//------------------------------//
// The Battle Begins 
// Story: Words From an Unknown Soldier 
// by carefreedude 
//------------------------------//

No.  It was too much for me.  The battle had yet to start, but I was quaking in terror.  Sombra, the stallion that we come to defeat was standing on a plateau before us.  He shouted something at the top of his lungs.  Due to my panic, I was never able to make out what he had shouted.  It sounded like something along the lines of “JADE, REND.”  I am unsure.  But what I do know is this.  That beast; that crystalized monster residing behind their troops sprang at us.  In terror, all I could do was point my spear above me in a desperate attempt to save myself.  As soon as he was right above us, I closed my eyes.  The next few moments seemed to drag on for an eternity as I awaited my fate.  This was a fool’s errand, and I was the fool who accepted it.  Next thing I know, I hear a voice shout at the top of her lungs “FIRE” followed by a giant boom..

The troops finally arrived at the battlefield, a sense of horror shooting through each of their spines as they witnessed the army standing before them.  Applejack ordered her troops to halt as soon as all of them made their way into the war zone.  A hundred yard area of land was all that separated the two opposing armies.  The three princesses looked on in terror of the forces laid out before them. They had anticipated the opposing army’s size, but never expected the creature residing behind them.
“Princess…what is that?” Twilight asked cautiously.
“It’s not possible.  Those things should of gone extinct two millennia ago.”  Celestia replied.
“Well sister, it appears that this one didn’t get the message.” Luna mused, trying to maintain her composure in front of the two other princesses.
“Princess, what is that?”  Twilight repeated with a little more anger than what was necessary.
Celestia sighed.  “A Draco Crystallus.  Not much is known about them.  They existed before mine and Luna’s time, and there is very little documentation left about them.  One of the few legends that still exist about them, is that they are supposedly invincible.”
Luna smirks.  “Then I guess it’s time to put that old legend to the test then.”

In the clouds above them, the pegasi also stood in shock.  Even the mare with the rainbow mane was beginning to feel a twinge of fear as she recalled times where she was able to break rocks, but never crystal.
Suddenly the mare up front with the fiery mane spoke.  “Rainbow Dash!”  The mare in back stood at attention.  “You’re going to stick with me and Soarin.  This is going to be quite a fight, so don’t let me down, soldier.”
Rainbow Dash saluted her commander and shouted, “Yes, commander Spitfire, Sir!”

Everypony maintained their position, waiting.  Neither side wanted to make the first attack.  Every so often, a taunt would be thrown from the front lines of one side to the other in hopes of throwing off the enemy.  Meanwhile on top of his plateau, Sombra just stood motionless with an evil grin upon his face, which he maintained ever since Celestia’s army arrived.  Every time he witnessed a soldier’s shudder, he would feel a slight twinge of joy.  He knew that he was more than ready for this fight, but he wondered how prepared Celestia was.
After about ten minutes or so of standing there, Sombra decided that he has had enough.  “If Celestia does not wish to throw the first punch, then I will.”  He looked upon his drake and shouted at the top of his lungs “JADE, REND!!!”  The drake immediately responded to its master’s command as it opened its crystalized maw and let out a horrible shriek.  It leaped over the army of changeling bellow it with its claws open, ready to tear apart the biggest thing it could see.   It had locked its ruby eyes on to its target, the giant cannon the ponies brought with them.
The troops just stood there in fear, unsure of what to do.  Everypony was so stricken by fear that they couldn’t move or even speak.  But a certain pink mare wasn't silent out of fear, but out of patients.  She simply waited a few moments for the drake to get in her line of sight, before she shouted “FIRE!!!”
Suddenly, a stallion pulled the rope behind the cannon and set it off.  In a matter of moments, a giant cannon ball and some confetti shot straight out of the weapon, smacking the drake clean in its chest.  The force was so powerful, that the drake shattered into hundreds of shards of varying size.  All the shards were blown back behind the plateau that Chrysalis and Sombra were standing on.
Ponies and Changelings alike stood there dumbstruck at what they just witnessed.  Suddenly, the pink mare began to jump and shout “WOOOOHOOO!!  Now that's what I call Pinkie Pie style!  Did you see that!?  He was just jumping at us, and all of you were so completely scared!  But I just waited for the perfect moment and just shouted ‘FIRE!’ and completely blew him out of the sky!  It was so totally amazing!  Now let’s get this bad boy reloaded!  And this time, I wanna see more glitter!”

Once the realization of what happened hit everypony, they all started to cheer.  That beast that appeared to be such a great threat was destroyed instantly before their very eyes.  The three princesses let out a sigh of relief.  “Princess, I thought you said that they were invincible.”  Twilight spoke.
“Obviously the old legends are nothing more than that, legends.”  Responded Luna.
Celestia sighed and said “While that threat is taken care of, we still have to deal with this army ahead of us.  So we need to maintain our composure for our troops.”  Twilight and Luna nodded in agreement.  This battle was still far from over.  

Meanwhile the changelings started to feel a great sense of fear upon seeing the power the Ponies' cannon had.  Chrysalis looked on in horror of what she just witnessed, while Sombra on the other hand just continued to smile as he did when the battle began, never allowing his vision to drift from the battlefield.  “How are you staying so calm!?"  Chrysalis exclaimed.  "Did you not see what I saw!?”
“Oh I saw it your highness."  Sombra responded.  "And that is the exact reason why I am staying so calm.” 
“Perhaps you fail to see the seriousness of the situation!  That beast you bolstered about was blown out of the sky by that weapon over there!  If they fire that again, it will completely wipe out our entire army!”
“You need to take a step back and calm down my queen.  For starters, your troops will be fine for a while because a weapon of that size is going to take quite a bit of time to reload.  So essentially, they just wasted their shot.  That is why I had Jade attack it.”
“Well... That may be true.  But thanks to that decision, we just lost a very powerful component to this battle.”
Sombra turns his gaze upon Chrysalis.  “Now why would you say that?”  Chrysalis just looked at Sombra with a curious look, wondering what exactly he was getting at.  Suddenly, she hears several muffled roars coming from where the drake’s pieces had landed.  “There is something you need to know about crystals my queen.  If a crystal breaks, it doesn’t disappear.  IT JUST MAKES MORE”
Suddenly, hundreds of small Draco Crystallus of various sizes flew out over the plateau and straight towards Celestia’s army.  The cheering that was happening not a moment before ceased.  Everypony knew that at that moment, the battle had truly begun.
“Thanks to that weapon there, Jade is no longer the last of her species.  I suppose I’ll have to name her children later.”  Sombra said, still maintaining his evil grin.