It was like an insult, someone laughing at their victory. I could see it, that maniacal smile. It was as though I was looking and listening to one of those Manics. A force, closer than it should be. That looming figure that bested you at every corner…

My eyes shot open as I felt something.

Glancing around the ship, all I saw was the dark inside, along with the darkness of the outside. Nightmare sat in her crystal, eyes closed. This was bad. Letting my legs drop from my meditation, I grabbed my helmet and slipped it over my head before wandering outside. As I stepped onto the grass, I felt a pull towards the East.

I didn’t like it worth shit…

“Incoming transmission,” Ordis informed over my comms.

With a glance, a screen opened before I used my eyes to pull it up to full screen. Both a tired and disheveled Luna and Celestia stood side-by-side. “You felt that too?” The pair shared a worried glance. Celestia was the first to reply.

“We have a problem…”

I sat on the windowsill of one of the many windows in the throne room, staring out of the castle and out towards the Equestrian countryside. Nearby, Twilight, the girls, and the three other princesses and my team conversed. I waited silently, lost in thought. The more time we sat here the more time he had to gain his power. I could feel it, a disturbance in the force, as it were. There was a comical pop of magic, indicating that out ‘detective’ has left.

“He’s going to get us all killed…” I finally said, turning my head to face the group.

“He is the only one that can search out and find Tirek’s magic signature,” Celestia reinstated. “If anyone can find this threat, it’s Discord.”

Slightly frustrated, I turned and let my legs drop before standing. “Unlike you, I prefer to deal with my problems permanently… we can track down this problem before it explodes in our hand,” I explained rather calmly, holding up my hand for emphasis. At this point, I didn’t care too much. The ship was air worthy, and the torsion beam device was functional. It was only a matter of time before we left. It didn’t help that it was near impossible to get Celestia to agree with me.

The mare continued to stare me down. “I have full faith that Discord will pull through in the end!” she stated firmly. “He’s changed! And you know that!”

I took a deep breath before exhaling through my nose, heading for the door, I came to a stop when Celestia turned to face me. “When the watchman sees the sword, and raises the alarm… if the people ignore the warning, their blood is on their heads… but if the watchman sees the sword and does nothing…” I turned my head to stare down at the slightly scowling mare.

“The blood of the people, is on his head…”

I’ll be there to tell you ‘I told you so’.

Three days later and I knew this was going to fucking happen!

Discord and his corrupt mind turned on us without any hesitation! Word all over the country had quickly informed us that Discord and Tirek had formed an alliance. As soon as we heard the news I told Celestia ‘I told you!’

I slammed my fist on the dining table. “I fucking told you!” I shouted at the solar mare across from me. Next to her stood Luna and Cadence. Next to me, Twilight winced. I pointed an accusing finger at the mare. “If you had done what I had said, both of them would be dead!”

“Excalibur, this is my country I-” Celestia tried to argue back, but I was quick to cut her off.

“And it has failed at every step!” I boomed, taking a threatening step forward. Even though she was across the table from me, the point was clear. “Discord turned against like I had planned. Tirek is on a warpath here and the country has declared martial law! We are on fucking lockdown!” I was losing it at this point. It was so clear how ignorant and stupid Celestia could be! “From this point on, I’m taking control!”

This time, it was Celestia’s turn to slam her hooves on the table. “Absolutely not! We can still get-”

“Sister?” Luna interjected softly. Celestia furrowed her brow and turned to face her sister. “Equestria is in a state of panic. Tirek is on his way here to take our magic. ‘Tis only a matter of time before he gets here unhindered. Do you not remember how he nearly won before?”

Celestia froze to think. From that look, she looked like she had remembered something horrible. “I vote we listen to Excalibur,” the lunar mare ventured. Cadence stepped up and nodded her head while Twilight placed a hoof in my open palm and squeezed it. Flabbergasted, Celestia searched the room before she lowered her head.

“Fine…”

Time to get this plan into high gear. “Gather each and every guard we have on hand and evacuate the city!” I ordered the princess’. “If we can avoid any unnecessary casualties and keep Tirek from acquiring anymore energy,” I added with a downward slash of my hand, accentuating my point. “As soon as the city is empty, we don’t have to worry about hurting anyone.”

