The Beating of my Heart.
Chapter 15: An Unexpected Promotion. Part 2
Previous Chapter Next Chapter"Just blasting him won't work, he's invulnerable! Don't let him get close to you!" I shout out. The girls kept blasting him but they obviously heard me because now the blasts were creating magic chains, trying to bind the Juggernaut but when he kicked forward with the force to break the ground where he stood leaving a hole to the room below the chains went snap without offering any resistance and fell to the floor where they swiftly evaporated. The girls were surprised by this but before Juggernaut could reach them some of the unicorn guards grabbed the girls in their telekinetic grip. With a surprised squeak Luna was pulled to the left and out of the way while Celestia just stood there while eight unicorn guards were struggling to lift her off the ground.
Thankfully her surprised stupor didn't last long and she was able to jump out of the way herself before getting run over. Fortunately he was focused on me so he didn't bother with attacking the others. Unfortunately he was focused on me and I did not want to take the term squishy wizard literally. Unfortunately with an unstoppable giant moving at me like a train, that didn't give me a lot of time to strategize so I went with the first idea that came to mind. Contrary to what some might think the Juggernaut is not slow. As he was quickly closing in I blasted the floor right in front of him. I didn't even make a spell it was just a blast of dark magic. Regardless it worked and the ground crumbled under his weight and he fell through to the next floor down, then the next and continued to fall through.
I know I haven't won. Only got myself out from being cornered. From what I recall from my human years of geekness he is completely invulnerable to harm. He doesn't need to sleep, eat, drink, or breath. I think I also remember something about him having a healing factor which is completely redundant with the invulnerable thing. He also has super strength so I better get down there soon because he could just rampage around and destabilize the mountain and bring the city crashing down if he can't reach me.
I take a moment to think of what I can do. As I recall he is vulnerable to an extent to telepathic and magical attacks to his mind but neither will get through as long as he has that helmet on. And I'm guessing that if magic can't get through it then it can't grab it which means that it would need to be unlatched from the rest of his getup and removed manually. Throwing skeletons at him would just be wasting them and I don't want to send any brawlers into battle with him. After a quick run through I pick my team and send the needed information to their minds so they are ready. I turn to Celly and Lulu as they move up to me.
"No brawlers. If you bring anyone they need to be able to attack and avoid attacks over anything else. Any hit this guy will dish out is a one hit kill." I warn them which they nod too. Celestia glides down alone but Luna grabs some of her night guards before descending herself. I jump onto her back and ride down with her when she moved past me. When we reached the bottom we're in those crystal caves under the city. We land next to Celestia who was looking over the edge were Juggy was climbing back up.
"Well it's time to see if wearing these weights did any good." Celestia said as she took off her gold necklace and let it drop creating a small crater where it landed and throwing up a mushroom cloud of dust. She gave a happy sigh as she kicked off her golden boots or whatever she calls them, which each crashes with the force of a fired cannon ball. The guards that Luna brought along looked shocked at the sight for a moment before shaking themselves out of it and flying high and blending into the shadows before shooting at Juggy with crossbows. Perhaps I should have been more detailed with what they should be able to do. Oh well I'll just have to hope they don't get in the way.
I create a portal and watch as my chosen team rises up. Four ponies come out first. Trixie, Vinyl, Octavia and Berry punch who was wearing a saddle bag with two large jugs. Both of which she took in each hoof, raising one to her mouth and started chugging. Last to bounce out was Bouncy.
"...Aunty we think that one is drunk. Send her back and bring in somepony else." Luna said when she saw Berry.
"Trust me, the drunk boxing is strong with this one. Not even Cluck Norris has been able to land a hit in sparring with her. Besides I'm not sending her into his reach." I assure her. Before I could say anything more there was a flash and the three ponies in those tall chairs were with us. "What are you three doing here?" I ask them.
"You walked out on the test." One of them answered in an accusatory voice like I was a student that just decided to walk out on an important exam. My eye twitches at his response.
"...Look we don't have time for this. Big bad guy down there. So just go hide somewhere while we work." I tell them as I brush them away with my tails. "Alright you know what to do." I tell my troops before a make a mental link with Celestia and Luna and tried to send everything I knew about him and about his helmet. With that done I looked over and saw that he was almost up here so I used a spell from the book I got from Ax and took in a deep breath before letting it all out in a thick, dark green fog.
"Keep your bad breath to yourself!" Juggernaut complained as he pulled himself out of the smoke screen only to see no one around. "Where did everybody go?" He asked aloud before his attention was grabbed by colorful explosions going off around his head.
"Beware bucket head! For you have sealed your fate by being so arrogant as to face the might of the great and powerful Trixie!"
Juggernaut turned to see the blue unicorn wearing a cape and wizards hat with a star and moon pattern sitting at the edge of the cliff . With an annoyed grunt he walked forward.
"How stupid do you think I am? You want me to charge at you so you can dodge and I run straight off the edge? There is no way I'm falling for tha-" Juggernaut said but his words cut off when his foot fell through the ground and he fell forward passing right through Trixie. "Oh come on!" He shouted in annoyance as he rolled all the way back down to where he started. The image of Trixie shimmered and both the ground and Trixie evaporated revealing that the ledge was several hooves closer then he had thought. Behind a large rock the real Trixie peeked her head out. Her brow wet with sweat as she panted softly. Yet she couldn't help but smile. She had never before made an illusion that was capable of fooling anypony or in this case anybody and was rather pleased with herself that all of the training Rin put her through and all the studying was paying off. Though she still had work to do as she was tired from that one spell and would need a moment's rest to be able to do it again so she ducked her head back into hiding.
