Spiders and Magic: The Kesshōkage of The Crystal Empire

Chapter Eight

The Unicorn and The Kage

“Hm, interesting,” Discord said as he was currently in the astral realm rewatching the fight between Nanako and King Sombra. “I never would’ve guessed that there would be another outworlder appearing on this planet. And this one doesn’t seem to hold much heroic moral values compared to most heroes.”

“You think Twilight was the one that summoned this girl to Equis?” asked a clone of himself as the original shook his head.

“Doubt is considering how she’s been busy trying to become all-powerful due to the alicorn amulet you left her with.”

“I wouldn’t say I left it for her. More like…give to someone that knows what to do with it~” Discord said as his clone gave him a deadpan expression while smirking. “What? It's not my fault; she wants revenge on Peter for picking Luna over her.”

“Don’t forget the others that betrayed her~”

“Right, right…” He said before reaching for a remote to change the visual of Twilight making her way through the forest of the Crystal Empire. “Oh dear, Twilight found her way to the Crystal Empire.”

“And that’s a good thing…right?” The clone asked as Discord waved his hand sideways before a grin appeared on his face.

“That would depend on how it turns out. If this creature kills Twilight out of self-defense, then this will cause Peter to be destroyed and war between the two kingdoms.”

“And if she doesn’t kill her?”

“It’ll still be an interesting show to watch regardless.” He said before making a bucket of popcorn appear. “Plus it’s not like we have anything better to do.”

“Don’t you mean you? Because I’m just an image you made just to fill the boredom of being stuck in this place.” The clone said as Discord snapped his fingers to make the clone disappear.

“No one likes a smart alec.” He said before returning his gaze to the magical screen. “We’ll have to see how this turns out. Either Way, this will be an interesting turn of events.”

[Crystal Empire]

[Forest]

[Nighttime]

Just like the change with the Crystal Empire, so did the forest outside of the city of crystals. For the past couple of hours, the celestial being explored a huge chunk of the untamed forest with surprising interest. Given the books she was able to salvage from the library and Haiku, a lot of the plants that were said to have died off seem to have returned but she also noticed some of the plants that she came across in her travels seem to be in this place as well. Not to mention that there weren’t any mammals within the forest, only insects that Tarot mentioned that they kept underground. She could only assume that they managed to escape due to her touching the crystal heart and changing the layout of the kingdom.

“Hm, I can only assume the crystal heart took information from me and was able to make it possible for something like this to happen.” She said while examining a plant with crystals covering it. “So I can assume by mixing magic with my chakra, it somehow resulted in a mix of two supernatural substances to form a new source of energy. If that’s the case, then that should apply to the ponies of the Crystal Empire as well…I’ll have to ask Northstar if she could help me test a hypothesis for me if she can.” While the celestial being was currently enjoying the local flora and fauna of the region, she soon noticed one of her clones making their way over to her.

“Man, you weren’t kidding about this forest being big. Glad we have the same ability as you do, otherwise mapping out this place would be a pain in the ass.”

“Find anything that might be worth looking into?” She asked as the clone handed her a map with markings on them.

“There’s a few places I marked on the maps that would be worth looking into considering they’re tombs belonging to the royal family that were killed by Sombra.”

“How can you tell?”

“Well, having the name Sir Carbuncle The First, house of the Carbuncle family might help…I swear with a name like that, it makes me think of something else in mind.”

“I know, but we can’t judge a species’s culture and lifestyle to a certain degree,” Nanako said as she examined the map. “If there’s treasure within those tombs, we’ll be able to add them to the treasury.”

“What about the body that might be inside the tombs?”

“We’ll bury them along with the other fallen ponies of Sombra’s cruelty.” She answered before placing the map in her sleeve. “What about a path that leads from the empire through the forest?”

“We found one, but we’ll need to make a lot of clearing due to the trees.”

“And the giant insects?”

“Docile for the most part. They will attack if provoked or if you intrude on their territory. Other than that, it's a pretty calming and relaxing forest compared to most places we’ve been in.”

“Yeah, you’re not wrong about that,” Nanako said while staring at the scenery in front of her, though her smile slowly faded as she looked over at her clone. “Shame it’s gonna be damaged within a matter of minutes.”

“Because of our unwanted guest sneaking up behind us.” She said as they looked behind themselves to meet their unwanted visitor sneaking up behind them. From what they could tell, it was a unicorn wearing a black cloak that covered her entire body except for her horn, red glowing eyes, and an amulet with a red gem in the middle of it. “Didn’t think I would see a pony in the middle of the forest like this. Any particular reason as to why you’re here?”

“You…so you're the source that brought me here to this place.” The unicorn said as she eyed Nanako up and down. “To think that my search would lead me to an outworlder…actually, you two might prove to be useful in my revenge.”

