Chapter Forty Six: Enter the Tyrant.

***

Canterlot Palace. June 6th. Year 6 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2030).

“Finally!” Hell Blazer exclaimed, looking around with a semi-satisfied grin. The group had just burst from a door that led away from the catacombs of Canterlot Palace and into the main chambers, and he had been the first one out. The others were a few steps behind him.

Unfortunately, he found himself bursting out on at least ten Royal Guards, all of whom looked serious and grim.

“Hey!” one of them said angrily. “Who the buck are you?”

Thinking quick, Hell Blazer smirked at them and leant against the doorway that led down to the catacombs.

“I’m John fucking Constantine,” he replied. “Here - have a light on me.”

A split-second later, Hell Blazer jumped forward and threw a fireball in their direction. The Guards dodged, but at least four were too slow and were incinerated instantly. The fireball continued on it’s path of destruction, finally impacting against the wall of the corridor, incinerating a few priceless tapestries and leaving the hall in flames.

One of the Guards, blinking and shaking his head, looked up at the doorway where Hell Blazer had come from - only to find himself facing a silhouetted figure, tall and furious, with a giant two-handed blade in its hands.

“Hi,” David Elliot said angrily. He swung his blade, and the Guard’s head bounced away from his shoulders. That done, Elliot turned to Hell Blazer. “Think you could have managed to not incinerate the way to the astronomy tower?”

“Probably,” Hell Blazer said nonchalantly. “But this was waaay more fun.”

Behind him, the rest of the group appeared. Twilight still looked coldly furious after what they had seen in the dungeons, and Rarity looked sick. Applejack had managed to keep Rainbow and the others from asking precisely what those who had gone into the dark, dingy little cell had seen, but she could tell they were curious. Right behind these ponies came Sir Elise of the Order of Albion, her blade readied, and her knights were close behind her.

Elliot rolled his neck, feeling his anger burning underneath his skin. ever since they had come through the portal, he had been slowly building himself up, trying not to overwhelm his tired body. If before his stint in the mindscape learning how to control the power of Albion had taught him that the power of Albion was water and he a container, he felt now more like a water balloon, expanding as the water entered him. He just hoped he didn’t burst.

“So,” Springfield said, startling Elliot from his thoughts. The Converted was looking out of a nearby window and pointing a hoof. “I think that settles the question of whether the shield is up.”

And sure enough, there it was - a great purple shield surrounding Canterlot, just waiting for any attacks that may or may not then come.

“Well,” Elliot said, sighing. “That gives us less time than I’d hoped. We need to head for the astronomy tower, pronto!”

There was a commotion from the other end of the corridor. Two dozen Royal Guard Unicorns appeared, eyes wide with shock at the destruction, before they noticed the little group of humans and ponies. Before any of them could act, Sir Elise drew a pistol and shot one, before readying her blade.

“For Albion, brothers and sisters!” she yelled. “Charge!”

Before anypony could stop them, the knights of Albion charged forward down the corridor, blades flashing. One of the brave warriors was hit by a spell, promptly getting knocked off of his feet and into a wall, before slumping to the floor, still as stone. The rest of the knights, however, reached the Guards and a moment later a swirling, bloody melee had begun.

“Go, my liege!” Sir Elise called over the melee. “We will hold these here!”

“The Astronomy tower is this way,” Twilight said, pointing in the opposite direction.

“Those knights just held off Solamina’s cavalry,” Hell Blazer said, with a wide grin at the irony of referring to equines as ‘the cavalry’. “Knew those crazy wankers were good for something.”

Elliot cursed. He didn’t like leaving good fighters to die - but he knew he didn’t have a choice. Still… he didn’t need to leave them to die alone with no help.

He span Excalibur once in his hand, before planting the tip in the floor with a loud crack. A bolt of light shot across the floor, and where it struck Royal Guard, they would scream and flail as though being attack by many stinging bees. More bolts of light shot up from the floor.

“Albion!” one knight called. “Albion stands! He fights with us!” With that simple proclamation the entire group cheered.

“For Albion!” another man yelled. “For Avalon!”

Elise stepped back from the melee briefly, turning to Elliot. She raised her blade in salute. He saluted her with Excalibur in return, before turning to Twilight.

“Lead on, Lieutenant,” he said.

“This way,” she said grimly. She ran off up some stairs, the other newcomer-ponies right behind her. Elliot span his blade and followed, followed swiftly by Hell Blazer, Springfield and the Doctor.

They didn’t have much time at all.

***

Solamina’s Chambers, Canterlot Palace.

“My lady,” came a quiet voice at the edge of her consciousness.

Empress Solamina opened her eyes. For the entirety of this day, she had been feeling… strange. As though someone were with her, talking to her… but there was nopony else in the room. This had perturbed her, and she had spent several days in seclusion, trying to get a sense for what the presence might be.

