Siege of the Crystal Empire

by Mystic Mind

Chapter 17: The Trap

(17: The Trap)

A hearty roar of victory swept across the army of the Crystal Empire. The most powerful creatures they had ever faced had been defeated, and now there was only one task left to end the day; eliminate the siege machines that continued to bombard their city's walls, seemingly unaware at the massacre of Trolls that lay ahead of them. Pulling his rapier out from the corpse of Kur'zun, Emerald made his announcement to all soldiers who were still fighting fit.

“Prepare yourselves, my friends! Moonshadow is dead, and now it is time to make our final push and gain glory for the Crystal Empire! Lancers, reform into a single unit around me; we will storm their siege machines head on, while everypony else will sweep around them from behind. The Ice Trolls tried to destroy us, but now they shall face the consequences of their actions!”

'Glory' was an apt word for the emotional state Emerald found himself in. After so many years of inactivity and feelings of redundancy, the victory rush was such that upon putting his breastplate back on and re-joining his fellow Crystal Ponies, the wounds inflicted from his duel with Kur'zun were little more than an afterthought. He had gone above and beyond the call of duty for his Princess, and now it was time to cement himself as a hero for the ages.

By contrast, Stellar Shine could not allow himself to relax so soon. Every time he brought up the memory of Moonshadow, he felt a deep sense of foreboding seething within his soul. Though the image of Moonshadow he forced himself to recall—against the deep-seeded wrongness that such a thought inspired—was far from clear, he was certain that what he had seen was a pony, not a Troll, a fact which was contradicted by the unfolding events. If the shaman was not Moonshadow, then why did the Phantom Stallions die alongside him?

“Hey, Equestria to Stellar Shine!”

Stellar was pulled out from his self-imposed analytical labyrinth by the voice of Meteor Might, tears of joy streaming down her smiling face.

“We've won! Moonshadow is dead, now all that's left fer us is ta tidy up the leftover rubbish.”

“That is...surprisingly eloquent, my friend,” Moonlight said, mirroring Meteor's delight with a tight hug. “I never knew you had such a way with words.”

“I guess havin' what ye'd call time to chill out really helped, eh?”

“Oh, I am so going to get you for that one!”

Stellar stared at the two giggling mares with confusion. How could they be so happy when the battlefield was littered with the broken and mutilated bodies of their comrades? Then again, the whole concept of glory in war never quite click with him anyway. What did click, however, was the minute glow filling the blank eyes of the dead. This was an odd phenomenon, given how—in Stellar's experience—magic from a deceased pony would usually dissipate in an instant, instead of slowly expunging like the exhaust smoke of a steam locomotive.

“Is there a problem, sir?” Far Seer had teleported down to meet his brother-in-arms, his expression held in a soft frown as he enquired about Stellar's health. “Are you wounded?”

“No...” Stellar replied, though his voice was as vacant as his stare. Something was wrong. Deadly wrong. Though the battle had been bloody, every instinct from his years as a Canterlot Guarspony told him that this victory was far too easy.

“Stellar?” Far Seer asked again, dropping the formal pretences as his voice began to quiver. “What's that ma-”

“Everypony, get down!” Stellar swung his hoof around Far Seer, pulling him to the ground as the magic of the dead soldiers, both pony and Troll alike, burst out from every orifice and sucked the clouds with a blinding flash of light.

Stellar watched on in horror as the manna storm shot bolts of magical lightning into the Phantom Stallions, their scattered armour drifting back towards one another as the glow in their eyes returned, their unlife rekindled. Worst of all, with the charge of the Empire's forces towards the siege machines far at the back of what was the Troll army, they practically gave the phantoms an open invitation to encircle them in a fortress of dark magic and metal.

“Archers, shoot!” Stellar yelled at the top of his lungs, hoping to Celestia that his regiment could arm their weapons and eliminate the phantoms before they fully revived. Alas, they were too slow, as by the time they were ready to draw their arrows, the Phantom Stallions had already surrounded the defenders. Taken by surprise, the rear ranks of ponies crumbled beneath the empowered monsters, the surge of magic siphoned from the bodies of the fallen multiplying their strength and speed beyond what anypony knew they were capable of.

