"You are wrong, Razona. Holly and Hemlock trust you. Therefore, I trust you. Just don't think for a second that trusting you means that I like you. I've lost too many friends already. I don't need any new ones." She nodded to Holly, and the Timber-Wolf walked to the mouth of the cave. "She'll take first watch. That gives me time to get you up to speed." She sighed. "Most cities fell in the first week. Manehatten, Phillydelphia, Las Pegasus, all destroyed. Cloudsdale was able to hold them off for nearly a month, until a few Dragons allied themselves with Tartarus. Worldwide, the casualty rate is as high as ninety percent. Anypony that isn't killed outright is either enslaved, or taken to 'Pony Farms' as food for the demons. We lost contact with the Hive two weeks ago, and we haven't heard from Ardelan in nearly a week. The scouts I sent to check on Ardelan reported seeing the entire city burning." She paused. "That's not even the worst of it. The dead are... not staying dead. The taint of Tartarus had poisoned the land, and fallen ponies are coming back as mindless zombies. With every pony that falls, the armies of Tartarus are strengthened." Nightshade's eyes glowed, and the chains binding her simply ceased to exist. "I will not be the plaything of humans." She spoke quietly, her voice dripping with venom. "I decide my fate. I decide what happens next." The chains binding Silver and Obsidian disappeared, and the wall vanished. "I will not let Equestria die, simply because you want a better story." With that, the trio was gone, and the Spirit was alone. The trio reappeared inside a strange chamber made of black crystal. They were not alone. A white Alicorn, wrapped in glowing chains, was asleep on the floor at their feet. Silver kicked her awake. "Rise, Celestia. Equestria needs you."
"I was like... 90% sure they were the rational ones..." The spirit grabbed a sheet of paper and folded it into a rectangular prism, before talking into it. "Yea... They didn't see it my way. Seems little miss "I control the story" doesn't get that it takes more than 1 person to write one of these things... Oh well. I'm out of this mission, one of you interested in taking it on, I would love to watch and learn. I'm gonna make sure Jack gets sidetracked, and can't get to the cave. Good luck whoever tries these morons on for size."
Venquis remained wordless for roughly a minute, taking in the knowledge of the apocalyptic event. While his first thoughts should have been of home, the survivors of the Ryborians hopefully made it to Canterlot. Even Tricorna. Instead, he wanted all life on the planet to survive. He never had a family for very long, so he decided to state what was in his mind. One burning statement that made the Eriborian insane with pure rage inside of him as he looked at beasts in the sky. "The shield wont last another hour if this continues." he muttered. Venquis stood up and cleared his voice. "Change of plans." Venquis said. "We head for Canterlot immediately. I'll hold Tartarus long enough for you and your squad, and the goddess to make it into the city safely. If they keep assaulting without intervention, Canterlot falls. I will not let that happen." He looked at Canterlot in the distance, already being attacked by Tartarus aligned Dragons. They were trying to weaken the shield in hopes of finally managing to penetrate it. This was enough to set the Eriborian into a fit of rage. They were attacking the ones he loved and cared about. The fires around the area lighting up the sky nearly turning night into day. He took out Moonsaber as a torrent of electricity surged down the weapon. He looked back down as he took his necklace and placed it around Sihana's neck. He was saddened, but the Ryborian had a hopeful smile on his face. He looked back at the group. "I might not survive." Venquis said. "But... please remember. Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. We make our own destiny. And tell Tricorna...that I love her. Thank you." With that, the Eriborian launched himself towards the city at ridiculous speeds.
