//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 // Story: A New Dragon in the Crystal Empire // by Vedues //------------------------------// “Flurry,” Cadance said gently, “I’m feeling tired.” She faked a large yawn. “Are you feeling tired?” Flurry Heart paused in her nearly endless scampering about the playroom. “No, Mommy.” She shook her little head. “Wanna see moon up.” She looked at Luna pleadingly. “Moon up, peeze?” Luna smiled. Young Flurry Heart was clearly a pony of good taste, and it was time to raise the moon regardless. “I would love to.” She looked out the window, taking in the sight of the Empire at sunset. Red-orange light filled the air, reflecting off the buildings and the streets like an enormous fire that had been frozen in glass. Without the wall, it would have been easy to forget that the Crystal Empire was technically at war. Her eyes lingered on the wall for a moment, thirty feet wide, ten feet tall, and made from midnight-blue crystal. Only crystal pony crystallization magic could have built such a structure in less than one month. It would probably do little or nothing to defend against a dragon attack, but Luna knew that the wall’s true purpose was simply to make the crystal ponies feel more comfortable and happy, which would in turn power the Crystal Heart. So in a way the wall really was helping to keep the Crystal Empire safe. Above the wall, Luna could make out a cluster of dark shapes approaching the Crystal Empire. Her eyes narrowed as the pegasus magic within her brought the distant shapes into focus. It was as she feared, dragons. The guards on the wall must have spotted them already, and Luna had no doubt that a messenger would arrive soon to inform her of the threat. Refocusing on the present, Luna reached out to the heavenly orb that she could feel just over the horizon. Power enveloped her from the connection, like a welcoming embrace from an old friend, as she guided the moon up into sight. “Moon up!” Flurry bounced into the air, flapping her wings excitedly. “Moon up! Moon up!” She landed on her mother’s head. “Mommy, moon up!” “Yes, moon up.” Cadance used her magic to carefully extract the foal from her mane. She pulled Flurry into a hug before turning to Luna. “I always thought the terrible two’s meant that a foal would throw tantrums all the time. I think I might prefer that to being so excited about everything.” Luna laughed softly as she pulled in even more of the moon’s power. “I wager that a week of tantrums would change thy mind.” “Maybe.” Cadance looked down at Flurry and brushed a bit of mane away from the foal’s face. “Crying foals never gave me any trouble. Some part of my alicorn magic always seemed to cheer them up.” She returned her attention to Luna, frowning slightly. “Is something wrong?” “The Dragon Alliance approaches.” Luna’s voice sounded strange to her own ears, deeper and yet softer, while echoing gently. This always happened when she drew on so much of the moon’s power. Luna knew that her eyes would be glowing white as well. A quick glance down confirmed that her body had become dark and insubstantial, like a piece of shadow given form. “Take Flurry Heart to the throne room. It should be safe while Shining Armor and I gather our forces to go meet them.” Cadance tightened her grasp on Flurry protectively. “I’ll send a message to Celestia.” “I shall attend to that.” Luna walked to the door, pausing to look back at the smaller alicorn. “Fear not, their intentions are not yet clear, but if they do seek battle, I swear that no harm shall befall thee.” She was out the door and on her way to her quarters before Cadance had a chance to respond. Celestia … her dear sister, unconscious and covered in bandages. Luna stomped with a little too much force, shattered part of the hallway beneath her. No, she would not let these dragons get near Celestia until she was certain that they were here to speak in peace. Until then, it was time to don her armor and prepare for whatever the night would bring. -_-_-_-_-_- Talon flew with the rest of Squad Five, doing her best to look strong and confident, which was about the dead opposite of the truth. To say that Talon had mixed feelings about what was about to happen would be a gross understatement. To say that it felt like fear, frustration, anger, hope, and determination had been tossed into a tornado inside of her chest would be … fairly close to what she was experiencing, actually. Talon shook her head to clear it. Bizarre metaphors aside, she still had a job to do. All of them did. The main body of the Equestrian army was marching north, a force large enough to more than double the one already stationed at the Crystal Empire. It was possible that Celestia’s frequent talk of peace was honest, but even if it was, Luna seemed to have control of the armies, which counted for a lot more than