7. Retaliation and Infiltration

The northern winds blew fiercely, the sharp coldness enough to make even a polar bear shiver. For the ponies shielded by the power of the Crystal Heart, just the howling of the wind outside of the city limits was enough to start lowering morale. The number of guards standing mere feet from the extreme cold was almost ten-score, but each pony knew that there would be no reinforcements should they fail. Every guard available was present, not to mention more than a few crystal ponies who had volunteered to defend their home. For everypony present, this was their once chance to defend themselves... they most likely would not be given a second chance.

On the other side of the protective bubble, no more than three hundred griffons had assembled and stood motionless in the cold wind. Their thick feathers provided all the warmth they needed to hold out in such harsh conditions, but the large fires they had lit behind them served as both a source of warmth and an effective form of intimidation. However, the most imposing figure remained the one griffon standing just forward of the griffon force; the leader himself, Ray.

Without a single command uttered, Ray stepped forward a few paces. He remained silent and still, waiting for his prediction to come true. The only motion from the opposing side was a few ponies shuffling in place nervously; it was of no surprise as they had all heard of the massacre in Los Pegasus.

After a few moments of no activity, another griffon stepped forward and took her place just behind the monstrous griffon leader. "Sir, she's not going to bother. She's a pony, a coward." Lieutenant Windsheer hissed as she eyed the ponies like cattle for slaughter.

Ray remained motionless as he spoke. "Quiet." he said calmly yet sternly. "Your previous mission here will draw her out. Be patient."

The violent female griffon couldn't help but speak up. "We can crush them all right now. We outnumber them and have better fighters." she said as she tightened her grip on her favorite dagger.

"I said QUIET." he said as he turned his head towards her, his eyes glowing with impatience.

Windsheer immediately bowed and backed away. She couldn't help but smirk once Ray had turned his attention back on the ponies; she knew that he was much more viscous while angry, and though she had to do so carefully she always enjoyed helping in making his temper worse to increase his violence.

To the lieutenant's dismay, she saw the line of ponies part near the middle to reveal a pink alicorn walking forward. The princess was flanked by six heavily armed guards, but the princess halted her guards so she could walk the final steps forward alone. Ray glanced back at Windsheer very briefly, his face reading 'told you so' before he strode forward to meet the princess.

Both creatures eventually halted, the two leaders no more than eight feet apart, the protection of the Crystal Heart separating the two. It was clearly evident that Princess Cadence was still grieving the recent loss of her one true love as her eyes still held evidence that she had been crying not too long ago. Ray adopted a mock look of sympathy before speaking. "A shame about Captain Shining Armor, I was hoping to take him on myself. I would have killed him off quicker, but my lieutenant assures me that it only took a few minutes for him to bleed out."

The words stung Cadence's heart worse than any weapon or spell could but she remained firm as best as she could. "What do you want here?" she asked. "We pose no threat to your kingdom and we have no resources that you don't already have. This entire war is going to gain you nothing, anyway. Please, stop this violence and I'm sure Princess Celestia and the rest of us can help you."

Ray paid no attention to her words. "This is your last chance to surrender yourself and your city to me. If not, I shall take everything by force." he said as his horn glowed menacingly.

Cadence noted the appendage of one of her previous foes before looking Ray sternly in the eyes. "If you wield Sombra's power, then you should already know that his powers will do nothing to help you take the Crystal Empire." she said confidently. "Your soldiers have also no doubt been tainted by his magic and won't be able to penetrate our city. It's futile to even try."

"So be it." Ray said indifferently. "So sad that your husband's death will have been for naught after all."

There was no way Cadence could remain silent to such a remark. "He at least died with honor, unlike how you will! You have to resort to taking parts from dead ponies like some scavenger!"

Ray smirked at the useless insult before he heard a sharp hiss fly by his head. Cadence let out an involuntary shriek and stumbled backwards as one of Windsheer's daggers embedded itself in the protective bubble. The line of ponies rushed forward and formed a shield of bodies around their princess as her personal guards quickly rushed her back to the palace, leaving Ray nothing to do but to return to his own lines.

Windsheer slowly trudged through the snow with her king and bowed her head. "My apologies for not being able to kill her right there, sire." she said. "I'll be sure to hit my mark next time."

Ray remained silent, but not out of anger towards his lieutenant. No, instead he was deep in thought; he knew that Princess Cadence was right, that his soldiers were tainted by Sombra's magic and wouldn't be able to get past the barrier made by the Crystal Heart, but Windsheer's dagger managed to partially penetrate the barrier when it should have bounced harmlessly off of it. However, Lieutenant Windsheer smiled as she realized that her theory on killing Shining Armor was in fact correct.

If you can't hurt the Crystal Heart, hurt the princess who powers it. Sombra couldn't destroy the power of love, but she could kill Cadence's lover.

And she did.

And it worked.

Night had fallen, plunging the snowy northern land into darkness, but the winds had mercifully died down as the sun had sunk. A shadowy figure made her way along the rocky river and watched the water as it emerged from the rocks that helped protect the very outer limits of the Crystal Empire. Though the water was surely freezing cold, it also provided the valuable gift of life to the crystal ponies that inhabited the city, as well as a hidden underground cavern pool below the castle. The griffon didn't dare touch the water as she knew very well that its coldness was enough to kill even a griffon with enough time. Only a complete fool would dare enter the forceful current.

