Chapter Forty Eight: Clash of the Titans.

***

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

For a long moment, the Avatar of Albion stared up at Solamina, an unreadable expression on his face. Wind blew slightly, and his hair was stirred, and he looked down at the floor of the ruined Astronomy tower as though deep in thought.

“Nothing to say, little man?” the Sun Tyrant asked with a mocking chuckle. “No quips? No jokes? No mockery?” He remained silent, that same look on his face, and Solamina laughed, a cold, cruel thing that echoed through the air. "I thought not. You're nothing but hot air."

“I have one thing to say,” the Avatar replied suddenly, looking up, and a small smile had now formed on his face. “You are a fool.”

“How so?” Solamina asked, her own smile gone, replaced with narrowed eyes and an expression of contempt.

“You think the sky is yours,” the Avatar said with a grin, raising Excalibur and pointing it straight at Solamina. “But look to your own skies - mankind is here, waiting for you!”

Solamina looked to her left, and saw with wide eyes the fleet of human aircraft flying in the skies of Canterlot, locked in their deadly dance with her own air fleet. She snarled in frustration: so many humans! She would be at the business of killing them for hours yet!

"They are as nothing to me," she growled, turning her attention back to the Avatar. "And you are trapped down there, helpless before my might!"

"Do you not understand yet, Tyrant?" the Avatar retorted, spreading his arms wide as if trying to show her something that was standing right in front of her.

"Understand what, little man?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

“You were born to the sky," the Avatar answered, and she looked back at him to see a golden glow enveloping him, "and you are as comfortable in it as you would be walking on the ground." He grinned. "But humanity... we conquered the sky! We broke it’s back over our knees! The sky is no more an obstacle to me than breathing itself. I am mankind, their chosen Avatar, and as we conquered the sky, I shall conquer you!”

With that, he pushed off of the ground, floating like a feather caught in the breeze, before directing himself to head in her direction, moving as swiftly as she had, though with perhaps a tad less grace or practice. He glided up to meet her, swinging Excalibur into another guard stance as he did so.

“You are a fool,” he said quietly. “And now you shall fall.”

She took a moment to stare at him as he ascended into the sky, but then - to his surprise - she smiled, through her eyes lost none of the malice they held.

“Interesting,” she said quietly, nodding slowly. “You are clearly even more powerful than I had first envisioned: more daring too, to challenge an Alicorn Empress in the sky. That will not save you, however - your demise is assured no matter what you do.” She spread her wings wide, and the glaive she held with her magic span in mid-air, as though she were flexing her magical muscles. “Prepare to taste the full power of Astra Solamina Maxima, you little fool!”

Her horn glowed with power. Dark clouds began forming, the sun - which had, before this, been bright and clear - now blotted out. There was a distant rumbling, which crept closer and closer to Canterlot until, finally, a single lightning bolt lashed out from the heavens, striking Solamina’s horn. She didn’t even flinch - instead, she grinned as power began corsucating up and down her horn as though it were building. A moment later she pointed her horn at the Avatar, and a single bolt of energy lashed out from it, streaking towards him faster than thought.

He held up a hand, and the bolt impacted on the gauntlet, driving him back slightly but otherwise leaving him unharmed. The bolt dissipated, and he grinned at Solamina’s dumbfounded expression.

“Competent,” he said quietly. “But predictable. Now - allow me to reply.”

He held Excalibur up, pointing it towards the heavens, where a second lightning bolt struck it. A moment passed, and then the blade, now shining from the energy it had gathered, pointed at Solamina. A beam of energy lashed out like a laser, streaking towards the Sun Tyrant, who had just enough time to form a shield around herself before it struck home. The shield crackled as the beam assailed it, pushing her back through the air, but her defenses held as the beam slowly faded away. She smiled as the Avatar lowered Excalibur, looking faintly irritated himself.

“Now that this mutual display of our more pyrotechnical abilities is over,” she said with a grin, “shall we continue hitting each other with sharp objects?”

Before he could reply, her glaive gleamed as she span it in mid-air, before she bolted through the sky towards him like a flying bullet, her teeth bared as she screamed in fury…

***

Streets of Canterlot.

