Scattered around the battlefield were marines of different races under the influence of Sombra’s fear magic. There’s a greater number of afflicted humans than ponies, as none of them had experienced anything like this before in their lives. They couldn’t see or hear the combat around them anymore, only the things they feared most. Some saw their phobias, others their nightmares, and many re-experienced their worst memories. A small number of unaffected marines desperately tried to fend off the Covenant forces from executing their incapacitated comrades, but there weren’t enough of them.

From their positions on the other side of the street, Carlito, Spike, and Ember watched from behind debris from a destroyed banshee. Carlito gritted his teeth in anger as he watched some elites kill the downed marines.

“Pinche pendejos!”Carlito slammed his fist onto the burnt metal of the banshee.

“Easy, Carlito,” Spike spoke as he placed a hand on his leg. The Hispanic ODST turned his head and looked down at the baby dragon, who gave him a determined look. “We’re gonna put a stop to them.”

Carlito took a deep breath and released it. He gave him a nod as he held up his magnum, preparing to charge in there. Before he could, he was stopped by the Dragon Lord holding an arm out in front of him.

“That peashooter isn’t going to keep you safe. Here, use this.” Ember pulled her shotgun off her back and handed it to the sharpshooter.

“Whoa now, now you don’t have a weapon.” Carlito tried to protest, but Ember only chuckled in response.

“You have a lot to learn about dragons, Carlito. Me and Spike…” Ember began to smirk, showing her razor-sharp teeth and flexing her claws. “We are weapons.”

Spike and Ember huffed at the same time, a bit of fire escaping their nostrils for emphasis. Carlito’s eyes widened slightly under his helmet as Ember and Spike both walked past him and out in the open. Carlito peaked out of his cover to see the two dragons now in a fast sprint toward the downed marines. His eyes widened a bit as he noticed that Ember even went down on all fours to sprint even faster.

On the ground were the other members of Whiskey-7, all of them lying close to one another as they were experiencing their worst fears and nightmares. A Covenant squad consisting of five grunts, three jackals, and two elites, a major and a minor, approached them. The Major only huffed in amusement seeing the “fearless” humans reduced to trembling welts.

“And they call themselves warriors? They can’t even fight back.” The major quipped, causing the grunts around him to cackle.

With his large foot, the major pushed Tex onto his back and aimed his plasma rifle directly at his face, but before he could fire, a loud, thunderous roar caused him to freeze. He looked and saw a dragon in golden armor running on all fours at him. He lifted his gun to fire when she spread her wings and jumped, gliding right at him. Ember opened her claws and sliced his throat, breaking through his shield with ease. The major gurgled as blood poured out of his neck like a pitcher. The minor gasped in shock at the brutality he witnessed.

The jackals raised their shields and aimed their weapons at Ember, not seeing Spike approaching from behind. He breathed in and then out, igniting all three jackals in a green fire. The grunts began to panic and ran as the minor shouted at them, but they were already running off. He quickly turned towards Ember and let out a deep bellowing growl. The minor took a few steps back as the Dragon Lord stood back up on two legs and brandished her claws.

The minor pushed away his fear as he took a defensive stance. He used his plasma rifle to bash Ember with an overhead strike, but she used her claws to block the hit. With her other claw, she swiped at him, hitting him in the abdomen and cutting through his shields. The minor yelled in pain as indigo blood oozes from his wound. He dropped to a knee, and Ember finished him off by opening her mouth and biting down hard on his neck. The elite shouted as Ember pulled back and ripped a huge chunk out of his neck. The elite fell to the ground and quickly bled to death.

The grunts continued to shout in fear, waving their arms after watching their superiors taken out in a brutal way. One such grunt, without watching where he was going, ran into something hard. He stumbled back and looked up, only to see a human with a shotgun. He aimed the barrel at his face and before the small simian alien could run off, blew the gas mask, and the rest of his face right off his head.

Carlito racked the shotgun and fired a few more times, taking down every last grunt with ease and without so much as a fight. Looking around, he saw Spike standing with his arms crossed over the burnt remains of the jackals, and Ember standing over both elite corpses, covered head to foot in purple blood. Carlito can’t help but shiver at the gruesome scene.

“Jesus…” He spoke with a slight tremble, catching the Dragon Lord’s attention who still wore a glare. “Remind me to never piss you off.”

“It’s wise to never anger a dragon,” Ember responded as she shook some blood off her claws. She looked back at the sharpshooter and could tell by his body language he was acting a bit cautious of her. She softened her expression and relaxed her muscles. “But I would never hurt a friend, Carlito.”

Carlito gave the Dragon Lord a small nod. Despite her ferocity, he trusted her. Hell, he had to if they were to save the Marines and his fellow helljumpers. The Hispanic ODST spun around and blasted an elite minor that was behind him with the last shell in his shotgun, the energy shields popping as a result. Ember backed him up by darting toward the elite and unleashing her fire on it. Spike jumped back to avoid a few plasma bolts from a few grunts and counterattacked with his fire breath. The trio stuck close together to cover each other but more Covies were coming their way, so they took cover behind some rubble.

Carlito noticed the rest of his squad on the ground and was still incapacitated. With how much he, Spike, and Ember were struggling on their own, they needed backup. He shouldered his shotgun and ran out of cover towards his squad, ducking and dodging stray plasma bolts. He baseball-slid down onto his sides and quickly got on a knee next to his squad leader, Tex.

“Tex! Qué Pasa?” Carlito shouted as he shook his sergeant. He ripped Tex’s helmet off and, upon seeing the dark magic seeping out of his Sergeant’s fearful eyes, his blood boiled in anger. He had to get his squad out of whatever hell they were experiencing.

