Siege of the Crystal Empire

by Mystic Mind

Chapter 22: Clash of the Titans

(22: Clash of the Titans)

Step by step, Moonshadow drew closer to the royal quarters. Looking around him, he found the place deserted; no guards fighting for the Crystal Empire's honour, no civilians fleeing for their lives. Even the sound of war was but a distant rumble in the background, audible only due to the deathly silence of the upper district. The thought occurred to him that the defenders had given up. Witnessing the power that he possessed, they had come to the wise decision of surrendering, offering their strength to him on a silver platter.

This, he admitted, was a rather arrogant assumption. Even he wasn't so conceited as to assume the former slaves of King Sombra to give up so easily – not when they had put up such a heavy resistance. Yet, it would also be honest to say that he was merely observing the evidence. After demonstrating that he would not be stopped, regardless of what was done to him, Shining Armour and his cohorts had simply run away.

Thinking about it a little more, however, Moonshadow concluded that splitting hairs over motivation was a pointless task. He had won. The Crystal Ponies were in shambles, and nothing was left to stand between him and his prize. Licking his lips, Moonshadow could practically taste the might of the Crystal Heart, its sweet magic soon to bring him what he desired the most: Alicornhood.

Bursting through the doors to the throne room, Moonshadow once again found that not a soul was to be seen. Now he was starting to get a little suspicious. Flaring his horn, the only active magic he could detect was that coming from up a flight of stairs behind the throne itself. That was where he needed to go. Grinning with mad anticipation, Moonshadow galloped up through the spiralling passage that lead around the royal spire, and upon reaching the top, he came face to face with the one pony who had not decided to flee.

Princess Cadence. Clad in thick, pink-coloured plate armour that sparkled with her magic, she stood with her wings folded behind her back, her face locked in a stern expression that lacked even a hint of fear. “So, you must be the gracious Princess Mi Amore Cadenza,” Moonshadow sneered sarcastically. “How lovely of you to greet me in person. Would you per chance be here to hand the Crystal Heart over to me personally, and apologise for all the trouble you put me through getting here? That would be such a kind gesture, which I would be remiss to reject.”

Cadence's reply came in the form of a blast of magic power to Moonshadow's face, a hit which he endured with only a slight flinch. “Well then,” Moonshadow continued, wiping the dust from the burn mark off his face. “I guess I was naïve to think you had become wise enough to bow to me. No matter, it's not as if you can stand in my way for long.”

“You have terrorised my people long enough, Moonshadow,” Cadence yelled, narrowing her eyes at the unicorn before her. “So many ponies have sacrificed their lives to keep me safe and preserve their future. I can't be content with sitting back and let yet another pony with a god complex threaten us with slavery ever again!”

This statement made Moonshadow laugh. Yet it wasn't a laugh of mockery or of intimidation, but a genuine laugh of glee at Cadence's words. “You think I have a god complex? Oh my, Princess, you are sorely mistaken. I don't simply think that I'm a god.” with a shrug of his shoulders, Moonshadow let his robe fall to the floor, revealing both his cutie mark—a single, slit eye engulfed in a ball of dark magic—and one other, more grotesque feature. Just below his shoulder blades, a pair of stubby Pegasus wings lay flat, sown into his flesh like a mangled rag doll.

Cadence threw a hoof over her mouth, stifling the urge to throw up at the macabre sight. She could only imagine what kind of horrific surgery he had underwent to mimic the appearance of an Alicorn, a mental image which she tried hard to suppress. “You really are a monster!”

Moonshadow laughed once again, this time with more mockery in his voice. “I am only a monster to those who don't understand the potential my power holds. Though I will admit I do find your level of distress to be entertaining. I could have easily squashed you like the bug you are the moment I got here, but in the end, I just couldn't resist playing my little game to watch you all squirm.

“However, I will share some comfort with one important fact: these wings are only temporary. Once I absorb the Crystal Heart's power, I will become the Alicorn I was always meant to be! What do you think your precious 'sister', Twilight Sparkle, will say once she realises that there is more to magic beyond your pitiful 'friendship'?”

