Fire and Brimstone, Book 2

by BluePhoenyx

Chapter 23 - Crimson and the Clash of the Titans

Crimson arrived at the camp and noticed the girls were packed up and ready to go. Applejack trotted to Crimson’s side. “Here, hun. Let me help with that.” She took some of the water off of his back.

Twilight looked over the load. “Holy hoof, did you need to get that much?”

“Would it not be wiser to have more than we need than not enough?”

Twilight nodded. “You’re right.” The girls started to unload the water from his shoulders.

Crimson looked around. “Where is my sister?”

The girls blinked for a moment, then looked around too. “I don’t know.” Twilight answered. “Last I saw her, she was going to meet you.”

He turned his head back into the forest, dropped the remainder of the water, then ran back to where he last spoke to Demi. The girls looked at each other, then dropped their possessions and ran to follow Crimson.

* * *

The girls caught up to him after he stopped his run. They found him just staring at a specific spot in a tree. They went to see what he was staring at to see the cracked and broken bark, as well as some fresh fallen leaves around the trunk.

“My sister was here.” Crimson looked down at the tracks leading up to the tree, and paused as the tracks vanished, as if she never left the tree.

Twilight stared blankly at the broken bark. “Is she okay?”

“I do not know.”

Suddenly, the ground started to tremble again. Birds flew off of the trees and rocks from the mountain started to roll down the mountainside. Every pony that was on the ground was knocked off their hooves. In the distance, trees started to fall from their roots, weakening and breaking from the trembling earth. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie hovered over the ground, watching as the flightless ponies laid helpless on the shaking earth.

Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. “Come on, let’s help them off the ground.” They moved closer to the earth and picked up their helpless friends. The girls started to look worried at one another as more and more healthy trees weakened at the roots, and fell in the forest. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the ground slowly came to a rest.

The girls returned to the ground took a breather. Rainbow Dash looked at the ground. “Holy hoof, what was that?”

“My brother.” Crimson looked over toward where he believed the cave is. “We have to hurry.”

Rainbow Dash hovered in front of Crimson. “Wait, shouldn’t we find your sister?”

“I am afraid we do not have the time to search for her.”

Twilight protested Crimson’s decision. “We have to. She’s your sister. You can’t just abandon her like that.”

“Yeah.” Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves.

Crimson looked around the girls who all seemed to agree with Twilight’s decision. “Very well, Princess. However, the only pony who would pose any threat would be my brother. If she is in danger, she will be where we are heading.”

After a brief moment to think about that remark, Twilight nodded. “Okay, then let’s get things ready.”

Applejack turned and looked at Twilight. “Will our plan work without Demi?”

Twilight started to shake her head. “I don’t think so.”

“I shall do her job. Princess, you will have to do mine.” Crimson said.

Twilight thought to herself, mentally going through the library of spells she knew in her head. “Actually, I think I have a better idea…” The group huddled together as Twilight explained her revised plan.

“I gatta hand it to ya, that does sound like a good plan.” Applejack commented.

Pinke Pie smiled. “Yeah, and that can be used at the Saved Equestria party!”

Crimson agreed with Applejack. “Your plan seems sound.”

“Great, then let’s get going.” The huddle broke and they headed toward the campsite. Rainbow Dash shot into the air, up the mountain and started to gather clouds for the revised plan.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Crimson walked in front of the cave which his brother resided. To his surprise, he saw his sister sitting on a rock outside the cave.

“My sister, you are safe.”

Demi stood up and turned to Crimson. “Yes, yes. And you’d better be grateful that I’m here.”

“Of which I am.”

Demi walked up to Crimson. “I could have left you and your weakling friends to perish on your fool’s errand.”

“Fear not, my sister. Princess Twilight has revised the plan so-”

“And you think I care?” Demi turned away from Crimson. “You’re an ignorant, worthless pony. You should have come up with these ridiculous ideas instead of that bitch.” Crimson stood speechless before his sister. “Come, whelp. Let’s get this over with.” She turned to the cave and walked inside. After a brief pause, Crimson followed behind her.

The two walked into the dark cave. They stopped and let their eyes adjust to the darkness. Demi turned to Crimson. “You know he knows we’re here, right?”

Crimson nodded. “I am sure the filly is now a tool under my brother’s hoof.”

“So what of this ridiculous plan your idiot princess has devised?”

“Your task is to use your superior experience against the inexperienced seer. Hunker down and set up a defensive position.”

“And leave you to fend for yourself?”

Crimson nodded.

“Such a stupid plan.” The two started to slowly continue as the walls turned a blue hue from the temperature difference. Their eyes finally tuned into the darkness gave them visibility far beyond any pony’s normal sight in the darkness. What were once vague shapes were now detailed textures from blue to red, depending on the temperature. Finally, Demi lifted her hoof and the two went low to the ground. She leaned over close to Crimson to whisper to him. “Ahead is the main passage.”

