//------------------------------//
// Chapter Sixteen 
// Story: Clipped Wings 
// by Desrium 
//------------------------------//

Chapter Sixteen


And woe be the enemies defeated.


Steiner's mental prison fell apart spectacularly, the floating fragments of Hope smashing into each other and creating clouds of weightless annihilation above him. Buildings fell apart but did not topple. The earthen platforms they hovered upon crumbled into dust, expanding outwards in explosions of dust and smoke. The platform he stood upon began to break, pieces floating upwards and outwards, entire blocks simply floating away. From the green void came the Magimus' face, his golden eyes bright and flickering like a flame. He had incurred the apparition's wrath. Good. The blue unicorn would have been almost smug about his accomplishment if he were not so utterly enraged. 

"How does a wretch like you DARE to oppose my power in such a manner!?" the Magimus bellowed, devoid of his earlier callousness. 

"How does a monster like you justify abusing the power you have!? After all that has happened to Equestria, you use your power for games and torture!" Steiner shouted in response, his eyes glowing with such intensity they almost matched the pupil-less fire that were the Magimus eyes. 

"Of mortals and fools, their affairs do not concern me. But a being such as I is privileged to do as I see fit! You have no basis to judge me for how can you stand before a god!?" Maxim retorted.

Steiner snorted. "You are no god. Look around, I have destroyed your hold on my mind and your hold on the others. How do you defend being beaten by one so worthless?" the unicorn spat.

"Beaten? I think not! But I must commend this... new power of yours," The Magimus said dismissively as his facade degraded. 

"It is not new. I have always had this power... one that waxes and wanes on the whims of my emotions, be it happiness, sadness or anger," Steiner said, his voice dipping into a hateful octave when he said the word. 

"Regardless, it is paltry compared to the might I possess!"  boomed the Magimus. 

"Is it really?" Steiner snarled as reality crept back from the screen of the arcane being's influence. The void of green dissolved slowly, the basic details of some kind of chamber emerging from the veil. "I may not have studied magic as you clearly have, but I know a thing or two about the science of it."

The Magimus tilted his head, intrigued by the turn of events. "Explain yourself," he commanded. And so, Steiner did. 

"Arcane technology and the application of it. I have developed my own spells and enchantments based on my work with Stable-Tech equipment. So while you know your spells, I understand how magic works and I have a lot of it at my disposal. Perhaps more than you can ever possess."

Steiner was struck by another assault by the Magimus' voice, a strangling barrage that closed in from all sides. "Arrogant fool! Do you really think you can stand against me after you were defeated so easily!? Do you think I do not understand the magic I wield!?"

Steiner's shield flashed into existence, jagged bolts of raw magical power striking out at all that was near. The explosion cast the voice of the Magimus away and completely shattered the illusion that afflicted Steiner's mind. He saw that he was in a grand chamber within a scorched ring that glimmered a soft scarlet, towering pillars leading into breathtaking arches at the ceiling in a room of icy blue and white, the walls reflective of the red light of his horn and eyes. Reflective of the Magimus' radiance, only broken by the plates of metal that he held near. The pony comprised completely of magic floated in front of what appeared to be a throne from another era, twisted with spikes of ice crystals to form a frozen throne fitting to rule over his frozen domain. They jutted out from the royal seat in every which way, twinkling with the illumination from the two of them. From the windows lined with tattered dark blue curtains, Steiner  could see he was some distance above the Crystal City. He was in its castle. 

"... Naturally" Steiner said flatly before he struck a defiant pose, his legs spread out evenly underneath him, horn lowered so that it pointed right at his phantom foe. He stared down the machination of magic with a burning glare. 

"Tell me, blue one," the Magimus stated, unfazed by the display of aggression, "is this your way?"

"My what?" Steiner replied, assuming the Magimus was simply trying to distract him. Once his focus was thrown, he would strike when he could not counter. 

"Do you make it a point to fight even when you are outclassed in every way, shape and form?" Maxim asked. 

Steiner snorted and replied "No, that would be foolish. If one fights to the death when escape is not an option then so be it, but if there is an alternative I would surely take it. I oppose you now because I know that there is a chance I can win."

The ethereal pony mulled this over for a brief moment and then told the blue unicorn, "I see a lot of him in you. Perhaps that is why I find you so... intriguing..."

"A lot of whom?" Steiner pressed on warily, proceeding to pace across the floor before the frozen throne, never taking his sights off of the Maxim Magimus. 

"Why, Starswirl of course!" said the arcane anomaly as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Of course you would never compare to him, but I do see some similarities. Like how the little red one jumped to your side like an obedient puppy when I brought up how insignificant you are. Just like Auburn," The Magimus' eyes flashed to a brilliant red at the mention of Starswirl's famed student which drowned out the light from Steiner's own eyes and horn before regaining its warm golden glow seconds later. 

"It does not take the sharpest mind to see that you resent Auburn. But I still do not see how you can project that onto Falcon Wing --"

"You know NOTHING," the Magimus roared, his voice distorting with the monstrous sound. Gone was the nonchalant specter that the being first appeared as. "You know Auburn as the earth pony who followed in the hoofsteps of the greatest wizard Equestria has ever seen! I see him as the undeserving whelp he is! He put me in the crypt with his works to reap the fame! Where is he now!? DEAD! But I remain eternal!"  

"You are blinded by pride, Magimus. He trusted you to preserve the knowledge of himself and his mentor, not to spite you. Instead you take over the city he chose to be its resting place and torture those you take issue with!" Steiner shot back. If he had been shaken by what had occurred, he did not show it in the least. 

"Oh? Can you say that I haven't been true to my duty? That I haven't protected their work!? I have kept those tomes safe longer than you can imagine, insect! I have kept them from you savage Wastelanders ever since your ancestors destroyed the world!"

Steiner bared his teeth. Him? Being called a savage? "Everypony did not become a degenerate in the wake of the war, Magimus. If you have shut yourself away long enough to become so ignorant then at least take me and my comrades as proof!"

"Please, I have peered into your mind. Your attempts to not lose control over your magic again, so as to keep another pony from dying the way your father did, the way you slaughtered others of your own kind because they happened to have the label of 'raider', had this been the time I knew, you would be rotting in a royal penitentiary or in an asylum as a result of all you have done!" boomed the magical pony. "You are no standing exception, you are no different than the filth I shun from my domain. Do not delude yourself by thinking otherwise." 

Another layer of the crimson glow flashed into existence, an aura beginning to form around the blue unicorn that made the extremities of his coat sway and flutter as if caught by a gentle breeze. "How... dare you... speak so callously of such things..." Steiner said lowly. "You are the one who knows nothing! You do not know the necessities of survival throughout my life, and while one can argue that a pony shouldn't have had to do the things ponies have done to live, that does not give you the right to think less of them!" 

"Oh, but I believe it does," the Magimus countered.

And then Steiner roared. It was a bestial sound of rage accompanied by a deluge of crimson energies that burst forth from the Crystal Castle. Red light that spewed forth from the windows and breaks in the walls on the various levels and illuminated the frozen expanse several tens of feet below.


Alana's eyes widened at the sight. There was no more doubt as to where she had to be...