The Mask of Despair and the Face of Hope

by Wings of Black Glass

Theft and Battle

The alarm sounded before I was even halfway back to the castle. It pinged in my mind, an urgent warning, only a moment before my warding at the castle shot a beam of light into the air, visible even from within the Everfree forest. I broke into a run and then leaped into the air. Below me, the canopy gave way to the fields surrounding Ponville, the castle visible in the distance. As I drew closer, I could see colors flashing through the windows of the map room and quickened my pace. The last time I saw that… was it Sable again? My mark was not pulsing the way it was last time, was that a good sign?

I considered teleporting inside, but if this were Sable doing this, he would undoubtedly have blocked such spells again. I landed at the door instead, pulling them open with magic. At least they weren’t sealed this time. Spike was not to be found on the floor with a migraine, thank Celestia for small favors. Neither was Starlight encased in crystal; she was out in town earlier. I burst into the map room, and an errant beam of energy nearly struck me.

Sable and another Unicorn were locked in combat, the air so full of static charge that sparks flew off all the crystals and gems hanging from the chandelier. Lightning erupted from Sable’s horn, carving erratic lines towards the intruder only to bounce off a shield. They traded energy beams, each one darting aside for the laser to strike a wall and crack the structure. Fortunately, the map had not been hit yet.

I dodged another stray blast of power by taking to the air, trying to get a handle on the situation. The other Unicorn hadn’t seen me yet, his body was the color of blackened charcoal and his mane like ashen dust, I didn’t get a good look at his cutie-mark in the chaos. The two paused the fight for an instant, trying to out-think the other. Sable spotted me in the air, his neon blue eyes glancing my way only long enough to confirm I was really there. It was all the intruder needed, striking Sable hard in the chest. He crumpled against the wall, stunned, his wings exploding into glass shards before vaporizing.

I slammed down to the floor in front of the defeated Sable, ready to take on the intruder. I could only now see his face, and my first spell faltered in surprise. His furious visage was raked with scar lines, surrounding his ember red eyes and lining his jaw and forehead. There was no doubt in my mind this was the same stallion who attacked Starlight in the Crystal Empire.

“Who are you!” The intruder only snarled at my demand, firing a beam of magic at me. I conjured a substantial barrier around Sable and me, his magic crashed into it, but my shield held. Magic flashed, an aura the color of burning cinders, blinding me for a moment. When I could see again, the intruder was focusing already, but I was faster. This time it was the intruder who slammed into the wall, momentarily stunned, and I reestablished my shield around us.

I took the lull in the fight to look back; Sable was clambering back to his feet. He nodded towards me but kept his eyes locked on the enemy. A second flash against my shield told me the intruder was already back in fighting shape. Sable fired off a return volley as I dropped my barrier, his neon blue beams trying to hem the intruder into a corner. One such beam nearly hit the map table; this was no place for a fight. I darted forward onto the table, placing a giant shield around the center of the room, protecting the map. Unfortunately, I couldn’t fight back while maintaining the protection, but the table was too valuable to risk.

Fortunately, my presence alone gave Sable the advantage. He fired arcing bolts of lightning over my barrier dome, able to take the offensive from a place of safety. The intruder could see his advantage was lost, and he dodged the bolts of lighting, his magic exploded against the wall along with Sable’s lightning. The structure gave way, a hole opening in the wall behind the intruder. He turned to flee, and Sable leaped over my barrier to pursue.

A quick glance around the room told me the map is safe, although the castle would need repairs. Several near misses have destroyed some of the chairs, many of the walls are badly cracked, and the floor riddled with burn marks. It could all be fixed later. I dropped my barrier and teleported outside.

An explosion sent shockwaves through the air as the two combatants spells collided. Sable and the intruder both seemed more willing to use stronger magic now they were both outside. I soared overhead, peppering small concussive blasts on the intruder, trying to knock him unconscious without seriously hurting him. But with more room to move the charcoal black Unicorn was able to make quick teleports to put himself outside my blast zone. Each appearance was marked with a thunderclap eerily similar to Sable’s imperfect teleportations.

Unrelenting, the intruder continued to fire at Sable, apparently unwilling to face me head on for some reason. My friend was not as agile as I was, and it was only because I established shields around him did he avoid taking hard hits. Even protected he faltered, the ashen maned Unicorn concentrated briefly, and Sable was encased within a crystal, rearing in an attempt to get away.

