Dark Secrets

The only thing worse than an enemy with nothing to lose, is one who does, but doesn’t fear loss.

• Cybeast Hunter

‘Cyburst?’

‘Cybuuuurst?’

‘Cyburst!’

“Huh, what?” Cyburst said, jolting awake.

‘Today’s the day, you start your mission  at sundown.’ Luna said though the night, ‘My agents have told me that Celestia and her leaders are coming this way.’

‘So how is it going to go down?’ Cyburst thought, ‘When she appears over the horizon, I tackle her to the ground?’

‘No’ Luna said, ‘She’ll attack you straight on like that, and there will be witnesses. We’ll fight her and her people. once we beat them, she’ll be likely to run away. When she gets out of our sight, destroy her.’

‘Okay then.’ Cyburst thought, ‘Do I get a weapon?’

‘Yes.’ Luna said musingly, ‘If you can find the armory undetected?’

‘Wait what?’ Cyburst thought, ‘Where’s the armory.’

‘The innermost part of the castle.’ Luna said, giggling, ‘have fun!’

‘Wait. Luna!’ Cyburst thought

But there was no answer.

“Damn that harpy! I’ll have to find the armory, I guess.” Cyburst said, slightly annoyed.

Cyburst slid his legs to the side of the bed and got up. He was still in the 50% power release, but he didn’t care. He didn’t need to be in his original form for this anyway. He picked up Silverbolt from off the chair and put it back in the sheath. Cyburst opened the only way out of the room. He looked down each direction of the hallway. Nopony was in sight or hearing range. Perfect.  Cyburst used his magic to camouflage himself, making him unseeable, but not inaudible or intangible.

He walked down the empty hallway, freezing whenever he heard anything. Eventually, Cyburst  found a door with two  guards. They didn’t look like they were in a hurry, so he couldn’t wait for them to move.

The guards were quite young. They couldn’t be more than sargents, by today’s standards. Their eyes darted towards every shadow. Cyburst realized how much tension was in the air. They must be scared out of their wits from all the darkness. It only take something supernatural to scare them. Something like- Cyburst had an idea.

Cyburst made the eeriest noise he could think of.

“ooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooo!”

“W-what was that?!” The guard on the left sputtered.

“I don’t know, b-but it didn’t sound happy!” The guard on the right exclaimed.

“I am the ghost of windextor! I am here to clean your filthy souls!” Cyburst said with the tone of his voice wavering.

“AHHHHHHHHHH!” The two guards screamed in unison, before they ran past Cyburst.

“Come back here! Your souls are mine!” Cyburst shouted after them.

The guards ran around a corner, not looking back even once.

“Dumbasses.” Cyburst said, dissipating his unique spell.

Cyburst opened the large door that lead into a large open room. The room’s walls were covered with every weapon of the age. From standard swords to back-mounted rocket launchers. Cyburst looked around for his weapon of choice. Sub-machine gun? No, too loud for him. Machete? He could use Silverbolt if it came down to it. Flare gun? Was this somepony’s idea of a joke?!  Then Cyburst saw it. An old, dusty, out-of- fashion Sniper Rifle. It’s chamber was big enough for a knife.  One look at it and said “Keep your distance. Better yet, leave the country.” Cyburst smiled and picked it up. It was the right size for a griffon, so it fit him nicely. He slung it over his shoulder so it crossed over Silverbolt’s sheath in an X pattern.

‘Good’ Luna said, ‘just on time too.’

‘What the hell luna?! Why’d you make me look for the armory?’ Cyburst thought in anger.

‘Because I forgot where it was.’ Luna giggled, ‘And this was the funnest way to learn.’

‘Once I’m done with this I’m going to r-’

‘They’re just out of sight. get to the top of the tallest spire to make your shot.’ Luna interrupted, ‘You can use the window as an exit.’

‘Why is there a window in the middle of your castle?’ Cyburst thought quizzingly.