Carlito grabbed Tex by his battle harness and began to shake him, trying his best to snap the man out of his hallucinations. No matter how hard the Sharpshooter shook his sergeant, his eyes were still corrupted with fear magic. Carlito, getting frustrated, reeled his hand back and slapped Tex as hard as he could.

“¡Despierta de una puta vez!” Carlito shouted at the top of his lungs as he slapped Tex as hard as he could across the face.

Tex’s eyes closed tight as his head turned away from the slap. His face scrunched hard from the pain, and the purple miasma seeped out of the corners, slowly beginning to fade. Finally, the Sergeant began to open his eyes, and the discoloration was gone. He looked side to side before looking back up at Carlito.

“The hell…?” Tex finally spoke, his cheek still stinging from the slap.

“Tex! How do you feel, amigo!?” Carlito shouted over the gunfire, making sure his sergeant wasn’t feeling any side effects from the magic.

“My face fucking hurts.” Tex deadpanned as Carlito just shook his head.

“Suck it up. We need your help.” The sharpshooter stood up and offered his hand to the Master Sergeant.

Tex grasped his squadmate’s hand and stood up, his legs shaking slightly. As he got a feel of his surroundings, he lifted his head and was horrified by all the bodies strung about the battlefield. Half of them weren’t even dead yet and still suffering from fear magic.

“What the hell…?” Tex spoke in a whisper, but loud enough to be audible.

The ODST sergeant was still looking out in awe at the battlefield when he felt something lightly hit his chest. Looking down, he saw Carlito placing his shotgun against his chest. Tex grabbed it before looking at the sharpshooter. “We still got a job to do, Amigo. Cover me while I wake up the others.”

Without saying another word, Carlito went over to snap the rest of Whiskey-7 out of their nightmares. Tex watched him for a second before looking back towards the battlefield. His heart was still thumping from his nightmare, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut as he mentally tried to push away his fear. As his fear slowly subsided, anger replaced it. Opening his eyes as his brow furrowed, he pumped his shotgun. There was no way in hell he would allow his worst fears to come true.

Tex sprinted off to assist Ember and Spike as Carlito was shaking a helmetless Tammy by her shoulders, desperately trying to wake her. Thankfully, she was a lot easier to wake up, but she did so by suddenly grasping the Lance Corporal’s arm in a death grip, squeezing his wrist so hard it was a bit painful. Tammy looked at Carlito with a face of pure terror before the fear magic in her eyes started to fade.

“…Car-Carlito?” Tammy’s voice cracked harshly as she stared at the Sharpshooter as if he were a ghost.

“Sí, mi amiga,” Carlito tried to comfort, but the medic was still acting hysterical as tears formed in her eyes.

“…I watched you die… I watched all of you die…Tex, Marcus, and Adam… How are you—” Tammy was cut off as Carlito shook her firmly, yet gently.

“It wasn’t real, Tammy. It was just a hallucination caused by fear magic.” He tried his best to explain. “What you saw was your worst fear. It wasn’t real.”

Carlito could feel Tammy’s grip on his wrist loosening as he spoke to her, her sense of reality returning to her as she began to take in her surroundings. Her eyes focused on him as a nearby explosion pulled their attention to the battle around them.

“Tammy, listen to me. We are all okay, but we’re still on the field. I need you to pull it together for a bit longer while I get Adam and Marcus woken up!” Carlito spoke as he continued to hold Tammy by her shoulders. Still not fully understanding what had just happened to her, she looked over at both Marcus and Adam still on the ground before looking back at Carlito and giving him a nod.

After waiting for the medic to feel better and more assured of herself, he let go of her shoulders and stood up before going to Marcus and Adam. Tammy placed her hand down on the ground next to her and felt her gun, her M7S SMG, at her side. She looked down at it quickly before grabbing it by the grip and picking it up, then pulled the magazine off to check her ammo level. Her head shot up when she heard the sound of a shotgun discharging, looking up to see Tex taking care of another Elite that got too close to his cover. She watched him hunker back down to feed new shells into his gun when she saw another elite poke its head up. She hardened her gaze, if this was real this time, she refused to let her friends die. She got off her rear and crouched on one knee, aiming her SMG before spraying down the Elite.

The Elite let out a frustrated cry as he lifted his arm to protect his face, shields lighting up. Tex looked up and behind him to see the Elite, hearing its distress. Once his shields broke, he pumped his shotgun and put him down for good. The Sergeant then looked over at his medic as she reloaded her SMG. He gave her a thumbs-up as she returned the gesture with one of her own.

Carlito got to both Adam and Marcus who were on the ground next to each other. Adam was wrapped in the fetal position while Marcus was on his back, covering his face with both of his hands. Carlito knelt and tried to uncurl Adam, but his muscles were locked up, making him stiff. The sniper swore under his breath as he turned to Marcus and pulled the hands away from his face. Seeing the look of pure terror on his friend’s face tugged at the Sharpshooter’s heart. A sudden scream of pain pulled Carlito’s attention to look upward, where a few feet away, he could see Spike torching another Covenant squad with his fire breath. A grunt engulfed in green fire began sprinting away from the dragon, shrieking from the burns. The grunt ran in the direction of Carlito who unholstered his magnum to put the wailing alien down.

The grunt collapsed only a few feet away, enough for Carlito to feel the heat of the fire. Marcus began to twitch slightly as he could feel the heat on his face. His eyes blinked a few times as the dark magic slowly dissipated. He suddenly jerked himself into a sitting position, gasping loudly as he began to panic.

“Fire! Fire! I’m on…fire?” He looked down at his own hands, shaking with fear. He turned them to look at the back of them. He looked down at his body, placing his hands on his chest. “I’m…not dead?”

“Marcus!” Carlito’s voice startled Marcus and he turned to his squadmate. “You good, hombre?”

“What the hell is going on!?” Marcus squeezed his hands into tight fists as he began to take in his surroundings. “I swore I was just in a huge explosion!”

