Aegis Flare wasted no time in returning to the castle and gathering his forces. Surprisingly, it didn’t take long, as he found that the princesses were already in the midst of mobilizing the royal guard for his arrival. They explained upon his questioning that they too, had deduced Visionary Dusk’s assailants’ escape route and sent a few scouts to confirm their suspicions. Knowing that he, Twilight, and Sam were also at the site, they figured combining whatever clues they may have found with their deductions would ultimately lead to the assailants whereabouts. However, when the scouts returned with news that the three were nowhere to be seen and the entrance to their suspected tunnel had remnants of concrete surrounding its frame, the princesses grew worried for Aegis Flare’s party’s safety. It ultimately came as a surprise to the royal sisters when Aegis Flare explained what had become of his group and their investigation of the area when they first arrived on the scene.

He laid out Twilight’s ingenuity with cobbling together a functioning tracker out of a device left behind, to which Princess Celestia praised her student silently at. Then, of the human conduit’s service in clearing the path into the underground. Princess Luna nodded in favor of the wire conduit’s aid and gave her own praises. Finally, it came to the part when the group was led back to the surface and made several key deductions of a possible location of Visionary Dusk’s, or at least the assailants’, hideout. The princesses tensed at the mention of this final note. It troubled them immensely that these adversaries might have been hiding right under their noses from the very start.

When asked where his two companions on this investigation were, Aegis Flare became only slightly hesitant to respond. Eventually, with the eyes of the princesses upon him, he had no other choice but to tell them of what became of the insubordinate human and the sharp-witted unicorn. They had stayed behind to keep their eyes on the abandoned lab for if the assailants or if Visionary Dusk made a move, in case they were, in fact, hiding inside the suspected building.

The princesses did not seem to like the outcome, but having known Sam for a while now, they have come to expect this type of behavior from him. It did, however, surprise Princess Celestia how adamant Twilight had apparently been in continuing the investigation alongside Aegis Flare and Sam, regardless of the dangers it presented. She had also apparently refused on several occasions both the captain’s and Sam’s insistance to return to the castle for safety, and with quite a bit of quick-wittiness that got the better of both her companions. It seemed that Sam isn’t the only one learning from the other in their time together, but it still worried the unicorn’s mentor that her protege was quite possibly in far more danger than she would have liked to see her in.

Nevertheless, Aegis Flare’s conclusion to his report brought about a clear course of action that the royals and guards must take. The princesses ordered the captain to gather the troops they had mobilized and prepare to execute a raid on the abandoned lab they had discovered. It wasn’t long after that the captain and the now assembled guards galloped through the city, following the captain’s lead back to building. Now, here they were. A perimeter was set up, the citizens were cleared from the surrounding area, and the bulk of the guards were lined up and standing ready in the empty lot in front of the abandoned lab. Everything was set, except for two small things. Or, more specifically, two individuals.

It was of no surprise that the captain was fuming at finding his two charges that he left behind were not where he last saw them, nor anywhere in the surroundings. He looked to the abandoned lab as his guards performed their duties and cursed the human with every fiber of his being for what he knew he must have done and ignored his instructions to stay out of the building until his return. Though, the part that surprised him the most was that Twilight Sparkle was nowhere to be found either. At first, he suspected that the unicorn had returned to the castle to warn him and the princesses of another of the human’s reckless decisions. Yet, even he knew of her magical prowess, and a teleportation spell of that distance would have been a simple feat for her, and he would have received word of her return and what happened swiftly.

Looking back up at the imposing building before him and his guards, a twisting knot formed in the pit of the captain’s stomach. The Princess of the Sun would not be happy if his hunch of her whereabouts proved to be true, and he could only pray that he was wrong. Not just for his sake, but for hers as well. The captain took a quick and deep breath to clear his mind. Now was not the time to become agitated. If what he assumed was right, then that just meant that he had to have both Twilight and the human found before something happened to them.

Turning to the formation of guards before him, the captain spoke up in his deep, baritone voice, “Ponies! I’ll make this quick. Inside this building, we may find the fugitive known as Visionary Dusk and his assailants. I don’t have to remind you just how dangerous these individuals are, but remember: You know your roles, your objectives, and the strategies we must use to face these adversaries. Finally, we have one other task we must keep in mind while infiltrating the abandoned lab. Two of our own, Twilight Sparkle and... the Human... may be inside. Keep your ears open, and your eyes sharp.”

Just as the captain was about to wrap up his speech and give the command to commence the raid, a sound tore his and the rest of the guards’ attention away to one of the third floor windows. An almighty crash and a spray of splintered wood rained down from above, where something tore through the wooden planks that covered the upper window. Most were shocked, others were just slightly surprised, but one was torn between feeling furious and a long-suffering headache coming on for what he saw as the cause of the unexpected commotion.

From the window spewed not only the splintering chunks of wood covering the opening, but the ends of silvery, metallic cables. The wire cables retreated just as quickly as they appeared, seeing as they had served their purpose and more noises seemed to be coming from the freshly cleared window. While most of the guards tensed and raised their weapons within the formation, Aegis Flare listened and found that he could make out two distinct voices from within the building’s window. Not long after, more movement could be seen closing in on the window above along with a set of panicked cries.

“Welcome aboard the ‘Conduit Express’! Going down!”

The all too familiar dialogue was followed by a sight almost nopony, except for the captain for the most part, expected to see. A figure leapt through the newly made opening, a terrified, screaming pony in tow.

The guards were too stunned to act as they watched the figure that they have come to know as the ‘Wire Wraith’ flipped through the air in a way that made him face the sky. One of his arms shot out and toward the building. A set of wires sprung from his knuckles and embedded in the side of the building before snapping taut a second later. With his panicking, pony cargo in hand, Sam rappelled down the side of the abandoned lab until his feet found purchase on the ground. He took a moment to look up to make sure he wasn’t being followed before sprinting to the waiting formation of guards in the empty lot.

“Hey, Cappy!” Sam called out with a smile, using a free hand to wave to the scowling captain, “You made it! I-”

“Stop!” Captain Aegis Flare ordered with a shout.

The wire conduit came skidding to a halt in front of the captain who, unsurprisingly, did not look as happy to see him. His usual stony faced frown was replaced with a scowl full of seething anger. Sam nervously chuckled, knowing all too well what that particular look meant, especially when it was directed at him.

“C-captain!” Twilight managed to catch her breath enough to address the royal guard before her.

The unicorn squirmed her way out of the wire conduit’s arms, having realized that she was still being carried embarrassingly in front of what looked like the entire castle guard. It took her a moment to find her footing, and even still, her legs were still shaking from the sudden rush of events that she was just put through. With everyone seemingly settled in for the moment, Aegis Flare took the opportunity to gain the much needed intel that Sam and Twilight must have had.

In a deep growl of a voice, he asked, “What happened?”

“Well, you see. You left, and I got bored-” “Sam ran in, and I got worried-”

On and on the two talked. Their words mixing in with each other so much that the captain had a hard time keeping up. Both explanations were getting Aegis Flare nowhere, since he could barely understand a word that was being said now. It got to the point that he grew too frustrated and shouted over them both.

“Enough!” the captain shouted with a flare of his wings. A set of jaws snapped shut, and the captain finally got a chance to process what he had heard. “Human, I thought I told you explicitly, that you were to wait for my return and not do anything foalish. Gah! I should have expected this from you. And you, Miss Sparkle, you were to keep him in line, not join him in his reckless behavior!”

The purple unicorn looked downtrodden while being chastised as she was. She knew that what she had done was, at best, dangerous. Now, she had to pay the consequences, in that being the harsh words being slung her way. She was interrupted from her self beratement when she saw a hand waving in front of her. Or more specifically, between her and the captain.

Sam’s interruption was coupled by his words that he threw in defense of the purple unicorn, “Hold on now, Cappy. I went in there first and asked Sparks to stay behind. Granted, she did come in after me, but if not for her, that bastard unicorn we’ve been hunting for would have been carving me up like Freddy Krueger.”

Aegis Flare actually did take notice to the minute spots of deeper red that seeped into the human’s shirt and pants, not something that he was used to seeing on the human, especially with his boastful reminders of his ‘healing factor’. It did give the captain pause for a moment and elicit a bit of sympathy for what must have happened to the human while he was gone.

“Which reminds me... this place? Yeah, we’ve got the right place for the guy and his lackies,” With a bit more seriousness, Sam gave the long and short of their story to captain. “Viz is on the third floor, same room as that window we came out of. Sparks knocked him out cold so we could escape. The griffon was up there, too, but we blocked the room, and he was still trying to get in when we got out. Unicorns are either on the second or third floor. If we hurry, we can take them before they have a chance to split.”

Aegis Flare seemed genuinely surprised by the concise briefing the human gave him on the situation. It made sense though. He tended to get serious when the times called for it.

The captain took another moment to process this info before lightening his scowl, “Hmm, right. We already have the area cordoned off. This platoon is meant for the raid, so this info is helpful. Don’t think you’re off the hook yet, Human.”

The tiny smile on Sam’s face devolved into a cringe, and he was left to just scratch the back of his head bashfully.

Turning to face Twilight fully, the captain bowed his head in apology, “I’m sorry, Miss Sparkle for the misassumption. Now, I’m sure Princess Celestia will be glad to know you are safe. Human, escort Miss Sparkle to a safe location outside the perimeter so she may return to the castle. Then, you’ll be back with me for the raid.” The captain looked to his side at the saddlebag strapped under his wing. “Unfortunately, we only have the first prototype of the ‘Suppresion Collar’ on hoof, since more are still being developed, and we’ll need your help to subdue the assailants.”

“What?” Twilight choked in bafflement.

She, at first, felt glad that the captain had apologized to her after Sam’s defense, and even though she was still trembling from the events she just went through, she was eager to put herself to use at her friend’s side as she expected once they made their escape. She had even started anticipating her possible roles in this raid, and the possible ways that she could be of use.

“Roger that, Cappy,” Sam answered the captain’s order with a mock salute, “Come on, Sparks. Let’s get you out of here.”

Many of the guards were gearing up and spreading out in what could only be a preplanned pattern of attack, alongside their captain who was barking orders. This gave Twilight and Sam a moment to speak amongst themselves.

“Sam, please! I want to help,” Twilight pleaded her case to stay.

Sam shook his head and started to guide the reluctant unicorn farther away from the abandoned lab, “Sparks, you’ve already done your part, and more.”

“But I can still help!”

Sam blocked the purple unicorn from getting around him and back toward the abandoned lab with all the encroaching guards surrounding it, gently leading her away, and careful to check over his shoulder for any signs of action about to break out. Sam leveled his pony friend with another serious look as he chose his next words.

“Sparks, we talked about this. And, as grateful as I am that you ignored me the last time, I can’t let you get in on this part. These guys already know we’re here now, and they won’t be fucking around once we charge in.”

“B-but, I can…,” Twilight tried to come up with a valid excuse that would keep her here, but nothing was coming to mind.

Sam encircled an arm around the unicorn’s neck in a one-armed hug and fixed her with a caring expression, “They have guns, Sparks. You remember what I told you about them, right?”

A resigned nod was her only response. A feeling of resignation for the inevitable was slowly taking hold of Twilight.

“They got those and their conduit powers. A far too dangerous combo, even in my book,” Sam’s expression softened, and he began to scratch the sweet spot behind Twilight’s ear, soothing her further, “Listen, I love how gungho you are to wanna help, but like I said, you’ve already done enough. Just leave the rest to me and Cappy, and we’ll have these guys rounded up in no time.”

Disheartened by the fact that she was no longer needed, Twilight moped. Though, she had to admit that Sam was right. She’d end up being more of a hindrance than an asset for the real fight. Her sneak attack on the madpony, Visionary Dusk, was honestly just that; a lucky hit. And she had acted more in the moment than anything. For her to truly want to harm another pony, no matter what they’ve done, made her hesitate. She knew that hesitation would not do her well for what was about to happen. With a sigh of resignation, Twilight bowed her head in acceptance to the truth. Sam offered a sympathetic smile and a quick scratch behind the ears in return.

