The Codex Amicitia

by malletmann

Cantermarch

Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Equestrian Guard, and Protector of the Crystal Empire, stood his ground in command of a great host assembled of all Ponykind. Pegasi lancers from Cloudsdale, hearty warrior earth ponies from Stalliongrad, Crystal Defenders, and Solar and Lunar Guard from Canterlot all united to combat this horrific threat to Equestria.

The decorated unicorn brought his spyglass to his eye. Coming up the foothills of Mount Canter was an army of massive bipedal crystal monsters. They had already devastated several smaller settlements, including much to his own personal distress, Ponyville, and were now marching on the capitol. The only thing stopping them were his forces, but they would fight tooth and hoof before they let the horrors get any closer to Canterlot.

Shining Armor turned to address his ponies. "Alright, guardsponies. It is time to show these rocky fools what happens when you mess with Equestria! These monsters have terrorized our homes, our friends, our families, and now they think they can get away with marching up to Canterlot. Well, let me tell you that it is simply not going to happen. We will stand here, unicorn, pegasus, earth pony. We will stand up to them, we will be strong, and we will drive them back to wherever it was they came from! Am I right?"

A chorus of cheers showed the approval of his subordinates. Shining turned once more, this time facing the north. He gently pulled a pendant hanging around his neck out from under his armor, upon which was strung a single pink feather. "I'll be back, I promise," he whispered, then faced the oncoming foe. His horn blazed with arcane power as the first giants stomped into range.

"For Equestria!"

Shining lead his fellow unicorns in the Spire Guard, sending a volley of magic beams down the slope at the first crystal giant. The combined force shattered the giant, scattering shards across the hillside. Another rose up in its place. The Spire Guard fired again, repeating the success.

A third approached, this one lifting a massive boulder and hurling it at the unicorn line. The ponies scattered, their line temporarily disrupted. This allowed another giant to get within launching distance. The unicorns were forced to raise a force shield in order to protect the line. Earth pony guards began to bring their siege weapons, massive catapults, trebuchets and ballistae, to bear. Large rocks and bolts began to reign down on the giants, chipping and cracking their mineralized bodies.

"Pegasi, attack!" A wing of pegasi guards took to the sky, their armor gleaming in the sunlight. Clutching rocks in their forehooves, they began dive-bombing the giants. The giants tried to throw rocks at them as well, but the pegasi easily dodged such attacks. The rocks fell amongst the giants, causing just as much destruction as the earth pony siege engines. Limbs began to fall from the giants as their stone bodies were smashed to pieces by the unrelenting barrage coming from the equine defenders.

One of the giants strode forward, the ground quaking as every step sent up a blast of dust from the ground. It raised its arm, and a new growth of crystal sprouted from its forearm. This spread and expanded, eventually forming a wide shield which the giant then used to advance further. Rocks and bolts struck and chipped away at it, but by the time they could wear it down completely, the monster had reached the edge of the force field and begun to pound away at it.

More of the giants began to follow the first's lead. The ponies tried to increase the rate of fire, but they could not hold back the advancing army. "The shield can't hold," Shining Armor called out as he struggled to maintain the barrier. "Fall back and reform the line uphill!"

The earth ponies and unicorns began to move their large weapons uphill, while the pegasi continued to harry the enemy in an effort to buy their brethren time. This proved costly, as the giants would suddenly reach up and pluck some of the more low-flying pegasi. Any so caught were subjected to some form of magical draining that left them in a catatonic state.

The force shield fell just as the last catapult was wheeled into place. A volley of boulders thrown by the giants landed amongst the unicorns as they prepared to raise another shield over the new line. One of the boulders tumbled straight for Shining Armor. "Look out!" The shout was heard, its speaker unknown, as the ponies dived in an attempt to avoid being crushed by the incoming projectile.

Shining stood up, shaking the dust free of his armor. He looked around, and was disheartened at what he saw. Shooting Star, a young stallion about his sister's age and a fairly new recruit in the guard, had been crushed by the rock and lay gasping his final breaths in his crumpled armor. The guard captain knew on the intellectual level that in war there were casualties, but Equestria had been at peace for so long that most ponies serving in the guard did not truly understand it, and Shining Armor had never lost a soldier under his command before.

He looked out over the battlefield, trying to determine the best course of action. At the current rate of attrition, the guard might be able to hold the giants and keep Canterlot safe, but there was no way of knowing how many guardsponies he would lose in the course of the battle. There was also no way of knowing if there were more of the giants on their way.

