Brothers In Blood

     You let go of the dead changelings’ neck, its limp body falling to the ground. None of you have spoken ever since you all began your march to the throne room. There was nothing to say. All of you knew what was going to happen. All of you knew they were waiting for you. But you didn’t care; none of you did. You all had the same motives. Avenge the fallen soldiers. The manipulated guards. The hypnotized townsfolk.

     Your brother…

          Stepping over the dead changelings, you all stood before the two golden doors. Two black curtains covered Celestia’s sun mark, instead having a picture of the bug bitch and Sombre. You looked over your shoulder at the group. Ben’s armor was dented and damaged, but he nodded to you, clenching his Longshot to his chest. Rainbow grinned, the cuts not stopping her from still fighting. Applejack’s hat had a burned mark from a changelings magic but she still looked determined to fight. Twilight and Rarity have been using magic like no tomorrow, but that didn’t stop them. Pinkie was still bubbly as ever, to your confusion. Fluttershy left her shy state and starting fighting with Rainbow, her yellow hooves covered in green blood.

     “Alright gang…” you glanced over to Celestia, her determination to protect her ponies giving you a boost of power. “Let’s end this.”

     CHAPTER XIII: THE ELITE GUARD

     With one powerful kick, the doors swung right open, your boot leaving a small imprint. The room was much darker, black crystals breaking through the marble floor. Sombre had a large grin on his face, sitting back on his dark crystal throne. Chrysalis stood beside him, smiling at your entrance. Yeah your first bitch…

     “It took you long enough to come…” Sombre smiled, his red eyes staring directly into yours. “For a second I thought the death of your brother made you just give up...” You took a step forward, Celestia’s hoof stopping you in your tracks. She took a step forward, looking directly at Chrysalis.

     “Chrysalis can’t you see he’s manipulating you?” she growled. “Sombre has his own reasons! You’re just a pawn in his plan!” Sombre’s grin only increased, ignoring the confused Chrysalis. He held her chin, directing her gaze to his.

     “Honey… Can’t you see Celestia is only jealous of the power we have together.” Chrysalis’ face turned from confusion to happiness, her eyes shifting from its normal green to a dark red. So he is using her… “Let us show her how a real ruler runs a country… GUARDS! Remove these fools from my throne room.”

     “That’s where you lose Sombre.” You chuckled. “We’ve probably massacred hundreds of Changelings. There’s no one left!”

     “My Changelings!” Chrysalis exclaimed, glaring directly at you. “You monster! I’ll kill-“

     “Not yet my queen…” Sombre hissed, putting a hoof on her shoulder. He looked over at you and grinned. “There’s a difference between royal guards and elite guards my boy…” From behind the throne march a group of ten guards suited in gold armor. Helmets covered their whole faces, hiding their identities. Four of them were Pegasus, their wings having small gold armor attached to them. The unicorns had a gold blade attached to them. But one made you only groan.

     “Shining…” Twilight only gasped. Her brother didn’t wear a helmet, his blue mane having streaks of white. A creepy grin was on his face as he looked at your group. You all stood in battle poses, you and Ben holstering your weapons. Celestia nudged your gut, causing you to glance over at her.

     “Try not to kill them Clay,” she whispered. “They’re good ponies and good guards. “

     “No promises.” You grunted in response.

     Shining Armor pointed his hoof at your group, causing his army to rush you all. Rainbow and Fluttershy shot up into the sky, distracting the Pegasus guards. You and Applejack rushed at the earth guards, your hands in fists. The first one ducked under your blow, head-butting you right under your armpit and into your chest. A Pegasus came out of nowhere and flew right past you, punching you straight in the face. You stumbled around, almost getting hit by a magic shot when Applejack bucked the unicorn in the side of his face.

     Grabbing the earth pony that head-butted you, you tossed him at one of the Pegasus’ that almost caught rainbow. They both crashed to the floor, colliding with one of Sombre’s crystals. You narrowly dodged a magic bolt, the energy grazing your chestplate. But you didn’t realize the distraction as a unicorn charged at you, horn pointing directly at you. A flash kick stopped his attack, your boot denting his helmet with a loud *Clang*. Rarity shot down a guard that was going to grab you from behind, the body crashing behind you. A loud clash made you watch the fight between Shining and Twilight, their bolts of magic colliding with each other. Tears were running down her face as she created a shield to block his blast.

     Ben started using his Longshot as a bat again, repeatedly hitting a earth pony that ignored the pain. You charged over to assist only to get tackled by a unicorn, its horn barely scratching your helmet. You grab its neck, pulling its head away from yours as you bashed your fists into its rib cage. Its horn started to glow, making you kick it right off you. It got swooped away by a Pegasus, dropping it into the assembled group of unicorns. All their horns started to glow, their heads leveled downwards.

