It didn't take long for Carapace and I to arrive back at the tower, Carapace dropped me just at the outskirts of the tower, quickly moving to assist several of his comrades. I drew my sword, glancing around to gauge how I could help the situation. There appeared to be just over twenty attackers, all of which were either pegasi or unicorns. I made a dash for the nearest unicorn, who magically drew a sword of his own. I ignited my blade as we clashed, clearly startling my opponent and shattering his blade. I used the opportunity to smash the pony over the head with my swords hilt, helmet or not he dropped to the ground unconscious.
I then noticed something at the peripheral of my vision, causing me to pivot around and raise my sword defensively. Unfortunately this didn't stop the large ball of energy smashing me in the chest and staggering me. I saw my opponent, he was roughly thirty feet away and his horn was glowing brightly. I dived to the side, narrowly avoiding another blast of energy while I pulled out one of my newly acquired gems and focusing on it while I aimed at him. I was very pleased by the results, when a large torrent of wind burst from the stone and created a miniature twister sending the pony flying.
It was then that I noticed two things: The green stone I was currently clutching was a Windstone and the entrances to the tower being blocked off by magic. Before I could come up with a plan of action a changeling slammed into the ground beside me, making me look to the sky. The ponies were dominating it, and I could see why, the Royal Guard had armour and all appeared to be in good shape, the changelings were battered and barely holding it together.
I checked the changeling before me, he was unconscious, but alive. There wasn't much I could do for him, so I returned my attention to the battle, deciding that the only way I was going to affect this battle was to take a better position. I made my way to the base of the tower, using it's rugged and spiked appearance to my advantage as I started to climb it. Nothing harassed me as I climbed, the changelings were doing a valiant job at holding them at bay, and I couldn't help but wonder why there were so few defending.
It didn't matter at the moment though, what did matter was helping my new allies. I finally got to a wide ledge, leading into tunnels behind, which didn't matter because of a magical barrier, but it did give me some space to maneuver. I took this time to slot in the Phoenix Crystal from earlier, putting the blue striker crystal in my back pocket. The change my blade went through cause me to grin, the blue light that had been fueling it died down, replaced by a white and orange flame. I had never used a Phoenix crystal before, but I knew they were similar to the firebolt crystal that the Cyclonians used. With that in mind I lined up the blade with the closest pegasus, and brought it across in an arc. This had two affects, the first was it sent a large plume of fire at the pegasus, causing him to veer off and slam into the ground in an attempt to put hit tail and feathers out, the second was that it knocked me flat on my back. This position seemed to be becoming the staple of my existence.
I got back to my feet and tried again, and I can tell you those guy sure knew how to dodge. It wasn't until they started firing back that I noticed they had reinforcements, this time they had unicorns hitch to the pegasi by some sort of a cart. This is a weird day. The battle just went from bad to worse then, the magic of the unicorns appeared to be superior and the pegasi were able to out manoeuvre them. I'm guessing one of the pegasi got tired of me harassing them as he dive bombed me, knocking me from my perch on the tower and back to the ground. Fortunately I was intercepted mid-fall by something, and I wondered how many times can one cheat death in a week?
I and my rescuer both slammed into the ground, not so easy to pull out of a dive with the extra weight I guess, but we quickly recovered and I glanced over to him. It was Carapace, of course it was him. We exchanged glances before the pegasi tackled him and I narrowly avoided a bolt of magic, I dived to the side, taking cover behind a small outcrop of rocks before returning the favour with the Phoenix crystal. Unfortunately for me another unicorn had put up some sort of shield around his companion, I doubt he felt more than a warm breeze as the blaze engulfed him.
"Lets see how much that can take!" I shouted, before leaping over my cover and charging the shielded unicorn. This is where his shield backfired, he couldn't use magic inside it, which allowed me to close the distance and slam my blade down on his shield.
