The Shadow of a King
Thirst for Vengeance (Part 1)
Author: Draconis187

Sheppard facepalmed once they met a large, burly wall of meat and attitude by the name of Urdnot Wrex that the Volus, Barla Von spoke of. The Shadow Broker had placed a hit on a man by the name of Fist for apparently betraying him. The one carrying the hit out was the Krogan that stood before them. While it was not the Krogan in question that made Sheppard facepalm, it was the fact that he socked Pinkie in the nose for getting too close and trying to hug him.

The party mare’s nose was bleeding and Wrex got rocketed through a wall, courtesy of Kalina Ann and ten pounds of confetti. The Krogan merely laughed off his state as he picked pieces of wall out of his armour and insisted on joining the group. Wrex made it known to the humans and Pinkie that he would kill Fist no matter what they say to the contrary.

The five members walked through the Wards of the Citadel, the medical bay run by Chloe Michel being their destination for a proper inspection of Pinkie’s bloody nose. Medi-gel was all well and good but it was uncertain as to how it would affect Pinkie Pie. Sheppard thought she’d bleed sweets, given her hyperactive nature and love for aforementioned goods.

As the door opened up, four Humans were harassing the doctor while the Turian they were looking for, Garrus Vakarian was behind on of the beds. He stayed out of the thugs’ sight as their attention turned to the newly arrived group of armed fighters.

Blasters were drawn and Pinkie Pie looked around, wondering what was going on but drew Kalina Ann anyway. Everyone else was doing it.

“Who are you?!” One man demanded to the group, pointing his pistol at Dr. Chloe, using her as a meat shield.

A single gunshot rang out, killing him as the bolt blew his head apart. As the doctor crouched down, all hell broke loose. Wrex yelled and charged towards the others, not caring for the blasts he was getting until he rammed into one of them, shoulder-first before finishing him off with a shotgun blast to the face as his target fell to the floor.

Sheppard and the others got behind cover as weapons expended their payloads across the room. They lost sight of the doctor and Garrus as they tried to get a shot in. Alenko reached out with his Biotics and lifted one of the thugs into the air where he got pelted by Williams’ assault rifle, killing him. Pinkie’s mane got a hole blasted through it, only for it to somehow fill back in as she picked up Kalina Ann fired a single rocket.

The fireball that ensued from the rocket’s warhead, caused the last one still alive to get out of cover. He ran out right into Sheppard’s sights. With one pull of the trigger, his rifle tore a hole through his chest and killed him in an instant.

“Not bad,” Wrex said, looking at Pinkie with a small grin.

“Thanks, Wrexy!” She said happily as Wrex facepalmed at the nickname she gave him.

“Thanks, Sheppard. You provided the necessary distraction I needed,” Garrus said to Sheppard, shaking his hand. “Name’s Garrus. Garrus Vakarian.”

“Why were you here anyway, Garrus?” Sheppard asked.

“I heard that Fist ordered a hit on a Quarian on behalf of Saren. I came to find out why,” Garrus replied, “Turns out she has some information regarding Saren that may be of use to you.”

“But you’re a Turian. Why are you investigating him in the first place?” Sheppard said with a raised eyebrow.

While the two continued to talk, Pinkie helped Chloe up onto her feet. She gave the mare a grateful smile, making Pinkie beam in response. The movement disturbed her nose and made a small trickle of blood run out. She was placed onto a table and got looked at by Chloe’s Omnitool.

“So that’s why the Shadow Broker is after Fist,” Sheppard said, crossing his arms.

“Yep, you don’t betray the Shadow Broker and expect to live, Sheppard,” Wrex said, dusting the blood off his armour. Point blank shotgun blasts were messy but fun to the Krogan Battlemaster.

“So, we’re all off for Chora’s Den then?” Pinkie said with a smile.

“That depends. How are you?” Sheppard said flatly.

“Right as rain! Which is a strange expression to use because I haven’t seen any rain here and I know the weather at home is controlled by the Pegasi but you don’t have Pegasi because I’m the only pony here for some reason,” Pinkie said, quickly trailing off and rambling on to whoever was within earshot.

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

Spitfire was angry with herself for being weak. She stood face to face with some repulsive monster and all she could do was whimper in response to its yelling. Its breath was worse than Baltimare sewerage and it temperament worse than a bureaucrat.

“Speak yer runt!” Bluddflagg shouted, getting angrier with each passing second.

Spitfire tried to speak but was cut off when the sound of battle erupted nearby. The sounds were unlike anything she had heard of. Lights of various hues shone in the distance, pulsing in the dark jungle ahead. The monster in front of her had also taken notice and hated it, he was being disturbed from yelling at Spitfire.

