The Dark Crusader

by Blackdrag-rose

11: The Storm Comes

After her visit with Princess Celestia Twilight left the throne room and immediately headed back to Ponyville, her mind returning to the book that she carried and the potential secrets that it could contain. Celestia had mentioned that her son had been one of the finest strategists in Equestria's history, but Crimson never verified the truth of that statement. Instead he basically told her to find and read the book she now carried, as if it held every answer to all the unanswered questions that she had tried to ask him.

Though something bothered Twilight; if the book she carried was so important to Princess Celestia, then why hadn't she been asked about it when she had visited the throne room. It was almost as if Princess Celestia had expected her to find the book and check it out, so she could research and get to know both of the mysterious alicorns. She intended to learn about Crimson and the ever mysterious Nightfury, but she also wondered what she could learn about the past that wasn't recorded anywhere else.

As she flew across the sky she noticed how far into the evening it was getting, telling her that she really had spent too much time in Canterlot and had completely missed one meal. When she arrived in Ponyville she noticed that most ponies were returning home for the evening, most likely to have dinner and get ready for bed. She sighed as she touched down in front of her castle, opened the front door, and headed inside before she walked to her study room, where she could have some peace for a while. When she entered the study she found Spike was already inside the room, sitting on one of the chairs and reading a book that was related to dragons.

"Oh, hey Twilight," Spike said, welcoming her the moment that he saw her enter the room, "Where's Crimson Flare? I thought that you'd be by his side almost all day long."

"He stayed behind in Canterlot," Twilight answered, pulling out the book she had checked out and placed it on a nearby desk, "but I got what I had gone to Canterlot for in the first place. This book will tell me everything I want to know about Crimson Flare, his cousin, the mysterious Nightfury, and what they had done before vanishing."

"Nightfury?" Spike asked, not really getting what she was saying, "Who would that be?"

"Apparently she's Princess Luna's daughter," Twilight told him, though that was really the only thing she knew about her, "but I am hoping that I can learn even more about her and Crimson by reading this book. Who knows what ancient secrets are resting within these pages, just waiting to be revealed to Equestria again?"

Spike sighed and went back to his reading, but Twilight didn't mind as she approached her own book and gently opened it to the first page, just in case the pages were fragile. To her surprise the book opened up like it had been freshly bound and had just been placed on the shelf, which she knew wasn't the case as it was over a thousand years old. It was in good condition for being so old, so Twilight made sure to keep anything that would harm it away from the table before beginning her own reading.

An hour passed before Twilight pulled herself back from the book and rubbed her eyes, curious as to why the part of the book she had read was all about the Dragon Wars, the time in Equestria's early history when the dragons sought to enslave all of pony kind. The countless books that she had already read on the subject made numerous notes about the various strategies that were used against the Dragon King, but never once did they mention who Princess Celestia's strategist was. Twilight had always assumed that it had been Princess Celestia or Princess Luna who had come up with the strategies and had simply told no one so they didn't hog all the glory to themselves.

The book she was reading, however, credited Crimson Flare as the strategist whose plans had lead the Equestrian army to victory against the Dragon King. Plans, she had discovered, that had been added to by his own cousin, whose research findings in how to effectively defeat a dragon had proven to be a big help. The book credited Crimson for denying a dangerous plan, that would have involved a massive loss of lives on both sides of the war, in favor of a plan that had, in the long run, forced the Dragon King to surrender the war. The pony that had suggested the denied plan was Princess Celestia herself, which surprised Twilight that one of her mentor's plans had been shot down, by her own son no less.

Another thing that caught her attention was that, near the beginning of the Dragon Wars, Crimson Flare had come up with a sound plan that could have cut the time of the war in half. The Dragon Wars had raged on for ten long years before a treaty had been signed by the Dragon King, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna, ending most of the conflict between their races. The cause of Crimson's plan, which had been backed by half of the military leaders back then, being denied and pushed to the side was none other than Princess Celestia herself. It shocked Twilight to her core, that the mare she had looked up to for so long had once been a warmonger that was fighting the dragons, risking the lives of the ponies she was ruling over.

