Episode 6: Battle For Equestria Part 1
Episode Six: Battle For Equestria Part 1 – Fall of the Crystal Empire
Crystal Empire, two days earlier…
The air was still. Night’s embrace had fallen over the world at Discord’s begrudging behest, and most of the Empire’s inhabitants were asleep. Thus was the path to the city square where the Crystal Heart rested unhindered for the hooded pony that stalked towards it. A single guard, with a coat of orange and hair electric-blue, stood sentinel near the artifact, his eyes scanning the gloom for anyone who might threaten it. The guard then snapped his gaze towards the cloaked pony.
“Halt, who goes there?” Flash Sentry declared.
Beneath his hood, the mysterious stallion grinned, flashing, to the guard’s horror, a row of sharp teeth. Then he looked up, affixing Flash Sentry with milky-white eyes that glared like icy daggers from a similarly-orange equine face. Flash shuddered at the other pony’s gaze.
“W-who are you?” Flash yelped as he held his spear at the ready.
“Who am I?” the stallion hissed. “I am…your death.”
Flash barely had time to scream before an intense beam of narrow fire exploded from the other pony’s eyes, striking him squarely in the chest. Flash Sentry was thrown backward, landing on the ground and rolling to a stop, his chest smoldering. The attack had burned straight through his armor and into his flesh, a mortal wound. Flash’s eyes widened like saucers as he gasped desperately for air; he was going to die again. He was too young; his life had barely begun! How could it be cut short again just when it had been given back to him?
He looked up, shaking, as the pony hunched over, his orange body darkening to a silhouette, a shadow that grew. Taller it went, until it utterly towered over the dying soldier. And then the shadow fell away, and Flash gasped in terror.
What had once been a pony was now a tall figure clad in a flowing white, tattered shroud. Its head was that of an orange-furred bat, with gleaming white eyes. Where its arms should have been, instead intense flames raged, somehow not burning the cloth. The hideous thing laughed, its voice high and cold.
“I…am Blind the Thief! And the Crystal Heart is now mine!”
The flames reached out, wrapping around the Crystal Heart and ripping it from its pedestal. All at once, a ripple tore across the city, a horrible feeling that jolted everypony within out of their sleep. Blind’s head whirled about as he heard the tell-tale sounds of doors unlocking, hissing in displeasure.
And then somepony teleported directly into his field of view.
“Drop the Crystal Heart right now, thief!” Shining Armor demanded, readying an offensive spell.
Blind laughed in the Crystal Prince’s face. “You royals are so full of yourselves! This lovely trinket belongs to me now!”
No more words were necessary; Shining blasted Blind directly in the face with an energy beam. The flames went out as the Crystal Heart clattered to the ground, the white shroud fluttering down with it.
But Blind’s head was still floating in the air, an insane grin on its face.
“Yeheheheheheheheheheh!” Blind cackled, the head slowly starting to spin in place. “Hehahahaha! YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Everypony who saw this blanched in horror. Shining couldn’t help but step back in momentary fright. “W-what in the name of Faust are you?”
Suddenly Blind’s body sprang up, the flames reigniting and picking up the Heart as a new head grew in the former’s place. Then the two heads of the demon thief spoke as one. “Fools! Know that it was Blind the Thief that stole your precious Crystal Heart!”
And then the floating head began spitting out fireballs at random, flying all around the city square. Ponies cried out as they tried to avoid the horrifying nightmare made manifest. As they were distracted by this, Blind abruptly shot away without another word, leaving them behind to deal with the maniacal floating head.
Shining Armor blasted it with another beam, but this failed to destroy Blind’s head. It zipped all around, randomly shooting fireballs out of its mouth and giggling insanely. Ponies ran inside their homes and locked their doors, and one or two very unfortunate ones were hit, thrown to the ground by the force of them.
And then a new beam of light struck the head, and this time it exploded into a thousand tiny fragments, the insane laughter cut short at last. Everypony turned to see Princess Cadance, her horn fizzling out as she rushed over to Shining Armor, who looked very shaken. Meanwhile, one of the Crystal Pony soldiers checked on Flash Sentry and slowly shook his head. The young guard had breathed his last during the excitement.
“Are you alright?” Cadance demanded, checking her husband over. “What happened? What was that?”
Shining affixed his beloved wife with wide, horror-stricken eyes. “Cadance…the Crystal Heart…it’s been stolen!”
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Crystal Mountains…
Blind flew along the mountain pass towards a hidden cave, the Crystal Heart firmly in his eldritch grasp. Soon he reached the cave and halted before the equine figure standing at the mouth of the cavern.
“You have it?” King Sombra demanded.
Blind held it up. “As you requested, Your Majesty.”