“Wotz it now?!” Bluddflagg shouted angrily.

A few smaller green skinned creatures came through the bushes. They were beaten, bloody and the pathetic excuse for armour they wore was littered with holes.

“Cap’n! It’s da ‘umies!” One of them shouted as it tripped over its own two feet and fell onto the floor with a clunk.

“Which ones?!” Bluddflagg roared.

“Dem red ones. Ya know dem wit the big daka!” It said as it got up off the floor.

“Well, why ain’t yez over dere, killin’ ‘em?!” He shouted, his rage was great enough to literally be felt if one stood close enough.

As if on cue, the bushes were torn apart. In the makeshift hole stood several red bipedal creatures with glowing green eyes, staring at the monsters with large metal objects in their hands. In the centre of the formation stood one wielding a large hammer, cracking with lightning and ordained with gold along its length.

“Kill the Orks!” The man shouted with a voice of unyielding authority. It was not a voice that commanded respect and loyalty from those around him, it demanded it.

The men yelled a collective battlecry and opened fire. Taking advantage of the confusion, Spitfire flew off as quickly as she could and forced herself to ignore the pain her wings gave her for the attempt. She didn’t get far as a Devastator Squad’s Heavy Bolter gun opened fire on her, clipping her wing and sending her to the ground.

Spitfire fell face first into the ground, getting a mixture of dirt and plant matter into her mouth. Spitting it out, the man with the hammer walked up to her and removed his helmet. The man looked like a typical military commander with very short hair, a few scars here and there but he had four flat round pieces of metal in his forehead.

Spitfire finally took notice of the rest of him, her eyes deciding they had enough of the odd face and the large hammer. His armour was mostly blood red with decorations of gold and beige on his pauldrons, chest and legs. On the one pauldron was a black bird symbol with a red teardrop. Spitfire wondered if it wasn’t actually supposed to symbolise blood.

“Now what manner of beast are you?” The man said slowly, “Certainly not native to Typhon. Not like any xeno I’ve encountered.”

Spitfire managed to find her voice although it was rather shaky at best, “N-no.”

At that, the man dropped his helmet and took a battle stance with his hammer, “What are you, beast?! Speak, Gabriel Angelos of the Blood Ravens commands you!”

Spitfire yelped and moved backwards in shock. This made the man grip his Thunder Hammer more tightly, ready for the creature’s attack… but it never came. Spitfire continued to shake visibly, weighing up her options.

She could try to run but Angelos might catch up to her and crush her with that hammer. If she stayed, he still might crush her with the hammer. Either way, she felt she was utterly doomed. Doomed to die on a world she didn’t know, by a man she only just met and sent there by her former right wing.

“Sir… Oh,” Another red clad man came up from behind Angelos. This one looked like a mechanic’s wet dream, enough metal and moving parts it was a miracle if he was in any way still organic.

“What is it, Martellus?” Angelos said, impatiently. He did not take his eyes off Spitfire. It looked like he was trying to bore a hole through her body by sheer staring alone.

“This creature appears to be one of the disturbances we detected,” Martellus said, flatly.

Gabriel loosened his grip somewhat, “This thing?”

“Yes sir,” Martellus replied.

“Fine, take it with us. We’ll find out what it knows aboard my battle barge,” He said, walking up to Spitfire. “You are coming with us.”

Spitfire had little choice and followed. In the distance, a group of Assault Marines picked up a set of odd looking items.

“Commander, we believe we have found the second source of the strange signal. It appears to be six strange looking artefacts,” One of the marines said over the radio.

“Maybe the creature knows of them,” Angelos muttered under his breath as he, Martellus and Spitfire walked up to a monstrous flying machine she would find out through casual chatter to be a Thunderhawk.

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

Chora’s Den was a hovel of debauchery and drunken disorder but today it was something else entirely: a warzone. Tables were overturned, customers and staff were nowhere to be seen save for the security detail Fist had hired to protect him while weapons fire were the only thing on the house menu.

“How does this guy have a private army?!” Williams shouted as she got from behind cover and fired a short burst from her assault rifle.

“Hell if I know! Just keep shooting!” Sheppard shouted, getting up from cover and letting loose a Shockwave attack.

The wave of raw Biotic energy hit one of the guards in the chest and sent him flying backwards into the wall. When he woke up later, he found multiple fractures and internal bleeding waiting for him as well as C-Sec.

