Chapter 7

Skydiving was an interesting experience for Connor. He had lived all of his life on the ground, and so was still unsure of how he liked flying. Now he was plummeting towards a horde of bloodthirsty monsters, trusting only the magic of a being he had met hours ago.

Well, too late to worry about that.

As Connor passed the treetops and began to distinguish individual monsters, he rotated his body so he was falling feet first, his sword and shield at the ready. At the same time, he felt Celestia’s magic enveloping his body, slowing his descent enough to cause him to land safely. On top of a moblin.

Connor drove his feet into the pig-like creature’s face, knocking it down, with Connor landing on top. He drove his sword into its throat, then turned toward the Portal. Enemies were swelling forth from it at top speed. Connor brandished his sword, daring them to come closer. Remembering a taunt he had heard in Hyrule somewhere, he opened his mouth and shouted,

“COME AT ME, BRO!”

The beasts heard him, and raising their collective weapons, rushed him. Connor grinned and raised his blade to meet them head-on.

The first creature to reach him received a blade through the neck. A bokoblin charged Connor from the side, and he wasted no time slicing his blade sideways, through the already-dissolving first enemy, and slashing the new one a new furrow in its chest. The enemy went flying back, where he was taken care of by a nearby earth pony soldier. Connor turned back to face the enemies already coming to take the place of the two he had bested. He was ready to slay.

Meanwhile, Celestia had landed safely in the space created by her royal guards. While she could have destroyed the monsters besieging them herself, she needed to concentrate her power on the Portal. Though she had projected quite an air of confidence, she truly was not sure what to do with the gate of evil before her. To destroy the cordite surrounding it would be to open the rip wider, but to allow it to stay would be to allow the seepage to continue. It was a knotty problem, Celestia thought, as her horn began to glow. She carefully removed the anti-magic enchantment and then set to work on the hole itself.

However, the second Celestia’s magic began to touch the Portal, it ceased to spew enemies. Connor drove his blade through the belly of the Moblin he was currently fighting, then turned to shield-bash a second beast and slice its head off with a quick horizontal slice. He stood knee-deep in a pile of black dust that the monsters dissolved into upon death. The creatures were being defeated, and the royal pony soldiers began to drive the others apart, either killing or driving the rest into the forest.

Celestia gaped at the now-silent Portal before her. She began to approach it, then stopped. Something was happening to the Cordite ring. It was bulging, expanding, cracking, and the magic in the center was glowing brighter.

Celestia and Connor both reached the same conclusion simultaneously. “STAND BACK!” and “TAKE COVER!”  exploded from their mouths, and the soldiers reacted, without a moment to lose. The Portal swelled once more, then the cordite exploded outward, spewing rock everywhere. The magic in the middle increased in diameter, no longer being held by the unforgiving rock barrier. It grew until Connor was sure it couldn’t get any larger, and then something began to materialize in it. He saw one huge arm, then another, with two armor-plated knees below them. Then the hands shimmered, and an axe the size of one of Applejack’s trees appeared in them.

The Iron Knuckle stepped from the Portal, and swung its weapon threateningly. Connor gasped and took a step back. It was larger than any knight he’d seen before, in fact, larger than any anything he had seen. He had no time to reflect upon this, however, because the Portal behind the behemoth had changed: It was still growing larger, but Connor felt the slight rush of air past his face in its direction and understood that it had begun to draw matter to it, instead of expelling monsters.

The Iron Knuckle glanced around. It immediately caught sight of Celestia, standing with her mouth agape at the monstrous soldier. Connor noticed something odd; instead of drifting down to the ground like usual, the royal pony’s mane was flowing horizontally, right toward…

The Portal.

Connor’s brain finished putting the pieces together, and spit out the finished inference. His mouth gaped wider, then immediately kicked into gear as fast as it could.

“PRINCESS!!!! MOVE!!!!”

Celestia turned toward him, breaking her semi-shock with the Iron Knuckle. Her face was a raging turmoil of worry, fear, and confusion.

Connor was running toward her now, throwing his blade casually back into its sheath. “BACK UP!!! PRINCESS!!!! GET AWAY FROM IT!”

Even as he spoke the Princess of the Sun’s mane was beginning to be drawn into the Portal. Connor, upon reaching the ruler of all of Equestria, tackled her headlong, driving her sideways, and farther away from the insidious Portal. She fell on her side, rolling to her feet immediately, and staring at Connor.

Connor climbed to his feet, keeping an eye on the Iron Knuckle. The rest of Celestia’s force was now engaged in battle with it, though it wasn’t proving to be easy. Connor winced as another battalion was swatted through the air with one sweep of the axe. He looked back at the Princess, who was still stunned.

“I suppose I owe you an apology now, Princess, for acting without explanation. Don’t you see?!! Whatever’s on the other side of that, whatever evil entity, has been waiting for you! That’s why the monsters stopped coming when you touched it; it sensed you! It sent out that thing to keep us busy while it sucked you through!! Whatever it is, it’s intelligent. It knew you would return to it if it meant saving Equestria, and it wanted to abduct you through that Portal, probably to take your powers to add to its own. With the omnipotent ruler of Equestria in its power,it would be child’s play to conquer Hyrule, and since this land would have no ruler, to conquer here as well!!!”

Celestia’s eyes went wide. Connor continued.

“And now, we’ve got to find a way to plug that hole and finish this!”

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