A commotion suddenly broke out behind the two, making them turn in the direction of the abandoned lab and the formation of guards steadily marching toward the building. With Aegis Flare at the lead, the guards moved in from all sides and even the skies, closing the encirclement til they were mere feet away from the building.

Battlemages stood ready with their horns aglow, waiting to unleash a swift volley of retaliation on anything that tried to break their ranks. In front of the them, all assortment of weaponry were gripped tightly in the advancing guards’ hooves, from shields, swords, to spears aplenty. Above, pegasi kept their flying patterns tight, seeming unhindered even by the heavy armor they wore on their hides.

The plan was simple: enter from all entry points, run the assailants down until they were pushed into a corner, and leave not even a hair to slip through their ranks. A simple plan it was, and a plan that would soon be put to the test on its effectiveness. For as the guards found themselves right on top of the building, a strange noise filled the air. Aegis Flare called for a halt and waited alongside the other guards to see where these mysterious noises were coming from.

Something suddenly caught the attention of the guards from the building, as a sort of fissure split the ground in front of it. The fissure grew larger and seemed to spread out along the entire perimeter of the abandoned lab. The ground rumbled, and before their very eyes, thick plates made out of dull, gray concrete arose from the earth. The rocky material grew larger and covered the surface of the building like a fungus.

If the Captain or the rest of the guards had any doubts about them being in the right place, this wiped away those lingering thoughts. By the time the guards recovered from the terrifying sight, the concrete shroud was slowing down. Its uneven edges all across its surface boasted its haste from its construction, but was no less an impressive shell of protection it was erected as.

“Battlemages!” Aegis Flare raised his hoof as he readied his command, “Bring down those walls!”

Every Battlemage on the field let their horns flare even brighter as they unleashed the destructive power of their magic. The volley of concentrated offensive magic collided with the surface of the concrete from all sides, but when the dust cleared, there was hardly a scratch on the impressive walls.

‘Magic resistant. Of course,’ Aegis Flare growled out in his mind. He turned to a quartet of messengers behind him and pointed to them as he issued his next commands, “Check with the rest of the squads around the building. I suspect they’ve encountered similar results. Have them hold their positions and wait for further instruction.”

The four messengers saluted and either took to the air or galloped off around the outside of the perimeter to do as ordered. Meanwhile, Sam and Twilight had been watching from a distance when the wire conduit leaned back down to his unicorn friend.

“That’s our cues, Sparks,” Sam said with a cocky grin before tapping the top of the unicorn’s head with his palm, “Get back to the castle safe.”

Twilight did her best to put on a brave face, but her eyes betrayed her feelings of concern, “Sam, j-just make sure you’re the one who stays safe.”

Sam stood back up to full height and crossed his arms, putting on his most confident grin for the unicorn, “Come on, Sparks. This is ‘me’ we’re talking about! I’ll be fine, and we’ll have this wrapped up before you even have a chance to grab your note cards for our next magic lesson.”

The boastful promise did what it was meant and gave Twilight the peace of mind for her friend’s safety. She turned to leave from the site, but not before peeking back over her shoulder one last time. It surprised her to see Sam doing the same, but that cocky smile of his was still there. He gave her one last wave of farewell before running off to join the guards. Twilight’s hooves moved slowly at first, but as she took more steps in the opposite direction, her pace picked up into a gallop.

With the area growing less industrial and more residential, Twilight was able to see just exactly where she was in the city. She was right in her assumption that their trek through the sewers had led them to the lower ring of Canterlot, and she could just barely see the very tips of the tallest spires from the castle now.

As more and more ponies could be seen on the streets, whispers of the guards march in the opposite direction were buzzing in the air. They knew not what it specifically meant, but they gave thanks that they weren’t the ones having to deal with whatever had roused such a response. It stung Twilight, even if the whispers were not directed at her, and she felt ashamed for her inability to help any more than she had so far, which in turn left the purple unicorn with a depressed expression on her face.

Twilight’s eyes lit up as she remembered something that the Captain had said earlier. They only had the prototype of the ‘Suppression Collar’ they had been working on as a means to combat the concrete wielding assailants. There was still a way she could make herself useful after all. It may not be much, but she needed to return to the castle immediately. She wanted- No, needed to ensure these other ‘Suppression Collars’ were completed. With a goal in mind, Twilight’s resolve bloomed, and her horn flared up with arcane energy even as she kept running. In a bright flash of purple light that startled a few of the city’s residents, Twilight teleported the rest of the way to the castle and the Royal Research Lab where she could work.

Visionary Dusk had a splitting headache when he became conscious again. A major inconvenience, seeing as he was right in the middle of a crucial project. It wasn’t lost on him that he had somehow found his way onto the floor of his lab with the feeling of something warm and liquid dripping into the fur from the side of his head. He groaned as he tried to get the rest of his faculties under order.

“Doc!”

His hearing was coming back now, and an annoying buzz was grating against his ears. It sounded like somepony trying to say something. It mustn’t be very important, at least, not as important as what he was working on. In fact, he had to get up now. No matter how long it’s been, his research has gone unattended while he was out, not something he would take too kindly to when he found out the source of the interruption.

“Doc! We need to leave, now!”

Leave? While he was in the middle of his research? That would be preposterous. Here he was, with the most valuable specimen he has gotten his hooves on, and somepony wanted him to just up and leave?!

First, he needed to get his wits about him. So, he slowly shuffled his hooves until they were underneath him. Next, he pushed his body off the ground, a bit too fast, as his head gave a terrible throb for his efforts. In any case, Visionary Dusk was officially back on his hooves. With one hoof, he rubbed the side of his head that hurt him more which caused him to hiss in pain. His eyes blearily opened, and when he was able to see, he found that his hoof was covered in blood.

“Alright, Doc, you’ve had your fun,” the voice that spoke to him earlier grumbled angrily, “Now, it’s time to leave. Get your shit together and be ready. I’ve already secured the escape route.”

Visionary Dusk scowled in the direction of the one who thought he could talk down to him. This previously unknown character turned out to be one of his mercenaries. Specifically, Aras, the griffon. The glowering unicorn should have known. The griffon always did like to interrupt his work at the most crucial times.

“I don’t recall you having any say in when we leave, griffon,” Visionary Dusk growled venomously.

Aras clenched his beak so hard that it felt like it would’ve cracked, “Ok, then you might want to know that in the time that you were ‘out’, that thing that I said about the royal guard following us? They now have the entire building surrounded!”

Visionary Dusk wanted to be more mad about the situation at hoof, but the dizziness in his head kept him from reaching a breaking point, “Worthless idiots! You and the rest of your crew! I’ve given you every opportunity to succeed, and you let it all go to waste!”

The shout was accompanied by a painful cringe from the bellowing unicorn. Aras only got a mild twinge of satisfaction out of the reaction, but overall, he was becoming fed up with it. When the unicorn was able to stand somewhat steadily again, he slicked back his oily, bloodied mane to try and regain his calm.

“...Fine, grab the subject, and be ready. I’ve almost completed my-”

“You don’t have a subject, Doc,” the griffon interrupted the unicorn.

The words were there, and Visionary Dusk did hear them. However, to hear such a claim made for a very unintelligent joke in his opinion. He was about to correct the griffon on his ill-considered words, when he turned to check on the condition of his precious subject that he had been working on, only to discover, to his great horror, that the examination table was empty, and the suppression cuffs were lying worthlessly on the ground.

“What?” Visionary Dusk mouthed, flabbergasted, soon to be replaced by a seething rage and caused his head feel like it was about explode with pain that he couldn’t care less about, “What happened to my subject?!”

“He escaped,” Aras snorted and was soon made the focus of the unicorn’s ire.

He might have burst a blood vessel at this point, but Visionary Dusk wouldn’t care either way, “How? How did this happen?!”

Aras snorted again and quickly explained, “Does it matter? I warned you, Doc. Hiding here was a bad idea from the start. Then, when that ‘human’ showed up, you wanted us to capture it, instead of killing it like we should have done in the first place! I hope that that unicorn that brained you finally knocked some sense into your thick skull!”

Visionary Dusk’s eyes widened in shock. Though, not from the griffon’s attitude and aggressive stance, but what he said. Somepony had interrupted his research, stole his vital subject, and cost him his valuable time… an egregious offense that he would not stand for, not when he was this close.

All the while, Aras watched as the unicorn before him seemed to be on the verge of a mental breakdown. It would have been more satisfying were it not for what little time they had before the royal guards made their move. His own unicorn companions were watching from the floor below through some boarded up windows on the guards’ movements. They’ve been setting up an encirclement, which meant they didn’t have much time before they started to close the loop.

Wasting no more time, Aras tapped his claws on the ground a few times to get the unicorn’s attention, “You can worry about your silly research later, Doc. Right now, we need to go.”

Aras turned on his heel and was starting to leave with he heard a low growl emanate from behind him.

“No.”

Confused, Aras turned around once more. There, he saw Visionary Dusk. No longer fuming and lashing out, but that white, hot rage was still in his eyes.

“We are not leaving,” the unicorn stated in dark tone. He paced about the room, ears folded back, but never once let his enraged eyes fall away from the griffon, “I’ve waited for years for this day to come. I am about to make history, and I’ll be damned if I have to waste another minute with everypony else’s ineptitude.”

A chiming sound broke the two’s focus from each other. Visionary Dusk trotted slowly over to the ‘Conduitic Infuser’, where the device had just finished synthesizing its latest batch. The unicorn popped the side panel open and was presented with his prize. The vial was filled with a much larger quantity of the translucent mix of glowing, amethyst fluid. He was both in awe and curious of the wonderful concoction he had created. So much so, that almost everything else had lost his attention.

“Looks like you at least got something out of this,” Aras snidely remarked, “Now, am I gonna have to drag your pony ass out of here, or are you gonna finally see some sense?”

Visionary Dusk narrowed his eyes at the griffon before him, “You do not get to order me around!”

Aras clicked his beak in anger and flared his wings, “Fine then. We’ll just re-discuss the terms of our contract once we’re free of this forsaken place.”

Just as the griffon took an advancing step, Visionary Dusk stomped his hooves in retaliation, too angry to get any more words out. He was so close, he could almost taste it, and this hybrid freak wanted to ruin that. All he needed now was the perfect subject to finally realize his life’s purpose. Though, that wouldn’t matter if everyone else wanted to interrupt him every time he was making progress. Then, he spotted something just behind the griffon, amongst the pile of destroyed furniture and web of wires that was once stacked against the door and barred entry.

Using his magic, he grabbed the container that he spotted and had miraculously survived all the apparent damage. Inside were more vials filled with liquid, only these ones were sickly-yellow in color and did not have same vibrant glow of the amethyst vial in the unicorn’s contraption behind him.

Aras instantly recognized these vials. They were the ones he and his crew were given on a regular basis to use their special powers. He was going to grab them on the way out after the unicorn since he saw them, but it seemed that Visionary Dusk was already ahead of him and might actually be thinking about more than his precious ego. At least, that’s what the griffon thought at first, when all of a sudden the unicorn’s horn before him flashed brighter and with it, the vials were gone.

“What have you done?!” Aras shouted, both confused and irritated.

Visionary Dusk brushed another hoof through his mane, but the strands of hair just fell right back in his face. He didn’t care though. It was just a habit, “Mind your place, hybrid. You and your crew will not survive without regular doses of the ‘beta serum’.”

“Where. Are. They?” Aras growled, taking an intimidating step toward the unicorn with each word.

The unicorn was right. Without that serum, he and the rest of his crew would suffer the same fate as their pegasus friend. With them gone, it was only a matter of time. Time that they simply did not have to stand around arguing about.

“That is not the issue here. We are staying right here until my research is complete,” Visionary Dusk answered calmly.

“Fine then,” Aras gave up and took another step toward the unicorn, “We’ll discuss where those vials are after I drag you out of here.”

Even though Visionary Dusk took a step back, he didn’t seem all that worried, but offended, “Do not touch me! I’ve sent them away to a place only I know of. So, let’s say you ‘drag me out of here’. Do you think you could survive long enough to do whatever it is you think you can do to me to get those vials back?”

