Revelations of the past
Chapter VII: Broken Elements
Celestia and Luna stood in the war room along with Mayor Red Watch looking over a new map that had been placed on the table, it showed the capital in a fair amount of detail and the three were discussing plans after sending one of the Mayor’s aides as a messenger to fetch the Captains from the temporary camp.
It had been an hour since the Pegasus squad Celestia sent to the north had been returned and from what they told her it wasn’t looking too good for the capital, the squad were intercepted by a mass of darkened clouds that concealed several Pegasus soldiers from Sombra’s army. After a short fight and defeating the enemy miraculously with no casualties, however one managed to get away and the squad quickly returned back to Whitewall to inform the Princesses how far Sombra’s army had advanced.
“This is most troubling…” Red Watch began. “If the scouts were unable to get anywhere near the capital we have to assume Sombra has already reached it.”
“I agree, which means we need to act fast.” Celestia replied.
“But how Celestia? What strategy do we use?” Luna asked.
“I’m not sure Luna; we shall wait for the captains to return before we continue. Speaking of which, they're taking their time aren’t they?”
----------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------
Steel Hoof let out a satisfied groan as he rolled over panting heavily; Silver Wing looked over to him with an equally exhausted expression which turned into a grin as she panted.
“So…still think…your better….then me…Steel Hoof?” she said between pants.
Steel hoof snorted and got up sorting out his mane which had become messy from the pairs activities, shortly after being dismissed by the Princesses they had made their way to the campsite and into the tent that had been set up for Captain Steel Hoof, when the messenger arrives they had begun discussing strategies, that’s when they began to argue more.
----------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------
“You incompetent moron! That plan has so many drawbacks I lost count!” Steel Hoof bellowed.
“Moron? MORON?!” Silver Wing snorted. “A retarded colt like you wouldn’t know a competent plan if it bit you in the flanks!”
“I have more military experience with planning strategies then you will ever have you white coated harlot!”
“Who do you think you’re calling a harlot you son of an ass!” Silver Wing roared as she stormed up to Steel Hoof her face inches from his.
The two glared into one another’s eyes each one filling with a heated hatred for the other; they stared for what seemed to be hours before they suddenly locked lips together and fiercely kissing each other. Steel Hoof fell onto his back pulling her down with him as they continued to kiss their tongues wrestling for domination; they broke the kiss panting heavily as a strand of saliva connected their tongues together and looked into each other’s eyes.
“You’re a strange mare you know that?” Steel Hoof smirked up at her.
“You know you love it, now shut up.” Silver Wing smirked back at him as she bit his lower lip.
“Yes ma’am.” Steel Hoof replied.
----------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------
The two quickly straightened themselves out and equipped both their respective armours on before leaving the tent both having the same scowl as when they entered in hopes to pretend nothing happened, however when they were out of visual sight, a couple of soldiers who had been sitting near a campfire slowly broke into a grin before snickering amongst themselves.
“Never thought I’d hear the Captain say that.” One said.
“Yeah, wait till we tell the Lieutenant! He’s gunna love this!” another replied.
The pair broke into fits of laughing as the two Captains left the campsite and into the town itself, they walked side by side in silence heading towards the town hall before Steel Hoof spoke up.
“So uhm…that back there…was that a onetime thing or…?” he trailed off his question with a blush and looked to Silver Wing, a light blush also forming on her cheeks.
“What are you suggesting Captain Steel Hoof?” She asked him.
“Well…I was wondering that after all of…we this.” He did a sweep in front of him with his hoof indicating the situation that was happening in the Empire. “We could…I don’t know…get a drink or-“
“Yes…I’d like that…” she interrupted with a smile.
Steel Hoof returned the smile before the two regained themselves and made their way into the town hall and into the war room, each giving a salute to the Princesses and the Mayor. The Mayor quickly excused himself when an aide came in with several forms for him to look over leaving the others to discuss plans.
“Glad you could finally join us Captains.” Luna said.
