//------------------------------//
// Chapter 13: Counter-attack 
// Story: Siege of the Crystal Empire 
// by Mystic Mind 
//------------------------------//


(13: Counter-attack)


When it came to Meteor's fight, there were few that could keep up with the sheer ferocity of her assault. Her wild abandon left her guard sloppy, allowing many of the Trolls that isolated her from her regiment to take pot shots wherever they could. The growing number of cuts and bruises only fuelled the fire of Meteor's rage, swinging her hammer in whichever direction the pain lead her.

To her credit, nothing the Trolls did to her came close to slowing her down, her feral screams piercing through the monsters’ psyche to keep an already disorganised shamble from getting too close. A swing to the left, a smashed face blinded, a swing to the right, arms laying limp, broken in several places. Now drenched in blood, the earth pony's onslaught was reduced to swinging her hammer around in circles, becoming a whirlwind of doom with not a care for friend or foe.

This was the breaking point for the berserker mare. With her sight clouded by the fog of war, her predictable attacks became easy to exploit; an axe slicing into her back followed by one just below her right-hind knee bringing her rampage to an end. Meteor's armour protected her from the worst of the cutting force, but the sheer brute force was enough to maim regardless. As she fell, Meteor threw around one final swing, the tip of her hammer's head colliding with the temples of both her assailants, their faces flattened with pieces of their skulls scattering across the snow.

Far from the Trolls to miss an opportunity for revenge, a horde rushed the downed earth pony, pushing and shoving each other as they bickered amongst themselves over who would get the killing blow. But this was a pleasure which they would be denied, as leaping out from the heavy infantry with wings outstretched, Moonlight stabbed her twin stilettos into the chests of a Troll pair.

With a speed that made her limbs a blur to all, Moonlight thrashed her four weapons around at every troll who tried to attack the mare-at-arms to bleed them dry. The moment her blades tasted Troll blood, they were already withdrawn, stabbing at every orifice and opening they could get at. In conjunction, a mace and a buckler were equally as effective, aiming to hit the same deep wounds which had just been opened up. The brute force Moonlight displayed may not have been comparable to Meteor, but her deadly focus would easily make her fighting style equal in the eyes of any seasoned warrior.

Moonlight had changed the fate of her friend single-hoofedly, as with their advantage lost, the Trolls were withdrawing, closing in their ranks to avoid the frenzied Pegasus. Pulling Meteor onto her back, Moonlight retreated behind the front lines to check her wounds. With the Lancers rescued, the Canterlot Guard were once again able to advance after the enemy, keeping the distance between them to an absolute minimum to prevent any more unwanted surprises, the heavy infantry returning to the army's flanks.

The tactical retreat of the Trolls had not gone unnoticed by Kur'zun. The ambush had failed, as had his weather magic in preventing the Crystal Lancers from receiving aid. Less than a quarter of the Crystal Pony lancers had been slain, and despite the resilience of the Phantom Stallions, the Empire's defenders were beginning to make headway. Moonshadow's magic allowed many of the phantoms to reform, but this power still had its limitations. It was time to switch to a different strategy.

Meteor awoke from her dazed state to the harsh embrace of the frozen ground. Her initial attempts to move were thwarted by heavy jolts of pain through her limbs, the arctic winds biting at the few exposed parts of her coat. In front of her were the scattered body parts of a slain troll barbarians, while behind her, Moonlight folded her wings as she came into land.

“Ugh, Moonlight, what-”

“Don't bother asking, we've got more important things to deal with,” Moonlight said, the annoyance in her voice not going unnoticed despite her extended hoof out to help Meteor up. “Can you stand?”

Meteor's muscles still felt they had been pelted with bricks, though for now it was at least at a tolerable level. Despite Moonlight's discouragement of questions, there was one on her lips which she just had to ask; “What do I need to kill, and where is it?”

Moonlight smirked, not knowing whether to be amused or frightened that Meteor hadn't lost an ounce of her fighting spirit after recovering from her rampage. “Spoken like a true Highlander. The Trolls’ days are numbered, and the Phantom Stallions will be next. Fancy finding Emerald to decide which need to go first? You'll forget all about your aches once you get back into the fray.”