…monsteryouareanabominationIwillseeyou…

“My lady!” the voice repeated.

“Yes?” she asked calmly, turning to look at the pony who had entered her chambers. Sure enough, Commander Sparkle was there, looking worried. “Twilight? What is the matter?”

“The enemy!” Sparkle replied. “It’s as you predicted my lady - they’re invading! A large air force is en route to the city!”

“It matters not,” Solamina said with a shrug. “The Archmagi shield will hold them.”

“That isn’t all, my lady,” Sparkle continued. “There are reports of fighting in the lower levels - some sort of infiltration team. They may attempt to attack the Archmagi.”

Solamina raised an eyebrow. “I see.” She smiled, a soft, comforting and yet at the same time utterly chilling thing. “Worry not, my faithful student. I have a surprise for any air force bold enough to assail the city… and as for the intruders…” She grinned, almost hungrily. “I have longed to take to the field for a long, long time. I think now is as good a time as any.”

Sparkle bowed. “My lady.”

Solamina rose, moving to the door. As she did so, however, she turned to look down at Sparkle.

“In case these intruders are more persistent than I imagine,” she said quietly, “I would like you to wake her up.”

Sparkle’s eyes widened. “We have never…”

“This is a desperate time, my faithful Twilight,” Solamina cut her off sharply. “We may need her.”

Sparkle bowed again. “As you command, my lady.”

Solamina smiled, and then she left the room. As she did so, however, she felt an odd twinge of something…

…youwillpayforwhatyouhavedoneyoumonsterIwill…

She shook her head. Nothing was wrong. She was in control.

And now… now she would be able to show just how in control she truly was.

***

Sky above Canterlot.

In the air, the Interdiction was at the head of a large attack force - a combination of attack helicopters and transport helicopters flew through the sky towards Canterlot, just waiting to attack the city. The transports were filled with soldiers, armed to the teeth and itching to finally exact revenge on the enemy for six years of brutal, unending conflict and two years before that of fear and uncertainty. Ponies were itching to reclaim their homeland from madness and finally earn, in their minds, the right to come home.

The transports were bulky, armoured machines, looking like tanks in the air and easily capable of standing up to the worst that Solamina’s forces could throw at them. The attack copters were a different, and altogether more ramshackle affair. Some of them were military - attack helicopters salvaged from a half dozen armies. Others were entirely different affairs, civilian helicopters repurposed and often lightly armed. Still, everyone in those machines was ready to give their all.

Surrounding this fleet were the ponies of the ERAF, every single one of them ready to defend the machines with everything they had. Grey Squadron, as the senior ranking group in the air (by virtue of Group Captain Errant Flight being the head of the Squadron) were at the head of the formation.

They could see Canterlot up ahead - the city was as beautiful and radiant as it ever had been, but everypony in the air knew it was a facade - the truth of the matter was a far darker, far more insidious affair. It was a city now propped up by Converted labour and fanaticism, mixed with fear and lies. Tearing it down - metaphorically and, if necessary, literally - would be the greatest of pleasures.

“Shield hasn’t gone down yet,” somepony said on the comms, probably a member of one of the other Squadrons. “That can’t be good.”

Errant Flight didn’t reply, but truth be told, that worried him too.

“Interdiction One, do we have an ETA on that shield coming down?” he asked, trying to sound calm. He knew it was a longshot - Elliot’s group could never have had any comm equipment, and they were the only ones who would know for certain when the shield falling would actually happen.

“That’s a negative,” came the voice of Green Grass, the Interdiction’s Captain and the stallion in charge of coordinating the air assault from the captured Zeppelin. “If we get there before it’s down, we’ll have to hold up here.”

“That’ll leave us pretty exposed, One,” Grey Fox of Upsilon Squadron pointed out. “I don’t like our chances if they notice we’re up here.”

“I think they’ll have already bucking noticed,” Dream Flyer pointed out drily. “We’ve enough flyers and copters up here to level Canterlot three times over. They’d have to be bucking blind to not notice.”

Errant suddenly had a sickening feeling in his gut as he saw something in the distance. “Horsefeathers.”

“What?” Interdiction One asked. “Grey Leader, what’s wrong?”

“Everypony!” Errant yelled, ignoring him, “all flyers, all copters, everyone - hostile air forces are en route!”

At first, nopony knew what Errant was on about - but then they saw them, slow and sure and deliberate. A fleet of war-zeppelins appeared, their brass and gold gondolas and skeletons and their heavily decorated balloons glinting in the sunshine. They were slowly heading on an intercept course for the BDF and Resistance fleet.

