Shadow of Fury

Chapter 17

The Final Battle

Part I

Minerva and a disguised Reaper approached the entrance to Mount Molten. Reaper was disguised as a tall, bulky griffin. He was dark, chocalate brown in coat color, with golden feathers. He awkwardly shuffled his wings, trying to get used to how the body moved.

"Are you sure this will work?" he asked.

MInerva nodded. "Of course it will, it's not like you have to do anything. Remember, he's mute, so you won't have to say a word,"

Reaper still disliked the idea. He had never been particularly good at infiltration. The one mission he had ever been sent on had been in the Griffin kingdoms - and it didn't end well. After being captured, it took two far more professional infiltrators to break him out, and he had suffered severe psychological torture. There was a reason he was a general, after all.

Minerva and Reaper neared the entrance. A guard stopped them. "Halt! Who goes there?" he asked.

"Did Lord Ironfeathers not inform you that his wife was coming?" Minerva asked.

The guard blinked, recognizing her. "Lady Minerva! My apologies, I did not recognize you!"

"Don't worry soldier. Now, may we come in?"

The soldier saluted, before opening the door. As his back was turned, he never noticed Reaper raise his "claws." Reaper brought them down with great force, instantly knocking the guard out. He uncaringly tossed the guard off the side of the cliff, into the Everfree forest below.

"It's safe, come out," he whispered.

Immediately, Lightning Hawk, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie (with night-vision goggles), Willus, and Rarity (Disguised as Fluttershy) appeared. "Ready?" Lighting asked.

All of the others  nodded, before entering the volcano.

Immediately, Rarity and Pinkie ran in one direction, Willus in another, and Lightning and Twilight in yet another. Reaper sighed as he and Minerva approached an auditorium, from which the sounds of an army were coming from.

"Shall we begin?" He said to himself.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Applejack flipped the katana with her tail restlessly, as she and the others waited on the outskirts of the volcano. There were enough trees to provide cover, but a mere ten paces from there and it was nothing but barren rock.

The perfect place for an ambush.

Shamrock eyed her sword warily. "Are you sure you know how to use that?" he asked.

Applejack nodded. "Of course Ah know how to use it! It's not complicated. It's a sword, not a fancy canterlot thingamajig. What's to understand about 'Swish, Swish, Stab?'"

Shamrock shrugged. "Fair enough,"

Rainbow Dash shuffled on her hooves in anticipation. The fact that it was only going to be the four of them against an entire army was not lost on her. Anxious, she continuosly opened and folded her wings, watching the entrance. She knew that sooner or later, they would come pouring out of there. She gulped. She only hoped the others would be back in time to help.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Willus rushed through hallway after hallway, being careful not to make too much noise. He didn't want to alert any guards to his presence. Speaking of which, where were all the guards? He had been running, searching for a solid amount of time, and had not seen even one guard. It was beginning to unnerve him.

He turned the corner, only to be met by the entrance to a room. Inside, he could see a large cauldron. This must be the place. He walked in, looking around. Suddenly, he felt a poweful blow hit him in the back of the head, launching him through the weak wall into a small auditorium.

"What's this? An intruder?" a female voice taunted.

Willus pulled himself up, glaring towards the sound of the voice. Lo and behold, there was Morticia, clad in her cloak. "Morticia," he spat out, glowering with anger at her. "Why? Why did you do it?"

Morticia merely smirked. "Do what, my dear? I choose to remember things in order of importance. You appear to have...slipped my mind,"

Willus' rage was evident by her taunt, causing her evil grin to widen. "You know what you did,"

"Do I?"

"You ruined my life! Everything I had, gone in a flash! Why? I demand an answer!"

Morticia chuckled. "My, my. So exigent. I'm afraid you will never know, however. I cannot afford to let you ruin what is currently in motion,"

And with that, she threw something at Willus. Willus jumped out of the way, barely avoiding a dark, inky cloud that appeared where he once was. The cloud lingered for a moment, before sinking into the ground. Willus, let out a small sigh of relief. Morticia threw off her cloak, revealing a belt with more vials of the inky death underneath. Willus magically grabbed his explosive quills, ready to fight. Morticia smirked again.

"Are we ready?"

And then the battle begun.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Minerva and Reaper walked into the giant auditorium. Inside was what looked like the entire griffin army. They appeared to be celebrating, all eating some sort of food. Seated in a throne, elevated above them, was Lord Ironfeathers. Standing next to him was Gilda. Minerva and Reaper spread their wings, and approached the tyrant.

"Hello, dear," Minerva said, getting his attention. Ironfeathers turned to them, and smiled a false smile.

