Glowing in Everglow

Diary of Cozy Glow

When we returned to Vil, I told the king about the secret entrance into the Storm Tower and we conducted a clever plan, my idea, Shining Horn and Scarlet Lance will lead an army and advance as if to attack the tower, but that would be just a diversion and would create an opportunity for a smaller force to sneak in through the secret entrance and take out Prince Swift Blade and disable the tower. Hopefully capturing or killing their leader would be enough to end the war. I agreed to the plan, it was the sort of thing I would usually suggest.

Beneath the Storm Tower was an underground cave, connected to an underground stream that was connected to a nearby body of water. This was the so-called secret entrance the Pegasi of Mae Mae's reach wanted us to use. But to do so would require us to swim with the current underground until we reached the cave, a very treacherous swim. Fortunately in his undead state, Silverwing didn't need air and could easily carry some of the physically weaker members of the team, including myself. I trusted Night's Blessing would be able to navigate the dangerous waters by herself, Sunset and Darkmoon I was less certain of. Silverwing could only carry three of us. I asked Night's Blessing if she could guide me through the waters, and she agreed. Leaving, Sunset, Aurora and Darkmoon to be carried by Silverwing.

Upon diving into the river, I was hit by the immense cold of the icy waters, I could barely see Night's Blessing ahead of me once I recovered from the shock. But it turned out I could easily use my wings to navigate the waters, Night's Blessing was the one who was in danger of being swept away. I did my best to help her, using my wings to catapult us both into the tunnels above. We both were shivering for quite a while after we emerged, but Sunset used her fire-based magic to warm us all.

The cave system beneath the tower was unguarded; it didn't seem like Prince Swift Blade was aware of the secret passage. The caves were, like our source told us, connected to an underground well. The sheer surface of the walls lacked hoof holds, not that this would stop a pegasus, the rest made it up by riding on Silverwing’s back one by one. The well led to a great stone hall inside the tower. Immediately upon coming out of the well, we were assaulted by creatures I could not describe any other way than as clockwork monstrosities. Creatures that appeared to be made out of multiple clockwork ponies melded together, with gears among their melded forms, continuously spinning, making it hazardous to get close. The noise these creatures made was hideous, like a combination of the moaning of the undead and the noise of Infernal machinery. They were about the size of a Gem Troll, perhaps a little bit bigger, and there was a total of two of these abominations in this hall.

I decided to give my companions some encouraging words, before turning my words on one, lacing the insult with powerful enchantments, it had little to no effect on the creature. I guessed they had some kind of resistance to magic or were perhaps immune altogether. I told my companions as much, seemed like Sunset and Darkmoon wouldn't be much use during this fight. We had to rely on Night's Blessing and Silverwing, who fortunately didn't disappoint. One of the monstrosities engaged Silverwing, cracking some of the bones of the undead griffin. But he responded with two powerful blows, and while I could hear the gears grind against Silverwing's skeletal form, his strikes did weaken the structural integrity of the abomination. The second monstrosity engaged and attacked Night's Blessing with its many limbs. Night's Blessing deflected the attack with her sword and launched a devastating counterattack, though the spinning gears did give her some minor cuts. Sunset flinged a firebolt at the creature fighting Silverwing, the effect harmlessly dissipated, confirming my suspicion, they are indeed immune to magic.

Using this information, Darkmoon refrained from casting spells altogether, biding his time. Seeing everything transpire, I continued giving the steam some encouraging words, lacing it with my magic to magically boost their spirits and performance. As I uttered the words, I noticed a dim glow emanating from my form, I looked down at myself, noticing that my body was sparkling, just like a Crystal Pony after the Crystal Heart ceremony. This radiant light empowered my friends to fight even harder.

Using the additional power of my magic, Silverwing struck an additional powerful hit on the abomination he was fighting. Even if the spinning gears hurt him badly in the process. The monstrosity fighting Night's Blessing hit her with multiple gears and flailing hooves, but the power of my magic enabled her to fight through the pain, striking the creature at its core, after that decisive strike, the monstrosity fell apart. Aurora took the opportunity to throw a bomb at the remaining creature, a controlled blast that hurt the monstrosity while leaving Silverwing unharmed. Darkmoon took the opportunity to approach Silverwing and projected a wave of unholy purple energy that repaired the griffin's undead form. Empowered by both Darkmoon's spell and my glowing aura, Silverwing struck the abomination so hard that its structural integrity was compromised, and it just fell apart into a mess of metal plates and gears.