She guessed that Princess Celestia had been right in her comment to her son, leaders were supposed to make mistakes and learn from each and every one of them. It didn't make up for what Twilight was learning about, but she was glad that her mentor had learned something from her own experiences. She was beginning to see why Crimson hated Princess Celestia so much, but she knew that this had to be the tip of the iceberg that was his hatred for her.

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Morning eventually came to Ponyville, but all Twilight got was a shake that snapped her out of the sleep she had fallen into while studying the book. There had been too much in the book for her to get through, even after the few hours she had spent trying to understand the true nature of the Dragon Wars. She had gone to bed late last night, all so she could regain her energy so she culd tackle the book once more and see what else she could possibly learn from it. That had been her original plan, but when Spike work her up he seemed almost scared of something.

"What's wrong Spike?" Twilight asked, yawning as she stared out the window and saw only a cloudy sky, "Don't tell me Rainbow Dash is trying some new trick that's going to somehow clear every cloud in the sky."

"Well, see, that's the thing," Spike said, rubbing the back of his head just a bit, "she's not doing that. There's a massive storm front moving over the Everfree Forest and the pegasi are too scared to approach it, fearing that they'll awaken the storm over Ponyville."

Twilight, knowing how odd it was for there to be a storm of any kind over the Everfree Forest, threw off her covers and opened the window, her eyes widening. Stretching out before her was one gigantic cluster of storm clouds, positioned right over the Everfree Forest as if that was where they actually belonged. It was strange, seeing so many clouds over the one place where Twilight wasn't used to seeing them, leaving her to wonder what was going to happen.

"So, the time has come at long last," a voice behind her said, causing her to turn around and find Crimson Flare standing there, "I have waited one thousand years for this day. The time has finally come for my cousin to return to Equestria."

"Wait a minute..." Twilight said, wondering where he had come from, "Where did you come from and how did you get in my room?"

"He came through the front door with Princess Luna," Spike spoke up, waving a claw in the air, "and as for how he got in, he just waited for me to come wake you up and show you the clouds over the forest. So, is it true that we're going into the forest to watch Nightfury break out of her prison?"

"Excuse me?" Twilight asked, not following what Spike was saying, who turned to Crimson for support.

"I have invited you, your dragon friend here, and my aunt to watch Nightfury return," Crimson replied, blowing a puff out of his mouth, "Usually I would ask for your forgiveness for not saying anything sooner, but, unfortunately, I do not have the time to apologize for not saying anything at all. A storm like this one only passes over the Everfree Forest once every thousand years, so if I miss this now then I will have to wait a thousand more years to release her. I suggest we get underway, otherwise we'll end up missing everything."

Twilight sighed and followed after Crimson, heading down the stairs with Spike in tow and found Princess Luna waiting for them at the landing, humming a tune to herself. The moment that they came down the stairs Twilight noticed that there was another arrival near the front door, which was none other than Princess Celestia herself. Crimson glared at his mother, but both he and Twilight knew that Celestia had found out about what was going on by asking Luna and then decided to tag along. Twilight thought that Crimson was going to burst into flames, but he sighed and released a large smoke cloud into the air before staring at his mother.

"Look, I don't have time to get into a fight with you," Crimson said, beckoning to the storm clouds, "if I miss this storm then we'd all have to wait another thousand years to release Nightfury. I would appreciate it if you stayed out of the way and let me do what needs to be done."

Princess Celestia stayed silent and beckoned for him to lead the way, causing Crimson to huff before leaving the castle, heading outside and opening his wings. Crimson took off and started towards the Everfree Forest, followed shortly by both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, though Twilight made sure that Spike was ready before taking off. Twilight had been so sure that Crimson would have burst when he saw his mother again, but apparently missing the storm that could release his cousin was enough for him to overlook his anger for the moment.

