The Royal Protector

Chapter 26

J was awoken from his sleep by the feeling of being violently shaken. He sat up quickly and turned to see Gear was the one that had awoken him.

"What's wrong Gear?" asked J as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"This is bad really bad J, they're closing in and they're coming for blood." Gear said in a panicked voice.

J sat up, Gear never acted like this. Ever since he and J became friend in Canterlot, Gear always kept a level head.

"Who's coming Gear?" J asked.

Gear paused and looked J in the eyes. "Lady Chrysalis and her guard are nearing the camp."

J quickly jumped out of his cot and began to put all of his gear on. "What can you tell me about this force Chrysalis brought with her?" J asked as he continued to gather his things.

"Well uh... from what I remember, Lady Chrysalis has an elite guard about twenty strong that she kept close to her. The fact that she and her guard are coming here means she here for an all-out fight."

J tightened the strap that held the sheathe to Light's Edge and looked back at Gear.

"Is that all?"

Gear closed his eyes tight in hopes of remembering. He reopened them and looked up at J.

"Every member is well trained in close combat and destructive magic. I would recommend that you, Order, Shining Armor, and Isabel go while the rest stay back and protect the camp."

J looked at Gear with a furrowed brow. "Why do you recommend that only four of us take on twenty changelings and Chrysalis? Explain your reasoning behind that."

"Well, you four are the more talented in both magic and close combat. You and Isabel have your own type of magic, Shining Armor has his barriers, and Order is an Alicorn. Ponies/person like Connor or Blackout would be able to fight but would have no way of blocking magical attacks."

"And you thought up all of this just now?" J asked.

"It's the only logical thing to do." Gear said.

J accepted Gear's idea and began to wake up the others in the tent. One-by-one everypony got out of their cots and collected at the center of the tent.

"What's the problem?" asked Connor. "I was having the best dream about this girl I know back in my recruit days."

"Like any sane woman would be interested in a slob like you Connor." Snorted Isabel from as the tent.

"You're talking to me aren't you? I guess that means you're interested." Connor said with a smile.

"Uhg, in your dreams." groaned Isabel.

"Wow, I just got the biggest feeling ofdéjà vu. That's what the girl said to me just before we started to..."

"That's enough!" yelled J loud enough to get everyponies attention. "We don't have time for this bickering, a problem has arisen."

"And how important could this problem be that it woke us up in the middle of the night?" asked Blackout with a skeptical look on his face.

"A problem big enough to threaten the well-being of the camp. Chrysalis and her elite guard are closing in on the camp. I'm going to take several of you and deal with them before they can reach the camp. The rest will stay behind and alert the rest of the camp of the situation."

There was a pause.

"Alright, that important." Said Blackout

"Listen carefully, all of you. Order, Shining, and Isabel you're going with me. Get your armor, weapons, anything ready and meet me at the front of the camp. The rest of you, stay here, warn the soldiers, protect the camp, and for the love of whatever goddess you all worship; if any changelings pass us, do not let them get to Ponyville."

Everypony nodded into agreement and scattered to do their assigned task. J turned on his heels and left the tent. He walked to the front of the camp and waited. He looked out into the dark plains that surrounded the camp. He could literally feel Chrysalis's power from where he was standing. That meant that Gear was telling the truth, Chrysalis was actually here. The only question remaining was besides a fight, why is she coming here?

'If the changelings worship The Corruption as a god than she's probably here because The Corruption sent her. Why else would a ruler of a species attack a single camp? You wouldn't see Princess Celestia leading a squad of Royal Guards into battle. It's stupid for a leader of a country to even be close to the battlefield.'

J knew this tactic well; it was an excellent moral raiser. But not only did it raise moral, it struck fear in the heart of those being attacked. The thought that the battle being fought was so important that the enemy leader was participating as well was a frightening thought.

"No matter, she will realize the folly of her decisions a moment too late." J said under his breath.

J lifted his left hand up and a black ball of fire started to form in his hand. He closed his fist quickly and watched as the flame disappeared. He reopened his hand and saw a small rune circle in the palm of his hand. He smiled; he rarely got to use this spell. However, this situation called for extreme measures and that included some spells that J tried to refrain himself from using. Black Hellfire. One of the most destructive spells J knew and it came with a cost. If worse came to worse, J would have a back-up plan.

