//------------------------------// // Chapter Three: The Road to Victory // Story: Spiders and Magic: The Kesshōkage of The Crystal Empire // by ElementBrigade //------------------------------// Chapter Three The Road to Victory “I…Don’t even know what to say about this.” Rusty said as Amber removed the last shackle around Umbra’s neck. “Well, you could say good job or something along the lines of that,” Nanako said while reaching into a small dimensional door to pull out a pair of pistols laced with a slight blue aura around them. She looks them over for a moment before placing them on the sash part of her garments before making the portal disappear. “So, do I have a little bit of your trust?” “...A little, but not a lot.” “I’ll take it,” Nanako said before casually making herself float in the air. “Okay…so from what I’ve known so far, you’re some kind of powerful being from another dimension, right?” Rusty asked as Nanako nodded. “And the book that belongs to the late princess, brought you and you alone here…no one else?” “Yeah, I can’t even leave this planet due to some unknown force that’s preventing me from doing so. Though that might be a good thing in my case seeing how the other family members would most likely reduce this place to ashes.” “Care to explain, princess from the stars?” “Let’s just say the Otsutsuki clan is not a clan that cares so much about other lifeforms. While some separate themselves from the main branch of the family by faking their death or ending up in a dimension where they can’t reach, others are fixated on one sole purpose. Godhood.” She said which caused the ponies to stare at her in confusion. “You see, the Otsutsuki clan’s goal is to consume planets by turning them into chakra fruits. Once they turn all life and matter on the planet into said fruits, they consume it to gain more power and evolve.” “...I’m sorry, I must be hearing things. Because I swear you just said that your family consumes planets just to become powerful gods?” Rusty asked as Nanako nodded with a sigh escaping her lips. “Sadly that is the case with certain members of the family.” “....Why in the name of Faust would they do something like that!?” “Because they want to become god-like beings similar to that of the first person to reach godhood, Shibai Otsutsuki.” She said before reaching into a small pocket dimension and pulled out a…rather poor drawing of Shibai Otsutsuki. The three ponies looked at the picture for a moment before looking at Nanako with an unamused expression on their faces. “What?” “Did you draw this?” Amber asked as the celestial being nodded. “...Do all creatures from your family draw this badly?” “H-Hey! It’s not that bad looking!” “This looks like a five-year-old filly drew this,” Umbra said before hearing Rusty speak up. “That’s a bit of an insult. Five-year-olds can draw better than this.” She added, which caused Nanako to glare and blush at them in embarrassment as she placed the hand-drawn picture into her attire. “Anyway! Shibai was the first to obtain godhood after several millennia of sacrificing worlds. As such, the Otsutsuki Clan decided to follow down the same path as he did and consume planets upon planets in their attempt to reach godhood themselves.” “So…have you…you know, killed off an entire planet with ponies on them?” Amber asked as the Celestial being shook her head. “If you mean other sentient life on different planets, then no, I have not. Even I’m not that cruel to commit genocide on a grand scale like that. Unlike the other members of the clan who go after planets with sentient life on them, I go after planets with plant life on them. I mean it should be the same as a normal planet if you just apply some…. otherworldly energy to it from the beginning.” “Huh…so you’re a plant-eating planet eater?” “I suppose you can say that. Though it's much harder to do seeing how certain members of the clan aren't too keen on the idea.” Nanako said before reaching into her sleeve to pull out a strange blue and green colored fruit. “This right here is a chakra fruit that the clan eats to achieve their goal of godhood.” “You mean that fruit harbors an entire planet inside it?” Rusty asked as Nanako nodded. “How is that even possible?” “I would love to go into details about it, but at this time I’ll have to hold off until we’ve taken care of some important matters.” She said before looking over at Umbra. “I know this might be much to ask, especially given your condition. But would you be willing to give me information about your father? You know, like his strengths and weaknesses?” “...You’re going to kill him,” Umbra said with a dumbfounded expression on her face. “Well it’s not like we can just let the man or in this case pony, do what he pleases, but I can understand if you still have feelings for-” “Destroy his horn,” Umbra said as she interrupted Nanako’s sentence. “My father is the strongest unicorn in the kingdom with years upon years of magical spells under his belt. Given how you can use magic as well after what you used on the chains. If you want to have an advantage over my father, you need to destroy his horn or seal his magic away with one of those magic-canceling rings.” “...Wow, no hesitation in answering my question.” “I’ve been locked away for who knows how long at this point, whoever that thing is on the throne is no longer my father. If you can kill him with whatever magic you have, then by all