As they made their way towards the Everfree Forest Twilight noticed that there were a dozen pegasi in the air, making sure the storm stayed over the forest and came nowhere near the town. She couldn't blame them for being cautious, as the original storm that snatched Nightfury was powerful enough to rip her out of their world. She still didn't understand how she could have survived being sealed in a storm, but she was still learning what it meant to be an alicorn and knew there were somethings she hadn't discovered yet. Crimson made a slight turn and headed right towards the middle of the forest, exactly where Twilight knew the ruined castle rested and made her wonder why they were heading there.

Twilight and the Princesses landed before the ruined castle, but where Twilight expected Crimson to land as well he simply turned and flew into the forest itself.

"What is he doing?" Twilight asked, not sure what was going on anymore.

"He's gone to activate the ritual," Luna replied, shaking her head slightly, "He didn't explain everything that was going to happen, but he said that he needed to activate the runes and spells that he's placed all over the forest. My guess is that he needs them all activated before the real storm hits, otherwise all of his planning would have been in vain."

Just as the words left Princess Luna's mouth the wind picked up and shook the trees, followed by a round of thunder ringing throughout the entire area. As they stood there Twilight remembered one place in the entire ruined castle where they could see over the top of the trees, the chamber where she and her friends had activated the Elements of Harmony. She mentioned the chamber to both of the Princesses and they agreed with her, that the chamber would give them the perfect vantage point to watch whatever happened. Even as they made their way to the chamber they saw lightning spring off the clouds, though none of it came their way and they made it to the chamber easily.

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Crimson, after leaving his mother, aunt, and the new alicorn behind at the ruined castle, made his way back to the clearing that he had been found at, somewhat glad to be back. His horn lit up and a magical circle, the one he had been constructing over the last two hundred and fifty years, sprung up all around him, wrapping around the clearing. Flames came up from the ground, rising into the air until they reached over the tops of the trees, though as that happened he could feel the other three circles awaken. As the Elemental Circles woke up at last the sky erupted, the storm reacting to the magic exactly like he knew it would and had prepared for.

"Elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water," Crimson shouted, feeling the ground shake around him while the sky vibrated with lightning, "awaken and heed my call. Ancient magic of the Everfree Forest, rise into the sky and strike the ancient storm, to free she who was wrongfully imprisoned. Sigil of Fire, reinforce the power of the Everfree Forest and act as an anchor for Princess Nightfury, daughter of Princess Luna, and the Sigil of Wind, so that they may return to Equestria at long last."

Even as he spoke he could feel the four elements reacting to his call, arching towards the summoning circles he had painstakingly created over the last thousand years. All was going according to his plan, as the moment the elements were in their circles Crimson latched onto their energy and sent them straight into the sky, right towards the center of the storm. He had one shot at freeing his cousin; if the storm proved stronger than an alicorn that was wielding all four elements and one of the Prime Sigils then he wouldn't be seeing his cousin for another thousand years.

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Twilight felt the magic long before she felt the effects shake the ground all around them, astonished by how much power Crimson Flare had collected over the last thousand years. It made sense that he would have done everything possible to break through whatever prison that was keeping Nightfury out of Equestria, but she never expected him to go this far. Then she saw it, blue flames that wrapped around the entire forest as if the Everfree was one giant magical summoning circle, using the very magic of the forest to fuel Crimson's spell.

"I continue to be amazed by my son," Celestia commented, feeling the magic that was being used all around them as the rain continued to hit the ruined castle, "I thought that he was just sleeping the years away, ignoring everypony around him, but now I know that my earlier thoughts were incorrect. My son has stayed true to his roots as a strategist, spending the last thousand years creating this giant magical circle so he can pierce the veil that's keeping Nightfury imprisoned. If anypony can figure out how to save Nightfury it would be my son."

"I pray that he succeeds dear sister," Luna said, staring up at the sky as she waited for the main event, "I would give anything and everything to be with my dear Nightfury again."

