Chapter 41: Mother's Wrath
The ponies out on the street were showing signs of anxiety. The barrier protecting the Crystal Empire fell, and all of a sudden, clouds began to emerge, accompanied by the sound of thunder. At that point, it became clear to them that something was wrong, and they began to slowly gather in the courtyard in front of the castle to inquire about what was happening. All of a sudden, a portal of dark light opened next to one of them, grabbing everybody’s attention. After nothing happened for a few moments, the residents cautiously approached it to inspect it. And just then, a shape came through, made of smoke and shadow, roughly resembling an equine with glowing yellow eyes, it let out an echoing neigh. And the crowd dispersed in terror. And it wasn’t just near the palace; all across the Crystal Empire portals opened and the umbrum poured through, covering it in a black mist, so numerous they were.
Starlight Glimmer teleported herself near the center of the city after seeing what had happened from the train station and went to investigate herself, only to find the whole place had descended into panic. A group of ponies was running in her direction, chased by one of the shadowy creatures, and the headmare stood her ground, firing a beam of magic at it. It imploded, only for it to come back on the other end and reform. Now, however, its attention switched from the fleeing group to the pink unicorn mare in front, and when the monster’s gaze met hers, its eyes flashed and a sense of fear crept up on her when she didn’t feel it before. It approached her, and in a panic, she shot a bolt, only for it to pass through its body, over and over again. She kept doing it even though it was clear it wasn’t working, she’s been completely overcome by hysteria, all of her senses succumbing to tunnel vision, so much that her legs wouldn’t even move so she could run. And just as the umbrum was about to reach for her, a pair of figures ran by and scooped her off the ground, carrying her away. The creature roared in anger and chased after them down the street, trailing them into a narrow alleyway, zig-zagging from turn to turn, oblivious that its prey had taken cover under a nearby fabric that was covering a bunch of crates, deceiving it.
“I think we’ve evaded our pursuers.”
“Agreed.”
The pink unicorn could hear muffled voices, but couldn’t see clearly, and it took her a while before she finally became aware of her surroundings.
“You okay?”
She shook her head, finally snapping back to normal, and quickly recognizing the two figures present. “Maud? Mud Briar? What are you doing here…? Actually, what am I doing here? I was on the street a moment ago.”
“You seem to have been overcome by the mental assault from one of the shadowy apparitions that are plaguing the streets,” the tall stallion answered calmly.
“How do you know that?”
“We were on our way back to our accommodations to prepare for the festivities when one of them jumped us,” he explained, after which the purple maned mare turned his significant other’s face to the side, revealing a hoof mark. “It was the only way I knew how to get him out of that condition.”
“Do you have any idea what these things are?”
“Your guess is as good as ours,” the dead-pan mare responded.
Starlight sighed. “Great. Well, it doesn’t matter, we’re not safe out on the street. We have to get to Princess Cadence so we can figure out what’s going on.” Her horn glowed in a magical aura, and in a flash of light, they disappeared, only to reappear in the castle’s throne room.
She slowly opened the giant entrance door and looked about, and there was no soul in sight. “Okay, we’re in less danger than out on the street, but not by much.” She faced the couple. “I have to go and find Cadence to make sure she’s okay and help her deal with the Storm King. You two stay here and don’t go anywhere for your own safety until I come back. Okay? Okay, good!” The dead-pan mare was about to say something only to be cut off by a quick response and then have the door closed on her.
The headmare ran down the hallways in the direction of the one where she was last time. She feared that, after they had disappeared with the students and left Flurry Heart right in that spot according to them, something might have gone wrong if her mother didn’t interfere in time, so she had to go and check up on that place first. She nearly got there, when she heard a scream, accompanied by the sound of stampeding hooves. It appeared that the battle had moved elsewhere, and it would be best to assist. Yet as she ran in the direction of the sound she encountered several beaten royal guards lying by the side. If the strongest military force of the Crystal Empire couldn’t stand up to the obsidian construct, she shuddered to think of the poor sap who had to face him next.
“AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”
There was that scream she heard earlier, it was loud, clear, and… familiar… in fact, she knew the sound of that voice and to whom it belonged, but it would’ve been impossible for her to be here. But her thoughts would soon be confirmed. The sound was growing louder and coming from the corridor by her side. She saw Flurry Heart sitting on top of the party planner’s head, accompanied by the country pony, the fashionista, and the former lieutenant of the king that was right on their tails, chasing them down.