"Rushing headlong into battle without backup or a plan..." Hope sighed. "...No wonder Silver Crescent likes him. They're both idiots." She lifted Sihana onto her back, and stepped out of the cave. "He is right, though. We have to get the goddess to the city. Holly and Hemlock, I need you two to watch my back. If anything gets near us, rip it apart." Moving as fast as she could while carrying Sihana, Hope began running for the capitol. The thing that had once been Celestia had clearly been driven mad by imprisonment. Growling like a wild animal, she struggled against the chains, desperate to escape. Silver looked at her coldly. "This is what the mighty Phoenix Queen is reduced to? How pathetic!" Silver kicked her again, harder than before. "Stop it, you old fool!" Nightshade glared at her father. "You know as well as I that the corruption was not her fault!" Silver stepped back, scowling, and Nightshade placed a hoof on Celestia's shoulder. Instantly, the Alicorn calmed down. Nightshade's eyes glowed, and she began muttering an incomprehensible incantation under her breath. After nearly half an hour, she addressed Silver and Obsidian. "I've isolated the corrupting magic, but it's more powerful than anything I've ever seen. I can't remove it. We need to get her to Serketh. Only the God of Corruption can help her now. Once her soul is freed from this taint, I will contact my Champion. Hope will assist Sihana in returning Celestia to the Mortal Realm.
"Lavannah. Try to get your forces to wall a path for Hope, and assist Venquis. I know it won't do much, but any help you can give him with those golems will be more than enough for him to ensure Hope gets where she's going." Serketh was watching small pieces on a map, moving in correlation with the forces on their side. "Silver is going to try and take that wild beast to me... He really thinks I can work on an undead mind... I told him Sihana had to work on her first, and he didn't listen... Well, at least they got there. I guess this is the moment of win or lose... WAIT A MINUTE." Serketh's eyes changed from their two orange ones to eight red ones. He scanned the field, then almost jumped in joy. His eyes quickly returned. "Normally I need to cause it... but all the corpses that Tartarus are bringing back to life are thriving with corruption! I... It's time for Serketh's minion to enter the war. I just need to find an area where there are a lot of them for me to summon her... AH! Perfect!" Serketh's voice echoed in every champion and god's mind. "Ladies and gentlecolts... Serketh is proud to bring to the battlefield, the one, the only, GARGANTULA!" Suddenly in the air over the mass of Tartarus forces just outside the wall of Canterlot, about as Venquis arrived there, a great purple cloud swirled into existence. Slowly, a massive furry brown leg stepped out, followed by seven just like it. The giant tarantula was easily the size of Canterlot itself and as soon as it was fully out of the cloud, it began stomping on Tartarus forces and swatting them from the sky, somehow deftly avoiding everything trying to defend Canterlot. "My baby! Oh, just look at her go! Soldiers, this is your chance to turn the war in our favor! I would prefer if each and every one of you would take advantage of it! Especially you, Hope!"
Using the chaos caused by Gargantula's sudden appearance to slip past the demonic forces, Hope made it safely into the city. After unceremoniously dumping Sihana at Princess Luna's hooves, she ran into the barracks and began gathering an attack force. "Move your flanks, everypony! This is our chance to turn the tide! With that spider crushing all the minions, we finally have an opportunity to go after the Arch-Demons! Let's go show these freaks what Equestria is made of!" Less than fifteen minutes after Gargantula appeared, the forces of Tartarus found themselves being overwhelmed by a flood of warriors pouring out of the city. After several hours of fighting, the Arch-Demon leading the siege ordered a retreat. It was the last order he ever gave, as his head was shortly thereafter liberated from his body by a Ryborian and Griffon. As Hope watched the demons flee, it was all she could do not to order a pursuit. "They're retreating! Gather the wounded, and fall back to the city. We're all Canterlot has. We can't risk leaving it undefended." Once she sure that the city was safe, she would send the Night Guards to deal with the fleeing horde. As she approached the shield, the body of a Dragon fell in front of her. She looked up and saw Venquis holding his Moonsaber, which dripped with Dragon blood. "That goes for you too, Champion of Sihana." "I know that you have never cleansed the corruption from a soul, Serketh..." Silver's voice came through the portal, quickly followed by Silver himself. "...But if care at all about the fate of the Mortal Realm, I beg of you, please try." A few seconds later, Obsidian appeared, carried the sleeping form of Celestia. Behind him walked an exhausted Nightshade, her eyes still aglow. "I have the corruption isolated. You should be able to see it, the black mass near her heart. Unfortunately, it's beyond my power to remove it. Only a God of Corruption can do that."