"Um...Twilight?" Spike said, staring past the cloud layer that rested in the middle of the storm, "What's going on?"

It took Twilight a minute to realize what Spike was asking about, but the moment that she spotted what was happening in the sky she was taken aback once more. The four elements had responded to the summoning circles and had gathered in the middle of the sky, spiraling around each other before ascending into the middle of the storm. The ground all around the forest violently shook as the clouds rippled, lightning flashing towards the summoning circles as Twilight caught onto the dual nature of the circles. Crimson had designed them to summon the four elements to break the prison that Nightfury was in, but once that happened they drew the lightning towards them.

Crimson had created a way to not only pierce the barrier, but to also draw the lightning away from the central area, where the prison happened to rest.

Before she could reply to Spike's question the sky rippled, the clouds ripping themselves apart and exposing what was resting in the direct center of it all. Twilight's eyes widened as she spotted the prison that was keeping Nightfury locked away, a large dark blue sphere that rested right in the center of the storm. She was sure that it could have contained a pony that was near Princess Luna's size, but then she noticed that it was beginning to crack from the intense power of Crimson's spell. The cracks raced across the entire sphere before shattering it, an eruption of magic following it and causing all the clouds to break apart from each other.

Resting where the sphere used to be was a midnight blue coated mare with a jet black mane and tail that blew in the breeze, but whether or not it was like the Princesses manes and tails Twilight was unsure of. The mare wore a set of silver jewelry that looked a lot like the set that Crimson wore, but where Crimson's chest piece had a red gemstone inside it the mare's happened to have an opal white gemstone in the center of her chest piece. As the storm calmed down the mare looked down towards where they were standing and a smile immediately came on her face as she made her way towards them.

"Mother!" the mare happily cried, landing and throwing her hooves over Princess Luna.

"I'm here my dearest Nightfury," Luna said, wrapping her daughter in a hug that was a long time coming as tears ran down from her eyes, "I'm here for you, my daughter."

Comments

[Sonata Blaze]

That history...somewhat explains Crimson's hatred towards his mother, but not completely.
But Luna's daughter has come back at last.

[Lord_01010000]

Author, you really don't like Celestia that much do you? But who cares about that right now, we got a new character to get to know. And soon we get to learn what Celestia wants the Sigils for and we're back on the hater train. ALL A-BOARD!!

[Sonata Blaze]

5871679 I'm not sure if the author likes Celestia or hates her. He/she seems to be on both sides. But, in all honesty, I'm dying to know why she wants all four of those Prime Sigils. And a new character is always nice.

[Asashi - Dark Fist Inari]

5864528 Suspicious.......................................

[Sonata Blaze]

5871806 What's suspicious this time? Besides Celestia's sudden desire to end all of dragon kind a thousand years ago.

[Asashi - Dark Fist Inari]

5871813 Not sure exactly because something is definitely fishy with her.

[Sonata Blaze]

5871871 Oh, like throwing her son's plan to save countless lives (not to mention cut the time of the war in half) away like it was a piece of trash? What could Celestia have gained from the prolonged war?

[Asashi - Dark Fist Inari]

5871879 Bloodshed?

[Sonata Blaze]

5871917 Here's an idea; maybe the Dragon King found the Sigil of Fire first and Celestia declared war on him and the rest of the dragons to get it back. Maybe Crimson's plan called for a peaceful treaty and Celestia let the war go to her head?

[Asashi - Dark Fist Inari]

5871930 War Monger.

[Sonata Blaze]

5873405 Yep. Another thing, I am glad that we finally get to meet Nightfury.

[Asashi - Dark Fist Inari]

5873894 Same here. Can't wait for her reaction to her aunt whom her cousin hates dearly.

[Sonata Blaze]

5874757 I think she might tell him to take a chill pill and get over it. Or suggest that they come to an agreement that mends the abyss that rests between them.