Sombra grinned. “Good. Take it, and get it out of my sight. I never want to see it again.”
Blind cackled. “With pleasure, Your Majesty!”
As the demon thief floated past Sombra, the king looked his way and said, “And tell Onox that the time has come. Let the invasion begin.”
Blind grinned before floating into the portal to the Dark World. As soon as it closed, Sombra flashed a feral grin before he raised his head proudly and bellowed, “Come forth, my armies!”
Sombra’s horn glowed with dark energy, amplified by his Alicorn Amulet, and at the foot of the Crystal Mountains, several holes opened up in the rock via several magical doors that had been constructed in secret. From the mouth of each artificial cave, armored ponies began to emerge, marching to the beat of dark war-drums. Their armor bore similarity to Sombra’s, with spikes on their shoulders, neck, and back. Black hair adorned their helmet crests, and an eerie green light was visible within the eye slits of their helmets. They marched in perfect precision, perfect order, perfect subservience. For these were the ponies Sombra himself had captured from the town of Hollow Shades and other, more isolated pony settlements throughout the world. The armor enslaved them to his will, ensuring they never disobeyed him.
But they were not alone; alongside them were thousands of hideous creatures, neither humanoid or equine in many cases. They were Majora’s fearsome Spawn, and they were ready to fight for their creator once more. Mask Entities, walking on two thick tentacles that were also suitable for bludgeoning, Wrath Entities with whip-like tentacles and a single eye on their faces, Seeker Entities, larger versions of Majora’s Parasites that were meant more for cannon fodder than infiltration, hundreds of the much-feared Hounds of Majora, and the deadliest of His Spawn, the Eyes of Majora, giant eyes with a dozen skeletal arms bursting out the back.
And furthermore, numerous battalions of humans, clad in dark robes and faces hidden by simpler effigies of the Dark God’s legendary mask, were interspersed among them. Some, clad in plain brown robes over top black armor, carried swords and shields or spears, while others with more ornate robes of purple and red were saturated with the dark magic of their master, able to cast spells of unparalleled malice.
This thousands-strong army of darkness quickly filled up the icy plains of the frozen north, white snow consumed by the black mass of bodies as they closed in on the now-vulnerable shining jewel of the north.
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Shining Armor and Cadance both felt the color drain from their faces at the sheer size of the army quickly surrounding the Empire, ponies from the outlying settlements screaming and crying out in fear as they abandoned their homes in the wake of Sombra’s army and fleeing into the safety of the main city.
A ripple of fear crawled up everypony’s backs as they recognized the pony that led this wicked host.
“I-it can’t be…” Cadance whispered in horror. “I thought he was dead!”
“Majora must have resurrected him,” Shining answered darkly. “Cadance, you know what we have to do.”
Cadance nodded grimly. “I’ll raise a shield and delay their advance as long as I can. You organize the city defenses, evacuate the civilians through the Crystal Mines, and get the word out that we’re under attack. The Moblin settlements are closest to us, but we’ll need as much help as we can get.”
Shining shook his head as he galloped off to assume his duties as Prince. Sombra chose well his moment to strike, with so many of our leaders and champions off negotiating in Hyrule, he thought as he ran.
Meanwhile, Cadance’s horn glowed intensely as she thrust her head up, and a familiar shield of blue, love-powered energy rose up around the Crystal Empire.
Sombra’s army halted at the sight of this.
King Sombra himself saw the disgustingly-familiar shield…and grinned. This time, he had come prepared.
“Release the Twinmolds!” he bellowed.
At that moment, from out of the portals emerged a pair of massive, centipede-like creatures that floated in the air without wings. They both had huge, sickle-shaped mandibles, and three large green eyes arranged in a triangle on their faces.
Sombra’s grin widened as the giant masked insects burrowed into the ground in front of his army at an angle, right underneath the shield, and exploded out the other side, rocks and debris flying everywhere as they emerged.
In her complete shock, Cadance lost concentration, and the shield immediately dropped as the Twinmold pair wreaked havoc throughout the city, smashing into buildings and reducing them to rubble.
Sombra wasted no time. “BEGIN THE ATTACK!”
Ponies, Spawn, and Followers all charged as one, converging on the city. Crystal Pony soldiers, at Shining’s urgent behest, swallowed their fear and lined the walls, while others manned the crystal stake hurlers and even more gathered around the two tunnels the giant centipedes had dug. Though Sombra was displeased that they were now being brought to bear against him, he still felt some measure of relief in that they had not destroyed his most effective defensive weapons. They would certainly be useful once he regained possession of them.
As his army neared, the Twinmolds backed off, as they were no longer needed and Sombra wanted as much of his kingdom intact as possible, and coiled their massive bodies around the Crystal Mountains, observing the siege.
