Fallen Queendom

by Zeroraid

17

Gentle couldn’t help stepping back as he stared ahead. Whatever he was looking at, it wasn’t the Sunset that he had grown accustomed to seeing. She’d grown taller, not so tall that she’d rival Pale Arts, but she’s certainly gotten taller than him. That amber coat of hers had shifted to become this brilliant crimson. Her hair had raised itself upward to mimic a sort of flame. Her eyes… they were still cyan but they were surrounded by blackness.

“Sunset?” The winged mare huffed, her eyes snapping in his direction before the rest of her head turned as well. “Sunset.” Gentle muttered, gathering his courage as he stepped forward. “Sunset, it’s me.” He called out to her. “You… you recognize me, right?” He didn’t know enough about this magic stuff, but he’d seen enough tv to know “dark magic” could fuck with your head. “Are you… are you in there?”

The scream that followed wasn’t something that could be called human - or pony. It wasn’t something that could be created by a monster either. If anything, it sounded more like it belonged to fabled banshee.

Gentle didn’t have time to raise his bat in defense, honestly, he didn’t really have time to react at all. All he knew was that one second Sunset, or whatever she had become was staring at him, and the next she had pinned him to the wall with enough force to knock the wind out of him. Weakly he opened his eyes, and looked up at the mad mare and noticed something, he hadn’t expected; she was crying. “Sunset?” A light gathered around the mare’s horn as Gentle found his attention shifting. He practically threw his head to the side as the ray that came down tore a hole through the floor beneath him. “Calm down! Sunset! Calm down!” He saw another ray starting to charge as he gulped, his hooves raising up in order to grab Sunset’s face before he pointed it elsewhere.

The ray that followed ripped though the chamber, causing a part of it to boil as it trailed across the walls. Sunse’s eyes simply turned to him and Gentle noticed that her ray was “following” her gaze slowly gliding across the floor as it made its way back to them. Gentle’s eyes widened and he did the only thing he could really think of. He moved. He didn’t push her off and run, instead his horn started to flicker as a floating hand came into reality and grabbed his tail before pulling hard; dragging him under the mare and behind her. Sunset looked around, her ray disappearing as Gentle rolled to his feet. Hearing him, Sunset turned and released another one of those banshee-like screams before firing another ray. Gentle ran leaving the blast to follow behind him as he circled around the mare.

“Sunset, stop!” He called out as he avoided another ray. Before he could blink though, Sunset had moved, spreading her wings as she lunged at him. That phantom hand formed infront of him and Sunset slammed right into it, pushing it and it’s creator back as the fingers wrapped around her.

‘She’s gonna kill me if I don’t do something!’ Gentle thought as he continued sliding along the floor. ‘Think! Think! Gotta try finding a way to -’ The rest of that thought disappeared as he found himself losing his balance and tumbling down a flight of stairs. ‘Ow!Ow! OW Where did these stairs come - oh right Sunset transformed the entire chamber - Ow!’

Gentle formed a hand under him to stop himself from falling any further and floated off the staircase as he looked around to see the spiral staircase that was digging deep into the pits of the palace. ‘That is a long way down…’

Unfortunately, he was about to take a shortcut.

Feeling someone staring at him, Gentle turned just in time to see that Sunset was tackling him through the hand he was using to float and down the stairway lined pit.

---

Pale Arts felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as she glanced back towards the Crystal Empire. ‘Somethings happened…’ The Mare thought before remembering where she was. Her distraction had caused her stronghold to stop firing and Sombra took that as the opening he needed, slamming into the structure and starting to corrupt it, his darkness spreading like a poison introduced into a well as weins of darkness started to spread. Pale Arts chose to abandon her location; jumping - growing wings and taking to the skies as what was once hers started to turn blacker than obsidian.

The color didn’t just change though, the entire structure did as well, crystals breaking apart and grinding together, moving so that they might take a new shape. A shape that was very equine in structure.

It howled the sound that left it seeming like it was going to echo across the frozen north.

“A bit primitive but not bad.” Pale Arts watched the construct’s massive horn start to glow as she dropped out of the sky, choosing to dodge by falling instead of using some fancy aerobatics. The blast that followed could be seem for miles at a time. It was less a ray and less of a blast - it was practically a torrent of dark magic that punched through the clouds and started to dig into the snow as it was swung down to chase after Pale Arts who stayed close to the snow for a moment before rising into the sky. The crystal construct stopped firing its torrent of magic, chosing to instead open its mouth as it released a volley of smaller rays that produced a scattershot.

