Author's Note

Hey, sorry for the long wait!

Truth be told, I've been getting burnt out on writing and reading as a whole, and, with my ADHD, writing these chapters and checking for errors are becoming harder and harder with each post. This doesn't mean I hate writing or will stop doing it, I still do. Nevertheless, if this and any future chapters have mistakes or errors that need correcting, please don't hesitate to tell me. I hope you enjoy this and have a good day!

Chp 26: Sacrifice- part 4

Radiating a rare warmth not felt by many living among the mountain valley village’s residence, a sole filly, caked in grime and thinner than a skeleton, watched the sun intently. Cool, crunchy snow lulled her into half-awareness, the rustling of her grandfather’s peach tree leaves singing the filly a soothing lullaby. The beating scars her two-faced relative gave her young body mattered little, nor his distant, enraged calls for her presence beyond the peach field.

Because sitting on her left and right, the filly could almost believe her mother and father were there. Smiling softly, her eyes closed, imagining the delicate touch of her mother’s hoof wiping her flowing tears away and her father's calming advice calming her nerves.

“Where…am I?”

‘~Hello again, my endless friend! Your encompassing darkness, I descend! All within the never-ending void of my mind!~’ A part of Storm Breaker’s swimming, broken thought dumpster sang, their hollow, withering voice packaging each forced syllable alongside a dry cackle. Quite pitiful, she might add.

In reality, she wasn’t, in fact, stuck inside a mind-conjured temporal expanse of nothingness but propped against a marble wall, its silk-smooth surface cooling the red-hot cuts and gashes decorating her sweat-drenched flesh. Opening the lead-heavy flap of skin called her eyelid, it shut immediately, dried blood flakes free-falling, pain stinging her orb. Well, one thing was clear: everything hurt. Gone is the adrenaline pumping through her system like a rushing, polluted river during her and Chrysalis’s fight, replaced by agonizing fires and aches, torching every muscle possible.

Storm Breaker weakly clenched her teeth. Curse that bug bitch to Hades! Again, flashes of King Platinum completely ravaged her thoughts, frustrated tears blurring Storm’s already wavering, obscured vision. Not again! Why her of all sorry bastards?! Taking Chrysalis on alone was stupid- King Platinum’s power is a joke compared to hers. Celestia couldn’t do shit, practically thrown aside as if she were an unimportant ragdoll!

This disgrace shouldn’t be ignored, but what can Storm Breaker do? Flail uselessly and spit snide remarks? Powerlessness is a degrading feeling, something she sought prevention from, less past events repeat themselves.

Yet, sitting in a pool of her blood, Storm Breaker’s trembling hooves didn’t budge.

So tired…

Snapping the beaten warrior mare out of her thoughts, slowly prying her eyelid apart this time, towering doors split, and Sparkle and her gang entered. However, four changelings flanked them, and the elements were strikingly absent from their necks. Using her rediscovered sight, Storm Breaker judged how bad things looked.

Answer: absolutely horrendous.

Twilight’s dropped head left its defeated downward tilt, joining Storm’s sight-seeing directed toward Cadence and her brother posted atop the altar, the former’s hooves bound by hardened green sap. Captain Shining, still dull-looking as before. Her friends stood nearby, and Chrysalis’s freakish off-springs razor-sharp glances reflected pride and accomplishment. Probably antsy about licking Ma’s hooves for approval, capturing her enemies. Noticing an audible gasp from Sparkle, Storm trailed her upward-facing gaze. Above, Celestia resided within a cocoon suspended horn-point-down upon the ceiling- focused solely on Sparkle.

“Back so soon?” Chrysalis hummed, tilting her head mockingly, “I appreciate you all coming back- Celestia and her sister's lap dog were starting to bore me.” She added.

Flicking her jagged horn, Storm, encased in emerald-green magic, was violently flung forward, her mangled body impacting the ground, producing a heavy thud and groan. Her laboring stare met Twilight’s horrified face, the round sky-blue island stranded within a sea of dark red. The studious unicorn looked desperate for a reply but fell short.

Storm Breaker mentally ordered her to run. “Please…stop this!” Twilight begged quietly, the screams outside deafening her folded ears.

