The Crystal Empire was a buzz of activity by the time Cliff got back. He landed next to a team of griffons working on their aerial tanks and paused to look at the vehicle for a moment. The griffon leader still refused to let Cliff see schematics for them or for the personal firearms the crews carried. Maybe some day.
Cliff had nearly reached the Crystal Bunker when a glowing purple aura surrounded him and pulled him across the courtyard to face a very upset purple alicorn.
“Cliff, what were you thinking, going to the Alliance like that?” Twilight practically had steam coming out of her ears. “It would destroy Fluttershy if something happened to you!”
“Hey, Twi,” Cliff waved, “how was the changeling ball?”
A shudder passed through Twilight. “They all transformed into extremely attractive ponies and were making the most obvious advances imaginable on the guests. Chrysalis said that she was just giving out ‘free samples’ of her upcoming business.”
“I get the feeling that she’s doing all this to mock Celestia,” Cliff said. “Anyway, would mind putting me down?”
Twilight paused and frowned. “Hey, I was yelling at you for taking such a dangerous risk when you have a wife and daughter waiting for you at home.”
“Trust me, Twi,” Cliff said calmly, “no one is more aware of that than I am.” Out of curiosity, he sent a mental command to Discord’s cloak.
The aura around Cliff fizzled as the cloak consumed it, and he dropped to the crystalline pavement.
Twilight gasped. “What was that? That wasn’t anti-magic.”
“A present from Discord and also insurance to keep me safe in the Shattered Mountain Caves.” The more Cliff thought about this cloak, the more he was grateful that Discord had given it to him. Too bad it would get in the way if he tried to wear it in combat.
Actually … Cliff sent another command, and the cloak formed itself around him perfectly so that it looked like his armor had just been dyed black and gold. Another command shifted the color back to the steel gray that he was used to.
“I’m surprised that Discord had the energy to give such a gift,” a regal voice commented.
Both Cliff and Twilight turned to see Celestia approaching them. She was wearing a green and black dress, probably to match the coloration of a changeling.
“He actually gave it to me a while ago,” Cliff said. “I just didn’t figure out what it was until tonight.”
Celestia nodded. “Regardless, the next time you invent a revolutionary piece of magical technology, I would appreciate it if you showed it to Luna, Cadance, or myself. Presenting it to the Alliance more openly would have done much to start building trust between our nations, and may have even convinced them to accept terms of peace.”
Cliff felt his stomach clench as Celestia’s words sank in. He covered his eyes with one palm. “Ugh, I didn’t think of that.”
Celestia’s wing settled across his shoulders. “I will go to the Alliance tomorrow morning, after they have had time to reflect on what has been given to them. They may still be willing to accept peace. In the meantime, we should all get to sleep. Our forces have their orders for dealing with the Requiem Guard, should they attack.”
“Already?” Cliff asked. He had only sent that note about fifteen minutes ago.
“Members of the Requiem Guard nearly killed me once,” Celestia said gravely. “I have had a long time to reflect on what I should do if I were ever faced with a similar enemy.” She must have seen the frightened expressions on Cliff and Twilight’s faces, because she smiled reassuringly. “They are an extremely dangerous foe, but not an unstoppable one. Powerful magic can still incapacitate them temporarily, and indirect uses of magic remain effective. Non-magical weaponry, like the cannons used by our griffon allies, should work especially well against them. Our pegasus soldiers have been given griffon bombs for the same reason, and non-enchanted diamonds thrown by the Everfree Platoon should have very little residual magic for them to feed on.”
At least that was a little reassuring. Cliff took a deep breath and asked, “Is there anything else I should know, if we do have to fight them?”
“Be careful,” Celestia said immediately. “They can regenerate from nearly anything. Only melting them completely will prevent that.”
Cliff filed all that away. “Thank you, Celestia.” He fidgeted uncomfortably before adding, “And I’m sorry. I should have told someone that I was finished with the rune before I gave it to the Alliance.”
