Love. Whether it be familial, friendly, or... something else, love was the driving factor of all things good. When a mother holds their new born child in their arms, they experience a love unlike any other. When vows are said, and the kiss is shared at the altar, a new type of love is formed, one forged by dedication and commitment. Then there is the ultimatum. This ultimatum is rarely experienced, and for good reason, for it requires the ultimate sacrifice. This form of love is what transpires when all other options have been exhausted, and when no hope remains, yet you know you must keep pushing on. When one experiences this form of love, it is because they know they are going to die, and have accepted it. They push forward, for they are sacrificing themselves for a cause higher than themselves; to protect the most valuable thing in their lives, at the cost of their own.

This is what Sergeant Dean Forrester was currently experiencing. His emotions were cold, and his nerves were more akin to titanium, but one thing stayed at the forefront of his mind as time slowed around him.

Twilight.

This moment of clarity would only last a second, and with the Humans current mental state, would likely be forgotten later on. However, this did not change the underlying fact that Dean was fighting to protect the one he loved from a horrible death. All other thoughts were put on the backburner; everything in front of him became black; the wave of Changelings mere feet away as he charged forward to meet them.

Ten feet became seven, then four, and then three. The battle hardened super-soldier could see minute details on each Changeling before him, but he didn't care. It was then that something within him awakened, and time slowed even further.

Dean felt as though he was running slightly faster than what would be considered slow-motion. This allowed his brain to take in everything all at once, while his body reacted only slightly slower. This would usually only last for a defined period of time, but something inside of the man told him otherwise. Whatever that strange energy surrounding him was, it was keeping him from tiring. If anything, it made him much, much stronger and faster.

His mind went on autopilot as he jumped and sliced through the first Changeling, cleaving it in two. He saw each individual beat of their wings, and could see their eyes widen in real time as they marveled at his speed. Their own slow reaction times would prove to be their downfall, and Dean took full advantage of this.

He whirled, slashed, and gutted any Changeling in reach, carving a path of blood and death in his wake. He bounced around swords, bobbed around spears, and ducked under spells. His movements were a blur to the hundreds of Changelings, and their once mighty tide balked in the face of the whirling Demon.

Blood flew through the air as many of the bugs opted to try and drown the Human in their numbers, but they merely weren't fast enough. A pulsating red energy surrounded the man, and it seemed to cause an after-image to appear everytime he moved. Not one Changeling made it within twenty feet of the Princess before they were cut down. Every time one tried to slip past, the Demon in Metal was already there, and had already removed their head from their body.

The Human was gone, and in his place was a monster.

Time became relative as Dean twirled and cut through the Changelings, his sole focus being to turn every single bug into mince meat. He wasn't counting, but in the first thirty seconds of the battle, sixty Changelings lay on the floor.

A gap suddenly formed in front of the Human, but he easily recognized the trick and backed away. He quickly un-holstered his rifle, flicked the gun to full auto, and squeezed the trigger.

He laughed like a maniac as Changelings scrambled away from the noise in a panic, their whines and cries being silenced by the volley of lead being spat in their direction. Dean's thoughts on whether or not he would come out of this alive were buried under the exhilaration of unloading into the bugs. He felt like a god compared to these monsters, and in his enraged state, he failed to notice the bugs flanking from above before it was too late.

Green goop splashed around him, and by some stroke of bad luck, just barely hit his gun. Dean cursed as the spray of bullets ended and promptly holstered the weapon on his back.

If it was a bloody melee they wanted, then it was a bloody melee they would get.

*****

Twilight watched in awe and horror as she witnessed the slaughter take place before her. This wasn't like in Canterlot, where guards ponies and Elves had fought on the same level (relatively), nor was this like when Dean had rescued her from the Prince. This was something different, and a primal fear began to creep into her very soul. She knew the Sergeant would never hurt her, but seeing him like this, his movements a furious dance of death and destruction, she couldn't help but whimper.

It seemed like hours, when in reality, it was minutes. The wave of Changelings became a river, then a stream, then a mere trickle. The battle ground to a halt as Dean squared off against the remaining bugs, all of whom still held the look of absolute fury towards the bipedal perpetrator. Yet, none dared take another step forward.

