Bit of a short one, but it wraps up Operation Divine Hammer

Music for this chapter: Last Battle by Sabaton.

Rainbow looked into the cold, dead eyes of the queen, and grinned. All of this time, she wanted to do this to her former friends. But, after learning of the Queens involvement, it turned to her she wanted to kill. She still hated them, and wouldn't offer them any forgiveness, but she was satisfied killing the one who fucked her over.

Her staring at the queens corpse was interrupted by a series of short, heavy coughs. She pulled off the tattered remains of her cloak, then undid her armor cords to examine her wounds. Again, her armor had adsorbed a lot of the damage, but small sections of it were pierced, and other areas had been hit by heavy bits of shrapnel. She pulled out her knife, and began to cut up her cloak to use as a bandage. She wrapped up her bleeding wounds, and then worked herself to her hooves.

She managed to right herself and grab her sword. She slid it back into the sheath, then trotted over to the other one. When she sheathed it as well, she looked around the room. She grinned, taking in the damage she caused. She hadn't done a Rainboom in at least ten years, and she had fucked up that piece of trash. However, outside, she heard loud noises, and so flew out one of the holes in the wall in order to check it out.

The battle, if it could be called that, was wrapping up on all sides. She actually had a feeling that it was similar to what the initial Changeling invasion of Canterlot. Night Guard, Griffonian, and Pryhan soldiers pushed them back on all fronts, while those in the air kept them from escaping. Behind the main lines, groups of Changeling prisoners were being watched by soldiers, mostly Royal Guards.

That didn't mean the Changelings weren't fighting back, or putting up a fight. They tried everything they could to get out or to turn the tide. Flanking he Pryhan phalanx's from alleys, hit-and-run assaults on the Night Guard, all sorts of tactics to try and overrun them. Other groups of them tried to flee, only to be pushed back by the fliers.

Rainbow, for the third time in less than five minutes, Rainbows muzzle was graced with a wide grin. Rainbow then flew down toward the line. As she did, Spitfire flew up next to her, lifting up her goggles as she said, "Hey. What was with that massive light from the castle? Did you-"

"Pull a Rainboom? Yep!", she said. "So, from what I saw, things are going well. Yeah?"

Spitfire said, "Heck yeah! The bugs are being pushed back on all fronts, pushed up against the edge of the city. But, only a few of them are surrendering. What happened to the queen?"

"A corpse."

Spitfires eyes widened at the blunt statement, and at the way she said it. The two of them landed behind a Pryhan Phalanx. In front of them was the last major holdout of Changelings, a mass of over a hundred of them, at least three fourths of which were Swarm Guards. Pryhan troops were on all sides, Wonderbolts and Griffons in the air. It was a massacre in the waiting. Rainbow landed next to the units Tribune, Trent, who saluted and said, "Ave, Praetor. We have them surrounded, and can press them at your command."

Rainbow looked past the battle line, at the Changelings. Many of them looked scared, or were wounded, or looked like cornered animals. Rainbow then looked at the ground, then back at them. Finally turning her gaze to Tribune Trent, she said, "Temporarily belay that. I'll see if they wish to surrender."

"Are, are you sure? I mean, they-"

"Fall to command, Tribune." He still looked a little weary, but nodded, and had the cornifer sound a halt. The trumpet signal sounded, and the phalanx's ground to a halt, a wall of spears and shields blocking them in. Rainbow flew over the wall, landing in front of the phalanx and began to step forward.

The Changelings began to grow a bit skittish, while others looked at her angry. She stopped a little bit in front of them, and began to extend her offer. "Brave Changelings. Your queen is dead, and you are surrounded, outnumbered, and outmatched. You have done all that the honor of war requires. In the name of Caesar Diocletian, and the Pryhan Empire, I offer you to spare your lives. Do you agree to surrender?"

Many of the Changelings looked amongst themselves, wondering if she was serious. One of the Changelings, a Swarm Guard stepped forward, his sword in his aura. He looked down at it, then at her, then threw his sword to the ground. The other Swarm Guards did the same, throwing down their weapons, while the rest of them got on the ground, bowing their heads in defeat.

She turned to her troops, nodding. The Pedes and Griffonian soldier went down to get the weapons and to restrain the Changelings. Spitfire landed next to her, nodding and smiling at her. "Nice one, Dash."

Rainbow tried to respond, but a wave of nausea caught up to her. She stumbled forward a bit, being caught by Spitfires wings. Through her ringing ears and nausea, she heard one of her troops yelling for a medicus, and then everything faded to black.