Chapter 7
A Light Almost Lost
The group was abruptly awoken by the thundering sound of a deep horn resonating throughout the city; their residence vibrating softly.
"Abandon ship!" Gaia yelped as he jumped awake, his mind still halfway between dreaming and waking. "Mares and Gaias first!" He stumbled around the room in a panic as the others came rushing from their rooms.
"What's going on?" Solaris hastily inquired as he looked to the others.
"I don't know," Vortex replied as he rushed to the window and looked into the streets below. "The streets are swarming with soldiers. It looks like their heading to the front of the empire." Just as Vortex finished his sentence, all the alicorns' eyes widened with horror.
"No," Crimson said. "It can't be..."
"We must get to the front gate," Vortex exclaimed. "Hurry!" The group quickly fled the household and sprinted towards the entrance. Up ahead they saw hundreds of crystal soldiers forming battalions behind the shield, erecting fortifications and other large war machines. As the alicorns approached, they were caught by a general of the crystal army.
"You there!" he yelled. "King Lucent has just given me orders to retrieve you and bring you before him. Follow me quickly." The alicorns were lead to a large platform near the rear of the battalions. It was elevated above the entire army, and it was occupied by all of the Empire's leading military officials.
"Good, you're here," Lucent spoke as he saw the alicorns ascend onto the platform. "Look, Malicious' army has arrived." The group looked out beyond the shield and witnessed a vast sea of black stretched out over the hills and plains outside the empire. Malicious' army, comprised mostly of earth ponies clad in the glossy black armor of the Emperor, waved over the land like a large ocean of oil. The forward troops of the invasion were garbed in thick armor and heavy metal weapons, obviously with the purpose of breaking through the forward defense. Behind them were the standard troops, with lighter armor and weapons, ready to take over the core of hoof-to-hoof combat. Most importantly of all, from the very back, strolled the single greatest threat of the invading force, General Sombra.
As Sombra made his way forward, the Emperor's army stood aside, creating a long pathway towards the front of the brigade. Sombra emerged from the masses and stood stalwart before the shield of the Crystal Empire.
"I don't understand," Solaris said with dread. "How could the army have arrived already? They shouldn't be here until tomorrow!"
"I don't have an answer," Lucent replied. "But somehow they got themselves to travel more quickly. I wouldn't worry about it, though. They cannot break through the barrier. I've summoned you here so you can witness the power of the Crystal Heart at work." The group looked out into the plains; their gaze locking onto the strange general that stood at the front of the invasion.
Sombra stood still for a few moments, his eyes closed, as a deadly quiet took over the field, the only sound being the soft howl of the wind. Suddenly, his eyes thrust open, and the quiet wind erupted into a fierce cycle around the general. His horn swiftly surged with magic, surrounding it in a strange dark shadow. Small cracks of magic resembling lighting began to flicker off his horn and into the ground beneath him as he lowered his head to point his horn forward. The swirling magic powers abruptly came to an end as Sombra released a powerful blast of shadow from his horn, hurling it against the shield. It halted at the shield for a few short seconds, but ultimately drilled its way through; however it didn't stop there. The blast continued on a straight course, careening towards the center of the city, where it collided head on with the Crystal Heart. As it impacted, a strange darkness began to fill and corrupt the artefact. As it did, the entire shield surrounding the Empire suddenly collapsed, leaving the entire city exposed.
All upon the platform looked on in horror as the shield around them disappeared. Solaris' and company's hearts began to beat quickly as they saw what danger they were now in. Lucent stood silent and frozen; his eyes secured on the darkened Crystal Heart sitting dead at the city's center.
"We warned you!" Solaris cried out in anger as he turned to Lucent. "Why didn't you listen to us?!"
"Your majesty," spoke the general. "The invasion is advancing! What are your orders?" Lucent snapped his attention back and turned to the general.
"Put our strength into the defenses and hold them as long as you can," he commanded, the general nodding in affirmation. "And you alicorns, you wanted my help? Then help us here now, and I will pledge my allegiance to your cause!" Without thinking, Solaris nodded in agreement.
"What do you need us to do?"
"I need you to quickly tell me of any skills you have that may help us," Lucent ordered.
"Crimson and I have battle experience and can join the front line," Vortex spoke.
"I don't have any experience with fighting," Gaia spoke next. "But I have a talent with using magic to manipulate earth. I think I could help with strengthening defenses."