A few minutes later the others that were going with J finally made their way to the front of the camp. Shining was in his official Captain of the Royal Guard armor while both Isabel and Order were wearing the same type of armor but in different color schemes.

"Look what Order was able to do!" Exclaimed Isabel in pure excitement. "He casted a spell and created this badass armor for me."

"J told me that you were quite talented with the forge. Why have you not made yourself some armor by now?" Asked Shining.

"It's wouldn't be the same, my human hands had a magic touch about them. It just put that special feeling into my crafts." Isabel said while she shrugged.

"If you two are done, I would recommend that we pull our attention to the current matter at hand." Order said in a regal voice.

Alright, Alright." Isabel said rolling her eyes at the Alicorn. He looked over to J. "We're all ready J."

"Good, let's get going." He said. He turned and began to walk out of the camp and towards the direction of the incoming changeling attackers.

The others quickly followed J out of the camp.

The group walked for a good four miles until J stopped them.

"The changeling are close, we will wait here until they arrive." J said without looking at the group

Isabel sighed happily. "At least we have some time to rest before they get..."

Isabel was cut off by the sound of wings buzzing. The group looked further ahead and saw a black mass of changelings headed right towards them.

"Dammit." Isabel said with an annoyed look on her face.

"Their timing is impeccable." Order laughed lightly as he watched the black mass get closer and closer until the he could actually see the changelings.

The changeling approached the group and landed. Each changeling wore a set of ceremonial armor much like Shining but black and green instead of gold and purple. Behind the group of changeling stood Chrysalis in all of her regal glory.

"It seems we don't have to look for you any further, you came to us." Chrysalis said in a smooth voice.

J stepped forward. "Chrysalis, I'm only going to say this once. I will not allow you to harm anypony here or in Ponyville. Turn around now or you will pay for your actions."

Chrysalis let lose a loud laugh. "You think I'm here to attack Ponyville or your little camp?!"

J frowned. "Why are you here then?"

"I here because our Dark Lord wants you wiped of the face of Equestria."

J took a step back and slowly placed his hands on his daggers.

"Oh really?" J said in a sarcastic voice. "Tell me something Chrysalis, why do you serve The Corruption? You are the ruler of the changelings, why do you take orders from such a lowly spirit?"

"Silence your tongue!" Chrysalis snapped at J. "He is our god, he will give us power, he has given us power, and now I'm going to use his power to kill you."

"You can try." J said with a smile on his face.

"Attack!" Chrysalis yelled. Immediately, Chrysalis's whole elite guard started to rush the group. The first two that reached the group immediately went for J. The first bared his fangs and tried to bite him. J quickly dodged the bite and grabbed the changeling's throat. He began to squeeze as hard as he could until he heard an audible crack. He dropped the lifeless body and turned to the next changeling. The only thing he saw was a green hue surround the changeling's jagged horn. Suddenly, a large ball of fire was launched towards J at blinding speeds. J didn't have time to conjure up a barrier so he pulled his arm up and held it over his face. He waited for the fireball to hit but never felt the burn of the attack. J moved his arm to see a black barrier had blocked the spell.

"You're getting slow old man!" Isabel called out from her spot behind J.

J rolled his eyes and pulled one of his daggers out. Isabel quickly dispelled her barrier and before the changeling was able to launch another fireball, J tossed his dagger aiming at the changeling's throat. The dagger connected and the changeling let out a labored gasp before he fell to the ground. J pulled the dagger back to him with his magic and ran towards the next changeling he saw.

As soon as he was close enough, J gave the changeling a swift but firm kick to the stomach and watched the changeling fly into the air. The changeling recovered and flew straight at J. Stupid idea. J reared back and hit the changeling with his fist. The force of the punch combined with the speed of the changeling was more than enough to break the changeling's neck... and his face... and his everything. The changeling had literally turned into a bag of blood and bones, but this didn't stop J. He moved quickly and was able to get out of the fighting. He looked back and saw that his friend had already begun to join in the fight.

Order was currently taking on three changelings. The first leapt at him but he managed to jump out of the way before the changeling touched him. In return, Order's horn lit up a dark red color and the changeling was pulled off of the ground. The changeling was slammed against the ground causing a loud thump sound. The other two changelings looked down at their comrade in horror. This gave Order the opportunity he needed. Order summoned an ethereal sword and thrusted it towards the closest of the two changelings. Before the other could react, Order had pulled the sword out of the first changeling and sliced at the other changeling effectively decapitating it.

