Chapter 24: Refracted Light
"When you close your eyes, know that you are alone in the darkness within those lids." ~AKA.Truth-Is(no reliable source for her true name) - "Happy Birthday To Me"
*tap* *tap* Ezreal swung his to face behind him, anxious of anything at that point. Upon impulse, he fired behind him. He swatted away the cold sweat from his forehead with his spare hoof, and realized he was panting hard. He took time to regain his composure. He then noticed that he killed an innocent mouse. He sighed then turned back, to find that he was nose to nose with a mummy. He leaped back and launched an arcane bolt right at the head of the mummy, knocking it right off.
It took him a moment to realize that the mummy was merely a statue. He sighed in relief. According to rumours, treasure hunters who explore the Shurima never return. It was proven wrong countless times, but it still did not explain the absence of hundreds of explorers. So far, nothing dangerous is present. Ezreal read the hieroglyphics on the wall. Unlike the other hieroglyphics that painted the entire temple, these were glowing. Although paranoid that something else could be watching him, he read on: After the dire age, in the midst of the Rune Wars, a monster born with a prosperous city and its emperor, was--
The rest was torn off by a set of claws, which was made apparent from the 4 talon scratches on the side of the wall. He took his mind off of that for now, so he looked ahead. The hall branched into 3 more hallways, but a bright light shone down the middle.
It was a golden gate.
Unconsciously, he approached it and reached for the golden knobs, despite the fact that he was 20m (or 15 feet. I don't know the imperial system) away from it. The gate wasn't large, but it was a strange circle door. It spiralled to the center, and it had a head of a phoenix. It seemed that the head has rusted away, or moulded to the point it no longer glistens. The closer he got, the brighter the outlines became. Once he set hoof beneath the head, the door opened gracefully, and inside was mounds of treasure and lights.
Instinctively, he jumped in and was immediately taken in by the bright sight of gold.
"NO! GET OUT!! LEAVE!! QUICKLY BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!!" bellowed a loud female voice. Ezreal should've known.
It was a trap!
But the door has already silently closed behind him. It made a distinct *ting* sound, as if a large coin dropped.
The new being in the room walked out from behind a mound of treasure. She sighed and shook her head in disappointment.
"Doomed you are." she said softly.
*SCREECH* a large creature screamed into Ryze’s face. His eyes opened wide and jolted himself awake. He abruptively swung the blob off of him, but his hooves met not touch as it was faster than him. Hazy and weak in the knees, Ryze struggled to gain his footing. He clumsily stumbled his way to his dropped satchels and bags. As his vision became clearer, he realized that the blob was shaping more into a large bird, likely a hawk or a falcon. He then tripped on a loose root, and fell forward. He expected his face to be deep into the dirt, but soft hooves caught him. He looked up and saw Quinn smiling down on him. She pushed him back up and let Valor stand on her back. While Ryze coughed dust, she worriedly searched around.
*SCREECH* reported Valor.
“Really?” she replied, “It couldn’t have gone far if Ryze is here.” she shifted. She prodded her chin, wondering what in the world happened to the dragon armour. Just then, Sarhoth landed gently beside them, flapping a cool breeze. The clear skies let the sun shine through, providing comfortable warmth for the lives in Equestria, or rather the old dragon kingdoms. Their gaze was cut short from the tall trees. However, they could see the tall white mountains yonder from where they stood.
“Another dragon has taken it. I’m not sure where.” Coughed Ryze, “I’m sorry I couldn't protect the armour.”
“Don’t apologize to me. We’ll have to hurry if we want to catch that dragon.” She said triumphantly, “We’ll start with that billow of smoke from those mountains,” she pointed, “If the armour as powerful as rumoured, than it’s likely to be causing havoc already.”
“*SCREECH*!” said Valor as he took off.
“Valor wait! We have to go together!” Quinn stomped in frustration. He was gone too far to hear her. “He never listens…”
Ryze was able to pick himself up and stretch.
“Let’s get movin’.” He said.
“Allow me!” Sarhoth offered them both a ride in her claws.
“Good idea. Let’s move!” Quinn hoped on, clutching tightly to her left claw, while Ryze occupied the right.
The migraine helped none at all. Shyvana tossled back and forth in her sleep and groaned painfully. She felt the scratches on her hide that she received from… who did it again? She started to strain her mind to remember, but all it did was make the headache worse. Finally she obliged to open her eyes to notice that she unconsciously transformed to her dragon form. She tore up her bedding, which was made of sheets and pillows, and she caused a lot of noise within the camp. Vayne was first to come out of her tent to check on Shyvana.
