Fire and Brimstone, Book 2

by BluePhoenyx

Chapter 30 - Crimson and the Power of Six

The rain hit Twilight Sparkle's coat as she watched Crimson get knocked back, then sucked down a pit. She looked in horror as the mighty King used the Elements of Harmony's tainted magical powers to launch an arcing ray of dark magic to hit the hole that Crimson was stuck in. Everything happened so suddenly that no one had any time to react.

Applejack removed her hat from her head, and held it against her chest. "Holy hoof."

Rarity felt weak at the knees, seeing the killing blow go into the trap that the admirable and noble pony fell into. "Twilight..." Was all she could gasp.

Twilight just watched, trying the best she could to control her breathing. Fluttershy finally arrived, showing up from the outer perimeter to stay out of sight. "Fluttershy!" Twilight said as loudly as she dared. "Where have you been?"

The yellow pegasi stopped in front of Twilight. "I'm sorry, Twilight. I just had to get all the cute, helpless animals to safety. They were so scared."

Applejack looked at Fluttershy with no small amount of incredulity. "You did what now?"

Twilight shook her head, getting her frustrations out of her mind. "Nevermind that. Did you give the message to the princess?"

"Well, I didn't do it," Fluttershy answered. Twilight's eyes bulged in rage, which made Fluttershy quickly add, "I had a bird carry a message to the princess. She said that she got the message."

Twilight let out a sigh of frustration. "Look, we may have to try my plan without Crimson."

Fluttershy put her hoof in front of her mouth in shock. "Oh no," she gasped in a whisper.

"Demi is waiting for us. Get in your spot, and I will signal Rainbow Dash to come down from the rain clouds."

"We got the entire Canterlot army out here," Applejack commented. "Why not just charge him? He's just one pony."

Twilight was shaking her head before Applejack even finished. "He is far too powerful. Before the Elements of Harmony were in his full control, he overpowered Princess Luna. I think this plan is our best chance."

"What about the damaged part of the circle?" Rarity asked.

"I don't know what we can do," Twilight answered. "Let's just hope the magic transfers with that gap in the drawing."
With that, all the girls split up, going around the large circle while trying to stay out of sight.

* * *

The mighty King stood victorious against his diminutive aggressor. He grinned, then walked over to his tattered leather and fur cloak and telekinetically grabbed it from the mud. As he grabbed it, he noticed something odd on the ground. He lowered his head to closely inspect the strange phenomena. He then realized what it was - a magically hidden circle. His head recoiled in alert, then his eyes followed the circumference of the magical drawing. It was indeed large in size, and had a lot of intricate marks. He turned and looked at the hole in which Crimson was burned alive. "Clever." He turned and started to walk away, but paused when he saw a familiar looking pony run around the bottom of the hill. "What is this?" He stared and watched as she made her way around the outer perimeter. "Flee, mortal. And fear your doom."

"They are not your adversary," a voice said from behind.

Temethyst looked behind him and saw the unthinkable - Crimson climbing out of the void magic tomb. "You have a coward's luck." He turned around to face his foe once more. "Though I see you were not unscathed."

Crimson stood up straight with his front hoof bent as to not put any pressure on it. "I thought you would be able to summon more power with those stolen trinkets."

The mighty king started to walk toward the injured pony. "Do not think me a fool. I found your circle, and I know you can't possibly control it in your state."

Crimson started to limp toward his much larger adversary. "No, I can not." He looked around at the girls, who ran up to the edges of the circle. The rain quickly went from a downpour to hardly a sprinkle as, from above, a colorful arc blasted from the skies, crashed on the far edge of the circle, showing a blue pegasi with a rainbow colored tail and mane.

Temethyst looked around to look at the edges of the circle, and at the strange turn of events. "Do you think these six are enough to stop me?" He turned to look at Crimson. "This land's entire army has been crushed under my hoof." He looked surprised as he leaned in to get a closer look at Crimson's leg. "What magic is this?"

Crimson looked down at his crippling burn, and saw the muscles reforming over the seemingly repaired bone. He too looked astonished.

"No matter," the King said as his horns lit up. "I have a world to conquer."

Like a lake of water draining in a hole in the middle of the ground, ponies from all over ran to the outside of the circle, making sure not to enter its perimeter.

"Ready?" The purple coated allicorn shouted.

"It's about time!" The familiar voice of Demi replied.

