The two giant ponies didn't move for many heartbeats. Crimson's head gradually moved and flopped, like he was a new colt who couldn't control his body. Temethyst continued to stare at his opponent with a confident grin. The Elements of Harmony continued to orbit him, but their dark tint have been covered by Luna and Celestia's magical beam.
The king rubbed his hoof in the mud, then swiped it to the side. Lines of cracks emerged, each line running parallel to each other. Then, he swiped his hoof perpendicular, creating more lines in the ground to form a grid in the earth. All who were on the outside of the circle stared intently at the strange action, waiting for some form of devastating attack. Strangely enough, nothing else happened.
Another long moment of tense uneventfulness passed before the king finally spoke, his booming voice making all around flinch in surprise. "Come, boy. Let us get started with my ascension." His mighty wings snapped open, then used a wing assisted leap. When he crashed into the ground, a nova of black shot from his landing spot, desecrating the entire area with the power of death, but only as far as the edge of the circle.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna visibly struggled at that action, and at the sudden flex in power. They felt their magical hold against the elements falter, which made them put more of their concentration into their magic. "It's... too strong," Celestia whispered.
"Keeep the barrier uuuppp," Demi commented in a haze. "Keeep the maaagic contaaained in the cirrrcle."
Black smoke rose from the ground and started to surround the king, swirling around him as if it were some sort of mist barrier. He looked up, feeling the power of the strange clouds, then lunged forward in a roar. Blue flames shot from his mouth with black veins intertwined.
Crimson, without even facing the attack, spun away at the last moment, taking only two steps to the side while spinning an full circuit, all while being close enough to the black flames to feel the chill of the void. As the flames shot passed him, he planted his front hoof on the ground, twisted, then pushed forward with his free hoof into the air. A column of earth broke through the desecrated ground, punching at the grounded king.
Temethyst lifted his front hoof and physically punched the column of earth. It shattered and exploded, rock and dirt flying high into the air and bouncing off the protective barrier to contain the battle of gods from reaching innocent ponies. Following his punch, Temethyst planted the hoof on the ground, then punched toward Crimson. The shattered stone formed into a solid wall toward Crimson. As if it didn't concern him at all, Crimson casually ducked, going as low as his chest was on the ground. He lightly padded the ground with his front hoof, making only the bottom of the wall turn to sand. As soon as the wall passed harmlessly over him to explode on the barrier, Crimson stood up hard, whipping his head up and back. At the same time, the king made another action, rearing on his hind legs and slamming his front hooves on the ground. The earth buckled under the impact, and a large crack opened up beneath Crimson. Sanctimoniously, Crimson's magic summoned a large spike of earth to punch through the ground. Crimson fell into the hole while the king was thrown into the air, slamming into the barrier. When he hit the barrier, he pushed himself off, slamming into the ground to make the crack close to crush the trapped pony. However, Crimson shot up through the crack just as it closed. He spread his wings in the air and redirected his momentum to collide into the mighty king.
The two clashed, and a pulse of magic burst from the impact. The force was so intense that it pierces through the protective circle, knocking tons of ponies off their hooves and pushing them back on the ground. The rest started to slide back from the pulse, but they adjusted their positions to get back into place. The dust picked up inside the circle, blocking all visibility inside the arena. The ground continued to shake violently as the sound of scraping rock echoed through the area.
When the dust cleared, dozens of black spikes and pillars were extruded from the desecrated earth as two large silhouettes shot straight into the air through the cloud of dust. Like ferocious dragons, the two flew into the air in spirals of movement.
Flames of red, blue, and black, shot and spewed everywhere, hitting and spraying off of the circle barrier that apparently extended in a column instead of a dome of protection.