To his surprise, Celestia pulled him into a short hug. “You’re more like Spirit than you realize, Cliff. I’m proud to call him my son, just as I’m proud to call you my friend.”
A faint smile worked its way onto Cliff’s muzzle. “Thanks.”
-_-_-_-_-_-
“Cliff, time to get up,” Fire Eyes said gently but firmly.
Cliff jerked awake and looked around. He had fallen asleep on the small nest in his lab again. Fire Eyes stood over him, looking grim. That fact alone wiped away any vestiges of sleep from Cliff’s mind. “What’s happening?” He forced down a yawn.
“The Alliance is on its way here,” Eyes said, holding out her hand to him.
Cliff took it and pulled himself up. Glancing at his desk, he saw the outlines of a rune to make dragon fire more hot. Of course, it wouldn’t be ready for at least another week. “Any chance they just want to talk?”
“They brought along those suits that Celestia warned us about.” Eyes went to the door then glanced back at him. “Something tells me that we’re about to have a really bad day.” Then she sank onto all fours and headed out.
There wasn’t much Cliff could say to that, so he just hurried after her.
They climbed the stairs of the Bunker and were almost at the front door when Eyes spoke again, “Hey, Cliff?”
“Yeah?”
Eyes paused, and didn’t quite meet his gaze. “In case anything happens to me, tell Whisper and our parents that I love them.”
At first, Cliff wasn’t sure he had even heard her right. Fire Eyes was no airhead, but she had never said something like that before. He moved up so that their sides were pressed gently together, which also brought his face right next to hers. “Hey, Eyes, you know we’ll get through this in one piece, right?”
“I know.” Eyes gave him a fake smile. “It’s just, if these suits really are so powerful that they can fight Celestia, then it could be like taking on Yol Toor all over again.”
Cliff nodded slowly. “Yeah … I know what you mean. If anything happens to me, tell Fluttershy that I love her, and keep Miracle entertained with stories about all the stupid things we did when we were younger.”
“That should take up a century or two.” Eyes gave a weak smile, but at least it was sincere this time. She took a deep breath, and turned her gaze forward. “Come on, the others are waiting for us.”
-_-_-_-_-_-
Cliff hated the anxiety that always attacked him before a battle. Once the fighting started, there was always something that demanded his attention, and once it was over, he was just grateful to still be alive. At times like these, though, all he could think about was how much it would hurt Fluttershy if something happened to him.
He would have been pacing nervously if the rest of the Everfree Platoon weren’t crowded around him. They were at the top of the Empire’s wall, so space was limited. Cliff glanced out between the rib-like arches that protected them from aerial attacks. Beyond the arches, the shield glowed softly, and through it’s blue veil, he could see the Alliance getting ever nearer.
Rainbow Dash turned to Big Mac on her left and said, “So, Mac, is it true that you and Luna are plowing the fields?” She bounced her eyebrows suggestively under her helmet.
Big Mac looked at her with an unreadable expression, then he shrugged. “Eyup, n’ nope.”
Rainbow frowned. “What do you mean? Are you or aren’t you?”
“Eyup.”
“So you are?”
Big Mac shook his head. “Nope.”
“So you aren’t.”
Another head shake. “Nope.”
Rainbow looked baffled. “No, you’re not, or no, you are?”
Big Mac paused to consider it. “Eyup, n’ nope.”
Next to Cliff, Blueblood groaned. “I swear, I can feel a few more of my brain cells die every time he does this.”
On Cliff’s other side, Fire Eyes chuckled. “You just have to know how to phrase things with him.” She turned to Big Mac. “Hey, Mac, are you and Luna having sex?”
Big Mac shot Rainbow an amused smile. “Nope.”
Cliff could hear the rest of the Platoon muttering things about lost bets and whether they’d been right all along.
In front of the Platoon, Autumn turned around and said, “Okay, everypony, that’s enough gossip for now.” She gestured behind her at the oncoming Alliance forces, which were nearly on top of them. “We need you all to stay focused.”
“Even though you owe me five bits,” Spirit added.
Autumn smacked him on the back of the head with her tail before turning around to face the Alliance once more.
