Ghosts from the Future

by Pix

Chapter 18 - What Breaks a Shard?

Chapter 18 – What Breaks a Shard?

“Hey idiot, does that look like Rainbow Dash to you?”

“Where?”

“Flying away from that mountain down there. It looks like there’s another big cloud of that mist behind her; that stuff’s all over the place now. Maybe she’s fleeing from it?”

“Oh yeah, I sees her.”

“Where in Equestria is she going? The fight’s back this way. Do you think she’s abandoning the battle?”

“I’m thinking Rainbow Dash is no coward.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t seem like her. Something fishy is going on.”

“Not this again…”

“There’s no pegasus Shards up here at the moment and I’m getting bored. Can you blame me for speculating? Look, back there by the mist, is that the prissy white one?”

“Rarity?”

“Yeah, I think it’s her. Is she… uh… ah. Damn.”

“What is it?”

“Never mind, don’t look. You always liked Rarity, right?”

“Yeah I… um, I mean, yes but I likes you more.”

“Ha, I’m not jealous you big dummy. Just… Let’s go somewhere else, where there isn’t- What in Tartarus!? Are there fillies down there?”

“What, where?”

“Okay, change of plan. You’re good with children Chill. I’ve no idea why there are fillies here of all places, but get down there and make sure they’re okay.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“I’ll chase down Rainbow Dash. Her fleeing the scene is beginning to look very suspicious…”

“What? No, Fleets, she wouldn’t do nothing bad.”

“That remains to be seen.”

“I’m really thinking that you needs to-”

The conversation between the two pegasi was cut off by the sound of an agonized wail coming from below. They both looked down in horror, and Fleetfoot nudged Wave Chill sharply.

“Get down there. Now!”

“On it.”

As the blue stallion zipped down towards the mountaintop, Fleetfoot combed the horizon. There was no rainbow trail, which would have been the most obvious indicator of where Rainbow Dash could have gone, but after a few seconds she spotted a small blue dot a good distance away to the south.

Fleetfoot was just beginning her pursuit when a couple of pegasus Shards appeared out of nowhere in front of her. Changing her course, she was just about to rocket towards them when a resounding bang echoed out from the ground below and she stopped in shock. A second later the two Shards were both speared by projectiles, piercing through their stomachs and erupting out their backs, breaking them into pieces instantly.

“What is going on?” Fleetfoot muttered to herself, returning to her pursuit of the fleeing pegasus.

After a few seconds of flight Fleetfoot had started gaining ground on her target, and she could identify that it was indeed Rainbow Dash. She was heading past the Crystal Empire and even further south, possibly towards the distant peak of Canterlot. Fleetfoot attempted to speed up; she didn’t really want to abandon the battle for long.

As she continued to rapidly make up ground on Rainbow Dash she started to question how that was possible. She’d like to think that no matter the stories about the young pegasus, she could still outfly Rainbow when she was at her best. At the moment however, Fleetfoot was definitely not at her best, it being the middle of the night after a strenuous day. Fleetfoot felt as though she was moving at nowhere near her own top speed, and yet she was gaining on Rainbow Dash easily. Was the mare not even trying to escape?

They were now flying over the hills to the south of the Crystal Empire, and very soon they reached a thick forest. Rainbow Dash was very close now, close enough that she would potentially be able to hear if Fleetfoot yelled out. Fleetfoot didn’t want to slow down however, in case Rainbow made a sudden burst for it upon hearing her voice.

“Rainbow Dash!” she shouted. “Wait up!”

To Fleetfoot’s surprise Rainbow immediately stopped in the air and spun around to face her. Perhaps her suspicions had been for nothing, was Rainbow merely flying on some other errand? Fleetfoot slowed to a halt a few feet away.

“What is it?” Rainbow asked, sounding a little impatient.

“Haven’t seen you in a while…” Fleetfoot commented absently, in what was surely a transparent attempt to stall as she tried to think of what best to say. “Where are you going? I just saw you talking to Rarity, did she send you off somewhere?” That probably wasn’t the best approach Fleetfoot could have taken, but it ought to be enough. She studied Rainbow Dash’s expression carefully as she waited for a response.

Rainbow just looked blankly back however. “Wha? I can’t hear you.”