Down below Juggernaut lifted himself up and growls. "No one makes a fool of me! Nobody!" He shouted in rage before getting blasted in the chest again. Turning he saw Luna blasting away at him again but before he could move something moved in fast and pushed something into his helmet through the mouth hole. Moving quickly he grabbed for Vinyl but she was ably to get out of his reach with her vampire speed. Juggernaut got to his feet and was about to go after Luna but stopped when the thing in his helmet started jumping around all over the place. Looking around inside his helmet he saw that it was some kind of blue ball with something rainbow colored marked on it but it was bouncing around too fast to see what and the ball's speed was only increasing as time went on.
"That's just annoying." He grumbled before another speedster moved in, jumped on his back and ran off faster than he could react having him grab empty air and I could see two of the latches on the back of his helmet were undone. It came again and once more he made a grab but all he got were a few strands of electric blue hair and once more two latches were undone. The Juggernaut just looked around and found no one. Even Luna was gone.
"Alright, you want to play hide and seek? Fine!" He shouted as he charged around the place at random, smashing his way through the city's foundations. I bite back a curse knowing we need to work fast on this. As Juggernaut was charging a small gourd container landed in his path and busted open. The concoction inside foaming up when exposed to the air into a large foamy cloud of bubbles on the floor. When he stepped in the stuff he slipped and fell forward causing the ground to shake. With their vampire speed Vinyl and Octavia moved in again and released the side front latches on both sides and moved away before the downed giant could even get up to grab them. When he was back on his feet he gave a frustrated shout before reaching the front of his helmet but not the back.
"Come out and face me cowards!" He shouted in rage before going all out ape shit and ripping large gems out of the wall and throwing them up in the direction that the bubbly attack of slippery when wet but as they went flying Berry just stumbled by without getting hit before moving away from the ledge and out of sight. He then ran over to a wall and spread his arms like he was going to give a hug and jammed his fingers into the stone and pulling back to get a huge boulder the size of a building before lifting it over his head and throwing it. The huge piece of stone crashed through stalactites, stalagmites and walls crushing everything in its path as it rolled along. He then repeated the process and sent another bolder rolling in another direction.
"Ahhh!" A familiar voice rang out from the direction of the second attack.
"No! 61452326283561723535262351272623712623763537256372523732635276152383723893692072! Why do the good looking die young!?" another voice rang out. Hearing this Juggernaut ran over to the commotion before they could get away. Not wasting time Celestia and Luna flew out of hiding and started blasting at his feet in the hopes of tripping him up and at his helmet in the hopes of knocking it off. No! That was the scream of Cadence!...or Shining! But probably the first one because it's down here and that other voice was definitely a changeling screaming a changeling name. No choice now. She won't be in any condition to defend herself.
Casting a quick illusion spell I jump out from my hiding spot. All around me were illusionary copies of me moving in every way I do. "Hey Juggy! Looking for me?" I shout out as I turn around and start waving my butt tauntingly which my illusions mimicked making it sound like a small army of me. "Na na, na na boo boo!" My voiced echoed with the fakes. Turning my head to look behind me I see him skid to a stop and turn around. When he sees me he turns and comes barreling towards me. I can see that Celestia has flown down into the new hole to help Cadence and I can just barely see Luna moving through the shadows close to the cave's ceiling, not attacking yet but keeping an eye on things in case she needs to jump in and save me.
Facing forward I gun it down the path with my would be murderer in hot pursuit. Every now and again I look behind me and make sure that he doesn't lose sight of me as I lead him to what I hope is an exit down the mountain while being careful to keep the fakes from running into any obstacles and dispersing. This however becomes a pointless activity when several of them break down and small holes pepper the walls in front of me. I look back again just in time to see him grab a large gem in his giant hand and tightly squeeze it, breaking it into razor sharp shards before throwing them and cutting down several more as they fly through the air like a shot from a shotgun Hmmm. Didn't know he could do that...
"SHIT!" I cry in alarm as I veer to the right and down another path and out of his line of sight. My illusions forgotten as they crash into the surrounding walls and shatter soundlessly like glass before evaporating into nothingness. But now that he knows where I am he had no intention of losing me again and I soon heard him charging at me once more and the sound of a particularly large hunk of crystal breaking as I look back and see him holding a large thin emerald that he held over his head like a spear. Luckily this tunnel kept curving to the right so he couldn't keep a good line of sight to throw the thing.
"Hold still!" He demanded in an angry shout. To which I gave a calm and witty retort.
"No!" After saying that I used the invisibility spell on myself just as I was coming to the exit to see that I just ran in a big circle and came out in the large cavern I just escaped from. When I try turned the corner though I felt a strong pain on my stomach that made me lose my footing and fall on my face and roll onto my back. When I looked down at the source of my pain my eyes widened at what I saw and I was instantly thankful I landed on my head and back instead of my stomach. It seems that the Juggernaut took a guess and used the relatively small space of the tunnel we were in a moment ago and launched his spear at me and cut me across the belly just deep enough to open me up and for my intestines to be hanging out.
