After dealing with what seemed to be every prissy guard I finally make it to the court room. Shining and Cadence are in front of the throne holding each as a nurse tries to wrap a bandage around Cadences head. I wait for the nurse to finish wrapping her up before walking up to the throne.

"So I take it Ruptor isn't here then." I say, getting them to look over.

"Our scouts haven't seen him yet." Cadence says softly as she lays her head on Shining's shoulder. "He could have gone through the arctic north."

"Right... and how did you escape?" I ask, walking slowly to think to myself.

"Sombra only captured me to ask for help-"

"Wait, what?" Shining asks as he breaks off the hug to look her in the face. "He asked.... for help. He's still alive?"

"Yes, he is. And he believes that Ruptor is coming here to consume him..."

"Alistair did say something about him doing something like that." I say as I look out a nearby window. "How do you keep the white stuff from taking over your land?" I ask as I peer out and take in the surrounding.

"The crystal heart keeps our land safe. Its powered by the hope and love of the ponies here. If fear and despair were to rule... well..."

"What?" I ask as I look back to her. She considers something before looking back to me with fear and determination in her eyes.

"If Sombra is alive, then he would take that opportunity to take over again. But if Ruptor were to consume him.... Sombra believes that the land would fall to darkness-"

"Darkness? Where is the crystal heart?" I turn back to them. Given the circumstances, I can only really think of one course of action.

"We can't tell you." Shining says. "We have to keep its location a secret until we're certain the threat is over."

"Understood. So you two know where it is then." I ask, getting nods from both of them. "Alright. Bots! New directives!" I shout, getting them to stand at attention. "I want half of you to protect Shining and the other half to protect Cadence. They hold information vital to the protection of these people, so follow their orders until I say otherwise. Understood?"

"SIR!" They shout before running over and taking positions around the throne room.

"I'm jumping back into the stella predator and waiting for Ruptor to show up. I'll try to draw him out to the west before engaging completely. Stay here and keep safe-"

"Thank you Miles." Cadence says with a slight bow. "I knew you'd be able to help."

"Spartans will always be there for those willing to call on them. Stay inside and hopefully this will be over shortly. Take care." I turn back to the doors and begin to walk out, only to have Shining teleport me to my jet. I take a deep breath before climbing back into the cockpit. A gem dragon versus human engineering... this should be interesting.

---

"Tia.... Tiiiiaaaaaa.... CELESTIA!"

"HUH!" I gasp as I wake up. I look around to find myself laying in front of Discords statue. I look up to Luna and notice that it's night time. "Did you raise the moon and sun without me?" I ask as I stand up and stretch out the knots in my back.

"Sorry, but nopony wanted to wake you... that is until they told me where you were." She says with a playful smile.

"I guess that's pay back for waking you earlier." I say with a slight chuckle. "How long have I been out here?"

"A couple of hours. What were you doing here by yourself? Is everything alright?" I eye her for a moment before shaking my head.

"Well... no. Everything is not alright." I admit, getting a concerned look from her. "I must... speak with Miles as soon as possible. There are... a couple of things we need to discuss-"

"What exactly do you need to talk about?" Luna asks as she raises an eyebrow to me.

"... Destiny." I say before walking towards the castle. Luna stands there for a second before walking after me, thinking deeply about what I said.

"I'll come with-"

"No. This is something I need to ask on my own-"

"But... I know there are something that he will only say around me. Please, let me come along as well." I pause and look back to her, seeing the conviction in her eyes.

"Is there something you wish to tell me?" I ask as I face her. She takes a deep breath before looking me in the eyes.

"Yes. But Miles should be here for it as well." She says before walking off, holding her head high as she tries to not look me in the eyes. What have they done now sister...

---

With a sigh I bank to the right and continue circling around again. I've been up here for several hours now and haven't found and signs of Ruptor. Alistair hasn't shown up either, and I'm starting to worry. It shouldn't have taken this long to fly here, unless something got to him.

"Sensor reading done, all clear." Informs one of the Aquilas.