Too many rays fired; barely any room to dodge…

Pale Arts was enveloped in magic, magic that clung to her coat as the word seemed to slow down. No, the world hadn’t slowed down, she’d gotten faster. With a tilt of her head a ray flew past her as she charged forward, racing towards the massive construct and started moving weaving through the volley that was flying around her.

Weave to the left.

Dodge to the right.

Climb into the sky.

Fall towards the earth.

The construct started gathering magic between its teeth, dozens of smaller rays slamming into each other as they grew into one massive sphere that was released in Pale’s path.

She was going too fast, she couldn’t fly out of the way.

She didn’t have to.

The magic that consumed her obliterated a mountain off in the distance, trailing across the northern sky as it continued on towards an unknown horizon.

From within the construct, Sombra smiled, his fangs showing themself as he looked through his new weapon.

She was gone. That old and forgotten relic of the past, was gone. He started to chuckle, and right after it broke into a manic laugh as his construct turned to the sky and howled alongside him.

“Don’t celebrate too soon now.”

Sombra found a hoof slamming into his jaw as his head was knocked into a collection of crystal. Pale Arts was already on him, another hoof slamming into his form as tried getting his senses back together.

She wasn’t letting him.

Hit.

She knocked his jaw upward.

Hit.

She slammed it to the side.

Hit.

She forced the air out of his lungs.

Her last strike missed only because he managed to meld into his construct’s form, and left her hoove to punch a hole through the crystal she cracked it open.

H̵̪̖̹̓͊̈́o̵̬͔̦͔̤͍̠̽͆͜ẃ̵̘̯͍͎̰̩̜̍̑̓̐͒̒̽

Have you studied a teleportation spell?” Pale Arts asked as she pulled her hoof out the crystal and started looking around. “That’s very disappointing.” Sombra, wherever he was, growled as small crystalline hornes gathered around the interior of the Construct as they fired upon the mare. Pale Arts response was to simply tap her hoof on the ground, and destroy the construct all together.

---

Gentle cursed as he continued falling down the pit with Sunset clinging to him. A feral but broken look on her face as she did so. ‘If we hit the floor we’re dead!’ Gentle realized as he glanced behind him, seeing that the ground was approaching frighteningly fast. ‘Gotta stop us somehow…’ He bit his lips as he flared his magic and formed another hand beneath him… only to punch right through it and causing it to disappear. ‘Going too fast… come on, think of something!’ Problem was Gentle couldn’t think of anything.

It wasn’t that he was panicking, it was that he just couldn’t think of anything. He still sucked at magic so he wasn’t able to do much with that. He couldn’t grab onto anything cause there was nothing he could grab onto - and he didn’t have hands anymore.

‘Come on Gentle, think! Think! If you don’t stop this you're both dead.’ He reminded himself before realizing something as he looked back at Sunset, who was still lost in her berserk/sorrow. ‘Sunset’s… gonna die.’ He thought. ‘She’s gonna die, and you can’t do a damn thing… just like-’

An image passed before his eyes, the memory of a face that still caused him pain. Without warning he wrapped his hooves around the mare as she seemed taken back by the act.

“You…” The transformed mare growled out as Gentle’s horn, body and crystal started to glow. “What are you doing?”

“I’m not losing another one!”

---

All across the land of Equestria, ponies felt it, they saw it.

An eruption of magic that could wasn’t normal in this day and age.

Brilliant ember in color and piercing the sky like a pillar and ripping a hole through it.

“Sister?” Luna muttered as she looked at the sky. “Is that?”

“Yes.” Celestia muttered as she noticed the aurora that was spreading from the pillar of mana. “That’s the crystal heart but…” She paused. “I can’t recognize this magic signature.” She admitted.

---

“Now that’s some dense magic.” Gaea muttered as she looked to the horizon.

“What in the world could create that much mana?” Her follower muttered as she just looked at it.

“An adolescent kirin.” Gaea muttered with a smile. “One undergoing a magic surge while drawing upon a rough understanding of Emotional Magic, and using the entire crystal Empire as an amplifier.” She paused. “It’s causing a resonance with the Crystal Heart and amplifying the output even further.”

“That seems like a really well thought out guess.” The mercenary bodyguard muttered as she glanced at the mare.”

“Who said it was a guess?” Gaea asked. “I see everything that goes on upon my soil.” She told them. “It’s so warm.” She muttered. “The desire to protect somepony, the desire to help them…” She whispered. “It’s so warm, like a fire warming your house…” She whispered. “But be cautious young one, for such a fire may burn it to the ground.”