“And what about us?” Twilight asked.

“I have a plan for that,” I replied, turning towards her before speaking over the radio to my team. “Everyone head for the Liset and gear up,” I ordered, releasing Twilight's hoof and heading for the door. After explaining the plan and gathering what guards were present and giving them their orders, we exited the castle into the courtyards just as Ordis brought the ship in for landing. As soon as I reached the top of the ramp, both Serenity and Drax waited for their orders.

“Ordis, bring up the armory,” I requested.

“Which one?” the cephalon asked for clarification.

“All of them.”

As I turned to face the arsenal, a loud hissing filled the air before the arsenal disappeared into the floor and a large wall, covered in guns and blades. On the far left, rifles, shotguns, snipers, bows, and explosives hung neatly. In the center, handguns and sidearms of all shapes and sizes were ready to be fired. Many of them I have not touched in many years. On the far right, daggers, swords and hammers of many walks of life, expertly forged, called for blood. I held my arms out wide.

“Pick your poison!”

Both Drax and Serenity shared a look, most likely smirking before they approached the wall. Drax searched the rack of main guns before reaching out and pulling my Ogris anti-personel/light vehicle rocket launcher from the rack, the inside of his helmet lighting up, a screen explaining everything about the weapon. Reaching out myself, I exchanged my Lex for a pair of Staticor energy gauntlets and swapping my Soma for my modified Gorgon Wraith.

Here’s hoping that extended mag with blast rounds will do a lot of damage.

Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Serenity standing in front of my melee weapons rack, leaning left and right to find the one she wants. As her eye caught something, she reached out with both hands a pulled a large great sword from the rack. When the magnetic field broke, she grunted when the full weight of the sword rested on her arms.

She paused when my hand rested on hers.

“Sorry, this one’s mine,” I apologized, taking the blade from her hands and attaching it to my hip. “It was a gift from an old friend.” Reaching up, I pulled a large yellow hammer from the rack. With my right hand, I reached up and activated the jets, causing the weapon to hum and vibrate in my hands. “The Jat Kittag… stands for jet mace. Nothing makes a hammer swing faster than strapping a jet to it and start swinging.”

I could just image how big her smirk was under that broken helmet.

Once we were armed and set, I grabbed one last custom launcher and a heavy chain gun, I headed back for the castle. I gave Twilight one last hug before I sent her off with Ordis to grab her friends and prepare Ponyville. Walking up to the throne room, I gave the three princesses’ one last glance before I came to a stop. I glanced at a large stained-glass window of Twilight. Charging up my right Staticor, I tapped the glass…

Causing the whole thing to shatter…

“What was that for!?” Celestia attempted to shout in her exhausted state. This was the part that I probably hated the most, but we were playing off of a game of propaganda. Here’s hoping Ordis could get Twilight and her friends out as fast as he could. Because if all that magic fell into the wrong hands…

“Tirek doesn’t know and I want to keep it that way,” I answered, staring down at the shattered window. From there, I headed to the base of the dais to look up at the three remaining ponies in the entire city. “Time for you three to play your part.”

Once we were set, I turned to face the doors of the throne room, my teammates on each side. Giving them one last glance, I pulled my Dominion from my hip and shoved it into the marble floor before setting the chain gun next to me and dropping into a kneeling position and closed my eyes.

And now we wait…

*Thump!*

My eyes opened slowly.

*Thump!*

It was time.

I could feel the tremors through the whole floor. He was here, and he was getting closer. Reaching out, I placed a hand on the handle of the large great sword and used it to pull myself to my feet. Drax rose to his feet and pulled his Ogris from his back while Serenity followed my lead and held her hammer in her hands. Pulling my blade from the marble and sheathing it on my hip, I bent over and grabbed the handle of the chain gun. Turning, I glanced back at the worried looking princess’ one last time. The thumping came to a stop outside the doors to the throne room…

Before they were torn from their hinges.