“Indeed your highness, apologies for not returning as soon as possible, the uh…messenger got lost within the camp.” Steel Hoof lied.
“Oh?” Celestia began. “Is that so?”
“Y-yes your majesty.” Silver Wing replied.
Celestia and Luna both looked at the two Captains with suspicion making the two feel nervous, they then both caught sight of Celestia and Luna smirking before they returned their gaze to the map on the table.
“They know…” Steel Hoof and Silver Wing both thought.
“Anyway, we need to discuss a strategy with you two, as you know recently the scouts sent north to try and see what is going on returned early after being ambushed. What they told us suggests that Sombra’s forces have already made it to the capital, and we have no idea if the capital still stands or has been taken either way we need to move now.” Celestia said.
Steel Hoof and Silver Wing looked down at the map in thought each one scanning it to try and think of an idea, Steel Hoof rubbed his chin with a hoof and formulated a plan in his mind.
“Is it possible for us to deliver a surprise attack at all?” he asked.
“I doubt it.” Silver Wing replied. “After the scouts returned I would assume Sombra would be expecting an attack of any sorts, and we don’t really have the element of surprise anymore.”
“Good point…Princess, would it be possible to just use the Elements of Harmony on his armies?” Steel Hoof asked Celestia.
“Yes, but the problem there Captain is that the Elements require a lot of magical energy to use and as such me and my sister only have enough energy to use the Elements power for two shots. If Sombra or the creature aren’t with the army, we wouldn’t be able to stop either him or the creature there and then.” Celestia replied.
“I see…” Steel Hoof nodded.
There was a pause as all four looked over the map each one trying to think of a plan quickly; Luna closed her eyes and focused her magic, she opened her eyes and she was above the capital of the crystal Empire in a ghost like form. She gasped silently as she saw the majority of the city covered in shadows with just the palace being seen, she came closer to the palace she saw a Pegasus wearing the armour of the Empire gripping a sword in his hoof glaring at a Pegasus that stood in front of him. Her attention quickly changed to a figure she knew well, Emperor Krustallos, who was wearing his battle armour and looked worn down.
He was standing next to the Pegasus and in front of him was a bipedal creature which Luna instantly recognised as being the creature Sombra had summoned as she had never seen anything like it before in her life, they were talking but she couldn’t hear any sound coming from them. Just as Luna could feel the spell wearing off the creature gripped a blade tightly in its hand which crackled with what appeared to be lightning, it spoke again but no sound left its mouth. The world began to darken her eyes closing as the spell wore off, she shot her eyes open and was back in the warm room of Whitehall. She blinked a couple of times before noticing everyone was looking at her slightly concerned.
“Luna…are you ok?” Celestia asked her.
“I’m fine…I just used a spell to see what was going on in the capital.” Luna replied as Celestia face hoofed.
“I can’t believe I didn’t think of that…” Celestia grumbled.
Luna giggled at her before turning to look at the two captains then back at her sister.
“I have an idea as well, why don’t we meet them head on?” She said.
“What do you mean Princess?” Silver Wing asked.
“From the spell I saw that the capital has already been attacked, Sombra isn’t there but that creature is and he is about to engage in combat with Krustallos.”
Silver Wing and Steel Hoof nodded as Luna continued.
“Whilst our forces battle Sombra’s main forces, me and my sister can take a small group of soldiers and enter the city un-detected and liberate it. I don’t think Sombra is at the front of the battle either, I think he has this creature doing the work for him for, with this plan we could take out the creature and then be able to focus our efforts on just Sombra.” Luna said, tapping the map with her hoof to show where the forces could march to.
“That’s a risky plan Luna…” Celestia started. “There’s no guarantee it will even work.”
“We have to try sister; the Crystal Empire depends on us.”
Celestia paused for a moment; they didn’t have enough time to fully plan a proper strategy given what the scouts had reported and now with what Luna revealed from her spell. Time wasn’t on their side and they needed to do something, as much as it was a risk Celestia decided that Luna’s idea was the right choice.
