The next evening saw all of the world leaders, Kristen and myself meeting in my throne room. Grorim hadn't said too much since the interrogation of the Storm Creature. Mesud, Mando, Kathyrine and one of the Diamond Dog warlords all brought a token guard force with them, all of whom took places around my throne room as we sat down at a table I'd had brought out for the meeting. All of the leaders were muttering among themselves as I entered the room, and they stopped when they saw me. I took my place at the head of the table and nodded to each of them.
"Gentlemen, I thank you for coming so quickly. As I'm sure King Grorim has told you, there is no doubt anymore that the Storm King will come for your countries next. Our interrogation of the captured Storm Creature promised your death and the enslavement of your subjects. We must fight now, or all will fall into darkness."
"King Grorim has indeed informed us of the danger the Storm King presents," Mesud said. "However, I am still wary of a full assault on Canterlot. If the Storm Creature is correct, and I see no reason to believe otherwise, his entire, rather considerable force has withdrawn to the city and has had several days to dig in and prepare their defenses."
"Would it not be wiser to merely surround the city and lay siege to it?" Mando suggested.
"No, I don't think that would work," I replied. "A siege works best against and opponent who does not have the means to just fly out of the city whenever they desire."
"Indeed, but you are forgetting that doing so would leave them exposed to any flying forces," Mesud pointed out. "Besides, they would likely fly to an area not as well defended and hard to get to as Canterlot, nor would they have the time to set up proper defenses before our army was upon them."
"Or they'd just use their air force to ferry supplies into the city," I countered. "Equestria does not have a significant amount of airships, and the ones we do have are for civilian uses. It would take time to convert a cruise ship into something that could effectively blockade Canterlot, and that doesn't even take into account the fact that they'd just be shot out of the sky. And even if we could stop their air force, it would take a considerable amount of time for them to run out of supplies such as food." My expression darkened and I leaned in slightly. "And where do you think they would get their food supplies when their conventional meals would run out? I'm not going to go into the city to find my subjects slaughtered as a food source."
The rest of the leaders exchanged uneasy looks, with Mesud and Mando leaning in to say something to each other. They both nodded before turning back to me.
"Prince Antares," Mesud began. "We don't think--"
"Oh you don't?" I growled. "After everything you've seen, after everything that has happened, do you really think that the Storm King and his army wouldn't do such a thing?" I scoffed and shook my head. "You really don't get it, do you? You really don't understand what we're up against. How many ways do I have to spell it out for you? When I retook my city I found the headless bodies of our captains strung up beside one of my officers who had been tortured! They beheaded the bodies and have put them on pikes outside of Canterlot Castle! I found my staff stuffed into cages like cattle! There are no redeeming qualities to the Storm King; no scraps of mercy in his actions. He will inflict every horror onto your people that he has to mine!" I slammed my hoof on the table, causing the rest of them to flinch. "If we do not take Canterlot back as soon as possible, we are all going to die!"
"Um..." Kathyrine slowly raised her claw. "I agree with Prince Antares. I think our best benefit here is my people. I heard that your pegasi were shot out of the sky, but their army wasn't as big as mine is. We can fly higher than their airships if we really need to. Also, I know that Mesud has airships of his own." She nodded in his direction. "My country has been on the wrong end of them many times. Maybe he doesn't have as many as the Storm King, but enough that we could put up a fight while the ground forces take Canterlot back. If we beat the Storm King back, and especially if we capture or kill him during the battle, I don't think we're going to have an issue with the Storm Creatures anymore."
'Perhaps," Mando said. "Though I have my doubts about that. What if they regroup in twenty years and fight us again?"
"Then we will be ready for them," I said. "He has an entire empire under his control. Freeing them would be simple once the bulk of his forces have been destroyed by us."
"And who can prove that this is the bulk of his forces?" Mesud pointed out. "Perhaps this is merely a small fraction."
"In a lighting war? I don't think so," I said. "Maybe it's not all of them, but he's not going to risk being beaten back because he doesn't have enough troops. The whole point of a lightning war is that you don't suffer defeats because of the power, size and speed of your army. Any roadblock would be devastating because it would give your opponents time to regroup and defend while you gather more troops for another try. Unless he's an idiot, we're seeing almost all of his army. I'd imagine that all he's held back are the troops he's using to occupy other nations."
"That is all merely conjecture, Antares," the Diamond Dog growled. "You are assuming a lot."
"Perhaps, and I'll admit that I haven't studied the wars of this planet very thoroughly, but I can tell you of my experiences studying Earth wars. We have seen this kind of war before. Have any of you?" I looked around the table and didn't get a response from any of the other leaders. "Yeah, that's what I thought. I'd say the only reason we're having this conversation now is because he paused to try to capture me and drain my magic. If he does then his victory is assured. He will enslave the world. If he captures me, then all of this discussion is moot. Everyone at this table will be dead within a week."
"All save one, perhaps." Mando looked over to Kristen and tilted his head. "We do have an ace that we have not discussed, Princess Kristen: you."
Kristen flinched back and flattened her ears. "Oh, um... I see what--"
"You are the God of Chaos, Princess Kristen," Mesud said. "You can bend reality to your whim. We would be foolish to waste such an asset."
"I get what you're saying, but I'm not as powerful as Discord was. I'm not gonna be for hundreds or even thousands of years."
"That may be so, but I cannot imagine that you are powerless," Mando said.
"I mean, so, but..." She gave me a pleading look before turning back to the rest. "I've never been in war before."
"Incorrect, My Lady," Grorim said. "You were there for the first Battle of Canterlot. You fought alongside your brother, did you not? You were not some casual observer?"
Kristen's ears pinned to the side of her head and she looked to the ground, uneasily rubbing her foreleg. "I... yeah, I did. I didn't kill anybody, though. I just incapacitated them. I don't even know if I can kill anybody with my chaos magic."
"Maybe not directly. Maybe you couldn't just stop their hearts with a wave of your hoof, but I can see other ways you can go around that. Perhaps you could crash two airships together, incapacitating them both? It would certainly save a lot of lives if you could."
