Battle
2
When a pony grew up living near the sea most of their lives it was often said that they developed something of an extra sense to tell them when something was wrong. Cadenza had lived next to an ocean for over nine hundred years and as she stood upon her Summer Palace’s walls and gazed down at the violent and choppy ocean waters, she was certain that something was very, very wrong.
Next to Cadenza was a single member of her honor guard, the yellow coated and red maned mare wore the traditional purple and golden armor as befitting her station; to Cadenza's right stood a dark brown pegasus with a thinning black mane and thin silver spectacles.
"All the pegasi are stumped princess, controlling sea breezes is always tricky, but this-" he stuttered nervously, waving his hoof towards the crashing white waves, "is completely beyond anything we've ever dealt with before. I'm sorry princess, I just don't know what to tell you. We can't get the wind or the waves to calm down at all," the weather manager explained mournfully, looking down at the ground.
Cadenza pulled her gaze away from the growing storm clouds in the distance and leaned down to look upon the young pegasus, smiling encouragingly as she stretched one of her wings out and lifted up his chin, "I do not fault you for this Meteo Direttore, whatever has caused this is beyond the scope of even the best trained pegasi and could not have been predicted,” she assured him gently.
'There's a reason I had to remove the position of Court Soothsayer after all.' she thought, even if she had been rather fond of the mare doing the job at the time.
"What would you have us do, princess?" Captain Ipomea asked seriously, the pegasus not taking her eyes off the roiling oceans.
Cadenza hummed for a moment, her lips thinned as she looked out into the distance, far farther than any normal pony could naturally see. She tried to extend her magical senses into the ocean and skies. Cadenza searched the oceans for life, but the fish were fleeing: As though something too horrible to face was coming, 'Something is coming. Something terrible and ancient,' she reflected grimly.
Princess Cadenza turned to face her guard and spoke with authority a thousand years older than she appeared, "I need you to fetch every fast pegasi guard and emergency worker you can find; I want every ship close to shore brought into dock. I want monitors out there to warn of incoming dangers and for the lower level homes to be ready to evacuate should it be necessary."
Ipomea’s ears shot back against her skull at such an instruction, she sent Cadenza a quizzical look and received a grim nod from the princess. The mare immediately saluted and said, "Yes Princess, we won't let you down," the guard saw Cadenza look down at the suddenly much more nervous weather manager and spoke again, "I will need your help with this Meteo Direttore, are you ready and able?"
Starting the brown pegasus spoke, "yes, certainly, I will get the necessary weather ponies working on this straight away."
"I want guards and emergency workers accompanying them," she said before turning to Cadenza, "By your leave princess," Cadenza nodded and the two ponies took off into the sky.
Cadenza felt a strong breeze cut across her side, blowing her multicolored locks across her face. She turned, not even acknowledging the winds, 'We will be ready for whatever comes our way,' she thought with grim pride.
As Cadenza turned and made her way from the walls and back into the castle gardens, she continued to plan, 'Whatever this is, it would be best to tell my mother, just in case we need the help,' she determined.
"Princess!" a stallion’s voice cried, almost being lost against the crashing of the waves so far beneath them. Cadenza turn and spotted another one of her honor guards running towards her, his grey face stricken.
She galloped over to him and both came to a sudden halt. The unicorn looked up at her, nervousness clear on his features, as he offered a quick and succinct bow.
"What troubles you, Faccia Seria?" she asked seriously.
"It's the vault princess, one of the enchanted alarms is going off!” He reported breathlessly.
Cadenza shuddered at the thought, "Approach," she instructed. The guard immediately came to her side, and Cadenza draped a wing over the stallion’s back as her horn's crystal blue magic engulfed them and they vanished.
The alicorn and the unicorn appeared in a corner of Cadenza's throne room with a flash. They stood before a large, thick wooden door that had sturdy metallic bars sliding across it and deadbolts on the sides. Outside it, stood a stern-faced earth pony who eyed the small glowing circlet in the centre of the door suspiciously, before bowing at his princess's approach.
"We only just noticed it, your majesty," he explained.
Cadenza barely even heard his words. She was completely transfixed upon the spinning red circlet, dozens of nearly incomprehensible arcane sigils spun wildly. Cadenza reached out with her own magic and touched the vault before jumping back, almost feeling singed as a splitting pain arced through her head.
"Wait here," she commanded, and in a flash. She was gone.