“Pinkie?!” she quickly reacted and dashed forward to pace herself up for when they passed her.
“Oh hey, Starlight,” she greeted her nonchalantly, “I thought you’d already be gone by now.”
“With HIM around? Unlikely! We were here when that oversized paperweight turned up,” the pink unicorn explained herself.
“I heard that!” the construct raged behind them. “And you’re all gonna pay for turning my foot into a peg leg!”
That's when Starlight noticed that the Storm King was limping after them, as one of his roughly chiseled feet was missing all the fingers.
“If we had more time I could’ve taken the whole leg out from under him,” Tempest pointed out.
“Ah agree,” Applejack joined in, “but somepony thought that just tripping him would be the best option.”
“It was in the nick of the moment, everypony!” Pinkie snapped back.
“You mean like how it’s been a nick of the moment that we’ve been running the same circle five times in the row now to avoid him? He’s not gonna get tired, you know!”
“If you’ve got a better idea, I’d like to hear it!”
“Girls, stop arguing!” Starlight stepped in. “What are you all doing here? Where’s Twilight?”
The mares looked at each other. “Long story short,” the broken unicorn answered, “she’s got us here, she's out, and Zecora’s taking care of her.”
“What about Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Discord, and Spike?”
“Lookin’ for the Crystal Heart,” the orange pony answered.
“Right…” Starlight thought for a moment. “I guess it’s up to me to deal with him.” She stopped in the middle of the hallway and faced the incoming construct.
“Starlight, what are you doin’?!” the earth pony yelled as she stopped along with everybody else.
Meanwhile, the Storm King had caught up to the stationary target. “So, one of the prissy horses finally decided to stand her ground, huh?”
She said nothing, not that he cared. He shot lightning bolts at her from his hand, only for her to conjure a shield to block each of them. When it became apparent that he was not going to make any progress that way, he charged, swinging his fist at her, only to hit a barely noticeable barrier that she had set up. He began aggressively punching it, but he made no progress. While Starlight was just standing there, watching her opponent’s futile attempts, she got an idea. Her horn glowed brighter, and the tremors followed. Suddenly, the walls on each side came off and slammed the obsidian construct together, leaving nothing but a pile of crystal rubble behind.
“Starlight, that’s too much!” the white unicorn yelled. “You’re ruining the castle!”
“Sorry, Rarity, but this was an emergency,” she apologized as she walked back to them. “Besides, I’m sure Princess Cadence will understand.”
The pile of debris shook and a black arm shot out of it, followed by another, and they slowly began removing the broken crystal pile. Storm King’s head finally emerged, unexpressive, but it was clear that he wasn’t pleased, especially since her opponent was just standing there, looking at him with a huge smirk, her horn still glowing. And as he continued to dig himself out, he noticed that the barrier she had set up earlier had faded away, and the fact that her horn was continuing to glow brighter by the second, he quickly realized what she was planning.
And among the present mares, they all noticed it and immediately panicked. “STARLIGHT, STOP! DON’T-!”
But it was too late, as a huge beam shot out of her horn, straight at the Storm King, who was still half-buried in the rubble. He didn’t make any rushed moves, only raising his right arm and opening his palm. And it worked like clockwork; despite the beam being almost as big as the hallway as it got shot further away, the spell was absorbed without a problem. He was relishing in the thought of what was to follow. The beam finally ceased and the mare was still standing there, and the reaction he had awaited, manifested itself.
She was flabbergasted. “Whaaaaa….! But… I… and he… and… what is this?!”
“Starlight, he’s got the Staff of Sacanas embedded in his arm!” Rarity warned too late.
“Your fancy friend is correct, Flashy Flash,” he mockingly told her. “And they already know what’s gonna happen next.” The flickering light in his right arm began to glow brightly.
It didn’t take long for Starlight to understand what was gonna happen next, realizing she walked right into a trap. She could easily teleport out of his way, but the shot would hit everybody behind her in the hallway, and they wouldn’t be able to outrun it. There was no other way: She conjured a large shield, knowing she would have to take on the full brunt of the attack she had just cast.