"I mean..." She looked back at me, probably hoping that I could get her out of it. Instead I just shrugged.
"I think it's worth exploring. It wouldn't be any different than when you incapacitated them during the first battle. We're not asking you to kill everyone on board. We just want you to ground them. Our soldiers would take care of the rest." I smiled at her and put my hoof on her shoulder. "I get it, this isn't an idea situation. You want to fight in this about as much as we do, however, this is the reality of things. You know what they've done to our people; to our family. We need you, Kristen. I need you, just like I needed you back in Klugetown."
"It's not like I stopped you from getting captured there, or getting hurt in the first battle," Kristen muttered.
"I know, but that was then and this is now. We're not being ambushed this time. We're fighting with other beings and a good plan on our side. I know, you're not violent like I have to be. But I'm sorry, I won't let you try to not see the reality of the situation anymore. We're at war, and we're all going to die or get enslaved if we don't win. Just... do your best. I know you have it in you. I saw it in Klugetown."
"I guess..." Kristen took a deep breath, then slowly began nodding. "Yeah, I'll do my best. I don't like the idea of killing, but if I can at least make things a little easier for the rest of you, then I'm willing to do my part to make sure we win."
"Excellent," Mesud said with a smile. "I feel like we may have a chance to avoid massive casualties now. Quickly knocking out their airships will give us an invaluable advantage. If our air force is not worried about them, their ground forces will fold quickly."
"Then we have a plan," I said. "Kristen, the griffins and myself will begin the battle by focusing on the airships, allowing the rest of the troops to focus on their ground forces. I will send out what troops I can to gather intel to finalize our strategy. We will need to move out as soon as we can."
The rest of them voiced their agreement, and we all stood up from our chairs and made our way out of the throne room. The moment my guards opened the door I was greeted with the sight of a pony that I thought I might never see again.
"Captain Skies?"
Raining Skies gave me a weak smile and a salute. "Prince Antares. It's a pleasure to see you again. From what I've heard, it sounds like we've both been through it."
* * * *
I instantly took Raining Skies to my private dining room and got her what food I could. She instantly grabbed the bread I set in front of her and tore into it, chewing for a minute before she gave me her attention again.
"What do you know?"
"Just what Lieutenant Rapids has told me. You tried to fight them back, but it didn't go well and the city was taken."
"River survived?" Raining Skies smiled and relaxed her wings. "I'm really glad to hear that. How is she?"
"Not well," I said quietly. "They strung her up in the city square next to Blaze and Night Stalker."
"Oh..." Raining Skies flattened her ears and put her bread back down on the table. "I knew that Blaze died in the first attack, but I hadn't heard that they'd killed Night Stalker."
"Him and Prince Shining Armor as well."
"I'd heard the rumors of that. Sorry to hear that they're true. Princess Cadance..." Raining Skies took a shaky breath in and poked at the bread. "It's gonna be hard for her now, I guess. Between ruling the Empire and Flurry..."
"We'll do everything we can to help her, of course."
"If we make it out of this, I guess," Raining Skies said. "And that's a big if right now. When I retreated out of Baltimare with the fifty or so pegasi who hadn't been killed trying to take out their airships, I spent all of my time trying to gather as much information as I could through my usual contacts. A few of my networks were still intact, including one in Canterlot, so I got every scrap of info I could."
"What did you find out?"
Rapids opened up a satchel at her side and slid out a stack of papers. She flipped through them and pulled out a photograph that she slid over to me. My eyes widened at the sight. It showed Canterlot, surrounded by what must have been over thirty airships, while an endless sea of tents surrounded the city, no doubt holding the Storm Creatures that couldn't fit into the city itself. I couldn't see into the city itself, but I could only guess what they were doing in there.
"Initial guesses state that there are over thirty thousand troops occupying the city, and that's not even including the ones manning the airships. From what my contact has been able to tell me, the Storm King is in the city, and he spends his time holed up in what's left of Canterlot Castle."
"And Tempest?"
"She's back in the city now that his army has withdrawn," Raining Skies said. "I'd be surprised if she wasn't in the castle giving orders in the Storm King's name. I haven't been able to spot her anywhere. I can't imagine that she's out of the city. All of my other contacts have stated that the only place that Storm Creatures are occupying is Canterlot. They don't strike me as the kind to hide small garrisons of troops in a tiny hamlet. That's ignoring the fact that they tend to stick out a little bit."
"And Ponyville is probably the only strategically significant place for them to occupy," I said. "If they managed to damage the Tree of Harmony then we'd be in a lot of trouble."
"Yeah, but I'm not sure if they even know it's there. I know they have the Element Bearers, so hopefully they haven't tortured that information out of them."
"I wouldn't put it past them, but that would require them to suspect that something that powerful was there," I pointed out. I grabbed the stack of papers and began flipping through it. "So basically it all boils down to the fact that they have their army in Canterlot and are dug in like a tick. Our current plan is to focus on the airships first, then that should make things easier for the ground forces."
"Yeah, that sounds good," Raining Skies said with a shrug. "Especially if we make the airships crash onto the army on the field, that would be killing two birds with one stone."
"Right." I flipped to another page. "So I heard that they took over everything. Is that true, or did we have some successful holdouts?"
"Well, despite their good air force, they didn't really plan on cloud cities. Las Pegasus and Cloudsdale are both completely untouched, so a lot of pegasi fled to those cities. There's a bit of a refugee crisis, but otherwise the industries of both cities are intact."
"That is going to help us a lot," I said with a smile. "We can move what ponies we can to Las Pegasus, then use Cloudsdale as a resupply station and point of attack for our air force."
"So we'll move Cloudsdale to Las Pegasus, make the swap, then put Cloudsdale in the range of Canterlot and move our air force from there." Raining Skies shrugged. "It's as good of a plan as any. The Storm Creatures can't occupy either city, and any airships he uses to try to stop us leaves Canterlot open for attack." She grabbed the bread again and tore off another chunk. "Gud 'nuff."
"I'll relay the info to the other leaders," I said, taking the intel in my magic. "I think we might just win this war yet."
