The Crystal Empire looked certainly intimidating, even from the distance. About half an hour ago we were finally able to actually see it and none of us felt any kind of reassurance from the sight. Dark spires of black crystals loomed ahead like a silent warning to not get any closer lest one regrets ever coming here.
The usual blizzard that hid the place from view was gone, in its place was smoke and ash hard at work at coating the landscape in a grey field of despair. Twisted greenish fire lit the Empire in an eerie light from towers marking the boarders in a makeshift fashion as lookouts for the brainwashed guards.
As we felt the train come to a stop, we heard rather than saw a ginormous beast roar out and a thunder-like clap from something being struck. My gaze tried to look at what was ahead of the train through the window, but I could just barely make out the glow of a shimmering lavender shield. The same sound repeated once more and I saw the barrier flash brightly for a single moment and again, the thunder-like clap resonated through the air.
It seems like we arrived just in time to lend a helping hand. From up in the front of our train, I heard orders being shouted in a frantic fashion and soon the sound of battle reached my ears.
Centering myself, I touched my bracelets simultaneously and felt the reassuring presence of my armor embrace me. Might as well get started on this and help the soldiers clear a path towards the base from which we would operate from. And, I silently mused to myself, make sure the train remained in one piece, unlike the one that got wrecked on the way to Appleloosa.
The rest of my friends all seemed to have the same idea, preparing for the literal carnage that was about to greet us. I felt bad about the enemy soldiers, they never chose to fight against the ones that were supposed to be their allies. But I knew I could not show weakness by sparing them from an untimely death.
If the people being controlled against their will weren’t numbering in the thousands, it would have been a different story. Seeing that we weren’t that fortunate, though? Every foe we would spare would just come back at us at a later date, if not minutes after we denied to release them from the hold Sombra held over them.
Basically, it was them or us. This would only end when we cut off the head of the snake. That snake would be hard-pressed from just handing its ugly little head over to us, so we have to fight our way through his meat-shields to get to him. No matter how much we might want for him to just surrender to us.
The door to the outside world opened with little resistance and I jumped out into the dirty snow below me. Looking towards where I tried to make out the fight, I saw a terrifying sight.
Some kind of yeti ice golem reared its arm back once more to pound away at the massive multilayered shield surrounding the outpost. I felt the wind whip against my faces in a harsh, cold, and biting shockwave, the sound from the impact even more deafening from out here in the open.
Then my eyes took in the massive army of mind-controlled crystal people in dark and harsh looking armor. It looked like a gigantic ocean of moving bodies that encompassed the outer edge of the lavender shield. The eerie thing was, none of them made a sound beyond what the movement of their armor made. Almost like machines, they threw themselves at the shield and the ones defending the frontline.
It was a disturbing sight, seeing them throw away their lives so callously.
Besides the army and the ice golem trying to get through to the people within the shield, there was another prominent figure trying his best to break the only defense the vanguard of Equestria had.
On a charred and muscular horse, he rode. A long and heavy sword held in just one hand with a billowing red cape flowing behind him in the wind, we beheld the man we knew was Sombra. The Horseman of War laughed viciously as he waited impatiently for the one maintaining the barrier to succumb to fatigue.
Fat chance we would give him that chance.
First, I thought, we needed a list of priorities. We couldn’t just rush in and hope for the best, even though that was usually my modus operandi. Our goal was defeating Sombra, preferably without wiping the crystal people out to the last man. No need to also commit genocide while we tried saving the world. I know I said I wouldn’t blink twice in taking a life here, but it would still be nice to have a nation to save in the process of ridding us of a tyrant. The goal of Sombra’s defeat was more of a broader general idea, so let’s put that down as the title of the list. The number one priority was getting to Princess Cadance and Shining Armor without losing the train. The biggest threat, for now, posed the giant yeti ice golem. Maybe that should be the number one priority if I were to be honest.
No supplies in the world would help us if that thing still posed a major threat, after all.
The second priority was the massive army slowly whittling away at the shield. If they were left to their own devices for too long, they would pose just as much of a threat as the yeti. I was unsure if Sombra alone could bring down that barrier, so for now, he would remain at the bottom of the list of priorities.
I was sure we would be able to win a war of attrition against him if nothing threatened our defenses.
With my mind made up, I thought of possible solutions to our literally biggest problem. That yeti couldn’t stay and I’m reasonably certain I couldn’t even scratch that thing with my weapons. Perhaps my arrows were able to slightly inconvenience it for a few moments, but that would honestly just buy a few minutes at best. I was better suited to dealing with the army than that monster.
So, who was known for monster hunting back in the day? Our dear Luna, so I asked her if she could deal with that thing and come out on top. She assured me the job would be done in no time and took off with a pair of wicked warglaives in hand. It seems her choice of weaponry hasn’t changed for when she gets serious. And by everything that was holy, she knew how to work those things to the best effect.
The rest of the girls were with me in ensuring our escort mission went off without too many losses on our side. We were all impressed by the retreating figure of the lunar princess but found our focus drawn away soon enough as we neared the conflict ourselves.
Suffice to say, our training made sure we didn’t lock up once we encountered the real deal. War was not a pretty sight to behold, but I wasn’t surprised that none of us seemed to mind that much after the thorough mental scarring we went through. The rulers of Equestria needed us to become soldiers for the sake of the greater good, even monsters in the case of Fluttershy and myself.
Speaking of Fluttershy and I, we were already entering the state of mind that only the two of us so far knew how to enter. Well, Luna would know it too probably, but she probably didn’t even need it as much as we did. I wasn’t entirely keen to find out what she would be capable of were she to enter the emotional suppression.
