Journey To Hearth's Warming

by Lighttone GryphonStar


S3 Episode 23: Greatest Rage Of All

Echoes of impatience tapping bounced around the room as Starlight and Starswirl sat around a U-shaped table with a massive chair in the center where Lord Red was supposed to be. However, after traveling for a few minutes to this airship and being brought to this table, two were forced to wait hours for his arrival.

Starlight was the source of the tapping and though she often considered herself patient, especially after spending twenty days trapped in a hospital, waiting here was finally pushing her limits. Hearing of the commands about Twilight, she wanted to get this settled as soon as possible, but here she was waiting again.

Starswirl looked through notes and books, details of which were unknown to Starlight. The younger unicorn did at one point suspect he was possibly curious about Lord Red, but he spoke before of him as he knew him very well, so that possibility was false. The next thing she considered was that Starswirl was curious about that alicorn he fought twenty days ago during which led to the towers collapsing. That had to be the strongest possibility, though why was he looking it up now? Was he bored as well?

Starlight rolled her eyes away as her tapping became boring to listen to. She decided the silence had lasted long enough. "So, Starswirl, how long have you known this Lord Red?"

"I know he is one of the oldest unicorns to ever exist and has been working with the alicorns since the fall of Grogar."

"That long?!" Starlight had a hard time believing somepony was that old, let alone more than just one.

"Studying certain magics can have rather unseen side effects." Starswirl puffed some chocolate milk in front of Starlight, along with some cotton candy. "You have already seen the effects of dark magic on your teacher. Chaos magic, while not as monstrous, overuse can affect the age of its users."

 "Not monstrous, right?" Starlight attempted to hide her chuckle. "What about Lord Red, don't tell me he is a chaos magic user as well?"

"No, he studies something far more dangerous."

"What?" Starlight took a drink of her chocolate milk.

"Corruption magic." Starswirl laughed as Starlight gave the perfect spitake reaction. "You see now what I'm curious about his reaction towards you..." He dropped his note and stared at the door. "After all, there is nothing a corruption magic-user fears more than a user of both darkness and light."

Before Starlight could question what he meant by that the door to the room finally opened. They were surprised to see no guards this time at all. Starlight was even more surprised by the ancient figure stepping into view. Nothing Starswirl told her before could prepare her for this meeting.

Standing nearly as tall as an alicorn, Lord Red finally arrived. He was an orange unicorn with an incredibly long red mane in a warm blackened full body armor with white centipedes patterns. An ancient unicorn far older in appearance than Starswirl, and yet his movement wasn't hindered at all. His sickenly thin body moved slowly and but with no walking stick of cane or any help. Traveling at a snail's pace across the room, past the table and central chair.

Starlight had got so annoyed waiting for him. She wanted to leave her chair right now and demand this old unicorn stop this hunt right now. Yet upon gripping her chair to let her rage go, she was stopped cold in place. Lord Red simply looked at her and spoke, "Rage toward me will only slow this process."

"Sorry, Starlight. I told you he was a corruption user, but what I should have clarified was he is the best and only corruption user."

"Indeed," Lord Red lifted his hand and the scroll appeared through a twisting of the very fabric of reality. "From the moment you arrived, I sense what you desired, and rushing me now will not change the facts, Omnious."

Starlight's throat grew dry from his words, and her body constrained. beyond her control. She didn't know what he did, but right now, it felt as if she was being chained down in place. She couldn't describe the sensation by any means, but what was in front of her; it was as if the centipedes that covered his entire armor were now wrapped tightly around Starlight.

"So, this is the reaction you give toward the magic of prophecy." Starswirl attempted to lighten the mood.

Lord Red laughs, "You are right, I am overreacting." With that, Starlight could, the mysterious grip fading. "But if you were ever told that the magic you lived your life studying was prophesied to one day be defeated by a user of both darkness and light, an ominous... well."

Starlight's eyes went wide as the tightness returned so much stronger than before and only lasted for a second before releasing completely with the sound of a cut. She looked at her arm and found three small fresh-cut marks. "How? You never acted a single ounce of magic, you never even moved."

"Little filly, to think a small bit of a fear poked me upon your arrival. One day you too will perform the magic of this level, or maybe beyond." His eyes narrowed, "If you are indeed the mare of prophecy."

"Enough, poking her. I got what I wanted, now onto what she desires." Starswirl waved to Starlight. "If you will."

"Yes..." Starlight grasped her arm. "I want to know why you deem my teacher, Twilight Sparkle a danger."

"Because she is a dark magic user, things are such a rarity, especially after the defeat and imprisonment of Grogar."

