SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS
The alicorns of the 'Pantheon' are the creation of fan-ficcer & deviant-Artist 'Alex Warlorn', and are used with his permission
PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES
-CHAPTER START-
Realm EQ-G4 – Equestria – outside Manehattan
A Marauder fell as a spinning, spiky blue ball slammed into it with significant speed and force. Rebounding from the 'homing attack' and landing on his feet, Sonic looked out at the nearby city, beneath a dreary overcast sky. Smoke rose up from various points, as did gunfire aimed at Harvesters overhead. The people were fighting back hard, but the Reapers were grinding them down.
"Blue-1, come in" a man's voice said over the comm.
"Here" Sonic replied. "What's up?"
"We've got some evac ships waiting to take off from the park along the city's southern border, but the area's too hot for them to get off the ground. We could use some help clearing them out."
"Understood. I'm outside the north border of the city, but… well, you know my capabilities. I'll be there in 30 minutes tops."
"Glad to hear it. Out."
Sonic sighed. "Well," he murmured, "let's see if I can save some more lives this time…" He hopped down off the rocky outcropping he'd been standing on, and sped off into the city.
('LEVEL' MUSIC: Sonic Generations OST – "Stardust Speedway (Bad Future) US Version")
Racing down the street, Sonic zigzagged around 'potholes' that had been blasted in the road. A pack of Husks was right up ahead, and he accelerated, a faint blue corona of energy surrounding him, and blasted right through them, sending them flying every which way. A little ways further there was a cluster of abandoned vehicles blocking the road, so Sonic leapt onto the side of a bordering building and ran along it sideways, leaping off the other side to get back on the road.
Turning left along an intersection, Sonic came across a group of UNSC marines engaged in a firefight against a group of Cannibals led by a trio of Marauders. He quickly used a chain of Homing Attacks to take out the Turian Husks, and then a 'Boost Crash' to destroy about half of the Batarian Husks. The marines quickly handled the rest, and the Blue Blur sped on.
Sonic hung a right and boost-ran his way up the side of a 30-story building, and at the top there happened to be a few patrolling Pegasus Husks that he was able to Homing-Attack to get some forward momentum going. He jumped & ran along the rooftops of towers for a short while, making his way south, and then ran back down the side of another building to return to ground level. A few more mixed Husk groups were Boost-Crashed through, and Sonic soon found himself passing through a park. Halfway through it, he encountered a few artillery guns being zealously defended by a mixed human/pony force of soldiers against encroaching Husk forces. Sonic slowed down a bit and joined the fray, striking with melee blows powered by super-speed and his enhanced strength. Husks fell to the hedgehog hero, and more of the cyber-zombies turned their attention to him, Cannibals and Marauders firing their guns. He managed to dodge the shots, and the soldiers took advantage of the enemy's distraction to rally and focus fire, bringing more of them down. A Brute charged in, swinging its massive claw at Sonic's head, but he ducked and unleashed a flurry of super-speed rising punches to its gut, following by a springing Homing Attack that knocked it back; a rocket from one of the soldiers took the stunned Brute out.
With the big guns safe, Sonic hurried on. Over the next few minutes he sped down streets, around corners, and up & down buildings, plowing through Husks here & there. Finally, he was nearing the southern 'edge' of the city, and at the other end of a ~mile-long 'straightaway' street he could see the evac ships. Unfortunately, he could also see a Reaper Destroyer approaching them from the west, heavy gunfire practically bouncing off its ancient armor. Frowning, he took off down the wide, long, empty straight street, gaining speed. Halfway down, he concentrated on the Chaos Emeralds currently 'stored' inside of him, and called upon the power of four of them. Focusing their power, he embraced it and let it merge with him like he did when he went into his Super form. A bright blue aura of energy surrounded him, and his quills spiked out partially, their very tips turning gold, while his eyes glowed faintly with power. In this 'Pseudo-Super form', his speed increased even further, sonic booms being left in his wake as he barreled toward the Reaper Destroyer, which by chance had turned and caught sight of his approach. The ancient machine's huge red photoreceptor glowed as a beam of relativistic molten metal was fired out, slicing a line up the street, but Sonic side-stepped the beam, the Emeralds' power protecting him from the ambient heat.