Twilight groaned as she opened her eyes. She looked around, and slowly got to her feet. In the distance she could hear noises of battle, the clash of steel on steel and the shouts of people and ponies alike as they battled one another. Gunfire cracked and explosions thundered in the distance, and the sky above was still full of battling air-forces, human and Equestrian alike.

She struggled to remember what had just been happening, her head still foggy from the rushed teleportation. Suddenly, everything came back to her with a horrible rush: the corpse of Luna, resurrected to fight for Solamina. Her own twisted alternative self, the death of Desert Wind as she tore him apart. The desperate attempt to put the corpse down… and their utter failure to do so. She panicked slightly when she couldn’t see Applejack.

“Applejack?!” she called out. “Where are you?!”

“Here!” came a voice quickly. Twilight relaxed as she saw Applejack at the end of the street. Her friend quickly trotted over to her.

"Thank goodness," Twilight said quietly. "I thought something had happened to you."

“I was just makin’ sure there weren’t no Guards about," Applejack said with a smile. "Can’t be too careful.” She paused, looking around. “Where the hay are we, anyways?”

“A street in Canterlot,” Twilight said, looking around. “One of the smaller alleyways, actually.”

“Where’re the others?” Applejack asked with a frown.

“Maybe they went to different streets,” Twilight reasoned. “I wasn’t very specific. That can only be a good thing though - maybe they’ll be able to get help.”

“Maybe,” Applejack agreed, nodding slightly. She looked around, seemingly concerned about… something, before turning back to Twilight. “You seen the sky?”

Twilight frowned, before looking up. The sky had turned black and ominous, clouds filling it.

“What’s happening?” she asked quietly, eyes widening.

In answer, Applejack pointed a hoof at the now-distant Astronomy tower. Two figures could be seen floating near the ruined structure, both of them dueling.

“Reckon Elliot’s gotten himself into a real scrap,” the farm pony said simply.

“Yeah,” Twilight said, her eyes wide. The amount of power being displayed was... staggering, and that was from this meagre perspective.

There was a moment's silence as the two of them watched the duel, before Applejack frowned and looked at Twilight.

“Twi,” she said, before swallowing nervously. “D’you reckon that… thing that used to be Luna’ll be after us?”

Twilight sighed, casting a glance up to the sky again, this time searching for a familiar armoured blue form. “I don’t think Commander Sparkle will let us go that easily.”

“No,” a new voice spoke, shocking both ponies. “I won’t.”

Twilight span around quickly, eyes wide at the voice. There in front of her was Commander Twilight Sparkle, eyes narrowed at her.

“Applejack,” Twilight said quietly. “Run.”

“Like hay,” her friend muttered. “I ain’t leavin’ ya against this one.”

“Yes, you are,” Twilight said, hissing slightly. “This is my fight.”

“Yes,” Sparkle added, smiling slightly as she approached the two. “By all means, run away! That just means I get to tear you apart later!”

“Go, Applejack,” Twilight insisted. "Find the others. Help take the city if you can."

Applejack looked conflicted for a moment, looking between Commander Sparkle and Twilight, but a nod from the latter finally convinced her to run, which she did, galloping down the street and out of sight, leaving Twilight alone with her other self.

For the longest moment, the two Twilight Sparkles stood opposite one another. It was almost as though neither one wanted to be the one to make the first move in their deadly game, for fear they would surrender the advantage.

A boom of thunder rolled through the sky. A moment later, a droplet of water dripped on Twilight’s nose, which she scrunched up slightly. Another dripped on Commander Sparkle, who blinked and frowned slightly. A moment later, heavy rain began falling, quickly soaking the two Unicorns as they stood opposite each other.

“Fitting,” Commander Sparkle said, looking up slightly.

“I guess so,” Twilight muttered.

“So,” Sparkle continued, still smiling as she turned to look at Twilight. “Are you ready to die?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight replied, narrowing her eyes at Sparkle with an expression of pure rage. “Are you?”

Her horn glowed, and before the other Twilight could so much as move a massive energy ball lashed out, smashing into her and knocking her off of her feet. Twilight snorted, before trotting forward, horn glowing again - she knew full well her other self would not fall so easily.