And speeding away from this zeppelin fleet like an army of angry, golden bees, Errant could see an army of Royal Guard Pegasi, spears and armour shining in the sunlight as they flew towards the Resistance Air Fleet at full pelt.

“Everypony get ready to fight!” Errant yelled, flipping his blades out and accelerating to attack speed. “It’s a trap!”

***

Train from Ponyville, en route to Canterlot.

Sir Eric was not a patient man - or at least, he was not a patient man when it came to battle. To know that his brothers and sisters under Sir Elise, and the Avatar himself, were fighting in Canterlot, and that many hundreds of their fellow warriors were in the air above the city, filled him with a sense of…

Fear.

Not fear of action - he never feared action. No, he feared failure. He feared failing the Avatar’s trust in him and his Order, failing his brothers in arms. That was a failure worse than death.

With that in mind, he had made his way to the steam-engine itself, intent on monitoring the progress of the train directly from there. The train was being driven by two ponies. One was Sir Bold Travail, a grey Unicorn with a compass rose cutie mark not unlike Prince Blueblood’s. The pony had armour on reminiscent of Night Guard armour save for it’s bright silver colour, and he looked worried.

The other pony was one of the original train drivers, who had been… coerced into helping by Sir Eleanor. He was a dull brown Earth Pony, and he looked thoroughly sullen.

“How long will this train take to get to where we’re going?” Eric asked.

“Not sure, Sir Eric,” Travail said grimly. “It has been a long time since I travelled by train.”

“Something like half an hour at the speed we’re going,” the driver said quietly and sullenly. “But you won’t be able to get in.”

“This train will be admitted through the shield,” Eric pointed out. “We know that.”

“That’s not the point,” the driver said quietly, now smirking. “You won’t be able to get in because this train hasn’t sent it’s ‘safe’ signal.”

Eric’s blood suddenly ran cold. “What?”

Before the driver could elaborate, there was a loud banging noise. Eric turned and looked behind him at the rest of the train, to see Pegasi Royal Guards flying over the train. Several of them landed on the roof, looking angry.

“We’ve been boarded!” Eric yelled as loudly as he could. “Knights, to arms!”

Before he could jump to aid his brothers and sisters in their fight, two Pegasi landed in the cabin.

“Oh thank Solamina!” the driver exclaimed. “You’re here to rescue -”

A spear lodged itself in his chest. He had a moment to look down at it in shock before the owner pushed him and it out of the cabin and off the train, to roll pitifully down a hill. Eric cursed and cut down the offending Pegasus with a single sweep of his sword..

Nearby, Sir Bold Travail dodged the ill-judged spear-thrust of his foe, and sing his horn whipped his blade out to meet his opponent’s throat. The Pegasus gurgled and fell away, and Bold Travail grinned.

“Can you keep this thing driving?!” Eric asked the Unicorn, keeping alert.

“Sure I can,” Travail grinned. “I can even keep the cabin shielded from them using my magic.”

“Good,” Eric said grimly. He turned back to the main part of the train. “When I get out of the cabin, start shielding. Don’t take it down until I return.”

He spun his sword once, and vaulted up onto the first carriage. Behind him, Bold Travail raised a shimmering pale shield between himself and the rest of the world, and Eric grinned before heading into the first carriage.

Royal Guards had broken the windows and were battling several of Eric’s knights - the tight quarters made it difficult to move their weapons effectively, at once nullifying the humans’ advantage of pistols and other ranged weaponry and the Equestrian advantage of numbers. Eric whipped his pistol out and fired once, managing to get one of the pegasi, but another one jumped at him, smashing his hoof into Eric’s chestplate. Grunting, Eric threw him off before drawing his sword and stabbing the pony where he lay.

Nearby, he could see Sir Gregor fall with a spear lodged in his chest. Growling, Eric whipped out his throwing knife and threw it straight at the pony responsible, impaling the cretinous Guard in the eye. The leader of the Holy Order grunted in satisfaction as the Guard fell to the ground with a soft thump.

Sir Jason sans Le Argonauts was wrestling with another pony - but this one had whipped out a potion bottle. Before Jason could react, it had been splashed in his face. Yelling, the knight threw his attacker off, grabbed his sword and - even as his flesh began sloughing off and Eric could hear the cracking of bones, a sure sign that the fell magic had worked it’s way past Albion’s blessing - stabbed his enemy. Letting the sword stick in the body of the Guard, Jason opened one of the doors to the carriage and, with a yell, threw himself out before anyone could stop him.

Eric cursed. This carriage was clear, but all of his warriors here had fallen. He moved on.

The next carriage saw things fare slightly better - one Pegasus was repelled by Sir Meredith as he attempted to enter through a window, the woman pushing the Guard away and to his death with a triumphant yell. Sir Quincy was less lucky, a spear pinning him to the floor as it’s owner entered the carriage with a triumphant grin that quickly died as Eric advanced upon him, his blade flashing down and cutting the Guard open from neck to hoof.

