For the Good of Equestria

by brokenimage321


Chapter 19: The Storm

Celestia woke to the sound of bells.
For a few moments, she lay on her cot, trying to remember her dream. She felt like it had been a pleasant one, but you could never tell…
Slowly, she noticed that it was still dark out—too early for the morning bells. And these were not the bells of home—they were too small, too shrill for the Canterlot belltower.
And then she heard the screams.
Celestia leapt from her cot and charged outside. She looked around, but all was chaos—smoke and shadow and fire and screaming. Frantically, she reached out and grabbed a passing pony by his collar.
“What’s going on?” she shouted at him.
“K-king Sombra,” he stammered. “He’s attacking!”
“Where?”
Everywhere!
Celestia dropped him and spread her wings. She lifted off into the night sky and flew above the smoke.
Below her spread their camp, a patchwork of tents dusted with snow, several of them burning. And there was the river, with the shining crystal camp on the other side. Between them lay the little wooden footbridge—and several massive slabs of glowing crystal bridging the water. Crystal soldiers streamed across and into the fighting, just on this side of the river.
Celestia snarled. Of course. If it took them hours to grow their camp from nothing, it would take minutes to grow a bridge. She should have realized that.
But why the chaos? Why wasn’t there a guard?
Celestia turned and stared at the other side of the camp. There was a battle here, too. Alliance soldiers everywhere, fighting for their lives. But—against who? There was nothing in the darkness…
And, as she watched the fight, her eyes grew wide.
No, not nothing. In the darkness, little flashes of ruby and jade and amethyst. She gritted her teeth, then swooped closer. With a flash from her horn, two of the combatants froze—an Alliance soldier and one of the shadows. She stepped close and growled. As she suspected—it was a crystal pony, painted in mud and wrapped tight in a cloak, almost completely obscuring his glow.
Fire in her eyes, Celestia turned to face the Crystal camp. Sombra knew they wouldn’t be watching their flanks too closely, not with his troops shining like stars. So he’d used half his forces to draw their attention by simply standing there, then disguised the other half and sent them around the back. And, when his special forces engaged and drew their attention, then he ordered his army across the river. Caught the Alliance in a perfect trap.
That slippery bastard.
You!” she snapped, turning to the Alliance soldier. “Get everyone to fall back, closer to the fires. Don’t let them use this darkness against you.” She released him from her magic, and he dropped to his hooves. He saluted, then dashed off.
“And you,” she said, turning to the crystal pony. She flicked her head and he slammed to the ground; in a flash, glowing ropes and chains bound him tight. “I’ll be back for you,” she snarled.
Celestia looked around and fired one or two more beams, but there was not much she could do here. She spread her wings and lifted off again. This had to stop. Now. And there was only one way she could do it.
She turned and flew towards the Crystal camp.
It wasn’t hard to find Sombra; he stood on a hill overlooking the battlefield, watching the chaos below. Soaring towards him, Celestia shivered; with the fires below, with the smoke billowing upwards around him, and with the devilish grin on his face—he looked like a nightmare burst free from Tartarus.
She banked past him and fired a beam of light. She watched in astonishment as the beam flew towards Sombra—then ricocheted off the empty air around him. He spun to face her, then laughed.
Celestia,” he called. “So nice to see you! Up early, aren’t we?”
Sombra,” she growled, landing on the bluff. “You’ll pay for this.”
He smirked. “One of us will, at least.”
He lowered his head and fired. Celestia dodged his beam, but barely—she could feel the heat as it sizzled past her.
She snarled, then pumped her wings and took off, but Sombra  was already charging his horn again. She fell into a steep bank as another beam crackled past her, then turned and dived, her horn flaring to life. She shot a bolt of lightning at Sombra. It crackled through the air—but arced over an invisible shield, leaving Sombra untouched. She gaped—but, before she could react, Sombra shot another beam, this one burning into her shoulder.
Celestia cried out and tumbled. She crashed into the bluff, rolled twice, and lay still. Sombra laughed his deep, booming laugh, and strode towards her. His horn began to glow—but, before he could try anything, Celestia looked up. Her horn glowed, and, with a mighty sweep of her wings, she sent a gale into Sombra’s face.
He braced himself against the wind—and, when he looked up, he saw Celestia winging away into the darkness. He laughed again, his laugh echoing madly in Celestia’s ears. “Better luck next time, Princess!” he roared.
Celestia felt a tear begin to run down her cheek. How can he be this strong? How?
She gritted her teeth. He was powerful, to be sure—but she was powerful, too. And, even now, she was far from helpless.
        Celestia landed lightly in the middle of the camp, ponies still scurrying every which way. She took a deep breath, then began to concentrate. Her horn flared to life, glowing bright in the darkness. She threw back her head, screamed, and fired.
        A bright pillar of golden light shot straight up from her horn—one hundred, two hundred feet high—then it blossomed and began to spread, like a blooming flower. The edges of the shield dropped down over the camp, sealing it off in a great, golden bubble.
“Alliance! To me!” Celestia called. She could feel the Crystals pounding on the shield from the outside, but they were pebbles thrown in a lake—she could feel their splashes, but they were nothing but ripples in her magic.
        Soon, ponies began to gather. Many were already dirty and bloodied—several were limping, and more than one had to be carried. Celestia glanced around, horn still burning. “Unicorns,” she gasped. “Unicorns, I need your help!”
        A moment’s hesitation, and ten—twenty—unicorns stepped forward. One by one, they stood beside their princess, then fired their own beams. Soon, Celestia’s golden shield was tinged with a dozen shades of color. Celestia sighed, then dropped her own beam—and the shield held.