“Ok, we’ll go with your plan Luna. Steel Hoof, Silver Wing, Luna, myself and a small group of soldiers will enter the city from here.” She pointed to an area of the map near the eastern gate. “Meanwhile, Lieutenant Blue Fire will lead the main part of the forces on an offensive here. “She pointed to the opposite side from where she first pointed.
Luna and the two captains nodded as Celestia continued.
“From there we will rendezvous with Krustallos and use the Elements on the creature, after that we will attack the rear of Sombra’s forces and push them back and if all goes according to plan we will use the Elements to defeat him.” Celestia finished.
“I don’t know Princess…it still seems risky.” Steel Hoof said.
“I know captain, but we don’t have much time to come up with anything better. Go tell the soldiers to move out, we leave immediately.”
“Yes your majesty!” Steel Hoof saluted before heading off.
----------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------
All across the capital the sounds of metal against metal and the cries of soldiers echoed throughout the city, several buildings where a blaze as the black smoke billowed into the air above the city fusing into the already existing shadows that blanketed the majority of the city. At first the defenders had been nearly overwhelmed losing all but one of the ballistas when the barrier came down, but they had managed to bring the advance of Sombra’s forces to a slow pace and in some parts of the city they had brought it to a complete standstill.
Much to the surprise of the defenders and the invaders, a small amount of soldiers from another part of the Empire had broken through the outer ranks of Sombra’s army from the western side of the city, catching them off-guard and managing to reclaim the western part of the city from the invaders. This gave the defenders a morale boost and rallied behind the reinforcements and charged towards the palace to aid their ruler.
Krustallos was locked in combat with Malaskaar and was beginning to feel exhaustion take him, he blocked an attack from Malaskaar and shot a beam of magic towards him, Malaskaar ducked as it shot overhead and swivelled his body round delivering a kick to his side. Krustallos grunted in pain and quickly retaliated by bringing his sword down suddenly on Malaskaar, not having any time to react to the sudden attack, Malaskaar’s eyes widened as the blade struck into his neck and down his torso slicing through him like butter. His body fell to the ground in two halves as Krustallos panted a smirk on his face, it was short lived as his eyes widened as the two halves of Malaskaar’s body suddenly dissolved into shadows and he spun round just in time to see Malaskaar lunge from a shadow his blade poised and aiming at Krustallos’s neck.
He quickly brought his blade up to block Malaskaar’s attack but was only able to divert its direction, he cried out in pain as the blade caught him in the neck slightly. Malaskaar landed on the ground before phasing into the shadows again laughing manically.
“Come on your majesty, I thought you’d put up more of a challenge then this!” He laughed at him.
“At least I am no coward demon! Come out of the shadows and fight me like a stallion!” Krustallos retorted.
“What’s the matter? I thought you were Krustallos, champion of the Crystal Empire, destroyer of Chaos! Turns out you’re just a whining little brat who can’t handle a challenge!” Malaskaar taunted him, his voice seeming to echo all around Krustallos.
“Shut up!” Krustallos barked looking in all directions.
Suddenly Malaskaar shot from the shadows and sliced into Krustallos’s back leg sending him onto his knee in pain as Malaskaar phased into the shadows again.
“It seems my Lord Sombra was wrong about everything, you aren’t the strong leader I was told about and your pathetic excuse for an Empire is a disgrace.” Malaskaar’s voice again resonated around Krustallos. “Perhaps I won’t kill you yet…I believe I still need to have the pleasure of meeting your wife don’t I?”
Malaskaar’s laugh echoed around Krustallos who gritted his teeth, there was no way in Tartarus that he was going to allow this demon to go anywhere near his wife and unborn foal.
“ENOUGH!” Krustallos cried and his horn was enveloped in a bright aura.