Cadance quickly collected herself and drew the shield back up. Setting up a telepathic link with her husband, she whispered, “Shining…tell our soldiers to bottleneck those two tunnels and give our civilians as much time to evacuate as possible! I’ll take over the evacuation!”
“Cadance, do you think we can hold the city?” came the Prince’s urgent voice.
Cadance cast her gaze over the whole city, every building, every road, every tree, every pony, the Empire she had sworn an oath to protect.
“Without the Crystal Heart…I don’t think we can.”
“I have to go, Honey! They’re coming through the tunnels!”
With that, the connection was lost, and Cadance knew in her heart what she had to do. Without further ado, she rushed off to go get her people to safety.
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Meanwhile, Shining led from the front as he and his soldiers braced themselves for the coming attack. They could hear the clamoring of soldiers as they rushed through the underground passageways towards them.
Taking a deep breath, the Crystal Prince declared, “Ponies…every last one of you took an oath to defend this kingdom with all your strength, even your lives, if necessary.”
The soldiers all looked at him grimly.
“Due to the loss of the Crystal Heart, as well as the suddenness and ferocity of this attack, it is unlikely we can hold the city.”
Many of them gulped, gripping their weapons tighter as some of them stole glances at the tunnels as the enemy approached.
“But what we can do, fillies and gentlecolts, is give our civilians time to evacuate through the Crystal Mines! If we can hold the line here, our families will be able to make it to safety! When the Princess gives the signal, we can fall back and join them, but for now, we stand our ground and give them hell! So who will stand with me, for home, for family, for freedom, and all of Equestria?!”
Emboldened by the bravery of their Prince, the Imperial soldiers cheered and proclaimed their support.
His heart swelling with pride, Shining put on his helmet as the first of Sombra’s legions emerged from the tunnels. “Ponies of the Empire…ATTAAAACK!”
The Imperial soldiers hollered and charged towards the newly-emerged enemy. Leading Sombra’s charge was an Eye of Majora emerging from each tunnel, followed by a line of Majora’s Disciples. Each Eye shot a devastating beam of searing energy into the Crystal Pony ranks before battle was joined.
Due to being descended from Earth Ponies, the Crystal Empire infantry fought primarily with their hooves and great strength, bucking, kicking, pummeling, and outright brawling with the enemy forces. Some used the more refined spear to thrust and jab at their foes. Shining, being a unicorn, used magic as his weapon. A Seeker Entity bore down on him, but he blasted it to smithereens with a well-placed energy beam.
He saw several of his ponies cry out as they were batted aside by one of the Eyes of Majora, and immediately rushed forward without hesitation to do battle with it. Seeing him coming, the elite creature shot another beam at him, and the Crystal Prince answered with a beam of his own, and both spent a moment trying to overcome one another.
“Defend the Prince!” a pony captain cried, and he and several soldiers took advantage of the Eye’s distraction and assaulted it from multiple sides.
With his foe fatally distracted, Shining poured more energy into his beam, overcoming the Eye’s and blowing it into smithereens. The smoldering remains collapsed in defeat, and a cheer rose up among the soldiers at this small victory.
“Worms!” a Disciple cried as he threw a black fireball Shining’s way. “Fall before the power of our dark master!”
“Never!” was Shining’s answer as he dispersed the fireball with a shield before rushing in with sword raised and cutting down the evil sorcerer.
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Meanwhile, Cadance was desperately organizing the terrified civilians into an orderly retreat.
“Do not give in to panic! Maintain order!” she cried, flying overhead as she led them towards the mine entrance, her horn still glowing. “Evacuate into the Crystal Mines! We make for the Equestrian town of Ponyville! Do not rush! Maintain order!”
As the refugees clamored below her, Cadance looked up towards the city square, where she could clearly see her husband’s soldiers fighting for their lives against Sombra’s forces and their dark allies.
Silently, she sent a prayer to the heavens, hoping beyond hope it would be heard.
Please…let Shining come out of this safely…for the sake of our child…
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Sombra was hanging back, smirking as he watched his armies continue to surge into the tunnels from his place on a raised hill.
He glanced sideways as he heard the clanking of heavy armor stepping towards him, and regarded his most important ally in this mission.
“You certainly took your time, General,” Sombra spoke.
Shifting in his gold and silver armor reminiscent of the legendary Iron Knuckles of the Gerudo save for the triangular helmet with three eyeholes arranged into a triangle that left only his mouth exposed, General Onox rumbled darkly, “The Princess of the former Dragon Lord instigated a rebellion in my lands right after I left with the main force. I had to redirect a number of wyrms to suppress her uprising. They are being dealt with in my absence; Karzakathûl swore to it.”