Fleetfoot frowned and flapped a little closer. “I said that I was just-”

She paused as her brain finally caught up to her actions and then immediately launched herself to the side, just as a loud crackling sound and blazing green flame erupted through the air where she had just been. Fortunately Fleetfoot had very good reactions, because she was then forced to swoop into a dive to avoid a further blast of magic and whipped some wind upwards in retaliation, knocking her foe off balance and giving herself time to identify her new target.

“You!” she exclaimed, as she took in the black gangly creature in front of her. “We searched for you for weeks after you got ejected from Canterlot. I hoped you’d found a hole to die in.”

Chrysalis grinned horribly. “Sorry to disappoint.”

Without warning the changeling queen then launched herself towards Fleetfoot, who dived out of the way once more, only this time Fleetfoot failed to dodge the follow-up spell and shrieked in pain as some of the feathers on her left wing burnt away.

“You’ll pay for that!” she spat, rocketing towards Chrysalis before she would have time to ready another spell. Chrysalis somehow flitted out of the way however, and before she could avoid it Fleetfoot felt a cold leg around her neck.

“It’s a shame you didn’t find me back then,” Chrysalis hissed into Fleetfoot’s ear as she struggled in the changeling’s grip, still hovering far above the distant forest below. “Back then I was weak. But I have been feeding well these past days. No pony could stand up to me now.” She tightened her grip around Fleetfoot’s neck. “None of you have a hope.”

As Fleetfoot felt Chrysalis’ sharp skin cut into her neck and the blood start to flow, she twisted her head wildly and bit angrily down on part of her opponent’s leg. She barely dug into the thick carapace, but it did at least shock Chrysalis enough into letting her go. In the ensuing tangle however, Chrysalis summoned another blast of green fire which enveloped Fleetfoot’s left wing once more, and she yelled out in pain uncontrollably as she tried to free herself.

Finally escaping from Chrysalis, Fleetfoot swung her wing wildly in an attempt to extinguish the flames, but the searing pain as she did so, combined with the fact that she was unable to keep any sort of balance in the air, told her that her left wing was too far gone to be any use now. She turned her head back towards Chrysalis only to see her spit something towards her face and suddenly Fleetfoot was blind.

“Don’t resist. It will be easier this way.”

Fleetfoot gave one last attempt to regain balance, but even without her sight it was clear that she was losing altitude. She flung her hooves around wildly in the hope that she might connect with Chrysalis, but very soon she felt a crack across her face and she was tumbling towards the earth.

As the rushing air whistled in her ears, with her wing dangling limply beside her, Fleetfoot counted the time until the inevitable collision. She had been up near the clouds, so she calculated it would be a few seconds still. Three… Two… One…

Even with the gunk in her face that was cutting off her vision, Fleetfoot rammed her eyes shut.

Zero.

---

Cadance smacked against the ground with a thud. It took a good few seconds for the stars in her eyes to clear, and when they did her heart sunk as she realised that she had landed on a paved surface, rather than grass or snow. That could only mean one thing: Black Fractal had forced Cadance back towards her empire.

She kicked into the air rapidly, launching a few spells haphazardly upward with the aim of holding Black Fractal’s attention. With the ponies of the Crystal Empire so close, there was no way Cadance could let the alicorn Shard get away from her. The result would be unthinkable.

As Cadance ascended she heard shouts and gasps from nearby. She winced as she realised that there were crystal ponies in the streets. Of course they would be scared and would want to know what was happening, but they would only be making themselves more tempting targets. She briefly considered trying to cast a shield spell over them, but decided she was too exhausted to risk it. Without Twilight to help her, it was taking everything she had to keep Black Fractal at bay, and even then she wasn’t sure how much longer she would last.

Her biggest mistake had probably been trying to create illusory copies of herself to keep Black Fractal distracted. Cadance had been pleased with her usage of illusions during her friendly duel against Twilight, but for whatever reason Black Fractal had immediately seen through them, and thus the significant magic required to create the illusions had been expended for nothing.

Casting a barrier around herself once more, Cadance intersected the alicorn Shard as she was attempting to fly down to the city below. Now is when she really missed Twilight’s presence, as each of her magical shields was only able to withstand one or two of the powerful Shard’s strikes. What was holding Twilight up anyway? Had she inadvertently got caught up in something else? Cadance needed her. The Crystal Empire needed her.