“Good one,” came the voice of Sparkle, coughing slightly. She stood up, a livid burn on one side of her face. Her horn glowed softly, and the burn dissipated like mist, leaving her face unblemished. “But I’ve been doing this a long time, mirror. I’m Twilight Sparkle. I’m the High Commander of Solamina’s armies.” Her horn glowed again, building up in energy. “Do you really think I can’t fight when I need to?!”

A bolt of energy lashed out, streaking towards Twilight, who pulled up her own shield. There was an explosion, and stonework shattered and exploded all around the two Unicorns. There was a moment’s pause where Sparkle smirked to herself, certain that her inexperience alternate had been obliterated, but then there was a soft glow, then another and another. A moment later, three bolts of magic flew out from the dust cloud, impacting near Sparkle and forcing her to summon a shield to defend herself.

And then the dust cloud cleared - and Sparkle saw Twilight, standing proud and unafraid. Stood all around her were her friends - Rarity and Springfield flanked her, horns glowing as they readied more spells. Pinkie Pie was stood near them, a new party cannon aimed right Sparkle, and Applejack, the late Desert Wind’s P220 slung on her back and being held in place by the Doctor, was on the opposite side to her. Hell Blazer had a fireball forming in his hooves, a smirk on his face and a cigarette in his mouth. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were hovering above the group, blades out.

“Let me tell you something,” Twilight said, her voice full of venom. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m the Element of Magic. I’m Princess Celestia’s student, chosen by her personally. I’m a soldier of the Equestrian Resistance. And we are the Elements of Harmony! We are soldiers of Albion! We chose to fight this war, because we were told about what your Empire had done! We came here to stop Solamina - to stop you! We’ve spent months hearing about your atrocities, months seeing the results of your insane war first-hoof, all waiting for the moment when we’d come here and finally bring your Empire down!” She snorted in anger, and her horn glowed as she prepared to fight. “So tell me this, Commander Twilight Sparkle - do you seriously think we would have come all this way, gone through all of this pain and suffering… all of it, if we weren’t prepared to fight somepony when we got here?!”

***

Sky above Canterlot.

"Grey Five, Grey Three, pull in."

"Roger that, Two."

"On your six."

"Upsilon Leader to Interdiction One, we need cover on the left."

"Understood - Sigma Squadron, you've ponies in that sector, move to cover Upsilon."

"Roger that, but we're..."

"Weather's getting bad. Mind your HUDs, ponies!"

"Can't see a thing out - ARGH!"

"The buckers are right on top of us!"

"Just hang on!"

"Too late!"

"Eagle Seven, going down!"

"Buck, buck, buck!"

"Motherbuckers! I'll kill you - ARGH!"

"Help!"

"Cover me!"

The comm traffic around Canterlot was crowded and Errant Flight hated every word of it. Ponies were fighting and dying, and here he was, stuck on a captured Zeppelin that was wisely keeping out of the fighting, just... waiting. He hated waiting. Still, he had access to the comms. It seemed the best thing to keep an ear on, given the stil-perilous nature of the battle. And at least he wasn't alone - the grim faced Thestral, Fell Spear, sat with him, occasionally looking him over.

Every so often, he would hear things that chilled his bones. There was one instant where he heard the voice of Dream Flyer through the comms:

"Interdiction One, this is Grey Two! We are taking heavy fire from that cruiser!"

Errant had tensed, holding his breath. He didn't know quite why, but Dream Flyer had managed to catch his attention, and he was especially worried about her.

"I have attack copters en route."

"Much appreciated."

And with that, he had breathed out, relaxing again.

He hated waiting, but more than that he hated not being able to do anything. He cursed his body's weakness: if it weren't for this bucking injury, he could still be out there, still do something.

"Interdiction One, come in please. This is Prince Blueblood."

His ears pricked up at hearing that message. Oh - now this was interesting.

"This is Interdiction One, Prince Blueblood," the Interdiction's captain replied. "What's your status?"

"We have more copters en route to you," Blueblood said. "Repeat, copters inbound - this is including Luna's Revenge and and Nightfall. Requesting clearance to land."

