The allied forces fought bravely, with a ferocity that shocked the Equestrians. Wave after wave attacked, and wave after wave fell to the fury of the Crystal Empire's defenders. Within a few hours, the Equestrian army's numbers had been cut in half. Still, each victory had come at a heavy cost. Of the nearly two hundred thousand Ponies, Zebras, and Griffons that formed the allied army, less than three thousand remained alive. The tornado team had been almost decimated, with only a five groups still alive and fighting. More than half of Robin's team of archers had fallen, dead or badly wounded. The Dragons had taken heavy losses as well. Nearly half of their number lay dead on the battlefield. Holly, who had charged into battle with such gleeful ferocity, had been smashed apart dozens of times. It was taking longer and becoming more difficult for the exhausted Timber-Wolf to reassemble herself. Of the Night Guards, trained by Silver Crescent to be the deadliest warriors in Equestria, only ten remained. The others had fallen defending Nightmare Moon from the endless flood of attackers that seem to focus only on her. Silver recognized them by their armor. The were the Rangers, Celestia's elite force of the most skilled warriors in her army. Against to the Night Guards, in a fair fight, they were only a moderate threat. However, they numbered in the thousands, and the size of their force, combined with the insane ferocity of their attacks, had proven to be overwhelming. Nightmare Moon had used her most powerful magic during the battle, summoning meteors, creating storms of fire and ice, or simply splitting open the ground beneath the hooves of her enemies and letting them fall to their doom. She was rapidly approaching the limits of her power. Hundreds of Equestrians had fallen to Silver's aerial combat skills, before a lucky swipe of a blade severed his right wing from his body. Hundreds more had fallen to his blades, which now lay broken and useless in the ocean of red that covered the ground. Still more had fallen to his crushing hooves and razor-sharp teeth, and his mouth was filled with the metallic taste of blood, both his and his enemy's. He as the last of the current wave fell before him, he made a quick mental note of his injuries. His right wing was gone. A wild swing of a Ranger's sword had sliced his left ear in half. Several ribs were broken, as well as most of the bones in his right back leg, and a dozen arrows had had pierced his body. He would not survive this battle. Of that he was certain. He watch the next wave approach. It was much larger then the previous ones. It seem that the remainder of Celestia's forces had decided to attack all at once. The Rangers, one thousand strong, led the charge. Silver held them back for as long as he could, and a dozen Rangers fell at his hooves before he himself finally fell, a spear piercing his heart. Nightmare Moon watched in disbelief as her oldest friend and most loyal servant died before her eyes. She screamed in rage and horror, and fired a brilliant beam of powerful dark magic at the Rangers. As the dark energy washed over them, the Rangers cried out in pain and terror. Several seconds later, the thousand Rangers simply ceased to exist. Drained by casting the forbidden Annihilation spell, she collapsed. Moments later, Venquis arrived.
"Your power could annihilate the crystal kingdom with one unintentional spell. And do not worry about the Phoenix Queen. We are working on her, but she still is a mere fractal of your power. Power corrupts. Why will you not repeat this fool's actions, even unintentionally." An image of the white reaper's head appeared before him. "He taught you, yes? Perhaps you take after him more than you know." A small voice echoed in the room now, as a seemingly child version of Jack appeared next to Venquis. "I know he will not." Silence, before the original voice spoke. "Our chosen has made our decision. Enjoy your life... For now. We will be watching." And suddenly Venquis was on the ground, next to a worried Crimson, exactly 1 minute after they left.
Venquis appeared unconscious next to Crimson after suffering from magic fatigue. Crimson looked shocked at the sheer amount of devastation that Venquis had managed to deliver, yet was left awe-struck at his power. He was worried about him, his power could level an entire city. It was about time that Crimson had to put a restriction of the Ryborian for his own good. Once Venquis woke up, he would understand why. Ocean landed next to Crimson after the remainder of the army, only twenty thousand in total began to retreat. The Allied Nations had won the battle, but at the biggest cost. They have just barely survived this battle, innocents died and the army had to ensure peace in the area. However, they knew nothing about what had just happened to Princess Luna and Ocean. Ocean looked at her husband, tears streaming down her face. "Crimson. We have expected the worst and received it in kind. It's Silver...he's dead." Crimson's eyes opened up to the news. He had known Silver since they both first met all those years ago. Without him, he would have never met Ocean. He collapsed onto his knees devastated at the news. He tried not to cry, but some tears had made it out. Crimson then looked at Nightshade, who was near the remainder of his body crying. They both rushed over and carried Venquis’s body to his corpse to look at his fallen friend. Crimson then ordered his surviving unicorn mages to him, numbering around twenty. “I need Razona taken to medical, keep watch on him until he wakes up. He’s S ranked.” Crimson ordered as they took the body from him and went into the city. Crimson and Ocean were devastated, but knew Venquis is also going to take this news hard as well. Crimson then looked at the retreating Equestrian forces as they ran away over the hill. Crimson’s expression then turned into sheer hatred until he was stopped by Ocean, knowing that there is nothing he could do. Crimson then looked around at the survivors, who were being treated. He had no idea that Celestia could do such a thing. Was she worth redeeming at this stage? The Allied Nations has just won their first battle, and were now ready to move into occupied Equestrian territory and then into Equestria itself. This would take time however, months or even years and the Allied Nations needed time to recover before they can take another attack like that. By now, millions upon millions of Griffons, Zebra, Deer, Ryborians and Buffalo were now coming to slap Celestia right across the face. The Crystal Empire will serve as their frontlines for a while until they could expand to the north. Now, both sides were even.
