The Fall of Valencia

by Etherium-Apex

The Siege

The day of the invasion was soon upon them. The streets that were once filled with life were now desolate, save for the calm quiet of the coming storm, and the natural fear that every battle-hardened soul left stifled within their hearts.

The archers shared their ranks with unicorns, skilled in ranged magic, and down below the city walls, the hoof soldiers spent their time giving the civilian volunteers as much help as they could give. The sun was nearing its apex in the sky, and Marcellus and Felix were within their barracks, almost ready. Shirts of chainmail across their chests, held secure by silver plating and pauldrons. The battle ahead lay heavy on their hearts, though their faces remained stoic.

“The soldiers take their bastions,” Marcellus said. “The long dark of shadow looms before the ancient, mighty walls of our city. Our doom is near at hoof, some may say. The valor of our ponyfolk will carry us through, through the poisonous bite of the black magic that our foes will bring us. Bowstrings will break, sharpened iron and tempered steel will shatter. Magnus, the Great and Divine, be with us on this day. I have hope. We will make it through.”

Felix could say nothing. He felt it in his heart. Marcellus’ sentiments were well-placed, but it grew ever clearer to Felix that this may be their last battle. For who could possibly expect victory against such odds? It was a fool’s hope. But yet, he knew that Marcellus was no fool. He opted to trust in his old friend, as he always has.

Dark clouds spread across the sky, but the sun still fought its way through an opening, giving a bleak daylight to the scene around them. They ascended the steps of the outer wall, joining the numerous warriors who took position there. There, in the grassy fields outside of their city, an army of darkness had finally made its way to their keep. Thousands of dark creatures, chanting and hissing, ready to burn down and destroy everything they knew and loved.

Marcellus was ready. The vibrant red flag of the Solar Empire waved above them, as he marched behind his ranks, his face filled with determination.

“Take heart, sons and daughters of the Empire!” Marcellus shouted. “My brothers, my sisters, my kinsmen! Our time is now, our day has come, the day we strike down the accursed shadow that plagues our lands! I feel it in your hearts, the fear of our doom, the fear that the strength of our Empire will finally fail. The fear that all we know will be forsaken, as the serpents of Umbra shatter our blades and bring ruin to the age of Magnus, but we will stand firm! We will fight to the end! The sun shines through! The sun shines through!”

The soldiers all raised their weapons and cheered, filling the air with the triumphant sounds of passion and courage. The lifeblood of the Solar Empire, ready to give their blood to protect their home.

Felix took a deep breath, blinking away the emotion pulling through his eyes as he looked out to the sea of enemies that awaited them. Their best move at the moment would be to fire upon their ranks to thin them out as much as possible.

“Shall I give the order, sir? The Aegis protects us.”

Marcellus grinned. “Open fire.”

“Ready!” Felix shouted. At once, the archers all readied their bows, and the unicorns lit their horns.

“Aim!” Obeying their command, the bows were drawn back, and the unicorns positioned themselves.

“Fire!” At once, there was a loud sound of bows being released, and the charged sounds of magical bolts blasting through the air, and a massive storm of arrows and magic soared through the air at their enemy, striking a good number of them down.

In response, the invading army hissed, and fired back their own arrows and magic. But it was no use. Every one of their projectiles collided with the Aegis Clypeus, vaporizing into nothing. Marcellus chuckled, and ordered them to fire again, taking down even more of the approaching hordes.

“This is too easy,” Marcellus remarked.

---

High above in his tower, Marcus ruminated on recent happenings, in the dark of his stone walls and the shattered frames of his forebears. His breath shook, and he tossed his regal headband aside. His appearance was unkempt, messy, distraught, restless.

“The foolish ponies fight, but to what end…?” He said, “The horizon dawns red. Blood will spill on this day. What will come from this? Nothing more than the destruction of our kith and kin. Magnus… Why do you forsake us?”

Just then, before him, a vision of light raptured his senses. Taking shape, the form of a great, majestic white alicorn appeared, glimmering in the light, armored in decorative silver, draped in red tapestries and bearing the laurel crown of the Divine Emperor. Magus de Vaspian, the ruler of all living things, bestowed his presence upon Marcus.

“Marcus, son of Valerius,” Magnus spoke, his soft and masculine voice echoing through the walls of their hold. “What is your purpose here?”

Marcus could not even speak. He panted, shocked at what he now saw. He stammered, struggling to think of what he could say to such divinity.

“I-I… Your Majesty!” He quickly bowed as low as he could.

“You did not answer my question,” Magnus replied, his face stoic, turning to face the unicorn, studying him with his glimmering blue eyes. “What is your purpose here?”

“...” Marcus could not answer. The sheer weight of his situation instead brought a tear to his eyes. “I… I am the ruler of this city.”

“No… You are not. Marcellus rules this city now. You are naught but the shadow of a despot. You are the failed exercise in mortal failure. Your purpose is nothing more than to show the futility of corruption. You have no reason to exist.”