Okay… Tirek was a lot bigger than what I expected. The huge red and black centaur nearly reached the top of the door if I include his massive horns. Tossing the large oak doors to the side like a pair of used toothpicks. He gave all six of us a confused look before he growled and started to approach, each step violently shaking the ground beneath our feet. I don’t even know how the floor was supporting him! With each step the room shook, his gigantic hooves cracking the marble as he approached, his large, menacing… oh fuck it…

Son of a bitch is so fat and ugly; a Richter scale in Las Pegasus is having a seizure.

Imagine if the dude farted? We would have to evacuate to a safe, 500-meter distance! At that size, getting laid is probably impossible. Heh… this guy has to be a virgin. I also do not remember centaurs being on the list of nations oh so long ago.

“Hmmm,” the centaur hmmm’d, before staring up at an exhausted Celestia. “What is the meaning of this!?” he all but shouted, holding out an open palm towards my team and I. Yelling, what is it with all the yelling when it comes to bad guys? Ruk does it, and so does Vay Hek. Captain Vor just can't shut up and Kayla gloats... its annoying as shit...

Celestia rubbed her ringing ear. “Say hello to my latest defense force, Tirek. I hope you’re ready to meet your maker!”

Tirek snorted… before grabbung his gut as he burst out laughing, the whole room shaking violently. After several seconds, he returned to that dumb glare he had when he entered. Or does his face always look that ugly? He’s probably just that ugly. “Just give up Celestia! Or I will squash these insect under my hoof!” He accentuated that statement with a slam of his hoof.

I leaned over to Drax and whispered to him. “Sounds like Saragus Ruk.” He snorted a laugh. Time to get this over with. “Hey Tirek!” I shouted, causing the beasts ear to twitch as he stared down at me. “Your mother’s fat!”

His eyes went wide before he growled, the center of his horns igniting a large black ball of energy. “Open fire!” I ordered, all three of us making a dive for it in order to dodge the energy ball. I rolled out of the way and immediately took cover behind one of the many pillars that lined the throne room. Behind me, the area where we once stood had cratered, opening a hole into the floor below. Stepping out, I placed my reticle on Tirek’s head and opened fire. He screamed out and held up a hand to block the incoming rounds, each bullet tearing open a hole in his flesh.

With another shout, the center of Tirek’s horns started to swell with energy yet again before he sent a giant beam firing in my direction. With a roll, I dove out of the way, dodging both the beam and the now obliterated column. On the far side of the room, Drax opened up with my Ogris, the weapons anti-personnel rockets doing nothing against the giant. Tirek turned to face Drax, but he didn't have time to attack as he was beaned in the back of the head by a jet powered mace and a pissed off warframe.

Which made a rather comical dinging noise upon contact.

To lessen the impact from her fall, Serenity landed with a roll. Just as she was turning to move out of the way, she held up her mace to block the backhand she received from Tirek, sending her sailing through the opened doorway of the throne room. Drax burst out from his column, sprinting full speed in between Tirek’s legs. Drawing his Bolto, he fired a volley of corrosive darts. Each one seemed to be sharp enough to puncture that thick hide. Tirek shouted out, lifting his leg and grabbing it as Drax slid behind cover.

With a growl, Tirek turned in the direction of Drax and backhanded the pillar, shattering it into dozens of large pieces of marble. Drax’s head popped up a second later. “Missed! Agh!” The taunt only lasted for a mere second before Drax was grabbed in Tirek's giant palm. Tirek lifted him towards his face, where the two stared each other down. Tirek took a deep breath before he screamed into the drake’s face. Drax retaliated with a roar of his own before taking a deep breath.

And torching the centaur.

Tirek flinched back, shouting out and holding the burning dragon at arm's length. And when the flames failed to reach his face, Drax focused on his captor’s arm. Tirek, like a flailing fish, shook his burning fist in what I presumed to be an attempt to put out the flames, which in an ironic twist, only seemed to fuel them further. He continued to shake the burning ball of pissed off rage before finally turning and throwing Drax through a nearby window, one that portrayed Twilight and her friends defeating Nightmare Moon.

Blowing out his smoldering hand, he turned to face me, which only caused him to wince back and shout- sorry, for some reason, it's like all he knows is how to scream and cry and piss and moan, it’s annoying.