The Queen, who had been idly buzzing several feet in the air, impacted the ground with a mighty crunch. Her hooves left small craters, and her magical aura fluctuated and warped. Twilight could feel the raw power being displaced in her own horn, and she couldn't help but shy away. Twilight's intellectual mind suddenly sprung to life, and she suddenly realized what the Queen of the Changelings was doing. Her eyes widened as she watched Chrysalis stand alone against the Human, Her vast magical power beginning to take noticeable effect on her surroundings. Changelings began to stumble around as their magic was leached from them and absorbed into their Queen. Twilight knew that at this rate, Chrysalis was at risk of a magical overload.

'Then again, she isn't exactly a pony...'

Her mind temporarily went blank as all she could do was stare, but a sharp pain in her leg cut through her thoughts like a blade. Her leg had fallen asleep.

As the battle between the Human and the Queen commenced, twilight giggled, then chuckled, then full on laughed at the absurdity that was her leg. She had been beaten, starved, cut, and molested, yet here she was, sore because her leg had fallen asleep. She couldn't help it, and the laughing continued until something within her seemed to snap. The laughs turned to sobs, but the smile never left her face. She watched as her captors for the last few days were torn apart, and she could feel nothing but joy. Said joy mixed with the pain and suffering she had endured, and she tuned out the ferocious battle entirely as dark thoughts began to rapidly speed through her brain.

The resulting mix of emotions made the little Alicorn laugh all the harder, and due to her distracted mind, she barely noticed what sounded akin to tearing plastic deep inside her, followed by a low rumble.

Something heavy jiggled as the pony moved, and Twilight's laughing came to an abrupt stop. She slowly looked down at her stomach, and her head tilted sideways in confusion. One ear flopped down as a hoof gently pressed against the lump. Her eye twitched, and she gave a shudder.

Twilight mewled pitifully as an ache began to grow, and realization began to set in. Fear gripped her heart, and her breathing began to quicken. Tears formed on the edges of her eyes as she thought of Sergeant Dean... the man she loved. She wanted to see him happy, and she wanted to be by his side through to the end. He had saved her from death on multiple accounts, and he had sworn to protect her with his life

'Dean will help, he always knows what to do.'

Denial began within her, and she looked back towards the fighting. Her eyes desperately searched for her Human, but he was nothing but a blur as he tried to break the Queen's defenses. Another rumble sounded within her, and she felt something foreign move around. She looked down and stared at the slowly growing bulge in mute horror.

"D-Dean..." She said, more to herself than anything. Pain flashed through her body, and her eyes remained locked on the bulge as it wiggled once more inside of her. She began to cry in earnest now as a horrific screech followed by a leg snapping echoed through the chamber. The battle temporarily came to a halt, but she didn't even register the stoppage horrible pain was building in her lower body. She gave a gasp and cried out in panic.

"D-DEAN!" Fear gripped her heart as the pain became excruciating. She screamed as something inside her was torn apart, and nausea quickly overcame her. Her life began to flash through her mind as she desperately began to hit her own stomach, trying to stop the pain and kill whatever was inside of her. Her efforts merely slowed it down, and she gave one last desperate cry.

"DEAN!!!"

*****

Sergeant Dean flipped sideways and brought his fist down upon the Changeling Queen's back, causing something to snap and the Queen to cry out in pain. The drones stood off to the side, their minds conflicted over what to do. Their own Queen had ordered them to attack, and each had believed they would easily overwhelm the bipedal being in a heartbeat. Instead, they were massacred.

After six minutes, nearly four hundred of their kin lay dead or dying on the ground, the screams of pain and suffering becoming unbearable and bringing the fighting to a grinding halt. Even with their Queen screaming in their minds, they refused to take another step against the monster that faced them.

Now, here they were watching as their Queen faced the Demon in Metal herself. Alone.

"Insolent pest! Your head will sit upon my nightstand!"

The Queen charged forward, her spine somehow having healed from the lethal fist of the Human. The amount of energy the Queen was using just to stay alive was monstrous, and everyling/pony could feel it nearly three miles away. Had the Emperor of the Dark Elves been looking, he would have felt the magical signature all the way back in Canterlot.