"Aunty!" Luna cried in alarm as she started blasting the Juggernaut from behind but he was ignoring her as he calmly walked towards me. Celestia having finished helping Cadence flew to my aid but it was taking too long. I'm in a lot of pain but nowhere near the level of being forcefully sucked into the void. With effort I summon an item I use to test new traps in the hopes that it will slow him down long enough.
"It is on like Donkey Kong!" I say as I point the golden banana at him and a portal opens up over his head dropping the perverted ape on his back, catching my would be murderer off guard as he was covered with whipped cream by the ape hanging on to his back with his feet like Juggy was a surfboard while using his other hand to spank his own bottom while making horrible noises.
"Oh man oh man this is bad!" I heard Vinyl say next to me making me give a glance to see her and Octavia looking over me with worry.
"Calm down you two." I say through clenched teeth as I got to work on using my magic to carefully hold my wound open and clean my intestines of anything that got on them and carefully folding them back inside of my body, using the way they bend naturally to guide me when placing them.
"Calm down?! How do you expect us to calm down when your guts are hanging out!?" Octavia asked with wide eyes as Celestia came close enough to see that I was working on myself so turned to help Luna and Kong delay my attacker. Cadence soon joined as well coming over too me with wide eyes and turning green at the sight.
"If you throw up on or in me I am going to put a curse on you." I tell her as I work causing her to back away as my intestines slip back into place with a sickening slimy slurping sound and I glow in a golden sparkly light as I use the heal spell on myself before following up with death spell once my pain subsided to kill any microorganisms that got inside me for health reasons. I got up and see that Octavia and Cadence had run off to empty their own guts while Vinyl just looked at me with a straight face.
"That...was awesome." She said plainly. I just shook my head and looked back just in time to see the Juggernaut grab DK's leg and smash him into a wall with the sound of bones breaking and then the ape vanished back to his world through a portal. The now whipped cream covered Juggernaut was bending over and trying to scoop the cream out of his helmet through the holes. This is it. I think to myself. Between the attacks and bouncy going nuts in his helmet he won't be able to hear anyone approaching and the whipped cream is blocking what little vision he had.
"Celestia come here." I called to her to stop her from attacking for Vinyl's safety before nodding to the vampire. "Now while he can't see. The helmet." I whisper to her to which she just nods and moves over with vampire speed and with both fore hooves undid two latched causing Juggy to tense. Before she could get the last two however Juggernaut swung his hands out sending her flying into me and we went flying a good ways back. I looked back to see him refasten the two latches Vinyl just unlatched and I came to a conclusion. This isn't working. The only minion I have that could stand up to the Juggernaut is...No Horny may very well be worse than the Juggernaut. At least old bucket head only wants to kill me. This calls for a new plan
"Retreat!" I call out getting the attention of everyone as I used my hand to get my minions out of there and safely back in my dungeon and running like mad to something I saw earlier. Celestia and Luna flew after me and Cadence after them and Juggernaut screamed in rage as he worked faster to clear his vision when he heard me say that.
"Wait for us!" A pony cried out causing me to look back at the judge ponies that followed me down here which I completely forgot about. Celestia picked them up in her magic and carried them to I found what I was looking for. I turned back to see Juggernaut running after us and I quickly summoned my new sword and thrust forward creating a jet of water that wasn't even slowing him down.
"Thanks for washing that stuff off me." Juggernaut said in a taunting voice. "You didn't think splashing me with a little water was going to stop me did you?"
"No, and who said I was doing this to stop you?" I asked causing him to take a closer look now that the cream was washed away from his eyes to see that we were now seated in a mine cart and the water pressure was pushing us forward.
"No you don't!" He shouted as he started pushing himself to move faster. Through our cart had much greater speed Juggernaut was able to move in a strait line instead of needing to follow a ridiculously designed set of tracks so he was able to keep up. While I was using my sword as a rocket engine the head judge pony was crawling under me and rubbing my tummy which I responded too by growling menacingly scaring him into retreating to the other side of the cart. Apparently they took this as me telling them not to get fresh because now the female of the trio was under me and poking and rubbing my stomach which just causes me to groan in frustration. We soon found the end of the tracks as it bent upwards and just ended causing the cart to fly up from the speed we were going causing us to fly over a pit and out through the mouth of the cave which opened out on the side of the mountain resulting in us dropping quite a distance. I cringe at the judge ponies screaming when I was grabbed in Luna's magic and the trio in Celestia's as the alicorns took flight, letting the cart crash to the land below. We were soon followed by Juggernaut who jumped out without looking and was now screaming a wide variety of profanities as he plummeted downwards.
“Take us down. I need to take the fight outside to keep the mountain from taking any more damage than needed. Now I need to summon some help.” I say aloud and Luna flies me lower. I use my powers to bring me a token and quickly send the message. “I need help fighting the Juggernaut. Please come quickly.” When I look at the token my eyes widened in surprise. I could have sworn I grabbed another Token but I was now holding Ax’s Token. Woops. Ax isn’t the best choice for this. He’s a caster like me and like me I don’t think he has any minions that would work against this guy. I thought. But before I could send the message that I grabbed his token by mistake a large portal opened up in the sky.