After the battle Darkmoon took some time to fix Silverwing's cracked bones, while me and Sunset focused on healing Night's Blessing. After the wounds were closed, she seemed to be alright. Though she was curious about the powers I displayed during the fight and told me they were similar to those of a rare breed of pony in her world, called Gem Ponies. She had heard that Swift Blade used to be one of them before he was transformed into his current clockwork form. Sunset told me this confirmed her suspicions, that I had the blood of a pony of the crystal empire flowing in my veins. There was just one problem with this assumption. I was born before the Crystal Empire returned to the world. Only a single pony escaped the curse from King Sombra that made the entire Empire vanish for a thousand years, Princess Amore, the ancestor of Princess Cadence. Which meant that the only way I could have the blood of a Crystal Pony was for me to either have an ancestor from over a thousand years ago be a Crystal Pony, or I was directly related to Princess Cadence in one way or another. Too bad I never got a chance to talk to Cadence about that possibility, but her spawn did recently come to Everglow, maybe I should ask her. Though I suspected that Flurry might not know much more than I did. Given that I wanted to ask about events that occurred before my birth. Whatever the case, I intended to use my newfound power to my advantage.

With the clockwork abominations out of the way, the path to the stairs leading to the next floor of the tower was clear. Not wanting to waste any time, I ordered my companions to climb the stairs. Though on the next floor, we encountered something unexpected. Not a garrison of clockwork ponies, or even more melded abominations, that would have been expected. But a duo of terrors made of smoke and fire, each appearing as if several pony souls were trapped within the flame. Sunset could identify these creatures for what they were on sight, demons. Though, why Swift Blade had demons serving him I didn't know, but it couldn't be a good sign. After telling the rest of the group that they were indeed demons, Sunset bathed the entire room in holy light, which seem to be terribly effective against the demons who shied away from her in fear, which granted Night’s Blessing an opportunity to strike, one of the demons attacked her, but she parried their blows and cut her path through their forms of smoke and fire.

The other demon attacked and wounded Aurora, Silverwing coming to her rescue. I decided to support my teammates like I did before, trying to project feelings of hope into their hearts, and yet again going so caused me to glow like a Crystal Pony. Emboldened by her newfound hope, Night’s Blessing dodged the many hooves of the demonic creature she was fighting and turned her blade to the demon threatening Aurora, cutting it with her sword. While Night’s Blessing’s Blade cut into the demon, Darkmoon used its weakening ties to the material plane to sever it completely, banishing the demon back to whence it came.

The last remaining demon, seeing the effect I was having on my companions decided to go for me next, I was swiftly brought down by a flurry of flaming horse hooves and lost consciousness. But before I did, I could hear Sunset utter another spell and a blinding light overwhelmed my eyes before everything turned black. When I came to the demon was gone and I saw Sunset and Darkmoon standing over me, having just healed my wounds. I thanked them but also told him there was no time to lose. Swift Blade was still waiting for us at the top of the tower. We quickly rushed up the stairs, I heard a lever being pulled and the walls started closing in on us. Sunset cast a haste spell that allowed us to move fast enough to get up the tower before the walls crushed us. But now the path behind us were blocked off. But we did it, we were in the final chamber on top of the tower. A crystal table that was supposedly controlling the weather could be seen in the middle of the room, the very same table that the Pegasi of Mae Mae’s Reach wanted us to destroy.

Surrounding this table were two figures, one very familiar, a cloaked changeling that was no other than Cipher. And the other, a golden clockwork unicorn wearing a blue velvet cloak, a silver crown and a belt with six rapiers. This could be no other than Prince Swift Blade himself. According to Silverwing’s earlier report, the Prince was actually capable of wielding all those weapons at once, he was truly a foe to be reckoned with. Upon seeing us, the prince spoke:

“Welcome, Knight Commander Cozy Glow, it is an honor to meet the officer that has managed to hold back my forces so far. Even if you had to stoop to using magic as vile as necromancy to do it. You may think you have me cornered, but I know that Cipher here has been able to best you and your best soldiers in the past, and now you also have to contend with the best swordspony in the land. Was Silverwing really your greatest champion? For I was able to beat him with ease. Reviving him using necromancy will do you no good, for I will easily best him once again.”