The Demon in Metal said nothing as his right leg came down in a brutal kick and snapped the Changelings leg in two, causing her to give a high pitched shriek of pain. This however left the Human open, and she capitalized on this by firing a burst of magic.

Dean, in his exhausted state, barely had time to turn and let his chest armor take the brunt of the impact before he was thrown through the air like a doll.

He twisted and smashed his fists into the floor, tearing two trenches nearly five feet in length. He was about to spring back into the action, when he heard a blood curdling scream, followed by his name. The sheer desperation, pain, and fear in the voice caused his blood to freeze, and his face to pale

Dean's head snapped to the side, ignoring the panting Queen as she tried in vain to heal her leg; her mana being nearly depleted. He saw Twilight right where he left her, but something was very wrong. He could see the pain and terror written on her face clear as day. Her two front hooves mashed against her stomach desperately as...

'Oh no...'

Dean sprinted towards the Alicorn and dropped to his knees' sliding the last three feet as he reached forward.

His friend had curled into the fetal position and was shrieking in pain, the bulge in her stomach was twisting and writhing, and it seemed to have grown slightly bigger than what Dean had remembered. He had no time to act, and he didn't take the time to think about what the consequences of his next action would be. If he didn't do something, Twilight would die.

Dean drew his knife and leveled it so that he would be below the stomach and roughly where he expected the womb was located. Through the fur, he could see an odd shape press itself against the walls within Twilight, causing the poor mare to scream in pain. Dean felt like he was going to throw up, but he knew he had to do something.

"God have mercy..." He whispered to himself. He didn't know if Twilight would forgive him after this, but he had no other choice.

Quick as a snake, He plunged the knife forward with expert precision. The writhing and jiggling immediately came to a stop, and he could only stare at the pain filled face of his friend. His reflexes worked without him realizing, and he suddenly found himself applying B.A.I. foam into the wound, sealing it shut.

Twilight whimpered and wretched as bile began to pour from her mouth. Thankfully, there was no blood, meaning he didn't damage anything vital. That didn't mean he was out of the forest yet; Twilight still needed medical attention. Immediately.

He quickly lay the poor Alicorn on her side, cold fury stemming within him as he tried to plan what to do next. It was then that he heard the mad cackling several meters away. His anger grew, and his body literally began to shake.

"It's over, Demon. The mare won't last long without medical help, and--" She was cut off by Dean whipping out his pistol and firing four shots in rapid succession. Three missed, but the fourth hit the Queen right in the flank. There was a millisecond of pause before chunks of meat and chitin were blown outward in a gruesome display, showering a few unlucky Changelings that happened to be standing a bit too close.

Instead of a cry of pain, like Dean had expected, the Queen merely gave a bellow of fury and charged her horn.With his hyper-reflexes, the man took note of the fact that her eyes weren't focused on him, but rather the unconscious Princess just off to his side. His eyes widened in horror as his body reacted near instantaneously.

Just as the Beam fired, Dean lept into its trajectory, taking the full brunt of the blast. He felt heat, and a small amount of pain, but in his flight, something happened.

A bit of the magic that smashed into him deflected to the side and tore through the duffel bag he had dropped. There was the sound of sizzling fabric, but something much worse had happened.

A warning flashed through Dean's Helmet, and the second he hit the ground, he was up and sprinting towards the bag. The sizzling got louder, and Dean all but tore the top of the bag open.

A red exclamation point appeared above his motion tracker, and in the space of a nano second, he had grabbed the sizzling brick and threw it with all his might into the air.

The C-12 flew in an arch for exactly two seconds before a mighty fireball lit the cave. The sheer size of the explosion seemed to shake the very Earth, and more than a few Changelings that had been nearby were instantly vaporized. The Shockwave from the explosion didn't so much as deter the super-soldier, but the Queen went flying into the far wall along with a multitude of her soldiers.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Dean was about to breathe a sigh of relief when his hand brushed against something. He looked down, and for half a second his heart stopped beating. A sense of hopelessness suddenly overwhelmed the Human, and it took everything in his willpower to keep from toppling onto his backside.

