Chapter 15: Clipped Wings
“Are ya’ sure this’ll work sugarcube?”
“I’m certain.”
The group of ponies crouched low outside of the once great city of Canterlot, watching closely as the new occupants patrolled the walls and scanned the mountain path with their yellowed eyes. Their feathers were perked in anticipation, apparently word of the recent escape in Skybluff had reached the Emperor.
Twilight Sparkle looked over her shoulder to the gathered ponies behind her, each with a determined look on their faces; even Pinkie, who usually kept a playful look in even the most serious situation.
“Everypony is ready my student, Rainbow Dash has gone to alert the other pegasi, send the signal whenever you’re ready.”
This plan was risky, no doubt about that, but as she had been told by the Princess, she was confident that it would work. Not surprisingly it was simple to gather enough ponies to rebel against the new tyrant of Equestria; in fact most of Ponyville was here, even those ponies who normally abhorred violence.
Twilight still felt a twinge of pain from her scarred chest, unfortunately Zecora’s potions were not a total cure all, but it made her and the others functional enough to participate in the attack.
She nodded to the Princess and focused her energy into her horn, which quickly began to pulse with a purple energy. One of the guards on the wall stopped and turned to the purple glow, straining his eyes to see what was causing it.
He let out a loud shriek of alarm, but not before a pulsing purple light shot into the sky above Canterlot.
“There’s the signal!” Cloud Kicker yelled out to the other pegasi assembled on the clouds above the city.
Rainbow Dash took off and hovered above the clouds for a moment, “Okay everypony! Let’s do this!”
With that a swarm of pegasi shot through the clouds and down into the city below, setting themselves on crash courses with the griffin guards. Rainbow watched as a crowd of unicorns and earth ponies charged from the mountainside on the outskirts of the city, magically throwing stones and tree limbs at the guards on the walls.
Rainbow swung her rear hooves into a guard in a nearby tower, launching him from the ledge and to the ground below. Loud shrieks sounded across the city as guards began to notice the pegasi diving from above, and took to the air themselves.
Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia waited patiently for several minutes behind the others, remaining in the trees just outside of town. So far the plan was working, and any moment now the second part would be played by Typhoon.
The idea had come to her after thinking back on the incident with Nightmare Moon, when she had first found the stones that she believed were the Elements of Harmony. She had been thrown back, separated from the stones by the vindictive mare, and she did the only thing she could think of.
She charged, drawing Nightmare Moon to do the same, racing into a head-on collision which Twilight would’ve undoubtedly lost. But at the last moment, she had teleported past the mare, and once again reached the stones.
She hoped the same idea would work here; draw the enemy to attack, and get behind them. They would attack the city, and force Typhoon to unleash Ice Crystal’s magic on the attackers while she and the Princess stayed where they would hopefully be clear of the ice. When the ice finally came, the two would combine their magic to destroy the magical glacier, releasing the other ponies and leaving Typhoon without his greatest weapon. At this time Princess Celestia would teleport into the castle and take Typhoon out of the fight, leaving the griffins with no reason to continue their fight.
After five minutes the blast never came, nor after fifteen or even half an hour. The fight continued to rage on inside the city, while Typhoon had yet to stop it as they expected.
Something wasn’t right.
As the day slowly passed since Cryssy’s mind had faded into anger, her thoughts continued to spiral further into the flames of hatred for the griffins. Every memory she had over the past two years had warped from one of fear or sadness into a fabricated reality which portrayed the griffins as the cause for everything bad that happened to her.
The memories of days gone by without a single bite of food were changed to her food being stolen in the night by the feathered demons. The times she had spent in caves were changed from survival to stories of imprisonment which she was forced to escape.
The collar around her neck had long since stopped burning away at the magic which filled her body, now only appearing as an accessory around her neck. She was on the brink, and only a small push would be needed to throw her over the edge.
Cryssy’s head turned to the sound of the cell door grinding open, followed by the quiet clicking of talons across the stone floors. It didn’t take long for a second set of talons to announce their arrival in her cell, scratching at the floor with each step.
“Get up pony, the Emperor requires your ‘talents’” the griffin spoke with a light chuckle. “It seems your little friends from Ponyville don’t approve of their new ruler, so you are going to teach them a lesson.”
That was it, the last straw. As the griffin wrapped his talons around her neck and began to lift her, the air around him suddenly began glittering as the moisture was pulled toward her horn, condensing into a fine mist of ice.
In his surprise the griffin drove an elbow into the top of Cryssy’s head, unfortunately only increasing her anger, and making him the first target of her power. The mist of ice pulled to her horn, and was quickly fired through the head of the griffin in the form of an icicle. As the body fell lifelessly to the floor, a flash of vision filled Cryssy’s mind, but something was different about it.