“...Okay, well we’re just gonna leave you to whatever it is you’re gonna do-” Just as Nanako was about to leave, the unicorn’s horn lit up as magical chains erupted from her body and attempted to restrain both the celestial being and her clone. While Nanako managed to escape by jumping away onto a nearby tree branch, her clone ended up getting impaled before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

“A clone…interesting~,” She said before focusing on Nanako “It would be in your best interest if you just come with me quietly and without resistance. I prefer not to break a new tool for my revenge.”

“First of all, I am no one’s tool. Not anymore.” Nanako said as she glared at the unicorn. “Second, who are you and why are you here in the Crystal Forest?”

“Who I am is not important, what I’m doing here is finding power to make my enemies pay for taking everything away from me.” The unicorn answered as her horn started to glow. “This place used to be a snow-covered wasteland until that flash of light erupted and spread across this place. I can only assume you have something to do with this seeing how I’ve never seen a human like you before…odd how you’re able to maintain your form and not turn into a pony like Peter, but I’ll be sure to examine you once I have you under my control.”

“I’m going to give you fair warning. Walk away and I won’t have to hurt you badly, kid.” Nanako said as she noticed the unicorn firing off a magical beam of black & purple energy at her. The celestial being jumped off the branch she was standing on and descended onto the ground. “So, you choose to do it the fun way then.”

“Don’t you mean the hard way?”

“Heh, now why would this be hard?” Nanako said before extending a hand toward the unicorn. “Wood Style: Great Forest!” She yelled as her arm shot out branches of wood at an alarming speed at the unicorn. The unicorn quickly summoned a barrier around herself at the branches wrapped around it. Upon seeing the branches wrapped around the dome she made, the mare caused the dome to expand as a means to knock the branches away and counters by shattering the dome she made into shards of magical glass and sending them towards Nanako. The celestial being took in a deep breath as the skin on her fist turned to steel as she casually deflected the shards away from her in different directions.

“Impressive, but nothing that I can’t handle.” She said before using her magic to rip off a piece of a nearby tree and began using it as a Gatling gun as she fired splinter-like bullets at Nanako. Upon seeing this, the celestial being quickly coated her entire body as the splinter deflected off her body, though her clothes ended up getting torn up a bit.

“Dammit, these were my favorite garments,” Nanako said in annoyance before casually dodging a magical beam heading for her head. “Might want to try something else other than magical beams and long-range attacks.”

“You mean like this!?” Twilight yelled as her horn lit up. Upon doing so, the ground below Nanako began to shake as two slabs of earth appeared on both sides of her. Within a matter of seconds, the two stone slabs collided with each other as they encased Nanako in a stone. A smirk appeared on Twilight’s face as she teleported in front of the celestial being. “Ha! Seems your overconfidence was your downfall, human.”

“Are you sure about that? Because it seems you're the overconfident one in this situation.” Upon hearing a voice behind her, Twilight quickly turns around to see Nanako standing like nothing happened. “Not bad, but kind of predictable if I’m being honest.”

“How in Equestria did you escape that? I placed a binding spell on it just in case you could use magic.”
“Might’ve helped if I was able to use magic this entire time. But I wasn’t, so that wouldn’t do much to stop me.”

“...Right, you must be some kind of human with mutant powers similar to Peter. Should’ve guessed that was the case.”

“I don’t know who this Peter person is, but I doubt it has anything to do with what I’m going to do to you.”

“Don’t think just because you’re a mutant, doesn’t mean you’re not acceptable to magic,” Twilight said as she quickly teleported onto a nearby tree, and was about to fire off a spell to seal Nanako in a magical prison, only to notice that she was gone. “What the, where did she go?”

“Storm Style: Laser Circus!” Nanako yelled as Twilight looked above herself to see a barrage of lasers coming down upon her. Her town lit up as she created a dome around herself, causing the laser beams to be deflected in different directions. The moment Nanako’s attack ended, Twilight quickly teleported off the tree she was on, and appeared above Nanako. Once above her, the unicorn fired off magical chains from her horn and made them chase after the celestial being. Nanako effortlessly dodges the chains before slipping through a dimensional door. The unicorn blinked in surprise upon seeing this as she began to scan the area to see where she had gone.

“She can even create portals, just what is this human?” Twilight asked as she searched the area for where the celestial being was hiding. It was only when she felt something gently land on her back was when she looked behind herself. To her surprise, Nanako was lazily relaxing on her back while holding a bowl of ramen in her hands.

“You’re easy to read, you know that?” Nanako said as Twilight looked behind herself to see her sitting on her back while eating.

“Are you mocking me!?”

“Not really, I just got hungry and figured I would eat something while you let out some steam…no pun intended on that.” She answered before reaching into a portal to pull out a pair of chopsticks. “Want some? I got an extra bowl.”

“Stop messing around and take this seriously!” Twilight yelled as she teleported away from Nanako and appeared off to the side of her. “What is wrong with you!? Why are you casually playing around as if your life isn’t in danger.”

“Because it’s not. Don’t get me wrong, you’re interesting for the most part. But on a scale of one to ten, you’re just one, threat-wise, that is.” Just as she was about to take a bite out of her meal, Twilight aimed at the celestial being’s food via a beam of magic causing it to fly off into the woods.