Cadenza reappeared inside the vault, all that surrounded her were marked grey boxes inserted into walls. While a select few rested on pedestals that were rooted to the marble floor, dark chains stretched out from the marble floor and ceilings, binding the boxes in place. A heavy coating of dust marred everything Cadenza could see, this was 'The Vault' where she kept dangerous magical artifacts, spells, charms and trinkets: The sort of thing made by demon spawn, or vengeful Moose suitors.
She knew her mother had a similar collection, likely even larger than Cadenza's own. She would have rathered destroy such creations, but knowledge of one's enemies was too valuable to waste. She kept them close to her throne room because that was the most well guarded room in the castle. Whether she was there or not, nopony would question the presence of so many guards in the throne room, of all places.
Only her Honor Guards and some high ranking officials were aware of that particular door’s significance though. Even if somepony could manage to get through her guards, they would need to get past Cadenza as well. Getting her to leave the castle would not help either: She would always cast an enchantment upon herself when she left. Ensuring that if the alarm was tripped, she would know.
None of that stopped Cadenza from suffering a moment of complete and utter blind panic at the sight of the largest and most secure vault in her collection glowing crimson red. The enchanted steel was warping and twisting, rust was appearing at random places, and the chains that held it to the pedestal were melting.
"The Flashstone Amulet," she uttered under her breath.
Springing into action, Cadenza's eyes glowed and a stream of magic exploded from her horn as she encompassed the safe. 'I need to lock it down before anything else!' Cadenza determined as she slowly began weaving holding spells and concealment charms upon the angry crystal. Never before had it felt like that, every-time her magic touched the container it felt like she was was holding onto something vicious and malicious, a beast with a hundred teeth and a thousand claws just waiting to tear into her. But more than that was the hatred, it was so deep, so all consuming, 'I've never felt anything like this before, its horrible!'
As her spells encircled the Amulet’s prison, Cadenza couldn't help but remember when her mother had told her of the dangerous trinket’s origins.
Two alicorns reclined in Princess Luna’s Royal Chamber. Luna glanced over at Cadence before returning her attention to the the trinket held in her telekinetic grasp. The Night Princess sat on her dark blue comforter and simply stared at the broken, gold trimmed amulet with a jagged red gem lodged in the center and a plain string tied around the top. Luna refused to let her magic actually touch the ancient artifact, instead holding it by the string at a wary distance, her eyes squinting with a mixture of calculation and barely hidden revulsion.
Cadenza sat to Luna’s side, a small bandage wrapped around her right foreleg as she eyed the mare she thought to be her mother. While Luna refused to move her eyes from the gem, the Night Princess's face was a stern mask of determination.
"It is one half of the Flashstone Amulet," Luna finally said in a tone that wasn't quite rushed. Despite her controlled and measured voice, Luna spoke as if she were letting out a long held breath as quickly as possible
"I've never heard of that," Cadenza prodded.
Grimacing, Luna replied, "Nor should you... it was a tool of an ancient enemy of... my sister and I." An involuntary shudder ran through the lunar alicorn and Cadenza prodded her with a purple tipped wing, Luna shot her a guilty look and moved away ever so slightly.
"Who was it?' the younger alicorn finally asked.
"Squirk, and do not laugh at that name!" she bit out, her tone causing Cadenza to flinch backwards.
"I am sorry, but he is no laughing matter. That 'abomination' was an ancient Eldrich ’thing’ from so long ago that time itself seemed young. He slept in the depths of the ocean, entombed in shattered palaces and cities, dreaming wicked thoughts and twisted ideas. I would never enter that creature’s mind," she hissed.
"Whole cities were washed away by his mere movement, he was a cruel and twisted tyrant who pillaged entire nations. Islands and mighty empires would be flooded and sunk into the depths of the sea, thousands upon thousands of lives extinguished at a whim." Luna muttered, her eyes trailing over a damaged mask hanging from her private chamber’s walls.
"What was he?" Cadenza asked.
"A monster, an abomination… and an incredibly powerful one at that. He had one- not weakness, but he lacked an ability we share, that my sister and I shared: He could not cast spells as we did. With his touch, castles and cities could be crushed; with a shift of his lucid form, typhoons and hurricanes could consume nations and navies alike. However, magical melding such as spells were beyond his ability... for a time," Luna intoned grimly.
"The amulet?" Cadenza asked.