That's when a large form fell from the sky and lands into the large lake that made a huge wave of water and slowly lifts itself from out of the water, it looked like a dragon covered in scale like armor. I saw the head was encased in some kind of shell and by the look of it didn’t have any eyes. Thats when the mouth opens showing off a second row of teeth as smoke slowly falls out of it mouth. The dragon lifted it's head to the sky and roared so loud that I think all of canterlot windows shattered. The sound alone uprooted some trees around the lake.
“That doth be a good one!” Luna said approvingly. “The royal canterlot voice is strong with this one.” I was confused at first then came to the conclusion that this might be a new recruit of Ax.
The dragon slowly turns it’s head at us then snarled as it slowly walked out of the lake. As blue flames licked out at the corners of it mouth. Thats when I saw the blue glow rush up it's neck!
“He doth be on our side right?” Luna asked nervously as I raised the energy eating barrier around us but before the dragon could do anything it’s mouth snapped shut and it gave a surprised grunt as it jerked back and started sliding backwards in a circle on the ground. I look and see the Juggernaut had grabbed him by the tail and was swinging him around before throwing the dragon at us forcing Luna to take evasive action.
The dragon used it's wings to try and slow itself as it crashed into the ground. The dragon then growled as it stretched it's large wings then took off into the air. It then fired off a blue fireball at the Juggernaut. That set everything around him on fire.
“Hey! Get back down here you stupid lizard! I want to use you as a weapon again!” Juggernaut shouted with annoyance that all enemies were up in the air now,
“You worm! You dare call me a lizard! I am Hellbringer! I AM DEATH ITSELF!” Roared the dragon as it let loos more fire over the Juggernaut turning everything around it into ash until a large boulder that the Juggernaut ripped out of the ground went flying into his mouth clogging the dragon’s throat.
“Oh I’m shaking. The scariest thing about you little gecko is the smell of your breath.” Juggernaut taunted as he ran over to some trees to use as more projectiles. The dragon then swallowed the large rock, it's neck was making odd sounds before something red hot was dripping out of it jaws. Before spitting molten rock back at him. Juggernaut had grabbed a tree and was about to throw it when he saw the loogy of death flying at him. Reacting quickly he dropped the tree and grabbed the massive, molten rock only getting pushed back a short distance before throwing it back.
“So you want to play dodge ball? Fine with me.” Juggernaut shouted. The dragon just snorted as the armour around it's head snaps shut. It then flew low like an eagle running down a rabbit. The Juggernaut just gave a laugh at this and did his signature charge forward ready to collide with the dragon until it pulled sharply up and smacked the end of its tail into the side of his back but the dragon was a larger target and the Juggernaut was able to grab his tail again and much to the dragons surprise his momentum was stopped by the much smaller being and was swung around again before once more being used as a projectile to attack me once more forcing Luna to flap like crazy to get out of the way.
The dragon however used its wings this time to get more control and just fly past us both heading for Celestia. “I Smell pray… I smell… CELESTIA!” The dragon roars this time in rage as it landed then makes its way over to Celestia.
“Oh dear.” Celestia said as she passed the ponies in her magical grasp to Cadence before moving away from everypony else and away from the mountain to minimize the damage. The dragon just kept walking showing no care for anything or one around it as far as the dragon cared Celestia was the only one it saw… Strange seeing as it had no eyes. He even ignored it when Juggernaut took advantage of the fact that he was on the ground and jumped onto his tail and ran up his back. When the Juggernaut reached his wings he grabbed one and pulled. With an almighty pop and a tare the wing came off.
“That will keep you on the ground.” The Juggernaut said as he threw the wing off to the side. The dragon head then lunged around grabbed him in it jaws before trying to throw the Juggernaut away but the Juggernaut had a firm grip on the giant teeth and kicked against the lower jaw taking two of the teeth with him as he fell and threw them at me as he dropped. Both were evaded but one tore through the barrier disabling it.
The dragon then slammed its large claw on top of him before pulling it up and did it again then hit him with its other claw, it seem to be hitting him over and over again before the dragon then breaths fire on him one more time. Once it left the area a smoking crater the dragon looked down at the hole of smoking earth to see a dirty Juggernaut who jumped out and grabbed one of the dragons fingers swinging him around as a weapon again and breaking the bone in the finger while he was at it.
As we dodge again I can tell that Luna was getting tired. Now that he was wingless I think that dragon lost a lot of danger points so I shout out to him. “You’re wasting your time with those attacks. The Juggernaut has been imbued with power from a full fledged god and is invulnerable. You aren't even causing him pain. The only way to hurt him is an attack to his mind and his helmet needs to be removed to do that!”
I then heard a snap as the dragon went flying into the woods and landed on it feet. With one of it hands missing a finger. “I seeeeee…” The dragon hissed before breathing out a cloud of ash that covered everything.
“Trying to hide? I’ll find you lizard and you will make a nice hammer to smash my enemies!” Juggernaut called out as he charged around in the smoke looking for the massive dragon. Only to not find it, how something that big can go missing I have no idea.
My thoughts were interrupted as Luna gave a frightened squeak then flew back as boulders and trees went flying everywhere.
