Meanwhile with Crown and fortress things were different.

“POOF!” a sound was heard as Crown's body hit the snow filled ground hard creating a small crater in the snow and concrete outside.

“Alright, baby bro. Show me what you got!” said fortress.

Ambient music of the fight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_RABs8wP14&pp=ygUZc29uZyBvZiB0aGUgYW5jaWVudHMgZmF0ZQ%3D%3D

a few drops of blood fell from the nose of the dragon who promptly despite the pain still in his arm, the damage accumulated so far and the recent fortified hook to the jaw delivered by his non-blood brother, got back on his feet.

With a smirk, the unicorn immediately conjured up pilars with the forms of lances made from the concrete underneath the layers of snow, snow wich made even more sharp layers of ice, which shot out to him with flexible movements similar to those of a snake that chased the dragon from multiple directions across the area.

Making the dragon dodge them half a dozen at a time, causing some of them to collide with each other
and hence destroy each other. Others hit buildings flattening them. Parallell to this the barrage of stakes pushed the dragon backwards at high speed, speed wich the dragon found harder and harder to keep up.

In fact, the dragon felt himself getting slower and slower, little by little as his lungs filled with freezing air surrounding the city, at near freezing temperatures, making it increasingly difficult to breathe without pain or over exertion.

(For immersion purposes, either imagine or try putting your head inside a freezer for a few seconds and inhale and exhale. You will notice the uncomfortable feeling in your lungs that I am referring to, only in this case it is uninterrupted, in a situation of high demand of movement, ergo oxygenation and affecting a creature with “cold” blood for long periods of time).

“Hey, what's the matter, you're getting slow, runt!” the unicorn mocked because although the dragon was strong, very skilled, fast and with good reflexes, being one of the strongest warriors even at his young age of the kingdom, even more thanks to his own brother's spartan training prior to this... the seemingly inexhaustible mana/magic of his rival, the progressive increase of projectiles that followed him like concrete bullets with the size of a medium cars with the ferocity, flexibility and speed of a snakes was hard!, this with accumulated physical fatigue and progressive difficulty in breathing caused his slower movent to start costing him, allowing magic stakes to lacerate areas of his body that hadnt previously been breached by his event in the hoofington hailstorm.

His master and brother was one of, if not THE strongest warrior of new equestre, or at least that he was aware, and this seemengly infinite mana was not making it any fucking easier!

“AUGH!” the dragon suppressed his cry of pain, as he felt 3 concrete blades electrified with magic thunder lacerated him superficially but deep enough to cause blood leakage and massive pain on his before uninjured arm, his right leg and his left abdomen.

Hitting the ground before another dozen spikes crushed him to scales, despite the taxing effec on hismelf he Opted to teleport back a few meters at the last moment, to create distance from his opponent as the stakes pierced the ground and made holes the size of casr on the ground.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha” the dragon inhaled and exhaled extremely exhausted.

“Heh, I knew it was a good idea to weaken you all before this, even in this state you are too much trouble.” said the unicorn referring to both the mares (which could be heard fighting in the background) and the mares.
fighting in the background) and him, with what happened in hoofington.

“I need to, ha, think, ha, quick!” thought the dragon in his mind.

“A normal fortress after this destructive display by this point would already show exhaustion or at least signs of exhaustion, like COME ON!, but this fucker doesn't even seem to have broken a sweat, shit!”

“You're done meditating already?.... Don't disappoint me, you ARE the more equal oponent of them all to me after all. Beisdes before this, after years of training you, we were somewhat evenly matched, of course your draconic nature gave you a certain advantage in the section of natural physical strength but you also had disadvantage in the section of magical repertoire. Yet you never dissappointed me, quite the oposite....

The unicorns facial expressions turned sour and irate: But now you will have to do better, if not... I'm going to kill you” said the white unicorn softyly and seriously while his steel gloves and his and his boots of the same material were bathed with a voltage that would normally be lethal to a pony if it made contact with their skin and they lacked voltage control.

