Part 3: Chapter 4: An Act of Respect.
"T," Nightmare said, smiling at the burning dome. "Go."
It roared and the ground began to shake as the centaur headed for the wall. Arrows, Spears and Magic flew towards the attacker. The three types of ponies around saw their friend in danger and some galloped, some flew, others teleported and defended him from any danger. They bucked arrows, disintegrated spears, and when they could not do anything else, used themselves as shields against magic.
Tirek, no bigger than 15 feet, lowered his head, and impacted dead center of the wall, destroying it as if made of brittle clay. Brick and cement flew everywhere and in came the red centaur, a tsunami of soldiers, both enemy and ally, at his hooves.
"DISCORD, DEAL WITH HIM." Celestia cried out, still focusing on the rockslide.
Tirek, in the midst of dealing with the guards heard a giggle and braced himself, as the un-natural magic of the Draconequus hit him, sending him flying into the southern wall. The element of chaos appeared in front of the dust cloud, no longer smiling like he used to. "It was foolish to attack her. You already have before and you were lucky that she had the mercy to spare your life."
"This isn't about gaining power." Tirek's voice, mimicking thunder, boomed from the dust. "As you can see," He walked out of the dust cloud. "I am not as big as I was before. I already know of a pegasi that can easily out-power and kill me. This is about something entirely different."
Discord heard him begin to breathe in before he felt his magic start to seep away. Unlike the last time when he was unaware of what was happening, this time he was ready. He teleported behind the behemoth, and wrapped his tail around his neck. With his free claw-like hand, he took hold of his head in the center of his horns and began to absorb Tirek's power.
"You aren't the only one who can absorb magic, you know." Discord snickered as his magic increased.
With the creature cutting off his oxygen, Tirek released his power in an attempt to give the creature what it wanted, hoping that he would absorb all of it. Discord didn't understand why he was doing this, but he nevertheless continued to absorb magic. The beast began to shrink.
The mutant landed in front of the king with his right wing open and let his remaining speed spin him, the dull side of the wing impacting the king's chest guard. Shining Armor flew back hitting the wall with the transferred energy with full force, knocking the wind out of him. He opened his eyes and saw stars. Once his vision cleared however, he got back up and looked at his attacker.
"Remember us?" The mutant replied, activating his armor.
It shined brightly, engulfing the downed king in bright blue light. He waited, his head down, his ears perked up, listening.
The armor brought up its wing again and brought it down, this time sharp edge first.
He heard the whoosh of the wing in the air and dodged the incoming blade. He tackled the mutant to the ground, his axe, repaired and honed to the iota, in his right hoof. He spun it in the air and brought it down, the flat edge connecting with the helmet. He felt the axe wrestle in his hoof and cut off the magic from the ghost within. "Not this time." The suit of armor kicked its hind legs up hard, breaking a few of the king's ribs. The Unicorn grinded his teeth but did not budge and continued to hit the helmet with the heavy end of his axe. The dull end missed its intended target and instead hit the armored neck, breaking off some metal. With the neck open and vulnerable, he raised the axe, this time sharp edge down.
The mutant had enough. He brought his wing to his belly, the knife-like feathers cutting deep into his left side. He saw the king slightly move to the right and knew he only had one chance. He kicked as hard as he could with his right hind leg at the cut. It worked, and the king sidestepped in pain, the axe falling to the ground beside him.
The mutant got to his hooves and looked at the king. He faced the mutant with his left side bleeding, bloody hoof marks littered the cut. "So, Alpha, looks like you have actually learned to fight."
The mutant tilted his head and looked up. Shining did the same and sidestepped as the Alicorn impacted the ground, cracking it. "Ooof!" Candance let out as she began to get up before looking to the sky and teleporting in a pink flash as she dodged the attack. Landing on all four hooves where she was previously at was a suit glowing both red and blue, with a glowing galaxy blue mane. It turned to look at Shining, who stared back before glancing at the other.
It was smaller than the big one. Shining armor looked closer to see that it wasn't only glowing blue, but also brown and realized that its mane was brown. It was so dark however, that he didn't see it the first time.
"He's wounded." The larger of the two spoke.
"Yes he is."
"Easier kill."
"He put up a cat-fight instead of an actual fight."
The larger one laughed. "Really?"
"I want more of a challenge."
The other moved to the left of the smaller one. "Take her, she can fight."
The mutant looked at Candance. "You sure?"
He nodded. "I am."
Shining raised his axe and nodded his head towards his new enemy. Candance dashed off.
"Watch out for his axe, damn thing is stronger than I thought." The smaller one replied as he went after the Queen.
"Alpha."
"Shining."
The two stood there, staring at the other, both quiet.
"You might want to heal up that wound." Alpha replied, nodding towards the cut.
"And leave me defenseless? Not happening."
He took of his helmet. "I want an actual fight before going to Celestia. So I will not fight as you heal. An act of respect that you did not give me the last time we met."
Shining cautiously lowered his axe, his eyes focused on Alpha. He made quick glances to his side before actually taking a good look at the cut, sitting down in the process. As he did so, Alpha looked over his own armor,.
The cut was deep, but not fatal. He scowled as he healed his side, watching as the veins and blood vessels reconnected and the flesh pull itself back together, resealing the flesh.
The armor has neither dents nor scratches. It was perfect condition, considering the age of it that is.
Alpha looked up to see Shining, his axe in the air, the cut fully sealed. "Are you ready?" The king asked.
"Are you?"
He nodded and stood up.
"Good luck." Alpha said as he donned his helmet. "Make sure you are fast enough this time." He readied himself; wings extended, front legs forward, weight on back.
Shining Armor, King of the Crystal Kingdom, raised his axe and charged the mutant.
Alpha pushed with all his might off his hind legs and charged as well, left wing sheathed, right brace open.
A hoof wrapped around a horn. An axe impacted a metallic brace.
Neither was fast enough.