Pinkie vanished from the group’s side for a minute. Garrus was about to say something but got cut off as she reappeared on the other side of the room and fired at the guards from behind with a Hysteric attack from Kalina Ann.

The guards almost instantly went into a panic as the mini missiles detonated around them, causing a few fires to break out. Garrus and Wrex looked at Sheppard and the others, gobsmacked but the three humans weren’t too fazed. They knew it was just Pinkie Pie casually breaking the fundamental laws of the universe as usual.

As the guards were all dead or unconscious in the main room, the group got back together and opened the door. The storage room had a few workers still inside, who pulled out some lacklustre weapons against them.

Wrex chuckled, “We took out all your friends behind us. Think carefully.”

The humans looked at him with blank expressions as they processed what he said. They quickly dropped their weapons and left, mumbling about not getting paid enough to deal with them.

Wrex scoffed, “Cowards.”

As the next door opened into Fist’s office, they were greeted by the man himself and two shielded turrets. Pinkie, Wrex and Williams rolled across to the other side of the room, ducking behind cover while Sheppard, Garrus and Alenko stayed on the side they came in.

The battle… lasted five seconds. Pinkie took out her Party Cannon and fired a load of hot cake batter at one of the turrets. The batter found its way into the turret’s mechanisms and literally gummed it up as Pinkie used bubblegum flavoured batter. The turret overloaded and became defunct.

Garrus threw a grenade, the explosion dropped the shields of the second turret and Sheppard fired a round straight down its barrel, destroying it. Wrex fired his shotgun, distracting Fist for a second as they bounced off his shields before Williams’ assault rifle tore his shields apart. All that was left was Garrus firing and taking Fist down with a round to the shoulder.

He fell down with a satisfying thump, weapon falling out of his grip as he landed. The six walked up to him, weapons still drawn. Pinkie sat on her Party Cannon, keeping an eye on him from a short distance.

“Where’s the Quarian, Fist?” Garrus demanded.

“You won’t find her. She’s as good as dead,” He said with a smug grin.

He quickly came face to face with Pinkie. Her mane instantly deflated and her coat dulled in colour as she stared at him, murder written in her eyes. It was a face that could stare Death in the eyes and make him cower in fear.

“Tell us now,” She said slowly and coldly.

“She asked for me to set up a meeting with the Shadow Broker, saying she had valuable information to trade,” He said quickly.

“Impossible, even I was hired through an agent,” Wrex commented.

“Exactly but I told her I set up a meeting. Only when she gets there, she ain’t gonna find him,” Fist said with a grin, “The meeting point is not too far from here.”

Pinkie threw Fist back down to the ground and hopped off him. A second later, a loud bang rang through the room. Pinkie didn’t even look back at the target of the shot, knowing already who fired and at whom.

“I don’t leave jobs half done,” Wrex deadpanned, placing his shotgun away.

“Let’s move people!” Sheppard said, turning around.

The group ran out the door and back the way they came. Two doors were leading to the markets and the other to a passageway. Time was of the essence.

“We split up. Alenko, Pinkie, you’re with me. Wrex, Garrus and Williams, you head for the markets and see if they are there. We’re going down that way,” Sheppard said.

“I don’t take orders from you,” Wrex said with a huff.

“You can argue once we save her,” Garrus said, running into the marketplace.

Wrex mumbled but followed anyway with Williams not far behind. She didn’t seem too thrilled to be paired up with them for some odd reason but didn’t question the orders of her superior officer.

Sheppard, Pinkie and Alenko went down the passageway, weapons drawn. In the distance, amongst the soft ambient glow of the station’s lights were several suited figures. Sheppard put his finger to his lips, indicating they had to be quiet. The two nodded as they got closer.

“Where’s the data?” One of them asked to one that upon closer inspection was of a different stature to the others. It was the Quarian they were looking for… surrounded by Salarians.

“Where’s the Shadow Broker? Fist pro-” A female voice said but she got cut off as the Salarians drew their weapons.

“Fist lied,” One of them stated bluntly.

Sheppard’s eyes bulged, “Take them down!”

Pinkie and Alenko took cover behind some crates and opened fire. The Quarian got away from the fight and found cover as her assassins changed targets.

Pinkie dove out of cover, rolling along the ground twice before stopping. Kalina Ann rested on her shoulder, pointing forwards as she depressed the trigger. The rocket flew out of the tube with a nigh deafening roar. The rocket collided with one of them, sending him flying into a wall. As the rocket detonated, the group found themselves in the midst of a cloud of confetti.

“What is this stuff?!” One asked fearfully.