As Sonic got close, the Reaper tried to stomp on him, but not only did he avoid it, he ran up the titan's metal leg, racing up toward its body. It prepared to fire at him point-blank, but he was faster, racing in between the opened plates on the Destroyer's front. Seconds later, the people watching from in & around the evac ships below saw as small explosions chained through the Destroyer's main body, as Sonic blitzed his way through the titan's innards, targeting and blasting through anything that looked important. Finally, he burst out through the Reaper's 'face', having punched clean through its core. The Destroyer's lights went out, and it toppled to the ground with a pavement-cracking thud. Sonic skidded to a stop after landing, his body returning to normal as he released hold of the four Emeralds' power. Seconds later, with their approach vector cleared by the Destroyer's death, a flight of UNSC Shortswords flew by, performing a bombing run that wiped out most of the Reaper ground forces harassing the evac ships from the east. With that done, the ships began to take off, the Shortswords acting as escort as one by one they took to the skies.
"That was easy enough…" Sonic said as he watched the ships and their escorts fly up & away. "Now, I think there was an armored convoy having trouble getting through a Reaper blockade in the southeast sector; a hero's work is never done, I guess…"
After taking a couple minutes to rest, he took off again.
-SCENE BREAK-
Everfree Forest
Two 'teams' made their way down the forest path together, heading in the direction of Ponyville. Team Normandy – the entirety of the ground team, led by Shepard – and Team Harmony – the six Element-Bearers plus Trixie and Sunset (who, for once, was in her pony form) – had finished helping the old castle be converted into a temporary base for DDF forces operating in the forest and monitoring the area, and were now heading back to the town for pickup. The emergence and entry into battle of Luna's 'Eclipse Fleet' earlier today had been a boon, the huge and advanced vessels – controlled remotely and magically/telepathically by Luna from the bridge of the Ganymede – proving capable of giving the Reapers pause; combine that with the other DDF warships in the system (including Cadence's dreadnought Harmonia), and the Reapers were actually 'slightly' on the defensive now.
But the battle was still far from won. The Reapers were patient, and they were stubborn, so they were not about to call it quits that easily, especially after being forced to retreat from the other DDF worlds they'd assaulted. Already they were trying to step up their attack in some areas, putting pressure on the local defending forces.
The group was on edge, weapons and powers ready to be used at a moment's notice; the forest was known to have some Husk forces prowling through it, and word had it that the Reapers had started making Husks out of some of the local wildlife on Equestria. As they passed through a part of the path shaded by tree canopies overhead, some of the tress above them rustled. That was the only warning they got before a pair of human-Husks dropped down from the treetops right toward Shepard and Twilight. Twilight semi-instinctively teleported a few feet to the side and then blasted the just-landed Husk with a conjured fireball, while Shepard Biotically grabbed the one falling towards him and Slammed it to the ground. Several more Husks leapt down from the treetops, landing amongst or around the group. Eve shifted her staff to its double-energy-blade form, while Sunset called forth her 'chain-sword' staff, holding it with her hooves and her magic, and the two began carving through Husks. Meanwhile, shotguns were drawn and put to use by Ashley, James, Kal, and AJ, taking advantage of the close quarters to quickly cut down on enemy numbers. Rarity made spears of rock shoot up from the ground, precisely skewering a few more of the formerly-human creatures, while Javik, Kaidan, and Liara tossed out Biotic shockwaves that splattered more against the rocks and trees. Very soon, the area was clear.
"That's one bad thing about movin' in groups this big" Zaeed remarked. "With all you lot pitchin' in, I didn't even get to fire a shot before it was all over."
"You'll get your chance" Shepard replied. "There's always more… Let's keep moving."
They continued through the forest, picking up the pace a little. Reaching the edge of a clearing, empty and still, Shepard called for a halt. After a few seconds of looking at the open space suspiciously, he quietly signaled for EDI to send out a holographic 'decoy'. The AI complied, a faintly-shimmering representation of her mobile platform 'running' out into the open area. Shepard's suspicion proved well-founded as a shot from a hidden Ravager's cannon passed through the hologram, dispersing it. Having tracked the shot, Garrus looked through his rifle's scope, quickly spotting the Rachni Husk hiding amongst the trees. He fired a shot, the Mantis round punching into the Ravager's armored hide, and the creature shrieked in anger as it emerged, firing its twin cannons at the group. A combined Barrier from Twilight and Trixie blocked the shots, and Javik's 'Dark Channel' attack was followed by Liara's Warp, the ensuing Biotic detonation ripping the Ravager open. A few pistol shots from Zaeed finished the struggling creature off.