The two stayed crouching low to the ground near the entrance of the main passage and started to draw a circle into ground.

“I am glad you are here. I was not sure I would have survived this encounter until I saw you at the entrance.”

“You and your friends are fools.” Demi noticed Crimson was adding to his circle design and drawing a second circle. “What is this?”

“For the girls.” Then, with a hint of magic, the circles were burned into the ground. “My sister, are you ready?”

“Have I told you this is a foolish plan?”

“Yet you still follow me.”

“Oh, shut up.” Demi’s eyes clouded up. Patiently, Crimson took a readying pose, waiting for the word. Finally, in a dazed trance, Demi quietly whispered a single word. “Gooo…”

Crimson activated the second circle and shook his head. Dust started to fall from the ceiling as the ward burned and turned useless. Then, he started to sneak his way into the room.

He looked upon a large circular dome chamber. The middle of the chamber held a single step to a second tier. He saw a table on the far end of the upper tier with six pieces of jewelry. In the middle, he looked upon the large and powerful pony - King Temethyst. The halls echoed with the groan of his voice. “Stand, Ebon Commander.” He said in a deep, slow voice. “Face me as an honorable warrior would.” After a moment, Crimson stood. “Approach.” With caution, Crimson started to slowly walk into the room. He stepped on the upper tier and looked at his brother. The King lightly shifted his weight. The chains attached to his armor clanked together and chimed in the darkness. “You are foolish to come.”

“I have come for the young one and the relics of this world.”

“Those relics, as well as the seer, are mine.”

“Why do you want them? You have everything any pony would want at home.”

“I have seen the end of our kind. It comes soon unless I conqueror this world.”

Crimson quickly swept the air with his hoof. “You have seen nothing! You are no seer. You have no sight!”

“Ah, Ebon Commander. But I do have sight.” The hood of the King shifted as he looked up to the ceiling. There, Crimson saw the young filly bound by stone in the middle of a large circle. She laid seemingly lifeless in a permanent daze. “I see through her.”

“Is this what you did to my sister?”

“Demina is a coward, much like you are.”

“And yet here I stand.”

“True.” The King stared at Crimson in silence.

“Brother, I demand you relinquish the seer and the relics!”

The King groaned. His voice boomed and echoed deep into the cavern. “You DEMAND!?” The ground started to shake. “You are in no position to demand anything, boy!”

“Then you leave me no choice.”

A deep, slow laugh emanated from the large cloaked pony. The King took a few steps forward to put the seer behind him. “Your ignorance humors me. Come, Ebon Commander. Face me and look into the eyes of oblivion.”

Crimson’s horn glowed as he started to build up magical energy. The King stood still awaiting Crimson’s attack. “You brought this upon yourself!” Magic burst from Crimson as the lower tier burst into flames suddenly illuminating the entire room. The flames spiraled around Crimson. Still, the King stood without movement, watching. The spiraling fire then raced at the King as he stood his ground. As the flames rushed at their mark, the ground cracked from under him and more fire shot from the ground, causing a wall of flames to burst toward Temethyst. The flames got close enough to illuminate under the King’s long hood and enveloped the robed pony. The flames focused on Temethyst for a moment, before a blue nova erupted from the King’s position, dispersing the flames. The light dimmed and started to burn itself out as Temethyst stood unscathed.

Crimson prepared for a counterattack only for the King to stand his ground. After a moment, Crimson’s eyes and horn glowed as he started to channel his energy into the earth. The ground below Temethyst warped and gripped his hooves, ensnaring him as the walls start to move toward the King. Spikes extruded from the walls looking to pierce the flesh of the large pony. Without even a struggle, the King was smashed by the spiked walls. Another blue nova burst from the middle, destroying the walls and turning them to dust. Crimson lifted his hoof, protecting his eyes from the dust and debris, then lowered his hoof back to the ground as the dust settled.

“Is that all?” The King taunted.

Angered, he once again poured his energy into the earth. A large spike pierced the stone above the King and rushed forward. Crimson yelled as he poured as much strength into the attack as he could. Flames burst from the spike and lashed out at the King. The explosion caused Crimson to lift his hoof and slightly looked away, trying to shield his eyes from the blinding flash. After the dust died down, King Temethyst was seen still standing where he once was without a spec of dirt on him.

Temethyst started to slowly walk toward Crimson. “I am disappointed in you.” Then, Crimson was lifted off of the ground. “You are a disgrace of our bloodline! You are weak.” Crimson choked and gasped as Temethyst leaned in to look into his eyes. “Open your eyes, brother. See the vision I was bestowed to me by my precious filly.” Crimson struggled to open his eyes as his breath started to grow short. “Gaze upon your death.” Crimson and Temethyst’s eyes locked and a magic force locked their souls together. Crimson started to shake in convulsions as he felt his inner strength being ripped apart. Then, silence and darkness.