Rather than the usual calm tone of her images, this new flash had taken on a much more angering tone, as if her mind was doing everything in its power to keep her enraged. Though she couldn’t name which ‘color’ it would be called, something about it reminded her of blood.
The spear of ice which had been used to kill the griffin faded back to mist, and floated back toward the blind unicorn. She turned her attention to the other guard in the room, who remained still in the furthest corner of her cell. Cryssy slowly stepped toward him more mist beginning to gather all around her as moisture was sucked from the air itself.
His face was drawn in pure terror as he stared into the eyes of the unicorn, the last sight he ever saw before his body was frozen from the inside out.
“Help!” a scream came from around a corner, one among many that had filled the chaos of the morning. Screams of pain and those of victory filling the air as skirmishes raged on in the streets.
Rarity galloped around the corner to see a crème coated earth pony fighting off a smaller griffin on top of her, desperately bucking at it as the beak snapped inches from her face. The white unicorn magically lifted a nearby chair and swung it into the feathered beast, throwing it off of Bon Bon.
“Thank you so much Rarity!” the earth pony jumped to her hooves and exchanged a quick hug with her savior before turning to make sure her attacker was going to stay down.
Rarity galloped further into the city, racing toward the castle as they had planned. It was all a big distraction, luckily without Pinkie’s song; make Typhoon think they were trying to take the castle by storm, and allow the Princess to counter Ice’s magic before taking on the griffin herself.
A feathered body dropped from the air and crashed into a marble fountain, eliciting a gasp from the fashonista as water splashed over her.
“Sorry about that Rarity!” the familiar tomboyish voice called down from above as a rainbow zipped overhead.
She looked up and sighed; and here she thought she could go the entire day without messing up her mane.
The large wooden gate splintered and shattered across the grass of the courtyard as a griffin flew through it, knocking it into unconsciousness with the impact.
Applejack and Pinkie Pie sprinted into the castle courtyard, the pre-designated meeting point should they make it before they were frozen. They were the first to arrive, and surprisingly no guards were present in the courtyard itself, as if they had given up defending the doors.
Behind them a yelp preceded another griffin flying overhead before crashing into the castle wall. They turned to see the cyan pegasus galloping up to them, a smug smile spread over her face while Rarity trotted close behind her, blue magic pulling knots from her disheveled mane.
“Anypony else notice we ain’t been frozen yet?” Applejack asked as the pair approached.
“Yeah, what gives?”
Within minutes a bright flash appeared behind the Elements. The ponies turned to see Twilight and Celestia standing before them, looks of worry on their faces.
“Twilight, what are you doing here, shouldn’t you be waiting for-”
The windows above them suddenly exploded into a shower of glass as over a dozen griffins shot into the air and began circling above them. The seven ponies backed into a circle and prepared to fend off the attackers, but they never dove in. Instead they flew higher to the sky, disappearing into the clouds quicker than anypony below thought was possible.
Only one darted towards them, the largest of the group, and the only one wearing an obsidian crown upon his head. Typhoon barely pulled up before hitting the ground, collapsing to his chest with a gasp at the hooves of Princess Celestia. “Help…me.”
Before any of the ponies could respond to him, the doors behind them flew open, followed by a single griffin flying through the air and into the stone wall behind the Princess, impaled by a spear of ice. At the impact the icicle faded into mist, and quickly retreated back into the castle itself.
The gathered ponies spun to the doorway, their horns glowing and wings erect, prepared to challenge whatever stepped out. But what they saw froze them where they stood, filling them with surprise, and a twinge of fear.
Ice Crystal stepped through the doorway and into the sunlight, her body surrounded by a swirling cloud of shining vapor. The unicorn’s eyes had abandoned their usual silvery shine, now flashing a hellish red which was mimicked by her horn as the vapor danced before her.
Even the normally eccentric Pinkie Pie remained silent at the sight of the once timid pony. Of all the things they expected to see this day, this new incarnation of Ice had crossed none of their minds.
But the largest surprise, and the piece that even Celestia was struck by, was that the magic countering collar around the unicorn’s neck still remained latched, and was pulsing with a deep purple aura as it continued trying to keep her magic in check.
None of the ponies had even noticed that Typhoon had moved behind them, and was cowering in fear at the sight of the pony which stared into the courtyard. It suddenly made sense to the gathered Elements; the griffins pulling back from the attack, their fleeing to the sky, and Typhoon’s plea for help. The unicorn which had once stumbled into their town helpless and alone had finally reached her breaking point, and the magic which her body held was now turning on those that had taken advantage of her.
“Move” her voice was emotionless, showing no notion of a request.
“Ice, what are you doing?” Twilight shouted to the blind unicorn.
“Retribution” again her voice was monotone, as if she was not in control of her words or actions.