     “EVERYONE FIND SOME COVER!” you yelled, making everyone scramble as they saw the group. You rushed over to hide behind a crystal just to freeze as a blinding ray of magic blasted from the group, disintegrating the rock. It started to move closer to you, causing you all to run the opposite direction. It cut through the golden doors, slicing through everything in its path. Twilight and Celestia created a barrier for you all to hide behind, the ray colliding with the shield with a loud crash of lightning. The barrier started to crack, Twilight and Celestia clenching their teeth as they channels the spell. Rarity joined in to help, her magic repairing the damages.

     What you all didn’t notice was the Pegasus guards dive-bombing to your position, earth guards being held in their hooves. They flew overhead, dropping the guards’ right on you. Ben got tackled to the ground, the guard punching him repeatedly at his head. You kicked him off, punching one square in the face as it tried to hit you. Applejack bucked one right into you, the guard colliding with your fist. Pinkie was on her back legs, punching at one guard that got too close. Rainbow and Fluttershy nodded at each other, bolting straight into the air and colliding with two Pegasus guards. They sky rocketed into the roof, the ceiling cracking by the impact. The limp bodies fell to the ground, crashing onto two earth guards.

     The magic ray finally died down, causing Twilight, Rarity and Celestia to collapse to the ground. Shining grinned, him and his unicorn group charging at you all. You grabbed the unicorn blade from hitting you, its edge cutting your hand. You ignored the pain as you kneed the pony in the jaw, the metal denting to your knee. Ben quick shot one in the leg, causing it to fall forward and into Applejacks back hooves. The loud crack from the blow sent the pony flying backwards, sliding on the ground. Pinkie was riding one on its back, laughing as it tried to buck her off. You went to kick it right in the face when a black blur decked you right in the head, causing you to growl in pain.

     “What the…” another blur kicked you right in the back of your legs, causing you to fall to your knees. The two blurs stopped right at eachother, revealing their identities. Two griffins stood on their hind legs; their grins making you feel unnerving. The one on the left wore all gold armour, his claws extended by gold blades. It wore no helmet, showing its grey feathers with black tips. Its beak had a large scar that connected to its right eye. Its blue eyes glared right at you, its scared eye having a whiter look. The other wore an onyx colored armor, its wings extended to show a set of blades that could cut the very air. Like the other it had no helmet, it showed its dark feathered head, this tome with grey tips. A large, X shaped scar was on its left eye. They rushed at you in a blur, they claws in fists as they both punched you right in the face, the metal clashing with theirs.

     “These two I found when I visited Gryphonia.” Sombre chuckled. “The gold ones Grave Claw and the other’s Razor Wing. Have fun you too!”

     You stumbled to your feet, only to get punched in the chest by Razor. Graves went to slash at you only to be stopped by Ben. He uppercutted the griffin in the beak, sending it upwards. But to your surprise, it instantly recovered and dived at Ben, spinning in the air like a drill. Ben backpedaled, dodging the griffin. Razor went to punch you again but you caught his claws, kneeing him in the chest. He only grinned, flapping his wings upwards as he picked you up. In a swift moment he tossed you at the charging Rainbow, both of you colliding in mid-air.

     “He’s tough.” Rainbow grunted, pushing you off her.

     “He’s not royal guard.” You growled. “That means I CAN KILL HIM!” Razor raised an eyebrow, his monotone face not changing as he dodged your blows. He caught one over your fists and flap upwards, dodging the bucking Applejack that just hit you right in the chest. Fluttershy went to tackle him down only to be grabbed by the leg by Graves. He pulled her back, digging his lion claws into his back as he jumped off his back. He flipped forward and slashed her right in the face, blood spraying in the air. Fluttershy fell to the ground, the deep claw marks oozing out blood.

      You and Rainbow charged at the grinning griffin, ignoring the fact that the elite guard have been watching the fight. Razor zipped right in between you, his wings slicing you tight in the side. You both collided into Graves’s swift kick, falling backwards. Pinkie advanced onto Graves, covering his eyes as Applejack bucked him right in the chest. You winced in pain as you held your side, the blood trickling through your fingers. Razor went to attack Applejack but was blasted away by the awake Twilight, anger in her eyes.

      “NO ONE. HURTS.” Her mane was starting to catch on fire, her eyes a bright white. `MY FRIENDS!” a giant blast of magic blasted Razor right though the castle walls, pieces of his armor blowing away. Graves went to rush Twilight but suffered the same fate, disappearing in the ray of magic. Everyone stared at her, the flames in her mane finally dying down. Rarity recovered to see the two be blasted away, shock I her eyes. You and Rainbow only grinned, even though no one saw you grin. Ben got up to his knee’s looking at the gaping hole in the castle. Applejack and Pinkie helped up the injured Fluttershy.

     “And I was enjoying the show…” Sombre chuckled, a grin on his face. “But all good things must come to an end.” Your group all stood up, Applejack and Pinkie resting Fluttershy on a pillar. Celestia was up, glaring at the King. You ignored the pain in your side, glaring at Chrysalis. Sombre laughed maniacally, his grin not leaving his face as they dismissed the elite guard.

    “Let the games begin!”