“pfft” the dragon spat a bloody spittle into the otherwise white snow, which around him was covered with debris from the remains of houses, streets and sharp fragments of the actual concrete as well as drops of his blood.

“Really?, i did not notice!” said the dragon sarcastically.

The unicorn grimaced in irritation but then a smirk returned to his face “You know what?, speaking of noticing. Did you notice Serene a moment ago?, I haven't finished playing with her so, if you die!-”

“Shut up!!!” replied a crown with pupils now fierce teeth clenched tightly and body fists clenched to the point of drawing blood, as he remembered that indeed just a moment ago he saw serene's batter body with blood stains all over her leather armor and coat. Although he could not assess at that instant her actual state, nor what Fortress had or had not actually done to her in his current state as a puppet before they returned to Lancelot, it didn't matter to him, his “icy” blood was boiling with rage.

“Oh, I hit a nerve! Tell me, you like her don't you... that BITCH?!” the unicorn continued to add fuel to the metaphorical fire inside the dragon. He wanted him irate both to make his movements messy and to make him actually try to kill him and have a proper duel!.

A feral roar left his mouth, as the normally stoic dragon once again momentarily let his emotions blind him for an instant, as in an impulse of rage for his special pony, he teleported to a distance of centimeters away from his enemy and using a knife he had hidden for emergencies in his back (that was made from his own fallen teeth as he grew older, since there is little matterial as strong and edge like dragon fangs, they did ate emeralds you know) as he smashed it point black at full speed and force towards his foe. However that knife ran into a wall, in this case a magical wall, to be specific body-level magic shield as a semi-visible full body armor Covered fortress.

This second skin, while stopping the sharp object, received a visibly big crack where the knife would have hit, in this case his neck. In response, a slightly surprised Fortress that had he not taunted him , making him irate and allowing to predict his atack, could now have knife deep in his carotid. Wich was amazing by itself for his shield proved thanks to abby could even withstand bullets.

Using the element of surprise and considering the short distance, the unicorn concentrated his magic on his muscle mass/strength at the surprised dragon with one hand hitting the dragon's jaw again with one hand with voltage
while with the other he attracted with magic the knife back to him timmediately covering it with voltage and quickly embedding it in the point most exposed to physical attacks the dragon currently had.... his right arm.

the sharp object piercing deep you could say almost near his bone, and lightly searing the tissue thanks to the voltage caused dragon to screach and quickly teleport back a few meters away from him, again moving backwards, giving a brief glance at the distance to were his companions were , unnoticed by the unicorn.

“Second lesson, don't let your emotions control you moron!, what did I teach you, nothing!?” the possessed unicorn demanded of his former student.

“save it!, I remember your lessons through!, I also remember when I kicked your ass last time!,” replied the dragon.

“Oh, come on. That was training!, , we weren't fighting to kill! Besides, in case you haven't noticed, we both have pretty much the old same tricks as before , but I have a LOT more magic and physical strength than before and YOU have LESS of both thanks to the whole hoofington debacle! YOU are injured, stressed, tired and weakened not to mention that your ability to transport is at a minimum it seems because you barely used it so far!

This was all planned by the enemy intentionally, crown was aware. He and his friends were are a major obstacle in the way needed to be eliminated immediately.

“You're not going to defeat me or hurt anyone else!,” said the dragon confidently despite his state.

“Not hurting anyone?, you are stopping ME!?. Ha!, really? Well, ask your parents or your species. Oh, wait, that's right. THEY'RE DEAD!”

“..." that response and way of talking. That was definately not his brother, or the entity trying to imitate his brother to hurt him, that way of phrasing was almost like it was talking to whatever killed his parents, more than that this thing was beyond some deep strings...

"...are you done talking yet?” the dragon took advantage of his enemy's very brief monologue in silence. THIS is why he remained silent after taunting him. to make a quick strategy. It was all or nothing from here, he sensed it.