"Don't be coy," Starswirl waved his finger, "We both know there are dark magic users not being watched or given death threats. Cold Blue, Rex Moba, Sapphire Amethyst, the dragons, and farther west, and even the egg in Helios's basement send dark magic signatures."

"Yes, but most of those are too far to be both or too small to care for. However, much like Cold Blue, this Twilight Sparkle has shown to have quite the potential behind her. And unlike him and Rex, she has no control of it."

"Control?!" Starlight couldn't understand what she was hearing. "She had been teaching me for two years now, she has far more control than I ever could."

"Containment is not controlling," Lord Red snapped back at her.

"What are talking about? Or course, she controlling it."

"Then explain the last two transformations she has had. Such forms when not control can lead to mass destruction as you have seen before."

"I..." Starlight didn't want to admit it, but he was the right part. These transformations were very dangerous. "But... what about Cold Blue, doesn't he have one as well?

"Yes, but he has not been seen in full power since he was an infant." Lord Red was quick to shoot down Starlight hopes. he had enough convincing her with words. "I didn't want to use this scroll, but the truth is in plain sight right now, in the unicorn capital." With that, he unrolled the scroll and moving images flowed out from it. These images changed everything for Starlight, Starswirl, and especially Twilight Sparkle.

******

Chains echoed loudly through the area as Twilight and Cold Blue dodged Rex's oncoming attacks. Despite what he said, there was no talking at all, just strikes and moves through the area. Twilight flew around with some ease as the lack of others around finally gave her the freedom to use her wings without consequences. Meanwhile, Cold Blue was dropping in and out of puddle forms, hoping to get close enough to stop Rex's attacks. Neither one could get an opening showing very well that Rex was not holding back.

Twilight had to think fast. She knew even someone as efficient as Cold Blue couldn't keep these spells up forever, and neither could Rex. She couldn't take the chance of one outlasting the other. She had to provide an advantage for Cold Blue. She continued to dodge while looking through the area to spot something to stop Rex's attack long enough for Cold Blue to make a move. "Magic? No, what would I use it on?" Suddenly her eyes went wide, "No, wait, of course," She laughed at hearing the memories of the voices of Pinkie Pie and Rarity in the back of her mind. She lit up her horn with a bright light before blasting it toward Rex.

"What a waste!" He swatted it away... exactly as Twilight wanted.

The ball of magic exploded in contact, releasing multiple bright splashes of light right in front of Rex. So much light quickly made his shadows fade away, voiding his chains from the battle.

"Now!!" she shouted.

Cold Blue barely needed to hear that as he shot in close. Seeing the siren's large falcata outward, Rex had to rely on movement alone. Dodging the first strike, only to toss his strings around the hilt and Cold Blue's hand. The umbrum pulled downward and flipped his legs around, kicking Cold Blue in the face. The siren sneered at this and slashed the foot with his ocarinablade, making Rex fall back. Charging with magic, Cold Blue ripped his falcata free and attempted to cut Rex clean in half with the upswing.

Without warning, Rex vanished in a teleportation, much to the shock of both the siren and the alicorn. "Impossible, Rex has no more shadows?"

"No, that was..." Cold Blue's eyes went wide, and he jumped back toward Twilight, "Above you."

Twilight turned too late to see Clover and Clovis above her. The two wrapped her in Rex's chains and rushed her to the ground. The alicorn didn't have time to process why they were here, only knowing their direction was leading her to the remaining open shadow, she could only fight back against them. Pulling deep within her, she opened her eyes and spread her wings, roaring like Rainbow Dash, pushing upward with a massive boom of pegasus magic, blasting them back long enough for her to get free of the chains.

However, she still felt close enough to the shadow for Rex to make his move as a giant mass of chains swarmed out of the shadow below her, reaching through her wings grabbing ahold of every feather. Twilight's eyes went wide and her body shrieked with pain at the attack, but she fought back, kicking at the chains with the same force as Applejack, breaking them.

Clover and Clovis, still falling, both pulled out bow staffs and clashed with Twilight in the air, using what magic they could pull on to hold the alicorn in place. "Twilight, we don't want to hurt you." Clover argued, "But if we have to, we will." She charged her staff with more magic.

"Why would you need to?" Twilight flapped her wings with more strength, pushing them back more.

"By siding with Blood Diamond?!" Clover couldn't understand this move at all. She knew the fear Rex always had for the alicorn prince. "To work with Cold Blue?!" The rival that Rex deemed more dangerous than any other.

"Cold Blue isn't my enemy. We will work together!!" Twilight gritted her teeth. "And when it's over, maybe he can help me as well?"