Probably rain down meteors or something of a similar overpowered show of destruction. And sacrifice everyone in the process, most likely.
Fluttershy went on ahead of me on the back of Brightpaw, and as she went by we shared a brief glance of cold eyes gazing at each other in understanding. Whatever might happen in the weeks to come, we would remain friends even through the hardship. We might have been at each other’s throats at one point, but now both of us knew we needed each other. Even like this, as monsters.
And through this common bond between us, we would rise to new heights. Or lows, as the case may be. While her emotional self might break down after this, her current self trusted me enough to watch her back and console her for what she might be forced to do. Perhaps I was coming to terms with the sweet girl I once knew now being long since gone, but I could hardly bring myself to care.
I was a selfish being and wanted another soul to be just as dirty as me to feel better about myself. Someone that could empathize in feeling like the worst of humanity given form, feel the same disgusting thrill I felt from dancing upon this fine line of life and death.
And death was what we brought in spades.
Fluttershy’s mount plowed through the enemy lines with next to no resistance and not long after she sprang from Brightpaw in her altered form, I was already at her side with Sol. Bringing my radiant sword to bear, none of the tin soldiers were able to defend themselves against the weapon forged from star steel. A short glance over to Fluttershy told me she had no problems with ripping apart the puppets either. Her burning fingernails made short work of anything in their way in a strangely mesmerizing way, always targeting the weakest parts of the armor and most effective body part for a quick and painless death.
Soon enough, the army started giving us a wide berth and another foe approached us to deal with the threat we posed. A large burly man stepped forth, smashing a gigantic crystalline club into Brightpaw, sending him flying to my surprise.
In a flutter of feathers, my friend was instantly behind the brute and bearing down on him with a howl that bore striking resemblance to the one Brightpaw was known for. Not ten seconds later the brute of the man was staggering on his knees, so to finish him off, I assisted Shy with a well-placed slice of my blade. And speaking of Brightpaw, he leaped back into the fray just as I arrived with Lux and the rest of the girls. The train hit a small snag, the craftsman already hard at work at repairing the damaged rails, so we had to stall for even longer.
Thankfully, our group was practically built for stalling and clearing a path at the same time. Rarity and Twilight would be able to keep the path open Fluttershy and I made, while Pinkie, Rainbow, and Applejack were more than enough to deal with any stragglers from going after the train instead. We were like a well-oiled machine, working perfectly in harmony.
Sol and Lux were the perfect front line offense, even though one might not expect that from an archer such as Lux. But I liked to think firing from point-blank into the faces of my opponents was more productive than the possibility of missing my shots, risking injuring those I wanted to protect instead. And with the added bonus of my illusions, those that were standing against me were never able to touch my female half in the first place. As long as I had mana running through my veins in abundance, that is. Even then, drawing in ambient mana or siphoning it from the ley lines would allow me to keep going for a bit longer after having exhausted my own mana pool. That would tire me out faster, though.
While Sol was better suited to fighting with the enemies directly ahead of him, I was more comfortable to rush into the enemy lines with Lux, completely surrounded by them to wreck the most chaos there. That didn’t mean that I didn’t push into their ranks from time to time, though. I just found it more convenient for me to have my opponents always in front of my male half, not having to worry about suddenly being attacked from behind.
Fluttershy was no doubt the strongest among us together with Brightpaw. One moment they would be right next to me, the next they were already gone from my side to slaughter their foes in the distance. It didn’t mean that she was more effective at killing than me, but she made it sure look a lot less difficult for her. I would say we were about the same level of deadly, weren’t it for her familiar.
Brightpaw was like her cheat ability, basically. Together they were a queen piece in chess, while I was more like the tower piece in comparison. But I had a cheat ability of my own. My weapons and armor.
“I am She guided by the Moon’s light,” I said, Lux’s voice taking on an otherwordly quality as I invoked my weapons innate powers. Ever since Luna and Celestia helped me out with those, my fighting prowess had skyrocketed. “With this call, I summon its might!”
Bright moonlight enveloped my bow, adding blades of sharpened light to the edges of the top and bottom limbs. The transformed weapon split itself into two warglaives and with a single swing of it, multiple soldiers lost their lives to a cause they were unwillingly forced into. Like in pictures of light paintings, my attacks left behind an afterimage for a few seconds, giving it a mystical look.
Probably counterproductive to staying stealthy and making my illusions obsolete, I found it didn’t really matter that much, seeing that anyone getting close to me would regret that decision as soon as they made it. Going from a ranged to a melee weapon also made my fighting style all the more justified. If I were to fight from to greater distance I would need to first close the distance to make the change more worthwhile, while already being in melee range made the transition smoother.
A devilish whinny caught my attention and I dodged just in time to not get trampled by the mount of Sombra, but I wasn’t as lucky with dodging the swing from his weapon. I lost feeling in my left arm with Lux and a moment later I had to blink the spots out of my vision from the forced teleport Twilight cast on me to prevent any further injury.
Sol was hard-pressed defending himself from the continuous assault Sombra brought to bear with both his sword and mount as I forced myself to haphazardly stitch the injury on Lux to stop the bleeding somehow before I would lose consciousness. While I could pretty much ignore the pain, even fuel it into my motivation to press the fight harder with Sol, my muscles on my female half weren’t in the mood to play nice with me. Spasming jerks here and there made the task of patching the shoulder up a nightmare to deal with.