"Minerva, dear! I did so want you to be here! I am glad to see that you have not failed me, Sour Claw," he said to Reaper.

Reaper nodded, saluting silently. Well, this wasn't so bad. As long as he didn't have to do anything, this should be easy.

"I came as fast as I could, just as soon as our friend here told me," Minerva said, trying to sound sweet. "Now, what exactly is going on right now?"

Ironfeathers looked down at the ruckus below. "The soldiers are having a party. A celebration, for our soon-to-be victory," he said.

"You always did try and find ways to boost morale," Minerva added.

Ironfeathers grinned. "Do you remember the music that was playing the night we met?"

"How could I forget? It was the most famous piece of Griffin music ever created,"

Reaper could sense Minerva grow a little angry, but didn't show it. Suddenly, his eyes widened.

"Dear, we should sing it, here and now! For the army!"

"Well, if you insist,"

"I shall get the equipment personally!" Ironfeathers said, before leaving.

Reaper pulled Minerva closely to him the moment Ironfeathers was out of sight. "Listen, I just realized. You can't sing!"

Minerva cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Remember how I was captured by griffins?" Minerva nodded. "Well, their torture had a lot of psychological side effects on me. Things like remembering to leave the toilet seat up, cloaking involuntarily, and most importantly, singing the song they used to torture me. Which happens to be the most famous piece of Griffin music ever created,"

Minerva's eyes widened. She was about to say something, When Ironfeathers appeared. "Shall we, dearest?" he said, gesturing to the stage.

"Look, just try and control yourself! We can't afford to lose our cover!" She whispered. Reaper felt stressed, as she approached the stage where her husband waited.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Fluttershy sat bored in her cell. Easily the worst part about being held captive was the boredom. She sighed heavily, staring at the ceiling. The guard at her cell door seemed bored as well, and sat waiting. Eventually, another appeared. With three mugs of some unknown drink.

"This is all I was able to get from the party," he said.

The first guard growled. "Why do the others get to party and we have to get stuck here guarding the stupid ponies?"

The second shoved a drink into his talons. "Do you wanna be the guy who explains how they escaped to Ironfeathers?"

The first one sighed. "No,"

"Then shut up and enjoy your drink,"

Both took sips from the drink, arousing Fluttershy's curiosity. "Is that alcoholic?" she asked.

The second guard nodded. "Yes. Why?"

Fluttershy pointed at the third mug. "Can I have some?"

The first guard shrugged. The second passed the mug through the bars. "Here, though I think you'll find it's stronger than anything you've ever had,"

Fluttershy downed it in one gulp.

"Strong? This is flatter than water,"

The griffins' beaks hit the floor. "How did you do that?" the first asked.

Fluttershy shrugged. "Practice makes perfect," she said.

It wasn't long before the other griffins finished their drinks. Now thoroughly inebriated, they spoke drunkenly to the sober Fluttershy.

"Y'know *hic*, all I'm sayin is *hic* that we should get payed somethin, *hic* amiright?" the first griffin said.

The second griffin nodded, a stupid smile plastered on his face. "Yeah, yeah, totally!" he said.

Fluttershy just watched, slightly worried. "Oh my," she muttered.

Suddenly, a voice called out. "Yoo-Hoo!"

"Whazzat?" the second guard said confusedly. Both looked up to see Fluttershy at the end of the hallway, waving at them? They squinted their eyes, not believing what they saw.

"Man, are we really drunk enough to let her get away?" the first asked.

"I dunno, but let's get her! Ironfeathers'll kill us if we don't!"

"Yeah!" Both took after the second Fluttershy, leaving the first Fluttershy very confused.

That's when Pinkie appeared. "Hey 'Shy! How ya been?"

"Pinkie? What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like? Busting you out!" Pinkie said, before opening the door.

"How'd you open it?" Fluttershy asked.

"I unlocked it!" Pinkie said, despite clearly never doing so. Fluttershy cocked an eyebrow, but was used to Pinkie enough by this point to know better than to question it. "What are those things on your head?"

"Oh, these are my new night-vision goggles! Reapy gave them to me!"

Fluttershy was about to say something, but was interrupted. "Where are Dinky and Spike?"

"I think I heard a guard say they were down the hall," Fluttershy said, pointing in the desired direction.

"Then let's go!" Pinkie said, before bounding away.

Fluttershy sighed. If only she had more to drink...

*  *  *  * *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Lightning and Twilight ran down another hallway, Twilight in the lead. They continued until they reached a circular chamber, with many hallways leading out of it.

"Where now?" Lightning asked.

"One of these leads to the core, so we need to go down that one. The question is, which of these is it?"