means kill him and put an end to this nightmare we’ve been living in.” “Technically it’s not magic, it’s Shinjutsu.” “Shin-what?” Rusty asked before noticing a smile on Nanako’s face. “It’s a bit complicated to explain, but I’ll try to make it as simple as possible. Shinjutsu are techniques of the highest order only to the members of the Otsutsuki Clan. Unlike ninjutsu or senjutsu that requires hand signs to perform them, shinjutsu bypasses the requirements and lets the user bring upon phenomena resembling acts of god.” “Okay…and chakra is?” “A supernatural substance native to lifeforms on some planets. Chakra is created when both physical and spiritual energies are molded together within your body.” Nanako answered as she raised her right hand as it was enveloped in a dark midnight blue aura. “So it’s like magic for unicorns?” Amber asked. “I suppose you could say that…though I don’t have much knowledge of this magic you speak of…it’s kind of hard to explain without prior knowledge of the history behind chakra.” “I’m just gonna go with a weird otherworldly ability and leave it at that,” Umbra answered before trying to adjust herself on the bed. “Now back to business. Be mindful that Sombra has a thousand years of magic underneath his belt, he can use magic to control crystals, mind control, induce fear onto a pony, and turn himself into mist to avoid getting injured or escape. But he does have a major weakness.” “He’s so full of himself to the point where he’ll underestimate just anypony,” Rusty added. “Which you can use to your advantage.” “I see…how much overconfidence are we talking about?” Nanako asked before hearing Amber speak up. “To the point where he made a holiday for himself called Sombra Day. All day we have to constantly say something arousing about him. I had to say that his horn is so sharp that…it turns me on.” She said while shivering at the memory of it. “Okay, so he’s an idiot who ended up with too much power...Alright, it shouldn’t be that hard to kill him. Which begs the question, what will happen after he’s dead if you don’t mind me asking?” The Celestial being asked as Amber and Rusty looked over at Umbra, who had an uncomfortable expression on her face. “Killing him will break the curse placed on the Crystal Empire, and it’ll undo the mind control spell he has on the other ponies…though there will be a lot of dead ponies.” “What do you mean by that?” Rusty asked. “My father used a mind control spell on just about half the pony population in the kingdom, roughly about five hundred thousand over the years. They had no sleep, nothing to eat, and were kept working even after they reached their limit. Once the spell is gone, time will move forward, but the ponies under his spell will die from exhaustion.” She said which took the earth pony and pegasus by surprise. “It shouldn’t be a surprise given how he’s been treating us over the years. You can say this is a big old “If I’m gonna fall, you all are coming with me.” kind of deal.” “Seriously? Isn’t there a way to try and make sure they can survive long enough to recover?” Amber asked as Umbra shook her head. “If there was a way for me to do that, then I would. But I’m just an old husk of my former self, and my magic is all gone…I’m truly sorry.” “It’s sad that this is the outcome of a mad king’s madness. But this might be for the best.” Nanako said as she looked over at the empire from the window next to them. “I haven’t read much about this place other than the book I found giving me a summary of how this place turned out, but being a slave even after death is something I never wish upon my enemies. After this is over, I’ll stay and help rebuild your empire to what it used to be or even better.” “...How can you make this place better? It’s been locked away for years with the blood of the innocent running the streets…You can’t see the blood due to the snow, but it’s there.” Umbra asked. “Well, I am an alien with years of advanced knowledge from another world. Applying what I know to this kingdom and bringing in a few otherworldly materials and equipment shouldn’t be an issue.” “Suppose what you’re saying is true. Why would you be willing to help us? I mean, this isn’t your planet and you can’t expect ponies to trust you even if you were to kill Sombra.” Rusty said before hearing Umbra speak up. “They would…if the princess were to witness the killing of Sombra,” Amber said, which caused Umbra, Nanako, and Rusty to raise an eyebrow at her. “Hear me out. Technically Umbra is still royalty even after being in prison for so long, and if Sombra dies, then she’ll be next to the throne. So if Umbra were to bear witness to the fight that happened and use her magic to play an image of the scene.” “Then the ponies will see Nanako as their savior/champion and possibly gain a bit of their trust in the process,” Umbra added as a smirk appeared on her face. “Think you’ll be up for a plan like that?” “If it means I get my answers, then I’m up for anything at this point,” Nanako answered. “Though are you sure you want him killed? I mean, I’m not against the option of doing it, I just want to make sure you know what’s going to happen?” “I’ve been in a cell for the past one thousand years with the remains of my comrades who cursed me upon their last breath due to my father’s horrific torture method…you think I wouldn’t get the option of killing him if given the chance?” “Fair enough,” The