"Fuck me over.... stick to the crystal castle, I'm going out for some recon."

"Copy that." I bank left and throttle up as I speed out to the white area. The winds here hit hard against the jet, but I hold the stick steady as I look out for any signs of movement.

"Come on.... where are you?" I mutter as I drop down a bit and look over the white landscape. I think it's ice, but I'm not entirely sure-

"WARNING WARNING large air born object at ten O'clock." FINALLY! I throttle up and head towards its general direction.

"Give me a reading, what am I looking for?" I ask as I peer around the cockpit.

"A mass of energy vortex ahead in sixty seconds. Caution is advised."

"Acknowledged." Energy? What it he up to? I level out and continue my search for the vortex of energy, unsure of what that would look like.

"WARNING WARNING energy mass moving. Evasive maneuvers are suggested."

"Moving?" I bank to the right but continue to look for-

"FUCK!" I yell as a massive black cloud nearly crashes into me. I pitch down and throttle up to avoid being hit by the massive dark form. Once I'm clear I pull back up and away from the being to get a good look at it.

"Oh sweet Barbra..." I mutter as I look over the massive black dragon. Its head is easily larger then my jet while the rest of its body seems to be covered in a dark shroud. Its eyes are bright green with trails of dark purple energy trailing away. But what concerns me the most... is the massive red horn on it's head. As I continue to look over what I assume to be Ruptor, he looks over to me and we stare at each other for a few seconds.

FOOOOOOOOSH

---

"Miles." Luna says bitterly as she works on something in the dinning room. I get up from my seat in the living room and walk over to her.

"Luna?" I ask as I look around. How did I get home all of the sudden? Was that a teleportation spell or something? "Luna I-"

"I'm leaving you Miles." She says as she turns to me and tosses her bracelet at me. I fumble to catch it as she walks past me, looking away from me as she holds her head high. "Don't ever talk to me again."

"Wait what?!" I yell as I run in front of her. "What are you talking about? What's going on? Why are you-"

"OUT OF MY WAY FREAK!" She yells as she steps around me. I feel my heart begin to race a bit as I watch her walk out the door-

"Miles..."

"LUNA!" I yell as I run after her. "Hold on, lets talk about this-"

"There is nothing left to talk about. Go back to your hole in the ground and die already you murderer!" Luna spits back.

"Lu-"

"LEAVE!" She yells as she faces me. "Leave before I kill you.... like how you killed my father."

"Miles..."

"Luna... I... I didn't...."

"You didn't what?" She says a she steps towards me, making me step away from her. "You know very well what you did to Tempus. If it weren't for you he'd still be alive and so would my mother. You killed them Miles, and I'm leaving you because of it..."

"Miles... awaken...

"But.... I love you..." I say as tears begin to fall.

"And I'll kill you if you ever come near me again..."

---

I open my eyes slowly as a bone chilling wind roars over me. I look around and find myself slumped over the control panel of my jet. I've seemed to have crashed in the ice. I try to move, but find my limbs too numb to budge.

"Miles..." I look over into the wind and see the shadow of something. I can tell that its a centaur, but other then its basic form I have no clue what it looks like. "Why do you fight?"

"I.... must..."

"I can give you peace. I can guide you home. Just close your eyes.... and sleep." I take a few deep breaths as I feel my eye lid grow heavy. I can feel a warmth grow over me as my eye lids near one another. Sleep... yeah... that sounds...

"No." I whisper as I try to move again. "No... sleep can wait..."

"Why do you defy me? I am your Shepard, listen to me and you shall know ever lasting peace..."

"But there's so much to do. I have to get up... for her." I rasp as I try to move my arms, finding it nearly impossible.

"It'll never end. Everything that will come... everything you will do, why not end it now? Forgo the misery and the pain, follow me to your destiny..."

"Destiny?" I ask blearily as I fumble with the controls.

"Yes. It is all of our destinies that we succumb to death. Take my hand," The figure says as it reaches towards me, revealing a black arm and hand. "Rest awaits you." I stare at the hand for a while, contemplating my choices. Rest... Rest sounds good right about. I'm tired. Cold. Rest sounds like a miracle right now.