‘So I can watch over my courtyard, duh.’ Luna said.

‘You know what, I’m not even going to question why.’ Cyburst thought

‘You just did.’ Luna said, ‘This is our one and only chance to end the war. Do not fail me.’

Cyburst flew out the window and quickly ascended to the tallest point of the castle.

‘I’m ready when you are.’  Cyburst thought.

‘Okay. Mission, Heliacal Occult, start!’

Cyburst watched as his target came over the mountain with her generals. Of course she was the last one. Luna and her rag-tag group came out from beneath him. They faced each other almost symmetrically, each counterpart facing each other. Cyburst had the strange feeling of Deja Vu.

“The pieces finally fit together.” Cyburst said as he realized why it was so familiar.

It was the exact same as the Mosaic.

Cyburst watched through his scope as both sides tried to reason with each other. He knew they’d ultimately fail to settle this the easy way. The only option left was the hard way.  Both sides ran at each other. The- You know what, If you want to read about the battle, read BlackMirage’s, The War For Equestria. You might learn something.

Once Luna and the other parts of the Lunar Republic got onto the boat, Cyburst took aim at the Embodiment of the Sun. Cyburst put a claw on the trigger and squeezed, but only a click was heard. There was no ammunition in the rifle, and it would take too long to go back into the castle. He had to find something to shoot. Nothing but shingles were around him. He looked behind him, but nothing was close. His eye’s rested on his wings, namely, his feathers. They were the perfect size for the barrel, and were sharp enough to cut obsidian. Cyburst sighed once, and plucked a feather from his beautiful wings. To his surprise, the feather grew back immediately. Cyburst should have expected as much, being able to survive death and all. he placed the feather into the chamber. He looked through the scope to find that Celestia had only gotten smaller. He fixed the crosshairs for her head.

One shot rang out.

Celestia fell from the sky, giving the ground a nice, warm hug.

“Damn, the sight was off slightly.” Cybust said, throwing down the gun, “I only clipped her primary feathers.”

Cyburst launched himself towards the white alicorn, reaching her side in only a minute. Celestia had risen to her hooves by then, looking at the beast in front of her intently

“Did you do that?” Celestia asked with rage.

“Yes.” Cyburst said, his eyes like daggers.

“Luna said she’d let me go.” The alicorn said.

“You said you’d release Mirage.” Cyburst retorted, “Oh ,and I’m not doing this for Luna, she’s just adding a benefit.”

Cyber Burst had his eyes closed, tapping his talons, bobbing head to a beat in his mind.

His faithful sword was in his claws.

"You cut my life into pieces, this is my last resort, you royal bitch." Cyburst said to the

wounded mare in front of him,

"What did I ever do?" the mare said, looking at her wing, unusable with the primary feathers clipped.

"Everything that ever has happened to me was started by you." Cyburst said,

He brought Silverbolt up to his face, pointing towards the unique mare that stood in front of

him. Her white coat was matted with blood.Her eyes were slightly shaking with fear.

"A seven nation army couldn't hold me back." Cyburst said, "Let alone your pitiful one."

"I never saw you ever fight one of my soldiers, and I'm immortal." the mare said,

"Yes, immortal, not invincible. You do not age, but you can die by other means." Cyburst said,

"Do you think you will be a hero if you kill me,to bring justice, to end this war?" the oversized mare asked,

Cyburst opened his eyes, they were bright yellow and filled with power,

"I never cared about justice, and I recall ever calling myself a hero..." Cyburst said as he smiled, "I have always only fought for the people I believe in. I won't hesitate... If an enemy appears in front of me, I will destroy it!"

Cyburst closed his eyes again, a single tear dripped down.

"Twilight, I'm sorry." Cyburst said.

Then, with Silverbolt raised, Cyburst charged at Celestia.

