Siege of the Crystal Empire

by Mystic Mind

Chapter 7: Awakening

(7: Awakening)

Darkness. That was all that Stellar Shine had been able to comprehend for the past four days. Anything beyond the floating void of pitch black was beyond all perception. He could not tell if his eyes were open or closed, not that it mattered, anyway. If he was conscious, then none of his senses indicated where he might be, if it was even on this plane of existence.

“...can you hear me?”

These were the first sounds Stellar heard in Celestia knew how long. Words that echoed through void without any specific direction. Did it even exist? Or was he starting to hallucinate again? His mind could have been compensating from the starvation of input.

“...get a response.”

These words, this talking, they were coming from somewhere, though it made little sense. A Response? From who? What was he supposed to say? What could he even say?

“...the light...”

Yes, the light. The one, dim twinkle in the sea of nothing. He didn't know how far away it was, but his eyes fixated on it nonetheless.

“Please...careful, Princess.”

Another voice, a little harsher than before, but still feminine. Almost familiar.

“Thank you for your concern,” now the first voice was speaking again, this time in full sentences. “But this is a risk I need to take.”

A risk? What was she doing? It must involve that light somehow, growing brighter the longer Stellar stared at it.

“I have been wondering something, though,” the harsher said. “Can't we just contact Princess Twilight Sparkle about this, 'Moonshadow' pony? She and her friends can just shoot it with that...rainbow of friendship thing...or whatever she calls it, then boom! Evil pony no more. Isn't that how it works?”

“Unfortunately not,” the soft voice replied. “The Phantom Stallions may as well be Moonshadow's personal bodyguards. My sister-in-law may be powerful, but she can't take on an entire army with just six ponies, even with the Elements of Harmony within them.”

“Bah, doesn't anypony know how those blasted Elements work?”

“It's a mystery even to Celestia herself.”

Celestia...Twilight Sparkle...more familiar names, Stellar thought, scattered memories flashing in his mind of the ponies in question. Yes, of course! They are the rulers of Equestria! The Princesses...of the Sun and of Friendship.

“I doubt we could get through to Princess Twilight with weather like this anyway,” a third voice added, this one aged and masculine in sound. The more Stellar listened, the brighter the light of the Princess got, and in turn, shooting off shafts of magic every which way, highlighting each memory triggered from the outside voices. “This is the worst snowstorm I've ever seen. It's a miracle that Stellar Shine didn't end up with hypothermia on top of the magic exhaustion he suffered.”

With each new world spoken, Stellar's world exploded with light, the individual memories shuffling into sequential order with each other. The heat from the luminous magic seeped into Stellar's muscles, fuelling the fire within him to reach out towards the light, pulling himself back into the waking world.

“C-Commander Emerald, Sir,” Stellar spoke, his voice quieter than the breathing of a new-born foal. His true sight had yet to return in full, but for the moment, it was plenty to distinguish the differences between the three ponies in front of him and his surroundings. His muscles groaned at slightest hint of movement, which Stellar did his best to ignore. “How long have I been out?”

“Easy there, officer,” Emerald said, the gentle tone of his voice making up for the lack of readable facial expressions. “You pulled an incredible stunt out there, for which you have my gratitude. But your magic levels are still low, so don't push yourself.”

“Princess...” Stellar bowed his head to the pink alicorn before him.

Cadence stepped forward, presenting a smile warm enough to thaw the nerves of any pony whose presence she bestowed upon. “It's okay, Stellar, don't worry yourself about any formalities. Just try and relax while my magic takes effect.”

“Please...princess...this is important,” Stellar said, a sense of urgency breaking in his voice between heavy breaths. “Mooonshadow is...claims to be...the last disciple of Tirek. Wants the magic...magic of the...Crystal Heart.”

Cadence let out a long sigh. It no longer surprised her that the Crystal Heart would always be a magnet for megalomaniacs, though just the spoken name of Tirek made her shudder. It was a name she had never hoped to hear again, as it had taken many months for Princess Luna to put an end to the constant nightmares about her magic being absorbed by that monster. It was only the fact that Tirek himself was still locked away in the pits of Tartarus which prevented the situation from being the worst-case scenario; though the fact that somepony possessed the power to rob a pony of magic in single breath was dire enough on its own.

“Thank you for the information, Officer Stellar,” Cadence said, doing her best to keep her heavy emotions in check. “Knowing this, I hope we can finally bring an end to this siege. As much as I wish to simply let you rest, I must ask that you return to the battle as soon as you feel fit enough. You are one of the most capable heroes the Crystal Empire has ever seen, and without the Elements of Harmony protecting us, you and your fellow soldiers are our last hope.”

Stellar reached over the side of his bed, grasping a bottle of medicinal blue liquid in his shaking hoof and gulping it down in one go. His mouth contorted in disgust at the bitter taste of the manna potion, though by the way his horn glowed in response, he took it as a necessary evil. “I have fought too hard to allow the empire to fall now. Whatever my condition, I pledged an oath to protect Equestria and its allies from all threats which may come. I don't yet know what I can do to keep the Phantom Stallions down for good, but by Starswirl's beard, I will find a way.”

Cadence smiled, relaxing her shoulders as some of the emotional tension left her body. She always was impressed by the dedication of her husband's soldiers. “I can't thank you enough for everything you've done so far. You take it easy for the next night or so, and I'll go and talk to the alchemist about getting you some more potions.”

“If I may make a suggestion, Princess,” Commander Emerald interjected. “So far, Stellar Shine has been fighting alongside the Unicorn Rangers division. We've re-purposed salvage from three of the enemy siege machines. Given his eye for accuracy, his leadership could be our key to victory.”

“So, whaddya say, soldier?” Rosebud added with a smirk on her face. “Think you can manage using that horn of yours for more than just magic?”

“Just watch me!” Stellar returned the expression as he rolled out of bed and onto his hooves. Despite his initial unsteadiness, the challenge of mastering a new perspective on the art of war was much too exciting to rest on.

“Excellent,” Emerald said, gratified that Stellar had lost none of his motivation. “Now, Miss Rosebud, if everything is in order, I think we shall take our leave. I shall personally report to you Meteor's condition once we find her.”

“Of course, Commander. Good luck out there.”

“Actually, Princess, I do have one more request,” Stellar said, unable to hide the smirk on his face. “When it comes to manna potions, do you mind at all if you could ask for blueberry flavouring? I never go to war without satisfying my sweet tooth, first.”

For the first time in heart-knew how long, Nurse Rosebud's office echoed with the sound of hearty laughter.

Comments

[The1Ryu]

With each new world spoken, Stellar's world exploded with light

I think there were at least three different lines like this; you should be careful not to repeat yourself too much. Also, outside of the dialog, I didn't get the strong indication that Cadence was doing anything to wake Stellar up, she just seemed to be casually talking with the others.

You are one of the most capable heroes the Crystal Empire has ever seen

This isn't the place were Cadence should have dropped the H-word, it's a fluffy romantic word that has little place in a conversation between a ruler and one of her soldiers.

I find the whole part where Cadence asks the aged, gravely injured pony to get up and fight for her to be problematic as if her concerns are just pleasantries and she just expects him to fight and die no matter what state he's in. The reason why the heroes of stories like this are usually young adults is that they determined and foolish enough to think that they MUST get up and keep fighting because they are needed, and they can't stand not to act. An elderly character can fit into this role as well, but it is they same idea that they push forward and fight regardless of being told to stay down. Emerald, Stellar and Rosebud are all acting like this, but the effect is somewhat ruined because Cadence asked them to fight on despite their injuries.