words. So it all boiled down to a choice. They could wait around for the bloodthirsty moon goddess to amass her whole army and show up at their perch, or the Alliance could land the first blow and hopefully end this war before it really got started. It didn’t matter that Talon would have liked to try at least one peaceful negotiation. It didn’t matter that Heart had tried to get the Council to try negotiations but had been outvoted. All that mattered was following the plan and trying to keep her friends alive. “Is this going to be your first battle?” Heart asked. She was standing on Tornado’s back, so she had to yell a little to be heard over the flapping of his wings. Talon took a deep breath and called back, “Yes.” Over four thousand dragons flying in formation should have been an awe inspiring sight, but today it just made her feel small. Crystal nodded. “We finished our basic training right before the Hurricanes decided to evacuate.” “I guess it’s better late than never.” Talon forced a chuckle. “Don’t worry, those runes will keep you safe,” Rune Field said. Between her and Genesis, all of Squad Five looked like they had been covered in glowing spiderwebs. “I should hope so,” Tornado said. Talon was surprised that he could speak so clearly in his battle form. Apparently, that training in the Stillness with Gemstone was paying off. “Would you all please shut up?” Thunderfang begged. Talon couldn’t blame him for wanting to maintain discipline. The Hurricanes were flying just a few hundred feet away, and they were known to crack down hard on squad leaders that couldn’t control their underlings. The formation reached the Crystal Empire and slowed to a hover. Some of the heavy drake clusters settled on the ground to wait. Talon could see thousands of armed ponies rushing to the wall beneath them, their crystalline armor sparkling like stars beneath the shield’s blue light. She paused to reflect on how idiotic ponies must be if they built a wall to keep out flying opponents. At least none of the ponies seemed eager to attack yet. They were wisely holding position as more and more reinforcements gathered around. Eventually the pony army stopped growing, and not a moment too soon. They covered the wall and the fields beyond it, with some as far back as the streets of the Crystal Empire proper. “Dragons of the Alliance,” an otherworldly voice said, “why have you come here?” Talon shivered. If a bottomless pool of water could whisper on a moonless night, this was the sort of voice it would have. A dark form appeared on the inside of the shield, close to the center of the dragon army. It was much larger than the other ponies that Talon had seen, and looked like living darkness had donned a suit of golden armor with silver highlights. Her mane and tail seemed as if they had been plucked from the night sky, and glowing white orbs served for her eyes. Talon knew that this had to be Princess Luna. “Unless you come to negotiate, return to your caves,” she ordered in that same ethereal voice. “The Crystal Empire seeks no quarrel with you.” Silver Tail moved forward, hovering opposite Luna. His thinking form was about the same size as the Moon Goddess. “We want to speak with Princess Celestia.” He somehow managed to give the impression that he was sitting back and chatting casually. “Why?” Luna dropped the enchanted voice, but her tone only hardened. “Does it matter?” Silver Tail asked. “Just call her. We have things to discuss.” Drake honesty was a real pain sometimes. He couldn’t say that the Alliance wanted to accept her offer of peace, because that wasn’t true. Likewise, he couldn’t say that they wanted to know where Celestia was so that she couldn’t surprise them later. “She won’t be harmed.” She’d just be lured away from the Crystal Empire and distracted by fake peace negotiations while they conquered it. “Why should I believe you?” Luna’s glowing eyes narrowed. “Why shouldn’t you?” Silver Tail replied. There was no response for a moment. “Celestia is as far from you beasts as I can arrange.” Clouds began to gather inside the Crystal Empire’s shield. “If thou will not even try to prove thy good intentions, then I would advise thee to likewise get as far from me as possible.” Many wyverns gasped and stared at the storm that Luna had conjured, Talon included. Only the Hurricanes would be able to create such a powerful storm so quickly. “Backup plan three,” Heart sent. “Backup plan three,” Talon relayed to the venom team. “Get ready, everydragon.” She fought to keep her breathing calm. Step one of this plan was simply, ‘Piss off a goddess.’ “You’re really that afraid of us?” Silver Tail asked, his tone mocking. “Did seeing Celestia collapse in a pool of her own blood make you finally realize that you aren’t all-powerful?” A low growl filled the air, promising endless nightmares to all who heard it. “Do not speak my sister’s name again.” “Why not?” Silver Tail demanded. “You know these ponies don’t love you the way they love Celestia.” Luna glared at him but didn’t respond. “You can change that,” Silver Tail continued. “Help us kill Celestia, and earn-” “You shall not lay a claw upon my sister!” With a scream of primal rage, Luna shot forward through the shield. She moved so quickly that Silver Tail barely had time to react, even though he’d been expecting her. He slashed with both forelegs, growing and then shrinking them in less time than it took to blink. His claws left deep gashes across Luna’s golden armor. That didn’t stop her though. If anything, it just made her more angry. The information they’d gathered had definitely been correct. Whatever problems they had in the past, there was nothing that Luna cared about more than her sister’s wellbeing. Silver Tail barely managed to drop beneath the charging alicorn. “You can’t stop me,” he taunted, flying away from the city at speeds that would have impressed even the most talented wind wyvern. “I’ll kill Celestia myself if I have to.” “Step two of the plan is a go,” Heart sent. “The Hurricanes say to get working on that storm!” Talon and the others needed no second prompting. Equestrian warriors were already pouring out of the shield after their princess. The nearest formation, a group of earth ponies, smashed into a swarm of drakes before they could fully take to the air. Meanwhile, their pegasi allies dive-bombed them from above. Squadrons of wyverns rose to meet the pegasi, and flashes of light announced the presence of wyrm attack spells among both other types of dragons. Talon pulled her eyes away from the sight and focused her internal magic on generating clouds as she flew. It wasn’t easy, the weather up here seemed to have a mind of its own, but she could feel it slowly bending to the combined will of every wyvern in the formation. On her other side, a team of bat-winged ponies shrugged off a wave of flame from a cluster of fire wyverns and moved in to engage them. It was true then, Equestrian soldiers really were immune to heat. Just to the left of that, a team of blue-and-gold clad pegasi began flying in what could only be described as a corkscrew formation. Within seconds, a tornado had formed around them, battering aside anydragon unfortunate enough to be caught in their way. By the Ancestors, how did they do that so fast? Talon pumped her wings harder, shouting encouragement to the rest of her team. Silver Tail and Luna had already reached the back of the formation. A sky-blue drake aura surrounded him, shielding him from Luna’s constant magical assault. He would have been nearly invisible against the snow beneath him if not for its light. Talon found herself unable to look away from the battling champions. Their speed, agility, and power was simply unbelievable. In mere seconds, Talon saw Silver Tail use the recoil from his own sonic cone to change directions suddenly and collide with Luna, clawing and biting furiously. Luna kicked him away, then teleported beneath him and used her magic to grab onto the drake. Though the dark-blue field of her magic was disrupted by his aura, it held just long enough for her to hurl him to the ground below. The dragon leader somehow generated a shock-wave to cushion his impact, and make a large crater for him to land in, before shooting back into the sky, yelling taunts as he went. Most of Equestria’s troops began to fall behind as the Alliance army continued to fly northeast, generating clouds and strong winds as they went. Talon risked a glance behind them and saw that the heavy combat clusters were doing their job perfectly by covering the army’s retreat. Unlike Talon’s cluster, which was mostly wyverns with some drakes and wyrms thrown in, the heavy clusters were primarily composed of drakes, with the other two races acting as support for them. The only group of ponies to make it past the drakes was a swarm of pegasi far to the left. They easily outpaced the Alliance’s forces, slamming into the back of the wyvern cluster closest to Silver Tail and Luna. Heart Echo sent out a warning, but it reached the cluster too late, and dozens of wyverns and even a few drakes fell as pegasi dive-bombed them, breaking bones with their hooves. “Keep flying!” Thunderfang ordered. “We’re too far away to help them.” Silver Tail started to climb before turning sharply and diving back toward the Crystal Empire. It was a textbook wingover maneuver, executed so quickly that he almost seemed to switch directions instantaneously. He flew through the formation of pegasi before they even realized he was there, leaving a trail of death in his wake. Luna tried to pursue him, but the air around her suddenly froze, encasing her in a prison of ice. She teleported out after just a second or two. However, the distraction