Any one of Moonshadow's comments could have set Cadence off, but if there was one thing she would never stand for, it was insulting her beloved sister-in-law. Flaring her wings, Cadence launched herself at Moonshadow, smacking him in the face with both front hooves to send him cascading back down the stairs. The dark unicorn summoned up his own magic, righting himself and retaliating with a blast of his own; an attack which Cadence narrowly managed to avoid.

“I think it's time to bring this little game to an end.” Cracking open his third eye, Moonshadow's horn exploded into a surge of sorcery, his entire body pulsating with power as the raw magic collected around his vestigial wings. Now that his aura enhanced his flight appendages, Moonshadow took to the air, flying at a blistering speed towards Cadence, firing out a flurry of missiles towards her.

Summersaulting over the attack, Cadence let out a series of her own magical blasts to the back of Moonshadow, burning at the fur on his front legs as he swung around to block them. Some of this power was thrown back in Cadence’s direction, so she wasted no time in teleporting down several meters before swishing her wings down, charging Moonshadow to slam her front hooves into his belly. The dark unicorn struck back immediately, a sorcerous blade extending from his horn to cut into the armour covering Cadence’s shoulder. Though the Princess refused to move, instead exchanging a flurry of blows with her adversary as she powered up another arcane beam.

“I don’t think so.” Opening his eye just a hair’s width further, Moonshadow’s body exploded with dark magic, knocking Cadence back several feet and absorbing the magic lost from her partially-cast spell. Flipping over numerous times before she regained level flight. Collecting her magic in an arch above her horn, Cadence formed an arcane boomerang, throwing it just as Moonshadow released his shield of sorcery. True to form, the speed of the throw sent it spinning past Moonshadow the first time, only for it to loop back around and dig into his back.

The dark unicorn grunted in pain, yet still was strong enough to shrug off the attack. Lighting up his horn, Cadence readied herself for the next spell. It was only after several seconds of nothing happening that it occurred to Cadence that Moonshadow’s attacks need not be direct, either. Just above her, she could see a huge pulsating disc, with arcs of magic streaming around its surface. Grinning, Moonshadow added one more bolt to the collection, shattering the disc to unleash a rain of missiles down upon his foe.

Turning up her wings, Cadence dipped into a dive, too slow to dodge the airburst and instead taking the brunt of the hit across her back, her armour preventing the flesh at the base of her wings being burned too badly. Biting her lip, Cadence felt her wings seizing up with the sudden flush of pain. She could see that Moonshadow was already on her tail, diving after her as he prepared to fire off another round. Casting the first spell that came to mind, Cadence twisted over in mid-air and threw up a rounded magical shield in front of her face, timing it to coincide with Moonshadow's assault, giving him no time to modify or cancel the spell.

A split second after the missiles had been released, they bounced off Cadence's reflection spell, reversing their course to instead explode into Moonshadow's chest. With her wings still refusing to move and the ground coming up fast beneath her, Cadence expanded her spell to encase her entire body, slowing herself down enough so that the levitation bubble took the brunt of the impact.

Shaken, but otherwise unharmed, Cadence could see that as Moonshadow landed ahead of her, he hadn't been seriously injured by his reflected attack. The scowl on his face showed that he was hardly pleased, leading to him opening his third eyelid a fraction more. With more of his sorcery flowing around his body, Moonshadow shot a continuous beam at Cadence, which she countered in equal measure by mimicking it. There they stood in a stalemate, pumping magic into their beams to push the other back, the ground tearing away to form a crater at the point where two powers collided.

“Give up, Princess,” Moonshadow hissed as his side of the beam inched forward. “You have failed, your heroes have failed. You are only prolonging the inevitable!”

“No!” Cadence screamed, pushing back with all her might. “The destiny of the Crystal Empire is not as set in stone as you think it is! Whatever it is you want with the Crystal Heart, I refuse to let it be taken from us again!”

“You still don't understand, little Alicorn,” Moonshadow's third eye was now opened half way, with ethereal tendrils snapping out to absorb a portion of Cadence's magic. “Magic belongs in the hooves of those powerful enough to control it! If it wasn't for your sister and the elements of harmony, then Lord Tirek would have shown you all what can be achieved with all the world's magic in one place!”