Only noticing the carnage of the Canterlot Guards once it was already in progress, Emerald scrambled to order his soldiers into an effective formation, using the main infantry to reform the base of the phalanx. Nearly three ranks of ponies were dead by the time anything resembling a formation came into shape. The tight space they found themselves in—assaulted on all sides by the phantoms while everypony rushed to get into the correct order—made it difficult for the pole-hammer heavy infantry to get an effective shot over the crowd of archers.

With the Lancers stuck towards the back, their casualties quickly became the heaviest, their speed, accuracy and general toughness counting for little against the supernatural enemy whose numbers had been restored. Within minutes of entering combat, despite Garnet's best efforts to direct them into a phalanx, more than half of the Crystal Lancers had died.

Both Emerald and Garnet could see the siege machines were tantalizingly close, a mere stone's throw away from where their warriors were being slaughtered, yet protected behind the wall of Phantom Stallions. With Stellar galloping at full speed towards them, dodging and weaving through the disorganised sputter of arrows falling short of their target, Garnet reared up on and grasped her mace with both front hooves, spinning herself on the spot and screaming as she poured all her frustrations into her wild assault. Standing behind her, Emerald took pot shots at any phantom attempting to get around her. Though only a small percentage of his attacks even connected, the fact that he was stalling the monsters long enough for her to do the killing was more than enough.

Despite the unhelpful situation, Garnet still fuelled her combat with a fierce optimism, her veins bulging with the roaring torrent of blood that gave her assault such power. "'Die, you mongrels!' she howled and struck at another opponent, bending their breastplate and slowing their charge mid-pace. There was no place she could think to be other than fighting for the Empire with the one who trained her. “Just like old times, isn’t it, Commander?”

“You could say so,” Emerald replied, smiling back at his cohort. “You remember the shield charge manoeuvre I taught, don’t you?”

“Do I ever!” Beaming with enthusiasm, Garnet lowered her shoulder onto the back of her shield and it into the enemy, the force of the blow toppling four phantoms onto each other in a domino effect. “After all these years, I’ve finally mastered the shield charge technique. Wouldn’t you say?”

“You don’t have need my approval, Garnet,” the soft edge of Emerald’s tone was anything but formal, despite its firmness making a clear display of the pride her felt in his oldest comrade. “You remember what I told you during the Crystal Uprising?”

Most Crystal Ponies preferred to forget the lifetime’s worth of horror they suffered under the tyrant Unicorn’s rule, but not Garnet. The reference to her daring escape from the dungeons of King Sombra Garnet’s heart with nostalgia. “The death of the enemy is its own reward, Commander!”

“See? I taught you well. Keep this up, and we’ll be out of here in no time.”

Suddenly, an ominous laughter echoing overhead warped Emerald’s optimism into a deep feeling of dread. Though there was some initial confusion as to where the sound was coming from, a purple mist descending from the clouds gathered around the foot of the siege machines, the swirling gas solidifying itself in the shape of a pale blue unicorn with an elongated horn.

“You Crystal Ponies have put up quite the spectacular resistance,” Moonshadow's raspy voice dripped with maniacal glee. “A valiant effort indeed. Such a shame that it is all for naught. Now that you have fallen into my trap, your empire will fall and not even your beloved princess will be able to save you now. But first, I shall indulge myself a bit and slaughter you all.” The tiniest spark of Moonshadow's horn was enough to command the Trolls who worked the catapults to push their machines forward, the blank whites of their eyes giving away that they were no more living than the Phantom Stallions.

Teleporting over the phantom ranks, Stellar joined the fray alongside Meteor and Moonlight, both of whom were faring better in their kills than those closer to Moonshadow. Meteor's heavy blows were followed up by a flurry of strikes from Moonlight, which worked well to prevent most retaliatory hits. When Stellar noticed that Moonlight's fast assault was made possible by the extra weapons she held at the tips of her wings, he realized that there was a tactical option which even Emerald hadn't realised yet.