Aras hesitated only for a split second, and that was all Visionary Dusk needed. He took his advantage.

With a step forward of his own, Visionary Dusk got up in the griffon’s face, “I’m willing to allow this bout of insubordination go, but you will remember your place! Though, you shouldn’t have worried to begin with. I have already found the answer I need to have my legacy validated for all time.”

The haughty unicorn strode past the griffon before shuffling through the wreckage of his equipment to find something. Aras got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, but before he could raise his objection, Visionary Dusk hummed in satisfaction. From the wreckage, he pulled a single, intact syringe with his magic and levitated it by his side.

Returning to the other side of the room with the syringe in his grasp, Visionary Dusk spoke, “Get your ‘boys’ and fend off the nuisances outside for the time being. I’ll only need a few minutes before I’m ready.”

Aras didn’t like how icy the unicorn’s words were coming from him, but with so very few options, he had to make a choice. He could feel his last dose of serum was wearing off, their weapons’ ammo was running out, and they had the entire city’s royal guard bearing down on them. The griffon made his choice based on the gamble of the choice that seemed to offer him and his friends the best chance of survival. He didn’t like it, but he prepared to head out and get his crew together to tell them that they were about to make one last stand.

Though before leaving the room, the griffon asked one final question of the madpony before him, “What exactly do you plan to do?”

Without even looking back from his work at the only table not overturned, Visionary Dusk replied simply, “What I should have done from the start, with the only pony I trust to handle this.”

Not wanting to waste any more time pondering such cryptic words, Aras left to grab his gear and inform his crew. Meanwhile, Visionary Dusk retrieved the vial from the ‘Conduitic Infuser’ whilst he finished sanitizing the syringe in his magical glow. Taking the vial in hoof, he plunged the needle of the syringe into the vial’s top. The plunger pulled back and extracted the amethyst fluid from the container until the syringe was full. Tossing the useless, empty vial off to the side, it shattered on the ground while the unicorn’s focus remained on the syringe in his magic. His magic carefully gripped the edges of the syringe’s base, where the fluid’s effects wouldn’t hinder his magic and then probed his left foreleg for a vein. Knowing his own body well, it was in short order that he found such a vein and hurriedly jabbed the needle into his leg. The plunger on the syringe pressed down and sent the glowing liquid straight into the unicorn’s body. As the last drop was injected into himself, Visionary Dusk tossed the useless syringe away as well.

It felt cold at first, the serum quickly making its way through his system until it came back to his heart. The tingling coolness started to evaporate, and the conceited unicorn almost frowned at the lack of reaction. That frown lasted little more than a moment, as suddenly, Visionary Dusk doubled over onto the ground. It happened almost instantly, and it felt like every cell in his body was on fire. Grinding his teeth, he tried to stand up, but every movement he made only sent another surge of pain through his entire system. Through the haze of agony, he spotted something next to him on the ground; his tape recorder.

He tried to reach out for it with his magic, but the moment he attempted that, it felt like a metal wedge had pierced his brain, straight through his horn. He would have been screaming if he wasn’t already choking on his own breath. With shaky, scraping hooves, he reached out and bat at the little plastic device just out of his reach. Not one to be deterred, the unicorn edged closer through the painful spasms his body racked him with. Finally, his hoof found purchase and slid the recording device closer to himself. His vision was blurry, and every accelerated beat of his pounding heart was just another wave of pain in the world of suffering he was now in.

Despite all this, and after futilely scraping at the device on the ground for what felt like an eternity, he felt his hoof finally hit the one button he desperately wanted.

The recorder spooled on and Visionary Dusk began his dictation, “L-log day 1-193-B. I’ve d-done it, argh! With only one pony-ugh, pony in this world I tr-trust. I, V-Visionary Dusk, am about to v-verify the-mmmmgh, conclusion of my research! T-to say that it should haaaaave been obvious w-who I should have directed the final product toward. Aggh! Is an understatement! I-I will be Equestria’s f-first conduit, and p-aaAAAH, Buck! Prove that my research was more important than a-anypony imagined! E-especially… Especially to that false god, C-Celestia!”

Without even realizing it, Visionary Dusk’s hoof slammed down on the diminutive device, shattering it to pieces. His eyes had been squeezed tight for nearly the entire time of his speech, but something inside of him changed. He was still in agony, but there was yet another feeling boiling beneath the surface. A haze of discoloration distorted the air around Dusk in a way that made it look as if it were exuding from the unicorn’s body itself. With a deep gasp of air, his eyes suddenly shot open, and though they saw nothing, just on the edges of his sclera, a smoky blackness crept inward.

Gunshots rang out, and their accompanying muzzle flashes shone brightly from splits made in the concrete covering the building. The jagged barriers of concrete left almost nothing to be seen of the abandoned lab behind, except for the three slots carved out of its face at the front to allow the mercenaries to fire upon the guards below. Luckily, the lot, with all its scrap, and the armored wagons the guards used to bring their equipment in, made for robust shields against the sporadic hail of bullets.

From the cover of these makeshift shields, Captain Aegis Flare and the rest of the guards returned fire with arrows, spears, and spells. Yet, they were wholly ineffective against the hard concrete and could merely only chip away at the surface, unlike the mercenaries’ bullets that occasionally pierced the various cover. It was a miracle that nopony that had been hit were mortally wounded so far, but there a few close calls they did have that were evacuated and left the guards’ resolve waning. The only one who seemed to be having any sort of luck, or more accurately, could take the abuse and keep fighting was the human conduit known as Samuel Reed. That didn’t mean his methods were having much luck in breaking through the barrier.

Said conduit was actually in retreat after lobbing a couple of tripwire grenades in the direction of the shooters’ windows. There was a short lull after the assailants moved away from the windows and the exploding tangles of wire before they were back at it again. A bullet narrowly grazed the human on his forearm as he flipped over an armored wagon to hide behind. The sting of pain was already gone, along with the wound, by the time he pressed his back up against the overturned wagon. He turned his head to the side to find just who he was looking for among the chaotic battlefield.

“Hey, Cappy!” Sam smiled before ducking from a bullet pinging off the top of the armored wagon, “So, yeah. I’ve got nothing on how to get past this shell they put up. And those ‘windows’ are just too narrow for me to shoot through and put those assholes down while dodging. If Lu or Natie were here, they could have blasted the place open by now.”

Seeing how even their little ‘ace-up-their-sleeve’ couldn’t get past the concrete shell, the captain clenched his jaw in concentration to come up with a new plan. Peeking down the line of cover at all the other ponies that recoiled from the superior firepower, his mind raced to find a means to put a stop to this battle before one of his guards died.

Intermediately, one of those ponies would pop up and either fire off a combative spell, shoot an arrow, or huck a spear before the rain of bullets came zeroing in on their position, forcing them back down into cover if they were lucky. If they weren’t, a spray of blood and a cry of pain was what they got as another round tore through their bodies. One such case was when a pony was on the unfortunate receiving end of a double shot to the gut and throat. The scream didn’t come from him, but from another guardspony that now tried to stem the bleeding cavities with her hooves and cried for someone else’s help.

The captain wasted no time in calling out, “Human!”

“On it!”

Sam rushed to the poor stallion’s side, cradling the convulsing pony in his arms while he directed a few others to help him out. While the other guards held their brother-in-arms steady, Sam threaded a small number of wires into the stallion’s wounds. Neither pleasant to watch nor experience, if the stallion’s expression was to go by, Sam worked his magic regardless, and before long, the pony was able to gasp a relieved breath of air through his repaired windpipe. The pony was left shaken, but alive, and offered his thanks to the conduit that saved his life along with the companions by his side. Sam was only able to give a quick wave in return before he vaulted over the safety of their cover to take another run at the impenetrable, concrete walls and draw the attacks on him for a bit.

Captain Aegis Flare was no doubt appreciative of the human’s assistance in this battle, but their true objective of penetrating the foe’s defenses still laid outside their reach. He needed to turn the tide of this battle soon, and that was made even more apparent as the human made another vault over the cover of his armored wagon to sit beside him once more. The human was panting heavily, and he seemed to have taken a few more hits, if the multiple bullet holes in his body were anything to go by. They healed no problem, but Aegis Flare didn’t want this fight to play out as a war of attrition at the human’s expense.

“Are you holding up, Human?” Aegis Flare asked with a tinge of worry.

Sam smiled and held a thumbs-up to respond, “Please, a few holes in the chest ain’t enough to slow this badass down.”

The captain begged to differ. The facade the human was putting on was not full proof in the slightest, and the captain could tell that he was getting tired. Turning to the the other side, he signaled a unicorn beside him. The unicorn understood and lit up his horn. Further down the line of cover, a box, half the size of a pony, floated in the unicorn’s telekinetic grasp closer to the pony pair and the conduit. It dropped at the conduit’s feet, and Sam gasped in astonishment at what he found inside. Neatly packed into the box was a pair spools copiously wrapped in wires of both the regular and thaumium variety.

“Ah, Cappy, you shouldn’t have~!” Sam clapped his hands together in glee.

“This isn’t the time for jokes, Human,” Aegis Flare chided, “In any case, this also isn’t the time to worry about your regulations.”

Sam hummed in agreement as he absorbed the wires from the spools with each hand. It may have only been just enough to bring him up to full power, but that didn’t cheapen the feeling. His original bounce of energy returned with his trademark smirk. Though, he was stopped from taking another charge over their cover by Aegis Flare’s raised hoof.

“Can you take down the concrete now?” Aegis Flare inquired hopefully.

Sam let out a sigh and sat back down with his back to the cover again, “Sorry, but that stuff is tough, even for me. Like I said, a couple of my other friends back from Memphis could do it, no problem. I just don’t have a skill to tear that stuff down in one shot.”

The captain pondered the conduit’s words before lighting up with an idea, “What about the sewer tunnels? Back when we first starting investigating the assailants’ trail?”

Sam shook his head, “I’ve been taking shots at this place for a while now, and this stuff is a bit thicker than that. Besides, I had to pierce the cracks in that sewer entrance wall and basically rip it apart, piece by piece. That took a bit of time, remember? I could do that here, but I’d need to get in close, hook the right spots. If those D.U.P. wannabes practice turning me into swiss cheese while I’m at it, even I’ll go down for the count.”

The captain grunted in frustration in realizing the flaws in his working plan. He knew that this could be their best shot, but to sacrifice even the human’s life was not an option. Then, another idea came to the captain. A simple solution to the plan.

Pointing to the unicorn beside him, he laid out his orders, “Grab two more battlemages and meet back here. Be sure you all bring back the largest thing you can comfortably levitate and sturdy enough to use as a shield.” The unicorn Battlemage saluted and shuffled down behind the cover to find his quarry while the captain turned back to the human. “I’m going to have you tear down that wall just like back at the sewers. Don’t worry, human. You’ll have plenty of cover from my guards while you’re doing it, but I have one question. Can you tear a hole large enough to expose all three of the assailants at once?”

Sam smiled deviously as he replied with a snark, “Not a problem, Cappy. That hole will be so wide, the Pride Parade would be proud.”

Although Aegis Flare didn’t know what a ‘Pride Parade’ was, the way that human said it made him only hope that the human didn’t mean for it to sound like an obscene joke. The trio of Battlemages were beside them now, ducked behind the adjacent cover of another armored wagon and nodded to show their readiness. Aegis Flare nodded back, spying the thick pieces of debris and even an armored wagon in their magical grasps, floating beside them. Then, he focused his gaze on the conduit awaiting his instructions beside him.

“Even with their protection, the assailants seem to be using caution and ducking into cover when fired upon,” Aegis Flare began to lay out his fully formed plan, “When I give the signal, you’ll charge on their position and tear down their cover. You’ll have plenty of cover yourself as we suppress the assailants, and just in case, these Battlemages will levitate their cover to block any retaliation in front of you.”

Sam smiled at this plan, mostly because he didn’t have one to begin with.

“Are you ready?” the captain asked.

Sam was, and gave a thumbs-up to the captain and the Battlemages by his side. Their confident nods in return was all that was needed to be said and understood as Aegis Flare spread his wings wide. Sam pushed his back away from the cover and faced it in a one-kneed crouch, in a way that readied a leap over the protective barrier.