Where was I?

Right, he took a charged blast from the Staticor.

For some reason, that was entirely too late, I visualized a funny looking cowboy talking, saying ‘No no no, don’t shoot him, you’ll just make him mad!’

A well placed beam of energy hit me in the chest, zapping my shields, and hurting like a bitch. With a midair roll, I impacted against the back wall of the throne room, just behind the three alicorns. The impact was so hard, I was seeing black circles on the edge of my vision. I was border line unconsciousness, so much so that it took everything I had to stay awake. It was so hard of a hit, the inside of my helmet was beeping repeatedly, indicating a need for medical aid. I tried to move, but my limbs felt like lead. It was too late though.

Tirek had the princess’.

Lifting them to his face, he smiled victoriously as they glared at him angrily. Opening his mouth, he sucked in a deep breath of air before he opened his eyes, seemingly surprised. “What happened to your magic!” he bellowed, angrily.

I slumped over in an attempt to stand. “Specters… activate!”

The three mares went stiff in Tirek’s hand. “ Voice activation engaged. Weapon systems armed! ” the three stated together. Tirek, now confused, stared down at the three in his hands. Cadence’s head seemed to split in half with a hiss as her face disappeared into her neck, which was rapidly replaced with a large gun barrel.

Which glowed bright blue, flowing with electricity before it fired the steel rod projectile from the railgun.

Tirek -somehow- dodged the shot, surprising him, which also shattered the ceiling and created a new hole in the roof. Two ports opened in Celestia’s shoulders, rapidly deploying several bright orange flares, which at that close range, caused multiple to strike Tirek in the face and eyes. Releasing the three mares, he pulled his arms up to rub his tattered face. Specter Cadance landed on all fours while Specter Celestia’s wings altered into a pair of metallic ones while Specter Luna came to a hover just off the floor, four jets skis keeping her aloft.

“Fire!”

Specter Cadance reared up before she smashed her front hooves into the marble, the large spikes and support braces holding her in place, electricity sparking as the specter prepped the next round. Specter Celestia took to the skies, banking hard to come down for a gun run while Specter Luna shot off before sliding to a stop, her wings locking into solid blades of near-unbreakable steel. The throne room was nothing but a giant light show as all three specters open fire.

What? I wasn't going to let Tirek take the one thing he was after!

With them exfiltrated out of the city and hidden with the rest of the civilians from Canterlot, their safety was ensured. Hopefully. Maybe? Now I hope Twilight has followed her orders to exfiltrate with Ordis. This was the part of the plan I hated. In order to come to an agreement, the princess found it best to transfer their magic… into Twilight. It was both a good and bad idea. Good in the sense that it made a good backup, in case Tirek tracked down the three-original princess’, he would be unable to siphon there, magic. It was bad because all that potential energy was located in one centralized area.

“Oh poor, poor, Excalibur!” Discord’s disgusting voice said into my ear before said being slithered into my view. “Isn't this exciting! Too bad it’ll all come crashing down!” he continued, closing a fist for emphasis before flashing a tub of popcorn into his claw and watching the three specters and Tirek fight. With a snap of his fingers another flash of light, he materialized a lawn chair, a pair of sunglasses, and a chocolate milk before lying in the chair and relaxing with a sigh.

I groaned and pulled myself to a knee. While Discord was distracted, I pulled my great sword from my hip. Holding it with both hands, I lifted it over my head and let gravity do its job. An alarm sounded as a red exclamation point appeared over Discords head before he popped out of existence when he saw me tower over him, my blade came crashing down missing and brutally murdering the lawn chair. With a grunt, I pulled the blade from the floor and out of the chair and over my head. Discord appeared not to far away, a scowl on his face.

“Mark my words. I’m going to hurt you!”