Crimson looked upon the room in a view he had not seen before - a view from above. He looked down at the circle that Temethyst drew that he has foolishly stepped into. He looked at the King as he dropped his own body lifeless before him. Then, the King stomped on the corpse, permanently ending his life. With the stomp, the ground opened up and swallowed his body whole, then closed, crushing his body, never to be seen again. Then, the Elements of Harmony started to float and circle the King as he started to laugh maniacally.

With a weak blink of an eye, the visions ended. Then, white mist started to fill the room. Temethyst looked down at the mist as the fire Crimson made suddenly went out. Again, the room went pitch black.

With his attention diverted, the grasp on Crimson’s throat weakened. Crimson looked up at the ceiling to see the hole where the girls made. With a faint smile, he started to choke a single word. “Now!”

The King was hit from below with a spike of stone tossing him to the other side of the room. He hit the table, causing the Elements of Harmony to be thrown into the air and all around the room. Crimson fell to the ground choking and Demi came from the entryway.

“Come, my brother. We must leave.” She leaned over and helped Crimson to his hooves as the white mist suddenly turned into a deep chill.

“Can you see?”

“Barely. Now move it, weakling!” Demi pushed Crimson toward the entryway and the two started to make their way out of the cave. “Did it work?”

Crimson coughed trying to keep moving. “I believe so.”

They turned a corner and made their way out of the cave. Crimson collapsed from the exhaustion he sustained from the fight. “Did your foolish friends do their job?”

Crimson nodded. “With the mist, they were able to hinder our vision. That gave them the opportunity to grab the filly from above.” He coughed then continued. “Temethyst made it easy for them being that he bound her to the ceiling.”

“Hah, your brother is such a fool.”

“I do not think they were able to grab the relics.”

Suddenly, the entrance to the cave exploded, throwing Demi and Crimson into the forest. Enormous boulders hurled themselves into the woods, destroying anything and everything in their path.

After a few moments, Demi finally opened her eyes to see what had happened. She looked up to see Crimson laying unconscious next to her, heavily bleeding from a large puncture wound sustained from the blast. Fires raged on around her as she laid in a daze. She staggered to her hooves then tried to make her way toward her brother. She felt some of her brittle bones give under the weight and she collapsed just a step away. Suddenly, she got wrapped in stone. She looked down, then toward where the cave was to see the mighty king walking toward her. She tried to focus her eyes to see clearly only to be drug into the earth by her stone shackles. Gasping for breath, she looked at Crimson, who laid critically injured as his blood stained the dirt under him. “C… -rimson..?” Again, she started to feel her eyes water. She turned her head to look up at the towering pony, who now stood before her.

“Demina, I should have known.” The ground started to lift causing her stone prison to rise from the ground until Demi was at eye level with the tall and imposing Temethyst. “It would seem that your services will be required once more.” His eyes lit up from under his dark hood and he started to magically rip into her soul. As she started to feel the urge to give into the unwavering and overbearing power, she heard voices in the distance.

“Get away from her!” Twilight and Rainbow Dash landed behind Temethyst to confront him.

Temethyst broke his bond with Demi as his eyes returned to normal. He turned around and glared deep into the two’s eyes. “You are all fools; fools to be crushed by my hoof.”

“Leave our friends alone!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“And give us the Elements of Harmony back!” Twilight added.

“The Elements? You mean these?” From under his cloak, the elements, broken from their bonds of the jewelry they were bound to, lifted into the air and start to circle the mighty king.

“The elements!” They looked upon the dark haze surrounding each mystical stone.

“Your weapons belong to me, peasants.” Rainbow Dash suddenly was launched into the air, then Twilight was hit from the side from a flying stone from the mountain. Rainbow Dash recovered in the air, then fearlessly charged at the King. Twilight, feeling the pain from the hit, got to her hooves. Rainbow dove at the King, trying to grab one of the elements from their orbit. She was met by a below by an earthly column and she slammed into the ground.

Twilight watched as Rainbow Dash slid between Demi and Crimson. “Rainbow!” Twilight’s horn lit up and she fired a beam of magic toward the beastly king. The magic dissipated at an effortlessly erected barrier by the King as he drew his attention toward the princess.

“Your magic is pathetic.” The beam exploded, and a counter-spell was launched back at Twilight. She looked at the column of blue flames fly toward her and she leaned into a magic shield causing the flames to blast around her.