Not even attempting to dodge any attack from Black Fractal, Cadance put as much force into her barrier as she could and rammed her opponent. The main thing keeping Cadance going at this point was the obvious damage the Shard had taken. One entire foreleg was missing, and the shadowy crystalline material that made up her body had cracks almost everywhere. Cadance knew she must look similarly beaten herself; she could feel gashes and blood all over her skin; but she was resolutely ignoring any of the pain. As a princess whose empire was threatened, Cadance had to be tough. And alicorns could be tough.

A lunge from Black Fractal caught her off guard, and she spun away erratically to avoid any significant damage. As an alicorn Shard, Black Fractal was equally tough, if not more so. The only positive was that she was still not using magic.

Cadance charged up a spell, but in her state of exhaustion she was not even sure what it was. Perhaps Twilight would have been able to have better focus, but Cadance was not made for long periods of magic expenditure. It didn’t matter anyway. Before she could even release the spell, Black Fractal had zipped towards her and smacked her in the chest.

For the second time in quick succession, Cadance found herself tumbling towards the ground. She could hear screams from some of the crystal ponies below, and wanted to yell out to tell them to get away from here, to somewhere safe. Unfortunately even that seemed beyond her at the moment, and before she knew it she had connected hard with a surface she quickly realised was the roof of small building. Cracks spread through the stone and Cadance heard shouts of horror from inside as some of the roof started to cave in. Not wanting to get caught in the rubble, Cadance attempted to launch herself into the air once more, but after a weak flap of her wings she succeeded only in jumping across to an adjacent building and landing sprawled on another roof. Flight seemed unachievable right now.

Identifying that Black Fractal was descending rapidly towards her, Cadance attempted to fire a few spells to hopefully slow her down or divert her, but those fizzled out. She couldn’t even get to her hooves, and the pain she had been ignoring for the last hour took advantage of her lack of resistance to strike all at once. Only the knowledge that her subjects would be able to hear her stopped her from yelling out in agony.

Framed by the moon as she dropped towards Cadance, Black Fractal let out a horrific wail. Cadance scowled at the sight of the moonlight reflecting off the features that reminded her so much of Luna. She was not going to give up. She braced herself for impact and continued trying to get a shield spell, or any spell, active, but her horn was only screaming at her. Meanwhile Black Fractal plummeted closer and closer.

And then the sun rose.

This was no ordinary dawn, not least because it was four in the morning. The light from the sudden sunrise was blinding, and Cadance immediately shielded her eyes with a wing, but even then the rays seemed to be searing her flesh. Black Fractal recoiled backwards in the air, as if the sunlight had impacted her like a cannon, and under the greater illumination it was visible that the shadowy mist roiling inside her body was seeping out of the cracks in her crystalline skin, as if it were trying to escape from the intense light.

“How dare you take her form?” bellowed a deep voice, resounding throughout the entire Crystal Empire. “You are nothing beside her. NOTHING.”

Cadance looked up into a blazing ball of light that was now hanging in the air. She had known Celestia for a long time, and perhaps knew her better than anypony other than Luna had. She had seen her with more emotion than she would have ever expected, from anger to horror and even gut-wrenching distress the previous day. And despite how cool and collected Celestia usually was, Cadance had always known the sun princess could be intimidating.

Now she knew that Celestia could be downright terrifying.

There was very little of the graceful alicorn that Equestria was so familiar with. Instead Celestia’s white coat looked so radiant as to be blinding, with her mane flaring like an inferno, and her eyes… Looking into them was like looking directly into the sun itself.

Silence suddenly resonated around the city, as if the noise had all been sucked out, and then the sky exploded above Black Fractal, pelting the Shard with searing fireballs. Cadance thought she could feel the heat even from a few buildings away. Black Fractal was forced against the roof of a house nearby, and immediately Celestia screamed down towards the prone Shard like a comet.

The house was completely obliterated, flinging burning wreckage into the crowds nearby. That acted as a wakeup call not just for the many crystal ponies in the street, but also for Cadance. Within seconds the roads were full of screaming voices as ponies tried to find their loved ones and flee the city, and Cadance finally got herself to her hooves and jumped down to the street below. Her mind had gone numb, and the only thoughts running through her head were of the family that might have been sleeping in that house. If it wasn’t for the fact that the streets were full, suggesting the house had probably been deserted, Cadance might have lost her nerve.

