Chapter 26: Rematch, Aries vs Fune

Four foals hid in the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse, the trio of fillies that owned it, and their latest charge: Grub the Changeling.

"I knew it! I KNEW IT!!! THEY CAME FOR ME! JUST LIKE THEY SAID THEY WOULD!" Grub cried out in panic.

"Well...I'd love to tell you you're wrong...but you're kinda not." Scootaloo whimpered as she peeked out the window to make sure nothing was coming towards the clubhouse.

"Ju-just stay calm everypony. Our sisters'll be here soon." Applebloom whispered, more to herself than to the others.

Suddenly, the clubhouse door exploded into splinters. Eliciting a scream from all four creatures as a Dark Eldar burst into the room...unconscious.

Rainbow Dash and Rarity came in behind it. "C'mon! We gotta get outta here!" Rainbow Dash shouted while Rarity pulled Sweetie Belle into a hug.

"You don't have to tell us twice!" Sweetie Belle shouted as her sister ended the enbrace. The 6 creatures then bolted for the nearest semblance of safety.

"Applebloom, where's Applejack!?" Rainbow Dash yelled over the sounds of slaughter, her trained eyes moving this way and that to monitor potential threats.

"She was at the farm with Pinkie Pie and Prince Rutherford. Trying tah put together a feast fer everypony!" The youngest Apple sibling shouted back.

Rainbow Dash didn't get a chance to reply as she shot in front of the group to intercept a Wych.

Two more of its fel kind charged towards them, smiling sadistically at the thought of slaughtering the weak.

Rarity prepared to fight, but suddenly seized as she was gripped by a crushing wave ofapathy.

Wha-what is this!? Are they doing this? Rarity thought to herself, quickly dismissing the notion when she saw that the Wyches were suffering the same thing.

The source of the apathy revealed itself when Pinkie Pie, whose coat was grey and mane was straight, walked up beside Rarity and gestured for her to follow.

Applejack was with her. She would've had a touching reunion with Applebloom, but neither of them were in the mood at the moment for the presence of Pinkie.

One of the Wyches screamed in frustration and charged the group. Pinkie turned and bucked her, her tail obscuring where the Wych went.

The other Wych paled with fear at the sight. She had seen what became of her sister. Pinkie Pie broke the laws of physics and cast the offending Wych into a Warp Portal. More specifically, the drooling maw of She Who Thirsts.

The other Ponies didn't know this, they only knew that one Wych disappeared and the other ran as far from Pinkie as it could.

"...W-what happened?" Rarity asked no one in particular.

"They killed Rutherford." Applejack answered as the disheartened Party Pony led them out of danger.

Elsewhere

"Welp, it was noice knowin' ya Boss. I could try ta kill ya fore dey getcha, but dey'll prolly stop me." Greenskin sighed, but Fluttershy barely heard him.

The yellow Pegasus stared in the direction of the Dark Eldar. The invaders had kept their distance from Aries and his reinforcements, happily observing as the maddened creatures of the Everfree slowed his advance.

Fluttershy couldn't begin to fathom how many had died. And while all of Equestria would mourn the Ponies, Changelings, and other creatures. Most would see the creatures of the Everfree as part of the assault.

Fluttershy looked to the Bugbear and Manticore that had died in front of her. The Bugbear's teats were swollen with milk. She had yet to see any younger creatures among the rampaging horde, so they were either slain by the Drukhari, or the mother was out hunting when she was captured.

The Manticore reminded her of when she first became the Element of Kindness by taming a wild Manticore by removing a thorn in its paw.

...the thorn in its paw. The crushing pressure that had been building in Fluttershy's heart faded as her attention once more focused on the Manticore. More specifically, its head.

The alien device that drove it mad was still intact. Its muscles twitched as the poison fired pain into its brain. But the Bugbear's device had been shattered by Greenskin's Choppa, and its corpse laid still.

"THAT'S IT!! GREENSKIN! WE NEED TO-" Fluttershy turned to where she remembered Greenskin being, only to find that he had been defending the distracted Pegasus from a Chimera for some time.

The beast was on top of the Ork, its snake head had been cut off, and Greenskin was having a biting contest with the tiger head while strangling the goat head.