The area around him was suddenly engulfed in a bright white light that blasted away the shadows exposing the columns of the palace surrounding him, this exposed Malaskaar’s hiding spot startling the mage who was caught off guard and before he could react, Krustallos shot his sword at him. Malaskaar’s eyes widened as the blade sunk into his chest piercing one of his lungs. He cried angrily in pain as the blade imbedded itself into the wall behind him keeping him stuck there, he could feel a magical energy course through his body from the sword cutting off his magic. He coughed up some blood chuckling to himself as Krustallos panted and began to head towards him.
“Not…bad…not bad…at all.” Malaskaar said with a grin.
“I’m going to enjoy this demon…” Krustallos said with venom in his voice.
As he came closer his horn glowed and a sword made form magical energy formed in front of him, he raised it up and brought it down to join his sword in Malaskaar’s chest sinking straight into his heart. Malaskaar’s eyes widened as he gritted his teeth, blood began to pour from his wounds as his body began to feel limp. Krustallos cancelled the spell causing the energy sword to disappear and pulled the other sword from the body with his magic; Malaskaar fell to his knees before sliding to his side in a heap his blood forming a pool around him
“Burn in Tartarus demon…”Krustallos said.
Krustallos turned around to assist Fleet Wing when he noticed in the corner of his eye the body glowing white, his eyes widened and before he could react the body exploded in a brilliant white light that shot him across the ground and into the opposite column hard. The column cracked from the impact as well as Krustallos’s armour, he cried out in pain as he felt several of his bones break from the impact. He fell to the ground in a heap and tried to stand up but his legs gave way, he heard Malaskaar’s laugh echo around him and looked up to see Malaskaar phase out of the wall and grin almost dementedly at Krustallos.
“My my…falling for another trick again, you really do disappoint me Krustallos…but…credit where it’s due, I haven’t had this much fun in years, thank you for entertaining me.”
He looked around to see the approaching reinforcements and smirked, he raised his hand up and a barrier shot up surrounding the palace trapping Krustallos, Dark Light, Fleet Wing and Malaskaar inside it.
“There…we don’t want anyone to interrupt us now do we?” he said panting slightly.
His eyes widened a bit as he tilted his head to the right just as a beam of magic shot past him ripping into his hood slightly and shooting into the barrier, he turned back to see Krustallos who had managed to stand back up grunting in pain and levitating his sword up again.
“Now that’s more like it…but I grow tired of this now, no more games…Its time I ended this.” He smirked as his right arm began to glow a bright blue.
‘My energy is nearly depleted…I need to hurry up and finish this before my power is drained.’ He thought to himself.
“Now…now comes the fun part.” He chuckled as he advanced to Krustallos.
----------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------
Fleet Wing grunted as he blocked a blow from Dark Light, both pegasi where high in the sky by the palace darting to and fro striking each other with their swords trying to outmanoeuvre one another. Dark Light spun round and hovered for a moment as he smirked at him.
“Come on Fleet Wing, you’re supposed to be the best swordspony in the Empire. Or did you lie to me all those years ago?”
Fleet Wing growled and shot at Dark Light, in response Dark Light brought his sword up to block the attack and just as Fleet Wing was about to bring his sword down he suddenly dropped a bit in altitude, this caught Fleet Wing off guard who missed with his sword and Dark Light rammed up into Fleet Wing’s chest with his head suddenly winding him and sending him towards the ground, Fleet Wing coughed and gasped for air as he tumbled downwards, he caught his breath again and stopped himself mid fall before launching himself upwards in anger towards Dark Light who also launched himself downwards towards Fleet Wing.
The two swung their swords again which clanged loudly as they shot past one another, they quickly turned around and launched at each other again. As they came closer Fleet Wing smirked and suddenly veered to the right and catching Dark Light off guard this time, he swung his sword and cut into Dark Light’s neck causing him to cry out in pain.
“You bastard, you’ll pay for that!” He growled.