Night’s Blessing brandished her blade and locked eyes with Swift Blade:

“You have never contended with me in the past, I bet you cannot beat us both.”

The prince laughed, before ordering Cipher to deal with us. By raising his head slightly, a golden glow surrounded Swift Blade’s horn, his six rapiers all took into the air. Cipher started muttering a familiar incantation, he had used up against us before, fireball, we would be toast unless someone was able to interrupt him. Fortunately, Night’s Blessing reacted fast, covering the entire room in a matter of seconds and wounded Cipher with her scimitar, interrupting his spell, Cipher attacked back, Night’s Blessing parrying one strike and ripostes, inflicting another wound on Cipher, but his dagger was able to pierce her torso, I knew that this was bad news, as Cipher’s blade was always coated in a powerful poison ever since the attempted assassination of the king. But fortunately, Aurora was here, who quickly rushed to the side of Night’s Blessing and administering a syringe that probably contained an antidote.

Silverwing locked eyes with Swift Blade, even if now Silverwing’s eyes were nothing more than green balefires. Silverwing’s first attack was easily blocked by the prince, but his second strike landed, denting Swift Blade’s golden carapace. The prince retaliated by turning four out of his six rapiers on him, stabbing him from all sides. Silverwing was able to dodge the attacks coming from his left right and behind him, but the rapier hovering by Swift Blade’s side was able to land a solid hit. The other two rapiers moved towards Night’s Blessing and attacked her, one blow was parried and the other pierced her flesh. Seeing himself locked in a losing battle with Night’s Blessing, Cipher took the opportunity when she was stabbed by Swift Blade to jump out the window and fly away.

“Come back you coward!” Swift Blade yelled as Cipher left the scene. Leaving him alone to deal with the rest of us. I decided to start glowing to empower my comrades to take down the prince. Swift Blade smiled started glowing himself:

“It is good to see another Gem Pony, we are a rare breed nowadays. Maybe you are destined to rule after all. Being born one of us marks you as one chosen by destiny… the Great Uniter is said…”

Sunset interrupted him by casting the same spell she had used against the demons, a ray of light came out of her horn and soon engulfed half of the room, hitting Swift Blade, Night’s Blessing and Silverwing, but harming only Swift Blade, who closed his eyes and cursed at her. Sunset turned towards me and said:

“The holy smite spell, it will only harm those of an evil nature and is especially effective against demons and other fiends.”

I remembered her using that exact spell earlier, when I was knocked unconscious by the demon. It must’ve hit me, wouldn’t it? As Sunset spoke, Swift Blade lashed out at his surroundings, but Silverwing and Night’s easily avoided those attacks because he was blinded by Sunset’s spell. Empowered by the glowing aura surrounding me, Night’s Blessing and Silverwing surrounded Swift Blade, striking him from both sides, as their blades cut through his golden shell, the prince emitted a horrifying shriek, before a swarm of tiny metal shards emerged from him, at first only in the area immediately surrounding the prince’s body, but it soon spread to cover most of the room. Night’s Blessing and Silverwing reacted quickly, retreating as the swarm grew, only getting some minor cuts. I ordered my companions to seek shelter in the corner of the room, fortunately, the swarm never spread that far. Soon, the swarm started to retract coalescing into a single being which was like a swarm of metal shards in the vague likeness of a pony, much bigger than the clockwork monstrosities we fought earlier.