Luna nodded, her mouth set in a frown, the princess’s magic flared and a glowing rune covered box appeared before them, then she levitated the amulet it into the box, sealing it shut; Cadenza could see the metal weld itself shut as Luna shoved it to the other side of the room, but not out of eyeshot.
"You said it was an earth pony using this, did you not?" Luna asked, her tone more casual now that she no longer held her long defeated enemy's broken weapon.
Cadenza nodded and replied, "Yes, but she didn't display any powers like you've described."
"She was likely not using the amulet to its full potential, I doubt anyone but Squirk could do such a thing. This isn't some mere trinket we discuss Cadenza, not a simple magical focus. He reached into his own body and tore that crystal from his very soul. It was filled with the sum total of his malice and rage." She ground out. "From the depths of Tartarus he gathered adamantine and forged its setting. It was such a small thing we didn't even notice it; but with that amulet Squirk could mold his internal magic with as much skill as even the greatest unicorn mage."
"But you defeated him, didn't you?" Cadenza reasoned simply.
"We did. I do not wish to discuss that battle, but I shall tell you its conclusion. We followed the trail of destruction Squirk left in his wake and found him in the northern seas; it was there that we fought. For days we dueled: magic, strength and guile rose against madness, twisted spells and the power of a demon. Storms and hurricanes tore everything around us to pieces, many of them our own creation… anything to pierce that thing’s hide."
Luna sighed deeply and levitated a bottle of wine into her grasp. Then she looked over at Cadenza and the pink princess had to resist the urge to embrace the older alicorn at the sudden wave of grief and guilt that encompassed her, it all too plain for Cadenza to see. Cadenza lowered her head in shame at her fear. Luna's horn flashed and the wine was gone, instead she leaned down, her barrel pressed against the floor as she continued her story.
"Finally, after what felt like an eternity, we forced him into the depth of the ocean. Deeper than anypony could possibly survive, so deep that no light could escape its depths," Luna shuddered. "Together we struck him with an adamantine lance the size of a castle tower. It was enchanted with both my sister’s and my own power, forged in the greatest of flames, blessed by the stars and it still glowed red hot with the golden flames that had forged it. We forced it into the beast’s body and shackled him against the ocean floor, cursed to sleep for the rest of eternity."
Luna looked over at the box containing the, now much more sinister, Flashstone Amulet and spoke, "before he fell to sleep, he shattered the amulet so that we might not posses it and uttered a spell, 'should these two halves ever be one, should their power ever be broken: I shall be awaken from my dark dreams and bring the peace of death to all the world.' and so one half of the amulet disappeared. I can only assume it was hidden by one of his few servants, the other was held by my sister and I, hidden until..."
Cadenza pressed her hoof against Luna's side, "I understand," she whispered and that brought the smallest of guilty smiles to the blue alicorns face.
"Should they ever be formed into one, Squirk will awaken; should they be broken, their power would return to him and awaken him. The amulet must be hidden,” she affirmed striking her hoof against the floor before turning to Cadenza. “But I hold many secrets here Cadenza, and I do not wish for more of these things to fill my home," Luna confessed, her eyes drifting over the numerous odd items she had scattered throughout the room, Cadenza knew these were only the cusp of the iceberg of what the ancient alicorn had collected and been burdened with in her long life.
Cadenza reached out with her magic and ensnared the box, bringing it close to her and rapping it firmly with a single hoof strike, "Don't fear, I will keep it safe, I already have a vault for this sort of thing." She smiled confidently.
Luna chuckled ever so slightly, before her gaze fell upon the box once more. She turned to Cadenza and said, "I will give you more protective charms and warning spells for when you leave," Luna's tone, however, was slightly hopeful, and Cadenza nudged the box aside to lay down next to the other alicorn.
"Do you mind if I stay the night?"
The smile that spread across Luna's face was ecstatic, and Cadenza could feel the joy emanating from her as they turned themselves to less harrowing topics.
But the day she left, Luna had offered her one final warning. "Should he ever awaken, should something posses the strength to free that abomination from its eternal prison the gem will glow. It will want to return to its maker, we cannot let that happen Cadenza," Luna foretold.
"And now it's glowing! It's really glowing! Damn it all," Cadenza cursed. Hooves dug into the floor, wings flared, and eyes glowed as magic poured out of her, while she layered another sealing spell onto the steel container.