“Return to sender!” the Storm King yelled.
A powerful blast erupted from his hand, traveling in a straight line, hitting Starlight’s barrier. Even she didn’t anticipate how strong her attack would be, so much so that the force bushed her backward, hitting everybody on the way until they all crashed against the wall on the far end. The light faded, and luckily the barrier held, but the same couldn’t be said for the conjurer.
“Starlight!” the pink pony ran to her side. “Are you okay?!”
“No, dad, it’s not a phase…” she mumbled in a groggy tone.
“Oh, that’s just dandy. One pony who’d be of great help now, and she’s out of it,” Applejack complained.
Lightning suddenly struck the ceiling on both sides of the corridor’s end, causing them to collapse and turning it into a dead end. “No place to run and no place to hide now,” the construct cackled.
He began approaching them with a quick limp. This may end up being the final stand-off. Rarity, Applejack, and Tempest stood in the front of Pinkie Pie who was holding Flurry Heart in her embrace, to protect them both. As he started going faster, he aimed his right arm at them and quickly shot a few lightning bolts at them. The fashionista quickly conjured a shield, blocking them all, only for her action to backfire, as he came in melee range he swung his arm to the side, hitting the shield and shoving them all to the side with it. He didn’t stop, quickly moving at the party planner, who was pressing against the wall with the little filly next to the knocked-out headmare, reaching out with his left arm.
“AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” both Pinkie and Flurry Heart screamed in unison.
All of a sudden, one of the blocked passages burst open, as a form sprung forth, leaping in the gap between the pony and the construct that was being bridged by the latter’s extended arm. With a single swing of her hoof, the obsidian arm shattered into pieces, before both pink ponies were grabbed and pulled out of the Storm King’s way.
“Huh…?” was the only word that came out of him, as the whole thing played out so fast that he lost his balance, fell to the ground, and bashed his face against the wall.
It was quiet for a moment before everybody registered what had happened, as a grey purple-maned mare in a dull blue dress stood by their side now. “Maud?! What are you doing here?!” Pinkie Pie let out a tone of surprise.
“Technically, Starlight brought us here.” Mud Briar popped his head through the hole where she came from, before making his way over the toppled construct, to their side. “But Maud can’t be stopped when her “sense” goes off.”
“Your… Maud Sense went off?” Rarity tilted her head.
“No one lays a hoof on my sister,” the dead-pan mare explained, “even if it is an igneous rock.”
The younger sibling squealed and hugged her, and she wrapped her hoof around her in turn. But with their gaze turned away from the villain only for a moment, they didn’t notice when his arm was raised in their direction. The mud stallion was the only one who saw it and quickly shoved his significant other to the side, and a lightning bolt struck him instead.
“Mud Briar,” Maud said in her usual monotone voice to express distress, as he dropped to the ground.
“I’ve heard of something costing you an arm and a leg… but this is ridiculous!” Everybody turned to the construct, as he rose again, though with slight difficulty since he had only one arm now, his gaze locking on Maud. “And how did you do that?! You can’t just break rocks like that with one touch!”
“Joke’s on you, Storm King!” Pinkie Pie declared. “My big sis is a certified rocktor!”
“… a what?”
“I can easily find a mineral's weakness since I’ve got a doctorate in rock studies from the Equestrian Institute of Rockology,” the grey mare calmly said.
“I.E., a rocktorate,” the voice of Mud Briar said as he was twitching on the ground
The Storm King laughed. “Oh, I see. That’s funny, real funny… But also inconvenient.”
His hand lit up and a bolt was shot, everybody dodging it, while it created an opening in the debris. They took that chance to flee while the dust was still obscuring the vision, carrying Starlight and Mud Briar with them, but it didn’t take long for the construct to go after them.
“Anypony else got any bright ideas?" Tempest asked them. "Hardly anything changed, and now we’ve got to carry two ponies with us to boot.”
“Uh! Uh! Uh! I know!” The pink pony turned to her sister. “Maud, you’ve got an idea, right?”
Her sister carried her boyfriend on her back, slowly turning her head at her. “Yes.”
They disappeared around the corner near the open balcony, while the construct was still limping behind.
Soon a voice came. “Ouch! Ouch! Oh no! I twisted my hoof and I can’t get up! Please, don’t trample me at high speed while I’m being picked up! Ouch!”