---

“Shining?” Cadence muttered as she stared up at the pillar of light, ignorant to the fact that her cutie mark was starting to pulse. “I think we need to hurry.

---

“Gentle…” From the wreckage of a destroyed construct, something reduced now to a clump of crystalline chunks and shards. “He shouldn’t be able to release that much magic.” The mare muttered as she started to step towards the empire.

Behind her Sombra lunged, pulling himself out the crystal carpet and swung what seemed to be a shaped blade of crystal. Pale Arts didn’t do anything, but her shadow did. Springing to life the darkness at her feet wrapped around the blade as they held it still before making their way towards Sombra, who backed off.

“T̸̪̜̺̏́̃h̸̢͓͉̩̪͔̆̄͗̅̾̐ĩ̷̢̛͕̩͖̝͐̇͒͒͝s̷͙͙̿̄͛̉̀ isn’t over…” Sombra’s body condensed, black vapors turning into skin and bone as they revealed the stallion's true form. Pale Arts kept her gaze focused on the pillar of light as it started to die down. Her barrier had been broken by the pure output of the power brought forth, and the clouds had been pushed back, the near-eternal blizzard that was dancing across the empire had scattered with it. “Turn around… and let us finish this.” Pale Arts still said nothing as Sombra collected crystals to form what seemed to be a scythe. “I said…”

“I heard you.” Pale Arts muttered as she continued facing the empire. “Just know that the moment I do, this battle is over.”

“What?” Pale Arts just glanced back at Sombra and her horn pulsed and she started walking off. “Get back here!” He moved and found his vision tilting. ‘W-what?’ He started falling, slamming into the ground and saw something fall across to him.

His body… well half of it anyway.

‘S-she …’ he didn’t get to finish that though, but he still realized what had happened.

Pale Arts had weaponized a Teleportation spell. In the split second her horn pulse she grabbed him only half of his body, and warped that half elsewhere.

“If you revive, I'll put more effort into kill you next time.” Pale Arts muttered as she started running towards the Empire. Snow quickly gave way to grass, and grass was quick to give way to the crystal floor. Something that seemed to shine with far greater radiance than before food for some reason.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know? But I feel…” “Light?” “Yes.”

“Like someponys watching over me.”

“I feel so warm…” “This… this isn’t Love though.” “This feeling…”

“Kindness…” “Loyalty…”

“It feels like how things were before… before He came…”

Pale Arts ignored the words of the Crystal Ponies as she continued running, heading towards the palace as she periodically started teleporting, closing as much distance as she could before pushing the doors open and started searching. “Gentle!” She called out. “Sunset!” She called out again. “Where are you?” The Mare all but pleaded as she continued racing across the ground. “Speak if you hear me!” She called out, running across shards of Crystal Constructs and those that were still standing, but seemingly confused as to what to do. Some watched her, and started to skitter away, while others made attempts to follow her.

She was the biggest after all.

Regardless Pale Arts just continued running through the palace grounds, calling out for her two wards as she continued down different paths.

“Pale~!” Stopping the mare turned to one of the palace towers as she looked out a nearby window. From the top of one she saw Sunset with Gentle leaning on her for support. He smiled weakly as Sunset called out, waving to get her older counterparts attention. “Hey!” She called out as the mare jumped out the window and started to fly, growing shadow like wings as she flew up to them.

“Thank the Goddess…” The mare whispered, landing before them. “Are you two alright, what happened?”

“I… I’m not really sure.” Sunset admitted. “I remembered using the magic you taught me and the next I knew Gentle and I were at the bottom of a stairwell.” She told her as Gentle seemed ready to fall asleep. Both of them looked terrible. Sunset had what seemed to be burn and scuff marks, while Gentle was covered in these black veins. “We found a door and started going up another flight of stairs and…”

“Found this.” Gentle muttered as he gestured to the Crystal Heart that was on the floor next to them. “Pretty sure… this is important.” He muttered.

“It is.” Pale Arts muttered as she started levitating the Crystal Heart. “Still, you two look terrible.”

“Feel terrible.” Both ponies muttered as Pale Arts started levitating them as well.

“Let’s get you two downstairs…” Themare whispered. “You two did good.”

“Thank you…” Sunset muttered as Gentle passed out right on the spot. Pale just smiled and started flying down the side of the palace and returned to the world below.

“This is going to take a moment to explain to the crystal ponies.” The mare muttered. “It can wait though.”