There was no way I would be able to fight in this condition with her until I got someone to work some healing magic on it, so I used Lux more as a second set of eyes to help me get an edge over Sombra. While it allowed me to avoid being injured by his weapons of choice, it didn’t give me an advantage over him to actually defeat him. We were more at a stalemate, although even that wasn’t that much of a stalemate and more of a roadblock for Sombra at the moment. I was content with that, though, as that meant he was distracted sufficiently enough by me to safely transport the train towards the outpost.
As long as he didn’t deem it necessary to destroy that train, I was happy with the stalemate. My friends made sure the brainwashed army stayed the hell away from our fight, with the occasional assist from Fluttershy and Brightpaw once it looked like Sombra was about to gain the upper hand in our little deathmatch, we made good time with the train. The front was almost at the shield and I could already tell that Shining Armor was preparing to give us entrance.
Luckily, none of our enemies ever got within touching distance of the train. The soldiers we had taken with us were doing their job admirably in defending it together with my friends. Even better, we didn’t suffer any losses escorting the train, just a few cases of lost limbs here and there. But that were the worst things that happened, most of the injuries weren’t life-threatening.
Once the train was fully through, the girls focused on helping me get out of the battlefield with Sol. Judging by the lack of roars, Luna was also successful in her mission. A reprieve from the battle would be nice before we were forced to deal with the army outside of our base again. I doubt Sombra would sit idly by while we recovered from the intense battle.
No one said this would be easy. I certainly didn’t want to entertain the idea of him coming back with another one of those yeti golems.
So, while we had won this battle for the moment, the overall battle was still on. For now, we could at least focus on fortifying our base. And, you know, healing my fucking shoulder.
“Stop being such a prissy wuss and stay still,” Fluttershy reprimanded me and I growled at her as she and a medic worked on the bloody mess that was my arm.
“Fuck yourself with a cactus, Kindness,” I spat at her, earning myself a slap in the face. Probably deserved that, too. I wasn’t in the mood to stay still, though. There was still something I could be doing instead of me having to stay in the medical tent.
“I can let you bleed out, if that is what you want, Hope,” she shot back and continued with her work regardless of my sputtering.
“As if you would let me die,” I grumbled, pouting like a child while trying not to grimace as she got a bit rougher in her treatment. “Ow! You fucking bitch! You did that on purpose!”
“Watch. Your. Language,” Fluttershy said, her emotionless eyes gaining a glint of satisfaction within them. Oh, I see now, even her emotional self found satisfaction in my squirming, didn’t she? “Or do you want the healing magic to leave a scar? All over that talent mark, too. Wouldn’t that be a shame?”
“I’m going to dye your hair black in the night, Shy,” I threatened, feeling self-conscious about my mark. “I will do it when you least expect it.”
“Dare to lay a finger on my hair and you will see what it will get you,” Fluttershy simply stated, finishing her work finally and making way for the medic with the healing magic.
“Fine... Sorry,” I grumpily said. “Happy now?”
“Apology accepted, Lux. I’m sorry, too... for what it’s worth,” she said, leaving me behind without a second glance. At least she wasn’t the type to hold grudges for long, or our little spiel of antagonizing each other would be a lot less fun.
Yeah, we had a screwed up sense of fun in this state of mind, so what?
Rarity checked up on me and my exhausted male half in the tent a while later, making sure Fluttershy and I didn’t rip each other a new one. She was glad to see that I was doing better with the healing magic at work and told me to take it easy for now. Actually, she forced me to take it easy for now, but I didn’t hold it against her. Rarity was just concerned for my well-being, after all.
She also updated me on the situation within the camp and outside the shield. For now, it seemed quiet while Sombra was off plotting his next move or whatever. Princess Cadance and Shining Armor were glad we got here (relatively) safely before their defenses were breached. Luna and Twilight were now helping in maintaining the barrier while the couple got some well-deserved rest. Once I was able to cast magic reliably again, I would make sure to add my power to the defense, too.
Better safe than sorry, after all. No need to put a major strain on all of us, when we could pool our resources together. While Luna might have the strength to maintain a barrier of this magnitude for a week straight, she still needed to raise and lower the moon. Even if her sister took over the task of maintaining the solar cycle, she could use every bit of strength for the coming fight. Or fights, as the case may be.
The rest of us too, for that matter. I didn’t doubt most of the girls were just as exhausted as I was. I fear we would be trapped here trying to keep Sombra from invading the rest of the world.
Other nations might put up a decent fight, but with most of Equestria’s soldiers here now? My adopted home country might be hard-pressed in defending itself should we fall here. I’m pretty sure Celestia and Chrysalis would be forced to wipe out all of the mind-controlled soldiers to stand a fighting chance against Sombra. I mean, I was already tempted to do so to get this over with, but even I wasn’t that heartless.
Hope was probably my greatest weakness, now that I think about it. It might make me hesitate to do what is necessary in the end. In this case, take away the one thing Sombra holds above our heads: meat shields for his misbegotten cause. The Horseman of War would be severely weakened without an army to lead into battle. My hope was to save as many of them as I could, which may very well be the downfall of me and my friends.
I hate it when my conscience talks back at me to not be so selfish. What was so wrong with wanting to make sure we get out of this alive? I mean, those people wouldn’t be missed, right? They were already gone for a thousand years, another eternity wouldn’t change that much.
The image of my mother with a disapproving face popped into my mind and I cringed. Way to go, mind, guilt-tripping me into playing the hero... This was probably the mind-set of Moonlight and Sunfire, this selflessness that got them killed. Maybe I wasn’t that different from them, after all. Well, they were me at some point in time, but all people change to some degree. I might have become more selfish, but when it came down to it, I wouldn’t back down from doing the right thing here and there.