Sombra turned back towards the glittering shield. “It matters not. Tear down that shield so that we may take advantage of our far-superior numbers. I leave suppression of the city in your hands. Do be sure to keep enough of it intact so that we may bend it back towards our purposes.”
With that, Sombra began to walk off, hefting his scythe in his magical grip.
“And where are you going?” Onox asked, quirking an eyebrow beneath his sharply-pointed helm.
“They will be attempting to evacuate my slaves through the Crystal Mines,” Sombra answered, looking over his shoulder. “But what they don’t realize is that I know where the exit is. None will escape me. One of the Equestrian usurpers is certain to be leading that fear-stricken rabble. The other one you can have all to yourself.”
Onox grinned, revealing large teeth as one of his eyes flashed menacingly inside his helmet. “I look forward to it. Immensely.”
As Sombra departed, Onox assumed his true Dark Dragon form as his dragons descended from the sky, taking his place among them and dwarfing many of the drakes. “Wyrms…destroy that shield and burn all who would resist the will of Majora to a crisp!”
As one, dozens of dragons began strafing the length of the massive shield, sending waves of searing-hot flames down onto its glimmering surface.
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Cadance gasped in shock and pain as she felt her shield waver. Something was attacking it with great strength.
She looked up from where the civilians were retreating into the mine entrance and could see what looked like an entire sky of flames swirling around her shield, and occasionally she could see dark winged shapes swooping through the flames.
“Dragons,” she whispered in horror.
There was no way she could hold the shield for long, and if it fell, the entire city would be a sitting duck. She knew in her heart at that moment that all she had feared in the world was coming to pass.
Gulping as she felt her heart break within her, Cadance once more opened up a telepathic link with her beloved husband.
But all she could bring herself to say was, “S-Shiny…”
Even in the heat of battle, Shining Armor heard the voice of his wife whisper his name. I know, honey. I know.
Cadance choked back a sob. He knew what was happening. He knew what he had to do now. And he knew what it would cost.
It was too much for her, and she wept openly. “I’m so sorry, my love!”
Cadance…I want you to listen to me. Ugh…hah! Listen to me. I want you to live. For our son.
Cadance managed a weak smile through her tears. “Y-you know it’s going to be a girl!”
Cadance…once your shield drops, they’re going to be pouring in all over the city. You have to get yourself and as many civilians as possible out of the Empire before that happens. Yah!... Keep the pressure up, ponies!... We’ll hold them off as long as we can.
Cadance could not control her tears. “I-I love you s-so much!”
…Cadance…you were the best thing that ever happened to me. I just wish I could have seen our foal grow up. A-and when you see Twily, tell her…tell her that none of this was Vaati’s fault. And most importantly, tell her that I love her too.
“I w-will, Shiny…I’ll tell her.”
She could hear Shining grunt with exertion for a few moments as he fought against his foes before he finally answered, Honey…will you…stay with me…till the end?
“Y-yes, my love…till the end…”
She could almost feel the loving smile in her husband’s voice as he said, If your voice is the last thing I hear before I die, then I die knowing my life wasn’t wasted. I love you, Cadance. …Hold the line, fillies and gentlecolts!
Her heart was breaking into a million pieces, and her soul was calling out for a stallion she could not save, but Cadance knew what she had to do, and she turned her attention back towards the evacuation, wincing as she felt the dragons outside assault her shield again.
“Everypony into the mines! Stay calm, and proceed in an orderly fashion! Don’t give in to fear!”
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“Don’t give into fear!” Shining cried, leading the counteroffensive as he blasted aside an Obsidian Guard, the name Sombra gave to his enslaved soldiers. “Keep up the fight!”
He saw it in the corner of his eye right in the nick of time, leaping backward as a huge spiked ball of iron pounded the ground where he had been standing before. Shining looked up to see a huge man clad from head to toe in gold and silver armor standing before him, his eyes invisible beneath his ponderous helm. His mouth, however, was exposed, allowing his sinister grin to be seen.
“Heh heh heh heh heh…” General Onox snickered, a foul black miasma trailing idly out of his mouth and coiling around him like a shroud of evil. “You must be one of the usurpers Sombra was always going on about. Prince Shining Armor, I presume?”
Shining braced for battle, his horn sparkling with combat magic and his sword raised. “I have no words for you, servant of Majora.”
Onox threw back his head and laughed. “Good! I hate mincing words anyway.” Onox once more hefted his enormous flail, swinging it over his head. “Now fall before the power of Onox, the General of Darkness!”
