The Age of Harmony refuses to die. Flurry Heart seeks to kill it.
...and lo, Harmony spread Her Light across the world, and unto us, Her children, so that we should know Her virtues and live in happiness, and may Her Age persevere forevermore...
The Age of Harmony refuses to die. Flurry Heart seeks to kill it.
(Uh... top of the Mature Off Feature Box and 3rd Place Mature On Feature Box day of posting? Wow. Was not expecting that... Is this the place where I bring that up? People do that, right?)
There wasn’t much left of the ruins of Cloudsdale. Clouds, as a building material, had plenty of advantages, but durability was not one of them. Even the densest of cloudstone would dissipate if struck with enough force.
Thus, when the city had fallen from the sky, most of it simply vaporized on impact.
Flurry Heart strode through what little remained, mostly the shattered and waterlogged remnants of personal belongings. Shards of vases, broken foal’s toys, books too ruined by water damage to even make out the title… It more resembled a damp garbage dump than the remnants of one of Equestria’s greatest cities. She made a pointed effort not to focus on any of it for too long. She couldn’t afford to be distracted.
There weren’t any corpses. There weren’t many left untouched anymore.
Within the center of the ruins, the only intact building stood, albeit in a heavily damaged state: The Cloudthedral, one of the city’s oldest buildings. Once, it was a place of worship, somewhere for ponies to give revenant thanks to Harmony. Now, thanks to its many magical reinforcements, it was the only part of Cloudsdale left mostly in one piece.
The building had created a small crater when it had impacted with the ground, partly burying it and blocking the lower entrance. Luckily, being a pegasus structure, the doors weren’t the only way in. Stretching her wings under her cloak, Flurry took flight, making her way through one of the open windows.
The inside of the Cloudthedral wasn’t particularly well lit, with the only light coming in through the numerous holes in the roof and walls, but it wasn’t so dark that Flurry needed to light her horn just to see. The interior was in just as much a state of disarray as the exterior, the elaborate architecture a ruined husk of its former glory.
Flurry narrowed her eyes as her gaze fell upon her target, perched on the altar at the far end of the main hall, head bowed. It resembled a cross between a pegasus and roc, but in the loosest sense. Easily twice the size of Flurry herself, with four wings, two monstrously large shadowing the smaller ones covered in razor sharp feathers, all of them a hideous mix of all the colors of the rainbow. The creature raised its head, swiveling its neck to lock its slitted crimson pupils with Flurry’s own.
The creature unleashed a monstrous screech, launching itself into the air, a sickly looking rainbow aurora flaring to life behind it. It threw itself at Flurry, talons at the end of its front legs extended.
Flurry waited until the creature was just about to reach her, before flapping her powerful wings and pushing herself out of the way of the oncoming attack. At the same time, she lit her horn, pulling her crystal rapier from its sheath and launching it through the air, piercing a hole in the larger of the creature’s right wings. It let out a pained squawk, flapping its wings desperately in an attempt to regain its balance.
Not wanting to give the beast a chance to recuperate, Flurry pressed her advantage, diving towards it. She drove her rapier through the other large wing, destabilizing the creature further and causing it to screech in pain as it attempted to bat the needle-like weapon away. While it was distracted, Flurry’s horn began to glow even brighter.
With a flick of her head, Flurry fired a massive beam of magical energy at the creature, tearing through its larger right wing, cutting the majority of it off completely. Now fully destabilized, the rainbow beast lost control, careening into the floor of the Cloudthedral and skidding into the wall. Flurry landed herself, pulling her rapier back to her. She took a step forward, keeping her guard up.
The creature let out another ear piercing screech, pulling itself up and pouncing at Flurry. She dove to the side, but was slightly too slow, one of the beast’s talons tearing a gash through her cloak and across her side. With a wince, Flurry landed into a roll, propelling her rapier towards the beast’s eyes in hopes of blinding it. It raised a leg to block, but Flurry drove her blade through the gaps between its talons, striking through its left eye.
With yet another screeching roar, the creature raised a leg to its eye, blood running down its face. It spread its smaller wings out, and they started to glow. With another screech, it fired several of the feathers from the wings, knife-like projectiles flying towards Flurry at great speed.
Flurry’s horn flared again, erecting a yellow shield of magic in front of her. She was too slow to block the first two feathers, which stuck into her chest, but the others simply bounced off her defenses, falling to the ground limply. Now protected from the hail of projectiles, Flurry took to the air again and dove forward, at the same time driving her rapier through the creature's other eye.
As it opened its mouth to cry out, Flurry launched herself towards the creature’s face. Reaching into her cloak, she pulled out a small crystal orb and jammed it into the beast’s mouth, kicking its jaw shut to both force it swallow and to propel herself away. It swiped at her in mid-air, catching her with the back of a talon and knocking her away, causing her to crash into the wall and slump to the ground.
The creature opened its left eye, its sclera now as red as its pupil. It let out another screech and lit its wings again, preparing to fire more feathers at the now downed Flurry. The battered alicorn looked at the beast, scowled, and lit her horn.
In an instant, dozens of crystal spikes emerged from the creature’s belly, skewering it from the inside. It froze, eyes going wide, before slumping to the ground, dead. The rainbow color drained from its body as it turned into a red dust, which quickly lost its shape and fell apart, scattering across the Cloudthedral’s floor.
Flurry ignited her horn again. The crystal spikes receded, dropping the now harmless looking orb to the ground. She struggled to her hooves, inspecting her injuries. Slamming against the wall had caused some minor bruising, but the Cloudthedral’s cloud walls had worked in her favor. In fact, she had probably done more damage to the wall itself than vice versa, the cloudstone having deformed slightly with an imprint in the shape of Flurry’s body.