And I wasn’t so sure what the right thing to do was, anymore. I mean, was it right of me to deny Sombra his army and not risk them going after the rest of the world, or was it right of me to try and save them? My mind told me the first one was the one to go with, but my heart told me the second one was the only truly right thing to do.
Usually, my heart won out and this time it was no different.
Anyway, besides a few skirmishes, the rest of the day remained (somewhat) calm. If one could call the situation of an army breathing down your neck calm, that is. I was mostly left to my own devices after Rarity left to go help out around the camp.
A few days later saw myself back up on my feet like nothing happened to me in the first place. I had a few chats with Shining Armor and Princess Cadance about trying to muster up a task force to go into the Empire in the distance, but both of them were rather reluctant to try that. Not that I blame them, the few scouts we could spare returned with nothing but bad news.
I had no idea where Sombra got so many people from. The things the scouts could make out from a distance painted a bleak picture. Thousands of soldiers seemed to guard the palace alone, for whatever reason. And the people that weren’t able to fight for him? They were in chains, being forced to mine crystals and nurture crops on the fields as mere slaves. At least they didn’t seem to be brainwashed, although from what I was told, they didn’t seem to have any hope left.
“All I say is that we try to find out what it is they are guarding so desperately! It could mean the end of the war!” I shouted, slamming my hand on the large table in the middle of the war room we were standing in. “We can’t hold out here forever! Not with him and his puppets right outside our shield! We have to do something!”
“Sol, I understand that you’re getting anxious about this, believe me, we all are. None more so than Cadence and me, but we can’t rush out without a plan!” Shining retorted, equally as frustrated as I was. “We owe it to those people under his influence to save them from their fate.”
“Oh, don’t think I’m not with you on this one, Shining Armor. If we want to save them from this, then we have to go after Sombra, though. And I have a feeling that whatever it is in that giant toothpick of a castle, it is the answer to our problems! Come on, let me do this!” I growled, begging on my knees by now. “I can’t stand being cooped up here and do nothing! I have to do this!”
“It is suicide!” Shining roared back at me. “Don’t you understand that?! No force we could muster up would be able to breach the lines all the way to that ‘toothpick of a castle’, Sol!”
“Fine! Then I will go on my own!” I retorted pettily.
“You will do no such thing,” Luna intervened, holding me back from storming out of the room. “Think about what you are doing for a moment and then tell us what would happen should you go out alone.”
I bit my lip in frustration and managed to cool my temper down. Here I was again, about to commit the most stupid thing for the sake of saving everyone. Perhaps they were right and nothing worthwhile could be found in Sombra’s seat of power, but I just knew something must be there. I felt it, deep in my bones, it had to be something very powerful if Sombra couldn’t leave the palace alone while he continued to harass our people on the battlefield.
Harass wasn’t the right word for that, more like slaughter. Every time we tried to send out soldiers of our own without one of us there to defend them, Sombra would seize the opportunity to weaken our forces further. We couldn’t all be there to fight him off, unfortunately. He was just too strong for us to keep the fight going for more than a few minutes at best. Even Brightpaw seemed to struggle most of the time, and that just goes to show how big a threat Sombra really was.
“We should have taken the Elements of Harmony with us,” I mumbled dejectedly.
“And how do you think that would have gone? The last time we used them on him required an exorbitant amount of luck. Even then, he was able to take the Empire with him,” Luna explained. “We won’t risk the same from happening again. No, this time we need to make sure he is utterly destroyed. We would suggest devouring his soul, but for that to be a possibility, we would have to bring him close to death’s door.”
“Luna, we barely stand a chance with him only riding upon that abomination of a horse! We haven’t even seen him use any magic yet! From what you have told all of us, he is even more dangerous with that!” I retorted, a bad feeling making itself known in my gut. “I can only imagine why that is, and none of the possibilities seem very reassuring to me.”
“While that may be true, shouldn’t we focus on trying to free those people he is using against us?” Princess Cadance asked.
“Do enlighten me about how you would go about doing so, my dear,” I said, narrowing my eyes at her. “I seem to remember us failing every attempt at doing so. Miserably.”
“What if it is more than just his magic?” Princess Cadence proposed, making me raise an eyebrow. From where did she get that, I wonder... “Just hear me out on this one, please. The armor they seem to be wearing is made out of that same dark crystal the slaves are forced to mine, could that have something to do with how they are behaving?”
“The crystals?” I asked, intrigued. “I mean, that might not be so far-fetched of an idea... It is odd that they use a material for armor that is not able to be forged in the common sense kind of way. Whatever they do to make them, Sombra seems quite insistent on them wearing those instead armor made from metals.”
“If we could get a sample of that crystal, we could learn the properties it holds,” Twilight mused, already taking out rolls of parchment to theorize like the mad genius that she was. Leave it to Twilight to get all excited to do research in the middle of a war.
“Very well then, we will try to get some of those crystals for you to conduct your research, young Twilight. In the meantime, all of us should make sure Sombra won’t get anywhere near the shield and distract him sufficiently enough to figure out ways to break his hold on the crystal people,” Luna stated and with that, the meeting was adjourned.
“Don’t worry, Sol! We will free those people from the McMeanie Pants, you will see!” Pinkie grinned, leaving the room with a flustered Fluttershy in tow.