“Worth it,” Spirit said with a grin.
At Spirit’s other side, Twilight giggled.
The Alliance reached the shield a few moments later. They didn’t attack though, unlike the other times. Instead they hovered in formation a little bit away, while Silver Tail landed and approached the shield by himself.
His voice washed over them all. “I need to speak with Cliff Runner, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna.”
All eyes in the Platoon turned to stare at Cliff.
He stared back at them. “Uh … I’m clueless too.”
Twilight looked from Cliff to Silver Tail and then back again. “Let’s at least see what he wants.”
Cliff nodded and walked over to her.
One teleport later, they were standing opposite Silver Tail in nearly a foot of snow. Celestia and Luna appeared at their side moments later, watching the white drake suspiciously.
Silver Tail ignored the alicorns and kept his eyes on Cliff. “I can’t thank you enough for sharing your invention with us.” He bowed deeply. “We can finally stop fighting to retake the Crystal Empire now.”
“What?” Cliff asked. “Really?”
“You think we wanted all this bloodshed?” Silver Tail shook his head. “We needed the gem mines to keep ourselves from starving to death, but now we have a different food source, and we wouldn’t have to rely on a hostile foreign nation’s good graces to keep ourselves fed.” He rose and looked to Celestia and Luna. “Unfortunately, there are still two obstacles between us and peace.”
“And what would those be?” Luna asked, looking at him suspiciously.
“First tell me this, what would happen if the Alliance surrendered?”
“We would accept,” Celestia said. “All hostile activities would stop immediately, and we would begin negotiating the terms of peace.”
Silver Tail turned to Cliff. “Is she telling the truth?”
Cliff nodded. “She’d never lie about something like that.”
“Alright,” Silver Tail took a deep breath, “obstacle one, two days ago, the Alliance released the Requiem Guard from Tartarus.”
“We are aware,” Luna said, scowling.
“Hey, I didn’t agree with that choice either,” Silver Tail said, “but I already made a pact with their leader by the time we got Cliff Runner’s rune.” He turned to Celestia. “The terms of the pact are that they will protect us from Equestria in return for the chance to take revenge on you. They’re going to attack as soon as we’re done talking, and if Equestria manages to destroy them,” he shrugged, “then our agreement is void, and I can call for the Council to vote on peace.”
“And if we cannot destroy them all?” Celestia asked.
“Then they’ll kill you,” Silver Tail said, “but the rest of your nation will live on. Providence and I had a long talk, and he agreed that once he kills you, he’ll stop fighting ponies. The Requiem Guard will hole up in one of our caves and not harm anypony ever again unless ponies attack us first.”
“What will the Alliance do during this battle?” Celestia asked.
Silver Tail sighed. “The Hurricanes voted to attack, but if Prince Shining Armor were to protect your army with one of his shields …” He smiled. “Well, we wouldn’t be able to get through it for at least a few minutes. Destroy the Requiem Guard before then, and I’ll call for an immediate vote of the Council, which leads me to the second obstacle.”
“I’m listening,” Celestia said.
“The Hurricanes will never agree to surrender.” Silver Tail shook his head. “I don’t know if they even understand what the word means, which is bad news for all of us, because they have majority vote in the Council. If Yol Toor were to vote, though, he could convince the other drake lords to vote for peace, giving us five for surrender to counter the five Hurricanes voting against it. Heart Echo gets the tiebreaker vote, and I know she’ll choose peace.”
“You want us to release Yol Toor,” Luna said. “What would prevent you from resuming this war if we released your most powerful champion?”
“Nothing would,” Silver Tail said. “I need you to trust me.”
Luna scoffed. “After all the deplorable acts you’ve committed?”
Celestia extended a wing between her sister and Silver Tail. “Now is not the time to exchange insults.” She turned to Silver Tail. “If we did agree to this, how long would we have to retrieve Yol Toor?” Her tone made it clear that it was a very big if.