Cobra heart stood amongst a pile of bodies as he looked over the remaining retreating equestrians. As he stood there tears fell as he spotted the body of revolution a pony who served him well and who rose to the rank of second in command in the final hours of his life. He composed himself rounding up some of the foot soldiers who were left for dead by there own kind. As he lifted them up he ordered them to follow him. They would now be either prisoners of war or defector's of the equestrian infantry. He then took them through the gate his head down in respect to those who lost there lives. ----------------------------------------------------------//--/-//----------------------------------- Robin jumped from the walls casting a feather fall spell to make sure he didn't break his legs. As soon as he got down he noticed silvers body lying dead next to a collapsed Luna. He ordered his men to help take Luna to the palace but take Silver to the cathedral. "Do not bury him just yet let him lie on the corpse preparation table. When Luna comes back around she'll probably wish to see his body. Also, Red Dart I wish for you to send a message to Cadence stating if she can possibly use the same resurrection spell celestial used on me to resurrect silver."
Crimson told me that Star Shimmer was not with him and the mages... Where is she?!. Cadence searched desperately for the Court Mage, not knowing that she and Yclept were already in Star's laboratory, searching for the materials for her spell. The alicorn flew to the Crystal Heart's chamber, hoping to find her there, but no such luck. As she wondered where the Mage could've gone to, she heard the sound of somepony passing through the shield. As Star promised, the three pegasai stopped midflight as they each recieved a massive blast of energy, one of them dropped dead to the earth.Shadowbolts? she wondered. They were constructs of Nightmare Moon.... She hailed them, wondering why they would be here. She would soon find out as the two remaining Shadowbolts landed by her and approached smoothly. "What news?" Cadence asked. "Any word from Crimson?" The lead Shadowbolt smirked and replied in a screechy voice, "Princess Cadence is dead." "What? I'm Prince-". Cadence was suddenly cut off when she felt something cold stab into the back of her neck. She dropped like a stone, eyes wide in shock. As the lead Shadowbolt changed into an exact copy of Cadence, she leaned down and whispered in the dead Princess' ear, "Now you can be with your dear, precious husband...forever!" Chrysalis, now Cadence, stood back up and snarked, "Oh my, I haven't taken this form in such a long time! It's a bit tight..." She giggled, then turned to the changeling beside her. "Be a dear and get rid of that," motioning to the body of Cadence, "Would you? I have other things I have to attend to." With that, she flew off toward the front lines. ----- "Right here," Star said, as the two came to the end of an alley. She grinned as she uncovered a small, golden star inlaid on the ground. She muttered a few eldritch words, and a tiny crack appeared in the wall in front of them. "Follow me," she said, as she trotted forward and seemingly through the wall. Star Shimmer illuminated the sconces arranged around her lab with her newfound unicorn magic. Yclept would've noticed several tables, beakers full of strange liquids, and ritual drawings scrawled all over the walls and floors. She walked toward the center of the room and sighed. "This is where it happened. This is where I summoned Sombra..." She then mentioned, "Could you stand there please? It's nothing personal, but I don't trust anyone touching my things." After a few moments, where she had the chance to use her unicorn magic again, she found the ingredients for her spell. "I don't know if this'll work, since...um...never mind." She looked at Yclept uncertainly, then asked, "How do you feel about being a volunteer for a spell that I've only done once?"