Chrysalis giggled gleefully, “Sorry to disappoint. I’ve dreamed of this glorious, perfect day since I was small! The stallions, mares, and foal are mine to control- to feed off of. And your precious princess won’t live long to stop my conquest.” She boasted, “Which reminds me…” The changeling queen’s voice lowered, glancing at a window on her left.

“GO! FEED MY CHILDREN!” Storm Breaker growled quietly at Chrysalis, the present changelings grinning hungrily as they hastily flew away. “Oh, and save some AFTER we fully take Canterlot.” She added.

“Why you-!” Rainbow Dash began to charge, shouting, only stopping when discovering a stern-looking Applejack touched her shoulder, shaking her head. Storm Breaker bitterly agreed with a faint glance. Flurries of emotions ranging from anger to anxiousness wash over Rainbow Dash, who stole one look at Storm Breaker, finally going silent.

Applejack switched to Twilight, her guilt infecting every square inch of her face. “Ah’m sorry, Twi. We should’ve listened to ya!” She apologized.

“It’s not your fault. She tricked us all.” Twilight said, shooting a white-hot glare toward Chrysalis.

“That I did!” Chrysalis interrupted, standing before her. “Twilight here saw the truth, and you all were none the wiser.” She scoffed, lifting Twilight’s chin, to which the lavender unicorn slapped the offending hoof.

Alright, I’m sick and tired of her babbling. Storm Breaker concluded.

She was tired of pitying herself, making a sorry fucking sob of herself. The Vanguard, Storm’s comrades, and Olive reminded her time and time again that giving up wasn’t an option. Enough of these sad circus and pity parties! Storm Breaker at least shared one aspect of her old warrior ways: her petty resolve knew no bounds. “I’m slaughtering that damnable insect, even if I die for a third time!” She mentally proclaimed.

Utilizing no minute amount of willpower and whatever energy had lasted, The battered warrior mare dragged her gory self along the filthy ground, her sights narrowed on a single object: her sword. Like Hades she’s lying there and waiting until death arrives! Storm Breaker had come too far, made too many connections with this cutesy, dumb world named Equestria, and formed a genuine relationship. Fuck Chrysalis. She’d rather get mauled by wolves than be bested by an oversized grasshopper! Remembering the fleeing past sensation of her blade piercing Platinum’s pristine hide a millennium ago, Storm’s resolve increased, a sadistic grin splitting her lips. Even supposing gods can bleed.

Luckily, Sparkle spotted and deduced the warrior mare’s unspoken plan; all the while, Chrysalis continued gloating. “I’m saying this once, Chrysalis: give up!” She warned half-confidently, the colossal bug mare lifting an amused brow. “We’ll stop you, no matter how.” Storm Breaker was halfway there.

“Oh? Elaborate.” Chrysalis hummed. “No major spoilers- I wish to bask in hilarity once your fruitless plan utterly fails.”

There!

Straining her shaking limb, Storm Breaker’s hoof finally contacted the sword handle, dragging it closer to her widened jaws. The injured mare resisted grunting as she picked herself up, circling in place until facing Chrysalis’s behind, taking the first careful step.

“Trust me, Chrysalis, the power of friendship will overcome your tyranny! No amount of fear or bloodshed will prevent your defeat, and my friends and I’ll make sure of it.” She declared, her friends collectively voicing their agreement. “You’ve terrorized Equestria long enough.” Chrysalis sounded ready to burst from laughter, and Twilight’s speech was about to run dry.

Chrysalis managed to control herself, grinning widely. “Is that the best you came up with? Is this a joke?”

“N-No, but your situational awareness is!” Storm Breaker interjected.

An agonizing hollow reverberated off the wedding hall's vast walls as Chrysalis recoiled in pain, throwing Storm Breaker off her back. An obsidian blade jetted outward like a morbid flag poll, lodged between the wither and bottom barrel plates; the changeling queen’s thrashing caused the emerald flow seeping out the wound to worsen. All Tartarus broke loose soon after, Twilight and her friends scattering about, set on separate tasks. And her loud, painful cry must’ve attracted close-by changelings as droves stampeded down the hall beyond the dual doors.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash swiftly slammed them shut, pressing themselves against the gigantic barriers before numerous hooves eventually fought back.

“While I must thank you, dear, for saving us, I insist you stay out of this!” Rarity firmly said, accompanied by the warrior mare and the pink/yellow pegasus.