The swarm immediately turned its attention towards Silverwing, who was quickly cut to pieces by thousands upon thousands and tiny sharp sharps, leaving only bone dust left of his skeletal frame. Night’s Blessing moved to engage the swarm, and I was scared, considering what it was able to do to a being made of bone, I could just imagine what it could do to a being of flesh and blood. I couldn’t stand to lose her, so I focused my feelings, my love for her, into Night’s Blessing, seeking to empower her and will her to survive. I do not know if it was because of what I did, but Night’s Blessing fought like a beast, as the swarm reached out to consume her, she dodged to the side, only getting some minor cuts. Then she retaliated with a flurry of quick slashes that weakened the swarm. The second time she wasn’t so lucky, the swarm managed to touch her for just a few seconds, inflicting severe wounds, I rushed to her side, muttering a healing spell to restore her. Night’s Blessing thanked me and lunched at the swarm, trying to prevent it from reaching me. The swarm retreated in response to her myriad slashes before it was driven back into Swift Blade’s body.

The prince regained consciousness telling me:

“You win, finish me.”

I told them I had no such intentions. There were still many things about the Civil War we didn’t know, including what the purpose behind trapping Taralos in an eternal blizzard was, or the reason we found demons guarding this tower. Swift Blade told me that he had operated under instructions from a powerful patron that promised him Kingship, in return for destroying a set of stones that could be found surrounding the border of Taralos. The blizzard was meant to slowly starve out the population until his brother, king Shining Horn abdicated the throne and gave it to him willingly. After he was crowned king, Swift Blade would build a new kingdom for both the clockwork ponies and the doppelgangers. The creature I called demons he said were servitors of his patron, he claimed he never knew their true nature. I suspected this patron of his might be the Devourer of Nations, the demon lord whose return was imminent. I ordered my companions, with the exception of Aurora, to tie up Swift Blade and bring them outside, while I dealt with the crystal table. I recognize that complete control over the weather would be a powerful advantage for both myself and Taralos in the future but leaving it around could mean that it could be used against us, and I had made a promise to the Pegasi of Mae Mae’s reach. Going back on that promise would hurt our diplomatic ties to them, they were more valuable as allies than the table could ever be. As such, I told Aurora to rig explosives to the table and blow it up. An explosion could later be heard from the tower, serving as confirmation for everyone present that the table had been destroyed.

I learned shortly after the fact that the battle outside the tower walls had been a success, thanks to both Darkmoon’s undead army and the efforts of Flurry Heart and Tirek respectively. Twilight and Chrysalis were too wounded after the battle with Cipher to participate, but were as of this moment still alive. I knew from experience that Tirek could be a powerhouse, but it surprised me that Flurry Heart was instrumental to our side achieving victory. I was later told she had not only been a powerful fighter, but her very presence had rallied the troops, glowing like a beacon and revealing what she truly was, a Gem Pony, she was apparently a natural leader, just like myself. For days after the battle, I heard speculation about Flurry being none other than the Great Uniter of prophecy, which urked me greatly, it was supposed to be me. But I suppose I couldn’t blame them; Flurry was likely the only alicorn these people had ever seen.

Unfortunately, as Silverwing’s remains had been entirely destroyed, Darkmoon was not able to bring him back. Not that Silverwing would’ve wanted to come back anyway he told me, as their pact had always been to extend his life until Swift Blade was defeated. Now that his purpose had been accomplished, Darkmoon believed that Silverwing would wish to rest in peace. I would respect his wishes, but from that day forward Silverwing would be honored by the Knights of Taralos as a legendary knight and the greatest champion of Taralos to have ever lived. Night’s Blessing allowed me to give Silverwing full credit for defeating Swift Blade in order to bolster his legend.

Speaking of Swift Blade, he would be confined to the castle dungeons, I heard him, and Valentine became cellmates and soon after, friends. I know that Valentine had been in the employ of Swift Blade before, but in the past, they didn’t have as much time to get personally acquainted. I don’t think either of them had met the other before now, mainly corresponding by letters. Even after everything that had happened, I’m glad something made his stay in the dungeons a little more bearable. The next time I tried to interrogate Swift Blade, Valentine insisted on being present. I was able to learn something interesting from the former cult leader, something he had previously kept from me. That the Cult of Chaos that Valentine had led had worshipped the demon known as the Devourer of Nations, among other figures of chaos, but after hearing Swift Blade’s story, he realized that he had been used, and so did Swift Blade. While I wasn’t foolish enough to release either of them just yet. I’m glad the both of them had taken the first hoofsteps towards redemption. Sunset will be ecstatic once I tell her.