* * * *
The griffins and what pegasi we had left flew out the next morning for Cloudsdale and Las Pegasus. I went to Las Pegasus personally and sent a scroll with my orders to Cloudsdale with Raining Skies. There were a few hiccups, of course, but by the end of the day we were well on our way to enacting our plan. Most of my job entailed setting up areas for the thousands of refugees that would be coming from Cloudsdale. Oddly enough, the casinos really helped out in that regard. Plenty of space for the pegasi in there. Not everypony got a room, of course, but everything worked out pretty well.
One of the bigger hiccups was the Las Pegasus weapons dealers. At first they were a little resistant to our plans, but pragmatism won out in the end. If the world was taken over then they wouldn't have anybody to sell their weapons to. They weren't tripping over themselves to give us their top-of-the-line stuff, but I was satisfied in the end that we'd be relatively well armed.
All throughout the process, Raining Skies and her intel network gave us what information they could on Canterlot. Nothing really changed, though I doubted that they didn't know we were mobilizing to take them down. We wouldn't have any element of surprise, but at the end of the day, I hoped to counteract that with our airbase. I wished that I had developed a weapon that would allow us to just snipe at the airships and ground troop from Cloudsdale, but I didn't have the time to develop something like that. We'd have to do this the old fashioned way.
We were finished within a week. All non-essential pegasi had been moved to Las Pegasus, leaving only the attack force. The Storm King's forces still hadn't moved out. I had no doubt that they'd spent the week digging in as much as they could. I had no illusions that this wouldn't be a bloody battle for both sides.
At the end of the week I stood at the edge of Cloudsdale with Kathyrine and Kristen. I felt the city move underneath me as the spires of Canterlot drew ever closer. I took a deep breath and fluttered my wings.
"We're almost there," I said.
"Yeah. From what I've been told, we're a few hours away at most," Kathyrine said.
I looked down at Kristen and draped a wing over her. She was staring at the approaching city, unblinking, with a haunted look on her face. I couldn't blame her. Between what had happened the last time she was in Canterlot and what we were asking her to do now... She wouldn't come out of this the same pony, and she knew it. None of us would.
As I watched, a pony came out of the crowd and stood next to us. I turned my head and my eyes widened when I saw who it was.
"Lieutenant Rapids? What are you doing?"
Rapids didn't look at me. She simply stared ahead at the Storm King's forces. "I was a coward in your name twice since this invasion started. I'm not going to let that happen again. Not when you need me."
"Rapids, it's there's no shame in waiting this out. You were wounded and tortured for weeks."
Rapids shook her head. "I don't care. I was tortured because of my cowardice. If I can, it would be an honor to redeem myself at your side."
I took a deep breath and looked over to Kathyrine and Kristen, both of whom nodded at me. Yeah, I got the point. She needed to do this, and would never be able to live with herself if she didn't. I took a deep breath, turned back to Rapids, and nodded.
"Very well, Lieutenant Rapids. If you feel you must."
"I do. I shall not fail you again."
I looked out and in the distance I saw the airships begin moving into a defensive position, while on the ground below them I saw the hustle of their army taking down their tents and getting into formation. I rued that there was only a narrow pass to get into the city itself unless a force wanted to get lost in the caverns in the mountain. We'd sent some Diamond Dog scouts out to see if they could find us a way with no success, and if the Diamond Dogs couldn't do it, I didn't think that anybody could. I wasn't going to risk a strike force getting lost.
I peered over the edge of the city at the mass of soldiers of all races marching underneath us. They would be the real force in the attack. If we could destroy the air force, that was one thing. Taking the city back was something else. One would lead to the other, though.
"Kind of makes you wish that we had cannons, doesn't it?" Kristen said, looking at the row of airships. "Though I'm not sure we could get in range by the time they started to engage us."
"True. They'd still be good."
I took a deep breath and twitched my wings, feeling the weight of the wing blades. It had been years since I had been in my full armor. My war hammer sat beside me, enchanted so that it wouldn't fall through the clouds. Behind me I heard the air force portion of the army getting ready. I took a quick glance and saw the gathered griffins and pegasi all chattering nervously among each other. It had been hundreds of years since a pegasus-griffin force of this scope had fought alongside each other. If nothing else, this war would likely help relations between the various nations. I rued that it took a madman like the Storm King to bring it about.
The three of us stared out at Canterlot, waiting for us to get into a good position. Once I felt we were close enough, I shot red sparks out of my horn. The army underneath us instantly stopped marching at the signal. It wouldn't do for them to get caught in the crossfire and ruin that advantage.
We were close enough that I could see the Storm Creatures make a pike wall for the advancing ground troops. Between the lines of the pike wall I saw a few Gatling Guns. I'd need to go for them first. If the soldiers had to get cut down by the guns, only for the few survivors to get to a pike wall, that would be less than idea. There would be casualties, but I didn't want an almost total destruction of the first wave.
"It's time. I'm going to give my orders for the ground troops."
I spread my wings and flew down to the front line, Kristen and Kathyrine close behind me. I landed at the front of the line, where Grorim was waiting with a few officers. I landed in front of them.
"All is ready?" Grorim asked.
"Yes. If everything goes smoothly, we'll have taken Canterlot back in a few hours. We have a solid plan."
"We're as ready as we can be, then." Grorim motioned to the army. "Anything you want to say to the troops?"
I lit my horn and a mist floated out of it, working its way through the army. Some even went up to Cloudsdale to get to the air troops. It was an old spell that allowed for orders to an entire army so that the opposing forces couldn't hear the orders.
As I saw the mist covering the army, I thought about what I wanted to say. During the first war I gave them. a big rallying cry that lifted their spirits and united us in our desire to end the war. I could have said something like that. I could have pumped them up with passionate words about how we were protecting our lands and our homes.
But I didn't do that. Instead I gave them two short sentences.
"I have no use for prisoners. Kill them all."