She plucked the feathers from her chest, wincing slightly. The fabric —strengthened by the enchantments layered into it— had prevented them from piercing too deep, but they still hurt to remove. Lastly, she looked to the gash on her side, a line of blood catching in her coat. She’d gotten lucky; an inch deeper and she might not still be standing.
She pulled her magical flask from her cloak and pulled off the lid with her magic, tilting her head back and letting the warm, sickly sweet liquid pour down her throat. She wasn’t quite sure what the golden, glowing healing elixir was made of, or how it refilled itself while she slept; the mare who had given it to her had chosen not to explain those factors. Not that it really mattered in the long run. As long as it kept working.
She felt its effects almost instantly, the aches of battle subsiding and a feeling of relief flooding her body. She swallowed the last of the liquid, and sighed, letting herself relax for a brief moment. As she tucked away the now empty glass flask, she noted that her injury had stopped bleeding, leaving only a thin scar, joining the many others only barely visible under her coat.
Flurry walked through the dissipating red dust, eyes scanning the floor. She found her crystal orb; she picked it up with a hoof, dusting it off and stashing it away in her cloak. Sitting a short distance away was her rapier, which she grabbed with her magic, cleaning the blade of dust and blood before sheathing it.
A glimmer of light caught Flurry’s attention; she turned, spotting the target of her search. A six sided, blood red gem. She picked it up with her magic, inspecting it with a blank expression. She pulled out a golden medallion, drawing the gem closer to herself at the same time.
The gem slotted into a depression at the top of the medallion with a light click, causing it to flash red briefly. Each of the four other gems set into the medallion flashed in turn: Orange, pink, purple, blue. Only one space remained: a larger slot in the center, the shape of a six pointed star.
Flurry stared at it for a while, and then sighed, tucking the medallion away in her cloak. She looked up, above the altar her fallen foe had perched on. There, painted in colored cloud, was the image of a featureless, glowing alicorn, body emanating a rainbow glow. With a scowl, she turned away from depiction, taking to the air and leaving the Cloudthedral, and the ruins of Cloudsdale, behind.
Flurry held on tighter, her front legs wrapped firmly around her mother’s neck as Princess Cadence ran down the crystal hallway, flanked by a pair of Crystal Guards. Shining Armor ran ahead of her, a sword held in his magical grasp. More guards, all with weapons drawn, rushed past them, charging into combat.
Shining Armor skidded on the ground as he turned a corner, eyes going wide. With but a fraction of a second of hesitation, he swung his sword, the horrible sound of steel cutting through flesh making Flurry wince and flatten her ears. There was a light thud as his foe fell to the ground. Flurry squeezed her eyes shut as Cadence rounded the same corner, not wanting to see… whatever it was that had attacked her father.
“Your Highness! Captain Armor! This way!” A rough voice called out from ahead of them. Flurry opened her eyes a crack to see another guard at the end of the hall, gesturing to an opening in the wall, one she didn’t remember being in this particular hall. “You need to get out of here, now!”
Shining Armor stopped, spinning around to face Cadence. “Honey, take Flurry and go.”
“But Shiny-”
“My soldiers need me. I can’t abandon them.”
“I need you!” Cadence protested. “Flurry needs you! Please, just come with us!”
“Daddy?” Flurry tilted her head. “You’re gonna come with us… right?”
Shining hesitated for a brief moment, and then shook his head. “I… I can’t. My place is here. If I stay, we’ll be able to hold them off longer, and more ponies will be able to escape… I have to.”
“Shiny…” Tears welled up in Cadence’s eyes.
A thunderous shattering sound reverberated throughout the castle, thin cracks forming in the hallway walls. Shining and the guards raised their weapons, spinning around. “Just go!” He shouted.
“Your Highness, this way!” One of the guards raised his spear and gestured to the passage, ducking inside and letting the glow of his horn light the path. Cadence turned to look at Shining one more time, a single teardrop falling from her face, before she tore her gaze from her husband and entered into the passage.
“Daddy? Daddy!” Flurry called out, reaching out with a hoof. “Mommy, we’re leaving Daddy behind!”
Cadence didn’t reply, holding back a choked sob.
The entrance to the passage began to close up with a rumble. As it closed, Flurry saw Shining and the guards turn to look down the hallway. “All right, soldiers! For the Crystal Empire!” The last thing visible through the gap before it closed was Shining raising a shield around him and the other guards, a dark shape impacting with it just before the opening shut completely.
Flurry sat in the light of her campfire,sewing closed the hole that had been torn in the side of her cloak. The needle and spools of thread she had found in the ruins of Manehatten were among the most useful of her tools. Without them, her cloak would have been damaged beyond usability ages ago, and with all the enchantments she’d woven into it, its destruction would significantly lower her chances of survival.
So practiced was she in repairing these tears, the dark grey fabric covered all over with stitches, that the act was almost unconscious. Good thing, too, as it let her keep the majority of her focus on her surroundings. She always tried to pick safe, easily defensible spots to rest for the night, but years of experience had taught her to always be paranoid, always on guard. It had saved her life more than a few times.
She’d found a good spot to settle for the night; a small plateau in the middle of dry wastes. From her elevated position, she had a perfect line of sight all around her, empty desert stretching as far as the eye could see, the moon and stars providing ample illumination. The plateau was sheer enough that only something with wings could reach the top, which meant she was most likely safe. The flying ones didn’t tend to come out this deep in the desert, after all.
Flurry finished her repairs, inspecting her cloak closely. Satisfied with her work, she nodded to herself, pulling the garment over her body to shield her further from the cold desert night. She noted, with some displeasure, that her spool was nearly exhausted. She only had one more left. Then again, her task was nearly over. Hopefully, she wouldn’t need any more than that one spool.
