//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Attack on the Crystal Empire // Story: [CANCELLED] The Revival of the Tambelonian Empire // by AlphaWP //------------------------------// CHAPTER 6: ATTACK ON THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE Twilight and her friends, along with Celestia and Luna, arrived at the Crystal Empire. “Stay close, everypony,” Twilight said. “If Grogar knows we're here to find a way to stop him, there’s no doubt he might send his Legion after us.” The Legion of Doom stood around Grogar's throne room as he spoke. “My loyal followers… four of you shall be chosen to infiltrate the Crystal Empire and steal the Crystal Heart.” “I wonder who’ll be picked,” Cozy Glow said, looking at King Sombra. Sombra kept his eyes on Grogar but still answered: “Just wait and we’ll find out. All I care about is finally destroying that heart and getting revenge on those ponies.” Tirek frowned. “Shh! Listen.” Grogar continued. “The four of you that I believe are best for this mission are: The Storm King.” “Booyah!” the Storm King shouted. “King Sombra.” Sombra charged his horn and laughed. “I shall have my revenge!” “Lord Tirek.” Tirek flexed his muscles. “Yes!” “And Cozy Glow.” “Yes!” Cozy yelled. “You four shall retrieve the Crystal Heart and destroy anyone and anything that stands in your way, understood?” “Yes, Lord Grogar!” the villains shouted in unison. “I shall send you directly to the Crystal Empire with my magic. But remember one thing: return with the Crystal Heart and destroy anyone and anything that stands in your way. Or else.” Grogar sent a blast of magic from his Bewitching Bell and in an instant, the four villains were teleported to the snowy outskirts of the Arctic North. Sombra took a deep breath and smiled. “Finally—I’m home!” Cozy Glow, meanwhile, was shivering out of control and hid herself in Tirek’s fur. “Can we just go into the empire already?” she stuttered. “It’s freezing out here!” The Storm King—who was trying to use his staff to control the weather—frowned. “I am the Storm King! Why won’t this storm follow my commands?” “Because,” Sombra responded, “the storms here are unpredictable—not even alicorn magic can control them.” “Then can we get somewhere warm?” Tirek asked. “Cozy Glow’s shivering is making my neck itch.” Sombra used his magic to protect the other villains from the cold. “Warmth!” Cozy exclaimed, leaping from out of Tirek’s fur. Tirek scratched his neck. “So what’s the plan?” Tirek asked. Sombra smiled. “Well, you and I will attack the Crystal Empire, creating a distraction long enough for the Storm King and Cozy Glow to infiltrate the castle and grab the Crystal Heart.” The Storm King frowned. Wait, why am I not attacking the ponies?” “Two reasons. One: you’re weaker than me and Tirek. And two: You and Cozy Glow are agile and fast enough to sneak into the castle to grab the heart.” “Wait,” Cozy said. “Isn’t the heart at the bottom of the castle? Why would we need to go inside the castle?” “To foalnap the young princess.” “What?” said all three villains, shocked at Sombra’s claim. “You heard me right. We won't harm her, but without their precious filly, the prince and princess will be devastated. And a bonus: Grogar would be pleased.” The Storm King laughed. “Let’s do it then!” Tirek, with Cozy on his shoulder, smiled. “Pleasing Grogar? That would be an amazing accomplishment.” “I’m pleased to know you agree with this plan. Now… let the attack begin!” Meanwhile, the heroes were in the Crystal Library searching for a book with information on Grogar. “Ugh,” Rainbow Dash said. “We’ll never find something that can help us!” “Just be patient, darling,” Rarity replied, “something will come up. I hope.” Celestia and Luna were flying around searching through book after book. “Have you found anything, Luna?” Celestia asked. “I have found nothing, sister. Does anyone else have better luck?” “Nope! These coloring books have nothing helpful in them!” Pinkie responded. “I haven’t found anything either,” Sunset added. “Why do all these books only have recipes for corn?” Trixie asked, holding a cookbook. “There has to be something!” Twilight exclaimed, practically zooming through book after book. Suddenly, an orange blue-eyed pegasus entered the room. “I might be able to help. You’re looking for a book on… Grogar, if I’m not mistaken?” “Flash!” Twilight exclaimed, blushing. “What are you doing here?” “Well, Your Highness, I heard from Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor that Grogar returned, so I looked in the restricted section of the library and found this.” Flash held out a book with a large golden bell on the front. Grabbing the book, Twilight opened it and read it aloud: “After Grogar’s defeat at the hooves of Gusty the Great, his Bewitching Bell was locked away on Mt. Everhoof, never to be seen again.” Spike groaned. “We already know this!” Twilight turned the page: “While the bell itself cannot be destroyed; its powers can be. There is a chance that if the Bell of Freedom, which lies in Grogar's castle, is rung by alicorn hooves, the Bewitching Bell's, and Grogar's, powers will be left utterly useless.” “So all we have to do is find where Grogar’s castle is, and Twilight can ring that bell! Though that might be easier said than done,” Applejack said. “How are we going to do this? We don’t even know where Grogar