“Think of it as a nightmare, brother! You’re alright now.” Carlito assured the demolition expert, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder and gaining his attention. “I need your help snapping Adam out of it.”

Marcus looked down to his side to see Adam still curled into a ball with Carlito shaking him with one hand. The demolition expert instantly grew concerned for his squadmate and got on his knees next to the ODST pilot. Calito and Marcus began to pull Adam’s hands from his face and tried to relax his muscles, but Adam was still under the influence of Sombra’s fear magic.

“Adam, come on amigo. You need to snap out of it.” Carlito spoke, hoping Adam could hear him through his hallucinations.

Marcus could only watch, not knowing what he could do to help out his squadmate. He turned to Carlito, still trying to wake Adam up before then looking over at Tex, Spike, Tammy, and Ember. He watched both of them providing covering fire from behind Sandbag Hesco barriers, keeping the Covenant pushed back and away from the downed marines. Marcus suddenly thought up a quick idea to wake Adam and his gaze landed on Tammy only. He stood up and sprinted towards her, ignoring Carlito’s protest about still needing his help. Marcus sprinted and slid to a stop when he was next to Tammy, the medic a bit startled to see the demolition expert next to her so suddenly.

“Marcus!? You’re awake!” Tammy called to him over the gunfire.

“You got a medkit on you, Tammy!?” Marcus shouted back.

“Yeah, are you hit!?” Tammy lowered her gun to her hip, wondering if he needed her help.

“No, I just need your medkit.” Marcus hardened his expression, showing himself to be completely serious.

The medic only gave him a raised eyebrow for a second. She got down on one knee and placed her SMG on her back. To her side, behind a few sandbags was her last medkit. She handed it to Marcus who immediately opened it and dug around inside it, pulling out the gauze, biofoam, and needles, trying to find what he was looking for. His eyes lit up as he found it; a single packet of smelling salts.

He held it in his fist as he stood up straight and sprinted back to Carlito and Adam. He then baseball slid next to them, seeing Carlito had made no progress waking Adam up.

“Adam, you need to wake up NOW, hombre!” His voice sounded desperate, failing to wake the pilot.

“Try waking him with this!” Marcus opened his hand to reveal the packet of smelling salts. Carlito’s eyes widened and he took it without hesitation. He used his finger and thumb to crack the packet and activate the salts before holding it under Adam’s nose. The strong aroma from the salts seemed to work as Adam gasped loudly and sat up within the blink of an eye, covering his nose and mouth with one hand.

“Oh my— …what the hell was that!?” Adam stuttered as his other senses returned to him. Looking around frantically, like he didn’t know where he was. “Am I dead? Did my aircraft finally crash?”

“Amigo, you ain’t dead.” Carlito placed his hand on Adam’s shoulder, causing the ODST pilot to look back at him. “You never were in an aircraft either; it was a hallucination.

“What are you talking about!?” Adam didn’t look like he believed the sharpshooter. “I was there, dude! It was real! I still feel the clutch in my hands!”

“Adam, look at me!” Carlito shook Adam by his shoulders. “We are still in the Crystal Empire! Take a minute to collect yourself!”

Adam’s face softened slightly, but still largely looked unconvinced. However, a nearby explosion shook all three ODSTs and they looked to see its origin. They could see their comrades and fellow squadmates, Tex and Tammy just had their cover destroyed by plasma grenades. Sand from the sandbags flew in all different directions as the blast knocked Tex onto his back. Almost immediately, the trio’s protective instincts kicked in, and Carlito, along with Marcus, stood up, drawing their sidearms to protect their sergeant. Adam remained on his rear for a second and proceeded with what was going on. He looked down at his hands one last time, still vividly remembering the visions he had just gone through. His memories beforehand slowly began to reemerge and he squeezed his hands into fists. He stood to his full height and pulled his Silenced SMG off his back to help his squad.

A few elites with a large sum of grunts and jackals cleared the destroyed barrier to deal with the ODSTs and dragons. Both Ember and Spike bellowed out large waves of orange and green fire to keep the majority of the Covenant troops back, with Whiskey-7 taking out any brave elite who dared try to get past the flames.

Suddenly, static from their comms came to their ears as their comm devices activated. Tex and Ember knelt behind their respective barriers and listened to the transmission while the others continued shooting at the Covies.

“Hark! Any officers still in combat, this is the Princess Of The Night! I am issuing a priority one command! I need all the Element Bearers to be escorted to the base of the Crystal Castle, near the Crystal Heart! Make haste at once!”

Elsewhere, Pharynx weaved himself through the backstreets of the Crystal Empire, avoiding most of the combat as he only had one objective in mind. He was determined to get to Yngol’s last known position. In the short time he knew the yak warrior, he’d grown to appreciate their friendship. He quickly hid in an alley as a small Covenant squad ran past him, heading for the center of the town. Pharynx knew Yngol could handle himself in a large fight, but with the lack of resistance and complete radio silence, he knew his friend was in trouble.

Peeking out from the alleyway, he could see the whole block in front of him had been turned into a small bivouac for the Covenant. He could see a few elites with data pads intercepting and relaying orders a few meters from his position. Pharynx knew he couldn’t ignore these elites despite his personal mission. He had to deal with them to put a kink in Covenant’s line of communications.

He pulled himself back inside the alleyway, making sure he was out of sight. His horn lit up and his whole body was surrounded by a bright aura. His body morphed and grew in size. His limbs and spine stretched and changed till finally he was tripled in height. As the aura died down, Pharynx opened his eyes, getting a quick feel of his new shape. He lifted his right appendage and held it in front of his face, examining it. His hoof was now a massive hand with four large fingers covered in scales. His arm was covered in white Ultra-plate armor.