Retreating to cover, Storm vaulted over and landed behind a flipped bench, breathing heavily as the pegasus mumbled worriedly behind her, checking her wounds. “Tough luck, pretty. I doubt Beetle Brain over there’s too keen on letting me go with a slap and scolding. Plus, I have a duty to uphold- if not Chrysalis, Luna will kill me if her sister dies.” She shrugged casually. Peeking above the bench, Twilight engaged Chrysalis, firing magic bolts and teleporting around the insectoid monarch, enraging her. “Go help your friends with the door- try making a permanent blockade. I’ll assist Twilight.”

Much to Rarity and the pegasus's exchange looks of weariness, they nodded, running off in AppleJack and Rainbow Dash’s direction. “Ζωή στο θάνατο, θάνατος στη ζωή. (Life in death, death in life.)” The mantra slipped Storm’s native tongue on instinct, releasing a deep exhale.

Serving the Vanguard means submitting yourself to a life paved by death, and your service ends all the same.

But on the battlefield, the words of equines have no home.

Only actions.

“Live long, Olive.” Storm muttered before leaping over the bench.

“Fucking…Celestia’s tits on a stick.” Brandy groaned, the sickly, purple welt plastered above her left eye pulsating with dull pain. “Bastards didn’t even leave a proper drink.” She added, spitting blood.

Except for the occasional far-off shriek and her empty room’s single light flickering, Brandy considered this a slightly disconcerting situation. At least she remained in one piece. Dear Celestia. That beating she took must’ve made yak shit out of her brain. Oh, yeah. A couple of Iron’s stallions wanted Trotselot first, who stole his papers in the first place- whether or not they knew Brandy was his accomplice beforehoof lost its relevance after the first batch of pot-shots. Still, Brandy suffered worse from shrimp-dicked drunkards denied of her nightly services behind her bar’s dumpster.

Nevertheless, Brandy wasn’t ignorant that everything fell silent minutes prior, broken between periodic rounds of bone-chilling shrieks. Whatever, she thought uncaringly, stubbornly fighting the ropes binding her hooves behind the chair’s back. “Lucky me,” Brandy sarcastically cheered, “looks like old Iron’s got Colt scouts on his bankroll.” She quipped, her trapped appendages not moving an inch.

CLICK!

Snapping her head forward, the door leading into the hallway swung inward, groaning quietly. Stifling a shocked gasp, Brandy watched a deathly-looking Trotselot crawl toward her, creating bloody tracks behind himself. “Well, I’ll be…” Was all Brandy replied with.

How could anypony move while cosplaying a manticore’s chew toy?! Brandy felt sick, his peeking wing bones shifting painfully. “B-Bran…” Trotselot croaked out, passing the open door. His voice- hoarse and weak -shook Brandy out of her shock, replacing it with weighing pity and panic.

“What in the nine hells are you doing here?!” She lowly shouted, leaning ahead. “How’d you escape?”

A single feather rose within his shaking wing’s grip.

“Clever.” Brandy scoffed, unsettled by his rugged appearance.

At a snail's pace, Trotselot trudged to Brandy’s rear, breathing ragged and sickly breaths. The alcoholic mare twisted her neck either way, doing her best to eye the half-dead stallion, her hooves’ binds shifting and gradually loosening. Eventually, the frayed rope collapsed, and Brandy immediately tended to her sore ankles, gently rubbing them. “Thanks.” She grunted. Leaving her seat and snapping to Trotselot’s side, Brandy’s hooves could wait as she- snaking her forelegs under his -dragged him toward the door’s exit.

“N-No!” Trotselot weakly cried, stopping Brandy, “Not…s-safe.” He added.

Brandy huffed, “The fuck you on about? I ain’t sitting here with my hooves up my ass when you need a hospital, you idiot!” She scolded. However, before resuming her journey, Trotselot’s feeble grip pulled her back.

“I-In…vasion.” He forced out. “Monsters…k-killing ponies!”

“Have you gone daft?!” She scoffed. “Screw that!”