Finally, the containers stopped humming. Replacing the crimson red was a light clear-blue, wafting around and through the container like water, sparkling and twisting as it struggled against the spell calling the gem away.
Cadenza clutched her head and breathed deeply, "Call Luna. Get help. Worry later," she determined. With a wave of her horn, she sent a message to the guards outside, including her new location before teleporting out of the vault and into her private chambers.
Resting on her bedside table was a crystal ball that was barely as large as a foal's head.It was nearly pitch black, but Cadenza could often make out colors and shapes rippling throughout the small orb. Cadenza marched forward and pressed her hoof against the communication orb, her horn glowing and activated the magic contained within.
"Mother," she started firmly, there was no hint of a response. "Mother, I need to speak with you, the Flashstone Amulet is glowing. I believe he's free and there are storms all across the coast!" she called, again there was no hint of a response. There was no magical signature, no echoing voice, no feeling at all...
"No, not now," she bit out quietly.
"Mother, can you hear me?!" she cried, pressing her hoof against the crystal surface and forcing more of her magic into the device. But again, she received only silence. Cadenza couldn't even tell if her words were getting through let alone if somepony was on the other side.
There was a rapid knock at her doors, which were then flung open. Cadenza turned and flared her wings, her horn blazed to life as an honor guard burst into her room, the mare’s eyes were wide in horror.
"Princess, a tidal wave!" she yelled.
Cadenza turned to the orb and saw that it still remained silent, 'I guess I'm on my own,' she determined, before galloping out of her room and into the foyer. The princess looked out the nearest window and saw the waters of the beach retreating into the ocean, storm clouds crashed and roared in the distance as the waters receded, leaving boats stuck in the sand, steadily gathering itself into a single wave that could wipe Roam off the face of the world.
"Begin the evacuation of the lower districts and any ships that haven't docked. I'll deal with this. I want mages ready with shield spells, emergency walls built and pegasi ready to act. Now!" Cadenza commanded, the guard charged down the hallway shouting commands as she went.
Cadenza spread her wings and flung herself from the window, her horn glowing as she made for the raging ocean.
High above Roam, hidden behind a magical shield sat Celestia. She lay upon a white cloud high in the sky, to the point where the ponies below barely even looked like ants. However, Celestia could still see them and her niece, as Cadenza left the orb and flew towards the oncoming storm.
Cadenza's voice echoed all around the solar alicorn, "'Mother can you hear me?' 'No, not now.' 'Mother!'" the words were gathered and just like that, Celestia scattered them against the winds never to reach their desired recipient.
"So, my dear niece, we have seen you can deduce, you can plan, you can give orders, and even act on your own without my sister’s guiding hoof,” she said seriously. “But can you defend your subjects… or will I be forced to end this threat myself?" Celestia wondered quietly. She watched the young alicorn beat her wings against the ocean, creating a tempest wind that scattered the water and interrupting the rising flow.
"Let us see what you can do, Princess Cadenza."
The heavy winds beat against Cadenza's body as she flew. Her wings flapped to keep her aloft, and she could see the emptying ocean pull away from the coast to coalesce into a wave that dwarfed even the cliff her castle rested upon.
'And it's still growing! If that thing hits Roam, no evacuation will be enough!' At least at this distance it would be hard for her subjects to make out the wave against the clouds and the gathering mist formed by the sea spray.
Cadenza leaned to her side and tipped her right wing against the rushing waters, it was cold... and there was something pulling it, 'Just as I had feared, he's coming for the amulet!'
That was when she heard it, like a roar over the raging storm and roiling waters, but so quiet like it was whispered in her ear, 'Death is closing in... you will fail and die.'
Cadenza wavered and crashed against the water with a crack, before regaining her equilibrium and forcing herself back into the skies. The tidal wave was still growing, still approaching her home. She hissed under her breath, turned from the mounting wave and instead charged into the sky.
'Yes... run,' it whispered again, echoing in her mind and scratching at her ears.
"I'm. Not. Running!" she roared, Cadenza buried her hooves in the red tinted clouds as she felt a surge of rage and hatred so deep it could have consumed her. She scrunched her eyes together. Images of her mother, her adoptive family, her thousands of subjects, friends and lovers filled her mind.
'Hate, is weak!' With that thought Cadenza sprung from the cloud, lighting followed in her wake encompassing her body as she dived towards the ocean. When, moments before reaching the water, the air exploded. Cadenza angled her flight and watched as a shockwave of pure sound cut the head of the tidal wave away, spraying thousands of gallons of water harmlessly into the sky. The other half of her Sonic Rainboom pierced the gathering waters beneath her and she watched as the wave faltered, but it did not fall.