He grinned. If that was the case, unless the mares wanted to leave their friend behind to get stepped on, they’d have to slow down, at which point he’ll get close enough to zap them all, even if they managed to escape. He sped up, still hearing the whining around the corner he was about to turn.
“You know, if what I’ve just seen was real, Maud, this might actually work,” Tempest said.
On the other end, obscured from Storm King’s view, Pinkie pie was pressed against the wall, trying to suppress Flurry Heart’s laughter, while she was making the noise of pain, and at the same time, both the country pony and the broken unicorn were holding up the Pie sibling above their heads, and the fashionista listened to the sound of approaching heavy stomps, waiting for their moment to act.
“Now!” Rarity called.
The two ponies tossed Maud forward, right in the path of the construct. She spun, positioning her hindquarters in his direction, and then bucked. His foot shattered into pieces and he ended up flying in the air, about to fall right on top of her. Rarity quickly acted, using her magic to form a bobsleigh track that switched his trajectory right out into the open balcony, landing on his face and grinding for a few feet.
“Enough joking about, Scourgelord!”
He landed right next to the crystal encased gemstone, and its occupant was starting to get impatient.
As he picked himself back up, it continued to berate him. “The umbrum are out already! If they cannot hear us, then all has been for naught! And if you’re going to fail because a group of ponies are too much for you-!”
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!!!” a bellow of anger erupted from the construct, so loud that it traveled to the furthest reaches of the city, garnering the attention of the panicking populace nearby. “I. AM. THE STORM KING!”
He raised his right arm in the air, and the embedded Staff of Sacanas shot lightning in the air. It reached the storm clouds, and all of a sudden smaller lightning bolts got attached to it, streaming back down to him. He grabbed hold over the lightning’s tails, and after that, for a brief moment, it felt as if the time stopped just before another shout followed.
“And you are all gonna get… THUNDER CLAPPED!!!”
He swung his hand forward, pulling the lightning tendrils, ripping giant thunderbolts from the storm clouds above, accompanied by a ripping sound that evolved into a boom as it landed its mark. The lightning slapped down on top of the Crystal Castle, ripping straight through it like a hot knife through butter. The structure shook as the attack cut through the crystal building, the interior coming apart, causing everybody present to scramble to avoid the debris from falling on them.
By the time the dust settled, the ones that were responsible for stopping the invader lay beaten and bruised under the rubble, save for one. A beam of light shot out from a pile of crystals, pushing it apart, and the little alicorn fully revealed herself, enveloped in her shield, without even a scratch. But the realization of what had just happened hit her soon enough.
“Appleyak! Miss Swirly! Pink Puffy! Zappy-Zap! Mud!”
But none of them responded with anything but groaning. Then a strong wind blew, clearing the dust that was caused by the crumble of the castle. The obsidian construct stood motionless in the position he had motioned, the expression on his face blank… and then his teal eyes lit up again, scanning about his surroundings.
“Anyone else wants some more of this?!” he yelled, pausing for a moment, awaiting a reply, only to receive none. “Yeah, I didn’t think so!” His gaze then traveled to the encased jewel in which Turmoil’s aspect was trapped, not even giving it a chance to respond. “And you! Let me make it perfectly clear, Mommy Dearest: You’re in no position to command me what to do! You’re at my mercy, and you’re not getting out of that until this whole empire submits to me!” He paused, the tone of his voice calming down. “However, luckily for you, you won’t have to wait long for that.”
The Storm King’s head slowly turned, his eyes meeting Flurry Heart’s, who was running about, trying to awake her aunt’s friends. The moment that happened, he began to slowly move in her direction with his damaged legs, wiggling the finger on his right and only arm, trying to beckon her, while making cutesy sounds. Little did that help, as the filly quickly started shooting bolts of magic, only for him to deal with them using the staff. She desperately continued as he approached until he was finally at the arm’s reach, but just before he could touch her, she raised a protective bubble.
“Oh, sweetie baby,” he childishly mocked her, “you don’t really believe that little thing of yours is going to stop me?”