Nightshade was in shock. The Night Guards, ponies that she thought of as her brothers and sisters, had been decimated. Their leader, a pony that she thought of as a father, lay dead. She ran to Silver's broken body. "Please, gods... no." She placed an ear to his chest, listening for a heartbeat that she knew had already ceased. Holly, barely able to move after the battle, nudged Silver with her muzzle and whined for him to wake up. After several minutes, a Night Guard tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to the unconsious form of the Dark Princess. She stepped away from Silver, suddenly realizing that the responsibility of protecting the princess now fell to her. "We need to get her to the city. Cadance will be able to help her. Have the Unicorns prepare the pyres. There are many bodies to burn. Bring Silver Crescent with us. He would want to be buried in his forest."
"Cadence" noticed a hubbub coming from down below, so she flew in closer to investigate. It seemed that somepony very important had just died. "Interesting..." She landed nearby, and gasped, "Omigosh! What happened here?"
Yclept looks around in awe, then replies to Star's question,"umm... I guess, if my life won't be in danger..."
"I want Razona treated alongside other survivors, he will wake up soon so make sure to fill him in with the details." Crimson ordered, walking alongside the other mages. "I want to see Princess Candace as well, she needs to be filled in with some of the details. If she is dead, then we will try and revive her later alongside Luna who is suffering from fatigue. Just remember that since the Changelings are apart of Celestia's empire now, espionage will be their focus point. You see one, kill it and ask questions later. I need to attend to other business in the meantime." The mages saluted Crimson as they got straight into busisness. Crimson knew that as independent kingdoms and empires, Equestria would destroy them one by one until the entire world was under it's banner. But if those Kingdoms were to unite as a single force, then the Allied Nations might stand a chance against Equestria. He looked at Venquis body and smiled. Before he went into the medical facility, Crimson got a visit from the Ryborians talking about Venquis. Since Venquis was the last living member of Royalty and his legendary status as the Equestrian given name of 'The Lone Assassin' from the Black War , they wished to make him the Ryborian Supreme Commander of their forces. He also received word that Windaria, the original Ryborian homeland was sending as much as they could to assist the Allied Nations. He then began to work with Venquis, creating a restriction for his powers. He began to make a simple concept for his united nations idea, something he needed approval for. -------------------------------------- Celestia knew that Equestria lost the battle, but knew that it was only to break them down. It was still a shame for her that Equestria has failed its invasion, but they would return again in force. What was even better, she knew that her niece, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, is dead and that her Changeling infiltrator and queen, Chrysalis had assumed control. Her day got better when she found out that her sister was injured, her pet bodyguard Silver was dead, The Ryborian was injured and that she had decimated almost their entire force. However, Celestia knew that they will return in force and was upset, at the loss of Dovian Frenzia, ‘The White Reapers.’ She stood up and was surrounded by her own personal guards, The Solar Flares, the best handpicked fighting squad on the planet that was made up from veteran rangers who had served in the military for over 20 years. They were still nowhere as good as the Ardelan Spell-Swords, and were leagues behind from the Ardelan ‘Crimson-Hands ’, which were the very best in existence. This did not bother her, she exterminated the Ryborian numbers to be critically low, and so they won’t pose a threat to her for a long time. She waited until the apparent Allied Nations made their first move. When they were to do so, she could counter them and in return weaken them enough to make another successful attempt for the Crystal Empire. All she had to do was wait.
Yclept's answer was not the one that Star had hoped for. She took a deep breath, and laid the purified shard of Sombra at the unicorn's hooves, then poured a circle of quicksilver around him. As she did so, she stole the occasional glance at him, afraid to tell him that this was exactly what she had done to summon...him. Star practically whispered, "Please stay still. This'll only take a moment." With her unicorn magic, she uncorked the jar of diamon dust and sprinkled it all over Yclept. As she inspected her work, she imagined that the one before her was a real crystal pony; he certainly shimmered like one at the moment. She smiled. "Emerald Shade. That's what I'd call you..." She took a couple of steps toward him, then whispered, "If this doesn't work, I...I just want to tell you..." She couldn't bring herself to say the rest, so instead, she decided to have him participate in her spell. She took a few steps back and instructed him, "Repeat after me:" "Oa cehknte...Xepoj...." "Oa Xepoj...Nogeaa..." "Oa Nogeaata...Mnp..." "Oa Mnp...Cnacehne..."
The instant the false Cadance landed, Holly began sniffing the air. She knew the scent of a Changeling very well. She snarled, and attacked the Changeling Queen. It took five Night Guards to pull her off of the false Crystal Princess. Nightshade threw a rope aroud the furious Holly's neck, and apologized profusely. "Please, do not be angry! I have never seen her like this!"
