Blueblood was right. Stalliongrad was indeed untouched by the Storm King so far. But with what they were about to do, that was going to change very soon. Every available military personnel was already in position outside the palace where Blueblood and the Regime Remnants have been hiding. The two royals entered and sealed the entrance behind themselves.
"This way." Blueblood motioned for Cadance to follow him and the two headed off towards the gate that Cadance assumed lead to the vault. "We'll have to hurry. Stalliongrad has a small military, there's no telling how long they'll last against Tempest's forces. Once they get through, we'll be on our own."
"Just let them come." Cadance snarled as she cracked her front hooves. Blueblood raised an eyebrow as he saw her reaction.
"You surprise me, Cadance. I never saw this violent side of yours."
"I lost the love of my life, my only child and now my whole kingdom, Blueblood. How do you think I am supposed to feel?" Cadance cut back.
"I'm not saying I disapprove, I'm just surprised, that's all." the stallion replied with a shrug. "Though I'm wondering where exactly have you been hiding it before? We could have used it in the Regime."
"I couldn't have cared less about your Regime, Blueblood! That's the honest to Faust truth!" Cadance snapped. It felt great to finally admit this out loud. "The only reason I supported it was because Twilight forced me into helping them and she turned my daughter against me! And just what about you? The pompous, stuck up. arrogant Blueeblood was all too willing to follow Twilight on her path to turn Equestria into a totalitarian regime. I thought you considered yourself above following other so blindly." Blueblood was actually hesitant to answer.
"I already know what you're thinking, Cadance. That I was just afraid to stand up to Twilight and I told myself that she was right to hide my fear. Would that make me any better than you? Of course not. But it also wouldn't make me any worse." The prince retorted. Cadance found herself unable to come up with a reply. Blueblood's words actually hit her pretty deep and she cast her eyes down in sorrow.
"What happened to us, Blueblood?" she asked sadly. Blueblood's expression actually grew softer and more mournful upon hearing that.
"Canterlot has changed us all. As much as it did Twilight." He didn't wait for the alicorn to reply and walked up to an old metal gate that towered in front of them. "The entrance to the vault is here, but it is protected by a magical seal. I know how to open it, but I'll need some time."
"Too bad you and your countries have no more time left!" The two ponies jumped in surprise and turned to see Tempest Shadow standing behind them with an evil smirk on her face. "Your little garrison is fighting admirably. They have gotten so carried away that they didn't even notice me sneaking past them. My main target is not them or Stalliongrad, but whatever magic you are hiding in there. Once I have it, it will be easy to force this pathetic little country into submission." Blueblood just about had enough of this.
"Your master will not defile this land, Tempest!" he exclaimed in determination as he and Cadance ignited their horns. "The Storm King may have given you that helmet to replace your horn, but you still cannot take on the both of us alone!" To their surprise, Tempest's grin merely widened in response.
"Who said I was alone?"
As if on cue, three other ponies walked out from the darkness and stood next to Tempest. Blueblood's and Cadance's eyes widened in shock. It was Daring Do, Flash Sentry and Apple Bloom, but it was obvious that there was something wrong with them. Their eyes were wide open and their expressions were blank and emotionless. Their movement was also jerky and still, almost like machines. Cadance immediately realized what was wrong with them.
"The Storm King took control of them!" she exclaimed in horror.
"A fate your beloved Equestria and Stalliongrad will soon share." Tempest growled with a savage glare. "Too bad you won't live long enough to see it. Kill them!" She ordered Flash and Daring, while she and Apple Bloom walked through the gate to the vault.
The two pegasi started approaching the ponies standing between tempest and the vault with their wings spread wide. Blueblood and Cadance exchanged a worried glance. They knew that they will have to be careful or they could serious harm to their allies turned slave to the Storm King. And that probably was exactly what bastard was counting on. But they couldn't afford themselves to hold back now. In the end, they silently agreed upon sharing the opponents by gender. Stallion against stallion and mare against mare.
Flash aimed his crossbow at Blueblood and fired some arrows at him. The prince raised a barrier to block them, but to his surprise, the arrows just went right through it. Blueblood barely had time to react and avoid the arrows ny jumping out of the way.
"How is this possible?!" Blueblood exclaimed in shock. Flash smirked at him.
"Arrows laced with the Storm King's magical energy. Far more poweful than anything you can muster up." Blueblood groaned at this revelation, but the boasting of the pegasus gave him an idea.