Fleet Wing smirked as he hovered below him; Dark Light cried out in anger and shot towards him. Fleet Wing braced himself and veered out of the way of Dark Light and again clipped him on his neck with his blade, Dark Light stumbled in the air as he grabbed his neck in pain and anger. He looked up at Fleet Wing as blood dripped down his neck; Fleet Wing smirked back at him and readied his sword for another attack. He momentarily gazed downwards passed Dark Light and saw Krustallos at the moment when Malaskaar sliced into his leg, gritting his teeth he shot down suddenly past Dark Light and headed to Krustallos’s side, as he came closer to the ground he heard Dark Light behind him.
“Get back here coward! Your fight is with me!”
Fleet Wing looked back and was thankful that he did, the second he looked back he saw Dark Light inches away from him with his blade. The speed that Dark Light had shot at him startled Fleet Wing but he quickly gained his bearings gain and deflected the blow of the sword, Dark Light spun to the right from the strength behind Fleet Wing’s blow and hovered facing him with a growl.
Fleet Wing brought his blade up and waited for the right moment to strike, he quickly shot a glance down to see if Krustallos was alright when he saw the body of Malaskaar explode sending Krustallos into a column. The explosion caused Dark Light to glance towards it as well which gave Fleet Wing his chance; using every muscle in his wings he launched himself at Dark Light and sliced into him cutting one of his wings off. Dark Light screamed in agony but was immediately cut off as Fleet Wing brought his hind legs up and kicked down against Dark Light hard sending him towards the ground with speed.
The scream caught Malaskaar’s attention and he looked up just in time to see Dark Light shooting towards him, he lept to his left rolling out of the way as Dark Light crashed into the ground with a slight crack his sword clanging nearby. The roll caused the blue energy around his arm to disappear and he shakily got up to his feet panting heavily, he cast his eyes left and right noticing that the shadows enveloping the city where disappearing slowly.
‘Dammit…I don’t have enough energy to keep the shadow army summoned or perform the sacrifice…looks like I’ll just have to kill him the-‘
His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a kick to his side and was sent across the floor rolling ton a heap and grunting with pain, he looked up to see Fleet Wing on the ground panting heavily in front of Krustallos his sword raised in a defensive position.
“You…won’t have him…demon!” Fleet Wing spat at him.
“You creatures are more irritating then I thought.” Malaskaar said as he spat some blood out of his mouth.
A loud sound like glass being shattered rang through the area, Malaskaar looked up to see his barrier falling to pieces and then saw a group of ponies rushing towards him. He cursed under his breath when he recognised two of them from the description Sombra had given him; they were Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.
----------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------
“FOR THE PRINCESSES, FOR EQUESTRIA AND FOR THE EMPIRE!”
The cries rang out throughout the snow covered plains as the joint might of the Equestrian army and the Crystal Empire forces that were stationed at Whitehall charged down the hill leading towards the capital of the Crystal Empire, thanks to a cloaking spell that Celestia had used on them Sombra’s armies had not noticed them and were taken completely off guard by the sudden charge and the sheer size of the forces coming towards them. The main thing that stood out for the Equestrians and the others were the lack of numbers they were expecting, the other thing that stood out was the lack of manipulated shadows that they had been briefed about.
Un-deterred by this though they charged down the hill getting closer and closer to Sombra’s forces who quickly formed a defensive wall with soldiers welding pikes in the front and crossbowponies at the back.
“FIRE!” A black coated stallion cried from behind the pikeponies.
A series of shots were fired from the crossbows that sailed over the front lines and towards the charging soldiers, thuds and cries of sudden pain rang out over the sound of war cries as several bodies fell into the ground as the bolts hit their targets, but still they charged.
“FIRE AGAIN!” the stallion bellowed.
Again a wave of bolts shot over the front line and into the charging soldiers, cries rang out as more soldiers were quickly silence as death took them, but still they charged. The ponies at the front began to panic slightly; they had been trained and trained for nearly five years for precisely this moment but now that they were staring directly at the charging forces their will was about to break. The sheer size of the force charging towards coupled with the fact the other half of the army were in the capital as well as the shadows had all but faded didn’t help their moral much either.