In his hand, was the remains of the detonator.

He hardly noticed his radio go off.

"Sergeant, do you read, over?"

His plan was in ruin, and he had no way to keep the Changelings from informing the Elves of Maritime Bay. Sure, he could get the Princess out, but what then? He knew for a fact that there were more Changelings in the hive somewhere. Any General or leader worth their money would be forming to regroup and counter-attack. If he didn't get out and destroy the Changeling hive, they were all done for. The Resistance didn't have enough ponies to take on that size of an army, and he was currently injured.

All the confidence inside him blew away like dust in a tornado. His swords had been melted by some kind of acidic spit earlier on, and his rifle had been covered in goop and rendered useless. All he had was his pistol and his fists, and even he knew it wasn't enough. Whatever magical aura that had surrounded him during the fight was gone, and once more, his left arm hung at his side uselessly. The Queen had shrugged off a round from his P-23, and she kept healing every time he gave a blow strong enough to punch holes through his tank. It seemed that he had severely underestimated the capacity of magic.

A sense of fatigue washed over Dean as he tried desperately to formulate a plan, but his mind was coming up blank. Was this the end?

Dean stood and looked around. The Changelings were slowly getting back to their hooves, and he saw the Queen slowly standing from her position across the room. However, something caught Dean's eyes, and he quickly shook his head.

Just ahead of him was a path. Completely clear of Changelings, and leading directly to the exit. He slowly hobbled back towards Twilight, but a stinging pain caused him to look down.

Dean scowled as he saw the cuts and gashes on his unarmoured areas. While he was a hyper lethal soldier, that didn't make him impenetrable. Certain areas of his body weren't protected by armor, and all it would take was a lucky hit from a blade, and his ability to fight would be significantly weakened.

Dean ignored the injuries and canceled out the pain going through his nerves. He still had a Princess to save, and he had already promised to get her out, or die trying. Mary would understand if he sacrificed himself for something greater. His son would grow up without him, but he would forever know his father to be a hero. Dean smiled at the thought as he leaned down to scoop up his charge. It was his job, to bring hope and perform heroics. And while he may no longer be on Earth, that didn't change the fact that his duty was to the innocent and suffering.

However, even though he cared little about his own mortality, he still needed to see his family; to know if they were okay. He remembered the letter he had gotten, and how it had spurred him to fight ever onward.... or at least he thought it had. Things directly after getting that letter were foggy at best, but he pushed on. After many sleepless nights, he realized it was a means to keep him fighting.

Dean grunted and quickly came out of his thoughts. His left arm was unresponsive, so it took him a second to lift Twilight onto him. He let a tired smile grace his features when her front hooves instinctually wrapped around his neck, and her muzzle rested on his shoulder. He heard her whimper, and had he the means, he would have stroked her head as a sign of comfort.

Turning around, he limped/jogged past hundreds of Changelings, his eyes focused on the goal ahead. A strange fuzziness was coming over his mind, and he blinked when tinges of green began appearing at the edges of his vision.

'That fucking Queen did something to me.'

Dean growled and spurred his legs to move faster. Whatever magic the Queen had used to bypass his armor seemed to have affected him. Or perhaps one of his many cuts was infected with a poison? That would explain why the last five minutes had seemed to move so slowly. He had no way of knowing, but he refused to stop; not this close to freedom.

Time seemed to move in slow motion as he realized he was going to make it, he was maybe thirty meters away, and no one had tried to stop him. He had no means of defending himself, and Dean had a feeling that if his attention so much as diverted from the door, then he would fail to make it.

fifteen meters now, and he couldn't hear buzzing from the other side. The Resistance must still be distracting them. That, or the main force was currently inside the very room he was leaving.

An impact smashed into Dean's back, but he merely stumbled. His legs kept moving, and sweat poured down his back from underneath his armor. Determination welled inside him, and he kept his focus on the doorway.

Green magic flew past his head, and another one struck the back of his helmet. He felt the heat on his barely exposed neck and grit his teeth. Another bolt smashed into the back of his knee, and he fell to the ground. His breathing was coming hard, and his suit was warning him of his open wounds. His walkie talkie sounded again, but he ignored it.