He clenched his new hand into a fist and let out a small sigh, feeling all four of his mandibles on his face. He took his first step out of the alley and into the Covenant-controlled street. He was instantly noticed by a few grunts and jackals, all of whom quickly got out of his way. Pharynx huffed at them and walked past, trying his best to act superior towards them. Hoping his act worked and then passed a few lower-ranked elites. Though most paid him no mind, a few minors showed him their respect by placing a fist on their chest and bowing their heads as he passed.

So far so good. His disguise had fooled many of the Covenant so far. He approached the bivouac where the elites with datapads were, what he was about to do would require perfect maneuvers and spellcasting. Next to the bivouac was a pile of plasma batteries used for refilling Covenant weaponry. Pharynx chuckled to himself, knowing how combustible they were. He approached them with a plasma grenade in hand. He’d only have a few seconds to get out of the way when he pulled the pin. He knelt, about to place the grenade when there was a weird voice behind him.

“K’e, k’uucho.” Came a deep guttural voice. Prince Pharynx froze and slowly stood up to turn. His eyes widened slightly to see another elite in white armor in front of him, another Ultra. He seemed to be looking at Pharynx in some confusion. “Jan mosik’weya.”

Pharynx stood still, looking at the elite in confusion. The alien language sounded like complete gibberish to him. The Ultra however looked more annoyed as Pharynx did not answer him. He pointed to the plasma batteries behind Pharynx, causing the disguised changeling to look where he was pointing. He must be asking what Pharynx was doing to the batteries. He looked back at the elite and cleared his throat.

“Just… Making sure these are full, brother.” Pharynx responded in English. Pharynx using the language of the humans caused the Ultra to cock his head to the side in confusion for not responding in their native language. It was then the Ultra noticed the plasma grenade in Pharynx’s hand. He looked Pharynx in the face and furrowed his brow.

“K’e, uuqkho Chw’va?” The Elite spoke in a dark tone, now pointing the finger accusatory at Pharynx. The disguised Prince could see the Ultra becoming hostile, he had to act fast out of fear of his cover being blown. Seeing an energy sword hilt on the Ultra’s hip, he did the only thing he thought to do.

Before the Ultra could react, Pharynx reached his hand out and grabbed him by the collar of his battle harness. The Ultra was so stunned by the sudden movement, that he couldn’t stop the bug prince from pulling his energy sword off his hip. Pharynx activated it with a flick and impaled the Ultra in the gut. The Ultra was about to yell out when Pharynx quickly covered the mandibles with his hand. He stepped in to bury the sword in deeper, all the while smothering the Elite’s cries of pain. Pharynx deactivated the sword as he felt the Elite’s legs weaken. He held the Ultra in his arms and laid him against the plasma batteries. Removing his hand from the Ultra’s mandibles when he saw its eye gloss over, looking lifeless. He hoped nobody saw his quick dispatch of the Elite, but a high-pitched shriek behind him proved his assumption wrong.

Pharynx jolted to look behind him, seeing a single grunt running away after witnessing his kill. The disguised prince growled, now only having a few seconds to destroy the bivouac. He stood to his full height, and with his magic, reverted to his regular form, his disguise now worthless. He used his magic to levitate his only plasma grenade and scowled at it. The grunt quickly returned with backup; a few more elites and jackals. They spotted Pharynx and began shouting at him, raising their weapons. Pharynx glared at the Covenant confronting him, making a loud ruckus which also alerted the elites relaying orders with their datapads. The bug prince was surrounded.

Keeping his scowl, he activated the plasma grenade. Many of the elites surrounding Pharynx shouted, ready to take him out. One brave minor was the first to fire, shooting his carbine at Pharynx’s head. The changeling prince’s body lit up in an aura and quickly shrunk within seconds of the plasma striking him. Looking down, Pharynx had changed his form into that of a raccoon, the plasma grenade now massive in his paws. With the shot missing him, he used his small paws to toss the grenade as hard as he could, the grenade sticking to the body of the dead Ultra lying on the plasma batteries. Many of the jackals let out shrieks of fear as Pharynx’s body lit up again. The grenade exploded, setting off a chain reaction of cyan explosions erupting throughout the bivouac. Large plumes of smoke rose in the air from the explosions, decimating the whole street.

From the large smoke clouds, a small mass was seen flying out of the black smog. It was a lone falcon that flew away as fast as it could, getting away from the explosions and landing a few streets over. After settling for a bit, its body glowed, revealing the bug prince. Pharynx let out a few shaky breaths. His hooves and legs had some minor burns on them. He tried his best to ignore the pain and checked his radar, Yngol’s signal was only a few blocks away. He took in a deep breath and continued to his main objective.

Heading into the next few blocks, Pharynx could see the route of the Covenant invading force as bodies littered the streets. He was almost frozen in shock. Bodies of Covenant, humans, ponies, dragons, yaks, and even his fellow lings lay in the street, the last expressions they ever had before they died etched onto their faces forever. He recognized some of them as he remembered many of these troopers being in Yngol’s platoon. Trying his best to ignore the carnage, he stepped past them to reach Yngol’s blip on his radar. He got closer, and closer, till the blip was only a few yards away. The changeling prince lifted his head from his radar, he could see him.

Pharynx felt his throat tighten. Yngol was on the ground, unmoving. He sprinted towards the yak warrior, getting next to him. Pharynx saw no blood around the Yak, giving him some sort of hope. He reared on his hind legs and used his forehooves to push and rock Yngol, trying to wake him up.

“Yngol, I’m here my friend. You can’t be dead. you’re the strongest warrior I know.” Pharynx spoke, praying in vain that the Yak was just unconscious. “Please Yngol…please…”

With no response, Pharynx dropped to all fours and looked at Yngol’s face. His eyes were open and seemed to look right at him, but not see him. Pharynx placed a hoof against the Yak’s cheek, feeling how cold it was. He pushed his hoof past the Yak’s fur and onto his neck, he could feel no pulse. The bug Prince closed his eyes, trying to keep his emotions in check, only to feel his throat get tighter, and his face began to twitch slightly. With a shaky breath, he opened his moist eyes.