He opened his palm and pressed it on the magical conjuration. In a matter of moments, the Staff of Sacanas began to eat through it, and only her constantly renewing the spell kept it up, but at this rate, it was clear it was only a matter of time before he reached in. And with that knowledge, the full brunt was finally starting to get to her: Her aunt’s friends that were protecting her were taken down, all the castle guards were swept aside, and she’s just seen this giant dark hulking monstrosity tear lightning from the clouds and rain it down on them all. And now it was toying with her, purposely prolonging her struggle, when he could’ve just quickly reached forth and grabbed her. She was terrified, beginning to tear up. And with nobody else being there to help her, there was only one thing she could do…
Cadence still didn’t understand what had just happened. A strange thing that looked like lightning just came through the ceiling and then through the floor next to her, only inches away. Regardless of what it was, it had given her a moment of respite, since it came into contact with the electrified net she’s been trapped in, causing it to discharge and disperse. She was finally free, glad that she was no longer shocked every time she tried to move. Even so, what had just happened concerned her, especially since she saw the cut running through the hallway in a straight line. Somebody was able to harness the power of lightning to such an extent to be able to damage the castle so, and it worried her about what had happened to Twilight’s friends. And yet despite that knowledge, before she could even take one step forward, she collapsed in the process. She was completely exhausted, hardly able to even lift a hoof. The adrenaline from earlier managed to keep her up, but it’s now subsided. She needed some rest, even for a moment. Her heavy eyes were slowly closing, the fading consciousness telling her that her friends could handle it, that nothing could stand in their way, and that they’ll keep Flurry Heart safe. Until…
MAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
Her eyes shot open and she immediately rose her head. That was her scream, she’d recognize it anywhere! The tone on the other hand was something alien to her – full of sorrow and fear; how she’s never heard her before. And that’s when it happened: She was exhausted, bruised, the thought that her sister-in-law and her friends were hurt by a monster made of moving rock, and how it was going to do the same to her little filly now… something inside her suddenly snapped. The sense of fear that’s been growing inside her, it’s been boiling in frustration for a while now, and it suddenly erupted in a feeling of unrestrained anger, beginning to spread throughout her body, making her act.
“Come now, sweetie. I just want to reunite you with your mommy, there’s no reason to call for her when you can just let it go and allow me to take you to her.”
The Storm King squatted in front of the crying alicorn filly who was trying to put up a fight even though she knew he’ll get her soon. Meanwhile, the rest of the Elements, as well as Tempest and Maud, managed to recover, but in their state, they knew they couldn’t pose any threat to him.
The construct turned his head as he heard them rising from the rubble. “Oh, you’re awake again, are ya? Well, I hope that little demonstration earlier taught you a lesson. So do yourselves a favor and just let me do my thing, ‘kay? Sit down, wait out, and maybe you won’t have to take another beat…ing?”
Something odd happened. The atmosphere in the castle began changing, the radiant crystals that comprised the castle suddenly lost their luster, becoming dull and grey. The construct suddenly lost the balance in his position, tipped backward, and ended up on his back. He didn’t know what had just happened, yet as he looked where he was standing earlier, there was a strange crystal formation sticking out, looking like a gnarled root. They suddenly heard heavy steps approaching the sound of iron clacking against the rock, and as this was happening, the surroundings suddenly turned sinister black.
“Y’all, what’s happening?” Applejack asked.
“Oh no… don’t tell me that an umbrum got into the castle…” Rarity grimaced.
Tempest limped in front of them, her horn flickering slightly, trying to muster up enough will to fight against the new threat.
“Tempest, I don’t think we’re equipped to fight a tag team if we can’t even deal with a solo,” Pinkie Pie pointed out.
But as the sound got louder, the shape that was causing it became visible. It wasn’t an umbrum, but the older alicorn princess.
“Oh, it’s just you Cadence,” the fashionista sighed in relief. “I was afraid for a moment that one of Sombra’s siblings got… through…?”
Her voice trailed away as the princess just walked past them without a word with a steady traipse, stopping a few feet in front of them all. Something was off, that much they could tell by what had just happened with the castle.
Yet the villain was unfazed. “Oh, look at that, you managed to get out of my net. Well, just as well, saves me the time of having to drag your kid all the way back to you.” He conjured a lightning string in his hand. “Now be a dearie and put this on, so all three of us can walk over to the balcony and you can announce that-“
Without giving him a chance to finish, a bolt of purple-green magic shot out of the pink mare’s horn straight at the construct, only for him to move out of the trajectory.
