In my mirror, I see a man who has lost everything. A zoo might as well be my home now. Cartridge apparently had a zoo, according to Emeris, a place where they keep different animals for people to look at. Sitting in a cage all day, with random people staring at you. Day after day, night after night, never leaving. This was Equestria to me, just a place where every creature can gawk at my existence.
I open the drawer to my right and pull out my crown. King of the Dead, that's who I am now. The brown paint still clung to it. I retrieve the small knife from my boot and gently carve away the paint. What I can't scrape off, I use saliva and my thumb to rub. The glossy black material shines through, but what once brought me great pride, now felt like a thousand daggers in my stomach. It still fits and actually matches my suit of armor. Even if we magically got an army and a huge surplus of magic, there were going to be heavy losses...again. There's always heavy losses.
When was the last time we actually even won a battle? Did we really win, or did Zaran simply let us think we did? Luna's question rolls around in my head. Could Zaran actually plan everything that happened, or did he simply have a general plan that he adapted as he went along? Whatever was coming through that forest, Zaran was turning to face it. One last battle to end them all. There would be no hiding in the palace now. If we were to make a final stand, it was now with whatever was coming. No military strategy to plan out, no proper chain of command. It was the royalty and the last twelve humans left alive, excluding whoever might be left in Taraska Castle.
The dagger still has brown paint on it as I examine the blade with candlelight. The curtain is drawn, and my door is closed. Just one little candle lighting the entire room. Zaran wants me and only me. So, what if I took away his objective? What if I just slide this piece of metal across my neck and end it? No more fighting, no more dying. Equestria would certainly be free. Even if my death changed nothing, I would be free though. If it took more than roughly five or so minutes for Cadence to find me, there would be no bringing me back. Could Zaran resurrect me as an Og Nag?
My mind is violated by the image of my short auburn hair, with green eyes and a smile that goes from ear to ear with all my jagged teeth sticking out from under my lips. Is anything left of the creature that was before? I set the knife on the table, not even wanting to imagine life as an Og Nag. If Zaran wants me alive, why has he allowed his Og Nag to try and kill me? Perhaps he knows cadence will revive me or maybe he even has his own methods.
I pick up the blade and hurl it into the door. It sticks into it for a few seconds then falls to the ground. I didn't even have the power of suicide. How many creatures in this existence can say that? The wooden chair I sit in, screeches back as I stand up angrily. I grab the chair and hurl it across the room. My mirror cracks into a hundred pieces after I slam my fist into it. So, what if we were finally receiving reinforcements? Let's say we somehow slaughtered every last Og Nag. Was there any chance we could stop Zaran himself? He had to have something in store for the princesses.
I quietly open the door and Emeris leans against the wall to my left. He has his hands clasped and motions with his head for me to follow him. Sporting my black crown instead of my helmet, I'm almost rejuvenated wandering the halls with him. Emeris and I walk slowly across one of the outside paths. Emeris holds his hands behind his back.
"Do you ever think about Captain Magus? Back when the three of us were four?"
There was no way to stifle the grumble that escapes my mouth. "He may have been the quietest one out of us, but when he spoke, it was nothing but pure gold. Did he ever do that thing where you ask him for advice, and he responds with something that completely reshapes your mentality? I once asked him about a situation where one of my soldiers was responsible for knocking over a keg of lamp oil. Took us days to clean it all up. I couldn't make up my mind whether to punish him or not. Like someone had to take blame. You know what he told me? 'There is no room for blame, there's simply consequences for everything. You don't need to blame someone, you just need to make sure it stops happening. I ended up giving the kid a break and just made sure not to stash the barrels in the middle of a hallway. Solved the problem entirely."
Emeris nods and gives a light chuckle. "He was way to calm in combat too. Like you'd see the guy repeatedly take one step, swing his weapon and his opponent died. It was rare to see him move his feet more than a few times. It was like he just instantly knew what people and Og Nag were going to do. Never missed stabbing between armor pieces, never miscalculated. All for him to get executed by his own Kingdom."
I slam my fist down on the stone railing. "He died just so Hurrand could punish me. Versa killed him...right in front of me. Just to punish me for the offensive he screwed up!"
Emeris stops behind me so I whirl around to face him. His eyes are bulging and his mouth quivers. "I...I never knew how he died. You never told us. After the "trail" you just...stopped talking and we never brought it up. I had no idea it was Versa...how...how are we supposed to let her in our ranks knowing that?! You know Lucy was closer with him than either of us were! How do you think she's going to take this?!"
I motion to my hand at the forest that was a few miles away. "In case you forgot, we still have a war on our hands! I don't care what anyone has done! What matters is here and now! And right now, we still haven't made a decision about what to do! We have possible friendlies coming in, but there's only twelve of us! If we're going to survive, we need to be down there coordinating their forces! Old issues need to be left in Taraska! I've never had so few options in my life and you want me to give a damn about the past?! Will any of those issues matter if we're dead?! Hell, I still don't know what Zaran even has planned for me! He might even resurrect me as an Og Nag just to humiliate me!"