        She looked back over the crowd. “Where are my officers?” she called.
The crowd began to part, and the officers and generals stepped forward. “I need you to coordinate defenses,” she said urgently. “Reinforce the fringes of the camp. We need—”
“Princess,” harrumphed Caballus. “What we need is order. The earth ponies can work the defenses, and the pegasi—”
“Harmony’s bones,” she hissed, “I don’t have time for this.” She glanced around the assembled ponies, then pointed at a pink mare in the front row, wearing stripes of a low-ranking officer. “You,” she said. “What’s your name?”
The mare saluted. “Firefly, Second Lieutenant, Cloudsdale Third Wing, Your Highness.”
“Firefly,” Celestia repeated. “You’re General Firefly now, commissioned under the authority of the Equestrian Alliance.” Celestia looked up. “Obey Firefly as you would me,” she called, “And that goes for all of you,” she added to the officers, earning more than a few angry glares.
She turned back to Firefly. her new General stared back at her, eyes wide.  “Get those fires out,” Celestia ordered, “and patch up what wounds you can. Get some defenses up. And, for Harmony’s sake, keep those unicorns fresh. Water, food, whatever they need—this shield won’t last long unless—”
A cry rippled through the army. Celestia looked up and paled. On the ridge overlooking the battlefield, where stood Sombra himself, a light—a bright, white light—shone in the darkness.
And then, something blotted out the stars and slammed against the shield
The unicorns powering the shield flinched. One let out a strangled cry. Several of them stared with wide, unseeing eyes, and one began to bleed from his left nostril.
Celestia whirled back to Firefly. “That shield is your first priority,” she said urgently. “Get more unicorns on it—and rotate them out as they tire. Keep it up for as long as you can.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Firefly saluted again—holding it for just a moment too long. “...Where will you be?” she asked timidly.
Ending this,” Celestia responded. She turned and galloped away without another word.
As she ran, a snarl crept across her face. Something was wrong. Sombra couldn’t be this powerful—no mere unicorn could.  There was something she was missing. Something she needed to beat him. To save her soldiers. To save her people.
And if there was anyone who could tell her what it was—it would be her.
Celestia whipped back the flap of the tent and skidded to a halt inside. “Lu,” she said urgently.
Luna sat on her cot, huddled against the far wall. She glanced up, then back down, as Celestia called her, but did not respond.
Luna,” Celestia repeated. “I need your help.”
Silence.
“Luna, ponies are dying out there.” She took a step closer. “I need you to tell me what you know about Sombra.” She continued, not waiting for a response. “He’s powerfultoo powerful. Did he say anything to you about… about his magic? O-or a weakness, or…” She hesitated, then fell silent as Luna continued to look at the ground.
Celestia stood there for a long moment, then, with a little struggle, swallowed the lump in her throat. She turned to go.
“...crystal heart…”
Celestia stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Luna?” she asked.
Luna looked up. “Crystal heart,” she repeated. “He… he mentioned it, once.”
Celestia turned around. “What does it do?” she pressed. “Where is it?”
“...somewhere in the Spire,” she murmured with a shrug.
Celestia paused, then swooped in and hugged her. “Good enough for me,” she said.
Luna did not respond. Celestia pulled away, then leaned in again and gently kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you,” she said simply.
Celestia stepped outside the tent, and, despite herself, smiled. Ponies still galloped about, helter-skelter—but now with order. Purpose. Some carried buckets of water, some wood and nails, and some, walking slowly, carried injured soldiers. Firefly apparently knew what she was doing.
And then, on the horizon, Sombra’s white light flared again. This time, the shield flexed, bending dangerously inwards. It snapped back into place, but not before the unicorn’s beams wavered, and one went out.
“Harmony’s bones,” she breathed. This shouldn’t be possible.
You! There!” she called, pointing to a unicorn with an empty bucket.
He skidded to a halt, then saluted. “Your Highness,” he responded.
Celestia nodded. “Go tell General Firefly that I want her to set a guard on Princess Luna. No matter what, make sure she’s safe.” She hesitated. “And, if Sombra tries anything, inform Her Highness first.” Maybe that would shake her out of whatever funk she was in.
The unicorn nodded, then dashed off again, back towards the hill. Celestia watched him go, then turned and ran back to her own tent.
She left her crown, collar, and shoes where they lay, and instead, wrapped her snowcloak around herself, then threw some rations into her saddlebags and slid them on. She dashed back out of the tent, then took off, winging her way towards the north. A few sparks from her horn, and the shield opened to let her pass, snapping shut behind her. As she flew by Sombra, she shot a ray of light at his hooves; he danced backwards, then turned to fire back at her, but she was already gone.
As she flew into the night, she shot a glance over her shoulder. Fires still sent smoke into the pitch-black night, and she could see more than a few ponies lying still in the snow. She felt a lump form in her throat, but turned away.
Think, Celestia, she told herself. With Sombra around, there was little she could do here. But if she could somehow stop him—it could save them all. As she thought, a tiny part of her brain began to nag: salvation might be at the Spire, but that was hours away, if not days—assuming she could even make it through the storm.
She gritted her teeth. Yes, it was a long flight—perhaps too long—but she had no other options. She had left a magical shield to keep them safe, but, with Sombra’s bloodlust and his infernal magic, it wouldn’t take long for it to fall. And, when that happened, everyone would die.
But, if she made it back to the Spire and found this crystal heart… found a way to destroy it, or shut it down... well, then she might save someone.
Celestia swallowed. Those were unpleasant odds.
But they were all she had.