Dead silence. That is what held the soon to be battleground surrounding Tartarus. I had been preparing myself, every enchant on my armor recharged, every weapon sharpened save Finis (as always, the blade never wore out or dulled) and every other weapon cleaned and primed. I had my original Plasma Cutter with me, as well as three of the latest copies. On my back lay a powerful rifle made of the same tech as the copies, and in my knapsack lay a good deal of medical and survival supplies. I slowly walked forward, facing those who I would lead into battle.

"We gather here today to face the scourge which has besieged Equestria for the past thousand years! Tartarus will open and release a horde of creatures beyond our knowing, and it is our role to stop the tides! We will face the darkness and make it regret EVER messin' with the Equestrian Empire! Alpha Beta Gamma squads take the primary charge! Delta Zeta Phi squads take the defensive, hold the lines and take out anything that gets past the charging forces! Epsilon and Ro squads, you're on ranged, stay behind the defenses and help keep firepower onto the weakpoints of anything hydra-class or larger! Iota Kappa Lambda you're on reserve, if there's any gaps then you fill them, we can't have any fuck-ups today! Omega squad you're with me! We're going after the Marker, and I need backup to be able to punch enough of a hole to get to it! If that Marker gets destroyed then all Necromorphs will be reduced to slag! NOW WHO'S WITH ME!"

A resounding roar echoed out across the field, and I never felt more pride than looking there, on the army of mixed species raised under the same flag, all willing to give their lives so others wouldn't have to... Somewhere out there I knew Twilight and Sunset would have fulfilled Luna's visions and begun their journey to the elements, and just as well I would make my final journey here. I drew my swords and waved them forward. We held for a moment, waiting for something...anything... A sound of tearing metal and the roars of unnatural necromorph hellspawn finally breaking loose. We moved as one, facing the surge of necromorphs that met us, Omega squad and I punching a slight hole in the enemy ranks as we made for the entrance to Tartarus. Omega team was more of a trio than anything, with the only members being Spyro, now aged to being halfway between a teenage and adult dragon, and Lupus, now known as one of the few 'elder wolves'. Essentially that being the mortal Alicorn equivalent among Gem Hunters, one that is born every few decades. He would age but he could easily live a few centuries. These were the two remaining descendants of my children, and I felt they were the only ones other than Sunset, Twilight or Luna I would trust to have my back in combat. I shifted into Brute Necromorph form and the three of us made our charge across the plains as the forces of Tartarus and Equestria clashed. The three of us wasted no time on any one Necromorph, our goal was the source of it all.

With raw force we punched through, Lupus and I quickly moving to Spyro's back so that he could speed fly us across the field. Withing minutes we crossed enemy lines, seeing just what had been lurking within the pit. Dragons of massive, almost unbelievable size twisted and skeletal, with wing rotted and turned into little more than blades... Demons, melded abominations of other creatures made only more grotesque by the corruption of the Marker... Hordes of twisted creatures of an unidentifiable sort mixed with them, all forming an army akin to what you'd expect in the most horrid of nightmares. We dove forward, moving past them all and going straight into the pit. Necromorphs lined the walls all around us as we fell, some leaping at us only to be smashed aside. Less than a minute passed before we were completely blanketed in the darkness of the pit, led only by the occasional bit of light from Spyro's flame breathing. Eventually we landed at the bottom of the pit, all three of us looking about the derelict cells and prisons before us. We all glanced at one another before nodding and moving forward. Eventually we arrived and found ourselves facing the walkway to the main cell of  the pit, trailing out of sight into the void below. Blood was splattered across the ground, as well as signs of a colossal struggle. The pit was entirely empty, everything held here now involved with the struggle on the surface. We all kept moving, knowing that time was of the essence for our objective.

The path spiraled down, into the darkness  as we went, and eventually we saw it. Stood atop a broad circular platform of stone...

The Marker.

It stood as a monolith, if we weren't on a path above it then it would have been towering over us... It was larger than even the eldest of dragons, made of a black-red metal that seemed to emanate pure death. All across every inch of it bands of alien markings were carved and forged into it. We all made the leap and landed at the edges of the platform. A voice echoed all around us. Mercer.

"So...The heretic brings his young before the holy article...Truly your hubris is great..."

Mercer seemed to materialize in front of us in a haze of shadows, his stature seemed to have grown to be equal to even Luna over the years... That didn't mean he looked well. His form was sickly, with his from seeming to be barely held to his bones. He sneered at me as his horn began to light up, and he seemed to be lifted into the air as he drew power from the Marker.

"Now, heretics... Face the righteous fury of the Marker, and be PURGED!"