Isabel had two changelings in the grasp of her magic and left them floating in the air. Suddenly, the two changelings burst into flame and were slowly burnt to death. Isabel smiled widely and moved on to her next target.

Shining stuck to using his hooves against the changelings. A changeling leapt at him, but Shining stood his ground. Shining then turned around and bucked the attacking changeling in the face. Two changelings then attacked Shining. The first tackled Shining to the ground and held him there. The second moved around to the side and was about to bring his hoof down. Shining dodged the hoof just before it hit the ground. He sighed in relief and looked back at the hoof. Without hesitation, Shining bit down on the hoof causing the changeling to jump back and yelp in pain. Shining then looked up at the changeling sitting on top of him and head-butted him as hard as he could. The changeling rolled off Shining holding his head and shouting swears. The second changeling had recovered for the bite Shining gave him and jumped at him, fangs bared. Shining simply fell back as the changeling jumped at him. As he passed over Shining, Shining gave the changeling a nice kick in the stomach. This sent him rolling to the ground right next to his comrade. Shining quickly got up and approached the two and in one swift motion stood up on his hind legs and brought his front legs down on the heads of both changelings. Shining scraped the changeling bits off of his hoof and moved to the next changeling.

J looked over the battlefield once more, he wasn't looking for attacking changelings, and he wasn't looking after his comrades. He was looking for Chrysalis. If she was defeated, this whole fight would stop. The only problem was that J couldn't find her. He saw Order and Shining fighting side-by-side, quickly taking out hat opposed them. He then looked for Isabel but could not find her. He looked again and again but she was nowhere to be found.

J looked past the remaining changelings and off in the distance he could see Chrysalis, but she wasn't alone. Isabel was right beside her and they had both engaged in combat, Isabel was using an ethereal sword while Chrysalis didn't even have a weapon. J looked back to Order and Shining and yelled to them.

"Keep the rest busy, I need to help Isabel!"

J took off from his spot and dashed towards Isabel. He looked back to see if any changelings were following him, he had two on his tail. J was just about to turn around and deal with them but out of the corner of his eye he saw hem being pulled back by a red and magenta aura. He turned his attention to the two in front of him, Chrysalis on his right and Isabel on his left. It seemed that the fight was leaning more in Chrysalis's favor. She was easily dodging and blocking every slice and thrust Isabel was throwing at her. Chrysalis countered with fireball with was blocked by one of Isabel's barriers. She quickly dispelled the barrier and dashed at Chrysalis. She sliced three times and brought the sword down in an overhead slice. The sword was caught on a sickly green colored barrier that belonged to Chrysalis.

"You fight like a foal, so weak and easily angered. I'm not even trying." She exclaimed as she looked Isabel in the eyes.

"You're...so...cocky." Said Isabel between her labored pants. It had been a while since she had been in an actual life or death fight.

'Damn I'm so out of shape.' she thought as she continued to maintain eye contact with Chrysalis.

"You're obviously not going to win. You look like you're at your limit. Why don't you just give up? You know you can't win."

Isabel laughed.

"What's so funny?" asked Chrysalis.

"Oh, I'm not fighting you to beat you, I'm just distracting you." Isabel said with a small smile.

To her side, Isabel could see her cloaked teacher running at Chrysalis. It was almost like Isabel was watching the whole thing in slow motion. She watched as J got closer and closer until he was with the hitting range. J pulled his fist back and using the momentum of his running speed, punched at the shield. Isabel laughed slightly, that plan came together perfectly.


Flashback

During their walk to face Chrysalis, J slowed down and waited for Isabel to catch up.

"Hey Isabel, I need to talk to you." J said to Isabel from his spot at the front.

She quickly made her way next to J and began to walk beside him.

"Whatcha' need?" She asked her teacher.

"I need you to listen to me Isabel, I have a plan and if it goes off without a hitch then we can end this thing as quickly as possible. Avoid fighting the changeling guard; leave that to Order, Shining, and I. Focus on finding Chrysalis and fighting her."

"What if I can't beat her?" Asked Isabel with a concerned look on her face.

"That's the thing, you don't have to. All you have to do is keep her occupied long enough for me to find you and intervene. We'll be able to easily defeat her in a 2-on-1 fight."