“Think I’m not a threat now?” Twilight asked with a smirk on her face.

“No, now I think you’re annoying, and I will have to hurt you.”

“You think you can hurt me?” She said before pointing a hoof at the amulet she was wearing. “With the alicorn amulet and years of training under Celestia’s wing, I’m more than powerful to take you down.”

“Yet you can’t seem to keep an eye on where I teleport or move,” Nanako said as she moved her head to the side to avoid a magical beam to her face.

“It’s only a matter of time before you slip up. When you do, that’s when I’ll be able to use a spell to force you to serve me.” Twilight said as her horn lit up, causing the magical chains from before to shoot out and attempt to restrain Nanako. A sigh escaped Nanako’s lips as she casually fell backward into a portal she made to avoid the chains. She soon appeared above Twilight as the unicorn quickly fired off more chains upon looking upwards. Within seconds, the celestial being was quickly wrapped and was sent falling to the ground in front of Twilight.

“You think I didn’t expect you to appear above me!?” Twilight asked with a smug expression on her face.

“I did, hence why this is a clone that I made to keep you distracted,” Nanako answered as she slowly melted into mud. Twilight’s eyes widened upon seeing this as she quickly scanned the area to see where Nanako was hiding. While looking at her surroundings, her ears picked up the sound of birds chirping in the distance.

“Birds, in the middle of the night? No, that’s impossible. Owls are one thing, but even they don’t sound like that. Could it be that she’s using this as some kind of distraction?” Twilight thought as her ears picked up the sound of birds chirping was getting louder and louder by the second. Upon picking up where the sound was coming from, her eyes widened upon seeing Nanako appearing from out of a nearby bush with lightning coming from her hand.

“Lightning Style, Chidori!” Nanako yelled as she started charging at Twilight with incredible speed. Within seconds, Twilight quickly brought up a barrier as a means to protect herself from the oncoming attack.

“It’s okay. With the alicorn amulet, the barrier will hold against an attack like-” The sound of metal cutting through an object was heard inside the barrier. A sharp pain radiated from Twilight’s head as the barrier she made vanished. Before she could register what happened, another sharp pain was felt in her chest as she looked down to see Nanako’s hand thrust through her body.

“If you’re wondering how I was able to disable your barrier,” Nanako used her free hand to motion to the side. Twilight looked over to her left to see a clone of the celestial being off to the side as she made a small. The unicorn soon felt something poke her on the head, and she looked up to see the hand of the clone holding a katana in her hand with a piece of her horn balancing on the tip of it. “Rule one when fighting someone, always keep an eye on your surroundings.” She said before pulling her hand out of Twilight’s body as the unicorn fell to the ground. “Also never go into a battle against an unknown entity that you do not know of.”

“N-No f-fair. You use a clone to cut off my horn just to gain an advantage?”

“Of course I did. What? You expect me not to take advantage of my opponent’s weaknesses in a fight?” Nanako said as she knelt before Twilight and placed a hand on her head.

“What do you think you’re doing? Let go of me or else-” The moment Nanako pulled her hand away from Twilight’s head, the red scarlet color in her eyes vanished as her body went limp. In the celestial being’s hand was a purple-colored soul as she began to examine it.

“Now, let’s see what was behind the reasoning for attacking me?” she asked before placing her other hand on the unicorn’s head to read her mind. To say that Nanako wasn’t phased by what she was seeing is an understatement...unimpressed by information about the world outside of the Crystal Empire. Equestria, the history behind it, the rulers, the inhabitants of Equestria, its rulers…honestly she wasn’t impressed by this peaceful planet for the most part…though she was interested in a certain unicorn’s descent into madness. “Perhaps, a different path might be a good thing in your case.”

“So, is there anything worth knowing?” The clone asked as Nanako shook her head.

“For the most part. Though I’m not that impressed by the outside world beyond the Crystal Empire.” She said before reaching for the alicorn amulet tries to remove it. “Hm, seems like the information about this thing was right. It won’t come off unless the user takes it off themselves.”

“Any particular reason why you want that thing removed?”

“It’s causing problems for her body. From what I can go by through her memories, she’s been accumulating a lot of magic within this amulet. Because of this, it’s causing her mind to become more warped and taking a lot of years off her life. If I had to guess, she’ll most likely have about maybe fifty years to live.”

“You’re planning on saving her, aren’t you?”

“Something like that. More like, giving her a reset and setting her on a different path.” She said before raising a hand. Within a matter of a second, a dark circle appeared next to them as a demonic head with rinnegan eyes popped out with its mouth open

“Once you do that, I’ll throw her body and soul into the King of Hell. Once she's restored, she should have a much better mindset to have a decent conversation with.”

“And you think something like this will work on a pony like her?”

“Won’t know until we try. Now, cut off her head so we can head back home. I think I had enough excitement for one day.” She said as her clone nodded in agreement. The clone soon walked over to Twilight’s body and positioned her weapon near the unicorn’s neck.

“Sorry about this, but you did attack us first.”