Thrusting open his eye to its full power, Moonshadow engulfed the magic of Princess Cadence, blasting her away into the tower behind her, leaving a smouldering trench in her wake. Now with the full extent of his power released, he grabbed Cadence between his tendrils, lifting her off the ground and pulling at her wings and horn, swaying back and forth to the crescendo of Cadence's agonized screams. “You have no idea how long I have waited to be granted my Alicornhood,” Moonshadow said, his voice transformed from a throaty husk into a deep, guttural growl. “I have watched two pitiful ponies transform into Alicorns now, and from what was their power granted? Friendship! A flimsy platitude for ponies who cannot ascend on their own might. And now I hear that you have given birth to an Alicorn?! A useless babe has a greater claim to royal status than me?! This cannot stand! I will not allow it!”

Cadence's thoughts turned to her daughter, Flurry Heart's cries echoing in her mind. Just the concept of what Moonshadow would do to her baby filled her with a greater terror than she had ever felt before. Even the soul-numbing fright of being trapped in the crystal caverns beneath Canterlot was nothing compared to what she felt now. Her magic draining from her body, her vision began to blur as Moonshadow opened his mouth wide to consume it. She tried to move, but no part of her body was responding. Her skin was starting to sag, her breathing becoming more laborious as her life force was robbed from her.

Yet, the very thought of Flurry Heart allowed her to recognise that there was one form of magic that Moonshadow could not take from her. Despite his insane rants about friendship substituting for the lack of magical ability, Cadence knew for certain that this was far from the truth. As Twilight Sparkle had taught her many times over, friendship was magic. Remembering what Meteor had said to her in the forge the previous day, it was clear to her that unity could never be forced through the usage of magic.

No, it had to be earned; a force forged in unison through understanding and striving for mutual peace. As long as she drew breath, the love for her sister, her husband, her people; all of this would never die. It was far from dead when she confronted Queen Chrysalis, her heart was filled with it when she defended her empire against the spirit of King Sombra, and it was flowing through her soul even after she channelled all her magic into Twilight to protect it from Tirek.

That was why she was here, dressed up in battle armour for the first time in her life, while hundreds of her fellow ponies fought and died in her name. What she felt within her, a mixture of pride and love for all those who laid their lives on the line to protect their home, was her last line of defence. Feeling the power of the Crystal Heart rise within her, Cadence shot off a single bolt of pink magic, striking at an open wound directly on the back of Moonshadow's neck.

Moonshadow roared with pain, his magical limbs retracting as Cadence's power seared away at his flesh. “What is going on?!” he screamed. “The magic I behold is far beyond what any pony could hope to achieve! What have you done to me?!”

As blood began to ooze down his back, the stitches on his wings snapped apart one by one, the vestigial limbs falling to the ground, burned away to ash. Moonshadow stumbled backwards in a daze, the magic he was just consuming now streaming out of every orifice, returning to their rightful owner.

Standing over him, Princess Cadence's coat and armour sparkled with the radiant shine of the Crystal Heart's magic. “Do you see now, Moonshadow?” Cadence asked, her voice calm and collected despite the seething anger she had inside for him. “You are wrong. Magic is more than just the raw power of the arcane. It's the very force that binds us all together to create a harmonious nation. Contrary to what Tirek may have told you, there is no magic greater than friendship. Give up now, and you will be cleansed of the evil he has infected you with.”

In reply, Moonshadow simply laughed, coughing violently as his magic continued to bleed from his body. “You really are a fool,” he said, his body dissolving. “I am Tirek's power. I have long ceased to be just a mere unicorn. Though you may have changed the fate that was to grant me, Alicorn power, your empire is still... doomed...”

And with those final words, Princess Cadence pulled her hoof in as she inhaled, then extended it back out as she exhaled. A calming technique, as with a sombre look on her face, she lit up her horn with a gentle glow to end Moonshadow's suffering. Right before her eyes, he vanished, his body disintegrating as the last remains of his magic blew away in the wind.

After a weeklong trial of pain and suffering, Princess Cadence had come out on top, unaware of what was to be Moonshadow's final act of revenge.