury itself. He’ll be safe from in there and she’ll have to wake him up later, but that didn’t concern the pony. She needed to find Prince Armor immediately.

The base of the Crystal Castle…

Khota glared into the face of Shining Armor, the latter staring back as a trickle of blood leaked from his mouth. He pulled his burning blade out of Shining’s gut and released his throat, the crystal prince collapsing and crumpling at his feet, only twitching slightly from the pain. Khota towered over him, reeling back his arm to deliver a killing blow. He hesitated as he felt the ground underneath him tremble, and then his eyes widened as the crystal ground began to crack.

With instincts taking over, he quickly somersaulted to the side, just barely missing the giant jagged crystal erupting from the ground where his feet once were. On his hands and knees, he looked at the large crystal and began to growl. He glanced in Sombra’s direction, ready to scold the Dark King for almost skewering him. However, his eyes did not land on Sombra, but on Princess Twilight Sparkle.

She stomped her front hoof down as dark magic oozed out of her horn like a cyst, her eyes having shifted fully green, even consuming her pupils. She snarled at the Shipmaster, baring her teeth at him. He couldn’t help but feel some sort of intimidation from her. She reared her head back and fired a beam of black magic at his chest. Unable to roll in time, he held up his energy sword. With the sword being infused with dark magic as well, it deflected Twilight’s magic, keeping Khota safe, for now. Despite protecting himself from the blast, the strength behind the spell was enough to push him backwards. He rolled across his back and onto his feet, getting back into a combat stance.

Khota’s eyes then looked past Twilight, to see Sombra only watching, and smiling, delighted in what he was seeing. Khota let out a low growl as Sombra was just letting Twilight attack him with powerful dark magic spells. Khota gripped his sword tighter as he pushed off his legs and ran at a full sprint at Twilight, his sword reeled back at his side. Twilight directed another beam of dark magic from her horn that Khota sidestepped. He got closer and slashed his sword from the right side, aimed at Twilight’s head.

Seeing the attack coming, Twilight erected another large crystal at her left side, blocking Khota’s sword. As soon as his blade connected with the crystal, he was hit with a hard shock. The shock jolted him and he quickly retreated, holding a hand to his chest. Twilight let out another snarl and summoned a second crystal, this time at her right side. Both crystals began sparking with purple electricity, the two crystals guiding the sparks up between them like a Jacob’s ladder. Khota watched in amazement as each spark got more and more intense. Twilight slammed her two front hooves on the ground and the sparks were then directed at her horn like a lightning rod. She huffed, steam puffing out of her nose, and then she directed the purple lightning directly at Khota.

Like last time, he used his dark magic-infused sword to shield himself. The lightning struck the energy sword and took the full brunt of the lightning, but not enough. Khota felt the lightning extend to all of his limbs, from his fingertips down to the bottom of his feet. He howled out a roar of pain as the lightning began to burn his armor, turning the gold color into more of a pyrite.

Twilight dispelled her lightning, leaving Khota trembling on his feet. He deactivated his sword and collapsed to his knees. He fell forward, his fists slamming into the ground. He panted hard, his vision blurry as sweat dripped from his face. He lifted his head to the sound of heavy hoofsteps. He met with the fiery gaze of Princess Twilight, her eyes still just a void of green, leaking a dark purple smog. His own eyes widened at the sight and strength of Twilight, and only one word entered his mind.

“…Demon,” he whispered to himself as she stopped in front of him, glaring down at him, her teeth gritted in an expression of fury and rage. As for Twilight, she only felt one emotion; hate. Pure hatred. She hated Khota, hated who he was, what he represented, what he had done. His transgression against her kind was already too much, but harming her own kin was what broke her.

As Twilight went on her rampage, Fluttershy rushed over to Shining Armor to help him. She examined his wound and noticed blood slowly pooling around the unicorn prince. Shining Armor looked up at the butterscotch mare weakly, his expression clearly saying, “Help me.”

“Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy cried out, obviously panicking. Knowing what she had to do, the butterscotch mare pulled out her canister and began filling the stallion’s wound with biofoam.

A pair of jackals spotted the pegasus mare and raised their weapons, but before they could fire, a large vine wound around the right jackal’s legs and yanked him away. The left jackal turned around and saw her comrade hung in the air by the floral appendage that sprouted from the ground, rendering him defenseless. Fluttershy watched as the animated plant flung the first jackal far away from them before turning to the second with the plasma pistol, which fired a few plasma bolts that burned its surface. However, another, smaller vine sprouted from underneath and pulled the pistol out of her hands, allowing the larger vine to whack the jackal far away. The dark green-cloaked pony stepped out from behind the plant and approached Fluttershy.

“Are you alright, medic?” she asked.

Fluttershy, believing this was another of the Empire’s mages, nodded her head before turning to look back at Shining Armor, who was still lying on the ground. He was barely conscious and still bleeding, though a lot slower than he was previously, thanks to the biofoam. The new pony gasped in horror as she approached Shining Armor, who weakly looked up at her in confusion and tried to speak. The mare looked at Fluttershy as if to ask what happened.

“He’s been impaled with an energy sword! I need to fill his wound with more biofoam before I can start patching him up, but it needs to be done someplace else!” With that, Fluttershy tried to pull Shining Armor away from the nearby fighting, but any attempt to move him caused him to let out another yelp of pain.