“Ah, so the great Stellar Shine has finally revealed himself,” Moonlight said, stabbing the gem of a phantom whose front legs was in the process of returning to its torso. “We seem to be in a bit of a pickle, just in case you haven't noti-”

“Moonlight!” Stellar interrupted. “Lead air support, now!”

“Air support? What are you talking about? The skies are choked with...” it took a moment for Moonlight to realise that one thing Moonshadow hadn't done was whip up another snowstorm. Despite being one of the most powerful unicorns she had ever seen, command of the elements was something he did not appear capable of. Flipping her stilettos around, Moonlight presented them to Stellar to take. “I guess I won't be needing these. Fancy keeping them warm for me while I'm away?”

Stellar shook his head, pushing the weapons back to Moonlight. “No thanks, you'd best stick with them. Never know when they could be useful. Besides, I'm more of a ranger kind of pony anyway.” Stellar proved his point with a point blank shot at a Phantom Stallion, the arrow piercing right through its shoulder. It did nothing to slow it down, but it was enough evidence to convince Moonlight that Stellar would be able to hold his own in close quarters.

“Then look after Meteor instead. She's become rather special to me lately,” with a wink towards the yellow earth pony, Moonlight spread her bat-like wings and took off, calling for her fellow Pegasi to do the same.

Any questions Stellar had about the potential romance blossoming in such dire times found themselves shelved away in the back of his mind. He had bigger worries to think about, including a gamble which he hoped would buy his friends enough time to escape. Channelling a stream of magic to his horn, Stellar waved it in the faces of the Phantom Stallions to his left. “You want magic, you monsters? Then what in Tartarus are you waiting for? Come get it!”

Like a moth to the flame, the phantoms disengaged from combat with opponents and marched in Stellar's direction. He immediately gave chase, scoring a few easy kills as they returned to backing up the Cavaliers and the heavy infantry who fought to support them.

“Stay back, you fools!” Stellar cried. “Make a run for it and defend the walls! We cannot afford to let the Phantom Stallions get through!”

“Oh, no, you don't.” A blast of magic collided into Stellar with the force of a falling star, pinning him to the ground as his magic became nullified by the stronger arcane force. Moonshadow's hoof was rolled up into a fist, a mystical mimic spell transferring the physical movement into a magic attack with a force multiplied many times over.

“No! Stellar Shine!” Meteor called, smashing her way through as many phantoms as she could to come to his aid. Slamming her shoulder into one, Meteor sent it toppling head over hooves away from her, trampling over its armour even before it hit the ground. Using the broken creature as a platform to make a huge leap into the air, Meteor let out a war cry so ferocious that even Moonshadow took notice of her incredible rage. Yet despite her outward appearances suggesting she was slipping back into a berserker rush once more, keeping Stellar at the centre of her vision gave her just enough mental strength to hold onto her last lingering threads of sanity.

Meteor got a good, initial look at Stellar from the air, offering a silent thanks to the Crystal Heart that there weren't any obvious signs of injury; no broken bones or cut flesh, only one seriously dazed pony with a few arcane burns to his coat and magic streaming out of his horn. Gravity took hold of Meteor a second later, earning her name as she slammed her hammer into the ground, cracking the earth beneath her to drop Stellar into a small fissure of her own making, releasing him from Moonshadow's grip.

“Ugh...Moonshadow...” Stellar groaned, struggling to remain conscious.

“Stop talkin', ye silly bugger,” Meteor said, flinging Stellar onto her back. “We're getting outa here, now.”

Unaware of his injuries, Emerald continued to push himself harder to fight against the phantoms. Though with each swing of his weapon, the muscles in his shoulders and legs only became sorer, his breathing becoming more laborious as he forced himself to maintain his pace.

“Are you okay, Commander?” Garnet asked, throwing her shield in front of Emerald to block an enemy stomp. “You're not looking so good.”

“I'm...fine...” Emerald replied through heavy breaths, though it was obvious he was not. His wounds stung as some reopened, his inner magic dwindling away from the length of the battle, despite the boost Stellar had granted him. Worst of all, Emerald felt one side of his body starting to lag behind the other, his coat beneath his armour becoming matted with blood.