“FIRE AT WILL” the stallion shouted his eyes widening a bit.
A series of frantic shots were fired in rapid succession as the will of the soldiers finally collapsed, the bolts as with the first two times met their targets sending more ponies to their deaths but still they charged. Several of the soldiers with pikes dropped them in panic and tried to flee but got caught up in the soldiers behind them, a loud cry rang out as the charging Equestrian-Crystal forces slammed into the wall of ponies and carried on charging, hacking and slicing all who stood in their way.
----------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------
From another hilltop on the opposite side of the city stood Princess Celestia and Luna along with Captain Steel Hoof and Silver Wing and several of the best soldiers in the Equestrian army, they watched as the main bulk of the army charged into the surprised forces of Sombra with deadly efficiency. Celestia had ordered her small squad to wait until the time to perform the sneak attack was when Sombra’s army was distracted, she watched as a majority of the forces in the city and the ones surrounding it moved to aid those on the outside being attacked.
‘May the ancestors watch over you my brave ponies…’ Celestia thought sadly.
“Princess?” Steel Hoof spoke softly to her. “I think the time has come.”
“Yes Captain, let us liberate the city and destroy this monster Sombra has summoned.” She turned to the group behind her. “Move out!”
The soldiers saluted and Celestia along with the soldiers, Luna and the two Captains made their way to what remained of the eastern gate of the city under the same spell she had used on the main forces.
----------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------
On the southern side of the plains outside the city, war cries echoed out along with the sounds of steel upon steel and the sounds of ponies screaming and being cut down. Slowly but surely the Equestrian-Crystal forces advanced their way through the Sombra forces and towards the city, the commanding officers who had been left to command the forces in the place of Steel Hoof and Silver Wing noticed the approaching reinforcements coming from around and through the city gate, just as they had hoped for.
“DO NOT GIVE IN! WE MUST KEEP FIGHTING FOR THE PRINCESSES AND FOR THE EMPIRE!” Lieutenant Blue Fire shouted.
The cry boosted the morale of the soldiers as they continued the attack undeterred by the reinforcements, the wave of soldiers that arrived from the city managed to slow the advancement of the Equestrian-Crystal forces to a near standstill.
‘I hope the Princesses got in ok.’ He thought as he blocked a sword blow.
----------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------
The infiltration group led by the Princesses made their way in through the gate and into the city, what greeted them made them more determined to end Sombra’s campaign. The once beautiful crystal buildings that once gleamed perfectly when the sunlight hit them just right were in near ruins with some being completely destroyed, fire and smoke bellowed from the buildings that filled the once clear sky with thick black clouds that were nearly as bad as the shadows that assaulted the city.
They took to moving in the side streets rather than the main road to avoid detection, as they went by they saw bodies of soldiers from both the Crystal Empire and Sombra’s army lay in the streets mutilated and in piles; Celestia bit her lip with sorrow as she looked at the corpses as the squad made its way through the ruined streets.
‘Such pointless death…I can’t see any civilians though…I hope they are ok.’ She thought to herself.
Luna felt her eyes tear up at the sight, she had hated the last war with Discord and hated to see so many dead and felt her heart crush under the weight of her emotions. Celestia saw this and placed a reassuring wing on her and gave her a soft smile, Luna returned it and wiped a tear away with a hoof. Silver Wing quickly trotted ahead upon seeing a body she recognized, it was a light blue coated earth stallion that had three spears embedded in him as well as several wounds upon his neck, legs and face. Surrounding his body were at least thirty soldiers from Sombra’s army, upon seeing this she felt her eyes water up from a mixture of sadness and pride, a small smile formed on her lips.
“Are you ok?” Steel Hoof asked her as he came over concernedly.
“Y-yeah…just…” she wiped her tears away before continuing. “He’s my older brother…I kinda figured he may not be alive but…I’m glad he took all these bastards down with him, he wasn’t called ‘The Tank’ for nothing.” She chuckled softly at the last part.