“Stop!” the green pony cried out, putting a hoof on the pegasus mare’s foreleg to stop her. “His wound is still too deep! Try to move him, he’ll lose more blood!”

Fluttershy had a worried look on her face. “Then how and where are we gonna move him?” she asked.

“Leave that to me. We’ll take him to the Forbidden Garden.” The mare said before raising both her forelegs and bringing them down hard. A green glow began spreading across the crystal ground from the mare, and before Fluttershy knew it, cracks began forming around the two mares and the wounded stallion.

The butterscotch pegasus was surprised when she saw multiple green vines come out of the crystal ground and create a large leaflike surface underneath Shining Armor which lifted his wounded body off the ground. Securing the Prince with multiple smaller vines, it lifted and moved him away from the battle. The pony in the dark green cloak turned to Fluttershy and gestured for her to follow before the plant took her and Shining Armor away from the Crystal Castle. Fluttershy, confused about this “forbidden” garden they’re going to, ran after the green mare with her first aid kit in tow.

Fluttershy arrived at the aforementioned greenhouse garden after following the trail for a couple of minutes, the double doors left wide open for her. Upon stepping through the entrance and noticing the trail suddenly ending, the nearby plants guided her to the center of the garden. There she found the mare with Shining Armor still lying in the bed leaf hovering just above the ground, though it was now connected to the stump of a large tree. Fluttershy rushed over to them.

“How bad is he?” she asked the mare.

“Not good,” the mare replied, her barely visible eyes displaying worry. “We’ve administered him oxygen, but that energy blade cut all the way through his chest and he’s lost a lot of blood. My friends are doing what they can to mitigate that loss, so you need to seal that wound quickly.”

Fluttershy looked over at Shining Armor’s body and saw several large plant appendages applying pressure to his chest wound, trying their very best to keep him from losing too much blood. One of these plants looked like a large purple flower bud was clamped around his muzzle and appeared to be providing him oxygen, like those human oxygen masks.

The Pegasus looked back at the mare and nodded before grabbing her biofoam canister. Some of the plants moved aside, allowing the pegasus medic to begin. However, after she finally sealed up the stallion’s chest wound, multiple rumbling stomps were felt approaching them in the distance, then there was the sound of something big crashing through the crystal wall.

Pharynx, along with a few of his marines were pinned down near what used to be a kiosk. To his side were three of the four remaining battlemages. The gray battlemage summoned a thick cloud of smoke around herself, engulfing her and making her body transparent, helping her avoid damage from incoming plasma bolts that wisped through her vaporous body. The one in brown stomped his front hoof down, causing a huge rock to quickly erupt out of the crystal floor, spinning on his front hoof, he then bucked the rock effortlessly, causing it to launch in the air and come crashing down on a few grunts. The one in purple held his hoof towards one of the many crystal fountains and drew a large torrent of water from it, using it to summon a large wave that crashed down on a small covenant squad. Pharynx watched the mages help keep the fire away from their position as he began to talk into his comms.

“Yngol, come in! We are pinned down and could use your strength now!” Pharynx shouted into his comm over the gunfire. No response came as he was oblivious to what had happened to the Yak warrior. “Yngol, respond! That is an order!”

“Sir!” A pony marine shook Pharynx to get his attention. The changeling prince quickly glared at the pony before seeing them point in a direction. Pharnyx’s eyes widened to see a green-cloaked pony seeming to pull Prince Armor away from the battlefield with a gigantic plant and a small trail of blood behind them.

“Prince Armor,” Pharynx whispered to himself and hardened his expression. He stood up and pointed his hoof at three marines, a human, a pony, and a changeling. “You, you, and you! On me!”

The three soldiers gave a “Yes sir!” in unison before linking up with the changeling prince. The group stood and rushed to see where Shining Armor was being taken. The battlemage in the brown cloak looked to the rest of his fellow mages.

“Enenra!” He shouted to the gray mage. “Me and Rain can handle things here. Follow Prince Pharynx and provide more assistance!”

“Yes, high mage Bumi.” The gray battlemage Enenra placed a hoof on her chest and bowed her head, her body slowly morphing into a plume of smoke before evaporating.

The Brown mage, now known as Bumi, turned back towards the battlefield. The ground under him shook as he began powering up his spell. Rearing up on his hind legs, he stomped and massive rocks erupted from the ground, towering over the Covenant on the other side. They all looked up at the peak as soon as an enormous wave of water washed over the top and crashed down on the Covenant forces below. The purple mage appeared out of the water, standing on top of the rocks, glaring down at the aliens below.

Pharynx and his men turned the corner where they saw Fluttershy, the other green mage, and Prince Armor go down, as well as the trail the large vine had created. They came across the entrance to the greenhouse with a large hole at the entrance, the crystal pony marine recognizing it as the Forbidden Garden. Charging through the hole, the quartet began to look around, their guns aimed at the foliage.

“Bloody hell, how are we supposed to know which direction they’re in?” remarked the human marine. With his question going unanswered for a bit, a high-pitched shriek of terror emanates to the group’s left, followed by a few roars, two familiar and two unfamiliar.

“Ten bits they’re that way.” The crystal pony marine responded.

“Can it, you two! On me!” Pharynx clenched his teeth and sprinted in that direction, his men close behind him.

