26

Retribution

Gale flew haggardly, still meandering south. He often glanced behind him, making sure that no pegasi were following. The black cape twisted against his tail, and he kicked it off for what had to have been the tenth time in the last hour. He ran his claws through the feathers atop his head to allow air to flow, casting aside a few of them. He glanced behind him again and hit a cloud. Furiously, he batted it away, soaring upwards before quickly tiring. He stopped, heaving, and he resigned to sit on the same cloud.

"What art thou doing?"

The voice was as a gentle parent. Gale stumbled midair, his front legs windmilling. He shook his head, which began to prickle with sweat. He laughed timidly. "I thought I could perhaps rest a moment."

"Hm."

"But j-just for a moment, I swear!"

"Thinkest thou the ponies resteth, that they pursue us not this very hour?"

"I know they're after us," Gale said, inching closer to the cloud, "but my wings and chest are shot. I need to rest."

"No. Thou must continue onwards, or—" Gale scratched at the Amulet. It became like ice, and he stopped, shivering. The voice grew coarse, and Gale closed his eyes tightly. "What said I about the Amulet?"

Gale held his head, which began to hurt. "I-I know what you said. It's just—"

"Do not touch it again. Continue on your southern course."

With a reluctant sigh, Gale turned away from the cloud. Looking down, he saw the coast giving way to sea. The setting sun lined the far away crests of waves in gold. There was another coast not too far off, and beyond that, shrouded in dark clouds, there was a volcano. All at once, Gale knew. Dragons.

He wanted to ask why, but the Amulet already knew his thoughts. "Yea, we are going to the dragons. Dost thou doubt me?"

Gale shook his head quickly. "No, n-never! I j-just—"

"Then do as I command. The dragons will aid us."

Gale checked behind himself again. His wings somewhat mercifully became numb from flying. He flew upwards and then glided down, trying to conserve what little energy he had left. It would take another few hours before he would reach the dragons, and he wasn't sure he would be able to make it to the beach, let alone the volcano.

The Amulet pulsed cold, and Gale tensed. It was thinking, Gale could tell. Everything from his sight to his hearing appeared to slow slightly as his brain grew fuzzy, though it didn't last more than a moment or two.

"Knowest thou why I chose thee?"

"What?" Gale stumbled his thoughts. "You? B-but I thought that I—"

"Nay!" the voice declared. Gale trembled. "It was I that chose thee! Me!" The voice quieted but remained imperative. "I chose thee because thou hadst the will, yea, the conviction, to see thy way through to the end. None other hath had such determination or strength. They all too easily cracked under the power they were blessed to have, instead acting upon impulse and fear. Thou hadst not done thus, nor didst thou show signs of doing so. That is why I chose thee. With mine aid, I had allowed thee to make thine own decisions, and we together brought to pass a great many things. We were aligned in purpose."

Gale felt his throat grow cold. "W-were?" he said quietly.

"The Crystal Heart."

The Amulet felt tight around Gale's neck, and he cleared his throat. "What about it?"

"Why didst thou forsake it?"

Gale felt his heart drop. "They were after me, a-after that thing!" he protested. "I had to get rid of it! What did it matter to you anyway? You—"

With a stifled screech, Gale writhed in midair, losing his cape. Every nerve in his body felt as though they had been stabbed through with white-hot needles. The Amulet gripped tighter around his neck like icy claws, choking him. His whole body was so cold it felt as though it burned.

The voice remained calm. "Everything. The Crystal Heart meant everything to me, Gale." Gasping, Gale grabbed at the Amulet's edges but couldn't find them. "I thought thou wert better than this, better than those before thee." Instead of feathers around the Amulet, he felt freezing crystals, and he clawed at them desperately. "Thou hadst me. Why didst thou fear?" Gale could feel each feather around the Amulet grow cold and stiffen into crystals.

"Now, because of thine insolence, I must fix what thou hast broken." Surrounding feathers also began to change, and, like agonizingly slow dominoes, his chest, back, and wings all became black crystals. "Thou hast interfered with which thou couldst not hope to understand." His fur began to crystallize, each hair stinging him like a needle of burning ice. "I will not allow thee to further my pain."

All at once, the process and voice seemed to stop. Gale's trembling eyes watched his claws no longer obey him, neither his wings nor his legs. They acted on their own will, or rather, of the Amulet's, keeping him hovering over the ocean. The sun had long since vanished. Gale could scarcely breathe again, taking the tiniest of breaths. He could feel, one by one, the feathers change on his chin, around his beak, around his eyes. With hot tears, with a beak chattering from the cold, he took a strained breath.