celestial being nodded upon hearing this as she stood up and stretched her limbs a bit. “Okay, guess we’re going to assassinate the king…question, where is he? Because I don’t know the layout of this castle given how I’m new here and all.” “I can take you to the throne room, but you’ll have to carry me.” “Given the state you’re in, I suppose that’s fair.” She said before walking over to Umbra to carry her but was stopped by Rusty due to her wing blocking her path. “We’ll carry Umbra, you’ll need your strength for Sombra. That is if you can kill him.” The pegasus said before motioning for Amber to come over to the unicorn. The earth pony nodded as she made her way over to Umbra and with the assistance of Rusty, slowly picked her up and placed her on the captain’s back. “I mean it won’t be an issue with me carrying her, but if you insist,” Nanako said as the ponies began making their way to the door while Umbra motioned for her to follow. The moment Rusty opens the door, the group is met with a group of knights blocking the entrance. “Oh…that can’t be good.” “Crap, not good,” Rusty said as she along with Amber backed away from the doorway. “Rusty Dagger and Amber Foxfire,” The male colt said before taking a step forward. “You two are under arrest for treason, imbedding an escape traitor of the crown, and harboring an animal within your quarters,” he said before pointing a hoof at Nanako who deadpanned at him. “How the hell did you know Umbra escaped?” “King Sombra placed a tracking spell on her just in case she tried to escape. It shouldn’t be a surprise given the crimes she committed,” he answered as the ponies behind him reached for their weapons and pointed them at the group. “By the powers given to us by King Sombra, you will be executed where you stand.” “Question, are these guys under Sombra’s control?” Nanako asked as Umbra nodded. “Given the green coloring in their eyes and ragged appearance,” Umbra said as Nanako noticed some of them bleeding from their armor or staggering to keep standing. “They’re on their last limb…whatever you choose to do, I’ll take the blame for it once the dust settles. But we need to kill him seeing how my father knows that I escaped from prison.” “...Alright, sorry about this,” Nanako said before moving to the side of the group and looking over at the knights. “Storm style: Light Fang!” The celestial being took in a deep breath before firing off a blue-colored pressurized beam of light at the group of knights. The beam sliced through three of them, but the remaining two quickly ducked out of the way of the attack. There was a moment of silence hanging in the room before the sound of flesh sliding and hitting the ground as the three knights collapsed to the ground. “....Huh…first time using that move on an actual living being…didn’t think it would slice them in half like that.” “You mean you've never been in a fight before!?” Rusty asked in astonishment. “Wel, l most of my kills involve…accidental environmental killings…like a rock just comes out of nowhere and knocks a guy’s head off, or a giant boar runs over a person.” She asked before noticing the remaining two pulling themselves up from the ground and charging at Nanako with spears in their mouths. A smirk appeared on their faces when their spears impaled Nanako’s chest and abdomen but soon vanished as the girl exploded into a cloud of smoke. Their eyes widen upon seeing this, but the sound of flesh being impaled by something. Amber, Rusty, and Umbra blinked in surprise upon seeing how fast Nanako was as she impaled the two knights in the chest from behind and pulled her fists out of them. It would be noticed that her hands were a shade of black for a moment before returning to their normal pale white color. “....Wow…I was not expecting that.” Umbra said as she noticed Nanako shaking the blood off her hands. “Gah, gross. I always hate having to use my hands for stuff like this. Should’ve used my weapon then my fists.” She said before looking at the others. “I’m going to assume we’re going to make a run for the throne room while slicing through a group of ponies…right?” “We could do that…or we could take a secret passageway that leads to the throne room,” Rusty said as she motioned for Amber to head over to the giant mirror next to them. The moment the earth pony was near it, she would soon insert her hoof into the wall next to it. Within a matter of seconds, the mirror slid down to reveal a set of stairs leading upwards. “....Okay, how did you make something like this?” Umbra asked. “We didn’t make this, it was made by the previous generations of ponies before us.” She answered before motioning Nanako and Amber to follow her inside. “Originally it was made as an escape from Sombra, but after he placed a curse on the kingdom, it was made into a quick route to the throne room to kill him. At least that is what was left behind in the notes made by a pony named Last Hope.” “It also leads to other places within the kingdom, like the kitchen, bathroom, and outside of the castle,” Amber answered as the door behind them quickly closed up. “It’s also how we’ve been able to Sombra’s throne on time when he calls us for our annual patrol report.” “....Dear Faust, if I knew about this place, I would’ve been able to use this to escape Sombra and not be in prison for all these years,” Umbra said before hearing Rusty speak up. “Come on, we have a lot of stairs to climb.”