“What happened?” asked Shyvana.
“You passed out. Likely from loss of blood and the inertia from adrenaline.” Vayne replied. Jarvan stood next to her. Along with the more curious bunch of his soldiers.
“Thanks to you, we can all head home now.” He smiled, “The news has been spread thanks to our scouts. Kingdoms everywhere are safer now.”
Shyvana sighed. She chose to keep the fact that she doesn’t know what he was talking about to herself.
“That’s a relief to hear…” But where does she go? She managed to remember that her home is non-existant, except for a certain village in the dunes, where her brother is. Who was her brother again? She became stressed out, and she did not hide it.
“Something wrong Shyvana?” asked Jarvan.
“Yes. How do I get home from here?”
“Hmm.” Jarvan prodded his chin, “I’m afraid none of us would know. We found you in the forest with your fathe—I mean you weren’t near home when we found you.”
“It’s alright. I’m sure I can find my own way. Thanks for all of your help everyone,” for whatever they did, “I’ll be off. Farewell.” She sighed as she spread her wings and crouched, preparing to launch.
“Wait!” interrupted Jarvan, “Were you not joining my soldiers and I in Canterlot?”
Confused, she raised an eyebrow. "No I won't. I'm sorry Jarvan. I must return home as soon as I can."
Without another word, she left swiftly and soon disappeared from view.
“Wait here Spike.” Luna held a hoof in front of her small dragon friend. They approached a dark door embroiled with vines. “Or perhaps I’ll fetch you one of my comics that I think you’ll enjoy.” She smiled.
“Alright Luna, but what’s inside?”
“My washroom.” She winked.
“Okay. But don’t be long; I know Twilight takes forever whenever she uses the washroom.” He sat down with a grumble.
She rolled her eyes and opened the door using her telekenisis, also lifting the comic she promised from inside, to Spike.
“Tales of Heart: Starswirl in the Runic Cavern?” He read the title progressively getting more excited. He immediately opened it to the first page and practically glued his eyes to the pages.
Luna closed the door behind her and sealed off the room with a soundproof barrier. She whimpered as she stepped closer to the picture at the end of the room. The room wasn’t a washroom at all…
It was a room where pictures covered every inch of the walls. She used her magic to light up the magic-sensitive torches, creating a bright aura of light blue. The picture at the end of the room was well lit and visible now, and it was a simple picture of Celestia and herself smiling. Celestia sat on the throne, meanwhile Luna was sharing her seat. She glanced across wall to another wall, looking over dusty old pictures of her past: The Two Sister’s Castle, her mother and mentor, ceremonies, festivals, dinners, banquets, dances, shows, music halls, even some as simple as meeting new ponies, families, and newborns. Not to forget the silly pictures that Celestia and her took that no one else has or will ever see. The more time she spent inside felt as if she losing herself in the present and was living in those past moments. She felt the laughter, the hardwork, the melodies, and the most vivid of all: the warmth of the bright sun. The more pictures she glanced at, the more she losses her integrity to hold in her tears… until finally, she broke down in the center of the room.
“I’m so sorry!” she screamed, “You wouldn’t have lost so much if I hadn’t—if I hadn’t—if I never turned my back on you! You wouldn’t have had to been alone for all those years! You wouldn’t have taken revenge on Caitlyn! You would’ve made everything better!”
*Hm. She’s taking a long time in there, and I’m almost done. I wonder what Starswirl will do next?*
Suddenly, the door opened and Luna appeared.
“Luna! Why does Starswirl have to return the diamond urchin crown to the underwater city of the merponies at their ruined shrine and then destroy it there?! (try saying that in one breath)” he said excitedly but still has his eyes on the pages. Luna opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, he held up a claw. “Wait! Don’t spoil it for me!” he said. Luna rolled her eyes and hovered him onto her back, facing backwards.
Discreetly, Luna's horn began to glow, then fade away within 2 seconds. She sighed.
Since Spike was facing backwards, he noticed a funny shimmer and light from the door she exited from. Then a very bright and brief flash of light lit up the halls. It would've been unnoticeable if he was facing forwards since it made no sound. He felt a little suspicious, but it was out of his judgement to investigate.
"Ah! Captain Leona, such a pleasure to see that you're okay." said Luna.
"Quite a pleasure indeed." she wore a wicked smile.
"Your voice is off... and is that a black rose upon your ear?" Luna frowned.
"You're observant." Leona replied. Hastily, she drew her sword and thrust.