Lucretia pops her head over the railing above us. "General Raiden! You have to come see this!" Emeris and I bolt through the palace, racing down every set of steps, even sliding a few times. We emerge into the throne room and Celestia, along with everyone else in the room, stares into this large, silver orb that hovers a few feet from the ground. Celestia looks over at me momentarily. "This is an Orb of Sight. It lets me look almost anywhere on the planet as long as I can picture the location in my mind. I hesitated using it before since I didn't know if Zaran could spy on us through it." She points a hoof at the orb. "Look closely."
Zaran's units rush to confront the forest as our mystery army finally reveals itself. Lucretia puts her hands on the sides of her head. "There's no way! Where did they come from?!"
Emeris covers his mouth with his right hand. "This changes everything! I...I think our theories are confirmed then! That's why he stopped using the Timberwolves! That's why he keeps sending his units to die!"
Running out of the forest, were thousands of Og Nag. They move a bit less aggressively than their counterparts. Zaran's forces and these other Og Nag collide in the field and there's no holding back. Numerous units jump into each other, swinging their swords or biting where they can. Tumbling out of the forest behind them, are even Garges. They roar before charging into the field, swinging axes left and right. One of Zaran's Garges runs up and tries to behead the behemoth. He ducks and avoids the ax, jumps onto the other Garge and rips a mouthful out of his shoulder.
Luna gawks at the sight while the room is filled with silence. "That...so he can only control them for a limited amount of time then?! Or maybe they build up an immunity! This...this is huge! If we're going to fight, it has to be now!"
I turn to Luna eagerly. "Can you fly us down there real quick?! You and the other magic-casting royalty need to stay up here for now! Us twelve might be able to even the odds a bit! I mean they're still outnumbered four to one, but we can at least toss up a good body count! Cadence can you lend us some of your healing if it's just us twelve?!" Cadence nods excitedly and follows us as we blaze to the front of the palace.
"General Raiden!" Shining calls my name from the throne room. I skid to a stop as my people rush by me. Shining motions for me to follow him around the corner in a hurry. As I round the corner, Shining looks around frantically to make sure no one else is listening. "Look I...I'm sorry to spring this on you, but...Cadence can't go with you! She's been under enough stress as it is."
I give Shining a black stare. "You...stress?! Stress?! Are you kidding me?! You don't even know the meaning of stress you petty piece of-" Shining gets an inch from my face, but his eyes are wide and scared. He keeps his voice to a frantic whisper. "Cadence is pregnant! I...she won't admit it and she'd rather headstrong, but I'm worried that this might not be good for our child! I'm sorry I know I'm...asking the impossible, but she can't go with you! She has to rest!"
I run my fingers through my hair, and I can feel the blood leaving my face. "Shining...if we can't do this, there won't be a place for your child to exist anyways…"
His face twists and contorts wildly. "I….I have faith you can do this! If you need to retreat, I'll pull you out myself! Just...please just let my wife stay out of this!"
I drag my fingertips down my face but nod reluctantly. While trying to catch up to my units, I almost bump into Cadence who has a suspicious frown on her face. "Raiden, what's going on?" Shining walks up to her and keeps his voice low. As I run to the double doors, I hear Cadence and Shining get into a screaming match.
Luna stands with my people at the edge of the cliff. I stop and survey the battlefield.
"The Og Nag that just came in are definitely less aggressive. The only way we can tell who is who by waiting to be attacked."
Emeris grumbles to himself and crosses his arms. "That's assuming they don't want to kill us though. Just because they're fighting Zaran doesn't mean they're friendly." I give Luna a nod and we're all enveloped in a blue glow. My stomach turns to knots the moment my legs are dangling below me to a rapid thousand-foot drop.
A gasp forces its way from my lips, as Luna dives to the ground with us in tow. My skin is covered in pin pricks moments before we stop. She lands gracefully and each Taraskan is let loose with a small pop of our individual bubbles. Luna looks around eagerly while biting her lip. I step in front of her gaze and point back up to the mountain.
"Luna I'm sorry but we need you in reserve. If Zaran throws some wild card, we might need you at the ready to pull us out." Her face crumbles into a rage and she stomps a hoof on the ground. With a sudden snap of her wings, she takes off and soars back up to the ledge. My people gather around, glancing nervously at the chaos ahead.
"Alright, here's the score: don't get too involved. Help their units push ahead, cut down Garges, but let them do most of the work. We'll call the new Og Nag neutrals for simplicity. Assuming these are the last of Zaran's forces, we still have Zaran himself to deal with and I get the feeling he's no push over. Let me go in first to test their temperament then follow my lead."