The Changeling prince ran directly into a rosebush, the thorns doing nothing to his hard chitin as he exited the other side. His vision landed on two hulking hunters. He saw Fluttershy cowering in fear, but having her body splayed over Shining Armor, still attempting to protect him, while the plant “mage” was standing on her hindlegs, using her front hooves to raise a wall of vines and thorns as a shield. Both hunters raised their fuel rod cannons in unison and began firing steady beams of incendiary gel at the wall, burning the vines away slowly. The mare winced as she tried in vain to summon more plants, but it was a losing battle as her minions were being burnt faster than she could summon them. Pharynx’s men stepped out of the bush next to him and saw the two giants in front of them.

“Give the prince and that pony some breathing room! Open fire!” Pharynx commanded, switching the safety off his DMR and firing on one of the hunters.

As the two hunters turned towards them, they dispersed in different directions to avoid a direct shot from one of the assault cannons. Pharynx stood still, continuing to fire his DMR when one hunter aimed their cannon at him, charging it up and firing a fuel rod. Pharynx smirked, using his magic to throw his DMR straight up in the air before using his changeling magic to quickly morph into the tiniest house fly. The fuel rod missed him and he flew upward, reverting into his standard form, his elytra expanding to allow him to hover in the air. He caught his rifle and continued firing at the hunter. One of his bullets struck it in the neck, causing one of the many worms to fall off its frame, the hunter hissing devilishly in response.

The plant mare was a bit shocked to see a few marines had shown up to help her. But wasting no time, she quelled her shock and returned to Fluttershy, already fast at work trying to help Shining Armor. Fluttershy injected him with a syringe of morphine, and the crystal prince visibly relaxed, but not enough.

“M…more…” Shining Armor weakly begged through the mask, causing Fluttershy’s throat to tighten.

“I-I can’t give you more, this is all I can give you.” Fluttershy began to tear up, desperately trying to help her best friend’s brother.

“Allow me.” The plant mare stepped in again. From her cloak, she pulled out a vile with a cork. She opened it once the flower mask removed itself from Shining’s muzzle and put it to his lips, forcing him to ingest it, then covered his mouth and nose to force him to swallow it.

“Wh-what was that?” Fluttershy asked the mare who returned the empty vile to her pouch.

“It is a mixture of ginseng and yarrow herbs. It’s a natural medicine; tastes awful, but will help him.” She reassured the timid yellow pegasus as the flower mask returned to the Prince’s muzzle. “You may continue to stabilize him, medic.”

Fluttershy gave her a half-hearted nod. She looked back down at Shining, taking in a large breath, and releasing it. She put on a more assertive face and went back to her medkit, pulling out biofoam for the burns the energy sword caused, as well as twine and a needle.

While Pharynx kept one of the hunters busy, his men were focusing on the second. With hardly any room to hide, they stuck to constantly shifting positions to avoid the fuel rod blasts. The crystal pony marine was having a hard time running, firing, and avoiding the fuel rods all at the same time. Having not noticed a stone in front of him, he tripped over it, tumbling on the ground and lying on his stomach. As he looked up, the hunter had him in sight, powering up its cannon. The pony’s eyes softened, slowly accepting his fate, not realizing a plume of smoke under his body. Without another second passing, the hunter fired its fuel rod cannon and struck where the pony lay. Looking back where it shot, there was no trace of the pony. The hunter turned to focus on the human and the changeling marine, thinking it just killed its victim.

The crystal pony opened his eyes, surprised to see that he wasn’t dead. He even looked down at his hooves to make sure. To his side, he noticed a figure and looked to see a unicorn mage Enenra next to him.

“Stay here.” She instructed, her voice raspy like a whisper. “I will take down the beast.”

Without another word, Enenra’s body evaporated into smoke and disappeared.

Spike popped another spent mag out of his sniper, the barrel spewing gunsmoke as he reloaded. He peeked through the scope, continuing to protect the downed soldiers still infected with fear magic. So many of them littered the streets, still writhing around, still alive. Meanwhile, on the ground, N’thoka hid behind a piece of leftover UNSC barriers for protection. He looked to the side to see another one of his brothers taken down by the sniper. Growling under his breath, he spoke into his comm.

“Any heavy armor units available!? I am pinned down by one of the heathen snipers! We are losing brothers fast!” N’thoka shouted, clutching his plasma repeater close to him.

“Negative, Zealot!” Came a reply. “The demons destroyed all wraiths on the ground!”

“Chkhaa!” N’thoka swore in his native tongue as he slammed his fist onto the ground. He made the daring move to peek out of his cover to look up at the crystal tower where the shots rang from. He analyzed it, trying to find a weak spot, but the crystal looked way too firm. It would take a massive explosion to cause some damage, and without any wraiths, there was no way any of their firepower would make a dent. The Zealot pulled his head back into cover and looked down at his repeater. It was low on plasma, and it would need a charge soon. Looking off to the side, he spotted a plasma battery that would aid in refilling his weapon.

‘Wait…’ He thought to himself, an idea forming in his head as he peeked back out at the crystal tower, looking down at the base. His mandibles bent into a crooked smile as he chuckled darkly, placing his hand back onto his comm link. “Brothers, heed my command! Take any and all plasma batteries you find and gather them at the base at the tower where the cowardly sniper is nesting!”

After giving his orders, N’thoka sat up and began firing his plasma repeater up at the tower to draw the fire. Spike was caught off guard by the volley of plasma bolts being fired at him. Adjusting his sights, he found where they were coming from. He spotted N’thoka, causing him to grin.