“I’ve been beyond lucky and grateful, to have known you, my friend. Thank you, and rest well.” Pharynx spoke softly, patting Yngol’s shoulder before moving his hoof to his neck, and removing his dog tags. He looked down at them, staring at them in thought as he then placed them in his pouch.

As he took a moment to silently mourn his friend, his motion tracker picked up the presence of somepony nearby, approaching him from behind. He opened his eyes, ready to end the life of whoever dared approach him at that moment, but then he noticed the tracker marked the movement as friendly. He stood up straight and looked behind him to see a familiar face.

“Corporal Starlight Glimmer?” Pharynx spoke softly, seeing the purple unicorn with a face of defeat.

“Prince Pharynx.” She responded. There was some blood caked on the fur of her cheek.

“Why are you so far behind enemy lines, Corporal?” Pharynx questioned, noting how disturbed the Unicorn looked.

“…I… I was here on the front lines before the Covenant pushed towards the castle. The Covenant, they overwhelmed us… I had to hide with the dead just so… I…” Starlight’s voice grew hoarse and tears formed in her eyes. “I thought I was going to die.”

The bug prince felt a wave of sympathy for Starlight. Unlike him, she was no soldier. She was a civilian before the invasion. He took a few steps towards her and placed his hoof on her shoulder to comfort her.

“You’re quick thinking kept you alive. Be thankful.” He tried to keep her calm and lower her high emotions. Starlight tried her best to control her breathing, unable to respond to the prince. In the silence, he could hear a small beeping noise. Refocusing on his radar, he could see two more blips one klik from his location toward the castle.

“Listen. Stay with me, and I’ll keep you alive. Understand?” Pharynx spoke softly and waited for a response. Starlight nodded her head as she finally controlled her breathing. “Alright, just one more push and we’ll get you outta here. I need your help with just one more thing.”

“What’s that?” Starlight wiped her tears away from her eyes with her hoof as Pharynx stood to full height.

“You and I are gonna rescue a few spartans.”

Fluttershy was checking Corporal Arthur before Privates Weevil and Beryl approached her and Enenra. The plant “mage”, who’d been summoning multiple defensive plants in case anyone attempted to sneak in and attack them, approached the group as well. They explained that Princess Luna wanted her back at Crystal Castle with her fellow Element Bearers immediately. The plant pony was shocked, hearing that the medic she saved was an Element bearer.

“Come, young Fluttershy. We shall escort you to the base of the Crystal Castle.” Said Enenra, causing the pegasus mare to look at her.

“But, what about Shining Armor and Corporal Arthur?” Fluttershy asked, feeling torn and glancing at the wounded prince and human, the former still lying in the giant leaf, and the latter lying against a nearby rock. She couldn’t just abandon her patients. It’s something Tammy taught her during boot camp.

Before Enenra could respond, the plant pony trotted up to the two. “Uh… Fluttershy, was it?” She asked. Fluttershy nodded her head. “I can protect them until you return.”

“Are you sure about that?” Fluttershy asked, feeling worried for this mare she’d just met.

“You mustn’t worry for our floral friend,” Enenra assured the pegasus. “She’s more than capable on her own in her element, even though she’s against violence just as much as showing her face.”

The still-cloaked mare looked away as if flattered by Enenra’s comment, before looking back at Fluttershy. “She’s right. As long as I remain in the garden, I can survive anything.” She assured as a tree branch formed a leaf bed underneath Corporal Arthur and lifted him off the ground.

Fluttershy nodded her head slowly. “And Enenra,” the Smoke Mage turned to her. “Once this ‘Covenant’ is pushed back, can you inform the other mages and Her Majesty Cadence that I’m here, protecting Prince Armor?”

Enenra nodded before leaving the garden with the Weevil, Beryl, and Fluttershy, the traps disarming themselves to create a safe passage. Once they left, the mare summoned another giant flower that opened its petals as the tree lowered Corporal Arthur into it before it closed its petals and sank back into the ground with him in it. Multiple thick roots emerged and surrounded Shining Armor and his bed leaf, forming a thick, spherical cocoon.

After ensuring her guests were safe like her first, the flora-manipulating pony removed her cloak and hung it on one of the branches before sitting down on the dirt. She closed her emerald-green eyes and started meditating. A minute later, a magical green light from underneath her started spreading through the ground to every part of the garden. The doors were shut and reinforced by thick overgrowth and many new plants were grown. She continued meditating, sensing everything in her garden…before turning into vines that sank into the ground, leaving no trace. Nothing will harm her guests…

The other Element Bearers were informed of the relayed order and were escorted to the castle. Upon arriving while their escorts joined in pushing the Covenant back, they met up with Princess Luna and Spartan Commander Maverick, who were protecting an almost corrupted Twilight. All of them gasped in horror at seeing her condition. Rarity knelt and placed her hoof on Twilight’s forehead while Pinkie, with a slightly deflated mane, held her hoof. Luna took only a second to look down at the Element Bearers. She turned to help them with Twilight, distracting herself long enough for a cloud of black smoke to manifest next to her. Applejack was the first to see it.

“Princess, watch out!” the farm pony yelled, unslinging her shotgun off her back. Luna quickly looked back at the black cloud just as Sombra emerged from it, snarling like a beast. Luna snapped her head back at him, just before his horn lit and fired a beam of black magic at the lunar princess. It struck her in the chest, sending her a ways back, knocking off her saddlebags and onto her back. Black crystals grew from the point of impact and connected to the ground, holding her in place.