The sun was setting now as the group continued on, hurrying through the clearing. After several more minutes of quiet, they suddenly felt a deep rumble shake the ground, birds taking flight as trees rustled. A few seconds later, there was another tremble, then another, and the group realized they were feeling giant footsteps. Rainbow Dash flew upward, above the trees, and even from down below the others could see her eyes widen.
"Uh, we got a problem here!" she said as she came back down. "There's a Destroyer heading right this way! Its path is gonna take it right towards Ponyville, and we happen to be in that path!"
As she spoke, the ground-shaking thuds and mechanical noises grew closer and closer, and the group realized they were in real danger of being stepped on. Soon, the huge black shape of the Destroyer could be seen through the treetops, getting closer and closer.
"Everyone, get close!" Twilight called. "Trixie, Sunset, Rarity, with me!"
As the Harmony and Normandy teams got in close, the four unicorns linked their magic together, dividing the load for an emergency group teleport. The entire group vanished in flashes of light, and mere seconds later the Reaper Destroyer's foot came down where they had been. A few seconds after that, they appeared near the edge of the Everfree Forest, with Ponyville in sight. Soon, the Destroyer's steps could be felt again, and the titan was again visible. The two 'teams' stood nervously in waiting, watching as the Reaper Destroyer stomped its way through the Everfree Forest, the colossal technorganic abomination towering over the ancient trees that it trampled underfoot as it made its way toward Ponyville. The setting Sun's light reflected off of its black armor as it advanced.
Suddenly, however, there was a massive shape rising from near the caves within the forest - a massive purple-hued creature as big as the Destroyer, with glowing red eyes and white star-like patterns on its body. It lunged at the ancient trespasser, the invading being barely avoiding a strike from giant claws. The Reaper let loose its deep, bass horn-like sound, specifically tuned to instill instinctual fear into organics that heard it. The Ursa Major, undaunted, let out its own ear-splitting roar, a challenge.
The group stood awestruck as they watched the ensuing clash of titans.
The Reaper struck first, firing its slicing red beam. The Ursa Major, showing agility that belied its size, dodged the beam and lunged forward, striking at the joint of the Reaper's left front leg. Sparks flew and metal crumpled as the ancient metal began to give way. Before the Reaper could fire again, the Ursa latched on to the weakened section with its powerful jaws and bit down, completely severing the appendage. The Reaper's leg toppled to the ground, crushing trees beneath it.
The Reaper let out an angry howl as it adjusted its remaining three legs to maintain balance. It fired again, and the beam sliced across the Ursa Major, scorching its thick hide. The star-beast let out a roar, but pushed past the pain. The Reaper felt surprise that its beam had, upon closer inspection, caused only surface damage. The ancient machine readied to fire again, only for the Ursa to grab hold of the opened armor-plates and pull outward, ripping them partially off and exposing the Reaper's innards. It dodged the beam and then dug in with both paws, grabbing hold and yanking out two huge paws-full of internal components.
The Reaper 'screamed' and thrashed around. The Ursa Major grabbed hold again and reached its jaws in, pulling out another mouth-full of parts. It then began charging power, the stars on its body glowing as energy gathered in its mouth. Finally, it let loose a blast of white starlight-energy into the Reaper at point-blank. The Destroyer went still, its lights going out, and when the Ursa released it, it toppled to the ground, dead. The gigantic star-bear threw its head high and let out a roar of triumph.
Everyone's jaws had pretty much hit the floor at this display. Rainbow Dash summed up their impressions:
"Ho...ly... fuck..."
Suddenly, there was a 'crack' from behind and to the right of the group, followed immediately by a different sound right behind them. They spun around to see a Marauder topple over, a sizable hole blown through its head. The person who'd fired the killing shot approached with his squadmates.
"Hey, Shepard" Marcus Fenix said as Baird slung his sniper rifle over his back. "It's been a while."
"Delta Squad" Shepard smiled. "Fancy running into you here. How's everything been lately?"
"Well, we haven't lost any members yet" Dom replied. "Though, with how this war's going…"
"Yeah… I think we're supposed to report back to Celestia now, for another assignment."