“How goes it?” he asked Meredith with a grin.

“These bastards are cowards,” the knight replied, spitting on one of the bodies. “Rather than fight us fairly they’d prefer to ambush us.”

“Just another reason why we’ll prevail,” Eric assured her. “They can’t possibly stand up to the might of the Knights of Albion!”

Nodding, Meredith turned to aid another knight who was dueling several Guards. Eric dodged past the melee to enter the third of the ten carriages they had commandeered - only to find himself dodging as a Pegasus charged the door. The unwitting creature flew straight past him and impaled one of his own, and Meredith stabbed him in the throat before he could react.

Grinning, Eric turned to enter the next carriage, where he saw Sir Eleanor happily behead another pony. She nodded tersely to him before returning to the fray. Eric cursed as he noted the bodies of Sir Jared and Sir Leto, but Sir Isaac, Sir Richard and Sir Paul were all still fighting.

“Keep at it!” he called to them, moving past the melee and slaying a Guard as he went. “We must hold the train until we reach Canterlot!”

“Yes, my liege!” Eleanor called. “For Albion!”

The other knights returned the cry as Eric moved on to the next carriage.

This would be a long train ride.

***

Sky above Canterlot.

“Grey Six, cover me, cover me!”

“Stay low, here they come!”

“I’m hit!”

“Upsilon Leader to Upsilon Two and Three, follow me in, we’re gonna disrupt that line!”

The battle over Canterlot was utter chaos - the Resistance flyers, Royal Guards and the various Equestrian and Resistance aircraft flew in amongst each other in a large, confusing melee that was so tangled that if it had been string, the entire ball would have been consigned to the bin as unfixable.

Errant dodged under at least five Royal Guards who flew overhead, tracer fire from a speedy helicopter chasing them dashing past him, clipping one of them even as he watched.

This could definitely have qualified as one of the nastiest melees he had ever been involved in during his career in the ERAF.

“Grey Squadron, sound off, how we doing?!” he yelled, looking around. There were so many flyers in the air that even his HUD was confused.

"This is Grey Eight! Hostiles on my flank!" came the voice of Pure Heart, who sounded panicky. "Repeat - multiple hostiles on my...!"

Her voice was cut off. Errant looked around, trying to see where she had gone, but he heard nothing. A moment later, the heavy-sounding voice of Fell Spear spoke.

"This is Grey Six - Eight is down." He sounded surprisingly unemotional. "I'm engaging hostiles."

"Roger," Errant said, cursing under his breath. "One flight, form up."

“Grey Two, coming up on your nine, Grey Lead,” came Dream Flyer’s voice at once.

“Grey Three, on your five,” Ditzy added, sounding almost preternaturally calm about the whole thing.

“The enemy airships look to be keeping their distance,” Flyer noted as she pulled up behind Errant. He felt oddly focused considering the fact that he had lost a member of his squadron, something that usually made him lose control. Still, he felt angry: he glared at the zeppelins in the distance, as though that alone might incinerate them. None of them were super-zeppelins - for which Errant was extremely thankful - but that didn’t stop them from being pains in the plot. They were firing bolts of magic relentlessly at the BDF air fleet, and while the human helicopters were more maneuverable than the bulky zeppelins, they were still taking casualties.

“Is there anything we can do about those things?” Ditzy asked.

“It’d take more than one squadron to do it, and there’s too many,” Errant replied. “Keep on my six - we need to thin the ranks of this bucking Guard first.”

“Roger, Grey Lead,” Dream Flyer acknowledged smartly.

“Roger, Grey Lead,” Ditzy repeated, though she sounded less sanguine about it than Dream Flyer.

“Grey Squadron,” Errant said, “meet up near the Interdiction and then prepare to corkscrew through the enemy.”

A chorus of affirmatives reached Errant’s ears. He began heading back in the direction of the Interdiction, the others on his tail. As he did so, he caught sight of a transport helicopter going down, Royal Guard Pegasi surrounding it, the ponies of Sigma Squadron trying in vain to fight them off.

“Get that shield down sharpish, Elliot,” he said quietly. “Because I don’t know how much longer we have up here.”

***

Canterlot Palace.

Elliot swung Excalibur in a sharp downward arc, cutting down another Guard. The group were being bogged down in Guards as they got closer to the Archmagi chambers: this corridor was right near a set of stairs that led directly to the Astronomy tower, but getting there was proving to be harder than the group could have foreseen.

Still: Elliot found that these ponies were no challenge. The power was continuing to build, and the more powerful he became, the less threatening his enemies were. One Unicorn threw a spell at him, and he held out his hand, deftly catching the bolt, before throwing it back in the direction it had come, striking the Guard with his own fire spell and incinerating him.