With that, I dissipated the mist and flew back up to the edge of Cloudsdale. Kristen and Kathyrine went to my sides again, though I could see their blank expressions. No doubt they'd been disturbed by my order. Well, that was too bad. Prisoners were a complication I didn't really want. No prisoners, no problem.
As we got closer, I nudged Kristen with my leg. "It's time, Kristen. Let's see what you can do."
Kristen took a deep breath and stepped forward. She reached out a hoof and squeezed her eyes shut. I held my breath and stared out at the airships. For a few minutes, nothing happened. The row of airships didn't move an inch.
"You can do it, Kristen. Just focus."
"Don't, TD," she growled. "Just... don't." She was getting really frustrated with her lack of success. I needed to use that.
"Kristen, just--"
"I said shut up!"
She swiped her hoof down, and I heard the groaning of metal as the airship in the middle of the line took a hard left turn, crashing right into the closest airship. The airships around began flying out of formation in an attempt to avoid being brought down. The two ships involved in the collision tried to pry themselves apart, but it was too late. The collision had suffered too much damage, and it wasn't more than a few seconds before they began going down. The Storm Creatures below tried to move out of the way, but they were packed too tightly together. Even from here we could hear the surprised and horrified shouts and screams of the Storm Creatures who couldn't avoid the death from above. With a loud, ear-splitting crash, the airships both landed, crushing the Storm Creatures below. I didn't like the odds for the Storm Creatures on the ships either.
The other ships had scattered, abandoning all sense of any kind of formation. It wasn't going to work, though. Kristen swiped her hoof again, and one of them went in the complete opposite direction, right into another ship, sending them both crashing to the ground. The Storm Creatures underneath began scattering in an attempt to avoid the crashes.
The remaining airships were in full retreat, trying to avoid Kristen's chaos magic. She clapped her hooves together and three more collided. Now that seven of them had been taken out in the first few minutes of the battle, a few of the remaining ones flew back around to behind Mount Avelon, while some attempted to get away completely. None of them even tried flying to Cloudsdale in a vain attempt to take us out. I lit my horn and shot green sparks into the air. Instantly the sound of thousands of beings taking off filled the air as the massive force of griffins and pegasi flew straight to the airships, backed up by Mesud's fleet. Given that they were more focused on escaping Kristen's powers, they didn't have the time to prepare for the boarding parties. Each ship was swarmed with pegasi and griffins, and they could not fight back against the sheer numbers.
Content that we wouldn't be bothered by the air ships, I spread my wings and flew back down to the ground troops. I shot orange sparks out of my horn and the soldiers instantly began charging. Given the disarray in the Storm King's numbers from their attempts to avoid the crashing airships, their pike wall had completely collapsed. A few dozen attempted to reform the line, but they were instantly slaughtered the moment the two armies collided. The Storm Creatures were being beaten back by the sheer force of our army. Kristen and I landed in the middle of the fray, and I swung my hammer at every Storm Creature I saw, sending them flying back.
I looked to the path up to Canterlot and saw that the Storm Creatures had re-formed their pike wall there. Storm Creatures behind the pike wall fired into the air, their arrows landing in the fray and striking both sides. I lit my horn and began drawing all of the moisture I could to me, and a ball of ice began forming just above my horn. When it was large enough, I slung it into the pike wall, crushing some and scattering the rest. I took to the air and shot out a beam of fire that I used to cut through the line.
Between my attacks, the lack of air reinforcements, and the disarray of the main army, the Storm Creatures were quickly pushed back. I led the charge up the main road and into the city itself. We met another pike wall at the main gate, but Kristen swiped her hooves down, and the ground underneath them turned to liquid and the sank into the ground. Kristen re-solidified the ground as our army reached the gate. I barely stopped to slaughter the trapped Storm Creatures.
Once we had reached the city itself the battle dissolved into complete chaos. Storm Creatures poured out of every building, almost surrounding our army. However, given that they had no semblance of organization, they were quickly pushed aside. I smelled the blood and heard the screams from both sides in the air as I lost myself in the fighting. Every Storm Creature that I saw was slaughtered, either with my magic or weapons. I swung my wings through the crowds, cutting death into the Storm Creatures. I wasn't going to be stabbed in the side by a surprise attack this time. Nothing would stop me from reaching my goal.
As we fought, I looked into the distance and saw Canterlot Castle. It looked relatively unguarded, as the occupying Storm Creatures had likely been deployed back to the front lines. I spotted Kristen incapacitating enemies in the crowd and flew down to her side. She whirled around to face me, likely thinking I was an enemy, but when she saw it was me, she put her hoof down. I motioned to the castle, and she nodded before we both took wing and flew away from the battle. Some of the Storm Creatures on the ground took pot shots at us with their bows, but we easily avoided them. We couldn't be bothered with the common soldier now. It was time to cut the head off of the enemy.
As we charged further into the fray, several of the air troops flew over to us, no doubt having finished fighting the airships. Some landed and fought that way, while others took crossbows and picked the Storm Creatures off from the air. I noticed a Storm Creature raise his bow to fire at me, but his attack was stopped when Rapids tackled him and slid her wing blade over his throat. She flipped off of him and landed in front of me with a salute before turning to face the other Storm Creatures. I landed alongside her and for a few minutes the two of us carved death and destruction into the Storm Creatures. Rapids fought like a feral berserker, slicing through the crowd with her wing blades.
I stopped in my tracks when a group of Storm Creatures pulled out bows and fired a volley into the crowd, once again hitting both sides. I put up a shield and the arrows bounced harmlessly off of it. I readied my wing blades to charge at them when I heard a gurgle at my side and felt something collapse onto me. My eyes widened when I saw what it was: Rapids had gone to the ground, three arrows sticking out of her side. I gasped and quickly scooped her up, placing her on my back and flying somewhere safer.
"Just hold on, Rapids, you're going to be okay! Just stay awake!"
Rapids groaned and nuzzled closer to my neck, holding on to me as I approached a deserted alleyway.
"Did I do it this time, Prince Antares?" she whispered. "Was I brave?"
"You were the bravest soldier on the battlefield today, Lieutenant. Just hold on and I'll help you."