“No…” Marcus shook his head, backing away slowly from Magnus. “No, you would never say that. The Emperor is kind, loving, and understanding. You would never say such cruel things!”

Magnus dissipated, and quickly reappeared in front of Marcus.

“And who gave you the ears to hear such cruel words?!” He re-materialized to another side of Marcus.

“Who gave you the vision to even harken to my mere presence?! Did not I?!”

Marcus was breathing heavily by this point, backing away even further, his mind racing, his hooves tingling with anxiety. He burst through the doors to his outer deck, stumbling as he turned around to see what was happening down below. An endless swarm of invading blackness, waiting to breach the Aegis. Marcus’ lip quivered, and his face shook.

“So be it. The end has come... Magnus has condemned me...”

---

Down below, Marcellus ordered another wave of arrows upon the encroaching battalions. He was beside himself. The Aegis protected them, as they thinned their numbers ever further.

But King Ryken of Umbra had other plans. Pushing aside his underlings, he looked up to the attacking archers, and he formed a smile, displaying his yellowed, crooked teeth. With a loud hiss and a shout, a blast of profane magic exploded from his horn, smashing into the shield. With a few loud cracks, the shield burst into pieces, sending shards of magic falling onto the city. Marcellus was mortified, his face falling into sheer horror.

Ryken could only chuckle. “Too easy…”

At once, the invading Umbrum took aim and fired, and this time there were casualties. A number of the ponies stationed at the wall were struck, falling to their deaths.

“Take cover! Brace the gates!” Marcellus bellowed.

Felix echoed the command, and after some shouting back and forth, the marksmen above took cover among the ramparts while the soldiers down below assembled around the front gates to the city, barricading it and readying for attack. It was as Felix predicted.

The enemy was ready to breach the outer walls, and they brought with them siege engines to deliver their troops and rain fire upon the city. Catapults flung large fireballs at them, pelting them with a scalding hail that set fire to a number of more flammable buildings and struck a few soldiers directly. Siege towers swung open as they reached the city’s battlements, crushing the stone beneath them as a swarm of armored shadow drones emerged and began attacking the pony soldiers, who fought back with all their might.

The sound of clanging metal filled the air as the archers drew their blades to slaughter their foe. The sickly skeletal forms dropped as the steel plunged through their hearts, but more still came. Marcellus and Felix joined the fray as well, using their energy swords to cut through the invasion. They swung away mercilessly at their opponents, searing flesh, lopping off heads, impaling the blackened creatures as they came.

Marcellus took aim at the siege tower nearest them with his horn and fired a blast of light in its direction, the resulting explosion blasting it into splinters and lessening the numbers on the wall, but there were still more. Before they could dive into the fray again, there was a thunderous bashing sound against the front gates below them. Marcellus finished putting down his immediate foe, and the two of them rushed to look below the wall and investigate.

A great battering ram was poised against the front gates of the city, rearing again for another strike. A construct of black crystal, mounted within an engine powered by dark energy. The Umbra below were cheering it on as it drove itself against the gates a second time, sending vibrations across the wall. This as more siege towers made contact with their armaments and flooded them with more enemies. As their troops went to work against them, Marcellus and Felix leapt from the wall to the ground below to face the gates.

“Stand firm!” Marcellus shouted. “Whatever awaits us, drive them back!”

There was another blast at the gate, and the large doors were broken apart, swinging open and flinging debris at the waiting soldiers. They held firm, and as the dust cleared, they met their foes. The same skeletal creatures, Shades as they were known, joined as well by larger bipedal creatures. These Spectres appeared tattered and decayed beneath their blackened armor, with clawed hands and feet, their twisted and dark faces hiding beneath their hoods. Brandishing halberds and flails, they swung at Valencia’s forces, who fought back with all their might. Marcellus and Felix charged in with their energy swords, sparks flying as they clashed with their opponents.

Although they managed to bring down a good number, their fellow fighters were not always so lucky. A number were slain, some hewn by Umbra’s iron, others slung into the nearby buildings by the Spectres. The unicorn soldiers did what they could to help, utilizing their magic to blow away their targets and form protective shields around their combatants.

As the battle raged on, the Imperial forces were driven further back into the city. It was only a matter of time before they encountered the Umbrum army’s more unthinkable foes. In the midst of the fray, Marcellus panted as he struck down an uncountable number of evil creatures, only to spot a pair of toothy, shadowy jaws take form nearby. The air was filled with an ethereal hissing sound, and a large smoky equine figure formed before spreading into a mist and overtaking them.

“Phantom!” Marcellus shouted. At once, every unicorn lit their horns, and each pony soldier was coated in a barrier of light that protected them from the deadly mist. Some were unluckily out of their reach; Felix winced as their eyes darkened and their bodies shriveled away, collapsing to the ground.

After a few moments, the mist dissipated, and they lifted their shields to continue the fight. The legions of the Shadow Realms were upon them, scouring their bright city, overtaking their land. The marble and stone masonry washed red with the blood of the Solar Empire.