"She's busy at the moment" Baird replied. "The Reapers are making a push in gryphon territory, so she went to help."
Suddenly, a shiver ran along Eve's body, and she gazed up at the sky.
"What's wrong?" Shepard asked her.
"Something's coming…" she said. "I think it's coming from… 'outside'. And it's strong – really strong…"
-SCENE BREAK-
Gryphon Territory
Explosive blasts of fire and Light rained down on Husks as the Alicorn of the Sun came to the aid of the human/pony/gryphon forces fighting the enemy. A Harvester flew at Celestia, firing its head-mounted cannons, and she twisted up and to the side, dodging the shots and the tackle, and fired a concentrated explosive fire blast that blew the synthetic beast's head off. Down below, she saw as magic-based energy blasts in pink, light-blue, gold, light-purple, and green cut down many Reaper ground forces; the HeartCatch Cures were still hard at work as well.
Celestia landed at the head of a group of mixed soldiers trying to hold off a Husk wave, and she fired a sweeping 'beam' of Light magic that sliced a few dozen of the cyber-zombies in two. She followed this up with a wave of bright flame that incinerated most of the rest. But then, as she panted lightly for breath, a standard Reaper Dreadnought dropped in less than a kilometer away, 'looking' right at her and the soldiers behind her. Its weapon glowed brightly as it readied to fire, and Celestia realized she would need a few more seconds to bring up a shield strong enough to protect herself and the soldiers behind her. Seconds she didn't have, as the crimson beam fired…
A huge brilliant dome of glowing 'light' formed around Celestia and the soldiers, ancient and exceedingly powerful defensive magic effortlessly deflecting the Reaper's weapon. When Celestia opened her eyes, she saw in front of her an alicorn stallion, lean in build with light-grey fur and dark-grey mane, the latter streaked with white. He was clad in dull-silver armor of an unknown metal, and his Mark was a shield with a tower engraved on it. Upon seeing him, she felt a mixture of deep shock and a little fear, seeing one of her siblings whom she hadn't seen in over 3,000 years.
"Hey, Celestia" he said. "Good timing on my part, huh?"
"T… Turris…" she murmured. "But… But how…?"
He turned to face her directly, as behind him the Reaper was caught with its shields down by a dual MAC strike from orbit that took it down. "When the 'Reapers' ripped a rift in-between Realms to attack this world… they also accidentally tore down The Veil."
As if to punctuate his statement, there was a harsh noise and a flash of blue light above as a massive ship emerged from slipspace a few kilometers off the ground and started deploying drone fighters; it was a six-kilometer vessel of the same class as Cadence's Harmonia and Celestia's still-being-prepared Solaria – the Immovable Object, Turris' dreadnought. Seconds later, in high orbit, space-time rippled and distorted as 14 more vessels of the same class but each of different coloring emerged from slipspace, their vast array of weapons coming online and being turned against the very surprised Reapers. From the bridges of the Ganymede and the Harmonia, Luna and Cadence quickly recognized the familiar shape of the multiple new dreadnoughts, and realized what this meant. Back down on the surface, Celestia tried to fight against panic rising inside her.
"Calm down, sister" Turris told her. "We're all on your side here. Mortis explained everything after he helped you all on Ulnar, including the stuff about Amon and Xehanort. …Though, I feel you and your allies should know this: recently, those two have begun to field their forces against the Reapers as well."
"…Really?"
"Yes. We don't know exactly why, but the Fallen Xel'Naga and the Fallen Keyblade Master apparently feel that the Reapers are a threat to them as they are to the Dimensional Defense Force, and have temporarily suspended aggressive actions against your inter-planar allies for the duration of this conflict, to focus on Harbinger's faction. They may even aid us in this war."
"This is… all a very great deal to take in…"
"Your Majesty?" a Royal Guardsman back at the castle contacted over the radio. "Can you hear me, ma'am?"
"Y-Yes" Celestia replied. "Speak."
"In addition to the unexpected new reinforcements that just arrived, we've received word that the Solaria has just completed its restoration and refitting; it's taken months of work, but your dreadnought is finally ready for battle again."
"Good. That is good news. I will transport myself to it once I can. Report any further developments to me at once."
"Of course, ma'am."