gave Silver Tail a moment to prepare for her, letting him land another solid blow. Talon promised herself that she’d ask Heart to give a medal to whichever wyrm had been responsible for that ice cage. “Circle back. Gas and storm,” Heart relayed, and Talon passed on. Nearly as one, the wyvern clusters flipped around and flew over the heavy drake units. Gas teams began spitting out clouds of venom, which a combination of drakes and wind wyverns directed onto the confused and surprised ponies below. High above, thunder wyverns took advantage of the storm clouds they had just made and began sniping anypony that looked important, as fire, ice, and wind wyverns kept the enemy pegasi occupied. Rising winds and pelting rain from the growing storm only made things more difficult for the ponies beneath. “Good job, Tornado!” Talon shouted as she circled around to spit more gas. The rain had soaked through her hair by that point, and she knew she would have to dry off soon to stay warm, but there were more pressing issues to worry about. Besides, like all wyverns, she had inherent magic that protected her from the worst of the storm. “Good teacher,” he replied. No magic protected him from the elements, but he was simply too large to be affected by this amount of wind and rain. “Look out!” Talon looked up just in time to see a wall of purplish energy coming straight at them. Traumatic memories filled her head as she yelled the first thing that entered her mind, “Tuck in your wings!” The wall hit hard, almost as hard as the Crystal Empire’s shield, knocking the entire cluster out of the way like it was nothing. Talon felt like she had rolled down a flight of stairs by the time the world stopped spinning and she could reorient herself. Luckily, the spell also pushed them upwards, giving them all a few precious seconds to start flapping again before they hit the ground. A cry of pain made Talon’s heart freeze. “Crystal?!” “I’m okay,” came the pained response. Talon followed it and found Crystal struggling to stay in the air with an obviously hurt wing. She breathed a sigh of relief. “Cloud Breaker, get your battle partner to either Ember or Tornado so the wyrms can heal her.” “Heart, are you okay?” “Yes, we’re all fine. The Hurricanes say to keep working on that storm, and Thunderfang says to regroup around Ember. She’s right next to us, by the way.” Talon finally found Tornado’s golden form beyond the mess of confused and often wounded dragons around them. As promised, Ember was hovering nearby. “Tornado and Ember are over there, everydragon! Regroup around them, and don’t let up on that storm!” Had the ponies been in a position to attack, they would easily have been able to cause massive casualties among the disorganized cluster, but luckily there were no ponies nearby. In fact, almost the whole Equestrian army was now inside of a miniaturized, purple version of the Crystal Empire’s shield. The Alliance’s forces had been scattered in all different directions, but at least that meant that they had the Equestrians surrounded. A few drake clusters hit the shield, but even their combined power, amplified by the wyrms in their squads, barely managed to scratch it. Talon got another message from Heart almost the second that they reached her and Tornado. “The Hurricanes say to ignore the shield and keep working on the storm between it and the Empire.” “Did Luna make that thing?” Heart shook her head. “Luna and Silver Tail are still fighting to the north of the shield.” She sent a faint amount of worry. “He’s starting to get worn out, and she’s healing herself somehow.” It was a tough call which bit of news was worse. An enemy goddess armed with healing magic was no cause for celebration, but it was more than a little scary to think that some normal pony had pushed their entire army out of the way with one spell. At any rate, it didn’t change their role in this battle. Now that some semblance of order had been restored, the lighter clusters went back to storm generation, and the heavy clusters kept attacking the shield. Bringing it down was actually a low priority, but it wouldn’t do to let the ponies know that. Just over a minute later, Talon saw something that made her grin like a hatchling. The shield surrounding the Crystal Empire sputtered and died. Step two of the plan, ‘Distract the Equestrian army while Yol Toor and his twin daughters used their auras to slip through the Empire’s shield and grab the Crystal Heart,’ had been a success. Nearly two thousand dragons emerged from their hiding spots around the Empire and flew toward it at maximum speed. “Rush to the walls,” Talon ordered, “but don’t let up on this storm!” The purple shield disappeared behind them. Talon didn’t know whether the drakes had finally smashed through it or the pony responsible had let it drop. At this point, it didn’t matter. “Luna