Steel Hoof brought her into a tight embrace and rubbed her back softly as she buried her face into his chest, a short time passed and he felt Celestia rest her hoof on his shoulder gently reminding him they needed to carry on. He nodded and Silver Wing went over to the body of her brother and gently closed his eyelids with a smile before re-joining the squad.
They rounded a corner of the street and entered the main street that led to the palace; luckily the distraction caused by the main bulk of the army charging from the hilltop had distracted Sombra’s forces from the part of the city they were in. They began to head towards the palace when there was a loud explosion that caused the ground to rumble, the squad looked up to see smoke coming from the palace.
“TO THE PALACE, NOW!” Celestia cried out.
As the came closer a barrier suddenly appeared covering the palace, they saw several Crystal soldiers closing in on the palace. Celestia and Luna they then suddenly felt the presences of a powerful magic coming from within the barrier and recognised it as being Krustallos’s as well as the summoned creature.
The group charged towards the palace quickly, the sound of their hooves on the cobblestone road attracted the attention of the soldiers who gotten their first and looked relived to see them. With each step the sisters could feel both energies near depletion with the one they knew belonging to Krustallos fading faster and faster.
‘Oh please let us reach him in time!’ Celestia thought as they came closer.
As they came to the barrier Celestia and Luna let out a joint blast from their horns that were soon followed by both unicorns from the infiltration squad and the Crystal soldiers around the barrier, the barrier which was being cast with little energy shattered with ease from the blast and phased out, the Princesses and the soldiers quickly charged into the fray.
Malaskaar cursed again and before he could react a blast hit him in the chest sending him into a column and trapping him there, he grunted in pain as he fought against the magic restraints holding him there but to no avail.
‘Dammit! Because I still have the shadow summoning spell in effect I can’t break free!’ He cursed internally.
“NOW LUNA!” Celestia shouted.
Malaskaar looked up his eyes widened in panic as he watched six amulets materialize out of thing air and surround the two princesses; he could sense a powerful magic coming from them.
‘These must be the Elements of Harmony Sombra told me about…’
The elements glowed brightly and connected to one another with a rainbow before the Princesses eyes shot open wide glowing a magnificent bright white and the rainbow beam shot towards Malaskaar, he roared out one last time fighting against his bonds and managed to raise his hand up.
There was a second and louder explosion as the princesses and soldiers were sent backwards, the Princesses managed to stop themselves from flying back to far and skidded before looking up. Where they had just fired the beam was a billowing cloud of rubble and couldn’t sense the presence of the creature, the two panted heavily having used just over half their magical energies to fire the beam and smiled to one another.
The soldiers slowly came over cautiously with Fleet Wing landing beside the Emperor to check he was alive along with the other Crystal soldiers.
“It’s…done Tia…” Luna panted smiling.
“Princess!” Fleet Wing shouted. “The Emperor’s alive but his pulse is weak!”
“Good…now we can-“
She stopped mid-sentence as a low chuckle sent shivers up her spine, she turned slowly along with the others her eyes widening in shock as the laughing grew louder and louder before turning into a full on demented and crazed laugh.
“So…that’s the elements power….pity…was expecting something more than that.”
“No….t-that’s impossible.” Celestia whispered.
The smoke slowly faded away revealing Malaskaar standing in front of a now destroyed column, his robes were all but destroyed the rags clung to his upper torso and his trousers remained mostly intact. He panted heavily with his arm up right and smoking, his body was covered in burns and cuts and blood trickled from his mouth as he looked up with a smirk. Celestia suddenly felt a dark energy fill her mind, it was coming from the creature but the creature seemed to be unaware of it. It sent a wave of fear over her entire body; it was nothing like she had ever felt before. It was pure evil and filled with malice and hatred.