“Come on!” he yelled angrily. “Aren’t you bastards going to give me at least a little challenge?! I came here for a fucking fight!”

He span Excalibur in his hand, pointing it at a wall, and a bolt of energy lashed out, exploding near some Guards and sending them flying. He grinned.

The rest of the group were having similar fortune. He could see Pinkie Pie, her party cannon firing so rapidly that he could have sworn it was starting to glow from overheating. Applejack was bucking the Guards into next week, her face thunderous. A few feet from her Twilight Sparkle was glaring at the ponies she was fighting, her blade whipping out and lashing across limbs and throats so quickly that Elliot almost couldn’t see it.

Further along the corridor, Rainbow Dash had taken to switching between flying attacks and ground fighting, her blades spinning around in a blur. Fluttershy was right next to her, and Elliot was actually surprised at how good she was - he had seen this world’s Fluttershy fight, of course, but even she had never been so… relentless. Clearly Fluttershy was determined not to allow the Empire to win.

Past them, Hell Blazer was throwing fireballs in the direction of anypony who came too close to him, and the Doctor had taken to performing an odd sort of martial art, his limbs moving like a blur. None of the ponies he was fighting seemed to have been killed, but it sure didn’t look like any of them would get up again in a hurry. Finally, Elliot could see Rarity - she had pulled back, and was firing spells in the direction of the approaching enemy forces, her horn glowing as she sent sharp precision bolts at Guard after Guard - where they struck, the target would fall with a tiny hole drilled in their heads.

“Down!” he suddenly heard Desert Wind yell, and he ducked out of the firing line just as the pony let rip with his P220. The minigun tore through a good half dozen Guards, shredding them with a relentless hail of fire, before jamming again. Cursing, the Earth Pony stepped back. Behind him stood Springfield, who had been acting as his steadier. Still, the firepower had cleared a little bit of the way.

Elliot stepped out and brought Excalibur up above his head, facing off against a corridor of Guards charging their way.

“You shall not pass!” he yelled, before bringing the blade towards, smashing it against the tiled floor. A shockwave of energy rolled towards the Guards, blasting several of them out of the way - some were blown through windows, some into walls. The rest kept charging, but a hail of spells from the three Unicorns and a fireball from Hell Blazer soon cleared them.

“Up here!” Twilight yelled, racing up the stairs. As she ran, more Guards came around the corridor, but Elliot aimed a hand at them, firing a bolt of golden energy that blasted the base of a pillar away. the marble pillar slowly fell across the corridor, crushing two Guards under it’s weight.

“Come on!” Twilight yelled. “We don’t have much time!”

***

Gilded Seal of the Archmagi sent another bolt of magic into the giant focusing crystal in the centre of the Observatory. It was tiring, but the golden Unicorn refused to fail Commander Sparkle now.

Seal had long harboured a desire to be recognised for his magical potential - when the invitation to join the Archmagi had come barely a year ago, he couldn’t help but feel… proud. Finally, somepony was recognising that he, Gilded Seal, was somepony worth something. And now, he couldn’t imagine any life other than working under Commander Sparkle, the highest of Archmagi and Empress Solamina’s most trusted commander.

The focusing crystal had been one of Sparkle’s finest ideas. Shining Armour had formerly been the only Unicorn strong enough to create a shield that could surround Canterlot: with his assignment as a field commander - and later his death - finding some way to protect the city in case of attack was a challenge. The crystal - a piece of Crystal Empire technology leant to the Solaminan Empire by Princess Cadence and Shining Armour, along with the Crystal Golems (two of which were standing guard at the door) - was designed to focus the power of multiple Unicorns, in this case the highest tier of the Archmagi, and use it to cast the spell at a strength rivalling (and if Seal wanted to brag, exceeding) the power of Armour’s spell itself.

“Look at them,” one of his colleagues, Noble Bright, said, pointing a hoof at the battle raging in the air above Canterlot. "They honestly think they have a chance."

"Let them think that," Gilded Seal replied with a grin as he observed the battle through the opening in the observatory dome. "So long as we're here, there is nothing those fools can do to…”

The door to the chamber burst open. A figure stepped inside, faster than thought, and slashed the two Crystal Golems with a long blade. The two great golems shattered, before collapsing to the floor in piles of broken crystal, creating a slight dust cloud as they fell. From this cloud stepped the figure: a human in dark jacket, battered trousers and boots, holding a sword at least as long as himself with a glare on his face. Gilded Seal stepped back in shock and horror at how easily the crystalline monstrosities had been laid low so easily.

“Alright you Archmagi bastards,” the figure said angrily, holding the blade out in challenge in one arm, extending it towards them. “I’m the goddamn Avatar of Albion. Come at me!”