She looked up to see Turris grinning. "It seems Equestria's defense has received a much-needed bolstering, wouldn't you say?"
"Indeed it has…"
-SCENE BREAK-
Next Day – mid-morning
The combination of the Eclipse Fleet and the Alicorns' Fleet had made quite a difference. The Reapers' numbers, in space and on the ground, were being steadily ground down; though, they were fighting even harder in response, giving everything they had to avoid being pushed out. Executor had gone to ground somewhere, hiding himself and directing his 'lesser' brethren from the shadows. The meeting between the three Equestria-based alicorns and their long-lost siblings hadn't really progressed far, due to reluctance and needing to focus on the battle; Celestia had only spoken directly with Turris, Mortis, and Galaxia so far, while Cadence and Venus had been all too happy to be reunited, having been very close amongst the alicorns, and around half of the newly-arrived siblings had gotten to speak with 'the new' Luna, but then only briefly due to the Night Alicorn needing to focus to control her ships and being fairly peeved about what they 'allowed' to happen to her previous self.
In space, the multiple capital ships coordinated; Puerilis' Potentium and Judicium's Sounding Horn worked to box in Reapers so Leo Fortis' Unstoppable Force and Currus' Conquistador could strike down the middle; Venus' Cupid's Arrowhead flew with the Harmonia and Galaxia's Resurrect to protect evac ships; Justitia's Rule of Law, Abbatissa's Scale of Hymns, and Rota Fortuna's Hecate harassed Reaper forces' flanks; Imperatrix's ship Eros' Grace and Princeps' Authoritatus flew mixed in with some of the Eclipse Fleet's ships; Eremo's Unattainable Knowledge, Pensilis' Sacrificaro, and Mortis' Thanatos aided UNSC and Sangheili ships in pushing at the Reapers trying to come through the rift; the Immovable Object and the newly-deployed Solaria defended some of the surviving orbital gun platforms so they could continue their work; and 'the old' Luna's Crescent Shade, preemptively made combat-ready by the other alicorns after Ulnar, had been brought out of subspace 'storage' by the other alicorns, and the current Luna had promptly 'linked' it with the Eclipse Fleet so that she could control it along with the others from the Ganymede.
The Spellbound, dreadnought of the long-deceased Amicitia, remained in subspace 'dry-dock' out of respect, while the fallen Morning Star's vessel Infernal Beauty had long since been destroyed and harvested for parts millennia ago.
It had also been discovered that Turris' information was true: reports were coming in, from a few scouts on Equestria and from scattered sightings elsewhere in contested territory in Realm ME-N7, of Heartless and Hybrids attacking Reaper ground forces and ignoring – or, in at least one case, actually aiding – DDF or Citadel-race forces. There'd also been a sighting of Saïx exterminating a Cerberus base, and of Joker (as in, Pierrot's former minion now serving Amon) making mincemeat out of a Ravager pack. Combine this with the fact that the Allied Shinobi Forces were finally taking to the field in appreciable numbers, and the Reapers' advance was starting to slow in places.
At the moment, Eve T'Lesh was – thanks to magitech FTL inter-Realm communications – in a conversation that she'd never imagined herself having. She had been there to 'pick up the call' when Fate Testarossa tried to contact Mai and Kizuna, but they were off on a mission at the moment. Having heard about everything so far, Fate had managed to convince Eve not to hang up on her, and had actually drawn her into a hesitant but non-hostile conversation. Eve hated most humans, but she supposed that it made sense this one was different, seeing as all the 'Darkness' of her Heart had been stripped away. She was so kind and patient… Not to mention, there was something else that seemed to draw Eve to her…
"Hmph…" Eve had a tiny smile as she looked to Fate. "You… You really are her 'Other'…"
"…Pardon?"
"I've met Ruin – three times, in fact. We're… friends."
At this, Fate's eyes widened on the holo-screen, her mouth just a little open.
