A New Dragon in the Crystal Empire

by Vedues

Chapter 61

“Stop!” Fluttershy shouted.

Cliff groaned and sat up. The Shadow-form Rune hadn’t worked, probably because he had rewired it to draw energy from the dimensional pockets he usually had at his waist, dimensional pockets that he’d given to Celestia. He stood up and hurried back through the hole that his flying body had just made.

Fluttershy and Chrysalis were frozen in place, glaring at each other, and beyond them, the changelings had gone still as they watched. Even Talon and Heart, crouching next to Tornado’s downed form, watched nervously.

Through their link, Cliff could feel the silent battle that his wife was waging. Fear, doubt, guilt, and shame flowed up through Fluttershy’s heart, radiating out through her eyes, demanding that Chrysalis back down and apologize.

Chrysalis was fighting back, though. Her horn glowed with sickly green energy, and Fluttershy’s eyes glowed the same color. Cliff wasn’t even the target of her spell, but he could still feel the overwhelming despair that it inspired. Give up, it seemed to whisper. You can’t win.

Cliff threw his own emotions into the battle, giving Fluttershy every drop of determination and confidence that he could generate. “Chrysalis,” he said between clenched teeth, “don’t make us fight you.”

“Three thousand against two isn’t a fight.” Chrysalis smirked. “But I am impressed by this little pegasus.”

“Yeah,” Spirit said, stepping into view. “Flutters is pretty awesome. She distracted you long enough for the entire Everfree Platoon to surround you, including a few unicorns that can block teleportation. Isn’t that interesting?”

Chrysalis took a step back and broke eye contact with Fluttershy. Just as Spirit said, the Everfree Platoon surrounded them, including scouts and medics. Her expression remained cocky, though. “You do realize that you’re all surrounded by my changelings, right? They could easily kill you all.” She locked her gaze on Spirit. “And I really want you to stop being so difficult and let us claim our prize. After all, you’re threatening to fight your allies to save the same dragons that tried to kill you a few minutes ago, or am I the only one who remembers that Void Fire attack?”

“They surrendered,” Spirit said. “That makes them prisoners. Equestria doesn’t kill or torture prisoners. Ever. Anyone that does is considered a felon and imprisoned. Not even a prince can make an exception.”

Chrysalis frowned. “You had better do it anyway, or your story will be in the papers tomorrow.”

Autumn frowned. “Spirit, what did you do?”

“Uh,” he swallowed, “remember that shopping trip with Rarity the other day?”

Autumn facehoofed. Her coat changed as well, becoming hard-edged. “Fine.” She turned to the rest of the Platoon. “I hated my father for a long time because he supported King Sombra, even if it was to keep me and my mother safe! Then he caught me trying to start a rebellion and threw me in jail! I didn’t speak to him for years, but then he was killed in battle recently, and Spirit hired a changeling to transform into my late father and give me a chance to say a proper goodbye!”

Her face was bright red when she turned back to Chrysalis, but her expression was firm. “There goes your leverage.”

Cliff didn’t know how to feel about what he’d just heard, but now wasn’t really the time to worry about it, and it wasn’t his business anyway.

Chrysalis groaned. “You really are a persistent group, but you all need to ask yourselves one question; what would stop me from killing all of you and blaming these dragons?”

“I-I would.”

Cliff followed the new voice and found that changeling, Nymph, standing next to Rarity. He looked … somewhat less than heroic. His legs were shaking and he couldn’t meet Chrysalis’s gaze. The shaking only got worse as the entire room focused on him, to the point that he had to sit down.

“Er, well, it’s … pretty nice living out in the open like this, and we’ve never been this well fed before. Maybe we shouldn’t risk all that on the chance that Celestia and Luna could find out what we did here. We don’t need these dragons to feed on anyway. Oh, and there’s Shining Armor and Cadance.” He pointed toward the stage. “I don’t think we could get through their shield before everypony comes back.”

Chrysalis gave him a hard stare for a moment, then she shifted her gaze to the rest of the changelings. “What do you all say? Do we claim our rightfully earned prize, or do we submit ourselves to the laws of Equestria?”

The changelings all exchanged looks, but very little was actually said. Cliff reminded himself that they were probably communicating through their empathy.

Eventually Chrysalis’s expression hardened. “Very well, but if these Equestrians don’t want us to benefit from our own hard work, I see no reason why they should either. I’m leaving now, and any of you that want to keep your jobs,” she glared at Nymph, “had better come with me.” She pushed her way through Spirit and Autumn and walked toward the exit.

Cliff let out a sigh of relief as all the changelings followed after her. Actually, no. Not all of them followed. There were a few that hesitated, looking from Chrysalis to the Everfree Platoon like they weren’t sure what to do. Nymph was among them, but maybe that was because he was shaking to badly to walk.

