[Attack!] A Blow to the Heart of an Empire (Open)

[Blueblood]

And there she was, mare of the hour! "Took you long enough!" Earth Writer called out, somewhat uselessly, as between the speakers and the battle, nopony could actually hear anything. Still, a DJ could read muzzles, right? In any case, that part of the battle was now in the much more capable hooves of Vinyl Scratch, leaving the journalist to his own work.

Running over to Silver Belle, he ripped the front pages from his notebook and gave them to her. "If you can, make sure this dispatch gets to the offices of the Chronicle. The rest of Equestria needs to know about this." He fixed his hat more firmly upon his head, nodding in a kind of salute to the duchess. "I've got to see this through to the end... one way or another. Give my love to Sugar Apple if I don't make it."

And without even considering if Silver would know Sugar from Celestia, the reporter turned back to face the battle. Not good. The vikings had split to fight one-on-one, but the rest of Sombra's forces were more than a match for the defenders, and the Dark King himself was holding the Royals. The ponies needed some really big magic, really soon! The only source was the Crystal Heart, but how could that be fueled? The hearts of the Crystal ponies and their guests were certainly beating with all their might for the Empire, even as they were bleeding out!

Maybe the Bass Cannon's magic would be enough to break the Crystal Prison. Hopefully.

****

The noise of the battle masked, for the participants, what was happening elsewhere. For example, it totally drowned out the sound of multiple explosions from above, and thus, few would have looked up to see a burning caribou longship begin a fall from the sky, towards a battlefield now almost fully filled with invading forces...

[SunsetSombra]

- Shadows - Lindsey Stirling { Musical ambiance }

Vinyl manages to dive into the backstage locale without too much hassle - seemed like she'd managed to give anyone who hadn't been a pony quite a fortunate slip so far...with everything that was transpiring, it seemed like the bright white unicorn of beats and music had been 'unseen' by the enemy forces...a rather peculiar fact considering the activity outside of this niche location, but one that she was relatively thankful for. She had questioned her good luck up to this point somewhat, but when it came down to the fact of the matter, she knew that if she had ever dwelled on that fact in her life before now, then she'd probably never have made it where she was to begin with...fortune favours the bass, or something like that!

" Now lets see, I only left it in test mode... " the unicorn utters as she slides behind the controls of the device, flicking the shades up onto her forehead with magical assistance.

" He's poked at it, but it's still set to...ah, yep - guess he was just looking for the 'More bass now' button...WISH it was that simple! " the mare snerked to herself, hooves deftly tapping a few of the consoles main switches and dials. The self-styled architect of modern equestrian wubs glanced over the simple readouts that were attached to the device, and rubbed her muzzle as she poured a little of her own magical energy into the crystal modulation unit...making sure to properly equalise the flow of volume and bass so it was still high, but was less random with the levels than it had been before. Sure, it might lessen their advantages slightly, but Vinyl needed to direct and focus on a more permanent resolution before things turned nasty back here.

" Hmm...it's still not entirely setup right. " she utters, stomping a hoof quickly against the ground. " Don't wanna ruin a good speaker set if I have to, but I need to overkill on the frequency...guess it's time to improvise! "

So it was that Vinyl spent some moments tinkering with the device the best she could...seemed like things were not ready to get as heavy as some folks out there might have been expecting quite yet.

[Bellosh]

King Sombra pressed his magical attacks on Shining Armor, who still valiantly tried to destroy the crystal imprisoning Princess Cadence. Because he couldn’t stand still and take time to aim, a number of Shining’s shots failed to hit their mark. Those that hit did even less to weaken the crystal’s integrity than the first magic blast. Only a sustained application of magic, cast without interference from a rampaging tyrant, stood a chance of shattering the magic prison.

”Ha ha ha!” the Evil King mocked his opponent, launching volley after volley of red bolts; “No one can avail you now, Prince Armor. Your soldiers are busy fighting for their own pathetic lives! They cannot save the Princess, and neither will YOU!” Switching tactics, Sombra reared up on his hind legs, and then stomped hard on the ground. Since he was charging his attack with magic, the stomp summoned a trail of dark crystals to rapidly sprout from the ground towards Shining’s position. If the white stallion lost his balance and tripped, he’d be an easier target to hit.

As for the crystal peasant, his attempt to alter the course of the duel failed miserably. Cadence’s imprisoning crystal hovered too far off the ground for the replica heart to reach, and the charging warrior showed no interest in anything else but the defenseless pony. The peasant could still successfully outrun the heavily armored caribou and retreat if he wanted to; the same couldn’t be said of that stupid griffon fighter who chose to stand his ground when he had the chance. That reckless half-bird was now completely surrounded, and would be attacked from all sides. His odds of walking out in one piece were almost slim-to-none.

​

[Hippo]

Shining underestimated the attentiveness of his army. But not only was the fight keeping his guards and citizens occupied, but there didn't seem to be any unicorn able to assist him it attempt to break the crystal Cadance was trapped in. Sombra stomped the ground and sent a wave of crystal magic shooting from underneath Shining. The stallion was able to avoid any sharp crystal ends from piercing his body, but stumbled slightly as two of them caused him to lose his footing. Shining shot several angry magic missle at Sombra from the ground. His frustration left him with little patience, and instead of trying to carefully plan a tactical move, decided it was best to attack the dead king himself. A few dodges with King Sombra and his crystal attacks, and Shining tried a new spell. He shot a magical ward in the shape of a sphere around King Sombra. Instead of warding himelf and his army, why not just put the dark stallion in a bubble of magic he will struggle to remove? This could buy Shining extra time to free Cadance. He started shooting missles at the crystal again, hoping that the hull of the prison would soon start to crumble. "All unicorns take a magic shot at the crystal!"

​

[SteelEagle]

The Thegn fell back, more in mild annoyance than anything else. The griffon was faster than she had been led to believe, but no matter. The Thegn twirled the giant warhammer in one hoof and then reached and pulled out a small throwing axe. Let this griffon taste the steel of a proper axe in her throat! As he danced and moved in the air with great agility, the crossbow caribou could only sigh in frustration. Repeating crossbows were best used when you fired rapidly with them afterwards, and all of this careful aiming was simply giving the sly griff time to evade. The two griffons put down the crossbows and put lighter, more elastic bolts into a magazine and re-armed. The Thegn threw his axe mightily at the griffon and when or if she went too evade, the crossbowbou were ready.

–

Swift Squall was doing well by being conservative in his approach. He may think his foe dull but few things could be as incorrect, language barriers notwithstanding. This was a cagey veteran whose strength allowed him to meet any swift strike with one of his own- handling a two handed greatsword as if it were a rapier. Each attempt at a quick strike by Squall was met with a devilish deflection and parry by the Thegn- the speed of his counter and the weight with which it was delivered being nearly catastrophic in capability. Of Squall ever lost his sword then hero or not he would face a swift end. The counter attack varied but had the pattern of a single large movement, one large attack aimed not to disable or wound but kill. After each attack the Thegn retreated, playing this conservatively. After all, time was on his side. For every moment this battle continued the caribou were pushing closer and closer to final victory. At Squall's jab about the caribou he had killed, the Thegn had not much to say. “Stillhet, du lure. Forberede å smake stål og dø for idealene!”