He had to keep going.

Dean slowly rose before stumbling forward once more. He gave a small cry of pain when two more beams hit him, then three, then seven. He was five meters from the exit; so close... so very close. His world was lighting up green as he re-positioned Twilight, shielding her from the barrages of magic. Through this, he pushed forward.

And then he was flying.

Something was messing with his instincts, and he had failed to notice when the Queen launched an utterly massive fireball towards him.

As he flew through the air, he could feel the back armor heat up to dangerous temperatures. The exosuit whirred as it tried to combat the heat, and somehow succeeded. His heads up display flashed red, and he saw that his shoulder pauldron and one of his spinal guards had melted off.

Dean tried to twist in the air, and ended up smashing face first into a column. His momentum was diverted, and he dropped Twilight as his head was flung backwards. Alarms immediately blared, and he noticed he now had trauma to his neck. Severe whiplash.

Dean coughed, and specks of blood painted the face shield in front of him. His eyes widened in alarm, and he immediately tried to stand. Somehow, he got to his feet and faced the perpetrator behind his injuries.

Queen Chrysalis stared back, her face a mask of anger as she scowled at the Human. She nursed her front right hoof, and Dean could see certain muscles where Chitin was supposed to be. Her one eye was swollen shut.

"I'm impressed you can still stand, but that's as far as my respect for you goes, Demon." She snarled the last bit, and Dean hobbled towards the prone form of Twilight. She was just a few feet away, but a sudden blast to his chest sent him sliding back and into the same pillar he hit. The stone fractured under his weight, but did not crumble. Dean's hand shakily moved to his waist and grabbed his gun.

He fired three shots without aiming, but all three of his bullets were stopped mid-flight by green magic. Chrysalis didn't even bother looking at them as she took a few steps closer. Nearly a hundred Changelings trailed behind her, and Dean said nothing as he glared through his helmet.

Chrysalis continued her little monologue.

"I am also intrigued that you last this long against my magic. Changeling magic degrades strength over time, and sucks energy and emotion from the victim. I can see the effects have started on you, but only barely. That armor of yours is truly something to behold. No doubt it would hold against the Emperor's own power, but for a being such as myself... that is not the case." She chuckled as her Changelings lit their horns. Her face soon fell back into a scowl. "This Princess you tried so desperately to protect, and this Resistance you so foolishly tried to lead, will die here with you," She pointed her good hoof at him as she sat on her haunches, "and her." Her hoof trailed to Twilight, and Dean felt his blood boil.

Defiantly, he crouched into a fighting position and raised his fists. He noticed a blip on his motion tracker near the doorway, but paid it no mind. He was surrounded, and even though it was isolated, it was likely just another Changeling. The Queen snarled once more.

"I sense your anger, and I can feel your feelings towards this here Alicorn. You are alone, the Resistance will be destroyed, and you will die."

"I think you're wrong."

Dean had no time to react when an intense flash of purple blinded him. He put his hand up and covered his eyes as the suit automatically polarized, but even that wasn't enough.

Waves of purple magic seemed to cascade around him, and a deep, yet comforting hum spread around him. It was like when someone played a "cinematic boom," yet this one was louder and much more real. He felt the magic wash over him, and nearly stumbled when a comforting feeling came over him. His eyes grew heavy, but he fought the feeling with everything he had. He couldn't quit now, and he had recognized that voice.

Dean felt a hoof on his arm, causing him to lower it and see a fully decked out Shining Armour. His purple armor seemed to contrast against the stark and gloomy surroundings of the hive, and he carried himself with the professionalism of a true warrior.

However, even with the fancy armor, Dean began to take in the smaller details. His white coat was matted with both red and green blood, and a large gash ran down the side of his face. Half of his left ear was missing, and his tail was nearly burnt completely.

"Captain, what are you--" Dean was silenced when Shining growled and lit his horn. Dean only had a moment before Twilight was carefully laid across his shoulder, and his hand instinctively moved to hold her in place. Dean looked behind him and found a purple dome had surrounded them and the exit; the Changelings pounded away on the other side to no avail.