"Hah! Silver, I have already done what I thought impossible today! Why stop at one miracle!" Serketh released a webbing from his hand that held Celestia's soul in place. "I'll start on her. You go down to the mortal realm and ensure our advantage in this war does not go away! I give you control over my pet until Celestia is freed, make sure she gets a proper meal of demons will you?" Serketh then turned to Celestia and stared at her. Eight solid black limbs extended from his back and gripped the table the map was on, the ground, and the wall near him. His eyes changed back to the eight red and seemed to focus a beam on Celestia. Obsidian looked over the map. "Things have changed a lot since we went into Tartarus... but things are definitely changing for the better here. Let us go."
"Fair enough. Let's go, shall we?" Silver used his swords to slice open another portal, and flew through. Nightshade, walking unsteadily in her exhaustion, followed after him. When Hope walked into the Night Guard barracks, she found them ready and waiting. She wasn't surprised. Silver's old squad was known for their fighting spirit. Even after helping to break the siege, not a single one of them showed signs of fatigue. Hope spoke quickly. "The enemy is running, but they'll be be back, and in greater numbers. Even that spider-thing wouldn't last long against the full might of Tartarus. That's where you come in. You have two assignments: First, and most importantly, I want you to find out where the demons are running to. If we can locate their main base of operations, we can cut of their head. Second, I want you to kill every demon that crosses your path. Be creative. Be cruel. Be sadistic. I want them afraid of us." "I couldn't have said it better myself!" A portal opened, and Silver flew into the room, landing beside Hope. "You heard the the lady! Move out!" As the Night Guards filed out, Silver with them, Nightshade stepped through the portal. "I think Obsidian is right behind me, but I can't be sure. Either way, we have a lot to do, and not much time to do it. Hope, come with me to the throne room. The Princess and I are going to help Sihana, and then we need to talk."
Just as Venquis had gotten off of the corpse of a dead dragon, a thunderous sound boomed across Canterlot and the surrounding areas. Roughly a kilometre away, an enormous gate had opened as countless hordes of Tartarus had stormed out and began to charge at the city. What the allied forces did not expect was a foe that they had not encountered. The clouds in the sky turned into an enormous mist that covered the area, signalling that something was up. Just as the hordes of Tartarus were charging, an enormous mechanical being walked through the mist. The mechanical monstrosity was enormous, several kilometres above the ground. In the robot’s hand was an enormous hammer that was the size of a mountain. It was clear that the robot was a siege weapon, a sentient weapon built in the depths of Tartarus. If the robot even began to attack the city, the shield would shatter like glass in a single blow, and dooming all of those who took refuge. The monster unleashed a demonic roar as loud as the earth below could take it The Eriborian looked at the colossal mechanical giant. He was impressed about how desperate Tartarus must have gotten to take Canterlot, especially now that they suffered a disadvantage. “I must admit, I was not expecting that. “ ------------------------------------------------------------- The Hunter remained invisible above the battlefield, watching the carnage unfolding. He seemed to take a keen interest in the Ryborian below him. He was watching the gods inside of the city with a keen interest. While he was entirely non existent in the radar of the gods, he was certainly there. He was not assigned to take down a god, but rather a champion instead. “Sihana’s champion. He should be a perfect choice...”
"Huuuuunter!" The Spirit appeared sitting on The Hunter's shoulders. "I've been looking over things... and... this isn't a good time. Sorry. I'll go bother someone else." He vanished as quickly as he had appeared. Serketh was alone up in the Elder realm. His power's linked directly into the spirit of Celestia, which had, since arriving, stood up and started trying to violently tear away from the webbing holding it down. "Come now Celestia! I know you don't have a physical mind right now, but I'm sure we can work this out!" The black limbs from his back gripped harder on the surfaces they held onto. The Master stood, staring at the scene, fully aware that neither figure could see anything past the other. The spirit appeared at his side. "Um, sir. Theres something I need to talk to you about. Kind of important." (I don't feel comfortable controlling the master) Obsidian came through the portal shortly after Hope and Nightshade left, and immediately ran outside and joined the fighting forces against Tartarus. Jack seemingly appeared out of nowhere in the sky above the robot and came crashing down into it, straight through the center into the control center for it. "Damn... that... humanoid... b*tch..." The barely conscious warrior quickly cut all the creatures inside in half, before falling totally unconscious on the floor of the control room.