Many of the Element Bearers were heard gasping in fright as Sombra took a few steps towards them, his eyes narrowed in a glare. He snarled at them to get them to back away from Twilight, his horn surrounded by a sickly green & purple aura. Maverick took a daring step between them, aiming his Spartan Laser at the dark king, the latter showed no sign of intimidation.

“Thought I told you, you’re not getting to her unless you go through me,” Maverick spoke coldly, holding down the trigger, the small laser blinking between Sombra’s eyes.

Sombra’s glare grew into a wicked and sadistic smirk, his eyes wide as dinner plates but his pupils as small as a pea. His fang poked from his lips and he chuckled softly as his horn lit up again. Maverick tensed up, knowing Sombra was about to make a move with his magic, the laser charged up more, and more and finally fired. Sombra reacted within a second, and a black mist manifested in front of him, the laser hit it directly and was absorbed by it. It closed and was soon reopened by Sombra, and the laser was released right back at Maverick. The Spartan-III Commander barely had any time to get out of the way.

Maverick jumped backwards so the laser didn’t hit him directly, but it did strike the spartan laser on his shoulder, destroying it and giving him a powerful blast backward. Mav rolled on the ground a bit, his shields gone, but his armor still intact. He put a hand on his shoulder, his heart pumping hard. If he had not acted when he did, he could’ve been hit in the chest and would not have been so lucky. Forcing his anxiety down, he got onto his knees and was about to stand when he felt a strong force around his neck. It squeezed his throat, almost cutting off his oxygen when he noticed a faint green aura around his neck. He felt it lift him up, and when his feet left the ground, he could see Sombra using his horn to levitate him. He’s still smirking as if he’d gone crazy. Small crackles of dark magic surrounded the dark king’s horn as he powered up another spell.

“Over a thousand years ago, I defeated the princess of the whole Crystal Empire! You are foolish to think that you, a magicless cretin, could have any chance at stopping ME! I’ll do away with you just like I did with Princess Amore all those centuries ago!” Sombra’s horn began to glow at his final statement, causing small crackles of dark magic to surround the Spartan’s body. Mav felt all his limbs go numb, and despite almost being choked, he looked down at his hand and saw it turning into a dark crystal. First his fingers, then his wrist. The Spartan commander could do nothing but silently panic as he watched himself being slowly turned into a crystal.

From where she was trapped, Princess Luna could watch in horror at what Sombra was doing to Maverick. She turned her head and looked at the Element Bearers, who were either also watching Maverick, or trying to help Twilight. This was her only chance. The only reason why she had shown up; to bring the mares their elements. Her horn glowed and an aura began to manifest around her saddlebags that were knocked a few feet away from her. She opened it, and one by one, began to pull out all the necklaces and the crown.

“My little ponies!” Luna shouted to get their attention. The five of them look at the moon princess and the Elements in her aura. “It’s all up to you now.”

With her magic, she levitated the necklaces to each one. Pinkie’s Element of Laughter. Fluttershy’s Element of Kindness. Applejack’s Element of Honesty. Rainbow Dash’s Element of Loyalty. Rarity’s Element of Generosity. And finally, the crown of the Element of Magic was lowered to all five of them. They all gave Twilight one final look, seeing the dark magic still trying to corrupt her. All five of them, with one hoof each on the crown, lowered it onto Twilight’s head. The necklaces lit up in unison, and so did the crown. And when it was placed on Twilight’s head, all of them were surrounded by a pure white aura. She took in a large deep breath as her green eyes began to fade, replaced with a pure white glow. The red hue in her horn faded, and her coat returned to its normal, vibrant color.

The white glow in her eyes died down, revealing Twilight’s eyes and pupils had returned to normal. She shakily got to her hooves and looked a bit shocked to see all her friends standing there, all looking at her, with both concern and hope. But once they saw Twilight looking like herself again, they all swarmed her in a huge group hug.

“Oh, Twilight!” Cried Pinkie, almost in tears.

“Thank goodness, Twilight! You’re okay!” Rarity shouted, tears already running down her cheeks.

“Girls! What’s gotten into all of you? What happened?” Twilight tried to get some answers on why her friends were acting so hysterical, barely remembering what had happened.

Before anypony could answer her, they all heard the loud laughter from Sombra. They all quickly look in his direction, seeing Maverick still in his aura. But by now, the crystallization had gone past his chest and was working up his neck. Maverick groaned as he could feel his whole body gone stiff and now his neck and chin were being turned into a dark purple crystal. Twilight’s eyes widened at the sight, seeing Sombra causing most of her memories to flood back to her; the Siege of the Crystal Empire, the battle around the castle, her brother getting impaled, and her overuse of dark magic. She hardened her face and gritted her teeth. She and her friends broke their hug and Twilight felt her anger rising again. This time though, she halted herself. She closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh, controlling her anger. With the Elements with them now, they were going to end this, for good.

Twilight and her friends stepped into position, magic emitting from the Elements and interlocking with each other. The strands of magic extended outward towards Sombra and Maverick, and just before the crystals could completely cover the Spartan Commander’s head, they stopped growing. Sombra’s smirk faltered as he noticed his spell halted its process. He powered up his horn to continue his spell, but to his shock, the crystals began to recede.

“What is the meaning of this!?” Sombra shouted as the Spartan-III’s armor turned back from being crystal. Maverick took in a huge breath once his chest was free, his feeling and movement returning to him. When all the crystals disappeared, Sombra’s magic suddenly fizzled out completely and his hold on Maverick’s neck released. The Spartan fell to his knees, hand on his throat as the dark king looked at him in total shock. Sombra’s eyes eventually looked past the Spartan to see Twilight and her friends floating in formation with the Elements. He looked up at the six mares, taking a few steps back as he had an expression he rarely wore: fear. His horn fizzled, his dark magic being cut off from the immense output of Harmony around him.