***

Sir Elise swung her blade, cutting through another Guard. Her five remaining warriors fought alongside her, each of them killing Guard after Guard. unfortunately, Elise could tell that they were beginning to tire: this would be a hard fight indeed. They had already been pushed back, step by bloody step, and though they had made their enemies pay for every one, it was still telling on them.

“Keep fighting!” she yelled, gritting her teeth as she parried a blow from another Guard. “For Albion!”

“Albion,” a regal feminine voice said, “cannot save you now.”

The Royal Guards suddenly stopped fighting, falling back away from the Knights of Albion. And then… there she was, wreathed in a bright light… and yet she herself was a shadow, silhouetted by her own radiance. Suddenly, golden glows surrounded all of the knights except Elise.

“You are spares,” the regal voice said quietly. “I have no need of spares.”

Every single one of the knights was crushed, the magical glow that surrounded them constricting until their bodies broke, bones snapping audibly. They were then unceremoniously thrown through the nearby wall, which was smashed to rubble under the impact. They hadn’t even had time to scream. Elise shielded her eyes, before spinning her blade, spitting on the floor. Her brothers and sisters in arms had been murdered, but she had been spared - which meant the beast had need of her.

“Come on then, monster!” she said, smirking. “I’ll take you on!”

“That,” the creature said, “would be unnecessary.”

A splash of potion hit Elise’s face. She grimaced… and then she smiled when the vile potion boiled on her skin and turned to harmless steam. The blessing of Albion still protected her.

“Your vile magics can’t affect me, monster,” she said to the creature, smirking even as the thing approached her. Suddenly she felt herself rise into the air: she was trapped within the same golden light that had crushed her comrades.

“How unfortunate,” Solamina said quietly, her voice a sibilant hiss. “For you.”

There was a rush of air, a jarring impact and the sound of shattering glass. Elise suddenly found herself flying out of a window. She had less than a minute to notice the ground below her before it rushed up to meet her...

***

Elliot cut down another of the Archmagi with a grimace. He held up a hand and blocked a bolt of energy from two of the unicorn mages, before reflecting the energy back in their direction. Another bolt glanced off of him and he returned it with one of his own.

Twilight and the others had entered after him, hot on his heels. Twilight’s appearance had elicited gasps from some of the Archmagi, but by now the shock had worn off and she had been forced to fight them as hard as the others. Most of the group had stayed outside the room, while Rarity and Springfield had taken pot-shots at the Archmagi from behind the cover of the doorway, but Applejack and Rainbow Dash had refused to let Twilight go in alone and were fighting with the Archmagi inside.

The Archmagi might have been combat magi, but they were comparatively lacking in hoof-to-hoof skill and very quickly it was clear that they were hopelessly outmatched. Still, they kept fighting with the zeal that one would expect from Solaminan fanatics.

Eventually, however, the last mage fell, slain by Elliot, who brought Excalibur back up into a guard as the others entered the room. There were two entrances to the great room - the one they had used, where the two Crystal golems had been standing, and a second, smaller entrance on the opposite side. From here, you could see the entirety of Canterlot.

“Close the door,” Elliot said.

“Gotcha,” came Pinkie’s voice, and she and the Doctor closed the main doors. They were a little battered but still closed well enough.

“There,” the Doctor said. “We shouldn’t be disturbed.”

“Why?” Pinkie asked. “Are we holding a ‘do not disturb’ party?”

“Not quite,” the Doctor replied drily. He walked over to join the others, who had congregated around the giant, multi-faceted crystal that dominated the room. Pinkie followed, ‘oo’ing slightly at the giant gem.

“So,” Elliot said, eyeing the crystal warily. “How to deal with this… thing.”

“What is it?” Applejack asked with a frown.

“Apart from gorgeous you mean?” Rarity commented, her eye roving over the crystal appreciatively.

“You never change, do ya Rare?” Rainbow commented with a grin. Rarity smiled.

“I’ve changed more than I’d like,” she replied grimly.

“We all have,” Fluttershy added.

“Less chatter, thank you,” Hell Blazer said scathingly, looking at the crystal with a glare. “I reckon you’ll need to smash it, Dave.”

“Yeah,” Elliot said quietly. “I reckon you’re right.”

“You can’t just break it,” Twilight argued, frowning at the two of them. “It’s an unknown magical artefact. Breaking it could have dire consequences - we don’t know…”

But Elliot wasn’t listening - he brought Excalibur high above his head, and with a yell, swung the blade down, a golden glow enveloping it as he swung. The moment it made contact with the crystal there was a blinding light and a sound not unlike a scream of pain, and a moment later, it dimmed, a cavernous, smoking hole in it’s side.