Clover's eyes narrowed on the siren at Twilight's words. "Rex once said Cold Blue was the greatest and most terrifying monster to ever exist! You side with monsters to save yourself from monsters? Is saving your sanity better than saving your life?!"

This wording caught Twilight off guard long enough for Clovis to push down on his side, sending Twilight into a spin and giving them enough force to push Twilight to the ground; breaking her shining light spell.

******

Back with Cold Blue, he kept his eyes on Twilight, while using magic to pull water from the very air as a defense, wondering when Rex would make another appearance. However, his attention fell solely on Twilight as her light shining spell faded.

"Nice to keep your attention on the beautiful mare," a voice chimed up behind Cold Blue as Silver Pear bashed the hilt of his claymore into the siren's back ribs before swinging it forward and an almost reverse to what Cold Blue had nearly done to Rex.

The siren's eyes narrowed at the blade's edge, tearing into his flesh, cutting just enough to stop him but not kill him. Seeing his blood pour forth filled the siren's eyes with incredible rage, making him roar out a loud sound that stopped Silver Pear's advance.

The earth pony was surprised, totally forgetting he was fighting a siren. However, the loud noise fame for the species sounded somewhat different from Cold Blue, far harsh and almost beastly compared to the legends, but above all so familiar.

With Silver Pear's guard broke, Cold Blue swiftly turned around and tore his ocarinablade through the earth pony's arm, making him drop the claymore. Now free, the siren rushed forward to save Twilight, only for Rex to reappear directly under him with an uppercut and chains wrapped tightly around the beast.

Seeing Cold Blue being to the ground made Twilight's eyes fill with fear. Her plan for failing was a minor concern compared to Cold Blue's capture. With him, she would never learn to contain the dark transformation inside her. Pulsing her horn with magic, she blasted at Rex erratically, but from her trap position, she couldn't get a clear shot.

Rex looked back and further between Twilight and Cold Blue's struggles and felt a piece of familiarity in this scene, such an event he didn't wish to see again. The umbrum ignored Twilight's attempts, as he had no trust for the siren, most of all if this was a ploy by Blood Diamond. "I don't know what that alicorn is planning, but this ends now."

"No!! We just want to end the war!!" Twilight screamed in vain as Rex took Cold Blue's falcata and lifted it over the siren's neck.

"Surrender, or I will end your long life," Rex demanded.

"Long life..." Cold Blue turned away. "My life for so long has been nothing but lies!" He closed his eyes in shame and took a deep breath. A loud slash echoed outward!

Dark magic shook the ground around them as Cold Blue opened his mouth and spewed maroon red liquid in large amounts over his shadow. Rex's eyes went wide as the shadowmancy shook, as if screaming in agony upon the touch of pure dark magic.

Twilight was in total shock and awe, mastery of the dark magic displayed before her. Though it wasn't clear, Cold Blue had far better control of the liquid than Twilight could dream of. She sneered at her shame, pooling on what dark magic she could without pushing on her transformation. No, hoping that she wouldn't lose control. Stand tall like Cold Blue was doing right now. She aimed her dark magic right at Cold Blue as he did the same.

The two maroon red beams clashed with significant force, twisting the very space around them and cracking the very ground under them. The four were forced to jump back as both pulses of dark magic met, clashing head-on in the darkness of malice and hatred. Such forces shook the entire area shook to their foundations, shaking even the pillars within the naga city under the Gross as something from even below that ancient place shook forth and free from the very ground. The ceiling collapsed over the two dark magic users as something shocking rose forth, covering everything in smoke.

******

Dim arrived at the hospital. He didn't know what was going on, only that Princess Platinum had been injured. He rushed up to her room, only to stop at the sight of the door. This room was so familiar, this action seemed so familiar. He had been in this position before, too many times now.

Remembering his godfather's words, he thought back to how many times he arrived at the hospital before this. Sure, there was the battle she had with Twilight, but before she would often come here for transfusions. When she was young, she was often very sick and her father was often the only one with enough willpower to enter the room. Even after he died and Dim swore absolute loyalty to Mira, the naga still found hesitation upon entering the room and fearing the worst.

Finally, biting his tongue, he opened the door only to find her sitting up, injured and surrounded by guards, yes, but nowhere near as injured as the other times. The naga stepped forward and bowed in shame. "I'm sorry I was away."

"Not to worry, I'm not dead." Princess Platinum tightened the wrapping on her arm before standing back up to stretch the limb to check if there wouldn't be more bleeding later.