'It could never have been that easy,' Cadenza admonished herself.
Suddenly a great red tentacle exploded from the mounting tidal wave, rather than weakening it the wave only seemed firmer for its presence. As the horrific appendage came towards her, Cadenza barely made it out of the way, and she watched as the water it struck exploded outwards in all directions until she could make out the sand at the bottom of the sea.
'So fast, yet so large. That thing could crush a barracks!' she thought, as her heart raced in terror.
Cadenza ducked and weaved as a ray of red light blazed past her, she watched as it tore through the water and careened off into the sky, leaving a perfect circular hole in the cloud it passed through. As Cadenza saw the damage, her heart stilled, 'That's not just a blast, it's like it just wiped the water and clouds out of existence.'
"Aaah!" Cadenza shrieked as another beam came towards her. She let loose a small bolt of magic and flew around it, crashing into the growing wave as she went. The powerful winds of her sound breaking stunt still followed her as she tore through the raging waters, narrowly avoiding the blast.
'I have to break it up!' Cadenza thought, with her enhanced speed the young alicorn dived back into the middle of the tidal wave. Flaring her wings, she let loose a mighty burst of magic, piercing a hole right through it. The arcane surge repelled the waters surrounding Cadenza, allowing her to resume her flight, only to reveal a sharpened blade-like appendage whipping towards her. The monstrous tentacle scraped her flowing mane, and she watched as the lock writhed and disintegrated before her very eyes
Grinding her teeth, the alicorn looked deep within the tidal wave's recesses, she could just barely make out what she could only assume was Squirk’s true body. As the wave continued on its destructive path, Cadenza watched as more appendages reached out from the depths of the ocean, filling the waters and skies.
She dived again, strafing her way along and through the tidal wave she pierced it a dozen times over. Zig zagging through the raging waters, her wings beat against the wave’s side, cutting the waters down and scattering them into the sky. Icicles and mist followed in her wake as she cut the growing wave down.
But even now, she could feel her speed waning. It was growing hard to dodge Squirk’s strikes and while much of the wave had been cut down, the center remained strong. Roam might survive, but it would be completely unrecognizable.
Cadenza dodged out of the way as a bolt of red lightning struck against the ocean water. The light almost blinded her as another of Squirk's tentacles grazed her. There was an audible crack as Cadenza repressed a scream at her newly bruised barrel.
"Do you hear it? Your heart races... it will burst!" The monster’s voice carried over the wind again and Cadenza felt a chill run down her spine. The only noise she could make out was the pounding of her heart, the blood flowing through her every vein. She screamed and dived towards the icy water, exploding out the back of the wave with a savage roar.
"I don't fear you, come out and face me!" she cried into the storm, her voice echoing across the falling ocean.
Another explosion of light came towards her, bursting from the depths of the ocean as hundreds of Squirk’s extremities surrounded her. Cadenza summoned up a clear shield and prepared for the impact. Only for the shock to shatter her shield like glass, flinging her back into the monster’s grasp.
Cadenza felt the air forced from her lungs as strength enough to collapse mountains came to bear on her tiny frame. She let out a bloodcurdling scream, phlegm and spittle falling from her mouth. The beast tightened his hold on her, in her ear, floating across the wind she could swear she hear laughter, deep and hysterically wild. Cadenza reached inside herself and felt her magic flaring, she called it to her horn and vanished with a flash of light.
Cadenza reappeared ahead of the wave, she spared a glance behind her and saw they were approaching the now waterless beaches of Roam. She could see her little ponies waiting there, hoping for her to return victorious, 'No... they wouldn't?' Cadenza wondered in horror as, instead of fleeing, they stood. They were watching, waiting and even cheering for her.
Tears began falling from her eyes, “No, run! Please, my little ponies, even if it's hopeless just run..."
"They see the end... your courage has failed, their cowardice and fear feeds me!" the voice cried out over the ocean, another barrage of explosive red light flared towards Cadenza like newborn stars.
Cadenza looked at her little ponies and felt their hearts; a mixture of love, determination, and faith in their princess, ‘I cannot fail them!’
She watched the oncoming spells and cried, "Never!" Her horn exploded with blue light, a great shield slammed into the beaches and the blazing spells shattered against them. She felt her magic strain to hold them back, but the shields stayed firm.