–

Ponies talked an awful lot. The dancing one spoke, Alexandrite spoke, the red mare above spoke. Were they always this talkative or was this a fear response? No matter. Ofrior leapt in the air-

-And was blinded. What felt like two giant gant bits hit his skull as his helmet was pushed over his head. He lost all sense of balance and it was only by some miracle of his hooves that he stayed upright as he stumbled forward. The two kicks had not hurt much- hah, try marrying a caribou if your head couldn't take some crackin'- but were disorienting wildly as he tried to pull his helmet up. By the time he had done so Alexandrite had taken advantage of his disorientation and flanked him. He wouldn't have known where she was except for the pain which shocked him into fury that came from his left flank. He grunted and turned on his axis swiftly, attacking immediately instead of withdrawing in pain as could be expected.

This put him within the workable arc of the lance, much to Alexandrite's disadvantage. In a flash of impossible muscle and speed he grasped the lance near the handle, near where she was holstering it. Using his strength and positioning he grabbed Alexandrite and tossed her onto her back in a hip toss. She was on her back and he was on all four, the guard laid out in a straight line for him with her head closest.. Then with one large motion he brought his war axe down. The target was her face, but the most minor of disorientation would save Alexandrite. The war axe came down with a terrible thud and crack on her exposed breastplate. The plate dented and gave in mightily and no doubt Alexandrite suffered terrible, terrible impact wounding, but the armor held enough to prevent the axe from dealing a lethal blow. It was also fully embedded in her armor, so much so that when Ofrior went to retrieve the weapon he lifted the mare up!

–

Fire Walker did not have a Thegn assigned to her, but the pool of available Thegns that had stayed back on the ship and watched. One by one the Thegns picked out specific targets, armed themselves, and went to engage. Fire Walker was further down on the list by the nature of her more non-violent strategy. But her sheer skill shown through and one of the younger Thegns, a cow by definition but doe by choice, picked up a repeating crossbow and some specialist bolts and moved towards her. Slowly at first- one of many- studying Fire Walker's flight patterns an combat strategies. All the while she played with the bolts. Black powder filled arrows with a match mechanism. Once a bolt left the crossbow, the hitch at the end would catch the safety and prime the bolt. Depending on the length of the prime selected one had a wide range of options. The end result was always a timed explosive bolt, and what better weapon to use against a skilled pegasus than one devoted to filling the air with fire and rage? A short sword swinging at her hip the Thegn charged up the back of a wounded caribou and launched herself into the air towards Fire Walker, firing the explosive bolts as she went.

“Speak if you live, rat!”

–

A foreigner could never advance into the ranks of the Thegn, but luckily the zebra Derisa did not have such a desire. She preferred the chaos of open battle where her flaming pot fires could wreak terrible havoc on her enemies. But alas, as any foreigner who had subsumed themselves in caribou culture for long, she had a certain desire to settle some accounts when she saw somepony worthy of her cruel attentions. A beautiful ballerina was marked by the zebra as she danced among the crumbling pony battle lines until with an acidic wash of green and blue fire she rolled towards the ballerina, stopping some distance away with an immediate pop-up into a stance. Her face covered with a veil made of beads to mask a deformed jawline, Derisa pulled out a dagger and played with it as she bounced on her back hooves. Pot fire were for groups. Dagger work was for more personal causes.

“Niambie , je, kufurahia ladha ya damu?”

–

The pony lines were most certainly collapsing. Their heroes, tied up. Their strategies, expected and countered. On an individual basis the ponies were unimpressive and as a fighting force they were a hodgepodge formation fighting a formation steeled by experience and companionship. Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. The caribou were devoted trials and suffering. They would not, could not, be cowed. The center of the pony line found this truest of all as the caribou punched through them after a few minutes of extra fighting. The very last line of pony defense in the center melted away in terror, fleeing in all directions.

The Heart was now open. Of course, a cunning pony was trying to convince the caribou that the Heart was not the Heart via wizardry and another had an imposter heart. Neither ruse worked on the caribou. They had been briefed about the Heart. They knew of its magic and they knew of what its magic did for the Empire. If the Heart was not there then the magic of the Empire would have drifted away. The Crystal coats which shone even in death would dull. The storms that ravaged the Empire would overwhelm her in the presence of Sombra. No, the Heart was still there. The first caribou to reach it's location reached out...and felt the Heart.

A mighty roar of triumph was sent up as the caribou who were not around the heart who had punched through the middle now turned on the pony flanks. The battle was about to become a massacre...

–

The Red Jarl's airship had been burning for some time above. The Caribou had seen it and paid little heed. There was a battle to fight and glory to be won, regardless of whether the Red Jarl survived or not. But what was odd were the caribou now sliding down it, their great agility allowing them to get from the top of the Spire to the ground minutes after the Jarl had ordered it during the Spire attack. This would initially seem to spell even greater horrors for the ponies, but instead they started collecting themselves...away from the rest of the caribou, making their way towards the ship and casting angry glances at Sombra...

[PyroBlaze]

Tehengu had to dodge around the bolts fired at him more than he would like, as that meant he had less focus for the hammer-wielding caribou. Well, at least his enemy couldn't reach him up here, so that was a plus. One of the other fighters had attacked one of the caribou trying to surround him, which was good, as that couldn't end well. Caribou were good fighters, he knew that. He had first-claw experience fighting them after all.

He spared a look around the battlefield, seeing the prince trying to free the imprisoned alicorn and fight the dark stallion by himself, but not having much luck. He needed more power, likely, but all the others were occupied or dead, so it looked like he was on his own for now.

He had a brief respite as the archers seemed to be switching bolts, and he took it to hover in place, looking down just in time to see the hammer-wielding one throw an axe at him.

He folded his wings, letting himself drop to the ground, and doing a bit of a backflip to avoid the axe headed towards his face, then maneuvered to keep the hammer one in-between him and the archers. Anything to make their job harder would be good. He lunged forward, delivering a powerful downward slash towards the caribou as he started the battle in earnest.

[Bellosh]

The fight between Shining Armor and King Sombra grew even more heated as Shining started firing magic projectiles at the King of Darkness. Sombra was anything but agile, and shield spells he thought of as too spineless, so instead he used deflection magic to make the incoming energy bounce off towards different, random directions. This put Sombra on the defensive, leaving him less openings to fire back.

But King Sombra did not expect Prince Armor’s newest cowardly trick; a shield spell that trapped the dark stallion inside a magic bubble. “Raaaaaagh!!!” bellowed the King, slamming on the shield in an ineffective attempt at breaking free. While Sombra was preoccupied, Shining once again worked on shattering the imprisoning crystal. The dashing prince made very little headway until the ongoing battle took a sharp turn in the caribou’s favor; the warriors managed to break through the Crystal Guard’s defenses and snatch the Heart off its very pedestal!

The dire effects of that action were felt immediately. Almost instantly, the chilly winds grew more ferocious as the barrier protecting the Crystal Empire from the northern elements vanished. From the north, a raging cloud of snow approached with all the fury of an arctic storm. In a matter of moments, an unforgiving blizzard would reach the battlefield and begin its bombardment of snow and ice. And ponies scattered all throughout the city will know and lament that their Empire had fallen to the caribou host of Sombra.

“You’ve lost, Prince Armor,” the King took time to issue victory taunting, charging up for a powerful blast; “The Crystal Heart is taken; your army is scattered and leaderless! As the Heart’s strength weakens, my power grows. Once I finish my conquest of the Crystal Empire, I will bring upon the rest of the world One Thousand Years of Darkness!!!” As Sombra finished shouting, he unleashed his fell spell, shattering Shining’s bubble in a blaze of aetheric glory. Now that the dampening effects of the Heart no longer affected the Evil King, the aspiring tyrant started charging up for another dreadful spell; one intended to take the white unicorn out in one hit.