"GREENSKIN!!" Fluttershy shouted in concern as she flew towards the struggling creatures. She knew exactly what to do.

Before the Chimera even registered her, Fluttershy landed on its heads and shattered the vials of toxin attached to its skulls.

At first, nothing changed. But then, the Chimera stopped trying to kill Greenskin and was frantically trying to get away from him.

"Greenskin, let it go." The Ork looked at her like she was crazy, but in doing so, he opened his mouth and let the tiger head go.

"GAAAAAGH!! GET OFFA ME! LET GO!!!" The tiger head, a female, shouted with fear in its voice.

Greenskin realized what had happened and let go. Fluttershy was about to explain herself to the confused creature, but it was suddenly attacked by a Manticore.

The Manticore bowled the Chimera over and would've bit into its throat, but Greenskin shattered the vial on its head.

The two creatures broke off their fight when the effect wore off of the Manticore, but kept watching each other for the next attack. Each thinking the other had started it.

"Fluttershy!? H-how did you..." Starlight had seen the group and was ready to rescue Fluttershy and Greenskin when she realized that the animals weren't frenzied.

"Its those things on their heads. Its driving them crazy, just break them and you'll set them free." Fluttershy passed on.

Starlight smilied at the revelation. Turning and blasting a device on a Bugbear as she ran off to spread the word.

"Listen to me. I know you're scared and confused, but the monsters who did this to you are attacking us, they used you for a distraction. We're on the same side." Fluttershy said to the confused creatures.

"Da Boss is roight. Dem Drukhari Gitz did dis." Greenskin added, pointing in the direction of the Dark Eldar...who were watching Aries keenly.

Elsewhere

The War Hound cut the tail from a Manticore and beheaded the goat and tiger heads of a Chimera in one stroke. The Manticore lunged at him, but he used his free hand to hold the beast back. He would've ran it through, but Starlight drug the beast off him with her magic and destroyed its device.

Aries watched as the beast came to its senses, took one look at him, and desperately tried to flee. "The Dark Eldar are usually better at turning creatures into their puppets."

Starlight released the Manticore. "They must've cut corners to get as many done as possible. Fluttershy's working on convincing the ones we save to help us. I say we give her as many magical monsters as she wants."

Aries nodded in acknowledgement, making a note to aim for the devices. Though he wouldn't hesitate to cut them down if he needed to.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't have to worry about that. He saw that the Dark Eldar had took notice of him...and among them was the Klaivex from before.

"STARLIGHT! AID ME!!" Aries shouted when he saw the Kabalite Warriors taking aim at him.

Starlight teleported between them and brought her shield up. Aries drew Defiance and returned fire.

He aimed at the Kabalite Warriors, knowing already the futility of trying to hit the Klaivex from this distance.

Three Kabalites fell before Aries shifted his aim. He took note of his foe's Tormentor and knew what came next.

"Now!" Aries shouted. He made sure to brief the Equestrian Defenders on his first encounter with this deadly foe, and Starlight was more than capable of putting his plan into action.

The Tormentor activated, Fune grinned at the Astartes' attempt to resist bending his knees in pain whilst the alien psyker cried out and- he realized almost too late that the wretch was merely feigning pain...and poorly at that.

Fune flipped backwards to avoid the Space Marines blade and sprinted away as he shot at the Klaivex. One round struck home on his shoulder, blowing out a chunk of his flesh in spite of his armor.

The trivial pain barely registered as a nuisance to the Dark Eldar, who successfully retreated from his opponent's wrath to the safety of his kin.

Aries knew that trying to shoot the Klaivex now was a waste of ammo, and he still had but one magazine.

6 lesser Incubi charged at the War Hound and Starlight, the latter of whom unleashed the full might of her psychic fury in a cyan energy wave that disintegrated the two center most Drukhari.

A burst from Defiance fell one other before they closed the gap. Warp Eater parried a single strike before Starlight teleported herself and Aries above the Incubi, gripping the War Hound with her telekinesis and firing a lethal blast towards the xenos.

Aries' armor deflected shuriken rounds fired by opportunistic Kabalite Warriors. Aries prepared to return fire, but one of the Kabalites fired on its fellows before revealing itself to be Chrysalis.