“Zealot, and a brave one,” Spike muttered to himself before placing his crosshair right over him and firing. The gun jolted and he looked back through the scope. There was no sign of the elite, not even blood. Assuming he got the kill, he scanned for more targets when another barrage of plasma struck near him much closer this time. He swiped his sniper back to see the Zealot was still there firing at him. Spike gritted his teeth and fired again.

N’thoka quickly dived back into cover just as the sniper shot rang out. Looking to his side, he saw many of his fellow elites rushing to the tower’s base with plasma batteries in hand. He watched them place them somewhat sloppily at the base. There were at least twenty batteries in place. This idea was very human-like, N’thoka admitted. He had seen them use their plasma batteries against them before, now he was testing the tactic himself.

After giving his brothers enough time to clear, N’thoka stood back up and used the last of the plasma in his repeater to fire at the batteries. What followed was a chain reaction of explosions. When the first battery exploded, it caused the others to follow suit, until there was a large purple and blue fireball at the tower’s base. Spike felt the tower quake from the blast, the tremor causing him to drop his sniper rifle, which fell out of the tower wall.

“No!” The baby dragon leaned over the side and reached out with his claw in vain as the rifle plummeted, but then he saw the damage. There was a large crack at the base of the tower, and it was growing larger with each passing second. The tower slowly began to lean, more of the base cracking loudly as the structure’s weight was too great to keep it upright.

The tower was beginning to collapse, and Spike expanded his wings. Before he could take off, however, an ODST helmet flew past his head and fell out of the tower. He recognized who that belonged to; it was Carlito’s. The baby dragon turned back, seeing the still incapacitated sharpshooter lying on the ground, completely unaware of what was happening. Carlito was dead weight as he too began sliding towards the window as the tower was toppling.

“Carlito!” Spike shouted as he grabbed Carlito by his harness. He had a terrible grip, but he was running out of time.

The baby Drake flapped his wings hard and lifted the sniper up and out the window just as the tower gave way. He could see the horrified look still present on his friend’s face, his eyes darting around, still leaking that purple miasma. As the tower collapsed onto the ground, Carlito’s weight, along with Spike’s poor grip, proved a bit too much for the latter, causing the sniper to slip from his claws.

“NO!!!” Spike cried out as Carlito began to plummet. He tried to dive down and catch his friend, but the human was falling far faster than he was, given his body mass. Spike could only watch in horror as his friend fell to his death.

Suddenly, at the last minute, a blue blur swooped past and caught the Lance Corporal in midair before he could hit the ground. Spike’s eyes followed the blur and breathed a sigh of relief to see it was Ember who had caught Carlito. As for the sniper, his head began to stir, indicating that the fearing magic was beginning to dispel.

“Ember!” Came the shrill voice of Spike, causing the Dragon Lord to look to the side as the young drake flew down to her. Spike, holding Carlito’s helmet, still looked concerned for his human friend. “Thank Celestia you caught Carlito! Is he hurt?”

“No, he looks okay to me, aside from his eyes.” said Ember before turning around, carrying Carlito bridal style. “Come on. We gotta hide and wake him up before this smoke clears.”

Spike nodded in agreement and followed Ember close behind as they flew in the direction of one of the crystal buildings surrounding the castle. Once the two dragons landed on the top floor deck and entered the building, Ember laid the Hispanic ODST down in the corner, back resting against the wall, while Spike closed the doors. Carlito began to shake his head from side to side. He blinked a few times as the fear magic began to dispel from his eyes. Both Spike and Ember kneeled around him until the magic was completely gone.

“…Que?” Carlito looked around, seeing he was not in the crystal tower anymore. As his eyes adjusted, he looked to his left and right and saw the two dragons who saved him. Spike

“Carlito! Are you okay!?” said Spike as he placed a hand on the ODST’s shoulder.

“Sí, amigo. I’m good.” Carlito responded before placing a hand on his head.

Spike then wrapped his arms around his chest and hugged him, happy that his human friend was alright. The ODST gave a small smile at this while the Dragon Lord chuckled, causing the former to look up at her and nod. Once the baby dragon let go of him, Carlito tried to stand back up but fell to his knees. Ember came over and helped him up to his feet. He wobbled and placed an arm around her shoulder.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You can’t even stand on your feet.” Ember said in amusement with a raised eyebrow. The ODST didn’t respond and just rubbed his forehead.

“Wh… What happened? How did we get here?” Carlito asked as he looked at the two dragons.

“You were being affected by fear magic again.” Spike started to explain, handing the ODST his missing helmet.

“Felt that.” Carlito took his helmet back as he closed his eyes tight, unable to get rid of his inner demons.

“So when you went down, I picked up your sniper and kept providing covering fire,” Spike admitted, causing the Lance Corporal and the Dragon Lord to give him a surprised look.

“…You started sniping, amigo?” Carlito’s voice hinted at some shock.

“Yeah, but…they destroyed the tower. I tried to save you when you fell, but you were too heavy.” Spike then gave a relieved smile and gestured to the Dragon Lord helping Carlito stand. “Thankfully, Ember here swooped in and caught you.”

Carlito turned to look at the cyan dragoness who nodded her head smiled. “Yeah. I just got done roasting a drone with my fire before the tower fell.” She said.