None of that mattered, Shining realized as he blocked another round of stones with his magic. If the giants reached the city, all was lost. He was not going to let innocent ponies down, not while he still drew breath. He would fight them with every ounce of strength in his body and horn, and would do everything in his power to keep his army in the fight for as long as possible.

---

Twilight Sparkle looked down the hill from the balcony in Canterlot at the great battle that waged below, more worried than she had ever been in her life, even considering the mare's consistent struggle with anxiety. She wanted to let her brother know that she was alright, but to her distress found out he had already departed for the front lines by the time the refugees from Ponyville arrived in Canterlot. More importantly, though, she wanted to make sure he was safe.

As she watched the chaos unfold, she reminded herself that she was hardly in the worst shape at the moment. Of her friends, it was only herself, Pinkie and Fluttershy who hadn't already lost loved ones in the escape from Ponyville. Both Rarity and Applejack had their little sisters taken from them, along with Scootaloo. Rainbow Dash had grown quite fond of the little orange filly recently, and wasn't taking her loss very well.

They hadn't given up hope. They didn't know what these crystal giants wanted, and still fully planned on rescuing their lost kin from their cold clutches. Twilight herself was already preparing, studying any magic that she thought might be of help in restoring them. She didn't have a choice; she had to do something to keep herself busy, otherwise she would drive herself insane with worry.

She knew she should get back to her research, and that there was nothing more she could do from up here. No matter how hard she tried, though, she couldn't tear her eyes away from the grisly sight. It was her brother down there that was leading the defense, and she couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to him.

There was a knock at the door. Briefly irritated at the audacity of anyone brazen enough to approach her at a time like this, she considered rebuking the guest. Ultimately deciding against it, she opened the door and was glad to see the immaculate figure of her beloved mentor, Princess Celestia.

"Princess Celestia, what brings you by? Are you coming to check on my research? I think I may be able to free the ponies the giants have, enchanted for lack of a better word, but I'll need to test it first." The two of them walked out to the balcony to view the battle below with anxious eyes. "That is, assuming we win this battle."

Celestia extended a wing and draped it over her protege. The weight of a thousand years of reigning alone, combined with the sudden burden of leading a nation through crisis and war, rested heavily on the princess's withers, and it was times like these she felt as ancient as she truly was. Even so, all it took was one look into the amethyst eyes of the mare in front of her to restore her resolve. "Have faith Twilight, we will prevail this day. Of that I have no doubt. Still, this will take all of the strength we have. That is why I've come to you. Princess Luna and I will shortly be departing to command from the front line."

The lavender mare looked at her, perplexed. "How can you? I mean, how can both of you? You are our leaders, and while I can certainly see how important it is, how will Canterlot go on while you are away? Or if..." Twilight let the thought trail off, unwilling to perceive its ultimate conclusion.

"Which is why while we are gone, you will be in charge, Twilight Sparkle," the princess said with a smile. "And should the worst come to pass, I have named you my personal successor. Do not fret, and if the time comes, remember to listen to your friends. Your letters these past years have shown me that you are ready for this responsibility, more so than any other pony in Equestria."

Twilight bowed her head. "I will do my best, Your Highness, to live up to your expectations. I thank you for this great honor."

"The honor is mine, for having such a wonderful student. Now come, we have a great deal to do and precious little time." With that, the two of them left the room.

---

Red eldritch fire streaked through the air as Carpathios unleashed a terrible wrath upon these abominations that would destroy such idyllic beauty. His flames did not scorch wood or flesh, leaving the pony-built structures and their now apparently soulless creators unharmed. Instead, they burned to slag piles the crystalline horrors which assaulted him.

Sword in one hand, newly-acquired staff in the other, the mage surged through the streets, bringing elemental forces down on any foe he witnessed. Quickly bright, razor sharp shards littered the streets, fragile monuments to the invaders reduced to shattered fragments by one man's anger.

Carpathios, the ethereal voice of Soptek said, you must calm yourself and think. These foes will require more than rage and brute force to defeat, they will require a plan.

Carpathios stopped, and took stock of his surroundings. The majority of the giants had left the town, and were making for the capital city of Canterlot. "The enemy attacks the city, in greater numbers than the Guard can defeat. They will overrun it if we do nothing."

There is much we can do. We have prepared several incantations; you have the strength to cast them. Carpathios returned to the library, to prepare to change the course of this war.

Author's Note:

For those wondering: I view the Crystal Empire as an Equestrian protectorate. It isn't really an empire, anyway.

The Spire Guard is an all-unicorn unit of the most powerful combat mages in Equestria. They're tasked primarily with defending Canterlot's most heavily guarded magic secrets, but can be deployed in times of trouble. They're the ones seen in It's About Time.