Crimson overheard the following battle and teleported next to Nightshades side to see what had happened, Ocean arrived moments after Crimson did. "Why is Holly acting this way. She must have sniffed something she did not like, Changeling espionage prehaps?" Ocean questioned. Crimson looked at her then at the false princess. Crimsons eyes widened when he realized that she must have disposed of the real princess somewhere and quickly ran off to search for her attackers. He soon came into view with Shadowbolts, who instantly dropped the corpse of Candace and aimed their weapons at him. Crimson lifted them into the air and threw them against a concrete wall, knocking some of them out. He then got his special sword out and then proceeded to finish them off. Once they were delt with, he picked up the lifeless body of the real Candace on his back and went back to Nightshade and Ocean. "Explain yourself Chrysalis...." Crimson said when he came into view with the Changeling queen several minutes later.
((Aww, bummer. I was hoping I could play with the whole "Impersonating Cadence" angle a little more. -Signed, Queen Chrysalis)) "Cadence" seemed completely undaunted. "Well!" she scoffed. "It seems you've found an imposter in your midst. It's a good thing you brought her body here. Then we can make sure she's dead." She took a couple of steps toward the real Cadence before she was intercepted by the other Night Guards. "Cadence" smirked. "Oh, fine. You found me out. Bravo." She returned to her normal changeling form, albeit slightly greyer and more gaunt. The years had not been kind to the queen of the changelings. She took a step back before saying, "Hear me out before you most likely kill me. Mine is a tale of woe and sadness." Despite her words, she showed no hint of either woe, or sadness. "My kind is starving. Very slowly, I might add. When the..." she spat at the ground before continuing, "Phoenix Queen came to me with an offer to both destroy my sworn nemesis, and be able to feed my kind for centuries to come, I couldn't refuse." She walked in a slow circle around the small group of heroes, convinced of her superiority. "Her offer? It was simple: Kill Cadence, and Equestria would send a tribute for us to feed upon, forever, and ever." She was now close enough to the real Cadence to reach out a hoof and tap her wing. "A pity, really. She's not even dead. It looks like I failed most miserably..." Then, she smiled devilishly. "I'll tell you what: Let me go. Give me a few of Cadence's feathers, and I'll tell Celestia that her sweet, little niece is dead. In return, when you revive the "princess", because that's what brave, strong heroes like you all do...you'll have an advantage over her Auntie, in the form of the element of surprise." She added, brushing her hoof on her chest, "And if I'm found out, then I'll be killed. I'm dead one way or the other, really, so I've pretty much stopped caring." "But..." she continued, taking on a more menacing tone, "If I'm not, and you all get through this alive, don't forget who got you to that point, hmm?"
Crimson smiled at Chrysalis. "We will let you go and give you Candence feathers, and let's strike up something. Why don't the Changelings act as spies for the Allied Nations after you convince Celestia that Candace is dead and the Changelings return to your kingdom. You will be fighting for a better cause , and im honestly surprised that Celestia is becoming that desperate. She must want the Crystal Empire badly. Anyways, i wish the best for you and your subjects Queen Chrysalis. Let's hope we all get out of this alive, maybe you and me can enjoy some wine together alongside my wife after this is all done. Thank you for this opportunity and you have our sympathy for the Changelings." Ocean and Crimson then bowed before the queen before they left her and returned to their duties. Crimson then lifted Candace onto his back again and headed out towards the Royal hospital, where she would remain. Crimson would have his hands full for the next week or so. He had to look after two princesses and an amazingly powerful Ryborian to help return to full health. Luckily for him, Crimson was developing a special kind of medicine that would speed up recovery alongside his mages. He placed her in an empty bed right next to her auntie and Venquis. Crimson then sat down on a small wooden bench watching them recover, showing his devotion to the royal family by staying in the room with them for the entire time they rested. Crimson also began to start healing Candace, who's injury's were considered the worst. He estimated the recovery times from so. Princess Candace - 3 days, 24 hours days if she recovers quickly. Showing promise of being first awake Princess Luna - 2 days, possibly 24 hours. Showing faster metabolism due to having mature Alicorn physiology in comparison to Candace Venquis Razona - 12 hours - 4 days. Ryborian metabolism is faster then Alicorn, but fatigue hits harder as a result. Currently unknown waking time Crimson was trained in medicine at a young age, ever since he originally became Celestia’s right hand agent at the age of 18 and before he became known as 'Archangel'. He was originally going to be a doctor until his combat skills kicked in which resulted as his cutie mark. He was a rare combination of being a warrior and a healer, and Crimson has never regretted being the combination of both. He simply remained in the hospital's upper floor, alone at some points watching his subjects and performing operations to save them.