The Changeling gripped the remaining Kabalites in her magic and threw them high into the air, ensuring a fatal landing elsewhere, before taking note of Aries and Starlight.

The latter of the two had missed her mark, but the Incubi couldn't reach them from the air, which motivated her to stay up there a while longer and lay down suppressing fire.

Chrysalis seemed displeased to Aries, possibly because Starlight was handling herself better than the Changeling would've liked, but her attention was swiftly refocused on an attack from behind.

Aries could only afford to register the attacker as a Wych before returning his attention to the fight at hand. Adding Defiance's roar to Starlight's magical onslaught.

Fune tired of this, and threw the klaive of a dead Incubus like a boomerang.

Starlight barely ducked under the blow...but she hadn't seen the xeno throw one of his own weapons.

The demi-klaive pierced the Unicorn's stomach, causing her and Aries to drop from the sky.

The War Hound grabbed the wounded Unicorn as she fell and landed on his feet with a thunderous thud. Already aiming Defiance towards the Dark Eldar.

Aries had expected the Dark Eldar to already be on him, but a group of Equestrians led by Buck Wild had engaged the Incubi as he and Starlight fell.

Bold as the effort was, it only served to tie the xenos up while shot and killed two other Incubi. The Ponies were swiftly butchered. Buck Wild himself was beheaded by the Klaivex, who now stared Aries down.

The War Hound placed Starlight gently on the ground, freeing his sword arm. He knew this battle would end in his death.

The Klaivex tilted his head, as if intrigued. "I've never known your kind to care for any race but their own. I'm curious as to what drives you to this madness."

Aries replied to the alien's question with Defiance. The two aliens charged him. The final Incubus fell to Defiance, leaving the Klaivex alone to face Aries...it would be more than enough for the Tactical Marine.

Aries swung Warp Eater to take the villains head. Fune parried with his lone demi-klaive and spin-kicked the Astartes in the head.

Aries knew he would be dead before he could react, but he instinctively recovered from the strike and attacked again. He was pleasantly surprised to not only live through this, but to find Warp Eater swinging towards a Klaivex bound in Starlight's cyan aura.

The magical energy flickered as the injured Unicorn failed to hold him any longer, but the Klaivex couldn't clear the strike completely and Warp Eater took away an optic from his helmet.

Fune stared Aries down, his almond shaped eye exposed and full of hate. Aries met his gaze with equal disgust and intolerance for the foul creature's existence, Warp Eater held ready for the next clash.

The Klaivex charged, Aries waited, looking for the faintest sign of where the alien would strike.

The alien moved to the War Hound's left and quickly rolled around behind him. Aries turned with his guard up and deflected the first strike. But then,Pain

Aries felt more pain than he ever had before as the Klaivex activated its Tormentor. But he refused to let it stop him. He swung his off hand to punch the Eldar, but the Klaivex cut off his arm and cut open his stomach.

A mortal would've keeled over, but Aries thrusted Warp Eater at his foe. The Eldar moved to the side and try to cut off the War Hound's other arm, but Aries lowered his stance enough to catch the blow on his pauldron.

Aries swung again, the Drukhari ducked under the blow and spin-kicked Aries again.

Aries knew that trying to resist the blow would slow him down, so he fell with the kick and rolled away from his foe. He was completely unsurprised to find the distance meant little, but he was able to bring Warp Eater between them once more.

As the two champions continued their duel, a cacophonous roar echoed from the Everfree Forest. Signaling the arrival of a great and terrible foe.

Author's Note:

And I'm calling it there. Good grief there are too many characters to focus on, I almost forgot to add Pinkie Pie and Applejack. And I somehow thought trying to add my own OCs was a good idea. (R.I.P. Buck Wild)

Now I need to go back to see what's going on with the frontlines, and who Chrysalis is fighting. Then...we get to the good part.

I've had this final boss for a good long while now. Feel free to guess what it is in the comments below.

I have been in Wisconsin since last Friday, but I don't start my new job until Monday.

This is both a blessing and a curse as while I do have time to write, I also have a lot of time to think about all the different things that could go wrong for me when I finally start working. Most of that is just me being nervous, but telling myself that doesn't stop me.

Alright, that's all I got, see you all next time.