"Good, you three get out there now!" Lucent ordered as they swiftly took off. Lucent then turned to the remaining four alicorns. "What about you?"
"I don't think any of us have any skills that could be of immediate help," Solaris said despairingly.
"I think I do," said Aislin, her voice slightly louder than usual. "I believe I can help."
"Well, out with it! What can you do?!" Lucent asked hastily.
"I've been trained in the mystic ways by the Oracle of the Sanctum. I can sense that the Crystal Heart is not lost, but merely corrupted. With the help of my friends, I think I can clear the darkness inside of it and restore the barrier."
"Then go!" Lucent commanded a final time. The four alicorns were quick as lightning getting back to the city's center. Aislin quickly grabbed her spell books from her room and began skimming the pages.
"Ok, circle around the Crystal Heart," she said as she located the spell she was looking for. "This spell will allow me to penetrate the Heart with my magic, but I won't have enough power on my own to force it out. I need you three to continuously outpour your magic, which I will funnel with me into the Heart. This will take time, so you will need to keep concentrating as long as you can." The three alicorns nodded in agreement, then closed their eyes and surged magic into their horns. Aislin then closed her eyes, and using her own magic, began guiding the other alicorns' magic into her own, forming a halo of light around the Crystal Heart.
"Ok, here goes..." Aislin whispered to herself as she moved her magic into the Heart.
"Gaia, throw up a wall of rock!" Vortex shouted as the three alicorns quickly approached the front line. Gaia charged his magic, and with a strong outburst, the ground sprouted a massive wall of dirt and stone, wedging itself between the two forces. Gaia continued to release his magic, extending the wall in the horizontal directions, preventing the enemy from simply running around. Upon the wall's completion, Gaia ceased his magic and fell to his front knees panting heavily.
"Ok, I pushed myself a little too far there," he said exhaustingly, trying to catch his breath. "I just need a minute to breathe."
"Good job, Gaia," praised Vortex. "That will buy us a few moments. Crimson, whenever they break through they'll be forced to bottleneck to come inside. That's when you and I will enter the fray. Gaia, you focus on keeping other areas of the wall reinforced. If we can continue to force them through that choke point, we stand a good chance at victory." As Vortex finished explaining his plan, the rock wall began to shake as if being impacted by a large object. The wall stood steadfast against several strikes, however it soon began to form cracks and fissures; the face chipping and falling off.
"Here they come," said Vortex. "You ready, Crimson?"
"I was born ready," he replied with a smirk.
At that moment, a point on the wall in front of them burst inward, throwing debris into the front line of soldiers and erupting a large cloud of dust. Through the soot could be heard the clanging of metal armor and a stampede of hooves rapidly approaching.
"Crimson, now!" Vortex shouted as the two alicorns inhaled deeply. Vortex and Crimson then released from their lungs powerful breaths of wind and fire, respectively, into the opening in the barrier. Vortex's wind intermixed with Crimson's flame, resulting in an enlarged blazing cloud of fire that spewed onto the oncoming opponents. Halted by the heat, the enemy's advancement slowed, allowing the alicorns to charge their magic again.
"Remember when I told you about that unique spell I created?" Vortex asked as wind began to swiftly circle around his body. Crimson responded with a nod. "Well, this is it."
Vortex surged magic from his horn, which began to change the wind around his body into three violent, concentrated cylinders. These cylinders of swirling gust slowly shrank, compacting into long stick-like formations. Finally, at the one end of these sticks, the wind flared out, forming what looked like the handle of a sword.
"I have no name for it yet, so I just call it my ‘wind sword spell’", Vortex explained. " The hyper-compressed wind of these blades allows me to penetrate almost any material, and at the same time, intercept and deflect many different kinds of attacks."
