Cracks

High into the sky, towers of smoke climbed against the sun. The ring of blades echoed down the streets of Canterlot, joined by the crack of wooden barricades beneath the hooves of the invaders. Above it all, Shining Armor watched in silence, his men below racing like ants beneath his gaze. Though the smoke stung his eyes, it was a greater blessing that it hid the ruin of the city from sight.

"Sir! The revolutionaries have broken through the western cordon! You must retreat to the palace!"

He didn't even turn to the pegasai runner as he replied. "Fall back with the others. I will be along shortly."

"But sir--" The pegasus found himself silenced by a single glare.

"Fall back. That is an order." Mutely, the pegasus complied, leaving Shining armor alone.

Through the smoke he could see the violet flags flying high. Like a forest they waved in the wind, strapped to brooms and sticks where spears were in short supply. Equestria's own flag still flew above them, but tattered and torn with scores of arrows, its edges still glittering with the frost of their shafts. He slowly hefted his helm and placed it upon his head, pulling the lever that managed the gate portcullis. It closed shut with a clang that echoed even over the steps of the approaching horde.

Rather than run, he jumped down the far side of the wall, the now sealed gate at his back as telekinesis slowed his fall. Before him, a wall of crystal advanced, some clad in armor, others only in their conviction. He watched as they encircled him, none willing to come closer, but each facing him with firm resolve. From their number, a lone pony emerged, slightly taller than the rest, her flowing hair bound back by her glittering helm.

She might have been beautiful, under other circumstances.

"Mi Amore Cadenza?" was all he asked.

"Captain Shining Armor?" she replied.

When he nodded, she continued. "Will you stand aside, and let justice take its course?"

"I will see justice done, but in Celestia's name, not yours." He lifted a fallen spear from the streets, abandoned by a guard in their flight.

"What is just is freedom. The freedom my people deserve." She lifted her own blade, its length glittering in the light of fire and day. "The freedom Celestia owes us. The freedom we have come to collect."

"I hope the price is worth it." Gritting his teeth, he lunged.

"It is." She knocked the spear aside with a graceful flourish, her wings flaring to warn back her army.

In midst of the horde, they dueled. He advanced and retreated, his spear a thicket of strikes. Her sword was a river, washing away his blows in its sweeping curves. Again and again, he braved the rapids with his offense, trying in vain to find a path to the mare behind, but every time she caught him in her flowing currents and smashed him away. And so it was the two stayed locked in stalemate, spear and blade in perfect balance.

The sun left its height, and the fires spread their smoke, casting their arena in darkness. Sweat poured from both, the entire battle brought to a halt on their shoulders. Their strikes grew sluggish, their parries sloppy, until luck determined as much as skill. It was then that he put all his strength into one final thrust. One final blow to end it all.

He felt the yielding strike of flesh.

He blinked, sweat and exhaustion clouding his eyes. Upon the end of his weapon sat a mare, but not the alicorn he'd stood against. She was just a mare, no real weapon but the battered and bloody trowel still gripped between her bloodstained teeth. As he watched, it fell from her grasp, and she collapsed to the street even as the alicorn rushed to her side.

"This," the mare whispered into the silence, "is not your battle to lose, princess."

As if some great bond had been cut, the horde rushed forward, and Shining could only look up at the tide of cold steel that fell upon him. As he fell to the street, his own blood splashing from their falling blades, his last sight was of the sun above, slowly passing into shadow.

And the flag of the Crystal Empire flying high.