He got his response as Kalina Ann’s bayonet fired, impaling him in the abdomen. He let out a yell of pain before the bayonet retracted, bringing him with it. As he left the cloud of confetti, he was greeted by Pinkie atop her Party Cannon. The cannon fired a barrage of candy canes. The Salarian assassin died instantly and the candy got a new flavour.

One more Salarian got a high powered sniper shot to the head, splattering the ground and the wall behind him as his head almost literally exploded.

One more looked around and tried to fire but found himself caught in a Biotic field, hauling him into the air as gravity decided to forget about him. Pinkie came down on him, Kalina Ann stabbing him in the chest as they both collided with the metallic ground beneath them.

The Quarian came out from cover, “Who are you?”

“I’m Pinkamena Diane Pie. Call me Pinkie, all my friends do,” She gasped, “Ohmigoshdoyouwanttobemyfriend?!”

The Quarian looked at Pinkie through her mask, “Um…”

“You get used to it,” Sheppard said, “We had best get to the Embassy where it’s safe.”

The Quarian nodded her head and Sheppard activated his radio, “Williams, this is Sheppard. Meet us at the Human Embassy with Wrex and Garrus. We found the Quarian.”

As the group walked off, Pinkie placed a hoof on her chin, “When is Sheppard going to be a Spectre? We’ve been at this for too long. We’d best get to that scene in the next chapter or else.”

“Who are you talking to, Pinkie?” Alenko asked.

“Then I said ‘but how does that help make cupcakes?’” Pinkie responded, oblivious to Alenko’s question. He dropped the subject.

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

Ponyville was still plagued by dragons as Dante and Vergil continued to fight them. Mutilated bodies lined the streets, crushing a few buildings here and there while Town Hall stayed mostly intact, save for the dragon head impaled in the roof.

The dragons kept coming, their numbers seemingly infinite while the devil brothers were getting tired. While they could fight for ages, their bodies only had so much to give as they were covered in scorch marks and dripping blood from quickly healing lacerations, leaving behind pale scars once they healed.

They could have Devil Triggered but it was only worth it if the target was on the ground and their attackers preferred the skies. Even Vergil’s Nelo Angelo Devil Trigger was somewhat useless as it was only good for short bursts and gave him a feeling he despised for it reminded him of who turned him into that abomination.

“Verg, maybe we’d best regroup and rethink our approach,” Dante said with a small grin as he fired Ebony and Ivory at a dragon as it strafed them with fire.

“For one of the few times in my life, I’m inclined to agree. Rather reluctantly though,” Vergil replied flatly.

Vergil concentrated for a moment and Devil Triggered, sending a shockwave outwards, shattering nearby windows and causing a few dragons to have concussions as their ears rang. For a moment Vergil stood there and Devil Triggered again.

Before the dragons stood Nelo Angelo, Puppet of Mundus, the Dark Angel amongst other names. He charged his gauntlets and slammed the ground, creating a huge plume of dust and unholy fire to burst around him and Dante. As the dust settled and flames died out, the brothers were gone.

Dante pulled back on the slides of his favourite firearms while Vergil breathed heavily. Dante chuckled, “You sure have a flair for the theatrical don’t ya, Vergil?”

“Shut up,” Vergil sneered.

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

Joystick looked out the window of the Adrian as it moved up and down along the waves, sailing to the mysterious Far East. Mysterious only in the regard that everything to him and Rarity at the moment was mysterious and new. Siegfried, Stern Cave, the world the ponies found themselves in and the odd crew he met on his way to their ‘luxury quarters.’

Rarity refused to sleep on the floor so Siegfried gave up his bed. Although Rarity almost immediately regretted her decision as the bed looked like it had not been cleaned in eons. She managed to find a way to clean it. The sheets, mattress and pillow were several shades in colour brighter at the end of her cleaning assault.

Siegfried couldn’t help but chuckle at the mare’s fanaticism, “You realise we won’t be here for very long?”

“She’d clean this ship from top to bottom if given the chance,” Joystick quipped.

Siegfried was about to question him but Joystick was visibly too tired for an argument or a conversation. The stallion curled up on the floor, Blue Rose in its holster on his side. The former Nightmare laid his back against one of the corners in the room and closed his eyes.

He had a bad feeling from the moment he looked at Stern Cave. Something about him didn’t seem right but he had little choice and chalked up his feeling to plain paranoia.

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

Luna was quickly given an injection soon after a large dark grey airship came down. The one who had injected her wore a green suit and opaque, black sunglasses with a greenish tint. The man – if Luna’s assumption was correct – had a stoic expression that would give the guards a run for their bits. She passed out soon afterwards.