She pulled out her medallion again, each of the gems set inside faintly catching the light of the fire. Five gems, each claimed from a fierce battle. Flurry observed to herself that they had gotten easier over time. Not that her foes had gotten weaker; she had simply become more experienced.
“Just one left…” She murmured to herself. “Then everything will be over…”
Spotting something out of the corner of her eye, Flurry stashed her medallion away, turning and squinting into the distance. Sure enough, she saw a dark shape on the ground below, moving towards her slowly. She watched it for a while, waiting to get a closer look.
It was one of the grounded melee types, and a lesser one at that. Like most of the lesser ones, it vaguely resembled a pony, but its shambling, unnatural movements made it clear that it was something else. That is, if the arches of bone extending from its back like spikes didn’t make the distinction obvious. It shuffled towards Flurry’s plateau, glowing magenta eyes locked on her fire.
Flurry narrowed her eyes, waiting for it to get closer. She lit her horn, tilting her head down and calculating the distance and angle. Then, she fired, releasing a thin bolt of magic from her horn. It struck true, piercing her target’s skull, and it slumped to the ground, dark ichor flowing from its head and pooling around its body.
Flurry watched it for a moment. Then, she fired another shot, poking another hole through her quarry. Just to be sure.
The weak illumination of hornlight reflected eerily off of the uneven walls of the crystal tunnels, barely lighting the way forward. Led by the guard ahead of them, Cadence carried Flurry through the passages in silence. Flurry herself clung tightly onto her, eyes still dripping tears into her mother’s coat.
They turned a corner, and the cramped tunnel opened up into a spacious cavern, pinpricks of light streaming in from holes in the ceiling. A rough staircase wrapped around the cavern walls, leading upwards. “The exit should be this way.” The guard said, tilting his head towards the stairs. He took a step towards them.
Then, the ceiling shattered into a million pieces.
Both Cadence and the guard reacted instinctively, throwing up shields to block the raining crystal shards, which bounced off harmlessly. Flurry cringed, squeezing her eyes shut and pressing herself down into her mother’s back, flinching at the sounds of the shards impacting the magical barrier around her.
“Quicky, Your Highness!” The guard yelled, raising his spear and pointing it at the newly formed opening.
“IT IS POINTLESS TO FLEE. THE LIGHT OF HARMONY SEES ALL.”
A distorted, yet frighteningly familiar voice echoed throughout the cavern, as its owner slowly descended through the entrance it had created. It was wreathed in purple fire, with six magnificent lavender wings spread wide. The core of its body was hard to look at, as if it was made of magic itself, the only solid parts being a long spiral horn and a pair of burning magenta eyes. Cadence gasped, her breath caught in her throat at the sight.
“CADENCE OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE.” The burning figure’s voice sounded like a chorus in harmony, many voices speaking in a unified, otherworldly choir. “YOUR KINGDOM IS JUDGED WITH OBSTRUCTING HARMONY. THE SENTENCE IS OBLITERATION.”
The guard raised his spear towards the figure. “Your High-”
The creature’s eyes sharply turned to lock onto the guard, glowing with magical power. In the blink of an eye, a tendril of magic lashed out and swatted him away, sending him flying into the wall of the far end of the cavern. “ALL WHO STAND AGAINST HARMONY SHALL BE WIPED CLEAN.”
“Twilight…” Cadence shook, taking a step back. “How… this wasn’t supposed to…” Flurry squeezed her eyes shut even tighter, trying to block out the world around her.
“BE NOT AFRAID, CHILD OF HARMONY. ONCE THE KINGDOM OF THE UNCLEAN IS PURGED, ALL SHALL BE AS ONE IN HARMONY.” The figure’s many voices said as one, attempting to mimic kindness. “SURRENDER HER UNTO US, AND YOUR JUDGEMENT SHALL BE SWIFT.”
“Twilight, please…” Cadence backed up against the wall of the cavern, looking up at the figure with tears in her eyes. “Just stop this…”
“WE ARE SHE NO LONGER. WE HAVE BECOME SERAPH, ARBITER OF HARMONY. THROUGH US, THE AGE OF HARMONY SHALL LAST FOREVERMORE.” More tendrils extended from the aura around Seraph’s body, reaching out and snatching Flurry from Cadence’s back.
Flurry screamed, reaching out with her front hooves. “MOMMY!”
“NO!” Cadence’s horn erupted, the blue glow of her magic surrounding Flurry and holding her suspended in mid-air. “Let go of my daughter!”
“IT IS POINTLESS TO RESIST THE WILL OF HARMONY.” Seraph declared, forming more tendrils to wrap around Flurry’s body.
“I won’t-” Cadence gritted her teeth. “-let you take her!” Her horn’s intensity increased even further, the faint shape of a heart appearing at its tip. Her body began to glow blue, motes of light floating off of her. Flurry’s vision was filled with the light blue aura of her mother’s magic as it surrounded her body. She stretched her leg out further towards Cadence, who gave her a sad smile.
Everything went blue, and then white.
Flurry dropped to the ground, landing face first in soft, cold snow. She scrambled to her hooves, looking around, but all she saw were fields of snow and ice, a mountain in the far distance.
“Mooooommmy!” She called out, voice partly drowned out by the chilling wind. “Where are you?!”
Flurry saw her destination on the horizon long before she reached it, the crystal spire piercing the heavens being visible from miles away. Flurry usually went out of her way to avoid even so much as looking at it, but now, it was finally time for her to face what lay within.
She flew above the forests that surrounded the spire, granting her a vantage point on the defenses below. Magenta crystal spread from the base, completely covering the ground, and on top, various structures formed from the same crystal stood, almost resembling a small town.