"W-w-why a-are you d-doing this?"

"I need to."

Gale felt something frigid pierce forth from his skull. Then he felt nothing.

Spike teetered on top of a ladder, trying to put one last book back in its place. He was in the more preserved part of the library, finishing up one last stack of books for Twilight. He slid the book in and wiped his forehead. "Done," he said. "Finally."

He was halfway down the ladder when he stopped to scratch his neck. He then noticed he was glowing gold. He looked at himself, stammering, nearly losing his grip on a rung. He sighed in exasperation. "Come on, Ember. What now? It's nearly night."

Grumbling and itching, Spike slid down the rest of the way and walked to the door. He began opening it but stopped. Something felt different about this summons. A cold, dark feeling spread throughout his body, and he shivered slightly. Now worried, wondering what was happening with Ember, he ran to the Princesses' meeting room a little ways down the hall. He opened the door and his mouth but stopped upon seeing Twilight alone, her head on the table and her shoulders heaving.

"Twilight?"

She jerked up, looking at him through tears. She blinked them away and cleared her throat. "Spike? Are you glowing?"

"Yeah," he said, walking over, "dragon stuff, but why are you crying? What happened?"

"U-um..." She bit her lip. "Luna was dreamwalking with her generals this morning, with the whole invasion thing that was going on. She left around noon for Griffonstone with the treaty." She smiled weakly. "We won. The war's over."

Smiling greatly, Spike started to whoop and holler, jumping around the room. He looked at Twilight, expecting her to be joyous, but she again looked somber. He stopped, holding a hoof of hers with his claws. "But... that's not it, is it?"

She shook her head and took a deep breath. "The Crystal Heart. It's gone. Gale threw it into some abyss, and it shattered. They can't get the pieces back. The abyss is cursed or something."

Spike understood but couldn't fathom it. "So the Crystal Empire...?"

Twilight looked away from Spike, tears welling in her eyes. "Gone," she whispered. "Forever."

"Everyone?" asked Spike quietly.

Twilight, unable to suppress herself anymore, started to sob openly again. She hugged him tightly, and he tried his best to comfort her. He shivered again, his teeth chattering, and Twilight slowly regained herself.

"So," she said finally, "u-uh... Dragons." She stared into his eyes, seemingly evaluating him. "Oh, Spike. I don't know if I want you to go. It's so close to Griffonstone."

"But you said the war's over."

"That doesn't mean it's safe."

"It never was."

Twilight sighed, tearing up again. "Spike. Please."

"I needed to go last time," he said insistently. "If I didn't then, things could've gotten bad."

"And you did your part then! Why would they need you now? Ember's in charge now; they're okay over there!"

"No, Twilight. This is different than last time. Something's happened. Something really, really bad. I can feel it. This—" he gestured to his glowing self "—is different. I need to go." Twilight looked to cry again and hid her face. Spike groaned. "Twilight—"

"I can't!" Twilight yelled suddenly, startling Spike. She breathed shakily. "I can't, I can't..."

"What do you mean, "you can't"?"

She looked at him. "I can't lose you too. I-I've already lost Rainbow and Celestia, a-and now I've lost Shining and Cadence a-and Flurry, and I j-just... I can't lose you, Spike. I can't."

Spike snapped a claw. "Then come with me. Like last time."

Twilight gasped softly. She studied his face and then looked down, her brows furrowed. After a while, she sighed. "No, Spike. I'm sorry."

Spike threw his arms up. "Why not?!" He pointed in no particular direction. "Something's going on over there! I need to go!"

Twilight jumped up and stomped on the ground. "No!" She choked back more crying. "No, you don't. You're going to stay with me, here, where it's safe."

Spike crossed his arms and turned around, walking away. "What, am I just supposed to sit around, glowing and itching and shivering? This is stupid! You know this glowing thing doesn't stop unless I go! What am I—"

A purple bubble of magic popped on his head, and he started swaying. Twilight picked him up and put him on her back. He was already fast asleep but still glowed. She walked him to his bed, tucked him in with an extra blanket, and kissed his forehead.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "Good night, Spike."

As she hit the ground, Ember came back to reality. Coughing, she saw through tears remnants of purple smoke dissipating in the air above her. She saw the small cliff above her where she was just a few minutes ago. She expected to see her scepter next to her, but it was gone. Slowly getting up, she looked around. The dragons which were roaming a while before were now gone.