[Blueblood]

While the battle had always been a long shot, the collapse of the line still came as a shock to the few ponies remaining in the center plaza. Among the few on site as the caribou charged the Crystal Heart itself was Earth Writer. The rest may have fled, but the reporter was rooted to the spot. He'd have liked to say it was his sense of duty to see any story through to the end, but it was most likely simply a blind panic that froze both his thoughts and his legs. It seemed to slow time itself, each step of the caribou towards the pedestal coming with the slow ponderousness of old Father Time himself.

It was only when he saw the viking actually handle the heart, when he saw the look on that brute's face as he pulled away the Heart of the Empire, leaving ponies exposed to the harsh Northern winter, that the stallion's hooves came unglued. With a somewhat cliche cry of "NO!", and without any kind of plan as to how he was going to prevent it, Earth leapt to the heart, outstretched hooves touching it-

*A flash of images and emotions; the banners of one's own clan; the bracing feeling of a good, clean fight; the satisfaction in doing what would make your forefathers proud; the heritage of ancient traditions that strengthened one to face the future; the absolutely dependable love and support of one's clan; everything that the caribou loved about life, and made it anything other than a living nightmare...*

In one pulse, it all went through Earth Writer's head. While the Heart was no longer beating back the winter, it still beat with the hearts of all the surrounding ponies. They, too, whether they were Crystal or Equestrian, would feel this pulse in their hearts and in their bones. And not just them, all present. Perhaps even the Vikings themselves would see what the ponies they fought and killed felt about their own homelands, and what deep passions and loyalties made them fight, even hopelessly, even to a death as Free Citizens of the Empire/Equestria, rather than bow themselves in chains to the Dark King.

And then all would look back at Sombra. He had no heart to feel any of these, and was the enemy of all. Anything he touched would be corrupted, darkened, and destroyed, whether it be an Empire, or a clan. Such would be what the pulse told, to all that had a heart to receive, and bones to feel.

***

It was the main contention of Caribou culture that it was only by hardship that character can be forged. If that was true, then Prince Blueblood would come out of this with significant improvements.

"YAAAARRRGGH!"

That is, if he survived it.

As he was currently sledding down the slanted deck of a burning airship on a shard of the shattered floor of the Spire... he wouldn't have given two bits on his chances. Only some blind caprice of the gods of war could spare him now, but such oddities are their stock in trade. Thus, when his improvised toboggan hit the longboat's stern, the force flung him clear of the wreck, straight onto the back of one of the caribou that had retreated from the fight in the Spire.

"OOF! Unh..." The impact left a perfect replication of her musculature in bruises all down the Prince's flank. He himself was caught between her antlers, and she had been looking towards Sombra. He saw the dark king, his theatricism, his astonishing lack of taste, and pure blank, senseless cruelty, far beyond any that a Viking would be proud of.

"All of this... for that...?" Blueblood spat out the words though the bleeding in his mouth where he'd bitten his cheek during impact.

[starswirlthebearded]

((Sorry this will be a short post))

Hugo made his way back to the mares he had tried to ally himself with, but the caribou forces kept pushing him back. Though he was skilled with a sword all he had at the time was his trusty cane, which was fairly good substitute, but could not land any significant blows. Hugo felt he was running away more than fighting. Hugo then decided to spread his wings and take to the sky to survey the situation, when a terrifying sight appeared... he noticed the protective barrier was disappearing... This could only mean one thing... Hugo perched atop one of the towering crystals despite the increasing winds and increasing stormy conditions Hugo immediately noticed that his illusion did not fool the opponents for long. They were probably told by their leader what to look for. His sharp hawk eyes clearly saw a caribou with the heart. Something which if it did not belong, Hugo would have targeted himself, but the stone's home was here in the empire. The thief did not waste time....

Hugo moved to a closer perch and took out a rose and with great accuracy he threw it at the cloven hoof of the caribou that seized the heart. "The heart does not belong in the dirty hooves of such unsavory characters." Hugo spoke to the caribou forces, knowing full well their attention would temporarily be on him. He hoped some pony, any pony around would see the heart and grab it to protect it. If the heart was lost, so would the empire. Hugo flew back down while he threw another smoke bomb so he could disappear and regroup while he considered his next move. He needed to regroup with somepony if any of them were to stand a chance....

[Pretzelparty]

"But what about princess Cadence?"

"Look out miss Belle!"

Momo, seemed to have the good sense enough to be scared, or at least look the part. The funny looking colts who she'd befriended and then dragged her off were either brave, too dumb to scared... or maybe some weird combination of both. She had to admire their willingness to lay down their lives in service to the empire. She could see these two maybe making guards one day: Not high ranking high paying guard jobs but jobs nonetheless. Belle's fellow silver haired companion was also quite worried about the well being of the princess who was still trapped in her crystal prison. Belle was still supremely rattled by this turn of events, she wasn't sure what to do; She was a teacher, not a military mare. Before she could put the filly's worries to rest, a lone caribou warrior had turned his attention to them and smashed the bench the group had hidden under; in hindsight it was quite a large bench to hide four foals and a grown mare under it.

The bulky brute soon turned his attentions to the group, his axe once more poised to strike. The blue eyed magic scholar practically froze up as she watched the caribou prepare to strike them. Before the warrior could, a flash of red swiftly took him out of the picture. A slender and rather dashing looking peryton had save their lives!

He breathed a sigh of relief, trying to keep his heat from jumping out of his throat. "Okay, whew. I think I'm still alive so that's good." He turned to the mare and young ponies with a smirk. "You're a bunch of sitting ducks out here. You know that, right?"

"Thank you so much, Sir." The duchess said giving a humble bow, quite a feat for her given her own sizable ego. When she heard him mention that they were very vulnerable now, the mare nodded in agreement,"That's why I was trying to get these foals to safety! I know a spell that can take several pony sized creatures out of the city." Belle continued to let the children talk amongst themselves ,but kept a fairly close eye on them... at least until the caribou behind august began to stir and looked about to strike the peryton down. The mare thought quickly and promptly summoned up a pillar of ice that instantly appeared under the warrior, sending him flying skyward and then landing in the horde. She wasn't sure if August had seen what she did, but she was happy to return the favor of saving her and the foal's lives.

Before she could even drag the foals off to help with her evacuation efforts, Belle was approached by that kind reporter from before. She was worried she had offended him with the notion that his story might hurt the life of the filly. She really meant no disrepect to him, she was a mother and a teacher; sometimes she couldn't help but act a bit overprotective. He had other things on his mind though it seemed...

Running over to Silver Belle, he ripped the front pages from his notebook and gave them to her. "If you can, make sure this dispatch gets to the offices of the Chronicle. The rest of Equestria needs to know about this." He fixed his hat more firmly upon his head, nodding in a kind of salute to the duchess. "I've got to see this through to the end... one way or another. Give my love to Sugar Apple if I don't make it."

Oh goodness... How sweet! He had entrusted her to deliver this notebook to the chronicle. Even after her previous insensitive words, Belle was being given such an important task; not just to deliver the story to the papers, but to give a potential widow the last message of her mate. The duchess repeated the name over and over in her head so she wouldn't forget; Sugar apple, "Don't worry! I'll get it there!"Just as Earth writer dashed off she noticed something had landed behind him! It was the crystal heart! The Duchess quickly snatched it up with Telekinesis and put it in her saddlebag. It seemed some of the pillagers had taken notice and came to take it back too..