"You don't understand, you never could, it's their love that brings them here not fear! And I cannot let them down!" with that proclamation, Cadenza focused her magic into her horn and fired out a ray of ice cold energy against the oncoming tidal wave. She watched as the raging waters froze in their path and fell to the sand, she didn't stop there though. Cadenza took off through the air, her spell cutting into the waves as she weaved between Squirk’s oncoming blows and spells, before she turned and fell into a dive.
Cadenza could feel the air shattering around her again as she beat her way past one of the barbed appendages. Her skin sizzling at its touch as she called the old pony magic into her hooves. The glow from her horn died and Cadenza slammed her hooves against the earth and watched as the sands of Roam exploded beneath her, parting beneath the tidal wave and consuming its waters.
Her eyes glowed and she kicked off from where she charging towards what remained. Her entire body was encompassed in light as she pierced the great wall of water and released an explosion of pure magic.
To anypony watching they would have seen nothing more than an explosion of pure blue light in all directions, shattering the wave and scattering the water into the air. The citizen of Roam watched as the clouds parted revealing the late afternoon sun. The tidal wave was broken and in its place came rain, pouring down from the sky and disappearing into the wind as the ponies cheered.
Cadenza allowed herself a moment to breath. She looked upon her subjects with a proud and relieved smile as they reveled in their survival, the water barely even reaching the beach as they roared and cheered in celebration.
Then there was a disjointed and cyclopean scream, it pierced through the air and cut into her ears. Cadenza clamped her hooves over her head and scrunched her eyes together in agony. The young alicorn turned to watch as the waters began retreating again. But this time they were spinning and swirling. The waters came together almost a mile away, rising up in a dome, its movements like a labored breath. She could see a mangled red body hidden in the water, but her vision was quickly obscured as darkness filled the thrashing waters. Hundreds of Squirk’s writhing appendages were held aloft in the sky as he called.
"Your life is not your own... your end is sealed" it heaved, "My blood will poison all it touches, and death will come for all who inhabit this miserable little seedling!"
"No it won't" Cadenza cried, charging towards the writhing mass of flesh before her.
The alicorn extended her senses, trying to slip past the ever growing mass of hatred and contempt. All the power that beast contained was overwhelming, 'I've owned half the amulet for centuries, I know its magic, I can find it!' she thought determinedly. Cadenza ground her teeth together as her horn flared, then she dived into the water, towards Squirk's true body.
Cadenza was met with pain: Acidic blood coated her body as she dived, stray blasts from the amulet cut at her, and Squirk's tentacles crashed against one another, sometimes hitting her. The entire ocean seemed to shiver as the beast breathed, bile spilling from its jaw as Cadenza forced herself lower against the pain trying to overwhelm her.
Cadenza could see the behemoth’s tails swishing beneath her, the vortex its movements created threatened to pull her into the depths. As she moved closer to the beast’s center, the blood grew thicker, stinging her eyes and singeing the tips of her wings.
'There!' she cried. Pressed deep against part of the monster’s shell shone the Amulet, glinting and blazing even through the darkness. Cadenza felt the beast’s appendages grip her as she approached, 'so close!' she thought. She reached out her hooves in a desperate attempt to seize the Flashstone Amulet that burned and glowed. 'He's charging a spell, if I can use that-' Cadenza let out a silent cry as the barbs dug into her flanks.
Pressure built up at the base of Cadenza's horn as she let loose a thin beam of magic straight into the heart of Squirk’s spell, she could feel the monster writhe above her as the concentration of his spell was torn open. Its aura, now tinted blue, engulfed them and the waters in which they floated in a blinding light.
On the shores of Roam, the citizenry watched as the growing mass of waters and writhing limbs in the distance surged upwards. Red and Blue magic careened off of it, into the winds, and lightning struck against the water's surface as it burst.
Then the gathered waters fell back to the ocean and, slowly, small waves began beating against the shoreline. The waves were as calm and crystal-clear blue as when the sun had first risen, and nowhere to be seen was the monster, or their princess.
Cadenza felt the explosion of clashing magics all around the two, as they exploded from the Southern Seas of Roam and into the cold Northern Waters. Deep in the dark northern waters.