Ever since that Gala, they had become remarkably close in such a short period of time. As much as I wanted to cement my relationships too, it didn’t feel right to do so in the middle of a warzone. While Rarity and Twilight were talking with me quite a lot more and were making sure I was feeling alright, we all mutually agreed that we needed to go out on proper dates first once this crisis concluded itself.
One might argue we shouldn’t hold off that much with the very real possibility of one of us dying here in the frozen wasteland, but then again, it was also not good to rush a relationship under circumstances like this. Even though I might regret that, come to think of it.
There was little time to think about this, though. Not during our mental fortitude training and certainly not here with Sombra outside doing his best to be a major pain in the behind.
“Come, darling, let us make sure Rainbow and Applejack are still alive out there and relieve them from holding back the enemy,” Rarity said, taking the hand of Lux in hers and shoving my male body out through the door.
“I’d be surprised if Sombra managed to get through Applejack’s shield,” I said, thinking about our tank in the group. While she might be almost untouchable with her choice of weaponry, there was no doubt she would get tired after a while.
“That might be so, darling,” Rarity said, nodding her head. “But we should still lend a helping hand. After all, they are doing this already for quite some time now with the soldiers they took with them.”
“Let’s just hope none of them died,” I whispered, feeling afraid I wouldn’t get my wish granted. Rarity rubbed my back on Lux and I rested my head on her shoulder in a rare show of vulnerability from myself.
Looking around the working people, I could tell morale wasn’t all that high. We might be safe here for the moment, but we all knew that could change in the blink of an eye. I decidedly avoided looking into the medical tent, trying to tune out the sounds of suffering coming from within. That, too, might be a reason for the low morale.
Leaving through the newly constructed gate, we came face to face with the sight of hundreds upon hundreds of soldiers battering away on the shield, while Applejack and Rainbow were busy defending our Soldiers out there from Sombra.
“Let’s do this,” I said, bringing forth my sword and bow, as well as my armor. Rarity levitated her veritable storm of blades around her and together we joined the fray.
“Try to keep the mind-controlled away from me and Sombra,” I shouted over to Rarity, rolling on the ground to avoid one of their swords from taking Lux’s head off. “I will assist Applejack and Rainbow.”
“As you wish, darling,” Rarity answered, already moving to do as I said.
Both of our friends were glad to see Rarity and myself come to their aide. With a quick prayer, my bow transformed into the melee forms and I vaulted up in the air with a jump, using the shield from Applejack as a stepping stone.
And with the deadly glory that was me, I was in Sombra’s face, my warglaives ready to give him a nasty scar. Sol kept his horse from trampling over us as I invoked its potential with my next words.
“I am He guided by the Sun’s fire,” I spoke, once more changing the quality of my voice in an otherwordly fashion. “With this call, I summon its ire!”
A moment later, I held the transformed weapon in my hands. The grip of the sword had split in two and in between was a pillar of solar fire, not harming to the touch if I didn’t want it to be. The newly formed shaft wasn’t the only thing that changed, though. From the sword’s blade extended a raging flame on both sides, turning it far deadlier than even the warglaives of Lux could hope to be.
With the advantage of reach, it was no problem of mine to be a safe distance away from the horse Sombra sat on. And judging by the blazing cuts it left behind, it didn’t cauterize the wounds in a perplexing turn of events. I mean sure, I was surprised about that, but thinking about it? Probably better that it left the target bleeding and on fire.
The horse wasn’t really disturbed that it suffered such a devastating injury, though. If nothing else, it fought even harder against me.
While I was occupied with Sol, I tried getting at Sombra with Lux. Seeing that I couldn’t keep up my initial melee assault, I reverted the warglaives back to the bow to give myself the ability to land some hits on him. Or arrows, in this case. The problem, on the other hand, was my inability to defend myself against the sword he swung around.
“You shall fail in defending this world,” Sombra taunted and I added his words to the weaponized emotions inside me. “It matters not how long it takes, the end approaches! The Dark One will be freed...”
“You talk too much,” I said, letting loose three arrows in quick succession. Two of them were swatted aside by his blade, but the third nicked his cheek adding another bleeding line. He grunted in annoyance and lifted his hand in my direction. I had no time to react as a sickening glow of purplish-black with green bubbles erupted forth to strike at me.
In the next moment, I was flying across the snowy plains, unable to stop myself from plowing through soldiers and ice cold snow alike. Once I crashed against an outcropping of stone, I blinked the stars from my vision and saw the path my body made through the terrain. All the way to the mountain range, that is.
Getting up to my wobbly feet, I threw the contents of my stomach up with a heave. Groaning, I spat the horrible taste out for a few moments, trying not to breathe in too much. Nothing like a little bit of throwing up to keep my figure, eh?
A quick check-up with the rest of my body left me grimacing at the state of it. While my armor absorbed every impact I went through, the initial hit from Sombra’s magic left a mark. Small dark crystals started to form along my neck, left shoulder, and chest, limiting my movement with my head and marginally with my arm.
With a small growl in the back of my throat, I lifted up my bow and drew the string back with a small bit of difficulty. The stiffness at least helped to stabilize my hold on the bow somewhat.
Now, you might think: Lux, what are you doing? That arrow won’t ever reach its target!
To which I would say: If this was an ordinary bow? I might be inclined to agree. Seeing that it wasn’t, though? This will give that bastard a nasty surprise.
For once, I manifested the arrow on the left side and took careful aim. No need to account for velocity or wind, the arrow would fly regardless of those factors. Gotta love those physics-defying arrows, man.