Celestia stepped forward, keeping herself between Ice and the others, her horn beginning to glow with a golden aura. “Ice Crystal, I know you’re angry, but this is not the way to-”
The Solar Princess was cut off as the mist surrounding Ice’s body flew out, solidifying around all of the pony’s hooves, rooting them into the ground. Each of the ponies gasped with surprise at the sudden action. They had all grown to understand Ice could not control her magic, and yet everything she was doing had seemed intentional, the actions only one in control of their power could perform.
As the gathered ponies watched, the unicorn strolled across the courtyard and stepped between them. As she passed by Twilight, the lavender unicorn could feel the power radiating from every hair on her body, and she knew what was happening to the once skittish unicorn.
She had experienced something similar only one time before, back when she had tried to understand Pinkie Pie’s “Pinkie Sense”. Her rage had taken over her body, and her magic rose to levels that threatened to overtake her body. Ice was going through the same phenomenon right now, though for a unicorn which could never control her magic, the power likely had little trouble taking over her actions. She was performing only the will of the part of her mind which was consumed by rage, actions which would lead her down a path nopony should ever consider.
“Ice, please, don’t do this” the unicorn pleaded with the enraged pony beside her. Even a monster like Typhoon did not deserve what was about to happen to him.
Ice Crystal offered no response, and stopped over the once proud griffin. Her eyes locked onto his, and the remaining mist surrounding her body twisted and hardened into the shape of a spike. Slowly the icicle began to move towards Typhoon as he stared into its point, frozen with fear.
“ICE CRYSTAL!”
The voice was accompanied by a golden glow surrounding the spike, halting it in the air. The blind unicorn turned her head toward the source of the shout, Princess Celestia. The alicorn was trotting closer to the unicorn, her hooves freed from the magical ice which had stood no chance against her own power.
With a light nod the icicle was crushed into dust, which quickly faded back into vapors. The unicorn’s red eyes stared lifelessly into Celestia’s own as she approached, though what thoughts lay behind them was a mystery.
The Princess lowered her horn slowly until it tapped the tip of Ice’s own, flashing with a brilliant light which blinded the Elements of Harmony.
Memories, sweet memories filled her mind. Memories of her times with her parents; her fifth birthday when she first gained sight, the nightly bedtime stories with Mama and Daddy, the day they told her about her entry exam into Celestia’s School. Memories of her time in Ponyville; the welcome party filled with smiles from everypony in town, the day with Twilight at the library, Winter Wrap Up, and above all else, the brief gift of vision the lavender unicorn had given her.
All memories of pure happiness for Cryssy, moments in time she treasured above all others. But with these thoughts, why was she so angry? The griffins, they had done terrible things to her, inexcusable things. But through it all, they could never destroy the joy that her life had given over the years. For every bad memory she had ten good ones, if not more.
As the memories flooded her mind, the rage which filled her entire being began to fade, crushed back into the back of her mind by her underlying joy. Her coat halted its constant burning, and her vision returned to its usual calm tone as the mist surrounding her faded into the air.
The speed of her vision slowed, returning to a rate just quick enough to show her what was around her without the strange sight of motion. Her knees wobbled weakly as the magic left her body, allowing the exhaustion of her incident to flood her muscles. After a few flashes, she noticed that Celestia had lifted her head away from her own, a small smile on her muzzle toward the unicorn.
The other six ponies were soon gathered around her, soft smiles on each of their faces. She wasn’t sure why they were smiling at her, but the expression quickly grew to her own face as a weak smile spread across her lips.
The pony heard a light click as the metal of the collar fell from her neck, dropping to the stones beneath her with a loud ring. She wasn’t sure how she managed to see with the collar on, even without the rage fueling her magic, but she would just ask that at a later time. She was more than happy to be rid of the burning ring for the first time in nearly a week.
Celestia quickly diverted her attention from the calmed unicorn, turning to the griffin who had finally stopped his cowering.
She stepped over him, staring down at him with angry eyes, “Typhoon, King of the griffins,” he looked up to her, a small shiver returning to his spine, “you’ve caused the misery of countless ponies, you’ve tortured innocents, you’ve lead an invasion on the nation of Equestria, you’ve tormented an innocent mare for two years of her life, and used her to bring a civilization to its knees.”
The griffin let out a slight chuckle, clearly entertained by his ‘achievements’.
“I have always regretted banishing my sister, feeling that no being deserved that punishment which I bestowed upon her. But you, you have pushed further than any sane creature would imagine.” The king’s look changed into a face of fear, and pleading, “For that, you can never be forgiven, not by me or any other pony.”
The king let out a deep screech as his body began to unwind and flow into the air, a yellow aura pulling him apart strand by strand. The scream echoed through the air long after his body had unwound into nothingness, and was sent to a place only Celestia knew.