“Ah… I see we’re back to square one…” the Storm King said. “I’m game!”
He began to move in her direction, slowly accelerating, the crystal in his palm glowing. Yet he wouldn’t get far as he tripped all of a sudden, landing flat on his face. He looked behind him and noticed that another crystal cluster had grown out of the floor, in the same manner, that the one earlier caused him to lose balance. But for them to sprout almost instantly… who was causing this?
“Well… this is embarrassing,” he said as he picked himself up. “Now, as I was saying-“
He barely made a move forward and he quickly stopped when he heard a clanking sound, realizing that another cluster had just emerged and was about to trip again. Then more of them began to appear, and they were beginning to grow. He was getting annoyed by the obstructions and he began kicking them about, yet in the end, they were growing faster than he could destroy them, and they ended up surrounding him, completely immobilizing him in place. Then he saw the alicorn’s horn light up again, but he was unable to even move his right hand so he could absorb the attack. It fired, sending the Storm King flying across the hallway.
The mares were all confused by what they were seeing. “Cadence?” the fashionista tried to grab her attention but she didn’t reply.
They finally noticed a strange hue coming from under her frazzled mane that was covering her face – her eyes were exuding purple green magical essence. She began to slowly move forward in the construct’s direction.
His head was spinning for a moment. This wasn’t right. The Princess of Love was barely holding herself up not long ago, so how was she now displaying such power? It didn’t make sense! He quickly turned when he heard the sound of her hoof steps. He quickly shot a lightning bolt out of the Staff of Sacanas at her, only to be countered by her bolt of magic. He repeated, and the result was the same. He did it over and over again, but the outcome didn’t change. She didn’t even try to fire a shot at him, almost as if she had learned from her mistakes, and to make things even more inconvenient, the crystal clusters that she had summoned from the ground could immobilize him. He was growing desperate… until he noticed that Flurry Heart was still inside her protective bubble nearby.
The construct quickly moved close to her and placed his hand over it. “Hold it, Mommy Dearest!” he commanded. “Don’t make another move, or the kid gets it, see?”
He was confident in his tactic. There was no way the mother would put her child in danger on purpose; she’ll have to heed his demand. And yet she didn’t.
“Huh? You’re still approaching me? Hello?! Didn’t you hear what I just said?! Stop, or your kid is toast!”
But instead of that something else happened: She noticeably gritted her teeth, and at that moment he was so focused on her that he didn’t realize that the clusters suddenly sprouted from the wall and enveloped his whole arm, leaving him stuck. And after seeing him struggle, the little filly dispelled her bubble and quickly scurried past him.
“Hey! Get back here!” he yelled, raising one of his feet to stomp her.
He wouldn’t get the chance, as clusters erupted from under him, trapping his legs in place. Once more he was completely immobilized and the mare was approaching him. He couldn’t waste any more time because he knew what would follow. He released lightning in his hand, liberating it from the crystal, and quickly turned towards her… except he couldn’t. He had positioned himself so that when he was threatening the child with his only arm he was looking over his shoulder, and now that his legs were stuck in place, he was unable to turn back with his obsidian body. He wouldn’t be able to free himself in time as he saw the glow of the dark energy building up behind him, and was then unleashed. A powerful burst of magic sent him flying across the air and out the balcony, where he hit the railing at the very end. Once more his head was spinning, he did not anticipate that the alicorn princess would end up being so troublesome. Now, however, she had his full attention. No more distraction! Even if he was missing one of his arms she’ll still end up bending to the Storm King’s will. He tried to get back on his feet… and that was when he realized something had gone awry. He couldn’t get back up, and he discovered that the place where he was immobilized was still holding his legs in place… They weren’t with the rest of his body anymore – he had been reduced to a torso with only one arm!
An explosion happened, as the dark magic swept the constructs remnants out of the path by the alicorn princess, who simply continued to approach the balcony.
“Mommy?” Flurry Heart tried to grab her attention, but she wouldn’t respond as she went past her, almost as if she had gone blind and deaf to the world around her, except for the target she was going after.