“Damn it! How are we going to get his helmet off when he’s rampaging around in that thick smoke?!” I say in aggravation as we move further away from the storm of projectiles. Though I think I can tell where that dragon went now based on places that the projectiles were not flying out like there was a wall blocking their path.
That when I hear a yell of surprise from the Juggernaut followed by ground shaking then nothing. “Damn lizard! Stop hiding and face me!”
“He is invulnerable but his clothes aren’t! Just pretty close to it! If you can pull that helmet off we can attack his mind and end this!” I shout into the cloud causing Juggernaut to curse and run out of the smoke holding his helmet in both hands.
“Like Hell I’m letting you take my helmet!” He shouted angrily. That when a bellow of smoke flows over him again and another yell. “Stop doing that!” The Juggernaut shouted as he ran out again. I use this time to create a portal and bring in Mr. Freeze.
“Slip him up!” I ordered causing Freeze to use his ice beam to freeze the ground in the Juggernaut’s path causing him to slip and slide forcing him to take his hands off his helmet in an attempt to stay on his feet as he destroyed every obstacle in his path as he slid along. The dragon then jumped out and bit into the helmet and pulled back while the Juggernaut kept sliding forward and the two forces pulling in both directions was enough for the remaining latches to give and the helmet popped off.
“Noooo!” Juggernaut shouted as he stomped his right foot into the ground to stop himself and tried to turn around to get his helmet back but I didn’t intend to give him the chance and obviously neither did the dragon. The dragon then ate the helmet and looked down at them all.
“Now attack his mind with everything you got! I shouted out as I and the alicorns made a telepathic connection with the Juggernaut and went full force against his mind.
“You have a small penis…” The dragon said bluntly at the Juggernaut.
The Juggernaut screamed in pain as he clutched his head and started fumbling around until he slipped on the ice and started writhing in pain until he lost consciousness.
“Now can we kill him?” The large dragon asked as it was drooling at the mouth.
“So long as he has the power given to him by the god Cyttorak he is unkillable and only that god or one stronger can take that from him without the artifact he used to get it.” I answer.
The dragon hissed at this and looks around. “This is not the weaklings world is it.” The dragon asked as it looked around. “Tell me are there more for me to fight.” The dragon then went off to look for it missing wing.
“No this is a different world. And I certainly hope not. The Juggernaut is pretty high up there of opponents though still far from the most powerful beings out there.” I say as I look him over to see what he will do.
The dragon then found its wing on the floor and started to eat it...Ok wasn’t expecting that. Once it was done the muscles on the missing wing start to bulge then a new wing shot out dripping off what looks like blood. “I can only do that once, I will make sure not to have my wings taken from me.” Said the dragon as it slowly looks at me.
“...I could have reattached it. I am at a master level of necromancy including its medicinal uses like mending flesh and bones.” I say with an anime sweat drop.
The Dragon hissed at me after saying that. “I am not as weak as Asphyxious, he may use your help but not I. I am… I was… What am I? Hellbringer or Everblight? I can’t tell anymore.” The dragon said slowly as it start to move from side to side. “It time for me to go back, look after the fool he needs the help.”
The dragon body starts to turn to ash and break apart. The wind blowing away its body leaving behind, Asphyxious?! Asphyxious just drops to the ground as if out cold in his human form.
“...We are confused.” Luna said as she looked down at the unconscious Ax.
“Join the club.” I say as I look down at him. I see that he is not missing a finger. When I was set down I walked over to him and started poking him in the face to get no reaction. I then leaned in and whispered into his ear. “Ax….There are clowns in your bed.”
“No Dox… I said you can’t be a part of my Hoard… No put your clothes back on…” Asphyxious mumbled as he lay on the ground.
“Hmmmm... Hey look Jack is taking your hoard and running away!” I shout out.
Asphyxious then shot up and yelled in rage. “I’ll kill him! Where is that bastard I’ll gut him like a fish!” He then pulled out his cutlass as he looks around at everyone. “I said where is he!!!”
“Sorry about that little lie but you weren't waking up. Something strange was going on with you.” I tell him. Asphyxious blinked at me as he looked around.
“What the hell? Where is Dox and the others? Where is Sister and Faust? Why am I here… Rin, who summoned you here?” He asked mostly confused.
“Other way around. I summoned you. Only instead of you a massive dragon came out of the portal calling himself Hellbringer. After we defeated the Juggernaut together he referred to himself as someone else. He then ate his wing that the Juggernaut tore off in the fight to regrow it, told me to look after you because you would need it then turned to ash leaving your unconscious body.” I answer.
Asphyxious just gave me this far off look as he sat down on the floor. “Hellbringer… I didn’t think he would take control of my body like that… Wait, if I’m still me then…” He trails off after saying that.
I was about to inquire further but I was interrupted by rapidly flapping wings. “Princesses! You’re needed in Canterlot! The city is being invaded!” A pegasus guard shouted out.
“The changelings! They’re being led by a queen named Chrysalis! She intends to conquer Equestria and take the ponies love by force! I know she monologued about it for hours.” Cadence said.
“When you were freed by the Juggernaut’s rampage she must have learned about it from a guard through the hive mind and rushed her plans when she realized the jig was up!” I said as I was realizing what was happening.
I heard laughing at this as I look at Asphyxious he had this… Wild look in his eye. “Is it just her or is there someone else for me to fight.” He asked looking at the floor.