Dim stood up and embraced Mira tightly, fear clearly on his face more than on hers. The princess and her extra guards were taken aback by this openness. Sure, they never attempted to hide their relationship from the most loyal, but her naga had never been so public with it until now. "Please, stop pushing yourself." He asked.

"You know I can't..." She rubbed his frills. "My unicorns need their leader. Besides, the alicorn wasn't trying to kill me this time."

"This time..." Dim pulled back. "What do you mean? You've still yet to encounter Blood Diamond directly."

"Yes, I would have confronted him today if Twilight hadn't had stopped me." Princess Platinum turned away.

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"That mare has aligned herself with Blood Diamond. She attacked the castle and knocked out several of my guards before injuring me."

"She came back that quickly."

"Yes, and left just as quickly. Heading toward Rage Mountain." Princess Platinum sneered at the name. "My mother's burial grounds."

"Why there?"

"Unsure, but I will put an end to her and Blood Diamond there." Princess Platinum grabbed her rapier and looked over the engraving. "Not just for my unicorns, but for my father and... mother both this time."

Dim grimaced at her words. He knew very little about her mother. She had left directly after Mira had been born. News had arrived shortly after he took his position that the mother had died during a journey, leaving both Mira and her father alone for the father to die five years later. His hands shook upon the possibility that Mira was going to die, much like her mother and father. "Please, just be careful," He let his hands soften.

"Of course..." Princess Platinum leaned closer for a kiss.

A massive shaking stopped them completely, knocking them to the ground and throwing everything around. Dim struggled to stand from the force and made his way to the window. "What is happening--" His eyes went wide at the sight of a massive monolith rising from the ground.

The maroon red crystal hand rose from the ground, shredding and destroying anything it touched. Any building near it twisted and let out a terrifying scream from their foundations. The ground itself pealed upward around the base of the monolith before reaching a certain height and twisting as well.

Surges of dark magic could be openly seen shooting out of these twisted pillars of metal and stone toward the monolith, making it grow even more in height casting a massive shadow over the hospital miles away before towering over the entire city.

By the time the shaking finally stopped, the only thing that stood above this beastly spire was the Moon itself. Nighttime perfectly arrived, making the shadow cast further beyond the city, displaying a terrifying sight. While not as wide as some of the biggest buildings in the city, its sheer height left a devastating mark on the land.

The naga couldn't believe what he was seeing. Everything his princess had feared had come true. This much power could only be processed by an alicorn. While they couldn't confirm who used such power, they didn't underestimate her fears anymore.

An icy silence fell over the city as many of its citizens wondered just how many were injured or possibly died in this incident. However, almost perfectly on cue, the worst happened as a small crystal floated down from the sky. Dimitri, on his strong duty, couldn't believe his eyes. Just as the rumors had said, a message from the alicorns had arrived again, this time in their own city.

A giant image nearly as vast as the monolith flowed from the crystal and a shadowy veil of an alicorn appeared. The image was so blurry but the boasting voice was unmistakable. "Foolish unicorns, see this power before you. See what awaits you. This is war, a war you shall lose. Accept defeat, accept damnation and death under our boot."

"No!!" Princess Platinum, in her royalist or rages, screamed out. She charged magic outward from her horn, blasting out the window completely. She stood as strong as she could, keeping a brave composure to her unicorns below.

She stared proudly at them all as they looked at her for an answer. "My unicorns, we will not take the insult likely. the alicorns think they can just kill several of us without a second thought." She smiled and held out her hands to the destruction and screamed louder. "For those who have suffered before us, we can't let ourselves falter, not once!!" She pulled her rapier from the wall with a fierce flow of magic and aimed it at the crystal. "This Emerald and his power will not mock us!!" She pointed to the sky where it descended. "His son, Blood Diamond, and his armies will not make us yield at all!!" She pointed back to the crystal and pulled back. "This is my declaration in return!! I will not rest until every alicorn in existence is dead under my boot!!" With that last move, she threw her rapier toward the crystal, shattering it on contact and impaling itself into the monolith.

******

The smoke cleared around them as Twilight rubbed her eyes. She couldn't believe what happened. Again, a new monolithic hand had formed from her power, but this was so much bigger. She crawled over the surface, still so weak from the power output. Reaching the edge, she was even more shocked by just how high up they were. The two dark magic users' locations were no longer in the Gross but above the tallest of towers in the city and within the palm of the hand itself.

Twilight stared over the city, looking at each building. Finally, her sight fell upon a rapier stabbed into the monolith itself. She looked back at the buildings. The closest ones were twisted by some strange gravitational force. No space disturbance, she questioned. She used her magic to bring up the rapier and found it despite entering the barrier; it was unaffected by the power.