"No." I rasp as I put even more effort in trying to get up.

"No?" It asks as it takes its hand back into the icy wind.

"No. You're offering me the easy way out. Nothing gained easily is worth having-"

"You will be miserable. Cause pain and suffering for all those around you-"

"Its okay. The pain, the suffering, we can take it. We have each other, we have our good deeds... good memories, we can take anything. I can't rest now.... I can still make a difference... no rest... no..." I mutter as I feel my energy begin to fail.

"We shall see... but remember. Death... is only the beginning." The figure says as it fades away, only to have a new smaller figure appear behind it.

"MILES!" Shining yells through the wind.

"Sh... Shi...."

"MILES!" He yells again as he gets closer.

"One more fight.... the I can rest.... one.... destiny..."

---

I wake up to the feeling of warmth all around. A thick red blanket is wrapped around me as I lie beside a small fire. It looks like I'm in some kind of icy cave. The only sound I can hear are the crackling of the fire and the outside. I look over to see Shining sitting beside the fire, trying to heat up an apple.

"Shining?" I rasp as I begin to sit up.

"Miles!" He gasps as he runs over to my side and helps me. "I was worried you wouldn't wake up." He jokes as he offers me a canteen. I take it and gulp down the water, loving the warmth it gives me.

"What happened? I remember the dragon... then Luna... she said...."

"Don't worry about that Miles." Shining says as he puts a hoof on my shoulder. "That's what Sombra's power does. It makes you live your greatest fear. It didn't actually happen. Everything is alright..."

"Then was that person talking to me... he sounded... I don't know..."

"What pony? When?"

"He was trying to get me to go to sleep in the jet... did I crash?" I ask as I look up to him.

"Yeah. Luckily you slid in a soft patch of snow, so your flying thing still works... or at least it looks that way." He says as he walks back to the fire and sit besides it.

"What happened? Did Alistair ever show up?" I ask as get up and move closer to the fire. He doesn't answer right away. Instead he just sits there, staring into the fire.

"Yes... yes he did." He says as he stands and moves away from me.

"What happened?"

"Your bots told us you crashed, so I went out to find you. When I left the city limits Ruptor made his move, but Cadence was able to shield him away....that's when Alistair showed up and fought him... he's no longer with us. That was yesterday..."

"Then lets get going." I say as I try to push myself up, only to fall back down.

"You can barely stand, let alone fly that thing-"

"Yeah, but how much longer do you think Cadence can hold that shield against Ruptor?" I ask as I try again, succeeding this time. I give a few test steps before walking around, trying to work out the kinks in my legs. "We cant afford to wait." He sighs as he goes to his bags and pulls out a scarf and... some weird looking glasses.

"We can at least go find your vehicle-"

"Do you know where it is?" I ask as I take the scarf and wrap it around myself.

"Yeah, I left a magical marker so we could find it in the snow storm. Are you sure you can do this?" He asks as we make it to the edge of the cave.

"... I can take it. Lets go." I say as I march out into the icy storm.

---

"Queen Cadence!" One of the maids yells as I fall to the ground of my balcony again.

"I'm fine... just a little tired." I say as I she helps me back to my hooves.

"Using this much magic can't be good for the baby ma'am-"

"I know, but I have to. We cannot allow Ruptor to enter." I say as I look back out to the outskirts of the city. He's been waiting at the edge of my field for the past day, just staring in. I cant believe Miles wasn't able to defeat him.

"Maybe now we should call for the other Alicorns, Celestia and Luna..."

"I can't. I would have to drop the shield in order to send the message..."

"ENEMY DETECTED!" Shout all of the bots around me as they circle around me, encasing me behind their large shields.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

CRASH

The bot behind me buckles back as something crashes into it. The maid runs away calling for the guards as the rest of the bots run to attack the....

"What are you?" I ask as I get a look. It seems to be a being made of dark crystals, in the form of a small dragon. It has long wings and a tail that to end in heavy crystals.

