Age of Kings

by A bag of plums

20 - The Final Bout

After leaving Sir Morn Dread in the dens, Emerald Edge reemerged in the stone-floored arena, watching the gathered crowd all around her. The amount had vastly increased from the previous round, with most of the town now here to witness her fight.

Emerald spied Honeygold and Spectrum Song near the back, two little tiny humans standing among a crowd of taller ones. The spymaster grinned to herself; she hoped to put up the fight they were here to see.

“ARE YOU ALL READY FOR THE FINAL ROUND OF THE TOURNAMENT?” the man yelled over the crowds. Emerald silently wondered how he could keep up this shouting all day long. Surely his throat would be hurting, or at least, he would be thirsty. Very thirsty.

The crowds answered him by amplifying their volume, raining cheers down on Emerald and her competitor.

Across from her, appearing from the other den, was a knight with wavy blonde hair and a moustache, without a helmet over his head; he also carrying a sword and shield in his hands.

“Sir Lionheart,” Emerald acknowledged.

“Ah, Lady Emerald Edge,” he widened his smile as he waved to the crowds with his sword hand. “Lovely to see you all the way here at the last leg of the tournament. If you made it this far, you must have great skill.”

“I was taught by one of the best.” Emerald drew her sword.

“Alas, I have had time to study you.” Lionheart hid behind his shield and spread his feet out. “Let us see what other surprises you may have, my lady.”

The knight stood there, unmoving. Emerald guess he was waiting for her to strike first, so she approached, swinging her sword down when she was close enough. He lifted his shield and pushed her attack away to the side before stabbing forward with his own sword.

That action had happened so fast that Emerald was almost skewered by his weapon. She jumped to the side and used her momentum to spin her sword around, attacking the knight from his right, only to be blocked again before Lionheart pressed the attack, swinging both sword and shield at her.

The blonde knight truly was a fearsome foe. Sir Morn had mentioned he was one of the best and if he had beaten Sir Prancelot, who supposed to be the best, then Emerald really needed to watch out for him.

She blocked to the left, then to the right, all the while looking for an opening to turn the battle in her favor. It wasn’t easy to find one.

“Surprise me, my lady,” Lionheart said as he smashed his shield down atop Emerald’s foot, earning her startled grunt as she fell back.

Even through the greave she could feel her foot throbbing. She couldn’t fully stand on it without feeling pain spike up her leg.

The crowds roared for Sir Lionheart. Apparently, he was a big fan favorite.

Emerald dodged towards the knight, throwing her sword up into the air from under his legs, then unsheathed both hidden blades and slashed across both his knees. Sir Lionheart staggered back, the armor protecting him from most of Emerald’s blade, but the right side had a gash with blood flowing out of it.

Just then, Emerald jumped up and aimed a blade for his head. Lionheart lifted his shield to block, but the spymaster caught her falling sword and spun around his shield, landing on it with her back and cutting out at the knight’s shoulder, going through his armor and feeling her steel rend his flesh.

“Ah!” Lionheart gasped and dropped his shield, reaching for his shoulder with his sword arm.

Emerald didn’t give him a chance to recover. She now pressed her attack, slashing and stabbing as fast as her human arms would move, mostly aiming for Lionheart’s legs in hopes of tripping him and ending the match.

Emerald swore she could hear Honeygold and Spectrum Song from the stands, cheering her on.

You can do it, Emerald… She silently pleaded with herself. Win this and save the Crystal Empire from that usurper, Sombra. You have to… Sir Morn and the others… They’re not your priority.

Sir Morn Dread…

After what had just happened in the dens, Emerald was conflicted. What if there was no way back after she went back to Equestria? What if there was no way to see him and her new friends ever again? Would she still walk through the portal to save the Crystal Empire?

Emerald Edge knew what she had to do as the royal spymaster, as a pony, but she found herself questioning one thing. Am I willing to leave…?

Her thoughts had thrown her attack off balance as Sir Lionheart parried her sword, sending it flying across the arena, clattering against the rock walls that supported the stands. Emerald realized her mistake and cursed herself as she ran for her sword, kicking away from Sir Lionheart.

No, Emerald! Not now. Your distraction almost cost you the match! Focus.