Belle Gulped audibly before she picked herself up and flared up her magic. Just as the pillagers charged, their hooves were encased in ice. It barely slowed them down as their great strength let them trudge through it. A worried look fell across the noblemare's face as she glanced back to Momo... As she looked at that white mane of hers it reminded her of two formally young ponies who bore a mane similar. With a newfound fire in her belly the Blue eyed socialite resolved to show them just how dangerous it was to anger a magic expert. She'd seen the armor they wore absorbed magical blasts with ease, but elemental magic seemed to be harder to deal with for them. Since they were slowed down now... The duchess stepped up in front of the peryton and fired a series of branches of electricity that homed in on the caribou's metal blades and armor...

[Corsair]

((OOC: McDerp, sorry, could not wait any longer, needed to get this post in tonight. I can adjust anything tomorrow.))

This was getting more and more dangerous. Yet another caribou had come at them, but this time, the unicorn mare managed to knock the attacker away by forming a pillar of ice! Snips and Snails ran toward each other, and gestured to the two fillies to follow them. Finding a bit of cover, they got all the foals into a huddle. This was crazy! But both of the colts were convinced that they had to help out, somehow. They pooled together the resources they had and began to piece the crazy plan together.

When a sudden roar rose from the attacking caribou, the colts looked to the source. The caribou had the heart! Snails' face fell. "Uh oh, that's bad..." he uttered. If the Caribou had the Heart, anything they did to save the Princess might not be enough...

"Wait, look!" Snips pointed as more smoke rose amongst the celebrating caribou. In an instant, the caribou that had been holding the Heart found himself empty hooved!

"That guy is really good..." Snails marveled.

There wasn't any time left. With the Heart loose somewhere amidst the melee, they had to move quickly. Snips and Snails nodded to the two fillies, and slipped away from the buck. Each lit a bottle rocket, then... they ran out right in front of King Sombra!

"Fillies and Gentlecolts!" Snips belted out at the top of his lungs.

"The Crystal Empire is proud to present...!" Snails added.

Together, the colts belted out, "The Snips and Snails Magic Spectacular!" they released the bottle rockets upward in opposite directions. The fireworks flew up, exploding into sparkles overhead.

"With our special guest..." Snails continued.

"Kiiiiiiiing Sombra!" Snips concluded.

Hoping they had enough attention from the crowd around them, they continued in a more conversational, yet still theatrical tone. "Why do they call him Sombra, anyway?" Snails asked his partner.

"I dunno!" Snips answered. "Maybe because he's so boring that he puts everypony to sleep!"

"For our first trick," Snails continued.

"We'll make the Crystal Heart,"

"Disappear!!" they finished together. They gestured to the caribou surrounding the empty spot where the heart should be. They appeared dazed, not sure what had happened to their prize.

"Thank you!" Snips called out, though no one had applauded. "And now for our next trick!" he said, as his horn lit.

"We'll make King Boring disappear!" Snails finished.

At that moment, a pair of scissors, floating over the dark unicorn, cut a piece of fishing line. The line hung from a pole held by Momo, who had moved behind the 'King.' At the end of the line was one of the colts' smoke bombs. The bomb fell to the ground, right in Sombra's face!

"Prince Shining, NOW!" Snails shouted.

Speaking so rapidly that his words slurred together, Snips concluded the display, saying "Thankyouforcoming, Goodnight!!" He dropped the second bomb to the ground in front of himself and Snails, and the two colts took off, galloping in opposite directions for all they were worth.

[Hippo]

Shining tried many times to break the crystal prison his wife was trapped in. But everything he tried to throw at it seemed to ricochet off. He would be very close to hitting himself with his own magic if he was not careful enough to angle his shots properly. At a moment, Shining began to lose his strength, the power of magic that existed inside of his being and his horn began to exhaust, with each blast of magic becoming weaker and weaker until they were nothing more than a tickle. He panted for strength, but felt himself losing the battle. He slowly looked back at Sombra, just as the crystal heart was taken, and the skies darkened. The wind began to pick up ferociously, and snow took the visibility from Shining. The wind even began to drown out the environment. All he could hear or see was himself next to the crystal Cadance was trapped in, and Sombra growling his presence over him. With a magical sound of fear, Sombra was seen winding up a huge spell to give Shining a blow. Shining would try to protect, putting up a ward. But he knew deep inside, that the ward would not hold. The best case scenario is that the blast would free Cadance, but it would surely be Shining's end in the process. Hope had been severely diminished.

But it was not gone.

Sombra's magic was interrupted by two very brave colts, one of them being the one that asked Shining about himself and Princess Twilight Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle. With Sombra's attack stance completely drawn away from shining thanks to the distraction of trickery put on by the two colts, Shining took a last effort towards Cadance. He laid down next to the crystal, pressing his face against the Crystal. During the invasion of Crysalis, Shining was only coherent for several seconds before he felt the embrace of love with Cadance wield the one of the most powerful protection spells even Shining had ever seen. He could only hope that same power would reveal itself now, in a time in which they needed it most. His horn began to glow a soft magic, and he place the glowing horn directly on the crystal, the crystal glowing a bright red where his horn was placed.

​

[CaptainMcDerp]

August heard one of the kids address the mare as 'Belle' earlier. She thanked him for his heroic actions, even going as far as to call him "sir" which felt quite alien to the thieving peryton. She went on to explain that she knew a spell which could take several pony-sized creatures out of the city. Thank Celestia for unicorns and their magic. Peryton magic was unfortunately much weaker and limited to a single ability. Plus he hadn't even discovered his ability yet, if he even had one.

The look on Belle's face prompted August to raised an eyebrow and turn his head. He was just in time to see a caribou coming at him with his weapon drawn. Before he could even get a word of profanity out, a pillar of ice shot up from the sky, bestowing upon the caribou the power of flight. "Holy Celestia!" August said through a laugh of amusement. No matter how menacing an enemy is, they look bucking hilarious while being launched through the air like a rag doll.

Amid the chaos, a stallion approached Belle and handed her a piece of paper saying something about a sugar apple. The peryton was to busy watching for any more sudden attacks. The previous close call left him looking over his shoulder every other second. A sudden chill in the wind gave him a sinking feeling. The temperature suddenly plummeted and a flake of snow landed on his nose.

"That's not a good sign." The peryton mumbled. During his time reading books, he learned that the Crystal Heart protected the Empire from the harsh winter surrounding it. And as he watched the first signs of snowfall, he couldn't help but suspect the worst. But when he looked back at Belle, he notice her levitating something with her magic. Upon further inspection he realized it was the bucking Crystal Heart of all things!

"What the buck, where did- never mind." There were more pressing matters than asking dumb questions at the moment. He glanced around and yep... A bunch of bucking caribou were soon approaching, no doubt keen on taking back the Heart. Soon enough, the enemies broke into a full on gallop straight towards them. "Here they come." During his life as a lowly thief, August never imagined he was have such a noble death. Fighting alongside a mare to save a trio of kids. Oh the irony.

Ice encased their hooves, but the sheer brute force shattered their temporary shackles. August placed himself between the charging caribou and the kids with a smirk on his face. There was no way he'd make it out of all this alive. All this simply because he decided to make a pit stop and check out some unusual clouds. Curiosity did kill the cat after all. Or in this case, a devilishly handsome young buck.

The first caribou raised his sword and swung it. August ducked and landed a counter attack with his hind legs. The warrior barely even stumbled before making another swing. This one wasn't distracted like the last one. He couldn't dream of landing any viable hits like this. All he could do was jump around and avoid attacks. Tiring him out was also out of the question as these guys seemed to have infinite stamina. August ran circles around the warrior until he showed a sign of dizziness. Then, with another kick, disarmed the enemy. The caribou simply scoffed and drew another weapon. The peryton dodged a few strikes but was unable to avoid a vertical cut across his right eye. The vision in that eye went dark. Either from injury or the blood that dripped from the fresh wound. He couldn't tell which. "Gah! You son of a parasprite, I was using that!" He said just before dodging another swing. One single foe and he's already beat. Not sure how much longer he was gonna last.