A passing guard entered through one of the hallways and noticed them. "Hey, stop!" he yelled.

Before he could say anything else, a loud smack echoed through the air. In a flash, Lightning had flown right up in his face and punched him, knocking him out cold. "We better pick one quickly, before more of these guys show up," he said. Twilight nodded, before analyzing the different paths.

"I think this is the right one...No, wait, it's this one...Or...Maybe this one?"

Lightning groaned. "How are we gonna know which one is the right one?"

Twilight shrugged. Lightning sighed.

"Look, just pick one and let's go!"

Twilight looked at the various halls, sweat visible on her forehead. "Uhh....this one!" she said, pointing at a random hallway. Both ponies ran down it as fast as they could. They ran, until they heard something. "You hear that?" Lightning asked. Twilight nodded. "Almost like a bubbling noise. And is it getting hot in here, or is it just me?"

They both grinned as they rounded the corner into a room.

They stood on a ledge, and 100 feet below them was a massive pool of boiling lava. They looked up, and saw the caldera of Mount Molten. They looked at each other and smiled widely.

They had found the core.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Minerva grabbed a microphone from Ironfeathers, smiling falsely. "Shall we, my dear?" he asked.

Minerva nodded, getting up onto the stage, as the music began to play.

Minerva: There's a fire goin on,

But the party's just begun,

So keep your focus looking at me tonight,

So the world's about to end,

Gonna party with my friends,

And ain't nopony gonna say it's not right.

And I know

Nothing's gonna stand in my way,

No matter what the ponies may say,

Just don't turn around and keep lookin straight.

And I see

Everybody's starting to yell

How the world around you's going to Hell.

I'm here to tell you all it's just fate.

I'm a distraction!

Of pure satisfaction!

Keep your eyes all on me,

For what you're gonna see,

Will redefine the height of attraction!

I'm a distraction!

And I'm ready for action!

So the world's gonna blow,

Stop complaining and go

To the show!

There's explosions in the sky,

And the neighborhood is fried,

But you don't have to join them all in the fuss.

Act like nothing's goin wrong,

And just keep playin my song,

Until there's nothing left around here but us...

Ironfeathers: And I know,

Something's gonna happen tonight,

All the stars around us start taking flight,

But there's something that invites me to stay.

Cause I'm drawn

To the rythm of the music they play,

And we're all gonna die anyway,

So enjoy it while you can, come what may.

Minerva/Ironfeathers: We're a distraction!

Of pure satisfaction!

There's a war goin on,

But in here we've all won,

Cause nopony is slowing the traction!

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Twilight closed her eyes, concentrating as hard as she could. Her horn glowed as she cast the spell. Lighting watched in horrror and fascination as the lava began to bubble and burst loudly, beginning to rise. "We better get out of here!" he said, and the two ponies ran off.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Willus and Morticia grit their teeth as explosions of magic and toxic ink rocked the air around them. Willus dodged another ink bomb, before throwing another explosive quill at her. Morticia flinched from the near explosion, but otherwise appeared unaffected. Beads of sweat trickled down both of their foreheads as the battle raged on.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Both: Take a step,

Come inside,

Buy a stub,

Ride the ride

of your life!

Ironfeathers: Nothing ever will come from saying never,

So join the fun wherever it is.

There's a power

that's growing by the hour

I'm positive I don't want to miss.

I'm a distraction!

Both: We're a distraction!

Of pure satisfaction!

Keep your eyes all on me,

For what you're gonna see

Will redefine the height of attraction!

I'm a distraction!

And I'm ready for action!

Minerva: So the world's gonna blow,

Stop complaining and go,

Just start watching the show,

Cause there's no more to know,

Here we go!

Ironfeathers: I'm a distraction!

Minerva: He's a distraction!

Both: We're a distraction!

Reaper: WE'RE A DISTRACTION!!

A loud gasp shout through the auditorium. Ironfeathers looked horrifically confused, and Minerva looked scared. Reaper slapped himself. "He spoke!" someone in the audience shouted.

"Sour Claw doesn't talk!" Another added.

Ironfeathers' face devolved into rage. "Imposter!" he shouted. He threw a knife that had been laying on one of the banquet tables nearby and flung it at Reaper. The blade only grazed his shoulder, but it was enough. His disguise was dropped immediately.

Reaper gulped. "Time to go?" he asked.

Minerva nodded. "Let's," she said.

As the two fled, Ironfeathers roared in rage. "My own wife has deceived me! I hate to be deceived!" He turned to some nearby soldiers. "You three! After them!" The three saluted before running after them. Ironfeathers then glared at his army. "Well then? What are you waiting for? They're here! This invasion begins now! And am I the only one who thinks there was a double meaning to that damned song?!"