Karma stood on the walls of Ionia. She looked out upon the ruins of her own land, and thought... what is Ao Shin planning? There was a storm coming, and spiraling in its epicenter. It was there in the distance for awhile. To a normal pony, it would seem natural, but for an insightful pony such as her, she would've realized that the storm should've cleared or rather moved to a different spot by now.
Suddenly, two large figures dropped from the center.
A large blue and gold serpent, and a red and orange serpent, similar to the other. The blue one had the red one's neck in it's jaws, leaving a trail of blood in their descend. They bellowed loudly as they crashed down. Then the blue one stood on its hind legs, and arced its back to give out a triumphant roar.
Karma knew this couldn't be good. Immediately she stepped over the wall, and dived down. Confident in her abilities, she shot a bright string of chi energy to the ground, then twisted herself, creating a spiral with the strings. The effect it had was she was able to use the strings to control her landing.
She touched the dirt gracefully, then broke into a sprint towards the crash site.
On her way there, she saw a floating temple in the midst of the clouds, also heading towards the same direction.
The monstrosities waited out there. The crystal citizens could only stare back until they were ushered back to the safer parts of the castle. Confident in Shining Armour’s plan, they didn’t complain or slow down on his commands. Which meant they fully entrusted the decisions that he makes for victory. Before they began to carry out his plans, they thought of their priorities together. They have the citizens at top priority, Princess Cadence as second, The Crystal Heart as third, and then the guards, and lastly, the empire itself. It was still a mystery on who Shining Armour was going to pick as his “special” team. Rumours that have been passed around say things such as “He’ll obviously pick the elite guards. Skarner is definitely going into that team. Who else does he want, other than the ancient guard of Queen Terra himself?”
What nopony realized was that this happened before. Shining Armour was going to redo what Queen Terra did when Lord Umbra invaded The Crystal Empire. According to the history books, thanks to the librarian, Lord Umbra was father to Prince Sombra as his most prized son. Together, they ruled their own kingdom. They called themselves The Scuttlent. At the time, Skarner was not present, so Terra did not have the crystal heart to fortify itself; she had to use her own raw magic and talent for crystals. She created a thick shell of dense crystal around the castle, keeping both the darkness and the light out. However, they did not have that luxury. Shining Armour remembered clearly of every detail Terra did to pull off her strategy. She lost no lives, but she destroyed her own kingdom in the process. However, she was able to force Lord Umbra’s army to retreat, also killing the lord in hopes of ending the war.
Unfortunately, Princess Cadence is no mastermind—and that’s alright—because she is the foundation of hope this empire has. With new knowledge of the power of love from the crystal heart, Shining Armour had a better chance than Terra.
He was going to save the crystal ponies with their history.
His frontline ponies gathered their most steady lances. Shining had all of the citizens gather their belongings and prepare for emergency evacuation if needed. He had his farmers gather their animals that have been kept within the castle. The volunteers took flugglehorns and binoculars and was ready to move to their assigned positions. Now he required two more things: a big favor from Skarner and Cadence.
Shining approached the eager vanguard.
"Am I needed my prince?" He greeted.
"Yes Skarner. I imagine your abilities are up for the task..." Shining Armour leaned in closely to his ear and whispered the details.
Agast, Skarner replied, "Sir, that is something only a god is capable of!"
"But I need it done, otherwise the plan will be perilous. Do I make myself clear?!" He harshly said.
"Yes sir."
"Than get into position; we're proceeding." He said as he turned away. Skarner was left to his own thoughts, obviously taken by surprise from his request. Shining then moved on to his next group. The group in particular was his best pegasi flyers.
"Team Bristol!" Shining called, "I'm taking you and a second squad to lead a counter-attack. And find Team Luminous to meet me here. Now!"
"Yes sir!" They saluted. With haste, they dashed off to fulfill Shining's request. All that was left was Cadence...
“Princess Cadence!” a crystal guard pony called. Meanwhile the princess was running amok trying to find the 3 fillies on the loose. They both crossed paths, bumping into eachother. Quickly, the guard scrambled. “Forgive me your highness!” he said as he helped her to her hooves.
“It’s alright.” She replied with a half-smile.
“Prince Shining Armour is beginning the operation. We must move quick!” The urgency was evident since the shield was flickering outside.
“Y-yes. I’ll be right there!” she stuttered.
“Shall I escort you?”
“Oh no thanks. Just tell Prince Shining that I’ll be right there.”
“As you wish my quee—I mean your highness!” he left swiftly.
*Odd.* she thought. She has not earned the title queen yet. The only way to achieve that title is to create a new form of magic. However, she was now faced with a new conflict. Risk the people of The Crystal Empire to ensure the safety of 3 fillies, or to secure the people of The Crystal Empire.