With a grimace, Flurry noted she wasn’t alone. There were at least twenty of them visible, probably more out of sight, wandering around the ‘town’ aimlessly. Surprisingly, they were all mostly equine, rather than some of the more monstrous varieties she had encountered in the past. From a distance, they seemed almost like normal ponies.
But they weren’t, and Flurry scowled at herself for even considering it. Crystal jutted from their flesh, replacing the bone she normally saw, even completely covering some of the larger ones. She couldn’t afford sentimentality, or she would just wind up dead.
Flurry lit her horn, focusing on picking out the most dangerous targets first: The horned ones, the spellcasters. Counting a total of eight out in the open, she focused a spell and fired. A thick beam of magic shot from her horn, splitting into eight and striking her foes. Six of them crumpled to the ground, while two of them, both larger than the rest, screeched in pain and looked up at her.
The rest of them looked up as well. Several of the winged ones launched into the air, shrieking as they flew towards her. Flurry dove to meet them, drawing her sword. Just before she would have crashed into one, she dove to the side, bringing her rapier down to slice one of its wings clean off. It spiraled in the air, crashing into one of its fellows and tumbling to the ground.
Two more rose to meet her, darting towards her with the crystal claws at the tips of their wings outstretched. Flurry reached out with her magic, grabbing the wing she had just severed, and swung it at one of her approaching foes, skewering the other with her blade.
A flash from the corner of her vision made her twitch, twisting her body to avoid a bolt of magic fired at her from the ground. One of the surviving spellcasters hissed, horn glowing with magenta light, and fired again. Flurry grabbed one of the still airborne fliers and yanked on it, moving it into the path of the oncoming projectile. It shot a hole right through the flier’s chest, Flurry pushing herself back to avoid its continuing path.
Flurry pulled the crystal orb from her cloak, and hurled it towards the attacking caster. She cut at an approaching flier as she watched the orb fall, dodging its diving swipe. She dived, weaving around the caster’s shots, drawing the grounded ones, otherwise unable to engage her, closer. Once a sizable group had gathered around the caster, she reached out and triggered the orb.
It expanded rapidly, spikes erupting from its surface in every direction. The caster, and several of the grounded ones surrounding it, found themselves impaled, staining the spikes with their ichor. A few of the larger melee ones, covered by crystal armor, survived, being simply knocked away by the attack.
More foes emerged from the surrounding crystal structures, summoned by the ongoing battle. Flurry thrust her rapier into the neck of one of the armored ones, raising a shield to protect herself from the attacks of the newly arrived casters.
Flurry flapped her wings hard, pushing herself up further into the air. Lowering her shield, she focused all her magic into her horn, firing a ball of energy into the ground. On impact, it exploded, a magical shockwave ripping through the gathering horde. A few of the fliers took to the air, but the rest were thrown away, the ones close to the blast zone being torn apart.
Panting, Flurry dropped to the ground, taking a moment to catch her breath, and only barely regaining her energy quickly enough to block yet another attack from a caster. Looking around, she saw that despite how many she had taken out, her foes’ number had only increased.
Sighing, Flurry reached into her cloak and pulled out a vial of brown liquid. She hated using them, and it was her last one, but she got the feeling this was the last time she would find it useful. She uncorked the vial, took a deep breath, and downed the entire thing. She felt the power flow through her, her expression morphing into a twisted smile.
Violence wasn’t something Flurry normally enjoyed. She was good at it, and well practiced, but it wasn’t something she took pleasure from. Fighting was but a task she had to complete, and she had learned to detach herself, to not think too hard about the specifics.
But under the influence of the… stuff in those vials, she found herself reveling in it. She rarely recalled the exact details of her actions, lost in a blurred haze of magical frenzy, but she did remember the feelings. The feeling of perverse joy as she ripped through her foes with increased ferocity, tearing the crystals out from their flesh and using them to smash through their armor… she hated how much she enjoyed it.
When she finally regained her lucidity, she found herself alone, facing the doors to the spire. She chose not to look behind her, not wanting to see the carnage she had wrought, quickly checking she still had her weapons and tools before pushing the doors open and walking inside, shutting the doors behind her.
She used a spell to quickly clean her coat and cloak of ichor. She tried not to think about how much there was.
A large spiral staircase ran around the inside wall of the spire, leading up so high that Flurry couldn’t see the top. Luckily, there didn’t seem to be any enemies guarding the inside. Taking to the air, Flurry ascended the spire, keeping an eye out for foes. But none appeared.
Eventually, she reached the top, the stairs leading into a circular hallway with a door to the chamber at the spire’s apex. Flurry stood in front of the doors for a moment, readying herself. Then, with a deep breath, she narrowed her eyes and pushed the doors open.
Starving and scragged, Flurry trudged through the endless icy wastes. She didn’t know how long she’d been walking; it could have been hours, days, even weeks. As far north as she was, under the endless snowstorm, the sky was no help. The only marker of her progress had been the mountain, the sole feature of the otherwise empty landscape, getting steadily larger as she walked towards it.
She was tired, she was cold, and she wanted nothing more than to stop, fall to the ground, and curl up in a ball. But she didn’t, because she knew that if she did, she would never get up. The longer she walked, though, the less that sounded all that bad. At least then she could rest.
The mountain dominated her vision now, towering above her. She had been moving towards it for so long she had almost forgotten why she had made it her destination. It was a surprise, then, what she found at the base: An elaborately carved opening in the rock, leading deep into the mountain itself.
Motivated by the idea of respite from the harsh wilderness, Flurry quicked her pace as much as she could, even taking to the air briefly before being grounded by the strong winds. She barely spared a glance at the eccentric runes carved around the entrance, too exhausted to care exactly what kind of place she was taking shelter in.