Thus, I began to pump more and more energy into the projectile made out of moonlight. It continued to grow larger and larger, seemingly eager to make Sombra regret he ever showed his ugly face back to the rest of the world in the first place
Just as I felt like I couldn’t hold on anymore, I let the thing loose in a brilliant flash. Like the silent assassin it was, it flew in a perfectly straight line, putting the accuracy of sniper rifles from Earth to shame. I spat the rest of the aftertaste from the bile out into the snow and began my trek after the arrow.
Sol, on the other hand, felt the literal whiplash of a cannon as Sombra was blasted off the damn horse into the opposite direction from where my female half trudged through the knee-high blanket covering the landscape. It was no wonder that after that little feat of magical might, I felt utterly dead on my feet with her.
The horse standing before me whinnied in anger that its master was taken from it and reared up on the hind hooves to kick me in the face. Desperately dodging the attack, I fell to the ground in a helpless heap. Cursing, I did the only thing I could do as it was about to come crashing down with its hooves on top of me.
My halberd held up with the pointy tip at its barrel, I screwed my eyes shut as the full weight of the beast started to bear down on me. I grunted from the lack of air as I tried lifting the limp body away from me, but my strength only managed to nudge it slightly.
Great, death by suffocating beneath a horse... Here I thought I would at least go out with a bang. Instead, my death would come with a whimper as my vision started to get blurry.
Funny, Sombra’s horse was the real threat here, instead of the man himself. Friggin’ thing weighed like it never stopped stuffing its face with everything remotely edible until a skyscraper would collapse from a tap of its misbegotten hoof.
I swear Horse God will laugh her fat flank off at the irony of this should I somehow survive this fucking shit. Of all the things, why did it have to be a damn horse that managed to off me? I mean, if it was Spectrums brother, that wouldn’t be as humiliating as this.
Sombra’s horse let out a fart in its death throes.
For fuck’s sake, damnit! Was that really the last thing I had to hear?! This couldn’t get any more awkward as it already was, could it? I mean, what’s next? It throws up on me, too?!
Maybe I shouldn’t jinx it, but holy friggin’ hell, I was pissed off. Luckily for me, or unlucky depending on how one views it, I was spared from the most embarrassing death ever by Applejack and Rainbow coming to my aid, but not before I was thoroughly soaked in the blood of my unfortunate victim.
I don’t think we need to worry about Sombra for a few days, at least. Wherever he got blasted towards, he would be in worse shape than Lux, probably. Now would have been the perfect time to go after him, but none of us were in any form or shape to continue the fight with him and come out on top. While he might be weakened physically, none of us stood a chance against his magical prowess.
What it did, though, was buy us time. Time to perhaps push back the enemy front line without their commander there to counter our offense. Perhaps we could even send in a small team to infiltrate the Empire, should I get lucky in convincing Shining Armor.
“Let’s getcha outta here,” Applejack grunted, hefting my mostly limp self upon her shoulder. I mumbled a few incoherent words to her and she asked me to repeat them until she actually understood what I tried to tell her. “Rainbow? Ah need ya to go and get Lux to safety.”
“No problem, Applejack!” she shouted, already zipping away on the frigid winds. It didn’t take her long to find my female body limping through the thick cover of snow, and not a moment too late, it seems. Just as I was about to fall over from the chilling cold in a shivering mess, I felt her come to my aid.
“Oh boy, this is not good,” Rainbow stated, seeing the crystals attached to me. The rainbow-haired girl quickly got my exhausted body into her arms, not even bothered by the additional weight. “Man, since when were you so light? You better not be starving yourself to keep that figure, or I swear... Anyway, let’s get you to your room before you freeze to death.”
Needless to say, once they made sure I was safe and sound (mainly safe from becoming an icicle), I was promptly confined to my room within the quickly expanding fortress.
The doctors were doing their best with my little crystal problem, but until Luna was back from her mission I wouldn’t be leaving the bed. The thing was, whatever the thing’s properties were, they somehow were able to spread to both my bodies. That caused the doctors to panic even more than I felt they should and left me within the quarantined bedroom.
Although I could tell that the crystals were anything but good for my health, they didn’t spread to anyone else. It seems they had a strange affinity to affect my connection between my bodies, at least that was my running theory for the moment, and with that, they left me completely unable to fight for the foreseeable future.
Well, as long as I didn’t have to worry about Sombra breaking down our shield, I could allow myself some rest for once. Wasn’t like I liked it, though. The medical staff wasn’t too keen on my insistence that I could still do some good while confined to my bed, so here I was. Utterly useless.
Certainly wasn’t anything I have felt recently, right? I mean, how often have I felt like this just within the past few days? The universe must really hate me by now, I thought.
Bah, here I am whining again.
Once I succumbed to an uneasy sleep, I found myself staring into the concerned eyes of Spectrum. Looking down at myself, I saw why that was her first reaction as I appeared in front of her.
The damn crystals were attached to my very essence, it seemed. No wonder they also spread to Sol in the waking world if my very soul was stained by them. That just further solidified the theory of those crystals being somehow used by Sombra to control his puppets. Thankfully I was exempt from that, seeing that I still had mothers feather with me.
“Oh, dear...” Spectrum whispered, concern flooding the very tone of her voice. “I assume they are on both of your bodies? My poor child...”
“I can still defeat that bastard,” I grunted, the fucking things causing me pain even here in the dreamscape. “Just have to get rid of them... Luna can do that, right? Or you?”
“I can not... not with the right reagents, I fear. As much as I want to, even then I will be unable to aid you, for my last intervention threatened to tear reality apart,” she told me. “Tell me, have you made it to the city? My vision is shrouded from the Empire.”