The look on Silver's face when he saw the mechanical monstrosity appear was one of pure joy. "Finally! Something worth fighting!" Leaving the lesser demons to the mercy of the Night Guards, Silver flew at the robot. To his dismay, as he got within striking distance, it suddenly stopped moving. Silver sniffed the air, and swore loudly. "Blast and damnation! Why must he spoil my fun?" With a heavy sigh, Silver flew into the hole Jack had made. He quickly found him unconscious on the floor of the control room, surrounded by the bodies of demons. "Asleep on the job, are you? That won't do at all." Picking up Jack, Silver flew back to the city, and dumped him at the hooves of a few Royal Guards. "Take him to the Princess. Whatever he's here for, she needs to know about it. I also need you to send a squad to secure the robot... thing. We may be able to use it against it's creators." As quickly as he had arrived, he was gone. There were still demons to kill, and he wasn't about to miss out on the fun.
The Hunter watched as the mortal races fought against another seemingly endless wave of Tartarus. He did not care who won the war, he just wanted the gods to suffer. At the moment, the war was doing a fantastic job. "Great...They are sending robots now ?" The Hunter replied upon watching the battle. "It might have a crew, but the robot is still sentient." As soon as the Hunter finished his statement, the robot's eyes turned bright yellow as it soon clicked into life, raising it's gigantic hammer above it's head and sending it crashing downwards unto the battlefield below. The robot was alive again, and it seemed to have a mind of it's own. "I'm done with this." The Hunter remarked as he turned around to catch up to the Spirit as he began to vanish. "I'll deal with them later." (You don't have to control the Master, [MENTION=5915]Dreamer[/MENTION]. It's only optional)
(I am hoping someone else will control him then...) "Master, judging from the way things are going... Our story has diverged to the point where my scripture can't make heads or tails of what's going to happen... All I can assure you of, is if we don't stop Serketh now, he will free Celestia's spirit, which alone will be enough to ruin our guarantee at victory... as well as cause the guarantee of my death, sir..." The royal guards brought Jack to where Sihana was with the princess, Hope, and Nightshade. "Jerky ass humanoid intangible insufferable prick shait stain on the side of the universal constant associated with men's undergarments!" He jolted up, and looked at the badly beaten goddess and the trio of women. "R-right... Uh... You, can ignore that, please." (I dunno if you noticed but I have a fascination with characters that can see their own demise)
The Master sat on his throne, deep in thought about the next plans. If him and his colleges waited too long, Serketh alongside Sihana would revive Celestia's spirit, meaning that it would put them at a disadvantage. If he waited to early, then his allies would be expecting him. After a moment's silence, he came up with an idea. "We take out Serketh, now. Leave the others to fend for themselves." The Master replied before standing up and walking over. "I'm going to need all 4 of you to do this, you all should understand what failure means." The Hunter, sitting on the roof upside down dropped to the floor next to the Spirit. The four of them were going to have to take out Serketh quickly, avoiding a large scale engagement if possible. If they succeeded, the chances of the mortal race winning the war would plummet, and the gods themselves were backed into a corner.