“There is an army of those bug ponies attacking!” The guard cried out.
“Enough talk.” I say as I open a portal to the canterlot castle. “The city is under attack now.” With that the princesses all jumped through the portal followed closely by Ax who walked in then me and Mr. Freeze who dragged the Juggernaut behind him but to our confusion he was gone once we were on the other side.
The city was overrun with changelings as far as my eyes could see. I then saw Asphyxious walk ahead of the group and shout into the air. “Hear me! I am Asphyxious Hellbringer! King of the Diamond dogs! Devourer of Everblight! Lich Lord of the north! You may be her children but I will not hold back!” He then ran off with his sword in hand taking on any changeling that got in his way.
I sigh as I summon my personal bodyguards and point to Ax. “Unyielding I need you to stay with him and watch his back. And remind him to call for some of his own backup.” I order her which she replies with a nod and chases after him. “Well that happened.” I say as I bring in more troops to fight and dispatch them throughout the city. “First things first. We need to find the queen and defeat her.” I tell them as I hear Asphyxious laughter over the fighting.
I look around and try to detect the use of any dark magic but it's not easy when every changeling in the city is using it. I then saw an explosion of blue fire going off and hear Asphyxious laughing louder that was a little worrying.
“We should check my room! She was masquerading as me after all.” Cadence said.
“So thats why you got so sick after trying our cooking! It wasn’t you and pony food is probably not healthy for love eaters!” Luna bellowed.
“...Yes that must be it.” Cadence said with a nervous smile as her eyes shifted from side to side like Applejack's when she lies. I then jumped onto Celestia’s back and we flew off while I carried Swift in my magic and barged through the windows to her room...to find it empty.
“Any more ideas?” Celestia asked as we looked around the room.
“Where in the palace can she get the full view of the battle?” I asked.
“The throne room!” Celestia called and I created a portal for us to jump through. On the other side we found Celestia sitting in the throne sending orders to the royal guard to sabotage their efforts. “You! Changeling queen! You have been caught. You are outnumbered and outgunned! Give up now and make this easier on yourself!” Celestia demanded.
The changeling queen turned and scowled at them but looked very nervous. “Outgunned perhaps but never outnumbered.” She said angrily as she stood and dropped her disguise and charged up her horn for battle...She then looked around in confusion. “Where are my children?” She asked.
“Maybe they got teleported to the world of Skyrim by accident and are helping the dragonborn save the world from an evil immortal dragon.” I say to her with a happy smile.
“What?” She asked in confusion to my statement.
“Your right. It will never happen.” I say with a sigh and a sad shake of my head.
In the market district it looked like a themed art fair with all the ice statues of what looked like ponies filling the area. But to those who looked closely they could see the changelings frozen inside.
At the emergency shelter housing the majority of the cities population there stood a guard over a massive pile of injured and slimy changelings that were denied entry by the giant, blueberry bloat thrall that would spray any that would try to get to those inside.
In the living area was the biggest pile of them all with a few changelings left standing.
“How is this happening!? Its just a chicken!” One of them wailed as he tried to run but was taken down by his feathery foe.
Throughout the city changeling after changeling fell to the champions of Rin and a force of black knights. But there was still one group of them heading her way and flying faster than they ever flew before. But not because they were trying to save their queen...
“Save us!” Screamed Changelings as they're running in fear. Followed by the mad laughter of the one chasing them. “We’ll do anything just let us in!” One yelled as they ran into the room in a panic and Chrysalis suddenly had a very surprised look on her face as she found herself lifted up in the air. Looking down at her little changelings that had managed to cram themselves into a pile under her.
The doors were then destroyed as the one who her changelings feared walked in with a smile. “Hi kids daddys home!” Yelled Asphyxious with a smile on his face. He then walked up to the Queen with a soft smile on his face. “No matter how many times I see you, you’re still beautiful.” Asphyxious said as he pulled the Changeling Queen into a kiss. Her eyes shot open in surprise as she looked around at everyone before she got a foreboding gleam in her eyes as she charged up her horn again to blast Celestia. But even feeding on Ax she didn’t have the time to collect the power she needed and I jumped in it’s path with my mouth open wide and I shot the thread of my magic into it and it followed the trail to her horn like electricity following a steady stream of water and I pulled it out and nomed it. As I swallowed her power for it to be taken into my own. By eating her magic I can feel some of its properties. I feel stronger from the love of Celestia and Luna… And Ax. But it’s platonic towards me so its ok. And the love from Asphyxious was more for his queen back home and his hoard. Chrysalis however looked panicked at losing her power and more so when she saw what I did next. ‘Nom, nom, nom, nom. One after the other I drained the changelings hiding beneath her.
“What are you going to do to me?” She asked fearfully and I give a smile.
“Well there is this one new curse I just learned. Its called the dollification spell. Hold her still Ax.” I say as I charge up for the permanent version. Asphyxious just smiled at that as he hugged her.
I launched the spell at her and she screamed to the heavens as it flew towards her. “Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Her cry ended in a squeak as the changeling queen shank and grew softer as she was turned into a living plush doll.
“She so cute!” Asphyxious said as he start cuddling her. Forcing Chrysalis to open her mouth wide and give out an involuntary squeak. Asphyxious eyes go wide as he looks at her then holds her in his hands and squeezed her again as she gave off another squeak. “Oh I mustn't… BUT I WILL!” He yells as he makes her squeak again and again and again… Wow he's not stopping.