When Luna woke up, all she saw was white. White tiled floors, wall and ceiling. There was no smell in the room, save for her sweaty coat. Her coat was still covered in dust, much to her annoyance. She clumsily got to her hooves as the sedative wore off.

Luna, you’re really in a bind now, She thought to herself.

She walked about the room, her hooves echoing through it with every step. Her stomach growled at her and she silently berated it for getting her into her current predicament.

“What is it, Doc?” The young man Luna encountered earlier asked. He and two other humans stood in a room near Luna’s, observing her through some installed video monitors.

“I don’t know, Rex. This isn’t an EVO like any of the ones we’ve encountered before,” A woman with dark brown hair in a white lab coat said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“But how can it be an EVO if there aren’t any nanites?” Rex replied, confused.

“That’s why we brought it here in the first place, Rex. If we can figure out why it hasn’t got any nanites, we might be able to end this damned nightmare,” A middle-aged looking man said over the intercom, his face on a nearby screen.

“Chill out, White. I don’t think it’s that dangerous,” Rex said confidently.

“Never underestimate those monsters, Rex,” White warned, “Doctor Holiday, proceed.”

Holiday nodded her head, “Understood. First we need to find out what it eats. We need to keep it healthy if we are to get any accurate data.”

“If it looks like a horse, why not give it what they generally eat?” Rex suggested, “It didn’t seem to have any fangs so I doubt it’s a carnivore.”

Holiday nodded her head and turned to the man who sedated Luna, “Six, if you wouldn’t mind?”

‘Six’ nodded and left the room. Soon a tile opened up in Luna’s room, getting Luna’s attention instantly. She tore across the room, skidding to a halt as a plate of bleached carrots, lettuce and an apple appeared on it. All the food was purged of all nanites through a process known as ‘bleaching.’ Luna instantly inhaled deeply and placed her head in the gap behind the plate, ignoring the food.

“LET US OUT!!” If Six was actually standing on the other side of the sealed compartment – and if it were open – he would have flown several metres backwards and rendered deaf for the next month.

Rex’s eyes widened, Doc’s jaw dropped and Six raised an eyebrow as he returned to the room and saw their faces, “What did I miss?”

“It talks,” Rex said.

“Correction, she talks. She h-” Holiday was cut off as Luna sighed and picked up the plate with her magic, “H-how is that possible? How is it making the plate float?”

“Magnetics?” Rex offered, “Six can manipulate magnets with those swords of his.”

“This is not the same as Six’s Magna-Blades,” Holiday explained, “She’s somehow manipulating gravity at a whim and seemingly without even exerting herself.”

“Ok, so not magnets. Why not just ask her?” Rex said.

“Ask? I guess we could,” Holiday placed her hand on her chin in thought, “She seems to display some intelligence so it’s worth a shot.”

Luna bit into the apple. It tasted strange but food was food and her stomach’s complaining was getting annoying. She placed the empty plate back in the gap it came from and the tile came back up, sealing it. Luna sighed deeply.

“Hello? Can you hear me?” Holliday said as her voice came through the room’s intercom.

“Who are you, strange voice?!” Luna demanded, not using her Royal Canterlot Voice this time.

“My name is Doctor Holiday. May I ask for your name?” Holiday responded.

“I am Princess Luna. Why have you confined us to this prison?” Luna said. The voice came from all around the room, making it impossible for her to find a source.

“We did it for your safety as well as our own,” Holiday explained. She wondered why she was using plurals when she was the only one in the room but decided it to be a question for a later time.

Luna nodded. It was an understandable reason given the circumstances, “Where are we?”

“Providence HQ. You’re in what we call a ‘White Room’, a room devoid of any nanites,” Holiday answered.

“‘Nanites?’ What are these Nanites you speak of?” Luna asked.

“She really doesn’t know what a nanites is?” Holiday asked, looking at the others and shielding the microphone with a hand.

Rex shrugged while Six raised an eyebrow again. Holiday sighed, “It was rhetorical anyway.”

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

A crack of thunder woke Joystick up from his sleep. He got up and looked around the room. Rarity was sleeping away, the odd unladylike snore coming from her every now and then. Joystick chuckled, if only he had a way to record it. It would make the best gift to her friends.

As Joystick chuckled as he thought about their reaction, he looked around to find Siegfried… who wasn’t there. He was nowhere to be found in their room. Joystick walked to the door and opened it.