Aegis Flare’s ears twitched as he listened to the sounds of battle, waiting for the perfect moment. The roaring bursts of gunfire came in its patterns of twos’ and threes’, pinging off what cover the guards had. For a few more seconds, they continued, with a few clamors of returned fire from the guards’ spells and arrows. One final round pinged off the armored cart that the Captain and the conduit hid behind, and then they were drowned out by the din of return fire and battlecries.

“Go!” the captain ordered and took wing.

Sam was already over the cart by the time the Captain was rallying his fellow, scattered guards across the battlefield. The wire conduit made it a quarter of the way to the building as the combined bombardment of pony armaments flew over his head to crash against the concrete walls. With every ounce of his strength, Sam pumped his legs to further his sprint and make it to his position.

A mere ten feet from the foot of the abandoned lab, the wire conduit dug his heels into the dirt and ground himself to a halt. In all that time, he had also been focusing his energy. Wires slithered up and down the lengths of his arms, like snakes preparing to lash and strike. Thrusting his arms up and out, Sam let the wires do just that.

The metallic strands joined the hail of arrows, spears, and spellcraft, but unlike them that all but scratched the surface of the concrete around the openings the assailants fired from, his wires, with precision aiming, found their way through the minute openings and latched around their edges from the inside.

Sam whooped for joy, but he wasn’t done yet. Pulling back, the wires snapped taunt and the conduit strained against the seemingly insurmountable task he was given. He gasped in surprise when a trio of levitating shield-like objects floated into place amid his wires, but knew their purpose. He was grateful for them too, as even with the suppression, he still found himself the target of the assailants’ gunfire. Most ricocheted off the barriers, but a few still found their marks. However, the conduit did not give up, gritting his teeth against the blows. Concentrating a bit more, he shot a few wires from his feet into the ground, shoring up his footing and allowing him to heave against the concrete even harder.

Sam psyched himself up with a warcry and pulled with all his strength. The concrete had reached its limits and cracked. The fissures grew wider and chunks of the previously impenetrable wall were giving way. With one final burst of effort, Sam wrenched his whole body back, and with it, a good portion of the concrete barrier came with him. Rolling out of the way of the falling debris, Sam stood triumphantly over his work.

It wasn’t his intent, but he had somehow managed to rip not only the portion of cover the assailants were firing from, but both the building’s wall and lower section, too. It seemed that the building’s structural integrity had severely diminished after years of neglect, and the floor from the second floor had caved in, dropping everything from above, which included a trio of D.U.P. armor clad assailants clumsily digging themselves out of the wreckage.

The royal guards had already rushed forward past Sam, and surrounded the criminals by the time the wire conduit was back on his feet. Aegis Flare was at his side as they joined the rest of the guards. The assailants seemed sluggish, but Sam wasted no time. The captain didn’t even see it coming as Sam snaked a wire under his wing and into the saddlebag at his side. The wire came free, having fished the prototype ‘Suppression Collar’ right out from under him and left the captain paralyzed in surprise while Sam blew past the circle of guards toward the assailants.

“Human, stop!” Aegis Flare called out, afraid for what the conduit might do.

Nopony was fast enough to stop him, and before the assailants even had a chance to react, Sam was upon them. Wires ensnared the three as they cried out. The griffon was the only one that was able to recover enough to try and lash out. Though, before even a flake of concrete could be conjured to his outstretched claw, a collar in one of Sam’s wires snapped shut around his neck and left the griffon stunned in confusion. By the time Sam was done, the three looked like a bunch of flies caught in the metallic webs of a spider. They struggled futilely as the bindings held tight.

Sam finally felt like he could breathe, and let out a sigh of relief as he wiped the sweat from his brow. Though he found it odd that out of the group, the griffon and one of the unicorns whose helmets must have fallen off in the fall specifically, they seemed strangely out of breath. He heard the beating of wings come closer, and soon, Captain Aegis Flare was beside him. They stared at each other and then over the trio of wheezing assailants a silent question was left hanging in the air.

Sam was already ahead of him with his explanation, “Hey, you did say that you’ve only got the prototype collar with ya. This should at least hold the rest of them until you’ve got more ready.”

“...Good work, Human,” the captain offered a bit of praise, “I hate to admit it, but I almost expected you would want to do more than restrain them.”

“What?! How could you think so low of me, Cappy? After everything we’ve been through...” Sam gasped in mock indignation before smirking in his usual manner, “Besides, it’ll be so much more fun to gloat over these D.U.P. wannabes when they’re behind bars.”

Their little victory was short lived as the bound unicorns started to cough profusely. The one without his helmet started to look pale, his eyes starting to bug out in shock. His face contorted pain, and if his fellow unicorn’s hunched over groans were any indication, he was suffering just as much, if not more. The coughs escalated into hacking wheezes, and the duo convulsed on the ground.

“What the hell’s going on?!” Sam looked on in dismay.

The griffon leaned up, somewhat surprised himself and looking a tiny bit better than before. Sam, Captain Aegis Flare, and the rest of the guards tensed at his actions.

“P-please,” he begged, “Save them! That serum that gave us these powers. I don’t know why I’m not like them yet, but the Doc said it’d kill us. We had no choice!”

Guards surged forth to assess the criminals’ vitals. The task was made difficult, as whatever was affecting them was worsening by the second, the griffon screeching for them to do more. Memories surfaced to the captain’s mind, and a sense of dread filled him from what he was reminded of.

He had seen this before, weeks ago when these assailants first attacked the throne room and their fellow member, the pegasus, was afflicted with this similar condition. Sam rushed forward from his side, to offer his help. The captain was hopeful that the human’s healing abilities would be what they needed here. However, that hope died out immediately when the wire conduit made to do just that with a set of wires, but backed away in alarm when he seemed to have failed and the assailants continued to writhe in agony.

“Cappy, what do I do?!” Sam asked.

Aegis Flare was at a loss, they never did find out why this happened to the first pegasus, and were left with nothing else to go on. Guardsponies with medical training did what they could, but nothing seemed to be working. If this continued, Aegis Flare was afraid that this would end similarly to that first encounter.

“Captain, a message from the castle!” a pegasus guard sped onto the scene.

The captain, no matter how much he wished he could put this on hold, turned to engage the messenger as he landed and galloped up to him. He saluted and reached for the saddlebag tucked under his wing at his side. It was no shocker that the captain’s expression was one of surprise for what was in the guard’s hoof. Three ring like objects, roughly the size of a similar one resting around the griffon’s neck who was desperately trying to comfort his friends from his bound position..

“Miss Sparkle and the royal research team were able to get them finished. Miss Sparkle’s explanation was...confusing, but she mentioned how the collars’ ‘shut off’ the conduit radiation? I’m not sure what she meant, but she was still rattling on by the time I left.”

Aegis Flare was no expert on the matter, but the human always rattled on about whatever when they were together. Among those things, one particular comment came to the surface of his mind. This ‘conduit radiation’ is what gave him his powers or powered them; it had to be one or the other. By what the griffon said at the serum, it had to be more than a coincidence, no matter how large the leap in logic.

Swiping two of the collars from the other guard, the captain flapped his wings hard enough to clear the distance back to the commotion behind him in one bound. He shouted for the others to ‘clear the way’, and before anyone could ask what he was doing, he snapped a collar around the necks of each of the ailing unicorns. It was subtle at first, but soon, their seizure like attacks died down and their breathing became easier. Sam, the griffon, and the rest of the guards looked on in surprise, and a sense of relief washed over the area. It wasn’t long after that that the two unicorns settled down and looked on around themselves with confused, tired gazes.

“B-boss?” the unicorn without his helmet turned to the griffon, “What happened?”

The griffon just looked on in amazement from his fellow assailants to the captain.

“Hey, Cappy? What did you do?” Sam leaned down next to the captain, trying to figure out what just happened at the same time.

Happy that this day would see proper justice, Aegis Flare readied to tell everyone what he theorized, but before he could, the building around them gave a terrible, groaning shutter.

“Everypony, evacuate the building!” the captain commanded, fearing the battle had taken a more severe toll on the structure than they had thought.

No one argued, and everyone, including the assailants who were carried out, did as the captain ordered. The groans and creaks from the building grew louder, and even the ground was starting to shake.

“Uh, Cappy? What is that?” Sam called out.

The captain skidded to a halt and turned around to see what the wire conduit sounded worried about. Everyone else who had turned to see what had drawn the other two’s attention slowly regarded the sight with unease.

“What has that bastard done?”

Sam and Aegis Flare turned to the griffon who had spoke from the back of another guard. He, too, was looking back at the building in alarm. They wanted to ask questions, but more sounds drew their attention back to the abandoned lab and the unsightly image of itself. From within the hole torn open from the previous fight, something was moving inside. No one could tell what it was, as its image stirred in the shadows. No, to put it more accurately, it wasn’t exactly lurking in the shadows, but the shadows themselves moved and twisted around it.

An unsettling arua exuded from this mass of blackness, and more of it seemed to seep out from the cavity of the abandoned lab, spilling into view for all to see. The concrete around the cavity cracked like brittle glass. It wasn’t much longer before more of the outer shell followed, and soon, the entire building’s exterior threatened to give way from whatever this black mass that grew inside it was. Anyone who looked upon this couldn’t help but tremble in uncertainty.

Even the wire conduit found himself backing away from the unnerving scene, “Cappy?”

Captain Aegis Flare had no idea what this ‘thing’ was, but him and everyone else was about to get a nasty surprise for the umpteenth time that day. The walls of concrete and the building underneath gave another unsettling groan. More and more of the shell broke and fell away from this black mass that grew as time went on, and from its murky depths, something else emerged. Two shining, coppery-yellow orbs floated into view from the largest hole in the front of the building. The sight unnerved everyone who looked at them, like they weren’t just a pair of floating objects, but a set of eyes peering back at them.

“FfffaAaaalllssEEEee GoooodDDdd!!!”

The voice they heard seemed to echo out from the mass in the building. Sam, the captain, and every other guard took their stances, even as the mounting fear building within them screamed for them to flee. Some wished that they had with what happened next. The abandoned lab, and even the entire ground, gave one last shudder. The concrete shell’s cracks finally gave way, and the whole building began to split open like an egg, giving birth to an unimaginable terror within. The black mass had appeared to fill every inch of the abandon lab’s interior, and with it free from its home, it grew even further.

“What is that thing?!” “It’s inequine!” “Is this the work of dark magic?!”

More of the guards spoke up to offer their differing opinion of the matter, but there was something they all agreed on in the back of their minds about this strange turn of events. They were all afraid of it.

Sam stood frozen as he watched the black, translucent mass take form. From a lump of pure blackness, tendrils slithered out from the main body. They at first thrashed and whipped about, like without purpose until their movements became more rigid. Four near the bottom reached for the ground and dug into the dirt, pushing the main body up like a set of legs. The fifth tendril filled out at the back, but took on a more wispy like state that fluttered in an unknown breeze. The glowing orbs from before traveled up the length of the forward most tendril and settled in a spot near the end.

Sam and Aegis Flare both baulked at the creature that was taking on a vaguely equine shape. A mane of the same wispy blackness as the tail extended out from the back of the creature neck and even fluttered about in the same fashion. The ‘head’, with its piercing, glowing eyes, split horizontally down the middle opening up its maw, and a haze of murky, black fog spilled forth. Eerily enough, this wasn’t the final addition. No, from the top of its head, a wickedly curved horn, refined to a point at its tip, shunted out and gave the whole creature the look of a demented, corrupt unicorn.

Everyone was too stunned to make the first move, which left the creature to lazily twist its ‘head’ from side to side, as if it were casually observing its surroundings. On its second pass, its gaze settled on something, but not on anything in the immediate area. Rather, off in the distance. Specifically, the royal castle nestled in the heart of the city. Its head dipped low before swooping forward and its maw opened wider to let loose an inequine screech that echoed all across the city. The screech seemed to do just the trick to snap the guards and wire conduit out of their fear induced paralysis, and they all had one thought in mind.