“Look!” Hell Blazer said, pointing at the nearest window. Sure enough, the shield had begun failing. A moment later, it began cracking… and a moment later, it collapsed altogether, raining harmless magical shards across the city of Canterlot…

***

Sky above Canterlot.

Errant Flight slashed a Guard across the back as he flew, swearing under his breath as he dodged a bolt from one of the zeppelins firing at him.

"This is Grey Leader!" he yelled. "What's everypony's status!"

"I've got one on my tail!" Lily Picker yelled, panicking. "Help, somepony!"

"Calm down, Grey Eleven, I'm on him," Dark Wing's voice spoke reassuringly.

Errant searched the sky for them, frowning slightly. He cursed when he saw them: Dark Wing was definitely on the tail of the pony chasing Lily Picker, but all three of them were coming into range of an Equestrian Zeppelin.

"Four, Eleven, watch out!" he yelled, but it was too late: a hail of magical missiles fired from the Zeppelin, and they caught both Lily Picker and Dark Wing, who twisted in mid-air as the bolts ripped through them before falling from the air. "Pony-Goddammit!"

"Grey Leader?!" came Ditzy's voice. "What's happened?"

"We just lost Four and Eleven," Errant snarled angrily. "And I'm not losing any more!"

He kicked himself into overdrive, heading straight for the Zeppelin in question. "This is Grey Leader to any flyers and any aircraft - I am engaging the Zeppelin..." He paused as he got it's name. "Eternal Sun, repeat, the Eternal Sun. Requesting backup, but even without it I'm bringing that bucker down for killing my flyers!"

“This is Grey Two, I’m with you Errant,” Dream Flyer said.

“Grey Three, en route,” Ditzy added.

"This is Grey Six," came the voice of Fell Spear. “I am coming up on your position now. With you all the way.”

“Upsilon Leader here,” added Grey Fox, who flew up on Errant’s left with at least half his squadron. “I’ve got some ponies here itching to kill something bigger than a Guard.”

Another voice spoke. “Sigma Five here, I’m near the Eternal Sun anyway…”

Slowly, something like thirty ponies from five squadrons - and three attack helicopters - pulled together, promising to help Errant in bringing the Eternal Sun down.

Errant grinned as the little force assembled around him. “Alright everypony - everybody - let’s go kick their flank!”

The ad-hoc group surged through the sky - rockets flew from the helicopters, striking the gondola of the Eternal Sun - the reinforced gondola survived, but there were definite signs of buckling. A moment later, the ponies of Grey Squadron and the others swarmed the thing, several of them landing on the gondola and engaging the ponies who manned it. Errant himself landed near the gangway leading to the bridge, Dream Flyer and Ditzy right near him.

“Come on!” he yelled, charging up the gangway. The handful of Earth Pony crew who stood in his way were no match for him in this furious mood, and he cut them down with ease. A moment later, he burst onto the bridge, barrelling headlong into the Captain of the Eternal Sun and impaling the stallion in the chest.

Behind him he could hear the sound of Dream Flyer and Ditzy hacking away at the bridge crew, but he didn’t move to help them, his eyes wide and shocked. He stepped off of the Captain and looked down, to see a dagger lodged somewhere in his chest. He pulled it out with little effort - the wound wasn’t fatal… but it was bleeding heavily.

“Grey Leader?” he heard the voice of Dream Flyer speak. He didn’t say anything, instead looking up to look out of the window. He could see Canterlot, the shining city he had fled from all those years ago…

And he smiled.

“The shield,” he said quietly.

“Sir?” Dream Flyer asked, and her voice sounded distant.

“The shield is down,” Errant said. He tapped his comm. “Interdiction One, come in! The shield is down!”

“We see it, Grey Leader,” Green Grass replied. “All flyers, cover the transports while they land!”

Errant turned, to go, only to find himself suddenly feeling weak. He looked down at the wound again and smiled slightly, even as he saw Ditzy and Dream Flyer move towards him.

“Errant!” Dream Flyer yelled. He didn’t answer, suddenly feeling immensely tired. Maybe a nap would be a good idea…

***

Canterlot.

In the streets of Canterlot there was panic and terror as the shield collapsed. Guards quickly mustered, Sergeants and officers yelling orders as the great barrier fell away. Civilians ran to their assigned shelters - shelters that, until now, had only been a theoretical necessity and not a practical one.

Amongst the panicking and screaming, there was a single golden unicorn who did not seem afraid. He grinned slightly as he saw the shield fall - not because he approved of the failure of Solamina’s arts, but because he approved of fate giving him the chance to battle Her enemies in the flesh and finally bring Her righteous fire to them.