"Where is the crystal heart!" I yells as it charges at me, only to get the bots to jump in the way. They beat it back with their shield and begin to slice and stab at it. I hear the sound of crystals shattering as they continue to beat it

"GIVE ME THE..."

"AHH!" I yell as two more drop behind me, gaining on me quickly. The bots begins to scatter as they engage the other crystal dragons. I look around for a way to escape, but can't find a way out of the carnage... I need Shining here... he would... "AAAAHHHHHH!" I yell as I feel my magic begin to surge. I look back to Ruptor to see him dragging a claw over the shield, cutting through it with total ease.

"PROTECT THE QUEEN!" Yells a guard as the doors fly open, but not before a dragon grabs my horn. He rears up slowly as he lifts me into the air, glaring into my eyes.

"Ruptor." I growl as I feel my magic fail me, making the shield fall.

"Where is the heart?" Ruptor asks through the crystal dragon.

"Somewhere you'll never be able to find it-"

"Then you all shall die." I look back to the real Ruptor to see him begin to charge through the city, galloping straight for us.

SMASH

In the blink of an eye two of the bots had moved beside me and brought their shields up, smashing them against the arm of the dragon and shattering it. I fall to the ground and am instantly surrounded by guards.

"COME WITH US-"

"RUPTOR!" I yell as I jump to my hooves and run to the edge of the balcony. I begin to charge the last of my magic as he continues to charge the castle, destroying anything underneath him as does so.

KA-BOBOOM

From above two trails of smoke flew down and collided with Ruptors face, causing massive explosions that stopped him in his tracks. The white craft from before roars above and pasts Ruptor, getting him to jump into the air and fly after him...

FLASH

"Miss me?" Shining asks as he appears beside me. Before I could do anything he charges his horn and blows away one of the crystal dragons. I look down to the city before I get an idea.

"Shining! We need to get the crystal heart!" I yell as I gallop through the carnage of the fight.

"WAIT WHAT!?"

---

As I jet past Ruptor I stay level for a bit to let Shining teleport to the castle. Once he disappeared I banked away from the city and speed up. Sure enough, he gives chase.

"All Aquilas are to fire on dark target alongside me. I will mark all other target-able points." I say as I turn in enough to see Ruptor. I slide my finger on the hud and cross his wing joints, head, and stomach; leaving red streaks on the hud. "Do not move in front, his attacks are all forward based."

"Copy that."

"Lets do this then." I turn in tight and lock onto his head again. I let loose two missiles before he looks over to me, making me bank right and speed off. I hear the missiles explode as his energy blasts roars behind me. I pitch up and push the throttle even higher, gaining altitude quickly.

I roll over and pull back, facing back towards the ground. I take aim for him again and fire off two of the cluster bombs. The bombs fly down until they're three fourths the way, where they burst open and shoot out dozens of little red lights. The lights whirl around until they all find their way to Ruptor, each exploding against his face and joints. Side winders and clusters don't seem to have an effect on him... I need to try the hull breachers.

As I jet off to the side, trying to avoid his gaze, all of the Aquilas open fire on Ruptor. He breaks off his chase and tries to bite one of the Aquilas as they swarm around him, firing with their chain guns all over him. As I descend I lock onto left wing joint and fire all of my hull breahers. Four green lights chase down to him and collide into his joints, making him roar in pain. I push the throttle up and line up with the base of his back. I pull the flip the switch and pull the trigger as I pull up, sending a massive column of blue energy up his back.

He roars out again as he hits the ground, sending the snow high as he crashes down. I signal for all of the Aquilas to form up on me as I turn back to the Crystal Empire, gaining altitude slightly as I do so.

"All missiles used have been ineffective in destroying the target, further orders sir?" One of the Aquilas informs me.

"Aquila one, patch me through to a legion bot to speak with Shining Armor."

"One moment please... patch made."

"Shining can you hear me?" I ask.

"Miles? Uh... yeah. Did you do it? We've taken care of the smaller dragons here, how's it going with Ruptor?" He says with winded breath.