She had expected it to be dark inside, but it wasn’t. Instead, colored gems of all shapes, sizes and colors dotted the walls haphazardly, with no pattern to speak of. Flurry found herself walking deeper and deeper inside, following the cave’s twists and turns until she could no longer see the outside, before pressing up against a wall and curling up on the ground, passing out almost immediately.
Her dreams were muddled, a feverish medley of past, present and fantasy. Twisted dark shapes and burning angelic figures too bright to look at, unbearable cold and searing panic, the image of her father charging into doomed battle and her last sight of her mother’s face… And something else among it all, something coiling around the edges of her vision, observing but not inverveing. Something strange and alien, but not hostile.
Something that seemed to be urging her to go deeper into the caves.
Eventually, Flurry returned to the realm of consciousness, though it took a while for her to gather the energy to actually stand up. She may have been more rested, but the sleep hadn’t filled her belly. Now she wasn’t being pelted by ice and snow and had found somewhere where she could rest, the weight of her situation began to set in. She had no idea where she was, she was alone, and her family…
The chamber at the top of the crystal spire was sparsely furnished. Like the rest of the tower, its walls, floor and ceiling were made of a light purple crystal, all the surfaces of the perfectly hexagonal room covered in elegant symmetrical patterns that lit the space with their glow.
The only other defining feature of the room was a large circular table in the center, upon which a slightly transparent map was projected in three dimensions. The land was split into six sections, the glowing magenta divisions between them forming a six pointed star with the spire at its center. One of the sections, to the north, was fuzzy and indistinct, while the other five were in greyscale, as if the energy had been drained from them.
Looming over the map was a figure that Flurry knew all too well. A six winged monster that had haunted her dreams for years. Its body looked less pristine than she remembered; the fire that surrounded it had dimmed, the magical mass in the center of its body wavering erratically. Flurry could almost make out a physical, equine looking body underneath it.
“CHILD OF HARMONY,” Seraph said, its choir of voices seeming ever so slightly discordant. “YOU KNOW NOT WHAT RUIN YOUR ACTIONS BRING.”
Flurry narrowed her eyes. “I know exactly what I’m doing.”
“YOUR MIND HAS BEEN POISONED BY THE LIES OF THE SERPENT. IT IS REGRETTABLE. YOUR PRESENCE WOULD HAVE BEEN WELCOMED IN THE AGE OF HARMONY.”
“This isn’t Harmony.” Flurry spat. “Not anymore. It’s become an age of rot, and corruption, and death.” She wrapped her magic around the hilt of her rapier. “It’s past time it came to an end.”
Seraph made a noise akin to a sigh. “DISAPPOINTING, AND FOOLISH.” It spread its wings wide, horn wreathed in a blazing magenta corona. “HARMONY IS ETERNAL. IT IS YOU WHO SHALL END.”
Without warning, a dozen large spikes of crystal appeared around Flurry, flying towards her. She reacted just in time, throwing up a shield around herself with barely a millisecond to spare. The crystal spikes broke on impact with the shield, being blown back and blasted into shards, but the impact also shattered the shield.
The dozens of crystal shards floated in the air for a moment, before stopping, righting themselves, and homing back in on Flurry again. She took the air, launching herself to the side, but the shards followed, chasing behind her and gaining ground. Failing to shake them off, Flurry changed tactics, flying straight at Seraph.
Just before she would have collided with the angelic nightmare, Flurry lit her horn, blinking out of existence and teleporting to the other side of Seraph. Still chasing her, the shards tore into Seraph’s body, some imbedding themselves in its wings. Flurry did a flip in mid-air, firing a bolt of magic at her foe from behind.
Seraph didn’t even so much as flinch. “WE SEE HOW YOU MANAGED TO DEFEAT THE OTHER BEARERS. BUT DO NOT THINK SUCH TRICKS WILL WORK ON US. WE HAVE MORE POWER THAN YOU COULD POSSIBLY COMPREHEND.” A mass of magical tendrils emerged from Seraph’s body, stretching out towards Flurry.
Flurry pulled her sword out and slashed at the tendrils, diving and weaving around their grasp while firing more shots at Seraph, none of which seemed to have much effect. Narrowly avoiding yet another tendril, she dove towards Seraph and used her sword to cut down one of its wings, slicing it clean off. This had little effect, the wing simply floating to Seraph’s side, enveloped by its magical fire.
It was, however, the closest thing to damage Flurry had managed to inflict thus far. Thus, as she continued to fly around the chamber dodging Seraph’s tendrils, she took aim at its wings, slicing at them whenever she had a second of breathing room. Seraph tried summoning more crystal spikes, but Flurry simply repeated her strategy from before, getting off an attack on its wings in the process.
Finally, Flurry cut the sixth wing. As she did, all the tendrils in the room faded, Seraph’s aura pulsing. In a flash, its fire flared up, incinerating the suspended wings. In the place, the flames themselves formed a single large pair of wings which extended outwards. “ENOUGH.” Seraph bellowed, its voice shaking the entire spire. “YOU CANNOT BEAT US, CHILD OF HARMONY. THESE GAMES END NOW.”
Seraph’s eyes flashed white, a set of six large rings, each a different color, appeared, revolving around its body. The surfaces of the rings were covered in eyes, all of which locked their attention on Flurry, a few of them starting to glow. Getting a bad feeling, Flurry trusted her instincts and rolled to the left, narrowly avoiding the beams that shot from the glowing eyes. However, the crystal walls of the chamber reflected the beams, and one of them grazed Flurry’s back, burning her cloak a little.