“A few minutes.” Silver Tail looked back at the Dragon Alliance, still flying in position. “I know ponies aren’t used to taking others at their word, and I don’t blame you for suspecting treachery, but I really don’t see any other way we can end this peacefully.”
“We will consider your offer,” Celestia said.
Silver Tail sighed and nodded. “I suppose that’s the best I can hope for.” He turned and flew into the sky.
Celestia watched him go. “You should all prepare yourselves. Whatever happens, the Requiem Guard must not be allowed to survive this battle.” She gave Twilight a weak smile before lighting her horn and teleporting away.
Moments later, Cliff and Twilight reappeared next to the Everfree Platoon.
“So what was all that about?” Spirit asked.
“I’ll tell you later.” Cliff pushed past Spirit and Twilight and walked to his team. “We need to focus on the Requiem Guard for now.”
As if summoned by his words, eight suits of armor jumped off of the dragons they had been riding and plummeted to the ground below. The fall would have killed any normal creature, but the members of the Requiem Guard barely even bent their knees when they crashed into the snowy ground.
“Be ready,” Celestia’s voice filled the area. “We must destroy the Requiem Guard quickly and completely.”
The eight suits reached the shield just as the Alliance fired their Shield Cracker Rune. Amazingly, the shield had almost no effect on the Requiem Guard. Six of the suits just raised mirror-like shields over their heads and walked through without stopping. The two remaining suits had no shield and both slowed a little but muscled their way through without much trouble.
Cliff took a moment to study each of them. Six of the suits held those giant rectangular shields, although three of them had spears where the other three had axes.
One of the two guards without shields had what looked like a massive hammer with a haft so long that it must have been designed to be swung with both hands. The eighth and final Guard was something of an oddity. For starters, it was much more thin than the others and noticeably shorter. It carried an ax in either hand and unlike the other Guards, which were all a sort of bronze-ish gold, this last one was dark silver.
They were nearly to the wall by then, and the Alliance’s Shield Cracker was just opening three holes in the shield.
“Alright,” Fire Eyes muttered, summoning a gem into either hand, “show time.”
Cliff pulled out two gems of his own and started channeling magic into them. These weren’t anti-aura gems, like the Platoon usually carried. They were just normal gemstones. Hopefully that would give the Requiem Guard less magic to feed on.
“Now!” Celestia’s voice echoed across the wall.
On command, Shining Armor and Cadance conjured one of their new shields, blocking the holes in the Empire’s shield. Just as importantly, it left the Requiem Guard isolated in the middle of enemy territory.
As one, every arrow, gun, cannon, gemstone, bomb, and lightning bolt that the Equestrian army could generate was unleashed. The pounding force of their impacts beat against Cliff’s chest as dirt and smoke filled the area.
Cliff summoned and threw a second pair of gems, then a third, then a fourth. Each one rocketed out of his hands with more force than a griffon cannonball, slamming into any metallic form that he could see.
High above, Celestia’s magic began concentrating the sun’s light like a giant magnifying glass.
“Shield your eyes!” Celestia ordered only a moment before a blinding pillar of light hit whatever was left of the Requiem Guard.
Finally, Fire Claws and Twilight teleported near the impact zone and both surged Anti-magic, scrubbing the area clear of residual magic, before they both teleported back to the wall, nearly collapsing with exhaustion.
Cliff let out a sigh of relief as he looked at the massive crater they had generated, but his breath caught when he saw movement.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Fire Eyes sent.
Cliff could only nod.
Somehow all eight members of the Requiem Guard were climbing back to their feet and pressing forward. Dents and holes covered every one of them, some were even missing an arm or a leg, but already the metal was flowing back into its proper form.
The stunned Equestrian Army started attacking again, but the Requiem Guard had already reached the base of the wall by that point, blocking Everfree and thousands of others from getting a clear shot.
The Guard with the hammer pulled itself onto the top of the wall and began laying waste to the griffons and earth ponies positioned there. The others quickly followed, but rather than join their companion, they charged off the far end of the wall, right toward the center of the Crystal Empire.
“Go after them,” Autumn ordered. “They may be targeting the Crystal Heart!”