Finally, when I felt stable enough, I sheathed my blade and took off. It was time to end this. Cupping my hands, I drew my Exalted Blade and came to a sliding stop in the center of the room. “You, are really pissing me the fuck off!” With my rage fueling me, I drew back my blade, its ethereal force charging and sparking. With a ferocious shout, I arced the blade from under my arm and over my head, throwing a vertical beam of burning red energy towards the center of the room. The air around the beam supercharged with energy as the thing moved. Time seemed to slow as Tirek and the three specters turned to face it. Specter Celestia poured more power into her thrusters and shot up towards the ceiling. Specter Luna folded her blades to her sides and jetted off to the side. Finally, Specter Cadance released her braces and reared back, smashing her hooves into the already cracked marble, shattering the floor and falling through the subsequent hole she made. Tirek on the other hand, attempted to dodge… almost…

Tirek’s left horn crashed violently against the marble floor, bouncing once before ending with a roll.

Tirek screamed out in agony as he grabbed the stub of his horn, flailing violently in pain. Taking a knee, I pulled my launcher from my back and took aim. “Hey fucktard!?” I shouted, causing Tirek to turn and face me with a growl, still holding his stub of a horn with both hands. Pressing the trigger, the rocket shot off like a bat out of hell, impacting against the floor at Tirek’s feet, exploding into a giant fireball. With the floor fractured, it immediately gave way, Tirek disappearing in a plum of dust and debris. Heading over to the hole I created, I stared down into the dusty abyss. I could vaguely see the outline of another hole in the next floor below. “Celestia’s going to be pissed…” I stated, before glancing down at the empty tube in my hands. Tossing it to the side, I quickly headed out of the throne room and towards my closest teammate, my specters following not too far behind.

Specter Cadance impacted against the wall of a random building, she had no time to react before Tirek’s giant fist smashed her further into the crater she originally created. She sat there limp, exposed wires arcing against torn metal as Tirek pulled his fist away. As convenient as they are, specters are only so smart and can only take so much before they give way. “And there goes our last specter,” I stated from my hiding spot on a nearby roof. “How’s everybody holding up?” I asked as Tirek stomped his way down the street, yelling the whole way.

“I’m hurting,” Serenity stated as she leaned against her wall on ground level, holding her aching side.

“Same ‘ere,” Drax added from several buildings ahead of me. “At least you got off injury free.”

“Yeah-no!” I corrected. “Several broken ribs and bruising. We just need to hold out and wear him down. Target his head. He’s hurt just as much as we are. Stay confident, we can win this!” Standing up, I started up my Gorgon Wraith and started running towards Tirek, each round exploding against the back of his head.

They did nothing.

Jumping from one roof to another, I dodged the beam he fired, obliterating the top few floors of the building I was once on. Landing with a roll, I continued running. Down below, Serenity took a deep breath before activating her Hysteria with a scream. Without a care, like she needed it, she charged, talons ready. Tirek, noticing the little ball of rage, charged a beam and fired. The arching mass of energy impacted the ground with a giant explosion, throwing dust and debris far into the sky. Serenity disappeared into a cloud of dust. All was silent on the eastern front as Tirek searched the debris. The sound of a whip cracking broke the silence as a bright orange beam impacted against Tirek’s nose, causing him to rear back with a yelp. From the debris came one pissed off cannonball. One that impacted with the power of, well, a cannonball I guess.

Tirek reared back from the impact, Serenity hanging from his lower lip as he stumbled into a nearby building, causing the whole thing to collapse from the impact. Pulling herself up, Serenity barrel rolled over the open palm Tirek tried to slap her with, which only missed and caused him to slap himself in the face with a thunderous *boom*. “AH!” Tirek grunted as he fell backwards into the debris pile he had just created. Serenity simply landed on his chest as he laid. Snapping his head up with a growl, he lifted a palm high, while she stood there with her hands on her hips. He slapped her like an annoying fly, grinning maniacally as she was crushed from the impact… until he lifted his hand and shaking it wildly, screamed at the top of his lungs, Serenity’s hands buried knuckle deep in his palm. Holding her up, he pulled her free with two fingers before trying to crush her in his other hand.

A guttural roar filled the air as Drax came crashing down, Scindo Prime held high. The metal grinding as it tore a substantial chunk of flesh from Tirek’s right ear. Blood splatter the ground and covered Drax as he landed, turning to face his target, he dropped the axe and held his arms out, catching Serenity bridal style.