While he is doing that I pull in a large ruby and transmuted it to be shaped like a heart before pawing it to Cadence. “Can you fill that with love magic please?” I asked her causing her to take it in her magical grasp.
“Sure, I guess…" She said with some confusion as she got to work. I then brought in a large amount of gems and used them to create a toy city inside a crystal dome big enough to cover one of those large card tables in a big casino before I got to work shrinking the changelings I drained and depositing them into their new home. When Cadence was done I set the heart in the little park to feed them next to the tiny playground as it locked into the monument meant for it.
“Can you have you’re guards bring the defeated Changeling outside so I can take their magic and give them a nice new home so they won’t need to fight to eat anymore?” I asked the princesses.
I then felt someone hug me and look down seeing Asphyxious smiling up at me. “Um...There there?” I say as I pat him on the head. He just kept looking up at me and was he purring?
“But aunty they attacked the city. The ponies will demand justice.” Luna said as she leaned in to look at the tiny changelings.
“Tell them that every last one was forced to undergo a procedure so that they can never use their magic again and they have all been imprisoned. Its not a lie.” I say as I wave a paw dismissively. “It won’t be our fault if they interpret that as something worse.”
“My Hoard.” Asphyxious said as he was nuzzling me.
“...Ax. There isn’t enough booze in the multiverse I’m sorry but I’m just not into guys.” I tell him as I gently push him away with a paw.
Asphyxious then snaps out of, whatever that was. “Sorry, that was my hoarding instincts kicking in.” He say as he let me go and rubs the back of his head.
“Understandable. Why don’t you vent on my new dolly...without doing anything dirty with it while we work clean up.” I say as I pick up the dollified Christalis and pawed it over to him. She looked up at him with her big puppy like eyes. It seems that the dollification spell can make whatever it’s used on extra adorable. Though I knew that from the new toy box in my play room filled with animated dolls that used to be skeletons before I started practicing on them.
Asphyxious just smiles at me as he pick it up and put her on his shoulder. “I bet that’s what you want, never thought of you as the kinky type Rin.” He said with a smile.
My eyebrow raises at his words and even more so at the look Chrysalis was now giving me. “Well my little changelings got a city of love where they won’t starve so I guess my life long goal centuries in the making has been achieved. And I am a toy now so…” She emphasized this by wiggling her eyebrows or where they would be anyways at me. This resulted in the girls getting a look of embarrassed and sick which is an interesting shade to turn before galloping out the door saying something about getting me those changelings outside.
“Want to watch?” Asphyxious ask me with that same smile as if nothing was wrong.
“Hey, I said don’t ruin my new toy!” I shout as I take her away from him and hug her to my chest. “She’s mine now! If anyone is going to be sitting back watching it's you!” I tell him as I hug Chrysalis possessively.
“I’m okay with that.” Asphyxious said with a grin.
Our conversation was interrupted when Celestia walked back in with a huge, unnerving smile on her face as some of her more trusted guards started piling the defeated changelings into the room.
“Oh aunty about that test you were taking…” Celestia said causing me to tense and get ready to defend myself from the collar.
“I’m not taking that test and you can’t make me!” I say defiantly.
“Of course not. You only need to pass it once.” She said with a troll smile.
“What test?” Asked Asphyxious as he looked between us.
“...No, it can’t be.” I say if fear.
“Oh yes. You already proven your magical power before that Juggernaut fellow attacked. By manipulating space with your portal and summoning and controlling such strong dark creatures you proved your mastery over your domain. And when that horrible Juggernaut fellow cut you open and your internal organs fell out and you put yourself back together without leaving so much as a scar you proved to them you were immortal. And by saving the city you proved your virtue.” Celestia said as her smile grew wider.
“Wait what's going on now?” Asked Asphyxious as he looked lost at what Celestia was talking about.
“But I’m not immortal I’m just a really good doctor from mastering so many of necromancy’s healing applications!” I say as I recall the ponies rubbing my belly in the cart. They were looking for the wound!
“Oh don’t be so modest. You passed with flying colors which means we need to prepare for your coronation. Princess Rin.” She said as she could barely control her laughter. I did the only thing I could do in this situation. I plopped down on my rump and I cried like a baby.
Asphyxious then poked me and I looked at him as he was smiling at me. “So does this mean I should start calling you Queen Rin from now on.” He said with a smile.
I gave a sniff before I answered. “Do you want me to curse you so that whenever you try to get any you will be surrounded by illusions of flabby naked old men coming on to you?” He laughed and backed off after I said that.
When I was done crying Unyielding Blade walked up to Ax. “Shall we go to the Pit for that sparring match you asked for while we battled the invaders on the streets?”
“Why not? Sounds fun as long as we use the real thing.” Asphyxious said as he started to walk off with her.
(A short while later in the combat pit.)
The sound of cheering filled the air as the inhabitants of the Dungeon waited for the show. In one corner the sounds of chains being pulled and large gears turning resonated off the walls as the steel gate rose up allowing the black knight Unyielding Blade to walk in. She gave her usual performance for her fans as she took the heavy blade from her back and started swinging it around at seemingly impossible speeds with the skill of a master before letting it drive into the ground cutting through the stone floor like butter. The crowd cheered louder at the display.