With a bellowing roar, the captain of the royal guard, Aegis Flare, took to the air in a winged charge, “Everypony, to arms!”

Every able bodied guard echoed their support with war cries and a stampede of thundering hooves. They all raced to meet their newest adversary that was slowly making its way out of the wreckage of the destroyed lab and in the direction of the castle. Even Sam ran forth, but was held up short when a voice called out to him.

“Wait!” the griffon mercenary shouted.

Sam only stopped due to the suddenness of the cry, but seeing who it had come from made him glare at the owner and almost turn back around and run off. The once great predator was now tied up in a tangle of wire restraints and hefted onto the back of an armored cart with his two companions. He glared back, but the fire in his eyes blew out faster than a candle in a blizzard. He looked sullen with the gaunt, tired expression he wore underneath, though Sam cared little for what he had to say if he was just biding time.

“Please, wait,” the griffon tried once more, “That...thing? The Doc, Visionary Dusk, he was the only one left in the building after you escaped. I think that’s him. He had this other serum he was working on, one that would make someone an ‘awakened conduit’. I think he used it on himself.”

The gruff tone was seeded with dread, and Sam had to do a double take just to figure out if what he heard was true. That bastard was a conduit now, but for the life of Sam, he couldn’t figure out what kind, as no other conduit he’s faced ever looked remotely like that. Still, a sense of dread latched onto him that reminded the wire conduit of the madpony with this same creature. When he looked back up at said creature, sure enough, he looked into that creature’s ‘eyes’, and he got the same chilling sensation he had from when he was made into a test subject for the lunatic back in the, now, decimated lab. His fists clenched up in anger, and the wire conduit was now sufficiently motivated to get some well deserved payback.

He suddenly groaned and faced the griffon with an annoyed roll of his eyes, “Let me guess. You want me to go easy on him? Or better yet, spare him?”

The griffon practically recoiled in disgust at the retort, “Absolutely not. He’s the one who twisted mine and my boys’ tails into serving him.” Then, a wicked grin found its way onto his beak. “I don’t care what you think of us mercenaries. We had our own reasons for taking this job. All I ask, is if you’ll give what’s coming to that bastard.”

Maybe it was the heat of the moment, but at the same time, Sam couldn’t find a single reason to disagree with the D.U.P. wannabe and gave him a thumbs-up with his trademark smirk. Wasting no more time, Sam dashed off to join the other ponies, who were doing their best to slow down the plodding mass of darkness in the guise of a giant, demented unicorn.

The wire conduit looked up and was shocked to note that said creature was already tearing through another building across the empty lot, like it was made of wet paper towels. Guards shouted out to pull back and wait for another opening after the debris cleared, and then the barrage of spells, arrows, and other weaponry converged again.

That wasn’t the only problem though. Through the chaos, Sam could hear screams. Screams that came from the city’s citizens that by now had no doubt saw the giant tearing through their homes and livelihoods. Sam rushed forth and scanned the area to find the one guard that was no doubt bravely leading the futile effort. His gaze locked onto a flock of pegasi whizzing back and forth around the dark giant’s head. At their head was the distinct, polished glow only the captain he knew would keep his armor at.

Sam needed a way to catch his attention. Never stopping in his run, the wire conduit sprinted past the now destroyed building the giant knocked down and to the next sets of buildings across the street. Sam took notice of a few civilian ponies being directed through the streets by a couple guards and was coming to realize that if this kept up, they would hit more densely populated areas sooner rather than later.

In one swift movement, the wire conduit shot a wire grapple up to catch the top of the next building he was running towards and ran up its walls while using the wires to pull himself up. Clearing the roof’s edge, he sprinted to the other side and turned back to the giant and started calling out. His hollering and arm waving was just enough to catch the pegasi’s attention above, and one of them broke off to fly down toward him.

Captain Aegis Flare dove to the conduit’s side, flaring his wings at the last second to catch himself just above the roof’s surface and landing. Sam wanted to say he was glad to see that he was doing alright, but the grimace on the captain’s face made the conduit very worried.

“We can’t stop it, Human,” the captain said, “Spears, swords, and arrows seem to pass right through it, like it’s made of black mist. And while spells can touch it, they don’t seem to do a thing.”

This wasn’t what Sam had been hoping to hear. Regardless, he quickly strided over to the side of the building to assess the situation for himself. Just as the captain had told, he watched as the ponies carefully weaved between the hulking giant’s hooves, slashing and stabbing at the creature with their bladed weapons. Though every time they did, the limb they attacked just blew away like a black mist before reforming in the same spot, without so much as even a winch from the giant.

The Battlemages worked in teams, combining their magic to create bigger volleys of offensive spells to launch at the giant. Just as told, their spells impacted with varying intensities of explosions, but if the dark giant was in any way affected, it did spectacularly in hiding it.

The black giant’s front left hoof crashed through the building in front of it, doing little to slow it down, and the guards scattered again to avoid the collapsing debris. There was no more time to think, and Sam was already itching for a fight.

“I see the problem here, Cappy,” Sam smirked and crouched at the edge of the rooftop, “This is why you bring a conduit, to fight a conduit!”

With a powerful kick off the ground, Sam was already flying out in the middle of the street. The captain wanted to stop him, but knew the human was right. He only hoped that he wouldn’t put himself in too much danger. He watched as the human conduit rushed through the throng of guards and dashed up to the closest leg of the dark giant.

Sam’s descent was easy enough to roll out of, and he was already at the base of the left hind leg of the dark giant as it set down on the other side of the second ruined building. He ushered the other guards around him to back up. They did just so and were cheering on the wire conduit as he prepared to bring this giant down to his knees.

Sam threw his arms out and wires extended out to braid into whip cables. Proudly charging forth, Sam yelled out and lashed at the defenseless limb with both cables, only to topple onto his side when the cables passed through the smokey blackness, and he lost his balance in the confusion.

“What the fuck? Ok, just a minor setback,” Sam recovered quickly and tried lashing out again.

Every strike he made did the same thing as the first, and the guards cheering him on earlier were losing hope. Sam wasn’t about to give up yet and gritted his teeth. The leg came up to bring itself forward in the giant’s walk cycle, and Sam sprinted after it. Charging up a few tripwire grenades, Sam tossed them underneath the giant’s hoof as it came down in the middle of the street. Dulled thuds shook the ground to the sound of the grenades’ explosions, but other than the bottom of the limb dissipating momentarily in a smokey plume and stumbling the giant minutely, it came right back.

Sam and the rest of the guards were dumbfounded. No matter what the wire conduit tried, nothing seemed to work.

“Human!” the captain swooped in to see how Sam was doing, “We’re keeping up with evacuating the streets as we go for now, but he’s about to smash through another building! Hurry!”

“What do you think I’m doing?!” Sam shot back.

Panicked and pressed for time, Sam tried racking his brain for something in his arsenal of tricks that could work against this menacing monster. The wire conduit’s face lit up as an idea took hold. It was time to unleash his secret weapon.

“Keep doing what you’re doing, Cappy!” Sam called out as he raced to beat the towering monster to the next building, “I’m bringing this guy down the only way I know how!”

Aegis Flare didn’t have a chance to ask the human conduit what he was up to, as he was already running up the side of the building in the giant’s path. He just had to trust whatever the conduit was thinking would work and continue coordinating evacuation and attack operations.

Meanwhile, Sam made it just in time to come face to giant face with the smokey, black titan before him atop the roof of the building in its path. Plan ‘A’ was bust, plan ‘B’ didn’t do much, but if there was one plan that never failed the wire conduit, it was plan ‘I’. Of course, ‘just in time’ didn’t mean ‘with time to spare’. The building shuddered and threw the wire conduit off balance as the giant’s right forehoof crashed through the lower floors and turned them to rubble. Once the monster had firmly planted its foot into the ground, the building remained intact, for the moment. Sam leapt back up to his feet, watching the monster’s left hindleg begin the arduous process of stepping forward out of the corner of his eye.

There was no time to second guess himself, Plan ‘I’, otherwise known as ‘Improvise-until-I-come-up-with-something-better’, was now in effect. With his right hand, thaumium wire spun and weaved to craft a spell matrix without Sam having to even look, all while he began to lob as many tripwire grenades as he could toward the beast’s face with his left hand.

The projectiles arced just high enough to reach their target and detonated in the monster’s face. There was a split second where the ‘head’ of the beast phased out of existence, like dust in the wind, but like everything else, it returned quickly. Though, whether the beast was actually affected by the attack or just wanted to know where it came from, it had halted its advance to turn its head this way and that through the air.

Meanwhile, Sam felt the finishing touches on his oversized ‘illusion spell’ matrix come together and raised his right hand to the sky. The matrix flashed brightly, and from it, a massive golden arrow pointing downward appeared with a message carved into the light. No one expected to see what it said, but its message was clear; ‘Look down, Dumbass’.

“Hey! Hey, over here!” Sam shouted as loud as he could and waved his free arm about.

The dark giant actually seemed to heed the words, or at the very least, noticed the call and spotted the miniscule human below it. Sam couldn’t be sure, but something about its gaze gave him the distinct impression that the giant, smokey unicorn was eyeing him with the most hate-filled glare it could muster with its unseeing eyes.

The wire conduit remained undeterred though, and continued shouting, “Remember me? The guy that’s been thwarting your plans? How about it, Psycho? I bet you’re dying to get a piece of this handsome hunk of meat!”

Sam added the final cherry on top for his taunt by blowing the biggest raspberry he could at the creature. Childish, yes, but no one ever accused Sam of being the most mature. The giant’s maw heaved shut in an action that one could describe as gritting its teeth. Then, deep within the bowels of the beast, a deep rumble bellied forth. Sam took note of this and was suddenly regretting more than a few choices in his life. The rumble traveled up the monster’s throat, and before anyone had time to prepare, its jaws snapped open, unleashing an ear-splitting screech that made everyone cover their ears in vain.

Sam lost his focus and accidently crushed the wire matrix in his hand, dispelling the glowing sign above. Windows in nearly half the city shattered and left those close to the cause paralyzed in agony. The monstrous cry was over as soon as it started, but by then, the damage was done. Sam was too busy getting his hearing back when he finally saw the black tendrils heading right for him. They were too fast to evade, and the wire conduit’s lower half was ensnared by the ropes of inky blackness that shot out from the giant’s mouth.

They felt cold, like liquid ice seeping from every surface of the black limbs as the wire conduit tried to break free from their grasp. He stabbed, beat, and whipped the tendrils to no avail, and soon, he found that they were starting to move. Or more specifically, they were being reeled back in to the monster’s waiting maw, and with it, a tasty human morsel.

Sam panicked and redoubled his efforts, but no matter how hard he hit the thing, the tendrils merely faded away for a split second before reappearing, like nothing happened. It was strange, as they felt just as solid as he did when wrapped around him, yet so wispy and translucent everywhere else. There was no time to dwell on that though. He was already halfway to the awaiting, murky jaws of the monstrous beast and closing fast.

Sam thought quick and decided it was about time that he tried his other secret weapon. Raising his right hand, Sam conjured more thaumium wire to the outstretched limb. One secret, late night raid into the royal archives on advanced combat magic was all it took for him to find this spell. Twilight was going to be pissed when she found out about this, but she’d understand… eventually.

The thaumium wire weaved together, forming into a pattern that Sam had never properly tested until now, but he was left with no other option. The pattern was like a sort of short conical frustum with the wider end pointed away from the wire conduit. Inside the hollow structure were an array of other shapes, mostly circular in nature that, when complete, flashed in sequence from the smaller end to the wider end. Sam watched in awe as golden light gathered at the wider end and condensed into a sphere of explosive, magical energy. The wire took aim down the center of the line of tendrils and the slowly, encroaching maw.

‘Please don’t blow up in my face.’ Sucking in a deep breath, Sam smirked and shouted the first thing that came to mind, “Magic missile, bitch!”

Sam crushed the spell matrix, and the newly dubbed ‘magic missile’, shot off like a rocket toward its target. Seeing as how close he was, Sam braced for the impact and was glad that he did, as the magical, golden projectile hit the lower jaw of the beast and exploded in a balefire like blast. Sam couldn’t see it, but he could definitely feel and hear the effect it seemed to have on the beast, as it wildly thrashed about with him still in its tendrils and shrieked in a ghastly howl. By the time the smoke cleared, Sam could tell something else was different.