Spirit looked around at the hesitating changelings. There were eight of them in all. “You know,” he said loudly, “Everfree Village is always accepting of newcomers.”

Rarity pulled Nymph into a hug. “And I could certainly use a model that can transform into anyone I need.”

The last of the other changelings filed out, and Chrysalis’s voice echoed out from the hall, “I would worry more about what I just said, if we can’t benefit from our own work, neither can you.”

Green light filled the room for a moment. When it faded, the goo holding the Alliance’s warriors down had disappeared, and most of them were starting to get back up.

“You all have fun killing each other.” Chrysalis laughed.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Celestia, Luna, and Zephyr reappeared at the entrance to the dungeon, right in front of the shield that Shining Armor had promised to create. Just inside, the door frame to the dungeon loomed darkly.

“You’re all here!” Twilight called, galloping over to them. “We got here a minute ago and deactivated the teleportation block, but we were waiting for you to arrive.”

Fire Claws pulled up next to her. “There were some noises coming from inside. We think the Alliance’s champions are already in there.”

A loud crash echoed through the door frame.

Burning Torch approached as well. “They must be searching for Yol Toor’s cell.”

Celestia hated to imagine what would happen if they found it. Her ten guards were skilled, certainly, but they would have no chance against the Alliance’s most powerful dragons, let alone one of the Requiem Guard. Ebon Light would likely die in the battle as well, and Yol Toor would be free. She wanted to believe that he would bring the Alliance to a peaceful negotiation, like he had promised, but she couldn’t sacrifice innocent lives in that hope. “Link up.”

The six of them joined their emotions and quickly decided on a plan, communicating through empathy so they couldn’t be overheard.

Another crash came from inside the dungeon.

Celestia pulled in as much of the sun’s power as she could hold, so much that the stone beneath her hooves melted. She turned to face the dungeon. “Begin!”

She flew through Shining Armor’s shield and into the dungeon proper, her fiery body illuminating a large hole in the floor. Shattered doors lined the hall, revealing empty chambers beyond. Their foes stood midway down the hall; Silver Tail, the drake lord who had fought so hard to save his clan; Dun Brii and Qo Peyt, Yol Toor’s twin daughters, who had lost their mother so young; the Hurricanes, five wyverns who had lived a nightmarish life of bloodshed in a desperate attempt to protect their race; and Providence, who had sacrificed everything for a nation that disappeared into the recesses of history regardless. Celestia didn’t want to fight any of them, but she knew that she didn’t have a choice.

Silver Tail was already launching a volley of compressed air at her. It tore through the dungeon’s stone walls as it advanced, filling the hallway.

“HALT!” Celestia shouted. The force of her voice ripped through Silver Tail’s wind, giving her a chance to return fire with a wave of extreme heat. Molecules in the air were ripped apart, filling the hallway with plasma as hot as the surface of the sun.

Silver Tail flapped his wings again, and Celestia could feel the air rushing away from the wave of plasma, presenting a vacuum that not even her heat could travel through. The stone of the hallway began to melt into rivulets of brilliant orange, but the Alliance’s champions survived relatively unharmed.

The Hurricane of Ice roared, and the stone around them froze solid once more.

Well, Celestia certainly had their attention now. Perfect.

Three dimensional pockets appeared at the feet of the enemy champions, still glowing with residual amounts of Luna’s aura. They exploded a moment later, releasing the combined energy of every anti-aura gem that Cliff Runner had given Celestia.

Celestia herself was hurled back toward the door, but she could see Twilight, Fire Claws, and Burning Torch moving like blurs past her.

“Providence’sarmorwasdamagedslightlyintheblast,” Twilight sent so quickly that her message was a blur. “I mean, wowthisisharderthanIexpected, Providence’s armor was damaged slightly in the blast. It’s healing itself quickly from all the residual magic, though. The Hurricanes are in the worst shape; Ice and Thunder are unconscious. We’ll target the other three. The drakes are all weakened, but they can still fight.”

It would have been really nice if that spell Twilight, Claws, and Torch were using could affect more than three creatures at a time. Still, three members of their group were thinking at supernatural speeds and could understand almost anything just by looking at it. That was nothing to complain about.

Providence’s hammer swung at Twilight, forcing her to teleport back. “Keep searching,” he positioned himself in the center of the hallway, “I will hold them off!”

Luna appeared at the far end of the hallway, her eyes glowing with the moon’s energy. “No you will not.” She stomped with both forehooves, and every surface in the hallway exploded into countless sharp fragments of rock, all flying at the Alliance’s champions.

Golden light exploded from Dun Brii, blasting the fragments into powder, as Qo Peyt fired a beam of Void Fire at Luna.

Luna phased down through the floor just in time to dodge, letting the Void Fire gouge deeply into the floor where she had just been.