Shining lithely dodged the deadly ball and chain as it swung at him again and again, leaving pony-sized craters wherever it hit. Then, to Onox’s surprise, Shining grabbed the iron ball in his magic, easily lifting it into the air. Before the General of Darkness could react, the Crystal Prince hurled it into Onox’s chest, knocking him to the ground with a pained grunt.
Shining wasted no time as he brought his sword to bear, lunging at the stunned general. But Onox lifted a gauntleted hand and seized Shining’s blade in his grip, and before Shining’s eyes, Onox snapped the blade in half without drawing so much as a drop of blood. Shining drew back in shock, regarding his foe as he calculated how best to approach him next as Onox got to his feet, tossing aside his morning-star.
“You fight well, little pony,” Onox appraised him. “But can you overcome this?!”
Suddenly waves of black smoke burst forth from Onox’s body, rushing over the bodies of Shining and several of his soldiers. All immediately felt a sudden and exhausting drain, which for the unfortunate soldiers proved to be fatal as Sombra’s minions took advantage of it. Shining Armor fell to his knees, feeling like he had just run a hundred laps around the Empire. “Urgh…ohh…”
Onox laughed, striding forward, his armor clanking ominously even over the din of the surrounding battle. “Now do you see, fool? That’s the power of the General of Darkness! It drains the life from all who dwell within the cursed light! There is no defense!”
Onox towered over the shuddering form of the Prince, his evil grin wide in victory.
“Urgh…” Shining groaned, trying to will his body to move.
Shining!
Shining jerked his head up at the cry of his wife’s voice. “Cadance…”
Onox was reaching for him. “And now you too will fall to the power of darkness!”
And then suddenly the General of Darkness reeled back as Shining blasted him directly in the face with a magic beam. As Onox stumbled, snarling as he covered his face, Shining shakily stood, glaring daggers.
“Not…yet.”
Onox removed his hands and glared back just in time to get hit with another one to the face, and Onox tried to cover his head with his arms to ward off the magical energy. As Onox tried to recover, Shining, regaining some of his strength as the dark mist’s effects wore off, leapt forward and struck the general’s face with a rather impressive pony version of a roundhouse kick. And given this was done with a hoof and not a foot, it hurt all the more. Onox’s head snapped to the side as a tooth actually flew out of his mouth.
Having had enough of this, Onox snarled, “Why you little…!”
And then he saw that the Prince had sent his own ball and chain hurtling towards him once more. With a savage bellow of anger, Onox knocked it aside with a single punch, all three eyeholes of his helmet glowing a faint blood-red.
Shaking with rage, Onox growled, “You dare oppose me?! You dare?! I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!”
Shining looked on with open-mouthed shock as Onox suddenly grew ten times his size, becoming a massive dragon with faded purple scales on his back and wings, grey scales on his muscled arms and underbelly, and an almost skull-like head from which two black eyes dotted with glowing red pupils glared. Between his two large, knobby horns, a large red gem seemed to be growing out of his forehead. He had an underbite, from which emerged two long, curved tusks.
Onox laughed, his booming voice thundering across the whole city. “Behold my true form, fool! Now you stand before the Dark Dragon, King of All Wyrms! Any last words before you feel my apocalyptic wrath, little prince?”
Shining looked up at his great enemy, then cast his eyes downward where he suddenly saw the shattered remains of his sword. The blade was shattered about a foot from the hilt, but it was enough for him. Wearily he drew it into his ethereal grasp, holding it up, and it seemed that the battle around them faded away, so that in that moment, only the Prince and the Dragon existed.
And Shining Armor spoke, his eyes steely, but accepting of his ultimate fate as he recited an age-old oath. “Blade with whom I’ve lived…blade with whom I now die…” Onox quirked an amused eyebrow at this, but Shining held his gaze unwaveringly. “Seek now one last heart of evil…one last life of pain…” The Dark Dragon was now sneering in full measure, flashing yellowed, dagger-like teeth, but Shining was unfazed. “Cut well, old friend, and then…farewell!”
Onox could no longer contain his amusement, snorting laughter as smoke puffed out of his nostrils. “Ha ha ha ha ha…what a waste of words. Now…BURN.”
Oily dark-blue flames flew from the Dark Dragon’s gaping mouth, washing over Shining’s puny form. The Prince threw up a shield just in time, but he did not have the strength to hold it for long. Still holding up the shield, he drew back his broken sword.
And then, like an eddy of glass, the shield shattered, and Shining Armor screamed as he felt the demonic flames lick at his body, even as he used the last of his strength to throw his sword, now wreathed in the dark flames of his enemy, at the looming form of Onox. Superheated from Onox’s own flames, it punched through his thick scales and buried itself to the hilt in the center of his black heart.
“GRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGH!”