The parts on the face and tendrils that the magic missile hit no longer appeared to be as translucent and hazy as they did before. They, in fact, appeared more solid in appearance and had pieces of itself flaking off and no longer regenerating.

Sam wanted more answers to this strange phenomenon, but his attention was stolen by a blur of armor and feathers speeding past him and ramming itself into the more solid mass of the beast’s tendrils still holding him. The black giant shrieked once again and threw its head back as if it were in pain, but more surprisingly, the tendrils that were severed appeared to be disintegrating before his very eyes. Sam looked up to thank his savior and wasn’t completely surprised to see that it was good ol’ Cappy, with his trusty spear in hoof.

“Has anyone ever told you you have impeccable timing?” Sam mentioned in his usual smarmy tone, meeting up with the pegasus on the edge of the roof to survey the scene.

The dark giant was still reeling from the unexpected turn of events, which gave the two a moment to converse.

“Whatever you did, Human, it seems to have worked,” Aegis Flare noted with a hint of satisfaction.

“Not exactly sure ‘what’ I did. Just glad it paid off though.”

Sam’s nonchalant comment was met with a curious look and then an agitated ruffle of feathers as the captain groaned inwardly. It stood to reason that it would be too much to expect the wire conduit to have planned this outcome.

“That spell you used,” Aegis Flare eyed the conduit next to him suspiciously, “It looked strikingly similar to a Battlemage level combat spell. I didn’t know Ms. Sparkle was teaching you such advanced magic.”

Sam offered a nervous smile, “Well- ahem. I mean, it’s not exactly something she taught me, per se. Just a little something she mentioned off-hand that might have been in a book somewhere…” The captain’s scowl deepened. “You know, you should really get some better security on that restricted archive in the castle library.”

Aegis Flare had a few choice words of rebuttal for the wire conduit’s subtle glossing over of facts, but the two’s argument had to wait. Visionary Dusk, in his beastal form, let loose another terrifying howl. Aegis Flare and Sam looked on to find the dark giant had recovered, but once more, it wasn’t just from the stumble back. Their eyes widened in surprise as they watched shadows cast by everything around the colossal creature shift and distort. A lot of other ponies noticed this, too, as their own shadows roused and twisted until they seemed to fly away from them like semi-solid mist. All the shadows converged on Visionary Dusk’s form and before their very eyes, the lower part of his jaw that was blown away reemerged as its murky, translucent self again.

‘A shadow conduit?!’ Sam shouted in the back of his mind, ‘God, I wish this world would stop throwing curveballs my way every other day.’

The beast worked its jaw a few times before screeching once again and resuming its march through the streets in the direction of the castle. Only this time, it moved faster, crashing through the building that Sam and Aegis Flare had previously been atop of before flying or jumping out of the way. The two regrouped on the ground with a couple other guards, who vied desperately for the captain’s orders on what to do in this dire situation. In a commanding tone only a superior officer in the Equestrian Royal Guard could project, the captain demanded the gathered forces silence.

Captain Aegis Flare spread his wings and kicked off to hover in the air as he addressed the gathered forces with pride, “We are the ponies that chose to protect the citizens of Equestria, no matter the opposition! Our opponent is strong, but we mustn’t falter. That creature, Visionary Dusk, is heading straight into the heart of Canterlot. Do what we are trained to do and protect the innocent from harm!”

A resounding reply of compliance answered the captain’s call to action, and the now inspired guards dispersed to do what they could to evacuate ponies or slow the beast down. With only Sam and the captain left behind, Aegis Flare turned in midair to address the awaiting conduit.

“Human, right now, I don’t care where you learned that spell, but it seems to be the only thing working on Visionary Dusk,” the captain turned and pointed to the advancing giant as he spoke, “You must have noticed it, too.”

Sam hummed in understanding as he replied, “Let me guess, I’ve got point, and you want me to make him vulnerable with more shots of my magic missile?”

The captain made a simple grunt to show his approval, “I will coordinate teams to follow up behind you, and hopefully, it’ll be enough to put a stop to him.”

Sam smirked and cracked his knuckles. The madpony turned shadow giant had made a mistake. That mistake being, crossing paths with the ‘Wire Wraith’ of Canterlot a.k.a. the ‘Ace of Clubs’, Samuel Reed. The unicorn terrorized a world of innocent ponies, had done unspeakable things to those he captured, and worst of all, hurt those that the wire conduit had come to care about in this world. Though, Sam wasn’t about to deny the fact that he was doing this partly in revenge. When he and Aegis Flare locked eyes one more time, that flame was quenched and glowed dimly in the presence of the agreed pact of a new goal between the two; Justice would be served.

Sam sprinted ahead, zipping away on wires used to cross the city section until he caught up with Visionary Dusk. A sinking feeling hit the conduit as he looked over the trail of destruction that was left in his wake. Visionary Dusk was faster than before, and had crossed the length of a city block, tearing up the cobblestone streets and whatever else had gotten in his way. Ponies were frantically running to and fro, with only a small portion of the guard able to help evacuate them, as the rest tried futilely to slow the dark giant down.

As Sam came down to street level, he spotted a pair of foals cowering under a bench that apparently no one saw. That also included the guards that were rushing other ponies to clear the way as another colossal hoof started to come down in that spot. Sam ran forward and fired off a couple of wires from each hand to lasso the paralyzed foals from underneath the bench and fished them out of harm’s way just as Visionary Dusk’s shadowy hoof crashed down and crush the bench.

Sam looked down to the foals in each of his arms, one a female unicorn and the other a male earth pony, and asked calmly, “Are you two okay?”

The shuddering foals could only nod their heads, but it was enough to tell that they were okay, if just a little shaken up. The wire conduit set them down and steadied them until their hooves stayed planted on the ground properly.

“I know this is scary, but I know you two can be brave, right?” Pointing in the direction of some guards in charge of evacuation, Sam spoke, “Just stay calm, and follow those guards. They’ll lead you to safety.”

“Th-thank you, Wire Wraith,” the unicorn stuttered her appreciation before she and her companion did as told.

The foals ran off, and Sam refocused on his surroundings. From high above, he heard a whistle, and he saw the captain, followed by a group of other pegasi, waving at him. Obviously his cue, the wire conduit smirked and focused his energy. Wire of both variety swirled around his hands, and he rappelled up the side of another building to get a better shot of the massive shadow beast.

The roads were thankfully clear ahead, and Sam swung out in front of the dark giant and took aim at its ‘chest’ with another magic missile. The spell matrix went off, and the glowing orb of explosive magic hit the beast just above the joint of the right foreleg. A deafening ‘boom’ filled the air, followed by Visionary’s pained shrieks. As the hulking giant stumbled, pegasi dive-bombed from the sky and launched a volley of arrows and spears at the solid looking spot of darkness with great effect. The solidified pieces of shadows crumbled away and left the dark beast shrieking in more pain.

“Woohoo! Now, that’s what I’m talking about!” Sam cheered from the opposite side of the street.

A contingent of guards gathered around the wire conduit on the ground, headed by Aegis Flare, and Sam knew what was to come next. Not to let the shadow conduit have a chance to recover, Sam sprinted down the street, weaving his offensive spell matrix in each hands. Double flashes and condensing auras of magic signalled their ready, and so was the wire conduit.

Zigzagging between the shadow conduit’s oversized hooves, Sam got underneath him and took aim. The first hit Visionary’s left foreleg in the back of the knee, and the second at the base of his hoof of the left hind leg. The shadows solidified and seized up, allowing the teams of earth ponies and unicorns behind Sam to strike. As chunks of the shadow conduit’s ‘flesh’ crumbled away, his left side could no longer support him, and he tumbled to his side and crashed into an apartment building.

While the dark giant flailed around on the ground, Sam swung overtop of the beast and landed in front of it, where Captain Aegis Flare was waiting with the next group.

“Alright~! Come on, Cappy! Up high!” Sam smiled brightly with his outstretched hand hanging over his head. Sam waited, but an annoyed glare was all he got in return, so he simply reached up with his other hand to slap the other, “That’s ok. I got myself.”

“Human, don’t let up,” the captain gruffly proclaimed, stomping his hoof in annoyance.

“Relax, Cappy. We’ve got him on the ropes. His regen is fast, but he’s still a novice when it comes to using his powers.”

Sam had no time to take the verbal beating from the captain as was intended, as while his back was turned, he took a more physical beating in the way of a cascading wave of shadows hitting him squarely in the back. It was like shards of ice were forced under his skin, but he grit his teeth as he pushed himself back up from the ground.

The scene before him was not what he expected. Guards were either knocked aside or picked up and tossed about by a multitude of hazy, black tendrils that erupted from all over the shadow conduit’s being. The meticulous formations that Aegis Flare had set up were in shambles and many of the guards were left to fend for themselves. Sam’s achy back was healed, but the chilling sensation was still with him, and not just from Visionary’s attack.

Shadows from everywhere came rushing toward the beast, and just as quickly as his injuries had been made, they were healing back up. Sam watched in terrifying shock, as the shadow conduit was already rising back up to his hooves and towered over the city and its frightened citizens. The dark giant tilted his head downward, and Sam found himself shaken to the core with those piercing glowy, yellow eyes.

“SSSssssSsuuuubbbJJjeEEEccccTTttt!!”

Several shadowy tendrils shot forward and Sam barely sidestepped out of the way of all them and avoided their terrible, chilling embrace. Not wanting to stick to one spot, Sam vaulted through a newspaper stand and fired a wire up to catch the side of building to zip away. He heard the newspaper stand being crushed into a splintered mess behind him as the tendrils followed after him.

“Human!” Captain flew up to Sam and dodged around the flailing tendrils to call out, “We need more of your magic!”

Sam ducked under one of the tendrils, then zipped across the street to the next rooftop to avoid being boxed in, “I’m trying, but these things won’t let me concentrate long enough to make another matrix!”

The ground rumbled, and Sam took a glance, only to find that Visionary had started moving again, right in his direction. His movements were faster, and the tendrils that weren’t busy swatting away the guards like annoying flies were doing their best to make Sam bob and weave with every trick he knew. Even then, there were too many to dodge completely, and he suffered quite a few hits all over his body.

“Cappy, can you distract him at all?” Sam asked desperately while dodging another swipe from tendrils by flipping over a rooftop air conditioning unit.

The captain of the royal guard wasn’t faring very much better, as tendrils had almost knocked him out of the air a few times already. Everytime one scraped against him, it felt like a blanket of ice had been draped over him. He spied the rest of the city block, now reduced to a chaotic battlefield, and more than half the guards were either disabled, or missing. The rest were just struggling to stay out of the flailing tentrils’ reach, though with varying success.

The captain flew as close as he could while still avoiding the tendrils to shout back, “My formations are too broken up, and I’m losing ponies by the minute! Please, Human, do something!”

Sam tried to form a magic missile matrix, but was suddenly interrupted by several tendrils swiping at him from both sides. He was able to dodge them, but the wire matrix in his hand fizzled out and broke apart from a misconstruction. Sam solemnly turned to the captain and gave him the bad news between dodges of the tendrils.

“It’s no use! I can’t get another shot off. If only we had just a little more help!”

“If thou askth, then ye shall receive!”

The booming call came from on high and echoed across the battlefield. Everyone turned to get a glance at the sight that brought them hope and a renewed sense of fighting spirit. Like angels descending from the heavens, chariots pulled by pairs of armored pegasi and loaded with fresh guards dove toward the earth, all led by the Princess of Night, clad in her raven-black armor and twin short swords held aloft in her magic by her sides.

The chariots weaved through the throng of flailing tendrils till they reached the ground around the dark giant and delivered the awaiting guards within to join the fray. The fighting force had practically doubled and with it, Visionary Dusk was finally left preoccupied enough to allow Sam and Aegis Flare a breather.

Princess Luna glided down to the rooftop that Sam and the captain occupied and landed deftly in front of them. The captain offered a swift bow as he, too, dropped out of the air to make the trio into a circle.