"Listen well, Sergeant. I can hold this dome for five minutes. That should be long enough for you to escape with Twily." Shining's eyes flashed with concern as he eyed the bulge in her stomach before they moved to the sealed knife wound. He lifted a hoof and ran it over Twilight's barrel.

His features morphed into a scowl, and the Captain shook his head.

"I-I'm sorry for what happened back in Maritime Bay, Sergeant. If I had been a better soldier... a better brother, I would have realized Twilight had been taken from me again." Tears began to trickle down his face, and Dean scowled.

"Shining, she is safe now, and you and I will keep her safe until the war is over. She's alive, and all we need to do now is go." Dean began to walk towards the exit, but realized after a moment that Shining wasn't following. In his fatigued state, irritation became the first reaction as he turned and glared at the Prince. "That means now, y'know. While we have the chance."

A sense of dread once more erupted inside Dean as he saw the Prince shake his head with a saddened expression. Memories came to the surface, ones he had long since buried. The face of Jenkins looked up at him, blood covering him as he held a detonator in one hand, and his rifle in the other.

'No sacrifice to great, Sarge. I'll give 'em hell. Tell my family... tell them that I was a hero...'

The memory froze as Dean strode forward. He saw the Prince shaking his head, and already knew what his next words were going to be. Anger welled within him, and tears entered his eyes. He was fighting this war so no one else died... so that no more sacrifices needed to happen.

"Sergeant--"

"No! What the fuck are you going to do against that army and their Queen?! My detonator is destroyed, and there is no way we can survive their entire army. The plan was to get the Princess out of here! Step one is complete, now we have to go!" Dean stalked forwards, but the Prince didn't so much as flinch. Dean's vision flashed, and he had to shake his head as more memories and faces began to appear.

"I never planned on leaving, Sergeant."

Dean's mind and body froze as he looked at the Prince. He didn't know what emotion to feel, as all of them were playing out inside him at the same time. He was tired, wounded, and waging a miniature war against his own psyche. His surroundings seemed to fall silent, and the Changelings attacking the shield became nothing but white noise.

"What?" Dean's voice was a whisper.

Shining sighed and looked at his sister once more.

"Chrysalis took my wife from me, and she has bested me not once, but twice now. She did the same thing to Twilight as she did to my Cadence; my wife was murdered in cold blood. I know that with you by her side, nothing will happen to my sister again. I have nothing left to offer the Resistance." Shining turned and stared into Dean's eyes.

"I'm tired. I am so tired, and I want to see my family again. I want to hold my little Flurry heart, and I want to hug my beautiful wife. I failed as a brother, and a soldier, but that won't happen again." Shinning's eyes suddenly lit with fiery determination.

“I saw the bag of explosives across the room. I'm going to detonate them, and I'm going to make sure Twily is safe. It'll be up to you to finish this war, and free the world."

Dean suddenly understood, and clarity entered his mind in full. But there was one more problem he had to address.

"What about all the others? All the people who have lost family and looked up to you? The ones you led for two years, and protected??" Dean's voice became soft. "What about your sister?"

Shining looked towards the shield and sighed. Tears began anew, and Dean could tell he was just barely holding it together.

"Twilight will be devastated, and the ponies of Maritime Bay will be as well, but they will move on. I am passing the mantle to you, now. You must take care of Twilight, and you must finish the war. I ran through the front lines to get here and save my sister, and I will be making sure she gets out of here alive."

Shining suddenly placed a hoof on Dean's chest, and the man saw the pain and suffering in his eyes. If he wasn't so focused on what Shining was about to say, he would consider that he may be looking into a mirror. There was something there, and Dean's face hardened.

"Promise me. Promise me that you will do everything in your power to keep my sister safe!" The ferocity of the stare seemed to pierce into Dean's very soul, and the Human already knew his answer. There was no hesitation.

"I swear, I will finish this war. I will protect and save your people. But most importantly, I will protect Twilight with my life. I failed once, and I will not fail again. Ever."

Shining could see the truth in Dean's eyes, and after a moment, nodded. He stepped back and hung his head. Cracks were forming in the shield behind them, and Dean could see the strain on the Unicorn's horn. He ignored this and snapped a final salute.