His name was Sol Invictus - a long time ago, he had been a Catholic priest in the Vatican on Earth, though he had long forgotten his old human name. He had been well known amongst his parish and his diocese for his faith, but as the Barrier had approached the Vatican City, the faith he held in the old God had failed him and he had taken the potion. After that… everything had become oh so very clear to him. He had served a false God, a shadow of nothing, the whisper of a race that had become abhorrent in it’s faithlessness. Now he was a pony, a servant of a different god - or rather goddess - one who had denied her divinity for too long, but - with gentle nudging from Invictus - accepted her role as the Celestial Sun-Empress Triumphant, Astra Solamina Maxima.

He was Sol Invictus, the servant of the sun made manifest on this good world, and by Her divinity he would bring fire to the enemies of Equestria.

***

Elliot leant against a wall, breathing heavily. For some reason, using Excalibur - mixed with a tiny fragment of the Avatar’s power - had taken it out of him.

“You alright, Dave?” Hell Blazer asked.

“Fine John,” he replied tiredly. “Just… tired.”

“What now?” Twilight asked, looking at the tired man with concern in her eyes.

“We need to link up with the forces that are landing in the city,” the Doctor put in, looking out of the window. “They may require some assistance from Elliot.”

“Agreed,” Elliot said quietly. “Everypony ok?”

“I’m fine,” Twilight said with a slight smile, though it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Okie dokie, over here,” Pinkie added, waving a hoof. “Though not so much lokie.”

“Also fine,” Rarity added. “Though eager to be gone from here.”

“Same,” Rainbow said. She looked up in the sky. “I’m worried about the Pegasi squadrons - d’you think they’re ok up there?”

“I hope so,” Fluttershy said quietly from next to her.

“We can’t help them now,” Elliot said quietly. “We need to go. Come on - let’s get going.”

The group headed for the main doors as quickly as they could.

Suddenly, the door burst open again, the double doors slamming outwards sharply as though struck by great force. A figure, framed by light, was silhouetted in the doorway, staring at the group with narrow, glowing eyes.

Elliot stared at the doorway, his own eyes wide. The others stayed behind him, expressions of combined awe and fear on their faces.

"It's her," Twilight whispered, her words a breath on the air.

"Twilight, take the team and complete the mission," Elliot said at once, spinning Excalibur once in his hand and pointing it at the silhouette in challenge.

"But..." the purple Unicorn began, but a look from Elliot silenced her. Reluctantly, she headed for the other entrance.

"Come on guys," she said to the team. "This isn't our fight."

She raced off, leaving Elliot alone, facing off against the figure that was only now stepping into the room. He moved to block her line of sight to the team as they jogged out of the room, but she only had eyes for the man himself.

She was tall, elegant and powerful, clad in golden armour that crackled with unknown energies and wielding a giant glaive in the grip of her magic. Her ethereal mane and tail calmly waved in a breeze of their own. Her wings were extended out in a display of challenge, and her glowing eyes were fixed on Elliot, appraising him. She smirked at something.

In response, the Avatar glared at her as she stepped into the room, his eyes narrowing balefully at her. If looks could kill, she would have been obliterated. The energy that surrounded Excalibur extended beyond the blade, enveloping his form, and a moment later his silver-armoured form stood against the armoured Alicorn, Excalibur crackling with power as he kept it levelled at her in challenge.

"So," she began. "You are the Avatar of Albion. The one they claim can destroy me."

"I am," the Avatar replied simply.

"You know you cannot defeat me," she said, her voice betraying her anger. "Nothing can."

"I can," the man replied, spinning Excalibur once in his hand, before bringing his second hand up and standing in a battle ready stance. "It is my destiny, my purpose. The lives you have destroyed call for vengeance, for retribution. Your people scream in horror for the things you have forced them to endure. The souls of the Converted lie shattered at your hoof. For them, I will claim vengeance."

Solamina laughed, a cruel, mocking sound.

"You think it is you of all beings who will stand against me?" she said, her tone darkly amused. "You can barely stand up."

"I have strength enough in this form for this," the Avatar said, not flinching, not even moving, the massive ornate Zweihander held up still, pointed directly at the monstrous Empress. "I have fought your mockeries and slain your Captains. Now, Astra Solamina Maxima, former Celestia, I will finish what I started."

Solamina snorted. "You will finish something little man - your pathetic life. I will take great pleasure in mounting your severed head on a spike and putting it before the people of your home, the final proof that their cause is hopeless."

"There is always hope," the man said, a soft smile forming on his face. He span the Zweihander, faster than one could imagine such a massive blade moving, and then aimed it at her again. "To the death, creature."

"To the death," Solamina replied, snorting. And then she charged...

***

Author's Notes:

IT. IS. OOOOONN!!!

(Thanks once again to The Void and RoyalPsycho. Thanks to the commenters and favouriters. Keep your eyes peeled - SHIT IS GETTIN' REAL!)