“No, we had to construct an outpost not too far away from it... why?” I asked.
“This is indeed dire news, then. Without the Crystal Heart or a Crystal Spring within the caverns beneath the city, it will be next to impossible to cleanse this corruption from you,” mother answered me, running a hoof down the side of my head in sorrow. “It will continue to spread until you won’t be able to move anymore.”
“Can’t I rip them out?” I whispered and my voice quivered in fear.
“Not unless you also manage to rip them from your soul at the same time, my sweet child,” Spectrum said, voice thick with barely suppressed tears at her eyes. “There might be only one other option, but if you choose that, I advise you to pick the right time.”
“The rewind...” I said, shocked. How did I forget that? It... but... Was it worth the risk down the line? I might still get lucky and find a way into the Empire, and with that get myself a cure.
“Yes, my child,” she said. “It is a special spell from the old times, one I have specifically modified for you.”
“So I guess the three I have are the only ones I could get, right?”
“Yes... Time is a fickle thing, something not easily messed with. A certain man would say it is impossible to alter fixed points in time, but who decides what is considered fixed or malleable?” mother retorted, a mischievous smile coming to her face, lightening the mood considerably.
“Really, Doctor Who? That’s what you based this on?” I smiled, coughing slightly in discomfort from my mirth.
“Oh, I assure you, that man is anything but fiction in this reality,” Spectrum said, rubbing my back to ease my pain.
“Seriously?!” I asked, getting excited.
“Oh, don’t let him hear it, but I find it quite amusing to see a child play with their little toy box,” she giggled. The Tardis? A toybox?! How dare she make a mockery of the glorious time machine? Spectrum laughed quite a bit harder at seeing my pouting face.
“Don’t give me that look, it’s true! Everything I could create would put that silly thing to shame, but alas, I cannot. Not anymore, confined here as I am,” mother grinned, so I just sighed. Of course, she would make fun of my favorite entertainment, too. What could I have possibly been thinking? That it would remain safe from her teasing?
“Yeah, yeah. Continue to destroy everything I hold dear to me that I still have memories of...”
“My, extra pouty today, aren’t we?” Mom giggled again. “Well then, how about I give you something that will cheer you up, hmm?”
“And that would be?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
“It’s a secret within the family, my dear,” she answered and I leaned in closer to her, eager to find out what she would share with me. “Every child of mine, aside from you, has had the pleasure to meet the oh-so-elusive timelord. I’m sure that you won’t be exempt from that.”
“Really?!” I gasped, getting giddy. Oh man, I really want to see the inside of the Tardis for myself, I couldn’t wait!
“Yes, my dear,” she smiled, messing me mane up, but I didn’t care at that moment. Eeee! I would meet one of the most iconic characters from Earth’s culture! That was like, a fantasy come true! “Now then, don’t get too excited, yet. While that man might be able to traverse time in its entirety, he can get suspicious of anyone quite easily. Bear that in mind when you finally encounter him. You might even be the one that catches his attention first, in no small part due to the rewinds I bestowed upon you.”
“So he might actually know the future where you only can make educated guesses?” I asked.
“Well, he might know the specifics, that much is true...” she admitted to me. Spectrum shook her head as she saw my expression. “Yes, yes, someone else might be able to do something I can’t, what a surprise.”
“Is that jealousy I hear?” I teased, grinning more and more.
“You must be imagining things,” she answered, putting her snout up at me in an indignant way, and I swear that sounded eerily similar to her being petulant about it.
“So... When do you propose I should use the rewind?” I asked. My mother held a hoof to her chin as she began to ponder my question.
“I’d say watch events play out as much as you can, should you find yourself unable to be cured in time. Get as much of an edge on the Horseman of War, learn and plan accordingly,” she told me, barely a minute had passed with her thinking on it. “If you return to before I gave you that enchanted feather, though, know that I can’t make you another. When you rewind time, it also rewinds time for me, but that does not mean that what I did for you can be repeated. While the universe might seem like it went back in time, it does in fact not.
“The rewind, in essence, doesn’t really turn back time, but rather returns the entire plane of existence back to what it was a month ago. While it takes the beings of the spiritual realm with it, there might be the possibility they will notice something has occurred that they have unwittingly been subjected to. These crystals will essentially be reset, too.
“I don’t foresee Sombra taking notice of that, so rest assured he will be none the wiser. That companion of your friend might notice something is amiss, though. Be prepared if he confronts you about this, although he might just be left with a sense of déjà vu for all I know.”
Okay, so basically a reset button for the universe, got it. I might see why the Doctor might take exception to me playing around with such a powerful tool, indeed. Time basically continues normally, everything would return to the place it was at before. A bit like a chessboard being prepared for a new game, really.
While we talked we estimated the time the crystals would render me completely incapable of movement in about a month and a week. After three weeks to a month I would already need assistance with walking, so that left me with little time to work with.
Another limit I learned of the rewinds, was the inability to chain them. What I mean by that is me being unable to ‘travel’ further back than a month, so after I used one, I would have to wait another month to go back a month. Should I use another directly afterward, I would essentially go back to the point where I originally went back to. Confusing to explain, but simple in concept.
So, yeah... I shouldn’t screw this up directly after I reset, basically.
The rest of the night went by all too quickly for my tastes. And let’s just say Luna was not pleased by the sight of the crystals on my body. She was already in a bad mood for having stayed up too long to get samples of the dark crystals the slaves were forced to mine and capturing one of their soldiers alive without triggering the suicide switch they apparently all had.