"Very impressive," Crimson smirked. "Let's see how well they work." The two alicorns focused their attention forward as the enemy began to approach again. Their opponents quickly approached, and as soon as they were within a few feet, Vortex unleashed his wind swords. Swinging at incredible speeds, Vortex had a mastered control over his spell, swinging one blade to deflect an enemy, then using the next to strike another, while he used the third sword to circle his body and block attacks from other angles. Crimson proved a mastery of his own as he unleashed fire from his horn into two distinct patterns. One took the form of a circular shield which he maintained at his front to keep enemies at bay. The other was launched from his horn as a horizontal wave, crashing into his opponents with a wide attack range. The two alicorns fought ferociously, easily dispatching any foes that dared approach them. The crystal soldiers fighting alongside them, having their moral boosted from the two powerful entities assisting them, pushed forward with high spirits, managing to keep the invading force contained at the entrance in the wall. Gaia, having caught his breath, took to keeping a watchful eye on the surrounding rock barrier. It wasn't long before the sounds of ramming and barging could be heard along the wall, but Gaia promptly responded by throwing up shards of rock from the ground to reinforce the weakening points. The enemy would move from spot to spot, but Gaia was too quick for them, and kept every debilitated section of the wall strong.
"This is going well," Vortex muttered to himself. "But I don't think it should be this easy..."
Back at the Crystal Heart, Aislin and the other three alicorns were fixated on the cleansing spell. Solaris, Selena, and Aurora were putting every bit of effort they had into giving their magic to Aislin, whose mind was now buried deep within the Heart.
"The corruption is deep," Aislin said to herself as she floated as an apparition amidst a storm of shadowy clouds. "I can't see a way to the center of the infection." She continued to float around, propelling herself slowly through the dark, swirling mists. It was as if she were flying through an endless sea of evil, filled with dark storms and somber clouds of black. As she progressed onward, a strange feeling came over her.
"This is certainly an evil magic," she said to herself again. "Yet, I feel I've felt a very faint presence similar to this before..." Her pondering was quickly ceased when she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, a very soft, twinkling light in the distance; like a lone star shining amidst a cloudy night. She approached it quickly, and as she got closer, she began to recognize it as the center of the Crystal Heart. It was a small sphere of bright blue light, emanating the brilliance of a thousand gems. However, it was encompassed by black chains made up of pure darkness. The chains constricted upon the core, refusing to allow any of its magic to escape.
"I've found the core of the Heart," Aislin spoke out loud to her friends. "I'm going to begin the cleansing spell now. Make sure you keep concentrating and giving me your power." The three alicorns nodded as Aislin began to pour her magic into the core.
Behind the stone wall, General Sombra was assessing the progress of the invasion. He hadn't planned for the crystal ponies to be able to erect such an immeasurable defense; however he maintained a calm demeanor.
"General Sombra," spoke a young captain worriedly. "If we can't find a way through that wall, our forces will have no chance."
"Calm yourself, Captain," replied Sombra in his deep, foreboding voice. "The situation is being carefully considered. Obviously we can't get through that wall by force of arms. If we were to attempt going around, our forces would be stretched too thin, and we would be in no better a situation than we are now. That leaves only one solution... remove the wall entirely."
"But sir!" The captain exclaimed. "We've already made several attempts at breaking through to no avail!"
"Silence captain!" Sombra barked. "I had wished to save as much of the emperor's power as possible, but it can't be helped. Captain, send word to all battalions to advance on the enemy the moment the wall is destroyed." Sombra left his station of command and stood upon a rock that elevated above the surrounding army. He charged his horn with Malicious' power and unleashed a strong blast of magic into the wall. The barricade was immediately infested with surges of shadow magic; erupting into dark crystals protruding from the stone facade. From the other side, the alicorns and crystal ponies gazed in despair as the dark crystals shattered and exploded, fracturing and collapsing the wall. Gaia quickly attempted to throw up a new wall to replace it, but he had used up too much energy so far, and was only able to muster a small mound. With the defense gone, the enemy force descended upon them without mercy.
"Fall back and regroup!" shouted a crystal pony general. As the crystal army began to retreat, Vortex and Crimson stood firm against the approaching battalions, but as more opponents began to pile on, the two alicorns found themselves slowly moving back. Gaia, refusing to leave his two friends alone in the front, ran quickly to join his comrades.
"Gaia! You should retreat with the others! It's too dangerous here!" Vortex hollered.
"Not a chance!" Gaia replied with a loud voice. "Friends stick together, and I’m not about to abandon you out here!" Though frustrated with his juvenility, Vortex smiled as the three alicorns formed a back-to-back triangle. They had attempted to regroup with their allies, but they instead found themselves surrounded by soldiers of the shadows.