just teleported somewhere,” Heart reported. “She probably went to the Crystal Palace to find out what happened, but keep your eyes open anyway.” Talon relayed the message and encouraged her team to fly faster. Crystal’s wing was fully healed by then, so she rejoined them in the sky. For a landlocked species to outrun a flying one would have been extremely difficult. To do so while stuck in the middle of a magical storm created specifically to slow enemies was downright impossible. Talon landed with the rest of her cluster on the walls surrounding the Crystal Empire. She turned with a grim smile to see that the Equestrian army was almost entirely inside the storm now. If the ponies hadn’t been so distracted, they might have noticed the five wyverns, one of each type, hovering in the very center of the swirling clouds. “Everydragon’s clear, get down!” Heart sent. Talon barely had time to shout the order before the storm began to glow faintly. A wall of air blasted into them all as the clouds began to spin violently. Rain poured out of the clouds as lightning crackled with terrifying intensity. This is it, Talon thought in awe, the True Blessing of the Storm, and the reason wyvern leaders are called Hurricanes. -_-_-_-_-_- Luna was panting with exertion when she appeared in front of the Crystal Palace. It was all clear to her now. That scoundrel, Silver Tail, had goaded her into attacking him, and to her shame, she had fallen for it. It was too bad that she had been forced to abandon their fight though. It had been a very long time since she had fought such a skilled opponent. All this raced through her mind in the moment it took for her to open her eyes after teleporting. The sight that greeted her made Luna’s blood boil. Three full-size drakes stood at the base of the palace, and one of them was holding the Crystal Heart. Even worse, all three were covered in those infuriating auras that negated most of her spells. That drake turned to face her. His gray scales weren’t uncommon for a northern drake, but his brown horns and golden eyes were quite distinctive, and the blue-and-red patterns of his aura made him stand out even more. The two females behind him were quite similar to the first in appearance and build, although their coloration was fairly different, with gray horns, white scales, and golden auras. Shining Armor appeared at Luna’s side in a flash of purple light. He quickly generated another shield, probably hoping to sweep them away as he had with their army. However, the expanding shield simply passed through them with no visible effect. The lead drake silently passed the Crystal Heart to one of the others and moved in front of them. Much to Luna’s frustration, the Heart was always protected by at least one drake aura during that time, so she couldn’t simply pull it away with her magic. “Now we see how they entered the Empire,” Luna said, not taking her eyes off the drakes, who watched her just as intently. “They are nearly immune to magic.” In her peripheral vision, she could see hundreds of dragons flying into the city and headed straight for the Crystal Palace. Shining Armor saw them too and prepared another shield, but Luna held out a foreleg to stop him. “Your shield could hold off an army of dragons, but only for a few hours, and they have superior airpower. Without the Crystal Heart, holding the Crystal Empire is unfeasible.” Luna took a deep breath. If Shining Armor’s shields wouldn’t work, then facing these dragons would be suicide for him. “Return to your soldiers, Shining Armor. I will attempt to retrieve the Crystal Heart.” “And if you can’t?” Shining Armor asked. “Then I will be waiting with Cadance and Flurry Heart at the safe house.” Luna was sure he would understand what she meant by that. A wave of wind and magic passed over them, making Luna shiver. “Return to the battle with haste! Something frighteningly powerful has been wrought there.” It was a credit to his loyalty and his training that Shining Armor didn’t question her orders. He only whispered, “Be careful,” before disappearing. “I would rather avoid unnecessary bloodshed,” the lead drake said, stepping in front of the other two, “but I will be your opponent if you insist on challenging us for the Crystal Heart.” Luna smirked. She was worn out after fighting Silver Tail, in no condition to challenge a foe of similar skill and power. A duel was out of the question. She lit up her horn and teleported, reappearing behind the drakes, where she ripped off the wall of a nearby building and hurled it at the dragoness holding the Crystal Heart. She cried out in surprise and pain as she was knocked flat. Luna teleported into the rubble, grasping for the Crystal Heart, but then a beam of red-and-blue light slammed into her, hurling her back into one of the foundation pillars of the Crystal Palace. Luna could barely