“I’m com’n, Twilight!” Applejack yelled as she charged from the side as fast as she could, hoping to get close enough so he wouldn’t be able to use magic. The mighty king stomped on the ground, causing Applejack to fall into a pit, then she was launched into the air as the King lifted his hoof.

With the opening, Twilight attacked again, this time hitting the King from his flank. The mighty blast ripped off the leather and fur cloak revealing the armor clad double horned pony before them. Twilight looks at him in fear as his horns erect from his head curving backward over his crown. The King, only taking a step to recover from Twilight’s hit, looked at the startled princess, then exhaled a breath of mystical blue flames. Knowing her magic wouldn’t be enough this time, she jumped and started to gain altitude to dodge the attack.

Fluttershy snuck in from the rear of the fight and shook Rainbow Dash awake. “Rainbow Dash, are you okay?”

Dazed, Rainbow opened her eyes and looked up at Fluttershy. “Yeah. I’ve had worse.”

“Come on. We have to get these two out of here.”

Rainbow Dash slowly stood up and went to Demi. “Fluttershy, can you get Crimson? I’ll get Demi.”

“Okay.” Fluttershy gently grabbed Crimson and started to move him away from the fight as Rainbow Dash looked at the stone prison.

Applejack limped toward Rainbow Dash. “I got this, hun.” She turned and bucked the stone prison, causing it to crash from the might of Applejack’s strength.

“Awesome. I got this now. Get out of here Applejack.”

“You be careful, hun.”

“You too.” Rainbow Dash started to pull away the stone as Applejack made her way back to Ponyville.

Twilight sent a blast toward Temethyst to keep his attention only to be swatted aside by the magic defenses the King placed around himself. “You are a coward.” Temethyst opened his enormous leathery wings and shot into the air.

Twilight’s eyes popped in surprise. “You can fly?”

In the air, Temethyst spread his wings, then focused his energy and launched a tendril of fire toward the flying princess. Thinking she could easily dodge the flames, she shifted her position to the side. To her surprise, the blue flames formed the shape of a dragon as it started to seek the flying princess out. “Oh hoof.” Twilight turned and started to flee from the blue dragon flame. Temethyst free fell to the ground. With a loud slam he landed on his hooves; the earth buckling at his very presence, cracking and bending on his landing.

Then, the voice of a divine presence filled the air. “ENOUGH OF THIS!” A black whirlwind formed in the sky destroying the flame dragon and landed in front of the mighty king. The whirlwind vanished and the cloaked sage stood before Temethyst. Her cloak flowed in the wind as she looked upon the mighty king. Twilight returned to the scene and hovered at a safe distance.

The King looked at the sage. “You… You do exist.”

The sage steped forward. “I command you - Return the Elements of Harmony at once and you shall be spared.”

Temethyst stared at the cloaked sage. “You shall pay for your abandonment, coward!” The ground violently shook and ripped apart, creating a deep void in the earth. Blue flames suddenly shoot from the ground into the sky. Then the flames wrapped itself around the sage and tried to drag her into the ground. A dark glow emanated from under the sage’s hood.

“You are beyond saving.” She leapt into the air spreading her black wings and fired a dark beam toward the grounded king. Temethyst’s horns lit up as he puts up a powerful barrier to block the attack. The force of the attack pushed the King against the sand, but he strongly held his ground.

“I hold the power of my people.” The skies suddenly turned dark. “You are nothing but a failed goddess.” A blue glow emanated from the ground as the earth tore itself further apart. “With your demise, we shall survive.” Liquid flames shot from the deep cavity high into the air, splitting the clouds on impact. “And I shall be ruler of both worlds!” A maw of blue flames unleashed itself from the depths of the earth and lashed itself at the flying sage.

The sage summoned a massive tornado around her, sucking the flames from the maw into the whirlwind, dissipating the magical attack. She looked at the huge fissure from Temethyst’s magic, and at a distant red glow far below. Then, she turned and flew to Twilight. “Return to Canterlot. I shall meet you there.”

“What?”

“Go, Princess. I’ll hold him off.”

Seeing the awesome display of magic and power, the two titans clashed again in a glorious and devistating display of black and blue magic, leaving Twilight unthreatened by the mighty king. Heeding to the sage’s request, she turned and started to fly toward Canterlot, leaving the devastation behind.

Author's Note:

Edit: 10/18/2017, quick reread and tense corrections

Comments

[BluePhoenyx]

Author's Note - Chapter 23: Crimson and the Clash of the Titans
In this chapter, the group battles the mighty king to reclaim the elements of harmony and the young filly.

I gatta say, I thought this was kind of an intense chapter. I just hope I write the power of the magic well enough for you all to grasp the magnitude of each spell.

Thanks for reading. Only a few chapters left. Next chapter will be posted Friday, May 2nd (or so)