Cyburst swung Silverbolt towards Celestia’s side, but the Princess blocked it with a sword of her own. Celestia’s sword was held in her magic, which didn’t have joints, like Cyburst’s arm did. She could twist the sword in any direction she liked. They both swung  with tremendous force, but Celestia quickly got the upper hand.  Celestia swiped her blade across Cyburst’s cheek,  blood spilling out immediately. Cyburst wounds didn’t heal, as they should have after a few seconds. He found that it was due to being cut by magic, and not a solid object. Cyburst slashed in a wide ark, while Celestia countered. The two blades locked and both of the ponies’ faces flew forward.

“Do you think you can defeat me?” Celestia said, eyes stone cold.

“I don’t think so, I know so!” Cyburst shouted, anger flowing through his.

“Then you might want to learn how to double task.” Celestia said

Suddenly, Celestia turned around and kicked Cyburst in the stomach.  Cyburst staggered back, but stayed standing. Cyburst was in a tight situation. Whenever he blocked Celestia’s sword, she punched or kicked him. As time wore on, Cyburst got beaten and bruised. When Cyburst brought Silverbolt up to block Celestia’s sword again, She threw one punch to his ribcage, knocking him to the ground. Cyburst tried to get back up, but found Celestia’s blade at his neck.

“Say goodbye to Equestria.” Celestia sneered.

Cyburst closed his eyes, waiting for the cold blade to slit his throat. But it never did.

“Why?” Celestia asked.

“Excuse me?” Cyburst said as he opened his eyes.

“Why did you say sorry to my best student before this fight?” Celestia asked.

Cyburst thought for a second then responded.

“Because I made a promise to her.” Cyburst said, a new feeling rushing through him.

Celestia brought the blade down.

Cyburst stopped it with his hand.

He clasped his hand around the sword, condensing it into a small ball. Cyburst got off the ground. Raw energy surged around him. Celestia backed up.

“I said sorry because I made a promise to her.” Cyburst shouted, throwing down Silverbolt, “And I may not be able to keep it.”

“You cannot beat me, I’ll push you back down.” Celestia shouted.

“...Are you going to do what I think you are going to do?..” Phoenix asked.

“Hell yes!” Cyburst said, the energy around him growing.

Forming into an aura of flame.

“ONE HUNDRED PERCENT, RELEASE!!!”  Cyburst yelled.

The sound that could only be explained as a bird’s cry, only a thousand decibels higher, came out of Cyburst’s mouth.

The beak at the top of his forehead came down and covered Cyburst’s face, like a helm. His eyes went into the sockets above the beak. His chest was covered with protective feathers.  Armor plating grew onto his legs, making his once red coat a bright orange. His arms were covered with the same armor as his legs. His Cutie Mark became an emblem in the middle of his chest.

“Who are you?” Celestia asked.

“I am Cyber Burst. A stallion who loves adventure.” Cyburst shouted at the Alicorn, “but not as much as he loves his family.”

“You’re full of yourself!” Celestia screamed, charging headlong at Cyburst.

Cyburst threw a roundhouse kick into Celestia’s side, knocking her to the ground. Celestia quickly gets back up and shoots several lasers at the Avian/Equestrian hybrid, but they bounce off of him and have no effect. Cyburst lunges at Celestia, tackling her to the ground. The roll along, each one somehow getting on top. Cyburst ends the struggle  with a quick knee to the stomach. Celestia spit out blood onto his face. Cybust gets off her, but she is unable to get up.

“This is for Mirage.” Cyburst says to the princess as he Grabs her horn.

With unimaginable strength, he pulls of the horn as the mare screams in agony.

“And this...” Cyburst says, holding up the sharp horn, “This is for Candy Corn.”

Cyburst stabs Celestia with the magical dagger, shoving it past her rib cage and into her heart. The Alicorns face was petrified in anguish. Cyburst turns around, picks up Silverbolt, and walks towards Luna’s Castle.

‘This is Cyburst.’ Cyburst thought, ‘Mission accomplished.’