Errant grinned. Luna's Revenge and Nightfall were the names of some of the Night Guard's personalised transport helicopters. Those vessels were chosen for strength, resilience and attack power, and were painted in Prince Blueblood's Night Guard colours.

Interdiction One made a thoughtful noise, which sounded through the comms almost like tinny static. "We've got reports of secondary and tertiary zones being secured but the primary zone isn't clear yet."

"Leave that to us," a new voice spoke.

Errant frowned, not recognising the voice of the last speaker. A moment later though, all of his questions were answered.

"Interdiction One to all flyers, Absolution is descending. Repeat, Absolution is descending."

"Oh buck," Errant said, his eyes widening.

The Absolution was the Dead Men's personal helicopter: though it wasn't their only transport (there were too many of them for that), it was their most well equipped. Some said there were enough weapons on that machine to bring down Equestria all on it's own.

"Damn," Fell Spear added, eyes wide as well - possibly the most emotion Errant had ever seen from him. "That's... interesting."

“Interesting?” Errant said, and he laughed. “I pity the poor bucker who ends up on the wrong side of those bastards, I’ll tell you that much!”

***

Canterlot: Courtyard LZ.

Sir Eric looked around. All around him, ponies and humans were watching the sky in fascination, the clash of the two small but discernible figures. Some faces were filled with awe, and some with fear, but all of them were fixated on the battle, leaving the courtyard, filled with warriors of opposing sides, eerily quiet.

“By Her mane,” the Eclipse Guard Commander who Eric had intended to challenge muttered softly, all thoughts of battle forgotten. “That’s… that’s insane.”

Eric shifted his grip on his blade, turning his attention to his opponent. “We have a battle to fight, sir.”

The pony looked back at him with eyes wide. “What’s the point? Look up in that sky! That’s a battle! We're a bucking skirmish. Hay, not even that."

Eric frowned. “Your charge is this city. Would you abandon it?”

The pony frowned in return. “I… no. No I wouldn’t.” He paused. “Why do you care?”

“Because we are soldiers,” the knight said quietly. “And I would have us both die as soldiers, if that he our fate.”

The pony laughed. “True enough.” He took a breath. “Alright then.” He raised a hoof. “Guard!”

“Knights of Albion! To your blades!” Eric yelled at the same time, raising his own blade.

A moment’s confusion reigned as the two forces suddenly realised that they had a war to fight.

“To your blades!” Eric yelled again, settling into a defensive stance.

That call did it - the knights of Albion shook themselves from their stupor, as did the Eclipse Guard and other defenders of Canterlot. A moment later, the battle erupted again, and a half dozen knights and Guards were slain almost immediately as explosions of magic and gunfire flew across the courtyard.

Eric brought up his blade and blocked a spear thrust from his enemy. He riposted, but this pony was fast and skilled: the spear blocked the blade, the metal sparking off of the handle of the weapon. The pony grinned, before pushing back. He span his spear and lanced out again, and again Eric blocked, spinning with the momentum of the block and lashing out, forcing the commander to dodge backwards.

Yelling, Eric charged forward, tackling the pony to the ground. He punched him, but the pony managed to roll out from underneath him and kick him in the ribs. Winded, Eric rolled and stood up, his blade still in hand. He pointed it at the pony.

All around, the duelling had reached it's crescendo: knights slew Guards, Eclipse Guard spells and spears impaled and incinerated Knights. There was no way a deciding victor could be seen.

And then there was a faint roaring sound, like a great engine on it's way. Eric looked up, risking a glance at the sky, and his heart soared.

The Absolution, a great black edifice of death and destruction, hovered in the air over the landing zone. Eric grinned - his order and the Dead Men had occasionally disagreed on their individual methods and motivations, but there was no doubting the skill and devotion of the Dead to their duty.

He glanced back to his foe, before jumping back, narrowly dodging another spear thrust, knocking the spear's edge away with his blade. He frowned.

"Not likely," he said quietly.

"Had to try," his opponent said with a wry grin.

There was a moment's pause as the two circled each other. There was only one way this duel was going to end, and both warriors knew it.