Onox howled in pain as his own flames consumed his body, and in the midst of his death-throes, Onox’s immense body toppled over the two tunnels, blocking them off, and the Imperial soldiers cheered at this heroic deed.
But the cheer died down as the closest ponies, once they had dispatched their current foes, took note of Shining’s battered and burned body, feebly twitching as he lay there dying.
“C…Cadance…” Shining weakly whispered, his eyes fluttering.
Shining! Shining, are you okay?!
“Cadance…w-we…did it…W…we…bought our…p-people…more time…”
Shining?! Honey!
Shining wasn’t answering.
No nononononono! Shining, my love!
Cadance’s heart skipped a horrible beat as she felt her telepathy spell peter out.
“Oh Faust help me, Faust help me…” she whimpered as she tried to stop herself from hyperventilating.
Her eyes squeezed shut as a long, low whine fought its way past her gritted teeth. Looking up at her, several Crystal Ponies began to murmur amongst themselves as they realized what it likely meant.
“T-the Prince…”
“The Prince is dead…”
“I-it CAN’T be…!”
“Oh Faust, are we next?”
Realizing her people needed her, Cadance forcibly shook aside her grief and managed to choke out, “We have to keep going! M-my hu-hu…h-husband gave us valuable t-time…we need to make the most of it! Into the mines!”
It was at that moment that she suddenly felt her shield spell shatter as the dragons launched another assault.
All the forces of darkness watched the shield crumble, and they pressed on, now able to attack the city on all sides.
But then the dragons all saw something they couldn’t believe as they flew over the city: the burning corpse of the Dark Dragon himself.
“I-is that the King?!” one dragon cried.
“He’s dead!” another called out in disbelief.
“No way! Those ponies actually killed him?!” a female dragon exclaimed.
The largest dragon there, a black dragon with white horns that curved inwards towards his chin, abruptly bellowed, “The Usurper King is dead! Dragons, we’re leaving!”
Then, much to the chagrin of the dark forces, the dragonflights all wheeled around and disappeared as quickly as they had come, following the black wyrm known as Moragon back to the Dragon Lands.
Sombra pursed his lips from where he now stood, grunting in displeasure. “Useless idiot got himself killed. No matter; Majora will deal with their treachery later.”
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Cadance did what she could to keep her subjects from panicking as she led them out of the mines into the frigid winds of the frozen north, far enough away from the Empire that the rear of Sombra’s immense army were nearly pinpricks to them. A number of hills and rock formations also helped to conceal the civilians from all but the most attentive assailants, and their attention was focused entirely on the city. King Sombra’s single-minded focus on the siege might actually work in their favor.
“Hm hm hm hm hm…going somewhere?”
Everypony went perfectly silent and froze, their eyes widening in horror. Cadance and all her subjects would have known that voice anywhere.
Suddenly a wall of dark crystals burst out of the snow-covered ground, surrounding the area and trapping everypony within. Shaken from their silence, the civilians all started screaming and panicking. Cadance’s heart pounded against her chest as she gathered magic in her horn, hoping her love-based power would be enough to break the crystals.
She was shot out of the air by a blast of magic with a familiar aura of black, purple, and green.
Cadance gasped in pain as she landed amongst her petrified subjects. A few dared to help her up, and together they looked up at their assailant.
There he was, grinning in triumph. King Sombra.
“Did you fools really think I’d forgotten about the secret exit out of the mines?” Sombra gloated. “This is my Empire. I know it inside and out.”
Putting herself between the terrified crowd and their returned king, Cadance growled, “Not anymore, it isn’t. You had your chance, Sombra. A thousand years ago, you had the chance to bring about an age of prosperity, but you squandered it for your own personal gain. And then you made slaves out of your own countryponies, forcing them to fight and die for you against their will for a war you started. You're not fit to wear that crown!”
“And you made my Empire, the last pony nation free of the intrigue and manipulations of Celestia’s court, a vassal state to that cake-loving wretch,” Sombra replied with a terrifying calm. “Even with that crown on your head, you would always consider Princess Celestia your superior. You and your late husband, both. And I’m sure she never told you my true story. Your ignorance tells me as such. So I’ll let you in on a little secret; I didn’t start the Sombratic War. Celestia did. Her forces attacked the Crystal Empire first. But your history doesn’t record that.”
“You lie,” Cadance hissed, looking at her fellow Crystal Ponies for clarification.