Stubbornly ignoring Trot’s near-inaudible pleas, Brandy kicked the door open, walking out only to be met by a grizzly sight. Despite what most believed, Brandy wasn’t a hardened monster or unfeeling beast, alcohol replacing her blood and all that crap. After switching to the drink, she withheld certain mareish (or equine-like) qualities. One is queasiness to blood- to a degree. Yet, observing multiple mutilated hunks of lifeless pony bodies littering the hall and painting the off-white walls red, she felt her stomach churn. Even a stone-cold royal guard would faint. The air reeked of death, like sulfur placed above a fire, entwined with rotten copper and piss.

Brandy had an important job: keeping Trot alive. Why she cared about this sleazebag's life remained a mystery, but the striking scene before Brandy cemented her attention and fear. Brushing off her primal fear and shaking legs, the drunkard mare marched on, stepping across splayed and broken limbs and making sure Trot didn’t fall.

“Approaching!” A sudden, gruff voice alarmed, startling Brandy.

Stampeding down the hall, a changeling band stopped, their heads on swivels as they scanned their light handiwork. “Nothing. Useless!” A different changeling roared, smacking their comrade’s head. “All dead, checked every room. No pony left.” They added, stomping. Soon, the gaggle of insects ran off, their thundering hooves slowly disappearing until silence filled the void.

After waiting a second or two, the well-oiled hinges belonging to a guest room door inched ajar, and Brandy’s head poked through.

“Princess, all mighty!” She whispered, stunned. “Guess you weren’t yanking my chain.” Brandy peered to her left, Trotselot lying amongst the suited ponies' unmoving forms. “Alright, let’s get out of here.”

Leaving whatever shit-hole Iron threw them into wouldn’t be too challenging. No guards met easy passage- other than the bug ponies running amuck. From what Brandy knew and saw, Trotselot wasn’t lying, and Canterlot indeed had new, unfriendly visitors. Shape-shifting bugs, she mentally laughed; now she’d seen it all! And whatever the pink mist they siphoned out of ponies seemed like their objective, placing frightened ponies into translucent green cocoons and offing anypony who’d fight back. Luckily, Brandy wasn’t a fighter. Unluckily, Brandy wasn’t a fighter AND was carrying a battered stallion everywhere. Trying to Escape Canterlot, much less this building, now instantly disappeared from her mind, and bunkering inside the feeble excuse for a doctor’s office is where Brandy found herself and Trotselot now.

Wrapping bandages around Trotselot’s sloppily stitched wounds, Brandy sighed deeply, leaning backward in a chair she stationed beside the bed Trotselot laid across. Fatigued plagued her shot nerves, her hooves twitching. “We’re fucked, aren’t we?” She bitterly chuckled, throwing a foreleg over her eyes. “Iron’s Celestia-knows-where, Canterlot’s got a bug infestation, and you can barely move!” She listed, her wry smile dropping. “Worst of all, I haven’t gotten a drink for the last few hours.”

Trotselot weakly responded by scoffing, “Never lose your charm, Brandy, dear.” He said lowly, his voice nearly a whisper but stronger due to the short rest he received. “Thinking of drinking, even WHEN threatened with death!” He added.

“Ya blame me?” Trot shook his head.

Leaving her chair, Brandy’s spine loudly popped as she stretched. “Unless solar tits and her less-than-impressive dark clone can fix this soon, we’re sitting ducks. Still, like I mentioned, Iron’s missing.” Brandy said. “You don’t happen to know a way to summon every half-bit piece of taint you’ve slept with in Canterlot to save us, do you?” She hummed playfully.

Trotselot smirked, “You assume I remember their faces.” He snickered.

However, much to Canterlot's famed incubus, an inspirational bulb went off inside Brandy’s mind, making her conjure a devious grin. Maybe everything wasn’t so grim. None of Iron’s goons would care about them leaving when an insect’s trying desperately to rip their throats out, and Brandy isn’t some tourist visiting Canterlot for the first time. There are routes guards rarely look into, giving easy access for anypony wanting to remain unseen. Back alleys, bone-dry canals, and defunct sewer lines litter the mountain-side city’s underground.

Turning to her silver-tongued associate, Brandy motioned to the medical office’s door. “Look alive, pretty colt: we are going sewer swimming!”

“Faster, Luna, faster!” Olive shouted, the chilling mountain air flowing through his disheveled mane, Changeling and pony blood staining his coat. Tightly clung to Luna’s back, her mighty wings rocking him, the aged guard’s eyes were glued ahead, directly onto Canterlot Castle.