"Vortex, conjure up and maintain a whirlwind around us," Crimson quietly said to the others. "Gaia, try and summon a dome of rock overtop of us." The two alicorns nodded, and hastily followed through on the plan. As Vortex cast a whirlwind, Crimson released a strong breath of fire into it, creating a massive tornado of flame around the three of them. On the inside of the twister, Gaia created his dome of rock.
"This will keep us protected for a short while," Crimson explained. "But we need to come up with an escape plan fast. We can't maintain these defenses forever."
"Hopefully, whatever the others are doing, it will help us out soon," Vortex said optimistically. "But just in case, start thinking."
Aislin was deep in concentration as she thrust her magic into the enveloped core of the Crystal Heart. The combined magic of the four alicorns was strong, but the power of Malicious was proving too great, as Aislin had made no progress in removing the shadowy chains.
“I can’t release the darkness,” she exhausted as she rested her magic. “It’s too strong.”
“You can do it!” Aurora cheered. “Use that super smart mind of yours!” Aislin blushed and smiled, focusing her magic back upon the corrupted core. The wheels in her began turning rapidly as she searched for alternative ways of removing the darkness.
“Our magic is too weak to remove it by force,” she thought to herself. “There must be another way around it.” As she raced from idea to idea, her mind suddenly recalled the strange feeling of familiarity she had before. The evil magic within the Heart had felt like the magical presence of somepony else; somepony she was in contact with recently. She dwelled deeply on it for a moment, when all of a sudden, she was struck with realization.
The pony she had felt it from was Selena. It was only for a brief moment back in the Sanctum, but she recalled sensing a faint, arcane essence emanating from her. However, it merely seemed like it was her own unique magic, so she paid no attention to it.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Aislin thought to herself again, not wanting the others to hear. “Why would Selena have an evil magic within her? I must make Solaris aware.” Aislin, though her mind preoccupied with this troubling news, promptly remembered that there was a far more important task at hand. As she focused her thoughts back onto the core, her mind found a connection.
“Maybe…” she pondered. “I can use Selena’s magic as a cover to slip through the chains, and implant our magic behind it.” Aislin focused all of Solaris’, Aurora’s, and her magic into a small orb while separating Selena’s. She then concentrated Selena’s magic into a complete sphere around the orb, and slowly maneuvered it into the core. Upon contact, Aislin’s spell was greatly impeded, however she slowly but surely was able to force it through the shadows.
“It’s working!” she said excitedly out loud. “I’m passing through the corruption!” The others breathed some relief, but continued to supply their magic. After a few moments, Aislin managed to completely push the collection of their magic passed the darkness, and after she was sure it was securely inside, she released it. The core beneath the chains of shadow suddenly multiplied its brilliance tenfold and blasted a wave of illumination throughout the Crystal Heart and obliterated the defilement of the darkness. From the outside, the Heart began to glow fiercely again as it did before, and the four alicorns watched with alleviation as it stretched its power out into the Empire and began reconstructing the magical barrier.
Among the outside boundaries of the city, the Emperor’s army’s attention was drawn skyward as they witnessed the power of the Crystal Heart come crashing down upon them. The shield cut into the invading force, effectively dividing them in half. Inside the shield, the enemy was cut off from any support and had nowhere to retreat to, allowing the Crystal army to swiftly retaliate and overthrow their opponents. From far outside the shield, General Sombra’s eyes were wide with disbelief.
“Impossible!” Sombra shouted with indignation; his eyebrows furrowing. “The Crystal Heart should have been desecrated beyond all hope!” Sombra brought Malicious’ magic to power again, and violently thrust another burst of shadow upon the shield, however, the shadow merely deflected off the surface and into the air where it dissipated into nothing.
“I’ve used too much of the Emperor’s power,” he growled. “Sound retreat and return to the Capital. Lord Malicious will certainly have my head for this.” With a loud sounding of a horn, the remaining forces turned and fled over the hills. Throughout the entire Empire, the sound of great rejoicing echoed aloud, and the many ranks of the Crystal army laid down their arms and breathed a sigh of relief. Solaris and the others at the Heart leaped in celebration.
“You did it!” Aurora yelped to Aislin as she frantically danced around the group. “Way to go Aislin!”
“That was truly incredible, Aislin,” Solaris said somewhat exhaustedly. “How did you do it?” Aislin blushed a deep red and locked eyes with him.
