The Void Rift Crisis

by Visiden Visidane

Beginning - Animus Arcem

Of course I remember where I was and what I was doing when the crisis began. There isn't an alicorn involved in that disaster who doesn't.

I was at the Midnight Grove at the time, accompanying His Majesty during the leisurely walks he was wont to take with Her Majesty whenever he won an Ida tournament.

What? Ah, no. I did not walk with them. Before her ascension, Her Majesty frequently dealt with alicorns hoping to catch a glimpse of their futures. More so when Juste Canite entered his second diminishing. I ensured that they did not disturb her during these times. Not an easy task, mind you. Our brethren can be highly persistent, inconsiderate, and surprisingly incapable of reading the mood.

I remember having just sent away another petitioner when the Agamanthion gated its extension into the Midnight Grove.

That sight...

I don't recall how long I was breathless when it happens. My lungs will likely burst if I tried to re-enact it now. Imagine a pointed spire of metal and stone, thick as an entire fortress, as tall as the highest peaks of Bytos, and covered in twisting cables with the girth of tree trunks. Imagine it emerging diagonally from the Grove's perpetually moon-lit sky, growing downward as if...as if some titanic force was stabbing into our very world.

I did not know how to react at first. It was possible that it was just some spectacle conjured by a great number of alicorns. Though, such commotions were highly frowned upon in the Midnight Grove. It was the reason Her Majesty resided there.

It was what followed that finally moved me. Like a cloud of black sand rising up when a strong wind blows through, thousands of...creatures emerged from that spire, and swiftly descended on the Grove. I will admit that the opening rush of these creatures so surprised me that I would have been overcome so early into the fight, without even getting a clear view of what was attacking.

As for what was attacking, I believe the Seekers refer to them as "planar shadows". Certainly, they did resemble formless, indistinct blobs of darkness. They could be shadows, if what cast them was a glob of opaque sludge.

To this day, I can't be sure as to what they were, or how to best describe them. Think of a hole on a piece of fabric that's constantly fluttering about. It seems to be shifting in size and shape, but it isn't. Those things gave off the same seeming, except the "fabric" was the structure of the Grove itself.

Ah, but no matter what scholarly debate eventually defined them as, our enchanted, Herd-forged steel struck true against them. A strong blow to the center of their beings discorporated them like so much black smoke. Likewise, a blast of magical energy could overwhelm them, leaving nothing behind.

You might think that such obvious, and easily exploited, vulnerabilities would not make them so great a threat. True, by myself, I could have destroyed several hundred without too much exertion. But we were assailed by thousands, even tens of thousands at some point. The spire exuded them as fire exuded smoke, and that was not the most ominous thing it appeared to be doing at that time.

And they were far from harmless. One of them brushed against me in a moment of carelessness, and that brief touch brought on a chill unlike any other. When we were colts, His Majesty and I would soak ourselves in water before circling the highest peaks of Bytos for a bracing race. Even the cold of those times cannot be compared. The chill sapped strength from one's body, and even magic from one's horn, as we later found out. Poor Aves Cantio, I wonder if he would have survived if I had not turned him away, or if all he would hear from Her Majesty was that he was going to be untimely diminished soon after their talk.

We were at a severe disadvantage as well. The Midnight Grove is not well known for its gatherings of powerful warriors. One can find, perhaps, the occasional warrior meditating before or after a trip to Ida, but not so much. The attack was so sudden that those who could fight were cornered into pockets fighting desperately against strange foes. Planar shadows swarmed us relentlessly, their numbers constantly replenished by the Agamanthion's extension. They blotted out the moon, spread out among the trees, and they exuded a dark that suppressed our light spells.

What few alicorns to muster a defense swiftly dwindled in number. I could not even see the invading spire past the unending cloud of foes pouring from it. All seemed lost.

I can understand that incredulity on your face, colt. You might find it laughable, being so young. You would not think that our great and glorious Herd could even come close to being overwhelmed and destroyed. You go to Ida, and see our finest warriors display such prowess, such a variety of skills and power, and you become complacent in our invincibility. No abomination wandering Vestibulum would make a serious attempt to attack us. Those in the other heavenly realms would not dare so easily.

But it was true, at that time, when I stared at the blotted moon, and the swarm of shadows, that I feared our time had come. That the Fifteenth Cycle would be our last. I had resigned myself to destruction.

Oh, but I was so easily lost to despair. Fortunately for me, for all of us, there was one who had a different take on the situation. Sanctus Dominus's power of sunlight cut through both the shadows, and the haze of our growing despair.

The Midnight Grove would have been the first to collapse during that dark time if it wasn't for Sanctus Dominus' coincidental visit. Or, perhaps, that was why Her Majesty preferred the Grove all along? She has said that the Agamanthion clouded her sight, but she may have seen enough of its effects to prepare.

Regardless of Her Majesty's preempting, or lack of it, His Majesty soon proved the catalyst for the Grove's salvation. His power of sunlight shone like a beacon for others to gather to, destroying the planar shadows by the thousands, and granting renewed strength to the weakened all in a single golden flare.

You may have heard and read tales of His Majesty's prowess. I assure you, to see him in Ida is an exhilarating, terrifying experience no book can prepare you for. And the battles that occurred during the Void Rift Crisis...no number of witnessing duels prepared me. It was during the battle for the Midnight Grove did I realize that, even during his best duels, and those rare planar boundary standoffs, His Majesty restrained himself. In Ida, he started out leisurely, as one would feel for icebreakers in a conversation. The opponent was allowed a few attacks as one would be quiet during another's introduction, before he struck back. Not so during this battle. He moved with indescribable speed, nearly invisible, but with a presence so great that we rallied to his sun without hesitation.

I wish I could describe Her Majesty's prowess in some way, but I barely caught glimpses of her. She stood at the center of our foes, her power of dark swirling around her, striking in its deepness, visible even in the shadows, and the dimmed moonlight. But I did not catch a single strike from her Obscurus Alis. You have that quizzical look on your face, colt. Have you not seen Her Majesty's signature weapons? Six, short, black blades, curved, and feather-shaped? Ah, that's an understandable pity. They are a very rare sight. Before her ascension, Her Majesty only fought twice in Ida, and, in both cases, her opponents destroyed themselves in confusion.

Those two let us see a way through, and we clung to that hope with everything we could muster. Still, we had a colossal task before us.

Comments

[Reader Review]

It's pretty hype to learn about how awesome Sanctus Dominus and Divina Gratia were during the void rift crisis.
Really makes you wonder how intense things got during the 1st Rebellion

[Fallen Knight]

Fortunately for me, for all of us, there were was one who had a different take on the situation.