“Let us be swift, for our enemy is upon us,” Princess Luna got right down to the point, “We have been told of Visionary Dusk and the situation, but this is far more frightening than we anticipated. How fair thee against his might?”

“We had him until he went all ‘Vemon’ mode on us,” Sam informed the princess, then went on to elaborate, “Ok. So, he’s a shadow conduit, which is a first for me by the way, and he ain’t making it easy for us to bring him down. Of course, being all kaiju-sized wasn’t making it easy to begin with, but in any case, the bastard can tank anything you throw at him. Lucky us though, we found out his kryptonite.” The princess gave the wire conduit a cocked frown in her lack of understanding. “I mean, he has a weakness.”

The princess’ eyes lit up and looked out onto the battlefield, “Excellent! How is it that we make the beast vulnerable?”

Sam’s usual smirk returned as he conjured a tangle of thaumium wire to his hand. The princess watched as he molded the strands into the matrix that had done the trick so far. The wire matrix flashed brightly, and an orb of concentrated, explosive magic appeared at the end of the ‘barrel’ of Sam’s ‘cannon’. Recognizing the pattern, the Princess of the Night lit up her horn and an azure orb of magic of roughly equal size to Sam’s appeared at the tip of her horn.

“Gallant Spear’s ‘Condensed Magical Aura Wave’. I know it well, Samuel. To think, one of the most basic offensive spells we teach to the unicorn guard was the key,” Spreading her wings out with a snap, the princess prepared to join the fray with a triumphant shout, “This battle shall soon be ours!”

Her galliant leap into battle was stopped short by Captain Aegis Flare blocking her path, “Wait, your highness! I’m sorry to say, it isn’t our magic that can affect Visionary Dusk. Not even the Battlemages’ spells have an affect.” Turning to point to Sam, the captain forlornly sighed. “His magic seems to be the only one to produce this vulnerability. I can only guess, but being a conduit himself, his magical attacks are the only thing that can make Visionary vulnerable to a concentrated effort by the rest of us.”

Shocked by the revelation, the princess’ magic faded, and she turned to gaze upon the human conduit while her ears expressively drooped in lament. Not once, but several times had they been forced to rely on this wayward soul for his help, and to the princess, it was not fair.

“...This shouldn’t have to be your battle, Samuel,” Princess Luna spoke bitterly.

Sam couldn’t bare to see the Lunar princess sad for him like this. It wasn’t her fault that he got tossed across the multiverse, or whatever, to wind up here, but he had no regrets about it. It was a wild ride, and everything that Twilight, Luna, Celestia, Aegis Flare, and the rest of the ponies have done for him was more than he could ever ask for.

Stepping up beside the princess and offering a comforting arm across her armored withers, the wire conduit spoke, “Hey, don’t worry about it, Loony. That bastard made it my fight the moment he sent his D.U.P. wannabes to crash the castle. Besides, he called me fat, and poked me with a bunch of needles, so don’t think you’re gonna bench me while I still owe his ugly mug an ass kicking.”

Sam had done so much for them already, to put himself out on the line for them again? Yet, when Princess Luna looked into his eyes, the fires of determination burned too brightly for her to say no to him. With a bemused hum, Princess Luna accepted his declaration to fight by their side once more.

“Very well, Samuel. On this day, we fight as one!” Her horn flared once, and in a bright flash of light, out of thin air she produced another extra large spool of thaumium wire and presented it to the human conduit.

“Alright~!” Sam cheered, absorbing the fresh material, “Plan’s simple. I hit him hard, you follow up and hit him harder. Wash, Rinse, repeat, profit!”

“Hold on, Human,” the captain called out. Sam groaned and turned back around just as he and Luna had stepped up to the edge of the rooftop to join the battle. The captain’s face bore a serious expression with just a touch worry flickering underneath. “What if Visionary Dusk concentrates his attacks on you like before? You said it yourself, he heals quick, and we can’t afford to let up on our assault once we begin.”

“Uh…” Sam blanked. He hadn’t thought about that.

Looking back over the battlefield, Visionary was on the move again and headed toward the castle. The wire conduit looked down at his hands and frowned. He wished he knew stronger spells than just the one, though the tendrils all across his body were doing a fine job in keeping the multitude of guards at bay, even if very few of them got hit. It was like the guy could only concentrate on one or two things at a time like he was. You’d think with all that power, he could have leveled the city in minutes, but he was still lumbering around at his leisurely pace. Unless…

Sam gasped when he finally understood the flaw in Visionary’s form. He was focusing all his power into maintaining that shell of shadows around him. Inside that writhing mass of darkness had to be the conduit asshole himself. Too busy concentrating on that form, he couldn’t help but only being able to focus on one or two targets at a time. He only got his powers a little while ago, which still made him a novice when it came to controlling his abilities. Now, Sam only had to figure out a way around becoming the center of attention to the madpony once they started attacking.

Once Natie had pulled her friend aside, she spoke, “Sam, you’re annoying.” She didn’t have to put it so bluntly. “But that’s what makes you good in a fight. You rile up the D.U.P.’s, and you’re creative with your powers. It throws them off balance. You don’t need to be as strong as me or Lu cause you fight smarter, not harder. Hone in on your opponent’s weakness and exploit it. It’s worked for you before, so why think you need to be the ‘tough guy’? Honestly, I wish I could do it the way you do. You’re always a step ahead in finding that workaround when using your powers.”

‘That’s right,’ Sam thought to himself. He didn’t need to think of a way to out-power the shadow conduit. He just needed to make sure the others had all the openings they needed to break Visionary out of that pesky, oversized shell. Another light bulb lit up in his mind as he thought of the perfect way.

“Cappy, I’ve got an idea, but I’ll need a few guards. Preferably, ones that are quick on their feet, er, hooves,” the wire conduit said while kneeling down and started weaving together a bunch of spell matrices on the ground.

Both the captain and the princess cocked their heads to the side as they watched the wire conduit mass produce the same spell matrix.

Being the only one brave enough to ask, the captain asked the obvious, “What exactly is your plan?”

Sam smirked as he looked the captain dead in the eye, “Ever seen Attack of the Clones?”

Visionary Dusk had decimated two city blocks and was working through his third as the guard reinforcements futilely worked to slow him down. Some were starting to lose hope, as their earlier push with the human had only gained them a few seconds of the upperhoof. Word around the battlefield was that he, the captain, and the princess were trying to come up with a plan, but if they haven’t enacted such a thing yet, it made the troops worry that their efforts were for not and that their city, their home would be soon be destroyed.

“Hey, tall, dark, and ugly! Ready for round two?”

The dark, giant form of Visionary Dusk staggered back as the right side of his barrel took the impact of the explosive, golden orb of magic. He roared in pain as the shadows around the impact site congealed into its solidified mass of darkness that looked cracked and vulnerable. The shot, much like the voice, seemed to have come from nowhere, but the guards weren’t going to let this change in the tide of battle go uncheered for.

“Rally, my ponies!” a second voice called out, though this time the guards saw where it came from. Princess Luna, in all her glory, dove from the sky, a full legion of pegasi on her tail as they drove their weapons into the weakened spot of the shadow conduit, causing it great pain as chunks of the darkness peeled away. “The battle has only just begun!”

More and more of the guards’ morale rose as they saw one of their rulers leading the charge and dealing an astonishing blow to the shadow conduit. Their hope flared even more as another bolt of the human’s golden magic struck Visionary in the foreleg and allowed the ground troops to chip away at the defenseless limb. Like before, they hadn’t seen where the shot had come from, but what mattered more was that they were finally on the offensive again.

“Ready your breakfast and eat hearty, boys! For tonight, we dine in hell!”Sam’s voice rang out with unbridled mirth as a third shot impacted against the shadow beast in the side once more.

This time, the guards were able to see were the shot had come from. Atop of one of the roofs, Sam stood heroically with his arm stretched out and a lively smile on his face. The guards cheered again after they tore at the piece of solidified shadows. Only, the guards weren’t the only ones to notice the wire conduit.

The dark giant, Visionary Dusk, roared in anger and focused his attention on the one who was making a fool of him. Shadowy tendrils shot out from his body and raced toward their target, though Sam didn’t move, and before any of the guards thought to warn him, the wire conduit disappeared under the volley of flailing tendrils and falling debris. The guards’ hearts sank, as their only trump card had just fallen under the deadly barrage of the their shadowy opponent. That is, until another shot of golden energy rang out as it exploded against the beast’s flank.

Visionary Dusk tilted forward until he finally crashed into the building he was attacking, face first. No one knew what had just happened, but the shock wore off as Princess Luna dove out from the sky again and struck the exposed shadows once more. Some of the guards turned to find where the shot had come from, and sure enough, the human was down the block, leaning casually against the side of some fallen debris with a brazen grin on his face.

The shadow giant pulled his breaking body out from the rubble and a deep, throaty growl was the only warning the guards got before more tendrils of shadows shot out from the giant’s back and raced across the street to attack the wire conduit where he stood. Luckily, the guards who were in the line of fire were quick, and the tendrils missed them, but, the same couldn’t be said for Sam. He was once again lost in the hail of flailing tendrils as they tore the spot he was at asunder.

Though, as Visionary and the rest of the guards thought Sam had met his grisly demise, again, a wave of confusion washed over them as the familiar blast of golden magical energy slammed into the chest of battered giant. Visionary Dusk roared in fury and pain, as he had yet to kill the one that still defied him with whatever trickery he was now employing to cheat death.

Many of the guards were wondering the same thing, even as they saw the human wire conduit through a window in a shop, peeking out and apparently blowing a raspberry at the enraged beast. This time, however, some of the guards that took a closer look could see that there was something off about the human. Namely, the pose he was holding was unmoving and dull, like a hazy, living snapshot of the being had replaced the real thing.

A flash of movement from above caught their attention, as did Visionary Dusk’s and atop of the roof of the same building, stood Sam, much more lively than his counterpart that was still blowing that insulting raspberry from below.

The one up top drew in a deep breath and shouted loud enough to even be heard over the shadow conduit’s bellowing cry, “Oi, Prick!” The shadow conduit’s eyes zeroed in on the offender, to which Sam could only smile back in delight. “You having fun yet?”

“YYyyYyoOOOuuuUUu!!! I WwwWill DeSssssStroy Youuou!!”

An eyebrow raced up Sam’s forehead as he put a hand to his ear, “What’s that, Duskie? Timmy’s stuck in a well?”

Visionary Dusk roared intensely in an attempt to intimidate the wire conduit, which failed as Sam chuckled to himself.

“Ooooh, you’re as dumb as a sack of barbells!”

Unlike the apparent clones, when the enraged shadow conduit lashed out at the real Sam, he easily dodged the onslaught and dove out of sight. It was also at this time that more and more of Sam’s ‘clones’ started appearing all over the battlefield, each in some ridiculous pose or another that made the guards both want to laugh and groan at their absurdity. A few of them even had some weird costumes; ranging from a red and blue onesie with a spider emblem on his chest to an all black business suit, complete with sunglasses and a strange, pen-like device in his hand. All the while from seemingly random directions, the hail of magic missiles rained down on the confused shadow conduit as he tried to retaliate, only to miss and end up ‘killing’ one of the clones.

Aegis Flare had to hand it to the human for once, the plan was working. Although, he would have prefered that he didn’t have to carry around a wire matrix projecting an image of Sam laying in mid air above the construct in a risque pose with a very ‘come hither’ stare. The captain avoided eye contact with the thing, as it always made him think it was saying something like, ‘Draw me like one of your Prench girls, Cappy’. Regardless, Sam’s ‘illusion spells’ were doing the trick in confusing Visionary Dusk. Aegis Flare and a few of his guards had done good work in sneaking them all around the battlefield, and it was just what they needed to bring the fight quickly into their favor. Currently, he was dropping this one off just to the east at the edge of an alleyway overlooking the battlefield.