"What?" she mumbled. "Where...?" She winced and grabbed her forehead. She now remembered the black creature. It looked like some crystalline perversion of one of Equestria's princesses with a similar-looking amulet. It demanded the scepter. Ember refused, and it blinded her. Then she had a nightmare, worse than even she could have conceived. She looked back up the cliff and groaned. "Great," she muttered. "Lost the scepter. Dad's gonna kill me." She took one staggered step before she nearly lost her balance. "Dad!"

She leapt up, urging her bruised wings to fly. They permitted, but not without protest. She made it to the top of the cliff and looked to where Torch had stood. Upon seeing him, she choked on a gasp and fell out of the sky, landing hard on some rocks. She again stood shakily, her gaze unbroken. A colossal and jagged black crystal jutted from the ground and ran through Torch, keeping him standing like a model on display.

Ember slowly walked toward her father, each step reaffirming unyieldingly what she saw. Only after a dozen or so paces did she finally allow herself to understand what happened, and she collapsed once more on the rocks, roaring and crying.

Throughout Griffonstone, pegasi were patrolling the streets, searching every home and alley for any stragglers. Most griffons who hid now surrendered. Small skirmishes popped up here and there, but none lasted more than a minute or two. Luna had arrived that evening and had set the sun, finally allowing the city to see some light, albeit from a crescent moon. The terms of surrender had long before been drafted by the Princesses. A group of ten griffon representatives were reading it over with Luna and surrounded by two dozen watchful pegasi.

In the south, a low rumbling shook the otherwise still air. Luna heard it, along with a few others, but they brushed it off. A second one came, louder this time, and more heard it. They turned their heads south but couldn't see anything. One pegasus flew up and towards the sound. A few more followed him, and they flew until they disappeared into the horizon. A third sounded, louder still, and it seemed to be joined by a choir of others. The group of pegasi streaked across the skies towards Luna. The griffons parted, still talking quietly about the treaty. The pegasi landed in front of her, completely winded.

"What is it?" asked Luna. She could feel the fear they had brought. "What did you see?" All of the pegasi shook, none able to look at her. Finally, one managed to choke out a word.

"Dragons."

Almost on cue, another sound like thunder rippled across the sky. Squinting in the horizon, Luna could see a thin dark line growing wider against the violet sky. She tuned back to the pegasi. "Anything else?"

The same pegasus nodded. "The one in front looked like it was made of some sort of black glass."

"Black glass?"

"Yes, your Majesty." The other pegasi nodded.

"How many?" Luna asked.

"We don't know," a different one said. "There were too many."

Luna looked between each face. "What of their intentions? Did they look to fight us?"

"They were in formation for sure," the first one said, "which is why we ran, but I guess that doesn't mean they're gearing up for a fight."

Luna looked back to the horizon, her lips pursed. "Go back. Ask them what they want." The group of pegasi shakily saluted her, and they flew back towards the horizon. Luna sighed and turned back to the griffons. "What say ye to the treaty?"

The griffons fidgeted. One cleared her throat. "To be unified with Equestria is something most unprecedented. I understand the reasoning behind it, and it hurts to say I agree with it. Our bruised pride notwithstanding, I feel most other griffons would understand and agree too, given the alternative has brought only destruction upon us all." She took a deep breath. "We accept the treaty." The other griffons all nodded solemnly.

Luna smiled softly. She levitated the parchment and quill to them, and, one by one, some hesitantly, others hastily, the ten griffons scratched onto the document their names. Luna rolled it up and sent it to Twilight in a green flame. There was another rumble to the south, and the pegasi watching over the proceedings gasped. Luna turned around and saw tiny shoots of orange highlight the silhouettes of dragons.

"Uh," a pegasus guard said, "I don't know about you, your Majesty, but that seems hostile to me."

"Stay here," Luna said. "Get the pegasi and griffons together. We are one nation now. If they mean war, we will fight them as one. I will try to speak with their leader." The pegasus saluted, and the guards left along with the ten representatives. They rounded everyone up, hastily organizing them. Luna flew up to meet the newcomers.

Luna finally got a good look at the dragons' leader, but she wasn't sure at first what the creature was. He was smaller than the dragons he led but slightly larger than herself. His figure was illuminated by four red glows, two of which were his eyes. Luna couldn't tell which way he looked other than by the turn of his head. The third red glow was about his neck, but Luna wasn't sure what it was. The fourth glow came from his scepter, which he held in his claws. In the moonlight, he looked to be black and crystalline, unlike anything she had seen before. He had a jagged crystal coming out of his head like a unicorn's horn, but his great wings were more like a griffon's than a pegasus'.