The two flew higher and higher, Temethyst flying closely behind Crimson. With a snap of his wings, Crimson spun to the side as a black fireball flew passed him. His hooves hit the barrier, and he pushed himself off as a cone of void hit the barrier. It exploded in a wild spray, but the change in momentum gave Crimson the opportunity to act. He pounced on Temethyst in midair, making the two spin upward for a moment before they started their decent. He punched his hoof hard into the face of Temethyst, putting much more strength in the blow than he could ever on his normal size. In return, Temethyst's climbing claws on his back hooves pushed into the protective armor Crimson wore. The blades were stopped by the enchanted links, but the strength and force behind the the kick made the chain buckle.
The king slashed down at the red coated pony, putting three deep gashes in his muzzle. Another slash came up, but Crimson reached his jaws up and bit down on one of the king's horns. Crimson released his hold, flying up and over to land on the king's back. He wrapped his arm under the king's neck as his back legs closed down hard against Temethyst's wings.
The two fell freely from high into the air toward the spiked ground. Temethyst tried to break his wings free from Crimson's hold. Regardless of the king's incredible strength, he couldn't get his wings to open. Instead of trying to break his wings free, Temethyst brought his chin to his torso, then lashed upward. The curved horns stabbed and dug into Crimson's shoulder. That loosened the grip Crimson held on his neck, but not around the wings.
The king looked down to make another stab, but Crimson leapt off the king's back, pushing him down toward the ground. The king's wings opened, and he slammed hard against the barrier. Magic pulsed at the impact as the king tired to slow his fall. He pushed off the barrier to redirect some of his momentum. He crashed through the spikes and pillars from the side, making the city of skyscrapers crumble from the middle and fall to the ground.
Crimson landed, blood oozing down the gaping puncture wound in his shoulder, and from his nose to the ground. He had many black spots on his body and the protective armor from the black flames that sizzled and smoked. He looked down at the many feet of rubble and ruin to try to find his brother. He paced, putting favor in his uninjured legs, looking down into the ground. Suddenly, Crimson stopped and took a step back.
The rubble exploded as the king burst from the ground with an angry roar. The king leapt into the air and landed in front of Crimson. The only thing that covered his skin and coat more than the dirt were the many lacerations. His front hoof was lifted to guard his chest, indicating some sort of injury from under his plated armor. He looked at Crimson, then grinned. "I'm surprised, Ebon Commander. I have not had this much fun in a long, long time." His eyes started to scan the area, noticing the fatiguing army under the magical web. He grinned. "Come, brother. Let us see how much your allies can endure."
Temethyst reared up to his back legs, then slammed both of his hooves on the ground. The rubble below him pulsed, then exploded outward against the magic circle.
* * *
Twilight almost fell to her knees at the sudden shock from the impact. She quivered and nearly swooned. "Come on, everypony! Hold on!" She shouted.
"I'm try'n, suga," remarked Applejack. "This ain't no tree I'm bucking."
Twilight saw Temethyst leap at Crimson, who took a nonchalant step back to avoid the swipe. The king bucked and clawed more and more, but they were avoided by the white eyed red coated proxy in the circle. "If he can't beat him with magic, maybe he can beat him physically." Hitting nothing but air, Crimson ducked and swerved every physical attack launched at him. All the while, Crimson gave landing bludgeoned swipes in return. She noticed the king's expression going to frustration and anger as his horns glowed as he continued his attacks. "Get ready!" She shouted, preparing for another attack on the barrier.
Temethyst leapt into the air away from Crimson. He landed two lengths back, then turned toward Celestia and Luna. When he lowered his head, a massive burst of blue flames shot at the barrier. Then, to Twilight's ultimate surprise, Crimson leapt into the attack. He was slammed into the barrier, and was blown straight through it. The circle exploded, knocking the six off their hooves and back many feet. Crimson plowed between the two princesses, and into the purple coated seer. Crimson, a large pony missile, slammed hard into Demi and they were knocked to the ground, causing them to uncontrollably rolled down the hill. On the verge of panic, Twilight stood up, then looked around for an answer. Then, she saw it. "Oh no," she whispered when she saw the imperfection after the circle was struck from Temethyst's dark whip. She looked up at Temethyst, who in turn stared angrily at Celestia and Luna, and at their magical efforts to dampen the tainted element's power. "Oh no."