*CRACK*
Was all I heard before a scream came from behind me, the unicorn powering the shield couldn't take the strain, resulting in it shattering. Along with the tip of his horn. The scene however distracted me from my original target. Resulting in him having charged up a spell, I couldn't dodge, or get close enough to him in time to stop it. I braced myself when I felt something slam into me...from the side. I was knocked to the ground. I felt the wave of energy behind me. There wasn't a sound, apart from a sickening crunch. I recovered and turned, only to see Carapace lying behind me, chest caved in.
I don't know what it was, but something clicked with me then, I pulled the Phoenix crystal from my blade and pulled out the Windstone. I couldn't hear anything, I couldn't feel anything. Both gems began to glow brightly in my palms and I held them together I took aim at the unicorn, who was once again charging a spell and unleashed the power of both crystals. The sight must have been terrifying, a large twister of flames sprouted from my hands. The unicorn however managed to teleport, there wasn't time for that now though. I took aim at the pegasi who were dominating the sky, sending up the twister to meet them. It didn't take long after that, none of them were consumed by the flames, but all of them were screaming or calling a retreat.
Once the last of their stragglers had fled I dropped the gems, the hand that I had held the Phoenix crystal in was badly burned, I could see it, but I couldn't feel anything still. I went back to where Carapace lay, to where my stupidity had left him. I crouched down beside him, I could hear his breathing, it was ragged and labored, but he was still alive. I inspected the wound, his carapace had been crushed by the force of the blast, and I didn't know how I could fix it.
"Hold on, you'll be fine." I whispered to him as other changelings began to gather around me. At the front of them was Chrysalis, I don't know when she joined in the fight, but she was here now. "Chrysalis! Heal him!" I practically shouted at her, she appeared crestfallen, and I knew she couldn't.
"He's gone too far Raider, the wound is too great." I heard her say, though I hadn't given up yet. If there's a will, there's a way. If their magic couldn't help him, maybe crystal magic could. I reached into my back pocket, wrenching out Pipers journal. I flicked it rapidly, before arriving on anything useful.
"The Nil crystal, very few know what this dull little crystal is capable of, but if used correctly, it can fix anything." I read allowed as I looked at the picture beside it. I had seen it before, only bigger. Much bigger. My eyes flew to the top of the tower. "Chrysalis, get us up there! NOW!" I shouted, pointing at the top f the tower. She didn't say anything, I did feel her magic engulf us though. I could see her holding his wound closed with the magic as we ascended, bolstered by several other changelings.
We reached the top quickly, but I had no idea how or if this magic would even work. Chrysalis dropped me onto the crystal, gently placing Carapace down beside me. He was convulsing now, and I had no idea how he was actually still alive. "Hold him steady." I ordered, as I bent down placing both hands on the giant crystal before me. I felt energy when I touched it, I could feel it affecting me, a soothing sensation over took my hand as its burns closed. It wasn't affecting Carapace though and I couldn't understand why. "Come on, come on!" I shouted at the gem as it continued to fix me but not him.
I couldn't think of anything else to do as I returned my gaze to the crystal in an attempt to invoke its power. Nothing.
"Raider..." I heard beside me, I looked up at Chrysalis, who's magic was no longer in use. Carapace had gone still.
"No no no no no..." I began to mutter, growing in volume until it was a shout. I went over and grabbed him shaking him by the shoulders. "Wake up man, wake up!" I could feel my voice crack and my vision became hazed by tears. "You don't get to go yet. Not yet." I whispered to him as I collapsed to my knees, staring at the ground, one hand on him, the other supporting myself.
I felt something then, from Carapace, just a twitch, I looked back to him only to see a bright green glow coming from my hand, I was confused, I thought Chrysalis may have been moving me back. Until I felt it again, a small twitch, I looked to Chrysalis, she was looking away, her horn clearly not in use. I returned my attention to my hand, then down to my other. It was glowing also, and so was the crystal it was touching. I felt him move again, I saw his wound beginning to seal.
I focused on nothing else, just Carapace, the crystal and myself. We were connected, all of us. I saw a bright flash of light. Then... Darkness...