Rapids let out a noise of contentment as I landed in the alley and threw up a shield so that we wouldn't be disturbed. I slid Rapids off of my back as gently as I could and laid her on the ground. I began charging a healing spell, but Rapids didn't move. She just laid on the ground, her eyes closed and a content smile on her face, even though she had been hit with three arrows. I cast a vital sign spell on her and my legs began shaking when it came back negative.
Not her. Not after everything that had happened to her.
I gently slid the arrows out of her side and placed my hoof on her head. "Go be happy in Paradise, Lieutenant River Rapids, my bravest, most loyal soldier. Put down your burden and rest."
I wished that I could do more for her, but there was still a battle. The Storm King had to pay for this, too. And he would. He'd pay for it a thousand times over.
I ran out of the alley and spread my wings to fly straight to Canterlot Castle, Kristen following close beside me. No more wasting time with his troops. No more avoiding the confrontation. The time was now to meet this Storm King.
We burst through the doors of the castle and ran straight for the throne room on the second level. If the Storm King was here, that's where he'd be hiding.
The first thing I noticed was that the castle was so... quiet. It didn't sound like there was a single soul around. I could hear the din of the battle in the distance, but it sounded like something out of a dream; something I could push aside and ignore with no real effort.
"Are you ready for this, TD?" Kristen asked as we approached the large double doors to the throne room. "This is it."
"I'm more than ready," I growled. "This ends today."
We turned the corner to the throne room and instantly stopped in our tracks at the sight before us. There wasn't some massive ambush waiting or us. All we saw was a single being standing in the middle of the room holding some kind of staff and flanked by two Storm Creatures.
The Storm King.
The Storm King grinned at us and gave us a condescending wave. "Well, this has been a long time coming, hasn't it?" he said with a chuckle, spinning the staff in his hands. "We meet at last, A... whoa!"
I fired a powerful beam of magic at him that would have left him a writhing mass on the ground had it struck. Instead he swiped the staff and the beam slammed into a bright red shield and dissipated harmlessly. He just giggled at me and pointed the staff at my head.
"Now, now, Antares, there are manners that must be observed here. We're two world leaders, after all, and I am a guest in your home." He tisked at me and waggled his finger. "It won't do at all."
"Do you really think that you're going to make it out of here?" I growled, my horn crackling with electricity. "I'm going to make you wish you had never been born. You will know pain like no other once I'm through with you."
The Storm King let out a loud, cawing laugh and stomped one of his hooves on the ground. "Oh, oh this is too rich! You really think you've won here because you've gotten the upper hand on my army? No no no no no, that's ridiculous. Sure, we've suffered casualties, but that will all be moot..." His grin turned nasty and a ball of magic appeared in his staff. "When I take your magic. It's useless to resist, Antares. You've done a good job getting to this point, better than I expected, even, but you're going to lose in the end. They all will. So be a good boy, and just get it over with."
I smirked and got into a combat stance. "And what makes you think that you can take my magic? I'm still quite capable of fighting."
"Oh, I know you are, I know you are, but you seem to have forgotten a few little, tiny, filly-sized details." He motioned to the Storm Creatures, who went over to the door and pulled it open. The Storm King giggled and clapped his hands together. "And what do we have behind door number three? Come on down and show the contestant what he's won!"
Tempest emerged from the darkness of the throne room, dressed in thick black plate armor complete with a heavy helmet. Her horn crackled as she cracked her neck.
"I believe you and I have some unfinished business together, chaos god," she growled at Kristen.
"Bring it on," Kristen growled.
Before I could say anything, two more Storm Creatures emerged from the darkness carrying cages, one with Nymeria and one with Maia. Both of them had glassy eyes from the Storm King draining their magic, but when they saw me, they cried out and reached through the bars for me.
"Now, you wouldn't want me to hurt these precious little fillies, would you? We've got the third one stashed away in the room behind the throne room, but we figured you'd want to see these two. I don't have to hurt them, do I?" the Storm King said. "And I won't. All you have to do is stand still..." He reached into a pouch at his side and pulled out one of the orbs that turned beings into stone. "And let this happen. It won't hurt... I think. If I see you move..." Tempest put a hoof on Nymeria's cage and crackled electricity around her horn threateningly. "Just stand still. And that goes for you too, chaos god." I glanced over at Kristen, who hadn't moved a muscle since Tempest had come into the room. "If you move--"
Unfortunately for him, the Storm King was so focused on what he thought was Kristen, that he didn't notice that it was merely a doppelganger that Kristen had created of herself. The real Kristen appeared behind Tempest with a large rock in her hooves. She shifted slightly to get into position, then, before Tempest could do anything, she slammed the rock into the back of Tempest's head as hard as she could.
Thus the final battle for Canterlot began.
I summoned ice daggers and flung them into the necks of each of the Storm Creatures around us so they wouldn't interfere, then fired off another beam of magic at the Storm King. With surprising speed he blocked it with the staff, stopping the beam in midair. He swiped his staff and the beam of magic flew toward Nymeria's cage. I barely cast a shield spell around her in time, and the spell bounced harmlessly off of the shield.
Tempest had recovered before Kristen could make another move, and slammed her hoof into Kristen's stomach as hard as she could, knocking Kristen back into the wall. Kristen took to the air just in time to dodge Tempest's next attack while I gathered magic around me to fight the Storm King. He shot two beams of magic at me, both of whom missed, but both of them stopped in their tracks and flew straight toward me, as if magnetized to my armor. I blocked one with a spell and dodged the other before sending out another row of ice daggers at the Storm King which he easily brushed aside.
* * * *
Okay, I had hoped that my attack would take Tempest out right away, but she must have had some really good armor. Probably protected with magic against a blunt force attack like mine. Even so, she'd probably have a splitting headache when she woke up the next morning. I'm sure that TD wouldn't let her worry about that for too much longer, if he wanted to capture her at all. He might just want to execute her and be done with it.
But that meant that I had to stop her first.
I lifted up the cages with my magic and began running as fast as I could away from TD's battle with the Storm King. I didn't need them in the crossfire, and if half of TD's focus was on protecting them, it would make his battle with the Storm King that much harder.