Suddenly Belle leaped in front of him and unleased a brutal wave of electricity. It coursed through the armor of their enemies. Oooh they certainly weren't expecting that. were they? The caribou fell to their knees and were rendered helpless to the shock. At least for the time being. Overtaken by temporary victory and elation from still being alive somehow, August burst out in maniacal laughter.

"What now, mother buckers!?"

It was getting cold. Really cold. Momo shivered as she watched the chaos play out. But the time of sitting around and watching was over. It was time for action! Miss Belle urged them to hide and stay safe, but the little filly simply couldn't just sit back and wait any longer. They all took refuge in a huddle and prepared for their plan. Momo's job was to sneak up behind Sombra with a smoke bomb attached to a fishing pole. After going over the mission, Momo nodded and gave a salute to confirm her acknowledgement.

"Uh oh, that's bad..."

"What?"

Momo followed the yellow colt's eyes to see the Caribou running off with the heart! She didn't exactly know why it was bad but she was going to take his word for it. It was time to move out! They all snuck away from the scene as Belle and the winged deer were busy with the caribou. She hoped with all her heart that they would be okay when she came back. If she came back....

She shook her head. No time for that, Momo. You have a mission to complete!

As the colts ran right in front of Sombra, Momo crept up closer and closer, hiding behind every object she could until she was about ten hooves away. Okay, now to get this smoke bomb over his head. She couldn't use balloons again. There were too many arrows were flying around for that. But luckily for Momo there was the edge of the building just perfect for catching the fishing line just enough to dangle over his head.

Momo planted a lucky kiss on the fishing pole and prepared for the most intense moment of her life. Ol' reliable, don't fail her now.

And with a careful cast of the line, it was a success!

"Yes." Momo whispered.

The voices of the colts seeped into her attention.

"And now for our next trick!"

"We'll make King Boring disappear!"

A pair of scissors cut the fishing line and, as according to plan, the smoke bomb landed right in Sombra's face!

Momo wasted no time galloping away from the scene as fast as her legs would allow. This had to work. It was too crazy not to work!

[Lux]

In his best efforts to lure the caribou to hitting Princess Cadence's crystal prison Diamond cut had failed to judge how high it was. Some hero he was the stallion thought. He could barely get the attention of the Princess and Shining Armor let alone save the Empire he loved. Others were doing such a great job to face this threat, but his was just a number of errors, thankfully not resulting him in getting killed. He saw the caribou running at him which he did dodge out of the way, grabbing the fake Crystal Heart as it fell back to earth. But now he was back to square one. Sombra still fought with Shining Armor and Cadence was still in a prison too high or too protective to even think of getting to it. But there was Shining Armor near the Crystal Heart casting a spell to which the crystal responded.

"The Heart... of course!"

Diamond Cut ran towards the crystal, tossing the fake heart towards the ghostly King Sombra. He then stood by the heart and focused not on the screams or the bleak situation but of the love of his passion for his profession, his friends, and the empire he called home. Crystal ponies were known to be very receptive of emotions, so maybe he could project it into the crystal to defeat Sombra.

[tacobob]

Fire Walker’s ears perked up as she heard the unmistakable sound of an crossbow as it was loaded. One of the first things a young Pegasus R.E.A recruit is taught was how to dodge projectile weapons, such as arrows, bolts and even magic. Crossbows were rather difficult, but not impossible to avoid. As she timed herself, the red mare noticed the projectile was a little larger than the ones she had seen in the past. “Oh feathers.”, she whispered to herself. These bolts appeared to contain little surprises that the officer would not want to be a part of. She knew in theory that she was quick enough to use her armored horse-shoes to deflect the bolt back at her attacker, but that would probably send the creature to a quick death, and killing was still a major ‘no-no’ for the mare.

While she was able to avoid the bolt’s direct blast, she felt the painful sting of some of flying debris as he struck her body. It hurt like nobody’s business, but it was not enough to take her out of the sky. She managed to avoid a second bolt as the pain quickly left her body, “Seriously? A rat? I have been nothing but polite. No name calling for our invaders of the non-dead variety!” How rude! While she enjoyed a little sword-play banter, generally one would hurl back clever insults, not whatever she had just done. Still, when in Roam.

The Pegasus pony quickly flew near the crystal cage and dared the female caribou to continue her attacks, “Come on cow!”, the mare knew she was going to feel very bad for this, but it had to be done. “Can you mooooove fast enough for me?”. She hoped her attacker would fire, the mare would move out of the way just in time and the explosive bolt would hit the cage. Fire was also happy that her mother was not here, as that rather speciest-joke would have made her frown. Hopefully once this mess has taken care of itself, the officer could always write an apology letter to the young caribou.

[Bramble Rose]

In the brief lull after the smoke bomb detonated, a strange wailing rose over the fairgrounds. A long, ghostly croon sounded, not entirely unlike the wail of a Windigo upon the frozen north winds - surely a noise to give pause to any northern warrior, seeing as it was their hate that best fed the beasts. It was joined by a second, then a third wail. They seemed to come from everwhere at once.

It had been centuries since the song of the bagpipes had sung out through the frozen northland in any force - the first time, it had signaled the arrival of the Fet Loch reinforcements, led by the famous Fet Loch lord, Altostratus McCloud. It was a stampede of pegasus and earth pony warriors who had claimed sky and land for Equestria, turning the tide of battle, joining the beleaguered army already there to beat back the invading forces. Thereafter, the sound had been a terror, and according to some stories, at least once it had scared away an entire legion of foes without a single arrow fired.

The song began with a ringing, martial tune - music afficianados would recognize the stately March of Fet Loch, suggesting the arrival of coming forces, but then that trailed off. The triple wail rose up towards a creshendo, and then the sharp, rising notes of the National Anthem of the Crystal Empire rose over the fairgrounds. It was perhaps not the best the song had ever been played - a bit out of tune, some of the pieces in the wrong order, creepy as all get out - but unmistakably a call to the national pride of every Crystal pony there, a joyous, stately noise full of love and friendship, and above all, confidence in the strength of every pony's heart.

​

[Elderflower]

Lilac felt horror grip her as she watched the scene unfold. The moment that Ofrior took advantage of Alexandrite’s strike and made to attack the dancer knew she had to act. Things were happening so quickly, though! She cast her gaze around, stomach twisting into a thousand knots as she eyes raked over the slaughter. So many ponies lay wasted upon the ground and blood was running thick, so thick it stained her hooves and the tip of her braided tail and sent shivers racing up and down her spine. Still, though, there was no time to waste! Resting useless on the ground by the corpse of a fallen caribou was a fierce-looking spear, cords of leather with beads and dragon scales upon them wrapped around the tip in lovely, intricate patterns. The crystal mare grabbed it, scowling, and turned about just in time to see Ofrior’s axe crunch into Alexandrite’s armour. That caribou was about to pay for his actions. Unfortunately for him, he underestimated a prima ballerina so much that it was about to cost him a lot of blood.