From this angle, he could see the dark giant was hurting. Various parts of his ‘flesh’ had been gouged out, one after the other. His back right hoof was completely missing, and the hobbling giant was ground to a halt as he tilted uneasily with his uneven hooves. Aegis Flare watched amidst the chaos for the tiny flicker of movement and bright flash of light that was Sam’s wire matrix before he let loose another magic missile from beside one of his dopplegangers. Princess Luna led a contingent of pegasi to swoop in as the golden energy struck the dark giant’s withers, and another blow was dealt.

Aegis Flare’s had his misgivings about going with this plan, but it seemed that with the way the battle was going, they were assured to win. The universe saw fit to rain on the good captain's parade, as with horror, he saw Visionary’s broad, luminescent gaze sweep over a section of rubble where two of Sam’s dopplegangers were stationed to his right. Aegis’ own gaze was torn from the beast’s eerie stare and to the clones now numbering in three. Only, one of them wasn’t a clone.

Aegis Flare tried to leap to Sam’s aid. He tried to push his wings to give him that extra bit of speed that would propel him the twenty or so meters to push the human conduit out the way to safety. However, that distance was too great, and he only made a third of the way before he watched the panicked realization in Sam’s eyes settle in.

Shadowy, black tendrils shot out. Not just a few, but over a dozen as they all converged on the human conduit that was half way in the middle of building another wire matrix. He hadn’t even the time to brace for the impact as the lines of darkness lanced the area around him with a few even piercing through him and rooting him to the ground painfully.

“Human!” Aegis Flare cried out, but was soon batted away by another set of tendrils that kept him at bay.

The guards that witnessed the event grew fearful and made to back away from the flailing tendrils that swept around the shadow conduit’s body. Princess Luna bellowed a warcry, and dove from the air in a mad charge to free the human conduit that was now trapped. Though valiant, her efforts cost her dearly, and another tendril swatted her out of the air and into the ground. She may have picked herself back up, but her uneasy sway and the bloodied, limp wing on her right side was all Aegis Flare needed to see to show him that she was not getting back into the fight.

Sam hollered in pain as the shadow lances pulled free from the ground, and with them, him. As the human conduit was dragged up to the beast’s eye level, more shadows from all around began to shift and move, being dragged out from ground and into the shadow conduit’s colossal form to heal him once again.

Face to face with the eldritch horror, Sam tried to struggle free from the tendrils’ grasp, but this time, they squeezed even tighter around his midsection and pinned his arms to his side, where he couldn’t aim another magic missile at Visionary’s face.

The giant spoke, his words a little clearer, but still carrying that dreadful, wheezing echo that he could only talk with, “YooOouuu! You’ve delayed me from my destinyyyy! From achieving what I was meant to accomplish years ago!”

Even with the icy cold grip of the shadows pressing against his body painfully, Sam couldn’t help but smirk through his gritted teeth as he shot back, “G-glad I could be nuisance to ya!”

A painful squeeze from the tendrils, and Sam could almost feel one of his ribs crack under the pressure.

“Noooo matter. Even with yourrrr delays, I’ve still secured my legaccccy! And it was all thanks to you, subject A-4.”

Sam furrowed his brow in anger, “News flash, buddy. The name’s, Sam. Samuel Reed, the wire conduit! Get it right!” Sam flexed his hands and gave the shadowy giant a defiant smirk. “You know, I hate to tell ya this, but the whole dark, megalomaniac thing is murdering your complexion. You know what you need?”

Visionary gave a menacing growl, but otherwise said nothing.

Undeterred, Sam’s smile grew as the glint off his wires below him caught the giant’s attention a moment too late, “Some extra light!”

The thaumium wires below Sam completed their weave, and before the shadow conduit had time to react, the wires shone brightly. The light spell below that Sam constructed was bigger than any that he built before. So much so, that when the spell took affect, it was like a second, miniature sun erupted from the ether. Those unfortunate enough to be looking in its direction now knew why they called it a ‘flash’bang, especially the mad pony turned giant shadow beast who was staring directly it as the spell took affect. He shrieked in pain and whipped his head back to shake in agony for his poor blinded eyes. However, the more important reason Sam had done this was made apparent when the death grip the tendrils had on him finally loosened and he was able to slip free.

Sam crushed the light spell matrix, and the mini-sun blew out like a candle. From his short freefall, he was able to tuck and roll to the side, where a concerned looking captain was waiting for him. It seemed the good captain had the sense to shield his eyes when Sam decided to light up the street.

“Are you alright, Human?” the captain asked worriedly.

Sam rolled his shoulder as the last of his wounds healed up, that broken rib popping back into place last, “Yeah, just took me by surprise. I don’t think that trick is going to work again.”

“The light spell, or the illusion spell?” Aegis Flare asked.

“Both,” Sam frowned as he tried to think of another plan while Visionary was still flailing around blindly.

Sam’s bag of tricks were running out, and the shadowy giant kept healing just as quickly as he caught on to Sam’s plans. If Natie were here, she’d be able to fry this guy, no sweat. Lu’s unrelenting, and tougher, barrage of concrete would also make short work of Visionary. Hell, even Isabelle might have stood a better chance at bringing the psychopath down quicker than he could. Sam just, unfortunately, didn’t have a powerhouse move to bring this guy down in one shot.

If he tried making a larger magic missile, there was always the chance that he could mess up, and it could backfire catastrophically. Just thinking about it made Sam nervous, and that made him even more nervous that he’d mess up. That was the drawback to his spells, one misaligned array, and he got a big ol’ ‘kaboom’... Sam knew this was terrible idea. He knew that if, or more likely, when Twilight found out about this, he’d have to sit through another one of her lectures on how stupid of an idea this was. Of course, that implied he survived this hairbrained scheme of his to begin with. However, if this was the only way to catch the hulking shadow conduit off guard with one massive attack, he had to try, and there was no time to think of another plan.

“Cappy, I need you to clear everyone out of here,” Sam ruefully said.

The captain wasn’t a fan of anything the human conduit considered a plan, but the tone he said these last few words with made his feathers rustle with great concern. He looked up at the conduit who seemed to be only staring straight ahead at the shadowy beast starting to get his bearings back. He saw the remorseful look Sam had and even more red flags flew up in his head.

“Whatever it is you’re planning, Human, I am strongly advising against it,” Aegis Flare expressed his worries.

“Noted,” Sam simply replied.

“Don’t do it, Human!” Aegis Flare flew up in Sam’s face, trying to dissuade the conduit, “We can find another way. Just wait and let us put our heads together. There’s no need to do something stupid!”

“Sorry, Cappy,” Sam smiled sadly, “Stupid is, as stupid does.”

With those last words, Sam took off running, straight in the direction of the recovering shadow conduit.

“Human, get back here!” Aegis Flare tried one last time.

“Don’t worry, Cappy! I’ll be fine!” Sam shouted back with the biggest smile on his face he could manage, “Just get everyone out of here!”

Aegis Flare stood there, unable to move as he watched the human conduit run off like he was some kind of hero. He wanted to stop him. He wanted to smack that stupid human upside the head so hard his children would feel. Even still, his legs refused to move in the direction of the conduits about to duke it out. He prayed to whatever deity that watched over humans that Sam would come out of this alive. Then, reluctantly, he cast off into the air to spread the word of retreat to the rest of the troops still on the battlefield.

Sam sucked in a deep breath through his nose, holding it in before letting it back out through his mouth, though it did little to calm the pounding in his ears as he ran. The bellowing roar from Visionary Dusk grated against Sam’s ears. Even so, between that and the wildly flailing tendrils crashing down around him, the wire conduit kept going. The guards that Sam could see were starting to break off, no doubt at the behest of the captain’s order, which in turn was leaving the city block turned battlefield barren aside from the conduits about to duke it out.

The dark giant still seemed dazed by Sam’s earlier spell, an advantage that Sam could only hope would last until he enacted his plan. The wire conduit was closing in, but the effects of the ultra-light spell were appearing to wear off as Visionary’s luminous gaze scanned the area around him.

Another shrieking roar and the tendrils no longer struck out wildly. Sam used every trick in his book to dodge, leap, and counter the shadowy appendages that tried to slow him down. One final leap, and the wire conduit shot wires from both his arms out on either side of Visionary’s expanded form. The wires dug deeply into the sides of buildings that were still standing and anchored themselves in place, suspending the wire conduit in mid air for a moment before he pulled back with his arms to reel himself in and tucking his legs forward for a more streamlined form.

“Hey, Psycho!” Sam called out, using his wires to slingshot himself directly at the shadowy colossus, “I hope you’re hungry, cause I got something for you to snack on! Just don’t blame me for the indigestion!”

Straight into the awaiting maw of the beast, Sam dove in. The giant didn’t seem to know what exactly happened, but something inside of him made him feel uneasy.

Sam opened his eyes to a world of swirling darkness. It was absolutely suffocating. He could barely see his hand in front of his face, and any sound he heard sounded extremely muted. Even his own voice. It felt like he was dumped into an icebox or into the heart of a freezing blizzard. Even still, he had a job to do. That job, of course, was made much harder by the fact that he had no idea where we was supposed to go from here. Sam thought to himself how he really should thought this part of the plan out more thoroughly.

His mind would have to put those thoughts on hold though, as the swirling darkness began to shift. It felt like he was being thrown about under the water of a river’s rapids. The whirling colors he saw as Sam was tossed about made him very nauseous. He tried fighting it, but the current was too strong, and he felt like was being pulled in the direction of something.

Just when the wire conduit thought he couldn’t take much more of it, the current started to ebb away, and Sam was able to recover for the most part. His breath felt short, and his whole body was shaking both from the icy surroundings and an unconscious fright for the dark world around him. He might have killed to be anywhere but here if he had the choice, but the wire conduit fought that instinct down to concentrate.

Then, it finally dawned on him. What he at first thought was just a trick of the eye turned out to be an object straight ahead of him. Amid the swirling fog of shadows sat a solid lump of murky blackness. Anything even resembling light bent around it, or perhaps, was swallowed by it to create a spot of pure darkness. It was both terrifying and mesmerizing. Sam was just able to tear his gaze away to remember why he was here, and it seemed that what he was looking for was now right in front of him.

His hands shook, his eyes unfocused, but Sam conjured every last bit of thaumium he still had to surround the ball of total darkness. Whether ‘he’ could see it or feel it, the shadow conduit hiding in the core of his creation reacted. The floating lump spazzed out, and an echoing shriek emitted from it that rattled Sam to his very bones. The wire conduit gritted his teeth and ignored the chill that screech sent up his spine, focusing on weaving the glowing coppery-like wires into the shape he needed. The swirling shadows began to shift again, and Sam braced against the current even as it tried to flush him away.

He was almost done, and it made Sam smile how easy the core made it for him to use it as a mold for this matrix. A sphere where the wires spiraled along the outside from the top of the surface to the bottom. Another shriek from the core, and it started to spaz out even more, as if pleading for the wire conduit to stop, but he couldn’t.

Sam smirked deviously as the wire frame flashed brightly. A bead of light appeared at its center within the core and kept growing larger and brighter. The currents of the shadows went wild, and Sam felt himself being tossed about again, but that didn’t matter. The spell matrix shuddered, and the expanding ball of magical conduit energy became unstable. The shadow conduit’s giant form looked like it was doubling over in surprising pain, reflecting that of the consciousness of its wielder. There was a moment when the light cast silhouettes of two different beings within the hulking shadow giant from the outside, one of a pony and one of a human.

Sam’s smirk turned to a frown as he thought of something. ‘Huh, I wonder if it would’ve been safer to do this from the outside.’

The shadow giant gave one last roar before it was engulfed in an explosion of light and magical energy.

Author's Notes:

...Huh, I did not expect to make the chapter this long. I literally just kept writing and didn't stop until I reached that little cliffhanger at the end. I still enjoyed it nonetheless. I actually feel like action scenes are my easiest topic to write about, but I try not to make it the absolute focus of any story.

Anywho, I'm gonna take a short break while I finish up the last chapter's edits. That's right, it's almost over. I really hope you all enjoyed the ride. I know I have, though, I wish I could have had a bit more motivation to do this sooner. I don't regret the late start though. Gave me a little extra time to improve my technique even if it's still kinda shit, and I look forward to doing some more in the future no matter what those projects may be.