"The first time we met," Eve continued, "she sought me out because she wanted a fight, to test what I could do. We fought to the point where both of us were equally exhausted, and she praised my ability and my resolve, told me she liked me. The second time was a couple weeks later. We fought a little more, but it was more of a sparring match this time. After that, we just… relaxed and talked together. The third time was about a week before the Reaper War started. We didn't fight; we just sat together, talked, relaxed… I had my armor dispelled, and it got chilly out with a breeze going, so she partially unzipped that big black cloak of hers and… bade me to crawl inside, pressed up close against her." She blushed faintly, remembering Ruin coaxing her into resting her head on/between the 'older' girl's sizable breasts as the duo squeezed in pressed close together inside the black cloak. "She was so… warm, and soft, and gentle. She held me, and… I swear, at one point, when I looked up at her, she had a little smile, and her eyes… for that moment, they weren't gold; they were red, and kind, like yours. …All the hatred I hold for humans, and yet I end up forming a bond like this with someone who's literally a human's Darkness made flesh. You never know what will happen, I guess…"
Suddenly, Eve's Omnitool chimed.
"Gotta go; Shepard's called a meeting. Farewell for now… Ms. Fate."
As Eve terminated the connection, back on Midchilda Fate leaned back against a chair, a little shocked. Ruin had actually… Fate's mind raced; maybe, just as a sapient-form Nobody could develop a complete Heart by interacting with others, perhaps an 'incomplete' being that started out composed wholly of Darkness could, given the right circumstances and opportunities, start to develop a bit of their own Light…
-SCENE BREAK-
Mountains north of Canterlot
"Yōton: Yōkai no Jutsu!"
The burst of chakra-formed lava that Kizuna Kawamura unleashed engulfed a Brute, the hybrid Husk being melted away, its struggles quickly ceasing. The boy took a deep breath, looking around at the other dead Husk-types in the area.
"That's the third batch in 20 minutes" Mai said, nudging with her foot a Marauder she'd killed.
"Must mean we're getting close to something interesting" Shepard replied.
It was a slightly odd group – Shepard, Eve, Garrus, Mai, Kizuna, Sonic, Reisen, and Sunset – who found themselves moving through the mountains, investigating reports that something big was up out here in the mountains. So far, they'd found two curiosities: the presence of Reaper forces way out here far away from any civilization, and an enormous storm cloud that covered the sky in thick dark-gray for several miles around. Attempts by scanners to see inside the storm had been fruitless; something was actively disrupting scans in the area.
"That thing doesn't look natural" Sonic said, looking up at the humongous storm. "I'll bet the Reapers stirred it up somehow. The question is: why?"
"To hide something, maybe?" Garrus suggested. "That would explain the sensor-jamming."
The group moved on, making their way around the mountain they were currently on. After about 20 minutes, they'd made it far enough around that something became visible that was most definitely not part of the natural scenery. A spire of twisting black metal around 80 feet tall was nestled in the rocks, a pillar of wavering blue & black… energy, for lack of a better word, twisting up into the sky, feeding the giant storm-cloud.
"Well…" Sunset said. "That's not a natural formation."
"TRESPASSERS…"
The impossibly deep, booming voice echoed throughout the mountains, seeming to come from everywhere. Sonic and Reisen, however, were able to determine the source direction:
"Executor…" Sonic said. "He's hiding in the clouds! This giant storm is for him to hide in while he directs the other Reapers!"
"What's the matter?" Shepard shouted up to the clouds. "Too scared to face our fleet?"
"AVOIDING A FIGHT THAT ONE KNOWS IS UNWINNABLE IS NOT COWARDICE. MY TIME WILL COME."
"No, it won't" Mai replied. "Because we're putting an end to you!"
Executor did not respond this time. The group looked around at each other.
"Should we call in the fleet?" Kizuna suggested.
"No" Garrus replied. "By the time they get here, he'll have relocated."
"But how else are we gonna stop him?" Mai wondered.
Suddenly, the others heard a resonating sound accompanied by swirling multicolored lights. They turned to see Sonic being 'orbited' by the seven Chaos Emeralds, his eyes closed in focus as they drew closer to him and spun faster. Finally, in a split-second flash of pure-white light, they disappeared, merging into him. Half a second later, he erupted in a fiery golden aura, his quills spiking out as his fur turned gold. His now-red eyes opened, and he grinned and gave a thumbs-up to the rest of the group before shooting up into the sky, punching through the dark-grey clouds.