“Well, I,” she started, but was interrupted when Selena collapsed onto her knees; Solaris immediately rushing to her side.
“Are you okay, Selena?” Solaris asked worriedly as he knelt beside her.
“I’m okay,” she replied. “I’m just tired. I may have given Aislin too much of my magic.”
“We’ll get you inside to rest,” Solaris reassured as he helped her up and supported her as they started moving to their dwelling. Aislin’s gaze lowered as she bowed her head; her blush disappearing. Aurora, noticing her depression, approached and placed her hoof on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Aisly,” she said with a smile. “Just give it time. Come on, let’s go find the others.”
Though the battle was over and the shield restored, Gaia, Vortex, and Crimson were still beneath their defense of fire and rock; unaware the enemy was defeated outside.
“Okay, I think it got it!” Gaia shouted.
“Alright, what's your idea?” Crimson replied quietly as he grew weaker from expelling his magic to maintain the fire twister.
“Well, I can cut this rock sphere in half and reform it into a wedge,” Gaia explained. “Then as we run towards safety, I’ll push the wedge along with my magic and shove aside any enemies in our path, while you guys use your magic to block attacks from the rear. Sound like it could work?”
“Even if it doesn’t, we got nothing else at the moment,” said Vortex. “We’ll have to take the risk.”
“Let’s do it then,” Crimson replied eagerly. “This will be our final act. If we don’t make it, I’d just like to say, it’s been a true pleasure to befriend you ponies.”
“Indeed it has,” Vortex responded with a nod.
“See you on the other side boys!” Gaia shouted. In unison, Vortex and Crimson dropped their magic as Gaia shattered the rear half of the sphere and reformed the front half into a wedge.
“Here we go!” Gaia yelled again as he crouched and prepared to lunge into an all-out sprint.
“Wait!” Vortex bellowed; causing Gaia to freeze in his crouching position. The three alicorns looked around, but instead of seeing the enemy force as they expected, they instead saw themselves surrounded by Crystal Soldiers and a newly established magical barrier; their attackers nowhere to be seen.
“Oh,” said Gaia, still frozen in his position. “…Did we win?”
Several hours later, after the remnants of the battle had been largely taken care of and the dead recovered, King Lucent gathered the seven alicorns in the throne room of the Crystal Palace.
“I cannot express my gratitude enough for what you alicorns have done for us,” the King praised. “I am sorry for being such a fool for not listening to you in the first place, but allow me to make amends. I am a colt of my word, and as I promised, I will lend you all the aid I can when the time comes. Also, if you should ever need a safe haven or a place to rest, you are all welcome to return here, where you will be treated as honored heroes.”
“Thank you, your majesty,” Solaris said as the group bowed. “We don’t know when we will need your help, or how much of it we will need, so all we can ask right now is that you prepare for anything.”
“I promise you that we shall be ready, whenever the time may come,” Lucent smiled. “May I ask, though, what your next plan is?”
“We don’t know,” Solaris replied as he shook his head. “We were advised by a mysterious stranger to come here, but beyond that we have no idea.”
“Well, I may have some advice of my own,” Lucent said as he stepped off his throne and approached the alicorns. “It is no secret that Malicious Shadow plans to eventually expand his dark hold beyond Equestria. Many believe his first goal will be conquering the land of the griffons across the eastern sea. If you find the chance to cross the sea, I’m sure the griffons would be willing to lend a hand in his downfall. However, they may want to see that you have a considerable following established before they swear their allegiance.”
“Thank you again, your majesty,” Solaris bowed in gratitude. “We will spend one more night here, and then leave tomorrow.”
“I wish you good fortune on your journey,” Lucent returned a thankful bow. The alicorns departed from the palace and returned to their residence where they assembled their things and prepared to depart the next morning.
“Well, I believe that was a successful first step,” Crimson boasted. “A job well done on all our parts.”
“Hear, Hear!” cheered Gaia. “And tomorrow we continue our adventure!” The group cheered loudly, except for Solaris, who stared out the window and into the horizon. His heart was pounding slightly faster as many thoughts raced through his head; thoughts of fear and uncertainty. Obtaining their first ally had already put all of their lives in danger, and nopony could tell what else was going to happen. In addition, there was no way they could approach the Griffons yet. They would need to find another ally first, but they had no idea where to start. With a doubtful mind, Solaris returned to packing his things.