"Captain Steady Hoof, Eclipse Guard" the pony suddenly said quietly. "Since we're going to kill each other anyway."

"Sir Eric Smith, Knight of Albion," Eric replied smiling slightly despite himself. "It's a shame you and I have to kill one another. I imagine we might have been friends in another life."

"Maybe," Hoof said. "But that's not today."

He saluted Eric, who was slightly surprised by the gesture.

"Well then," he said, smiling slightly. "For Solamina."

"For Albion," Eric rejoined, saluting his foe in return..

He leapt forward, spear out. At the same time, Eric stabbed forward with his blade. The spear embedded itself in Eric's chest, just above the solar plexus. His blade found Hoof's chest as well, piercing the Eclipse Guard armour. The two stared at one another, their eyes wide, and then Hoof coughed, blood flowing from his mouth. He actually smiled slightly.

"Not... a... bad... hit..." he said, before slumping dead.

"Same," Eric said to his already-dead opponent. He looked up at the sky where Albion was fighting, comforting himself with the knowledge that, though he may die, Albion lived and thus, victory was assured...

And then all was darkness.

***

"The Dead are upon you!" the Undead screamed out, his rifle barking out a staccato rhythm. Behind him marched the warriors of the Dead, men, women and ponies who had fought by his side whenever he asked it of them. He was proud of them all: though he had no family left, no life left (truth be told, he wasn’t even certain he remembered much of it anymore - there was a blur, a block in place he put there to keep it from affecting him) these warriors had fought alongside him, never once abandoning their cause.

The Knights of Albion seemed hard pressed to hold their enemies back: these Guards seemed more resilient than the usual Royal Guard. Still: the Dead Men had never once encountered an enemy who did not die when they fired enough bullets at it.

“Cover fire!” the Undead yelled. “Move in to support the knights!”

As one, the Dead advanced, their silent, gas-masked forms no doubt terrifying if one did not know who they were. The Undead recognised fear as a weapon but had no care for it - guns sufficed him, and the bark of the Dead’s assault rifles began blaring, harsh against the clangs of clashing blades and the sound of metal ringing under blows.

“Keep fighting!” a Knight yelled out, dueling three Guards at once and slaying them all. The Undead had never particularly agreed with the philosophy of the knights of the Holy Order - they seemed entirely too cheery for him - but he couldn’t deny, they too were brave.

A pony Guard ran at him. He fired his rifle, clipping his shoulder and sending him crashing to the ground. He fired again, putting a hole in another Guardspony’s face. He drew his bayonet and parried another’s spear thrust, before stabbing the pony in the eye. The corpse juddered on his blade for a moment, before collapsing dead.

“Onwards!” he yelled. “Char -!”

An explosion went off right behind him, some sort of spell thrown by a desperate Guard no doubt. For a moment, his ears were ringing, and he could have sworn he could almost hear in his mind, though the lyrics were often drowned by the battle around him and portions of it were forgotten after so many years. Music was always in his mind despite his best efforts to quash any memories of his former life. Still the songs, the last vestiges of who he was, persisted and now it was there in the forefront of his mind, distracting him from nearly everything else around him. This grim song was important, it was the same music he had been thinking of when… when…

They were all dead. All of them. Why couldn’t he have joined them then?

Why couldn’t he have joined them?

What if…

What if he had?

The song faded as he remembered where he was and what he was supposed to do. He shook his head as full hearing returned. An explosion went off near him again, thankfully not so close as to deafen him this time, and he cursed. He aimed his rifle at the Unicorn throwing spells, narrowing his eye at the pony, and squeezed the trigger, feeling oddly focused - he could have sworn he could still hear the noise of the music. The pony fell, blood spurting as he dropped. That done, he grabbed one of his troopers, a radio-operator who was taking pot shots at Guards.

“Soldier!” he yelled. “Send a message to Blueblood - he may begin his landing!”

“But sir,” the soldier said, pointing at the still raging battle. “We’ve not cleared the LZ!”

The Undead grinned beneath his mask as he once again heard a cacophony of many different songs in the back of his mind. Everything was as it should be. He reloaded his rifle and fired again, killing three Guards in quick succession, the noise of the music still raging somewhere in the back of his mind.