“No…NO! This cannot be! I had it all planned out! I had an army at my command! I was going to win this time!” Sombra shouted his woe to the heavens as all six mares felt no pity for him. Their magic surged, and Twilight’s eyes glowed a pure white as the full power of the Elements was unleashed.

A large rainbow beam fired upwards and arched down, right at the dark king himself. With his dark magic cut off, there was nowhere for him to run. The rainbow crashed down on top of him, the blast louder than his cries of agony as it burned away his physical form, turning him into a shadow once more. The beam continued and as his cries faded, his shadow form fully evaporated in the blast. As Sombra’s screams faded, the rainbow blast did as well. The light of the beam was also bright enough to draw the attention of N’thoka and his nine brothers, who were guarding Kieran and Clara outside of the castle. Distracting them long enough for Prince Pharynx and Starlight Glimmer to ambush them.

With Pharynx and Starlight catching the elites guarding the incapacitated Spartans in a crossfire, it was easy to cut them down. N’thoka, forced into cover was about to counter attack when he received a direct order in his coms. He was to regroup with Khota and and escort Xala to his position. Xala had a priority one package and needed to strong escort to the shipmaster. Growling under his breath, N’thoka was forced to retreat and abandon his position next to the two Spartans.

The six bearers landed back on their hooves, smiling and smirking across all their faces. Maverick, still on his knees, had his Operator helmet concealed the look of pure awe and amazement on his face. Twilight herself turned to look at her friends, her face beaming with pride in all of them. But her attention was quickly called elsewhere when she noticed Princess Luna still trapped underneath a large black crystal.

“Princess Luna!” Twilight and her friends wasted no time in coming to the lunar princess’s aid.

“Princess Twilight.” Luna gave the lavender alicorn a soft smile, thankful to see the darkness purged out of her. “We are glad to see thou are free from corruption.”

“But Sombra’s magic has not been dispelled.” Twilight ignored Luna’s praise, still concerned for the dark crystal keeping her pinned.

“Not to mention, the soldiers are still afflicted with fear magic.” Rainbow blurted out, looking towards the battlefield.

“How do we get rid of all this evil magic!?” Pinkie shouted with both of her hooves pressed to the sides of her head.

“There is only one thing that can reverse all of Sombra’s magic. The one thing he tried to destroy for a thousand years…” Luna answered.

“…The Crystal Heart.” Twilight said in unison with Luna.

The Lavender Alicorn looked towards the base of the castle, where all the Empire’s civilians, and several refugees hiding amongst them, had stayed unharmed the whole time. With the Element of Magic on her head, she would have to be the one to activate the Crystal Heart. She looked at her friends, who all nodded in unison. They would have to sprint across the battlefield to get to the Heart. Maverick, however, chose to stay behind and protect Luna.

After taking a moment for all of them to calm their nerves, the six mares all broke out in a fast sprint towards the Heart. They ran across the battlefield, avoiding stray shots of plasma and debris from explosions. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both decided to fly to be able to dodge more efficiently. Applejack noticed an elite in front of her path that turned to face her and growled. She kept up her sprint and the Elite lifted his PR to shoot her, but she tucked her chin and sprinted right between his legs. The Elite tried to keep track of her, but as it turned to aim its gun at her again, Rainbow swooped in behind and nailed him in the back of the head, and knocked him to the ground.

While keeping each other safe, they all made it to the podium unharmed, where most of the civilians and refugees were huddled together in a panic. However, upon seeing Princess Twilight approaching them fast, they began to split apart to allow her to get through. As the civilians part to make room for Twilight, she sprinted directly at the Heart. Grinding her hooves to a stop, she stared at the Crystal Heart, still pristine, then ooked around her to see all the crystal ponies looking at her with hope. A small smile formed on the princess’s face, and with the Element of Magic, her horn lit up and she focussed a beam of pure harmony into the heart.

The Crystal Heart began to spin, lighting up with a powerful aura before sending out a powerful outburst of magic, covering all of the Crystal Empire. As the wave of magic swept over the crystal ponies, their coats began to glow and harden like a crystal. Twilight and her friends too felt the immense power of the Heart coat them in crystal, causing them to shine. The magic wave continued to extend outward, dispelling all dark magic in it’s wake. When it reached Princess Luna and Maverick, it destroyed the dark crystal trapping her, and freed her. Her coat and mane became crystalized as well. She returned to her hooves, standing tall and proud. She looked over at Maverick, and to her surprise, he was looking down at his own hands. He too had been crystalized and was staring at his new crystal form in awe.

The magical wave spread over the battlefield, and washed over the marines and Covenant. While the Covenant were left virtually untouched, all marines affected by fear magic began to be purified. The fear magic dissipated from their eyes and upon their nightmares washing away, they all began to stand. The marines, humans, dragons, ponies, changelings, and yaks alike were all crystalised, the former taking the spectacle the most, unable to believe their eyes. Even the Covenant had ceased their fire for a moment, shocked at the sight of “glowing humans.”

Spike, Ember, and the entirety of Whiskey-7, who were still fighting in the streets had stopped to look at their crystallized forms. Kieran and Clara, who were helped up by a crystallized Pharynx and Starlight, were taken aback by the duo’s new appearances, and were further taken aback by their own as well. N’thoka was amazed too before Xala contacted him for assistance and retreated from the quartet, knowing he was outnumbered.

Roars soon began to be let out from the Covies, outraged that the humans and their allies began to recover so quickly from the fear magic. Once again, they began to open fire before any of the marines and ODSTs could pick their weapons back up to fight. But as the plasma made contact, it would bounce off or deflect off their crystalised skin. With the Covenant weaponry no longer having any affect, the retaliation was just as brutal as the initial skirmish. The marines began to return fire, cutting any Covenant soldiers in the front while the others in the back watched on as their brothers were unable to fight back.