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Applejack gritted her teeth as she saw the army come pouring out of the mountain. There were just so many! She began to have doubts about whether or not they could win, but she quickly swallowed those away. Her grip on her katana tightened as she watched the army grow in size. "Wait for it," Shamrock ordered.

The army continued to grow, until it had reached its maximum size. An entire army, standing at the rocky, barren base of a volcano, ready to invade. Applejack's muscles tensed, as she though of all the pain and misery they would cause if she and her friends didn't stop them here and now. The immense task seemed insurmountable.

"Wait for it," Shamrock repeated.

The army began to spread out. Clearly, the distraction had run its course, and the time to attack would be soon. She glanced at Shamrock and the rest of the small force, all of whom were sweating profusely. Where were the others? There was no way they would be able to hold their own like this. "Wait for it," Shamrock said again.

Applejack was tensed, poised and ready to strike like a rattlesnake. An unwary griffin soldier walked near their hiding place. Shamrock blinked. "Now!" he shouted.

And all tartarus broke loose.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * *

Pinkie and Fluttershy rounded the corner, finding a cell. Inside were Spike and Dinky. "Pinkie? Fluttershy? What are you two doing here?" he asked.

"We're here to get you outta here!" Pinkie said, while Fluttershy picked the lock.

"But what about all the griffins?" Dinky asked.

"Don't worry, Reapy and that nice griffin we found are distracting them so we can get you out!"

Dinky and Spike looked confused. Pinkie groaned. "Look, it'll all make sense in context!" She said. The two captives shrugged and exited, as Fluttershy opened the cell door .

The room shook and rocked, and a small, glowing fissure appeared in the floor of the cell where Spike and Dinky had just been. "Now seems like a good time to get back with the others!" Fluttershy said. The rest nodded their agreement. They turned and ran out into the hallway.

As they got exited the room, Pinkie crashed into a black blur. As she shook her head to clear her vision, she was met by a very confused and almost frightened Reaper. "Pinkie? What -"

"Reapy? Weren't you supposed to distract them?"

Reaper smiled awkwardly. "About that..."

Minerva appeared behind him. "We need to go. Our pursuers appear to be growing in number,"

"By how much?" Fluttershy asked.

Minerva looked around the corner, seeing an angry mob of soldiers streaking towards them. "You don't want to know. Now let's get out of here before this whole place blows!"

"Blows? As in, Kaboom?" Spike asked.

"No time to explain, let's just go!" Pinkie shouted, and the group tore off.

They ran, partially from the fiery volcano, partially from the mob chasing them, until they reached an exit. As they walked out, they saw their friends engaged in combat. Reaper turned to Fluttershy, Dinky, and Spike. "Get them out of here," he said.

Fluttershy nodded, before grabbing the two and flying off.

"Wait! I wanna help!" Spike shouted, but to no avail.

Pinkie watched them fly off, before noticing something. "Hey, where's Rarity?"

At that moment, a second fluttershy was thrown at them. She crashed into a surprised Reaper, and both fell on the ground with a loud thud. They picked themselves up, Rarity tearing off the Fluttershy costume as though it were poison. "Never again!" she shouted. Reaper rolled his eyes, but said nothing. She had played her part, after all.

The group then turned to the battle that was beginning to take place before them. There was no way their friends could win on their own. Deep breaths were taken, and they entered the fray.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Willus and Morticia continued their battle. Both of them fought with everything they could, as though their life depended on it. In all likelihood, it probably did. An explosion of ink hit the wall next to Willus, making him flinch. He held his breath, not daring to allow the dark concotion to enter his nostrils. He blindly stumbled out of the cloud, only to trip and fall face-first.

He landed at Morticia's hooves. She grinned, but there was no warmth in her smile. Just cold, grim, evil. "So, this is how it ends? A pity. I honestly expected more from you, Willus," she said.

Willus looked up at her, accepting his fate. "Before you kill me, can I at least have some last words?"

"Last words? Why would I allow that?"

"Because a good villain would kill me now. But a great villain would let me have last words,"

Morticia tapped her hoof to her chin. She considered whether or not there was anything he could do, or if it would bring any harm to The Plan. She decided it didn't, not realizing Willus slowly levitating an explosive quill behind her.

"I suppose," she said.

Willus grinned, and fired the quill directly behind her. The explosion was powerful enough to launch the zebra witch over him, causing her to crash into a wall. She slumped to the floor with a groan, cursing herself for falling for such a simple trick. She glared up at Willus, a small crack in the floor opening up. Orange-red light filtered through, illuminating her face with rage. "You will pay dearly for that!" she said.