And then the weather turned cold. Much too cold. Lilac’s heart grew very still and cold: the heart was taken. Biting, cold winds whipped stray locks of her mane about her neck and face as she held the spear, despair crawling through her like bitter frost. But as Ofrior lifted Alexandrite into the air, hot anger pounded through the dancer’s blood and a fury the likes of which she had never known propelled her forward. Even without the heart, the crystal ponies could still stand and fight, and Lilac Briolette’s bloody dance would not stop until she drew her last breath.

Lilac, spear in hoof, readied herself to come to Alexa's aid once more. Unfortunately, just as the ballerina was about to rush forward a zebra speaking a foreign tongue approached her, challenging her to battle. This was no time to engage a new opponent, though. The dancer was determined. Silent and glaring Lilac moved into the finest grand jeté of her life, sailing right over the zebra to land upon Ofrior's back once more. She let out a furious battle cry, thrusting the spear down through his neck, or at least tried to: the spearhead hit the bottom of his helmet and slipped sideways, into his shoulder.

“Set her down, beast!” she cried, giving one last push to the spear. Deep in her heart, Lilac felt wrong for doing this. She had never dreamed herself capable of trying to take another’s life, no matter what the circumstance. Even with the other caribou she had brought down they were either blooded and unconscious or she had not landed a killing blow. Still...no matter how fiercely her stomach churned over her own attempt at taking this Ofrior’s life, there was simply no way she would allow this brute to harm somepony as important to her as Alexandrite Tilt.

As she stood upon the caribou's back on her back legs, pushing on the spear with her forelegs and all her weight, the crooning of an instrument began to sound over the battlefield. It crept from elsewhere in the Empire and could likely be heard in every crystalline corner that was once under the heart's protection. As the music crescendoed it began to form itself into a clumsy rendition of the Empire's anthem. Pride filled the dancer, and all she could think to do was sing the words that had been branded in her heart from when she was a young filly. Her voice was not remarkable, but she could hold her pitch and her voice could certainly carry. Others were sure to hear her in this battle. Her hope, though it had been wavering, had never been stronger and it carried through in every note that left her mouth. Now was their time to win this.

[Bellosh]

The gullible always seemed to love believing that even the smallest or most insignificant pony could change the course of the future. During his last Reign of Terror a thousand years ago, King Sombra made it a top priority to crush all such beliefs with an iron hoof. So imagine the dark stallion’s complete surprise when two little colts ran in-between Sombra and Shining not to protect the Prince, or to bravely stand down the King of Evil… but to put on the most alien minstrel act Sombra had ever witnessed in his entire life.

No amount of threat-assessment briefings from shadowy benefactors prepared King Sombra for his first introduction to modern Equestrian culture. Thrown for a loop by beholding the underaged minstrels who didn’t even acknowledge the last remnants around them, a wary Sombra powered down his magic and let them speak. After all, the battle was all but won by this point. What harm was there in letting these little unicorns praise this great victory in front of their liege lord?

Apparently, quite a bit of it. Far from praising their rightful master, the two colts insulted King Sombra right in his repugnant face! And then they dared take credit for claiming the Crystal Heart!!! Sombra’s blood boiled with rage, for he did not tolerate mockery in any shape or form. Intending to make an example out of the halfwits, the growling King slowly advanced towards the duo to give them a taste of real magic.

That’s when a surprise explosion engulfed Sombra in smoke. “Roooooooarrrrrrrggggggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!” The enraged King galloped out of the cloud with a face full of wrath, the whites of his eyes corrupted into green, and energy building up at the stump where his curved horn should have been. For such a grave act of sedition, the despot intended to enact the ultimate price on those halfwits who stupidly made a fool out of the greatest conqueror of all time! He’d slay them ALL!!!

As the orange lanky physique of one of the halfwits stood out more in Sombra’s peripheral vision, he naturally he hunted him down first. Unaware of anything else around him, the Mad King summoned walls of dark crystals and trapped the lanky colt within a circle. As that deed was done, Sombra raised himself above the lad via magically pillaring up on a column of jagged rock. “For your insolence,” the dark stallion now hovered a sharp crystal perilously above his child victim; “I, Sombra, King of all the Equine Realms, sentence you to DEATH!”

 

 

All this whole time, Princess Cadence observed the conflict from within her crystalline prison. Sombra’s attempts to remove her left her body bruised, but her spirit was anything but broken. Regardless, an unbroken spirit alone couldn’t do much to help the alicorn escape from this unorthodox dungeon. It would take time for conjure the magical energy needed to blast her way out of the crystal, but increasingly it appeared to Cadence that it’d be too late by then. Despite the heroics of everypony, the viking caribou managed to fight their way to the Crystal Heart and steal it from its pedestal. Shining Armor’s attempts at rescuing Sombra’s captive weren’t going well with the Dark King interfering at every turn. Twilight Sparkle wasn’t anywhere to be seen either, greatly alarming the Crystal Princess. Did... something horrible happen to Cadence’s beloved sister-in-law? The alicorn couldn’t even begin to think about how’d she (or her husband for that matter) handle Twilight meeting an unfortunate fate.

Everything seemed all but lost as winter stormed into the Crystal Empire, but a glimmer of light remained. Not that Princess Cadence would have recognized it; she felt absolutely horrified as a group of kids (some of which the Princess encountered earlier today) snuck past the caribou vanguard and directly confronted the evilest king of all time. With a Las Pegasus-style show routine at that! What were those little ones thinking? Didn’t they know that King Sombra showed no mercy to anyone? He’d wipe them out, all of them!!!

Cadence wouldn’t tolerate Sombra having his demented way with children who couldn’t fight back! Whatever the kids were doing though, they distracted the King long enough for Shining Armor to finally reach the crystal unmolested. Not content to stand by passively while being freed by her dashing prince, Cadence immediately began powering up her magical aura despite the sorry state of her body. Shining’s manifested love wasn’t just dissolving the crystal away; it endowed the Crystal Princess with the energies of life and love required to take down Sombra!

And not a moment too soon!!! Snails, the colt who had a crush on Princess Cadence, had already been trapped by the vile King Sombra and threatened with imminent doom. As once as the imprisoning crystal began fracturing, the pink princess wasted no time in casting a continuous beam of light straight at the dark stallion, shattering her prison into a cascade of harmless, sparkling pieces. The Light hit Sombra completely by surprise, blasting him off his rocky perch and sending him crashing into the ground, his screams of fury loud enough to be heard from every corner of the battle-torn city. As the King struck the crystal surface full force, the magic walls and crystal threatening Snails disintegrated into smoke, along with Sombra himself.

 

But King Sombra wasn’t finished yet! In the sight of his caribou host, his pulverized body transformed into a sentient shadow cloud, only recognizable as the Dark One thanks to his characteristic face. “CRYSSSSTALLLLLL,” the enormous shade furiously cried out as if suffering a mortal injury, hovering over his most hated of foes; “PRIIIN-CESSSSSSSSSS! YOU- ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!” The distant noise of a thunderous bagpipe filled the air, and apparently whatever passed for a living shadow's ears couldn't withstand that sound not one bit.

With the exception of a few warriors, most of the caribou in the immediate area had by now ceased hostilities, turning to look at the pained monstrosity their commander seemingly transformed into.....

 

[RarityDash]

The fight continued, and next thing Alexandrite knew an axe was through her chest plate and she was being lifted upward by her foe. There was a brief moment where she had fear that the axe would find its way all the way through, but the fine crystal armor held and protected her. This was nothing compared to the protection awarded by Lilac, who rushed forward with the spear of an enemy to save her from whatever the caribou had in mind. Distracted by the attack. Alexandrite lifted an armored hoof and slammed it into the caribou's jaw and then shook his axe loose from her armor.