With the severe turn of the battle, morale in the marines ODSTs, and Spartans began to rise again. The Covenant had rendered them incapacitated, traumatized, vulnerable…now they were the vulnerable ones. Whiskey-7 and the dragons rushed forward and began beating their enemies up. Carlito fired a needle rifle he found, Tex and Tammy used their pistols, Marcus fired his grenade launcher, Spike sprayed green fire with Ember doing the same. Several plants with crystallized forms ripped Covies apart outside the Forbidden Garden, Shining Armor still resting in his protective orb, while Arthur and the now cured civilian being kept secure in their buried flower pods, the former resting and the latter looking confused but not panicking for some reason, all far from harm. The largest tree at the center now had a green “heart” formed by the magic of the plant pony.

Clara, Pharynx, Kieran, and Starlight joined mages Bumi, Enenra, Rain, and Korro Sieve in their fight, with the Spartans using Covenant weapons they found, before linking up with Mav and Fireteam Harmony. Applejack blasted her shotgun, Rarity sprayed her SMG, Pinkie played Whacka-Covie with a big hammer, Rainbow Dash pumped lead with her SMGs, Twilight and Luna blasting their magic, and Maverick firing his DMR.

Suddenly, they noticed Shipmaster Khota in the distance with a small company behind him. Twilight readied her magic while her friends grabbed their weapons and aimed them at the aliens. Spartan team Zeta did the same; Mav with his DMR, Clara with a concussion rifle, and Kieran with 2 plasma rifles. The mages and Starlight readied their magic, Pharynx raised his wings, and the marines followed suit. Khota’s reinforcements did the same, with N’thoka and Xala by his side.

It was a tense standoff, until…

“All ground forces, retreat! This is a priority one command! Return to the ship at once!” Khota’s own voice rang out through the entire battle network before he and his company do the same retreat. Phantoms that once carried drones lowered down to pick up Covenant infantry around the castle all while the Marines never let up their retaliation attack. Many of their bullets hit the Covies in the back as they fled, some being hit by a few plasma bolts from some marines.

With most of the phantoms in the air and outside of the bubble shield, they flew away from the Crystal Empire at top speed. The marines began to cheer, throwing their helmets into the air. Tex could be seen next to Dragon Lord Ember who both gave each other a chest bump. Tammy turned to Marcus and they both embraced in a tight hug, the former burying her face into the latter’s shoulder. Carlito watched the phantoms fly off, slowly falling to his knees, and then resting back on his rear. He watched the phantoms sly across the sky, with an exhausted smile and worn tired eyes. Next to him, Adam ripped his helmet off and tossed it into the air as well, yelling and cheering loudly with his fellow marines. Through his reopened wounds, the Hispanic ODST continued to look at the sky till finally he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, saying a silent prayer, thanking the Holy Mother for smiling on him and his friends this day.

He felt a presence approach him from the side, he opened his eyes and looked in their directions and was met with Spike. The young drake smiled at the Sharpshooter, his eyes a bit moist with tears of joy. Carlito set his pain aside and returned the dragon’s smile with one of his own, before the two hug each other tightly.

Elsewhere, Clara threw her CQB helmet off and embraced Maverick and Kieran, crying tears of joy as well. The other two Spartans returned the gesture, even though they knew that this was no time to celebrate. Pinkie jumped up and down everywhere, screaming in excitement.

In the throne room of the Crystal Castle, Cadence sat alone, holding Flurry Heart in her hooves, her eyes sad and full of unsureness as she could hear the sound of war outside her castle. Her ears perked at the sounds of loud cheering coming from outside, causing her head to lift up. She looked out one of the many stained glass windows to see what was happening outside when one of her guards approached her from behind.

“Princess, you must come see this! On the balcony!” the guard spoke with excitement as he turned back to run back outside. Cadence quickly followed him and stepped out on the balcony. Her eyes lit up when she saw the Crystal City light up in a bright glow. The cheering of soldiers and civilians down below as she could then see phantoms flying around her castle, flying towards the outskirts of the city. She watched them climb higher into the air, leaving her empire for good. She took in a long, deep breath as the icy winds blew through her mane as the sun peaked over the icy mountain, shining over the badly damaged, yet still standing empire.

Author's Note

Hello everyone! k00l and SCPEquis here again! I’m sorry for the long wait for the next chapter! But I have been busy with work and other real life affairs. But long waits sometimes make it worth right?

They sure are, as I too have been caught up in real life affairs, especially in my college classes and trying to work on my next chapter. Fortunately, we were able to put this chapter together and get it done today.

So, this Story Arc is over. Whiskey-7 was brought back to reality, Shining Armor is under protection, Twilight has been purged of her darkness, Sombra is dead, the Crystal Heart has been activated and ended the personal hell Spartan team Zeta and the marines were trapped in and provided them indestructible crystal forms, and the invasion has finally been thwarted. I’ve gotta say, this was the longest story arc we have ever written together, and I guess we’re taking on a more anime approach to our story-telling. Hopefully, the next major arc won’t be as long as this one.

I agree, writing this fic has felt like it has taken a year and I’m excited to move on to the rest of the story. No spoilers though, but war is far from over. But with Khota and N’thoka escaping with Xala (who has recorded the contents of the Forerunner chamber). So does this mean the Covenant were REALLY defeated? But for now, the mane six and their human allies can relax for the time being.

So, coming up next are the recovery chapters (or as I like to call them, a mini intermission arc); all filler. So many lives were lost in this arc, and a lot of old wounds and scars have been reopened, some having had salt poured into them. Many of the survivors that Sombra traumatized may have to undergo weeks of therapy before returning to duty.

And don’t worry, this micro arc won’t take up a lot of chapters like before… probably.

PS. The next chapter for "Ponies read the SCP Foundation Database" (the long-belated holiday chapter) should be coming soon.