Yet more of the eyes lit up, and Flurry once again continued her evasive flying. But this time, Seraph was not content to sit and watch, flapping its flaming wings and moving around the room. Its horn flared to life again, summoning a magenta blade of light and swinging it at Flurry, who raised her own sword at an angle, deflecting the magical blade just enough for it to miss her.
Wincing as another beam struck her side, Flurry fired a shot of her own at Seraph, aiming between the protection of the rings. It was for naught, however, as the magic bolt fizzled out, a glint temporarily revealing the shield projected around the angel. It summoned two more blades, crossing them both down on Flurry, who only barely slipped between them.
With no other point of attack, Flurry focused on the only vulnerable looking part of Seraph left: The eyes on the ring. Doging more of the beams, she flew into Seraph’s flight path, driving her rapier into an eye on the outermost ring.
Her blade bounced off, shattering into several pieces.
For an instant, time seemed to slow for Flurry, the shards of her crystal blade suspended in mid-air. Her attack had broken her weapon, but it had also damaged the eye slightly, a crack running down the center of the pupil. With Seraph still moving towards her, Flurry tilted her head down, jamming her horn into the crack left in the eye and firing a beam of magic point blank into it.
The force of the attack sent Flurry flying back, tumbling through the air and only just barely being able to right herself in time to dodge another eye beam. The ring she had stabbed had cracked, a small chunk where the eye had been having broken off and fallen to the ground. Seraph gave the first indication of pain, its many voices grunting out of sync, and summoned six thinner magical blades, spinning them around to slash at Flurry from every direction.
Robbed of a means of attack, Flurry put all her energy into evasion, flying and teleporting around the chamber. She prioritized dodging the blades, and as a result she was hit by several of the beams. Her cloak’s protective enchantments held, but each hit burned a small hole in the fabric, slowly degrading it further.
Searching for any way to go on the offensive, Flurry’s eyes widened as she noticed Seraph’s shield flicker. The rings around its body revolved in a fixed, repeating pattern, and because of the shattered section of the outermost ring, there was a brief moment where a small part of the shield opened up. Flurry watched the pattern repeat several times, etching the timing into her brain. Her cloak took more and more damage, some of the beams striking damaged parts and burning Flurry’s coat and skin.
Flying over the top of one of the blades, the perfect moment finally came. Reaching into her threadbare cloak, Flurry pulled out the crystal orb and threw it at Seraph. It flew through the air, slipping through the hole in the shield, and as soon as it did, Flurry activated it with her magic.
The orb expanded again, the spikes driving into the Seraph’s body and the rings. Several of the spikes, like her sword, broke on impact with the rings, but the rings were unable to withstand the assault. The innermost one shattered first with an ear piercing *CRACK*, breaking into six pieces. That seemed to cause a domino effect, each ring falling to pieces in turn with the same grating noise. Once the final ring broke, a shockwave emanated from Seraph, blowing the orb to pieces and throwing Flurry back into the wall behind her.
That was the final straw for her cloak, the fabric torn off her body and into pieces by the blast. The belongings she had left stored within fell to the ground: The medallion, two spools of thread, a pouch of food, a small hairbrush, and her water and healing flasks. The healing flask cracked on impact, spilling its golden liquid all over the floor. Flurry struggled to rise, one of her wings bent at an unnatural angle, but her legs gave out and she collapsed. She tried to reach for the healing flask, pulling drops of the sweet elixir to her mouth with her magic.
Seraph, now ringless, hovered over to Flurry, its eyes literally burning with rage. Its aura had almost entirely diminished, and with its flames forming wings, its core was at last unobscured; a shriveled, almost fetal equine body with a pulsing, six pointed star shaped heart glowing magenta underneath its slightly transparent skin.
“INSOLENT CHILD,” It sneered, its normally level voices dripping with contempt. “YOU HAVE DEFIED HARMONY FOR THE LAST TIME.” It summoned a single blade above Flurry.
Her mind in overdrive, time slowed again for Flurry as she noticed the hilt of her sword, a jagged fragment of the blade still intact, lying a distance away behind Seraph. Desperately, she reached out with her magic, grabbing it and pulling towards her.
“DIE.”
Seraph brought the blade down.
Flurry squeezed her eyes shut, but the impact never came. Opening her eyes a crack, she looked up at the stiffened form of Seraph, the broken rapier piercing its heart. Its wings snuffed out, and the magical blade dissipated into motes of magenta light, fading away.
“IMPOssib...le... “ Seraph wheezed out, its voices dropping out of the chorus one by one. When the last one was silenced, the light drained from the Seraph’s eyes, its withered body turning to magenta dust and lightly falling to the ground. Flurry breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing her tense body and closing her eyes again, the sounds of two objects landing on the crystal floor the only sound other than her laboured breathing.
The twisting tunnels under the mountain seemed to go on forever, branching out in every direction. At first, Flurry tried to keep track of her path, but that quickly proved an impossible task, as several of the passages were so identical it was almost like they led back on themselves in an impossible loop. It didn’t matter much anyway. It wasn’t like there was anything waiting for her outside.
Flurry wasn’t even sure what she hoped to find within the caves. It was unlikely she would find any food, anything that would help her survive. But she pushed forward anyway. It was better than freezing to death in the cold, and thin hopes were all she had to cling to. She had lost everything else.
It was to her great surprise, then, that those thin hopes paid off.
Flurry turned another seemingly endless curve in the tunnels, only to find not another identical hallway, but a spacious cavern. Every surface was almost completely covered in glowing crystals, to the point where clusters jutted from the floor and walls. In the center was a large lake that was, more importantly to Flurry, surrounded by plants and trees, illuminated in the rainbow light.