I turn around and face the battle ahead. My shield stays in front of me, but I make my way along the right flank, showing I'm pushing with the neutrals. A few eyes dart to me, but I'm mostly ignored. An Og Nag my size runs at me, screeching and with a sword. I duck down and slam my shield into his legs. He topples over me and lands on his back. Before he can get back up, I stab him in the forehead. With a foot on his skull, I pull out my weapon with a plop.
A pair of angry, green hands grabs my shoulder blades. I instinctively drop my sword and grab his jaw before he can pull out flesh from my neck. I stagger backwards with a ferocious pair of teeth biting wildly at me. The moment I gain my footing, I kick him in the stomach. As he doubles over, I rear my head back and slam my head spike into his skull.
After picking up my sword, another Og Nag, slightly taller than myself, has a flail and whirls it above his head while howling. My shield just barely gets shifted in time and a horrible clang makes my ears ring. Right as I retrieve my sword in-between hits, a neutral jumps up and lobs off his hand, making his flail go flying across the field. He has enough time to stare up at his stump before I sock him in the stomach, then grab his head and give him a last look at the sky, followed by a loud pop from his neck.
The neutral has his small shield and sword at his side. While he doesn't threaten me, there's a look of anger and confusion on his face. He searches my eyes and I can't resist flinching. His iris and pupils are massive and a sickening bright green. Despite being half my size in every respect, save for his head, my hand screams at me to end him. My hand twitches with my sword in it and his eyes dart to it without moving his head. They immediately go back to watching me.
He leans his head back as an ax goes sailing by, cutting off the very tip of his nose. He doesn't cry out or even seem to care. I look over as a crazed Og Nag runs at him. He casually turns to face it and hurls his sword into his adversarie's stomach. The creature makes a gagging sound and drops his two axes. The neutral runs at him, jumps into the air and tucks his legs in while spinning. He lands on the creature's back and rips out a section of his neck. Before the beast even hits the ground, another neutral runs by and yanks the sword out.
Without giving me another look, he hops off the Og Nag and runs back into battle. Emeris startles me from behind. "That was...weird. Are they individuals now? Do they remember...anything?" Every part of me had questions, but as usual there was no time to ask. Emeris pulls out his bow and nails two Og Nag on my right. "They're swinging around to hit our right flank and surround the front line!" I motion in the air for my soldiers to follow up with me. Glancing over my shoulder, one of my people cries out as a neutral climbs on his back then over his head. It leaps off and keeps running, claws in front of him and screeching towards the battle.
"Sir, they're not easy to work with!" he cries out with rage. I give a small nod then turn back to the combat. An Og Nag runs at me, but I deflect his sword to the left and slam my other elbow spike into his face. I use his momentum to pull my spike out and he sails past me, colliding with the ground. He tries to get up weakly but gets several stabs from neutrals before he's even a foot off the ground.
These neutrals had no sense of tactics, so it was time to improvise. If they were going to finish everything off, then there was no need for me to waste extra effort. A pair of teeth comes charging at me. I duck to the left and sweep my leg into his. He goes flying behind me but gets his head lobbed off before he lands. Two more come barreling at me. I hurl my sword into the first one's chest then slam everything I have into him, ramming his friend behind him to the ground. I pull out my sword and take a step back. He pushes off his ally and squeals as sever neutrals descend on him. It's not instant as he endures his ear, eye and part of his jaw being ripped off before getting a merciful thrust to the chest.
My soldiers start copying me and focus more on destabilizing their opponents than actually putting in the effort for a killing blow. We push hard and fast, keeping only six feet from each other. No matter how hard the Og Nag push, they can't gain any ground. There's no locking of shields or swords since each enemy is temporarily stunned and sent flying behind us.
Two more monsters charge me. I slam my shield to the left and slice my sword across his stomach but keep it there like an ax. He stops but his ally doesn't. He collides with him and is temporarily on his back. I cut off both their heads with one blow as soon as I whip around my sword. A small claw scratches my back armor. I instinctively swing my sword around and behead a neutral who tries to scoot past me. I freeze as three other neutrals who are running by stop and stare at me. There's brief hesitation as they look over the scene. I hold up my sword and shield apologetically, letting my facial expression do the apologizing. Luckily, they decide to ignore it and keep moving.
Emeris comes sprinting up to me. "Behind us! It's an ambush!" I whirl around and slam my shield into the ground. Neutrals run past me as a new breed of Og Nag comes bursting from the forest. They were huge and angry. Four hooves pound the dirt and colossal horns stick out from either end of its skull. Long hair covers its body but can't disguise the sheer muscle and power it possesses.
"Form up! Dodge and slice! Don't let them wreck our frontline!" I scream to my people.