That asshole was a paranoid bastard for sure, going to such lengths to ensure his little puppets stayed in his command. Don’t ask me how Luna managed to avoid having the soldier go through the mental frier, my head was already spinning enough as it was from her explanation alone. Something about figuring out how to cripple the poor sod enough for the kill switch to not take effect.
While Twilight was happily experimenting on the natural dark crystals, the rest of our group was trying to figure out what to do about the magical variant that stuck to me like glue.
Luna figured we could kill two birds with one stone, by taking enough soldiers to push back the enemy while also going for the springs beneath the Crystal Empire to get that purifying water from them.
That is what we did. With Sombra seemingly missing in action, our forces were enough to push back the tide and incapacitate the enemy. While we couldn’t exactly free them, Luna at least was able to put them into a coma for now. The results from the research Twilight did on their armor gave us the necessary information to affect them in such a way that we wouldn’t have to worry about leaving them as vegetables.
After the first week, we were on the outskirts of the city-state. That was where our luck ran out, though. Sombra returned with smaller versions of the golems to deny us access to the Empire. While we were able to free the slaves and render the mind-controlled soldiers incapable of fighting, the same could not be said of the new army he brought to bear on us.
Another week passed and we were cut off from going into the Empire for good. Sombra had erected a massive crystal wall all around the Crystal Empire to deny us entry. So, I stayed with Twilight at the outpost, seeing that the growth of the crystals on my body was getting progressively worse. Princess Cadance was also still here and not with the rest of the group trying to breach the way to the caverns to get me the cure.
Sadly, that left us sitting ducks as the weeks continued on. While we were safe here in our little bubble away from the conflict, it gave us a major case of cabin fever.
During the fourth week, a scout managed to fill two vials with the water that could purify my condition and I was finally able to get back to the fight. While the golems were a lot tougher than the mind-controlled soldiers Sombra relied on before, they weren’t that much smarter.
It was almost too easy to predict their movements, I had to say. Their greater size gave them the strength that could cause small quakes from the impacts, but they lacked the agility and dexterity to actually cause us any harm.
All the while, Sombra was only watching from the wall in distaste at our efforts, as futile as it might have seemed. The golems just kept coming and coming to defend the wall.
“Your attempts amuse me,” his voice echoed across the battlefield and Sombra turned his gaze to our fortress in the distance. “What will you do if you can’t run back?”
What happened next was what spelled doom for us all. At the halfway point between the wall and our fortress, the ground began to shake and collapse falling down into the dark abyss of the chasm that formed. From that chasm came another one of those gigantic golems, ready to keep us from escaping.
“Witness the might of the Dark One as I eradicate all of you with but one spell!” Sombra said, laughing maniacally. From the entirety of the wall, a sickening miasma started to spill down to the ground.
And, as it crept forth at a steady pace, we began to witness what it did to our soldiers. One by one, they fell down coughing, desperately clawing at their throats as they tried to breathe but found no air.
“Run, little sheep!” he shouted at us, the deranged stance reminding me of someone that has lost it and fully embraced their insanity. “There is no escape! None of you will be able to change this!”
All of us ran without hesitation towards the higher ground, but we traded one deathtrap for another. The massive golem swatted anyone out of the air, instantly killing them and denying us our escape to safety.
We were completely at the mercy of Sombra, stuck between a golem and a hard place. I was tempted to use the rewind then and there, but first I had to see how far this would go. The more information I could take with me, the better I would be able to prepare.
The thing is, if I took too much time, I would return to a point in time where I got infected with the crystal, inevitably dooming me to repeat the timeline. Mother calculated the exact time of how much time I would have left from when Sombra hit me with his spell.
And I had only a few minutes left until my timer on the phone would be set off and tell me I had to use it within the last minute or return to this failed timeline.
A flash of light made me look in the direction of Sombra and what I saw made my eyes widen.
Forget what I said about being stuck between a golem and a hard place. It was more like being stuck between a golem and a mad sorcerer that just fired of a spell that would erase us from history altogether. There was no escape from that and it was too fast for me to push the button in time to rewind back to a month ago to save myself and my friends.
One small detail engraved itself into my mind as I looked towards the origin of that attack. Sombra held a pitch-black heart out of crystals and I knew why he took his time to set this elaborate trap up.
He had corrupted what I knew must have been the Crystal Heart, one of the two cures my mother told me about. It was also the key detail to how we might have been able to defeat Sombra, had we done what I suggested in the first place and infiltrated the palace to find the one thing that could have turned the fight in our favor.
I was kicking myself for not having gone through with my plan to go through with it on my own, but who knows how that would have turned out? Shining Armor and Luna were right, it would have most likely lead to my death but I still felt that it would have been the only option that could have given us what we needed.
We needed a game-changer.
Now, though? Here I was, watching something that seemed to appear in slow motion, unable to get my phone out before we were all dead, unable to provide that game-changer.
I should have used the fucking thing while I still had the chance to do so. But no, I had to get greedy and try and learn as much as I could before going back a month.
I can’t believe how unbelievably stupid I was. Why couldn’t I play things safely, just for once? Was I that desperate to get killed over my mistakes?
And what a mistake it was...
“NO!” a voice shrieked out and my perception returned to normal, just as we were all blinded and deafened by a massive boom. The snow on the ground and in the air was blown away from the force of the explosion and besides the ringing in my ears, everything seemed to be still.
Too still, I’m afraid to say.
Like awakening from a dream, we watched as a figure fell from midair, having intercepted the beam with her own body and taken the full brunt of it unto herself.
I clicked the button on my phone in grief.