'Thank you for the tip. Let us see how you fare without your precious crossbow then.'
Flash loaded his crossbow again, but Blueblood used his magic to grab the weapon and rio it out of the guard's grasp. Blueblood hoped that this move would throw Flash off guard and he was right. Flash was so surprised by this move, that he didn't even have the chance to resis his weapon being yanked away from him. He tried to fly after it and grab it again, but he was forced to fly back when he saw Blueblood turning the weapon against him. However, instead of firing, Blueblood used his magic to incinerate the weapon and turn it into ash. Flash was utterly dumbstruck by this move, which didn't go unnoticed by the prince.
'He probably expected that I would turn it against him. But I won't make his mistake. Only a fool trusts his life to a weapon.'
Blueblood used his magic to blow the ash that was once Flash's crossbow at his face, which temporarily blinded the pegasus. Flash started to shake his head and wipe his face to clear his vision and Blueblood tried to use this to his advantage and tackle him. But Flash flew up and managed to avoid the attack. Of course, this had the drawback of Flash not seeing where he was flying and that bit him in the flank as he ended up banging his head into a stone column. This along with his blurred vision gave Blueblood the chance he needed to pull him back on the ground.
He was about to knock him out, but Flash, in a last, desperate attempt, lunged forwards and bashed Blueblood in the head with his muzzle, making him stagger back. Flash used this small break to clear his vision and once he could finally see properly, he charged at Blueblood. The prince raised a magical shield in front of him just in time to block the attack.
"Your quiver's run empty!"
"Who said I need arrows?"
The two stallions struggled against each other, but Blueblood's magic eventually gave him the edge he needed. He made the magical shield in front of him explode and it sent Flash crashing back against the wall. The Pegasus finally reached the limit of his endurance and passed out, slowly collapsing to the ground. Blueblood waited a few moments to make sure that his opponent was indeed unconscious, before running off to see how Cadance was doing.
Said alicorn princess got a little in over her head and believed she will easily be able to best Daring. But Daring wouldn't have become the greatest adventurer in Equestria if she didn't know how to deal with magic users. She quite effectively dodged the magical bolts Cadance fired at her and when the aicorn let her guard down, she countered with her whistle. The sonic blast knocked Cadance off of her hooves and sent her tumbling backwards on the ground.
Daring tried to take advantage of the situation by flying up and dropping down on Cadance from above with her back legs placed together. Cadance was still drowsy from the attack, so Daring probably would have knocked her out, if it wasn't for the magical bolt fired by Blueblood that knocked the pegasus mare away. Cadance looked up to see Blueblood offering her his hoof to help her up. But her pride didn't leave her.
"I required no assisstance." she rebutted firmly as she stood up on her own. Blueblood just rolled her eyes before turning back to the recovering Daring. The pegasus mare got up just as the magical seal that held the gates to the dungeon shut broke open and the Storm King's soldiers marched into the room, surrounding the two royals. Blueblood and Cadance backed up against each other as their opponents closed in on them.
"And Olympus has fallen." The Strom King's voice mocke throug Daring's mouth. "Fitting that you two die together. Ponykind's last royals." But Cadance and Blueblood weren't ready to call it quits just yet.
"I've had my fill of your charade!" Blueblood shouted before firing a magical bolt at the whistle hanging around Daring's neck. The artifact exploded form the blast, sending a giant sonic blast all round the room, knocking Daring and the Storm Guards off of their legs. Cadance just had time to rase a magic barrier that protected her and Blueblood from the effects of the blast, but even that barely held, breking apart as the sound waves subsided. Cadance even fell from exhaustion and Blueblood had to catch her and help her back on her hooves.
The blast knocked all of the Storm Guards out, but they had a different effect on the two brainwashed ponies. The blast seemed to have completely wiped the effects of the Storm King's control off of them. Flash and Daring groaned as they slowly got back on their legs. They rubbed their aching heads and looked around to see where they were.
"How's your head?" Daring asked from the stallion.
"Ugh... empty." Flash replied. Daring chuckled lightheartedly.
"So not much has changed." she then turned to the two royals. "So from what I gathered, you two have a means to take out this bastard." Blueblood and Cadance were surprised the Daring was aware of the surrounding events while they were under the Storm King's control, but it made their jobs easier, so they were not going to complian.