Staring at him could only be described as the zombie apocalypse come to life. It was one of the crew members he had met earlier except parts of his skin were missing. There was a hole in his chest where a few major organs were also unaccounted for. It made Joystick’s stomach turn.

A single gunshot rang out through the hallway, making Rarity jump awake with a shriek. The ‘zombie’s’ head got blown clean off its shoulders and flew down the hallway, making a sickening squelching sound as it hit the floor. The zombie continued to move on, undeterred from the removal of its head.

“Mashed Braintatoes!” Joystick said with a half-hearted chuckle, “That sounded so much better in my head.”

“Sweet Celestia!” Rarity shouted, she held onto the blanket of her bed up to her face in some vain attempt to shield herself from the monstrosity.

“Little help here!” Joystick shouted as Blue Rose fired several more times, taking the zombie’s limbs off one by one before it fell to the ground.

The zombie soon stopped moving entirely, “Rarity! Come on, we’ve got to find Siegfried!”

Rarity nodded and jumped out of bed, Lucifer appearing in a glow of red, “Sorry about that, darling. I kind of lost my head.”

“As long as it’s not literal,” Joystick muttered, looking at the corpse.

The pair of them ran up to the deck, dodging the undead and killing them – again – as they tried to slow them down. The ponies jumped, somehow ran along the walls and kicked in several undead heads on their way to the deck.

The door leading outside shattered into millions of fragments as Lucifer’s blades impaled it and detonated. As they got out onto the deck, they found Siegfried.

Siegfried heard the explosion and sliced at the deck with Requiem, tearing the wood up and making his opponent jump backwards. His opponent was almost bare-chested as the breastplate covered most of his chest. He had a purple short sleeved vest over it with a long tail like a coat. His skin was a pale purple which disgusted Rarity’s fashion sense.

“Give me Soul Edge!” He shouted, firing a pistol with a blade on the top while swinging a rather grotesque looking shortsword.

Another shot rang out as Blue Rose intercepted the bullet.

“Welcome to die!’” Joystick cried out. The man was distracted long enough for Siegfried to bash him across the side with Requiem.

“Rarity, Joystick, find a lifeboat!” Siegfried ordered, “Now! You shall not have that accursed sword, Cervantes!”

The ponies nodded their heads and ran to scour the ship, this time encountering ghosts as well as the zombies as they went upstairs to the helm where the steering wheel was. Joystick found his gun to be useless against the ghosts but Lucifer on the other hand was able to hurt them, most likely due to the weapon's nature as a Devil Arm.

“There aren’t any lifeboats,” Joystick said to Rarity, crestfallen, “We were doomed the moment we boarded.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it, dear,” Rarity scoffed as they looked at a small army of undead, coming from the inside of the ship while Siegfried and Cervantes battled.

“Well, that won’t be for much lo-” Joystick was cut off as Rarity Devil Triggered, “-nger… Right, forgot about that.”

Rarity gave a demonic giggle and launched herself towards them, using the wheel as a springboard. An upbeat, Flamenco tune filled the air from Lucifer as the Devil Arm’s bone blades flew across the chilly, rain soaked battlefield that was the Adrian. Ghosts found their ethereal forms to be of no help as the blades stabbed them anyway.

“Your mongrels will not save you!” Cervantes spat as he assaulted Siegfried’s guard with several quick thrusts of his blades.

In one last thrust, he broke through his guard and stunned Siegfried long enough to roundhouse kick him. Siegfried fell to the ground and rolled to the side as Cervantes brought his blades down to where he was just laying.

Siegfried got up and swung Requiem with force. The massive blade collided with him, sending him flying backwards and colliding with the mast. A large crack formed near the base but Cervantes ignored it and got up.

Siegfried got into a stance, waiting for the pirate to come for him. In one movement, Cervantes leapt into the air, spinning at an insane speed as he came back down at Siegfried. The knight smiled and swung upwards. The blade connected too late as they hit each other at the same time. Siegfried fell onto his back, breaking some of the wood as he connected with the deck.

Cervantes found himself near the edge of his ship. He was seething with rage and fired a few rounds at Siegfried. His rounds proved ineffective as Blue Rose intercepted them again. At the angle Joystick fired, the second round from each of his shots tore small holes into the deck.

As two separate battles ensued, the ship took the worst of both of them. Lucifer’s explosive blades rocked it from side to side and took considerable portions of the ship with them. Bullets and cutlasses failed to find their target as Rarity danced away from them and back towards danger to confuse them.