Breaking free from the creature’s grasp, Cadenza saw a still open wound on the sea demon’s body. Black blood spilled from the wound, but so close to it was the Flashstone Amulet: bound to the monster’s skin by wreaths of flesh and bone. Cadenza dived for it, she struck her hooves against her enemies wound and was rewarded with an agonized screech.
Her wings and hooves pushed her forward, magic arced out from her horn striking at Squirk’s incoming attack. Then Cadenza crashed her hooves against the tiny amulet’s bindings and separated it from Squirk’s body.
"No queen rules forever, no princess can save all her subjects. You will learn the price for this," the monster’s voice boomed in her head. Cadenza gripped the vile talisman in her teeth as a barbed appendage struck against her back, flinging her further into the depths of the darkened ocean.
"Aaah!" she screamed, as the icy waters embraced her. Darkness consumed Cadenza's vision as she sank, the last of her strength was used to keep hold on the amulet and pull it close against her chest.
A mighty surge of water struck Cadenza harder than any blade could have. She opened her blurring eyes and saw Squirk’s tail, large enough to cleave cities in two and it was thrashing in the ocean. Cadenza watched as the shadowy waters were whipped into maddened maelstroms by his movements, blades of water and ice lashed out against her as she fought to keep the amulet close to her chest.
As the waters surged around Cadenza, battering against her frame, she sensed it: Magic that, over the centuries, had grown so familiar to her that she could feel it even as the light faded from her eyes, 'Mother!' she cried out.
Cadenza closed her eyes and extended her magic into the depths, and felt 'something' that was positively singing with raw magical power. There was her mother’s and... Cadenza gasped, she knew that other magic as well. She had felt it only once before, barely into adulthood and trapped inside the sun with her aunt. 'Corona's magic!' she thought with terror, but the 'taint', that same feeling of rage and fire did not accompany this spell. Instead, it felt warm, calm, and inviting, like an old friend waiting to embrace her
Cadenza's eyes opened and she dodged another strike from her enemy, the fin barely grazed her wing as she dived. She could hear the Lance humming, its magic, alicorn magic, called to her. Cadenza reached within herself, her eyes began to glow as she called forth the full power that her nature and a thousand years of life had given her. From the very core she shone, filling the bloodied and frozen ocean with light.
Cadenza could hear an alien screech from behind her as her magic singed the beast of the deeps, and she reached out, allowing her magic to mingle with that of the lance. From the ocean floor, the fallen weapon flared to life. Ancient runes and spells shone in the darkness as the weapon glided towards her, tearing through the ocean and into her waiting forelegs.
Cadenza grasped the ancient weapon and turned. She could see the place where Squirk had first been entombed, but the abomination's jaw bore down upon her. "My mother told me of you, of the death and the destruction you wrought! She warned me of the terror you would bring and that I must never disturb you!" Cadenza screamed into the maelstrom, cutting away at one of the knife like tentacles that came to strike at her.
She flared her wings and glared at the raging beast. Another explosion of pressure and acid tore past her as she dodged, clinging to the lance, it burned her hooves and her chest, but she was almost there!
"She also told me of how they defeated you! How you fell against their might. And today, you threatened my home, my little ponies, this entire world, and so you will fall to me!" Cadenza's magic flared and surrounded the lance, slowly entering it and melding with the magic of her family. She felt them resist at first, but after sensing her love, her desire to protect, the two magics of night and day melded with her own.
Cadenza charged forward and struck the giant in the belly. The scream that echoed throughout the depths seemed to shake the entire ocean, as Squirk's form became a writhing mass of teeth and tentacles.
The golden and silver lance shone blue as her own magic rebounded and strengthened the spells. Cadenza pushed forward, bearing the blows raining down upon her as they grew weaker and weaker until she struck the stone outcropping, a mighty crash echoing throughout the ocean floor.
Chains burst from the base of the lance and encompassed Squirk’s massive frame, binding the beast against the stone once again as its movements grew sluggish and weak. Cadenza glanced up from her place collapsed against the creature’s scales, and she saw its eyes looking down upon her, shining in the dark.
White, gold, and a slit of black in the centre. In that moment it was as though he could see into her soul even as the princess's magic bound him once again.
"Even love... will die" it heaved, consciousness slowly falling from the creature.
"If the hearts of every creature ever become so empty, we'd have no need for demons, and there would be none left on this world for you to harm," she whispered.
An alien sense of sympathy gripped Cadenza, and she cast a small anesthesia spell upon the sleeping behemoth. She looked over it sorrowfully and clutched the Flashstone Amulet to her chest.