Carlito smiled and nodded to her gratefully, and the cyan Dragon Lord nodded back at him. He removed his arm from her shoulder, now able to stand on his feet, and looked Spike. “So you actually took out Covies with my rifle?” He asked the baby drake.

“Yeah, before I lost it when the tower toppled over,” Spike sighed, looking a bit guilty. “I wasn’t able to get the big elite in golden armor that you were eager to kill… I’m sorry.”

Carlito knelt down and patted Spike on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, amigo. I’m just impressed you were able to handle sniping. Being a sharpshooter is not easy.”

With a much-needed short moment of rest, Carlito, Ember, and Spike took the time to catch their breath and collect their thoughts, mostly the Lance Corporal as his darker memories finally subsided.

“We need to regroup. Things are turning out for the worst out there.” Ember finally spoke up, breaking the silence.

Carlito nodded, sliding his helmet back on and placing his hand on the side of it. “Tex, this is Lance Corporal Carlito, along with Spike and Ember. We’re on the ground and we can be of assistance. Where are you, Amigo?”

His radio went silent, receiving no response from his sergeant. “Tex? You there brother?” As his radio remained silent, he began trying to contact the rest of Whiskey-7. “Marcus, come in… Tammy, do you read me? Adam!”

“Twilight, are you there? Where are you?” Spike spoke into his com, only to be met with static.

“Prince Armor, this is Dragon Lord Ember. I need a sitrep, over.” Ember had her claw to the side of her head as well, but just like Carlito and Spike, she didn’t receive an answer.

Carlito felt his chest tighten as he wasn’t getting any responses from anyone he knew, not even Spartan team Zeta. A new fear began to take hold of him, as he clenched his other hand. He slowly looked at the two dragons who gave him a confused and worried look.

“Ay, coño…” he muttered.

“Are you okay?” asked Ember, raising an eyebrow.

“No. I need to find them, make sure they’re okay.” Carlito responded, pulling his sidearm out and pulling back the slider.

“Who?” Spike asked, hearing the seriousness in his friend’s voice.

Carlito loaded a round and responded. “Mi familia.”

Khota found himself being enveloped in a purple aura and flung into the side of the Crystal Castle’s walls. He let out a pained grunt as he slid down to the ground. He attempted to get up, but he was enveloped again and then thrown thirty feet away, landing hard and rolling onto his side.

Twilight continued to glare at the alien crumbling before her as he looked up at her with a pained expression. She felt this was payback, and it felt so sweet, almost so she could laugh. Feeling as if she had crushed his will and spirit enough, she uses her corrupted aura to snag him by the throat. Khota coughed and choked as he felt the magic around his neck and then lifted him off the ground. He levitated off the ground, his limbs also being ensnared by her magic. His body rotated in the air till he was upside down and then brought closer to her.

He was inches from her face as he stared into her pure green eyes. Despite her anger and hatred, she managed a smirk, knowing he was fully at her mercy. She knew his capture was a priority over his death, as what he knew was valuable to not just the UNSC, but to the Princesses as well. Afterward, Celestia wants him to stand trial for his crimes, which most likely would end with him being turned to stone. But why waste the magic when she could just kill him right here and now? Though the info he could offer was needed, his death would deal a massive blow to the invading Covenant army, and may even drive them off her planet for good. She couldn’t help but admit she was leaning towards the latter option. But it would not be what Celestia would want. She winced as she felt conflicted.

“What are you waiting for?” Came the chilling voice of Sombra. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as he heard him approaching her. Slowly, she turns and is met face to face with him. She gasps and takes a few steps back. “Kill him, Sparkle. Kill him and avenge all the deaths he has caused. Let the hate flow through you, let your anger control you.”

His words chilled her, as they were words that encouraged her to embrace her darker side. Twilight shook her head, wanting to deny what he was saying, and yet, they were oh so alluring. She cringed and pulled away from him, trying to ignore his words.

“No… I can’t.” She whispered, feeling nauseous and stumbling to the ground. “…Too much… Dark Magic.”

Sombra smirked as dark magic began to seep out of his horn, it swirled around Twilight's before being absorbed by her own horn. As Twilight recoiled, her aura faded around Khota, allowing him to return to the ground. With a huff, he stood to his feet, placing a hand on his aching shoulder. He looked down at the powerful alicorn having a mental battle in her own head. He removed the sword hilt off his belt and quickly ignited it, with full intent on ending her right then and there. And yet, Sombra held a hoof towards him.

“Halt Shipmaster, there is no need for that anymore.” Sombra spoke without even looking at him.

“She is a demon, she must be dispatched with now.” Khota shot back, his voice trembling slightly showing some fear.

“She is dangerous indeed.” Sombra smirked, revealing his fangs as he watched Twilight trying to resist her darker side beginning to consume her. “But also vulnerable. With time, I may be able to reforge her mind. Like with Chrysalis, I could have her give into her emotions, and turn her into a powerful weapon to benefit us.”

Khota gave Sombra an unsettled look, noting the slightly crazed look in the dark king’s eyes. It was then that Khota made his final judgment on Sombra, the fact he was an opportunist.

“Call for a phantom Shipmaster, we’ll take her aboard your vessel. I need a quiet place to reshape her mind.” Sombra chuckled darkly. Khota narrowed his eyes in response.

“You want her on my ship!?” Khota roared. “How do I know—”

Khota was cut off when the horse collar of his armor was surrounded in a red aura. He was then yanked down and was face to face with the Dark King.