Isabel nodded and J looked forward.

"The changeling are close, we will wait here until they arrive."

End Flashback


The punch landed on the shield and caused it to shatter like glass. This gave Isabel a chance and she slashed at Chrysalis's chest. The changeling queen quickly jumped back and examined the hit she took. Blood began to spill out the cut on her chest. She looked up and the two and smiled.

"I'm so glad you decided to join the fight J. I thought my guard had actually killed you."

"When a leader is weak, the soldiers are weak as well." J said with a frown on his face. "For an elite guard, those changelings were quite easy to kill."

"Hehehehe, you'll find that I'm am quite different form my guard." Chrysalis said as she healed her chest. She looked up to J and breathed in deeply. "Let's end this." She said in a cruel.

J reached to his back, pulled out Light's Edge, and held it in front of him. "I couldn't agree more."

Chrysalis's horn lit up and a blast of air pushed Isabel away from J. A large green barrier then enclosed on the two fighters.

"It wouldn't be any fun if anypony interfered." Chrysalis said with a chuckle.

She paused for a moment.

"Now, let me show you the power our Dark Lord gave me to dispose of you."

Chrysalis began to smile as black shadows began to encase her body. After several seconds, the shadows had completely enveloped her body and the only thing distinguishable from the black was Chrysalis's green eyes.

"Now die." Chrysalis said in a distorted voice as she shot what looked to be pure shadow at J.

J channeled magic into Light's Edge and let loose a crescent wave of bright magical energy. The crescent made contact with the shadows and both dissipated.

Chrysalis growled. "I'll gut you with that sword."

J didn't reply, instead, he raised his sword to a ready position and dashed at Chrysalis. In response, Chrysalis rose up on her hind legs and slammed her hooves on the ground. Shadowy spike erupted from the ground and stopped J midway through his charge. He rolled to the side and slashed at the spikes causing them to fade away. He then raised his hand and a fireball shot towards Chrysalis. She quickly put up a barrier and waited for the fireball to hit. As soon as it hit, the fireball exploded into a cloud of thick, black smoke. Chrysalis dispelled her barrier and looked around. The smoke had completely enveloped the area around her. She growled slightly, J was turning out to be more of a nuisance than a threat. Her shadow-covered horn glowed a sickly green and a gust of air blew the smoke away. She looked around once again; J was nowhere to be seen.

"Where did he go?" Chrysalis said sharply.

"Right here."

Chrysalis turned to see J's sword aimed at her throat. The hit connected and the sound of metal hitting fleshed filled the air. Chrysalis looked down and saw that the cut only went through the shadows surrounding her body. The skin underneath was unharmed and the shadows began to reform around her neck. She looked up and gave J a smug smile but that expression was cut short. J pulled his sword back around, twisted, and hit Chrysalis in the same spot. He then pulled out one of his daggers and stabbed it into where Chrysalis's front leg connected to her body. She flailed back in pain but J didn't pause there. He pulled out his other dagger and did the same thing to the other front leg. Chrysalis fell forward and screamed in pain. She looked up and saw J pointing his sword at her.

"You can no longer fight, do you surrender?"

"Why would I surrender to you, you are nothing, you will always be nothing." Chrysalis said in-between pained pants.

J frowned. "If this is how it has to be, then so be it."

J lifted his sword above his head and looked back down at Chrysalis.

"May The Keeper have mercy on your soul."

J pulled back his sword and prepared to kill Chrysalis.

"Hahahahahahaha, I think now's a good time for me to intervene." Said Chrysalis in a deeper voice.

J's eyes widened as he realized who was talking. J immediately thrusted his sword forward and aimed it for Chrysalis's throat. His thrust was interrupted by a blast of magic that sent him flying back. J quickly recovered and looked Chrysalis who was now standing up. She still had both daggers in her legs but it looked like they didn't even affect her anymore.

"It's been a while since I inhabited a different body." Said the deep voice.

"The Corruption." J said to himself as he raised his sword.

"I do have to say J, you fight well. You were almost able to kill Chrysalis. But all things must come to an end. So I stepped in to get the job done. I think you'll find me a tougher opponent the Chrysalis."

J sneered. "I've fought and wounded you before. You don't scare me."

"We'll see what you say when you're begging for death." Said The Corruption.