He saw her coming his way. He quickly shot a lightning bolt at her, and yet she would counter it as she did before, and the process repeated itself, to the point where the Storm King began flailing about in a desperate attempt to stop the incoming mare, only for his lightning to finally hit the archway entrance to the balcony, causing it to collapse and block the way.
“Phew…” he said out loud, as he had no lungs to let out a sigh of relief.
He thought about it, wondering why did he even do that in the first place? Why was he feeling relieved from that? Was he worried for a moment?
“You’re delaying the inevitable, Scourgelord.” Fear's voice was strangely calm as it spoke again. “Look over the edge.”
The construct was leaning against the railing, and all he had to do was turn his head even a little. Down in the courtyard of the castle, he saw ponies scrambling around, fleeing from the umbrum, while some closer to the castle were staring up in confusion at what was happening above them. The Storm King didn’t quite understand what Fear was talking about, but the longer he looked the more he felt a strange tingle in the back of his mind. There was something eerily familiar about this situation… something he didn’t want to think about, and yet the longer he stared over the edge the clearer it became why. He had been in this situation once before. Hanging by the edge, assured of his victory, and then…
“We know you can feel it, Scourgelord,” the voice stated. “This is the final fate that awaits you, and you’re beginning to realize it. How unfortunate. Had you actually done what you were ordered to do from the start and free us, you wouldn’t be in this position now.”
It was telling the truth, even when he didn’t want to admit it. He didn’t want things to play out the same way they did last time. With the one arm he had left, he grabbed the crystal-encased gemstone and bashed it against the floor in an attempt to break it free. It didn’t work; the red crystal remnants were holding tightly, so he began to continuously bash it in hopes it would work.
“Your efforts are wasted, Scourgelord, no matter how hard you struggle at this point,” it continued. “When the mother you had wronged breaks through, even if her magic doesn’t obliterate you, all she has to do is push you over the edge.”
The dread in the back of his mind had begun to spread throughout his body, even if he was only a consciousness, his actions mimicked his thoughts, smashing the crystalized gemstone against the floor harder and evermore aggressive. He didn’t want to go through what he felt last time! And as panic began to hold a grip over him, his teal eyes suddenly began changing their hue, turning into bright yellow.
And Fear’s voice grew louder in his mind. “Does that unnerve you, Scourgelord? The thought that there is somebody stronger than you out there? The thought that somebody else will be able to… break you? To push you into the cold, dark embrace of… OBLIVION?”
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” and in the cry of fright, he put all his strength into a swing and smashed his fist into the floor.
There was a cracking sound and small red shards flew all over the place. A strange shockwave spread throughout the Crystal Empire, and the umbrum that had been chasing their prey all over the place suddenly stood still, their attention shifting towards the center of the city. They heard it; their mother called and they flew off in its direction, towards the Crystal Castle.
He held his hand a lot, holding the now liberated gemstone. It was pulsing, calling to them, and they heeded. Darkness and smoke began to gather above the structure before it descended; the conglomerate of all the umbrum was being absorbed into it, in the same way, that Sombra was, and the more the gem consumed them, the brighter it began to glow.
CRASH!
The rubble that was blocking the entry onto the balcony was blown away by the magical attack, and through dust, Princess Cadence, high on anger and hatred, stepped through, her sight pinned on the Storm King, but was distracted by the sudden flashing light that kept growing in front of her, while the darkness was infusing it. The last vestiges of shadow finally disappeared into the gem, and everything became still, like the calm before the storm. The construct finally looked at the alicorn princess, seeing the disgruntled look on her face made him act, thrusting his fist at her, holding the Fear-infused gem, and out of it, a large yellow lightning bolt shot at her. The princess quickly acted and shot a large bolt of magic at it. Instead of canceling each other out upon contact, it created a powerful shockwave that sent them both flying back, with Cadence hitting the rubble, while the Storm King hit the railing… and went flying right over the edge of the balcony.
He was there once again. The memory of the moment that he had dreaded most played out, but unlike last time, his voice was still working, and in a moment of unmitigated terror, he screamed. He fell a great distance, his heavy body only accelerating his descent to the solid ground, and then…
“Cadence!” Tempest cried as she limped to her side. “Princess Cadence, are you okay?!”
The rest of the mares soon followed to check up on her, but they were curious about something else as well. “Does anyone know what happened to the Storm King?” Rarity inquired.
