Moon's Blade and the Crystals of Chaos

Chapter 12:
Twin Crystals

I stood there, paralysed of what my eyes had met.

Several houses lay in ruin. I asked a villager what happened.

"Ever since this dark force field surrounded us everything went the wrong way," he explained, "It was just a matter of time or sometimes we were pulled down by something invisible or being pushed up. It's as if gravity is fighting against us."

"Is everypony alright? I need to speak with Wise." I responded anxiously.

"Wise is alright, you can meet him in the shrine," the pony responded, "He and a few others have locked themselves in until the crisis is all over."

The pony ran away into a house that was still standing.

As he told us, the shrine's door was sealed off. Without hesitating I grabbed my sword and stabbed the centre of the seal. For a moment the seal shined bright, then slowly faded away and the door of the shrine opened.

"Are you out of your mind?!" A familiar creaky voice shouted at me angrily. It was Wise Knowledge, who settled down when he saw me. "Oh, it's you," he said, "I knew ye would come, ye know?"

We both smiled as we embraced each other.

"Long time no see, gramps." I said happily to see him alive.

"I assume ye didn't come here for nothing, am I right?" Wise said.

I nodded in response.

"We need to know where the crystals are," Twilight explained, "You see, these crystals..." But she was quickly interrupted by Wise who was offended by her thought that he wouldn't know about the situation.

"I know about it! I may be old, but I'm not stupid!" Wise shouted out angrily at the lavender unicorn, who seemed somewhat scared of his reaction. "Since it started there, I can only assume the crystals are located at the top of the mountain."

Wise sighed and looked down. "But nopony has ever dared climbing up that high. The weather up there is dangerous."

He looked at me faithfully. "One should take great care, but I believe you'll succeed."

"I'll fly up there in no time!" Rainbow Dash shouted out high-hearted.

"Let me prepare a nice spot on the graveyard for you." Wise said angrily.

"What do you mean?" Dash asked.

"The weather up there is too dangerous to fly through," I explained, "Doing so would result into you being blown out of the sky and crushing your bones on the surface below."

The other ponies looked painfully at me.

"There is, however, another way to get up there." I added.

"Let me show you," Wise said, "Follow me!".

We followed Wise and arrived at another gate, which was similar to the one that lead to the ancient cavern. However, some of the patterns were different.

"I wish this day would've never come," Wise said, looking down and sad, "But there's no other choice."

"What do you mean?" Pinkie and I asked simultaneously.

"This gate is a blood-bound gate," Wise explained, "In order to open it, it requires the blood of the sage's descendant. Not only that, but the blood must be fed to the gate by the descendant of the ancient hero."

"What hero?" Twilight asked.

"It's a long story," I explained, "But to keep it short, there was once a great war in Equestria, fugitives came to this mountain until the war was over. Usually they could reach the village easily, but once upon a time there was a group of fugitives, including a descendant of the goddess of the sun."

I took a moment to catch my breath, then continued explaining. "They wanted to reach the village, but the Dragon Valley was filled by new and aggressive dragons, who saw the fugitives as a snack. A hero came down from out village and let them up safely, defeating an aggressive dragon in a fight. When they arrived at the village, the goddess of the moon came down to thank the hero for saving the descendant of her sister."

I showed them my sword. "To express her gratitude, she gave us the sword that I'm currently holding in my hooves. The Moon's Blade. We stored the sword in the shrine, which the sages then guarded with their lives."

"Anyways," Wise started again, "It's time for the ritual."

I nodded with a painful feeling in my heart.

"As the last of the sages, this will break the bloodline of those that have kept the sword in safety for thousands of years," Wise explained, "But it's for the sake of our village, no, of the entire world."

I slowly lifted my sword.

"Isn't there another way to do this?" Twilight said panicky.

"N-no, this is the only way." Wise said. Tears ran from his eyes, which he then closed.

I readied my sword.

Tears filled my eyes.

Blood dripped down on the ground beneath Wise, as he slowly fell down motionless. While the blood on my blade was fresh I thrusted my sword into the gate. The gate slowly crumbled and a strong wind came from the other side. We slowly walked in, leaving the corpse of Wise behind.

We climbed the staircase that was in front of us, and eventually we reached the top. It was cold, and there was a strong and icy wind.

Not far from us were two crystals, circling around each other. I ran towards them and grabbed them. Slowly the dome that had imprisoned the mountain in a state of chaos started to disappear. The flow of time returned to normal and the floating pieces of land fell down to the surface, where they belonged.

With two of the seven crystals in hoof, I turned around, ready to leave the mountain when suddenly a familiar face stood in front of the exit. Morgana. Next to her was the pony we had been worried about for a long while. Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy!" Pinkie shouted out loud, happy to see her again.

"We've been so worried about you." Rarity said, delighted by the fact Fluttershy was alright.

"What have you done with her?" Rainbow Dash asked angrily.

"She's done nothing wrong." Fluttershy said.

The six of us were shocked by what she said. Did she choose the side of Morgana? The one who had been trying to kill us all?

"Are you out of your mind?" Twilight asked surprised, "That's Morgana! The one who tried to kill us, remember?"

"Morgana..." Fluttershy said quietly while looking at her.

"I'm sorry," Morgana said, "I'm sorry for what I've done."

Sorry? Sorry is all she could come up with? After everything she had done?

I quickly grabbed my sword and rushed toward Morgana, which then quickly dodged. Next Rainbow Dash rushed toward her and pushed her to Applejack, which kicked her in the face.

After that Morgana summoned five swords. In response Twilight casted several spells, which Morgana then blocked with her swords, but she kept her defensive position.

Next, Rarity and Pinkie jumped onto her.

"Now is your chance!" They shouted at me.

I ran towards them and lifted my sword.

"STOOOOOOP!" Fluttershy shouted out as loud as she could.

We all stood still, as if paralysed by her shout.

"Don't you ever dare to threaten my friends," she said furiously, "Dare to stab her and I'll stab you."

I looked surprised at her. She didn't sound like the Fluttershy we knew at all.

"Morgana isn't bad, she's just misunderstood."

"Misunderstood?" Twilight asked surprised, "She nearly killed all of us!"

"She was obsessed with knowing the truth," Fluttershy explained, "The truth about herself."

After Fluttershy explained Morgana's story I sheathed my sword and apologized to Morgana, which surprisingly gladly accepted it.

"Sorry for all of this." Twilight said.

"No, I'm the one that should be sorry," Morgana replied.

We looked at each other for a minute.

"In order to fully apologize, I'll help you find the remaining crystal. The crystal of illusion, if not mistaken."

Morgana nodded and thanked me.

Suddenly the crystals started to shine. They started to float in the air. A dim, pink light came from Morgana's chest.

It was obvious now. The final crystal was inside Morgana. The final crystal is Morgana herself.

We looked as she and the crystals floated in the sky and a bond started to exist between the crystals. I had no doubt about it. The crystals were fusing together again. They were becoming the Chaos Crystal again.

The search was over.