“The needs of the many outweigh one.” She whispered to herself. She cringed her eyes, hoping that she won’t regret this decision.
Everypony turned their heads to the incoming scout squad that Shining sent out earlier. Once they landed onto the balcony, they darted inside to Shining's front. They saluted their prince, and he returned the greetings.
"What have you got so far?" Shining Armour asked the squad leader.
With firmness, he replied, "A battery of large creatures, who seem to have been the source of the bombardment, are moving into an open area east of here. The area is known to be farm land. We also have a large abnormal beast circling around the shield, and the rest of the smaller ones are scouring the homes of the citizens, picking off those who are hiding. We have an incoming vehicle arriving via train tracks. It's definitely not our reinforcements, but a single civilian cart which seems to be from the southern kingdoms, judging from the distinct style of the design. We decided not to secure it. We lost no ponies to void vultures, since they are not very active during the day, but they still chase us. There is no sign of King Sombra."
"How about behemoths? Any more of them?"
"Approximately 30 or 35."
"How about abnormals?"
"There was only 2. The one circling around the shield, and a much smaller one which seems to be leading the void sieges."
"This was very useful. Thank you captain. Gather the guards from every corner of the castle to prepare for begin the operation."
"Sir yes sir!" he saluted, then dashed off.
"As for the rest of you! I want every pegasus and unicorn guard here now!" As commanded by Shining, the guards was quick to form into two separate groups of 6 by 8. "Now I want every earth or crystal pony over here now! Move move!" They obliged and heard him well. They also formed into two groups of 4 by 6."
"For the civilians, follow Cadence as she will instruct you. All children will follow Captain Boon Brand to the throne room. There you will be safe from danger until we finish. Let's move! Go go go!"
"This way everypony!" hollered Cadence as she guided them towards the stairs.
"Alright kids! Come with me! Form a line and grab eachother's tail. I don't want any stray fillies!" said Boon.
Once everyone except for Skarner and the guards remained, Shining started, "We now have the castle secure and we were successful with our scouts. Our new guard, Galio, and Prince Lucious will regroup with us shortly.
Now than, you!" Shining pointed to a unicorn guard pony, "Stand here."
"Yes sir!"
"You!" Shining pointed to another pony, but a crystal pony instead. "Stand there!"
"Yes sir!"
"Now sergeant, I want you to fire an arcane bolt at the other guard." said Shining.
"Uh are you sure sir?" he hesitated.
"Now sergeant!" Shining stomped his hoof.
"Yeah you baby." said the crystal guard.
With a bit more hesitation, he fired a bolt straight at the crystal guard. Upon impact, the crystal guard's coat absorbed the bolt and refracted it into 7 more amplified bolts of light which charred the walls of the castle. Everypony was astonished. The unicorn guard was embarrassed.
"You see? Arcane light-based projectiles or spells do not affect a translucent crystal guard's body. I want every unicorn to pair up with a crystal pony! He or she will be your partner for the entire duration of this fight! If one of you are to fall, I want the other one to retreat no matter the circumstance! Am I clear!"
"Sir yes sir!" they all replied.
"Elite guard Skarner will create a saddle which will hold a crystal that will be shaped so that any intense beam of light that hits any side of it, will refract to whichever direction you're body is positioned! The unicorns that do not have a partner will garrison the windows of every angle in this castle to shoot down void vultures. Now I realize that there aren't enough unicorns for both earth and crystal ponies, so the earth pony guards will rely on another source of light."
"What source of light?" one questioned, "Uh I--I mean sir."
"Good question. The earth pony guards will be stationed at the castle's beacon, providing cover from the top of the castle. Your job will be to take down vultures and help our ground forces with their effort. Thanks to the talents of our architectures, they should emit a steady and intense continuous beam of light."
"This is genius sir!" commented one of the guards.
"I was inspired by our former queen."He smirked, "Anyways, each crystal guard will be equipped with jousts. I realize that once you use the weapon, you are left vulnerable if the strike is not fatal. That's where your partner will come in. They will have to utilize the spread of the beam to cover for you. A second late or too early may put the crystal guard at risk. I trust that our unicorn guards are well trained enough.
We will also have ponies whom are too injured for battle, but fit enough to use the fluggle horns. When they sound, I want every crystal pony to charge. Once you have made your strike, you will turn around and dash back to your partner to regroup. We will then signal the fluggle horns to sound again to charge again. This will repeat until we finish this battle! Meet me at the base of the castle in 5 minutes! Dismissed!"