They all looked to the far edge of the balcony where they have last seen him, the railing on which he was slouching now broken. They all expected what happened, they’ve seen it before. They slowly walked over to the edge of the balcony, expecting to see the shattered remnants of a walking, talking statue. And yet…
“Hey, does that swirly thing look familiar to anypony else?” Pinkie Pie asked, pointing at the strange anomaly made of dark light on the ground where the supposed victim was supposed to be.
“’ Course it does, Pinkie!” Applejack agreed. “That’s one of Grogar’s portals! He must’ve opened it before he hit the ground!”
“But wait…” the fashionista pointed out, “that means he must be somewhere nearby!”
With that knowledge, it didn’t take long for them to spot him. On the other side of the castle’s courtyard, on the flat roof of one of the houses, another portal was open, and in front of it, the ram sorcerer stood, accompanied by the Queen of Changelings.
Cadence finally started to wake up, her eyes still showing signs of negative emotion making itself manifest; she wasn’t sated yet. She walked over to the edge of the balcony and spotted her - Queen Chrysalis! Immediately she shot a beam of magic at her, but before she could hit her, the grizzled ram stepped in her way, blocking it, unmoved by the act. She pushed herself further and further, all the anger, all the hatred had been spilling against him, and yet he just stood there, unfazed.
“Cadence, stop! It’s not working!” Rarity urged her.
She didn’t respond. Applejack went to her and shook her, only for a bubble to suddenly blow up around her, preventing anyone else from touching her. They all beat against it, and it was simply too sturdy.
“Mommy!” Flurry Heart called to her.
Even to her, she wouldn’t respond, but the little filly wouldn’t be dissuaded. Her horn lit up and started to channel a beam at her height, at the bubble. Strangely enough, it seemed to be working, as the beam of light began boring through the darkened magical shell, until a tiny beam finally broke through, stinging the elder alicorn at the back of her leg. She yelped.
The child gasped. “I’m sorry, mommy!” she apologized as she stopped channeling her spell. “I just wanted to-!”
The Crystal Princess suddenly turned in her child’s direction, lowering her head to her height… and snarled. The filly, seeing this, lost the strength in her legs and fell on her backside, as words played out in her head.
Tell me, child, have you ever seen your mother angry? Fuming in unbridled rage?
Those were the words she recalled Grandpa Gar asking her. To see the anger and hatred manifest on her mother’s face... terrified her.
Suddenly, a shockwave followed. Light erupted from underneath the castle and it began to grow across the Crystal Empire until it burst, and the dark clouds disappeared. The sun was shining once again, as it seemed that the Crystal Heart had been returned to the position it was taken from.
Cadence felt the grip of negative emotion fade away… only to come to a horrible realization. Her child was in front of her, trembling in fear, and she remembered her actions from not a moment ago.
“No... No, no, no, Flurry Heart, I didn’t mean to-!” She tried to reach for her, but the child quickly lept to her feet and ran into the castle. “No… what have I done…” She staggered, before burying her face in her hooves in shame.
The mares present did not fancy the idea of being in her position, it was difficult to watch it happen to begin with. Their attention quickly switched back to where Queen Chrysalis and Grogar stood, but they were long gone.
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Ok wow, Cadance went crazy.
Oh... Dear... Cadance's motherly instincts has traumatized Flurry Heart. Even thought she was trying to protect her daughter, good backlashed its own allies.
it's funny that in the chapter with the title "mother's wrath" there were as many as three characters who have this status.
however, the moment with Dark Cadance was too epic to be left without proper music.
11207137
Technically, 4: Chrysalis, Amore, Cadence, Fear; although the first one was a bit more of a footnote in this chapter since I had to cut the part down because of the length. And maybe I should've cut down a bit more, considering one crucial revelation went under the radar.
11207153
I didn't count Amore because she was just a "hologram" and not a full character.
11207156
As I said, TECHNICALLY.
11206818
One wonders how this fractured relationship will get resolved.
11206786
You can push a mother's tolerance only so far before she loses her composure. Which puts into question how they will mend this?
11207794
Whats with the same comment? :0
I wonder how she will mend that too
11207802
Sorry, update.
11207802
Also, I had to cut the early part, because I realized that everything went under the radar because the main focus was elsewhere.
11208373
Ok