“I’ve dealt with your stubbornness for longer than I can stomach, Shipmaster.” Sombra spoke in a deep monotone voice, his eyes flashing green for a split second. “I have allowed you to make all the orders up until now, but this is my command! Call in a phantom now!”

Sombra shoved Khota back with his magic, the Shipmaster was left speechless. His eyes suddenly green, but only for a second as he blinked it away. Against his better judgment, he placed a hand on his helmet and called in for a pickup. He was distracted long enough to be tackled from the back by a hard force. Sombra whipped his head back at their attacker to see a Spartan on top of Khota. Using his magic, he flung the heavy marine of Khota who scrambled to his feet. Turning around, he sees the Spartan who tackled him also return to his feet. Khota’s blood instantly began to boil.

“Spartan Maverick!” Khota growled as the green Spartan got into a battle stance.

“You are not taking her, you understand?” Maverick spoke low and clear, drawing his knife. Sombra could only chuckle at the Commander.

“You really think you can stop us, worm?” Sombra taunted. He bared his fangs when heard the whimpers from Twilight behind him. He looked back at her, without his tampering, Twilight was fighting against the corruption of dark magic. He scowls before looking at the Shipmaster. “Finish him, I can’t have him distracting me for a single second.”

Sombra turned back around, continuing to force more Dark magic into Twilight who yelped from the sensation. Khota growled at Sombra before slowly turning back around to face the Spartan Commander, and smirking at him.

“Commander Maverick, once again we face off to the death!” Khota removed his sword hilt from his belt and activated it. Maverick showed no sign of intimidation.

“I intend to finish what I started with your eye.” Maverick taunted, causing the Shipmaster to let out an amused huff.

“You will not succeed, just like your siblings before you as they fell to my blade.” Khota raised his sword and pointed it at him for emphasis.

The two face off, standing completely still, sizing each other up for their rematch. Maverick made the first move, kicking off his feet and flipping his knife around in his hand. He lunged in for a stab at Khota’s face who blocked the attack with his free hand and went for a quick stab with his word. Maverick sidestepped him, and kicked Khota behind the knee. Khota fell to one leg and Maverick punched him hard across the face.

The Shipmaster growled and backhanded Maverick away before he could get another blow in. Maverick only stumbled from the hit, but it was enough time for Khota to reach his feet and deliver a hard kick to the Spartan’s gut. Maverick recoiled from the hit and took a few steps back, putting some distance between himself and the Shipmaster.

Khota slashed the sword at Maverick’s head, who ducked below the blade. He tried going in for a counterattack, but Khota swung the sword back at him. The blade was too long, being enhanced by dark magic. Its length was too large for Maverick to get close with his knife.

Both hunters were holding their ground as their heavy armor deflected the bullets being directed at them, but the Marines were moving around too much for either of them to get a shot off. The living plants erupting from the ground and attacking them were proving to be an additional problem as they were growing faster than they were being destroyed. The mare in the dark green cloak was providing a lot of aid to Prince Pharynx and his few remaining marines while Fluttershy worked to patch Shining Armor up. She even managed to immobilize one of the hunters by ensnaring its feet with her vines.

Pharynx was able to keep the second Hunter distracted with a steady stream of shots from his DMR. The hunter, starting to get very annoyed, took a chance and fired a large bolt of plasma from its cannon. Pharynx’s body was soon enveloped in a thick gray smoke and evaporated just before the plasma struck where he was standing. After the plasma had landed, out of the smoke, Enenra emerged, causing the Hunter to freeze in confusion. Behind the Hunter, however, a second cloud of smoke emerged, and charging out of it was Pharynx with a frag grenade in his teeth. He grabbed it with his hoof and pulled it, the pin still stuck in his teeth. He ran up behind the hunter and shoved it inside the mess of worms that were exposed on the lower back. The hunter reacted quickly, swinging its heavily metal arm behind it to which Pharynx ducked below it and rolled out of the way just in time for the grenade to explode. The large colony of worms was scattered around their area of the greenhouse as the metal armor fell to the ground with a loud clang.

Upon seeing its bond brother perish, the first hunter became enraged and tore free from the vines wrapped around its legs. It looked at the plant mare and lunged, bashing her with its shield. The pony cried in pain as she crashed onto the ground hard. The changeling marine and Fluttershy looked at where she was, the former hovering near one of the large plants, and the latter just about to finish patching Shining Armor up. Pharynx, the pony marine, and Enenra also looked in the direction of the mare.

The changeling darted in front of the hunter and stood between it and the plant pony before shapeshifting. However, once the green fire died down, the resulting new form confused everyone in the greenhouse, even the Hunter itself. Instead of becoming a large beast like a manticore, the changeling turned into…a worm?

Fluttershy, Pharynx, and the human marine realized their comrade had actually turned into a Lekgolo; the many worms that make up the hunters themselves. The changeling looked at himself before attempting to shapeshift again, only to end up as a hunter worm again.

The hunter only growled as the changeling reverted to his original form before roaring and leaping, attempting to kill him with its shield. However, the human marine ran over and shoved the changeling out of the way, taking the blow for him. The power behind the swing was enough to break several of the man’s ribs as he crashed into a nearby metal pole.