As the intruder closed on the now petrified Sable, I landed between them, standing unbowed and tall. Again the charcoal Unicorn snarled and snorted, only now turning his full attention to me. I wasted no time in trapping him within layered barriers as he fired on me. His spell collided with my first shield, and the interior of the prison was awash in blinding light. My guards held.

Lightning crashed around me, and I looked up to find the trespasser in the air, falling towards me with horn sparking. I teleported above him, and blasted him down hard, spinning him into the ground. Somehow he managed to land on his feet and dashed away to gain some distance. I used the time to return to the field and freed Sable from the crystal prison. He nodded his thanks, refusing to take his eyes off the other Unicorn again.

We squared off again, Sable and I side by side as we faced the intruder. I could have ended this quickly if I were willing to kill him outright. The intruder was breathing heavily already; surely he couldn’t keep this up for much longer.

A new beam of energy fired in from above and behind the charcoal pony. The lance struck close to the intruder, sending him stumbling aside. I glanced up to find Starlight Glimmer, levitating using a spell, descending towards us. Sable bolted to the side, and the three of us surrounded the trespasser. The ashen maned pony spun, trying to keep us all in view as we slowly closed on him, and snarled wordlessly.

“Surrender! You can’t hope to win against us all!” Sable’s command was met only with scorn on the intruder’s scared face. He began to focus, power gathering in a searing bright light at the tip of his horn. I hadn’t seen this spell in use before, but I recognized the threat it posed.

“Starlight, Sable, get out of there! He’s going to explode!” The other two Unicorns backed away, But before his spell completed the charcoal Unicorn disappeared with a thunder-crack, reappearing again up in the air, and hurled the blazing star of fire down at us. We were still too close, that much raw magic power would outright destroy all of us!

I had only one chance and began forming a shield around the point of impact. The falling star burst into a terrifying flare the moment it reached the ground. My barrier sealed in the blaze, it took nearly all my focus to maintain it against the force of the explosion. The star burned, refusing to be extinguished. With a mighty swing of my head, I flung the entire shield bubble with the encased star high into the air.

The star flew high, disappearing behind the clouds. I dropped the shield, and the air was split by a terrible explosion, for an instant, there were two suns in the sky. The shockwave hit, flinging every nearby pony to the ground and shattering several of the castle’s windows. The cacophony from the detonation echoed into the distance, and we all got back to our feet. A quick glance around the area didn’t reveal the intruder anywhere in sight.

“Is everypony alright?” I continued to watch for the charcoal Unicorn to reappear. Surely he didn’t destroy himself?

“Nice catch, Twilight!” Starlight approached, looking a little frazzled but unhurt.

“I’ll survive.” Sable was less upbeat, limping when he put his right forelimb down. “What insanity was that?”

“Raw power, barely contained. I’ve never met a pony willing to risk themselves with a spell like it. Do you see him anywhere?” Starlight and Sable both looked around; the charcoal colored stallion was nowhere to be seen.

“If I were him, I would be running or hiding right now.” Sable frowned. “That kind of spell would have nearly drained even the strongest of Unicorns.”

“I agree.” Starlight nodded but continued to eye the surrounding area suspiciously. “What do you think he was after?”

“I don’t know. I was in the castle when I heard an explosion. I caught him trying to break into a cabinet in Twilight’s room. He attacked me, and I fought back.” I didn’t get a chance to explain about my alarm going off before glass shattered again, this time, not Sable’s wings, it came from the castle. We looked up to see the blackened charcoal Unicorn standing at the window to my room, blasted open, holding a triangular silver medallion high above his head. I could hear his victorious laughter from here.

“No! The Amulet!” But we were too slow, and the intruder disappeared in a flash of lightning. His teleport rematerialized somewhere nearby; I heard the thunder crash. My wings took me high, trying to spot him before he got away. All I could find were repeated cracks of his rapid teleportation, each one further away and fainter than the last. It was only a few instants before it was quite clear the intruder had escaped, with his prize.

---

“Oh, that's bad.”

“Now I see why you wanted to get rid of the Amulet.”

“…Not yet you haven’t.”

“…”

“At least it wasn’t me in the crystal again.”

Author's Note:

At last we meet [Redacted] face to scarred face.
My first combat sequence. yay?
fun to write though. Shame all they did was pew pew at each other. (don't worry, I get more inventive later)

Comments

[undeadninjas]

I'm trying to imagine this in animated form. It'd be kinda Badass.