"We have enough magical energy stored in there to bring down the barriers of his airship and allow Celestia and the rest of our allies to get up there." Blueblood explained as he pointed at the doors that lead to the vault behind him. "We need to get down there and stop Tempest from stealing it."Daring and Flash looked at each other. Though they and the two royals were on the opposing sides in the war between the Regime and the Insurgency, quickly understood that they needed to work otgether to win this.
"How can we help?" Daring asked.
"We can handle Tempest. If you want to help, get out and help the guards fight off the Storm King's forces." Blueblood instructed. The two pegasi nodded and were about to head outside, but Cadance stopped them.
"Wait!" she then used her magic to reconstruct Daring's Canary Cry whistle and Flash's crossbow and gave it back to them. "These might help. Good luck!" The pegasi took the weapons and headed out, both ready and willing to join the fight. Cadance and Blueblood then turned around and headed towards the vault. They had a certain unicorn general to pick a bone with.
Cadance's eyes widened as she stepped into the vault. Never before had she witnessed such a sight. The huge, blue magical orb floating in the middle of the room was truly a sight to behold. It waved and sparkled with energy and shined so brightly that Cadance was afriad to look at it. She couldn't possibly imagine how will they be able to transfer all this magic all the way to the Storm King's ship. But they had to cross that bridge when they got there. They had to get through Tempest Shadow first.
The dark unicorn was busy gathering all of the magical energy into her artificial horn. Cadance and Blueblood arrived just in time to interrupt her. But before they could stop her, the unicorn mare noticed them and motioned for Apple Bloom to step in. The brainwashed earth pony jumped into the way of the magical beams Bluelood and Cadance fired at her and her armor absorbed the blasts with ease. Cadance cursed under her breath.
"Hiding behind a child, Tempest?" she scoffed. "Coward."
"A child your magic is useless against." Tempest retorted without even turning around to look at them. "But whose blade will be very useful against you. KIll them, Apple Bloom!"
Apple Bloom wasted no time and lunged at the two ponies. Her sword barely missed Blueblood's horn. The adult ponies jumped back to avoid the earth pony's barrage of attacks. Which was easier said than done as the royal guard did a more than adequate job at training her. After a few blows, Blueblood and Cadance were starting to get tired, they had to find a way to cut this fight short.
"We have to find a way to deal with that armor of hers!" Blueblood exclaimed. Cadance, sensing that she will not be able keep it up for much longer, in a desperate attempt, used her magic to raise a force field and throw the young mare back several meters. To their surprise, it worked! Apparently, magic may not have been able to damage the armor, but it could interact with it. This gave Cadance an idea.
"Hold her down!" she yelled to Blueblood. The prince used his magic to hold Apple Bloom down. It took all his might as the earth pony struggled with all of her strength to break free. Fortunately, as she fell on the ground, she dropped her sword, which Cadance noticed and grabbed it with her magic. She then threw the sword at the beam the connected Tempest's horn device to the magical beam of energy, severing the connection between the two. The resulting flash when the connection was broken forced Tempest to back away and cover her eyes. The hornless unicorn growled as she turned to Cadance.
"How did it feel to lose you empire, Cadance?" she taunted, earning a fierce glare in response.
"I didn't lose it! It was taken from me! You hurt my empire, my subjects and my family, Tempest! In their name, I will have justice!"
Tempest wasn't worried. She had a few tricks up in her helmet that she still hasn't revealed. Cadance fired a magical blast at Tempest, but the unicorn blocked it effortlessly. Not only that, but she actually fired the blast back at Cadance, who didn't expect such an attack and had to jump out of the way. Tempest took advantage of this and fired another blast at her. Cadance had to raise a shield to block them.
"You were never fit for the throne of the Crystal Empire anyway." Tempest taunted as she charged her helmet for a blast that overloaded Cadance's shield and send her to the ground. "You lack the will and backbone of a true leader like me!" Cadance flew up and charged at Tempest in an effort to snathc her helmet, but Tempest just dodged and fired another blast at her, which Cadance managed to dodge.
"You call yourself a leader?!" Cadance yelled in fury. "What kind of a leader sacrafices her homeland and followers for a monster like the Storm King?!"
"My loyalty isn't to Equestria, the First Order, or the Storm King. It is to me!" Tempest smirked smugly. "After I took the magical energy from this vault for myself, I will be strong enough to kill him. With all his magic and his army, I will be unstoppable!" Cadance was shocked by Tempest's ruthlessness.