“Sir, I’m not certain, but I believe the enemy’s leader captured Private Storm Breaker.” The voice of a younger royal guard hesitantly reported, having seen Olive’s panic explode.

An hour had swiftly vanished since helping Luna escape, and both ponies worked themselves rugged, assisting Equestria’s fighting stallions and mares against the changeling menace. His bones ached, hooves burning, but Olive didn’t care, and neither did Luna- as far as he could tell. He treated wounds while she fought. Olive held back a changeling or two as the nightly ruler dug guards out from under a collapsed house. And, by now, chances of victory were even for Canterlot’s finest.

Nevertheless, Olive’s temperamental partner’s safety stuck firmly into his mind’s forefront- it’d earned him a cut or two for his carelessness. From what he’d learned from a junior guard he saved, something called Chrysalis head started this invasion and was stalking the wedding hall, where he left Storm Breaker. However, having saved the squadron of guards, the same junior guard looked confused when he first approached and asked, “Hey, sir, where’s your partner?” And Olive casually answered: ‘The castle.’ “Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I saw Private Storm Breaker in the marketplace a block away when my squad and I were retreating. Took a terrible beating.” He solemnly retorted. That’s when his stomach began dropping further and further the more the guard said.

Storm Breaker had taken on the changeling leader and lost, a sentence he subconsciously refused to believe. A more immature side of Olive wanted to blame everypony for his mistake, but his guilt ultimately won out, putting the blame solely on him. He should’ve seen this coming- Chrysalis practically gave a warning before striking -and he ignored it.

Enough, he mentally chastised himself. He made a mistake; there’s nothing he could do now to change that besides fixing it.

Excluding the Princesses, Storm Breaker was the toughest pony he knew. Of course, nopony’s perfect. But still. Olive shook his head vigorously, riding his mind off negative thoughts. Like Tartarus Storm would lie down and accept defeat- she’s alright, he reassured. Her tenacity was boundless.

It’s one of the countless reasons she captured his heart.

“We’re close, Sir Olive!” Luna yelled, grounding Olive’s resolve as they rapidly approached a shattered window leading into the wedding hall.

Displaying pin-point precision, Olive pushed his body closer to Luna’s while the midnight mare tucked her wings, roughly throwing her right side down. Without cutting themselves too badly, the two pony torpedo unceremoniously entered the wedding hall, Olive latching off and Luna continuing to fly high.

The elderly guard tumbled across the littered floor briefly before rediscovering his footing, planting each hoof down until he stopped. Sadly, time didn’t give Olive a moment of reprieve, an emerald-green bolt grazing his left ear, forcing him low and rolling behind a half-wrecked bench. Taking several seconds to breathe, he cautiously peeked over the bench, a hulking form promptly crashing against the opposite wall and recovering quickly.

Akin to the finale heralding a great action stage play’s ending, Olive Branch observed his partner and three Elements of Harmony pressing- who he determined to be -the towering Changeling Queen, Chrysalis. Generosity and Kindness, protected by a stone pillar, worryingly peered near a trapped Cadance, the element of Loyalty motionlessly splayed out mere paces away, a scorch mark painting her weak chest. Located in the wedding hall’s centering heart, Honesty, Laughter, Twilight Sparkle, and Storm Breaker fiercely assaulted Chrysalis; the ex-knight, bloody and bruised, swung her blade wildly, chipping Chrysalis's hardened shell while Honesty kicked the Changeling's unattended flank. Safely outside danger’s immediate range, Twilight provided suppressing fire, showering Chrysalis with explosive magic volleys, setting her off kilter. Laughter…simply sprung about, firing a light-blue cannon loaded with colorful confetti, giggling, much to her insectoid adversary’s ever-growing ire, green magic harmlessly missing their erratic, bouncy target.

“Lookie here~. Celestia’s second-rate copy arrives!” Chrysalis sneered, watching Luna flying above, oblivious to Olive’s hidden presence. “Come to bask in the defeat of your sister or rage that I stole your rightful victory from your brooding self?” She said. Directing her malicious magical hail storm at Luna, the night-time alicorn expertly dodged and evaded the Changeling Monarch’s attacks, even returning a shot or two. “I commend you lot on your foolish bravery, but Shining’s love has granted me powers far greater than your pathetic sun god! Faced before your combined charge, I’ll end it with misery- and grant slow, painful deaths befitting your crimes that’d befallen me, filth!” She raved madly.