I didn't make it more than a dozen or so steps before Tempest tackled me from behind. I turned the ground into a soft pillow-like substance so that the foals wouldn't be hurt when their cages hit the ground, then twisted around to face Tempest.
"You're really not getting on my good side here," I growled.
Tempest bared her teeth at me and got into a fighting stance. "You've been a thorn in my side since we first took over your pathetic country. It will be a pleasure breaking your spirit, even if I can't break your body. By the end you'll be begging to serve the Storm King."
"You wish." I got into my own fighting stance. "Let's end this once and for all."
Tempest's horn fired up as if she was going to fire lightning at me, but at the last second she twisted her head and sent the bolts at Nymeria and Maia. My eyes widened and I jumped in front of the bolt just in time to prevent them from frying. Even with my powers, it still hurt. A lot. I had barely recovered when Tempest began slamming her hoof into my head. In desperation I shot out my hoof and collided with Tempest's jaw. She grunted and stepped back just long enough for me to get out from under her. I encased the fillies in a shield of rock, leaving a small opening at the top so that they could breathe.
That, of course, left me open for Tempest's attack, and she slammed both of her hind hooves into my side. I flew back, but flared out my wings to stop myself from hitting the wall. I flew down at the floor and slammed my hoof into the floor. The force of the blow combined with my magic made the floor flow out like a wave, sending Tempest flying. Unfortunately, she used the momentum to back flip and land on her hooves. I had to imagine that she was either ridiculously strong, or her armor was enchanted to make it feel lighter without sacrificing any of the protection. If it was metal, though, that would prove to be a problem for her.
She charged at me again, shooting lightning out of her horn, but I took to the air and shot my hooves out. The chestplate on her armor slowly began turning red as it heated up. Tempest cried out in pain, but didn't stop charging. She leaped into the air and wrapped me in a bear hug, pressing the heated metal against my body. It didn't hurt a ton, but it certainly made me uncomfortable enough that I stopped the spell. We landed on the ground and I tried rolling to get Tempest off of me. She landed a hit right on my throat, and I gurgled as my air was cut off. I reached up to grab my throat, but Tempest pressed her hoof down harder. Without air I began panicking out of sheer instinct.
I tried struggling out of Tempest's hold, but she began repeatedly slamming her hoof into my head as hard as she could. I twitched with every blow and tried to struggle, but even as a young chaos god, the blows disoriented me. All I could do was try to struggle and ignore the pain shooting through my head that got worse every time a blow landed. I weakly tried pushing aside the hoof that was pressing against my throat, but Tempest's assault weakened any efforts of mine. It hit the point where all I could do was twitch every time a blow landed.
Then she stopped.
I sucked in air as she removed her hoof and felt her get off of me. I rolled aside and shakily got to my hooves as my strength returned. I wobbled over to a wall and took a moment to regroup. I didn't doubt that she wouldn't leave me alone for long. I shook my head like a dog and got on my hind legs in a fighting stance, turning aside just in time to see Tempest standing in front of me with a spear in her hooves. Before I could do anything she slammed it into my gut. The spear went clear through me and into the wall behind me, pinning me in place. I weakly twitched as pain shot through my body. I pushed at the spear, hoping that it would loosen, but Tempest kept pushing the spear farther into my gut until she hit something solid behind the wall.
"Stay there, chaos god," Tempest growled. "If you try to fight me again I will not stop until you wish you were dead."
I shakily opened my eyes and tried glaring at her as I tried pulling the spear out of me. She just smirked and shook her head before slamming her hoof into my stomach just below where she'd impaled me.
* * * *
I dodged an attack from the Storm King and flew down a side hallway. I took to the air and fired several powerful spells down at him, all of which he brushed aside. He had the combined magic of Celestia, Luna and Cadance at his command, and knew how to use it. This wasn't going to be like fighting Purgle. He hit me with a spell around one of my hind legs and he slammed me into a nearby wall. I cancelled out the spell before he could throw me into anything else and threw a loose chunk of stone from the ceiling at him while at the same time turning the floor into a liquid. He dodged the stone and jumped back, avoiding the floor. I expanded the spell, but he simply waved his staff over the floor and turned it into solid chunks which he began hurling at me with speeds that would have killed a normal creature.
I landed on the floor and swung my hammer at him. He dodged but I continued my assault, forcing him to retreat if he didn't want me to take his head clean off. He fired his staff at the floor again, and it turned into solid ice. With my armor I couldn't get good footing and I slipped for just a moment before using my wings to balance myself. It was all he needed to blast my hammer out of my grip. It hit the wall behind me and obliterated it, but I didn't go to get it. It would waste precious seconds, and he was probably counting on me trying to get it back.
This wasn't working. Neither of us could beat each other in a straight fight. He had my family's magic, but I had rage and desperation, not to mention some pretty powerful magic of my own. It looked like it would go until one of us dropped from sheer exhaustion. Given my alicorn stamina, it would probably be him unless he had magical augmentations.
"You're doing well, Antares, I'll give you that," the Storm King said. "It will almost be a shame for this to all end. You're more of a worthy opponent than I thought. Too bad you don't have any of your human weapons!"
"Oh yeah?" I smirked at him and lit my horn. "Are you sure about that?"
Before he could respond, I reached into a small pouch strapped to my side and pulled out the pistol I had developed back when we were still at war with Purgle. The Storm King's smirk flickered ever so slightly. He probably knew what it did, but wasn't sure if his magic could block it. I pointed it at him and began firing repeatedly. In desperation he put up a shield that began cracking with each bullet strike. He poured more magic into the shield, and it began repairing itself almost as fast as my bullets were damaging it. Eventually he couldn't hold it anymore, and the shield shattered. His eyes widened in fear and he stepped back. I gave him the evil grin that he'd given me so many times and pulled the trigger once again.
Click.
Oh for Pete's sake.
"Oh, out of ammo, are we?" the Storm King said with a condescending frown. "It was a better effort, I must admit."