“...oho?, looks like you did learn something after all huh?” the unicorn felt,the deep concentrated eyes of the dragon on him clearly scheming, while he talked. He was caught off guard when at that moment however a faint green light flashed for a second over his shoulder, an insect bathed in blood on top of his shoulder which he watched out of the corner of his eye in amazement and confusion for 1 second in which the same inset, jumped off making the blood splash around reaching his face and eyes distracteing him for a moment.

The dragon at that instant, teleported again a “point blank” stance and ripped the dagger from his arm and thrust it forcefully towards his enemy however this time in adittion an intense green fire came out of his mouth that could melt steel. this fire which put a tremendous load on the shield of his enemy, having 2 strong points of impact one being the dagger at full speed with both hands and short distance and the other being rampant fire typical dragon's could pull off, cracked the shield enough as if butter-like so the dagger pierced tand stabed his abdomen.

“UGH, damn you!” he shrieked in a scream of rage-filled pain.

Not a second later the unicorn responded by clenching its abdomen to hold the dagger and with its trained and magically enhanced muscular strength gave the dragon a full force thrust,
which pushed him a meter or two away.

Seeing that the distance between the two became present, the unicorn conjured another barrage of cement pilar lances and threw them once again try to pierce his enemy. Fortunately the dragon was able to react by his hair this time, moving to the side, while the pillar grazed his leftover armor and clothes and broke them before passing by him and turning the humble home behind him to rubble with a loud BAM! which was heard by his companions.

“BAM!!!” a big impact resounded on the distance.

The mares quickly looked to the now clearer background behind the remnants of the enemy forces, being able to NOW actually see, unlike the previous deafening crashes, distinguish this time a large cloud of dust and frost.

“THERE they are, we need to make a path over there!” said Stella.

“Sure, but we still have company!” said an exhausted Abby who was inhaling and exhaling along with dawn from the magical exertion of a moment ago.

“Regroup, now!” shouted Dawn, as they all entered their circle of defensive concrete, covered by her own magic and that of a tired and still disoriented from the burn on her head abby, while the remaining enemies outside the smal dome, were all in a circle.

Mostly terrestrial creatures such as earth ponies or what once were, attacked TheIr impromptu dome shield. These, With enhances or abilities like amber but with less power attacked the shield seeking to penetrate and attack their enemy. Some of them strengthened their own body by striking the dome with their fists, warhammers or swords. Others from the distance throwing a barrage of arrows and finally a small amout of select few more capable individuals creating considerably smaller stakes than the prodigy Fortress could , specifically in a ratio 1:8, the stakes of fortress being 8 times bigger, faster, sharper and harder at least.

All the enemies like a hivemind would, tried to penetrate their defense.

“Stella, evaluation!” said between tired gasps Dawn, their leader focusing along with abundance and amber on maintaining the shield to defend themselves while planning their next steps.

Stella, being the only one either not currently exerting herself physically or magically or otherwise out of combat or in bad condition (as was the case with Pillows or
Serene) was the one who could reason the most optimal “The enemy is strong but we have depleted their forces for the most part. I would say from what I saw briefly that about half of them are left thanks to Pillows. Seeing their attacks at the moment, none or or practically none seems to have extracorporeal magic or elemental magic except earth ; although they do have medium range attacks thanks to bows too , so I would say that our chances of victory are good especially if we focus on defending while attacking, so IF we could make a straight path I could go support crown and bring him back as far as possible. with medium to low risk increasing the likely victory against our enemy as a whole, although i admit the odds would go down in our current state if we take the risk,
they're still good!” the blue pegasus conluded.

“Amber, give me a brief respite. I need to think!” requested the Purple unicorn, who upon seeing her companion nodding her head removed her energy causing the Earth Pony to coat the small dome with another layer after the previous was destroyed, slowly again and again as she sweated from her forehead. “Take your time!” she said half sarcastically, half seriously.

The yellow pegasus, without saying anything, continued to use her magic and mental concentration, while some drops of blood fell from her body to the ground and sweat poured from her forehead as the dome in question was inside feeled with a current of voltage that anesthetized her companions allowing a state of maximum alert.

The unicorn debated in a few minutes, which felt like hours as she continued and although it was a risk, it was the best she could think of for the moment.