She placed it down and fell back, as there was so much more information to take in. Sure, her dark magic was strong, but just a small clash with Cold Blue was all it took to make this much. It made no sense at all. There was no way either of them was this powerful, right?

The aches of pain from the siren brought Twilight back to reality. She rushed over, only to find him bleeding out. "What? How? When?"

"That earth pony's strength is truly unpredictable..." Cold Blue could barely talk as the blood moved faster.

He was only half right. Twilight could tell that though Silver Pear's attack was strong, the maroon red clash was the true cause of the problem. "It's okay, we need to heal you." She rushed to tear her cloak, but she feared it wouldn't be enough, especially since both of them were too weak to perform any healing magic.

As if hearing her thoughts, the siren grabbed her wrist and brought it over to his wound. Twilight was puzzled by what he meant. "Cut..."

"Cut what?" Twilight questioned. She looked back and forth between his wound and her wrist, trying to figure out what he meant until she remembered back to a memory, something she thought had completely left her mind. A flash of images played in her mind, showing her what he did once.

She pulled out one of her kopises and brought it to her wrist. "Are you sure? I mean, am I ready for this?"

Cold Blue didn't answer. The truth was evident on his face. He too, was just as unsure. However, there was no other way. Twilight channeled what dark magic she could into her wrist before cutting it. Much to her surprise, maroon red liquid poured forth from her wrist over the wound.

It wasn't like she was bleeding. The feeling was very different. The best she could describe it was as if she releasing was liquid from her body, not quite like an experience in the bathroom, but it was just as calming. There was no pain at the cut site, at least not at first. She poured as much as the maroon red liquid over the wound as the healing process began for Cold Blue.

The siren smiled for first, truly happy. "It is rare for such a new dark magic user, but it will be enough..." His voice drifted. Twilight rushed closer, wondering if things were getting worse. Cold Blue simply waved her away. "Such healing takes power from both of us..." He closed his eyes and gripped Twilight's wrist. The alicorn could feel sharp pain but not from the grip, rather as if the cut's pain finally hit her. Her eyes widened as the maroon red was replaced by classic red blood.

Twilight became weak as well. Using so much dark magic before and so much now was taking the toll on both of them. Without realizing it, she fell into the siren's arms. Cold Blue pulled the cloak over both of them as the fridge air up here was getting too much, even for him. Either way, he knew sleep would claim them both soon.

******

Starlight backed away in shock upon seeing the monolith in the image tearing through everything and the message playing before them all. "Why does this keep happening? Why now?"

"That is what I want to know." Lord Red frowned at them. "The message wasn't from Emerald. In fact, I've already disconnected any alicorn magic from the citadel long ago to ensure none of it could be assumed." He tapped his hands impatiently. "And yet it can't be denied that this false magic still stinks of alicorn levels of power."

Readings appeared in front of Starswirl. The old wizard couldn't help but agree. "This is a lot of power. I... I'm not sure how but that signal was sent by an alicorn and there is only one in that city right now." He zoomed in the image and showed who laid at the top of the monolith.

Starlight turned away from the sight of it. This was too much. The unicorn's face fell to the ground upon seeing it. "No, it can't be her..." Starlight refused to believe this. "You are lying!" She stared hatefully at Lord Red.

The thin red unicorn only smiled, taking a deep breath through his nose. "Oh, yes, yes, your hatred smells so good, but I'm not lying. This is escalating out of control and neither of you will leave until you have completely convinced me why the source of this war shouldn't be put to death right now!" He pointed at the image emblazoned upon the scans, the image of Twilight Sparkle.

As the ultimate declaration was made, Lord Red stood from his chair and took his leave. The lights of the room shut off, leaving Starswirl and Starlight in darkness questioning what they should do next. The room grew quiet as no answer came to them, no hope at all even as the moon's light finally reached them, too. From a window, the moon's light brought shame over them all as this day finally ended.

However, beyond the window, the disasters were far from over as within the dark sky, two pairs of feathery wings approached the airship, just below its sensors. The closer they got, the more their cheery faces could be seen through the darkness. One of the pair was weak and needed to land soon, but he knew he would find quite the feast upon this ship.

"Yo, brother, do you think he is here this time and nowhere other?" The stronger one gave his poor attempt to rap.

"He has to be here. We trust that wendigo's words. He did free us after so long." a hoarse voice could barely laugh through his breathe but enjoyed every ounce of his happiness. "Our teacher kept us in that prison for so many centuries and now we are free, free to have our revenge."

******