Ignoring Jack for the moment, Nightshade, Hope, and Luna combined their magic to heal Sihana's wounds. After nearly an hour, the goddess' body had been restored completely. Leaving Nightshade to watch Sihana as she slept, Princess Luna and Hope led Jack into another room. Luna looked at him coldly, and spoke. "You would not have come here without a reason. What is it?" With the Night Guards and Gargantula on the battlefield, there wasn't much for Silver to do. He was just about to return to the city when he saw the mechanical giant return to life. He grinned. "Looks like I get to take you down, after all." The Behemoth raised its hammer, ready to end Canterlot with a single blow, when suddenly Canterlot wasn't there anymore. As the monstrosity looked around in confusion, it saw a single bat-winged pony appear right in front of its eyes. "Wondering how you got here? It's simple, really. While you were busy trying to crush the city, you didn't see me open a portal beneath your feet. We are currently in the crater that was once the Crystal Empire, before it was destroyed thirty years ago. Nopony is going to bother us here."
The colossal robot's left arm began to whistle as it's left arm began to transform as it began to appear sharper while it's fingers began to merge together before being one, while an equally sized blade appeared on the bottom of it's wrist, turning the entire arm into one gigantic axe roughly the size of a small town. It it had a face, it would have a murderous expression. Roaring once more like a wild animal, it began to charge, with the robot's forehead head just below the clouds. It was however, a one trick pony. It was purposely built for attacking, preferring slow and devastating strikes. It lacked defence, speed, and most of all, agility because it was not built with the aspects in mind. Nonetheless, for a mechanical monstrosity several kilometres tall, it was surprisingly fast, with a rocket at the bottom of the soles of it's feet helping the giant fly across the crater towards Silver, how it was able to fly due to it's weight was something that would have baffled scientists.
As the blade drew closer to Silver, a mischievous expression appeared on his face. Sure, it would be easy to dodge to blow, but where was the fun in that? Crossing his swords in front of him, he took the blow head on. The impact sent knocked Silver into the ground with such force that he left a crater a mile wide and nearly a thousand feet deep. Blood pouring out from under his armor, he flew out of the hole and laughed, an activity made slightly more difficult by a dozen broken ribs. "Is that... the best... you've got? My turn!" Flying above the Behemoth, Silver sliced into the air, opening a portal the molten core of the planet. Instantly, a flood of magma began pouring onto the creature below. In only a few minutes time, the crater that had once been the Crystal City had become a lake of fire. Somewhere beneath it's surface, the Behemoth was burning back into nothingness. "Farewell, beast. You were indeed a worthy opponent. I only regret that our game had to end so quickly." Closing the portal to the planet's core, Silver opened a new one to center of Canterlot, and flew through.
Jack looked at Hope and Luna. "Well, truth be told a pair of guards brought me here, but either way. I was on my way to help Hope recover Sihana when a humanoid thing attacked me. These minions of the god-killer are really starting to get on my nerves... Anyway, he knocked me out and blindly tossed me through a portal, it's sheer luck landing where I did stalled the giant machine bent on destroying Canterlot's shield. But back to serious matters, how long before Sihana is recovered to the point of accessing her powers?"
"So, you are here by simple dumb luck, then..." Luna sighed. Whether Jack's story was true or not, her own history with him caused her to have doubts. Hope answered Jack's question. "Sihana's body is healed, but whatever it was that she ran into out there has left her exhausted. She should be able to use her full abilities as soon as she wakes up. When that will be, I can't really say."
(I wont be able to post next Wednesday- Friday and Tomorrow. I have been "Gifted" with many IRL tasks that will keep me isolated from the site for days.) The tedious act of having to tend to the dead was now being commenced by the mortals The damage had already been done to the demons, the forces of Tartarus getting desperate. Now that Canterlot was incredibly well protected by the Mortal race, with an added bonus of multiple gods watching over the city, the act of taking what was possibly the final city of the mortal realm seemed impossible. The mortal races now had a large advantage against their enemy, if they could keep their winning streak up. A chance to retake what was lost loomed closer, and the chance for revenge against the demons and minions of Tartarus was the aspect on the minds of many. ------------------------- Meanwhile The Master watched over the city of Canterlot, watching the relief on the faces of the mortal survivors. The mortal's were none of his concern, his true focus was upon the gods. If he sensed her energy correctly, Sihana was recovering. It was all going to plan...