"Nothing I've used can breach his body, but I have one last resort. I need you to shield off the entire city-"

"The entire city?! Why, what are you doing?"

"What must be done. You have sixty seconds until I fire." I shut off the com link and bank back towards Ruptor, seeing him getting back up. I curse my luck as I see the massive holes on his back begin to regrow."Aquilas three and four, head down there and get him to chase after you. Bring him out about a hundred kilometers before heading straight up."

"Copy that." They both say before jetting off for him. I see him inhale as he looks up to me, so I roll to the left and dodge his energy blast. "Aquila one has been shot down." One of the Aquilas informs me. I look back and see the flaming metal falling towards the ground.

"Understood. Continue on past directives." I say as I race ahead, the dark energy beam chasing after me. The beam suddenly stops when the sound of missiles exploding sounds off. I look over and see Ruptor try to bite the Aquilas as they taunt him. His horn suddenly glows red and the two Aquilas stop mid flight and crumble.

"Shit... this is Spartan one, clear the area for super drop." I say as I slide my finger over the panel and select the super archaic missile.

"Warning. Ordinance selected is a high..."

"Understood. Firing for effect." I say before hitting the button. I feel the jet shift a bit as the large missile drops from below.

---

"...I don't know what he's going to do, he just said to shield the city." I say as I escort Cadence to the balcony, the sound of crystals crushing under our hooves filling the room. We had a few casualties, but thanks to those bots we were able to beat back those dragons.

"I don't like it, but okay. Do it." I flair my horn and shield off the city in a matter of seconds. As I hold the spell up, Cadence goes to the edge and lifts up the crystal heart, getting all of the ponies below to cheer. I walk up beside her and nuzzle her cheek a bit as she teleports it back to its rightful place, getting the city to turn back to crystal. "Did Miles say any-"

Cadence was silenced by a blinding blue light from the horizon. I pull Cadence to the side and shield her from the light when I feel a tremendous amount of energy hit my shield. I push all of the magic within me to keep it up, but feel it begin to crack.

"What is that!" Cadence asks as she latches onto me. As I feel it go to its brink, the energy begins to fade away, leaving my shield up. I look back to see a massive blue mushroom cloud rising up...

"Shining, drop the shield I need to land." The bot behind me says for Miles. Even though I heard it, I didn't do anything. This must of been one of the super archaic missiles Miles spoke of... "Shining!"

"Right... right..." I say as I release the spell, allowing him and two of the other flying machines to enter. "Are you okay?" I ask Cadence as I look down to her.

"Yes but... what was that?" She asks as she looks out to the horizon.

"It... I'll have Miles explain it." I say as I look back to the guards behind me, seeing them all stare out to the horizon. "Escort Miles here after he lands. We need to have a word with him immediately."

---

After another great landing and another friendly escort I enter the court room, finding Cadence and Shining embracing one another again as the rest of the bots surround them. I think two or three are missing while the rest look as if they've been beat to crap. Scratched up shields, bent swords, ones even missing an arm!

"You guys needed to see me?" I say as I glare at the two guards behind me.

"Yes, what was that-"

"I thought you didn't ever want to use those types of weapons!" Shining shouts as he lets go of Cadence and marches towards me.

"I never said I would never use one. My weapons were ineffective against Ruptor. It was the only way. I'm sure all of the living ponies here would agree with me."

"But..."

"Don't worry, other then the massive crater there aren't any other side effects to worry about. Those bots with their Aquilas still active latch back up, the rest of you stay under Cadences orders." I say before turning away from them and begin to walk away.

"Miles." Shining says, getting me to pause. "Not every power should be used, there is a line."

"Line?" I ask as I look back to him. "Let me tell you something about that line. It's not straight. You wanted me to come here to kill him and to protect your people, did I not do that? I didn't want to use that weapon, but that was the only way of defeating him. DO NOT lecture me about holding back. I've held back enough, no more. If you don't want those kind of results then don't ask for my help." I say before marching right out of the room.

Next Chapter: Chapter 146 One Day Estimated time remaining: 51 Hours, 27 Minutes