Temethyst turned around to see the seer walk from a magical hiding spot to the edge of the circle. The two princesses, Celestia and Luna, flanked her, as if to protect her from harm. "Ah, Demina. You too have a coward's luck." He grinned wickedly. "Know that before this is over, you shall be mine once more."

Demi quivered at that thought, knowing the spiritual and soul violating acts the king would do.

"Let's get this party STARTED!" A sudden and loud popping sound made Temethyst lightly flinch as he turned his head to see a strange shower of lightly falling colors. He looked confused, then noticed a pink coated pony with a strange contraption in front of her.

"You're all fools," the mighty king said as his horns started to glow more intensely. The Elements of Harmony started to spin faster around the king, and the dark aura pulsed. Suddenly, the elements were engulfed in a blue glow. His horn's glow vanished as he felt his magical link blocked by the strange bloom of blue. Temethyst looked at the elements, then at the source of the glow. "Haven't you failed your people enough?" He asked Celestia and Luna, who had a combined beam of magic pointed toward him. "Prepare to fail them once more." The earth started to shake once more, and a crack started to form in the ground. "With your pathetic magic focused on me, the world you once knew will crumble and fall."

"Not quite," Crimson interjected. Crimson's horn glowed, then he stomped his now healed hoof on the ground. The bands around his hooves lit up, then he transferred empowered magic into the ground. He knew this would be an ultimate test, as Crimson's magic would be pitted up against the powerful king. The two wills battled for the control of the earth - one will to rip the ground apart, the second will to mend and bind the stone. Ultimately, the ground started to slowly split apart as Crimson's power faltered under the battle. Crimson gritted his teeth to try to at least match his brother's strength. A hill started to form in between the two, and a hole burst open. Thick red and orange liquid spit from the hole, spraying all over the area. Some ponies in the perimeter were hit by the liquid flames, and they fell to the ground in grave pain. Some melted before their friend's eyes as they tried to save them from their conflagrated doom.

"We have to go to the next step. Get ready, my ponies!" Celestia shouted. Everyone stood up straight, trying to ignore the damaging images beside them. "Now, my sister!" Every pony around the circle howled and bellowed in pain as the magical web once again engulfed them to split and separate the magic absorbed from the Elements of Harmony into the princesses. At that moment, Demi reared back, them slammed her hooves in the ground. The massive circle lit up, and an orb of light engulfed the six ponies, creating a hexagon.

Crimson glowed in a bright white, then he started to grow in size. His wings burst open, showing the large leather appendages that could extinguish small flames with a single flap. The armor grew with his increased size as he then stood eye to eye with his brother.

"So you have been appointed their champion," Temethyst said with an amused grin.

"Now, Demi!" Twilight shouted.

"Don't order me around, fool!" Demi shouted, then she ran from an outer circle into the crest of the drawing, where an intricate and elegant design was carved into the ground. She stood straight, took a deep breath, then activated her internal abilities. Her eyes turned white as she looked as if she was in a haze.

As soon as her eyes turned, Crimson's eyes lost their color, and his eyes went pale. His body relaxed, his neck going limp as if oblivious to his dangerous surroundings.

The mighty king paused to consider Crimson's posture, trying to gauge his increased power. His eyes looked around at the army of magically linked ponies that surrounded the circle, the magical beam that nullified the Element's of Harmony, and at the six who were some how bound to a magical circle. He looked at the young mare seer, who too stood in a circle with her eyes white and clouded. He looked up to notice the skies clearing. He grinned, then looked at the red coated pony. "Victory is mine."

Comments

[BluePhoenyx]

Author's Note: Chapter 30 - Crimson and the Power of Six
The girls think the void attack killed Crimson. We're not dumb. We know that's not true. But now, it's time to get the group together to take on the mighty king.

Thank you for reading. Feel free to let me know what you're thinking of these new chapters. Next chapter post is 11/1/2017. Enjoy!

[Starlight Nova]

8520866
Wouldn't it be easier to put the author's notes at the bottom of the chapter instead of in the comments?

[BluePhoenyx]

8520877
Yeah, but I started this snowball of unorthodox notes on book 1. At that time, I didn't even notice the Author's Note section. Then (excuse excuse excuse). Next thing I know, I'm putting it in the comments. But to answer your question, yes. Yes it would. I like to keep things consistent, so I'll deal with my lol-fail until the end.