The love princess took one glance at Celestia, who was now blasting up into the air in pursuit of Black Fractal, the Shard having somehow survived the impact, and immediately Cadance knew she did not have the courage to get near Celestia right now. Every passing moment put her ponies in more danger though. With frightening ease Black Fractal dodged a few more fireballs that fell out of an almost molten cloud above her, and they therefore rained down upon the streets. Cadance’s prior hope that the city itself would avoid any danger seemed like a distant dream.

“Your majesty!”

Cadance turned to spot a scarlet crystal mare running towards her. She eyed the mare’s lustrous golden mane and cutie mark of two interlocking horseshoes and sighed in relief. This was somepony who could help.

“Captain Softhoof.”

Jade Softhoof stopped a few feet from Cadance and bowed.

“I have a report from Prince Armor.”

“No time for that,” Cadance interrupted quickly, starting to walk towards a nearby square where many ponies were still gathered, watching the dramatic duel above in mixed awe and horror. “I need you to help evacuate the city until the battle is over. I can no longer guarantee ponies will be safe here.”

“With respect, your highness, I have a different suggestion.”

Cadance was so surprised at Jade’s audacity that she stopped still.

“Sorry, your highness,” Jade continued, stepping up to Cadance’s side, “but it’s just that the battle is pretty much over.”

Cadance looked down at the crystal mare in shock. “What do you mean by ‘over’?”

“Well… Lieutenant Sentry reports that the main fighting in the eastern front is finished, with only a few Shards to wipe up. I just departed the central front, where your husband is leading the lines to clear up the few remaining Shards there. And a short while ago every single Shard near the western front was destroyed simultaneously. The point is, it won’t be long until that alicorn Shard up there is the only one left.”

Hearing those words seemed to free Cadance from a lot of the exhaustion she had been feeling.

“That’s great news, but while Black Fractal lives I still say we should evacuate.” Cadance glanced up in time to see Black Fractal plummeting to the earth towards a plaza close to the centre of the city, followed by the screaming fireball that was Celestia. As a shockwave resounded from the spot of their impact, setting nearby buildings ablaze, Black Fractal zipped back up into the air, still undefeated.

“I’ve sent some guardsponies to rouse the fire patrol,” Jade said, as if reading Cadance’s mind. “They’ll do their best to combat the flames. Others are going to gather all the civilians in the radial streets. From there they could easily be directed out of the city, but I think we should bring them inwards to the palace.”

“Why?” Cadance queried, in total confusion. “It’ll be safer outside the city, and as you said, we’ve won the battle…” She stopped as she spotted the grimace on Jade’s face. “What is it?”

“Uhm… Well, I wouldn’t say we’ve won quite yet. The more Shards we destroyed, the more left behind an ugly black fog when they died. There’s so much of it around now, the field looks almost like the sky during a thunderstorm, except the clouds are on ground level. At first we were worried they’d keep spawning more Shards, but actually it’s far worse.

“See, the fog won’t budge, no matter what we do. We’ve had pegasi and unicorns try to move it, but to no avail. And we know that it will infect anypony who touches it. But the crux is that for some reason, whether due to the wind or some black magic, the shadowy clouds are all slowly drifting towards the empire. If we don’t do anything, they’ll be here within an hour. And like I said, we have no way of clearing them.”

“…And so you’re suggesting we use the power of the crystal heart?” Cadance concluded, catching on.

“Exactly. I don’t really know how it works, but it might even deal with Black Fractal at the same time, couldn’t it?” Jade looked upwards and bit her lip. “Uh, if the princess hasn’t dealt with her first, of course.”

Cadance nodded blankly as she considered this option. If the Infection was indeed going to spread to the empire, it was even riskier to keep the ponies here, but with the crystal heart they could potentially eliminate their threat in one swoop…

“Okay. Good plan. But I’m not sure my little ponies are in the best frame of mind right now. Do you know where the element bearers are? I think Pinkie Pie would be particularly helpful.” As she spoke she started walking towards the Crystal Palace, refraining from flying partly for Jade’s benefit, and partly because she was not sure she had the energy yet.

Jade bit her lip nervously as she trotted along at Cadance’s side.

“Uhm… I believe the Element of Laughter is on her way back to the palace right now, but she may not be in the mood for cheering everypony up.”

Dread started to rise in Cadance’s stomach as they continued to hurry towards the palace. Almost a minute passed before she felt able to ask: “And why is that?”