(BOSS MUSIC: Sonic Generations – Time Eater (Modern))
Zooming up and forward through the clouds, Sonic could soon see the faint, dark silhouette of the massive 2500-meter Leader-subtype Reaper, its dark-blue 'running lights' cutting through the darkness. As Sonic drew closer, that blue was joined by a red glow from the spot within Executor's 'tentacles', and soon its crimson beam fired. Sonic spun and twisted around the beam as he continued his approach, and as he got closer to the Reaper he accelerated even more, the golden aura around him brightening and gaining a faint bluish hue as he rocketed toward his chosen target. Homing in he slammed into Executor's 'face', striking one of the four blue lights that looked like eyes. The light went out as he hit, the energy of the strike spreading out on impact to wreck the emitter.
Executor let out a deep rumble and began flying backwards away from Sonic, as a pair of Oculus drones emerged and flew towards the transformed hero, firing their lasers. Sonic jerked and boosted and spun to dodge most of the shots, his barrier deflecting the rest, and then abruptly reversed course and crashed right into and through one of the Oculus drones, blasting it to bits. The golden warrior then fired a blast of 'Chaos' energy that blew right through the laser of the other drone and engulfed the construct, destroying it. He now rocketed towards Executor, rolling and shifting to dodge the Reaper's fire as he picked up speed. In the last split-second before contact, his aura brightened as his speed briefly went even higher, and he hit the 'eye' he'd destroyed, punching right through it and the machinery behind it.
Now inside Executor's body, Sonic looked around as he kept moving. The architecture seemed malevolent and claustrophobic, and as he flew on he quickly realized that the 'walls' were actively shifting and changing, trying to block him or jut out suddenly into his flight path. He had to make several twists and turns and shifts, all while flying at considerable speed, as he moved deeper into the Reaper's superstructure. Finally, he reached something interesting: a yellow-lit foundry/hangar carrying nearly two-dozen Oculus drones. Auto-turrets emerged and opened fire on him, forcing him to flit about through the chamber, and in his wild movements he caught sight of something big and glowing attached to a hanging part of the ceiling with wires connected to it – most likely, the power core for this area. Grinning, he changed course and charged power, his golden aura becoming bigger and brighter as he rocketed towards it…
Outside, Sonic burst free from the lower back of Executor, metal and fire trailing behind him from the new hole he'd just punched his way out through. A second later, the power core of the Oculus foundry/hangar exploded, gutting that space and the drone craft within it, flames and twisted metal being ejected through the now-larger hole. The Reaper 'howled' in fury, and the air around it shimmered as its energy shields came up. Again Sonic had to deftly maneuver to dodge fire from Executor's primary weapon, the power of the Chaos Emeralds protecting him from the beam's ambient heat whenever it came close to him. As soon as he could, he fired a sizable blast of 'Chaos' energy at the Reaper, only for the titan's shields to successfully block the blast.
Sonic was forced to get some distance as Executor fired its secondary weapons at him. Once they'd stopped, he turned right back around and charged again. Two Reaper Destroyers dropped in from the thick clouds above, preparing to intercept the golden warrior, but Sonic simply boosted his speed and punched clean through one Destroyer in a downward motion, then pulled up and did the same to the other. As the two little Reapers plummeted behind him, he charged right at Executor again.
…There are things one should know about Executor's shields. First is that in order to enter a planet's atmosphere, power had to be diverted from the shields to the mass-effect generators in order to prevent the Reaper taking damage from its own mass in a world's gravity. Second was that, even after all the damage Sonic had done, Executor was still underestimating him, and thus didn't have its shields as high as they could currently go. Thus, its shields were 'weak' enough that, as the duo flew through the giant storm cloud, a fairly powerful bolt of lightning that struck one of Executor's side-tentacles was able to completely drain the weakened shields in that area. Seeing this, Sonic took advantage of it, speeding up and punching through Executor's hull immediately below the side-tentacle's base before the Reaper could get its shields back in that spot.
Again inside the giant Reaper, Sonic went to work as he zoomed through the internal structure, blasting through what he could and weaving around what he couldn't. As he caused as much damage as he could, he caught a brief glimpse of something glowy and vulnerable-looking far below. With his current path, he wouldn't be able to reach it directly in time, but he was able to fire a blast of Chaos energy down at it. It just so happened that what he saw was a piece of vital machinery connected directly to Executor's 'core'. The surge of Chaos energy stunned Executor, the giant Reaper 'groaning' as power surges wracked its body and its 'mind' was temporarily knocked senseless.