“Don’t you ever shut up?!” Storm Breaker snarled, her voice full and gargled. To Olive's horror, his temperamental partner’s right side fully facing him, a ghastly chunk was absent from her mouth, exposing red-soaked teeth and profusely bleeding torn muscle. Luckily, it didn’t seem to hinder her too badly. However, each sharp turn and light step made Storm fumble, her face pale and sickly.

Olive dove down, “Stubborn one, she is. But blood loss will get to her eventually.” He grimly thought.

A pained cry shook Olive, who looked in time to spot an unconscious Element of Honest rocket above, landing left of the elderly guard. “Ah’m…a-alright!” She groaned, clutching her ribs, “G-Give me…five minutes!” The apple farmer said, then promptly passed out.

“Cease your abhorrent goals, Chrysalis!” Luna commanded, teleporting behind the megalomaniac.

Her horn fired directly into Chrysalis’s face, knocking her off-balance and letting Luna leap back as Storm Breaker’s sword and Twilight’s magic struck Chrysalis from inverse directions. “Or feel my wrath!” Grunting strenuously, pure blackness erupted from her horn, malformed equine figures riding the pitch-dark beam that hit Chrysalis, clawing and grappling like mad beasts, forming a dome around her.

Sadly, this proved ineffective. Following a green flash, the creatures’ umbra frames dissipated like ashes held with a powerful air current, leaving a triumphant Chrysalis. “Spare me the bravo, Nightmare Moon. Or is it Luna? Honestly, your brutish spittling makes it hard to tell the difference.” She taunted, angering Luna further. “What hope do you have to defeat me?! I’ll dominate you, ponies. You’ll be the shunned and enslaved, not us!” She roared.

During the chaos, Olive Branch quietly rounded the battlefield perimeter, crawling between cover as Generosity and Kindness were closer than before. Thank Celestia, somepony had the right idea to blockade the doors, lodging loose boards inside the handles. The last thing he needed was another hoof-to-hoof talk, a shimmering, sweaty layer coating his exhausted visage.

Releasing an unrestrained battlecry, Chrysalis, temporarily distracted by Luna, caught Storm Breaker barreling at her, sword poised forward, failing to react quickly. The insectoid monarch produced a hissing grunt, Storm’s steel driving deeper into her shoulder as the mighty warrior mare tried ramming onward. Yet, Chrysalis's razor-sharp fangs clamped onto Storm’s withers and, barely showing effort, turned and hurled her again, unsheathing the sword piercing her shoulder plate gaps. Losing her sword halfway through her flight, Storm hit the wall, breaking Olive’s path to the two huddled elements. Unyielding in her vexation, Chrysalis’s horn glowed brightly, her glare burning holes in a swimming Storm Breaker.

For Olive, time slowed to a sluggish drag, his eyes widening. Storm Breaker’s going to die, his thoughts loudly screamed. He couldn’t feasibly tackle her massive frame onto the floor or produce a powerful enough shield to entirely negate Chrysalis’s overwhelming magic. Honesty and Loyalty were out, Laughter's too far away; Generosity and Kindness, trapped within the blast zone, were frightened stiff, affecting their reaction time; And Luna and Twilight looked about drained of magic for a teleportation spell.

The elderly guard, spiting his shaking legs, narrowed his eyes, tempered by a determined resolve. Storm Breaker needed him- one last time.

Deeply inhaling, Olive stood and jumped out of cover.

Shit, Storm thought painfully, her back screaming bloody murder. The pain was indescribable.

Without Goddess locks or something similar, the hoarded agony and suffering she’d gathered became too much for her to ignore. Every shifting, splintered bone, boiling-hot cut, and stinging wound muddle her senses- resulting in her missing cheek. Chrysalis attempted to blind her permanently, but Storm tilted her head, preventing total blindness in exchange for flesh. Who needs a cheek, anyway? Nevertheless, the oncoming darkness began circling her vision, but Storm Breaker shook her head.