“Excuse me,” Zephyr appeared between the Dun Brii and Qo Peyt, and chains of darkness appeared all over them both, “but I’ll be your opponent today. It would hurt my feelings if you paid attention to anyone else.”

Providence spun and hit Zephyr square in the chest with his hammer, sending the kumiho crashing through an unopened door.

“Celestia,” Zephyr sent, “would you mind occupying those three for a moment while I regrow most of my torso? It’s a good thing I don’t run on life-force like the rest of you, or that could have been the end for me.”

Celestia didn’t have time to ask what he did run on, because Providence was already chasing after Zephyr.

Meanwhile, Silver Tail had tackled Luna, and the two of them were grappling fiercely, exchanging kicks and slashes that would have torn right through any normal creature.

In front of them, Twilight had teleported into the middle of the Hurricanes with Claws and Torch. Unfamiliar techniques were already flying between the two groups. Celestia was most surprised by how well the Hurricanes were able to maneuver on the ground in these cramped conditions. They seemed just at comfortable here as they were in the sky.

The others would have to take care of themselves for a moment. Celestia teleported between Zephyr and Providence. Earth pony magic surged into her head and neck as she blocked Providence’s downwards swinging hammer with the tip of her horn.

The floor gave way beneath Celestia, driving her into the ground in spite of her magic distributing the impact, but she grit her teeth and pushed back. The hammer sucked away her magic, true, but Celestia’s horn was exactly where her body was designed to release magic anyway, and the sun’s infinite power restored everything she was losing.

With a mighty flap, Celestia hurled herself at Providence, catching him in the chest and flying with him back into the hallway and through the opposite door.

Her back hooves slammed into the floor, stabilizing her as her forehooves pounded into the Guard’s armor. His hammer was a fearsome weapon, but he couldn’t use it in close quarters like this.

Providence quickly proved otherwise. One of his hands grabbed onto her mane, pulling her head back, while his other hand gripped the hammer near the end of its shaft and slammed that section into her neck like one would use a dagger.

Celestia staggered back just as Providence reversed his grip and brought the hammer’s head swinging right up at Celestia’s face.

The world exploded into purple, and suddenly she was standing next to Twilight.

“OhmyCelestia, youalmostdied! Areyouokay?”

Though shaken, Celestia brought up a shield in time to block some kind of ray from the Hurricane of Venom. “I’m fine, thanks to you.” She pressed a hoof to her neck. She would probably be suffocating right now if her flesh hadn’t been replaced by super-heated plasma. “Zephyr, how are you?”

Five flying tails shot out of the cell where Zephyr was, forming a circle around Dun Brii and Qo Peyt. “Can’t complain, because I still don’t have lungs. Had to let the kids go play for a bit.” Darkness engulfed the twin dragonesses, drowning out a confused shout. “That pocket dimension should hold them for a minute or two.”

There was an explosion, and the dragonesses reappeared, gasping and covered in sweat.

“Or not. They must’ve overloaded the enchantment.”

Celestia ducked to the side, narrowly dodging a focused sound wave from one of the Hurricanes. It tore through her shield and the stone beneath her with equal ease.

Providence emerged from his own cell. The dents Celestia had made were already disappearing. “Go!” he called to his allies. “Release Yol Toor and end this bloodshed!”

At the end of the hallway, Luna finally kicked Silver Tail away, sending him crashing into the ceiling with such force that he disappeared completely.

Luna flipped onto her hooves. Glowing white energy dripped from her in place of blood, but she charged at Providence without hesitation. “You shall not touch our sister!”

Twin balls of golden energy hit her in the chest, but they didn’t explode like normal Void Bombs. Instead, they hurled her backwards, smashing her diagonally through the wall and dozens of feet of stone before she came to rest.

“And you,” gasped Qo Peyt.

“Won’t touch our uncle,” finished Dun Brii.

Zephyr’s tails all flew back to his cell, and he emerged, holding a paw against the bloody mess that was his chest. “You’re hurting my feelings, girls.” Red electricity shot from his tails, arcing to the dragonesses and hissing angrily as they screamed in pain.

Providence’s hammer swung and caught Zephyr in the head, but the kumiho’s entire form simply disappeared with a pop.

“Fool me once …” a disembodied voice said.

The ground beneath Providence suddenly turned into liquid, and he fell out of sight with only a ripple to show where he had been.

Zephyr reappeared next to Twilight and Celestia, collapsing immediately. “Are we done yet?” He coughed up blood.

Celestia grabbed him and teleported away from yet another of the Hurricanes’ attacks. She reappeared at the edge of the dungeon. “Stay here.”

Back in the hall, Twilight, Claws, and Torch were being forced back by the Hurricanes, Dun Brii, and Qo Peyt.

Celestia took advantage of their distraction to pull in more of the sun’s energy and convert it into a beam of destructive energy.

Unfortunately, something took control of the beam and pulled it off to the side, heading straight for the hole where Luna had been thrown.