This kept Joystick out of their crosshairs as he fired at the zombie pirates with Blue Rose and kept an eye on Siegfried’s battle. The damage to the ship was growing almost exponentially. Fires were starting to flare out, defiant to the rain pouring above before fizzling out.

Siegfried parried Cervantes’ attack and kicked him in the back. Cervantes fell to the ground and rolled onto his feet as Requiem came around in an arc. Cervantes underestimated his opponent’s reach and got clobbered again.

Siegfried had to hand it to him as his opponent defied his desire to keep him down. Cervantes was a tougher opponent but he forgot one thing about Siegfried: Cervantes was a soulless monster and it was a knight’s duty to destroy monsters.

Siegfried focused as Cervantes swung both blades in a wide arc. He dodged the attack and used the pommel of Requiem to bash Cervantes in the nose. Cervantes found himself on the deck again, looking at Siegfried with an angry, defiant glare.

“I will not let you leave here with that sword!” He shouted, getting up again, “It belongs to me!”

“That infernal blade belongs to no-one! It deserves to be destroyed,” Siegfried retorted, “Same goes for you, monster.”

“You don’t have the guts,” Cervantes said.

He brought his blades down on Siegfried but the knight raised Requiem like a shield and moved forwards. The blades connected but Siegfried won and punched Cervantes in the face. The cursed pirate fell to the deck, spitting blood onto his precious ship. He rolled to try get back up but Siegfried’s boot hit the exposed part of his chest, pinning him to the ground.

“Trying to stop me? How absurd,” Siegfried stated as he impaled Cervantes through the chest, cleaving his breastplate in two as the sword went through him and into the ship.

Cervantes shouted in pain. He was so close to his goal but Siegfried just had to wake up when he reached for Soul Edge back in the room he had given them. How the ponies slept through Siegfried throwing him out of their room was beyond either of them. Siegfried made sure they were still soundly asleep before chasing Cervantes to the deck.

“I will… have that sword… N-Nightmare,” Cervantes said as his body fell limp.

“I am… Nightmare no longer,” Siegfried replied sombrely to the corpse as he pulled Requiem out of his body.

The ghosts and zombies died almost instantly as their master expired. The ship rocked and began to fall apart around Siegfried and the ponies. They regrouped near the edge of the ship and jumped overboard.

As they swam away from the self destructing ship, they turned around to see the wood rotting before their eyes. It was as if the fragment of Soul Edge that lay within Cervantes was the only thing that kept him, his ship and his crew amongst the living.

“So now what?” Joystick asked.

“We swim or hope for a passing ship,” Siegfried deadpanned.

“My mane!” Rarity wailed, sodden from head to tail.

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

Dante and Vergil had somehow found themselves in Bon Bon and Lyra’s house in their attempt to escape the dragons for a breather. The two mares were happy to see them, even more so when the brothers explained they came to help.

Vergil sipped some tea Bon Bon made for the brothers but due to Dante’s pathetic excuse for a ‘diet,’ he was drinking soda instead. The four of them sat in Bon Bon’s living room, looking at each other.

“How long have they been here?” Vergil asked since Dante seemingly had no intention on asking anything.

“A few hours now,” Bon Bon said, “They just came and started wrecking the place. Rebel and Legion left a short while ago. I sent them to tell Broken Skies of this. We need help and you two can’t do it on your own for too long.”

Vergil nodded his head, “Smart, but I doubt this is the only case of such an attack. We’ll need to stop them here then gauge their numbers. They came with an invasion force.”

Dante, “Aw, Vergil. Don’t go scarring them.”

Vergil scoffed, “I’m merely stating the facts. Nothing more, Dante.”

“Can’t you sugar-coat it just once?” Dante asked.

“No,” Vergil replied curtly.

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

“Fer Pete’s sake!” Applejack shouted as she squashed another Poison Spider under Volendrung’s heavy form, “Where they all comin’ from?!”

“We can figure it out once we’re done, Applejack!” Trixie shouted as she used Cerberus once more to freeze a Fallen Shaman in place.

She turned around and bucked hard, shattering it into fragments of frozen body parts. The room they were in were filled with Fallen and Spiders. Despite being outnumbered, they had firepower on their side which was demonstrated to great effect as bodies flew across the room.

In moments, the room was as silent as the others the pair had come through earlier. Freshly killed bodies lined the floor, the walls and one was still attached to the ceiling, courtesy of an underhoof swing with Volendrung. The pair walked down yet another flight of steps into a room with a single passageway and one door to the right.