The Phantom Stallions had at least moved away from the cavaliers, leaving the Crystal Ponies enough room to regroup and regain their lost momentum, aiming to start on a fresh cycle of hit and run attempts. Emerald had re-engaged in a deadly dance between three Troll warriors, ducking and weaving through their clumsy swings to cut away at their flesh. When Meteor and Moonlight stepped up to relieved two heavy infantry ponies from the front line, the Trolls were already dead, with more stepping up to take their place. Emerald positioned himself carefully in relation to the new foes, allowing room for the troops around him to meet their charge, killing them all with less than three strikes of their weapons.

What Moonlight said was true; fighting on did make pain easier to manage, at least in the sense of translating the pain of her wounds into bashing in the skulls of Trolls. Staring at the bloody pulp beneath her feet, Meteor's breath rate began to pick up again. She was starting to get a strong sense of déjà vu, though why was an answer she couldn't quite put her hoof on. Her rage stepping up a notch with each kill wasn't new, but Meteor got a distinct feeling that she needed to make up for lost time by making herself the bane of the empire's enemies.

“That's enough, Meteor” Emerald stepped in front of the earth pony, rebuffing her weapon with his buckler. “This must not turn into a war of attrition. Killing Moonshadow and destroying the siege machines must become our top priority. We have the advantage, but we're not out of the woods yet.”

“Well, if that's the case,” Meteor said, gesturing her hoof out to the chaos of the battlefield, “Why not press the assault and over run the catapults? We go in, swarm Moonshadow with his pathetic weapons an' watch them phantoms fall like dominoes!”

“I don't mean to knock your enthusiasm, Meteor,” Moonlight added, suppressing her frustration despite how much her comrade's reckless attitude grated on her nerves, “but Emerald's right. If we're not careful, we could find ourselves in an unfavourable situation and put more pony lives at risk. It may look like Emerald is holding back, but trust me when I say that I've known him long enough to understand when he has a grander plan on his mind. Worry yourself not, we will be victorious, if you just have a little more patience.”

Moonlight knew well enough from her training that, among the Night Guards, such brash disregard for orders would get a pony like Meteor reprimanded in a heartbeat. She herself had almost been evicted from the Canterlot Solar Guard; her insistence on using real wing blades in place of training armaments getting her in a whole heap of trouble. She considered herself lucky that Luna had taken Emerald's advice and chosen her for Night Guard transfer when she did, as the Moon Princess knew better than most how hard it was for hot-headed ponies to suppress their rage in times of strife.

Moonlight could remember in vivid detail the brutal training courses she had to fly through; filled with a menagerie of captive beasts—from cockatrices to hydras—that could only be killed by exploiting specific weaknesses, all the while maintaining absolute stealth. Though Moonlight knew nothing of Meteor's personal history, other than a brief mention of cultural origins, she hoped that the passionate earth pony would understand the need for more restraint.

“Patience...” Meteor sneered through gritted teeth. “The Crystal Empire has been under siege for six Heart-forsaken days and ye expect me ta be patient?!”

Swinging her hammer at Emerald, Meteor forced her commander back, the red mist seeping in to claim her mind for a second time that day. “I'll show ye all how we highland earth ponies do battle! Follow me if ye dare, ye lilly-livered, diamond dogs!”

“That's enough!” Emerald snapped, leaping in front of the raging earth pony before she could run off again. “I've had enough of your recklessness. Get back in line and show some damned self-restraint already, or I'll have you court-martialled after all this is done!”

“Stand our ground? Are ye havin' a laugh?!” Meteor spat in response. “These monsters won't stop until the empire is in ruins! How do you expect us to kill 'em if we just keep standin' around, waiting to be killed?”

“You really don't get it, do you?” Moonlight lunged at Meteor from behind, throwing a flurry of punches into the scars across the berserker's body to pacify her. “Aren't you the least bit curious as to how you got those wounds? The fact you have a fifteen-minute gap in your recent memory? Maybe if you actually stopped to think about the bigger picture, you'd realise how your rampaging is putting us all in danger!”

For the first time since the battle had started, Meteor found herself lost for words. The sharp tongue of her Lunar Guard compatriot had doused the fire of her spirit, quelled by the revelation that the passion she brought to the defence of the empire—not just her home, but her entire life—was a risk comparable to the Phantom Stallions. She looked around her, everypony besides Emerald and Moonlight too occupied with the fight to pay attention to any individual drama.