I snarled and tossed the gun aside. "I don't need it to take you down. I summoned my hammer to myself again and twirled it menacingly. "It's time to finish this."
* * * *
Tears welled up in my eyes and I couldn't help but whimper as I tried to pull the spear out of my chest. Given that Tempest had impaled me in such a way that my hind hooves couldn't touch the ground, each breath sent pain coursing through me. I ground my teeth together and pulled at the spear again. It didn't budge an inch.
I chanced a glance at Tempest and saw her circling my stone shield. If she got through it while I was trapped like this then the fillies were done for. I had to get out of here before she found a way through it. Tempest tried shooting her lighting at the shield, but nothing happened. She growled and slammed her hoof into it. A small chunk flew off. Not good. Tempest took a few deep breaths, whirled around, then bucked the shield as hard as she could. Cracks began running through it, and I didn't doubt that it wouldn't take more than a couple more hits, if that. I needed to get out now.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. This wasn't going to be pleasant, but it had to be done. I grabbed the shaft of the spear and began pushing it through my side like I was the T-1000. Every instinct in my body told me that I was in a lot of pain, and maybe I was, but this was the only way out. With one final push, I slid the spear out of my side and fell to the ground just as Tempest hit the shield again. It wouldn't survive another hit.
I pushed every thought aside and got to my hooves. I grabbed the spear and turned it from a solid to a ghostly-Danny Phantom type thing. I slid the spear out of the wall, turned it solid again, then hurled it as hard as I could right at Tempest just as she was gearing up for the final blow.
To my horror, the spear merely glanced off of her back, not even scratching her armor. She paused for the briefest of moments before slowly turning her head, a look of pure, quiet rage on her face.
I, uh, may have pissed her off a little bit.
With a scream that would have freaked me out a little if I had any more emotions left, Tempest charged and rugby tackled me. She used her momentum to slam me into the ground, but I was ready for her this time. I put my hind legs onto her chest and pushed up as hard as I could, forcing her off of me. I barely had time to stand up before her hoof connected with my jaw. I took a step back to avoid it, opening me up for a nasty uppercut. I couldn't beat her hoof-to-hoof. She was just too good and too fast. I needed to think of something better and quick, but Tempest had far more experience than me and could think faster in battle.
I jumped back as Tempest threw another punch, and shoved her into the wall as she overextended her swing. She hit the wall but recovered much more quickly than I had intended, and as such, I couldn't stop myself as I ran toward her. She whirled around and bucked me in the face as hard as she could. I flew back straight through a doorway that led to a balcony. I slid across the balcony floor with enough force that I almost flew off of the side. If I did, there was no way I was stopping Tempest before she got to my nieces.
I hit the railing with enough force that I had the wind knocked out of me. I took a half second to recover, just in time to see Tempest charge at me as fast as she could. Time seemed to slow down. I had my shot here. It was now or never. I raised my hooves and slammed them on the balcony floor just as Tempest stepped onto it. The whole balcony instantly turned into glass.
Tempest stopped her charge and looked down, her jaw dropped and, for the first time since I'd met her, I could see fear in her eyes. She stood there staring at the glass floor for a few moments before slowly raising her hoof in an attempt to step back inside, but the glass underneath her began cracking from the weight. She let out a breath and gently put the hoof back on the ground.
I quickened my breathing as I stared at Tempest. I had to do it. If I didn't the battle would start again and that was the last thing I wanted. It was a battle. She was an enemy. A completely defenseless enemy, but an enemy nonetheless. She wanted to kill my nieces. Tempest slowly raised her head and the two of us made eye contact. I had never seen such fear on the face of somebody before, and to know it was me... I took in a deep, shaky breath.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
I slammed my hooves onto the balcony as hard as I could. The glass instantly shattered into small pieces. Tempest whirled around and swiped her hoof, trying to find some place to hold on to, but it was too late. She plummeted down to the ground with an ear-splitting scream that drowned out the nearby sounds of battle as she flailed around, trying to find something to break her fall.
* * * *
The Storm King and I continued trading spells, each hoping to find some weakness in the other's defenses. He'd run out of stamina before I would, but his magic was more powerful than mine. I needed something to turn the tide.
That's when a loud scream echoed through the hallway for just a moment. It sounded like Tempest. Maybe Kristen had finally beaten her. That didn't matter, though. What mattered was what the Storm King did.
He flinched, but just for a moment.
It was all I needed.
I hit him directly in the chest with a spell that knocked him back against the wall. His staff flew out of his hand and rolled out of reach. The Storm King tried getting to his knees and began looking around for his staff, but I could see it in his eyes. He knew he'd lost. I flew over to him and knocked him onto his back, pressing my hoof to his chest and pinning him down. The Storm King looked up at me with fear for just a few seconds before his confident grin returned. He chuckled and gave me a little golf clap.
"Well done, Antares. Well done indeed. I may have underestimated you."
"Yeah, I get that a lot," I said with a smirk. "Surely you know that there's nothing you can do now."
"Oh, I imagine not," he said. "Well, from one leader to another, I merely request that you make it quick. You have a lot to do, after all. You can't waste time with silly little me."
"Hm. You really think so?" I chuckled and shook my head. "No, no, I've given it some thought and I have some ideas I'd like to run by you. You're familiar with the Canterlot Gardens, I assume?"
"Oh, those?" He scoffed and waved his hand. "I burned those. On a relevant note, do you know that buzzing vultures that really buzz taste like chicken?"
"I'll bet, but you're getting off track here. You surely saw the statues in those gardens, did you not?"
"Oh, I see where this is going," he grumbled.
"Do you? I really rather doubt it." I motioned with a wing to the gardens. "We had a lot of statues there representing many things. Bravery. Honor. Valor. We're missing one, though. Do you know what that is?"
"Is this about Discord?" He rolled his eyes. "News flash: I'm not the chaos god. Your sister is, remember?"
"No, no, no, I'm not thinking about chaos. I have something else in mind. The time for needing a statue for chaos is over, but our collection is still incomplete. Do you know what we're missing?" I leaned in and put my muzzle right next to his ear. "Agony. We're missing a statue representing agony."