She was struck frozen with surprise for a moment, before shaking off her shock and rushing down towards the grove. Close up, she could see that it wasn’t just the multicolored gems; the plants themselves were a mix of strange colors, greens and yellows mixed with reds, blues, purples, sometimes even on the same plant. The fruit the trees bore were equally strange, oddly shaped and covered in unnatural seeming patterns.
At that point, though, Flurry barely cared. She reached out with her magic, energized by the thought of food, and pulled down a pair of apple looking fruits covered in black and white checkers, biting into one without a second thought. She finished the first so quickly she didn’t even register the flavor, only realizing halfway through the second that it tasted like the bizarre mix of vanilla ice cream and black licorice.
“delightful, aren’t they? a bright spot of chaos in a dreadfully dull world…”
Flurry jerked her head up, looking around for the source of the deep, flippant sounding voice. It seemed not to have come from anywhere at all, instead echoing inside her head. “Who’s there?”
“a child of harmony in my hall of chaos, at this of all times...” The voice chuckled. “a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.”
There was a surge of light as the gems making up the walls flashed. The increase in illumination finally revealed to Flurry the last feature of the cavern, one she had missed in her rush for food, and she screamed, jumping back.
Wrapped around the inside wall of the cavern was a giant creature. Its body was mostly serpentine, but covered with limbs and wings from all kinds of creatures. Flurry’s eyes ran along the creature's form, following the length of its static body to its head, held up behind the lake, glinting red pupils in large yellow eyes. Flurry froze, waiting for it to move, but it never did.
“oh, do calm down,” The creature said. “i couldn’t hurt you even if i wanted to, not like this.”
It was with closer inspection that Flurry understood. The creature wasn’t a creature at all, but a giant statue, grey stone dotted with the same colored crystals as the walls. What she had thought were its eyes were simply red gems set in larger yellow ones. “You’re… a talking statue?” Flurry asked.
“more like an imprisoned aspect of the world projecting my voice into your mind, but yes, ‘talking statue’ is a technically correct interpretation.”
“Imprisoned aspect?” Flurry tilted her head. “What does that mean?”
The statue sighed. “it seems some education is in order. really, what are they teaching children these days? i am discord, chaos incarnate. the reverse of harmony, if you’d like. the yin to her yang, and, as of about… two and a half of your weeks ago, the rightful ruler of the world.”
“Two and a hal- you!” Flurry yelled, pointing a hoof at Discord. “You’re the one who-”
“if you’re about to blame me for the destruction of your empire, you’d best stay your hoof. i had no part in that. the fault instead lies on the shoulders of your precious harmony.”
Flurry opened her mouth to retort, and then closed it, thinking. “Aunt Twili- that... creature, was talking about Harmony. I always thought... Harmony is supposed to be a force of good, right?”
“such belief is relative, like all things in this world. to its children, harmony is good. to mine, it is destruction. the same is true in reverse. it is why the cycle has stalled yet again.”
“Cycle?”
“you do ask a lot of questions. it’s growing dull. perhaps it best i explain in full, lest you bore me with your predictable responses.”
Discord seemed to clear his throat, though such a noise was merely performative. “this world is one of cycles. for an age; one thousand, one hundred and eleven of your years, harmony reigns, while i slumber. then, i awaken, and harmony subsides for the same amount of time. the age of chaos follows the age of harmony, followed once more by the age of chaos once more. thus has the world been since the founding of eternity.”
“but, at the end of each era, almost without fail, the ruling power grows arrogant, obscuring the nature of the cycle and attempting to forestall their end. i make no claim of innocence in such matters. the end of my last age…” Discord laughed again, this time with a hint of fondness. “now that was fun. it has been eons since i enjoyed a battle so much.”
“but this… this is something else entirely.” Discord’s voice lost most of its mirth, turning serious. “harmony’s latest effort… it has gone terribly wrong. corrupted, somehow. a flaw in her latest bearers, perhaps. such matters are beyond my vision. regardless, her light still shines upon the world, but it is a foul light, a light of rot. it is wrong, and if it is not purged, the cycle will end, and all shall perish.”
“but you…” Discord’s entire focus seemed to narrow down on Flurry, as if he was gazing into her soul. “yes, i suppose with a bit of training, you’ll do. a little dour for my tastes, but we take what we can get.”
“Do? Do for what?” Flurry couldn’t help but ask.
“what did i say about asking questions?” Discord asked, sounding annoyed, before laughing again. “not doing what she’s told, perhaps there’s hope for you after all.”
“you are a child of harmony, but one born under the heart of love. it’s a curious power, love, neither harmony or chaos, yet intwined with both. it is for that reason that the corrupted servants of harmony destroyed it, for it was the only part of this world protected from its twisted light.you, dear…” Discord paused, sounding a little embarrassed.
“Princess Flurry Heart.” Flurry supplied for him.
“yes, of course, flurry heart. i totally knew that.” Discord let out a light cough. “anyway, flurry heart, the touch of love in your soul, can resist harmony’s rot. you can destroy the bearers, purge harmony of this corruption, and restore the cycle so i can take my rightful place.”
“Destroy the Bearers? Like, fight them?” Flurry asked, unsure. “I… I don’t know…”
“you have the power. under my expert tutelage, and with a few tools, i believe you are capable of such a task.and, besides, if you don’t, this world will wither and fade into dust and ashes,” Discord added casually. “no pressure, or anything.”
Flurry hesitated, considering the terrible task presented to her. Her father had shown her the basics of swordplay, but she wasn’t a fighter in the slightest. To fight monsters like the ones that had destroyed her home…
She thought of her father, leading his soldiers in a doomed charge.
She thought of her mother, using all her energy to save her daughter.