“Well, uhm… Apparently the Element of Generosity was slain in the battle, your majesty.”

Cadance screwed her eyes shut as her stomach seemed to disappear entirely. They proceeded in silence for a few moments, with the sounds of a dramatic battle still echoing far above them.

“She has a name, Captain,” Cadance eventually said, through gritted teeth.

“Oh yes, uhm… sorry, your highness.”

No more words were spoken until the palace came into view a few minutes later. Under the archway of the central tower, the aqua-coloured heart spun merrily in the light, as if unaware of the carnage surrounding it.

“Is it good there?” Jade asked anxiously.

Cadance examined the crystal heart apprehensively. When they had expelled Sombra’s magic from the empire everything had been so clear to her. She had readied the heart and instructed her ponies and everything had made so much sense. It had been as though it was what she was born to do. Now though, the crystal heart looked alien to her.

“Your majesty?”

“Oh, yes, that should be-”

“Your majesty! Watch out!”

Cadance was pushed aside as a blazing ball of fire crashed to the ground between the two mares, melting the stone as it did so. It was immediately followed by a crunch as Black Fractal herself landed sprawled on the now molten surface. Jade gasped in horror at the sight of the alicorn Shard. What had once clearly been a crystalline image of Luna was now little more than a mass of dark fragments held together by a churning black mist. Two legs were missing, one wing was in pieces, and yet even as they watched the Shard stood up as though unhindered by its mutilations.

Cadance quickly created a shield around Jade and was therefore unable to defend herself when Black Fractal zipped over and crashed directly into her. Fortunately the weakened structure of the Shard’s body made the impact less painful, but Cadance was nevertheless thrown to the ground, the impact causing her to drop the barrier she had erected. Black Fractal neatly ducked under a quick buck from Jade and then cannoned into the scarlet mare, similarly knocking her to the ground.

To Cadance’s surprise, Black Fractal did not attack either of them further, instead raising her head to look past them. And then, to Cadance’s horror, the Shard grinned.

It took only an instant for Cadance to realise Black Fractal’s intention, and she scrambled urgently to her hooves as the shadowy Shard zipped over towards the crystal heart. A whistling sound started growing louder in her ears as Cadance put all of her energy into constructing a barrier around the heart. She knew that it was an immensely powerful artefact, and thus there was likely nothing Black Fractal could do to it. Sombra had been forced to conceal it rather than contaminate or destroy it after all, so even an alicorn Shard would surely be no threat.

But it wasn’t Black Fractal that Cadance was worried about.

The whistling sound grew to screaming in Cadance’s ears and as the area grew brighter and brighter it was all she could do not to screw her eyes shut. The heat was growing intense, as though she was standing beside a furnace, and she felt her hold on her barrier fading. The light was now so bright that even with her eyes open she could barely see.

With an almighty blast, the meteor landed. Cadance was immediately thrown several feet away from the tower, feeling as though her horn had split in two, and she landed next to a dazed Jade Softhoof. A loud gasp compelled her to look at the crystal mare and witness Jade clutching at her chest as a network of red lines spread throughout her body. Within seconds the mare’s faceted scarlet coat had turned a flat maroon, and her golden mane was equally affected, losing its lustre and fading to a dull brown. Jade’s eyes and mouth were wide throughout the entire transition, but when it had finished she raised a hoof and glanced at it with an eerie blank acceptance.

Cadance’s attention was then grabbed by a loud creaking sound, and she looked up in despair to see the entire central tower of the palace trembling as cracks started to run up its sides. She did not have anywhere near the energy to hold it back now, and so it was a huge relief to see a pink shield erect itself around the structure, holding it in place. Shining Armor galloped into view around the cloud of dust at the base of the tower, all his concentration on holding the spell.

And then the dust settled and Cadance looked at the giant crater that had formed at the centre of the archway. The area was now littered with rubble from the palace, as well as wisps of flame and fragments of both black and aqua. At the centre of the carnage, a blinding white alicorn hung in the air above a pool of molten stone, not even flapping her wings to stay steady, wreathed entirely in flame.

Celestia slowly rotated, scouring the ground around her, and then levitated a small black crystalline fragment up to her eye level. In an instant it was disintegrated.

The exhaustion from the night finally caught up with Cadance, and she closed her eyes and laid her head against the ground, letting the chaotic noises wash over her.