She then quickly helped the other mare off the caribou's back and smiled to her, before looking at her opponent again. "My point is proven. Blunt force is not the path into my heart. Love and friendship will always be stronger than any weapon," she said as she took a defensive stance in front of Lilac, with her lance in hoof, looking toward the caribou and then toward the face of a zebra who seemed to want a fight with the dance, ready and watching carefully, prepared to react to whatever tricks they tried.

A moment of doubt struck Alexandrite as a massive roar sounded in the far distance. She realized then that the weather had changed. That could only mean the heart was lost to Sombra. Was she wrong then? Would despair set in. She felt shaken, even as her stance did not waver. It was then that she heard the sound of music. It was triumphant and resonating, a great battle hymn played on a strange instrument. It filled her with a hope and a courage. She would be able to do this.

"Do your worst, warriors of the north. Neither you nor your king will be able to win this day," Alexandrite said, resolute as can be, still standing and waiting for her opponents' first move.

​

[SunsetSombra]

Vinyl had been working furiously to tune the equipment before her - every ounce of whatever knowledge she'd accrued and earned had been put into practice as she hacked and retuned the equipment of magical musical energies before her. This version of the basscannon had never been made to be portable...but if she could make some kinda adjustments to enable her to extend it's reach via an external attachment, she might just be able to do something to help turn the tides. The snow was getting all over the open side of the stage, which had been mostly ignored for the most part in the insanity that was the battlefield. Vinyl was aware of the urgency - could hear the screams of terror and anger and rage and bloodlust that had been taking place around the area so heavily...Vinyl could almost swear to herself that she even smelled the faint scent of blood in the wind - but chalked it down to an overactive imagination.

There was something else in the air though - Vinyl could hear it faintly...a musical tone, faint but it was there - but the volume was clearly low and fading out.

If somepony was using music as a mood lifter, then they were clearly a little underpowered - Vinyl, however, had the tools before her to ensure that she could perhaps attempt to throw it into overdrive...or even divert it.

" Geezus, this is gonna be rough. " she muttered to herself, grabbing a bag of equipment and running outside to where some of the stages speakers were setup - a uniquely designed Crystal audio projection device hooked up to a good many mini speakers. Her idea was to connect all of this up to the basscannon, reverse engineer it to allow the speakers to absorb the specific musical sounds in the air and record it. She couldn't be sure if it would have the desired effect when 'projected' from a speaker again, but this was all she had to work with - this wasn't a show, this wasn't a studio session, this was a matter of life or death for many ponies, and if Vinyl Scratch had to make something that barely worked in order to contribute even a small factor of assistance to those risking life and limb out there, then by Celestia she was going to do just that.

She had no idea if there was anyone outside, or if the stage was in danger of being assaulted...all she knew, all she felt, was the desire and need to make this work.

It just had to!

And so, the Unicorn gets to work on her crackpot idea - the pressure was on!

[Ciraxis]

While most of the combatants seemed to slow down, inteinsity of one duel only increased.

"No no, you first." Squall hissed through his teeth in reply to caribou words, apparently in perfect understanding of the viking language.

There was no place for further conversation however. Both the combatants themselves and their weapons moved as such ludicrous speed that momentarily they shifted into a blur.

Even through he was occupied for all this time, Swift still had enough attention to keep an eye on his sweetheart. As such he was fully aware when she was almost struck with an crossbow bolt.

"Moto!" he whispered, before feeling surge of the righteous fury. That happened before, the very similar situation taking place in Ponyville.

However noblepony learned his lesson from that day. Instead of flying into berserk-like rage, unicorns eyes just squinted a little, and the rate at which his two swords struck doubled in speed. He aimed at vitals far more often too.

Thegn tried to fall back, to regain some footing, but unicorn wasn't letting him. Squall was pressing on, and on, until the three swords locked down in the blade lock.

"You guys just doesn't get it do you? You really thought you can win, a riding party of what, three ships?"

The stalemate broke, prompting another few sword strikes followed by another lock.

"Even if you win, even if He win what chances for escape you have. Celestia and Luna would be at his throat in an instant, and full army of both Empire and Equestria would follow suit with you. Ahh but you however..."

At this moment viking could feel a surge of pain, as something impaled on his side. The swords unicorn was using were before his face so what in world?

Upon glancing aside Thegn could see a shaft of one of the throwing spear sticking out of him. Weapons of the fallen were everywhere and Squall wasn't shy to fight dirty and picked another one, just like his second blade.

"You wasn't thinking it was some competition do you? You kind fight like an rabid beast, and so it will be struck down like one." Another brighter flash of the horn and another weapon found his way into viking body. And another followed by another and so on. By the time Swift was done caribou was on his knees, alive but defeated, with shallow by very numerous wounds.

"You fiends speak about honor and glory all the time. However today you attacked the defenseless, staining already tattered remains of both that you still had."

The sword rose up and fell down swiftly...

And with it one of severed antlers.

"I deny you a honorable death. Maybe next time however I even you out."

One more strike of armored hoof was enough to knock him out. What prompted him to spare this warrior? Squall didn't know but at the same time didn't questioned it. The least blood spilled today, the better. With proper treatment he will make it. Alas, Squall hoped that this act of mercy wasn't a mistake.

Unicorn turned around to see that Fire was still struggling with a crossbow wielder. Unicorn hurled now unnecessary second sword at their direction. The blade whirled through air, hitting the crossbow and wrecking it.

Hearing the Crystal Anthem and seeing the regaining of freedom by the Princess Mi Amora, Swift Squall allowed himself to smile.

"Victory....is ours." after which he slumped to the ground and leaned on the nearby food cart, his stamina completely spent.

[Hippo]

Shining nearly passed out, but with his magic combined with Cadance's, the crystal was found to be melting away. It was always a sight to see how powerful coupled magic can be. And not only was Cadance now free, her first blast taking the wind out of Sombra, the magic combination began to restore Shining to full strength. His tenacity was rewarded and his exhaustion disappeared. It was as if he had the life sucked out of him, but then returned to him in a second.

Sombra began to transform himself into the shadowy cloud he is always best known for. Certainly, all the visiting ponies to the empire would be beside themselves, they probably have never seen anything like him. The crystal ponies, however, this was all too familiar, and unfortunately for them, not the first time they had to deal with the encroachment of what can only be described as a unicorn kind gone to smoke.

Shining would join the fight, and try to finish Sombra off, the caribou army seemingly uninterested in fighting after seeing who their leader really was. Shining used his magic and threw open a protection spell, standard of his profession. The spell created a large bubble centered on him, that eliminated violence and evil when it collided with the expanding sphere of magic. It would not defeat Sombra, but it would help to ultimately bring back the heart to it's rightful location and restore peace and calm back to the Empire. The tides of this battle have turned.

But where was the crystal heart? In addition to the protection shield, Shining dual cast a spell to find the heart. The spell would hopefully make the heart shine bright, and make it obvious which enemy was keeping the heart under wraps.

​

[SteelEagle]

The battle was over in any real sense. The ponies had never adjusted on the field of battle and had been cut down, row upon row, by the caribou. The ponies were brave, far braver than the caribou gave them credit for. But bravery sometimes counts for little when nopony takes charge of a battle. The simple but well executed tactics of the caribou combined with their skill and prowess had led to a one-sided engagement. After the center was broken the caribou turned to the flanks of the right and left pony formations. The flanking and the continued engagement at the front led to the lines finally breaking. No organization, no local leadership, just a series of desperate engagements where ponies stood little chance. When the Heart was taken and the roar went across the caribou lines, the ponies lost heart in many places. The rout was on just as the Svein and Frostrar returned and started approaching from the rear, ready to fall on the fleeing ponies.