J made the first move and launched a huge wave of magic from his sword towards The Corruption. He dodged it and caused more shadow spikes to erupt from the ground. J flipped back to dodged but as soon as he could see in front of him again, The Corruption was standing right in front of him. Two tendrils made of shadows emerged from his body, grabbed J, and flung him it the shield.

J pushed himself up weakly and grabbed his sword. He turned back to The Corruption who had pulled the daggers out of Chrysalis's legs and grasped them in each tendril. J watched as they flailed around wildly as The Corruption got closer and closer to J.

"I've gotten stronger J." He said with a smile. "You'll never beat me, you never will. So I'll give you one more chance. Join me and we'll rule this world together."

"I will never join you. I know what you did to Order, you've caused much pain in the land and I won't rest till I have killed you." J leveled his sword at The Corruption.

"So foolish, you actually think you can beat me. You remind me of another pony. An Alicorn by the name of Princess Luna. She thought she could beat me, that she could resist my influence. But she failed and that resulted in one of my better creations Nightmare Moon."

"Unlike Luna, I can beat you and I will." J said as he began to dash at The Corruption.

He slashed at one of the tendrils but missed as it raised up and struck at J. J blocked the tendril as he brought his sword back up. He completely forgot about the other tendril but was reminded when felt a burning sensation run across his chest. J pulled back and placed his hand on his chest. Blood had begun to seep from the freshly created wound on his chest. He rubbed the blood off of his hand and swung at The Corruption. This time, J focused his magic into the blade and swung at The Corruption instead of his tendrils. However, J's swing was blocked by a third tendril that emerged from Chrysalis's body.

"You didn't think I would let you hit me with that again did you?" The Corruption said laughing slightly. The Corruption then pushed J's blade off of the tendril and quickly slashed his face with one dagger and stabbed his shoulder with the other. With one of his tendrils still the dagger, The Corruption slowly pushed J to the ground and watched as he clenched his teeth in pain.

"And now I watch as another enemy crumbles in my grasp."

The Corruption slowly lifted up one of the daggers and smiled at J.

"Any last words J?" He asked.

J just laughed.

"What so funny?" asked The Corruption angrily.

"Hehehe, I can't believe I forgot to use it."

"Use what!?" yelled The Corruption.

J's expression with from funny to serious as he held up his left hand. "This."

Black fire erupted from J's hand and engulfed The Corruption. The Corruption flailed back as he attempted to put out the fire but with no avail. As J listened, the scream of The Corruption changed from his deep voice back to that of Chrysalis's.

J smiled, he had won for now but he knew that that didn't kill The Corruption. It would slow him down maybe, it might even harm him but J doubted it.


On the outside of the sickly green barrier, Order Isabel, and Shining had just finished off the last of the changelings and turned their attention to J's fight.

Isabel looked on in complete surprise. "I can't believe he just used that."

"What in Celestia's name did J just use?" asked Shining.

"He used a spell known as Black Hellfire, one of the most destructive spells from our world." Said Isabel as she continued to look at J.

"How was that the most destructive in your world? It looked like black fire to me." said Order.

"Hellfire is a type of fire that does not stop burning. On top of that, hellfire gets its name because when it burns somepony to death, their soul is burnt away as well and they are sent straight to the underworld." Isabel frowned. "I've only seen him use it one other time, that when he told me all about it. The only problem is that whenever somepony uses Black Hellfire, a piece of their soul is chipped away. If it's used enough times, your soul gets sent to the underworld as well."

"How many times can one use it till they're sent to Tartarus?" asked Order.

There was a pause. "Three."

Suddenly the sickly green barrier faded away the group was able to get to J.

"J, are you alright?" Isabel asked as she approached her teacher.

"I'm fine Isabel, it's just a scratch." He said as he pulled his dagger out of his shoulder.

At least it's over." Shining said as he looked at the still burning body of Chrysalis.

"We still have to finish the training camp Shining. After that, we have a lot more work on our hands." Said J.

J looked around at the bodies that littered the ground. He took a deep breath and let loose a long sigh.

"Let's burn the bodies and get back. We've got another week ahead of us."

The four nodded and began to burn the bodies of the changelings.


Sorry for the wait everypony, had some major computer problems so this chapter had to be slightly delayed. I hope you enjoy the long awaited, longest chapter I've written.