Chrysalis grinned broadly at being called "Queen." She hadn't heard that expression for a long time, even from her most loyal children. "Well! Polite, smart, and attractive! What a combination!" She tittered gleefully before adding, "I accept your terms. I'll supply a number of my children to be spies." She scoffed at Holly. "Your mutt will know who they are." Having taken the feathers, she placed them in her mane, as one would a hair clip or a bow. She pretended to observe herself in a mirror before returning to her Shadowbolt form. "We can't have dear Auntie Celestia see me leaving the city in my true form, now can we?" After that, she took flight and headed toward the back lines, where she knew Celestia would be planning the next attack. Upon arriving, she returned to her true form and boldly approched the Phoenix Queen and strutted about, making sure to accentuate her mane, where the feathers swung to and fro. "Notice anything different, my dear?" she chuckled. She swished her mane once more for emphasis.
"It's alright, star...",Yclept whispers loud enough to hear, then smiled at the name star made up, but started fearing for his life "Oa cehknte...Xepoj...." "Oa Xepoj...Nogeaa..." "Oa Nogeaata...Mnp..." "Oa Mnp...Cnacehne..." Yclept then hesitantly replied exactly as star said even in her voice, unsure if he really should
Celestia smiled at the new appearance of Chrysalis. The deed she had wanted her to commit has been done, Candace was now completely dead and Chrysalis had accomplished her task. "She's dead then. Excellent work, i will have your kingdom supplied immediately for being a loyal ally to me and Equestria. The rewards for working with me are immense, so are the consequences of not doing so. I currently have no task for you for now, so you can relax back in your kingdom. I need to prepare for an upcoming attack, or defense from our enemies. It's a pleasure doing business with you." The Phoenix Queen said politely to Chrysalis. "Expect your supplies within the next couple of hours flown by Pegasi."
After the confrontation with Chrysalis, as Nightmare Moon lay in a hospital bed, Nightshade returned to the battlefield. The smell of smoke and burning flesh filled the air as the bodies of the fallen were burned on massive funeral pyres that stretch for miles in every direction. After several hours of searching, Nightshade was able to recover Silver Crescent's helmet and saddlebag. After several more hours, she was able to find the shattered remains of his swords. His severed wing, however, was nowhere to be found, and she finally found an odd-looking yellow-eyed Unicorn who remembered throwing a "small Dragon wing" onto the fires. Disappointed that her mentor would not be buried with both of his wings, Nightshade gathered Silver's broken equipment and returned to the city.
Ocean walked around the city exploring the culture the Crystal Ponies had and checking up on the camps. The previous battle had taken an enormous toll on the Allied Nations, leaving only 3,000 alive instead of the 200,000 they had before. The mood around the city was still grim but was slowly coming back to life with laughter from the camps and some of the homes. At the camps, Ocean seen the surviving races laughing and relaxing with each other like they were best friends. She seen Zebra talking with Griffons, Deer relaxing around a campfire with Buffalo and the Ryborians sharing their ancient culture and stories with the Crystal ponies. She was very pleased with the soldiers, this type of unity only furthered her husband’s idea of creating a provisional nation or possibly a permanent nation capable of holding its own against Equestria. To get approval, the hospitalised princesses must support the idea. However, they were currently unconscious. Ocean went over to the Ryborians and Crystal Ponies and decided to sit with them. She had always thought of Ryborians being very intimidating due to their physical characteristics but soon came to know that they were exactly like Equestrians, and both of them laughed the night away. -------------------------------------------------- Crimson was performing an operation on Candace to remove the serious injury on the back of her neck. She was stabbed in the back of the neck, so Crimson did his best to keep the pain when she woke up as minimal as possible. The operation itself was easy to him, but a high majority of doctors cannot perform it due to it being too risky. He bandaged the wound once he was finished and layed Candace back onto her bed. Candace was showing major signs of improvement and calculated an estimated wake up time. While he was not exact, he assumed that it would be soon. Once he was done with Candace, he moved over to Venquis and Nightmare Moon. They did not need any operations, just supervision and an occasional filtering of water to keep them hydrated. Like Candace, they were both showing signs of improvement. He went back to his wooden bench to keep watch on the Princesses and Ryborian again. They were going to survive with flying colours, but timing would become critical over the next couple days. The longer they stayed unconscious, the lower their survival rate would be. Crimson was nervous, but also anxious to see one of them awake.