Everyone stood there frozen in shock, they had witnessed a creature take the full power of the elements and remained virtually unscathed, Malaskaar slowly walked over to the unconscious body of Dark Light grunting with every step, he slowly picked the body up under his arm and turned to face them.
‘I’m nearly spent…forcing me to use my Lord J’skaar’s shadow protection spell…well played Princesses…well played…'
He grunted and spat out a ball of blood, a horn echoed throughout the city followed by several others. He grinned to the still dumbfounded ponies in front of him and closed his eyes; his body began to dissolve into shadows as the wind blew around him, before his head vanished he opened his eyes one last time.
“This isn’t over…” He growled as he disappeared.
----------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------
As the Elements hit Malaskaar the shadows attacking the main bulk of the Equestrian-Crystal forces suddenly vanished, Sombra’s forces began to panic and several horns filled the skies signalling a full scale retreat. The Equestrian-Crystal forces gave a small chase as the forces fled toward the north before stopping.
“MAKE SAFE THE CITY!” Lieutenant Blue Fire cried out.
The army began to quickly converge on the city determined to drive out any threat that dared remain within it.
----------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------
As the soldiers guarded a perimeter around the palace, several ponies were attending to the Emperor’s wounds as well as others who were wounded. Celestia and Luna remained silent still in complete and utter disbelief at what had just happened.
“How…” Luna finally said breaking the silence. “How did he survive? Not even Discord could survive that blast.”
“I don’t know Luna…I just don’t know.” Celestia replied almost whispering.
“Maybe…maybe a second hit will work? He looked like he was on the verge of exhaustion.” Luna said.
“No…it won’t work, you didn’t feel it Luna…there was a second energy behind his and a much darker one, almost like…a Gods power.” Celestia replied.
She looked up into the sky in thought; the smoke had nearly vanished after several unicorns used their magic to drench the fires. The overall casualties of the Equestrian forces were surprisingly low from the battle, but she put this down to the successful charge that had taken Sombra’s forces off guard. What bothered her so much was how the elements had barely touched the creature, she knew that they had done damage to it which was present from the ripped clothes and burns it had sustained but the beam was intended to turn it into stone. Her mind then thought about the presence she had felt and she shivered again.
‘What on earth was that I felt? What evil is really behind this?’ She questioned in her mind. ‘Why didn’t the elements work…?’
‘Perhaps I can shed some light on the situation.’ a voice spoke inside her head.
Her eyes widened at the voice in shock, she didn’t feel afraid though as it spoke calmly and with a sense of peace within its tone. Still she was cautious as to who it was,
‘Who are you?’ she questioned it.
She got no answer and sighed slightly; suddenly she felt a new magical presence in the area and turned round to where Krustallos lay. Suddenly the ponies around him gasped in shock as his body levitated up off the ground a few feet and a white light enveloped him, the wounds he sustained slowly faded and he stood back up and smiled to the crowd.
“My lord?” Fleet Wing spoke cautiously.
Krustallos’s eyes opened but instead of his normal blue eyes they were completely black, he smiled again at the crowd before replying.
“Hmm? Oh forgive me…I’m afraid the one called Krustallos is sleeping.”
The reply was not Krustallos voice rather a foreign one, it was booming but sounded calm and peaceful to the ears of the ponies, Celestia immediately recognised the voice as the one she heard inside her head. She quickly lit her horn up and charged a spell pointing it at the possessed body of Krustallos.
“WHO ARE YOU? SPEAK!” she roared at it.
Krustallos smiled at her and raised a hoof and Celestia felt her charged magic disappear startling her, she looked at him in disbelief as he spoke again.
“Please Princess Celestia…I mean you no harm, I have healed the one you call Krustallos and restored his energy as a sign of good will so I may speak with you.”
Again the voice was calming to her; she began to feel relaxed as Luna walked up beside her confusion on her face. Krustallos smiled again as he gave a polite bow to the Princesses.
“I’m afraid I don’t have much time; please allow me to formally introduce myself.” He started. “I am the God of Magic…you may call me…Varlos.”