The despondent, almost-guilty look in their eyes said it all, and Cadance felt her heart sink. It couldn’t be true…
“Why lie when the truth causes even more pain?” Sombra sneered. “Our ancestors went north to escape Equestrian influence, you know. Earth pony farmers who felt threatened by the ever-feuding pegasi and unicorn factions. Of course naturally a group of unicorns eventually followed them, and through the promise of protecting them from all outside threats, no matter who they came from, they allowed these unicorns to be their rulers, and the discovery of that blasted Crystal Heart solidified my dynasty’s right to rule. Over the years we prospered, until the day a dragon stole the Heart. My mother, Princess Amore, couldn’t protect the Empire by herself, draining her magic completely. She had no choice but to ask Celestia for help. It turned out the dragon was a sniveling coward and completely surrendered after she yelled at him a bit. My mother was too relieved at the Crystal Heart’s return to notice what Celestia had said to that simple-minded lizard, but I still remember it as though she had spoken those words but yesterday. She was already referring to us Crystal Ponies as her subjects. I did not forget that.”
Sombra began to pace as he continued. Cadance warily watched his movements, the crowd spellbound by their exchange. “Over the years, my mother and I watched from afar as Equestria absorbed the smaller fiefdoms into itself, all so that the Two Sisters could better ‘protect’ us. It was subtle and gradual, but I did not fail to notice how Princess Platinum slowly became a lesser noble, holding onto the illusion of power despite becoming just another pawn in the royal court. I did not fail to notice how Commander Hurricane was demoted from the pegasi’s leader to the head of her royal guard, a ceremonial position in truth given Celestia’s habit of confronting her enemies in person so her precious ponies wouldn’t have to bloody their delicate little noses.”
Cadance snorted. “So what? Equestria ended up better off for it!”
“Ah, so you do believe that the ends justify the means. In that, we are not so different. Celestia did what she felt she had to…and so did I. One day, my mother held banquet with the Two Sisters, and afterwards they met for a private conference I was not permitted to attend, but I knew my mother had told them that the Crystal Empire would maintain strict independence from Equestria. Two days later, my mother fell mysteriously ill. The illness killed her in less than two days. The kingdom was left then in my charge, and I knew then that the Sisters were coming. They poisoned my mother for refusing to bow to their wishes, and now they were coming to take it by force. But I was no alicorn; I knew I had no chance against them on my own. But then…I found him. A dark answer to my prayers, but an answer nonetheless. With the promise of power and revenge, I became the pupil of Grogar the Necromancer.”
Cadance gasped at the name. She had heard it once, described in a forbidden tome locked deep inside the restricted section of Princess Celestia’s personal library. The Emperor of Tambelon, the most dangerous and terrible of the Children of Krastos, who had subjugated a race of warlike creatures called Trogals to serve as his foot soldiers. He had also been the first to demonstrate the horrifying ability to raise the dead, using the legions of undead to soften up his foes before sending in his Trogals to finish them off. Legend told that Mother Faust Herself had had to intervene on Equestria’s behalf, for the Two Sisters had not yet been born. Faust had banished Grogar and his entire empire into darkness, for imprisoning him in Tartarus would have been too great a risk.
“Through him, I learned so much about the dark arts, more than anypony else would ever know, more even than Princess Luna herself, for she could not develop the stomach to delve into those deep magics until it was far too late. I used my subjects to mine for crystals to increase my power, and through Grogar’s tutelage, I created this.” Sombra then drew Cadance’s attention to the amulet clasped around his neck, tapping it. It was in the shape of a stylized black alicorn, with a diamond-shaped red gem in the center. It radiated horrifying dark power. “The only weapon in Equestria that could counter those damnable Elements of Harmony. The Alicorn Amulet. With it, my dark powers are increased tenfold, and it protects me from the power of the Elements! By creating it, I succeeded all my master’s expectations. But he had one final test in store for me, and in that moment he revealed to me the truth. The Two Sisters didn’t kill my mother. He did, specifically to lure me to him, for he saw me as an ideal apprentice. In the end…I no longer cared. I had so much power now. Because of him, I could rule the entire world. Trading my mother’s life for this power, in the end, was an acceptable exchange, one I would happily make again, given the chance.”
Cadance’s jaw was hanging open a bit at this. This was not the cheesy sob story she had been expecting. He had his excuse, then accepted it was just an excuse and fully embraced his evil.
“Still, it was indeed Celestia who threw down the gauntlet first. Perhaps she saw my rising power as a threat, perhaps she really was planning to force the Empire to bend its knee. Either way, my forces intercepted theirs near the Crystal Mountains, and there the war began. A war I lost once, but shall not again.”
Cadance’s wings flared out, now that it was clear that Sombra had finished his monologue. “It matters not what you say. These are my subjects now, and I will do what I must to defend them! From you!”
Blinding blue magic crackled in Cadance’s horn as her eyes went just as blue, her body surging with power. In answer, Sombra’s horn bubbled with his signature purple and green miasma, his eyes turning pure green as the purple haze perpetually trailing out of them intensified.