She wanted to be sure that they all agreed to support her friend, even more so since any miscommunication and therefore bad chain of command could make everyone, including Crown, die.

“YES!” said the blue pegasus without hesitation.

“heh” muttered the yellow pegasus with a chuckle.

“ugh!” the orange earth pony exclaimed in effort and then laughed loudly and confidently ”HA, HA, HA! it's about time!”

“...yes, of course.” the white unicorn replied softly with a slightly mischievous smile.

Knowing she couldn't ask pillows, the latter being unconscious After thinking for a couple of minutes that felt like hours the unicorn began her orders.

“Amber, considering that Stella is the best candidate to help crown and the state of everyone at this moment we will depend a lot on you...” began dawn.

“Get to the point!” said the pony.

“Fine!"
After briefly giving all of them their instructions she screamed:

"alright then everymare, Rock and Arrow formation!” she quickly gave the orders of how to proceed to her whole squadron.

****music for the scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpn0IVdDYG4&pp=ygUPc3RvbmUgYnJlYXRoaW5n

Following this, the purple unicorn returned to support her barrier while the white unicorn withdrew her strength. Immediately gathering all the metal available in their now bullet-less weapons or close surroundings making a weapon consisting of a long chain of magically strengthened steel, with a ball with spades on one end and a sharp dual axe on the other.

Abby. Using her magic to melt the metal almost instantly by converting her energy into thermal heat and melting the metal, to then bend use the same metal to shape andfinally temper the metal to make it stronger and accentuate the edge, falling exhausted to the ground shortly after completing the weapon and enhancing its cutting edge and resistance via magic.

Following this, the purple unicorn withdrew her magic from the barrier, while the orange pony did the same as she then pushed the concrete slabs to the sides at a distance from them pushing her enemies backward she was aided by Stella who used her control over the wind to make a strong wind that lifted dirt in the vision of her enemies and pushed them further back.

“Amber, Stella, NOW!” screamed dawn

Their enemies would not let them escape so easily however, as the archers quickly fired a storm of arrows, while the more well-versed possessed earth ponies launched a barrage small spears and mini-pillars at them.

However, this mares were not backing down!

Amber gave a strong inhale as her muscles overflowed with magic and bloodflow as she quicly stepped infront of all her friends “Earth pony magic, first form. Irooon muscleees!” the earth pony gave a battle cry as she made use of
her atypical weapon.

With her superior physical strength as an earth pony, further strengthened by magic and finally years of training , she used one end of the chain-weapon, this being the axe spinning it via the chain in a massive circular pattern creating a "weapon and mare combo" resembling a pseudo metal saw that actes as a shield, wich destroyed the projectiles coming at them protecting her friends while with the other end of the chain, being the spiky ball she used in between multiple brief seconds of oportunity to attacked her enemies from a distance, occasionally alternating between the two ends o her weapon be it for defense or attack. While a series of sounds of “CLING!" resounded in the arena as metal clashed with metal arrows, and metal clashed concrete with concrete at high speed.

This impressive display, to give you more of an idea is inspired or similar to the style used by hashira gyomei from this clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTL1FM2x8Fg&pp=ygUPc3RvbmUgYnJlYXRoaW5n

The Pony cleared in that moment a brief path for her friend to go out.

“NOW, STELLA LEAVE US THE REST!” she shouted loudly.

“THANK YOU!” the pegasus thanked her quickly before covering her body in voltage, tensing her legs and wings, and finally propelling herself with wind magic to move at an impressive speed
not looking back.

This lighting bolt made of mare awsomeness and thunder, did not allow the disoriented to react or to impede her passage, leaving a trail of electrified ice dust in her wake.

“COME AT ME, VERMINT!” the orange pony shouted in defiance.

Author's Note

the weapon that Amber is using Similar to the weapon of
Gyomei's weapon from Kimetsu no yaiba (yes, I'm using inspiration from many sources in case you were wondering).

Hope you are all enjoying this little project so far. hehe