Before she could take another step, she felt something lance across the back of her right thigh; the pain instantly flared up to her hip and she fell with a shout. Sir Lionheart had managed to cut her as she ran for her sword, his reflexes much faster than Emerald had anticipated.

No! Not yet!

Emerald had let her mind and emotions take over. She had been distracted. She hadn’t had her focus fully on the fight and now she had paid for it.

The crowds had grown quiet, waiting to see if Emerald would stand or not.

“I have to…” Emerald said, mostly for herself to hear. She pushed to her hands and hopped up on her good leg. “For my empire… I have to win this.”

The crowds began to raise their voices again, this time, most of them chanting Emerald’s name.

“They’re rooting… for me.”

Emerald knew where her allegiance lay. It was to her empire first, this world second. Whether she liked it or not, she swore an oath to protect the Crystal Empire with her life when she became the spymaster. There was no way she was backing out of that now, friends or no.

The former pegasus readied herself as Sir Lionheart approached her, smiling, his shield abandoned.

“I take it you are ready, Lady Emerald.”

As the courageous knight attacked again, Emerald jumped to the side, keeping strength off her right leg, unsheathing both hidden blades. Just as he slashed to the side, where she was standing, Emerald clashed both hidden blades against Lionheart’s blade, then pulled to the side, prying the sword from his hands before moving to fight him up close.

Emerald smiled. Now the knight was unarmed and she still had her two hidden blades. She could do this. She could end this.

The royal spymaster jabbed one blade at the knight, sticking a foot behind him, hoping to trip him and win, but Lionheart must’ve known what she was planning. Instead, the knight ducked low and rammed Emerald in the gut, knocking her over and pinning a knee on one of her arms, the other atop her right leg, pushing her injury into the ground.

Emerald winced and her screams threatened to leave her mouth, but she kept control, but she knew it. Her actions were sloppy and her resolve wasn’t solid like a wall. In the end, after everything she told herself, she was still conflicted between her choices. Her mind still wasn’t focused.

“No, no, I can’t…” Emerald’s eyes became blurry. “I can’t lose here…”

“Then fight, my lady,” Lionheart told her, still pinning down one of her arms and her legs. “Get up. I expected more from you.”

Emerald Edge slashed at Lionheart’s face with her other arm, but it was quickly deflected by his armored arm and pinned down beside her head.

“If you cannot, then concede, Lady Emerald.” Lionheart said. “Do not injure yourself any further.”

The crowd of humans stopped again, wondering if this was finally the end of the tournament.

I can’t give up now. Not when I’m this close.

Emerald freed her arm and stabbed at Lionheart, who suddenly backed off, allowing her to roll away and stagger to her feet, wiping her mouth on a vambrace.

“Your strength is more than a common lass, my lady. Good.” Lionheart reached for his sword and pointed the blade up, holding it with both hands. “I wonder what other surprises you have for me?”

Emerald approached the man, swinging her hidden blades at him, but the knight deflected each of her attacks, stepping back as needed.

This is bad…

Emerald looked around for her sword, but it was too far away, out of reach.

I can’t fight his sword with these tiny blades much longer.

Emerald lunged at Lionheart, who raised his sword to parry, but at the last second Emerald brought herself to a halt, kicking up sand in the knight’s face.

As Emerald ran to fetch her sword, the knight growled and wiped the dirt from his face. By the time he was done, Emerald had retrieved her weapon and was facing him, both hands on the hilt.

“I don’t like sand,” Lionheart said. “It’s coarse and rough, and it gets everywhere.”

“Hmm.” Emerald eyed him and raised her weapon to fight. He was right. Sand always did seem to find a way into your armor. “I agree, Sir Lionheart. Now let us finish this.”

The crowds tensed. Emerald knew it too. She’d already lost a good amount of blood from her thigh wound and her head was getting lighter. She had to end this now or it was all over for her.

Emerald and Lionheart circled one another. She glanced up at the spectators. King Dawn Saber was on the edge of his throne, carefully watching the fight, while Queen Sunlight Radiance was slouched back in her throne, being fed grapes by a servant.

In that tiny moment of distraction, Lionheart took the opportunity to bull rush Emerald, who took a step forward and to the right, slashing with her own sword. In a flash of steel, both fighters cleared each other and stood back to back, weapons outstretched.