“ARTHUR!!!” the changeling cried out before the hunter turned to him again. Luckily, the smoke mage appeared and pulled him out of the way, right next to Prince Pharynx and Fluttershy, the latter having finished patching Shining Armor up.

The Hunter turned around, spines on its back shaking as it growled before aiming its cannon at the trio, ready to unleash a barrage of fuel rods at them. Pharynx raised his DMR with the changeling and pony marines following suit with their assault rifles. Enenra prepared her smoke powers, ready to back them up, while Fluttershy pulled out her magnum and stood in front of Shining Armor as if to protect him. She never liked killing anything, but she wasn’t going to let this large brute kill her friend’s brother.

Before the Hunter could fire its first fuel rod, however, a large vine covered in blade-like thorns ripped through its abdomen, causing the large colony of worms to cry out. The thorns seemed to do more damage as the vine pulled itself out. As the abomination tried to keep itself from falling apart, multiple thorned vines arose from the ground and dove into its neck, legs, and arms, and started cutting the worms apart. Pharynx, Fluttershy, and the three marines watched as the Hunter slowly became trapped by the living plants digging into its body and tearing it apart.

Suddenly, the supposed plant mage galloped out from behind the Hunter, and caught the attention of the others. “Quick, destroy it while it’s trapped!” She shouted.

Pharynx nodded his head, then turned himself into a dragon and unleashed his fire upon the Hunter which bellowed in agony as it burned to death. The smoke mage also shapeshifted into smoke and surrounded the burning hunter in a cyclone to prevent the fire from spreading. Fluttershy, the marines, and the plant mage watched as the extraterrestrial goliath fell apart, the worms burning to death. Its roars of pain were loud and agonizing, but they didn’t bother the ponies and changeling prince in the garden.

Once the Hunter was finally dead, Enenra smothered the fire with her smoke form and snuffed it out before reverting to a pony. All that was left of the beast was a heap of burnt worms, the armor, the shield, and the assault cannon, the latter three not sustaining any fire damage. The Changeling marine ran over to his injured comrade while Enenra spoke with Pharynx. Fluttershy galloped over to the green pony who was standing next to Shining Armor’s unconscious form.

“It’s okay, medic. I’m alright.” said the mysterious mare, nervousness evident in her young voice.

“Alright?! You just got hit by a Hunter shield! You could have many broken bones right now!” Fluttershy exclaimed.

“To any normal pony, yes.” said Enenra as she approached the two mares.

Fluttershy gave a confused look to the smoke mage who turned to the cloaked pony and whispered, “I’m surprised to see you here at this time.”

“Yeah. I was ordered to find Prince Shining Armor and a few special mares.” said the mare.

“Ordered? By who?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’ll answer that question later, miss.” the mare replied. “Were you able to patch the prince’s wound up?”

Fluttershy nodded her head and led the cloaked mares to Shining Armor’s bed leaf, which was surrounded by Pharynx and his men. He was still alive and stable with his wound tended to and covered in bandages. The crystal prince was currently in a state of unconsciousness, with the plant still administering him oxygen. The plant pony and Fluttershy thanked the changeling prince and his men for coming to their rescue, which he accepted with a nod.

“Sir, if I may,” the crystal unicorn marine spoke to Pharynx. “Since Prince Armor has already been patched up, perhaps we should move him out of the garden to a safer location.”

“Negative, Private.” Pharynx shook his head. “There are still Covies searching the city. If we attempt to move him, a squad will spot us, and we’ll all be dead.”

“Prince Pharynx is right. Until we find a way to push our enemies back, Prince Armor must remain here.” said Enenra.

“The six of you will protect him while I’m gone.” Pharynx ordered.

“What?” questioned Fluttershy.

“I have a little…personal problem, Private Fluttershy.” Pharynx replied before running out of the greenhouse, leaving his DMR behind.

Maverick once again tried to get in close to Khota to get in for a quick stab with his knife, but the Shipmaster’s blade once again slashed at him, keeping him at a distance. He was getting sick of this game and knew he had to change his strategy if he wanted to take down Khota. When the Elite went for another slice at the head, Maverick ducked down below the blade, placing a hand on the ground, and delivered a hard kick to the back of Khota’s leg. The Shipmaster, surprised by the hit, crumpled to one knee. As Maverick stood up, he delivered a hard uppercut to Khota’s mandibles.

The Elite’s shields lit up as the blow with enough force to lift Khota up and backwards, landing hard on his back, and causing him to drop his energy sword. Maverick wasted no time as he went to grab the energy sword and used it to finish off the Shipmaster, but as soon as Maverick touched the hilt, he felt the dark magic enhancing it immediately affect him. His surroundings began to morph back to New Alexandria, and he felt his fear rising. He recoiled hard and dropped the blade, going down on one knee. He placed a hand on his helmet as he shook his head, the dark magic fading and his hallucinations subsiding. But his moment of weakness distracted him long enough as a large hand suddenly grabbed him by the throat. Khota slowly sat up, growling at Maverick as he gripped the Spartan’s throat. He stood up and pulled Maverick back onto his feet before slinging the Spartan’s arm over his own, lifting him high in the air by his own neck and choking, slamming him hard on the ground.

Maverick let out a hard gasp and groaned in agony as he felt the wind being knocked out of him. He tried to steady his breathing as his diaphragm spasmed. He stayed on his back as Khota stood to his full height. Picking up his energy sword, he then stomped on Maverick’s chestplate, causing the spartan Commander to wheeze. Khota bent down and growled at him, holding his dark magic-infused energy sword to Maverick’s face. The Shipmaster then slowly dragged the edge of the blade across Maverick’s visor, scraping it just enough to not cut all the way through.