Windsheer's eye caught sudden appearance of something being spit out from the small tunnel where the river was emerging from the rocky wall. Her face remained expressionless as she watched the bloated corpse of a drowned griffon wash away past her and into the darkness. Moments later another body emerged and was swept away, followed by another. She watched as a total of twenty eight griffon bodies flowed past her and off into the darkness, not bothered by the fact that not all of them had been dead. A few of the 'lucky' survivors had reached out to her and let out pitiful pleas of help but Lieutenant Windsheer simply ignored their cries. Once they were swept downstream the sounds of their voices stopped; whether they were simply out of earshot or they had succumbed to the cold water, she didn't know, nor did she care. Only when one certain body appeared did Windsheer flap her wings and take off. She reached into the frigid water and grabbed the limp body before dragging it to the shoreline and dumped it just inches from the river. The griffon she had saved still had life in him, but he hadn't reached out for help or cried out to be saved. He had wanted to die with his soldiers, having unknowingly led them to their deaths.

The older griffon coughed weakly as his lungs filled with air finally. "What have you done?" Commander Wind asked in exhaustion.

Windsheer stared emotionless as he fit all the pieces together finally. "Y-you... you sent us into a trap. You knew that T-t-there was n-no air in t-t-t-the river t-tunnels." he shivered.

Windsheer only smiled wickedly. "There was also that security grate over the pool under the castle, wasn't there? I must have forgotten to mention that was there." she smirked.

"My s-soldiers... they all d-d-drowned." Commander Wind managed to say solemnly. "There w-wasn't enough room fo-for... only eight c-c-could breathe at a-a time."

Windsheer chuckled. "And I'm sure the guards in the cavern eliminated those who tried doing so." she said accurately, proven right by a nod from Wind. "Oh well, I guess I must have misheard that pony captain's intel. His gurgling as he drowned in his own blood was hard to hear."

Commander Wind bowed his head as a tear fell for his fallen griffons. "Why?" he asked.

Windsheer reached forward and unsheathed a knife that was strapped to Wind's side. She held her family's heirloom carelessly like any common weapon as she spoke. "They were not fully loyal to our King and had to be dealt with." she said as she twirled the sharp blade in her claw. "There's only one more traitor to deal with now."

Commander Wind had no time to even speak as Windsheer silently but swiftly moved forward and sliced open the elder griffon's neck. He offered no resistance nor did he struggle; whether it was from the cold water that had sapped away all his energy or he had already accepted his fate, Windsheer would never know. Nor did she care. She simply shoved his body away and let it sink into the icy river before tossing the dagger in after its owner before turning away to fly back to camp.

As soon as she landed an imposing figure strode up to her. "Well?" Ray asked her expectantly.

Windsheer knelt as she addressed him. "Sire, I followed Commander Wind and confirmed that he had been attempting to sneak into the Crystal Empire to defect to the enemy."

Ray nodded once. "Did you take care of him?"

Windsheer smiled as she recalled slicing her father's throat open. "He and his loyal followers are no longer a concern to you, sir."

Ray allowed a rare smile and stepped towards Windsheer. "Good work." he said as he caressed the side of her face with his talon.

Windsheer couldn't help but feel her heart flutter as he touched her almost lovingly. She tried nuzzling her cheek into his touch but he withdrew his claw all too soon. Her body ached for more contact with him, but she held back the urge to ask for more contact, especially with so many of her subordinates close by. The last thing she needed was one of them to spot her with her guard dropped; she had worked too hard to earn her reputation and she wouldn't lose it now. Instead, Windsheer remained standing solid and looked at her leader. "When do we attack?" she asked, eagerly looking forward to the upcoming bloodshed.

To her dismay Ray shook his head. "We leave in the morning." he said.

"What?" Windsheer cried out in surprise. "We outnumber those scum easily! Sir, I swear I can have this city conquered in a single day!"

Ray's eyes seemed to redden as he savagely threw her to the ground and held her down by her neck. "Do not question my decisions!" he snarled at her as his grip tightened.

Windsheer's eyes betrayed her fear that she may die, but she soon felt his hold release her and she scrambled back up. She gasped for air and rubbed her throat gingerly as Ray turned to look upon the shimmering castle off in the distance.

"They're weak." he said quietly.

Windsheer cautiously stood just out of his reach. "Yes, and now is the perfect time to strike! We can eliminate them in one single battle! They're weak without their precious captain. If I can kill him, you can surely take this city as your own."

Ray turned to his lieutenant once more, his eyes angrier than before. "No! Don't you see? I ordered you to kill that pony captain to enrage the princesses, to have them fight me! I need them at their strongest to prove my powers are absolute! I wanted her out for my blood so I could defeat her myself, but she's nothing but a weak, pathetic worm!"

Windsheer was slightly taken aback by this sudden outburst and knew that Ray could technically blame her for Princess Cadence's lack of will to fight. "S-sir, I... I didn't know..." she stammered.

"No, you wouldn't know. No griffon ever thinks that far ahead." he said sourly as he cast one last glance at the shimmering city. Sick of the sight of it, he turned back to Windsheer and strode towards his tent.

"We fly towards Canterlot tomorrow." he said as he passed Windsheer.