There wasn’t time to wonder which foe had done that or how. Celestia teleported in front of Luna, blasting away stone to make room for herself, and threw up a shield. Her legs nearly buckled beneath the force of her own spell, but her shield held.

Luna struggled to her hooves in the cramped space that Celestia had created. Her body had reverted back to flesh and blood, but her expression was far from defeated. “Thank you, sister. We must try to end this quickly, before we do irreparable damage to the Castle’s foundation.”

She teleported away, reappearing between Qo Peyt and the Hurricane of Venom. Luna’s forelegs and wings shot out in unison, sending the unfortunate dragons crashing through the stone in opposite directions.

Dun Brii’s tail caught Luna by one foreleg, and her aura transformed into golden spikes that drove themselves deep into the alicorn’s flesh.

At the same time, a line of red energy from the Hurricane of Fire sliced along Luna’s other side, exposing her ribs.

Luna’s flesh knit itself back together almost instantly, though, and she slammed her free forehoof into Dun Brii’s face while at the same time pulling the white dragoness between her and another attack by the Hurricane of Wind.

Celestia appeared at Luna’s side, unintentionally taking a beam of Void Fire from the hole where Qo Peyt had been thrown. She crashed into her sister, sending them both down in a tangle of limbs.

Twilight appeared next to the pair. Her magic wrapped around Dun Brii, overwhelming the drake’s aura long enough to slam her into the same hole as Qo Peyt. A deafening purple explosion came from the hole moments later, shaking the entire dungeon.

Fire Claws and Burning Torch reached the alicorns as well, and quickly engaged the Hurricanes of Fire and Wind.

“Our spell is only going to last for another thirty-one seconds,” Claws sent. “We have to finish this now!”

Farther back in the hallway, Providence’s metallic form emerged from the floor, breaking aside stone with contemptuous ease as he climbed to his hooves.

Someone is going to die if this continues, Celestia realized. Twilight, Claws, and Torch were all exhausted, Luna wasn’t much better, and Zephyr couldn’t fight at all anymore.

Only two Hurricanes were still active, but Providence had literally been designed and built to fight in cramped conditions like this. Celestia could potentially defeat him if she fought on her own, but she knew the others would never stand by and let her take such a risk. They would get involved, and something deep in Celestia’s heart told her that it would prove fatal for at least one of her dear friends and family.

She could only imagine the death that was already happening in the Castle above. Chrysalis was powerful, but would she be able to protect everyone from the Alliance’s warriors? Even if Chrysalis was able, Celestia knew that the changeling queen might not be willing to keep all of those ponies safe.

There was only one way to stop all this, end the battle immediately. Celestia knew how, she had known for weeks, but fear of the risks had always held her back.

She couldn’t let anyone else die because of her fear.

“Focus only on defending yourselves. I’ll return in a few seconds!” Celestia teleported one more time, appearing in front of Yol Toor’s cell.

“Princess,” Ebon Light gasped, “what happened? Are you okay?”

The other guards all pressed toward her, asking similar questions.

Celestia ignored them and focused on Yol Toor. “Do you truly desire peace more than victory? Do you believe we can end this war and create that peace?”

Yol Toor looked back at her, his expression set. Celestia could tell that he knew exactly what was going on outside. “Yes, I do.”

This was it. Yol Toor was still weak, but his power might enough to turn the tide of this battle. He could help Providence kill them all, ensuring complete victory for the Dragon Alliance, but he could also call a vote for peace, ending the war by nightfall. It was almost funny how months of bloody combat came down to this one moment. The fate of the world depended on the choice of one dragon—victory or peace?

Celestia held her breath and commanded Yol Toor’s cell to open.

Comments

[Truthseeker]

Would somebody PLEASE kill Chrysalis!

The Everfree Platoon is about to get owned.

[Jarimor]

this will be...messy.

[ArchimediesMD]

Freaking cliffhangers

[Joeyjambo122]

7772740 This purely out of curiosity, but how many chapters are left of this story?

And here's another question, are you planning side stories of this canon that occurred between this story and the first? I mean, I kinda like see what roles that Cliff and the other new characters had in during pivotal moments like Starlight's revenge and her time jumping and how the alternate timelines affected them, the birth of Flurry Heart, Spirit befriending Thorax, ecetra.

Even if it's just one shot stories, I'd like to see mlp episodes that are somewhat changed by the your own canon.

[GrimmWolfDragon]

Great chapter 61. Man what a end

[Vedues]

7774019 There will be 63 chapters total. (yikes, we're almost finished!) Anyway, I've considered doing some one-shots like what you suggested. I'll let you know if I actually manage to do some of them.

[Toa Coy]

Me: do the thing

M.wolfdragon: the thing?

F.wolfdragon: Oh the thing.

Robot: doing the thing *hits play*