'I have to go home,' with that thought Cadenza made to leave, the amulet still clutched tight in her magical grasp. With a single flash of her horn Cadenza was miles away and over the Southern Seas once again, spluttering and panting in exhaustion.
"Looks like I'll be flying the rest of the way," she muttered. As the last of the bloodied sea water fell from her mouth, the alicorn spread her wings and made for home. The sunset looming behind her as she went.
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Well, she's no pushover, that's for sure.
I've got to say, badass Cadance, not what I was expecting. Though this is a darker world, so it only makes sense she'd be stronger than her cannon counterpart. Makes me feel bad for Chrysalis if she's ever dumb enough to try what she did at the wedding.
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Very true, thank you for the comment.
3587003
Thank you for the comment I really appreciate it. Yeah, this version of Cadence has been on her own more than I imagine M!verse Cadence was. So she's a bit more proactive and used to dealing with threats. Though even canon Cadence can do some impressive stuff, like the force field in S3. I definitely imagine Chrysalis will have to put more thought into any plans involving Cadence in this verse, though if the upgrade goes to scale... wow, she'd going to be scary in S3.
Thanks again!
ph'nglui mglw'nafh Squirk R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!
You know what I just realized Cadenza reminds me of? With the way she's speaking, etc.? A magical girl, in the vein of Card Captor Sakura or Sailor Moon.
th06.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2012/155/8/5/sailor_scout_cadence_by_dentist73548-d52axp0.png
3587297
You know, you're right! Squirk should totally build himself a R'lyeh, then he can sleep more comfortably and have fish people to look after him and serve as his heralds.
That image and magical girls in general is disturbingly apropos, considering I've been re-reading the Sailor V manga and conceiving AU fics for it. Cosmic...
But yeah, I can see where you're coming form, translating justice/rage filled goddess of love speech into a modern goddess of love is tricky.
Granted magical rarely jams spears into their enemies stomachs and leave them at the bottom of the ocean, I get the impression her response would get a frosty reception at the annual inter-dimensional meeting.
Thanks for the comment!
This was amazing. I loved everything in this pretty much. I know that's not too constructive but dang!! Although there were a couple of points where there was a misspelling and a few times a part of a sentence repeated itself twice. Nothing a quick run through on Word couldn't fix.
Pink Pony of Love vs Cthulhu - Fight!
I'm not sure if its a good idea to keep Squirk relatively close to Roam though that's a bunch of evil cultists waiting to happen.
I think this might have a duplication.
Squirk or Corona will now do something clever that no one saw coming. That is my theory.
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Thank you, i'm so glad you enjoyed it!I'll be on the lookout for those problems you mentioned, thank you for telling me of them.
3588150
That's awesome, you win twenty internet points!
Oh and don't worry, Squirk's been resealed in the 'largely' uninhabited northern sea once again and almost no one knows who he is or even remembers he exists. heh, in hindsight, eating Krang probably wasn't his brightest idea.
I tried searching the document and I couldn't find a duplication, still i'll keep a lookout for it, thanks for the tip.
3588937
Thanks for the comment!
There's still the epilogue to come, and you are certainly right on the money with one of those theories.
3589099
The duplication is the section I highlighted 'Cadenza was met with pain, acidic blood coated her body as she dived' appears twice.
3589470
Ah found it, sorry, I assumed it was an exact copy, it seems a line from the first draft got replaced, but not removed. Thanks for the heads up, I cut it out.
Way to step up, magical girl Cadance.
3594678
Thanks for the comment! I never even realized it was pulling in that sort of vibe, though i'm quite pleased that it did.
Well, Cadance took a level in badass, that's for sure. One thing, though. *Punches Celestia with a tire iron* You do NOT stop distress calls with eldrich abominations rear their head and the citizenry's lives are at stake!
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I'm pretty sure Corona would just shrug of a tire iron, given her response to Squirk in chapter one. 
To be fair though, she did plan on stepping in to resolve the matter herself if Cadence couldn't handle it. Not that, that is a justification.
Glad you liked my take on Cadence.
Thanks for commenting!
Corona is a great ruler. She knows how to treat her subjects. All good rulers should release Eldridge-Horrors against their subjects.
delete
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Cap. (Name of room.)
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Cap (you cap'd it earlier in this chapter. And technically it could be considered a moniker.).
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I am
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