Shining replicated the salute, and Dean felt... Something come over him. He would not let Shining's death be in vain, and he would not allow the brave stallion before him be forgotten.

"Give 'em hell, Captain Shining Armour."

And without a second glance, Dean turned and sprinted through the doorway. If he looked back, he knew he wouldn't be able to handle it. He had lost so many, and each and every single one was a hero. Now, there was another member added to that list, and Dean felt tears well in his eyes as he grit his teeth. Another friend, gone. Another life, snuffed out.

And so he ran. On the outside, was the ultimate killing machine, the Demon in Metal. On the inside, however, was the face of a broken man. The Human saw sunlight and pushed harder than he ever had before.

In mere seconds, he exited the hive, and entered into yet another warzone.

*****

The Changelings had stopped banging on his shield, and the Queen herself now stood before it. She smiled as she noticed the Prince walk up and face her.

The barrier slowly lowered, and Chrysalis' smile turned into a seductive grin.

"Here for round two, Captain? I should know more than anypony just how pent up you must be after that fight outside." Her tail swished as she lowered her eyelids. Shining didn't say anything as his horn lit, and a sword appeared beside him.

"You killed my wife." He whispered loud enough for the Queen to hear. She didn't get a chance to react however, as Shining suddenly sprung forward with a war cry, his sword flashing down in a deadly arc.

Chrysalis jumped back and hissed as a saber materialized beside her and blocked the Prince's swipe. The clang of metal on metal reverberated through the cave as the two opponents glared their hatred into each other.

Shining yelled and rushed forward, his sword parting from her own and swiping from the left. She raised her own and blocked the strike, but she was unprepared when the Captain turned on his hooves and delivered a mighty buck to her chest.

The Queen stumbled back and slid a good few feet before standing on shaky hooves. She gave a mighty yell, and an explosion of green energy burst from her very being. Much of her energy was spent fighting the Sergeant, but that didn't mean she was done yet.

"Once I kill you, I will fill your sister with my children and laugh as they tear her apart from the inside. Better yet, I'll keep you alive so you can watch your last living family die before you!!" Chrysalis screeched and shot forward. Shining's own rage turned to surprise at her speed, and he barely dodged out of the way as her horn stabbed right where he had just been. He gave a roar of fury and swung his front leg forward, only for it to be caught in a toxic green aura.

Soon, his whole body was enveloped in the Queen's magic, and he was forcibly thrown across the room. Memories from his life began to slowly filter through his mind, and he smiled as he sailed towards a pile of corpses. He saw his daughter laughing and babbling as he fed her baby food. He saw Cadence next to him, curled up at his side as they sat by the fire. He saw his little sister as she laughed and sang along with her friends.

This was all brutally cut off as a spear suddenly impaled him through the barrel.

Shining gave a cry of pain, but he forced himself to keep from passing out. Looking back, he saw the end of the spear, which had been sticking out of the pile of corpses, sticking right through him. His blood cascaded down his side onto the bodies below.

Shining smiled.

The green aura wrapped around him once more, and he heard the bugs laughing all around him. He was thrown through the air again and slid across the rocky floor. He came to a stop, his body failing to register the pain from the wound as he turned and glared towards the Queen. His vision was swimming, and darkness was creeping at the edge of his vision.

Shining grunted when his front left hoof hit some kind of fabric, and he shook his head to keep awake. It was getting harder and harder, and he felt his eyes drooping. He barely heard the Queen land a few feet away, chuckling as she walked towards him.

"I guess this is the end, Captain. Any last words?"

Shining smiled as his horn glowed softly. He chuckled as he saw one of the strange explosive bricks right in front of his eyes. A thought came to his mind, and he chuckled.

Turning his head, he gave one last glare towards the Queen.

"F-fuck... y-you."

His horn lit, and a single spark launched from the tip. He could see it crackling as it traveled ever downwards. In that moment, Shining felt peace. While the edges of his vision were becoming darker, he thought he heard a voice; one that he recognized very, very well. A tear slid down his cheek before closing his eyes.

The bolt of energy slipped into a copper wire, there was a noise like a thousand thunderclaps...

And then it all went white.