Chapter Nineteen
For every calm forest, there is a raging fire.
Things were intensifying in the palace. A foreboding cover of clouds rolled in from seemingly nowhere, collecting over the Crystal Tower. It was a silent, looming darkness that hung over the expanse of white far below. Energies ran across the castle's ruined exterior, bolts of many colors shot into the sky like reverse lightning, leaping into the shadows that watched from the heavens. It was something that could not be missed, a show that demanded to be seen. It was an especially striking sight to behold while flying over the Crystal City as Falcon soon discovered shortly after taking flight. The beams were so bright that hey could have been seen for miles.
"Oh no..." he muttered. He was making a beeline right for the gigantic structure. He had a gut feeling that his friends were already there, confronting the Magimus and a part of him screamed at such a possibility. "I have a book!" it exclaimed. "We'll beat him with pages and words! Just give us some time to read!"
A lone shot tore through the cold air, the sound being one he recognized. Falcon Wing had been hearing it echo off in the distance with each use of the gun and now he was hearing it at a much closer distance. The assault rifle. Alana. He banked down towards where the last of the gunshot registered to his ears. There he saw the caramel mare waving him down and the bronze stallion looking up at him. Both looked relieved to see him. He was elated to see them. But as usual, his happiness was replaced with a sense of urgency. If they were all outside, then that means Steiner was in that castle. Steiner was facing the Maxim Magimus by himself. And if the palace's walls were anything to go by, things were quickly spiraling out of hoof. The question was: who was winning? The Magimus or Steiner?
"Guys!" Falcon Wing yelled as he came in for a sliding landing on the ground, touching down on the snow and trotting over to the the two other ponies. He sat on his haunches and reached into his coat, pulling out the book. It had a reddish-brown leather cover and golden metal binding on the spine. In the daylight, its title that was a rustic golden script had an awesome sheen. The pegasus simply held it out, front cover facing towards his friends. Klaxon and Alana's eyes ran across it and they both had a spark in their eye when they realized what Falcon Wing was getting at.
"Hold up," Klaxon stated while putting a hoof to his forehead, thinking through the implications. "Starswirl was involved with something called the Magus Magnus?"
"And Auburn too, I'd think," Alana replied. "Steiner did say some of their work became books..."
Falcon Wing nodded his head ecstatically. "The Guardian has been guarding knowledge long lost to Equestria and knows stories of the past. He would have known about the Magnus and with the right knowledge..."
"... He could make himself into something like that. The Magimus," Klaxon said, eyes wide with realization. He stamped his hoof down. "What the fuck is a Magnus!?" he exclaimed, then shot a look to Alana. "Pardon."
Falcon Wing put the book on the ground and opened it to the first page. "I suppose we'll have to read to find out!" he said, then looked back to the Crystal Tower, the spire ablaze with so much magical energy that he feared the ancient castle would finally meet its end.
Klaxon and Alana sat down. The bronze stallion cleared his throat and started to read aloud,
"Unacceptable!" I heard Starswirl say from his quiet study, but I already knew what the commotion was about. As his assistant, the message from the princess was brought to me first. Ergo, hearing Starswirl react as he did was far from surprising..."
"First person... why did I think it'd be written any differently?" Falcon Wing wondered as he listened along. They'd have to get through the book quickly if they were to make the most of the information they got from it, if any at all...
"Where was this side of you when we first met, blue one!?" the Magimus boomed, his ethereal body stretched out into a serpentine form, the six hexagons of purple metal orbiting around him when he reared up like a snake. Arcs of white energy had become solid streams in the gaps between the plates.
Steiner did not reply. He had become the epicenter of a magical inferno. The energies surrounding him -the red glow, the crackling electricity and sparks- all made him seem almost diabolical. His eyes were solid crimson, the whites and pupils of them lost in the sea of ruby. His coat fluttered, hood whipped about by some unseen force. The same was true of his mane and tail, which tossed and turned inside the field of magic which he was suspended in. Self-levitation, which allowed him to stare the Magimus in the eye even in the new form he had taken.
Instead of words, Steiner's rebuttal came in the form of a cascading blast of magic which swept across the chamber, turning the reflective floors and walls dark and dull. The Magimus' plates arranged themselves into a wall in which a barrier of magic manifested, dispersing the red tide harmlessly. A barrier the Magimus was forced to keep up, the air itself lashing out at the former Guardian. Red orbs of raw magical power formed around the Magimus, constantly channeling energy around him, locking the construct of magic within his own shield. For him to retaliate would put him at risk --
Just like Steiner, the Magimus dispelled the binding energies with a pulse of his shield, rending the hold asunder and then putting his own trap on the powerful unicorn. Caught in the Magimus' telekinesis, Steiner grunted and groaned. The magical pony was attempting to tear him apart from the inside out!
"Tremble, mortal! Tremble before powers you could not even dream of!" the Magimus boasted as Steiner seemed to crumple in his own magical aura. It grew brighter with Steiner's attempts to resist.
"N-NO!" Steiner roared. With great strain, he stripped the walls and throne away with his own mental magic, sending the debris flying at the Magimus.
"You defile my chamber!?" bellowed the arcane antagonist. He diverted his concentration to catch the battle-torn rubble and in turn released his opponent.
"Your vanity... and pride... will be your downfall," Steiner panted at the Magimus, his voice accompanied by an otherworldly echo.
The Magimus only laughed at that, his disembodied voice rocking their arena. "For all your power, you grow tired. I remain unfazed!"
The air distorted for a fraction a second and Steiner was flung out of a hole in the wall he had created himself. He left a trail akin to those left by Falcon Wing, one exceptionally long. He had been jettisoned several yards from the tower. The frozen ruins below beckoned for his speedy, unforgiving return to the Earth.
"No..." Steiner snarled, a white film overtaking the red of his horn, even more power being summoned to his call. "I shall not fall! I refuse!"
It was a brilliant burst of light in the sky when Steiner brought forth another onslaught of magic to his aid. Thin streams of energy flickered in and out of existence around the blue unicorn, his mane writhing. Steiner rocketed back into the fight, pushing himself to levels he had never attempted to reach before...