Lionheart seemed to stumble, his sword arm going to check his back, where a gash had been opened in his armor.

Then Emerald grabbed for her side and pitched over, lying on the ground.

A huge commotion erupted in the stands as Lionheart straightened up, holding his sword high.

The last thing Emerald remembered seeing was Moon Tide’s worried face as she rushed over to help.

---

The sky was dark over the Crystal Empire as Emerald Edge stood on a hill overlooking her kingdom. Over her back, she had slung the artifact she needed to defeat Sombra and retake her home.

The Shield of Star Swirl the Bearded.

Extending her wings, the spymaster silently floated off the hill, aiming for the window at the central tower of the palace, her hood low over her eyes to mask her glimmering hair.

At the last second, she tucked into a roll and smashed through the glass panel, separating the outside with the inside, landing on all fours before the throne.

King Sombra looked up and growled. “You… who are you?”

Emerald looked up and slung the shield around one hoof. “My name is Emerald Edge, royal spymaster to Princess Amore of the Crystal Empire! I am here to end your reign, Sombra!”

“End my reign, you say?” Sombra rose off his throne in a pillar of smoke, towering way above Emerald. “Then come.”

Then the dark king disappeared within a ball of black smoke, shooting to Emerald like a meteor. Placing the shield in front of her, the spymaster concentrated its magical energies and watched as it began to glow a bright gold. Sombra crashed into it, but Emerald held firm, not even feeling the strain of fighting back against Sombra’s force.

“What sorcery is this?” he muttered.

“Nothing you will ever be able to win, Sombra.” Emerald pushed, launching a wall of light from her shield, pushing the king against his throne, sending cracks snaking up the wall behind it, raining dark crystal bits down around them.

The pegasus smiled. She was doing it. She was finally doing what she had set out to do when she left the Crystal Empire that day.

Just as she felt she was about to vanquish Sombra forever, the light of her shield dimmed until its gold faded to a rusty copper.

“What…?” Emerald looked at her artifact.

Sombra’s face emerged from his shadows and smiled. “Fool. You thought these simple weapons could stop me? You’ve wasted your time. You should’ve stayed in that world you’ve come to love so much. Now you will never see your empire or that world again.”

Then he expanded his shadows, swallowing the shield instantly, leaving Emerald weaponless as she stepped away from him, still not believing what had happened. Then one shadowy tentacle grasped her back hoof and dragged her in, pulling her towards the smirking face of King Sombra.

“No… No!” And then Emerald disappeared in a tidal wave of darkness.

---

“No! I can’t!” Emerald Edge sat up, instantly regretting it. A hand shot to her side as she winced in pain.

“Ah, ah, ah, not so fast,” Moon Tide’s voice could be heard from the right. “Lie back, Emerald. Your wounds are still being tended to.”

The spymaster looked down at herself. Her armor and shirt were off and there was a roll of bandages over her chest, ending down just above her hip. The wound on her thigh was only just layered with green paste now, but it still hurt when she moved her leg.

“What happened, Moon Tide?” Emerald didn’t know what happened after the match, but she knew the outcome. “I… I lost, didn’t I… I failed. I failed my empire. I failed my princess…”

Emerald couldn’t stop her tears from dropping on her pants.

“Shh, dry those eyes. You fought very well, Emerald,” Moon Tide walked over and dabbed a bit more ointment on Emerald’s injuries. “Did you see the look on King Dawn Saber’s face? I wouldn’t be surprised if he wanted to speak to you after this.”

“But why…?” Emerald wiped her eyes. “I lost. What good am I now?”

Moon Tide smiled. “Between you and me, the tournament’s not just about winning the shield. The king uses the tournament as a way to select new knights for his service. Given how you trounced a fair number of them to get to where you are, I wouldn’t be surprised if he wanted to recruit you.”

“What? It would be an honor, Moon Tide, but now without the artifact, I cannot return to stop that usurper. I can’t save my empire. What else can I do now?”

“Did you even have a way back?” Adagio Dazzle asked, sauntering into the dens. “I mean, getting the artifacts is nice and all, but unless you have a way back to your own world, they’re not much good, are they?”