"Citizens of The Crystal Empire!" cried Cadence, "In order to fulfill the plan to win this battle, we need every effort from you! We must keep our spirits alight to fuel the crystal heart!"
"How will we do that my queen? Without the festival, there isn't exactly a proper ritual to do that." Questioned a civilian crystal pony.
"Simple!" Cadence beamed, "We bow and hold hooves to rejoice and make a lot of love!" (please don't take that in a dirty way)
"But we've already tried it. It does not work. Sorry, but it's not that simple." Said another civilian.
"Of course it does! We're not directly powering the heart, because that'll be my job." Then a group of crystal architects come forth to Cadence. "Ah! Here they are with my new toy."
"Your highness. We have the armament you required." said one of them. Behind them was floating an object that was made of translucent crystals. It was a sphere that had shapes in an opposite direction. One was a column that was empty and narrow, The other was an intricate triangle. It was placed over-top the heart, so that the heart was inside the center of the hollow sphere. The object had an enchantment that held itself aloft without the reliance on telekinesis to lift it. It also reduced the weight significantly, so that it was easily rotatable. "We trust in your rule. My queen."
"Oh uh-- I'm not your queen! I'm just your princess." she half-smiled, "Anyways, let's get ready. I want everypony to gather around the--thingy. I don't know what to call it." they weren't properly disciplined, so they were sloppy at gathering in a circle. Just then, her prince in shining armour walked through the castle's exit, along with everypony else. She dashed over to give him a very warm hug.
"Be careful dear." she whispered.
"Don't worry. I'll be back. For the 3 of us." he smiled. They broke off the embrace, and ordered everypony into positions. He went up to Galio and Luio with Team Bristol and Team Luminous. They all looked at him and fell quiet quickly.
"Galio, Luio, you two will be leading the aerial bombardment against the void sieges. How this will happen is each member of Team Bristol will fly and carry a member of Team Luminous. It is Team Bristol's objective to manuever and reach the area of the void sieges to intercept their movement and destroy their firepower. We do not need each one dead, we want to delay them so that they do not get into their position and begin bombardment, or else it will be over for everyone. I want only Galio and Luio to land to put a full stop to the sieges. I trust that they can do it by themselves.
Remember: we have a very large air superiority, since our castle's ranged firepower is much more than enough to provide cover for you. I don't want any dead or anyone lost in this battle at all! DO I make myself clear!?"
"Sir yes sir!" they saluted.
"Than prepare for liftoff. This battle starts once those shields go down! I want you out of here once it does!"
"Sir yes sir!" they saluted once more.
"Dismissed!" they dispersed. Luio then walked up to Shining, grabbing his attention.
"Shining. I have another plan.. or to add on to your plan." He said.
"Okay. What is it?" Shrugged Shining.
"It's berry poison. Something I made for Terra in a battle just like this one." He winked, "My mother did a strategy just like this one all those years back."
"Okay fine you got me. But I've never heard of berry poison, and I don't want to use any of it to risk our own soldiers."
"Don't you know the Crystal Empire's sheep are immune to them? Once the sheep eat it, it'll take approximately 20 seconds until their hide starts to exert the fume. It does no harm to them, also the poison only blinds and slows down other organisms, so it never kills anyone... unless you're allergic. They love it too! It's just like eating cooked vegetables instead of raw berries that they pick from the bushes."
"Hm..." Shining Armour thought of the downsides and plus sides to this strategy. It would put innocent sheep at risk, and maybe crystal guards if they got too close. But the effects the poison has will be extremely useful for the battle.
"May I add that a crystal pony's crystal hide is not effected at all by the poison? Just give them masks so they don't breath it in." added in Luio.
"You're a genius Luio. If that is true, we could easily win this battle!"
Just before they departed, the shield fell.
Everypony was ready.
"Change of plans Luio. You're staying here to apply the poison crystal berries, and I will ride with Galio to the sieges."
"We're counting on you." he said before he dashed off.
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5006587 IT'S LIKE HE LEARNED NOTHING FROM INDIANA PONES >:U
Hello nurse! The chapter is gourgeous. But I have little note.
I smell a reference.
img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130927000557/clonewarsadventurescharacter/images/7/73/Shingeki-no-kyojin-levi-captain-badass.jpg
5009793 :|
thats a referance I probably made by accident because I don't know which anime that's from, assuming that it's an anime
5009940 you'll be waiting a long time than. The story hasnt grown any thumbs yet, it is digital afterall
5011955 Yep the anime Attack on titan. There there are these humanoid giants that eat people. They are mostly dumb and have the same behavior, but there are some who have very different behavior than other titans and they are called abnormals.