“No matter how much you try, how fast you run, or how hard you fight, my wrath is stronger than your will.” Khota belittled the Spartan Commander as he looked up at him from the ground. From over Khota’s head, descending from the air was a phantom dropship. He watched it hover overhead near King Sombra who was still in the middle of corrupting Twilight with Dark Magic.

Seeing the Phantom had arrived, Sombra began to coax Twilight closer to join him on the Phantom. Maverick reached out to them in a desperate attempt to stop them, but it was in vain. Khota chuffed with amusement at his enemy still showing the will to fight. Khota shifted his foot on Maverick’s chest to get his attention once more, watching the Shipmaster reel his arm back, moments from stabbing and killing him

“May you at least die with honor,” Khota spoke as he soaked in this moment, to finally kill the one who had permanently disfigured him. Maverick in turn accepted his own fate, closing his eyes and waiting for the blow.

“…I’m coming home,” he whispered to himself, awaiting his death.

With the Spartan Commander’s eyes closed and Khota distracted, no one noticed a tiny strobing red laser being pointed at one of the engines on the Phantom. The laser got thicker and thicker until a bright and powerful laser struck the engine of the Phantom, causing it to shake and rumble, smoke pouring from the engine as the Covenant dropship struggled to stay in the air. Hearing the blast, Maverick opened his eyes only to see the Shipmaster looking up in the sky, a look of awe on his face. The Spartan Commander followed the Elite’s gaze and falls on the elegant form of the Night Princess herself, Luna. In her magical aura, she held a weapon not many were able to wield, but she held it true as she aimed for the second engine; a Spartan Laser.

“NOOOO!!!” Sombra’s voice boomed loudly as he watched his phantom struggle to stay in the air, his only way to bring Twilight back to the ship with him.

Luna held the trigger as the stroking red laser was aimed at the second engine. With the Shipmaster distracted, Maverick quickly acted. He wrapped his arms around Khota’s legs and punched him in the back of the knee. Khota, caught off guard, buckled and lost his footing on Maverick’s chest. Maverick rolled to the side and stood up just as the Shipmaster did as well. He got in quick and delivered a few quick hard punches to Khota’s gut, the Shipmaster recoiled from the hard blows.

Finally, the laser let loose its second blast and struck the second engine. The engine exploded and the phantom could no longer stay in the air and crashed to the ground. Sombra glared at Princess Luna as she landed with grace onto the crystal pavement a few feet away from him. The dark king snarled at her while the night princess only hardened her gaze.

“King Sombra!” Luna declared in her royal Canterlot voice, causing all to hear her. “For your crimes against Equis and her kingdoms, you will face our judgment!”

Luna aimed the Spartan Laser directly at Sombra and held the trigger. The red laser aimed right at his chest. He snarled and used his magic to morph into a black cloud and quickly retreated away before he could be shot. Lowering the weapon with a scowl, Luna let loose of the trigger. She then watched as Spartan Maverick continued his fight with the Shipmaster, delivering a hard kick to the Elite’s gut which caused the shipmaster to quickly fumble backwards holding his abdomen.

“Commander!” Princess Luna shouts, gaining the attention of Maverick. With her magic she tossed him the laser.

Maverick caught the heavy weapon and turned to aim it at Khota, but the golden-clad Elite was gone. Maverick growled and clenched his teeth under his helmet, having lost his chance to kill the Shipmaster. A shadow cascaded over him and he looked up to see more phantoms dropping off more drones. Aiming upwards, he intended to start driving them away and stop the influx of drones. He held down the trigger and the red laser activated, charging up. When the underside of the phantoms opened, right when the drones began to pour out, the Laser activated, tearing the drones to shreds and damaging the Phantom.

Luna, having finally driven away the Dark King, made her approach to her fellow monarch who by now was curling on the ground. Luna knelt down to the Princess of Friendship who had her eyes closed tightly, but her horn was beginning to turn a reddish hue. Luna held her breath as she used her hoof to open one of Twilight’s eyes. The whites of her eyes was a sickly green with red purples, a purple smog funneling out of the corners of her eyes like steam.

“There is too much darkness in her to reverse this corruption naturally.” Luna spoke with a hint of worry. “She needs the other element bearers by her side to purge this!”

Author's Note

Hey everyone! k00l and SCPEquis here! Sorry, this chapter took a long time; Thanksgiving and other stuff got in the way. It didn’t help that this is a pretty big chapter! But it finally appears that some help has finally arrived! Princess Luna coming in at the last second when she was needed most!

And a new ally has joined the battle, a strange mare able to manipulate and control the plant life around her. But what is she? Is she one of the mages, or is she something else entirely? More importantly, who sent her?

Were Fluttershy and the Plant pony’s efforts to save Shining Armor’s life enough? Will he live? Will the girls be able to purge the Dark Magic now consuming Twilight? Will Whisky-7, Zeta team, and Twilight’s friends survive the fight? Will the Covenant still push forward? Hopefully all answers and a conclusion will come in the next chapter!

P.S. if you haven’t check out SCPEquis’s fic, Ponies read the SCP Foundation Database, please do so.

Also, Happy Holidays everyone!