Returning her gaze to Moonlight, Meteor slumped down in the snow, her morale crushed under the weight of the thoughts storming through her head. “What now?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper above the chaos of war. “If I fight, I risk goin' berserk. But I can't just sit on my haunches an' do nothin'.”

“I can't answer that question,” Moonlight replied, softening the edge on her voice. “But you're a tough cookie, so I know you can learn to temper that rage of yours. For now, just follow my lead. Who knows? You might just learn a thing or two. After all, Emerald asked me directly to join this battle alongside him, so, if he thinks you're good enough, then I trust his judgement.”

The subtle grin that formed on the edge of Moonlight's lips gave a context to her words that Meteor hadn't noticed before. Just as she was a master of crafting weapons, so too was Moonlight a linguistic forger. There was one word which stood out in her mind more than any other; 'temper'.

“If that's the case,” Meteor said, her voice perking up with restored confidence, “then I think that makes me yer apprentice in warfare.”

“Now you're speaking my language! But first and foremost, we answer to Emerald,” Moonlight flexed her wings in preparation for returning to the fight. “So, commander, what are your orders?”

Emerald opened his mouth to speak, but the words caught in his throat when he spotted an ominous sign heading his way. Kur'zun was on the move, his magical blizzard intensifying with each wave of its staff. Worse still, random bolts of arcane magic sprouted from the tip, feeding the Phantom Stallions to speed up the recovery of those that had been damaged, but not slain. While Meteor gripped the hilt of her hammer tightly in her hooves, unaware of an additional spell the Shaman had cast to counteract the empire's recent gains. Sprouting from the ground beneath her, a twin pair of frigid, bony hands grabbed hold of Meteor's hind legs, releasing a burst of ice magic that froze her hooves to the spot. As the magical storm closed in around the imperial army, the Troll warriors retreated behind the Phantom Stallions, letting their fleshless companions take the brunt of the icy winds.

Catching a glance of his Cavaliers chasing after the retreating trolls around the opposing army's flank, Emerald tried to call for them to return, but his voice was drowned out by the roar of the magic winds. There was nothing he could do to prevent the Crystal Lancers from becoming engulfed in the whiteout. Standing side by side with Meteor and Moonlight, Emerald shivered against the extreme cold. When he saw the Phantom Stallions charging from out of the storm's cover, Emerald raised his rapier and prepared to retaliate. Meeting the enemy charge, he leant to the left to dodge the right-hook of a phantom, only to find that the swing was far faster than he anticipated. The spike of the phantom's gauntlet struck him in the shoulder, punching through his armour to puncture a vein in his front leg, causing blood to spring out from it. Crying out, Emerald did his best to ignore the wound as he continued to roll to the left, using all the strength in his opposite hoof to retaliate as he twisted his body towards the monster, stabbing his weapon into its gem just before he fell out of reach. Though his aim struck true, his movements still felt sluggish, his vision becoming blurry beyond a few meters beyond his outstretched hoof.

The fact that each of Emerald's successive attacks were slower than the last demonstrated a brutal reality; the shaman's spell was taking its toll on him. He looked to his battle companions for support, only for his heart to skip a beat when he realised that the elemental magic was doing more than just making them slower. No, from what little he could clearly see, the storm appeared to be literally freezing them in place, with both Moonlight and Meteor becoming consumed by a layer of ice slowly creeping up their bodies.

Emerald only had to look down to see that the same thing was happening to him, the hoof he raised to hold his rapier being the only one of his four limbs that had not been captured by the ice. Emerald pulled and twisted at his binds, trying with all his might to escape his frozen shackles, but his panic did nothing to stop its advance. All he could do now was pray to the Crystal Heart that he would die quickly, sparing him from the grisly fate of suffocation.

Emerald's saviour came in the form of support which he had almost forgotten about since the start of the battle. Just as Emerald closed his eyes, the ice now covering up to his neck, a single arrow shot down from the sky above, piercing the gem of a Phantom Stallion and pumping a surge of magic through its tip, causing the monster to explode in a shower of shrapnel.

From atop the walls of the empire, Stellar Shine grinned as a piece of the destroyed phantom went flying into the icy block, shattering the bonds and freeing Emerald in an instant.

“Gotcha.”