Emerald hadn’t really pondered too much on finding her way back. “I entered through that large piece of stone in the middle of the lake. I was told that portal only opens once every thirty moons, but now, now I have no reason to go back during this cycle…”

“And that’s if the receptor on the other side still works.” Aria Blaze joined her sister, slouching by the door. “Portals like this are a two way street. Both receptors on both sides have to be operational.”

“Have you been through one before?” The muse sounded like she knew what she was saying.

“Er… no… but the mages leave enough notes lying around that I know the theoretics of portals like these. Yeah.” Aria fingered the red gem around her throat as she spoke. “I like to study magic.”

“Hmm…” Emerald sighed. “I don’t know about the other end, but it was about to blow up when I was…” Painful memories resurfaced and so did Emerald’s tears. “When I was thrown through by my friend. And I wanted to return… I wanted to win this tournament and bring the shield back, but I failed! I dishonored my princess…” The spymaster covered her face and wept. “I dishonor all my friends who died to get me here.”

“There, there.” Moon Tide patted Emerald’s arm comfortingly. “It’s not over yet. Surely there are other artifacts out there, waiting to be claimed by you. How many did you say there were?”

Emerald shook her head, still sobbing into her hands. “I… don’t know.”

“Well, I’m sure we can find more. Even if there aren’t any, you can participate in the next tournament for the shield. See? It’s not nearly as hopeless as you think.”

“But I can’t wait that long. My empire needs me! I can’t let Sombra rule for so long.” Emerald thought about it. Or could she? After all, she wasn’t focused during her match. That’s how she had lost. A part of her had wanted to stay here with Sir Morn and the others instead of returning to Equestria. “I let this happen. Because of my thoughts on staying here in this world… I don’t know what to think anymore… I don’t deserve to be spymaster.”

“No, don’t think like that, Emerald.” Moon Tide consoled her. “Yes, your people might need you, but without any way back, there isn’t anything we can do. You’ve done your best already, spymaster. You just need to keep trying.”

Just then, there was a clatter of greaves on the stairway leading up and Sir Morn Dread appeared around the corner, his eyes only focused on Emerald.

“Emerald, my lady, are you faring better?” He stopped beside her and held one of her hands in his. He noticed her tears and squeezed her hand firmly. He sniffed once, then cleared his throat. “Tis alright, my lady. You tried. That’s all that matters.”

Emerald slumped down as Moon Tide went about applying salves and bandages.

“I’m sorry. Thank you all for standing by me, even like this.”

“I shall do anything for you, Emerald.” Sir Morn lifted her chin and smiled at her, wiping her tears from one eye. “Forever and always. And that shall include getting you back to your world with means to take back your empire.”

Moon Tide nodded and gave Emerald’s arm a good solid pat.

“You all mean so much to me now.” Emerald wiped at her eyes. “I just wish I knew how to go on from here…”

Emerald Edge sat in silence as Morn and Moon Tide held onto her, giving her the physical support she needed. Before anything else could happen, there were the sounds of more footfalls coming down the steps before a frantic Spectrum Song burst into view, her rainbow colored hair in a mess and a look of worry on her face. Emerald didn’t need to be a mindreader to know something was amiss.

“Em, there you are!” She rushed over and gripped one of the spymaster’s hands tightly. “It’s Honeygold! You’ve got to come quick!”

“What?” Emerald shifted her feet off the bench and grabbed for her shirt, which had been used as a headrest. “What happened? Is she alright?”

Spectrum took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing. “ Honeygold was kidnapped!”

---

Comments

[Jaxxon Markus Citadel]

Emerald lost? I must admit I didn't see that coming. And Honeygold's been taken? It was the druids, wasn't it?

[Marcthelightspark2004]

Oh, shit! But really good chapter cannot wait for the next on!

[Sonata Eternal]

She lost???then again she didn’t defeat Sombra until Sunset helped out... Can’t wait to see what happens next! Kick some butt, Emerald!!!!

[MoonlightRift]

“I don’t like sand,” Lionheart said. “It’s coarse and rough, and it gets everywhere.”

lmao, nice

I was honestly not expecting her to lose.

Spectrum took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing. “ Honeygold was kidnapped!”

Druids?