“Give me five minutes,” he said grimly.

***

Deeper in the City of Canterlot…

All around him was chaos, pure and unadulterated. Ponies ran hither and thither, panicking as the skies filled with battle and death. In the distance, further in the city, the sound of gunfire and battle, sounds he remembered all too well, could be heard. In the sky was darkness unyielding, and rain fell upon the ground like the tears of the Gods.

And Sol Invictus, servant of the divine Sun, felt no fear.

Yea, though I walk in Darkness, the Light of Her Radiance is always with me. All storms can be weathered, all evils overcome. Darkness is nothing before the power of the Light.

“My lord Sol Invictus!” he heard a pony say somewhere near him, and he pulled himself from his reflection to see a group of Converted Militia staring at him expectantly. “What do we do?”

Invictus smiled beatifically. “I am not your lord, brothers and sisters. I am your comrade, your brother in arms against the darkness. We are all of us equal under Solamina’s Sun.”

“We look to you, Brother Invictus,” another pony said eagerly, the mare’s face filled with hope and fear at once. “We don’t know what to do!”

Invictus grinned. “Why, my sister, is our course not clear? Heathens and demons have come to blemish Her light with their foul darkness. While our enemy is before us, our place - our duty - is clear as Her day.” His face took on an expression of righteous determination. “We fight!”

A Militia stallion came forward, head bowed as he held out an ornate warhammer inscribed with prayers and devotions to Invictus. He grinned at the weapon as he took hold of it with his own magical grip.

“We shall fight!” he yelled. “By Her righteous glory, I swear to you that none shall stain this city, none of these demons shall live past this day! For Her glory!”

“For Her glory!” the ponies around him echoed the cry. Without needing orders (for who amongst the faithful need guidance when the way is clear?) the Militia raced off, seeking enemies to slay.

Invictus held back along with a handful of others he signalled to wait.

“In this time of reckoning,” he said quietly to these few, “more than the faith of the righteous may be needed. We must unleash the full extent of Her wrath.”

“I understand,” one of the Militia said. “Her will be done.”

The other ponies raced off, heading back towards the workshops deeper in the city. Invictus grinned. The workshops contained the pride and joy of the Militia, the fullest extent of Her divine will made manifest. These demons had come expecting to violate her radiant land and burn it to the ground.

But it was they who would burn...

***

Above Canterlot.

Rain fell all around them, the sky dark as the blackest hearts of men and ponies alike. Two God-like figures flew in the sky, moving like lightning. Every time they clashed, shockwaves of power would flash, like small suns being born in the sky above Canterlot. Blades flashed, but never could either blade find their mark for neither warrior allowed even the slightest waver in their respective defences. Neither seemed to be visibly fazed by the powers they threw at one another but the skies around them constantly erupted in cascades of fire and arcane light.

Once again their blades met and energy crackled along the lengths of their weapons, meeting as a bright flare at the point where the two blades crossed: a second star seemed to be born briefly in the sky before flaring into nothingness, the two warriors flung backwards by the force of the blow.

“Fool! Do you truly believe you can defeat me? You face a goddess!” Solamina yelled.

“And you face the vengeance of a race!” the Avatar replied, “A vengeance that will be denied no longer!”

He raised Excalibur up into the air, and a lightning bolt lashed out, striking the blade and imbuing it with a white glow that seemed to expand around the blade like a corona. He pointed the blade straight at Solamina, electricity crackling around him, and a moment later a beam of pure energy lashed out towards her like a lance. Her face fixed into a grimace of concentration and distaste, Solamina raised her glaive to block the attack, but the weapon could not hold the power being sent against it: the bolt rammed straight into her and threw her backwards through the air, straight towards the battle raging in the sky near Canterlot. The Avatar, snorting in disgust, angled himself to follow her.

Solamina came to a halt in a sky filled with chaos - Royal Guard flew past her, engaging traitorous Resistance flyers in deadly duels. A few of the foolish little traitors actually had the audacity to angle themselves to attack her, and she smiled. Her horn glowed briefly, and three flyers exploded into bloody, mangled pulp. Another five cried out in pain as her telekinetic grip seized their wings and pulled. It was barely an instant before their wings were ripped from their bodies and the ponies were sent plummeting to the ground screaming.