is!” Starlight exclaimed. “And I’m not sure I want to know,” Fluttershy added. “We can do it. I know we can!” Twilight exclaimed. “We’ve come on top before, right? So we can do it again!” “But in those times, there wasn’t an army of villains against us!” Fluttershy replied. “Come on, Fluttershy. You have to be brave!” Rainbow said. Fluttershy asserted herself. “You’re right. I’m just under a lot of pressure.” Twilight smiled. “Thank you for the book, Flash.” “You’re welcome, princess. Let me know if you ever need anythi—” As Flash spoke, the heroes heard a large crash outside. Exiting the library, they saw Tirek and Sombra attacking the crystal ponies. “What do we do, Twilight?” Spike asked. Twilight started to panic before taking a deep breath. “Spike, Flash, you evacuate the crystal ponies. Starlight, Trixie, Sunset, you three make sure King Sombra doesn’t hurt anypony. Celestia, Luna, you two go to the castle and make sure my brother and Cadance and Flurry are safe. Everyone else, come with me and make sure Tirek doesn’t steal any magic.” Sombra approached a young crystal filly and laughed. “Hello, young one.” The filly hugged her mother, the two fearing for their lives. Laughing harder, Sombra charged his horn before feeling a sharp pain in his back. Sunset and Trixie were blasting him with magic. Sombra, frowning, charged his horn and began fighting back against their magic. “You will not defeat me, mares!” “In your dreams, Sombra!” Trixie yelled. Using the distraction to her advantage, Starlight helped the filly and her mother get to Spike and Flash, who were gathering the panicking crystal ponies to head to the Friendship Express. “Thank you,” said the filly and her mother. Starlight smiled. “You’re welcome. Just stay with the dragon and guard. They’ll get you to safety.”  Around the library meanwhile, the Mane Six and Tirek were fighting. Pinkie Pie began climbing all over Tirek. “Stay still so I can absorb your magic!” Tirek yelled. “Not a chance!” Applejack began using her lasso to try and get a hold of Tirek’s arm. “Yeehaw!” Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew around Tirek, who was trying to catch them. “Gonna have to be faster than that!” Rainbow shouted. Fluttershy whimpered. “Why did I agree to this?” Tirek was almost able to catch the two until Rarity used her magic to levitate crystals and threw them at Tirek. “I may not be the best magic-user, but I do know a thing or two!” Twilight delivered a final blow to Tirek’s chest with her magic. “You may have beat me before, Tirek, but this time I have my friends with me!” Falling to the ground, Tirek laughed. “You’re too late, princess.” “What do you mean?” “The real battle was never here. The Crystal Heart will be ours… and your niece.” Twilight gasped. “Flurry Heart!” Cozy Glow was fighting Shining Armor and Cadance while Celestia and Luna were trying to stop the Storm King. Flying around him, they tried their best to dodge his lightning. Celestia turned to her sister. “Luna! Try to get the staff from him!” “With pleasure, sister!” Luna flew toward the Storm King, knocking the staff out of his hand. “Now all I have to do is—” Before Luna could finish, Cozy Glow blasted her with magic.  “Luna!” Celestia yelled, running to her sister. “Are you alright?” “Tia, don’t worry about me. Just grab the staff.” Celestia nodded, but before she could even turn to grab the staff, the Storm King managed to pick it up and blast her. “You wanna know the funny thing about lightning?” asked the Storm King, holding the ex-princesses in the air with his staff. “It’s unpredictable… just… like… me.” The Storm King sent a blast of magic so strong that the sisters were knocked unconscious against the wall of the throne room. In that same instant, Cozy trapped Shining and Cadance with an immobilization spell and laughed. “Now that you’re out of the way, guess what? We’ll be taking the Crystal Heart and your daughter… just for a souvenir to please Grogar.” “No! You’ll never get away with this!” Cadence yelled. “My sister and her friends will stop you!” Shining shouted. “Your sister and her friends are weak and so are you!” Cozy replied. The Storm King exited the room and a moment later came back with Flurry Heart in his magic. “Say goodbye to Mommy and Daddy.” Flurry cried. “Mommy! Daddy! Help me!” Cadence and Shining watched helplessly as Cozy Glow and the Storm King had Flurry and the heart in their magic. Then, they left. Cozy and the Storm King, along with Sombra and Tirek, stood before the heroes and all the crystal ponies. King Sombra laughed and held Flurry Heart with his magic. Twilight, seeing her niece in the clutches of a villain, frowned. “Give my niece back, Sombra!” “Not a chance, princess. Grogar will be pleased to have not only the Crystal Heart, but also the young Crystal Princess in his possession.” Sombra charged his horn. “And just one last thing.” He used a spell so powerful; it destroyed the barrier preventing snow and ice from engulfing the empire. “Goodbye, princess.” Sombra’s magic enveloped the villains as they teleported back to Tambelon. “What do we do now, Twilight?” Spike asked. “First, we evacuate the empire, and then we go straight to Grogar… and destroy him.” Grogar watched in his Crystal Ball as Twilight said this. Beware, Twilight Sparkle. When you mess with Grogar, you never live to tell the tale.”