Sonic made his own exit, soaring high upward at great speed. Looking behind himself as he ascended, he saw as Executor listed and pitched forward in the air, its shields offline. Realizing he'd hit something vital, he stopped at the apex of his climb, hovering as he drew power. But he was unsure; even with his Super form, could he actually punch through to hit it again directly?
Then, however, Sonic felt new, additional power pouring into him. He soon realized it was from one of the alicorns… or, perhaps, from one of the two 'Elders' who sat above them. Whatever the case, it surged through and around him, making his aura turn white. Focusing his power, he dove downward, accelerating to a speed significantly greater than even his standard Super-form velocity, sonic shockwaves tearing through the clouds around and behind him. In seconds he reached the stricken Reaper, and with a flash of light and fire he punched clean through from 'back' to 'front', tearing through Executor's Core in the process. The borrowed power left him, leaving him in his normal Super state, and he dove a bit more and then climbed as momentum carried him. Behind him, Executor's body seized and then exploded, a blast from the shattered core tearing the ancient being apart.
"And that's all she wrote!" Sonic cheered as he started heading back down towards the ground. "One less Command-type Reaper! Let's see how his flunkies do without their boss calling the shots!"
Around the planet and up in space, the remaining Reapers 'sensed' the death of their commander. Analyzing their current situation – Executor dead, two fleets' worth of large and powerful new ships under the alicorns' control, and knowledge that the DDF was finally mobilizing in full – they soon reached consensus on what to do. As one, they began falling back toward the warp rift, several of them switching off the role of providing cover fire to keep the DDF & alicorn ships back while the rest made their retreat. A comparative few were destroyed in their retreat, but unfortunately the majority of the surviving Reapers successfully passed through the warp rift 'alive' and intact, returning to ME-N7.
Then, anyone with the ability to sense such things 'felt' as a 'tiny' fraction of the power of the Mother and Father of the Alicorns touched the material realm. The warp rift was forced shut as if being pinched closed by giant fingers, and 'threads' of reality sewed it shut, closing the hole that the Reapers had torn open. Some Husk forces remained on Equestria, but without their masters they had nowhere to run and no way to replenish their numbers; they would be hunted down soon enough.
In the cockpit of the Normandy II, Joker kicked back in his seat. "Well," he said, "I guess that's that. The Reapers have been kicked out of the DDF places they tried to mess with. Now we just gotta take care of the ones in our universe."
"Considering that only minute fractions of the Reapers' total numbers were committed to assaulting Dimensional Defense Force worlds," EDI replied, "I do not believe it will be anywhere near as easy, Jeff."
"Yeah. One step at a time, EDI."
-SCENE BREAK-
"So, now what?" Rainbow Dash asked.
The Normandy and Harmony teams were relaxing in a lounge in Canterlot Castle while the higher-ups hammered things out. Mai and Kizuna had left, hitching a ride aboard a UNSC destroyer to reunite with Gamma Team back in ME-N7.
"Well," Shepard said, "some of the DDF folks are going to stick around here, help with sorting things out, repairing vital stuff, and hunting down the remaining Husks. We're gonna head back to our Realm in a few hours, and some – though not all – of the new alicorns' dreadnoughts will be doing the same; those things should sure as hell come in handy…"
"So will the Eclipse Fleet" Kaidan added. "Though the fact that Luna needs to keep them all together to control them might limit their effectiveness, since they can't be split up unless she finds crews for them all."
"They'll think of something, I'm sure" Shepard said. "In the meantime, let's catch a couple hours of R&R while we can; we'll be heading back into the fire soon enough…"
The others nodded, looking up at the sky, where pegasi and aircraft zoomed by, and the Normandy-II, the Solaria, and the UNSC cruiser Oscar Mike hovered overhead. The battle was won, but the war was far from over.
-CHAPTER END-
Next Time: the Monastery (and MAYBE the ex-Cerberus scientists, depending on how much space the monastery chapter takes up)
For reference, in the original Pony POV Series, the Alicorns were more… godly than in the Travels-verse; here, they can best be described as like the Kais from Dragon Ball, but more powerful and with a less comedic role. Fauna and Ouranos (the unnamed 'Father' from POV), however, are pretty much the same as the source, though (partially because, per word of Alex Warlorn, they are 'multiversal singularities').