His whole body was encompassed with a deep red energy, shining with the same aura as the Marker. When it cleared he hovered above us, his frail form brimming with muscle and his horn now a curved scythe in appearance. Off his back extended a pair of twisted and demonic wings which almost resembled fused necromorph blades. His horn ignited again and released a wave of power into the darkness below the platform. The form of a necromorph dragon clawed itself up from the depths, before launchng off and holding itself in the air with a pair of ragged wings. This dragon unlike the others, I recognized...

Tharn. The Marker had brought back one of the first enemies I had slain in Equestria. Mercer continued speaking, in a slow voice.

"You see, heretic... This is not a matter of winning nor losing. It is a matter of time... I do not need to slay you myself, the Marker shall do that, it is only until the Convergence begins that all will be done... You have minutes at best, and that is time I will not allow for you...For that end, I have specifically chose two beings to revive, a pair you will undoubtedly recognize."

Then I heard the second being rising up behind us. I turned slowly and saw...Her. The bastard... He had DARED use Livy in this... I locked eyes with Mercer and spoke to Spyro and Lupus.

"Spyro take Tharn you're not as big as him but you're a hell of a lot smarter."

"Got it."

"And Lupus-"

"I know sir. I'll take the other one."

Tharn was massive, of that there was no doubt, but Spyro was enough for him I was sure. Livy was a bit bigger than Spyro when she had fallen, but I had confidence Lupus  could handle that thing Mercer had made of her. While they kept them bust I made for Mercer, charging dead for him. He drew a pair of the same Marker-designed swords that I had seen before and I drew Tharn's Fang and Crescent. He swung his blades at me form odd angles whichever his magic allowed. I parried them all and Smashed them both out of his aura and into the void below. He roared and sent a storm of magical bolts at me from all directions. I bobbed and weaved through them all and intercepted them with shots from my cutters, rapidly swapping between my weapons. He sent a bolt of continuous magical energy at me, which I blocked with my orichalcum gauntlets. It pushed me back, until finally  I surged forward and past it. I drew Finis, the one blade which could damage something as powerful as the Marker, and in one fell stroke I plunged it into Mercer's chest and sank it into the Marker until only the hilt was still visible. The second I did so pain lanced through me and I stumbled away. Mercer laughed, not even fazed by the sword run through him.

"Fool! Have you forgotten what you are!? Your form may be bound by those wretched Elements but deep down, deeper than you dare glimpse... You are just as much a product of the Marker as I. To kill the Marker is to kill yourself!"

I froze. So... That was the cost. My life for the Marker's...I looked back at Spyro and Lupus, both facing opponents beyond them, trusting me to do this. I thought of the legion on the surface, fighting to buy time until we could finally lay down our weapons from this eternal war... Then I thought of Sunset and Twilight. Somewhere out there, they were fighting just as hard as I. I reached out adn ripped Finis out and held it in a single hand. Mercer grinned as he rose from where he fell.

"So you finally see... You have no future but the Marker, child. Join us... Make the Marker whole in a willing member of the great Unity! Soon we shall all-"

I cut him off from speaking, splitting his head from his torso in a single swing of Finis. I held it in all four of my hands and charged forward and bringing it down against the Marker with all my might. Agony tore through me again, but this time I stood against it. The chamber shook witht eh Marker, and when I looked I saw the reanimated forms of Tharn and Livy roaring in pain with me. I barked out orders to Spyro and Lupus as they took the opportunity to strike their enemies into the pit below.

"The chamber's coming down with the Marker! I'll take the Marker out but I'll be right behind you!"

They looked at each other and back to me with uncertainty.

"There's going to be Necromorphs that'll start trying to get back down here now that I'e actually started damaging the thing, I need you guys to get to the surface and make sure that they can't get to me! That's an order, GO!"

The both seemed uncertain still but nodded and started walking back up the path. I turned to the Marker and charged it, again and again cutting deep gashes into it and being blasted back by the energy released. I forced myself forward, never ceasing until finally I plunged my sword into it a final time, and being sent flying back by the final release of the Markers power. All of Tartarus shook and the platform the remains of the Marker and I stood on collapsed and plunged us into the void below. With a final crashing sound and wave of pain the Marker shattered into naught but fragments below, a fact that I finalized with a final strike from Finis.

Giving myself up for the Marker... That was a choice that I had already made in my head from the start of all this. Pain tore through me as The Marker finally grew silent, as my entire body tore itself apart from within. I landed on the ground by the Marker with a hard impact, the final dying sparks of its power fading being the last thing I would ever see...