And the battle raged on.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * *  *  *  *

Shamrock and Derpy fought back to back. Diamond dogs poured in from every angle, jumping down with their incredible leaping skills and erupting from the earth beneath them. Derpy breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Fluttershy carrying Spike and DInky away from the battle. The respite was brief, however, as she dodged the massive paw of a diamond dog immediately after.

Suddenly, the dogs surrounding them were pushed back, as if by a large burst of wind. Pinkie, Minerva, Reaper, and Rarity appeared, the latter pair's horns glowing. "Where are Twilight and Lightning?" Reaper asked.

"I think there still in there. They need to get out soon, the volcano's becoming unstable!" Shamrock shouted back, punching a griffin soldier in the face.

"Where's Willus?" Applejack asked.

"Last I saw, he was still going after Morticia!" Rarity said, dodging a sword, and blasting its weilder with her magic.

"He better get out soon, that thing's gonna blow!"

But before anypony else could express their worry for Willus, a huge pack of diamond hulks appeared. Jaws hit the floor. Just one of these monsters had been a huge problem, but all of these? Reaper grinned, grabbing a sword from a fallen griffin. Applejack readied her lasso, while Raibow and Derpy flared their wings. Shamrock and Rarity's horns glowed, and Pinkie pulled out her party cannon.

Their chances looked grim. Like that had stopped them before.

*  * *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Morticia and Willus continued battling, cracks in the floor and walls becoming more and more frequent. The battle was fierce, neither willing to back down. Morticia fought for The Plan. Willus fought for his friends. Both refused to accept defeat. But fate does not like ties.

Suddenly, a massive fissure appeared beneath Morticia's rear hooves. With explosive force, her entire half of the room was torn out, falling into a growing bubbling lake of lava. The lava continued to rise, as it reached closer to the top. Morticia was left hanging, holding on to the bit of rock that she could with her forehooves. Willus gasped before rushing towards her.

He grabbed ahold of her hoof, and tried to pull her up. Morticia was shocked by the gesture, but Willus had something to say. "Why? Tell me, Morticia, I need to know! Why did you do it?"

Morticia looked up at him. Tears stained her eyes, partially from the smoke billowing around her, partially from the memories of her friendship with Willus. "I can't tell you, Willus...Even if I wanted to, I can't..."

"Why? Why can't you?"

Morticia sighed. "There is something in motion far bigger than you can possibly imagine. Far more grandiose than simply conquering the world," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"I can't say more, He'll know that I failed," she said cryptically, never noticing the purple flames that were inching their way towards her.

"Who will know that you failed? Morticia, you can tell me!"

Morticia suddenly felt the purple flames touch her. They were cold, as cold as ice. They wrapped around her rear legs, grabbing her like tentacles. She looked at Willus, tears in her eyes as she realized what would happen next. "Willus, why did you try and save me?" she asked, choking up.

"Because I believe there is still good in you. And what do you mean 'try?' I'm not going to fail!"

Morticia smiled sadly. "I hope you're right. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything," she said.

Before another word could be spoken, the purple flames yanked her from the rock, out of Willus' grasp.

"Morticia! No!" he shouted, as she fell towards the lava. The fiery liquid engulfed her silently, and Willus watched as the mare who was once his friend die. He shut his eyes hard, and looked away. He smelled smoke, and realized it was time to go. He turned and ran, tears streaming down his cheeks.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

The group of friends fought against the never-ending waves of enemies. Diamond dog after griffin after diamond dog attacked them, each seemingly with more energy and bloodlust than the last. As Rainbow beat a dog's face, she noticed something. The dog's eyes suddenly stopped glowing yellow, and returned to normal. The dog looked around confusedly. As Rainbow Dash looked around, she saw that all of the diamond dogs and hulks had suffered the same effect. Their mind control was gone.

The griffin soldiers seemed just as worried as the dogs. The dogs seemed afraid. Blown away by the sheer scope of danger they were in, the dogs did what they do best - ran. Or dug, in their case. Mere moments after they regained mental control, they escaped to the underground that they loved so much, leaving the griffins to fend for themselves.

The soldiers seemed almost scared, now that they had to fight their opponents alone. They gulped, fear welling up in their stomachs. Suddenly, a lone clapping sounded out over the battlefield.

"Well, well, I must certainly say that this is a surprising turn of events!" a voice said.

Everypony looked up to a ledge, to see its source.

There stood Ironfeathers, Gilda by his side, with a sword in claw.