Asphyxious on the other hand just walks in from his side without a care in the world. He held his sword by his side as he looked around the pit before stopping. He then looks at Unyielding Blade and bows. Ignoring the boos he was getting from the crowd. Unyielding easily pulled her sword from the ground before giving her own bow. Up high a single imp raised a large drum stick and struck the gong.
That kicked things off as they both ran at each other at the same time. Ax was forced back at the first strike and had to get a tighter grip on his weapon from almost losing his sword from the unexpected raw power in the swing from the black knights larger and heavier weapon.
Asphyxious smiled as he went back into the fight this time moving around more and picking when to strike. It was like he was running all over the place trying to look for an opening.
Narrowing her eyes in determination she rose up to her hind hooves and took her blade into her forehooves. When Ax got too close he was surprised that she was able to swing her blade with greater speed and precision like this but she seemed slower when moving around the arena.
He smiled as he was enjoying himself and fighting the Knight. This was the first time he was in a fight that he could enjoy without the fear of someone else trying to kill him. It was just him and the mare. Asphyxious then moved forward as he blocked one of her attacks and held it there.
“Tell me are you enjoying yourself right now?” He asked as there blades sparked.
“Yes. Usually I just get a slight warm up fighting the hydra and can only get a workout fighting my sister. But she is more of a water style fighter. Bending around the attacks and striking fast then backing off where I am like a rock. You are the first to be able to stop one of my swings. Normally any attempt to do that would only result in my opponent dropping their weapon or it breaking under the force of my blows. You have managed to hold on to your weapon and I must compliment your sword for withstanding the blows.” She answered with a hint of a smile.
“Sound interesting maybe if I win I’ll fight her next but for now lets have Fun with this fight!” He yells and jumps back from her. He smiles as he runs at her again then swings his cutlass at her. She swung her sword up and in but wasn’t aiming to block with it. Instead she moved a little to the right letting the blade bounce off her armored foreleg and swung her sword at his midsection while his blade was vibrating from striking the hard armor.
Asphyxious jumped back but still the blade cut through his chest plate and blood rained onto the floor. He took a breath as he dropped to one knee breathing calmly. He then slowly took the chest plate off. Asphyxious then smiled as he heard the cheers and started to laugh.
“Let me guess, you think it's over now… I’m sorry but I can’t have that, not when we’re starting to have so much FUN!” Asphyxious yelled and charged at unyielding like a mad man. She just smirked and said two words.
“Restrictions release!” That is when some black braces that Ax didn’t see before because they blended in with her armor unlatched like shackles from her legs and one from her waist like a belt and fell to the floor, embedding themselves into the stone floor with their weight alone.
“I love it!” He yelled as there blades met in a shower of sparks. “How did you get some much stronger all of a sudden.” He asked as her sword cut into one of his arms.
“Working for my lady...Or should I say my princess now? Comes with advantages. Her mastery of making artifacts means I am provided with interesting training tools. Each of the leg braces weighed two hundred pounds each and the belt was five hundred.” She answered.
“Now that's really interesting.” Asphyxious said with an almost feral grin on his face. “Now show me what you can really do and make me feel alive!” He screams as he goes back for more. But when he tried to lock blades again he was pushed back by the force of her swing without the weights weighing her down.
“You think the training weights are interesting you should see this board game she made for training using the enchantments used in those comic books that kids seem to love these days. It’s called Jumanji. Its a nice challenge with so many things in the jungle trying to kill you, even if they can’t really kill you. Perhaps you would play with me some time?” She asked.
“Sounds like my kind of place think Rin can make me one of those?” He asked as he stands up again. It was strange seeing him push himself like this it was clear Unyielding was stronger yet Asphyxious kept fighting back.
“You can try asking.” She said as she used her hind legs to jump at Ax surprising him yet again with the quick movement knocking his cutlass out of his hand. But she had to wait until she landed to stop meaning she was a good distance away before she could turn around.
Asphyxious grabbed her in a hug. “I don’t know why but I always fall for strong women.” He said into her ear. Then let her go as he held his hands up. “Looks like I lost.” He said with a smile.
Unyielding Blade gave a smile as she placed her weapon back on her back and fell back to all fours and gave a bow as the crowed cheered her name. “If only the other black knights besides my sister were as strong as you. We would have already defeated the Goodly Heroes.” She said before offering her hoof to shake.
“They sound stupid, next time you guys fight them let me know I need a good punching bag.” Said Asphyxious as he looks at his bleeding shoulder then shakes her hoof.
Unyielding saw this and looked to the sky. “My lady the fight is over. Would you be so kind?” She asked and she and Ax glowed with the light of the healing spell. “May your battles bring you victory.” She said to him as she offered a hoof to shake. He took it and smiled at her. “My you stay strong and your enemies make you stronger.” Asphyxious said back.
Next Chapter: Princess Rin Estimated time remaining: 13 Hours, 43 MinutesAuthor's Notes:
For those who are wondering how Juggernaut can be affected by illusion magic when he still has his helmet on in this world there are two kinds of illusion magic. The kind that affects the mind which is illegal. And the kind that Trixie and Rin used which work like holograms made from magic instead of light and projected sound.