It was then that a short but powerful series of events happened. The Heart vanished. That didn't matter too much as the weather continued to worsen, telling the Caribou that it was not in a place of safety. They'd just have to hack and slash until they found it. The sound of multiple musics dragging out a song of hope and vexxation through bagpipes echoed across the landscape. The sound wobbled around doing little as far as the Caribou could tell, but somewhere, the Heart started to shine and shimmer once more. 'Twould not be the doom of the caribou but it would signal the end of the active phase of their invasion, as far as ponies could tell anyway even if the Caribou did not yet know it.

There was a minor matter of somepony thinking themselves clever and trying to freeze their caribou foes, but there were plenty of caribou. Within moments more showed up and the sheer numbers and amount of throwing axes an crossbow bolts on display would end any resistance. The caribou had been fighting for eons- the belief that a simple spell from a single unicorn or even a group of them spoke to Equestrian idealism more than their reality. The heroes were still fighting but they rapidly started to become the last bastions of resistance up and down the line. The only matter that remained was who of the heroes would die by the blades of their Thegn foes and who would survive those encounters only to be overwhelmed by the number of caribou who remained.

Those were all minor matters. The major matter was the release of Princess Cadance and the ensuing de-bodification of Sombra, the shockwave of which sent most four hooved creatures onto their rears. This changed matters considerably. This was to be Sombra's city, not the Caribou's. Without Sombra, there was little point to further engagement. All of the minor matters added alongside it only added to the discontent Ofrior felt as he and every other caribou watched the end come for Sombra.

Poo. Ofrior pulled the spear from his shoulder with a grunt, snapping it in two as small droplets of his own blood littered his face. It had been a good fight. Another caribou trundled on over to him, carrying a small horn. “It was...a good fight, Alexandrite and ballerina friend. Next time I bring a mace for your armor, haha! But with no Sombra, the Jarl had strict orders to leave. And so, I leave you with a words- collect your fallen and bury them well, because if the Jarl comes back it won't be with three ships and a King but with an armada of brimstone,” Ofrior spoke through bloody teeth before blowing the horn and bellowing, “Vår jobb er gjort. Hjem, mine brødre! Til seier!”

And with that, the caribou started to fall back. By the very nature of the engagement there were still small sword fights taking place but as the caribou gave ground the engagements ceased. The ship's sails went back up and oars poked out of the sides, smashing windows and walls as they went, cannonades at the front still primed and ready in case ponies tried anything funny. Along the way the caribou picked up or dragged the dead and dying, with the Jarl's caribou on the sides making their way first and even the Jarl himself dropping in from above on the sails of his flaming ship.

Maybe if the music wasn't playing a song that seemed to seep into the subconscious they'd stay. Maybe if the last few heroes would just give up so the Caribou could start a proper pillaging they'd stay. Maybe if they didn't see the wary glances of the caribou from above they'd stay. Most definitely they'd stay if Sombra was around. There wasn't one thing or two things that stopped the caribou from finishing off the City, but a collection of heroes and heroines young and old fought and many died just long enough for their Prince to earn his name.

And because of them, the Crystal Empire would survive as the Caribou made their exit.

[PyroBlaze]

Tehengu kept his eye on his opponent, waiting for the right opportunity to strike. Usually he would try to make one, but with the archers just on the other side of his foe, he had to be careful. Still though, the pony numbers were rapidly dwindling, and the former soldier had to wonder where their leadership was. Even without the prince and princess, they should've had some ranking officers to make decisions and give orders.

Speaking of the Royal couple, the alicorn was freed and the dark unicorn turned into a cloud of smoke. The large griffon barely reacted to the music reaching his ears, as his gaze was firmly locked on the caribou in front of him and around him. He was surprised they hadn't tried anything yet.

And soon enough they were in retreat, and the caribou force was no longer attacking. He watched them leave carefully, his sword still drawn. He only looked away once he was convinced they weren't coming back. With that taken care of, he looked around for any other threats.

[Blueblood]

The Crystal Heart had never been taken very far from its pedestal. Once Earth Writer had touched it, had felt it's pulse, the reporter knew, before perhaps any of them, that the day would not go to Sombra and his host. As the music swelled with the spirits of the Empire, that certainty had been fanned into a blaze, along with the power of the Heart, filling every cell of his body. But he was not the only one touching the heart.

There was also a caribou named Lief. He was utterly unprepared for being at the magical "ground zero" of the Crystal Heart when it really got going. In fact, for a few seconds it left him confused as to whether he was a caribou or a pony, so powerful was the pulse to any that close to it's source. He'd charged the plaza in a rush to be the one who claimed the Heart of the Empire, which alone would have brought enough Glory for any caribou to start their own clan! But now, he knew that none of them could safely carry it away. He had to put it back, before this magic left him as weak and soft as a pony!

Earth Writer felt himself heaved, along with the Heart, back onto the pedestal. He fell off, but the Heart stayed; the winds of winter retreating along with the caribou. The reporter got shakily to his feet, watching Lief curiously as that Viking surged back into the crowd, seeking to lose himself in it and be rid of those strange thoughts implanted in his head.

*Was... was that it? Did we win?* It was not so easy to tell, with so many ponies dead, and so much of the city destroyed. The Vikings were leaving, on their own terms, still able to guard their retreat. But Sombra was not going to triumph, and the Crystal Empire would still stand.

***

Prince Blueblood had never liked bagpipes.

He'd always thought them a barbaric parody of music; but after today, he was going to be a lot more judicious in his use of that epithet, and in his criticism of art, for that matter. He had been forcibly introduced to real barbarians, and was currently laying like a sack of potatoes across the back of one. Both he and she had been struck still by the sudden series of events, which was the only reason the doe had let him stay on her back for so long. Once it became clear that the Caribou would be retreating, he was literally shrugged off into a heap beside her.

The unicorn was in a sorry state. The adrenaline had wholly drained from his body, leaving the insistent pains of multiple cuts, bruises, one black eye, and, he was pretty sure, at least one fractured rib. He didn't feel himself able even to stand just yet, and it was with effort that he kept his head up enough to see the beginning of the caribou retreat. Along with the crew went, it seemed, the Red Jarl himself. One of the caribou seemed to wish to say something, but the doe on which the Prince had landed shushed him. They both shot a surreptitious glower at both Sombra, and the leader which had first allied to and then betrayed the Dark King.

The caribou were leaving as one body, but they no longer had unity in purpose. Any future leader would have a great deal more trouble drumming up support for a similar Charge in the future.

Not that the Prince was primarily considering such political matters as he lay in the grass, groaning in pain. Blueblood suffered not only injury, but insult. Who were they, to come in, kill, smash, and generally wreck the lives of everypony they came into contact with, and then be allowed to retreat with a general sentiment of 'good fight, guess we didn't win', as if it had all been of no more significance than a cricket match!? He would have gotten to his hooves in protest, and probably be given a finishing whack for his troubles, only a fresh wave of pain kept him down.

In short, it had been clearly demonstrated to Prince Blueblood that he could be hurt with impunity; and everything he even slightly cared for, from civilized life to his own ego, insulted with no chance of redress. But it is always a bad idea to leave an enemy in this state of humiliation, no matter how weak or contemptible, for it is the memory of such humiliation that drives the strongest determination to no longer be either. Thus, just before he passed out, the Prince of the Royal House of Blueblood looked up at the burning Spire and swore, *Never... again...*