She thought of the frozen wasteland outside, the only thing waiting for her if she refused.
Flurry Heart narrowed her eyes, and nodded. “I’ll do it.”
Flurry carefully lifted the remains of her healing flask, pouring what little was left in the broken bottle into her mouth. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to ease the pain and start the healing process, and after a few moments of rest, she managed to wobble to her hooves.
She glanced around at the chamber. In the aftermath of her battle with Seraph, the previously pristine room was covered in burn marks, occasional cracks in the walls and floors, shards of both crystal from her sword and orb and the multicolored remains of Seraph’s rings, and blood, both drops of Flurry’s own and Seraph’s dark ichor. The walls had darkened, the glowing patterns dimming.
The map in the center of the room flickered, the six pointed star dividing the sections dimming to the same grey color as the rest of the map. Now totally drained of color, the map slowly faded away, leaving nothing but a flat circular table. Almost as an afterthought, a depression formed in the center.
Flurry narrowed her eyes at that, then looked down. Next to the hilt of her now unusable sword lay a magenta gem shaped like a six pointed star. She picked it up, spinning it around in her magic. Looking behind her, she reached for the medallion lying on the ground, picking it up and holding it next to the gem with her magic.
She lined up the gem with the last remaining slot in the medallion, pushing it in. Predictably, it was a perfect fit, and once it slotted in with a click, not only the star shaped gem, but all six, lit up, glowing with a harsh light.
Flurry walked over to the table. After a brief moment of consideration, she placed the medallion in the depression, pushing it down.
As soon as she set it in place, the entire table shook. A crack violently formed down the middle, cutting right through the star at the medallion’s center. The rest of the gems cracked in turn, their glow becoming even brighter. Flurry took a step back, shielding her eyes with a wing.
The entire chamber’s glow dimmed further, the light running down the ceiling and walls and through the floor into the table, until it was the only source of light in the room. That light was much softer, almost calming, and it pressed in on the harsh glare of the gems.
With one last pulse, the soft light pushed into the gems. From the cracks, a dark miasma emerged, rising into the air. Flurry stepped back even further, watching it with concern. Then, a thick pillar of light shot up from the table, completely engulfing the darkness.
“MY CHILD.” The pillar of light morphed, taking the form of a glowing alicorn of pure light, speaking with a powerful yet calm feminine voice. “THE DARKNESS HAS BEEN PURGED FROM MY LIGHT. STEP FORTH, AND RESTORE THIS WORLD.”
Flurry said nothing, staring down the glowing form of Harmony itself.
“FEAR NOT, MY CHILD. THE CORRUPTION THAT CONSUMED THIS WORLD IS GONE. MY BEARERS MADE A MISTAKE, BUT IT IS I WHO BEAR THE BLAME. BUT NOW YOU ARE HERE, AND THE AGE OF HARMONY CAN REIGN ONCE MORE.”
“The Age of Harmony needs to end.” Flurry said.
Harmony sighed. “DISCORD. HE HAS FILLED YOUR MIND WITH HIS TRICKERY. HE MAY NOT BE ALLOWED TO LAY CLAIM TO THIS WORLD. YOU ARE THE LAST ALICORN, THE GREATEST OF MY CHILDREN. IT WAS NOT THE DESTINY OF MY LATEST BEARERS TO EXTEND MY AGE, BUT YOURS. ”
“No.” Flurry Heart shook her head. “If that is my destiny, then I refuse.”
Harmony narrowed the glowing spots that were its eyes. “YOU WOULD TRULY CHOOSE HIM OVER ME? HIS RULE WILL BRING NAUGHT BUT SUFFERING AND CHAOS.”
Flurry scoffed. “Have you looked outside lately?” she asked, almost mockingly.
“WE CAN FIX THAT!” Harmony’s voice seemed to get more desperate. “MY CHILD, PLEASE. EXTEND THE AGE OF HARMONY. LET MY LIGHT PERSEVERE.” It reached out with a glowing leg. “PLEASE.”
Flurry hesitated for a moment, lifting her hoof from the ground a fraction of a millimeter… then lowering it, turning around towards the doors. “This Age of Harmony has passed.” She stated simply. With that, she began to walk away.
“NO!” Harmony yelled, it’s body flickering. “YOU CAN’T LET ME FADE! YOU ARE OF ME!”
“I am Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire.” Flurry said, not looking back. “Daughter of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Prince Shining Armor. I am no child of yours.” She reached out with her magic, pulling open the chamber doors and stepping out.
It is said, far to the north, past the Shifting Seas, in the center of the Frozen Sands, lies a city of shining crystal, protected from the outside world by a mystical Heart and ruled by an immortal princess of old.
In this city, Chaos holds little sway. They do not shun Lord Discord, but neither they do not bow to his whims. Its people are a strange lot, who revel not in the inconsistent, but stability. They live in but only one shape, eat food that does not change. It is a way of living that seems strange to us, so steeped in Chaos as we are.
Nobody knows where the city came from, or why Lord Discord lets it be. The stories say that long ago, before the Age of Chaos, the princess of the city performed a great task for Lord Discord, and in return, he lets her rule it without his interference.
When asked, Lord Discord does not answer. “That city is… special.” is all he will say. “Besides, why shouldn’t I leave it be? It’s more fun that way!” Indeed, such a lack of Chaos is chaotic in and of itself.
Perhaps, one day, Lord Discord will change his mind, as he so often does, and the crystal city will finally embrace Chaos. Perhaps not. Perhaps it does not exist at all, and the story is merely a trick played on us by Lord Discord. We may never know, and that is how we prefer it.
For Lord Discord has blessed unto us the joys of Chaos, so that we may live in happiness, and may his Age persevere forevermore.