breathe as the energy did its best to crush her tired body, ripping away fur and skin as it flowed past her, cutting right through the foundation pillar as it went. She desperately called on more of the moon’s power to strengthen herself, but the attack suddenly cut off before she could even generate a proper shield. A massive paw wrapped around her in the beam’s absence, smashing her into the ground. The crystal walkway shattered from the impact, and even the rocky foundation beneath gave way as she was driven several feet below ground. The force of the impact would have killed a normal pony outright. As it was, Luna felt one of her back legs snap. “You will not harm my daughters,” the drake roared. Fighting through the pain, Luna called upon her earth pony magic as she grabbed onto the drake’s paw and wrenched with all her might. A howl of pain told her that she had succeeded in breaking the drake’s wrist, aura or no, but it was hardly as big a handicap as losing the use of her leg. The drake’s paw pulled out of Luna’s grasp, only to be replaced by crushing teeth. Luna barely got her forehooves up in time to stop his jaws from closing around her head. Drake necks were too flexible to break from this angle, but that wasn’t what Luna was worried about. The memory of that energy beam was still fresh. Luna shot more rubble at the Crystal Heart, hoping to knock it away from the dragoness that held it. Unfortunately, the dragoness held her grip, and light began to build at the back of the lead drake’s mouth. With her options quickly running out, and her strength fading, Luna called upon her magic once more and teleported to the throne room, where she landed in a heap. “Luna?!” Cadance shouted in surprise, rushing to the blue alicorn’s side. “Are you okay? What’s going on out there?” Flurry Heart let out a frightened noise. Battered, exhausted, and covered in cuts, Luna knew that she must have been quite a sight. “Give me your magic,” she instructed, struggling to her hooves. “I require every drop that you can spare.” Cadance moved to support her. “What are you talking about? At least let me heal you first.” Luna shook her head. “I will live, but unless we act quickly, many of our soldiers will not. We must take them and retreat to the safe house.” Cadance pulled Flurry Heart into a hug and hesitantly touched her horn to Luna’s. Magic began to flow into the larger alicorn. “Luna, please tell me what’s happening.” “The Alliance has overrun the Empire and captured the Crystal Heart.” Luna grit her teeth, calling upon the combined magics of the moon and Cadance. “Continuing to fight them in the streets would endanger every crystal pony that is relying on us to keep them safe, there are at least two enemy drakes that are as powerful as I, against which Prince Armor can do nothing, and I am in no condition to fight any longer.” “What will happen to the crystal ponies?” Cadance asked over Flurry Heart’s frightened cries. The magic was overwhelming, more than she had channeled since her time as Nightmare Moon. “The Alliance planned to evacuate them when last I watched their dreams. Only armed soldiers will not be free from their wrath. Thus we must move them.” Then, in a massive burst of power, Luna, Cadance, and Flurry Heart disappeared, as did each of the two thousand soldiers still within the Empire’s boundaries. -_-_-_-_-_- Wyvern hurricanes used up all of their power in just a dozen or so extremely violent seconds, and so Talon was legitimately surprised when she looked over the edge of the Empire’s wall and found that most of the Equestrian army was still alive. The return of that accursed purple shield probably had something to do with it, though it couldn’t have worked completely, because there were still plenty of dead and wounded. “You fought well,” Silver Tail said, projecting his voice to the thousands of ponies. “Surrender now and we will permit you to reenter the Crystal Empire and provide healing for your injuries.” There was no response. Minutes passed, and the Equestrian army slowly gathered their casualties and came together into one large group. Even with all of their losses, they still outnumbered the dragons by a fair amount. The shield dropped, leaving a purple blur across Talon’s vision and reducing the Equestrians to dark outlines. For a moment, Talon hoped that they might come forward and formally surrender, but then the ponies began marching west, toward the mountains in the distance. Apparently their commander was too stubborn to surrender, even when lives depended on it. Talon couldn’t help but feel bad for those ponies, wounded and soaked on a frozen tundra after sunset. Many of them would die of hypothermia before the sun came up. “We did it,” Heart breathed. “We actually won.” Talon nodded, but she couldn’t bring herself to be truly happy. “Yeah,” she said quietly, “we won."