“Tyrant!” a voice yelled. Solamina turned, to find a gauntleted fist ramming into her with the force of a hurricane, sending her careening into the gondola of one of her war-zeppelins, the wood and metal frame splintering under the impact. She shook herself, uncaring of the ruined mess of crew that surrounded her and had splattered onto her armour, and she grinned as the Avatar appeared in front of the hole in the gondola wall, fury on his features.

“I’m sorry, did you care about those ponies?” she asked. Her horn glowed again, and a bolt of energy lanced out. The Avatar raised his blade to block the beam, but it lanced right past him, impacting instead on a transport helicopter nearby, which exploded into a fiery ball of twisted and melting metal that instantly fell to the ground. “What about the humans in there? Did they matter to you at -?”

She was interrupted by a scream of absolute rage and hatred, louder than Luna had ever been, louder than any noise that Equestria had ever borne witness to. Everyone and everypony in the sky and in the city below heard that cry, and stopped for a moment to wonder what had prompted it. The Avatar seemed to glow even brighter, so brightly that even looking at him would be enough to blind anyone who dared. For a moment even Solamina’s fiery presence was eclipsed by the halo of golden light that filled the skies. In a flash, he streaked towards the Tyrant, Excalibur lashing out and striking at her.

There was a flash of light and Solamina was again thrown through the sky, her form smashing through Royal Guardsponies, zeppelins and several transport helicopters. She came to a halt in front of a war-zeppelin that appeared to be flying the enemy’s colours. The ponies on its deck ducked for cover the moment she looked at them, terrified expressions frozen on their faces. Before she could think to do anything, the Avatar was on her again. His gauntleted hands grabbed her legs and he span, throwing her back towards Canterlot. She crashed through a tower, rubble crashing onto the streets below, before coming to a halt far above the city centre. Her armour was rent and torn, the beautiful golden engravings scratched and chipped, and she cursed as she pulled the battered golden breastplate from her chest. She spat blood out of her mouth, before looking up at him as he flew up to her, her eyes narrowed in loathing.

“Alright,” she said quietly. “That’s quite enough.”

There was a noise like a great horn blaring in the sky, and Solamina’s form seemed to darken, becoming a silhouette in the sky surrounded by a sickly-white halo of light. The Avatar slowed, his eyes widening as he saw her transformation, and he raised Excalibur in a defensive posture… too late,

The first blow knocked him into a building. Before he could even begin to extricate himself from the wreckage, a telekinetic grip grasped his foot and threw him into another, then another, then another. Elliot felt like his leg was about to be torn from its body but it was happening too fast for him to scream. Finally, a bolt of energy blacker than night, so dark that light seemed to bend around it, lashed out towards him, impacting in the rubble he was surrounded in and causing a great, fiery explosion that shook the very foundations of the city and even the Canterhorn itself.

The Avatar stood up slowly, blood leaking from a half dozen wounds. He closed his eyes, glowed briefly, and most of the wounds knit themselves shut, but he was breathing heavily. His foot felt better, at least.

“Do you see now?” the unnaturally loud and yet incredibly quiet voice of Solamina spoke as she floated above him. “Do you understand now the power arrayed against you? Your armies are nothing before this power. Your might is nothing before my eternal power. Your paltry light is eclipsed by the shadow of my greatness!”

“I understand well enough,” the Avatar replied, a growl forming in the back of his throat as ancient knowledge pushed its way to the forefront of his mind. “Craven cur, I know you now!”

He raised a hand up, and a light shone from it, brighter than a star. In response, Solamina’s eyes narrowed, and an aura of shadow surrounded her, before lashing out. For a moment, the darkness and the light seemed almost to grapple in mid-air, before both died down, and the two combatants stared at each other, both panting from exertion.

“You know nothing,” Solamina said slowly, her voice a sibilant hiss tinged with something that made even the Avatar’s skin crawl. “Before this power I possess, there can be no victory.” She grinned. “You should have known. Even Merlin guessed it. There is no light, Avatar of Albion, that can defeat darkness!”

***