By the way his younger companions kept up their pace with far less effort, Emerald could no longer deny that he was showing his age, his injuries notwithstanding. Looking over the enemy troops towards the advancing siege machines—built from parts he had been present to witness being stolen—Emerald saw Moonshadow preparing to cast another spell, his attention focused on Stellar Shine and Meteor instead of the Pegasus ponies who were joining Moonlight in the air.

Emerald knew what he had to do. He had killed an enemy Commander before, so now he would have to do so again; just as his duty commanded.

“Moonlight!” he called. “Care to give me a leg up?”

Withdrawing her weapons, Moonlight circled around Emerald, reaching out to pull him into the air as ordered.

“Commander, what are you doing?!” Garnet yelled; she just didn't want to admit the answer. Old heroes like Emerald always did have their ways in making their mark on the history for the kingdoms they fought to protect.

“What a leader must do, Garnet,” Emerald's reply was flat and sombre. “I'm going to take care of unfinished business.”

“B-but Emerald...” Garnet's eyes began to well up with tears. “You...you can't...”

“Where do you want the drop off, Commander?” Moonlight asked, allowing herself to show only a fraction of the worry Garnet displayed. Individual heroics were rare amongst the Night Guards, though even if ignorance did play some part in her minimal concern, it was more to do with her nature and training that she followed orders without question.

“Right here,” Emerald said, pointing his rapier directly at Moonshadow. Though before Moonlight carried him away, Garnet spoke up one more time.

"Emerald?"

"Yes, Garnet?" he looked back at her.

Taking a deep breath to hold back the flow of tears which were refusing to end, Garnet saluted her commander. "In the name of the Crystal Empire, bring that foul Unicorn down!"

"I will, Garnet," he nodded. "Don't worry; you'll see what these old bones can do against enemy commanders."

And with that, Moonlight was off. Keeping her flight low to avoid the constant barrage of the siege machines advancing towards her—Moonlight flew over the ranks of Phantom Stallions, releasing her grip once she was certain Emerald would reach his target. Dropping fast towards Moonshadow, the commanding Cavalier thrust his weapon into the dark Unicorn's shoulder just as he landed on his hooves, piercing the flesh just below the neck.

True to his word, the Crystal Pony Commnder kept Moonshadow occupied, unleashing a series of stabs that pushed himself to the limit in both speed and flexibility, only for each one to be rebuffed with a flash of the dark Unicorn's magic. Despite being battered and bruised, his limbs aching all over, Emerald refused to give up, returning again and again to progress his deadly dance around the sorcerer. Lighting his horn, Moonshadow called upon a quartet of Phantom Stallions to aid in his defence, the monsters separating from the rear ranks to fight back against the Crystal Pony who threatened their master.

Though he couldn't protect himself from every attack, the spiked hooves of the ghostly warriors cutting deep gashes in his flesh and breaking several ribs as his armour began to crack, Emerald persevered. A phantom struck him in the back of his leg, breaking the femur in two, only for Emerald to use the direction of his reflex to swing around and stab the gem of a phantom. Another broke off his shoulder guard, slicing through the tendons in his left front leg. Yet instead of pulling away, he swung the limp limb around the phantom's neck, ignoring the burning agony of a ruptured vein to mount the creature and push its helm forward; just wide enough to thrust his rapier through the gap. Even as all four of his limbs gave way beneath him, the other phantom next to him bucked over the fallen, knocking the air out of Emerald's lungs. Still he resisted, spitting blood in its eye sockets; a temporary blinding to allow retaliation.

For every Phantom Stallion Emerald killed, two more would take its place, until after five straight minutes of combat, his wounds finally caught up to him. Pinned beneath the hooves of a Phantom Stallion, Emerald could barely lift his head any more, even as Moonshadow approached him with his third eye opening.

“You have caused me quite a bit of trouble, you little pest,” the sorcerer sneered. “But I will still get the last laugh. You and your disgusting Crystal Empire will fall to me, and the power of the Crystal Heart shall be rightfully mine. If you thought that you were wronged by the hooves of King Sombra; you cannot possibly comprehend the level of horrors that await those who will not bow to me. How does it feel to know that you are about to die for nothing?”