"You're deluded, Tempest! And your delusions end here!" Tempest fired up another shot and fired it at Cadance, who flew out of the way. The blast hit one of the columns that held the ceiling of the vault, which cracked and broke. With the column losing it's support, it started to collapse, right on top of Tempest. The unicorn's eyes widened in fright and she had to summon all of her strength to muster up enough magic to stop the falling column.
This was the opening Cadance needed. She flew right at Tempest, grabbed her helmet and started pulling it with all of her might. Tempest didn't have the strength to stop Cadance and the falling column at the same time. Cadance managed to pull Tempest away, but the helmet was tightly attached to her head. After pulling the unicorn on the ground for a few moments, she finally managed to tear the helmet off of her head and threw it into the or of magical energy sphering in the middle of the vault, where it exploded and the energy released from it became one with it.
Cadance noitced this with satisfaction. No doubt this will make taking the Strom King's shield down easier. She then looked away and noticed that Blueblood was now standing beside her.
"Where's Apple Bloom?"
"I managed to break the Storm King's mind control. She joined Daring Do and Flash Sentry outside in the castle's defenses." Before Cadance could reply, she was interrupted by a groan coming from Tempest who was still lying on the ground. She tried to get up, but Cadance held her down with her magic. She and Blueblood were standing over the unicorn mare and glaring down at her with venom. The only thing the now defensless unicorn could do was match their glare.
"Damn you and all of Equestria." she spat at them. Both figuratively and literally.
"The ponies of the Crystal Empire demand justice." Cadance snarled. Tempest chuckled darkly.
"Heh. Against the Strom King? You've only seen a dash of what he's capable of. He has conquered dozens of nations and collected hundreds of different forms of magic. His army is relentless, his power nearly infinite. He can't be stopped."
"They said the same thing about Discord, Nightmare Moon and even Twilight." Cadance replied calmly. "Rest assured Tempest, we will find a way to deal with your master. But first, we deal with you."
Cadance then lifted Tempest off of the ground and slammed her against the wall hard. Blueblood then lifted the fallen column into the air and levitated it over Tempest before letting go of it. The last thing Tempest saw was the column descending down upon her before it hit the ground and broke into pieces.
With the last remnant of the First Order finally dealt with, Cadance and Blueblood could finally return to their original task they came here to do. Theyturned back towards the giant orb in the middle of the vault and aproached it, but Cadance grew a little nervous as she got closer to it.
"How will this work exactly?" Cadance asked unsurely.
"I will be able to direct the magic out to the square in front of the palace. You will have to receive it there and transfer it to the Storm King's ship. Your alicorn body should be able to handle it." Blueblood explained. Cadance was still unsure. This amount of magical energy slightly intimidated her. But it's not like they had other options and after everything they went through here, it was not the time to quit.
"I'm ready."
Outside the castle, the remainder of the castle guard was easily able to round up the Storm King's forces with the help of Apple Bloom, Flash Sentry and Daring Do. The three ponies were currently overseeing how the guards carried the prisoners of war away and loading them onto carriages.
"It feels good to finally strike back against the Storm King's forces." Daring mused in satisfaction. Flash nodded in agreement.
"You said it!" he then turned to Apple Bloom. "Nice work, kid. Your training really paid off. I'm proud of you."
"Thanks. Dat means a lot." Apple Bloom replied humbly and a little embarrassed from the praise. Their celebration was abruptly cut short as the palace gates were slammed open and Cadance ran out, running faster then ever before.
"Out of the way, everypony!"
The ponies in front of her obliged and allowed Cadance to run past them and stopped at the middle of the palace square. Down in the vault, Blueblood bucked his backlegs into the sphere of magical energy and concentrated with all of his might to direct it to the square where Cadance was waiting for it. The radiant light of blue energy shot through the corridors of the castle and out the gates before slamming into Cadance.
The alicorn felt a little pain from the sudden surge of magic entering her body, but she quickly got over it focused to direct it straight towards Canterlot where their target was hovering. With a heavy grunt, Cadance fired the magic gathering inside her out. It took all of her concentration and endurance to keep channeling it, but thankfully, the process was finished quickly. By the time the last bit of magic left Cadance's body, the alicorn collpased from the exhaustion and passed out. They did their part. Now it was all up to Celestia.