This time the Storm King couldn't hide his fear with false bravado. His eyes widened and he began grabbing at my hoof in a vain attempt to push it aside.
"Antares! Antares, listen to me! Let's just talk this out! Y-you don't need--"
"Don't I? After everything you've done. You're a fool." Ignoring his pleas, I grabbed his left arm in my magic. "This one's for Celestia, Luna and Cadance." With a quick spell, I snapped the arm, bending it backwards. The Storm King let out a shriek of pain that rivaled Tempest's earlier cry, but I continued, wrapping my magic around his right arm. "This one is for my daughters." I quickly broke that arm before moving onto a leg. "This one's for Blaze and Rapids." I bent the leg in the opposite direction it was intended before moving on. "This one's for my subjects. For everyone you've hurt, enslaved, tormented, killed."
I snapped the last bones, leaving him a paralyzed, screaming wreck on the ground. I cast a silence spell on him so I wouldn't have to hear the screaming anymore. I raised my hoof and hovered it over his chest.
"And this one? This one's for me."
I slammed my hoof down and felt his ribs cave in. He began twitching and still silently screaming. I took a deep breath and walked over to the throne room doors where he had dropped his stone orb. I picked it up in my magic and returned to the Storm King, who was still a writing mess on the ground. I lit my horn and set his arms and legs so that they weren't at an awkward angle.
"We'll put you in the castle gardens in a secluded, forgotten corner. No one will know you are there. No one will ever see you. Eventually you will be forgotten. Birds won't even come to land on your arms. But you will still see in there. You will still be sentient. But all you shall see for the rest of eternity is the small corner of the gardens. The world will turn and the years will pass. Countless years. Still you will be there. Alone and forgotten in your agony."
With that, I slammed the orb onto one of his broken legs. Stone began crawling up his body, and he thrashed his remaining limbs about as best as he could. Tears began dripping out the corners of his eyes as the stone traveled up his body. He only managed one final silent scream before he was nothing more than a statue, his face forever twisted in his agony.
I stared at the Storm King for a few minutes, almost as if I expected the stone to fade away and for him to get back up. That didn't happen, though. He'd never move again. I took a deep breath and went over to the staff. If he had drained my family with it, it was my best bet for releasing them. I stepped over the bodies of the Storm Creature guards and walked into the throne room.
As expected, the other three rulers were placed there, their faces still showing shock and horror. I noticed a small groove in the center of the floor and slid the staff into it and powered it up. Green lines flowed from the staff into the statues of my family, and cracks began forming in the statues as the stone fell away. I didn't look at them. After everything, how could I?
Cadance was the first to be freed, and I heard her begin breathing deeply as she came out of her statue. Luna was next, followed closely by Celestia. The room was silent for a few moments before Celestia spoke up.
"Antares?" I flinched at my name, but didn't respond. "Are... are we safe?"
I slowly nodded and lit my horn to slide my helmet off. I dropped it on the ground and turned to see the princesses staring at me with uncertain looks. I nodded again and walked over to Celestia. I sat down next to her and leaned my head against her shoulder, staring blankly at the floor.
"What of Maia and Nymeria?" Luna said, putting her hoof on my back. "Are they safe as well?"
"Yes," I whispered. "I think Kristen has them."
"Where's Flurry?" Cadance whispered.
"The Storm King said that he has her in one of the back rooms." I took a deep breath and nuzzled Celestia. "Blaze and Rapids didn't make it." I glanced over at Luna. "Neither did Night Stalker. Raining Skies was alive the last time I saw her, though."
"And... Shining Armor?"
I raised my head and looked at Cadance. I could see the fear in her eyes that I couldn't even begin to imagine. Her jaw was already wobbling as she braced herself for what she'd already figured out from my reaction.
"I'm sorry, Cadance."
Cadance's legs began shaking and tears streamed down her face as she let out a few heaving sobs. Luna put her hoof on Cadance's back, just as Cadance threw her head back and let out an Alicorn Scream, the force of it shaking the remnants of the stained glass windows. She collapsed onto the ground and Luna wrapped her hooves around her in a tight hug as Cadance sobbed into her chest. I would have cried with Celestia, Luna and Cadance if I had any emotion left. Instead I just stood up and went to one of the back rooms of the throne room.
I opened the door and the first thing I saw was a small cage in the middle of the room. Fluttery Heart was sitting in the middle shaking like a leaf. I lit my horn and dissolved the cage. Flurry Heart looked up at me and sniffled.
"Momma," she whimpered.
"It's okay," I soothed. I picked her up in my magic and put her on my back. "We're going to go see Mommy, okay? You're safe now."
We walked back into the throne room where Cadance was still sobbing. I lifted Flurry Heart off of my back and levitated her over to Cadance. Flurry Heart's jaw wobbled and she put her hoof on Cadance's leg. Cadance stopped sobbing for a moment as she registered that her child was there. She scooped her up in a tight hug and held on like they were the only two ponies left in the world.
"We should give them a moment," Celestia muttered to me. "We need to see our daughters now."
At the mention of Maia, Luna instantly shot to her hooves. I led the two of them out of the throne room and down the hallway Kristen had taken the girls. When we reached them, both girls were holding on to Kristen. She had wrapped her wings around them, but had her hooves over her ears and was shaking worse than Flurry Heart had been. Celestia and Luna instantly levitated their daughters over and hugged them close. Nymeria and Maia instantly began crying while Luna and Celestia tried to soothe them and assure them that everything was okay.
I walked over to Kristen who hadn't even acknowledged that we had arrived. She just stared ahead, shaking with her hooves over her ears. I gently grabbed one of her hooves, but she wiggled it out of my grasp and put it back over her ears.
"Don't," she whispered. "I can't until she stops. Tell her to stop."
"Tell who to stop what?"
"Tempest." Kristen let in a shaky breath. "Tell her to stop screaming."
I grimaced and wrapped a wing around her, pulling her close in what I hoped was a comforting hug.
We had done it. We had won.
Why didn't it feel good?