“Thank you!”

He went to respond, only to stare up at the giant shadow that seemed to block out the sun. Eyes wide, he threw Serenity like a sack of ayatans, before grabbing my battle axe and rolling out of the way. Serenity, landed flat on her ass with a groan and a curse, but unharmed. She made a little, rather comical hop, when Tirek’s open palm impacted against the ground. Quickly pushing herself to her feet, Serenity aimed for a nearby alleyway and slipped into it.

I landed on top of Tirek’s ginormous fat head with grunt. Pulling back my right fist, I held my super-charged Staticor high. “Rrrah!” with a grunt, I punch Tirek in the back of the head as hard as I could. There was massive concussive explosion, followed closely by deafness, and me impacting against a wall before I hit the ground with a painful bounce. I laid there for several seconds in a daze. I could see spots, my helmet blinking red, and debris littered ground. Okay, so maybe removing every safety precaution on those things was a bad idea. Damned things can kill you even with them on. Pulling up my right arm, what was left of the mangled gauntlet dangled from my right hand.

Wires hung freely and arched and sparked. I was rather lucky to even have my arm. Weakly shaking my arm, the gauntlet shook with it and slid slightly, with a little more wrist action, it finally fell free, clattering against the street. “Lo… ou… Ex… bur… Tir...k… hind… you!” Taking my now free hand, I placed my open palm against the street and weakly pushed myself up slightly. “Cal… he’s come… g… Mo… he… kil… ou!” With my left hand, I repeated the first action, of which I felt rather accomplished when I got my chest off the ground. Getting my right foot under me, I gingerly pushed myself up and stood up. I almost felt like throwing my hands over my head in victory. And I did!

And promptly fell backwards…

Laying on my back, I stared up at the bright blue sky. At least it was a nice day out. Hey… who suddenly turned the sun off? “Oh… fuck…”

“Excalibur! You have to move! Your armor can’t take another hit!” Ahhh… so that's what that cracking and static was. It was Serenity.

Boom!

Tirek’s fist impact hard against my tiny and pathetic body. The earth shook violently, and my shields sparked during the impact.

Boom!

I sunk further into the ground as the crater deepened, my shields dropping even further.

Boom!

Tirek slowly pulled his fist away, gravity peeling me away from his closed fist. Tasting blood and seeing red, the next hit would probably do me in. Time slowed as Tirek pulled his fist away. “Serenity… Drax…” I started. “Whatever you do… don’t let Tirek get to Twilight…” There was no point in closing my eyes. Honestly, I think that makes it worse. Ignoring the cries of protest, I watched as Tirek’s right fist came to its peak.

There was a whoosh, followed by a giant red fireball.

Tirek stumbled back from the explosion that impacted against the side of his head, disappearing from sight in a plume of smoke. “HOW… DARE...YOU!!!”

Wait…

“HOW DARE YOU!!!”

That can’t be?

“HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MY BROTHER!!!!”

“Ember!?”

“RAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!” The sounds of earth and fire cracking filled the air before I was blinded by a giant wall of flame, shooting high into the sky, engulfing Tirek in the flames. With a sudden burst of adrenaline, I pushed myself up and stumbled up and out of the crater. With a heavy thump, an orange and black figure landed just in front of me. Her armor glinted beautifully in the sunlight, tiny flames wisping off her armor, her jet black Repala Syandana blowing dramatically in the wind. Finally, the flame on the top of her helmet burning brighter and hotter than normal.

Oh, she’s pissed.

“Ember? What are you doing here!?”

“Dealing with a problem! ” she growled gutturally.

“Ember, wait!” I shouted, trying to stop her by grabbing her arm. But it was too late, she jumped away and my hand missed, causing me to wince and hold it to my gut. How the fuck did she get here!?

Author's Notes:

Well... I had a plan this summer that I clearly did not follow. Heh... oops. My aim right now, like I did with this, is to force myself to spend some time here and there hashing out the rest of the story. I also decided to skip ahead to one of the more important arcs of this story.

So next you may ask?

Chapter 54: Clash of the Titans

I'll leave you all to guess what that means.