The creature saw Luna and stopped. Holding the scepter out beside him, he halted the hundreds of dragons behind him.

"Who are you?" Luna called to him. He didn't move.

"Luna."

Luna gasped, her fur standing on end. His voice came from her own mind, which began to tingle. It was the same voice she had heard when Ponyville was bombarded. The creature's mouth didn't move, but he spoke, directly to her. The pegasi and griffons around her noticed her reaction, and they became even more frightened.

"I have waited so long to see thee," his icy voice continued. He chucked, unnerving Luna further. "I nearly sent forth these dragons behind me to burn this city to cinders, along with every soul within and around it. I would have turned a blind eye if they became... carried away and... wandered off to Equestria. Seeing thee here in the flesh, however, hath changed my mind. After centuries of waiting, after finally seeing thy face again, I ask of thee but one thing: come thou forward and fight me."

Luna tried to keep her composure, but she couldn't help but tremble. Who was this creature? How did he know her? His voice cut her thoughts off. "This war needeth not more blood shed nor lives lost, Luna. Let it be between thee and me, as it ought to have been from the beginning. I promise thee, if thou wilt come forth, whatever the outcome may be, these dragons will be stayed. I have waited far too long for this, Luna. Come thou forward and fight me."

She quickly scanned the dragons behind the creature. There had to have been hundreds of them; even with both griffons and pegasi fighting, the dragons would surely win. She had no choice. Taking a deep breath, she flew towards him. He nodded once and motioned forward with the scepter. The dragons advanced, and Luna stopped, looking around wildly.

"I am merely having them watch the spectacle along with the others," the creature's voice assured Luna. "Hast thou no faith in my word?"

The dragons, much to the alarm of the griffons and pegasi already there, sat around them, making themselves comfortable. The creature turned his attention back to Luna and closed the gap between them. The pegasi and griffons, growing confused and afraid, began anxiously calling out to Luna. She opened her mouth to speak but was silenced by the creature's voice.

"Speak not, for I have already spoken to them all. It is between me and thee."

Looking back at the creature, trying her best to ignore the pleas below, she continued to fly. She racked her brain, trying to think of how she could possibly win against him. He was made of crystal, or at least had crystalline armor. Any spell she cast wouldn't affect him. The creature stopped and stared at her. She had to stall, to think of a strategy. Instead of meeting him, she slowly began to circle him. Seeing this, the creature again advanced. Behind him, Luna spotted the silhouette of a slender spire atop a building. If she couldn't injure him, she thought, perhaps that could.

She flew up, narrowly missing a swipe by the creature, and gained altitude rapidly. Snapping her wings closed, she dove, again missing the creature. She glanced behind her, and the creature already was diving after her. She focused her attention on the spire, plummeting straight into it. At the last second, she unfurled her wings and grazed the spire's tip. She heard the creature run himself through the spire and yell, and she turned around.

The creature was impaled through the chest. He had stopped a few feet down the spire at its base. He writhed for a second, then stopped, twitching. The scepter dropped from his grasp, and a grey-armored pegasus swooped in and caught it, handing it off to Luna before returning to the cheering crowd below. Luna sighed in relief, allowing herself now to catch her breath. She closed her eyes, resting a moment.

The creature groaned, and Luna's fur stood on end. She looked back to him, her heart pumping. The creature arched back, looking wildly around. His glowing eyes locked with Luna's, and she couldn't move for fear. Below, the cheers silenced. The creature looked down and grabbed the spire's base. After a shove to loosen himself, he began pushing himself slowly back up, claw over claw, using his wings as well.

"How?" Luna said with dread. "How is he still alive?"

With one last push, the creature freed himself. Luna could see clearly the hole in his chest the spire made. He hovered in place, staring at her still. "Thou coward! Face me!" The creature lunged forward, roaring, and, with a start, she began flying again. Before she knew it, the creature grabbed her from the front, pinning her wings closed with his claws. He beat his great wings, carrying her up away from the crowd. He began to crush her, each of the crystal shards digging into her coat, and she screamed. She tried to escape his grasp, but the more she moved, the worse the crystals pierced.

"Look at me." She stopped writhing, now looking fearfully into his eyes. Her brain prickled over. "Rememberest thou not my voice, Luna?" Her eyes darted to the third red glow, and she gasped. The Alicorn Amulet? She looked back into his eyes, unbelieving. Before she could think another thought, the Amulet latched onto her neck, and darkness consumed her sight.