“You heard her, let’s move!” Eyes sent, then she jumped off the wall toward the Empire. The first of her orders reached the team before she even hit the ground.
The suits were just reaching the outer houses when a rainbow-patterned mushroom cloud exploded in front of them, blasting a crater in the earth.
Maybe it was the force of the explosion, or maybe it was confusion about its color, but the suits actually hesitated for a moment before pushing on.
Pain and weakness filled the link from Dash as they got closer to her.
“Get out of there!” Eyes sent. She pulled out a gemstone and fired. “Cliff, aim for their legs!”
A blue drake, one of Zephyr’s honor guard, landed between Rainbow and the Guards. Its tail swung at the group of them.
By all rights, even a group of minotaurs should have been knocked aside from the force of that blow, but the lead Guard simply braced its shield against the ground, and somehow the drake’s tail barely forced it back at all. That same Guard buried its ax in the drake’s flesh.
Cliff really didn’t know how to explain what happened next. The drake’s blue scales faded to gray, and his entire form went from muscular to emaciated in less than a second. Meanwhile, the Guard’s warped and damaged form began to repair itself more quickly.
The drake thrashed in pain, pushing himself away from his attacker, but the other Guards slashed or stabbed with their own weapons.
They had reduced the drake to a mere husk by the time Cliff could reach them. At least the drake’s sacrifice had bought Rainbow a second to fly away.
“What are we supposed to do against these things?” Rainbow asked weakly. Throbbing pain radiated from her. “I felt like I was going to pass out just from getting near them.”
“Just try to keep them distracted,” Eyes replied.
Cliff jumped into the air and landed on a rooftop nearby. Two gems shot out of his hands at the nearest Requiem Guard.
The force of a sonic boom shattered windows across the block as both gems hit the Guard square in the chest—and shattered against its armored form.
For a heartbeat, Cliff could only stare. He always cast Speed Burst twice on the gems he used. That gave them over thirty-seven thousand newtons of force. Not even enchanted dragon scales could withstand a hit like that. Yet the Guard didn’t even seem to notice. Instead, it ran into a different house, and the sound of screams followed quickly.
More screams filled the air as other members of the Requiem Guard ran into different houses.
Cliff gasped. “Oh Stars, they’re targeting civilians!” He shot back down to the street and after the first Guard.
A wave of weakness hit him just before he reached the door. It was like the air was too thin to breathe, and his body and mind suddenly felt sluggish. He wrestled down the sensation and stumbled inside.
What he found inside was like something out of a nightmare. A Guard was just pulling its ax out of the remains of a white mare’s skull, as an orange stallion screamed in shock and denial.
“Over here!” Cliff summoned another gem, and cast Speed Burst three times before launching it.
That gem punched a hole in the back of the Guard’s armor, but again the Guard didn’t seem to notice or care.
It advanced on the stallion, ax raised. “Nnnnoww …”
“Cliff, duck,” Big Mac ordered.
He barely had time to obey before his companion sailed overhead and slammed both forehooves into the Guard, launching it through the wall and into another house.
Big Mac chased after it, his expression set. “Heal ‘er.”
“I’ll try.” Cliff scrambled to his feet and ran to the fallen mare. Up close, the damage was even worse than he’d feared.
The male civilian ran to her side as well. “You’re a wyrm,” he grabbed at Cliff’s armor, “that means you can heal Egg White, can’t you? Please, please you have to heal her!”
The sound of more blows echoed from outside, along with a deathly rattle that could only be the Guard’s voice.
A magic-draining weapon destroyed this mare’s brain. Cliff clenched his eyes shut, and not just because of the headache the Guard’s influence was causing. “She’s already gone.”
“No …” The stallion’s grip tightened. “No, you have to. Even if there’s only a tiny chance, you’d still try if it were your wife, wouldn’t you?” Broken sobs filled the air. “Please.”
Cliff knew that the stallion was right. “I’ll try.” He took a deep breath then drained one of his magic batteries completely. The excess magic roared through his veins like a tidal wave, threatening to overwhelm him. Cliff ordered his scattered thoughts together and cast the most powerful healing spell that he could manage.