With raging battle cries, Cadance and Sombra lunged at one another.
I LIVE!
Bet you all thought this story was dead. Guess again, my loving, patient, devoted fans...
*is promptly pelted with torches and pitchforks*
Urgh...well, anyway, note that I wrote the first part of this before The Crystalling episodes came out, hence why the Crystal Heart's theft isn't threatening the Empire with the coming of winter.
And yes, I am most definitely evil enough to leave you all with yet another cliffhanger!
The next chapter will come out soon...like...sometime this year...
And spoiler alert: the death toll is gonna start climbing real soon...
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For this story's sake, I'm hoping Shining isn't actually dead. It would really suck if such a great story took a nosedive in readers from that AND a long hiatus.
Oh god... just when I had almost recovered from you killing off BABS.... Why do you torture us so?
EDIT: This BETTER not be an April Fools Joke.
8833173
Several named characters might meet their end in this. Equestria and Hyrule are facing a shared apocalypse, you know. A war of this scale is going to end up with many casualties. It won't get as egregious as, say, Game of Thrones, though. But people and ponies will die. If that's too much for certain people, then that's their loss. The story will get boring if the heroes win every time without suffering any loss.
8833250
Because I'm an evil bastard with a grudge against the world.
Welcome back.
when I first saw a story had updated I thought it was one of mine that updates everyday. Then I saw it was this then thought it was an early April Fools joke. I'm glad to be surprised by both.
8833270
Ok, Well.... IS it an april fools joke?
Do yout best write wath you want
Its your world, your story
I am glad to see this story back! Also... welp. Everything's about to get a whole lot worse before it gets better, isn't it?
...
GOOD. *grabs popcorn*
Interesting. Very intense. It seems the dragons weren't really with the Majorans, some were just cowed enough by there power to fight against their brethren. Now that their fake king is dead, the dragons will reunite and likely join the Equestrians in fighting back. Be interesting to see Ember having to now take up her fathers mantle immediately into a war.
YAY! a new chapter! Now to wait to next year for the part 2
Dear god your alive? I feared this story was going to end with that hint that the mane six are going to be the new six sages! Loved the Flight of dragons reference in this chap, one of my favorite childhood moves ever
Your story is in my top three right with:
Friendship souls:https://www.fimfiction.net/story/325022/equestria-girls-friendship-souls
And
Legacy:https://www.fimfiction.net/story/238582/legacy
Thanks for renewing my hope in this story. I have reread it at least three times since you were here last, and I can never get over how well you combine the FIM and LOZ plots, as well as create believeable situations of what would happen if Equestria ever encountered Hyrule and those who hail from it, good evil or reformed.
Hope your doing better with your depression, and know that I and I hope many others will patiently wait for more chapter's.
Can't wait to see how Link will get along with the Mane six, especially Twilight. What with her obsession with ancient relics and magic she will find the Master sword very interesting. I bet Sombra, or even Discord while he was still evil would be slain by The Blade of Evils Bane.
Hope to see you soon.
Can I just say, LordSiravant, that this shared universe you have created between Equestria and Hyrule in this series is nothing short of a masterpiece? Zelda and MLP are two of my favorite series, and I love how dark, yet believable this Equestria became.
Named character deaths? I know you aren't going to pull another "Global Death Reset Wave" in this story(who knows, it may happen, the end is nowhere close), but by the simple act of a named character dying, it allows either that character, or other characters, to come to the fore, and defy not just our expectations, but the expectations of those around them. Case in point, last story in the series, I didn't expect VINYL SCRATCH of all ponies to kill Argorok. But she did, in an awesome way. And her motivation to do so was the death of Octavia.
This doesn’t seem like an April Fools joke.
8834441
Also kinda wondering what changed in this chapter....
This chapter make me want to pick up Hyrule Warriors again
Okay, please tell me that you have some way of bringing Shining back to life, cause he can still have a role to play. You know that right?
Please sir another
9131044
Sadly we aren't getting anymore.. the author has put all their stories on indefinite hiatus.
9170106
Insert Darth Vader no here*
I always preferred adult timeline Wind Waker Ganondorf. The man born of Demise's curse, doomed to challenge Link and Zelda forever... humbled and humiliated by the Great Flood, still brutally violent, and with a temper like a volcano, but at the same time, has remembered why he invaded Hyrule in the first place, for one moment, able to see past his own blinding greed.
9523729
I liked that Ganondorf too, and it's a shame Nintendo never made any attempt whatsoever to elaborate on that further.
9523729
Same.
9528958
I like the origins of the Alicorn Amulet, so kudos to you.