Sputtering up a stream of blood from his lungs, Emerald looked to Moonshadow and grinned. “I think you're mistaken. Just look behind you.”

When Moonshadow cast his eyes back to his army, he found that his siege machines had stopped in their tracks; the Trolls that operated them killed via slashed throats from the wing blades of a Pegasus pony. Emerald's plan had worked. He had kept Moonshadow's attention on him long enough to give his army a chance to escape.

In addition, Emerald had one final trick up his sleeve to cement his legacy. Closing his eyes, Emerald drew upon the last remaining glimmer of his magic, the green flicker behind his eyes giving him one last burst the strength needed to throw his rapier like a javelin. As it flew, the tip of the sword grazed past Moonshadow's neck, cutting open a wound that, while shallow, was deep enough to draw blood; the first and only injury Moonshadow had sustained the entire battle.

“There is... more of that... to... come…”

Unware of the duel unfolding behind her, Moonlight looped around to join her fellow Pegasi, swooping down to smack her weapon on the backside of a phantom's head to give Garnet an opening to finish it off. The three consecutive blows to its chest that Garnet provided went exactly as expected, but what she didn't expect was a fourth attack aimed at her. The heavy mace made only the smallest of glancing blows, though when it came to the delicate balancing act of flying, a clipped wing was enough to send her into a somersault with only minimal room to correct her path.

“Garnet! What in Equestria are you-” Moonlight was answered in the form of another swing of Garnet's mace, tears streaming down her face as she screamed with each attack.

“You Heart be damned monster!” Garnet wailed, aiming her attacks high to prevent Moonlight from getting back in the air. “Do you have any idea what in Tartarus you've just done?! You've sent Emerald to die! Why didn’t you rescue him?!”

“What kind of soldier do you think I am?” Moonlight shot back with a look of disgust identical to that she had given Meteor earlier. “It was his order! I can't disobey a superior command on the whim of another soldier. It's my duty as a Night Guard to follow the chain of command to the letter!”

“Of course, it is,” Garnet dropped her weapon and fell to her knees, her voice cracking as her eyes stung from the tears. “You don't understand him like I do. I saw it in his eyes. He's an old-fashioned hero, wanting to sacrifice his life in battle to save the rest of us...”

“But how do you know he’s going to die?” Moonlight tilted her head in confusion. “Surely, he's going to kill Moonshadow, like he did the shaman! Then this whole war will be over.”

“No!” Garnet screamed, swinging her hoof into Moonlight's cheek. “No, no, no! You still don't get it! He's just one pony, and Moonshadow is more... Moonshadow is...”

No other words needed to be spoken. Looking back, Moonlight couldn’t believe her eyes. Emerald, arguably one of the greatest heroes of the empire, was dead. Wrapping her hooves around Garnet, Moonlight embraced her in a tight hug, momentarily forgetting the battle while her comrades on both the ground and in the air did their best to slow the enemy's advancement.

“Get off me, monster!” Garnet screamed, shoving Moonlight away. Her heart was breaking, not just for what had become of Emerald, but also for the way she was losing control of her emotions; just as she had berated one of the Lancers for doing. “If we survive this, Princess Celestia will hear about this. She should have never accepted Nightmare Moon or her minions back into service! If it's the last thing I do, I will see you hung for your crimes!”

Garnet's threat pierced through Moonlight's heart with a cold far worse than her frozen trap. For years she had thought that old prejudices had been abandoned, so if she simply followed orders and fight for her allies, all past sins would be forgotten. Now she had to face a harsh reality; one that was entirely different to what she had imagined. She had been thrown through a loop at the worst possible moment – trapped under the weight of her own emotions as Phantom Stallions were regrouping around her.

A smack to the back of her head by the hoof of Meteor Might was what it took to bring her back to the present. “I don't know what's gotten into ye,” Meteor said in a voice that was a volatile mixture of concern, confusion and annoyance all at the same time. “But I cannae be carrying ye on me back as well. Full house at the minute. Emerald's given us an opening to retreat, but it won't be lastin' long. So, perk up and get a move on!”