Applejack bucked the door down with her hind hooves while Trixie leapt through, creating a wave of ice as she entered the room with Cerberus. All of the demons and monsters too close were frozen instantly. Volendrung came flying over Trixie’s back, swinging around like a boomerang. The Daedric hammer smashed through the frozen bodies with force, killing them as they shattered into small pieces.

The hammer flew across the room in an arc before returning to Applejack who deftly caught it in her hooves and swinging it to smash a Spider into paste on the floor. The room was of similar design to the rest of the Catacombs, save for the hole in the floor. Inside was a pool of blood, swirling around.

“Please don’t tell me that’s blood,” Trixie said, trying to stop her stomach from turning and ejecting its contents.

“Ah won’t,” Applejack responded flatly, ignoring it as best she could as the pair walked up to a colossal pair of doors.

“Shall we knock?” Trixie said with a grin.

“That would be mighty kind of us ta do. It’s only polite,” Applejack said as Trixie froze the door with Cerberus.

The door exploded as Volendrung broke the door down with vigour, sending splinters across the floor and knocking the remaining pieces of the door onto the floor, shattering them into smaller pieces as well.

“They sure don’t make ‘em like they used ta,” Applejack commented.

“No they don’t,” Trixie giggled but stopped once she saw the room they entered.

It wasn’t the fact that the sides of the room were home to towering flames or the scary looking pillars, covered in thorns that held the room up in front to them. It was the huge monster, resembling a woman that stood before them that sucked the laughter out of Trixie.

She stood taller than any other human she had encountered before. She had red hair that stood on end, pointing towards the ceiling. There were four grotesque protrusions sticking out of her back, each ending in a sharp point, resembling scorpion tails. She had red claws for hands and feet, each looking like they’d tear through solid steel without problems. The last feature was the fact she was completely naked, save for some jewellery on her chest.

“Who are you?!” It bellowed in a vaguely female voice.

“Kill it?” Trixie asked, ignoring the question.

“Kill it!” Applejack shouted, charging towards the demon.

The demon shrieked and attacked, using the protrusions on her back to try and impale Applejack. What she failed to notice was the azure ball of metal and ice kicking her square in her chest. The demon fell onto her bone throne and broke it.

Trixie stood on her hind legs as she landed next to Applejack. Trixie stood, Devil Triggered and with a confident smile on her face.

“Let’s make quick work of this here demon!” Applejack shouted, throwing Volendrung like a javelin.

“No arguments here,” Trixie responded with the combined voices of Cerberus and herself.

If the force of Trixie’s attack was enough to shatter bones, the attack Applejack just used with Volendrung was enough to grind bones to dust. The attack caught the demon as she was getting to her feet, colliding with her face. The attack launched her into the wall behind her. The hammer was quickly picked up by the demon and thrown to its wielder in an attempt at murderous irony.

Applejack caught it casually and used the momentum to spin her body around and hurl it straight back. Trixie charged up towards the demon next to the hammer, leaving a trail of ice in her wake. The pair connected with the demon, sending her shouting into the wall again.

“That all ya got?!” Applejack taunted as the demon got to her feet and threw some form of green gas at her, “Whoa Nelly!”

Applejack dodged the demon’s attack with a side roll while Trixie leapt up to the wall and used it to launch herself to one of the pillars before using Ice Age as she jumped at the demon. The ball of ice knocked the demon into one of the plumes of fire, making it shriek in pain as it tried to get away.

“Kill it with fire, huh?” Applejack said aloud.

“Kill it with fire!” Trixie responded as she used Crystal to force the demon back into the flames. When that didn’t work out too well, Trixie slammed Cerberus into the ground once more, creating a supercharged Million Carats attack.

The pillar of ice shot out of the ground and smashed into the ceiling above them. As the ice faded away, the ceiling caved in on the demon. Trixie and Applejack ran out of the room as rubble fell down around them. As they got to the upper floor, they looked down through the hole Trixie had made.

Amidst the rubble was one of the demon’s claws, covered in flames. The arm struggled to free the rest of its body but soon its will faded and fell limp against its impromptu tomb. The flames died out a few short moments later, leaving a charred limb in its wake.

“Well, that’s that then. Shall we get going?” Trixie said, her DAT state having timed out a few moments earlier.

“My thoughts exactly,” Applejack responded as the pair walked upstairs, smiling at their victory.

Author's Notes:

Well here's the next part of another two parter. Only because with all the crossovers it's a little mandatory to keep the chapters from getting too long. Since we have ten crossovers each two part will have five each. Hope you enjoyed reading it. I never understood why Andariel was in a room with fire when she had a weakness for it. Oh well.