“None of my shields work at all on it,” Blueblood sent.
Gritting his teeth, Cliff put both hands over the mare’s ruined skull and released the flood of magic within him. “Come on, heal!”
Pain filled the link.
“Big Mac, get out of there!” Eyes sent. “Their weapons must negate the Shadow-form Rune.”
“Heal!” Cliff ordered Discord’s cloak to help him, and pushed himself even harder.
Another Rainboom shook the ground, filling the area with color. “We need your help out here, Cliff!” Rainbow sent.
More pain, only this time it was much worse.
“I’ve got him,” Eyes sent. “Oh Stars, I thought those were both minor cuts. I need all the magic you can spare. Dash, Blue, buy me whatever time you can.”
The battery was completely drained, Cliff was starting to get lightheaded from overloading his body with all that magic, but the mare hadn’t healed at all. “I’m sorry,” he gasped before shooting out the hole after the rest of his team.
Fire Eyes was kneeling over Big Mac, and Blueblood stood defiantly between them and the Guard. Rainbow was much closer to the Guard, sending out gust after gust of wind with her wings.
The Guard itself had almost completely recovered from any damage. Even the hole that Cliff’s gem had made in its back was mostly closed. In spite of the hurricane-force winds assaulting it, the monster was still pressing forward, its eyes locked on Big Mac. “I caannn’t beeelievvve …” its unearthly voice rattled.
Cliff pulled out another gem. Casting Speed Burst multiple times took up time and willpower when there wasn’t much of either to spare. On the other claw, anything less than three uses of the spell didn’t even qualify as an annoyance to the Guard. He dumped six uses into the gem, his maximum, and let it fly.
The projectile punched right through the Guard’s armored leg, leaving a gaping hole and a thunderous rumble in its wake.
Precious seconds ticked by as Cliff enchanted another gem six times and launched it, then another gem, and another, and another. Sweat poured down his face from the strain of casting so much so quickly.
A final gem severed the Guard’s hoof completely, and yet it continued to press forward, limping slightly on its stump of a leg. “Tooooo late noww …”
“I can’t keep this up much longer,” Cliff sent, fighting down his panic.
“And my wings are just about spent,” Rainbow added.
“I have an idea.” Blueblood’s horn lit up, and a shield formed around the Guard. It did nothing to the Guard, but it did push the ground away beneath it and dig out a small crater. More shields quickly followed, digging deeper and deeper until the Guard had disappeared completely beneath the earth. Meanwhile, Blueblood sank to the ground, panting for breath.
A metallic hand appeared over the edge of the newly formed pit, followed by the rest of the Guard. “Neverrrr had … a chiiiild!” It roared the last part like a battle cry, and charged.
“Can you do that again?” Cliff grabbed a large piece of crystalline rubble and fired. It shattered on impact against the Guard’s arm.
Blueblood struggled back to his feet, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, it seems that my shields are far better at withstanding force than exerting it.”
Rainbow nodded weakly. “Thanks for doing that anyway. I’ll hold it off as long as I can.” She jabbed both wings forward once more, and another burst of pressurized wind crashed into the Guard, slowing its advance.
“Mac’s stable.” Fire Eyes stood up. “Dash, get out of its way. Cliff, when I attack, grab its weapon.” She took a deep breath and spat out a thin beam of pink energy at the Guard’s right arm.
Cliff shot past the Guard moments later, grabbing its ax as he went. Unfortunately, Eyes’ beam hadn’t managed to slice all the way through the Guard’s arm, and its grip on the weapon remained firm. Cliff was brought to a jarring halt with his hands still wrapped around the ax.
Before he could move, something slammed into him like a train. His entire left side exploded into agony as he was thrown into a nearby wall. The air was forced from his lungs, and black spots filled his vision.
“I … caann’ttt beeelieve …”
The last thing Cliff saw before the darkness overwhelmed him completely was the Guard approaching, its ax held high.