Looking up, she spotted the overshadowing Chrysalis, grinning smugly. “This’s it, huh?” She told herself, her singular eye closing. “Dammit! I can’t go out now. Not while she still draws air! I can’t move an inch- my legs and head feel like solid iron.” Suddenly, her shocked, groggy mind slowly processed a familiar face appearing in her line of sight.

Chrysalis’s attack fired, the changeling queen surprised by Olive’s unexpected arrival, and Storm put two and two together, her eye’s pupil shrinking to a pin-prick.

“Run, Run, Flash! Don’t look back, you know the way to your Grandfather’s village! GO!” Her disembodied father’s voice frantically ordered, accompanied by her mother’s frightful wail. Stricken with unrivaled fear, a grim and blood-covered Flash Freeze did her best to ignore it all, pressing her ears against her skull to little effect. The pillars of ash and smoke, the crackling of hell flames, and distant screams- both innocent and bloodthirsty. Even after the endless frost and snow extinguished the ravaging flames the following morning inside the quiet village’s charred walls, she still experienced last night's horrors, sobbing and shivering alone.

Hours later, the hollow filly, heavy-hearted and silent like her home, stood and wandered off.

Bending his knees, Olive launched off the ground, holding his hooves out as the blast grew closer.

“I-I’ve caused untold pain against you, GrandDaughter. Please, forgive me.” A newly titled Storm Breaker flatly gazes upon her bed-ridden Grandfather, his aged form sagging and bone-thin.

Her hoof resting on top of her sword's pommel twitched impatiently. Strangely, the selfish bastard's words and regretful expression seemed genuine, and Storm couldn’t bring herself to lose another family member, especially by her own doing. Tears fogging his eyes, Storm Breaker pressed a gentle, tender hoof on his chest, which he weakly grasped as his once scathing orbs shut for a final time.

Desperately, the heavily injured warrior begged, pleading with her body to move and stop that idiotic stallion! Regardless, it refused, her teeth gritting as panic overtook her thumping heart.

“Deary, please, come out.” Gran’s voice, remorseful and weighted, said. Storm reluctantly ignored her second mother, the oncoming regret adding to the mountain’s worth she felt as Storm hugged herself tighter. “It’s not your fault!” It was, Storm wordlessly retorted, her puffy eyes leaking tears once more. She still recalled the scent of Sky Slicer's discarded, cooked flesh, and the sight of his flayed pelt reminded her of their successful hunts. The warmth of those memories turned empty and painful days prior, causing Storm to recoil. Weeks following Sky Slicer’s passing, she remained inconsolable.

The young colt was almost young enough to be her child, and those fucking horn-heads ate him! Mentally uttering the word ‘child’, an absentminded hoof snaked downward, stopping and hovering above the fur-concealed scar tissue of her lower stomach. First, the caribou, then the unicorns; they both stole what would’ve made her a mare and mother.

Thinking of such things only made her quiet sobbing louder.

No. No. No. No! No! No! NO! NO! This couldn’t be happening again- it can’t! Storm Breaker, bordering on hysterical, flung her upper half forward, catching her fall using her forelegs as supports. She couldn’t suffer like this again! “STOP!!” She continued shouting, carelessly flinging blood.

However, her cries were worthless. Olive’s body blocked her view of Chrysalis’s blast, masking the sight and sound of breaking metal and sending his body into Storm’s. The impact’s force shoved her, a grunt escaping the injured warrior mare as her forelegs instinctively caught Olive’s body. Moments later, silence filled the room, nopony uttering a word as Storm Breaker’s eye slowly parted open. A cough hurled globs of blood onto her face, Olive’s lower lip painted red, and his gleaming chest armor dull and dented. Stealing a shallow breath, his gaze met a distraught and horrified Storm Breaker, a smile brightening his muzzle.

“I-I’m sorry…darling.” He whispered, “I…di-didn’t wanna see you…hurt, forgive…m-me. I-I blame…only my-myself. Please, n-never lose…that burning…flame…I…love…” Each word faded further than the last, his eyes disappearing as his head fell limp.

Storm’s hooves trembled violently, her lasting lower lip quivering. “Ah-agh-” She muttered, unable to form words.

Finally, her grief completely enraptured her mind.

All the mighty Storm Breaker could do was scream.